time there was a general understanding of the need of a Redeem

er.

In the time of David they were a well-established people, with a history. They had the glorious tradition of the exodus from Egypt; they had the blessing of the Patriarch Jacob on his sons, the founders of the twelve tribes, and they had doubtless noted the blessing of Judah-"The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh come."

In all their subsequent history, in prosperity or adversity, mostly in the latter, this blessing had fallen on the hearts of this devoted people like the gentle dew of heaven; but the general conception of Shiloh, of the Messiah, seems to have been of a great conqueror, a towering military chief, who should establish the chosen people high above all other peoples of the earth. The conception of a Redeemer of mankind, the realization of the need of such a one, seems to have been confined to a favored few, a very few.

David himself must have had a clear idea of the Redeemer. In the sixteenth psalm, in the ninth and tenth verses he says, "Therefore, my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh also shall rest in hope; for thou wilt not leave my soul in hell. neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption."

I have been thus labored in my subject because it goes far to explain the conduct of the Jews at a later date.

David was now an old man, and in the course of nature the sceptre of Israel must soon pass to other hands. In the lapse of forty years he had done well for his people. Despite numerous wars, both civil and foreign, he had raised his people to a position of proud eminence amongst the peoples of the world; he had given them a capital city in wresting Jerusalem from the Jebusite, of which they could be justly proud; he had laid the foundation of maritime power; he had extended their borders almost to the widest limits they were to know; he had brought their holy tabernacle to its final resting place and would have built a temple to contain it but for the divine injunction which designed that task to be the work of his successor. And now in his extreme age not the least service he should render his people was to save them from the horrors of a disputed succession.

When Adonijah, taking advantage of the extreme age and infirmity of his father, sought to seize the throne, he had the support of some who had hitherto been loyal to David, notably, Joab, captain of the host, and Abiathor, the priest; but he had not the following amongst the people that his brother Absolom had had, and when David on learning of the act of his son caused Solomon to be anointed in Gihon by Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet, and he had been acclaimed king by a large concourse of the people, and been

seated on the throne of his father, those who had been led away by Adonijah fell away from him, and he, finding himself alone, took refuge in the sanctuary, laying hold on the horns of the altar; nor would he leave them until he had received the promise of Solomon to spare his life during his good behavior.

And so the last peril which menaced Israel during the lifetime of David was averted.

So ends the reign of the second of the kings of Israel, leaving the people well established in the land which the Great Jehovah had promised to Father Abraham, with a population of about five million souls.

About the greatest nuisance to a farmer, after the gunner who at certain seasons of the year goes tramping all over his fields, shooting his quail, woodcock and rabbits, is the student who comes down from the city and call himself a "collector." He must have plants and flowers for his herbarium; fishes, tadpoles and aquatic plants for his aquarium; must shoot every bird he sees to send away to a taxidermist to be stuffed: must have every bird's egg he can find for a collection, and without leave or license from anyone.

A sturdy old farmer once met one of these collectors up his pear tree after some thrushes' eggs, while the poor birds were circling round and round the tree in great distress.

"Hoh! What are you doing there? exclaimed the ireful farmer.

"Only getting a few eggs for my collection," was the suave reply.

"They're my birds and on my property, and them thrashers have built right in that 'ere spot for 10 years. Might as well come and tear me out of my home and be done with it."

"I didn't mean any offence."

"Any offence!" shouted the farmer. "What right have you to come on my farm making your collections? Suppose, when I went to the city, I'd go to your office or place of buisness and gather up some of your papers or valuables for my collection, what would you think of me?"

"I thought birds and plants were common property."

Yes, that is what all you city folks think. You think everything in the country is free when every foot is owned by somebody,

and somebodies in the county have as much right to what they own as city people have right to what they own."

"I am very sorry, sir. I never looked at it in that way. I'll put the eggs back. The birds surely have an earnest champion in you."

"They sing for me, and I'd rather hear one thrasher sing than all the choirs in the city combined. They help me to fight the insects

that would eat me out of house and home if left alone. They are friends to me, so I will be a friend to them. I would think you city folks would be taught in church and Sundayschool the respect that the Bible has laid down for birds."

I don't see what pleasure there is in a collection of dead birds or butterflies, anyway. For my part, when I want to study nature I'll go where the pretty things are alive and study them there.

Persia is the beatifull valley of Schiraz. In this valley there still remains the ruins of an immense temple, part of which was hewn out of the mountain; the rest of it was built of gray mable blocks from twenty to sixty feet long. The main platform was about nine hundred feet wide by fourteen hundred feet long; the steps to reach the platform were so placed that a man could ride up them on horseback.

