synonymous with the "it is all a humbug" of our day. His healing of
the sick was denied; or, if admitted, was said to be some lucky
circumstance of fate. His opening of the eyes of the blind was to
them a mere illusion; the supposed cure, only an operation of the
imagination.

All his good deeds were underrated; and those who, having seen with
their own eyes, and heard with their own ears, were honest enough to
believe and openly declare their belief; were looked upon by the
influential and those in high places as most egregiously deceived
and imposed upon.

But, notwithstanding the opposition, men did believe; and in one day
three thousand acknowledged their belief in the sincerity of the
teacher, and in the doctrines which he taught.

Impressed deeply with the reality and divinity of his
mission,--looking to God as his father, and to all mankind as his
brethren,--Jesus continued his way. To the scoffs and jeers of the
rabble, he replied in meekness and love; and amid the proud and
lofty he walked humbly, ever conscious of the presence of an angelic
power, which would silence the loudest, and render powerless the
might of human strength.

He spoke as one having authority. He condemned the formalism of
their worship; declared a faith that went deeper than exterior rites
and ceremonies; and spoke with an independence and fearlessness such
deep and soul-searching truths, that the people took up stones to
stone him, and the priests and the rulers held council together
against him.