On the following morning, we are told, the servant of the prophet rose early and went forth, and you may judge of his astonishment and perplexity, when he saw the whole city encompassed by a great host of warriors, with horses and chariots. He seems to have recognized at a glance who they were, and probably suspected their errand there. Filled with anxieties and fears, he hastily returned to the prophet, exclaiming, "Alas my master! how shall we do?" Their condition was obviously alarming. They were not men of war, and behold the very prowess of the enemy had come up against them. Besides, they were only two, and lo, they were surrounded by a mighty host with horses and chariots! Well might the servant of the man of God, under such threatening circumstances, cry out in despair," Alas my master, how shall we do?" Truly, what could they do? To all human appearance there was nothing before them but captivity or death.

see;

But the prophet saw what his servant did not and filled with a divine calmness and confidence, he replied, "Fear not; for they that be with us, are more than they that be with them.” To the mind of the timid servant, acquainted as he was with the prophet's power, this answer was no doubt satisfactory, though it must be confessed that it appeared far more like a paradox, or a riddle, than like sober truth. And we are all ready

gaining.

to ask what kind of verification it was capable of The sacred historian shall inform us in his own simple but most expressive language.— "And Elisha prayed and said, Lord I pray thee open his eyes that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire, round about Elisha."

The sequel is soon told, and is interesting for the beautiful illustration it furnishes of the almost resistless moral power of kindness and love. At the prayer of the prophet the encompassing host of Syria was first smitten with blindness and then led into Samaria, to the king of Israel. The prophet prayed again, and the eyes of the blind were opened, and they saw with astonishment and dismay, that they were in the midst of Samaria, surrounded by its warlike hosts, and at their mercy. But when the king of Israel saw his enemies thus completely in his power, he said to Elisha, "My father, shall I smite them?-shall I smite them?" The very mode of expression employed by the king, shows how anxious he was to shed their blood. "And the man of God answered, Thou shalt not smite them; wouldst thou smite them whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? Set bread and water before them that they may eat and drink, and go to their master. And he prepared great provision for them and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them

And the

away; and they went to their master.” sacred historian adds these simple but richly instructive words with which he closes the narration: "So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel."

What a cheap and bloodless victory! And yet it was better than a thousand triumphs! This one act of kindness, of noble generosity, of deep strong trust in goodness and humanity, is worth more in the annals of our race than all the battles our Alexanders and Napoleons ever fought. It excited no base passions; awoke no spirit of revenge; whetted no appetite for blood; but on the contrary, it called forth the best affections of the human heart-gratitude and good-will. The fruits of this noble action are briefly related, and we see how lasting as well as happy were its consequences. "The bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel." An easy and bloodless victory, I say again; and yet when was there ever one more truly glorious, more worthy of praise? Would that the rulers of the nations were wise, then would they oftener follow so good, so divine an example; and learn even at this late day, that at all times and every where," mercy is better than sacrifice," and that kindness, simple kindness, all meek and gentle as it is, is stronger far than all the weapons and power of war!

But it is not for the purpose of drawing out lessons of political wisdom that I have introduced

this subject. No; I would rather seek here a source of encouragement and hope to ourselves in the struggle in which we are engaged, and a voice of divine power to cheer us on in the unequal strife, the battle we are waging with popular prejudices and errors, with spiritual wickedness in high places. Such a use of the passage will not, I trust, be regarded as either altogether inappropriate, or far-fetched.

In the case of "the man of God" and his servant, surrounded by a numerous and powerful host, and yet sustained by still mightier, though to the outward eye, invisible allies, I find what seems to me, a not unapt type and illustration of our own condition as a religious body at the present time. Like them, we are few in the midst of many opposers. Like them we are weak and comparatively unarmed, while our enemies are strong, "with horses and chariots," and possessed of almost every outward advantage. And yet, like them, there is before us, I believe, a glorious issue and a bloodless triumph in whose very joy our opposers themselves shall participate.

The warfare in which we are engaged, I feel, my brethren, to be a great warfare, the like of which has hardly been seen since the first establishment of Christianity. To change customs, or alter rites and ceremonies, to correct flagrant abuses of power, and bring about a purer form of worship, is no easy task, as all history conspires

to show. But this task is trifling, in comparison with what we have undertaken. Ours is to purify the public faith; to bring men to think worthily of God; to entertain just and therefore lofty conceptions of his attributes and government; to comprehend in some good degree his vast and gracious plans of redemption through his Son, Jesus Christ; to recognize in that Son the perfect doer of his will, and the finisher of his work; to look upon, and love, and obey him, as the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of his person :-in one word, to bring all men to behold in God the universal Father, and in Jesus Christ the Savior of the world! This, I repeat, is a task of such magnitude and difficulty as to awe, if not to discourage, him who engages in it.

There has been no reformation like this for long, long centuries-scarcely indeed, since Christianity gained its victory over paganism. The so much talked of reformation of Luther did little more than affect the surface of things, and waste itself upon externals. What great fundamental truth did it evolve? What better views of God and God's government did it introduce? Did it make the divine goodness more conspicuous; did it render Christ's salvation more glorious, or more extensive? No; if the shadow of paganism rested on the mind of the Catholic world, it has not yet been lifted from that of the Protestant. Nay, we can say of but too many Protestants, as Dr.