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The papacy "set itself." It attempted to do what Herod, Pontius Pilate, the rulers, the Jews, and the Romans could not do. It allied the kingdom of Christ to the State. It treated Jesus as Pilate, Herod, and the Jews treated him; put on him a mock royal robe, bowed the knee to him in derision, hailed him as king, and delivered him to his enemies. They tracked missions round the globe, and landed French priests and French brandy, where truth was taking root, under the cannons of men-ofwar. God sent confusion among the followers. Women and men are now living who saw the Roman Pontiff fly from Rome on a coach-box, disguised as a lackey; and even now he is guarded to his prayers by foreign soldiers. He dare not trust his own dear children.

Infidels "set themselves." Giants in intellect, a whole nation threw off the binding force of religion, insulted Jesus, and dethroned God by a deliberate vote of its National Assembly. Voltaire boasted that it took twelve men to write up the religion of Jesus, but he would show that one man could write it down. But so terrible were the results of atheism to the state, that religion was recalled by the voice of the nation. The goddess of reason became a penitent. In the room where Paine wrote the "Age of Reason" a Christian Church has been formed.

God has his ark in his own sacred keeping. He oversees and overrules all. He sent his Gospel to the race, and made his Son King over all nations. This Gospel of the kingdom must go round the

world. Devils may oppose and rend, but they will be exorcised. No man or nation can defy Zion's King and succeed. All his enemies will be overcome and dashed in pieces as a potter's vessel. Bow the knee to Zion's King, for "blessed are all they that put their trust in him."

XLVI.-MOUNT CARMEL AND THE SEA.

"Sweet to the troubled mariner, aloft on quivering shrouds,
It is to look in confidence beyond the warring clouds,
And know, when by deceitful winds at starless midnight driven,
There shineth down upon his path the guiding ray of heaven."

MOUNT CARMEL is the only promontory in the Holy Land. The Carmel range is eight miles long, and terminates in a bold promontory twelve hundred feet above the Great Sea. It takes its name from its luxuriant beauty. It is made a symbol of the verdure, bloom, and undying vigor of the Gospel, for "the glory of Carmel shall be given unto it." It is in full view of Nazareth. Elisha the prophet, in Gilead, beyond Jordan, had his home in Carmel. He arose in the time of Ahab, a bad man and wicked. Judah was full of idols. Altars smoked from every hill-top. Groves were made sacred. Valleys were consecrated to Baal, a name given to the chief whom men worshiped. Eminences were crowded with worshipers. Incense went up from the summits, and house-tops were made the seat of sacrifice. But the God of Israel was despised. Thousands of prophets stood at the altar of Baal. But one prophet named the name of the Lord, and his life was not safe.

From his cavern home on Carmel, Elijah came forth to speak in the ears of Ahab the ominous pre

diction that God was God, and that on the land no rain nor dew should fall for full three years and six months-that the gaunt form of famine should stalk in the land, leading pestilence by the hand, till king and people knew that the Most High ruled among men. In his rough garment, his rural home, and simple fare, Elijah on Carmel was the type of John the Baptist. As he went up to heaven, so was he expected to come in person as the forerunner of the Great Shiloah. The Jews knew not the man who came in the spirit and power of Elijah. But the two had much in common. In his dress, mode of life, and tone of his ministry, the son of Elisabeth had much in common with the prophet of Carmel. He came in an age of great religious declension, and called, with trumpet-tones, the people to repentance. He avoided the great cities, and preached repentance to the neglected ones in the sparse settlements of the land. Men deserted the walled towns, and went out to him in great numbers. Even the rulers, the scribes, and Pharisees were among his auditors. At the fords of Jordan he baptized the repentant people, on the confession of their sins.

Carmel is full of interest. It stands, as of old, sacred to Jew, Turk, and Christian. The cavern called Elijah's still abides, and men look into the humble home of the prophet. The probable site where the prophet stood and looked toward the sea, is pointed out. A Carmelite convent stands near the altar on which the great trial took place, when Elijah mocked the prophets of Baal on the morning of his triumph. Here pilgrims are lodged and fed, and

waited on by friars who claim to have descended from Elijah. Near the convent is one of the most beautiful views in all the Holy Land. Carmel is still fertile as the garden of the Lord.

Carmel is made the type of the millennial glory of the kingdom of God. Elevated, that all may see it— terraced to its summit with verdure, and clothed on all sides with fruit-its roots laved with water, so that its leaves shall never wither, it is to be an abiding memorial of the mercy of God, as full, as fresh, as free as when proclaimed by its divine Author. All that the Gospel did for men when Christ was on earth, it can do for men now. Its blood cleansed from all sin. He who presides over the treasury of grace is the friend of man, as when he was on earth. His promises support, his word comforts. He is the wisdom of God and the power of God unto salvation, and ever will be. It can never change. It can never lose its power while time shall endure. All who call on the Lord shall be saved. The tree of life shows no signs of decay. Its leaf can not wither, for God hath said that "the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon."

In the dark hour of famine, the prophet gave the command: "Look toward the sea." So shall Carmel teach us.

For three years and six months there had been no rain in all the land. The rivers failed-the springs dried up in their fountains-the grass withered, and the famine was sore in Samaria. On Carmel the prophet stood, looking toward the sea, when not a gleam

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