The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, December 09, 1885, Image 3
nriLUBiri nmoi
BRAWN AND MUSCLE CONSECRATED.
Text: "And Samson went down to Timoath."?Judges,
xiv., 1.
There ai*e two sidei to the character of
Samson. The one might administer to the
grotesque and the mirthful, but the other side
Of hi3 character is fraught with lessons of
solemn and eternal import, and it is to these
graver lessons that I ask your attention. I
suppose that in early life Samson gave inti
mation of what be was to be. It is almost
always so. There were two Napoleons, tho
boy Napoleon and the man Napoleon; but
both alike. Ihere were two Howards.tho boy
Howard and the man Howard; but
both alike. Two Samsons, the boy
Samson and the man Samscn; but both
alike. I have no doubt that he gave indication
of his strength, that he was the hero of
the playground, that nothing could stand before
his exhibition of youthful prowess.
At eighteen years of age he was betrothed to
the daughter of a Philistine. On his way
down to Timnath a lion came out to devour
him and the young giant, although weaponless,
took the monster by the mane and shook
It as a hungry hound shakes a March hare,
and left its bone? cracked, and its body bleeding
by the wayside under the smiting of his
hand and the grinding of his foot One time
passing along this place ha went into the
thicket to see the remains of the lion that
he had slain; but under the hot. sun
of that climate all the perishable
parts of the carcase had gone, ami under the
washing of the rain and the shining of the
sun the bones of the skeleton were white and
clean and pure and sweet as is a vaso of porcelain.
Tije bees found this skeleton and
made it a hive, and then brought (he sweetness
from the grass top3 and the juices from
the pomegranate and the aroma from the
wild woods where the flowers stood in the
gloom of the forest, like pale nuns in nature's
oonvent. Afterward he made a very foolish
riddle about the honey gathered in this skeleton,
a riddle so foolish that it has been recorded
as a warning to all thoso who
attempt facetiousness without any talent
for it. Through the betrayal of his wife the
riddle was found out,and Samson was so outraged
that he slew thirty men. Still further
to vent his rage he sot on fire 3)0 foxes, and
these affrighted creatures ran into the corn
shocks and the hay mows until all tho land
was ablaze with desolation. One day, surrounded
by oJU men, Samson took a jawbone
fronrthe roadside and hewed down these J
armod men as in a harvest field the full
. . - ^ !.!? .....1? ?1 ? ? I
neaaeu gram troiuuies unutii uicmuiij; ut ? I
sickle. There he stands looming up above ;
other men, a mountain of flesh, his arms |
.bunched with muscles, strong enough to lift i
a city gate?h6 stands there in an attitude
defiant of everything. His hair has uever
been cut, and it rolls down in
seven great plats over the
shoulder, adding ferocity aud terror to his
appearance. The Philistines want to conquer
him and they must find out the secret of his
strength. There is an unprincipled woman
in Sorek, Delilah by name, who is made the
aeentin tho case. She coaxes him to tell tlio
secret of his great strength. He says: ''Well,
if you should lake seven green withes sui-h
as they bind wild beast-; with and bind mo, I
should be perfectly helpless." So he is bound
with these* seven green withes, and Delilah
elapps her hands and says: '"They come, the
Philistines!" Sam-on walks out as though he '
bad no impediment. She keeps on I
coaxing him, to tell the secret * of his
Strength, and he says: "Well, if you should
lathe seven new rop*s that have never been
used, and bind me last, I would be iu the
hands of my enemies." So he is bound with
these seven ropes, now ropes, and De!ila!i
claps her hands and says: "They come, the
Philistines!'* Sampson walks out without
anv hindrance. She keens on coaxins him i
to "tell the sevret of his strength, and he says:
"Well now, it' you should take tiles? sewn
long plaits of hair and with a ho :se-Iooni
weave them into a web, 1 should be just like
ether men." So the house-loom is brought up,
the seven long plaits of hair are woven into a
web and Delilah claps her hands and says:
"They come, the Philistines:" Samson
walks out dragging part of the
loom with him. iiut Delilah after
a while coaxes him to tell the real tr-fch,
and ha says: "If you should take a razor or
scissors, or shears and cut o!r those long
locks all my strength would be gone." Saiiigom
sleeps, and you know the oriental barbers
have such skiil in manipulating the head
that instead of waking one that is asleep they
will pat one wide awak9 sound asleep under
the process. I hear the grinding of the
blades of the scissors, and I see the falling off
of the large locks. What the house loom and
I/Liugitn;ji ?uuw ami tuu new I up.'s uuum
not do, lias been accomplished now
by . the razor. Delilah now claps her '
hands and says: "The Philistines be upon j
thee, Samson!" He struggles to get up. His
strength is all gone. His enemies ru-h in. 1
bear the giant groan as they bore out his
eyes, and then 1 see him going on in his
blindness, staggering on toward Gaza, and a
prison door opens, and he sits down and puts
his hand on tno mil! crank that with hasty
motion goes day after day, and week after
?reek, and month after month?work, work,
work I The consternation of the world in
captivity. The giant with his eyes out grinds
corn in Gaza.
Behold first of all that physical strength is
not an index of moral power. That this man
was mighty the lion found out, and the
Philistines found out, and all the people who
had anything to do with him found out, and
jret he was the subject of petty revenges, and
was ungianted by base passion. I say nothing
against physical stamina. I do not
ilynk there is any particular glory in a delicate
and sickly constitution. I have not any
special admiration for weak nerves and sick
headaches. I think that all the institutions
which propose to make men and women
athletic ought to meet with the favor of good
citizens, as well as good Christians. Gymnasiums
may havea mission positively religious.
Good people sometimes ascribe to a weak
heart tlmt which belongs to a slow liver.
