DR. TALMAGE'S SERMON:
A Bad Boil Cured.
Ef
“1 have heard thy prayer; . . . behold 1 will
heal thee . . . And Isainh said : Take a lump
of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil,
and he recovered.”—11 Kings 20: 5, 7.
Luxurious living is not healthy.
The second generation of kings and
queens and lords and princes is apt to
be brainless and invalid, The second
crop of grass is almost always shorl.
Royal blood is generally scrofalous.
You will not be surprised, then, Ww
hear that King Hezekiah had disorders
which broke out in a carbuncle, viral
ent and deathiful. The Lord told him
he must die; he did not want to die.
He turned his face to the wall, so that
his prayer would not be interrupted,
and cried for his life,
GOD HEARD THE PRAYER,
and answered it, saying, ‘*Behold, I
will heal thee.’”” But there was human
instrumentality to be employed. This
carbuncle needed a ‘‘cataplasm,”’ which
is a poultice. Your old mother, who
doctored her own children in the time
when physicians were not as plenty as
they are now, will tell you that the
very best poultice 18 a fig, and that was
what was used upon the carbuncle of
King Hezekiah, . The power of God,
accompanied by this human iusstru-
mentality, cured the king.
In this age of discovery, when men
know so much it almost kills them,
and write so wisely it almost kills us,
it has been found out that prayer lo
God is a dead failure. All things are
arranged according to inexorable law.
There is no use mn praying to God for
raln in time of drought, The “weather
probabilities” in the morning papers
will decide the question, rain or no
rain, and the whole nation in prayer be-
fore God would not bringdown a single
drop. I am not now speaking of an im-
aginary theory, but of that which is be-
lieved by ten thousand times ten thou-
sand men,
If sickness comes to your household,
it will depend entirely upon ventilation,
good diet, and the skill of the doctors,
as to whether your child gets well. The
father might pray all day, and the
mother might pray all night—it would
not have any effect upon the case, If
squills, belladonupa, paregoric, and gruel
do the work, your child will get well;
if not, not. There is a cast-iron God
seated at the head of the universe,
holding in the cold grasp of His metal
fingers a band of law from whicn noth-
ng can break away.
THE BATTLE-GROUND.
Meu and women of God, at this point
the great battle of Christianity 1s to be
fought. The great foe of Christianity
to-day is rationalism, that comes out
from our schools and universities, and
magazines and newspapers, to scoff at
Bible truth and caricature the old re-
ligion of Jesus. 1t says Jesus is not
God, for it is inupossible to explain how
He ean be divine and human at the
same time. The Bible is not inspired,
for tiiere dre things in it that they
don’t like. Ilegeneration is a farce;
there is good enough in us, and the
only thing 1s to bring it out. Develop-
ment is the word-—-development, The
Garden of Eden is a fairy story, and
no more to be believed than the Arab-
ian Nights, or Gulliver's Travels, or
Robinson Crusoe. We all started as
baboons, and are blood relations to that
monkey squirming about on the top ol
that band-organ. Lazarus was
dead when Christ pretended to raise
him; he was only playing dead. Tue
water was not changed into wine at
the wedding, but Christ brought in
some wine that be had found elsewhere
to make up the deficiency. Christ did
not walk on the sea, but on the shore,
80 near that it seemed as if he really
was on Lhe walter,
What is still more alarming is, that
Christian men dare Lot meet this ridi-
cule, There is not one Christian man
in five that can, unblanched, stand in
the presence of all this rallery, saying:
“| BELIEVE IN THE WHOLE BIBLE,
and in every single statement that it
makes,” Christian men try to soften
the Bible down to suit the sceptics
The scepi ics sneer at thedividing of the
Red Sea: and the Christian goes to ex-
plaining that the wind blew a huiri-
cance from one direction a good while,
until all the water piled up; and be-
sides, that it was low water anyhow,
and so the Israelites went through with-
out any trouble, Why not be frank
and say: “I believe the Lord God Al-
mighty came to the brink of the Red
Sea, and with his right arm swung
back the billows on the right side, and
with his left arm swung back the bil-
Jows on the left side, and the abashed
water stood tp hundreds of feet high,
while through their glassy wall the sea.
monsters gazed with affrighted eyes on
the passing Israelites’?
