The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1886-12-17

! seeking sepulture amid the lamentations of
an admiring nation. Goodbye, Naamanl
/ Let the charIoteer drive gently over the
/ hills of Hermon, lest lie jolt the invalid,
| Here goes the bravest man of all his day, a
| captive of a horrible disease. As the am
bulance winds through the streets Of Da-
mascus the tears and prayers of all the
! people go after the world renowned inva-
! lid. Perhaps you have had an invalid go
| out from your house on health excursion
/ You know how the neighbors stood around
/ and said: 'Ah, he will never come back
! again alive!n Oh, it was a solemn moment,
/ l tell you, when the invalid had departed,
and you went into the room to make the
/ bed and to remove the medicine walls from
! the Shelf and to throw open the shutters
/ so that the fresh air might rush into the
! lOng-closed roOml Goodbye, Naamanl I
/ There is only one cheerful face looking
at HIM, and that is the face of the little
Hebrew captive, who is sure he will get
cured and who is so glad she helped him.
! AS the chariot winds out and the escort Of
mounted courtiers, and the mules, laden
! with sacks of gold and silver and embrO-
/ dered suits of apparel, went through the
/ gates of Damascus and out on the long way,
| the hills of Naphtali and Ephraim look
! down on the procession, and the retinue
! goes right by the battle-felds where
/ Naaman, in the days of his health, used to
/ rally his troops for fearful onset; and then
/ the procession stops and reclines awhile in
! the groves of olives and oleander, and Gen
eral Naaman so sicl1-so very, very sickl
| How the countrymen gaped as the pro-
/ cession passed! They had seen Naaman go
| past like a whirlwind in the days gone by,
and had stood aghast at the clank of his war
! equipments; but now they commisserate
/ him. They say: "PoOr man, he win never
get home alivel Poor manp' General
Naaman wakes from restless sleep in the
/ chariot, and he says to the charioteer:
| I" How long before we shall reach this
| Prophet Elisha'sp' The charioteer says to
! the waysider: How far is it to Elisha's
housed" He says: &" Two miles" "Tvo
miles" Then they whip up the lathered
| and fagged-out horses. They drive up to
the door of the prophet. The chariOteers
shout: O 'Whoap' TO the horses, and the
tramping hoofs and grinding wheels cease
shaking the earth
Come out, Elisha, come out, you have
| company; the grandest company that ever
came to your house. The fact was, the
Lord had informed Elisha that the sick
Captain was coming and just how to treat
him. Indeed, when you are sick and the
Lords wants you to get well, He always
tells the doctor how to treat you; and the
| reason we have so many bungling doctors
| is because they depend upon their own
strength and instructions and not on the
Lord God, and that always makes mall
practice Come out, Elisha, and attend to
your business. General Naaman and his
retinue waited, and waited, and waited.
! The fact was Naaman had two diseases
pride and leprosy; the one was as hard to
get rid Of as the other Elisha sits quietly
in his house and does not go out. After
awhile, when he thinks he has humbled
this proud man, he says to a servant: " Go
out and tell General Naaman to battle
seven times in the River Jordan, out yon-
der five miles, and he will get entirely
we'll"
The message comes out. "Whatp' says
/ the Commander-in-Chief of the Syrian
forces his eye kindling with an animation
! which it had not shown for weeks, and his
swollen foot stamping on the bottom of the
chariot, regardless of pain: "Whatl Isn't
he coming out to see me? Why, l thought
certainly he would come and utter some
cabalistic words over me, or make some
enigmatical passes over my wounds. Why,
don't think he knows who l am. Isn't he
coming out! Why, when the Shunammite
woman came to him he rushed out and
cried: Is it well with theel Is it well
with thy husbands Is it well with thy
child" And will he treat poor unknown
woman like that and let me- a titled
parsonage, sit here in my chariot and
wait and waita l won't endure it any lon
ger. Charioteer drive onl Wash in the
muddy Jordan-the monotonous Jordan. 1
wouldn't be seen washing in such a river
as that. Why we watered our horses in a
better river than that on our way here-the
beautiful river, the jasper-paved river of
Pharpar. Besides that, we have in our
country another Damascene rivera bana
with foliage bank and torrent ever
swift and ever clear, under the Pickering
shadows of sycamore and oleander. Are
not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damas-
Gus, better than all the waters of Israeli"
suppose Naaman felt very much as we
would feel if by way medical prescription,
some one should tell us to 90 and wash in
the Danube or the Rhine. We would an
swer: care not the Connecticut or the
Hudson just as good3" Or, as an English
man would feel if he were told, by way of
medical prescription, he must go and wash
in the Mississippi or st. Lawrence. He
would cry out: Are not the Thames and
the Shannon just as welll'
The fact was that naughty Naaman need
ed to learn what every Englishman and
every American needs to learn-that when
God tells you TO do n thing, you must 90
and do it, whether you understand the rea-
son or not One thing is certain, unless
naughty Naaman does as Elisha commands
him he will die Of his awful sickness. And
unless you do as Christ commands you, you
Will be seized upon by an everlasting vast
ing away. Obey and live; disobey and die.
Thrilling, over -arching, under-girding,
stupendOus alternativel
Well, General Naaman could not stand
the test. The charioteer gives a jerk to tho
right line until the bit snaps in the hoz5e's
mouth, and the whir of the wheels and
the flying of the dust show the indignation
of the great commander. "He turned and
went away in a rage" SO people now often
get mad at religion. They vituperate against
ministers, against churches, against Chris
tan people. One would think from their
irate behavior that God had been studying
how to annoy and exasperate and dcmolish
them. What has he been doings Only
trying to cure their death-dealing leprosy.
That is all Yet they whip up their horses,
they dig in their spurs, and they 20 away
in a rage.
So, after all, it seems that this health ex-
cursion Of General Naaman is to be q dead
failure That little Hebrew captive might
as well not have told him Of the prophet,
and this long journey might as well not
have been taken. Poor, sick, dying Naanlanl
are you going away in high dudgeon, and
worse than when you camel As his char
lot halts moment his servants Chamber up
in it and coax him 10 do as Elisha said.
They say: tsIrs easy. If the prophet had
told you to walk for a mile on sharp spikes
in order TO get rid Of this awful disease
YOU would have done IL. 1t is easy. Come,
my lord, just get down and wash in the
Jordon. You take a bath every day, any
how, and in this climate it is so hot that ID
will do you good. DO it On our account and
for the sake Of the army you command, and
for the sake Of the Nation that admires you.
Come, my lord, just try this Jordanic
bath" 81 Well, he says, ''to please you
viii do as you say"
The rctinue drives 20 the bank Of the Jor-
dan. The horses paw and ne igh to get into the
stream themselves and cool their hot aanks
General Naaman, assisted by his attend
ants, gets down out OF the chariot and pain