divine office, he must have closed his heart against those lessons of love and wisdom which may have been repeated to him by his hearers. It may be, indeed, that on some of those occasions when Jesus taught in the very courts of the temple, Saul was among the scoffers, and that when Jesus appeared at the judgment seat of Pilate, his voice joined in the cry of "Away with him! away with him! crucify him! crucify him!"

And Jesus the Christ was crucified, and rose again from the dead. He appeared to his followers, and commanded them to teach all that he had taught them, and then he ascended to Heaven to be with his God and Father.

He

Saul did not know all this. He perhaps heard that the disciples of Jesus professed to have seen and conversed with their master again after his resurrection, but he, like others, treated the tale with scorn. When he found that the poor and unlettered followers of Jesus, were, after his departure from them, only more zealous believers in his high authority, and did not scruple to say that he was the Messiah or Christ which had been promised to the Jews, nothing could exceed the anger and indignation of Saul. became one of the most violent in the persecution of the disciples. When he heard of any who believed in the new doctrine, he went into their houses and informed against them, and had them thrown into prison; and although the Jewish priesthood at Jerusalem had no right to put any one to death, yet Saul was present at the stoning of Stephen, and assented to it, if he did not assist. He stood by, and took care of the garments of those who stoned him, which were thrown at his feet. It must have been soon after made known to him, that some of the followers of Jesus of Nazareth had taken refuge in the city of Damascus, to avoid the persecutions which were going on in Jerusalem; and in the ardour of his cruel zeal he went to the High Priest, and asked him for letters to take to Damascus, that in case he found any disciples of Jesus there, he might bring them bound, prisoners to Jerusalem. And this offer being accepted, Saul is described as departing to Damascus, "full of threatenings and slaughter." How did he arrive there? We who are able to look back upon the whole history of this remarkable personage, can see that even at the very time when his mind was so filled with prejudice against the followers of Jesus, he was destined by God to be the one who, of all others, should in the whole of his after life, bear the most important testimony to the history and teachings of Jesus, and help more than any other to the spread of his gospel. That ardent and energetic spirit was to be directed into a right course, and that pious zeal was to have truth and love for its object.

God, who sees not as man sees, beheld in this violent persecutor of his son, one peculiarly fitted for carrying out and spreading the good tidings which he had announced. It was not, however, by any gradual conviction wrought on the feelings or reason of Saul that this was to be done, but at once and by a miracle. After journeying northward for several days, accompanied by a party of attendants, some of whom were perhaps only travellers who happened to be going in the same direction; after leaving the shores of the lake of Galilee, and passing through a barren and rocky district, in which the river Jordan takes its rise, and whose boundaries are the lofty chains of Lebanon and Hermon, Saul and his companions came in sight of the fertile plain, in the midst of which was the city of Damascus. There was then no city of the east so celebrated for the beauty of its situation as Damascus, so that it was called "the earth's paradise," and seen from a distance, all but its tallest buildings were concealed by the trees and flowering shrubs in which it lay embosomed. The country around it was like a vast garden, intersected by winding streams of silvery brightness; and the fertility and beauty of the scene presented a most striking contrast to the mountainous and desert regions, over which the travellers had passed. And here it was that took place that sudden and unexpected change in the feelings of Saul, which was not unlike that contrast in the appearances of nature around him. He was journeying on ;revolving perhaps in his mind the object of his journey, and filled with thoughts of vengeance towards such of the followers of the new sect, as he might find in the distant city;-when suddenly, at midday, a light from Heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shone round about him and his companions, so that they all fell to the ground, blinded, and full of fear. A voice was heard by Saul as if from Heaven-the voice of Jesus reproaching him for his persecutions and saying that he appeared unto him to make him a minister and a witness to the Gentiles, to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness unto light, and from the power of sin unto God. And Saul, trembling and astonished, rose from the ground, and found himself blind, so that he had to be led into Damascus by those who were with him; for the voice had said, "Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do."

It is not easy to picture to ourselves the strange conflict of feelings, which must have filled the mind of Saul on his arrival at Damascus. The blindness which had fallen on him, and which shut out all outward objects, left him still more to his own reflections. Doubts of the Messiahship of Him whose followers he had come to persecute, could no longer be left in his mind, but how

could he, the proud Pharisee, acknowledge on a sudden his conversion to the belief held by the poor and despised sect who called Jesus their Lord and Master? We are told, that for the three days that he thus remained without sight, "he neither ate nor drank'but that he prayed prayed, no doubt, to God, for light and strength, for guidance and support.