The rationalist comes to you saying:
«}1ow about Jonah and the whale?
Do you really believe that fish story?”
There were never so many Nantucket
fishermen after one whale as there
have been rationalists flinging harpoons
at the Mediterranean sea-monster, and
frou that onewhale theyhave got enough
oil to light ten thousand souls to perdi-
tion. A sceptic tells you that Jonah
would have been killed in the process
of swallowing, and that he could not,
anyhow, have lived three days in such
close quarters, but would have been
smothered Ly the poor ventilation,
How the good Christians immediately
gu to work, and try to explain the
whole thing by natural laws, =0 as
TO PLEASE THE RATIONALISTS,
y that a whale is an air-breath.
ing fish; ttle while it comes
to thie surface, and that the whale that
swallowed Johah did the same thing,
and tisus got a supply for itself and for
the prophet. Why not rather say that
God can do anything; and Ke could
take Jonah through the whale’s throat,
y
not
could have kept hun
. alive in whale five years without
He had chosen to? Who
made the whale? God, Who made
mah to piased with either of the.
hing) ome begiu Ww explain
Ww miraculous and supernatural,
pote Bh Ht Ta
~ bugs, in preference, to
Siri Ae Re Ae
Z/Esop’s Fables, They are what they
pretend to be—fables. But if, after all
that the Bille declares, Jesus is not
God, and Lazarus was nob raised from
the dead, and the water was not turn-
ed into wine, and the Red Sea was not
divided, and in answer to prayer Heze-
kiah’s boil did not get well, then the
Bible is the worst fraud ever perpetrat-
ed in God's universe,
Ah! my friends. have we been mis-
taken? Does God hear and answer
prayer, or dees he not? Hezekiah was
sick unto death; he prayed for his life;
God heard him, and added fifteen years
to that lifetime,
THE PRAYER SAVED HIM
the lump of figs applied being merely
the God-appointed human instrumen-
tality.
“But,” says some one, “I don’t be-
lieve the Bible.,”” Ah! then we will
have to part company for four or five
minutes, for it is useless to try to argue
with any man with whom you cannot
stand upon common ground. In any
argument, if you would be successful,
there must be some common data to
start from. It is foolish to try to prove
to a man that twice three are six, pro-
vided he does not admit the multiplica-
tion table, or that two and two ure
four, if he does not admit the addition
table,
My first address, therefore, is to those
who do believe in the Bible. I want to
tell you that prayer 18
THE MIGHTIEST OF ALL REMEDIES,
and that the allopathic and homeopathic,
and the eclectic schools will yet ac-
knowledge it. Here are two cases of
sickness precisely alike: the same kind
of medicine is given to both of them,
and in the same quantities, The one
patient recovers, and the other does
pot. Why? God blesses the one remedy,
and does not bless the other, Prayer
has helped many a blundering doctor
through with a case that would have
otherwise become completely unmanage-
able. There is such a thing as Gospel
hygiene, as Christian pharmacy, as
divine materia medica, That isa fool-
ish man who, in ease of sickness, goes
only to human resources, when we have
these instances of the Lord’s help in
the sick-room. Before you call the doc-
tor, wiiile he is there, and after he goes
away, lvok up to Him who cured Heze-
kiah. Let the apothecary send the
poultice, but God makes it draw. Ohl
I am glad to have a doctor who knows
how to pray. God send salvation to all
the doctors! Sickness would be oftener
balked, death would be oftener hurled
back from the door-sill, if medical men
came into the sick-room, like Isaiah of
the text, with a prescription in their
hands, and the word of the Lord in
their mouths,
John Abercromble, the most cele-
brated physician of Scotland, prayed
when he went into the sick-room, and
ie wrote no more ably about *‘diseases
of the brain?’ than about *‘the phil.
