In about three months, Paul was joined at Corinth by Silas and Timothy. The latter brought information from Thessalonica, which was, upon the whole, satisfactory. The faith of the converts had remained unshaken by the persecutions to which they had been exposed. They retained a good remembrance' of him, and longed to see him again. On the other hand, some irregularities had crept in, and some mistaken notions, especially as regarded Christ's second coming, which they conceived to be close at hand. All this induced Paul to send to them his first epistle, the first in time of all his existing epistles; and not long after, a second, to correct some further misconceptions, which, as he understood, had grown out of the

first.

Both these letters are introduced in the names of 'Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus.'

They also brought a most seasonable supply of money from 'the churches in Macedonia,' and notably from the considerate and kind-hearted Philippians. This was not only greatly wanted, to supply the insufficiency of his own handwork in a time of such dearth, but probably enabled him to give a little more time to his evangelical labours. His conduct in steadily refusing to accept assistance from the Corinthians afterwards exposed him to some animadversions, from which he completely vindicates himself in 2 Cor. xi. 7-12. He there refers to the contributions he received from Macedonia, to prove that he had shown himself willing to accept such assistance, when he could do so without compromising his independence, or exposing his disinterestedness to suspicion.

Paul, now strengthened by the presence of Silas and Timothy, pursued his spiritual labours with increased vigour; and as the Sabbath was the only day he could spare from daily toil, it was spent chiefly in proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah to the Jews in their synagogues. This awakened vehement opposition; and at length he was so shocked at the coarse blasphemies they showered upon that honoured name, that he confronted them sternly, and, shaking his raiment, to signify that he cast off all responsibility for the result, he said, 'Your blood be upon your own heads: I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto

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the Gentiles.' Then, either to illustrate this determination, or to avoid the rage which the declaration of it excited, he went into a house close by, occupied by a Gentile convert, named Justus. He seems to have been then somewhat discouraged at the prospect before him in Corinth, and to have contemplated a withdrawal from the city. But he was sustained by a vision of the night, in which the Lord said, 'Be not afraid ; but speak, and hold not thy peace: for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.'

This was quite enough for Paul; and he pursued his course. for eighteen months, with great success in the conversion of souls to Christ, and without any material interruption. At length a new proconsul for Achaia arrived at Corinth. This was Gallio, brother of Seneca the philosopher, and of Mela, the father of Lucan, the author of the Pharsalia. He comes down to us with a high character for amiability from his brother Seneca, who speaks of him as faultless-as one 'whom every one loved too little, even he who loved him most.' On his arrival the Jews seem to have made an experiment upon the reputed easiness of his temper, and his official inexperience, by endeavouring to extort from him by clamour the punishment of the apostle. They therefore seized Paul, and hurried him tumultuously before the judgment-seat, where their charge was, This fellow persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law.' But Gallio had not unprofitably observed the commotions of this kind which had been excited by the same class at Rome. He seems to have been aware of the nature of the Jewish opposition to Christianity, and it has been guessed that he was not altogether unacquainted with the Christian doctrine. Be this as it may, he did not call upon the apostle to make any answer to the charge, but dismissed the complaint with some asperity, as a matter with which he, as a civil magistrate, had no concern. 'If it were a matter of wrong, or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you; but if it be a question of words, and names, and of your law, look ye to it, for I will be no judge of such matters.' So

saying, he waved them contemptuously away. But as they were slow to move, the mob of Greeks, who hated the Jews and sided with Paul, if only because he was accused by them, began to handle them roughly. They even seized their mouthpiece, Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and gave him a sound beating before the proconsul's face. This was, doubtless, although not so intended, an affront to the dignity of the court. But as it was a step in accordance with the feeling he himself had manifested, he did not think proper to take any notice of it. Thus Gallio cared for none of those things ;' neither for the accusation of the Jews, nor for the unauthorized punishment of their leader. And this, rather than as an expression of his indifference to all serious matters, we take to be the meaning of these words.

Fifty-first Week-First Day.

AN IGNORANCE.-ACTS XVIII. 17-XIX. 7.

VERY wonderful often, and very various, are the Lord's dealings with those whom He would bring unto himself. Some He draws gently with the cords of love; some He urges by fright and terror to flee to Him from the wrath to come; some He impels by his scourging judgments; and some He drives with the whips of men. This last seems to have been the case with Sosthenes, that ruler of the synagogue whom we yesterday beheld so active against Paul, and receiving a substantial beating before Gallio's tribunal at the hands of the Corinthian mob. When, however, we next hear of this person, he is not only a convert, but a companion and trusted brother at Ephesus of that Paul whose life he had sought at Corinth. The apostle even unites Sosthenes' name with his own in the inscription of his first epistle to the church in that city, which epistle was probably, indeed, written by his hand at the dictation of Paul, whose manner it was so to write: Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth.' How strange and marvellous it seems to behold these two men, who had both been persecutors of the church in times and places far apart, now labouring strenuously together to build up that which they had once sought to destroy! As these lines were penned, Paul could not but deeply feel that it was indeed 'the will of God'-the same will of God which had made him an apostle of Jesus Christ-which had made Sosthenes a minister of Christ's word. It was the Lord's doing, and it was marvellous in his eyes. This remarkable analogy in their spiritual history must have imparted to Paul's mind a peculiarly sympathizing interest in behalf of Sosthenes.

His conversion probably took place during Paul's further residence at Corinth, which seems to have been for about a month. He then took his departure, as he intended to be present at the next feast-probably that of Pentecost-at Jerusalem, and not more than sufficient time remained for the journey. On his deliverance from the imminent danger to which he had been exposed, Paul had taken the Nazarite vow, in testimony of his thankfulness. It was usual, as Josephus informs us, for the Jews, on their recovery from severe disease, or deliverance from any great peril, to take the vow binding themselves to abstain from wine, and let their hair grow for thirty days. By the law on the subject, as stated in the Book of Numbers, the vow might be of shorter or longer duration; and, at the expiration of the time, the devotee shaved his head, and offered certain appointed sacrifices; but as these could not be offered out of Jerusalem, those who took this vow in foreign parts, made their offerings at their next visit to the holy city. At the eastern port of Cenchrea, where he prepared to embark for Asia, the days of Paul's vow expired, and he shaved his head, but necessarily deferred his offerings till he should reach Jerusalem. Some have seen so much difficulty in this transaction, that they transfer the vow to Aquila. But, besides that the vow was not in itself improper, it might be an object with Paul, now proceeding to Jerusalem, to show by the offerings which he had by this act rendered himself liable to make there, that he did not, as injuriously reported, despise their law, but was himself, as a Jew, disposed to conform to it on every proper occasion. This could be better evinced by an obligation voluntarily incurred than in any other way. Not only Silas and Timothy, but Aquila and Priscilla, were the apostle's companions, having, it would seem, purposed to settle at Ephesus. On reaching that place, they remained there; but Paul, with Silas and Timothy, hastened on to Cæsarea, and, landing there, reached Jerusalem in time for the feast. No particulars are given of the journey or the visit, except that he went up and saluted the church,' after which he proceeded to Antioch, from which he had so long been absent. He was