. Oh, thrice blessed, who 
has merited the honor of the cross itself! What 
can follow, but that one so honored in the flesh 
should also be honored in the life which he now 
lives, and that from the virtue of these thrice-holy 
limbs the leper should be cleansed, the dumb 
should speak, the very dead be raised ? Yes ; it 
were impiety to doubt it. Consecrated by the 
cross, this flesh shall not only rest in  but 
work in power. Approach, and be healed ! Ap- 
proach, and see the glory of the saints, the glory 
of the poor. Approach, and learn that that which 
man despises, God hath highly esteemed ; that that 



Miriam's Plot 219 

which man rejects, God accepts ; that that which 
man punishes, God rewards. Approach, and see 
how God hath chosen the foolish  of this 
world to confound the wise, and the weak  
of this world to confound the strong. Man abhors 
the cross : The Son of God condescended to en- 
dure it ! Man tramples on the poor : The Son of 
God hath not where to lay His head. Man passes 
by the sick as useless : The Son of God chooses 
them to be partakers of His , that the 
glory of God may be made manifest in them