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I" mum seuoi i 1 c THE BLACK SERVANTS OF ' THE SKY. ! c 1 t Text: "And the ravens brought Him c bread and flesh in the morning, and bread ? and flesh in the evening."?1 Kings, xvii., tj. ( The ornithology of ths Bible is a most in- f teresting study. The stork in the heavens y 'which knoweth her appointed time." The common sparrows, suggestive of the Divine Providence. The ostriches of the desert, by careless incubation reminding one of the recklessness of some parents in regard to their children. The eagle, suggesting the riches that take wings atid fly away. The pelican, emblemizing solitude. The bat, a flake of the darkness. The night-hawk, the ossifrage, the cuchoo, the lapwing, the osprey, by God's command in Leviticus flung out of the world's bill of fare. I wish I could have been with Audubon as he went through the forests with gun and pencil, bringing down and sketching the fowls of heaven, his unfolded portfolio thrilling all Christendom What wonderful creatures the birds are. Their voices this morning seemed like songs of heaven let loose and bursting through the gates. Look at their feathers, which AWKincr a r\A rnnuoro n-*A th^ r same time. Consider the nine vertebrae of t the neck. Consider the fact that each bird f has to each eye three eyelets, the third eyelet 1 * curtain for graduating the light of the "day. ' Some of these birds scavengers and some of " them orchestra. Thank God for quails' whistle and larks' carol, and the twitter of the wren, by the ancients called the king o! v birds, because when the fowls of heaven went ( into a contest as to which could fly the high- ^ est and the eagle swung under the sun, a f wren on the back of the eagle sprung up still t higher, and so was called the King of birds. e Consider those birds that have golden crowns c and crests, showing that they are feather imperials. Hear the humming-bird serenade e the ear of the honey suckle. Look at the ^ belted king-fisher striking like dart from sky , to water. Hear the voice of the owl giving , ' the keynote to all croakers. Look at the con- j dor amid the Andes battling down the rein- j deer, when, its eyes destroyed, the poor crea ture goes tumbling over the rocks. I cannot r tell whether aquariam or aviary is the best altar from which to worship tod. But in my text there is an instance that baffles all 5 the ornithological wonders of the world. The * grain crop had been cut off. Famine was in , the land. A minister of God. Elijah, sat at t the mouth of a cave by the brook Cherith, f waiting for seme thing to eat. Why " didn't he go out to the neighbors? There j" , were no neighbors. It -was -a. wilderness. *3 Why didnt he go out and pick -berries F ? There were no berries, and if there had been, J J thay would have been dried up by the' drought. One morning this man of God, y mated at the mouth of the cave, is looking r up into the pitiless heavens when he sees a ? / flock of birds approaching. Oh, if they were D only partridges and he had an arrow with J" which, to bring them down! But, as they J - come nearer, he finds they are not comestible, 1 but unclean, and their eating would be spirit- ? ual death. The length of their wings, the J strength of their beak, the blackness or their 1 color, the loud, harsh "cruck, cruck" of their u voice prove them to be ravens. They fly s around the prophet's head, round and round, ? and then on a fluttering wing come to the b level of his lip, and one raven brings the 8 bread and another raven brings the meat, y and having discharged their tiny cargo, their 11 wheel away and other flocks of ravens come " , until the prophet is satisfied and these black d servants of the wilderness table are gone. * The breakfast bell, and the supper ? bell, sounded for six months, and 0 some say for twelve months, calling the 8 prophet up to get his food, while these ravens J flung the sounds on the air: "Cruck, cruck, ? cruck." Guess wh*re they got the food j c from. Some say that they got it from the ? kitchen of King Ahab. Some say that they ^ gotitfiom Obadiah. Some say that these ? ravens brought the food to their young in the nests in the tree tops, and Elijah had s1 only to climb up and get it. Some say the J whole story is improbable, and that this * flesh must nave been the torn flesh of living c animals, and therefore unclean,or it was car- ^ ' rion, and then unfit for the prophet. Some 1 say that the word in my text translated ? "ravens'' ought to have been translated ? "Arabs;" so that the text ought to have *' read: "And the Arabs brought bread and a fleeh to him in the morning, and bread and ? flesh to him in the evening." Anything but jj admit the Bible to be true. Hew away at ^ this miracle until all the miracle is gone; go f , on with your work of depleting; but, my brother, know that you rob only one man, * and that is yourself, of one of the most beau- b tiful, comforting, blessed, triumphant lessons v of all the ages. I can tell you who these * purveyors were. They were ravens. I I can tell you who freighted them with b provisions. God. I can tell you who 13 launched them. God. I can tell you who n < told them which way to fiy. God. I can h tell you who told them at what cave to ? gwoop.. God. I can tell you who it was that ? Introduced raven to prophet, and prophet to h raven. God. Here is a passage of scripture whicfc I ought to give in a whisper