The body and the soul are such near neighbors
that they often catch each other's diseases.
The man who has a clear head, who
has stout nerve3 and who in the cradle displayed
the Hercules will have far more to
answer for than all those who all their life
struggled with physical infirmities. That
man who can lift twice as much as vou can, I
walk twice as far and endure twice as much
will have just twic? the amount of account
to give, if a clear head is better than one
dizzy with p3rpetual vertigo, if muscles with
the play of health in them are worth mora
than those drawn up with rheumatism, if an
?ye quick to catch a passing object is better
than one dim and uncertain?then if you have
stout ph}rsical health, the greater and more
intense will be your account. Yet how manythere
are who have stout physical health,
and it Is no indication of moral power with
them. Men use their great health in luxuriant
ease, when they ought to have their coat
off and their sleeves rolled up, tugging away
with all their might trying to lift the sunken j
wreck of a world. They are like ship* woll 1
manned and well rigged, and capable of vast j
fAnnorvA o *"?/-! ziAnnk'A AM/IWHIUM ?> ?.? 4 I
vvima^U) cum vopoutc V/JL OIIUIU ?1 UdlSUA:?3 |
of weather, yet rotting at the docks; when j
these men ou^ht to be crossing and recrossing ;
the great ocean of human suffering j
with God's suDDlies of mercv. Alas! I
tnac so many oi cue stout and healthy men i
of the world are doing absolutely nothing
for God or the betterment of the world's condition.
Oh! it is a shamo that so much of
the work of the church and the world has
been done by invalids, while the stoutand the
healthy men, like greet hulks, were rotting
In the sun. llichard Baxter, spending his j
life on the door of the tomb, yet writing a !
hundred volumes and starting unconverted |
people on their way to the Saint's Everlasting i
Rest. Edward Fay son, never knowing a
well day in all his life, but starting a vast ,
multitude of people toward that j
place which ho called a sea |
of glory. Robert McCheyrie, a walking :
skeleton, and yet you know what he did at
?)undee, and you know how In shook all Scotland
with his zeal for God. William Wilberforce,
told by the doctors he must die in two
weeks, starting right out for grander philanthropies.
Philip Doddridge advised by his
nrit*. fc:f-?i/lv? fni* +.V??* V\ar?o 11ra
he was so ill, going right on until he was thy j
cause of the riso and progress of religion in
the church of Jesus Christ. Robert Hall so
much an invalid that oft-times in the midst
of his sermon he had to lie down and rest on
the sofa, and then getting up again and
preaching about the wonders of heaven
until tho splendor seemed to drop
up >n tho auditors, and doing tho work of
ten or fifteen ordinary men of his day. Is it
not simply a shame that a vast amount of
the work done for tho Christian church and
do:ie for t'.io betterment o: tho world's condition
has been done by invalids, while such a
multitude of inon with vast physical endurance
have accomplished nothing for God!
Achievements for invalids, of course?
achievement* of patience, achievements of
faith, achievements of endurance; but I caii
liiis day upon men of muscle, men of nerve,
and men of physical power to consecrate
themselves to the Lord. Giants in body be
giants in soul.
M v subject also impresses me with the fact
that strength inay do a great deal of damage
if it is misdireetod. To pa}' one miserable
bet which this man had lo3t he robs and slays
thirty people. As near as I can tell much of
his li'fb vas spent in wickedness, and he is a
type of a large class of people in all ages who
either giants in body, or giants in mind, 01
giants in social position, or giants in wealth,
use that strength for making the world
wnrsB instead of makinir it better. Those
small men in a community who do wrong
effect but little evil. Ihose small men who
go through your store, your shop, your
factory, your ban king-house loafing and
swearing and befouling the air with their
breath and insulting your door with iheir iniquitous
saliva and denouncing God and denouncing
the church, they do not do much
harm, thoy are so insignificant But these
powerful men who stick their pens of sarcasm
and hato into the Christian religion, these
men who throw vitriol on our Jitora'ure, these
men of wealth who sanction crima and iniquity
and make honor and truth and justice
bow before their golden scepters?look out
for them! I suppose there were hundreds of
infidels in Paris, E iinburgh and London in the
middle and the latter part of the last century,
but they did not do a great deal of harm.
There were giants in those days though, who
did harm. Who can estimate the soul havo::
wrought by Rousseau going forward with
the very enthusiasm of iniquity, and with his
fiery imagination affecting all the impulsive
nature, of his tim?2 Or wrought by David
Hume, who spent his lifetime as a spider
spends the summer in weaving silken web> to
r.ot-r'Vi tho iinwBi'v! Or hv VnltairB who mar
shaled a host of sceptics in his time and led
them on down into n deeper darkness/ Cr
wrought by Gibbcn who showed in
hi* writings an uncontrollable hats
against Christianity, and in that book
which gives a faseinatiug account of tLe decline
and fall of the Roman empire throws
all his genius into an attempt to exaggerate
the faults of the Christian disciples while he
gives a sparseness of attention to the Christian
heroes of whom the world wa3 not
worthy, a sparseness of attention to those
noble men and women for which that author
can never be forgiven. I want men of nerve'
men of muscle, men of social position, men
of financial power to know that that strength
may be made a crown tor them 011 earth and
be a crown for them in heaven, while those
who bedraggle that power into sin
and tbose wno use tneir muuenco
for iniquitous purposes, God
will at last thunder his condemnation upon
them on the day when millionaire and pauper
and master and slave and king and subject
shall stand side by side, and money-bags and
judicial ermine and royal robe shall bo riven
of the lightning of the Lord God Almighty.
