know how he travelled, or with whom, or by what tract, or where, or when he rested on his way from the Judæan to the Assyrian capital. No journey was ever taken with so much interest as this; the mind is delighted to dwell upon it, and we are eager to imagine all its details, but everything would be guesswork, endless and bewildering. But this every traveller can attest: the singular beauty, fertility, and fragrance of these groves; the copiousness of the fountains and perennial streams, distributing their channels into so many watercourses, and spread for miles in all directions over a wilderness of tangled shrubberies, orange and lemon trees, with their dark foliage, surrounded by the bending leaves of the banana, reposing in every hue of light and beauty, amid a boundless panorama of gardens and green lawns, with their low walls, and water-wheels, and most profuse variety of fruits and flowers. The white buildings of the city stand fair to the sun, and present to the eye of the pilgrim a gleaming contrast to the verdant, inexhaustible paradise of green shades and glittering cascades. The beautiful blossoms of the acacia impart fragrance to the air, and there is balm in all the atmosphere around. But plenty of cool, clear water, sparkling everywhere, like diamonds of the desert, is the rare and richest treasure of Damascus. Oh, lovely Damascus! thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates with pleasant fruits; camphire with spikenard; spikenard and saffron ; calamus and cinna mon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices; a fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon. Well, indeed, might Naaman extol the rivers of Damascus more than the waters of Israel. Even the Greeks, Strabo, Ptolemy, and Pliny, call these streams "rivers of gold." To the inhabitants of that burning clime they are richer than the gold of Ophir, and sweeter far than honey from the honeycomb. The thousand purling waters, ever on the move, give life to the luscious calm. In the silence of midnight, the song of the

nightingale and the murmur of unseen rivulets are the only sounds, and they never cease. In the terrific hot glare of noon the sight everywhere of the clear, clever-like, gushing water, is a perpetual refreshment. In the shining beams of the morning spread out on the mountains, these fountains and small ponds at every dwelling are reflected like so many mirrors. And at night, when the sun has set behind. Lebanon, and the momentary twilight has sunk into darkness, the torch-lights and lanterns of Damascus are seen flashing on the waters in every direction.

The

Saul was not permitted to enjoy the sight of these beauties of Damascus. The city had just been presented to the view of his admiring eyes. It was mid-day: the birds were sleeping in the thickets, the lizards had crept into their holes, the locusts were panting in the heat. The hush of noon was in the city, and all the inhabitants were at their repose. Saul was about to enjoy with his fellowtravellers the cool refreshment of the shade, the washing of the feet, and the drink from the brook passing by. sun was fierce in the cloudless sky, and the blanched surface of the desert glared under his fiery beams. The startling mirage, shifting with magic play, was appearing in the distance on the burning horizon, in long glancing lines of transparent water, amid a hot film, like the glow of a limekiln, or it expanded into gleaming blue lakes, whose cool borders seemed to be adorned with lofty groves, on whose imaginary bank wave after wave seemed to break into thin air. At this hour, when the sun is terrible and triumphant in those regions in the midst of the solitude, when the air is dead with heat, there is often the sound as if of church bells, ringing slow and solemn; and, with trembling wonder, travellers listen to the illusive chime. This is occasioned by the heated dry air causing great tension on the drum of the ear, and making it tingle with the passing touch of mere memory, sweeping across the brain. But lo! suddenly a great light, more lambent than all these, bursts

from the sky like a cataract of molten gold; and sounds stranger still, such as no traveller ever heard before or since, fell on the ear of Saul, as he himself related to King Agrippa. "At mid-day, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee; to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified, by faith that is in me." He adds: "And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me. And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do. And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus." “The men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no (Acts xxvi. 13-18; xxii. 9—11; ix. 7.)

man."

There cannot be a doubt but that Saul saw Jesus at this time, as it was required of an Apostle that he should have seen him. "I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, Ananias, said the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me." (Acts ix. 17.) "The God of our fathers hath chosen thee that thou should

know his will, and see that just one, and thou should hear the voice of his mouth." "Am I not an Apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord?" (1 Cor. ix. 1.)

Again he was seen of James, and then of all the Apostles, and last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time." (1 Cor. xv. 7, 8.) Neither can there be a doubt but that this was a direct call of Saul to become an Apostle by the will of God. "An Apostle, sent not from men, not by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.” (Rom. i. 1; 1 Cor. i. 1; Gal. i. 1.) He was thus miraculously qualified for being an Apostle; he was thus immediately called, and the work to which he was set apart was indicated, the work of "preaching among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ."

It is said that no two objects on earth are found exactly alike; no, not even any two leaves of the same tree, or of a whole immense forest. It may be easily seen that no two faces are entirely similar. In the same way the characters of men are as diversified as the individuals themselves are numerous. But equally true and more remarkable still, the characters of any two men in the whole world do not differ wider from one another than the character of the same individual differs from that of himself. Nay, more, if any mere man be distinguished for some exalted virtue, he is sometimes degraded as far by the corresponding vice; like tooth and pinion in machinery. To prove and illustrate this painful remark, demonstrative of our fallen state, we would refer the reader to the biography of the meek and manslaughtering Moses, breaking the tables of the Law in his rage; of the pure, the pious, the polluted, the penitent David; of the courageous and cowardly Peter; of the believing and doubting Thomas; of the amiable and vindictive John; and, above all, to bring the remark home to the subject on hand, of the blind and persecuting Saul, the disciple of Gamaliel, and the enlightened and persevering Paul, the Apostle of the Gentiles. The two most opposite