And during this time one of the followers of Jesus who dwelt in Damascus, called Ananias, was prepared by a vision for giving to Saul the assistance for which he prayed. He was told, that instead of being any longer the persecutor of those who called on the name of the Lord, Saul was henceforth to become a chosen vessel to bear His name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel, and that for His sake he would suffer great things. Thus instructed, Ananias went to the street in Damascus, which was called "Straight," and enquiring at the abode of one Judas for Saul of Tarsus, he entered the house, and was led into his presence. Laying his hands on Saul, he said to him, "Brother Saul-the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit;"-and the blindness of Saul passing away, he arose and was baptised he took food and was strengthened. Then Saul went amongst the Disciples of Christ (not yet called Christians), who abode at Damascus, and with the resolution and boldness which was part of his character, even went into the Jewish schools or synagogues, and preached that Christ was the son of God, so that those who heard him were amazed, and said to each other, Is not this he that persecuted the followers of Jesus in Jerusalem, and did he not come here with the intent to bring them bound to the Chief Priest?" And the strength of Saul's convictions, growing with the expression of his new belief, he confounded the Jews who heard him, as he proved to them that Jesus was the expected Messiah. He then retired for some months to the solitudes of Arabia, to meditate and pray; thence returning he preached again in Damascus, and then began that long course of persecutions which ceased only with the life of Saul, and through which his faith in Christ and obedience to God supported him so wonderfully. Scarcely had he begun to taste the peace and joy of believing, ere he was called upon to suffer in testimony of that belief, so that he might shew himself a worthy follower of Him who, in obedience to God, had died upon the cross. Not many days were passed over after Saul had thus publicly announced his opinions, before the Jews at Damascus, alarmed at the effect of his preaching, took counsel how they might put him to death, and lay in wait for him, watching at the gates of

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the city day and night, that he might not leave it alive. But Saul was warned of his danger, and protected by the disciples who were about him. They contrived that he should make his escape from the city, by letting him down from the walls in a basket; and he returned in safety to Jerusalem. Meanwhile, no tidings could have reached Jerusalem of the conversion of Saul. The Jewish chief priests were still expecting his return with some of the followers of Jesus, as prisoners from Damascus, to be delivered into their power, while the disciples trembled, perhaps, at the thought of the return of him who had been so fierce and violent a persecutor of all who had confessed Jesus to be their Lord and Master. What must have been their astonishment, when this same Saul came among them, and essayed to join himself to them, and become one of their brotherhood. No wonder that they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple. But Barnabas, who, it may be, had accompanied him from Damascus, or who had heard tidings of the circumstances of the change that had taken place in Saul; took him, and brought him to the apostles, and told them how the Lord had spoken with him on his way to Damascus, and how he had openly preached there in the name of Jesus. And from that time Saul was received among the disciples. He was with them in their coming in and going out at Jerusalem. He spoke boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus, and disputed with the Jewish sects; employing, no doubt, the very learning which he had acquired among them, to prove that all which the prophets had foretold of the Messiah, had been brought to pass in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.

The conversion of one so well known as Saul, and who had promised to become such an ornament to the Jewish priesthood, could not take place without causing great alarm and indignation among the Jews. To prevent him from influencing the minds of others by the weight of his reasons, and the power of his stirring eloquence, there seemed to them no better way than to put him to death. They might not legally be able to convict him of any transgression of the laws, worthy of the punishment of death, but they might excite the people to some such tumult as ended in the stoning of Stephen. A scheme of this kind having come to the knowledge of the disciples, they whom Saul had before been so ready to persecute were now eager to secure his safety. They warned him of his danger, and a party of the brethren left Jerusalem with him, and brought him to the sea-port Cesarea, and put him on board a vessel bound for Tarsus, his native city.

Such was the end of the education of the Jewish youth Saul.

He returned to his family and friends at Tarsus, and had to an nounce to them, on the one hand, that instead of taking rank among the proud and powerful Pharisees at Jerusalem, he had become a member of a poor and despised sect, and had already devoted himself to a life of labour and persecution; on the other hand, it must have been with holy pride that he announced himself a chosen messenger of God, a witness before people and kings of that long expected Messiah for whom the Jews had looked, and appointed to teach the glad tidings of great joy, that salvation was to be had by all who would believe in Christ, the beloved son of God. Relinquishing the Hebrew name of Saul, it was from this time that he became known as Paul, the Apostle of Christ to the Gentiles, or people not Jews.

DANIEL.

ASHPENAZ, an officer of Nebuchadnezzar, was commanded by that monarch to select from the conquered Israelites, children of noble birth, remarkable for personal beauty and mental ability, and to convey them to Babylon, where, after they had acquired the Chaldean language and the Chaldean learning, they might become the personal attendants of the king. Among these children were Daniel, whose name, according to oriental custom, was changed to Belshazzar, and his three friends, Mesheck, Shadrach, and Abednego.

Daniel soon evinced his power of self-government and moral courage, by requesting Ashpenaz to permit him and his companions to live on the simple fare prescribed by the Mosaic law, instead of the luxuries daily provided for them. His abilities soon attracted the favourable notice of Nebuchadnezzar, and having revealed and interpreted a dream, the subject of which had escaped the king's memory, he was appointed governor of the provinces of Babylon. His friends, at his request, were placed in offices of trust.

It was the painful duty of Daniel to interpret another dream, which foreshadowed the insanity of his royal master. Nebuchadnezzar was the benefactor of the youthful prophet, and common gratitude for his favours would naturally cause him to grieve at communicating such sad tidings. He was a despotic monarch too, and his anger might be terrible in its effects. The wise men, natives of Babylon, had narrowly escaped death for not being able to reveal the first dream. Shadrach, Mesheck, and