entirely built on this fact, as any of our readers must know. Any one who will read the history of our blessed Lord's life, which is given in the Gospels, will find this remark to be true. Why this was permitted, is another thing, which we have no right to enquire into, as "secret things belong unto the Lord our God." The age in which we live, is undoubtedly, for the most part, by the mercy of God, free from this terrible spectacle of human beings evidently possessed by evil spirits. But how far the same agency may be continued at present, it is impossible to tell; though it is not at all hard, to believe, that it does exist to a very great degree. There have been great efforts made to prove, that this young woman must have been either an impostor, or that she was a ventriloquist, or that she was crazy, or that she was led away by some disease acting upon her imagination. We see no reason why St. Luke, who wrote this history, should not have known what was the true state of the case, much better than any persons in our days; and for our part we always submit to the Scriptures, because what is written is the word of God. The plain meaning of the passage is, that some evil

spirit had possession of the body of this young woman, and enabled her to answer certain enquiries which were made.

Even in this case, however, we see the power of God exerted in a very wonderful manner. The evil spirit in this young woman seems to have been compelled to bear testimony in favour of Paul and his company, just as the evil spirits in the days of our Saviour were forced to bear witness to him. An instance of this may be remembered in Mark i. 24, where the devils cried out, "what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come hither to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God." So, this young woman, followed Paul, and cried, "These men are the servants of the most high God, who show unto us the way of salvation." This she did, for many days; and it placed Paul and his brethren in a very unpleasant situation. For if they let her alone, some might have said, that there was an agreement between them, and that they were all impostors together, and were but trying to deceive the people. Paul was grieved at this, and determined to run the risk of per

secution, rather than to be suspected, or troubled as he was. He, therefore, in the name of Christ, commanded the evil spirit to come out of her; and by the power of Christ, in whose name Paul spoke, the spirit immediately departed. Now this, as may be expected, cost them a great deal of trouble, and why? because, as this young woman, by her tricks and fortune-telling, &c., brought her masters much money, so, as soon as she was deprived of this power, all the gains of her masters stopped at once. This made them angry, and as Paul and Silas had been most concerned, they seized upon them, and dragged them to the marketplace, or rather to the court, which was probably held at or near the market-place. In all the Roman provinces, and this Philippi was one, the court was composed of persons selected from among those who were most qualified. One out of every ten was taken. This court must have been then sitting, as the masters of this young woman went there immediately, and accused the Apostles. They did not, however, accuse the Apostles of casting out this evil spirit, but they took up the general accusation, that they troubled the city by their preaching.

They accused them of teaching things which it was unlawful for Romans to hear. What could these things have been? This is easily ascertained. Paul, wherever he went, preached the Lord Jesus Christ as the only Saviour of sinners. This they supposed, and very rightly supposed, was preaching another God than those they worshipped, for they worshipped idols. And it was unlawful to receive or worship any new deity, according to the laws of Rome, without an express decree of the Roman senate. This is unquestionably the ground upon which the magistrates condemned Paul and Silas; and so at last, as in all the other cases, they suffered in the cause of their Lord and Master.

No sooner was this accusation made, than the crowd of people who had followed raised a great clamour. The Apostles do not appear to have had any opportunity to defend themselves by argument. The magistrates condemned them at once, tore their clothes off, beat them with rods very severely, till their flesh was dreadfully lacerated. This is one of the three times in which Paul says he was beaten with rods. He alludes to it in the

second chapter of his first epistle to the Thessalonians, where he speaks of it as shameful treatment. Immediately after this, while they were partly naked, and their backs wounded and bleeding, they were cast into prison, in the charge of a cruel jailer. He appears to have been as bad as the rest of them; for not content merely to put them into prison, he placed them in the lower dungeon, no doubt appropriated for the vilest convicts, thrust their feet into the stocks, and there meant to leave them in that dreadful situation all the night. God, however, ordered it otherwise : but the remarkable history of his interposition must be reserved for another chapter.

CHAPTER VII.

Wonderful transactions which occurred during the imprisonment of Paul and Silas-Conversion of the jailer, and release of the Apostles.

IN our last chapter, we were called upon to contemplate the persecution which the Apostles were obliged to suffer at Philippi. They