My subject also impresses m? with the
fact that a giant may be overthrown by a
sorceress. Delilah started all those evil influences
which terminate ! in the bringing of
the temple of Dagon down around Sampson's
ears, and in all the ages how many giants"
through impure fascinations have been
ungianted? It seems to me that it ia
time that the pulpit and platform and printing
press speak out more distinctly against
the impurities of modern society. Prudery
and fastidiousness say, "Don't speak at all
l'or you might arouse adverse criticism; you
might make things worse instead of making
them bettor. If you touch the subject at all
do so in glittering generalities, for the themi
is not appropriate for polite carswhile from
the heavens a voice comes saying, "Crj
aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a
trumpet. Show my pe:ip'e their transgres
sions, and the house of Egypt their sins."
The trouble is that when people writa
or speak on such themes, they throw
over them the fascinations of belles
lettres and make attractive that which oughl
to be repulsive. Lord Byron in Childe Harold
adorns this crime until it looks like a
May queen. Michelet, the French author, in
his essays treats of the crime until it glows
like the rising sun, when it ought to be niado
loathsome as -a smallpox hospital, 'i Here are
influences abroad to clay which if unresisted
by pulpit and platform and printing press
will turn New York and Brooklyn into a
Sodoin and Gomorah, lit only for the
storm of flro and brimstone that overwhelmed
the cities of the plain.
Whila you sit in your quiet Christian
homes compassed with all moral restraints,
you do not realize that there is a gulf of iniauity
surrounding you north, south, east and
west. This moment while I speak there are
hundreds of men and worn n going over the
awful plunge of an inipuro life, and while I
cry to God for mercy in their behalf, I charge
all Christian men and women to marshal all
divine and gracious influences for the dofence
of the homes and the churchas and the nation.
There is a banquetiug hall that you
may not have heard described. You
know all about the feast of Ahasuerus
with a thousand lord?. You know
all about the carnival of Bel-ihazzar, where
the blood of the murdered king: spurted in
tho faces of the banqueters. You know all
about the wassail and the intoxication and
the rioting of the feast over which presided
Esopus, before whom was brought a plate of
food that cost four hundred thousand dollars.
But there is another banqueting hall, and its
ceiling is fretted vith fire, and its floors are
tesselated with fire and its walls are buttresses
of fire, and its songs are songs of lire,
and Solomon referred to it when he said:
"her guests are in the depths of hell." We
are in American society to-day reaping
the harvest of Froo Lovis:n which
was sowed ten or fifteen or twenty years ago,
the gospel of Free Lovism which was preached
on all tho platforms in America, or nearly
all of themj and alas! in some of the pulpits
a# TTrAA T.Atriam urhinft fn
gvopci U1 1 1 V/O JUVTMUl MU1V.U gvviiio w?
indicate that every man ought to have sornj
ouq else's wife, and every woman some ones
else's ftusoancl ? Free Lovism which has
given to this country one thousand cases of
divorce a year?Free Lovism which has given
to one county in Indiana eleven cases of divorce
in one day before diunorl Froe
Lovism which has aroused in all this
land, brought up in all this land cases of
elopement, North, South, East and AVest, so
that you can hardly take up a paper now
that you do not see in it some account of an
elopement The fact is there are thousands
of people in America to-day who do not like
the Christian institution of marriage, and I
wish they would elope, the wretches of one
s 'X taking the wretches of the other sex, and
starting t omorrow morning for the great
Sahara desert until the simoon shall sweep
over them seven feet of sand, arid in the
no tt five " hundred years no passing
caravan bring back one miserable
bo'n * of their carcases. Never until society
shall go back to the Bible, which eulogizes
uuritv and curses with an infinite mi ran mi.
cleanliness?never until that time comes will
these evils be extirpated from society. Samson
was not the only giant ungianted.
My subject also impresses me with the fact
thai the greatest physical strength must
crumble and give way. That this man of the
text was mighty the lion knew, that Philistines
knew, everybody knew. Oh! how
strong he was. He could fight back
thesa enemies, but death was too
much for him. He may have
had a longer grave and a wider grave than
3'ou and I have, but the tomb was his terminus
What, shall the body and the soul be
parted? Yes. We know the destiny of the
0119, dust to dust What sha'J by fhp d>?st:Qv
of the other? Will we go up to dwell amid
the white robed bclievera whoso sins Christ
slew, or will wo go down among the unbelievers
who tried to gain tho world and save
their soul at the same time mid were swindled
out of both? You and I may by good habits
and by prudence and by the enthronement
of Christian principle postpone tho day
of our decease, but come it must, and
wuie it; win, unu i/iiuu is u uuiiMUuraiiuu
worth our dwelling upon. I am saying thesa
things because I want you. in the light of this
subjoct, to realize what I do not believe live
men in this audience do realizo, that God is
going to bring us in account for the employment
of our physical organism. We jire often
told that people must give account for
their wealth, and so they must; and they
must give account for their intelligence, and
so they must; but no more than they must
give account for the employment of their
physical organism. Shoulder, arm,
brain, knee, foot, all the forces
that God has given us?are wo using them to
make the world better, or make It worse?
Those who have strong arm, thoso who have
elastic step, those who have cloar eye, those
who havfl stead v brain, thoso are the men
who are going to have the mightiest accounts
to render. There aro thousands of sermons
preached to invalids. I have preached scores
of them myself. Every clergyman who does
his duty must preach scores of sermons to
the invalid and the suffering; |but this morning
I preach chiolly to stoat men and healthful
women. AVhat aro we doing
with the faculties that God has
given us? What is the account weshallhave
at last to render? While 1 was preparing
this subject, 1 thought how abashed I will be
in the last day when I shall come up and 1
shall remember that during all my memory.
