Sharp County record., 1886-12-23

onino, Blessed be God that Iie nv'lo
Uohrev captiye pointed in the rlght ulIeC-
tionl Blessed be God for the Saving iiil-l
istry of Christian children ,..,. uo
NJ wonder the advice Of this Httle ne
bro,v cantive threw all Naaman's ihansloi'
and Ben-hadad's palace into .;sa5 eAcIteiuenC5
Good-bve. Naaman! With lace stHlii-oN :Iaoo
and rigid and infamed by the peSui.enou,
and aided by those who supporIea nm O
either side, he staggers out 10 the cA"i Ilei ioS
IoId fost the fiery cOurSers OF the royal
stohle while the poor sick man llltS ms
swollen feet and pain-struck limbs INTO the
vehicle. Bolster him up with the pllloMo
and LET him take lingering look aV Ii'
hrioht APARTMENT for perhaps thaG Nc
broIy cantive NAV be mistaken, and tle
next time Naaman comes 10 that paL"Oo ll
NAV De dead weight on the shouioere VI
those who carry him-an expired chlelt"lI
seeking sepulture amid the lamentations "a
an admiring nation. Goodbye, Naaman!
let the charoteer drive gently over the
hills of Hermon, lest he jolt the lnVallu,
Here goes the bravest man OF all MS uay,
captive of a horrible disease AS the am
hnIance winds through the streets OF Da-
mascus the tears and prayers OF an Vile
people 90 after the world-renoWneu lllVa-
lid. Perhaps you have had an lhVaHu ~
ont from your house on health excursion,
Won know how the neghbOrS stood around
and said: "Ah he will never come Dack
again aliyem Oh, it was solemn moment
I tell YOU, when the invalid hau deparleu'
and YOU went into the room 10 make Vle
he'd and to remove the medicine walls from
the shelf, and to throw opeu the shutters
so that the fresh air might rush INTO the
long-closed rooml Goodbye, Naalllan
There is only one cheerful face looking
at HIM, and that is the face OF the NIUE
Hebrew captive, who is sure he VIII geI
cured and who is so glad she helped MN.
AS the chariot winds out and the escort OF
mounted courtiers and the mules, laueh
with sacks of gold and silver and emorol-
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-teldS Where
Naaman, in the days of his health, used 10
rally his troops for fearful onset; and then
the procession stops and reclines awhile IN
the groves of olives and oleander, and Cen
eral Naaman so sick-so very, very sick!
How the countrymen gaped as the pro-
cession passed They had seen Naaman 60
past like 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 will never
mo- ~ General
Naaman wakes from restless sleep in the
chariot, and he says to the charioteer:
Chow long before we shall reach this
Prophet Elisha'sW The chariOteer says to
the wavsider: "How far is it to Elisha?s
house!" He says: 1.-TWO miles" "Two
miles" Then they whip up the lathered
and fagged-out horses, They drive up to
the door of the prophet, The charioteers
shout: "Whoa" 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 NAL
practice. Come out, Elisha and attend to
YOUR business. general Ntamun 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 60 out. After
awhile, when he thinks he has humbled
this proud man, he says to 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 "Whatw 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 mel Why, | 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 am. Isn't he
coming out! Why, when the Shunammite
woman came to him he rushed out and
cried: Is it well with thee! Is it well
with thy husbands Is it well with thy
childp And will he treat poor unknown
woman like that and let me, a titled
parsonage, sit here in my chariot and
wait and waitl won't endure it any lon
ger. Charioteer drive onl Wash in the
Jordan! Hal ha! The Shiny Jordan-the
muddy Jordan-the mOnOtOnOus Jordan. l
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 river-Abana
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 go and wash in
the Danube or the Rhine. We would an
swer: "Are not the Connecticut o, the
Hudson just as good!n 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 well!"
A.