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great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god.

"In the same neighbourhood were possessions of the chief man of the island, whose name was Publius. He received us, and entertained us kindly for three days. And it came to pass that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever, and of a bloody flux; to whose house Paul went, and prayed, and laid his hands on him, and healed him. So when this was done, others also, who had diseases in the island, came and were healed; who also made us many presents, and when we departed, they laded the ship with such things as were necessary."

"After three months we departed in a ship of Alexandria, which had wintered in the island, and the sign of which was Castor and Pollux. And landing at Syracuse, we tarried there three days. From thence, having coasted along, we came to Rhegium; and after one day,

the south wind blew, and we came the second day to Puteoli :* there we found brethren, and when we had tarried with them seven days, as they desired, we went forward to Rome. From thence, when the brethren heard of us, they came to meet us as far as Appii Forum, and the Three Taverns; whom when Paul saw, he thanked God and took courage.

"When we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the other prisoners to the captain of the body-guard; but Paul was allowed to dwell by himself, with a soldier who guarded him. And he dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him."

A town in Italy, near to Naples, now called Pozzuoli.

CONCLUSION OF THE HISTORY.

LUKE, who wrote the book of the Acts of the Apostles, does not tell us any thing further respecting Paul, but we are informed by other Christian writers, that he was twice imprisoned at Rome, and that he was put to death at the conclusion of his second imprisonment, in the persecution raised by the wicked emperor, Nero, who had set the city on fire, in a fit of drunkenness, and then, to conceal his crime, charged it on the Christians.

The Apostle Peter was put to death at Rome about the same time with Paul; but we do not know so much of his history, nor of that of the other Apostles, as we do of Paul's. James, the relative of Jesus, lived chiefly at Jerusalem, and had much authority in the church; and John settled at Ephesus, and lived there to a great age. We are told that when

he was old and feeble, and could no longer walk to the church, he used to be carried thither, and to say, "My children, love one another."

These all died in faith, not having received the fulfilment of God's promises, but having seen it afar off, and being persuaded of it, and embracing it, and confessing that they were but strangers and pilgrims upon earth. They endured sufferings and death, trusting in the words of the Lord Jesus, who said, "I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, shall yet live." They trusted in Jesus, whom they had seen ofter he rose from the dead, and they believed that they also would be raised, and be recompensed in heaven for all their pains and labours.

Let us then follow their good example, and that of our Saviour Jesus Christ; let us be holy, harmless, and separate

from sinners; let us be steadfast and immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, since we know that our labour will not be in vain in the Lord.

G. SMALLFIELD, printer, HACKNEY.

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