L have never had ouo moment of severe sick
j:?9, or anything that might be called real
sickness, and stand beside those who never
knew a well day in all their lifo and yet were
consume'! with zeal for God. Ahl what a
day that will.be for those of us, what an account
it will be to render when you
ask yourself and I ask myself, ''what
have we done with the health that
God has given us.<" Is there one in
all this audienco who can feel, who does now
t'eel that ha has given all his physical quali
ties to making tho world better and for the ,
glory of his God' Nob one, no5 one!
Hark! it thunders. The da)' approaches,
the day for which all other days were made.
His throne is lifted, and thire is one who on
sarth was always an invalid stands bsfore
the throne of judgment, and this one says to
the Julgo on the throne, "I was always sick;
I could not go out much and servo Christ;
I found some opportunities of serving
Him; I found people who wore sicker !
than I was and whj suffered more than
I, and I tried to cheer thjm. I feel all un- j
worthy to be here to day, but I have done
something for Christ, although it was very ,
feobly done." "Well done," says Christ, '
"well dona. Enter into the joy of thy Lord. <
Go up and get thy crown. And a great
crown it is." Here is another one before the ]
throne of judgment. He says: "On earth I
always went on crutches. I could not get
about much, but wherever I had an opportu- '
j nity of inviting men to Christ, and for good, l
I tried to do that good. I do not deserve any I
T ?it'Vilitflft fa?? rr> tr 1 nr/f I
rewaru. X Uiww *V1 uvtui 1
Oh, how little!" "Well done," says Christ,
"Well done. Enter into tho joy of thy 1
Lord. Great reward for thee, great ]
reward." And now there is a little child be- .
fore the throDe of judgment. She says: "On
earth I had curvature of the spine, and I was
very weak, and I was very sick. I could not
do much for Jesus, but I used to go out into J
tho wild woods and pluck flowers for my sick
mother, and I used to bring them back 10 her
room, and she was so cheered and comforted
by those flowers that I plucked out of the .
wild wo^ds." "Well done," says Christ, tak- 1
ins her up in His arms and* kissing her, i
"welldcno. Go up and get thy crown, little j
one. Great is thy reward in heaven." }5ut j
hark! it thunders again. Now. all tha well,
the stout, tho muscular, the healthful 1
of earth come up before the throne of judg- 1
'ment to give answer. I said to an old Scotch 1
minister, who was one of the best friends I \
ever had, ''Doctor, did you ever know in
Scotland the author of ' Tho Course of Timo,'
Robert Pollock?" "Oh, yes." he said, "I
know him well. I was his classmate."
"Well," I said, "tell ma something about
j him." " Well," he said, "it is a very short
I storv. That book vou speak of, 1 The Course
of Time,' exhausted him, and I bolieve he I
died from the effects. The book was too
mighty for his physical endurance. Indeed,
I cannot see how any one who
ever had such a glimpse of the
groat day of account as Robert
rollock had could live a great while after. It
was so mighty a spectacle he saw, and there
are about eight or toil lines of it that impress
me rnoro than all:
"Begin the woe, ye woofs,
And tell it to the doleful winds;
And doleful winds wail to the howling hills,
And howling hills mourn to the dismal vales,
A.nd dismal vales sigh to the sorrowing brookB,
And sorrowing brooks weep to the weeping
stream,
An I weeping stream awake the groaning deep,
Ye Heavens, great archway of the universe,
Put sackcloth on, and ocean robe thyself in
garb of widowhood,
And gather all Ihy wares into a groan
And utter it long, loud, deep, piercing, dolorous,
immense.
The occasion asks it. Nature dies
And angels come to lay her in the grave."
What Robert Pollock saw in poetic vision,
vou and I will see in reality. Tne judgment!
Vhe judgment!
TIMELY TOPICS.
Vegetarianism is spreading very rapidly
in London. Ten years ago i'. was
difficult to find an avowed veget trian,
but now more than 2,000 persona refresh
themselves daily at vegetarian restaurants.
Another fiction exploded. The Chinese
do not eat dogs, cats and rats as regular
diet, but only in rare instances. They
live mainly on garden vegetables, rice,
poultry and fish, and are tond of shark's
tins and edible birds' nests.
Captain Renard's military balloon has
been puccessfully operated in Paris lately
ou calm days. When there is little wind
blowing, it can be moved about in any
direction at the will of the pilot, but
become unmanageable in a heavy breeze.
Still it is a great achievment to succeed
as far as the inventor has done, and it
will surely not be a long time before an
air-ship will be constructed capable of
defying the storm.
It is only a score of years since the
" * * J.L -
canning ot salmon was uegun on me
Pacific coast. Everybody was afraid of
it, and the proprietor of the first cannery,
William Hume, of Oakland, Cal., used
to take a basket of cans on his arm and
?0 among the families of his acquaintances
explaining the method of its preparation,
and inviting a trial. Now
canncd salmon can be found in every
market, and Mr. Hume is a rich man.
From Greenland comes the story that
little hamlets occupied by the descendants
of the Norsemen whb emigrated
thither hundreds of years ago are in existence,
and that they contain a happy
and contented population, uninfluenced
by the events passing in the outside
world, and unruffled by politics or baseball.
Centuries ago the coast of Greenland
was the Danish fishing ground, and .
the country, which then Doastca a lesi 1
rigorous climate than that with which
is credited now, was not acemou unm i
for settlement. It is something to know J
that other than Esquimaux humanity is
vegetating there.
