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waters descended.

Thus is offered another fact

for the trial of the "progressed." Let them cause the heavens to withhold rain and dew, and again bid the elements pour forth their floods upon the world, and let it be done.

Elijah trusted in God, was the Lord's servant in very deed; moved and spake by divine dictation, and was therefore a successful agent in the work of the Lord. So saith the Bible, and thus doth the Christian believe. Equal this power and manifestation, if ye are able, ye who condemn the Book of God.

III. The Translation.

"And Elijah said unto him, (Elisha) Tarry, I pray thee, here, for the Lord hath sent me to Jordan. And he said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee; and they two went on. And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood to view afar off: and they two stood by Jordan. And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground. And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing; nevertheless, if

thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so. And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof! And he saw him no more; and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces. He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan: and he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the Lord God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over."-2 Kings, ii.

The above account states that fifty sons of the prophets witnessed the manifestation of Elijah and Elisha. Moreover, those men sent fifty men to look for Elijah, thinking perhaps he had fallen again to the earth, but after searching three days, they returned unsuccessful.

If half a score, or even less, witness modern manifestations, the believers expect the public to give credit to their report. Yet, the very people who witness most of their astounding scenes in the "dark," and who censure the

world for not giving their testimony the fullest credit, are quite unwilling to admit this account as truthful, but "say" it away among legends. As a truth, however, we present it, and demand its like of those who profess to have light superior to that reflected in the days of the prophets. It may be said the account is a fiction, but the world cannot prove it such.

CHAPTER V.

ELISHA AND THE MANIFESTATIONS.

"AND when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers. And he said unto his father, My head, my head! And he said unto a lad, Carry him to his mother. And he sat on her knees tilk noon, and then died. And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and went out. And she went and came unto the man of

God to mount Carmel.

"And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed. He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the Lord: and he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands; and he stretched himself upon the child, and the flesh of the child waxed warm. Then he returned, and walked to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him; and the child opened his eyes.”—2 Kings, iv.

Here is another and somewhat similar incident: the child is declared dead, and restored by Elisha, and in answer to his prayer to God. Can

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the teachers in Bible opposition, those who deny the divinity of these strange results, imitate them? "By their fruits ye shall know them." The effort to reduce the phenomena disclosed in the days of the Patriarchs, Prophets, and of the primitive Christian Church, disposes of the accounts according to the necessity of the times. The history is not consulted to learn wisdom and arrive at the truth; if so, the facts would be admitted in the character presented by the historian. But such points as serve their interest are taken as literally true, and others, not in harmony with modern developments, are rejected, or said to be the record of imaginative scenes. The Bible, in the plainest terms, says "the child died," and that Elisha prayed to God, etc., and the child lived again. Either the child was dead, or the account, entire, must be fabulous; at least so much so as to render it questionable. But, as already noticed, the Ancient Record cannot be proved untrue. Science may exhume the fossils of the past, and genius may bring from their silent tombs the indices of sunken cities; clairvoyants may seem to read old MSS., and tell therefrom the rise, progress, and fall of tribes and nations, and also to translate the mystic hieroglyphics of past ages; the pre-adamic (?) spirits may speak from trumpets in the dark, and write with spirit-made(?)

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