chains for Jesus' sake. Onesimus is his own child; a birth into the Christian Church, which had been the fruit of his own imprisonment. His name ONESIMUS, in Greek, signified 'profitable;' little indeed had this signification as yet been verified; but now the unprofitable one had become a source of profit-to the Apostle, whose ministry he had sealed, to his master, who would receive him now not as a slave, a chattel, but as a brother beloved. The Apostle had a thought of retaining him to minister to himself that duty which he gently reminds Philemon that he, the master, owed to his father in the faith; but he is unwilling to take his service for granted, and thus constrain it; all that he does for the Apostle shall be of free will.

The pleader now becomes more pressing, and assumes a more serious tone. Perhaps there was another hand in all this; perhaps it was of God, whose providence had deprived him of a servant for a season, to bestow upon him a friend and brother eternally. And so, if he counted St. Paul as a fellow-labourer, he was to receive Onesimus as he would receive himself.

But one thing remained. Since a slave could possess nothing, the means of escape and suste

nance must have been fraudulently obtained out of his master's property, even supposing there was no greater theft behind. To whatever sum this damage amounted, St. Paul gives his word that he would himself be chargeable with it. His own hand attests this, whether he wrote this portion only, or, as is more probable, the whole letter, himself. But he does not expect this his pledge to be redeemed. He delicately reminds Philemon that a far greater debt is owing to him than can be due from him- even thine own self'-to him who first taught thee the worth of thine own soul. This being so, let me have profit of thee (another allusion to the name of Onesimus), not indeed in worldly good, but in a rich increase of voluntary compliance over and above my present request.

Thus (and who shall say that it is discourteously or unskilfully?) he urges his plea, and concludes by holding out a prospect of a visit to them, and by sending salutations from those who were with him. All is closed with the benediction, The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.'

And now let us gather up the thoughts which we may carry away from this short epistle.

First, it furnishes an important evidence of the

apostolic spirit, or, which is for us the same thing, the teaching of the Spirit of God, with regard to a subject much debated, but now, by God's good Providence, happily determined in our time-I mean slavery. We learn from this letter two things. 1. That the Apostle will not rashly or hastily interfere with existing institutions. He had elsewhere advised (1 Cor. vii. 20) that every man should abide in the calling in which he finds himself; and had recommended the Christian slave, even if he might be free, rather to continue as he was (v. 21). And here he is consistent with himself. He never requests Philemon to set Onesimus free, but only to receive him back kindly.

So much for one side. But we must not lose sight of the other. It has been often and well observed that, though St. Paul was no abolitionist, yet St. Paul's principles, if carried out, inevitably lead to the abolition of slavery. The gentleness which he here recommends, and elsewhere enjoins, coupled with the great doctrine which he never ceases to enforce, of the union of all mankind in Christ, could not make way among men, without the institution of slavery falling before them. The best practical proof of this is, that as these have

So then let us be

made way, slavery has fallen. fair. Let us not quote the moderation of the Apostle on the one side, without remembering that all the weight of his principles and character was thrown, and has prevailed, on the other.

Secondly, we happen to possess the means of comparing this specimen of Christian intercession with a like specimen from the pen of a kindlyspirited and cultivated heathen. The younger Pliny, the same who wrote the celebrated letter to the Emperor Trajan about the Christians in Bithynia, writes to his friend Sabinianus entreating his pardon for a freedman who had offended him; and writes again, acknowledging gratefully the granting of his request. The letters are models of courtesy, humanity, good feeling. But to a Christian mind, the comparison with this of St. Paul is most instructive. eminent.

They lack just that in which this is

Pliny conjures his friend by motives of pity, of self-respect, even of self-indulgence, for, says he, anger must be a torment to a man of your benevolent disposition. Nay, he puts in another motive still:—if you spare him now, you will have more excuse for anger with him in case he offends hereafter. Paul writes to his friend far otherwise.

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There is no mere appeal to pity, no mirror held up to self-esteem, no afterthoughts admitting and justifying inconsistency: all comes warm from the loving heart, and all the heart's love is kindled by the love of Christ.

Thirdly, we have here the instructive sight of a man practising what he has preached. Some years before, St. Paul wrote the beautiful description of love in 1 Cor. xiii. Now many a man may write a beautiful description, and yet not exemplify it in his own conduct. Sometimes sympathy, sometimes enthusiasm, sometimes mere pride, makes us orators makes us angels; but when we are off our prophesying chairs, the old Adam prevails, and we falsify our own words. It is a pleasing glimpse into St. Paul's character, when we see that this was not so with him. The love which he eulogized then, he exhibits now. nobler illustration of the beautiful words, 'Love is long-suffering, is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not easily provoked, imputeth not the evil; rejoiceth not at unrighteousness, but rejoiceth at the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all

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