with for that time. Although repeated confessions are allowed to stand good for scandalous offences, they are not tolerated in a case of heresy. The first confession is admitted for the secret heretic, never for the dogmatizing heretic; and even if a secret heretic should make a second confession, he is treated in the same way as if he had relapsed.

The author of these notes possessed a copy of a rare and valuable work which was used as the text-book of the theory and practice of the Inquisition. It was called "Directorium Inquisitorum," the Inquisitors' Directory, by Nicholas Eymeric; a folio volume of eight hundred pages, containing, besides the common text, the notes of Monsignor Pegna, auditor of the Rota, dedicated to the Pope, and printed by authority of the Senate. According to this book, dogmatizing heretics, or heresiarchs, as they are also called, are those who not merely hold opinions condemned as heretical by the Church of Rome, but also teach them either in public or in private (part 2, quest. 39, comm. 64). Such heretics deserve to be informed against without scruple, and those who fail to denounce them fall at once under suspicion of heresy by the countenance they thereby give it. We learn from the same source that favour may be shown to heretics in three ways: frst, by negligence or omission; second, by fact or cooperation; third, by counsel. In the case of magistrates, all negligence in prosecuting heretics exposes them to the charge of favouring them; whilst, as regards private individuals, the simple fact of their not informing is sufficient to criminate them as aiders and abettors. The offence of being suspected of heresy is committed in three ways, or to speak more correctly in the language of inquisitorial jurisprudence, there are three various grades of suspect. The first is the lightly suspected (levis suspicio), so called because the suspicion is founded on slight conjecture, as in the case of a person who attends secret meetings, the business transacted at which remains a mystery. The second is the strongly suspected (vehemens suspicio), a case in which suspicion is based on much stronger conjecture, as when a person associates with heretics, conceals them, gives cr receives presents from them, or adopts any similar line of conduct toward them. The third grade consists of those who are violently suspected (violenta suspicio), as occurs in the case of those who willingly receive spiritual consolation from heretics, frequent their meetings, and so forth. Suspects of the first grade are summoned to the Holy Office, and compelled to make abjuration; those of the second are dealt with by imprisonment and torture; those of the third grade must be treated as regular heretics.

THE FORM OF CRIMINAL PROCESS.

When the Sacred Office has recourse to imprisonment, its authority is directed against three classes: the Bherals, the heretical, and the scandalous. The liberals, properly so-called, would not naturally fall under the observation of the Inquisition but for the popes, from

the time of Benedict XIV. down till now, having united in condemning all sorts of secret societies, and particularly those of free-masons, as heretical. The Pope binds over all the faithful to denounce those belonging to secret societies, and a priest in the confessional cannot give his penitent absolution, unless the latter gives information on this head, even should his nearest relations be involved in the charge. Of course it is difficult to procure such charges; but there are few who, at the point of death, will refuse to make them, when perhaps their hope of heaven is staked upon their confessing. After a liberal has been informed against by a confessor, the Holy Office proceeds against him in its capacity of accuser, and gives notice of the charge to the secretary of state, who in turn hands over the case to the police, to be proceeded with by them as they may think proper. Heretics, on the other hand, may be proceeded against either by accusation or by inquisition. In the former case, when a person is accused of heresy or suspicion of heresy, the tribunal demands witnesses or evidence in proof of the accusation at the hands of the accuser. The witnesses may be relatives of the accused-they may even be persons of disreputable character; it matters not who or what they are, when any kind of testimony constitutes proof. After one or two witnesses have been examined, the accused is apprehended. The arrest is made early in the evening. Two of the police connected with the Inquisition drive up in a hired carriage to the house of the accused, seize him, seal up his papers, and hurry him off in the vehicle. This is procedure by accusation. Procedure by inquisition is somewhat different. An inquisitor, who has suspicions of a person's orthodoxy, sets spies about him, to watch everything he says or does. At the same time they serve as witnesses, until the inquisitor has gathered sufficient information to complete the case, when the individual is imprisoned. As soon as he enters the dungeon, a formal minute of his conduct is drawn up, describing minutely the demeanour of the prisoner at the moment of his arrest, stating whether or not he looked surprised, whether he tried to escape, whether he was alone or in company with any one, what he did, and what he said. If he declines to sign this document, it is immediately taken as proof presumptive of his guilt. He is next stripped by the police, and his clothing subjected to the closest scrutiny. The object of this is to remove out of reach of the accused anything by which the prisoner might commit suicide, as well as to discover any cabalistic sign or amulet about the person. The archives of the Holy Office contain many things of this sort, once considered magical; as, for instance, ciphers, rings of singular make, tresses of hair, which, being regarded as amulets, form part of the process, and are adduced in evidence as proof of the prisoner's heresy.

