widow's heart to sing for joy." How unlike those words of the Lord Jesus to the heathen proverb, "Silly the giver, happy the getter."

The tender and solemn discourse was followed by a prayer. In praying with them, he knelt down-that unusual posture being a token of his fervour, and how much he was overcome by the scene. The usual posture for prayer was standing, both in the Jewish church and in the early Christian church. In special circumstances, as those of Solomon at the dedication of the temple, Daniel in his chamber, Peter on the housetop, and Stephen in the act of martyrdom, kneeling was naturally resorted to. But in the public assemblies they stood, being commanded "to stand up" to engage in devotional exercise in the days of Ezra; and our Lord alludes to the same custom when he says, "when ye stand praying." Those whom the apostle addressed were profoundly agitated by his last words"They all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck, and kissed him; sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the ship." They saw him on board, and they could not but stand on the beach and behold with tearful eyes the vessel unfurl her sails; and there would be tokens of recognition and farewell exchanged again and again as the distance widened, till the hull sank out of view, and canvass and spars lessened into a speck, and at length disappeared.

XIV.-PAUL AT JERUSALEM.

I.

SPEECH FROM THE STAIRS OF THE GARRISON.

ACTS xxii. 1-30.

THE departure from Miletus had been a scene of great tenderness and sorrow. The sacred historian says, "After we were gotten from them," literally, after we had been torn from them. They could not bear to separate after such a sermon, such a communion, and such a wondrous deed of resuscitation. It had been a revival, and the life stimulated by that preaching and fed from that sacrament, was imaged out in that miracle. They looked upon the preacher and life-restorer, and could not keep their eyes off him; took another wistful look, and yet another, for "they should see his face no more." "They all wept sore, and fell upon Paul's neck and kissed him," unable to restrain their grief as the memory of his past labours and trials pressed upon them, followed by the thought that this was a last farewell. Could he have held out the possibility of return, had he but said that he should make an effort to come back, their misery might have been moderated. But to see his face no more threw over them the pall of death, it was as if they had stood by his sepulchre. Depart on thy old mission, pursue thy path of

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threatened dangers, thou brave and gentle heart; shadows are closing around thee and thickening before thee. Farewell, and again farewell!

The

The weather was propitious, and the ship ran that day before the wind forty miles down to the fertile island of Coos; the next day it reached Rhodes, famed for its Colossus, or huge statue of Apollo, at its harbour, and thence entered the port of Patara—a maritime city a short way to the east of the mouth of the river Xanthus. vessel proceeded no farther, but "finding a ship sailing over unto Phoenicia, we went aboard, and set forth." On the voyage they sighted Cyprus, and "passing it on the left hand," that is, to the east, "sailed into Syria, and landed at Tyre, for there the ship was to unlade her burden." While the crew were employed in discharging the cargo, Paul and his companions were also busy "finding disciples;" having sought them out, "we tarried there seven days." These disciples, who may have seen the apostle at an earlier period, when he "went through Syria," urged him not to proceed to Jerusalem. They knew from supernatural intimation what dangers awaited him, and they implored him to avoid them. But his martyr-spirit would not listen, and both parties as they separated offered prayer on the beach to God. Taking ship, they came to Ptolemais-called Acco in the Old Testament, and now St. Jean d'Acre-and remained one day. On the morrow they travelled by land to Cæsarea, a distance of about forty-four miles, and took up their abode with Philip the evangelist, one of the seven deacons appointed at an earlier period, and whose four virgin

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daughters enjoyed the gift of prophecy, as Joel had predicted of the latter times.

During their sojourn at Philip's house, a Judean prophet named Agabus joined them-" And when he was come unto us, he took Paul's girdle, and bound his own hands, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles." This prophecy and its dramatic accompaniment produced a deep effect on the whole company, and they unanimously besought Paul to pause in his journey: "Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." He was not to be deterred by any danger from what he believed to be the path of duty. He wished to carry to Jerusalem the collections made in the Gentile churches, in the hope of healing the division between Hebrew and heathen believers. He had assumed what he regarded as a sacerdotal function, being the "minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost." The Gentile churches were his oblation prepared for Pentecost, a living "tribute of a free-will offering." He was ready not to be bound only, but also to die. He did not court martyrdom, but he did not shrink from it. The prospect of it did not alarm him, for he had risen far above the fear of death. Faith achieves what philosophy fails to do. The calm and contemplative Hobbes was often terrified

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at the idea of martyrdom, lest the Leviathan he had so laboriously created should devour him. The great mind of Samuel Johnson lay under solemn terror many a day at the thought of death. Vexation and disappointment, affecting their vanity or their ambition, have also killed not a few. On the other hand, the leonine heart of the German reformer approached that of Paul, but Paul made no boast. Luther avowed that he would go to Leipzig, though it should rain Duke Georges for nine days, and that he would enter Worms though there should be as many devils in it as there were tiles on the roofs of its houses. The humble spirit of the apostle did not indulge in such hyperboles; he had neither the natural buoyancy nor physical robustness of the hearty Saxon. As they proceeded to Jerusalem, it is said, "We took up our carriages," or, as the Geneva version has it, "trussed up our fardels"-packing up the luggage necessary for the journey. Arrived at Jerusalem, they were gladly welcomed by the brethren, and seem to have dwelt with Mnason of Cyprus, an old disciple-a disciple from the beginning, or from the commencement of the new dispensation, perhaps a personal follower of the Lord. Paul lost no time in visiting James and declaring "particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry," and James and the elders, when they heard such a report, "glorified the Lord."

But what course should be now pursued? The apostle of the Gentiles, spite of all his efforts to win them, was an object of extreme dislike to the Jewish zealots-" the many thousands which believe, and are all zealous of the law."