THE MIGHTY WORKS IN GALILEE-Matt. viii. 18; Mark i. 35. WHILE collecting the people for instruction and healing, our blessed Lord always avoided any popular demonstration, such as the high-spirited populace of Galilee were always eager to make on His behalf whenever the conviction of His being Christ their King flashed across them. So in the midst of the enthusiasm at. Capernaum, He departed before day (Mark i. 35) alone, and prayed on the hill-side till His disciples found Him, and would fain have brought him back to the eager people, but He told them He must carry the tidings to the places around. It was at this time that a leper followed Him entreating to be healed.

Leprosy was deemed infectious, and though modern science doubts whether it be so, and in modern times has been extinguished by isolation. Lazar houses were to be found in almost all European countries, and the unhappy inmates were consigned to them with a service that cut them off from their fellows as if

they were dead. One of the islands in the Greek archipelago was entirely given up to lepers, with an order of nuns to minister to them, who were sure in time to fall victims to the disease; and at the present day the government of the Sandwich Isles is trying to check the spread of the disease by sending all persons, as soon as the symptoms appear, to a small islet of the group.

No cure has ever been found for it, and as it is certainly hereditary, and lasts for years, corrupting the whole body, it became a suitable type and punishment for sin (Num. xii. 10-11, Kings v. 27). Therefore the leper was placed under special regulations (Lev. xiii. 44-46), and if he recovered, the ceremony for cleansing and readmission to the congregation were like a parable of the pardon and purifying of the sinner by the atonement (Lev. xiv. 4-7). There was a thank offering besides (Lev. xiv. 10, 29, 30), and these were the gifts our Lord bade the leper offer, again enjoining silence, apparently in order not to add to the excitement of the people.

But the leper disobeyed, and until Capernaum should have

quieted down, our Lord remained in the country. St Matthew here places two incidents which come later in St Luke (ix. 57-62). Probably the first evangelist gives them here to shew our Lord's manner of dealing with those who volunteered to become His disciples, according to the special character and temptations of each. The first, who may have meant to join Him in the hope of winning a splendid position in a temporal kingdom, is answered by a description of the homeless, and desolate portion He had chosen for Himself. The second seems to have meant to make excuse. It is not likely that his father was lying dead, but that the man wished to remain at home for the rest of his father's lifetime, and that our Lord knew it was not out of dutifulness, but out of timidity or indolence, and that if the good impulse were not followed now, it would die away for ever. It ghews what is meant by Matt. x. 37. Those dead to the spiritual life might stay to bury the dead; those whom He had awakened had a higher call, which must be followed (Matt. ix. 1-8; Mark ii. 1-12). Again it seems best to follow the order of events as given by St Mark, who shews our Lord returning again to Capernaum, where (Matt. ix. 1, 2) as soon as it was known that he was in the house, probably St Peter's) the whole population thronged together at the door, and the friends of the paralytic-four in number, who were carrying him on his bed-found it impossible to pass through them, and therefore ascended the flat roof, and taking up the framework let him down. The palsy is commonly used in our day to express the involuntary tremulous motion of old people, but at the time of the translation of the Scriptures it was used for paralysis. The sick man was thus probably quite helpless, and possibly had his brain affected, so that it was the exertion and the faith of his friends that saved him. Our Lord's address to him did not speak of his bodily health, but told him his sins were forgiven. It raised an immediate objection not uttered by the scribes, but known to the All-hearing and Allseeing. Of course it was true that none save God can forgive sin, but it was also true that none save God could give instant strength and vigour to paralytic limbs, and therefore the outward cure was a token of the authority to heal the soul. It was evil in the hearts of the scribes to doubt the divine spiritual power of Christ after all they had seen and heard. The evil was unbelief. For it is to be observed that our Lord and His apostles treat want of faith not as a mere mood of mind that cannot be helped, as it is the fashion to do now, but a serious and fatal fault.

His power to forgive sins was the great reward of Christ's becoming the Son of Man, the cause above all of His coming into the world; the great blessing He proclaimed in His glory (Rev. i. 18), and every cure of disease was the token of the power to cure the diseases of the soul.

Domestic Economy for Pupil Teachers.

By JANE STOKER,

TRAINING COLLEGE, STOCKWELL.

