Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-01-23

w ASHiNNIIONt Jan. lts--A AZ 'hlo Nho-
course Or. Tulmage makes practical
use Of an occurrence in the orient
which has seldom attracted particular
attention; test, II Kings vi, 6, "The
iron did swim.
A theological seminary in the valley
of palms, near the river Jordan, had
become 80 popular in the time of
Elisha. the prophet, that more accom-
modationS were needed for the stu
dents. The classrooms and the dor
mitorics must be enlarged or an en-
tircly ncv building constructed. What
will they do? viii they send up to
Jerusalem and solicit contributions for
this undertaking? VIII they send out
agents TO raise the money for new
theological seminary? Having raised
the money, will they send for cedars
of Lebanon ana marble from the quar-
rics where Ahab got the stone for the
pillars and walls OF his palace? No.;
the students propose 70 build it them
selves. They were rugged boys, who
had been brought up in the country
and who had never been weakened by
the luXuries of city life. All they ask
is that Elisha, their professor and
prophet, 20 along with them to the
woods and boss the job They start
for the work, Elisha and his students.
Plenty Of lumber in those regions
along the Jordan. Tho sycamore is Il
stout, strong tree and good for timber.
Mr.. Gladstone asked me if | had seen
in Palestine any sycamore tree more
beautiful than the one we stood under
at Hawardcn. l told him l had not.
The syCamores near the Jordan are
now attacked by EliSha's students, .or
they must have lumber for the new
theological seminary | suppose some
of the students made an awkward
stroke, and they were extomporized
axmen. stand from under. Crash
goes one Of the trees ana another and
another. But something now happens
so wonderful that the occurrence will
tax the credulily of the ages, 50 won
derful that many still think it never
happened at all. one of the students.
one. You must remember that while
the AK Of Olden time was much like our
modern AK, it differed in the fact that
instead of the hclVe or handle being
thrust ina n socket in the iron head
the head Of the AK was fastened on the
handle by q lcathern thong, and SO it
might slip the helve. A student of the
seminary was swinging his AK against
one of those trees. and whether it was
at the moment he made his first stroke
and the chips flew or was after lie had
cut the tree from all sides so deep that
it was ready to fall we are not told
but the aX head and the handle parted
Being near the riverside, the AK head
dropped into the river and sank to the
muddy bottom. Great was the stu
dents dismay. If it had been his own
AK, it would have been bad enough. but
the AK did not belong to him. He had
no means to buy another for the kind
man who had loaned it to him, but
God helps the helpless, and be gener-
ally helps through some good and SYM
pathetic soul. and in this case it was
Elisha, who was in the woods and on
the river bank at the time lie did not
see the az head fly off. and so he asked
the student where il dropped. He was
shown tho place whore it went down
into the river. Then Elisha broke off
a branch Of a tree and threw it into the
water, and the AK head rose from the
depths Of the river and tloated to the
bank, SO that the student had just to
stoop down and take up the restored
property, Now you see the meaning OF
my text, "The iron did SWIM"
The Iron Did Swim.
Suppose a hundred years ago some
one had told people that the time
would come when hundreds of thou
sands of tons of iron would float on
the Atlantic and Pacific - iron ships
from New York to Southampton, from
London to Calcutta, from San Francis
co to Canton. The man making such
Il prophecy would have been sent to
an asylum or carefully watched rs in
competent to go alone. We have all
in our day seen iron swim. Now if
man can make hundreds of tons of
metal float, | am disposed TO think
that the Almighty could make an AK
head float.
"What," says some one, "woud be
the use Of such Il miracle" OF vast,
of infinite. of eternal importance. Those
students were preparing for the min
sry They had joined the theological