wophy of ths moral feelings,” 1 don’t
know how much of the
MEDICAL SUCCESS
of Sydenham aud Cooper and Ilarvey
and Rush depended upon the fact that
they knew how to pray as well as to
prescribe, I don’t wanta physician who
s0¢s no God in human asatomy to doc-
tor my broken bones. 1f God made us
and I think He did), and if the Bible
8 true (and I am rather disposed to
think it is), then it is not strange that
prayer does traverse natural cause; ay,
that it introduces a new cause, When
God made the law, he did not make it
so strong He could not break it,
if God made our bodies, when they are
broken He is the one to mend them;
and it is reasonable that we should call
Him in to do it. If my furnace in ihe
cellar breaks down, there is no one so
competent to repair il as the manufac-
turer. If my watch stops, there is no
ye 80 competent to set it going as the
ne who made it, If the body 1s disor-
jered, call in the Maker of it. It is not
ull, as these physicists tell us, a matter
of ventilation, or poisoned air, of clean-
1 ness or dirt, of nutriticus diet or poor
are. I have known people to get well
n rooms where the windows had been
six weeks down, tight shut, and I have
known them to die right under patent
ventilators, I have known children
sickly who every day had their bath,
and I have known children robust, the
washing of whose faces would make
their features unrecognizable,
God did not make the law and then ron
away from it, What is law of nature?
It is only
GOD'S USUAL WAY OF DOING THINGS,
But He has said that if His children
ask Him to do a thing, and He can con-
sistently do it, He will do it, Go on
with your pillsand plasters and nos-
trums and elixirs, and your eatholicon,
but remember that the mightiest agency
in your recovery is prayer. Prayer to
God brought the king's cure, the lump
of figs being the God-directed human
instrumentality. :
I would have you also see-for it is
another lesson of the subject—that our
prayer must also be accompanied by
means, It is an outrage to ask God to
io a thing while we sit indolent. A'be
prayer, to be acceptable, must come not
only from the heart, but from the
hand, We must
WORK WHILE WE PRAY,
devolion aud work going wgether,
Luther came to Melancthon’s bedside
and prayed for his recovery, and in-
sisted, at the same time, that lie should
take some warm soup, the soup being
just as important as the prayer. ln the
time of the great plague that came to
York, in England, the priests prayed
all night and all day for the removal of
the plague, but did not think of clear.
ing out the dead dogs and cats that lay
in the gutters, causing the sickubss
We must use means as well as supplica~
tion, If a man has “evening prayers,’’
asking for health, aud then sits down
to a full supper of indigestibles at 11
o'clock at night, his prayer is a mockery.
A farmer has no right to pray for the
of his family when he knows
there is no cover on the cistern, The
Chnstian man, reckless about his
aealth, ought not to expect the sam
answer to yer as the stiax
man expects wlio retires regularly ut 1
welock at plait, and takes h
towel a wus sin wo Lhe passengers
hore, but he told
and that
weak, needing our help, but God is
strong, and asks us to eo-operate with
Him, that we may be strong, too, Pray
by all means, but don't forget the fig-
poultice,
That God answers prayers offered in
the right spirit, seconded by our own
effort, is the first and last lesson of this
text, and it is a lesson that this age
needs to learn. If all communication
between heaven and earth is cut off,
let us know it. If all the Christian
prayers that are going up toward God
never reach Him, then, I say, let
silence smite the lips of the afilieted
world, and the nations smother their
groans and die quietly,
GOD DOES ANSWER PRAYER,
The text shows it. You say: “I
don’t belleve the Bivle; I think that
those things were merely coincidences,
which are often brought as answers to
prayer.” Do you say that? Was it mere
happen-so that Elijah prayed for rain
just as the rain was going to come any-
how? Did Daniel pray in the wild
beasts’ den just at the time when all
the lions happened to have lock-jaw?
Did Jesus pray at the grave of Lazarus
just at the time when Lazarus was
going to dress himself and come out
anyhow? Did Jesus lose His place in
His sermon, and make a mistake, when
He sald: **Ask, and it shall be given
you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and
it shall be opened unto you?’’ And, lest
some were so stupid that they could not
understand it, He goes on: “For every-
one that asketh, receiveth;fand he that
seeketh, findeth; and to him that
knocketh, it shall be opened.”
But some one persists in saying: *'I
don’t believe anything of the Bible,”
Then 1 appeal to
YOUR OWN INSTINCTS,
Prayer is certain
natural to man as the throbbing in the
pulse, asthe respiration of the lungs.