lest, ut- S l tering it in a louder tone, some one might p drop down under its power. The passage is ? this?"He that toketh away from the words i' of the prophecy of this book, God will take away h's part out of the Book of Life, and t out of tht> Holy City." Standing then this f morning and watching the ravens feed s' Elijah, I hope the dove of God's spirit may k swoop down the sky, and with out-spread g wing, pause at the bp of every soul hungry o for comfort On the banks of what river h have the great battles of the world been h fought? While you are examining the map a Of the world to answer that, I will tell you sj fkft rtanflinf a# a./Iov la tJ VU nuou UOUAO WUU l^tvwv VVUUiVW VA. w vtwr M I . being fought. On the Thames, ou the Hud- J on, on the Mississippi, on the Kennebec, on r the Savannah, on the Rhine, on the Rhone, p1 on the Nile, on the Gangec, on the t] Hoangho. It is a battle of sir thousand a years. Eleven hundred million troop are P engaged, and the number of the fallen is P vaster than the number of those who march. ? It is the battle for bread. Sentimentalists, * eated in arm-chair in pictured study, with " slippered feet on damask ottoman, tell us a this world is a great scene of avarice and v k greed. I don't believe it. Take all the P necessities out of the case, and nine-tenths of P the stores, the shops, the factories, the bank- a ing houses of the earth would be closed to morrow. I say take the necessities out of the s' case. Who is that man toiling in Colorado ^ mine, or in New England factory, or count- ? ing out the roll of bills in the bank, or meas- L unng the fabric on the counter? He is a 0 champion going forth for some home circle ^ that needed to be cared for; or in behalf of c church of God that must be supported. 0 or in behalf of an asylum of mercy c that must be sustained. Who is that 11 woman bending over the sewing machine, or c carrying the bundle, or mending the gar- P ment, or sweltering at the wash tub? That * is a Deborah, that is one of the Lord's heroines ,, going out against Amalakitish want that . comes down with iron chariot to crush her ^ and here. The great question of this day is J ] not the question of Home Rule, but whether mere will De any come w ruie; qui u question of tariff, but whether there shall be anything to tax. With the vast majority of people, it is a question of "how shall I supportmy family? how 9hall I meet my wants? how Bhall I pav my rent? how shall I clothe and 1 shelter and educate those dependent uf>on me?" f If God will help me to assist you in the solution of that question, the happiest man in this hoiFe will be your preacher. I have gone out on a cold morning with expert sportsmen to hunt for pigeons. I have gone out on the meadow to hunt for quail. I have gone dpwn with some of my friends ou the marshes ? to hunt for reed birds, but this morning I am out for ravens. Notice, in the llrst place, in regard to these winged caterers that they were sent directly from God to Elijah. "I have commanded the raven* to feed thee," says God in an adjoining passage. They did not come out of some other cave, they did not just happen to 5 fly that way,they did not just happen to meet liiyih. they did not just happen to drop the food into his mouth. They cam? directly from God. The Bible says so. Ths sanis God who is going to supply you. He is your father. ? It would take a great while to make calcuia- L tion of how many pounds of food, and how -) many yards of cloth you will require during c your life, even thou^n you know how many c years you were to live. A very elaborate v calculation. God can tell without any calculation. He has a great family and h3 has a everything methodized, and there is a plate 11 for each one of us if we do not act like 0 s naughhty children and kick and scramble Q, and try to upast thing*?a plate for each one ? of us, and we will be served in our turn God has already ordered all the suits of clothes you will ever wear down, to the last one in r which you will be laid out. God has i already ordered all the food you will ever eat. ? > ilown to the last crumb that will b? put intJ ^ 'our mouth in the dying sacrament. Idr. ^ lot say he witf Tiways give us just what w\ ? voul.i like. A parent must decide for a child. ? ["he child might say: "0, give me su^ar ani ? confections, and nothing else." The parent nrould ?ay: "O, that wouldn't be g or A: that # wouldn't be well for you. You must take omething plainer first." The child might y ay: "Give me nothing but great blotches of :olor in my garments." "0," the parenfr t vould sav. "that wouldn't b<? appropriate; ,i hat wouldn't be beautiful." The parent de- ? :ides for the child what is best ror him to s >at, and what is best for him to wear. Now, iod is our father, and we are minors of the' ^ amily, and he is going to feed us and clothe g( is, although he may not always gratifv our ^ nfantile wishes for sweets and glitter. These avens did not bring pomegranates from the a ilver platter of Sing Ahab for Elijah. They , >rought bread and ra?at; the very best thing, he very best food. Elijah was going to have l hard time, and God wanted him to be j. tout and strong, and he gives him stout ? ood. They did not bring cake or >ie or custard, but bread and meat, ?ubtantial diet. And God is going to supply ^ is. He does not promise us the luxuries , vhich sometimes kill th<? body, but he pro nses us food, and you have