crowd of people, how few sang with the spirit and with the understanding, I now, alas! full well understood. But I spoke not, and, as I turned once more to the spirit before me, I bowed my head with shame, for I saw the aspect which earth's praise wore when seen in heaven's light!'

Then the angel spoke in accents of sorrow and compassion, 'Mortal,' he exclaimed, thou hast seen and heard all that it is permitted thee to see and hear from these celestial regions. Return to earth, and may thy heart gain wisdom from the sadness that bears thee down.'

And I felt that the grief of my heart weighed too heavily for those pure regions of clear brightness and glory. Downwards I felt myself hurried with a speed far exceeding that with which I had ascended. Soon was the green earth once more within my mortal powers of vision, in another second of time my feet touched its surface, and at that instant I awoke.

Such was my dream," said my friend, after a few moments' silence. As I said before, it struck me greatly at the time, and let me also add, if it should suggest to your mind as many serious thoughts as it did to my own, you will not, I feel sure, regret the few minutes it has occupied your attention.

L.

THE CHRISTIAN CONVERTS OF PAUL.

BY THE AUTHOR OF THE A MYOTT'S HOME, &c.

On the return of the apostle Paul with Barnabas to Antioch, after their first journey among the Gentile nations, it gave great joy to the disciples who had sent them forth to hear of their remarkable success; but there arose among the brethren there assembled, a question which they found it difficult to settle for themselves. This was- -whether, in converting a Gentile to Christianity, it should be necessary first for him to undergo the rite of circumcision, and become a follower of the laws of Moses. Many of the Christian brethren who were Jews by birth, thought that this was needful; while others, such as Paul and Barnabas, who had seen that it might prove a hindrance and a stumbling block to the conversion of the Gentiles, opposed it most earnestly. In order to settle the matter at once and for ever, it was decided that Paul and Barnabas should be the bearers of a letter to the brethren at Jerusalem, to ask for their opinion and decision in a question of so much importance. We may here observe, that in those days, if a letter of importance had to be sent even to a

great distance, it was always entrusted to the charge of some one whose character could be depended on for its safe transport and delivery; and we find in many of the letters or Epistles of Paul, mention made of the person who was about to take charge of it. Thus, Paul and Barnabas took this letter to Jerusalem, and brought back one in answer, in which it was stated that in future those Gentiles who became followers of Christ, need only renounce the sinful habits and customs of the heathens, and were not to be bound to adopt the ceremonials of the Jews;-a decision which gave great satisfaction to the apostles, who knew that it was much easier to induce a Gentile to embrace the simple law of love which Christ had enjoined, than to adopt the rites and ceremonies, and strict outward laws of the Jewish people, which at one time had been necessary, but from which they had been set free by Christ. It was shortly after this that Paul set forth on his second journey through Asia Minor and Greece;-this time accompanied by Silas, while Barnabas went in another direction, accompanied by Mark. And in this second journey of Paul, he again went from town to town, and country to country, revisiting all the places where he had established churches, or communities of Christians, strengthening their faith by his discourses, and encouraging their holy zeal. That he should have been able to lead so many to adopt the doctrines which he preached, is a most remarkable proof of the power and influence of the truths of the gospel. For it was not merely that their minds assented to what he taught, it was not merely that they believed, but we see from the whole of the narrative of Paul's labours among the Gentiles, and especially from his letters afterwards written to his friends and converts, that their belief must have led to an entire change in their lives and characters. The Gentile, in becoming a follower of Christ, would have to separate himself from all those who lived in open sin and idolatry. He would have to devote himself to God, and relinquish all that was at variance with the laws and precepts of Christ; to be pure and good, devoting a considerable portion of his substance to the support of his poorer brethren; would have to relinquish all the games and amusements to which he had been accustomed, because such were accompanied by licentiousness and cruelty, and instead of joining in the jubilee processions and ceremonies, in which sacrifice and worship were paid to idols, he would meet the Christian brethren in some retired part of their city-in some small “ place of meeting," it may be merely an upper chamber in some private house, wherewith psalms and hymns, and spiritual songs, and prayers, they worshipped Him who is a Spirit, in spirit and in truth. And even the Jews had to make a great change in becoming Chris

tians; for it was no longer by outward laws and observances that their consciences were to be satisfied;-they were to purify their hearts, instead of paying any longer such attention to outward purity; and neither "long prayers," nor prayers in public-"in the market place, or at the corners of the streets," which were only to do homage to men and not to God-were what would find favour with God, as revealed through Christ. And their charitable gifts to the poor were no longer to be trumpeted forth in the streets, and proclaimed in the synagogues-but were to be given as if the left hand knew not what the right gave. All this was much for both Jew and Gentile to conform to;-but with a strong and living faith in the gospel of Christ, and helped by the Holy Spirit which was given to them by prayer and supplication, all this purity and holiness became to them newness of life, and a source of peace and joy, so that "the same mind was in them as was in Christ Jesus." Both from the history of the Acts of the Apostles, and more especially from Paul's letters to the different Christian communities, such as that at Corinth, those in Galatia or Thessalonica, or his letters to Timothy, who was for some time his fellow-labourer in spreading the gospel, we see with what affectionate friendship the newly-converted Christians were bound to one another, and to their beloved teachers, the apostles.