Put a company of men —I don't care
how bad they are-—in some imminent
peril, and they will ery out: "God have
mercy on us!'’ I challenge that these
men who don’t believe in prayer char-
ter a steamer, go out inthe *Narrows,”
swing out eight or nine hundred miles
to sea, and then heave to apd wall for a
cyclone, And after the cyclone comes
and the vessel has gone under ten thes,
when they did not expect it would rise
again, and the bulwarks have
knocked in, and the masts are gone—if
they do not pray, I will surrender my
theory, Do you tell me that this in-
stinet which God has put in us, He put
there just to mock us for Ilis own cruel
amusement? If God implanted that in-
stinet in the human heart, it was be-
PRAYING HEROES,
Will you let the abstractions and the
vagaries of a few sceptics, or a good
many sceptics, stand beside the experi.
ence of General Havelock, who came
ont in front of the English army, lifted
his hat, and called upon the Lord Al-
mighty? or of George Washington,
who at Valley Forge was found upon
his knees in prayer? or of William Wil.
berfore, who went from the British
Parliament to the closet of devotion?
or of Latimer, who stood with his hands
on five, in martyrdom, praying for his
persecutors? Was Washington weak?
Was Havelock weak? Was Wilber
force weak? Was Latimer weak?
Bring all the affairs of your store, of
your soul, of your body, of your friends,
of your church, before Him, and the
great day of eternity will show you
that the best investments you ever
made were your prayers, and though
you may have broken promises you
made to God. God never broke His
promises to you. Let God be true,
though every man be found a liar,
And now, in conclusion, I have to
present you some cheques,
BLANK CHEQUES ON THE BANK
of heaven, written in blood, and signed
by the hand wounded on the cross, It
is not safe for you to give a blank
cheque with your name to it. You do
not know what might be written above,
But here is a blank cheque which God
says 1 can give you; it is signed by the
handwriting of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and you can fill it up with anything
you want to, *‘*Ask and it shall be
1 do not say that your
be answered in just the
prayer will
answered in the best way. Ot! will you
This
His
If I should ask the men and women
in this audience who have found God a
prayer-answering God to rise
would nearly all rise up. In time of
tine
They believed so much I
Having heard you in days of
|
thing responsive.
I put on the witness-stand Abraham,
John, Paul, Peter, and King Hezekiah,
Tell me, ye ancient battie-fieids, ye
Oriental threshing-floors, ye
corn-flelds, ye Galilean fishing-smacks,
is God deaf and dumb and blind before
all human petition? That God answers
prayer, 1 bring the
TEN MILLION FACTS OF CHRISTENDOM
to prove, There has never paper en-
in
rom your brow, and the whole group
you have only strength enough left to
pray. “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”
Generally Disregarded.
Some interesting though not novel
observations on the symplons of men.
tal fatigue were discussed al a recent
investigations goes
to prove that weariness of mind, the re.
sult of work, like
write the story. Has nol many a moth-
er prayed back her bad boy from the
ends of the earth—{rom Canton, from
Madras, from ¢ until
he knelt beside her in the
stead? Have
does and renegades who have looked
into the door of a prayer-toeeting to
laugh and scoff at it, who have been
drawn by the power of prayer, until
onstanlinopie——
f
Ol
Further
though related
incapacity.
inquiry into the same
would probably show that here, as else-
where, the former of these conditions
latter, and is the
aspects
Overas
seen when an organ still
unduly stimulated,
The observations referred
successful tion which
to
mercy? Did not the blacksmith In
Lyons, N, Y., pray to God uniil there
came a great awakening that shook the
community.
IN MY PARISH
in Philadelphia one night, al a meeting,
I asked a young mau to go into a room
at the side of the church,
upon the theme of religion.
me. We resolved
young man, and we prayed that ke
might yield his soul to God. And
side-door was flung open, he was the
(rst to step in. Prayer bad captured
him, I had a classmate in college,
whose uncle, Dr. Jolin Scudder, of
India, wrote to him, saying: “1 will
pray for you every day until such a
day, and then I will give my attention
to some other subject.” The last day
gathered up before the throne of God,
my classmate surrendered his soul to
Jesus, This is no second-hand story.
I saw the letter, and I Knew the young
man,
But why should I go so far? I have
had in my own experience, and I have
had in the history of my own family
the evidence that God answers prayer.
