3. What is the object of suffering? 4. What is said of willful sin?. 5. What is faith? LECTURE 11. GENERAL EPISTLE OF JAMES. Time, A. D. 62. Subdivisions:-The standing promise of wisdom when asked for in faith.-Temptation not from God. — Religion in general.—Living faith. Use and abuse of speech.-Evil banished by resistance.-Proper procedure in case of illness. Ref. James. Self-review:-1. Repeat the standing promise of wisdom. 2. Show that the Lord does not tempt men to do evil. 3. What explanation is given of pure religion here? 4. What is the result of belief without works? 5. Explain the expression "No fountain can bring forth both salt water and fresh." 6. How may you cause evil to flee from you? 7. What is the direction in case of sickness? LECTURE 12. EPISTLES OF PETER. ter's prediction concerning the beginning of judgment? 5. Why are we to be humble? (See vi verse, ch. iv, II Peter.) AMERICAN HISTORY. EXPLORATION AND COLONIZATION. Place, Babylon. Time, A. D. 1585-87. 63-65. Subdivisions: The Savior an example of patience and suffering. Head of the family, beauty of home government. Influence of a chaste conversation.-Dignity of administrative work. Persecution for righteousness and not for evil.-Judgment to begin at the house of the Lord. Cultivation of qualities of mind and heart enjoined.-No prophecy of Scripture of private interpretation. find a Self-justification and speaking evil of dignitaries barring progress.-Purification of the earth by fire. Ref. Epistles of Peter. Self-review:-1. What is Peter's instruction respecting family government. (I Peter, ch. iii.) 2. What instruction is given in regard to chaste conversation? 3. Quote II verse, iv ch. II Peter, and explain the meaning of it? 4. What is Pe 5. Self-review:- -1. Name in chronological order the Spanish explorers. 2. Give names of the French explorers. 3. Who were the chief English explorers from the Cabots to Raleigh? 4. What seems to have been the chief motive of the Spaniards in their explorations? What do you consider the principal aim of the early French explorers? 6. Why was England so anxious to find a water passage through the "New World?" 7. Who were the Huguenots, and what were they seeking in America? 8. Which is the oldest modern city in America and where is it located? 9. How can you account for the enmity that existed between the Spanish and French colonists? 10. Why would not the French government resent the massacre of the French Huguenots? THE VOL. XV. CONTRIBUTOR. MARCH, 1894. RAMBLINGS AROUND THE WORLD. XI. It is a far cry from the city of the Caliphs to the city of David yet sea and land between is barren of interest. I left Cairo in the throes of a carnival birth when the streets were thronged with masked and romping revelers of every shade and condition, wealthy aristocrats of tawny complexion playing the mendicant, while the latter for a brief night at least, were squandering accumulated alms in robing themselves with gaudy splendor, flashing the sheen of their rich dresses in the glancing sunlight and for that fleeting hour, building "castles, in Spain' with turrets and towers, drawbridge and moat. ness. An error in my itinerary made it necessary to pass a night in Port Said at one of the two hotels there, and should the writer ever contemplate extolling either, which Allah forbid, he scarcely remembers which would gain the evil preference, so equally matched they were in utter worthlessA restless night was finally passed in the "Buda-Pesth house, as that birth mark appeared to promise fewer evils than the other hostelry. Early next morning a coasting vessel of the Austrian-Lloyd line spread her sails for Jaffa at which port arriving and departing vessels are subjected to the caprices of the four winds which frequently render landing or embarking passengers a matter of much uncertainty. In approaching Jaffa from the sea, the traveler is struck with wonder at the rare beauty 5 a No. 5. of the spot, and the still greater pleasure of looking upon a land that above all others in this wide world is sacred. The Holy Land, the country of Jacob and David, of Rachel and Ruth, where the prophets of Israel taught and the Redeemer of all men lived and died. The roadstead of Jaffa is the port from which Jonah sailed on his perilous and much-disputed voyage. The sandy stretch and fertile fields dotted now and then by a solitary palm, fig-trees or a pomegranate is the threshold of that plain of Sharon, on which all the roses of memory bloomed and shed their perfume. In a changing sea, landing at Jaffa is impossible as no harbor exists. The rolling waves beat fiercely against the rocks and the coast is dangerous. In Solomon's time, when Hiram, King of Tyre, sent the cedar and pine for the building of the temple, he said in his contract, "we will cut wood out of Lebanon as much as thou shalt need, and we will bring it to thee in floats to Joppa and will cause it to be discharged there, and thou shalt carry it up to Jerusalem.”’ It was there Peter raised Dorcas to life, and there the Apostle had that remarkable vision, showing him that the distinction between Jew and Gentile was forever abolished. The house of Simon the tanner, or rather a fragment of it and his ancient well and stone tank are still shown, they face the long bright sweep of the Mediterranean, its nearer waves spare, a wild and desolate region seven-eights sterile and rocky, and if geology is not a dream, the greater part of it is "rock in place." As the higher regions are approached the most dispassionate of men may well reflect on the associations connected with the road he is traversing. Along it the ark of God was borne in triumph to Mount Zion; somewhere along the route Christ joined the two disciples on their way to Emmaus. From age to age thousands of Israelites have gone up there to the solemn feasts of Jerusalem, and in after times those desolate regions have echoed to the tramp of Roman legions and the no less victorious shouts of the crusaders. broken by the reefs, famous in mytho- the bleak crevices, but the few trees logical story as the rocks of Andro- and bushes seen are stunted and meda. Today the black wave-worn hulk of a Russian merchantman, wrecked there three years ago, lies on the partially submerged reef and rocks, and rolls at every blow of the pounding sea. In the town, the narrow winding streets are dirty and malodorous. Donkeys and camels crowd each other and dispute the thoroughfare with pedestrians. Few of the by-ways, steep and rocky, are available for vehicles and hence the latter are rarely seen. In the suburbs there are many extensive orange groves laden with fruit of rare flavor and unusual size, many specimens measuring five inches in diameter, and as large numbers of the trees are in flower as well as fruit, the bloom-laden air in the evening and early in the morning is delightful. From Jaffa I went to Jerusalem by diligence up an ascent of three thousand feet and a distance of forty miles over a road that has been used in all ages. A railroad had been commenced and a few miles of track laid, but no rolling stock or other equipment was seen and no hands at work. I learn it has since been completed. Its projectors have the gravest reasons for doubting the success of an enterprise which must depend almost exclusively on the patronage of a few isolated travelers. The flowery plain of Sharon is passed through, and the valley of Ajalon, where Joshua obtained the victory over the five kings of the Amorites, and the sun stayed its downward flight until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Within view from the roadside are the ruins of Gezer, captured and burned by Pharaoh, who gave it "for a present to his daughter, Solomon's wife." (1 Kings ix, 1517). Proceeding towards Jerusalem, the traveler zig-zags his course along a steep defile, where on every hand the hills are gray, sterile and rugged. Wild flowers grow among Most travelers have a sense of disappointment on first viewing Jerusalem, its dimensions are so much less than the imagination had pictured. Associated as it is with the greatest and most sacred events of history, it is difficult to realize that the little town, which may be circled in an hour, is the Holy City. And indeed it is not, for the city whose streets the Savior trod was of far greater magnitude. The gorgeous city of Solomon lies buried under the debris of sixteen sieges and sixteen times it fell. Excavations have shown that the foundations of the ancient walls, in some places are one hundred and thirty feet below the modern surface. In digging the foundations of new buildings the workmen sometimes pass down through a series of structures, showing that one city is literally built upon the ruins of another. this throws grave doubt upon many sacred places within and without the present walls; the real localities lie buried far beneath in some instances. But the natural features of the country about remain unchanged. The present population is thought to be fifty thousand, the Jews numbering about three-fifths of that number. These latter are mainly sustained by All |