Pittsburg scientists are beginning to
discuss the possibility of solidifying natural
gas into bricks for convenient trans
portation,in view of the recent discoveries
that most if not all gases can bo
liquefied. While they are about it, sayi
the St Louis liepuMbcan, it would be well
for the scicntisis to find a way of solidi- .
fying artificial coal gas as well as natural, J
as the former Is the gas which most of j '
the world's gas consumers are compelled i ;
to use. Bricks of solidified srns of a \ '
known volume and weight would be sure !
of a market, as thoy would put nn end i 1
to the uncertainty of gas meters and the (
perilous iudoliniteness of quaKerlv gas i
bills. " i 1
j ]
I (
j I
The London Cily Prcm publishes some i
interesting facts and figures of London, j <
In the metropolis there arc 101 hospitals, | i
in which one and a quarter millions ol ; 1
people arc relieved, end which dispense , i
outdoor relief to four riiilllons annually. ! I
Twenty-five per 1,000 of the population | i
arc paupers, aud are relioved at a cost of j 1
over two and a half millions sterling. It j
also seems that there are many more , 1
lunatic women than men. Cabs have j
increased during the last ten years from i
10,000 to over It),000; 14,478 children ?
were lost in London last year. Greater ^
London contains an area of 449, I acres. 1
The population is given as 5,1.99,100, of 3
whom 00,252 are foreigners, 40,554 ' t
Scotch, 80,778 Irish, 3,21(5 blind and j
- "? 1 J .1. T? <t Alt J At. ! l
1,1)73 acai aim uumu. ju io:vi mere , i
were 11,7Oo licensed public and bee?j r
houses, and 15,519 males and 9,018 fe- j c
males were charged with drunkenness. I
In the same year there were 265 persona ! t
killed and 3,592 maimed by street accidents,
and 334 suicides. There woiv e
20, G(>7 articles lost in public conveyances, (
of which 11,248 were restored. There ' c
are 407 newspapers published in London, j g
t
GOMJMLS:
A.nd Why Fifty Thousand Bachelors
Are Afraid to Marry the
Lovely Lassies.
Hie Men Say the Girls are Elegant to>
Call Upon and (jo Out With,
but so Expensive.
[Special New York Utter:]
"Hello, Choliy, how arc you? Lost j
pour heart, evidently, this season.
Who's the fair one? Might as well confess/'
"Y?s, lost it again, Spirto, and this
time for keeps, and my head and peace
>f mind as well.
"What's the row? Can't you get the
lady's heart in return?"
"I've got it, and there's where the !
trouble comes in. If I hadn't got it, j
ind knew I couldn't get consent, it
wouldn't be so bad. You see I can't 1
possibly marry, couldn't think of it for j
i minute on my income, and there's no 1
prospect of an increase that I can see, so
I'm in a lix." * j
^wliof'a vaiiv
"Well, about $2,-">00 per annum, at
present'."
"Marry the girl."
"What! Do you really mean to advise
i man to marry on such an income! Why, !
it wouldn't more than pay rent for the .
apartments mv girl would want to live !
in. Do you know what it cosis to get .
married and live in New York in any
3ort of shape, and with any sort of a
stylish girl. It can't be done on less
than $5,000 a year, and if youhavn't got
that much at least, the old man wouldn't
think of it, even if the girl would, which
is very doubtful. JNo siree, no marry
for me on $2,500 per year, not if I ktow
"no marhv fou
it. Now if von really want to know
something abouL the geography of mar-j
ried life in New York just look around j
among your friends and see how few
of the boys get married, and the number
2- J ? ~ ? "An H AA T f x?] I tfAlt
JO UUUJfU:iuvcij juuif WW. k ivii
it is a dangerous thing to marry nowa- j
days in this city, and the boys know it j
by heart. There's at least fifty thousand \
of them that havn't married and never
expect to, in this city alone, and 1 am
one of the unhappy hand. So long, 1
there's Miss Carrie 1?., and I want to see j
her. See you later."
And as Miss Carrie R., connected with !
some of the best revolutionary blood of :
Gothan, bowed sweetly, he joined her
and they walked up Broadway. Miss
Carrie was certainly a stylish and hand<&Hp
Jft\
MISS CARRIE 11.
some voung lady, and as they walked
away 1 couldn't help thinking of the
graceful swing she gave her body,
and the neat fitting dress which she
managed with so much rinesse that it
seemed born a part of her.
"What did her get-up cost? How much
did her guardian angel, otherwise her
well-to-do uncle, lay out for that swing
of her dress? Evidently it was gained j
only through a long series of seasons at
different watering places, and highrvrinnrl
nnaa aa lfrtn itrm'f firul iliaf flint
MUVVU UU J vtl *IVU V III4V* J w VI?MV |
peculiar undulation at any second rate ,
hotels, aud it cannot be learned in a J
Bingle season. Tint swing a'onc is evi- '
dence of an expenditure of at least $5,- ;
000 at high priced watering places. Iler j
hat mu6t have cost something like j
twenty-five dollars, at a low estimate, !
and six in a season is none too many.
Kid gloves run about four pair a month, j
Dresses, well, heaven and the wearer '
only knows what I hey cost, to >av noth- j
ing of the numerous unmentionables not
visible to the outward gaze but neverthe
less there, and probably costly, provided
one could judge the inside from the out. j
And so a young man with an income of
>2,000 per year couldn't think of marry- j
ing a lady brought up in this way, and
3he wouldn't think of marrying him.
Can it be poss'ble tint there are 50,D00
bachelors in .Now York city?bachilors
of marriageable age who expect to
remain so through life. It is undoubt- i
3dly so, and tins, too, in spite of the '
Fact that our streets are fairly crowded j
md jammed every Saturday afternoon,
specially Broadway and Fifth avenue,
svith throngs of the most stylish, good
ooking, and generally admitted, heirt
jreakers in the land. What is the mat:er
with the boys? Why is it that there
s apartment building after apartment j
building tittf \ up exclusively for men, |
vacl no ladie- admitted, while all promi- '
lent Hat buiiiiing? in the city have their j
mits of rooms known as "bachelor :
ipartments," and well lil ed with jolly
.Ingle gentlemen of marriageable ago t
ivho haven't any idea of marrying in this i
ife? men who enjoy life for all there is :
_ !? .
