Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1855-02-24

winning courtesy, and by a woman's tender
ness A(Applause.) t-'
Mr Thomas then, t1king as bis ruide N,
work lately published BY Messrs. Conybear,
and H6wson Of the English church r,he forme
and the present principal Of the Collegiate In
stitute at Liverpool. on 9the Life and writ
ings of St Paul, a work which he highly eu
logized, proceeded to trace the Apostle, in ,
series of interesting sketches, through all m,
principal events Of his importantiife; his leav
ing Tarsus when thirteen to 90 10 Jerusalem
to complete his education under Gamaliel. a
learned and liberal Pharisec, and shelving Will,
he was there the great events in Christian his.
tory that gradually rose. He observed thai
we liked TO talk Of the malice and stubborn IN.
belief Of the jews We forget too easily the
long night Of their weary bondage, under the
Babylonian, the Macedonian, and tbo Roman,
and how beneath the yoke Of that long oppres-
sion they had hoped for, prayed for, and with
confident expectation waited for the temporal
deliverance, The loosing Of their rusied chains.
the gathering Of the scattered house of Israel.
the rebuilding Of the throne Of David with
new glory and wider dominion. One mus, feel
all this to do Justice 10 the Jew, and TO under
stand with what emotion he would read on the
Roman cross that sneering Inscription. ''Jesns
Of Nazareth, King Of tho Jews - or with ,yba,
patience he would listen to the early disciples
who told him that 10 that crucifed Nszarene
the visions Of seers and prophets and the hopes
and prayers Of waiting people had been ful-
hied. lhe Jews erred and sinned. as men
have erred and sinned for eighteen centuries
since they interpreted Divine counsels by
their own wishes; they substituted their V;s-
dom for Gods wisdom their tapers for the
sun. Applause. He spoke next of Paul's
early prosecutions Of the Christians. and Of bis
being sent from the High Priest 10 Jerusalem
on such mission, which, owing 10 his convcr-
sion on the way, never was fulfilled. There
was nothing, he said, in the history Of the bu.
man mind more striking than Paul atthe bousp
Of Judas, When he was on tha, moral isihrn,s
Of his life, the is,bmus which divided the
oceans of his being. thick darkness broodino
over the waters ofthe past, and lights new hone
moving upon the face of the future. TAn-
plause.I Aiicr his baptism, he spent three
years IN Arabia, in solitude and devotion. and
returned TO Damascus TO commence those Ia
bors which he closed under the walls of Nero.s
palace at Rome. He weni.on a yisi, ~ lem.
salem, but the world contained no record of !,
The contemporary world knew nothing of the
history Of those men. The disciples migh,
have watched them with interest. The po.
man solder on his roand might have pansod
ind listened TO The voices Of prayer and praise
rom tho humble dwelling; bot did he dream.
hink we, that those men were laying the iouo.
iaiion OF an empire wider than that az tho
Crsars, without limit Of time and spaoe and
hat beneath the tent Of the one or in The not ef
he other all nations should yet be gathered -
.Applause.)
About the year "A commenced AT An,ioch
,aul.s successful labors as the Apostle OF the
ieniiles, few succeeding years of his life
eng devoied 10 the preaching Of the Word
ASA, TO Cyprus, and went from there 10
Troy, an event Of more Importance to ,he world
han the epic which had rendered that soo,
immortal; and from thence again to Philipni.
he memorable scene Of the struggle between
'esar aud Pompey, and where Rome lost her
lst hope Of freedom in the death of Brutus.
But, (said the leeiurer,) PhiIippi has for us
er higher associations, for here on a Sabbath (
lorning, by the river side, outside The gates Of I
ie city, and to few women, the Gosoel was
rst preached in Europe. How little had hem
lid Of those ''two days voyages before the
iindl" A vessel Of Alexandra. freigbted
18th the wheat Of Egypt, attracted more notice
ian that which bore on her deck the bread of
Ferlasiing life. The voyage Of the Genoese
pened to Europe world beyond the waters
nt the voyage of Paul the world beyond the
rave II the first preaching of Christianity In
urope was 10 women, the second was TO The |,
seper and tenants Of the Roman Jail. Would 1
at the genius OF Raphael had sc.ccicd for one
his cartoons that preaching at midnight in
g outer prison atPhilippi! 10 the Roman
ilor, his household and prisoners debtors.
ieyes, and mnrderers-tbeir faces half reveal
by the dim light Of a candle--every head
INT eagerly forward, every eye fixed as if bv
einaiion; in their midst the scoureed. laeer-
od Apostle, forgetting all suffering, his coun-
nance kindling even with joy ss from those 1
splred lips broke the glad tidings of the Word !
God ! (Applause) Il
- N"'"o ncAt gave glowing sketch of |
'ul's burning speech at Athens on Mars Hill. ,
lrrounded by the elories of Grecian arcbi-
'iure, and the temples of Pagan superstition il
reeiting it with beautiful effect. d
From Athens he went to Corinth from which Y
wrote his first letter to the ThessaIoniaus.
10 lecturer dwelt on the vast amount of com.
mt which had been bestowed on this. and c
owed that to appreciate his spirit and mean n
! 1t should not be read as broken up into
fses and chapters, but at one sitting, and as
letter. by so reading it we should get
Interpretation Of its most difficult and OBJ
ire passages, an adequate conception of Paul b
a writer and thinker--of mind whose in
iiop onistripPed The rules Of logic, and leap b
at single bound to the height of argument NJ
which other men toiled slowly and painfully b
'f the power, beauty, aud majestic sweep Of
thought, now gliding, as with The morn e.
-s radiance, the Alpine heights of contem- as
tion, linging its golden light TO the e'
vest path of duty; now unveiing the holi- "a
mysteries of life, then pleading for The
al III.