touch some spring, far above our sight and comprehension, by which storms are hushed-billows are put to repose— human prejudices are removed, and human passions are allayed.

Let us not be discouraged. No! However dark and gloomy our affairs may be; whatever difficulties seem to exist, and render it, so to speak, impossible that we should be blessed in a given way-if that blessing be needed, and God so decide-and we pray humbly and in faith for it—it must come. And it will come; whether it be bread we need, or deliverance from the power of a cruel tyrant, or the converting influences of the divine Spirit. God reigns! let the earth rejoice!

ACTS OF THE APOSTLES.

PAUL AND SILAS.

And at midnight, Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.-Acts xvi. 25.

PAUL and Silas are in an inner prison at Philippi, and are praying and singing praises at midnight. What is the explanation of their strange adventure?

These servants of Jesus were now on a missionary tour; in the progress of which, they came to Troas. Here, a vision appeared to Paul in the night-a man of Macedonia, apparently praying, and saying: "Come over into Macedonia, and help us." The request was concise, but pressing. Inferring, from the vision, that he was called to preach the Gospel in Macedonia, Paul, accompanied by Silas, sets out without delay; and, after a prosperous voyage, arrives at Philippi.

Philippi, at this time, was the chief city of that part of

Macedonia. It was under Roman law, but was principally inhabited by Jews. Not long after their arrival, accompanied by several Jews, they went out of the city, by a river side, on the Sabbath-day, to an Oratorio, or place where prayer was wont to be made. Here Paul preached; and Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, became his convert.

Not long after, as Paul was again proceeding to the above place, for prayer, a certain damsel, possessed with the spirit of divination, met him, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying. In the name of Jesus, Paul ejected the demon which possessed her; in consequence of which, she abandoned her soothsaying, and, of course, her masters failed of their usual gains, by reason of her practices.

Greatly incensed at the loss of such an income, the masters of the young woman accused Paul and Silas of "troubling the city." They succeeded in raising a popular outcry against the missionaries. The magistrates, also, became enlisted; and, in their zeal and indignation, rose upon them; and, having severely beaten them, cast them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely. The jailerhimself an unfeeling monster-quite willing to carry out the mandate of the magistrates, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.

Paul and Silas might, probably, have saved themselves from punishment, had they, at the moment of their seizure, as they did the next morning, declared themselves to be Roman citizens. But, willing to suffer for the Gospel, they waived this privilege; and, as true disciples of the Redeemer, submitted to stripes and imprisonment imposed upon them.

The Lord Jesus was, however, with his faithful servants, and overruled their trials, for promoting the object of their mission to Philippi. Their prison became a place of prayer and of praise; and there was enacted a scene of grace, which will for ever prove a source of admiration and joy, wherever the story shall be told.

At midnight, Paul and Silas lift up their voices in prayer. They doubtless prayed for themselves-for deliverance, if such were the will of God-but more, that the name of Jesus might be honored; and that souls then, and in that populous city, might be converted. What a rich source of consolation to these imprisoned missionaries was access to a throne of grace! What holy confidence do they exercise in God! What reliance do they feel upon Him, who had said to his first apostles: "Lo! I am with you unto the end of the world!" Paul was strong in prayer.

"Prayer is a creature's strength-his very breath and being;

Or was, perhaps, the "breath and being" of Paul, more than most other men. That night, probably, no fears assaulted his heart; no apprehension of approaching evil altered him from his purpose.

Paul and Silas prayed. They did more-they sang praises to God. Many a modern Christian might pray under such circumstances-but how few would sing praises to God! "Little do songs accord with the gloom of a prison." But Paul and Silas were animated by the consideration that they were suffering for the name of Jesus. Of that name, they were not, and never could be ashamed. Had some one, that night, looked in, through those prison-doors, upon the apostle had he inquired of Paul whether he were not "ashamed of Jesus" of Nazareth, methinks he would have broke out in those strong and admiring lines of the poet:

Jesus, and shall it ever be

A mortal man ashamed of thee!

Ashamed of thee, whom angels praise!

Whose glories shine through endless days!

"Never! No-never!" I think I hear the apostle say. "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ."

I can do all things, or can bear

All suffering, if my Lord be there.

Paul had no reason to doubt the support and approbation of his divine Master. His Lord was there. The displays of his power and grace were there. While their songs were still rising, and were borne up by strong faith and holy zeal— the other prisoners meanwhile wondering at the unwonted scene-God bore his divine attestation in favor of his suffering servants, by a miraculous earthquake, by which the foundations of the prison were shaken-the doors were openedthe bands of the prisoners were loosed.

Let us hasten to the sequel. That was as happy and as glorious, as the prospects of Paul and Silas, the evening before, were gloomy and depressing. The jailer is converted, and salvation comes to his house. What a change! What a sudden, surprising change! What an answer to prayer! What a result of honoring and praising God!

"How happy, henceforth, was that family! The new convert rejoiced, and so did all his house. The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous.' There is no joy like that which flows from the belief of the Gospel. It purifies, while it refreshes the soul; it gives a more elevated tone to the feelings than worldly pleasures can give; it contains no poisonous mixture, which afterwards corrodes the heart; it sheds a lustre upon every object, and cheers even the dark hours of adversity; and, in a word, it is permanent-going with us whithersoever we go-accompanying us to death, and springing up within us, as a well of living water, in the world to come."

If such be the Gospel, let us embrace it. If God thus honors those who praise him in adversity, let us never shrink from trial, however great it may be. If such answers are given to prayer, let us be willing to offer it from the dungeon, and at the midnight hour, if such, by the will of God, be, at any time, our abode.

ROMANS.

AIDS OF THE SPIRIT.

Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.-Romans viii. 26.

WHEREVER there exists a soul which has been released from the terrors of the law, and been baptized with the peace of the Gospel, let that soul never cease to praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. It is a mighty deliverance; to effect which, the wisdom, energy, and love of the sacred Three have all been engaged. The law, under which the Father has placed the sinner, and which law the latter has violated, is, and must be, for ever incapable of restoring him to peace and holiness. The law knows nothing of mercy. In its demands, it is peremptory and unmitigated; or is sweeping and irreversible in its condemnations. Applied to the conscience of the sinner-that conscience being carnal, and sold under sin-it only excites, irritates, and distresses; so that an unsanctified man, in every step of his progress to eternity, has only to exclaim: "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"

But here, the Gospel by Jesus Christ comes in for his relief. It discloses a way, and a marvelous way, by which the sinner can be restored to holiness, and once more to joy. These are the subjects which occupy the seventh and eighth chapters of the Epistle to the Romans. The law, is the minister of condemnation: the Gospel, is the minister of Justification. The law never restores the soul to holiness, nor to filial confidence in God: the Gospel does both. tells of a Spirit, whose agency has been purchased by the Son of God; and through whose influences, the soul may De sanctified, and a spirit of adoption engendered in the

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