Jews, who would procure his detection and recapture,—having obtained silence, went on to give them a full account of his being brought out of prison by the Lord, and after finishing his wonderful story, said to them, "Tell these things to James and the brethren." From this it would seem that the apostles were all somewhere else, probably having found that a temporary concealment was expedient for their safety, but were still not far from the city. His own personal danger was of so imminent a character, however, that Jerusalem could not be a safe place for him during the search that would be immediately instituted after him by his disappointed and enraged persecutors. It was quite worth while, therefore, for him to use the remaining darkness of the night to complete his escape; and without staying to enjoy their outflowing sympathies, he bade them a hasty farewell, and, as the historian briefly says, went to ANOTHER PLACE. Where this "other place" was, he does not pretend to tell or know, and the only certain inference to be drawn from the circumstance is, that it was beyond the reach or knowledge of the mighty and far-ruling king, who had taken such particular pains to secure Peter's death. The probabilities as to the real place of his retirement will, however, be given, as soon as the sequel of events in Jerusalem has been narrated, as far as concerns the discovery of his escape.
Bright light.—Some commentators have attempted to make out an explanation of
this phenomenon, by referring the whole affair to the effects of a sudden flash and
stroke of lightning, falling on the castle, and striking all the keepers senseless,—melting
Peter's chains, and illuminating the place, so that Peter, unhurt amid the general
crash, saw this opportunity for escaping, and stepping over their prostrate bodies,
made his way out of the prison, and was out of sight before they came to. The most
important objection to this ingenious speculation is, that it directly contradicts every
verse in Luke's account of the escape, as well as the general spirit of the narrative.
Another weighty reason is, that the whole series of natural causes and effects, proposed
as a substitute for the simple meaning, is brought together in such forced and
uncommon coincidences, as to require a much greater effort of faith and credulity for
its belief, than the miraculous view, which it quite transcends in incredibility. The
introduction of explanations of miracles by natural phenomena, is justifiable only so
far as these may illustrate the accompaniments of the event, by showing the mode in
which those things which are actually mentioned as physical results, operated in producing
the impressions described. Thus, when thunder and lightning are mentioned
in connection with miraculous events, they are to be considered as real electrical discharges,
made to accompany and manifest the presence of God; and where lambent
flames are described as appearing in a storm, they, like the corpos santos, are plainly
also results of electrical discharges. So too, when mighty winds are mentioned, they
are most honestly taken to be real winds, and not deceptive sounds or impressions;
and when a cloud is mentioned, it is but fair to consider it a real cloud, made up,
like all other clouds, of vapor, and not a mere non-entity, or a delusion existing only
in the minds of those who are mentioned as beholding it. But where nothing of this
kind is spoken of, and where a distinct personal presence is plainly declared, the attempt
to substitute a physical accident for such an apparition, is a direct attack on the
honesty of the statement. Such attempts, too, are devoid of the benefits of such illus-
