THE

NEW TESTAMENT HISTORIES.

It was with fresh and deep interest Mr. C's friends continued to attend his weekly lecture at the Court. As all had the liberty of bringing others with them, the room was nearly filled, and though the worthy butler rejoiced at the number who came to listen to his revered master's instructions, whom he thought the very best man that had lived since the days of the Apostles at least, he was often sorely perplexed to find seats for so large a company; still one way and another he contrived to manage it, and never looked better pleased than when all were occupied. The consistent conduct of the pastor produced its proportionate respect; it added weight to his instructions; he had found the path of life himself, and he obeyed his Divine Master's commands to warn and invite others to enter it likewise. He felt most deeply the importance of the present moment;-that eternity with rapid wing is hastening onwards, and that there is no time to spare; immortal beings hurrying onwards to their everlasting home, and the question "Whither?" was continually upper36 in his anxious mind. "Work while it is called today," was his maxim, and he acted accordingly; his business was to win souls, to feed the flock committed to his care, and to profess a good profession before many witnesses." The dignity of the sacred office was constantly present to him, and therefore he rejected all invitations to enter into the world and become a partaker of its fashions and gaieties. And when he proved to his friends that he could say No to whatever was contrary to the spirit and principle of the gospel, they ceased to trouble him, and only respected him the more; while the courteousness of his manner, and the uniform cheerfulness of his conversation, rendered his society most agreeable.

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The sublime character of his studies imparted a corre

spondent sacredness to his general habits; and when he took his Bible from his pocket, and opened it at the intended place, a smile of pleasure would play upon his features, and prove that all his heart was in his present duty. Thus he looked and felt, when he approached his seat, and fixed upon the ninth chapter of the Acts. The wonderful history of the Conversion of St. Paul, the great Apostle of the Gentiles, as he is generally called, afforded him the opportunity he so much prized of declaring the efficacy of Divine grace, of showing the incapability of man to resist the power of God, and that the proudest self-righteous Pharisee must become like a little child, and say, "Lord, what wouldst thou have me to do?" But now we will take our usual place, and also become attentive listeners to Mr. C's instructions, who thus began:

"And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, and desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.' (Verses 1, 2.) What a description is this of a religious bigot!" said the teacher. "Here is a true picture of corrupt human nature. The history of the world furnishes us with fearful proofs of the cruelty ever attendant upon bigotry and fanaticism. And almost every nation has been guilty of shedding blood upon the plea of furthering the cause of God. We read of Jews persecuting Christians, and then again Christians endeavouring to root out the Jews from the earth; harsh laws and edicts, unkindness and severity to a fearful extent have been their lot for many ages, and though now their case seems improved, and they are better treated in the various nations wherein they wander, occasionally they meet with a bitter reminder that they are tolerated, not beloved, or admitted to the privileges of national freedom. The sword of the False Prophet Mahomet was the means whereby he spread his doctrine of lies, and the bodies of many Christians are not yet mouldered in the grave, who became a prey to the fierce bigotry of Mahometans, the latter end of only the past year. And need I again remind you of the cruelties of Papal Rome, so manifested that, in the language of the Holy Spirit, she is 'drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus,' (Rev. xvii. 6,) wearing out the saints of the Most High,'

(Dan. vii. 25 ;) and to this day vowing to 'persecute and attack all heretics and dissenters?' Alas! the nature of persecution, has never altered, and the fury of Saul of Tarsus only one year after our Lord's ascension into heaven, has had multitudes of imitators from that time to the present. 'Tis true he did it ignorantly in unbelief,' (1 Tim. i. 13;) for having been brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers,' (Acts xxii. 3,) he regarded the Lord Jesus as an impostor, and says himself, that he thought he ought to do many things contrary to his name,' (chap. xxvi. 9;) thus, with all his learning, he was deplorably ignorant, and though he earnestly studied the 'law of the fathers,' he gained no knowledge of Him who alone is the 'Way, the Truth, and the Life.' A proud Pharisee, he despised the humble disciples of Jesus; his sect had been strongly censured by the Lord of Life, who exposed its hypocrisy and condemned its inconsistency, therefore the mad bigotry of the young enthusiast determined that death must be the portion of all opposed to him and his principles.

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This, as I told you before, was just such an agent as the rulers wanted; the miracles of the Apostles, the holiness of their doctrine, the purity of their lives, terrified them; they saw the multitudes that followed them, and they felt their own authority giving way before a few ignorant men whom they heartily despised. Most gladly, therefore, after the martyrdom of Stephen, they listened to the persecutor's request, and gave him letters to the rulers to Damascus, that he might seek out the few Christians that resided there, and bring them bound to Jerusalem."

"How was this, Mr. C -?" said Mr. Basil.

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"The power of life and death in the case of Jewish subjects accused of heresy," replied Mr. C, was vested only in the chief priests of Jerusalem, hence these Christians were to be sent bound to that city, that if they would not deny their faith, they might be condemned to death. But infinite mercy ordered otherwise; he who had been a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious, was, unknown to himself, a 'chosen vessel,' one who should declare the truth he once destroyed, and proclaim to distant lands the unsearchable riches of Christ. Yes, Saul the Persecutor started forth, accompanied by a chosen band, his heart full of pride at the idea of the im

portant commission, his thoughts meditating upon having his revenge upon the hated sect, and afterwards receiving the thanks and praises of the rulers of his land, he drew near to Damascus, when 'suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven; and he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me ?

"The Christians of Damascus still retain the tradition of where this wonderful transaction occurred; about half a mile from the eastern gate of the town, the spot is shown to the curious traveller, and one who visited the city in 1835 thus speaks of it. We turned,' says he, 'into a wide open road after leaving the city, and passing through a large unenclosed Christian country, soon reached the place, still highly venerated, of the Apostle's miraculous conversion. The present track deviates from the straight line, bearing a few yards to the right, the precise spot believed to be that where he fell to the earth. This is evidently a portion of ancient road, consisting of firmlyimbedded pebbles, which, having never been broken up, stands alone like the fragment of an elevated causeway.'

“This, then, is the road whereon occurred one of the most wonderful events upon record, one of the most manifest displays of Divine grace. "Why persecutest thou me?' What a question! This enthusiastic Pharisee thought himself employed in the service of God; he laid aside every feeling of tenderness and mercy for the sake of destroying the hateful sect, he thought he ought to do many things contrary to Jesus of Nazareth,' (Acts xxvi. 9;) and with a soul darkened with religious bigotry, ignorance, unbelief, and spiritual pride, he was thunderstruck at hearing the voice from heaven sternly demanding, Why persecutest thou me?' And how many there are to whom these words would apply, and who yet imagine themselves excellent people, zealous servants of the Lord Jehovah. With Saul, they exclaim, 'Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.' (Acts ix. 5.) A still further cause for astonishment-what! then all his zeal was sinful, all his endeavours to further the Jewish faith were rejected by heaven, and he himself declared the persecutor, not of a few feeble men and women, but of the Lord of Glory himself. What a lesson of warning and reproof, of encouragement and comfort, does this history display!"