were not only hurried away to prison, but cast into a most dismal dungeon, and their feet made fast in the stocks. This was a measure of cruelty, certainly unnecessary, for they might have been easily secured in some far less painful posture. But we hear no complaints from them. They had counted the cost of being apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ; and were, therefore, prepared to submit to every variety and every measure of suffering for the cause of the Master whom they so dearly loved. They knew that they were promoting his cause, and that was suf ficient. They could leave all events in his hands, and at his disposal, assured that "all things must work together for good to those who love God;" and that all these afflictions, which could be comparatively but "for a moment," would "work out for them a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory," while they trusted in the Lord, and did his work.

One thing is certain, and very remarkably illustrated in this history, namely, that when we have the Lord with us, we are not only contented, but we can be happy anywhere,

even in the midst of persecution and distress. Paul and Silas, in their dark and dismal dungeon, and with their bleeding bodies, and with their feet in the stocks, were happy in the Lord; and instead of murmuring and repining, or talking harshly about their enemies, they prayed aloud, and sung praises unto God. Their situation was so painful and uncomfortable, that they could not sleep, but it was not too uncomfortable for them to pray and to sing praises. How wonderfully must their hearts have been supported. They did not know but that they might be treated even worse on the morrow, and perhaps murdered; but it did not alter their state of mind; they still prayed and sung, and so much and so earnestly were they engaged in this exercise, that the other prisoners heard them.

It was in the midst of these interesting circumstances, that God saw fit to interpose most signally in their behalf. He brought about one of those dreadful visitations, called an earthquake, which, by his good providence, however, seems to have been confined to the prison, which was shaken to its very foundation. So hard was the shock, that all the

bars and bolts of the prison were broken, and the chains by which the prisoners had been fastened were unloosed; so that they all, as well as Paul and Silas, had an opportunity of escaping. None did escape, however, because the particular object which God appears to have intended, was the conversion of the jailer himself, which was brought about by these very circumstances.

The noise of the earthquake, the bursting open of the prison doors, the breaking of bars and bolts, and the cries uttered by the prisoners, waked the jailer out of a sound sleep. As soon as he awoke, he found that the prison doors were open, and, probably, supposing that there had been an insurrection among the prisoners, and that the whole would be attributed to his carelessness, he drew his sword, and was just going to kill himself. What could have induced him to meditate so rash an act? He knew that the laws of the Romans were so severe, that any carelessness of this kind might have cost him his life, and so he appears to have been unwilling to encounter the disgrace. Poor man! he did not know that if he had taken his own life, he F

must have been lost for ever. However, Paul prevented his completing this rash act, for he cried out to him with a loud voice, “do thyself no harm-for we are all here;" nobody has escaped, you have no reason to be alarmed for your life.

Now it appears that God made use of these singular circumstances, to impress the jailer with a sense of his own dreadful condition as a sinner. The prison doors were open, and yet no one had escaped-he was about to kill himself, and yet was prevented by the very person whom he had used so harshly. The Holy Spirit pressed all these things upon his mind, and brought him under the deepest convictions of sin. Under these feelings he called for a light, and trembling under the view which he had of his guilt and danger, seized the light, and sprung in and came trembling, and fell down at the feet of Paul and Silas, and with the deepest anxiety said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" There never has been, and there never can be, but one great and solemn answer to that question; and the same answer is, of course, to be given to every inquiring soul, no matter in what

country, or under what circumstances, the inquiry may be made. "Believe on the Lord

Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." From the brief history which is given, it would appear, that when the jailer ran in where Paul and Silas were, that all his family, either noticing his consternation, or being alarmed by what had occurred previously, followed him, and heard him put the question, and receive the answer which have been just mentioned; for we are told, that Paul and Silas "spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house," that is, when the family had been thus providentially assembled, the Apostles took that opportunity of calling them to an acceptance of the Gospel terms of salvation; and the influence of God's Spirit seems so remarkably to have accompanied the word preached, that not only the jailer but his family were converted.

If it is asked, how are we to know that the jailer and his family were converted, there is an answer ready. We have the testimony of the conduct of the jailer, and the testimony of God's own declaration. 1. The jailer took the Apostles immediately into his own apart