Like the Egyptians, the Persians told their stories of history and

and marble, and it is here that we find the history of her great men, for here lived great men whose names stand forth in the early history of the world.

Perhaps it was in this temple that the great Cyrus, the founder of the Persian empire, sat. You remember reading about him in your Bibies; it was he who ordered Jerusalem to be rebuilt.

Not alone was Persia a great nation, with great men as its rulers, but it had a great religion, a great religious teacher, and a sacred book. The name of this leader was Zoroaster, and the book is known as the Zend Avesta.

Who was Zoroaster? When did he live? What did he teach? Of the history of the man himself we know but little. Plato, 400 years B. C., and Herodotus, 450 years B. C.,speak of him and of his teaching; as does also Plutarch, the elder Pliney, and other writers who lived in the first century. But we do not know where he was born, nor the names of his parents not even the time when he lived; but as near as we can find out he lived about 1200 to 1300 years B. C.

There are several stories of how he became converted to a religious life and of the miracles which he performed in order to convert the rest of the people; of his visit to heaven, etc; but as there is a good deal of doubt as to their truth, I shall not repeat them. I will stop long enough to

say that the story of his visit to heaven will find an echo in a later religion.

Of one thing we may be sure, such a man once lived and he did much to influence the religious thought of the world. Much of his teaching can be learned from the writings of the men who I have told you wrote about him.

But the world owes more to a' young Frenchman for its knowledge of him and the Zend Avesta than it does to any one else. The name of this Frenchman is Anquelel du Perron, who was born in Paris in 1731. From a boy he was a student of ancient people and their customs. At the age of twenty-four he found in the great royal library of Paris a small part of the Zend Avesta. He was so interested in his find that he went to the northern part of India, where a small following of Zoroaster lived, and commenced his study. For sixteen years he worked, traveled and studied to secure as much of the original as he could find, with the object of bringing it before the world.

Upon his return to Europe he brought with him one hundred and eight valuable manuscripts, which he translaled and published. For many years learned men quarreled as to whether it was a translation of any writtings of Zoroaster or any of his early teachers. But in the light of recent knowledge learned men agree that it was all that its translator claimed for it.

The Zend Avesta, which we may call the bible of the Persians, consists of a collection of hymns, prayers and thanksgivings, many of which are offered to a multitude of gods; but the god Ormadz is supreme and the rest are his servants.

From the Zend Avesta, part of which was doubtless written by Zoroaster himself and part by his disciples, and also from other reliable sources, we learn the following with regard to the creation of the world, its course and end:

In the beginning the Eternal or Absolute Being, called ZeranaAkerana, created two other great divine beings. The first of these, who remained true to him, was Ahura-Madza, or Ormadz, by which name I shall hereafter refer to him; he was also called king of light. The other was Ahriman, king of darkness, who rebelled against his creator.

The Infinite Being, in order to destroy the evil which Ahriman had caused since his creation, decided to create, through Ormadz, this world in which we live. The power being given to Ormadz, he commenced by creating the ferevers, which I think means the souls or spirits. He then created the heavens and the earth, next the mountains, rivers, etc. also made a great gulf beneath the earth, which was to be the home of Ahriman.

He

Knowing that he would have to fight Ahriman, Ormadz armed himself by creating the sun, moon and

stars, mighty hosts that were to obey his wishes.

The stars were divided into four groups, each having a leader; the four groups were divided into twelve companies. twelve companies. I will tell you the names of the four star leaders and the groups that they were to preside over. That you may the better understand them, I will give you the names of the stars as we know them and not as they are named in the Zend Avesta, though they mean the same. Satrun was ruler of the western group; Mercury presided over the stars of the south and Mars over the northern stars. In the center was the great star Venus, who was to lead all. The star Sura was placed in a fixed position to what watch for Ahriman coming from the abyss below.

While Ormadz was carrying on his work, Ahriman was creating also, for he had the power to do so; but his was a world of darkness. His followers, however, were equal in numbers and power to the followers of Ormadz.

At the end of three thousand years Ahriman came forth to give battle to Ormadz, but he was blinded by the majesty of Ormadz and the pure spirits which accompanied him, and by the strong will and power of Ormadz he was driven back into the dark abyss.

After the battle Ormadz created seven guardian spirits-one to guard the earth, one who was the mother of all living things, one for the seasons, months and days, two