a right to take d ourage. God has no hard times in His hisory. His ships never break on the rocks. Sis banks never faiL He not only has the ood, but He has the mode of conveyance; not t rnly the bread, but the ravens; and if in t >rder to satisfy you it were necessary, God t irould send out of the heavens a great flojk t )f ravens, reaching from his gate to yours, so t bat the food coula be flung down the sky rom beak to beak and from talon to talon. t 'Though troubles assailand cbvigers affright, rhougn treasures all fail, and foes all unite, ? k'et one thing assures us, whatever betide, ,v rhe Scripture assures us the Lord will pro- ? vide." * Notice also, in regard to these winged ^ caterers, these black servants of the sky, and a n regard to this whole question brought be- j ore us, ttiat notmng couia ?.uja.H auaru (| ip as a surplus. The raven did not bring t inough one morning to last a month, they lid not bring enough One morning to last mtil the next morning. They brought ^ nough in the morning to last until the even ^ ng, and they brought enough in the evening D ?> last until the morning. Twice a day. j 'And they brought bread and flesh to him j u the morning, and bread and flesh to him ^ n the evening." In other words, tbey brought j. ust enough. Oh I wish we could all learn that ^ esson. You know the great struggle of the * rorld is for a surplus. It is not merely u nough for this week, or this year, but it is v or fifty years: it is for a lifetime. You have aore faith in the Nassau Bank, the Fulton ? Jank, the Bank ot iSnglanu, than in the j. loyal Bank of Heaven. You say: "That a s all very poetic; you can take the black ^ avens; give me the gold ea?les." If in the v aorning the food bj exhausted, do sot sit a own after breakfast and say: "I don't Y ;now where the next meal is to come from;" ^ mt go out, look up into the sky, and you ^ rill see two ravens, not like the insane t] aven of Edgar A. Poe, alighting on his c hamber door. "Only this and nothing more," j( iut Elijah's two ravens, the Lord's two avens, the one bringing bread, the , other ^ ringing meat. Plumed butcher and baker, p )h, how good God is, and how great are His v esources! When the city of Rochelle was ^ iesieged. and the inhabitanls .were dying of ^ amine, history tells us that he saw washed a ipon the beach as never before, and as never a ince, enough shell-fish to feed the whole g' ity. God is good, God is gracious, God is e ountifuL In 1555, in England, there was tl Teat drought, and in Essex among the rocks u rhere there has bsen nothing planted and f, lothing cultured, history tells us there came ?? ;p a great crop of peas, enough to fill a hun- a xed measures, and there were enough bios- a oming vines promising as much more. Oh, s, fod is good, God is gracious. If people would C( nly trust him. I need not go so far. I could b o to this audien?e and find 500 instances his morning in your family histories, illusrating that God takes care of His dear e hildren. The morning 1 left home to earn p ly own livelihood, my father sat on 5 bie front seat, and I sat on the back y 3at, and I felt sad on leaving home, and my ^ ather had a way of improving circum- w tances, and he said to me: "De Witt, I am y n old man now, but I want to tell you one 1 bing; I have during the course or my lire t] ome up to my last dollar; but when that n /as spent, God always provided. Trust the v x>rd and you will never want any good v hing." Was not that a good thin? to say to r boy just starting out in the world? I have ? ound it true. In my family line there was J n incident that I tried to mention, but I a nly had part of the facto. I have them now e resh from a member of my own family. a 'here was a great drought up in New England, in Connecticut, and the crops were ^ ailing, and the cattle were dying for lack of ^ rater. Mr. Birdseye, a Christian man, had ^ is cattle and herds driven down into the ^ alleys to get water. This went on for a v rhilf, and finally the neighbors said: ''Mr. ^ tirdseye, you mustn't send your cattle down ^ ere to use our waters: our waters are fail- f( igus; we are all going to die together; do y ot send your herds and flocks down a ere any more." 80 Mr. Birds9ve tl rent back to his house on the p ill, and he called his family together, and ? e called-h s slaves?for slavery wasin vogue -f( a Connecticut?and he read a passage of y Icripture, and then they all knelt down and tj rayed Gk>d for water; and the family story ^ 5 that there was great sobbing and weep3g at the family altar b?causj the herds rare perishing and there was a prospect that he family would die of thirst. They arose rom their knees, and Mr. Birdseye took a taff and walked out over the hills, hardly nowing why or where he walked, and ] rxirt/r mlnntr w whflrfl h? had been scores I tl f times,and never noticed anything especial, tl e saw that the ground was very dark, and e thrust his staff into it, and bored into it, nd water flowed forth. He beckoned to his I ,u laves and his servants to come, and he told I U hem to bring buckets and to bring pails, and s< bey were brought, and water was taken to ' i j lie house, and taken to the barn, and then a rough was placed there and a larger excava- C1 ion wa3 made, and the waters poured in, g nd in larger volume, and have been ai ouring in ever since. It is a r( erennial spring that is pouring ow. I call that old great-grandfather [! llijah, and