Latin writers. He was a native of the Samaritan village of Gittim, but had been educated at Alexandria, where a strange compromise between Judaism and Greek philosophy had grown up, the professors of which called themselves Gnostics, from a word akin to "knowing." A sort of genealogy of Æons, or beings, emanations of the Deity, was invented to account for everything in nature, and Simon himself professed to be one of these Æons, and to work wonders in proof thereof, producing them by some of those arts by which in all ages it has been possible to bewilder even the wise, and to win the belief of the simple. He had a great following at Samaria; but, when S. Philip first came thither, it appears as if he had been really impressed by the sight of the genuine miracles, and that his false ones gave way before them, just as the Egyptian magicians quailed before Moses. He appeared to be a genuine convert, and was baptised amongt he rest. But when he saw that SS. Peter and John had the power of conferring the wonder-working grace, the charlatan woke in him again, and heeding not the sanctifying gift, only the miraculous power, he offered money to the Apostles if they would sell him the means of imparting it. Most sternly and indignantly did S. Peter reply, in words that have ever since been a warning against selling either the Sacraments or any other ministerial gift. Indeed, traffic in holy things, especially in the cure of souls, goes by his name, and is called Simony.

Peter's words to him prove that where repentance and faith are only feigned, the reception of Baptism and Confirmation does not remove the gall of wickedness and bond of iniquity. Yet even then, viewing Simon's error as possibly ignorant, he bade him repent and pray for forgiveness; and Simon, stunned and overwhelmed, appeared to take the warning, and entreat the Apostles to pray for him.

But it is, unhappily, matter of history that the impression soon passed away. He returned to his magic arts, and was much followed. Felix, the Roman procurator, had recourse to him to induce Drusilla, a beautiful woman of the Herod family, to marry him, a heathen stranger, and thus succeeded. Simon is said to have gone about wherever S. Peter did, and to have tried to turn away the converts from the faith by representing the Saviour as only one of

the Æons or emanations of the Godhead, thus founding the Gnostic heresy, against which we shall find many protests in the Epistles. He went on working false miracles, either by jugglery or the aid of evil spirits, till at last such delusion came on him that he perished through a device of his own. One account says that he caused his disciples to bury him alive, being persuaded that he should rise again the third day; and another that he made wings, and, trying to fly from a high tower, fell, and was killed.

LESSON XVIII.

ST. PHILIP AND THE ETHIOPIAN.

A.D. 36.-ACTS viii. 26-40.

And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.

And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship,

Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet.

Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.

And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?

And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.

The place of the Scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:

In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.

And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?

Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same Scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.

And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?

And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.

And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord

caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.

But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Cæsarea.

COMMENT. In the fulness of his success at Samaria, Philip was called away, and sent, as it would have seemed, to a place where there was no one to help or teach, the desert road between Jerusalem and Gaza, which was, in fact, the shortest way from Egypt, leading through what had been the Philistine country.

Ethiopia-the country we now call Abyssinia-had for many years a dynasty of queens, all named Candace. The modern Abyssinian kings claim the Queen of Sheba as their ancestress, though it is more likely that she came out of those parts of Arabia which were, in very ancient times, called Ethiopia, or the Eastern. Whether Candace's prime minister were a Jew or an Ethiopian proselyte is uncertain; but the former is the most probable, since he had no doubt once been a slave, and Jewish slaves, by their superior intelligence and trustworthiness, often rose to high positions-like Joseph and like Daniel. We may imagine this man, born of Jew parents, enslaved by some of the attacks continually made on border towns; a slave, indeed, among barbarians, but bred up to know his birthright, though dimly and ignorantly, and ever looking, with a yearning hope, to some time when he might go and see the Holy City, the glorious land. His uprightness and wisdom have lifted him up gradually till he has become a man of great authority, treasurer to the queen, and the use he has made of his greatness has been to obtain permission to visit the land of his forefathers. No doubt he would be the guest of the great men of Jerusalem; and, while seeing the full outward ceremonial of the law, would have been told nothing of that sect which, for declaring that the Messiah had come, had, as they thought, been crushed and driven from Jerusalem. But the ritual at the Temple trained his faith and hope; and, when he went home, he took with him as a choice treasure the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, which he read eagerly on his way. Easterns never read with the eye alone; they always chant aloud; and the treasurer was dwelling on the grand and plaintive cadences of the 53rd of Isaiah, as Philip, no doubt in the garb of a teacher, drew near, and asked him whether he under

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stood. Eager to profit by any aid, the treasurer took the deacon up into his chariot, and when he asked of whom the prophet spake, the whole tale of Calvary was told; and step by step the eunuch saw his fathers' hope fulfilled, the Sacrifice complete, the Rod of Jesse raised for an ensign unto the people. He believed, and asked to be baptized into that new kingdom, into the faith that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He was baptized, and, as Philip was caught away to Azotus, or Ashdod, they met no more.

They part to meet in Heaven,

But of the joy they share,

Absolving and forgiven,

The sweet remembrance bear.

Ethiopian tradition declares that the treasurer's name was Indich, and that he became a preacher of the Gospel in his adopted country, whither after a time, as we know, came SS. Matthew and Matthias, and he afterwards went to Arabia Felix. A less likely tradition says that he was martyred in Ceylon. Be that as it may, he is a beautiful pattern of the way in which a true and devout mind was led from the Old Covenant to its perfection in the new, and likewise of pains taken to fulfil the observances of religion leading to an infinite reward.

Philip, meantime, marked his way along the coast till he came to the seat of government at Cæsarea, where he made converts, settled with his family, and seems to have spent the rest of his life in the care of the Church that sprung up there.

LESSON XIX.

THE CONVERSION OF SAUL.

A.D. 36.-ACTS ix. 1-9.

And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the High Priest.

And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.

And as he journeyed he came near Damascus and suddenly there ed round about him a light from heaven:

And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me ?

And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.

And Saul arose from the earth: and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.

And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.

COMMENT.-There are some natures which, from their enthusiastic loyalty, feel so much for their old form of religion or habits that any attack upon it makes them so hotly indignant that they cannot examine the grounds. Of such was Saul. He was, as we afterwards learn, a Benjamite, whose family had been long settled at Tarsus, in Cilicia, and had thus benefitted by the franchise bestowed on all the citizens alike by Augustus. Tarsus was a place of education, and Saul was bred to a knowledge of Greek learning, although a Hebrew of the Hebrews, i.e., holding with the strict Jews of Palestine, rather than the philosophical Alexandrian school, and thus a Pharisee. His education was finished at Jerusalem by the great Rabbi Gamaliel, and he had become thoroughly conversant with the Holy Scriptures and the ritual, looking forward with intense fervour to their accomplishment, altogether such a Jew as Ezra, but with the fiery ardour of the Benjamite tribe in him. How he had striven and failed, and striven again to bring his life to the perfect standard of the Law, he has told us in Romans vii.

10:

And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.

For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.

Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.

Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.

For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.