delusion under which he had been acting. He now casts himself at his Sovereign’s feet, and professes his willingness to be at his absolute disposal for the future. Suppose the generous Monarch to reply;—‘I know that thou wast engaged in a blind and unequal contest with me: (“it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks:”) but I am come to tell thee, that I have appointed thee my Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, and am about to send thee forth to a distant kingdom, there to transact for me some difficult and important business, in which my honour and interest and the interest of my subjects are greatly concerned: (“For I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a Minister and a Witness of these things which thou hast seen:”) I will from time to time communicate most confidentially with thee: (“and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee:”) all my authority and power shall be put forth for thy personal preservation: (“delivering thee from the people and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee:”) and nothing shall be wanting on my part to make thine Ambassage successful.’ (“to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God, &c.”) Would this subject, after such a communication and commission,—delivered too by his Prince in person—have any doubt on his mind respecting the pardon of his rebellion? He might for a few days retire into secret, to reflect on his case;—to consider the evil of his own conduct, and the noble and generous manner in which he had been treated, when he might justly have been dealt with in a very different way. But his preferment of necessity involved his pardon and his full and complete establishment in his Sovereign’s favour. How could he, in the very nature of things, execute the Commission given to him, if he were to be put to death for his treason? Nevertheless, it might be very expedient, that a public manifestation should be made to the kingdom of this change in the state of things: for the Prince’s visit to his subject was in secret, though not the least suspicion could attach to the truth and sincerity of it. A public Ceremony might, therefore, take place, at which his own change of mind and his Sovereign’s pardon might be proclaimed, and his sealed Commission delivered into his hands:—but this, however important, would follow the previous interview as a matter of course. What has thus been _supposed_ was more than fulfilled in the case of Saul of Tarsus: for no communication among men could equal the condescension and grace of the Lord Jesus towards him and the confidence which He reposed in him. And the manner in which Ananias spake to Saul of his baptism seems to convey the last-mentioned idea; namely, that, however necessary, it was to take place as a matter of course. “_And now why tarriest thou_? _Arise_, _and be baptized_, _and wash away thy