James, and the father and mother of the child, to witness that waking out of sleep. And taking hold of the little girl's hand, which was hanging stiff and cold by her side, He said unto her, " Damsel, I say unto thee arise." The little girl heard the voice of Jesus, and awoke, as if from a sweet and comfortable sleep. Nor did she awake to pain and sorrow. No, she arose in perfect health from her sick bed, and walked about among her friends in the full enjoyment of life and strength. We are not surprised to find the sacred historian adding, that "the people were astonished with a great astonishment." We may wonder with them at all that we read of this great and glorious Saviour; but to our wonder may we be enabled to add faith, and love, and obedience!

See Matt. viii. 23-34; ix. 18-36. Mark
iv. 36-43. Luke viii. 22-56.

THIRTY-FIRST SUNDAY EVENING.

THE GOSPEL PREACHED THROUGH THE TOWNS OF

GALILEE.

M. I intended last Sunday, my dear Edward, to have told you of two other miracles, which our blessed Lord worked just as He left the ruler's house; but we had not time then.

E. May I not hear them now, dear Mamma?

M. We are told that, as Jesus was going away, two blind men followed Him, crying, and saying, "Thou Son of David, have mercy on us;" and when He was come into the house, they came to Him

again; and Jesus said to them, "Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you. And their eyes were opened." There was also a poor dumb man brought to Him, possessed by an evil spirit, whom our Lord immediately healed. No kind of misery was beyond His power to relieve.

Any one of these miracles
How much more

was enough to cause astonishment.

when so many followed one upon another, and those too miracles of every description! Well might the people say, "It was never so seen in Israel." And yet it is melancholy to think how comparatively few, after all, believed in Christ, of those who saw His wonderful works, and heard His divine teaching. It is sad to see how perversely the Pharisees persisted in their obstinate endeavours to persuade the people that our Lord's almighty works of goodness were done by the assistance of the Evil One. How awful to hear them say, "He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the prince of the devils!" Even the people of His own country, I mean Nazareth, where He seems to have gone next, the people of that city, which He had chosen as the home of His childhood, even they rejected Him. Nay, strange to say, they were among the most forward to turn away from Christ in a spirit of unbelief. They had once, in the madness of their anger against Him, wickedly attempted even to destroy Him, by thrusting Him down from the top of the hill on which Nazareth was built; and would have done so, had He not delivered Himself out of their hands; which He did in a moment, passing through the midst of them unhurt.

For, you know, no one had power to hurt Jesus in the least, far less to touch His precious life, unless He Himself permitted them to do so; and this of course He did not choose to do until His hour was come, and He had finished the great work He had come into the world to accomplish. But think of our Saviour's patience, in not abandoning these wicked people without one more endeavour to save them. He visits them again! No malice, no revenge could dwell in the Saviour's breast. Nothing could weary Him in His endeavours to instruct and benefit mankind. Not even the basest ingratitude could keep Him away : He returns once more to Nazareth.

E. And yet I am afraid from what you said, they were not glad to receive Him.

M. No; the same spirit of unbelief still held the people in bondage. They saw and acknowledged His wisdom and His wondrous works; but saw and acknowledged in vain. Prejudice still closed their hearts against any real belief; so much so that our Lord Himself marvelled at their want of faith, and again He left them to go and teach in the villages round about.

E. Mamma, it seems very strange to me that when people saw our Lord's miracles and His great wisdom, they should not believe in Him, but should even treat Him so unkindly.

M. Melancholy it was indeed, but not, I fear, extraordinary. The Gospel is even now in our day too often received, as its blessed Author was, with perverseness and unbelief. Still are deeds of the purest charity frequently repaid with ingratitude. It was the same spirit which set itself against our Lord Him

self; and if we would imitate His example, we must expect something of the same kind of treatment: we must not be surprised if our very endeavours to do good should produce in others a feeling of dislike and unkindness. I do not say it will always be so; but we must not wonder, nor be disturbed, if we occasionally find it so. Still even then we must learn from our Lord to go on endeavouring to overcome evil with good; and to do kindness, not so much for the sake of human gratitude, as to be like our Lord, to please Him, and to show the reality of our faith in Him. And for our encouragement in so difficult a path, let us remember how glorious are the rewards which our Saviour has purchased in heaven for those who walk in His steps on earth.

E. So our Lord really left Nazareth again, when He would, if they would have received Him, have done so much for them. Well, it was a great pity! But I should like to know where He went next.

M. St. Matthew tells us that "He went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the Gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people." And whilst He did so much to relieve the bodily miseries of the people amongst whom He moved, you will easily believe that He felt still more for their spiritual wants; I mean the maladies and wants of their souls. If holy and good men in all ages have felt for the souls of their fellow creatures, how much more must their Saviour have pitied them, He who so well knew the value of those souls, and the price He meant to pay for them. On every side He saw multitudes surrounding Him, who had none

to watch over them, none to instruct them, none to guide their feet into the way of peace; and seeing them He was moved with compassion because they fainted and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Here was indeed much to be done; thousands of poor perishing souls to bring back to God a plenteous spiritual harvest, but none to gather it: and turning to His disciples, as if to interest them in such a work, and convey to their hearts some of the pity which touched Him, He said to them, "Pray ye the Lord of the harvest that he will send forth labourers into his harvest."

E. I thought, Mamma, our Lord had already chosen twelve apostles to help Him in teaching the people?

M. Yes, He had chosen from among His disciples twelve, who were in, an especial manner, to attend His steps; that afterwards, when He should be taken away from them, they might declare to the whole world what they had seen Him do and heard Him teach; and even whilst our Lord was here on earth, He was pleased to employ the twelve as His messengers to mankind. For so great were the multitudes which flocked to Him from all parts, that He called the apostles to Him, and sent them out two and two into different places, to preach the Gospel to their countrymen, and to proclaim to them that the kingdom of heaven was at hand; that is, that their long promised Messiah was come, that He was about to set up His kingdom in the world, and expected their obedience to its laws.

E. Then, Mamma, the kingdom that Daniel had foretold was come at last; that kingdom, I mean, which was to come after the Roman empire, which was to