A Prize Essay, in Answer to the Inquiry, WHAT IS THE MIND OF CHRIST WITH RESPECT TO WITH JEWELRY AND GAY AND COSTLY ATTIRE? BY REV. S. H. PLATT. 1852 و الان CINCINNATI: WESTERN TRACT AND BOOK SOCIETY, No. 28 WEST FOURTH STREET. 1867. CHRIST AND ADORNMENTS. MORE than twelve hundred years ago a man of commanding presence, majestic aspect, and open countenance, "that painted every sensation of the soul," might have been seen fleeing for life, with a single attendant, from the rock-bound city of Mecca, in Arabia. Over nine weary miles had they rushed in despairing haste, when the approach of the foe warned them that flight was vain. At that critical juncture a friendly cave offered them its shelter, and they hastily concealed themselves within it. A bird immediately alighted upon a shrub at the opening, from which it was frightened by the arrival of the blood-thirsty pursuers. Seeing the bird fly, they inferred that if the fugitives had recently entered, it would have been driven away before, and not wishing to waste time in unnecessary search, they passed on and left (3) Mohammed in security. Thus, the flight of that bird changed the destiny of the world. It preserved the life of the false Prophet, and with him the reign of the superstition which he established, and which, after twelve centuries of effort, has nearly as wide an ascendency over the human race as Christianity itself. This is one of the numerous instances recorded showing the most intimate and important relations between things totally dissimilar and apparently disconnected. They reveal the fact that a complete isolation, such as would exclude us from the reciprocal influence of surrounding circumstances, is impossible. They also suggest the difficulty of forming any probable estimate of the results of any event, however trivial in its nature. mon. It is stated that a Welsh clergyman once asked a little girl for the text of his last serThe child's only reply was tears. He soon ascertained that she had no Bible in which to find the text. Upon further inquiry, he learned that the families around were in like destitution. This led him to apply to the committee of the Tract Society in London, for the adoption of some means to provide Bibles. |