of the company of hearers; among whom was one of the members of this celebrated court of Areopagus, named Dionysius; a woman named Damaris, and others, neither the number nor the names of whom are mentioned, but that they boldly took part with the Apostle, and believed in the Lord Jesus.

It may be profitable to call the attention of our readers, for a moment, to the zeal and fidelity, mingled with the judgment and discretion of Paul, in his various addresses to persons under different circumstances. While he keeps back nothing of the counsel of God, he tries to suit himself to the capacity and habits of those whom he addresses. And the same remark holds good of all his epistles. With the Jews he constantly alludes to some principles of their own belief, and endeavours to overcome their prejudices against christianity, by explaining to them the spiritual intention of their own law, and by referring them to the declarations of their own prophets. With the Gentiles, on the contrary, he begins by asserting those simple and evident truths which must be acknowledged by all; and having paved the way, he gradually introduces

the leading principles of the Gospel; taking care, however, in every address, and in every epistle, never to omit, on any single occasion, the full proclamation of Jesus Christ, and him crucified. Some of the earliest missionaries of modern times, committed the error of beginning among the heathens only with those truths which may be called the general principles of all true religion, and desiring to establish those principles firmly before they directed the attention of their hearers to Jesus Christ. The consequence of this was, that for many years no converts were made. It was only when Jesus Christ was presented, on every occasion, as the Saviour of sinners, that multitudes began to inquire what they should do to be saved. The method of Paul was not to neglect these general principles, but to state them. plainly and briefly, and then, without insisting on them as the topics from which he expected especial good to be derived, to pass on to the doctrine of Christ crucified, and there to rest his hopes of success.

CHAPTER XI.

Paul at Corinth-Obliged to work for his support-Is met by Silas and Timothybrought before Gallio, and, after a short time, goes to Jerusalem; thus finishing his second Missionary Tour.

It is probable that Paul remained at Athens a very short time after his celebrated speech at the Areopagus. From Athens he went to Corinth, which is about twenty-five miles west of that city, and is built on a narrow isthmus between the Egean and Ionian seas. It is not, and never was, a very large place, though very much distinguished, especially for its wickedness. When Paul came to this place, he met with a Jew by the name of Aquila, who, with his wife Priscilla, had been banished from Rome, together with all other Jews, by an order from the emperor Claudius. As Paul appears at this time to have been in a very destitute condition, he sought a residence with these persons, because they followed the

same business for a livelihood in which he had been instructed in his youth, viz., tent-making. In this humble employment he worked, and thus was able to maintain himself. To work at any employment, provided it is honest, is no discredit to any person. But though Paul was in such poor circumstances in Corinth, as to be compelled to labour for his daily bread, he did not forget the peculiar object of his mission; and we are told, that "he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks." While he was engaged in these various duties, Silas and Timothy returned from Macedonia; and hearing the accounts which they gave, Paul became more and more earnest in his preaching in the synagogue, testifying to the people that Jesus was the Christ, and exhorting them to accept of his salvation. Many, however, opposed themselves to these truths, and blasphemed, so much so that Paul felt constrained to go away from the synagogue and preach there no more. We are told that "he shook his raiment," which is agreeable to what our Saviour had commanded in Matthew, chapter 10, verse 14, "and said unto them, your

blood be upon your own heads,” that is, you are the authors of your own destruction, “I am clean;" meaning, that he had discharged his duty as a faithful preacher, and so had delivered his own soul. This is all that a minister can do-be faithful in the declaration of the truth of God; and then, if the people will not repent, he is not to blame. This whole matter is very fully stated in the 33d chapter of Ezekiel, the prophet.

When Paul had given his last faithful warning to the members of the synagogue, he went away, not from Corinth, but from among the Jews, and took his future residence with a Gentile by the name of Justus, who lived close by the synagogue. This Justus appears to have been a man very much like the centurion Cornelius, who is mentioned in the 10th chapter of the Acts. Here Paul remained, as we are told, a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them; that is, not among the Jews in their synagogue, but among those Jews and Gentiles who appear to have been willing to listen and be profited.

Paul's preaching in the synagogue, however, was not without effect. The chief ruler, by