heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: and here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: for I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake. And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose and was baptized."

Emily. And the same account is given in Acts xxii; it was the bright light he saw that blinded him; for he says, verse 11, "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.”

Jane. I recollect reading the other day about some one else who was struck blind.

Emily. Oh, Jane means Elymas the sorcerer; but that was not intended as a proof of God's love, was it, mamma; it was because he had been so sinful as to resist the preaching of the truth?

Mamma. True, Emily. Let us read the passage; it is in Acts xiii. 6-11, "And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Bar-jesus which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word

of God. But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith. Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him, and said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand." What end did God intend to answer by that judgment besides the punishment of the sorcerer?

Emily. To convince the deputy of the truth; for it says, ver. 12, "Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord."

Mamma. Sometimes God condescends, you see, to shew us why he does particular things; but often we could not understand his reasons, and then we must be content to know that," He doeth all things well," though "his judgments are far above out of our sight;""for as the heavens are higher than the earth so," he says, "My ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Jane. Mamma, I remember that Christ cured some man of blindness, who could not see before in all his life.

Mamma. You are right. Let us find the place. Frank. Here it is, mamma, in John ix.

Mamma. If you read the second verse, you will see that even our Lord's disciples wanted to find out some particular reason why he was so afflicted :

"And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?" And see how our Lord answered them,— "Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents : but that the works of God should be made manifest in him."

Frank. Do you not think that that miracle of our Lord's surprised the people more than all the rest, because they said, ver. 32, "Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind."

Mamma. I think you are right. They were very much astonished at his raising the dead. But had no one ever done this before?

Emily. Yes; Elijah and Elisha.

Mamma. Who did Elijah raise from the dead? Frank. The son of the widow of Zarephath; the account is given in 1 Kings xvii.

Mamma. And who did Elisha raise?
Emily. The son of the Shunammite.
Mamma. Yes; find the history of it.
Emily. I have found it in 2 Kings iv.

Mamma. And was there not another miracle of a

similar kind wrought about that time?

Frank. I know what you mean; it was after Elisha's death,-was it not?

Mamma. Yes; look for it.

Frank. Here it is in 2 Kings xiii. 20, 21, “And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the

bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet."

Mamma. Do you remember another instance, besides that recorded in John ix., of our Lord's healing the eyes of the blind?

Frank. Yes; but I do not know exactly where it is.

Mamma. Look in the Gospel of St. Mark till you find it.

Emily. I have it, mamma; it is in the eighth chapter. May I read it?

Mamma. Yes, dear.

Emily read, Mark viii. 22-25, "And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought. And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly."

Jane. Mamma, was there not a king who had his eyes put out, that we read of in the Bible?

Mamma. Yes; who was it?

Emily. Zedekiah. But it was not God who did

that.

Mamma. No. But it was a punishment which God permitted to come upon him because of his sins. Let us read the account, for it is a very instructive one. He had been warned and taught by God's prophets, and he would not listen to their threatenings. So at last, God permitted all the evil to come upon him which he had declared he would

do, unless he turned and repented. Read what is written in the thirty-sixth chapter of the second of Chronicles from the eleventh to the twenty-first

verse.

Frank. "Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the Lord. And he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God: but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the Lord God of Israel. Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jerusalem. And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling-place : but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy. Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age, he gave them all into his hand; and all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king and of his princes, all these he brought to Babylon. And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and de