The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1854-01-21
1}!uruI auh lirIiQion5.
The risb hy which Jonah's life was saved.

Now ,l,r I.or.l had prepared a great fish to
swallow ny Jonah And Jonah was in the
L..llv of the fiji, three days and tire" nights
..,nd the Lore! >rakc unto the fi-h. and IT
vo,nirc,l out Jonah upon the dry land. 80.
2:lo.
The whole transaction here is plainly rep
resented to BE a miracle, produced by the d'-
rect agency of the Almighty and in that view
there is nothing in it impossible or Incredible
The occasion. the preservation Of the life OF
'li<obcdicnt prophet in way to administer
rcbuke and punishment, and the warning OF
a guilty city containing million Of i"hab't-
ants. 50 as to prolurc repentance and :c!or-
r,,ion: such an occasion was certainly not
unworthy Of miraculous imtcrpo>ition.
In the Divine economy, however, there Is
never profn>ion Of miracles. nor any more
Of miraculous arencv than is absolutely nee
'><arv to accomplish the purpose i:'tendcd.-
1t is. therefore. entirely propcr, and may be
,ray useful 20 inquire how much mi.!' have
lr,.n the result Of natural causes merely.
Nrithcrt'ic Hebrew text nor the Greek ct
the New Tcs'amrn. determine the kind o.
f~h which WIS employed by Cool to save the
prophets life, All that the Billie anirms. i.
that it WIS a marine aniIna' Of large size. l..
then. II hc tr,r ~ no whale ever visited tie
Mediterranean. or that the largest wh,lc has
not a throat Of sufficient capacity to swallow
tLr >mallcs, nan, this would not prove til"
Bible narrative untrue. nor imply any nc''c>-
,i,v ON the part of God. Of crca nra new an
inql for til, particular cAiecnrv.
I'll. Mediterranean formerly aloun1cl in
= species of y;,rciar;; or dog FISK specimens Of
which are still iourl there. though in ir>>
M ,.l,"r.. II i an animal % tie shark kid and
though smaller fIl,n n" whale, Is throat and
raw are sufficiently caro"ipus 10 lodge with
ont crowt!inr a man Of the largr>: size. We
have the explicit Testimony OF credible wrl-
tcrs. that in more than on" instance, fish
Of this kind has been taken in ;hc Metli:crra-
mean. in whose stomach was found the hmlv
81 soldier dressed in complete armor. SUE!
instances are ALLEGED to have occurred off
;l,c barlor Of M,r>c;ll,,S in France and Nee
in Italy. Even in modern times there have
been caught in the Mediterranean fish OF ih,
spc,cs which were from Twenty-Five to thirty
feet in length nine feet in circumference. and
of two tons weight. y half ton, Or one t'ou-
sanI pounds. is 4 common size.
IN an edition of the system Of Nature ol
LinneuS. l., he philosopher Muller. the fol-
lowiu. story Is given OF fri cate which was
cruising in the Mediterranean in the year
I,jS; In 4 heavy storm 4 >canan fell over
hoard and was immediately received into III.
laws and threat III 4 SCI. DC. or carcIarir. which
WIS following the >lp. Before The animal
sank. an officer On deck ,ii..hsr."l = orn at
is head, aud the discharge taNin- Acct il
caused the animal to di,.orSc It's prey. and
the sailor WI, rescued alive and uniniUrcd.
and lived for several wears to repeat the story
OF his .iei"cr,n"e. ny harpoorS and cables
this fish was captured. AMI his exact weight
was 1921 pounds.
Wi,hou. doubt. it was fish of this kind
which Gol employed for the prophet. Th'
only miracle necessary was the preservation
Of the prophets life during his imprisonment
for the gastric ,.irc will not act on the Twin.
fibre: and any one of variety OF natur;s
causes might have been sufficient to effect tn
release on The t!.rdd, Surely the simr!
preservation of a mans life for a few hours
without li"ht or air is no such stuprn'lo,
miracle that it should seem incredible. 1t {
ven appears quite small compared with tn
asccn: of EIii,h or The resurrection O: Las
rus Bat in ease OF a direct intcrpo'ii,on o
the Almighty. What i, small or GREAT. '!iil
cult or easy: What is the difference hetw""
~. bu,lInc Of a rose and the bursting OF
volcano: Are they not all alike 10 Omnip
tcncc:
Eut why dill Col Adopt this mctlo! "!
did l.e not choose some other way? SUI
uic>,ionS NAV always u" asked in respect
Gods works. AMI they seldom admit of an Il
~wrr: it is of little consequence whether th
a-r answered. or not God has his own W.
{" accomplishing his own purposes. and nov
deems it necessary 20 a., oar advice. or So
the benefit of oar WISDOM Why did e.
choo," the mr,Fol which Ar has CHOSEN.
the rcproln:tinn of litc and !ivinr beings
this world? WY not adopt some less 20
,lcx. som" nor" convenient mole? VI
do TIE inhabitants of the air and water CEN
ally pro'lucc cc,>. AMI tie inhabitants ct t
grounl a livnr progeny: And why sho'
there tc such strange exceptions to Thu y
cral rule? The living squirrel. it>c,' alan
bird and an inhabi.ant o',hc air civcs vi
10 living voun-. while the ,ulnsv ltrl t.
.oisc. the most unlil;c i bird possible. and
inr manly on land. produce ceg~. CAn a
,nctr,l why?
Why has God -i:en ''e elephant a trr
instead 4 a neck: Why must some Il
t:>l cast their >,l> in order to grow v!
with others IKE she'll grows with the gro,
# the lolv: WHY should some animals HI
tones instead Of shells. and others shells in
plac, Of bones: Or in other words v
>hou'l some animals have their homes hu,
N thcr 4 .>h. and others carry thcr bone,
thu oI.>e'oi their tie:h? Can ANY onc t,
W.. i INN ,,,in,,L. Lars tnnth VII L