St. Tammany farmer., 1908-07-11

counse! concerning the coming cam.
paign. Jonah gave a careful report
as to the conditions all through the
! land, Of the enthusiasm Of the peo-
pie and of the rallying of the fighting
men, so that every tribe and every
section of the land had it's body of
soldiers to throw into the main army
when the king should be ready to be-
gin All aggressive military campaign
1t seemed to Jonah as he departed
from the palace after the long confer
ence that the prospect could not be
brighter, nor the plans more perfectly
laid, and when he reached his own
humble dwelling he threw himself
down upon his couch, not to sleep,
! but to dream of the glorious future
which was opening up before the na-
ton.
But the actiye brain and bounding
heart must needs yield at last to the
! fatigue of the body, and the prophet
slept. How long he lay thus he knew
not, but as he slept a. vision came to
him of a great city and the voice Of
one standing and pointing towards the
city sounded in his ear and he awoke
All was still and the vision was
gone, but as he lay in the darkness
and listened for the voice he had
| heard in his dreams, and which
seemed so real that he could scarcely
believe that he had been asleep, he
heard it again, saying:
Arise, go to Nineveh, that great
city, and cry against it; for their
Wickedness is come up before me-"
With a startled cry Jonah leaped
from his couch and stood trembling
by the open door,
Go and preach to Nineveh! Nine
| veh, the great, hostile nation, whom
Israel had reason to fear. Preach to
Nineveh, to strengthen that city
against his own, when he had just
been going up and down through the
land proclaiming the word of the
Lord and calling on Israel to war
against the nations round about and
recover the territory lost years be-
fore? 1t fairly took his breath away,
and as he strove to control the revul-
sion of feeling which rushed over
him he drove his finger nails into the
palms Of his hands, so tightly did he
clasp them.
Go to Nineveh. He could not!
Why, is seemed like apostasy! He
who had been preaching a message
Of hope and deliverance to his own
nation, to turn to one of the great ma
tons about and preach a message of
warning! Why, it seemed incredible.
What would the nation think of him?
How would he be able to explain his
conduct to the people and to the king?
So disturbed and excited was he
that calm thought was impossible, and
it did not occur to him that in obeying
the commands of God it was not neces-
sary to explain his conduct or offer
any excuses. 1t was his part to obey,
and God would take care of the con-
sequences. But in his present state
of mind he could consider only one
side of the situation, and when he
found no satisfactory answer to the
was all at sea as to what course to
pursue, he did what many another
one has done, he fed.
1t was still dark and the streets Of
the city were quiet and deserted. As
he rushed onward and neared the city
gate, he suddenly realized that it
would be closed and the warchman
set. 1nstinctively he felt he must not
be seen of any in mis- flight, and when
he was wondering how he could es-
cape from the city without being seen
he recalled little gate in the wall
near his own home, and thither he
turned his footsteps. Once outside
the city, the troubled thought oc-
Cured to him as to which way he
should fee. With the command of
God ringing in his ears he could not
stay in his own land; to Nineveh he
was quite determined rot to go,
Whittier should he go?
"At least I will get as far from Min
eveh as possible he exclaimed, and
altering his course he turned of
towards the seaco2st, and the next
day, footsore and weary, he reached
Joppa. And now whittier, he asked
himself, as he wandered through the
streets of the city. AS though by way
of answer, his footsteps aimleSsly led
him down to the wharf where the ship.
ping was anchored
"The very thing" he exclaimed, as
his eyes fell upon the vessel: "I will
lose myself upon the sea. My coun-
trymen will not know whittier I have
gone, and perhaps" he continued, doubt
fully, perhaps will find that it was
not God who spoke to me, after ALL"