scattered churches, most of which had grown up without any direct agency of the apostles, and therefore needed their attention at this critical period. THE SURVEY OF THE CHURCHES. The most proper person for this responsible charge, was the great leader of the apostolic band; and Peter, therefore, taking the task readily upon himself, went through all the churches, to give them the advantages of the minute personal ministry of a chief apostle, who might organize them, and instruct the disciples in their peculiar duties as members of a new religious community. On this tour of duty, passing down from the interior towards the sea-coast, he came to Lydda, about forty or fifty miles from Jerusalem, and about twelve from the sea. Here there was a company of the faithful, whom he visited, to instruct them anew, and to enlarge their numbers, by his preaching and miracles. A particular case is recorded as having occurred here, which displayed both the compassion of Peter and his divine power to heal and strengthen. Among the friends of Christ whom he visited here, was an invalid, whose name, Aeneas, shows him to have been a Hellenist. This man had for the long period of eight years been deprived of the use of his limbs, by a palsy, which, during that tedious interval, confined him to his bed. Peter, on seeing him, said, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals thee. Arise, and make thy bed for thyself.” The command to spread and smooth the couch, which he now quitted in health, was given, that he might show and feel, at once, how fully strength was restored to his hands as well as his feet. This miracle soon became known, not only to the citizens of Lydda, but also to the people inhabiting the extensive and fertile plain of Sharon, which stretched to the northward of Lydda, along the coast, from Joppa to Caesarea, bounded on the west by the highlands of Samaria. The effect of this display of power and benevolence, was such, on their minds, that, without exception, they professed their faith in Christ.