TREATMENT OF PRISONERS-TORTURE.

Once immured within the gloomy precincts, the treatment of the prisoners varies very much according to the

quality of their offences. Generally speaking, those who are imprisoned for moral or political offences are treated with tenderness and liberality. They have a large supply of wholesome food, and every reasonable indulgence is allowed them. This, of course, is done for a purpose. Those who experience this gentle regimen belong to the class who are sure to return to the world at no distant date, and are thus able to contradict the reports in common circulation regarding the horrors of the Inquisition. The poor heretics, however, who are not expected to mingle again in society, could tell a somewhat different tale as to the usage they receive. Their diet is regulated on a totally different principle from that of their more fortunate neighbours their daily rations consisting of a small quantity of wretched soup, a morsel of beef, and a pound of black bread. Liberties and indulgences they have none, being never allowed to see any visitor. In this respect also the amount of liberty extended to the prisoners-another essential difference appears between the privileged and the unprivileged classes. The former are not only allowed to walk up and down, and converse with each other in the spacious corridors, but the fathercompanions and inquisitorial notaries frequently come to pay them visits. Other indulgences are granted them,—such as permission to write, and receive visits; indeed, they want for nothing that can be reasonably wished for in a prison. It is understood that they will soon be released, and they are treated accordingly. In fact, the rigours of the place vary in exact proportion to the depth of the heretical taint. Thus, those imprisoned on a charge of disseminating heretical tenets are treated with the utmost possible harshness. The prisons assigned to them are the very worst in the establishment, as it is certain that no heresiarch, except by a special intervention of Providence, will ever come out alive.

A word or two upon the forms of torture actually practised at the present day in the Inquisition still remains to be said. Since the year 1815, when the torture was abolished in the Papal States, physical torture-that is, torture by fire, water, and the rope--has likewise been put an end to by the Inquisition. For these another species has been substituted, called moral torture, consisting either of hunger, or darkness, or excess of light, or suffocation by impure air. The torture of darkness is thus inflicted: the chamber is hung round with black cloth, and the windows hermetically closed, so that not the faintest ray of light can glimmer through. This is usually administered to women and persons of a nervous temperament. The individual shut up there sees nothing and hears nothing, except perhaps when he is now and then startled by terrible noises mysteriously sounded into his cell. These tortures last seven or eight days in succession, and when the poor emaciated sufferer, almost beside himself with terror, is conducted before his tormentors for examination, he almost necessarily says everything they want him to say. There is another species of torture still in use, less cruel indeed, but much more immoral. The authorities profess to be touched with pity for the prisoner, and have him removed to a larger and better cell, where he finds the companionship of a fellow-prisoner, an improvement in his living, and attention paid him. His companion, however, is not really a prisoner, but a turnkey put there to induce him to talk. After he has opened his heart freely and unsuspiciously to his apparently sympathetic friend, he is conveyed back to his old quarters, and the knave who has deceived him commits the confessions of his victim to writing, makes some observations of his own, and confirms the whole with his oath. We must say that the Inquisition has made progress: appliances like this are better suited than the rack to extort confessions.

V.

THE ISLES OF GREECE AND THE COAST OF ASIA.

ACTS xiii. 13-43.

HE judgments of the Lord's hand opened a way into the heart of Sergius for the Lord's word. That word, when it entered, filled him with wonder. "He was astonished at the doctrine of the Lord." After the storm and the thunder, the "still, small voice" asserted its power. The story of the cross was a new thing to the Roman. It was not like the doctrine of the Greek philosophers : it was not like the doctrine of the Jewish soothsayer.

These missionaries told the governor that God is love, and that he so loved the world that he gave his only Son to save the lost. They told him that God, in our nature, had given himself a sacrifice, the just for the unjust. As this doctrine fell on the governor's ears, his heart melted. Felix trembled, and returned to his sin: Sergius trembled, and cleaved to Christ. One is taken, and another left.

Poor Sergius had lived up to this time in a dark, sunless world. He was uneasy, and knew not what ailed him. He craved for light, and yet knew not where to find it. We know that he longed for something to satisfy his soul, for he kept the Jewish magician bang

ing about his court. He clutched a shadow; and this showed at least that he had an appetite for the substance. In his darkness he had heard of this man's pretensions, and sent for him. "Can you strike some light for us, stranger? for we are in darkness unendurable here. Give us some light for our souls, if you can, by your magical arts." To such a man, in such a mood, the doctrine of the Lord, when it was unfolded, was like the sunlight bursting through the primeval mist upon a hitherto benighted world. It was sight to the blind, and life to the dead.

