cal prejudices of Judaism, they were in a state of some preparedness for the fuller doctrine which Philip was ready to impart. This evangelist being, as we have presumed, a Hellenist, would also be comparatively free from those angry feelings towards the Samaritans, which might have deterred a native Jew from going among them. He could not but have known of our Lord's teaching in Samaria; and this must have seemed to him a sufficient warrant for offering the gospel to a people not recognised as within the pale of Judaism; and if he had hesitated, the recollection of our Lord's express order, just before his ascension, for its general diffusion, must have removed his doubts. This, however, was a point on which the apostles themselves did not see their way clearly; and to Philip may be assigned the distinction of being led by the Spirit to anticipate the conclusions to which they were all eventually led or driven.

The success of Philip among the Samaritans fully equalled, and probably exceeded, any expectations he had formed. Very general attention was paid to him; and very many were so deeply impressed by the doctrine which he taught, and by the signal miracles of beneficence which he wrought in confirmation of it, that they declared their adhesion to Christ, and received baptism from the hands of the evangelist. Then there was 'great joy' in the city; for many of its inhabitants had found that treasure of the soul, for which there was a general craving at that time. Among these converts was a man who had before been held in high reverence by the people of the place. His name was Simon; and he is described as one of those men, partly philosopher and partly charlatan, of whom there were many in that age, who pretended to have, and perhaps deluded themselves into the belief that they actually had, a special intimacy and intercourse with the hidden spiritual world; and who, either by aid of the powers of darkness, were enabled to work real wonders in support of their pretensions, or by their acquaintance with secrets of natural science now familiar to us, but then known only to the adepts, were enabled to produce effects which astonished the uninstructed,

just as the results of electricity or chemistry do still, in many places, alarm and bewilder the ignorant. This man had been looked up to with awe and reverence by the people, as something more than human, his pretensions being favoured by the circumstances of the time; for the general excitement in the minds of men, and the prevalent longing for something higher -facts to which we have frequently had occasion to refer—led the people but too readily to attach themselves to all persons who affirmed that they had been favoured with glimpses of the spiritual world. So we see here again the necessity of miracles —of such miracles as could, from their nature, be subject to no misinterpretation. Simon might, for instance, do many wonderful things; but he could not heal the sick and dying, and restore strength to the helpless, as Philip did. He could astonish and perplex: Philip also could astonish, but he could do far more he could, by the beneficent character of all his acts, reopen the springs of gladness in many a forlorn heart, and send thankfulness and joy to many a troubled home. These were practical realities; and no wonder that Simon soon found himself deserted. He therefore seems to have thought that he might maintain his influence better by an adhesion to the new cause, than by any hostility to it. He accordingly presented himself to Philip, declaring his belief in Christ, and was in consequence baptized. How far his belief was sincere, or how far simulated, it is not for us to say. We know that he was not spiritually converted; but he may have had an historical belief in all that Philip taught concerning Christ, and may have thought that sufficient. Or it may be that he regarded the works of Philip as the results of an art simply higher than his own, and of secrets to which he had not yet attained; and he expected to be able to gain possession of them by attaching himself to the unsuspicious evangelist.

Now, when the intelligence of Philip's success in Samaria reached Jerusalem, Peter and John went thither to promote and establish this great work.

It is to be borne in mind, that though the ordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit were shed abroad in the heart of every true

