The Russellville Democrat., 1890-05-01


 whispering gallery ail in one. So deIiA cate and wondrous Is its construction that the most difficult of all things to reconstruct is the auditory apparatus. The mightiest of scientists have put their skill to it's returning, and some times they stop tho progress of it's de- cadence, or remove temporary obstruc- tions, but not moro than ono really deaf ear out of thousand is ever cured. It took God to make the car and it takes God to mend it. That makes mo cnri- ous to sec how Christ the Surgeon sue ceeds as an anrist
 We are told of only two cases He oper- ated on as ear surgeon His friend Peter, naturally high-tempered, saw Christ insulted by man by the name of Malchus, and Peter let his sword fly, aiming at the mans head, but the sword slipped and hewed of the outside ear, and our Surgeon touched the lacer- ration and another ear bloomed in tho place of the one that had been slashed away. But 1t is not tho outside ear that hears. That is only funnel for gathering sound and pouring 1t into the hidden and raore elaborate ear. On tho beach of Lake Galilee our Surgeon found man deaf and dumb. Tho pa tient dwelt in perpetual silence and was speeches.. He could not hear note of music or clap of thunder. He could not call father or mother or wife or chil- dren by name. What power can waken that dull tympanum or reach that chain of small bones or revive that auditory nerve or open the gate between the brain and the outside world? The Sur geon put His fingers in the deaf ears and agitated them, and kept on agitat- ing them until the vibration gave vital energy to all the dead parts. and they responded, and when our Surgeon with drew His fingers from the ears the two tunnels of sound were clear for all sweet voices of music and friendship. the dash of the waves of Calico. Through the desert of painful silence had been built Kings highway of resonance and exclamation. But yet he was dumb. No word had ever leaped over his lip. Speech was chained under his tongue. Vocalization and accentua- ton were to him an impossibility. He could express neither love nor indigna- tion nor worship. Our Surgeon, hay ing unbarred his ear. will now melt the shackle of his tongue. The Sur geon will use the same liniment or salve that He used on two occasions for the cure of blind people, namely, the moisture of His own mouth. The ap- plication is made. And To. the rigidity of the dumb tongue is relaxed, and between the tongue and teeth were born a whole vocabulary, and words flew into expres- sion. He not only heard, but He talked. One gate of His body swung in to let sound enter and the other gate swung out to let sound depart. Why is it that while other surgeons used knives and forceps and probes and spectroscopes, this Surgeon used only the ointment of His own lips? To show that all the curative power we ever feel comes straight from Christ And if He touches us not, we shall be deaf as rock and dumb as tomb. Oh. thou greatest of aurists, compel us to hear and help us to speak.
 But what were the Surgeons fees for all these cures of eyes and ears, and tongues, and withered hands and crooked backs? The skill and painless ness of the operations were worth hun dreds and thousands of dollars. Do not think that tho cases He took were all moneyless. Did He not treat the noble mans son? Did He not effect cure in the house of centurion of great wealth, who had out of his own pocket built a synagogue? They would have paid Him large fees if He had demanded them, and there were hundreds of wealthy people in Jerusalem, and among the merchant castles along Lake Tiberias, who would have given this Surgeon houses and lands and all they had for such cures as He could effect. For critical cases in our time great surgeons have received one thousand dollars, five thousand dollars, and, in one case I know of, fifty thousand dollars, but the Surgeon of whom l speak received not shekel, not a penny, not a farthing. Tn His whole earthly life we know of His hay ing had but sixty-two and half cents. When His taxes were due, by His omniscience, He knew of a fish In the sea which had swal- lowed piece of silver money, as fish are apt to swallow any thing bright, and he sent Peter with hook which brought up that fish, and from it's mouth was extracted Roman stater. or sixty two and half cents, the only money He ever had; and that He paid out for taxes. This greatest Surgeon of all the cent uries gave all His services then, and offers all His services now, free of all charges. "Without money and without price" you may spiritually have your blind eyes opened, and your deaf ears unbarred, and your dumb tongues loosened, and your wounds healed, and your soul saved. If Chris tian people get hurt of body, mind or soul, let them remember that surgery is apt to hurt, but it cures, and you can afford present pain for future glory. Besides that there are powerful an@s- thetics in the Divine promises that soothe and alleviate. No ether or chloroform or cocaine ever made one so superior to AioeApoo bo o AoN AtOp1 VI bLdt nag cent anodyne: "All things work together for good to those who love God;" Weep ing may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning"
 What grand thing for our poor hu. man race when this Surgeon shall have completed the treatment of all the worlds woundsl The day will como when there will be no moro hospitals, for there will be no sick, and no moro eye and ear infirmaries, for there will be no more blind or deaf, and no more deserts, for the round earth shall be brought under arboriculture, and no more blizzards or sum strokes, for the atmosphere will be expurgated of scorch and chill, and no moro war for the swords shall come out of the foundry bent into pruning hooks. While in tho Heav- enly country we shall see those who were the victims of accident or malfor. nation, or hereditary ills on earth, be. LII. 1s -a