Paul had already taken the lead in the interview with Sergius; and he keeps it, now when the missionary company take leave of Cyprus, and make for the mainland of Asia Minor.

The immediate reason why Cyprus was chosen as the field of operation when the mission first started for Antioch, was probably the connection of Barnabas with that island as the place of his birth. Perhaps the journey northward to the province of Pamphylia now was in like manner due to the predominance which Paul had attained in the councils of the company. They sailed from Paphos, on the western shore of Cyprus, to the nearest point of the neighbouring continent. The landing-place was not, indeed, in Cilicia, Paul's native province, but it was in the bordering territory, and must have been familiar to him in his youth.

"Paul and his company loosed from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia." The great work is begun; the messengers run to and fro; knowledge of the Lord is increased. Forth from Jerusalem the word has gone; and it will never be shut up within one nation again. The word has come to the world; the people who sat in darkness saw a great light.

These isles of Greece !-green spots that stud the bosom of the sea, and stud our memories too from childhood with romantic associations-we think of them as the early home of the arts, at a time when our country was the hunting-ground of barbarians. These isles of Greece !—we remember, with youth's enthusiasm, that on the waters which surround them the battle of liberty was fought and won, when the small Greek communities broke the power of the Persian monarchy, as the country's rocky shores broke the waves of the Medi

terranean.

But on the page of Scripture a more entrancing scene is displayed. The feet of the men who publish salvation tread the isles of Greece, and touch the waters that lave its shores. These heralds proclaim to the nations peace with God through the one Mediator. The barque that bore the missionaries of the cross was buoyed up on the same waters that carried those classic navies which bore back the tide of invasion from their shores : bat a greater than classic fleet is here; here a greater victory is won, and a more precious liberty achieved. If the Son make you free, you shall be free indeed.

The apostle of the Gentiles is now fully under way.

This is the beginning of his course; and what a course! No mere man has left his mark so deep and broad

upon this world. No conqueror, ancient or modern, can be compared with this wandering Jew, either as to the magnitude or the beneficence of his influence on the character and history of the Inuman race.

There is a tendency in our day to escape from some of the doctrines which Paul has clearly expressed and fully expounded in his epistles. These doctrines are by some persons disliked, and therefore disbelieved. In connection with this subject some indisputable facts should be carefully noted and remembered. These deep abstract doctrines which Paul taught the doctrines of justification by faith and pardon through a sacrificecommunicated the impulse to the greatest practical life known to history. These were the impelling motives of the largest and most fruitful of human lives. It was by the proclamation and inculcation of these doctrines that the old things of human civilization were swept away and all things were made new. In them lay the power that turned the world upside down. Those who nibble at the Pauline dogmas should take along with their criticisms the fact that these dogmas have in very deed put forth more power to inould the character and destinies of humanity than any or all other doctrines put together.

As soon as the missionary group reached the mainland, Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem. We do not exactly know his reasons; but we know that Paul thought them insufficient, and publicly blamed the act. So much did he disapprove of Mark's conduct at this time, that at a subsequent stage he refused to accept him as a companion, although that refusal implied separation from his beloved Barnabas. Possibly Mark may have been offended by the change that had silently been effected in the leadership of the expedition. When he left Antioch as the junior colleague, his uncle Barnabas was at its head; but when he left Paphos the whole group passed under the designation of "Paul and his company." Barnabas himself was superior to such jealousy; but it does not follow that the younger evangelist altogether escaped the tinge.

Leaving Perga, on the coast, the two elder missionaries penetrated to Antioch in Pisidia-a much less important city than the Antioch from which the expedition sailed-and there opened their commission as preachers of Christ's gospel. They modestly entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and sat down among the ordinary worshippers. The elders in charge conducted the usual service in the usual way, and then sent a message inviting the strangers to address the assembly.

Paul is the spokesman abroad, as Peter had been at home. Having been led to the proper place, he waved his hand as a token for silent attention, and proceeded with his address.

Following the method of Stephen, which he doubtless remembered well, he sought an entrance to the sanctuary of the gospel through the vestibule of venerated Hebrew

history. When he had carried his sketch down to the time of David, he turned aside from the narrative and plunged into his main theme-presented David's Son to the faith of David's subjects.

