"If their talk were foul, Then would he whistle rapid as any lark." The pure-minded lad refused to listen to it, and he had his reward. They mocked him at first, but afterwards they turned and reverenced him. A like testimony was borne to John Milton when he entered Christ’s College, Cambridge, at sixteen years of age. Because of his virtuous conduct he was ridiculed by his fellow-students, and nicknamed "the lady of Christ’s." But the future author of "Paradise Lost" could afford to let them sneer. He had the testimony of a good conscience, and "they who honour Me, I will honour." And all those who are tempted to-day must draw their succour from a similar divine source. With the wisdom of the coney they must betake themselves to the safety of the hills, and say, "Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I." And in that strong Rock of Ages all feeble ones will be eternally safe, for neither foe nor tempest can reach them there. Flee, then, as a bird to your mountain, or in the language of your hymn— "Yield not to temptation, for yielding is sin, Each victory will help you some other to win, Fight manfully onward, dark passions subdue, Look ever to Jesus, He will carry you through." *The Ass’s Colt.* "And Jesus, when He had found a young ass, sat thereon."—John xii. 14. Two varieties of the ass exist in Bible lands, namely, the domesticated and the wild ass. But whether these are two different kinds, or simply variations of the same species, is not yet a settled question. On the assumption that they are one, it would still be disputed whether the wild ass is to be regarded as an emancipated domestic ass, or the latter a reclaimed wild one. But into the merits of this question we have no call to enter. We may say at the outset, however, that when speaking of the ass of the Bible, we are dealing with a very different animal from the poor weather-beaten, stunted, and half-starved beast of our commons. The coldness of our climate, and the life of hardship endured by the ass in this country, have, no doubt, operated largely in the decay of the breed. But the Arabian ass is quite different. A well-bred Syrian ass will fetch forty pounds. It is well formed and muscular, well cared for and fed, and is altogether a finer and nobler animal than the spiritless and degraded creature so familiar to us. Consequently, when we read of Jesus riding upon an ass’s colt, there would seem to be some ground for the statement that "there was no humility in the case. He rode upon an ass as any prince or ruler would have done who was engaged on a peaceful journey" (Wood). In fine, Jesus came riding on the universal saddle animal of the East. But turning to the ass’s colt, I want you to note three things about it. I.—ITS WILDNESS.