I call the brook that started that " ay and has been running ever since, Cherith, lc id the lesson for you and for me is, that tl rhen wo are in any kind of distress, we must ^ ray and dig, and pray and dig, and dig and ., rav, and pray and dig. How does that pas- 11 age go? "rhe mountains shall depart and be hills be removed, but my loving kindness S liall not faiL" If you put God on trial and ondemn Him for being guilty of cruelty, to- i ,ay I move a new trial. If your biography 8 i ever written. I can tell you what the first w hapter will be about, and the second chip- a er, and the middle chapter, aud the last w hapter, if it is written accurately. The first - _ hapter will be about mercy, the middle hapter about mercy, the last chapter about w nercy?the mercy that hovered over your la radle, the mercy that will hover over your fc rave, the mercv that hovers over all be- ^ ween. q 'We may like the ships by tempest be toss'd, lc )n perilous deeps, but caunot be lost: w ["hough satan enrages the wind and the tide, w ["he promise assures us the Lord will provide." ^ My subject also gives to me a more strik- . ng and impressive lesson; and that is, that elief is apt to come in an unexpected and t( eemingly impossible conveyance. If it had :een a robin red-breast, if it had been a musi- jr al meadow-lark,if in h *d Oeea a meek turtle- n love, if it had been a su-iliim albatross thai , >rought fooJ tr, Elijah, I would not hava i ? >een so surprlsad; but no, it was a ' a lerce and inauspicate bird out of a: rhieh we make one of the mast ^ orcefal and repulsive words in our language: .1 'ravenous." That bird has a passioa for . ticking out; it is glad to worry the sicK and ir he slam. With vulturous guzzle it destroys A verything it can put its bjak on, and yet 01 or six months, or for twelve months, as C( nms think, that bird brought Elijah food, four supply is going to come in an uuer>ected conveyance. You get in some busi- C< ie>3 trouble ani you thii)k some Rreit- tl learted man will come around and will puk ^ tis name on the back of your note, or ha will l tand by you in some great enterprise. *o, h9 will not; no, he will not. ^ iod will start some old Shy look C' o help you, a man who never lelped anybody. He will be wrought ^ ipon in such a way that he will ome ana Help you. uircumsiances mos* . minous will turn out most auspicious. It ~ vill not be a chaffln?h, its wings a:ul feathers b lashed with white and chestnut. It will be h . raven. O, here is where we all make a js nistake, and that is, in regard to the color if God's providences. A white providence omes to us. We say: "That is a mercy." L black providence comes to uh, and we say: T '0, that is a disaster." A white providence b omes to us, and we have plenty of money, leuty of frieud3, large government se :urties, plenty of mortgages, $100,000, every- Cl hing bright, beautiful and fair. And s< hat petition, "Give me this day my daily fi read," seems to you inappropriate, because ou have enouzh atlyaow for a hundret rj ears. But a black Providence comas, and f\ bis investment fails, and that investment oes under, and misfortune is added to misortune, until ali your property is gone, and hen you begin to cry to God. Now you look .. or help from Heaven. Now you see the inufficiency of this world; now you are brought you ery near to God, and vour hooes of Heaven tioi re bright. It was thi black Providence hat saved you. It was the white Provi. ence that destroved you. It was he Providence so rull of harshness and dis- dut onance that brought the greatest mercy to to i oursonl. It was a raven: it was a raven. (jjg. L child is boru in your house. Your friends ? ' and their congratulations. The elder chil- DOt ren stand with amazed look at the new- con omer and ask manv questions genealogical ing nd chronological. Great brightness in that y0l miioA That. lif+.lAnnn hn? it-a fwr> foohnlftnt^d q the very centre ofj-our affection,and with t ts two bands it takes hold of your very soul; tut one of the three scourges of children: Pra carlet fever, or croup, or diphtheria, blasts ' 'st ill that scene. The chattering:, the strange daj luestions, the pulling at your dre3s as you fuj. ross the room; all that has caased. Ls the great friend of children ?P omes to the cradle and stoops ncc own and puts His arms around your little fat) ne and folds it to His h?art and walks away ato the bower of everlasting summer, vour . yes follow and follow, and you keap looking hat way; and when once you thought of cor leaven once a week, now you think of it all mo he time, and you are purer and more tender pra ban you used to be, and you are waiting for ? he day to break. Oh, how changed! You 4<n re a better man than you were before that ^ rouble; you are a batter woman. It is not car rotistical for you to say it: you are bett9r. full Vhat brought that blessing? It was trouble ow hat cast, its shadow on your heart; trouble j? hat cast its shadow on a short grave, and J rouble that cast its shadow on your homelack-winded trouble. It was a raven; it was , raven. Dear Lord, teach ray people that it i not the dark Providence that is so i estructive as tha white Providence, and ten hat "whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, sj(j nd scourgeth every one whom He recaiv- ^ th:" and that when trouble comes, it is not ecause God has a grudge against you, but A b eeatise he love > you and wants to bring