convert, the extraordinary gifts-as those of speaking languages not learned, of working miracles, or of discerning spirits-could only be imparted by the apostles, when not spontaneously effused, as on the day of Pentecost, or in the house of Cornelius. These gifts they imparted to such as seemed to them fit to receive them; and in this they could not well be mistaken, as they were endowed with the faculty of 'discerning of spirits,' that is, of perceiving the real spiritual condition of those to whom their attention was directed. This they did by laying their hands upon the heads of the persons for whom they sought these benefits-such being the universal eastern. practice with those who prayed for, or invoked blessings upon another. The free Spirit of God was not, however, bound, even by the apostles' invocation. He dispersed his gifts severally to every man as He would; bestowing upon him that gift which he was best fitted to receive and exercise for the benefit of the church. Still, unlike the spiritual gifts with which all true converts were enriched, these were manifest and palpable, and, in the eyes of a worldly man like Simon, must have seemed of immensely greater importance and value than those simply spiritual gifts and graces of the Spirit which, although ostensibly a convert, he had not received, and was incapable of appreciating. Seeing, therefore, the extraordinary endowments which followed the imposition of the apostles' hands, he was greatly astonished. He measured them by his own standard; he regarded them simply as greater adepts than himself, or even Philip, in thaumaturgic arts; and perceiving at a glance how the possession of such a power as that which they exercised, might be made conducive to the objects of his selfish ambition, he thirsted to obtain it. He had not approached near enough to the apostles to understand them thoroughly. Notwithstanding the eclát of his conversion, there was something so mutually repellent between their nature and his, that no intimacy had grown up between them. Had there been such intimacy, he would not have had the hardihood, or have committed the serious mistake, of attempting to bribe the apostles by a sum of money-probably a large sum-to impart

their own power to him-not simply the power of speaking with tongues, of working miracles, of prophesying, of discerning of spirits, but the power of conferring those gifts by the imposition of his hands. The audacious atrocity and worldliness of this proposal, struck the apostles with amazement and horror; and Peter gave free utterance to his indignant abhorrence Thy money,' he said, 'perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.' He added, with becoming severity, that he now perceived that Simon had 'neither part nor lot in the matter,' that his 'heart was not right in the sight of God,' and that he was still, notwithstanding his apparent adhesion to Christ by conversion and baptism, 'in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.' Yet, seeing that Simon seemed appalled at his denunciation, he addressed him, less severely, 'Repent, therefore, of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if, perhaps, the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.' Nothing could more strongly manifest Peter's estimate of this infamy than the subjunctive form in which he held forth the possibility of pardon. Simon felt this. The proud spirit of the man, the aim of whose life had been to secure the homage of men, stood rebuked before the plain-minded truthfulness of the Galilean fisherman. The philosophy of his life was at fault. Simple, high-toned Christian honesty was a phenomenon which he could not well understand; it threw him sharply out of his entire course of thought; and perhaps for that moment he was a better man than he ever had been before, or ever was after. Yet, looking closely, fear seems to have been the paramount impression. He had doubtless heard of the fate of Ananias and Sapphira, and feared that the apostle might inflict on the spot the doom he seemed to denounce; and when relieved from this by the call to repentance, and the reference of his judgment to God, the words he brought himself to utter are less those of contrition for his offence than dread of its punishment: Pray for me, that none of those things which ye have spoken come upon me.'

The word 'simony,' formed from this man's name, has per

petuated in the church the infamy of his thought, that the gift of God may be purchased with money.'

Forty-second Week-Third Day.

SIMON MAGUS.—ACTS VIII. 18–24.

THE Simon who is dismissed from sacred history with the facts which last evening passed under our notice, is taken up by ecclesiastical history and tradition, in which he figures by the name of Simon Magus. According to this source of information, his contact with Christianity, and the acquaintance he had formed with its principles, were turned to account for the advancement of his own objects by a new system of delusion, in which some Christian elements were, in a most distorted shape, incorporated with something of later Judaism, and something of the mythic philosophy of the East.

According to Justin Martyr, Simon was a native of Gitton in Samaria; and this agrees very well with the circumstance of our finding him pursuing his practices among the Samaritans. There is a tradition that he had studied at Alexandria; and those who are acquainted with the dreamy theology of the Alexandrian schools will think this not unlikely, though we have no very certain evidence of the fact. Josephus speaks of a Simon Magus who was high in the confidence of the Roman governor Felix, and the subservient minister of his will. Neander supposes him to have been the same as this Simon; but it is reasonably objected that Josephus makes his Simon a native of Cyprus, whereas Justin, who was himself a native of Shechem in Samaria, and had every opportunity of knowing the native country of Simon, declares him to have been a Samaritan, and could have no possible interest in misrepresenting the truth. Besides, Felix lived too late to allow it to be supposed that Simon Magus could still be actively engaged in those regions where he was procurator; for Simon seems to have early left the East, and to have betaken himself to Rome,