We would gladly have known more of these faithful and loving hearts, who, among the beautiful hills and valleys of Asia Minor and Greece, and in the midst of their busy towns, took the truth into their hearts, and made their lives a proof and sign of its power. There was, for instance, at Philippi, in Macedonia, Lydia, the native of Thyatyre, in Asia, who was a seller of purple-or in other words, a trader in red or purple cloth-which very probably she imported from her native city, since it was celebrated for its dyers, and the red dye which they used was found in a small shell fish upon the neighbouring shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Lydia was one of a party of women who went on the Sabbath day to a place on the bank of a river near the city, "where prayer was wont to be made;" and hearing Paul preach, her heart was opened, so that she and her whole household were baptized; and who persuaded Paul and his companion to take up their abode with her, giving her invitation in a spirit of humility when she said, "If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into mine house," and who, afterwards, when Paul and Silas were released from prison, received them into her house again. With Lydia it would seem that on becoming a Christian, she had hastened to exercise the Christian virtue of hospitality, and when afterwards at Rome Paul wrote to the brethren at Philippi a letter which he sent to them by Epaphroditus, she

was, no doubt, one of those women to whom he alluded who had, as he says, "laboured with him in the gospel." At Corinth, in that same journey, we read of a certain Jew named Aquila, with his wife Priscilla, who had lately come from Italy, having been banished from that country by the Emperor Claudius; and with this husband and wife, on their being converted by him, Paul must have formed a close and intimate friendship. They were tent-makers-which was the occupation by which Paul earned a livelihood for himself at different times, when he resided any length of time in a city, (and the making of tents was, and still is, a thriving and useful occupation in the East, where they are much used by travellers to protect them from the heat of the sun)—and because they were of the same craft, they lived together for a year and a half in the same house at Corinth, during which time Paul led many of the Corinthians to believe and be baptized. And on leaving Corinth, Aquila and Priscilla accompanied Paul to Ephesus, and assisted him in teaching and preaching the gospel, so that Paul in his letter to the Christians of Rome, called them his "helpers in Christ Jesus." At Athens-even that idolatrous city-we are told that certain men "clove unto him" and believed, among whom was one who must have been a person of importance, viz., Dionysius, the Areopagite, or member of the council called Areopagus, and a woman named Damaris, and others. At Corinth, again, Crispus, the chief ruler of the Jewish synagogue, with all his house, "believed on the Lord;" and a man named Justus, whose house adjoined the synagogue; and the very letter to the Roman Christians to which we have above alluded, was sent to them by the hands of a female convert called Phoebe, whom Paul affectionately recommends to their care and notice, and whom he describes as a servant of the church and "succourer of many."

It would seem that on many occasions the converts of Paul so "clove unto him," as to be unwilling to part from him when he left their country or city, and to have followed him in his wanderings, so that they might continue to listen to his words and assist him in his labours. Thus we read of one Sopater, of Berea, in Macedonia, accompanying him when he returned to Asia, and Aristarchus and Secundus, of Thessalonica, also going with him, and Gaius, of Derbe; while others, such as Timothy and Tychicus, without being regularly appointed apostles, accompanied him on many of his longer journeys, and shared with him dangers and persecutions. And, as we have already shown, it was often by female converts that Paul was assisted, and of whom he makes honourable mention. At Rome was one Mary who bestowed, as

Paul says, much labour on him and his fellow-disciples, and to whom he sends greeting. And again, Tryphena and Tryphosa, two sisters, perhaps, and one whom he calls "the beloved Persis"-all of whom laboured much in the Lord;" while in many places where he made known the good tidings of salvation among his hearers and converts, were those whom he calls "the honourable women of the city."

And we may notice that though Paul, as the Apostle, was strict and unyielding in all that he required from those who adopted the faith he preached, he must have had at the same time a most tender heart and loving manner, such as won the affections of those to whom he stood in the light of teacher and friend. We are sure of this, as we read of the elders of the church at Ephesus, when they parted from him at Miletus, "falling on his neck, kissing him and weeping sore at the words which he spake, when he told them that they would see his face no more ;" and that Paul, in his turn, must have loved with tender regard his disciples and Christian converts, we see proofs again and again in his letters. We see with what affection he wrote of Onesimus and Tychicus, whom he called "faithful and beloved brothers," and how he called Timothy "his dearly beloved son" and "his own son in the faith,”—while he tells those to whom he writes that he made mention of them in his prayers, and enjoins them "to love one another even as he loved them." In all that he preached, and wrote, and recommended, it was truth first, and then love; and of love (or charity) he even said that of all the gifts that they could desire there was nothing so excellent as love.

ANECDOTES OF TRACTS AND TRACT DISTRIBUTORS.

NO. III.

Of all unpromising fields for tract distribution we should have supposed Africa to be the most so, but even in that land of darkness the "little books" are doing their work. Schools have been established for many years in the European settlements on the western coast, and a Religious Tract Society was formed at Sierra Leone in 1837. The missionaries describe the negroes in this neighbourhood as having an intense thirst for information, their lively imaginations rendering them remarkably susceptible of spiritual religion. The following scene is related by a tract distributor in the neighbourhood of Free Town:- I saw two persons reading a book under the piazza of my house. I just dropped over the side of it a number of

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