My mother, with three Christian
women, assembled week after week,
and prayed for their children: they
kept up that prayer-meeting of four
persons year after year. The word
knew nothing of it. God answered all
those prayers,
the eleven sons and daughters of my
mother, myself the last,
SICKNESS CAME TO MY HOUSEHOLD
~hopeless sickness, us it seemed to
many, At 3 o'clock on Saturday afters
noon the mvalid was carried to the
steamer for Savannah, At 11 o'clock
the next day, being Sunday, standing
in this very place, a man of God prayed
for the recovery of the sick one. At
that time, 11 o'clock, she who had
been prostrated three weeks, with some
help, walked up on deck, The occur-
rence was as near to being miraculous
as I ean imagine, That she was hopes
lessly sick, people who sat up with her
might after night, and are here, can
testify, That the prayer for her re-
covery was offered in this pulpit, thou-
sands of jeonts could testify. tat
11 o'clock on that Sunday morning she
walked up on deck, us by a miraculous
recovery, 1 call the Ptangens on the
San Jacinto, commanded by Captaia
Atkins, December 16, to testify, This
18 no second-hand story.
Prayer impotent! 1f I dared to think
own sensations as well as of the chil-
dren under their care,
mental lrritability were apparent
task work, 3
Headache suggested
strain in study combined with defec-
ing on the causation of
and somnambulism were also
self painting ivy leaves a bright orang: ;
tired to rest
ation, awoke at his desk to find that he
Here we Lave an
stance of cerebral irritation due to over-
work, which suggests a somewhat close
connection between dreaming and som-
physiology of the latter condition.
is at once the most general and the
least regarded form of illness to which
we are liable in the present age.
to escape from it; but there Is, at all
events a certain satisfaction in being
able to recognize its features, We
must not forget, however, that it is also
sats: faction that this fact is not ignored
ture,
requires chiefly that due attention be
paid to the two great essentials of time-
ly rest and wholesome diet, Work,
however irksome, may, itis generally
allowed, be uadertaken on a liberal
scale, if only it is not too continuous,
but is broken by timely and adequate
intervals of rest. The value of a plain
and liberal dietary is hardly less, and
we may take it as a maxim for the
times that, so long as appetite and sleep
are unimpaired, there is no dangerous
degree of overwork, and, conversely,
that a failure in either of these respects
should be regarded as a warning signal,
to which attention should be paid by
relieving the strain of exertion,
Hanging.-~The London Medical
Times believes that the sym y 8X-
pressed for criminals to suffer
pain on secount of the continued action
of the heart after the neck is broken
in hanging is misplased. It uites the
recent triple exscution at Prague to
show that the heart may pulsate
quarter of an hour af
are shown to be lu
CASES Are
action has continued a
decapitation.
tg nk a A
things plain.”
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON,
BuNpAY JANUARY 13, 1830.
A Sabbath in the Life of Jesas.
LESSON TEXT,
Mark 1: 21-34.
LESSON PLAN.
Toric o¥ THE QUARTER;
Mughty Worker.
GoLpeEN TEXT FoR THE QUARTER!
Belweve me that 4 am in the Father, and
the Father in me: or else belweve me for
the very works’ sake.—John 14 : 11.
Jesus the
Lesson Toric: The Confidence and
Zeal of Jesus,
Lesdbn 3 1. The Confidenc’ of Jesus, va, 21-27,
Outiine: § %& The Zeal of Jesus, va, 45-34.
Goren TEXT:
he went nto, the SYNAGOGUE On
bath day.— Luke 4 : 16,
Dany Home READINGS:
M.—Mark 1 : 21-34. The confi
dence and zeal of Jesus,
T.—Matt. 4 12-25. Matthew’s
parallel narrative,
W.—-Luke 4 : 30-44,
lel narrative,
T.—Matt, 7 : 15-29,
teacher,
¥.—-Matt. 14 : 13-36,
dent miracle-worker.
8,-John 2 1-17. The
Jesus,
B.—Titus 2
As his custom was
the sal
Luke's paral-
The confident
The econfi-
zeal of
: 1-15, Christian zeal,
a ————
LESSON ANALYSIS,
I. THE CONFIDENCE OF JESUS,
L In Sacred Services:
Straightway on the sabbath day he
Jesus went about, ... teaching in thelr
EYDAgOgUes (Matt, 4 : 23).
He departed thence, and went into their
synagogue Matt. 12:9).
