Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1883-05-03

Z Many cpnenfies ago, there lived at
Jsfnsalsnk = young Israslits. who was
the con az Rabbi. This yonng MAS
nans was ElilAn and. ike his iathsr.
he was fDod of saidying ths Lac.
UnfoEtummkely for this young skg-l
dent, he differed with his father aboat
.the construction Of some poinia of the
uaN and Vas driven from his fathers
rc0g eompeIled 60 seek refuge in
. forein I'D. whars 10 eeuA (an BE
thonght) qniefIy pursue his fasdnFits
study. BsloE startima CT On hisl
journey, he purchased : amp, . chick
esl-oock and A. g. ~ Sad L.. ''thsl
sazif ssiiI sys be q - q night byl
which TO study, the cock viii awake
me at the dawn Of day. and the ass
will serve me AZ beast of burden. "
Elihu. starting out On his Journey,
pressed his faithful beast as fast As
the brOiling sun and the sandy road
would permit, until be saw the sun
slowly sinking below the HORIZON, and
not observing any place where he
might rest llis jaded beast, and find
reposs for his own wearied limbs, he
pushed on until darkness had nearly
overtaken him. when be suddenly
came to y Village.
He was glad to end that this vii
lage was inhabited BY human beings,
thinking that here he would find
humanity and compassion extended
to wearied traveller, but he was
mistaken. he asked for a nights
lodging. but not one Of the inhospita-
bic inhabitants would accommodate
him.
He was therefore compelled to seek
shelter in = neighboring wood. at
is. indeed, very hard said he, mot
TO find hospitable roof among hu-
man beings to protect me from the
inclemency of the weather; but God
is just. and whatsoever He doeth is
for the best He laid down under
a wide spreading tree. where he res
ted for q short time. and then arose,
lit his lamp and commenced reading
the Law.
He had scarcely read a chapter,
when q violent storm arose and ex-
tinguished his light. What" said
he, tam / not even permitted to pur-
sue nv iavourite study? But God is
just, and Whatsoever He does il for
the best" He stretched himself on
the ground again. hoping. if possible.
to have few hours sleep. He had
scarcely slept for half an hour Rhsn.
hungry wolf came and killed the
Geek. Awakening, he exclaimed,
"Ah, dear mel who viii henceforth
awaken me to the study Of the Law
now that my vigilant companion is
gone? But God is Just; He knows
what 10 best for us poor mortals. -
But a few moments elapsed when q
terrible lion came and devoured the
ass. What ia to be done now" ex-
claimed the disheartened traveller ?,
MY lamp and my cock are gone
and now my poor beast is also devour-
ed. Truly, misfortune never comes
alone, but praised be the name of the
Lord. Although He has sorely smit-
ten me, know that whatsoever He
doeth is for the best"
Elihu passed q slsepless night, and
early in the morning, went to the
village to zee if he could procure a
horse OF any other beast of bur
den to enable him to pursue his
journey; but he was utterly sur
prised not to find a single indi-
vidusl alive. 1t appears that band
of robbers had entered the village
during the night, killed its inhabi-
tants and plundered their houses
As soon as Elihu had sufficiently re-
covered from the effects of the horri-
bic scene before him, he lifted up his
voice, and exclaimed, "Thou great
God. the God Of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob, how mysterious are Thy ways I
The wisdom Of the Great Ruler of the
universe is now plainly discerned by
me; for if the hard-hearted people
who inhabited the village had not
driven me away, / would most assur-
edly have shared their fate; and if
the violent storm had not extinguish-
ed my lamp. Its light would have at
tracted the attention Of the robbers
TO the place Of my concealment; and
had not my two companions, the cock
and the ass. been devoured, the crow
ing Of the former and the braying of
the latter would surely have reveal
ed to the robbers my resting place,
and ] too would have been killed.
Now do I know that we poor, weak
mortals are. blind and short-sighted,
often considering as evils the things
intended for our good. Henceforth,
tho the Lord smite me. yet will ]
praise him." m~ ,~e