you Th earer to Him, and lift you up to higher ra- CUr . ?: j? _i.nt, ?v.;i nation UUU UU ^ITlUUOl JJiatllM 111. UU, ren of God, get out of your despondencies; ling your sorrows to the winds. God never an( lad so many ravens as He has now. Some- the imes, perhaps, under the cares of life you pui eel like my little child of four years, who ?jg nder a childish perplexity said one day: "I rish I could go to Heaven and see God and 001 ick flowers.'' Ah! my dear, at-the right sto ime you will go and pick the flowers. Until Th hat time, pray. I suppose Elijah prayed ^he 11 the time. Tremendous work ahead of him, remendous work behind him. And what you rant a3k for. I put it in the boldest shape, to nd I risk my eternity on the truth of it, we rhen I say, asic of God in the right way for ft rhat you want and you will get it?if its , est for you. O, the mercies of God! Some- ? imes we cannot understand them. They "0I ome this morning; tiny alight on the plat- ha1 jrm: they alight on the edjes of the galler- Syr *s; they alight on the back of the pews, ? ringing food from God for all your souls. Salens! ravens! Mrs. Pithy, a well known me roman in Chicago, was left by her ten usband a widow with a half is i ollar and a cottage. 8he was palsied, . . a 1 had a mother ninety years of age to take ire of. It was marvelous how that woman tnj ot of God, in the way of temporal supply, fac verything she asked for, so th it the servant. ste le hired servant in the house, notice 1 it and sed to speak of it. ' One mornin? theya*03e . rom prayer and the servant said to her: 11 1 Whv, you have forgotten to a3k for coal, so ndthecodlis out." They stood there and sci sked God for coal, and in an hour the door ^el tvung open and the hired servant said: "Coal's , ome." A man who had never done that thing t0 efore, and never did it a^a:n, hearing that we tmc woman was in straits aeu wrcumsuiai-os --u bought it would bs a good thing to send < oal. Yon do not undjrstand it. I do. . lavens! Ravena! You have a right, my rother, my si iter, to take God's care of du on in the past as evidence that He is got 4 see 5 take care of you in the future. Is it not a a ], rouderful thing that all your life, for two or ' iiree times a day, God has given you food? . look upon it as a wondsr that all my life. ln tire a times a day, God has given haj le food, save once, and then I wo 'as lost on the mountains at noon. But that ery morning and that very night I met the avens. Oh that you might feel so much the vei oodness of God that you could trust Him ma or the two lives, the life you are now living, on< n J the life which every tick of the watch jje] ind every stroke of the clock informs you is ... ppi oachmg. Look down and you see noth- 1111 ag but your own spiritual deformities: look to ack and you see nothing but wasted oppor- lif( unity; look forward and vou see nothing }j0 ut fearful judgment and flery indignaion: but look up and you see the nef rhipt shoulders of an intercading Christ,and cui tie fa?e of a pardoning God, and the irradia- ble iAn a# on Annninnr tfnnvnn Tftlffl this fnnri 4k, IUUV1 UU vru.u6 bUC jr your soul to-day. It comes now into all , our hearts, and the only question I want to ? sk is. how mauy of these people are going to g'c ike God for their portion here and their bu ortion hereafter, going to trust Him now, for jr the food of the oody, aid truit him also w|8 Dr the food of the soul? Amid the clatter of le hoofs and amid the clang of the wheels of ! le judgment chariot, tha whole subject will e demonstrate! sea of ? ho - he! Feeding Wild Animals. sui The Philadelphia Timet describes how wii le animals at the Zoological Garden in pr? lat city are fed. It says: g" The big cats of different spccies paced in p and down their cages with constantly res icreasing uneasiness. Then there was a tru >und of clashing of tin pans from the Fa ttle room behind the fountain, and the thj its, instead of pacing, increased their Qv ait to a run from one side of the cage to aother. Tiger Jim, Second, emitted a ' >ar,wnicn wus ecnoeu. i>y nose, uisprus- teu ective wife. Then old Pomp, the blind 0f on, replied, and George and Minnie,the jng :onine lovers, joined in the chorus, and on( le leopards, pumas and jaguars piped mc le tenor to the bass of the big brute^ of pie leir own family. During the din of brute voices Keeper an( hannon appeared with two big buckets, lied with juicy tenderloin, sirloin and wo loulder pieces of horse meat. Beginning ma ith the spotted leopards he tossed each CIT huge chunk, which they first grabbed th< ith their |:aws then taking it in their louth leaped to their board, perch, here their disposed of the meat to the p6] kst fibre. They try to conceal the bones ?e, >r night consumption, but Keeper Shan- th'< on rakes them out with his iron hook. sm Id Pomp takes his select piece of sir- jf in with gratefulness and without any jn oltish demonstration. His teeth are ^h< orn away to the gums and so he gets j_ le choicest bits, which he disposes of y licking the meat with his rough q0 >ngue. roa Tiger Jim, Second, is a savage at feedig time, as though he were still in his ative juDgles. He receives his great ro(" unk of meat from the end of an iron tii- j ^ ent, and ravenously tears it to pieces nd gulps down huge chunks without lastication. Rose is almost as bad, al- J3'* lough she is a little more dainty in eat- , t ig her meat after it is in her possession. .l S t feeding time they are both treacher- , us. and would take any advantage they jV juld of their keeper. "Jim," said Keeper Shannon, "will ... 