(is custom was, in
(Luke 4 : 16)
I ever taught in synagogues,
temple (John 18 : 20),
ui La
synagogue
1
and in the
+
He taught
ind not as the scribes {
them as baving authority
»
il As
29).
one having author-
ity (Matt. 7
Thou art
{John 3 : 2
My teaching is not
John 7 :
teacher come from God
mine, but his that
sent me 16)
{IL In Subduing Demons:
Jesus rebuked him, saying,
peace, and come out of hum
And he, . . Cast out devils( Mark 1 :
lean spirit, out
Hold thy
25
(25).
34).
of
the man { Mark 5
17).
thet: 1G '
Wen Powel
{Mark 16 :
He gave and authority over
all devils (Luke 9:1).
IV. In impressing Men:
tra ioht way £1
Straighiway on the
he entered into the synagogue
taught.’ Jesus (1) Honored
Sabbath: (2) Entered the synagogue;
33 Taught the Word; (4) Dud §
stresghiwas
2. “He ta them as having author-
ity.” {1) 11 author-
ity: (2) The scope of his authority:
{3) The duration of his authority;
{4) the aims of his authority,
. “He cried out, saying.”’-4{1) The
demon’s protest; (2) The demon’s
protest: {2} The demon’s expostuia-
tion; (3) The demon’s confession;
(4) The demon’s malice; (6) The
demon’s defeat.
. “What is this?” (1) The acknow-
ledgment of supernal power; (2) The
inquiry for suflicient cause,
Il. THE ZEAL OF JESUS.
source of his
where into all Galilee (28).
Syria (Matt, 4 : 24),
spread abroad his fame in all
that land (Matt. 9: 31)
(Mark 2:1).
unto me {1 Cor, 16 : 9),
And straiZhtway....they came into
the house of Simon (20).
I will come and heal him (Matt, 8 : V5.
{John 2 : 17.
As we have opportunity, let us work
that which is good (Gal, 6 : 10).
111. Personal Ministration®
He came and took her by the hand,
and raised her up (31).
Jesus took him by the hand, and raised
him up (Mark 9 : 27).
said (John 3 : 2).
They marvelled that he was speaking
with a woman {John 4 : 27),
Teaching you... .from house to house
(Acts 20 : 20).
iV. Pablic Ministration:
All the city was gathered together
..«.and he healed many (33, 34).
Seeing the multitudes, he... . taught
them (Matt, 5: 1. 2),
He began to teach them many things
{Mark 6 : 34).
Jesus stood and cried, saying, ....Come
unto me, and drink (John 7 : 37).
Teaching you publicly (Acts 20 : 20).
1. “The report of him went out
straightway.” (1) By what means?
@ ‘rom what motives? (3) To
what extent? (4) With what effects?
2, “And straightway,....they came
into the house of Simon.” (1)
Whence Shey came; (2) Whither
they went; (3) why they went; (4)
How they went, —(1) The sanctuary
aq for service; (2) Ser-
vice the outflow of the sanctuary.
“He came and took her
by the
hand, and rased her up.” (1) The
suffering wothan; oe he divine
healer; (2) The restoring touch; (4)
The com oure,
pen door; (3) The. heating
—————————————— A ———— SO —————
LESSON «BIBLE READING,
DAILY BERVING,
Commanded (Matt, 21 : 28 ; John 9:4).
Idleness rebuked (Matt, 20 : 6).
Begin early (Josh. 6 : 12, 15,7 : 16;
Mark 1 : 85).
Continue to the end (Eccl. 11 : 63.
Suitable duties (Psa, 84 : 10 ; 119 : 1864;
Prov, 27 : 1 ; Dan. 6:10, 13 ; Matt,
6:918:25:13; Luke 17:4 ; 1 Pet,
1:17).
Special days (Psa. 57 : 13 ; Mal, :
Matt, 24 : 50, b1 ; Acts 17 : 31)
A wise prayer (Psa. 90 : 12),
iti
Iie
LESSON SURROUNDINGS,
The lesson tells of a sabbath near the
beginting of what is termed the **(rali-
lean ministry”? of our Lord, It must
be placed immediately after the call of
the four fishermen (Mark 1:16-20, and
parallel passages), which seems Lo have
occurred shortly after the rejection at
Nazareth narrated in Luke 4 : 16-31.