At the close of the sermon, when the bulk of the congregation dispersed, a band of earnest inquirers, partly Jews, but for the most part Gentiles, remained with the missionaries-their appetites quickened, not satisfied, by what they had heard. Pleasant excitement it must have been to these fishers for men when they felt many grasping and drawing. Fuller explanation was given in private to all the inquirers, and a promise made, in answer to their eager request, that the same doctrines would be taught in the synagogue next Sabbathday. I think those men of Antioch who remained after the sermon to converse with the ministers would have many thoughts and conversations on the subject during the week. When they came up to the house of God next Sabbath they were sure of the blessing; for the finding is, in the Lord's promise, made sure to those who seek.

VI.

THE BEGINNING OF THE GOSPEL IN ASIA MINOR. ACTS xiii. 44-52; xiv. 1.

Ir is remarkable that Paul, though rejected by his own countrymen at Jerusalem, and sent out as the apostle of the Gentiles, yet uniformly addressed himself first to the Jews wherever he found them. He maintained the spirit of the Lord's rule, when compliance with the letter was no longer possible," beginning at Jerusalem." The Jews of the dispersion participated in the privilege the first offer was always made to the seed of Abraham. In each case the gospel was presented to the heathen when it was rejected by the Jews.

When the Greek inhabitants of the city came out in mass to hear the gospel, the Jews were envious, and violently opposed the apostles. In his defence Paul quotes a promise (Isa. xl. 6; Luke ii. 32), calling it a command. It is eminently instructive to observe that when God promises light to the Gentiles, Christians understand the word as an order to themselves to spread the light in the dark places of the earth. When God proclaims that the thing shall be done, true disciples of Christ go forth to do it. They count the promise a command, and render themselves instruments of righteousness unto God. The result was, "the word of the Lord was published through all that region." They rightly understood the Scripture, "Work, for it is God that worketh in you."

Besides appealing to the civic authorities against the missionaries, the Jews, in their eagerness to obstruct the work, secretly enlisted the services of certain women, high in social position, and full of superstitious zeal, to counteract the effects of the preached word. This is an agency that has from the beginning been sought and used both for good and for evil. Women were employed by the Lord himself for certain appropriate ministries

in the establishment of his kingdom. But false teachers have in all times availed themselves of the combined weakness and strength of the feminine nature for their own ends. They find in many women the religious element strong, and the faculty of judgment comparatively weak. By the weak side they enter in and take possession; when once in, they wield the strong side for their own purposes. The Romish hierarchy have always made much of female agency, and especially the agency of women in high social rank.

But as Christ himself employed their tenderness, and patience, and perseverance in his own cause, he has encouraged his disciples in all ages to go and do likewise. Let woman stand on her true foundation, the family; and forth from that citadel let her go to her daily task wherever the Lord hath need of her service: but back to the family let her ever return, as to her refuge and rest. Colonies of women, cut off from family relations and affections and duties, and bound by vows, are mischievous to themselves, and, notwithstanding superficial apparent advantages, in the long-run dangerous to the community. God made the family; man made the convent. God's work! behold it is very good; man's is in this case a snare.

The unbelieving Jews, through secret influence and public authority combined, succeeded in driving the missionaries away from Antioch. On their part, the missionaries, with the symbolic protest of shaking the dust from their feet, made the best of their way to Iconium, filled, as they fled, "with joy and with the Holy Ghost."

It is not enough to say that they were joyful although they were persecuted; for they were joyful because they were persecuted. Suffering made them glad, because it was a distinct fulfilment of their Master's word. He warned them that these troubles would overtake them for his name's sake. Now that they have experience of cruel treatment at Antioch, they are convinced of two things, that the Lord saw the end from the beginning, and that they are on the right way. The way was rough indeed, but its roughness was a mark by which they knew it to be right. It was a uniform experience, that wherever their word told, enemies rose up against them. Wherever they met with great success, there they met with great opposition. As soon as the door of opportunity opened, a crowd of adversaries rushed in. This was according to law. Where the heaviest blow is dealt against his kingdom, there the god of this world gathers all his forces for defence. When the ants' hill is stirred, the busy little angry creatures rush out in crowds to the rescue.

In this passage we read of two distinct and opposite fillings. The Jews were filled with envy; the apostles with joy. These were tormented before the time by an evil spirit indwelling; those enjoyed a foretaste of heaven's happiness in the Holy Spirit as a spirit of joy possessing their hearts.