3me up to me with a smiling face, and ien when he thinks I am of! my guard, P 8 e will make a grab at me through the ars. He is a vicious brute, but I will - aft )on have him in hand. I ttiinK nis cirus experience spoiled him." ^ The three pumas, or mountain lions, .. rho occupy one cage, are hard to feed, V1 a they try to rob each other. One has nai een sick recently and is imposed upon drt y the others. He is sensible enough, owever, to know that Keeper Shannon , ( his friend, and when the latter se- e ids a choice morsel the puma comes to Pas ae bars and takes it from his hand, to 'hese animals also try to conceal the ent ones for the purpose of gnawing at ^ lem at night. The other animals reeive their daily meal without any un emly demonstration. They are grateil for what they get and make no kick. 80D I of 1ELIGI0US READING. AH In Hia Hand. fes, beloved reader, thank God tha ir times, your interests, your salva i, are all out of your hands,and out ol hands of all creatures, supremely and ;ly in His. Forward in the path o; ;y, of labor, and of suffering. Ain esemble Christ more closely in you: position, your spirit, your whole life, >n will it be said, "The master i. i\e, and calleth for thee." He is com"Prepare to meet thy God." Lei ir motto be forward! Patient in en ance, submissive in suffering, con t with God'a allotment, zealous yerful, and watchful, be you founc ancling in your lot at the end of th< rs." Trust God implicitly for th< ure. No sorrow cometh but shal in some sweet spring of comfort; n< essity transpireth but shall endear t lier's care; no affliction befalleth bu 11 be attended with the Saviour*! derest sympathy. In Him meets al ifluence of grace for your hourly mentary need. Let your constan yer be, "Hold thou mo up, and I shal safe." Let your daily precept be asting all your care upon Him, for H< eth for you." And then leave God t< 51, as most faithfully He will. "Hi n gracious, precious promise, "As th] ' * ' il- L. tt 73, so snail tny sirengm De. LlghU Amid Shadow*. !t would be well in 'ife if di?coa ted persons would sometimes coner the advantages rather than the dis vantages of the position they occupy e law of compensation is everwhere e absence of loftiness may give se ity. The want of capacity may ex ft from manyanxietiei. Thelowliesi commonest things are needed b; i lordlies t. The sunlight needs th rple hills and the happy flowers ti play its glory. The sea. shore needs th al builder. The farmer needs th< nes and worms to ventilate his field e Elder Cato said that "fools ha< sir uses, for wise men learned fron sm." Failure has been a blessing multitudes. "I never found m; lfure until I lost it," said a good man is through the failure of th men that you get the secretion of the lev; and so many of life's failure re produced the honey of lore, am npathy and kindness. It is sad t re to say, that not a few faces on ets with bear deep traces of discon it and restlessness. Perhaps nothin; nore remarkable in the Royal Hospi for Incurables than the sweetness am inkful content written legibly on th es of its suffering inmates. Harsh rn, sour faces are not seen here. Th t of compensation is manifest. Car je the fact that so much suffering anc deep a sense of trust. begotten of con ous helplessness, are needed in life t throne solf, to sweeten our natures, ant make us more thankful for anything have, than discontented because o: ttles" we have not? Surely we may find a spring of com t in our very disadvantages. Th llncss of Nicodemus has alway med to me to have given the worl< arge blessing. Your sharp, coc fiden n would never have asked question the way Nicodemus did. And per ps that reply, "God so loved th rid," had never been given to a ma ifident of his own cleverness. Ou y troubles, and struggles, and doubt y yet be a comfort and help to som 3 we otherwise may never hav ped. Even life's wrecks, if properl; iminated, may yet become beacon future mariners. The great lesson c i is to know how to be happy, am w to be satisfied. Labored restless is or indolent whining, are life'; se; to eat, and not be satisfied. Th issing of life is to hunger and ea ) bread of truth and righteousness t to be without enterprise, not ti rify dullness, deadness, orstagnation t to labor ghully for the best, thankfu whatever fortune brings. Constan id activity, with inner rest, is the tru sal, finding life's best not in money, c :ury, but in watching the change c isons, in cloud pictures, in the growtl bud and blossom, the sweet faces am pes of children; finding interest i; [ping others who are more lowly am fering; taking a pleasure in servinj th fidelity; thinking, loving, hoping * ? iUnun Ua*to rkAUPAK f 1 WUrKillg; UlCilC uat u punvi ? re true joy, thus taking Christ's yok meekness and lowliness,and so Bndin t. It is only such lowly ones as ca ily sing th<! anthem, "Eve a bc ther, for so it eeemeth good i f sight."