The only other important event record-
ed as occurring at this period Is the
healing of the nobleman’s son {John 4 :
46-54), which took place iminediately
after the return from Judea (v. 47).
These are the actual *“‘surroundiogs,’”
and in themselves present no difficulty.
Nor will the lessons from Mar« involve
us in chronological discussion fo any
large extent, since this evangelist rare-
ly deviates from what is usually ac-
cepted as the chronological order. Bat
it will be necessary to state again the
varions theories respecting our Lord’s
ministry. 1. How long did it continue?
The answer turns upon the number of
Passovers named by John, the only
evangelist who noilces any other Pass.
over than the last, If Jolin 5 :1 refers
to a Passover, .as is in any case gram-
matically probable, then the ministry
continued a little over three years, If
that passage is referred to some olber
‘“feast,’’ then a year must be subtract-
ed, It Is difficult to identify this
“feast” with any other than the Pass-
early Galilean ministry isto a very
brief space, 2. Accepting the longer
period (the Quadripaschal theory), we
meet another question; namely, did this
Passover {the second, John 5:1) pre-
cede or follow the earlier events of the
Galilean ministry? Andrews places the
entire account Mark from 1 : 14
and the parallel accounts) after the
visit to Jerusalem recorded in John 3,
The date of the lesson would then be a
few weeks at most after the second
Passover, in Apnl or May, 781 (A. D
28), But most harmonists pace
beginning of the Galilean ministry be-
fore the second Passover. Robinson,
with apparently good reason, places the
second Passover immediately after the
in ¢ :
pel, it will be easy to see just ho 2
a portion of the Galilean ministry is
thus assigned to the first year {lessons
2-4). The date of the lesson would, on
this theory, be somewhat earlier, a few
weeks before the second Passover, pro-
bably about the middle of March, 781
A. D. 28).
The place was Capernaum, the sile
The two
prominent localities which have been
named as the site are Tell Hum and
Khan Minyeh., The former seems to
be accepted by the majority of recent
travelers, because of the extensive ruins
and the probable identity of name, The
ruin is that of a Jew-
ish synagogue, possibly built by the
Roman centurion (Luke 7 : 1-10), and
possibly that in which our Lord taught,
[eil Hum is about two mijes from the
mouth of the upper river Jordan, on
the north-west shore of the Sea of Gali-
jee; Khan Minyeh is between two and
and three miles farther south,
TREE a
The Camei's Humps,
f
oi
Lae
Structurally, of course, the hunps
are nothing-—mers lumps of fat, collect
ed under a convement fold of the skin,
Whnen the ani-
mal is at its best and well fed, they are
full and plump, standing up on ils back
firm and upright; but on a Jong journey
they are gradually absorbed, to keep up
the fires that work the heart and legs,
and in the caravan camels which arrive
at the coast the skin hangs over—an
empty bag—upon the creature's flanks,
bearing witness to the scarcity of exter~
nal food during the course of his long,
forced march from the interior. A
starved, small camel in this state of
health far more closely resembles a
Peruvian llama than any one who has
only seen the fine, well-kept beasts in
European menageries or zoological gar-
dens could readily imagine,
But water is even scantier in She
desert than food; and against want of
water, therefore, the camel has had to
provide himself, functionally at least,
if pot structurally, quite as much as
against want of herbage. Ilis stomach
has accordingly acquired the power of
acting as an internal reservoir, and be,
can take in as much water at the Balrs
or Wadys, where he rests for a winile
on his tolisome march, as will supply
his needs for four or five days together.
There are some diffgrences in this re-
spect, however, between the two chief
varieties of the camel. The African
kind is most abstemious, and best
adapted to sandy deserts: the Bactrian,
a product of more varied and betler
watered country, is larger and strong-
er, but less patient of hunger and thirst
while at the same lime it can manage
to subsist and tO make its way inte
somewhat rockier and wore rugged
country.
To Start a Balky Horse.
Almost every driver has an origina
inetinod of Svereoming subbars horses,
and usually is is not ineffectual
but brutal, in view of the follow-
ing simple method,
un whatever to the amimal, Is worthy
of a trial, It is communicated to Our
Dumb Animals by Joseph A. Titus, of
Mass, the statement