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Jericho, and then to Jordan. And as they stood by the river's side, 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 now they must part: Elisha has followed close till now his master's steps; but they will walk no more together upon earth. Elisha must now look forward to the time, when he shall be allowed to join Elijah and the other holy prophets who are gone before him into heaven.

Elijah had now done with this world, and his mind must have been very full of the great and glorious change which a few more moments would make for him. Yet was he not so wrapped up in his own exceeding happiness, as to forget the friend and companion whom he would leave behind, to struggle on for a few more years, with such sorrows and difficulties as he had felt before him. It came to pass that when they were gone over the river, that he stopped and said unto Elisha, "Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee."

E. Oh, I dare say he asked Elijah to take him with him.

M. No, he did not; he knew that it was God's will that he should remain upon earth, and he did not wish to depart till he had finished the work which God had given him to do: he only wished for such a measure of divine grace as should enable him to follow the example of Elijah. He wished also to be as great a prophet as he had been, that he might serve God as faithfully, and be as useful

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in the world. Therefore he told Elijah that his great wish was, that God would give to him a double portion of that holy spirit of prophecy by which he had been taught and governed. Double, I mean, when compared with what most of the prophets had, and such as would make him equal even to Elijah; that so he might be helped abundantly to perform those duties which would fall to him to perform after Elijah was gone.

E. I am very glad, mother, that he made such a wise and holy choice, for I am sure God would not refuse such a prayer as that.

M. No, my son, there can be no doubt that such a prayer must have been pleasing to God, coming as it did from one whom he had especially chosen to succeed Elijah. It was but right and necessary, that he should ask for extraordinary supplies of the Holy Spirit, to enable him to discharge so great and difficult an office.

We, my child, are not prophets; but from Elisha's prayer we may learn to ask, not for the honours, riches, and pleasures of the world, but for grace to do our duty in whatever station of life it may please God to call us to: for we have all of us duties to perform, and some of them which we find very hard because of our evil hearts within.

E. What did Elijah say, when Elisha begged for a double portion of his spirit?

M. "Thou hast asked a hard thing; nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken up, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so." You will ask, perhaps, why Elisha was to lose so great

a blessing, in case he should not happen to see the prophet's ascension into heaven: my answer to such a question is a very simple one,-that such was the will of God: the prophet having no doubt acted by divine instruction, for God is pleased very often to make great things depend upon some such simple act of obedience on our part; to teach us most probably, that the blessings we desire are not our own, to be had just when we like, but his gracious gifts, to be given as he thinks best.

E. Now tell me about Elijah's going up into heaven.

M. I will: we read in the Bible, that as he and Elisha still went on and talked, behold, there appeared chariots of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder. Elisha was left in this world, but Elijah was taken away, and went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

E. And did Elisha see him go, mother? I hope he kept his eyes fixed upon him as he went up.

M. He did behold the glorious sight, and to prove to Elijah that he really saw the chariots of fire, and the horses of fire, he cried out, "My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof."

E. What did he mean when he said that?

M. I think he must have meant, that it was far better for Israel to trust in God, than in chariots and horses, such as their enemies used in war. For see what God could do, when he saw fit, for those who trusted in him. He could send them chariots and horses from heaven. Indeed God had particularly VOL. III.-B

commanded the kings of Israel not to multiply horses to themselves, as we shall see, if we turn to the seventeenth chapter of the Book of Deuteronomy.

E. Do you know, mother, why God did not like his people to have horses and chariots ?

M. Because, to get them in any great number, it was necessary to send to Egypt for them, the very country from which God had, with so many miracles, delivered them; the very country from which they had learned all their idolatry. At first, the kings of Israel attended to this command, and so long they prospered. But when they began to do like the heathen, and, instead of trusting in God, to increase the number of their chariots and horses, then the kingdom was divided, then the temple was robbed, then they quarrelled among themselves, and their enemies prevailed against them. This is very remarkable, and as true as it is striking. King David had said, and pity it was that the kings who followed him did not always think so,-" Some put their trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the Lord our God."

This is, I think, what Elisha meant. The help of God, and the instruction which he sent them by his prophets, were worth more to Israel than thousands of chariots and horsemen. These were "the chariots of Israel, and the horsemen thereof."

Scarcely had Elisha said these words, when Elijah disappeared from his sight: he saw him no more, but his mantle had dropped from him as he went up, and this Elisha carried away with him as a precious remembrance of one whom he had

loved and reverenced as though he had been his father.

But not only did he carry away with him the mantle of Elijah; the spirit of Elijah rested on him also; even that same spirit of prophecy, which he had desired so eagerly, and which God was pleased to give him in answer to his prayers.

Thus, my dear boy, I have given you a full account of the prophet's departure from this world, as it is written in that most wonderful and best of books, the Bible. But before you go away, listen to me a few moments more, while I try to show you, in few words, of how much consequence it is that we should know and believe this extraordinary event; for it will do us no good, if we read it as if it were merely an extraordinary and interesting story; we must search and see what we may learn from it.

And first, does it not teach us the great advantage of serving God always? Do we not see this in Elijah's case, who, though he suffered great things from the rage of his enemies, was kept so safely always under the shadow of the Almighty, and was at length delivered in such a wonderful manner, from this evil world, and taken up so gloriously into heaven?

Again, may we not learn from this story, to be quite sure of a world to come after this? For though Christ is the resurrection and the life, and it is he who has brought life and immortality to light, and spoken clearly to us of the world to come, yet we must not suppose that holy men of old were altogether without these cheering hopes; on the con

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