Iconium, the place in which the missionaries next

sought refuge and employment, was the nearest town to the east, and lying within the limits of another province. Though they had been persecuted at Antioch for preaching Christ there, the first thing they did when they reached Iconium was to preach Christ. The fire burned in their breasts, and they could not restrain it: Woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel!

They entered the synagogue as before, and preached to the congregation at the close of the usual service. A rumour regarding the extraordinary power of their preaching had preceded them, and accordingly a great miscellaneous crowd of Jews and Greeks were assembled to hear. Again the immediate result was the conversion of many, both Jews and Greeks. The high and broad partition that divided these classes was giving way. That mountain had begun to flow down at the presence of the Lord.

An intimation occurs here, worthy of careful regard by all who undertake any work for Christ's kingdom,— "They so spake that a great multitude believed." We are often warned that the power of the gospel does not depend on excellency of speech or man's wisdom-that the harvest is due to the vitality of the seed on the one hand, and the sun and rain of heaven on the other, not to the sower's skill. All this is true; and yet it remains that, by divine appointment, the instrument has a place, and the result is to some extent affected by the manner in which the ministry is conducted.

It is expressly announced that the manner in which the word was preached had something to do with the numbers who believed in Iconium. All preaching that is equally orthodox and faithful is not equally successful. The preacher should publish the gospel in "acceptable words;" and acceptable words should be "sought out" by careful study, if they do not readily leap to the lips. There must be labour, and skill, and perseverance; there must be the exhibition of human tenderness, as well as the possession of secret faith. We should ply the work of winning as if all depended on our own exertions; and yet cry to the Lord for power, as if we could do nothing. When it is intimated that the apostles so preached that a great multitude believed, great honour is put on the ministry, and great responsibility on the minister. In particular, it does not become any minister of Christ to fling out the challenge hard and dry to his audience,-Accept this message or reject it; and if you reject it you perish, and your blood will be upon your own heads. It may be necessary to give that challenge, but he should give it "weeping :" if the expression of it do not rend the speaker's heart, it is not likely to melt the hearts of the hearers.

VII.

ONCE WAS I STONED.

ACTS xiv. 2-21.

THE native heathen did not take the initiative in persecuting the apostles; they remained passive, until they

were instigated to action by the more positive enmity of the Jews. Instead of being intimidated by the combined opposition of Greeks and Hebrews, the preachers of the gospel remained longer and spoke more boldly because the enmity was redoubled. They spoke boldly. "in the Lord," and so they were enabled to speak boldly for the Lord. Their courage sprang from their faith. There was a division among the people, and a commotion in the city. There was peace in the neighbourhood before Paul and Barnabas arrived. It is probable that some accused these preachers as the cause of the strife. They would then remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, "I came not to send peace on the earth, but a sword." When the community is dead in sin, to throw the word of life into the stagnant mass necessarily disturbs it. Although the Redeemer is Prince of Peace, he is not satisfied with the serenity of a dead sea. He casts in a solvent whose nature it is in the first instance to arouse and separate. The peace which he values is the purity which is reached through conflict. People must take sides when the cross of Christ is preached in time, as they must take sides when the throne of Christ is set in eternity.

When the persecution reached such a height that it threatened their lives, the missionaries retired from the city, according to the law of the Lord for that case laid down-"When they persecute you in one city, flee ye into another." They took refuge in Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, whose site is not now accurately known. "There they preached the gospel." This was the work of their life; this was their ruling passion; it was a passion, and it ruled them. They cared indeed for life, and fled when death threatened them; but they valued life, and sought to preserve it, mainly for the work that life enabled them to perform. They preserved life in order that they might preach; but they would not cease to preach in order that they might continue to live.

A cripple was healed at Lystra, and the act became the occasion of an incident characteristic of the prevailing idolatry. The imagination of the polytheistic Greeks immediately invested the missionaries with divine attributes, and acknowledged them as human impersonations of two of their deities-Jupiter, the chief; and Mercury, his attendant minister. It is worthy of notice, in passing, that the primitive idea of making the tallest king still prevailed in that region. Barnabas, as the more commanding presence, was made to represent Jupiter; while Paul, whose spiritual supremacy they were unable to understand, was placed in the position of a subordinate.

Promptly following up their wild belief with an equally wild practice, they forthwith led garlanded oxen to the place of sacrifice at the gate, and were about to slay them as propitiatory offerings to the supposed celestial visitants, when the apostles, shocked by the blind and guilty superstition of the people, ran in among them, and summarily suppressed the horrid design. The address which the missionaries delivered to the idolaters