ENGLISH people regard the flesh of animals as their chief strengthening food, and consume much more of it than their continental neighbours, the French and Germans. Comparatively few understand the nutritive value of beans, peas, cabbage, and some other vegetables; or what dainty dishes may be made from them, in combination with a little meat or stock. Among the working classes also there is great ignorance, and even prejudice, regarding any but the prime and most expensive joints of meat, chiefly because frying or baking is the readiest and most general method of cooking, either of which renders any but the tenderest parts hard and indigestible.

Every housewife should understand how to choose good meat, what joints to select in accordance with her means, and the best method of cooking the part chosen. The nutritive value of meat varies considerably with the kind of animal, its age, sex, and the manner in which it has been fed. A large amount of the nourishment all meat contains is in the juice; when dry, or when its juices are drawn out and lost by improper cooking, or by the process of salting, its nutritive power is considerably decreased. Good well-fed meat has a mottled appearance, caused by small particles of fat which may be seen lying all through the lean. The lean flesh should be of a bright red, and when pressed with the finger should rise again at once; a layer of fat should lie be tween the lean portion and the skin; when the skin lies close by the lean without any intervening fat, it is a sign of poor feeding, or of an ill-conditioned animal, and the flesh will be deficient in nutritive juices, dry and tasteless. The fat of good meat is white, firm, and with very little skin among its substance, and the lean clings closely to the bone. The ox affords the finest beef; it is best when the animal is about seven years old, though some of

the most highly esteemed of the small varieties of oxen are at their prime at five. The flesh of the heifer is good, but that of the cow and bull is strong in flavour, tough and indigestible.

The best mutton is obtained from the South Downs of England, where the short sweet grass grows from a chalky soil. Welsh mutton fed on the mountain sides of Wales is also highly esteemed for its delicate flavour, as is also that fed on the Cheviot hills. Mountain mutton is smaller than that fed on the richer lowland plains. The Leicester sheep is valuable rather for its fleece than its flesh, which is strong and tough. Housewives should always choose joints of mutton from sheep with small bones; very large sheep are to be avoided. A joint will be tough or tender according to the amount of sinew it contains, and the action it performed during the life of the animal. Some knowledge of physiology may be applied with great effect in choosing meat. The tenderest joints of the ox extend along the back from behind the neck to the tail, and include the ribs. These are the only parts suitable for roasting or boiling; they are sold at the highest price.

The accompanying diagram shews the various joints of beef as usually sold, together with the best method of cooking each.

From this it will be seen that the greater part of the back and the upper halves of the sides are suitable for roasting, because of their tenderness; the parts cut up into steaks for broiling are those portions of the back next the tail and shoulder. The joints for boiling are cut from the lower part of the body of the animal, and from the thick fleshy portions of the legs; these portions are not sufficiently tender for roasting, and (excepting the parts from the

legs) are too fat for stewing. The pieces best adapted for stewing are the neck and breast, partly because the neck contains a good deal of sinew, and partly because that being the place where the animal is bled when killed, it does not look well when served as a whole joint. The thin parts of the legs contain all the great tendons attached to the muscles of the thicker parts; these tendons can be made tender and digestible by long gradual stewing only; they yield large quantities of gelatine, which causes the stock made from them to form a firm jelly when cold.

1. Sirloin, best roasting piece. 2. Fore rib, roasting. 3. Middle rib, roasting. 4. Rump, best steak piece. 5. Chuck rib, steak, broiling. 6. Leg of mutton piece, boiling. 7. Brisket,8. Thick flank,-9. Thin flank,-10. Aitch bone,-11. Buttock,-12. Round: All boiling. 13. Neck and breast or sticking piece, stewing. 14. Shin, stewing. 15. Hock, stewing.

Besides these is the skirt, a thin piece of lean lying on the inner side of the ribs; this is usually sold at the price of boiling pieces; it is very juicy and tender, and is excellent for stewing or for meat pies or puddings.

The head of the ox is invariably stewed, and after being seasoned, freed from fat and bone, and allowed to stand till cold, forms a firm jelly, and is eaten as potted head.

The head of the calf is always boiled; it is considered by the rich to be one of the most delicate of all dishes; the cold remains are hashed or made into mock-turtle soup.

The joints of mutton suitable for roasting are the loin, leg, and shoulder; the latter is rather tough and strong flavoured; the breast, after the shoulder is cut away from it, is excellent for baking with potatoes; cooked in this way it affords an economical and savoury meal for a large family; the scrag neck and head make good mutton broth, with the addition of a little rice or