still be swept from stem to stern by the dashing spray.

The passengers and crew seem to have given themselves up for lost. We can fancy them, 276 in number, huddled together on the deck, clinging to the bulwarks or any available spot. The sky was dark above them, neither sun nor stars appeared for many days. The fires would be put out, and there could be no food cooked. In this desperate juncture there was one who remained unmoved and calm. S. Paul stood up and spoke a few cheering words.

Acts xxvii. 22: I exhort you to be of good cheer for there shall be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For there stood by me this night an angel of the God whose I am, and whom also I serve, saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must stand before Cæsar: and lo, God hath granted thee all them that sail with thee. Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even so as it hath been spoken unto me. Howbeit we must be cast upon a certain island.

After drifting a whole fortnight tossed up and down on the sea of Adria, that is, the sea lying between Greece, Italy, and Africa, about midnight the quick ears of the sailors caught the dreaded sound of distant breakers, and saw perhaps the white glimmer of the surf in the far distance. They sounded and found the depth of the water 20 fathoms: they sounded again, and found it 15 fathoms. There was no room for doubt, they were drifting fast upon the rocks. There was only one thing left to be done, to drop anchor. Accordingly they dropped four anchors out of the stern, through the holes through which the rudders were ordinarily worked. If they had anchored in the usual way by the prow, the ship would have swung round, and perhaps dashed against a reef.

When the day broke an attempt was made by the sailors to save themselves in the boat. They began to lower the boat under pretence of letting down anchors from the bows. If they had succeeded in their selfish attempt, it would be impossible for the soldiers and passengers to work the ship.

The attempt was frustrated by S. Paul, who said to the centurion and the soldiers, "Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved." You will notice that he says, "ye," not "we." Of his own safety he was secure; theirs was conditional on their doing their duty. Such was the influence that the Apostle had acquired that they at once drew their swords and cut the ropes, and the boat fell off into the sea.

Then again S. Paul strove to encourage his despairing fellow voyagers.

Acts xxvii. 33: And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take some food, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye wait and continue fasting, having taken nothing. Wherefore I beseech you to take some food for this is for your safety: for there shall not a hair perish from the head of any of you. And when he had said this, and had taken bread, he gave thanks to God in the presence of all: and he brake it and began to eat.

Being thus fortified by food, and encouraged by the cheerful words and demeanour of S. Paul, they set to work to take what steps they could for their safety. The ship you remember was laden with wheat, and in their long drifting the wheat, which was packed loose, would have got shifted over to the left side of the vessel, and made it difficult to steer. So they opened the hatchways and began to cast the wheat into the sea. The ship having righted, they cast off the anchors, and let them drop

into the sea, let down the rudders, which were large spade-like paddles on each side of the stern, hoisted the foresail [not the mainsail as in the A.V.], and steered straight for the beach.

Apparently they did not succeed in reaching the creek for which they steered, but happening on a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground, and the foreship struck and remained immoveable, but the stern began to break up by the violence of the waves.

When it was apparent that the land was near, and that there was every reason to suppose that some of the prisoners might make their escape, the soldiers, habitually indifferent to human life, urged the centurion to give orders for them to be killed. To understand this cruel counsel of the soldiers, we must remember that they were responsible with their own lives for the safe custody of their prisoners. However the centurion, anxious to save Paul, kept them from their purpose, and gave orders that those who could swim should first cast themselves overboard, and get first to the land, and the rest, some on planks, and some on other things from the ship. "And so it came to pass "-S. Luke gratefully recounts" that they all escaped safe to land."

The shipwrecked crew were kindly received by the inhabitants of Malta, and after a three months' stay in the island, they set sail in the good ship "The Twin Brothers," which had wintered in the island, and without further adventure disembarked at Puteoli. After a week's rest they continued their journey towards Rome, which was 140 miles distant. When they arrived at the market of Appius they were met by a party of Roman Christians, who had come to greet the Apostle; and ten miles further on, at the Three Taverns, another band of the brethren met

them," whom, when Paul saw, he thanked God, and took courage.'

In company with these welcome visitors they journeyed on towards the great city along the Appian Way, with its marble tombs and statues lining it on either side; its rows of villas and ever-thickening crowds, till they arrived at the Prætorian barracks. Here the Centurion's charge concluded, when he had formally handed over his prisoners to the Captain of the Guard.

It was no doubt owing to his favourable representations, as well as to the favourable despatch from Festus, that the Apostle was allowed as much liberty as the Roman law permitted.

For thus the sacred historian concludes his narrative:

Acts xxviii. 16-30: And when we entered into Rome, Paul was suffered to abide by himself with the soldier that guarded him. . . . . . . And he abode two whole years in his own hired dwelling, and received all that went in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, none forbidding him.

CHAPTER X.

S. PAUL'S SECOND IMPRISONMENT AND

MARTYRDOM.

HE abrupt close of the Acts of the Apostles leaves us without any further direct information as to the remainder of the Apostle's life.

S. Luke enables us to follow every incident in this last journey to Rome. Then suddenly the darkness closes in upon us. We see dimly the great Apostle, dwelling in his own hired lodging, chained first to one soldier, then to another, as they relieved guard. We see him receiving visitors, deputations from the Roman synagogues, messengers from distant Churches.

It was a period of rest rather than of hardship. He had his friends about him: Luke, the beloved physician, who remained with him to the last; Aristarchus, who had shared the perils of the voyage, and whose attendance was now so constant that S. Paul describes him as his fellow-prisoner; and Timothy his special friend, his own child in the faith,

We see also in this dim light, Tychicus bringing to the imprisoned Apostle news from Ephesus; we see Epaphroditus the envoy, perhaps the Chief Pastor of the Church at Philippi, bringing substantial