Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1905-07-08
! SATURDAY NIGHT TALKS
{ Hezekiah's CarbuncIe.
F. E. DAWSON.
July .. 'O5-dsa sS:1-S)

boils from head TO foot, but he got
over in time. King Hezekiah had
one carbuncIe. and it nearly killed
him. ANY person who has had a
good strenuous case OF boils will
agree with the wit who said there
was only one comfortable place TO
have them, and that was ON somebody
else. II there is any one thing that
will cause an individual TO feel that
life is not worth living, it is when he
is nursing a boil that has not come
to readiness for the surgeons knife
but which is stabbing its possessor
with sullettos that reach to the very
marrow OF his bones.
What particular form of eruption
it was that broke out upon the person
of the king we are not informed. We
only know that it was Of such a
virulent and poisonous character that
his life was despaired of, and the
prophet Isaiah warned him that he
was about to die.
And yet Hezekiah recovered and
lived fifteen years after that, and the
malady never returned. How was he
cured? Il was an oId-fashioned case
of faith cure. The king cried night
ly unto God, and the Almighty heard
his petition, and healed him instantly,
and added fifteen years to his valu-
able life. The account as given in
2 Kings 20, says that before Isaiah
had left the palace after announcing
that there was no hope, God sent him
back to say, Il have heard thy prayer
/ have seen thy tears; behold, / will
heal thee" And then, to strengthen
his faith he was given two signs. In
one, the shadow went back on the
sun dial ten degrees, and in the
other, a fig poultice was spread on
the sore.
In these days it is possible to find
people who scout the idea of prayers
answer. They say, it may be good
thing for one TO pray himself into
a submissive, resigned frame of mind
10 the inevitable, but prayer is impo-
tent so far as making any change IN
the conditions are concerned. That
is to say, people talk that way when
they are in health and there is no
danger. But let these agnostics be
caught in a cyclone or in a railroad
wreck or a steamboat disaster and
they will be among the first to cry,
God help u.s." Nobody really be-
lieves that there is a cast-iron God
seated on some distant throne. hold
ing in the cold grasp of his metallic
fingers a band of law from which
nothing can break away.
If the body is disorganized, no one
is so well qualified to mend it as
the Maker of it. 1t is all nonsense to
claim that it is a matter of ventila-
ton or Initiated air, of cleanliness or
dirt. of nutritious diet or poor fare,
of good nursing or neglect, of allop-
athic or homeopathic treatment
Prayer has helped many n blunder-
ing doctor. who took all the credit
of his patients recovery. The nurse
NAV spread the poultice, but it is God
who makes it draw. People have got
we'll in rooms where the windows are
never opened, and they have died I'M
der oxygen treatment Children are
weak and sicSly who have a bath
every day. and some of the healthiest
Youngsters in the land have lived in
dirt ever since they were born.
The man who descends into the
depths of the sea, has a signal cord TO
pull whenever he wants any thing.
He has the promise of certain aid
from the men at the windlass or the
air pump and he can always demon
strate by his signals that the helpers
are ut their posts. So mortal in
distress may pull the signal rope
of prayer, certain that he will be
heard. and an Almighty hand is at
the windlass of the universe. The
daily answer to the daily prayer OF
one Christian is proof of q God; add
to that the answers TO the millions
in all the earth, and you have an
omnipresent God; add the prayers
of all ages and you have an Eternal
God: add the answers that have
brought miracles and, wonders and
YOU have an omnipotent God.
Is PRAYER ever answered? Ask
jonah. as by petition he escapes from
the fish: ask Solomon, whose temple
was filed so full of glory that no hui
man being could remain in it; ask
Daniel. who had not finished his de-
yotions when Gabriel brought his an
swer: ask Jacob whose indignant
wrestle with an angel converted him
into a prince: ask Nehemiah. whose
way was opened for rebuilding the
walls of Jerusalem; ask Cornelius,
who received a twotfold baptisms
water for his body and fire for his
soul; ask Peter, as he walks out of
Herod's prison with the society Of
angels: ask Paul. whose dungeon
walls were put on the back of an
earthquake and his letters fell of.
More things are wrought by prayer
than this world dreams Of"
But we need not so so far back as
that. There are millions now living
who have received direct, incontro-
vertible. personal answers TO prayer.
They cover all the eNigencies of the
individual. the family. the communi-
~. They relate TO health, to bust
ness. TO property. 80 school, TO church,
10 law. TO the ministry. There has
never been paper enough made to
write the story. Prodigals have been
nraved hack from the ends of the