he read in the New Testament. As the wind beat strongly against us so that we could hardly walk, the little boy kept saying very soberly, “Peace, be still, peace, be still," but after a moment he turned to me, saying, "The wind will not obey me, but it obeyed Jesus Christ." This child felt, though he was very young, that the Saviour must be very powerful, because he could make the winds obey his words: so the people felt who saw his miracles; and so we should feel when we read of them.

The Saviour performed these wonders, in the first place, to convince us that he is the mighty God; and if we can read of them and not feel convinced of this, it is because we are hard-hearted and unbelieving. In the second place, he wrought miracles to do good. He loved to make people happy, and when he cured sick people, and opened the eyes of the blind, and the ears of the deaf, by a miracle, he gave them ease for pain, light for darkness, and hearing for deafness, in a moment. If you now understand what a miracle is, and also the most important reasons why our Saviour wrought so many miracles while he was on earth, we are ready to examine the verses above.

We are told that a great multitude followed Jesus when he came down from the mountain, and among them was a leper; which means a person diseased with the leprosy. We know but little about the leprosy in our country, but in the eastern part of the world it was a most loathsome and distressing disease. In many cases physicians could not cure it, and the persons who were afflicted with it were obliged by the law to go away from their friends, and live in some desolate place,

that others might not take it of them. Then, after suffering a great deal, sometimes for many years, they must die alone, with no friend to watch over them and soothe the last hours of life. A person having this fearful disease preying on his body, had heard of Jesus Christ. It may be he had listened to his "Sermon on the Mount," or he had heard of some miracle which he had wrought. He knew that Jesus was both good and great, for we are told in the second verse that he came and worshiped him, saying, "Lord, if thou wilt thou canst make me clean." It is very probable that he came trembling along, thinking as he approached the crowd which surrounded Jesus, "O, how happy I should be if this dreadful disease, which will soon bring me to the grave, was cured, but I dare not hope that this benevolent stranger will notice me among this vast multitude, even if I can get near enough to speak to him." But he felt the pain and distress of the leprosy, he thought of his past sufferings, and looked forward to the anguish of future years; he believed that Jesus was able to cure him; and as he pressed his way onward he thought, "I must die if I do not ask Jesus to heal me, and I cannot meet anything worse than death if he refuse;" and thus he came and knelt before the Saviour. And now think of the compassionate Jesus, who never had any home on earth, but who spent his life in going about over mountain, valley, and lake, to do good to the family of man. Think how he turned to the poor leper as he cried, "Lord, if thou wilt thou canst make me clean," and stretching forth his hand to touch him, immediately answered, "I will, be thou clean." What

could the anxious leper hope for more than this? He might have feared much, but he could hope for nothing more. What joy thrilled through his heart as he heard the ready answer, "I will;" and the next moment he was a well man. "And immediately his leprosy was cleansed." A moment before his eye was heavy, and his cheek pale; his limbs were feeble and weary; and it was heavy labor even to draw his breath: now his countenance sparkled with joy; his blood flowed with quiet and healthful motion; and his limbs felt the sprightliness of childhood. A moment before he was expecting to be banished from his friends, and pine away in loneliness; now he could carry them the joyful intelligence that he was well. Does not this miracle show you very plainly both the power and the mercy of Jesus Christ?

I knew a young lady who became a teacher in the Sabbath school, while she had thought but little of the character and works of Jesus Christ. As she was teaching her class from the New Testament, she was led to think much of the miracles recorded there. Her mind was impressed with the mercy and benevolence of the Saviour, and while speaking to the class the thought came into her mind, that she had never seen any account that Jesus ever refused to heal any distressed person who came to him; and then proposed to her class to look through the four first books during the next week, on purpose to see if there were any such account. While examining the evangelists through in this way this lady began to think how lovely and excellent the blessed Jesus is, and she saw that it was very ungrateful and wicked not to

love him with all the heart. She saw that she was a great sinner, and therefore she knelt before the mighty and compassionate Saviour, and asked him to pardon her sins, and give her a new heart and a right spirit. Jesus taught her to love him, and after that she was better prepared to be a Sabbath school teacher. May this study of the miracles of Jesus Christ lead my young readers to love and serve him.

CHAPTER XI.

THE MIRACLE OF GIVING SIGHT TO THE BLIND.

MATT. ix. 27-30.

27. And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us.

28. And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord.

29. Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.

30. And their eyes were opened.

In the eighth and ninth chapters of Matthew, we have accounts of a great number of miracles which Jesus wrought. He cured diseases, cast out evil spirits, stilled the tempest, and even raised the dead; but we will now turn our attention to a miracle in which he opened the eyes of the blind. As Jesus was passing through the country, and people were coming to him from all directions, two poor blind men heard of him.

Have you ever thought what it is to be blind?

Never again sun, nor look fields that suryou read the

Just close your eyes for a moment, and suppose that they are sealed up for ever. could you behold the light of the forth on the beautiful gardens and round your home. Never could Bible, or any good book you love. Never, never behold the dear countenances of your parents, or the joyous faces of your brothers and sisters. You could not go and come as you now do in all the careless freedom of childhood, but you must feel your way with slow and cautious steps, or be led by the hand of another. Yet though all this would be very distressing, you would be able to remember much that you have learned, and you could think how the earth, and the friends you love, once looked; but those who are born blind can think of nothing that they have ever seen. I once knew a family in which there were eight children, and four of them were born blind. Could you have looked into their mother's room, and seen the four blind children sitting sad and solitary, while their brothers and sisters were flitting away to school; or could you have seen them eagerly listening to catch the first sound of their voices on their return, and then have seen them asking those who had been to school, to tell them all they had learned, that they might learn it too;-I am sure you would feel that it is a great affliction to be blind, and a very great blessing to enjoy sight.

Now think of the blind men that followed Jesus. They could hear as quick as others; and all around them was the sound of many voices. Some were crying out with distress, and pressing their way through the crowd to come before the Saviour