LI 1L"?"gcuui ui 1 j HIUII i\./ jLio.ru inauu i
heip pile, and have enough to marry on i
f they so desired?men who belong to i
Union League and other clubs, and 1
nen who have become wedded to a life ]
)f celibacy through what? 1 <
"Sam, why is it that you have never ' 1
narried?" j]
Sam Thaxman, a jolly bachelor of j 1
;ome forty well spent winters, a member i
>f the Lotus club, and who is abun- ;
lantly able now to marry, having grown ]
jrey in the service of the ladies of his ]
icquaintauce, had stopped in front of i
me on the corner of Twenty-third street
and Broadway, in front of the Fifth
Avenue hotel, the general loafing place
of the swell dandies who wish to ogle
the ladies as they pass, for here Broadway
crosses Fifth avenue, and if a man
will only linger there long enough he
will meet all the friends he has in the
city, since all who are able to walk pass
this spot at least once a week.
"That's a funny question and demands
a serious answer. I never found a girl
whose nose just suited me."
"Pshaw. What is the reason, seriously
speaking?"
tMir.il 1.. l
"rven, senousiy ^penning, iuu sumc
thing that keeps the boys generally from
marrving ? a wholesome fear of the hereafter.'"
"Explain yourself."
"Stand here with me a minute, watch
the ladies that pass by, and listen to
what I have to say to some of them
whom I know. You know I am a privileged
character, and they won't take offense
if I ask questions. You see that
lady coming across the avenue. I mean
that elderly maiden lady, with the enormous
hat and military looking suit. She
belongs to the past tense, as the boys say,
and will never sec the sunny side of
forty again. She's as prim as they make
'em, and as proud as Lucifer before he
fell like the snowllake. Here she is, and
I'm going to astonish her.
"Kung Jure, Madam Juveo. May I ask
you a question on an important matter
for the benelit of my friend?"
"Bon Jour, Mec9tair Thaxman. Cerlainlee,
certainlee.,,
"Madam Juvee, what would you require
in a husband?"
"aion dieu! meestaire thaxman."
"Mon Dieu, Mistaire Thaxman. Tell
youwh frien' zat I wouldna' marree r.c
bes'man zat lecvesin /.& worrl."
And with a sarcastic glance at me she
passed by like an insulted tornado.
"Whew, good heavens, she thought
you wanted 10 marry her and refused.
Ila, ha, ha, ha," and he laughed until I
could Lave forsworn his friendship forever.
. "Well, the next one you tackle, just
leave me out, il you please, and perhaps
ynu will get more information and have
less sport at my expense."
'Til do it, and here comes the very
lady we want to see. She's as winning
and pretty as can be found in tlotham,
spent last summer in the Adirondacks,
and will break your heart iu three evenings,
if she wants to. What she will
have to say about wedded bliss will be
entertaining."
"Why, Mr. Thaxman, how do you do?
X haven't seen you fol* an age. I thought
you promised to comc up in the moun*
i r 1... n Oil
lams uci on; ivi luiis
"So I did, Miss Catlin, but the fact is
that I am no longer a free man, and
haven't been since spring. I'm engaged."
"Engaged, Mr. Thaxman! Why
didn't you give mc a chance? Who is
it? I'm dying to know who's going to
get married. JIavn't had an invitation
to a wedding this summer."
"wno is it? i'm dying to know."
"Why don't you get up one on your
own account, Miss Catiin? Can't you
liiul the right one?!'
"Oh, my, yes. I found a dozen of the
right ones this summer, but I couldn't
niarry all of them you know, aud so
here I am, still in tne market, and
autumn is here, too. "Well, I skjppose
I'll have to wait till your tiancee quarrels
with you and then fall back on
you after all," with a roguish twinkle in
her eyes.
"What kind of a man do you want,
Miss Catiin, anyhow, ;ind what do you
expect to marry him for, if I may
ask?"
"For love, Mr. Thaxman, pure, unadulterated
love, and I want a man that
I can really love,and waste my affection
on. A real, live mnu, too. None of your
Jim dandies that loaf about street corners,
carry silver headed canes, and look
like golden calves or bra/en images."
'<? \mii fimllir umnlrl mfirrv fnr lnvr*
alone?"
''Yos. Every time."
"Hiit, suppose the gentleman wag
poor."
".My dear Mr. Thaxman, I'm certainly
fjoing to marry for love if I ever marry
at all, but,?well ?to be candid with
you I don't think I could iove a poor
man. Come up to-morrow oveuing and
tell mo all about your engagement,
won't you; and now farewell till I sec
you again," and with the sweetest of
smiles she tripped gaily away up the
avenue.
"She's right. She's no business to
marry a poor man. She'd break her!
heart in a year il she couldn't have what '
*he wanted, and that's the trouble with
the most of them," said Sam. "Her j
father is a broker who once had consid- ;
erable money, but I guess the most of It
is spent, or soon will be, for he's a risky
speculator, and has made some bad (
breaks in the market lately. However, :
here comes a young lady of a different |
?tftmn. I'll explain before she arrives i
that this girl is an organist, or rather
tias been an organist, and is now a music
teacher. If she got away for two weeks
this summer, and took it out at Ashbury
Park, it is probably all the vacation sho
tiad. Just for curiosity I myself would
like to know what her idea3 of matrimony
are."
9
mammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmamammmmmmmmammmm
j
"Good morning, Miss Linton. I
haven't seen you all summer. Whew
have you been putting in the fcime^ may
I inquire?"
