, 1868-07-31
JESUS AS A CHILD.

Bat not as the place Of the Annunciation,
not As the. home Of Mary, do we think Of
Nazareth, but as the childhood and manhood
home of jesus Christ. We think Of Him as
lying 10 Mary's arms, child of adorable
beauty. The mothers hand leads Him as
she comes to the fountain to Gil her pitcher.
he FLASHES His feet in the running stream,
hears the sparrows chirp, and the hum Of
the bees, and gathers the scarlet and purple
anomones. His childhood Is like our own.
Hs-tAs ais play-hours, rambles over these
hills, becomes acquainted with every locality
As the boys of America know every acre
around their homes, each towering rock, each
nook, each tree, so he become acquainted
with the places around this, His boyhood
home.
The father and mother have stories for
Him, as our parents have for US; of His
ancestry; how Abraham. the father of bis
nation, came down from the distant North
and stopped at Schechem. From this hilltop
they perchance point out to Him Mount
Ebal and Mount Gerizim, and the valley be-
tween them, where the patriarch first pitched
his tent They tell Him the story of Joseph,
and show Him the hill of Dothem, across
the plain of Esdraelon, where the Midianites
took him from his cruel brethren to be a
slave in Egypt, and what come of it, story
more wonderful than any romance. As we
listen to the stories of our parents of the
early history Of our own country-of WASH
ington and Franklin, and their companions,
so He heard of Moses and Joshua, the first
great leaders of Israel From this hill He
sees the battle-ground where Rarak defeated
Sisera, and where Gideon, with his three
hundred, put the multitude of Midianites to
fight. Beyond that field He beholds the
rugged mountains of Gilboa, where Saul and
Jonathan we're slain. On the Sabbath, in
the synagogue, He chants with all the CON-
gregatiOn the grand elegy written by His
great ancestor, David, on the occasion of
their death.
"The beauty of Israel is slain on the high
places, How the mighty fallen /"
Familiar to him is the life of the Prophet
Elijah. We fancy Joseph coming up here
with the child and with extended arm points
ing to Carmel, the scene of sacri fee, where
fire came down from Heaven and consumed
the prophets of Baal. He cannot quite see
the village of Shun en-, where Elisha raised
the widows son, for it is round the point OF
Little Hermon.
HIS BoYHooD.
We see Him when twelve years old going
with His PARENTS their nsighbors and com
panies from surrounding villages to Jerusal,
EN-, in the month of March, to keep the great
National Festival-the Fourth of July and
Thanksgiving Day in one-commemorative
of the deliverance of the nation from slavery.
The flowers are blooming on the hiIl-the
scarlet and purple anemones, the violets, iris,
lilies and phoxes. The festival over, His
parents begin their homeward journey, but
the child remains, enters the Temple, and
grayely questions the gray-bearded and ven
cradle men who have devoted their lives to
profound study Strange his words when
reprimanded by His mother, for having stayed
behind. He must be about his Fathers
business His father was carpenter and
He was to follow the same occupation. In
the Museum at Naples we see from the ex,
humations of POmpeii how rude must have
been the implements of his craft.
MECHANIC.
He becomes a mechanic who may read
these lines labors-working from morning
till night-lying down weary when the work
of the day was done. During ten of NAM
hoods years this is His occupation. He is
Injured to toll In the prime of life we see
Him laying aside the saw and plane, and
taking journey eastward, to the river Jor>
don, where His cousin John is baptizing
those who have resolved to lead a new life
He goes not to repent of any evil way, but
to be consecrated to a new work.
THE FOUNDER OF KINGDOM.
He purposes to found an empire He is
not learned, but He goes to become teacher
He walks up the path which leads across tie
ridge East of us, bent on such an undertak-
ing. What in all human probability will be
the result of his effort He is poor-has
very little, if any money, is unknown except
to his felloW-townsmen. He halls from a
place which is held in contempt all the
country round Rome rules the nation
Her legions are tramping over all these hills;
they garrison every town. Turbulent spirits
are ripe for revolt. They will spring to arms
when a great leader appears, and they are
expecting deliverer. But this mechanic
purposes to rear His throne as no other throne
ever was reared-on love. Love! Who
will follow such leaderY Who will rally
round His standard? Position, place, money,
honor, distinction, bribes, ambitiOn-these
are motives which govern men. Fathom
human love, measure all its capabilities, the
love which one man has for another, and
what will be the probable result 7?
He returns from the Jordan and the Wild
erness to His home. We see Him in the
synagogue on the Sabbath reading from the
prophesy of Isaiah, saying: "To-day this
is fulfilled" The people are amazed. This
is the carpenters son / Whence His learn
ing? Shall one so low as He be their teach
er? They rise in anger and thrust Him
violently out of the synagogue, with the in
tention of throwing Him headlong down one
of the lodges of this hillside. His own
townsmen rejected Him. A poor beginning
, of kingdom, this Human eyes can dis
cover no prospect of success.
Nazareth is no longer His home. BE