The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-12-29


Let the charioteer drive gently over the
hills of Hermon lest he Jolt the invalid. Here
goes the bravest man of all his day captive
of a horrible disease. As the ambulance
winds through the streets of Damascus the
tears and prayers of all the people go after
the world-renownel invalid. Perhaps you
have had an invalid go out from your mouse
on o health excursion. You know how the
neighbors stood around and said: "Ah, ha
will never como back again alive" Oh,
# was a solemn moment tell you when
the invalid had departed and you went
into the room to make the bed,
and to remove the medicine phialS from the
shelf and to throw ocen the shutters so that
the fresh air might rush into the long. CLOSED
room. Goodbye, Naaman! There Is only
one cheerful face looking at him, and that II
the fa.e Of the little Hebrew captive, who ls
helrei him. As the chariot winds out and
the escort of mounted courtiers and the
mules ladened with sacks of gold and silver
and embroidered suits of apparel went
through the gates Of Damascus and out on
the long way, the hills of Naphtali and Eph
RAIN look down on the procession, and the
retinue goes right past the battlefields where
Naaman, in the days OF his health, used to
rally his troops for fearful onset, and then
the procession stops and reclines while IN
the groves of olives and oleander-and Gen.
eral Naaman so sick; so very, very sickl
How the countrymeu gaced as the process
sion passed! They had seen Naaman go past
like whirlwind in days gone by, and had
stood agbast at the clank of his war e1uip-
ments; but now they commiserate him:
They say: "Poor man, he will never get
home alive! Poor msnn General Naaman
wakes up from a restless sleep in the chariot,
l,oc TO fha rbo
before we shall reach this Prophet Elisha's"
The chariotcer says to q wavsider: How
far is it to ElishaSs house?' Hesays: "Two
miles" 1.-TWO miles" Then they whip up
the lathered and fagged-out horses. The
whole procession brightens up at ths pros
rect of speedy arrival. They drive up to
the door Of the prophet. The charloteers
shout 'whoa!" to the horses. and the tramp
ing boots and grinding wheels cease shaking
the earth.
Come out, Elisha, come out; you have
company; tho grandest company that ever
came to yoIr house has come to it now, No
stir inside EliSha's house. The fact was, the
Lord had informed Elisha that the sick cap
tain was coming and just how to treat him.
Irdeel when you are sick AMI the Lord
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 ana III,
structions and not on the Lord God, and
that always makes ,nal practice Come out,
Elisha, aud attend to your business. Gen.
eral Naaman and his retinua waited and
wait I'd aad wanted. The fact was, Naaman
La | two diseascs-pride and leprosy; the one
was as hard to get rid of as the other. ELL
sha sits quietly i'll his house and does not go
oat Alter while, when he thinks he has
humbled this proud man, he says to SER
.SC,o o,,t ond foil Gpporal NaQmap TO
bathe seven times in the river Jordan, out
wonder five miles, and he will get entirely
we'll"
The message comes out "What" says the
Commander in Chief of the Assyrian forces,
his eye kindling with animation which it had
not shown fer weeks, and his swollen foot
stamping on the bottom OF the chariot, re-
gardless of pain: what! Isn't ne coming
out to see me. Why, thought certainly he
would cone and utter some cabalstic words
over me or make some Cnigmatical passes
over my wounds. Why, don't think be
knows who I am; Isn't b, coming outs Why,
when the Shunamite woman came to MIN, ne
rushed out and cried: rs it well with thee! Is
it we'll with thy husbands Is it well with the
chi,dH and will he treat poor unknown
woman ike that, and let me. titled person.
age, sit here in my chariot and wait ana
wait? I won't endure it any longer. Chariot.
eer, drive on! Wash in the Jordan! Ha!
ha! The Shiny Jorlan-the muddy Jordan
the monotonouS Jordan. I wouldn't be seen
washing in such river as that. Why, we
watered our horses in q better river than
that on our way here, the beautiful river, tue
jasper-paved river of Pharpar. Besides that,
we have in our country another Damascene
river, ALBANIA, with foliaged bank and torrent
ing shadows of sycamore and oleander. Are
not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus,
better than all the waters Of Israelm
IsupI ose Naaman felt very much as we
would feel if, by way of melical prescrip-
ton some one should tell us to go and wash
in the Danube or the Rhine. We would an
swer! Are not the Connecticut and the
Hudson Just as goods" Or, as an Englishman
would feel if he were told, by way OF me Il
cal prescription, he must go and wash in the
Mississippi or the st. Lawrence. He would
cry out: care not the Thames and the Shan
non Just as well:' The fact was, that naughty
Naaman needle to learn what every Eng
lishmen and every American needs to learn
that when God tells you to do thing, you
MIST 90 and do it, whether you understand
tn, reason or not. Take the prescription,
whether you like it or not One thing is GER
tain; unless naughty Naanan does as Elisha
commands him. he will die of his awful sick
ness And unless you do as Christ conf
everlasting wasting way. Obey and live
disobey aud die. Thrilling, over-arching,
under-girding, sturendous alternative!
Well, General Naaman could not stand the
test The charioteer gives JERK to the right
line until the bit snaps in the horses mouth
and the whirr Of the wheels and the flying
of the dust show indignation Of the great
commander. "He turned and went away in
n rage" So people now often get mad at re-
ligion. They ,vituperate against ministers,
against churches. sgainSt Christian people.
One would think from their irate behavior
that God had been studying how to annoy
and eyasrerate and demolish them. What
has He be doing? Only trying to cure
their death-dealing leprosy. That is all. Yet
they whip up their horses, they dig in the
spurs and they go away in rage.
So, after all, it seems that this healthier
cursion of General Naaman is to be dead
failure. That little Hebrew captive might
as we'll have not told him of the prophet. and
this long journey might as well not have
been taken. Poor, sick, dying Naamanl
Are you going away in high dudgeon and
worse than when you came! As his chariot
halts moment his servants Chamber up in
it and coax him to do as Elisha said. They
say: "It's easy. If the prophet had told
YOU to walk for mile on sharp spikes in or
der to get rid of this awful disease you would
have done it. 1t is easy. Come, my lord,
Just get down and wash in the Jordan. You
take q bath every day anyhow, and in this
climate it is so hot it will do you good. Do
it on our &C .ount, and for the sake of the
army you command, and for the sake of the
nation that admires you. Come, my lord,
inst try this Jordanic bath" "Well," he
says, ito please you I will do as you say"
The retinue drive to the brink of the Jor-
dan. The horses paw and neigh to get into
the stream themselves and cool their hot
TANKS. General Naaman, assisted by his