"For the benefit of the King! How?-Does then the sun shine in your country?" "O, yes "And it rains there also ?" "Certainly !" "Wonderful! But are there also animals there, who subsist on grass and green herbs?" Very many of all kinds !" "So-well this must be the reason! On account of these innocent creatures the all-beneficent Being lets his rain fall and his sun shine on your land. For its inhabitants are certainly not worthy of such blessings !" IV. THE PHILOSOPHER AND A RABBI. "Your God calls Himself, in His word, a jealous God, who can endure no other gods beside Himself; and on every occasion He makes But how is it that He expresses known His abhorrence of all idolatry. His displeasure more severely against the worshippers of false gods, than against the false gods themselves?"-In this way did a Greek Philosopher inquire of a Rabbi. Thus, he answered him : "A certain King had a disobedient son; and besides other worthless acts of various kinds, he was wicked enough to apply to dogs his father's names and titles! Ought now the king to declare his displeasure against the dogs, or against his son ?" "Well answered," said the philosopher, "But if your God would destroy the objects of idolatrous worship, he would take away the occasions of such worship?" "True," remarked the Rabbi; "did foolish men worship only such objects as are of no use in any way-and were their idols always as worthless as their idolatry is despicable. But these foolish persons worship sun and moon, streams and seas, fire and air, and many other things. Ought God for the sake of these simple persons, to disturb His works, and set aside the operations of those laws which His wisdom has appointed in the natural world? When any one steals seed and sows it into the earth, shall the seed not sprout and grow because it has been stolen? O, no! The wise Creator lets nature go on in its course, for its laws are ordained and ordered by Him. What, if the children of folly apply them to bad ends? The day of reckoning is not far off; and then men will learn that their acts appear as certainly in their consequences, as the green herb grows from the seed which has been buried in the earth. V: RABBI JEHOSCHUAH AND THE PRINCESS. Beauty and wisdom are seldom united in the same person. Rabbi Jehoschuah, son of Chauangah, belonged to that class of per sons whose spirit is more beautifully framed than their body. He was so black that some called him a blacksmith, and referred to him in order to frighten children. But he possessed wisdom and science, and the people loved and honored him; and Trojan, the Emperor, set great store by him. But one day, when he was at the court, the Emperor's daughter ridiculed his homely appearance. "Rabbi," said she to him, "how comes it to pass that so much wisdom is contained in such a miserable vessel?" Jehoschuah answered, by asking her in what kind of vessels her father preserved his wine! "In what other vessels but earthen ones," said the princess. "O, ah !" exclaimed the Rabbi, "and do not the common people the same! The wine of the Emperor ought to be preserved in better vessels than earthen ones!" The princess thought he meant this in earnest, took it to heart, and directed that the wine should be taken out of the earthen jugs, and poured into Silver and Golden vessels. Soon after, she tasted the wine, and found it stale and sour! "Jehoschuah," she said to him, "thou didst give me a fine advice! Do you know that the wine in the silver and golden vessels is all spoiled?" "Thus you have learned," answered the Jewish wise man, "that wine is best preserved in ordinary vessels. Even so it is with wisdom!" "But I know, also," said the princess, "that there are many persons to be found who are wise, and at the same time beautifully formed." "All true!" answered the Rabbi; "but it is highly probable that they would have been still wiser, if they had been less beautiful." By this remark he wished to indicate, that beauty of person is gen erally accompanied with frivolity and vanity; and these, as we well know, are not favorable to improvement in wisdom. THE MOUNTAINS OF LIFE. BY JAMES C. CLARK. THERE'S a land far away, 'mid the stars, we are told, Where the pure waters wander through valleys of gold, 'Tis the land of our God, 'tis the home of the soul, Where ages of splendor eternally roll Where the way-weary traveler reaches his goal On the ever-green mountains of Life. HE SUFFERED! BY THE EDITOR. THERE is in all respects a fullness, and completeness, in Christ-in His person, in His words, in His works of power, in His acts of atoning love. The same is true of His suffering. There is nothing "in part." The dark picture is full-awfully complete ! In every particular of His sufferings we have the utmost. Every wo is extreme. Nothing could have been added. Close meditation on our Saviour's passion will justify this statement. The last days of our Saviour's life are characterized by three stages of suffering-Gethsemane, the judgment hall of Herod, and Pilate, and Calvary. In this trinity itself we may, without any fancy, see a foreshadowing of completeness. But we may see it more clearly in the aggravating circumstances which these three clusters of sorrow severally present. They form, as it were, three worlds of suffering through which He was called to pass. In the garden of Gethsemane He suffered in the midst of solitude. In the judgment hall He suffered in the midst of the pomp and array of the civil power. On Calvary He suffered in the midst of the voluntary gathering of the world's worst hatred, and its most lawless and public insult and shame. Distinctive were His surroundings in each of the three places; peculiar the sources of sorrow let loose upon Him. In Gethsemane there was no response to His groans, except the mocking echo of them returned by the heartless, feelingless, insensible multitude. At the civil tribunal there was no sympathy around Him to be reached in that official hardness which had an ear for the blind and brutish clamor of hatred and prejudice, but none for the demands of justice and the silent plea of innocence. On Calvary His agony was mocked, and His groans wasted on that rage of the world's worst and wildest rabble which rallied to no cry but "Crucify Him," "away with Him." Thus He suffered to the utmost all that solitude could bring, all that the civil power could allow, all that the infuriated rabble could inflict. In what other circumstances could He have suffered to make His sufferings more full and complete? No relief in solitude; no justice before rulers; no mercy from the world at large. Shelterless, did the Lamb of God pass, in suffering silence, through all the successive storms of wrath, till death received Him into its friendly arms. The world, with the maddened array of all its powers, urged and pushed Him, at the point of its keenest