"Mr. Thaxman, good morning. Read
glad to see you. As to putting in time
this summer, why I've had an elegant
time at Saratoga, Newport, and ia
August we went to Cape May?but?my
name isn't Miss Linton. I've changed
it, you see."
"Married, Miss Liuton, or Mrs.?
"Yes, Mi*. Thaxman, married, and Mr.
and Mrs. Devlin will bo pleased to see
you at the Windsor Hotel any tirr.e you
%??.. ? ?i?Snli 4- yv /tn 1 I V/\il nn a n f\ct A
miiv vviau lu uuu. jluu bcc( uguigu,
that's Mr. D., is building a new house
on the Avenue, and it is so very elegant
that it will take several months to complete
it. We're going to furnish it from *
Paris direct, and quite up to the latest ,
designs."
'Allow me to congratulate you, Mrs. <
Dovlin, on your marriage; but it surely .
cannot be George Devlin, the retired
merchant, that is your husband." *
"It just is, though, and we would like
to see you very much. Call when you
can, Mr. Thaxman, and good-bye," and 1
the visitor vanished up Broadway. ]
"Well, well, well. So poor old Devlin,
who retired so long ago that the street
has forgotten him completely, has ,
i married this young lady of twenty-five
j or six. Why, he must be at least seventy-five
or eighty, and I haven't heard of
j him before in five years. Got lots of
j money, though. Do you wonder that l
| am single after this, and don't marry?
I I've seen this thing of money, position,
blood, ancestry, and "pure, unadulterated
love'' for twenty years, and it is getting
worse every year. I tell you the
reason I never married and never will
marry can bo summed up in a few words:
I never found a girl with a nose just to
suit me. Good morning," and he passed
away, striking the ground viciously with
his rattan cane as he walked.
Pondering deeply on what had passed,
I walked slowly home and met Kitty
"Wayland just entering the door. Kitty
is a niece of the lady of the house, and a
great favorite with the boarders. She
was just returning from a trip to the
country. Fresh air would give her fresh
ideas, perhaps, and beside she wasn't
oyer sixteen.
"Kitty, what is your idea of marked
life? Give a serious answer, for I'm puzzled."
K1TIY WAYLAND.
"Good gracious, you aren't going to
propose I hope."
"No, Kitty, no to-day. But what do
you know about proposal sanyway?"
"Well, I just know this much, that
the man who proposes to me and exj
pccts to get mc will have to have a
i ^ annannf f ah t' m r?ai n r*
jHULlJr SUllU UilUiV. ill/luuui/, 1U1 j. ui ^uiujj
! to live in one of the handsomest Hats in
this city whea I marry, and keep up
with the best of them."
"Wouldn't you marry a poor man if
you loved-him, Kitty, and be satisfied
with a small apartment over in Jersey
City?"
"I wouldn't marry the best man
living if he hadn't money. You don't
think I'm going to marry and be a maid
of all work, do you, just to please some
man."
"Kitty, are those your irrevocable sentiments:"
"They certainly are, so if you've got
any poor young man picked out for me,
bring him arouud and I'll give him the
grancl b^uuee to night before it goes any
farther. I believe in nipping these
things in the bud. Ta, ta, and don't
forget to bring him around soon," and
she skipped upstairs.
The problem of mating the bachelors
and the maidens still remains unsolved.
SpirtoGentil.
English New Year Superstitions.
At Christmas parties in the country
the young men have the privilege of
Kissing auy 01 tne opposite sex mey can
get hold of- When Sir Roger DcCoverly
is danced tlie chief guests are expected
to dance with the cook and butler. Ail
pcacock feathers must bo thrown out
before New Year's day, or else you will
have ill luck. On New Year's eve you
j must take pieces of money, bread, wood
j and coal, and a little salt, tie them up
j in a bundle, and lay on the doorstep
! after 13 o'clock. Some one will then
I come, and you mu9t ask his name. If
j he says "John Smith," he must not be '
I admitted, because the initial letters of
j his name are curved; but if he say "Ed- 1
' ward Thompson," admit him at once, as <
i his initial letters are made up of sts;iight ]
lines; but he must bring the bundle in
with him that was laid on the step. lie i
; must then wish you a happy New Year, <
and. after receiving a gift, pass out j
by the back door. Then, behold, ]
good luck is yours for another <
| year. On both Christmas and New .
j Year's eves, when the clock begins j
' to strike twelve, the doors?especially
1 the front aud back?are opened, that the .
! bad spirits may pass out and the good
! ones pass in, and immediately the clock 5
has struck twelve the doors are shut, as (
i it is said, "to keep the good spirits in." 1
I 'PI.a >>afn/>n nnfnr 1 V*/* linnoft nn a 1
i 1 UU 111 21. OUU IU UUI.V.I UVUJU WA* V
i New d ear's morning must be a man.
i Many Holderncss folks tell some little
! chap to be ready to come in so soon as
j the old year is dead, and so secure good
; luck to the household. When the master
j enters his house for the first time in the
I Dew year he must take something in
I wliich he did not take out. A Hull
! friend told me he always emptied his
; pockets before he left home on New
j Year's morning and put in some money
' and bread, which he procured at his
mother's^ aud so reached his home
armed with the necessaries of life. Some
people place a sixpence 011 the doorstep
on New Year's eve, and so soon as the f
clock strikes it is brought in. N. B.? 1
hi.:, t J i ,n? r
1 iJl>t 1 IloUU iiaiuiY oaj} 10 uuuu m iuc *
country! You must never go out on i
New Year's day until someone has come
iu is the rule in some pirts.?Notes and
Queries. j
Love and Gravitation. {
"'Tis love that makes the world go round." I
Glad of the explanation.
