bled multitude at Jerusalem, (on the occasion of his fifth and last visit to that city), after having related how the Lord had appeared to him on his way to Damascus, and what occurred at the interview with Ananias, proceeds afterwards to say, "And it came to pass, that when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance, and saw him, (i. e. the Lord), saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me." Acts xxii. 17, 18. Now what Paul is here reported as saying, certainly does not contradict what is related as above, in the ninth chapter of Acts. St. Paul, anxious to repair to the utmost of his power, the mischief done to the Christian cause by his former persecutions, and particularly by his conduct in assenting to the death of St. Stephen, by his zealous preaching in the name of Jesus, incurred, (as we have already seen), the enmity of some Grecizing Jews, who were bent on his destruction. Conscious of the purity of his motives, and the importance of that religion to which he had been converted, it is most probable that St. Paul would have continued at Jeru

b This passage corroborates St. Paul's account (Gal. chap. i.) concerning the shortness of his stay at his first visit to Jerusalem.

salem, and been fruitlessly sacrificed to the fury of his enemies, before the great objects of his ministry had been accomplished, had not the Lord revealed to him that his further stay at Jerusalem at that time, could answer no good end, as the Jews, (including the Grecian proselytes abovementioned), would not receive his testimony concerning Jesus. When enjoined, however, by. divine command, to depart from Jerusalem, and to go to the Gentiles, St. Paul readily obeyed, and fell in with those arrangements which the disciples made with a view to his safety; and being conducted by them to Cæsaræa, went forth to Tarsus. In recording the circumstance of St. Paul's departure from Jerusalem, in his ninth chapter, there was no necessity for the author of The Acts to mention that that departure took place in consequence of a revelation made from heaven, especially as that would afterwards be seen to be the case from what he should relate in giving a speech of St. Paul's in a subsequent part of the history. It was, however, extremely natural for St. Paul to notice this especial revelation, when pleading before the Jews, that it might appear unto the Jews that he did not, out of caprice or ill-will, leave them and preach to the Gentiles, but in compliance with the divine. command.

On the subject of the revelation made to St. Paul, in order to warn him to leave Jerusalem, Mr. Gamaliel Smith says, "A circumstance not altogether clear, nor worth taking much trouble to render it so, is on the occasion of this dialogue, the change made of the supernatural vehicle, from a "vision" into a "trance." Whatsoever, if any is the difference, they agree in the one essential point, namely, that it is in the power of any man, at any time, to have had as many of them as he pleases hearing and seeing, moreover, in every one of them, whatsoever things it suits his convenience to have heard or seen." p. 150. There is such a want of clearness and grammatical propriety in the above remarks, that it is difficult to say what ideas the author of them intended they should convey. If, however, he meant to say that it is in the power of any man to have such revelations from heaven as were made to St. Paul, I must take the liberty of denying his assertion. A man may pretend to have seen "visions," or to have heard or seen any thing in a trance that "it suits his convenience" to declare, but unless his pretensions to supernatural revelations should be supported by the most convincing testimony, it is unlikely they would be believed. The reason why credit is due to what St. Paul is reported to have seen

and heard in visions, is because, in his case, the most powerful evidence is afforded to the miracles he is said to have wrought, as well as to the truth of his pretensions.

If the reader refers to Parkhurst's Greek and English Lexicon, (Article ExoTaos), he will see with what strict propriety our English Translators have used the word "Trance" in The Acts, ch. x. 10. xi. 5. xxii. 17.

CHAP. V.

ST. PAUL'S SECOND VISIT TO JERUSALEM.

SECT. I.

A Dearth having been predicted by Agabus, Collections are made at Antioch for the Brethren in Judæa.

THE actions of corrupt and wicked men, are often rendered subservient by God, to the wisest and most benevolent purposes. Thus, the persecution in which perished the protomartyr Stephen, and which was intended to give a check to the progress of Christianity, turned out to the furtherance of the Gospel.

ACTS xi. 19, 20, 21.

19. Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only. 20. And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching

From the he manner in which these Grecians are spoken of as contradistinguished from Jews, (ver. 19.) it would seem, that

these