rd, dying daily,
and expecting each hour to be his last, tells the glad tidings of
Christ's victory over sin and death, and whispers with his dying
breath, "rejoice." It is no wonder that such a preacher should have
produced marvellous results, and should have begotten many spiritual
children, as he tells us, in his bonds. Luke, his fellow traveller
through so many varied scenes, was there to comfort Paul the aged in
his bonds. Tychicus, who had formerly accompanied him from Corinth to
Ephesus, was ready to carry the Apostle's letters to the Churches; and
Mark, who had once failed in his ministry, was once more restored to
the side of his great teacher. Others, too, were with him, but none
perhaps was dearer to S. Paul than a certain slave, Onesimus, who had
fled from his master, Philemon, in Colossae. This runaway slave had
found his way to Rome, and here probably some one, who had seen him in
the house of his Christian master, took pity on the fugitive, and
brought him to S. Paul. How tenderly the prisoner of the Lord dealt
with the erring slave we can well imagine, as we read the loving words
which the Apostle wrote in his Epistle to Philemon. Then, too, we can
fancy the prisoner of the Lord talking to his jailor, the stern Roman
soldier, who was chained to him night and day. Often in the long night
watches, when the care of all the Churches kept S. Paul from sleep, he
must have conversed with the warrior so closely linked to him. I think
we may believe that a yet closer link than that of the iron chain at
last united the prisoner and the guard. I think that the earnest
prayers, and burning words, of that brave soldier of Jesus Christ, must
have led the soldier of Caesar to take up his cross, and follow Jesus.

And now what lesson can we learn from the prison-house at Rome? We can
learn this, that this world in which we live is in one sense a
prison-house to all. It is a prison-house of hard work. In our great
cities the roar of traffic, the rattle of machinery, the shriek of the
steam-whistle, the eager crowds flocking to office and bank and
exchange all mean one thing--_work_. Every man's talk is of business;
he is in the prison-house, and he is chained to his work. Next, this
world is a prison-house of _sorrow and trial_. Every one who has lived
any time in the world can show you the marks of his chain. Every one
whom we meet is wearing a crown of thorns. It is hidden under the
scanty white locks