"We always thought that wo had found
The causa in gravitation.
The terms are still synonymous .
And they are right who say i
Love turns the heads of all of us
Who gravitate that way. r
?jittsburg Dispatch. s
THE WINTRY WIND.
I come from haunts of mount and lake,
I make a sullen sally, *
And send the small boy's milkpail gay
A sailing up the alley.
I paint the maiden's qose with red,
And send the leaves a scooting, ^
And make the fat man chase his hat,
With bowling and witn nooting.
From off the line the clothes I blow,
And eTen the line I sever,
For dust may come and dust may go.
But I go on forever.
?Cleveland Graphic.
Coming.
;o I am watching quietly
Every day!
[Vhenever the sun shines brightly
I rise and say,
surely it u the shining of His face!
And look unto the gates of bis high place
Bejoiul the sea;
For I know lie is coming shortly
To summon mo.
And wlipn ? ahnrinw lnlla across the window
Of my room,
Where I am working my appointed task,
[ lilt my head to watch the door?and ask ^
If He ij come;
A.nd as an angel answers swcolly
In my homo,
"Only a few more shadows
And ho will come!"
RELIGIOUS READING. -fl
Woric Out Your Salvation. * jj
Work out your own salvation, with
fear and trembling. This injunction
does not mean what, to a great many
minds, it seems to mean. In some
parts of the country, a tax for the
keeping of the roads in repair can be
paid in cash, or it can be "worked
out;"?that is, it can be paid by per- ~|jj
sonal labor. So, land owners often '
"work out" their highway tax. It is
not that kind of working out that
this text refers to. No man can secure
his salvation by work, even with fear
and trembling, and in prayers and
tears. Again, there is a custom of J
working out a farm rent on shares.
The farmer does all thp work, and
takes half the result, the other half
going to the farm owner. It is not
that kind of working out one's salvation
that is here meant. Salvation is
not secured from God on shares. It is > ;
?.U A1U. ^ mi /\P Art/1 nn/1 all fha
WllUlijr UaO ^lib ui uuuj uuu uuv '
work in the world coulcl never merit
nor obtafn any portion of it. But he
who has salvation, he who is saved by
grace through faith (and this letter of
Paul is to persons in that state), has
a duty to work out in the line of his
salvation; to keep right at the work
which is along the course, and in the
direction of the end, of God's plan of
grace. It might, perhaps, give light
to this extent to change the figure
from the farmer to the soldier, and
read it, Fight out?or fight on?your
enlistment with fear and trembling.
Now that you have enlisted, and are
accepted as a soldier, keep right at the
soldier business, and do it with such
zealous earnestness' that you will be
all of a tremble in your anxious desire
to do it just as it should be done.
There is no danger of any over-reliance
on one's personal activity in such
working, or such fighting, as this, in
the line of one's redemption from sin
and its curse, here in this world of
probation and trial.?Sel
Mr. Lowell on Chrlctlaiilty*
One of the most serious and notable
of the admirable after-dinner speeches
that made Mr. Lowell so famous in -,o M
England has only lately been published.
It was called out by some allusions to
the Christian religion made in the tone
of genteel skepticism quite common
among the literary men of England
Mr. Lowell took occasion to remind * y.
those enemies of the religion which is
at the very heart of all there is good
in civilization, that "whatever defects
or imperfections may attach to a few
points of the doctrinal system of Cal- *
vin?the bulk of which was simply
what all Christians believe?it will be
found that Calvinism, or any other
ism which claims an open Bible and
proclaims a crucified and risen Christ, .
is infinitely preferable to any form
polite and polished scepticism, which
gathers as its votaries the degenerate
sons of heroic ancestors, who, having
been trained in a society and educated
in schools the foundations of which
w0.re laid by men of faith and pietj^
now tum and kick down the luddet' bjr
which they have climbed up, and pet-*
suade men to liye without God and die
without hope."
"The worst kind of religion," continued
Mr. Lowell, "is no religion at
all; and these men, living in ease and
luxury, indulging themselves in tho
amusement of going without religion,
may be thankful that they live in
lands where the gospel they neglect
has tamed the beastliness or ferocity
of the men who, but for Christianity,
might long ago have eaten their carcasses
like tho South Sea Islanders, or
cut off their heads and tanned their
hides, like the monsters of the French
Revolution. When the microscopic
search of skepticism, which had hunted
the heavens and sounded the seas
to disprove the existence of a Creator,
has turned its attention to human sojiety,
and have found a place on this
planet ten miles square where a decent
nan can live in decency, comfort and
security, supporting and educating
lis children unspoiled and unpolluted;
i place where age is reverenced, infancy
protected, manhood respected,
tvomnnhood honored, and human life
leld in due regard ; when skeptics
;an find such a place ten miles square
)n this globe, where the gospel of
Christ has not gone and cleared the
ivay and laid the foundations, and
nade decency and security possible,
t wili then be in order for the skepti:al
literati to move thither and there
f%ililllrttu llio VIOYVO. JJllh OU lUUg A3
hese very men are dependent upon
he religion which they discard for evirv
privilege they enjoy, they may well
lesitate a little before they seek to rob
he Christion of his hope and humaniy
of its faith in that Savior who
ilone has given to man that hope of
ife eternal which makes life tolerable
ind society possible, and robs death of
ts'terror and the grave of its gloom."
Faith find IIopo
Vrc llio bright pi Urn's ol llie Golden Gate,
Vinl on the threshold of the Kingdom wait,
jilt Charity, the road, winds onward through
nto tiie hand whero God makes all things
new. ?A. E. Hamilton.
There are no fewer than sixty-four
rolumes of the German Bible for the
)lind. It costs $25. The letters are
1 haut-relief and the paper very
hick,