?Rev. B. .31 Lentil, in th t iver. There is a great gutf fixed between th things of the world'and the teaching the gospel, on the subject of e:isy li? f. According to the popular v.:ew,th i thing worth living for is to hav mey to spend, fine pictures to admire jtsant books to read, soft carpsts fo i feet, easy couches for tired limbs 1 delicate dishes for the palate; am ; the God whom we believe in am rship,has only revealed himself to hu ji eyes and hands as One who wa icified, whose brow was wounded wit! srns, and whose side was piercei ough with a spear; and the gospe ,ich he brought teaches that all pam ring of the body and all undue indul ace of its desires, so far from bein ! supreme object of life, may be ire and a stumbling block to the soul there are any of us who really believ our hearts that personal enjoyment i . i 1-- ?A -1 i:?? i_j. i : true uujcuu ui uui uve>, ici* us uuucoi acknowledge to ourselves that we ar 'era of pleasure rather than lovers c d, and so go back to crown wit! 28 the forgotten statutes of thj kindl ^an gods who loved hot life and th mty of sense. There ought not to b >m in one house for both the cross o list and the ivy-crown of the win* [1, or the myrtle of the goddess c insure. "No man can serve two mas u"?so runs the old saying, but th 011 is hard to learn. Nevertheless, i one which must be learned sooner c er, when e rery man must make th liberate choice whether he will couc i own pleasure the chief object of hi j, or whether he will yield his will, fc sasure or for pain, to the will of God id on that one decision hangs ever n's destiny, for both here and hen er.?3 8. Time*. SVe think if more people knew whn e stuff they were drinking under th ne of beer there would be lc.-s of i ink. It is reported that hundreds o >usands of dollars are beiag spent b ! brewers of New York to prevent th isage of a bill which shall compel thet put upon all kegs a list of the ingredi :s used in the manufacture of beer.blie Good. "he artesian wells, it is believed, wi] ie day convert the arid-slaked plain Texas into a fruitful region. TEMPERANCE DEPARTMEN' Meet frig Temptation. [ As if temptation to indulge m drii I nnd other excesses was not bad enouj I (when it comes to U3, we often go to it. f certain company we know we must' 1 tempted in certain ways, and yet we j into it; in certain places we are sure 3 meet with temptation belonging to t place, yet there we go. If we expe k miraclcs to be wrought on our beha! and that we are to be kept holy while ( choose bad companions, we makeagre I mistake.' We cannat look to God to he J us when we tempt Him, so far as He ci [ be tempted and tried by us.?Exchanx > ? Authorities Worthy of Credence i I consider I shall do more in curii ] disease and preventing disease in o , year by prescribing total abstinence, th I could do in the ordinary course of extensive practice of one hundred yea I ?Dr. Higginbottom, an eminent a\ > geon of Nottingham. s It is no figure of speech, but the litei f truth, that hundreds of neuralgic, hj teric, and epilcptic patients have be driven into drunkenness or lunacy, both, by the endless folly of advise: who had no better reason for the pi scription of large doses of alcohol th the fact that these diseases are attend with nervous weakness It is a gra M/MkM J A1 ? - J aMtanViA^ TTI . Dumiuai a'iu uiisv;aici tuau xuguiwai w 6 should endanger in this serious way t Y power of moral resistance of women ai c other weak persons.?Dr. James ^ Wakely, in the London Lancet. 3 All kinds of ardent spirits and otl . strong stimulints are not only not usei I in preventing cholera, but dispose 1 its attack.?Boston Board of Heall * 1882. Retolied, That the vending of arde e spirits, in whatever quantity, be cons: 1 ered a nuisance?and as such is hereby < | rected to be discontinued for the spa 0 of ninety days from this date.?By ore e of the Board of Health, James Larne Sec. Passed in Washington, D. < =" 1832, on account of the prevalence of t j cholera. e All spirit-drinkers will be the $ i, victims of cholera.?Notice displayed c the authorities in London in 1832. Cholera has stood up here (Mcntrea . as it has everywhere, the advocate o temperance. It has pleaded most e ^. quently and with tremendous effect. T jt disease has searched the haunts of t drunkard and has seldom left them wit . out bearing away its victims. Even m( e erate drinkers have been but a little b j ter off. Ardent spirits in any shape a t in any quantity have been highly del s! mental. There seems to be a natural - finity between the cholera and the ard< e spirits.?Dr. Bronson, writing from M< ? treal, 1832. s We hive a great horror of arsenic, a e fifty other things; the fact is, all th e things are a mere bagatelle in relation y the most direct, absolute, immediate a s certain poisonings which are caused i alcohol. There are more men killed, far as I know English statistics?mi s poisoned by alcohol, than are poison ? by all other poisons put together.?J; . Edmunds, M. D., London, Eng. 3 The Volhfreund for August, 18 ; states that out of nine hundred perse who died in Rotterdam the precedi year from cholera only three were t ,r stainers.?Judge Pitman. >1 I have found the use of alcoho 1 drinks to be the most powerful pred posing cause of malignant cholera w ? ~ WAI*A T AnO 2 WLliL'U X am litijuaiu^u. iv ? ? *. vuv r the authorities, I would placard evi [, spirit-shop in town with large bills c< 0 taining the words: "Cholera sold hen e ?Dr. A. M. Adams, Professor of the g 1 q stitutes of Medicine in the Anderson' ?, University of Glasgow, 1848. n Alcoholism is widely prevalent, but A is not popular to die a drunkard. victims are hardly ever credited to it t e less they are poor and friendless. ?Eigl s Annual Report of Massachusetts Bo: of Health. e I suppose that next to pulmonary d 8 eases, more persons come to their dea 'r either directly or indirectly, by alcoh i, ism, than from any other cause. Hi d dreds of men who die from liver co ^ plaint and kidney troubles might h? 3 been healthy men to-day if they had i a poisoned their systems with alcohol. 