ADVERTISEMENT. THIS Book is intended to present, in continuous form, the main facts of the Gospel, but not necessarily in chronological order, as it has seemed better to group the teaching of our Lord and His Miracles in a form most easy to be committed to memory. For this purpose the Life of Christ is divided into distinct portions, and the Miracles are classified according to the locality in which they took place, as are also the Parables. For all the prose lessons the Editor alone is responsible, he having written them himself; his main object being to render the Gospel narrative and teaching intelligible to children, rather than to insist on exact theological dogmatic precision beyond the comprehension of such juvenile readers. For the permission to use the poetical extracts he begs to tender his grateful thanks to the respective Authors and Publishers. JAMES RIDGWAY. THE NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY. CHAPTER I. AN EGYPTIAN SAIS. THERE is a curious custom still to be seen in Egypt, and it must be one of the very first things that strikes an English person on visiting Cairo. Whenever any one drives along the streets in his carriage, a groom runs in front, about thirty yards before the carriage, to clear the way. In narrow streets where there are no policemen or street sweepers, and where carriages are not very common, this custom is, no doubt, necessary. The groom is called a Saïs; he is always a young man, dressed in a thin, white shirt, with open sleeves, that fly like wings behind him as he runs. This shirt is fastened round the waist by a girdle, and hangs down to his knees, the rest of his legs being bare. He has a sort of cap on his head, and a long white stick or wand in his hand, with which he drives donkey, and even people, out of the way of his master's carriage. As he runs he cries out, "Make way for his Highness," or "for the Pasha," if the master is of that rank; if not, he only shouts out, "Make way," "Get out of the way," or some such warning. Should there be a cart standing in the way, he will remove it; or if a large stone, or piece of timber should bar the progress, or run the risk of jolting the carriage as it goes over it, he will roll it to one side; so that no one can see this servant running and performing his duties without being at once struck with the office which St. John the Baptist tells us was his, that of a fore-runner, |