Lebanon rise into view; next, we reach winding Jordan; then the deep blue Lake of Galilee appears in sight, and, still travelling onwards, we pass "Jacob's well," and finally come to queenly Samaria! What thoughts would crowd on the mind along this road. This is the plain where the Hand of the Lord arrested Saul of Tarsus, and where he was blinded by the light which afterwards guided him all along his path, and unto glory. And by the way are places consecrated by the memory of patriarchs; there the Blessed Lord Himself walked, and taught and wrought; by this well were the words spoken which first opened the Kingdom of Heaven to all who sought it "in spirit and in truth;" and there lies buried in vast silence the ancient city of Israel's kings. So gently has the breath of time swept over all, that even the ruins of ancient cities are not destroyed, only covered with the dust of ages. Everything around is like what it must have been many, many centuries ago, when Naaman and his followers pursued the same road. But with far other thoughts than those of pious remembrance did they follow its course. Naaman was a Syrian, a warrior, proud and unbroken in heart. He had, indeed, his recollections, but they were not of spiritual scenes. They were of battles fought and victories won on this very soil; and of circumstances far different from those of a suppliant. Damascus had, at that period, reached the highest point of its power and glory, and to this result Naaman had contributed not a little. Each of the five or six days of his journey must have been one of bitter humiliation. Yet this offered the only prospect of recovery open to the Syrian. And how often do we still find a similar state of mind in those who seek help in Israel. Numberless difficulties will always beset the first application for spiritual cleansingperhaps, more or less, every access to the throne of grace. The recollections of the past; the humiliation of lowly kneeling,

CHAPTER XV.

THE WASHING OF REGENERATION.

"And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me. And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel. So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned, and went away in a rage. And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean."-2 KINGS V. 7-14.

THE road from Damascus to Samaria is among the most celebrated highways of the world. Natural beauty and historical interest combine to lend it a peculiar charm. The first glimpse of Damascus from the west, and, of course, the last look of it from the road to Palestine, have inspired every pilgrim with almost poetic enthusiasm. Such a perfect wilderness here of luxuriant vegetation, such wealth of verdure and trees, such bubbling of fountains and sparkling of waters, and under such a sky-it seems an enchanted region, an earthly paradise, in the midst of burnt-up desolateness all around. And then, when turning away from Damascus, the snowy peaks of

Lebanon rise into view; next, we reach winding Jordan; then the deep blue Lake of Galilee appears in sight, and, still travelling onwards, we pass "Jacob's well," and finally come to queenly Samaria! What thoughts would crowd on the mind along this road. This is the plain where the Hand of the Lord arrested Saul of Tarsus, and where he was blinded by the light which afterwards guided him all along his path, and unto glory. And by the way are places consecrated by the memory of patriarchs; there the Blessed Lord Himself walked, and taught and wrought; by this well were the words spoken which first opened the Kingdom of Heaven to all who sought it "in spirit and in truth;" and there lies buried in vast silence the ancient city of Israel's kings. So gently has the breath of time swept over all, that even the ruins of ancient cities are not destroyed, only covered with the dust of ages. Everything around is like what it must have been many, many centuries ago, when Naaman and his followers pursued the same road. But with far other thoughts than those of pious remembrance did they follow its course. Naaman was a Syrian, a warrior, proud and unbroken in heart. He had, indeed, his recollections, but they were not of spiritual scenes. They were of battles fought and victories won on this very soil; and of circumstances far different from those of a suppliant. Damascus had, at that period, reached the highest point of its power and glory, and to this result Naaman had contributed not a little. Each of the five or six days of his journey must have been one of bitter humiliation. Yet this offered the only prospect of recovery open to the Syrian. And how often do we still find a similar state of mind in those who seek help in Israel. Numberless difficulties will always beset the first application for spiritual cleansingperhaps, more or less, every access to the throne of grace. The recollections of the past; the humiliation of lowly kneeling,

of confessing ourselves sinners, and seeking pardon in the old way; the irresolution, the doubt, the fear, the ill-suppressed shame all contribute to keep us from the healing stream. Only under the pressure of felt necessity do we yield.

At last Samaria was reached, and Naaman proceeded to deliver to King Joram the missive of Ben-hadad. Probably we have all experienced that commonly disappointment is the first sensation, after we have gained the goal for which we had long toiled and hoped. We had quite set our hearts on a particular interview with a person, on some particular place, on one particular book, on one particular object. Here it is-and we are thoroughly disappointed, to begin with. The reason lies not in the thing, but in us. We had expected too much. There is only one direction in which there never can be disappointment. The Lord and His grace always exceed our utmost thinking and hoping. But the scene which now ensued was one for which Naaman could scarcely have been prepared. It was, however, quite in character with what we know of Joram. The arrival of an embassy, with Naaman at its head, would be sufficient to throw the king and his court into a flutter of excitement. Joram was a man of many devices, but of little wisdom; arrogant and boastful, where he should have been modest; craven-hearted where he should have been bold; a man of little weight, who would always alternate between the extremes of despondency and exultation. Joram and his counsellors received the Syrian general, and he delivered the letter of his monarch. It was brief and plain, a letter such as a Ben-hadad would send to a Joram, and ran as follows: -"Now, when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy." No farther explanation of this strange demand was added, no salutation nor compliment