and most poisoned spears, away from its bosom into the sheltering grave! As there was a trinity of outward sources whence His sufferings were aggravated, so there was a trinity in Him which His sufferings affected. Not in part of His person did He suffer; but in all His being. In body, soul, and spirit. In the Garden His soul was exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death. His body received wounds, and was afflicted with pains untold. On the cross, even over His spirit came a darkness, in the midst of which He exclaimed, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me !" He suffered from all classes of persons. There is not a state or condition of men that has not its representative. As He suffered for all, so He suffered of all. Look we into the circle of those nearest to Him-the sacred brotherhood of His own disciples. From Judas he received the viper's kiss. From Peter the shameful public denial. From the rest came at least the negative sorrow of being forsaken for a time. When the shepherd was smitten even the sheep fled from Him. Finding this in the circle of His friends, what may we expect from His enemies? How is the State represented in ministering insult and suffering. Herod called Him a blasphemer, and with his men of war set Him at nought and mocked Him. Pilate scourged Him. The Scribes blasphemed Him. All the council sought false witnesses against Him. The soldiers, in various ways, insulted and abused him. The multitude of the rabble thirsted and clamored for His blood. How was the Jewish church represented? By the High-priest, the Chiefpriests, the Captains of the temple, the Pharisees, the elders of the people, and the multitude of the Jews. These all conspired together against Him, seeking false witnesses, bringing accusations, interrupting every process of justice, and drowning all sober investigation with cries for the sentence of death-demanding, by the power of numbers, what neither law nor justice conld allow. Even the servants of the High-priest, in the presence of that dignitary, did strike Him with the palms of their hands !— unrebuked. Even the thieves reviled Him and railed at Him. Besides these, can we think of a single grade, class, state or condition of persons that are not represented in the hosts which contributed to our blessed Saviour's sufferings. The women? Yea, even these, though last at the cross, and earliest at the grave, have their representatives in the two maids, servants of the High-priest, who kept the door of the palace, and who tauntingly charged Peter with being a disciple of the Galilean and Nazarene-in both of which despised names lies hidden their sneers of contempt for Christ. (Lange p. 403.) Behold all classes laying sorrows on Him who came to save all! Behold all demand the death of Him who died for all! Not only did all manner of persons partake in aggravating His sufferings, but all manner of instruments of insult and pain were employed. Swords and staves, weapons in general, a reed, mock-robes, thorns, the open hand, the fist the scourge, spittle flung in His face, the drink of gall, the nails, the spear. In like manner all kinds of insults. By words. The High-priest himself called Him a blasphemer, and his example was followed by others down-a malefactor, a seditious person, a perverter, a Galilean, a Nazarene, a fellow, in contempt. By gestures they mocked Him; wagged their heads at Him; and watched with malicious pleasure His agony on the cross. In acts they bound Him; they struck Him; blindfolded Him; spit in His face; whipped Him with scourges; stripped Him of Hi clothes; in mockery dressed Him in royal robes; preferred a murderer to Him; made Him carry His cross; nailed Him to it; gave Him vinegar mingled with gall; and pierced His lifeless body with a spear! They insulted and abused every part of His sacred person. With the open hand, the fist, and spittle they insulted His face. His sacred head with the piercing thorns and the stroke of the reed; on His back they laid their lashes and afterwards the heavy cross; into His side they plunged the spear; and into His hands and feet drove the nails. On His eyes they bound the blindfolding cloth; His ears they insulted with abusive and blaspheming words; his taste they offended with the bitter gall. His clothes, no doubt made by friendly female hands and the gifts of their love-as tradition records were stripped from Him, and carried away as spoils by shameless and brutish soldiers. They scorned Him as a man. Even Pilate's pity seems to have been moved, after the whole cohort of soldiers-from four to six hundred men -had stripped Him in the common hall and put on Him the crown of thorns and purple robe. "Pilate saith unto them, behold the man !" To this appeal to their compassion the Chief-priests and officers answered: "Crucify Him, crucify Him!" When by washing his hands he declared Him an "innocent" and "just person," the people answered: "His blood be on us, and on our children!" They scorned Him as a citizen, declaring that He perverted the people, spake against Cæsar, forbidding to pay tribute. They scorned Him as a prophet and teacher. When the High-priest had asked Him of His disciples and doctrine, and He answered that He had ever spoken and taught openly in the synagogue and temple and had taught nothing in secret, one of the high-priest's officers struck Him with the palm of His hand. They scorned and insulted Him as King; ridiculing His claims to royal dignity, saying in decision: "Hail, King of the Jews!" and they spit upon Him, and smote Him with their hands, and took a reed and smote Him on the head. They rejected Him as Priest. The high-priest Caiaphas, in the spirit of prophesy, had counselled the Jews that Jesus should die for the nation (John xi. 50-52: xviii. 14) yet they aggravated and mocked the sufferings of the Lamb of God that was bearing and taking away the sin of the world! They scorned Him as the Christ, the Son of the Blessed. When the high-priest asked Him whether He was the Christ, the son of God, He said, "I am and ye shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." Then the high-priest rent his clothes, and said, "What need we any further witnesses? ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all condemned Him to be guilty of death (Mark 14: 64. 65.) They scorned Him as the Saviour. Whilst hanging in agony on the cross, "the Chief-priests mocking, said among themselves with the Scribes, He saved others; himself He cannot save. Even the thieves, who suffered with Him, cast the same in His teeth," railing on Him, and saying: "If thou be Christ, save thyself and us!" Not only did they deride Him as a man, as a citizen, as a prophet, Priest and King, as the son of God and the Son of Man, and as the Saviour, but they counted Him more unworthy of life than the most notori |