self from any suspicion of his intending to accuse his countrymen. He therefore, three days after his arrival, called the heads of the Jews together, and explained to them the real cause of his appeal to Cæsar, namely, in self-defence, to vindicate and clear his character from the false charges brought against him by his enemies, and also the real cause of his chains, namely his constantly maintaining the great doctrine of the resurrection, which was the hope and comfort of all true Israelites.

E. I suppose, however, his enemies at Jerusalem had been beforehand with him in sending all their unjust accusations to his countrymen at Rome?

M. No, they seem to have been entirely silenced by the decided manner in which king Agrippa, a Jew himself, and therefore well calculated to judge in such a matter, had declared his innocence; and they neglected to forward any accusation against him, which was as much as to say that they also considered him acquitted. The Jews of Rome, therefore, received him courteously, and acknowledged that they had heard nothing by general report against his character: and they were candid enough to express a wish to hear him speak himself on the great subjects of difference between them. A day therefore was appointed for this purpose, when many of them came to his lodging, where "he expounded to them and testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses and out of the prophets, from morning till evening."

E. I hope his labour was not still in vain ; especially as the Jews of Rome seem to have been more kind and candid than those of Jerusalem.

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M. Nevertheless, the Apostle's preaching seems scarcely to have had more success than usual: some believed the things which were spoken;" but the greater part "believed not:" neither could they agree among themselves. St. Paul therefore parted with them with a solemn warning, in which he applied to them the awful prophecy of Isaiah; "saying, Go unto this people and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive; for the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and I should heal them."

E. I think our Lord applied these very words to them himself, when his disciples asked Him why He addressed them in parables.

M. He did; and although more than twenty years had passed away since then, they continued now the very same people they were in our Lord's own time; bringing down upon themselves more and more, by their wilful obstinacy and determined rejection of the truth, the dreadful denunciations of Scripture; and thus allowing the day of salvation to pass away from them unimproved. In taking leave of them on this occasion, St. Paul told them plainly that the salvation of God was now sent unto the Gentiles, and that they would receive it: and accordingly from that time he turned his own labours entirely to the Gentiles; and, during the two years that he remained a prisoner at Rome," he received all that came unto him in his own house, preaching the kingdom of God, and teach

ing those things which concern our Lord Jesus Christ, with all freedom of speech, no man forbidding him." So remarkable was the opening made for the Apostle by the providence of God in this distinguished and greatly frequented city, from whence, as from one grand focus, the blessed truths which he taught might circulate so easily almost throughout the world. What a field for his Apostolic labours! What a reward for all his sufferings !

E. But was he a prisoner all that time?

M. Yes, during those two years he remained a prisoner, only dwelling privately in a house hired apparently with the labour of his own hands; employing himself in preaching the Gospel diligently, and also in corresponding with the Churches in other parts, in which he continued to feel a most lively interest, and for whose edification he did all by letter, which he would have been glad, had it not been for his bonds, to have done in person. It was now apparently that he wrote several of his Epistles, especially those to the Hebrews, Ephesians, Colossians, and Philippians. E. But those two years came to an end at last; and what did St. Paul do then?

M. St. Luke's narrative leaves him at Rome, nor does the Bible give us any further information respecting him, excepting such short notices as we can gather here and there from his own Epistles. We have, however, some further accounts furnished by uninspired writers, which it may be interesting to you to be made acquainted with. But these we had better keep quite distinct from the inspired history, as being neither so full nor so certain as what we meet with

there. I will not therefore enter upon these to-night, but collect them for you before we meet for another conversation.

See Acts xxvii. 33–44. xxviii.

THIRTIETH SUNDAY EVENING.

EFFECT OF ST. PAUL'S PREACHING AT ROME.

M. We have now, Edward, brought the history of the Acts of the Apostles, and of St. Paul in particular, through a period of nearly thirty years, through which they have been carried in the sacred volume. Our accounts of them afterwards are derived only, as I said before, from a few scattered notices to be found in uninspired writers, or contained in the Apostolical Epistles. As to St. Paul, it appears most probable that at the end of the two years mentioned in the Acts', he obtained his release from the sort of free imprisonment in which he had been there detained, his Jewish enemies most probably not venturing to accuse him before the emperor on charges which they were unable to substantiate, and to which, if they had been able to do so, the emperor was not likely to listen.

E. Which of the Cæsars was it, Mamma, that was now reigning?

M. Nero was the present emperor; for, as you know, the name of Cæsar, together with the higher

1 Acts xxviii. 30.

title of Augustus, was given in common to all the emperors of Rome from the time of Augustus Cæsar, in whose reign our blessed Lord was born.

There is every reason to believe then that at the end of two years St. Paul left Rome, and fulfilled his intentions, we might almost say his promises, of again visiting the Churches in Greece and Asia, particularly those of Philippi, Colossæ, and Judæa, as you may see from several passages in the Epistles'. Besides this, there can be no doubt that the great Apostle of the Gentiles, who considered himself under an obligation to preach the Gospel "both to the Greeks and the barbarians, to the wise and to the unwise," and who was continually increasing his exertions in the race that was set before him, in proportion as he approached nearer the goal, surely it cannot be doubted that, as soon as he was at liberty, he would proceed at once to make the most of his time in strengthening the Churches he had already planted, as well as in making new conquests for the kingdom of God.

E. I suppose he meant something like this, when he told the Philippians that "forgetting those things which are behind, and pressing on towards those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." By his high calling did St. Paul mean, Mamma, the office to which God had called him, as a preacher of the Gospel?

M. Doubtless he included that as part of his Christian calling; and it is remarkable that the beautiful verses, which you have so appropriately applied, were

1 Phil. i. 26, 27. ii. 24. Philem. 22. Heb. xiii. 23.

2 Rom. i. 14.