freely made. We h1tve no right to force the secrete of the heart. Happy is it when they are volunteorecl, and when tho soul brought to itself thus of its own accord "gives glory to God." 3. Practical results. ,ve need not debate the question of tbe " confessional." More important is it to recognizo that genuine confession is followed by a renouncrs- ment of the sin. Here those who bad seen the error of their superstition promptly undi,l it. '!.'hey brought their books and burned them in public. It seems a pity that we should thus have lost valuable information. 'fhey might have renounced the teachin;; of the books and spared the books themselves. The records of human aberration aru equally u~eful to us with the records of sound philosophy. Experiments that have failed will not readily be tried again. But in the fervour of a first love all is excusable. W hern great corruption has prevailed, there will be presently a reaction, anu ext rem() Puritanism will set in. Where pleasure has run to licence legitimate pleasure wi '. I presently be looked upon with suspicion. The example of the Ephesians is not to ,,u followed literally, but in spirit. Evil, like good, is everywhere present. Bum bar[ books, they will be read the more. Denounce "spiritualism," etc., and people\ curiosity will be inflamed about it. Sophistry is hydra-headed: directly we seem to make little way against it. The best counsel is-Let alone what you know i~ injurious to you. Let the understanding be strengthened and the affections purifieu, and superstition will fall from the mind as an ernption disappears from the skin whe11 the body is restored to health. "Thus mightily grew the Word of God." Live for the truth ; sow it, plant it out in all minds, and let there be ~ room for the ill weeds to grow.-J. Vere. 21-41.-The spirit of rebellion aga,ir,,gt the gospel. The tumnlt at Ephesus presents a picture of certain aspects of human nature and of the contest between good and evil in the world. I. I TB CAUSES. Most radical of all was the instinct of self-seeking. This is the dark background out of which all manner of fiendish shapes arise to contend against the light. Then it was self-seeldng under the guise of religious zeal. Demetrius is the type of all those who make great professions of interest for the "trnth, ~ the "honour of God," the "cause of religion," and the like, while their real motive is personal profit, honour, or notoriety. They appear to be aiming at the highest, are really driving at the lowest object. At the same time, consistency with self gives an appearance of truth, no matter how corrupt and base the self may be. Hence selfish men often earn a credit and reputation refused to the more conscientions. For the egoist always" knows his own mind," though it be a bad mind; the conscientious man has frequent self-doubts and conflicts, the signs of which cannot be suppressed. II. 1TB MEANS AND INSTRUMENTS. The imagination of the multitude must, as usual, be acted upon. For good or for evil, great movements among the masses are due immediately to influences upon the imagination. The preacher's power lies here, and also that of the sophist and the demagogue. The ideas connected with profit and those connected with religion have immense governing power over the mass. We remember the commotion_ a few years ago among the match-makers in the east of London when ,t was threatened to tax their industry. So with bread-riots, land-riots, and the like. All the instincts of self-preservation rise against those who appear to menace the very means of existence. Religious ideas are only a degree less powerful. Society rests upon religion. We can only faintly imagine how the Athenian felt about his guardian goddess Athene, or the Ephesian about great Artemis. The Greek city was to each ~ative as one large house or home, the very hearth of which was the altar of the god, ihe very foundations of which rested on reverence for that god. Here, then, were two of the mightiest instincts of human nature roused up and armed against the gospel- the self-seeking and the religious or superstitious instinct, III. THE VICTORY Ol!' THE TRUTH, 1. The kingdom of sense and of nature is re:pr~sented by the greM gods of Greece. Christianity is the kingdom of the spmt. The worship of the Greek cities was that of the beautiful ; art and science w~r~ supreme. Christianity makes the moral ideal supreme. 2. '!.'he true temple is the spmt of man. And no worthy temple can be built to God unless his Spirit purify the heart, and his strength be perfected in weakness. Without th~ inter~al cultus of the heart, the external, in buildings and ritual, is vain. 3. The spiritual kmgdom alom, Aars.-n. x. 130 THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. [on. x1x. 1-U.
is nbiding. Ephesus and its temple have long been In ruins; but against tbo Church of Christ the gates of hell oannot prevail. 4. The security of the faithful amidst the Ftorm. They are concealed in a safe place till the hour of danger bo ovorpast (vors. 30, 31). Help is raised up in unexpected quarters (ver. 35, et seq.). 'l'he storms of angry passions are subdued (ver. 40). The ark of the Church is guided safely through tho tempest. 5. Character brought to light in troublous scenes, The chancellor at Ephesus is an example of undaunted courage, of calm prudenoe, of impartial jusUco, and of human kindness.-J.