The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1894-11-23
fhe whols psoeession hrightcns up !.

tho prospect Of ssoody arrival, Teey
drive up to this door Of tho prophet. The
sharioteefs shout "Whoal' to the horses,
and tramping hoots and grinding wheels
cease shaking the earth. Come ont, Eli
sha, come out You have company. The
grandest company tina. over came to
Jour house has come to it now, No stir
inside El.shs's house; TIE fact was.
the Lord had informed Elisha that the
sick captain was coming and just how
10 treat him. Indeed, when you are
sick and the Lord wants you to get
we'll, he always tells The doctor how to
treat you, and tho reason Wo have so
many bungling doctors is because they
aepend upon their own strength and
instructions aud not ON the Lord God,
and that always makes malpractice
Come out, Elisha, and attend to your
business,
General Naaman and his retinue wait
cd and waited and waited. The fact
was, Ndamnu had two disoases-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 no has humbled
this proud man, he says to servant,
go out and tell General Naaman to
battle seven times in the river Jordan,
out yonder five miles, and he will get
entirely WELL" Tho message comes out
"What!" 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 "What! Isn't he
coming ont to see me? 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 Sbnnamite woman came to him, he
rushed out and cried: Is it well with
thee? Is it we'll with thy husband? Is
it we'll with thy child?' And will he
treat poor unknown woman like that
and let me, titled parsonage, sit here
i'll my chariot and wait and wait? l
won't endure it any Longer, Charioteer,
drive on! Wash in the Jordan Ha, ha!
The Shiny Jordan--the muddy Jordan
-athe monotonous Jordan! | wouldn't
be seen washing in such river as that
Why, we watered ohr horses in better
river than that on our way here--the
beautiful river, the jasper paved riverof
Pharpar. Besides that we have in our
country another Damascene river, Aba
ma, with foliaged bank and torrent ever
swift and ever clear, under the flicker
ing shadows of sycamore and oleander
Are not Albania and Pharpar, rivers of
Damascus, better than oil the waters of
Israel?'
suppose Naaman felt very much as
Americans would feel if, by way of
medical prescription. some one should
tell us to go and wash in the Danube Or
the Rhine. We would answer, Are
not the Connecticut ard the Hudson
just as good?" Or as en- Engliahman
would feel If he were told, by way of
medical prescription, he must go and
wash in the Mississippi or the st. Law
fence He would cry ont, care not the
Thames and the Shannon just as well?"
The fact was that harghty Naaman
needed to learn what every Englishman
and every American needs to learn
that when God tells you to do thing
you must go and do it, whether you
understand the reason or not. Take the
prescription, whether you like it or not
One thing is certain. Unless naughty
Naaman does as Elisha commands him,
lie VIII die o. lis &Eful sickness And
unless you do as Christ commands you
you will be seized upon by an everlast-
ing wasting away. Obey and live; dis
obey and die. Thrilling, overarching,
undergirding, stupendous alternative!
A Dead Failure.
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 whir of
the wheels and the flying of the dust
show the indignation of the great com
mander. "He turned and went away in
a rage" So people now often get mad
at religion. They vituperate against
ministers, against churches, against
Christian people. One would think from
their irate behavior that God had been
studying how to annoy and exasperate
and demolish them. What has he been
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 health
excursion of General Naaman is to be
dead failure That little Hebrew cap,
tive might as well have not told him of
the prophet, and this long journey
might as well not have been taken.
Poor, sick, dying Naaman! Are you 60
ing away in high dudgeon and worse
than when you came? AS his chariot
halts moment his servants Chamber
up in it and coax him 10 do as Elisha
said. They say: It's easy. If the proph-
ct had told you to walk for mile on
sharp spikes in order 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 a
bath every day anyhow, and in this eli
mate it is so hot that it will do you
good. Do it Oh 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" "Well." he says, ''to please
you | will do as you say The retinue
drive to the brink of the Jordan. The
horses paw and neigh to get into the
stream themselves and cool their hot
TANKS. General Naaman, assisted by
his attendants, gets down out of his
chariot and painfully comes to the brink
Of the river and steps III until the water
t)mes to the ankle and goes OH deeper
Until the water comes to the girdle, and
COW standing SO far down in the stream
Just little inclination Of the head will
thoroughly inmorse him. He bows once
into the food and comes up and shakes
the water out of nosuril and eye, and