1 James W. Alexhnder, Vice-President 'I the Equitable Life Insurance Compai New York. g. In hospitals where the largest amoi a of alcohol is used, there is the great percentage of deaths.?Dr. King, of 1 e Philosophical Society of Hull, Englni I have amply tried both ways. I gi e alcohol in my practice for twenty yea ?)! and have now practised without it t] J last thirty years or more. My expi-riei * is that acute disease is more read e ((J cured without it, and chronic dise! if I much more manageable.?John Higg J- bottom, F.R.S. Aa to thy general use of alcohol in d 'e ea?e, every form of disease would be b it ter treated without alcohol than with >r ?Dr. Beni. W. Richardson, F.R.S. e it is ?r The campaign just ended between 1 ' wet and dry parties in Meriden, Miss.,v r i very bitter, but no one enrried his bitt ncss further than General Burkitt, Sei ^ tor from Clay County, who spoke in t interests of the whisky men, and offend . all classes. As reported in the New ( . leans Timet-Democrat, he declared he v a number of no church, and was glad V it. lie wanted, he said, whisky eve; where, and would start a saloon in ] \\ 1 . parlor if necessary, and wouldn't care a creek of it ran through his yard, had made his will, and in it provid that no preacher prohibitionist shall 11 tend his funeral. He added to his ia temperate words by taking a big dri )i whisky then and there. ..v- . .. POPULAR SCIENCE. Cultivation h&s so affected the evolution of the tomato that the seeds are fast disappearing and bid fair to pass out of ajc existence entirely, as in the case of the banana, leaving the propagation of the plants dependent on cuttings. The replacement of a diseased eye by the be healthy eye of an anim&l has now been go done live times, with one success, says to the Medical Record. In the four cases the , cornea sloughed; in two, however, firm 0 vascular adhesions took place. j The King of Servia, according to the ir> journals, has issued the following: ve "Whereas it is irrefutably proved by at science that the so-called antiseptic lp treatment of wounds yields more beneficial results than all other methods, we an are pleased to order that henceforward /? the said antiseptic plan of treatment be solely employed in all hospitals of our kingdom, and that corrosive sublimate iodoform be used until our further disag position." ne The occurrence of poisonous mussels an and star-fishes in a German locality has an led to an investigation from which it ap pears mat simple stagnation ui ?ea-water ra* is c&pable of giving rise to poisonous *r* qualities in the nnimals inhabiting it; and that, too, when it is free from sewage .a| and other impurities. The poison in the mussels has-been described us a ptomaine r8" under tht name of mytilotoxin, but Proen fessor Virchow says it cannot be a true or ptomaine, as it is not a product of decomrg position. It must result from the condi' tions of the mollusk's growth. Singular as it may appear, the common herring is a fish which is most difficult e<* to procure and preserve alive in inland ve aquariums, it being so delicate that the eQ loss of even a few scales during transv por:ation is sure to cause its death. For several years Dr. Hermes, of the Berlin tt<* Aquarium, has vainly tried . to obtain G. some specimens for his establishment; they had either been rubbed in the net or ie touched with the hand, and died before reaching Berlin. He has at last succeeded in obtaining a live one, one of his to men having by this time grown sufficientlv excert to catch it in a sort of J ?r glass balloon lowered in the net. ,n? Palm wine, or lakmi, is made from the sap of the date palm. Trees in full j . yigor are selected for tapping. The ii- juice escaping from the wound is contee ducted by a reed into an earthenware [er pot, and may amount to two gallons daily ^ at first, gradually sinking to about half ^ ' that quantity toward the end of the tap-' ? ping, which is seldom allowed to exceed h? -a month. Much of the "wine" is drank fresh, when it resembles sparkling cider, but becomes insipid after losing its carbonic acid. Its color is opalescent by and milky. After undergoing alcoholic fermentation it contains 4.38 per cent of ,1) alcohol, 22 carbonic acid, and 5.00 of 0j mannite. j0_ A prominent authority on the subject " regards most dream representations as "e really representations, since they emanate :he from sensorial impressioas, which, th- though weak, continue during sleep. An )(j. inconvenient position during sleep causes the representation of painful work, periet* lous ascent of a mountain, etc. A slight nd intercostal pain becomes the point of an ;ri- enemy's dagger or the bite of an enraged dog. Difficulty in respiration is fearful agony caused by nightmare, the night;nt mare seeming to be a weight rolled upon >u- the chest, or a horrible monster which threatens to stifle the sleeper. An inn(j voluntary extension of the foot is a fall ' from tin? dizzy height of a tower. Flving is suggested by the rhythmic movements *? of respiration. nd by Power of the Press, so Harry Whiteside, of Harbor Point, was out with a Ashing party at Bear Lake, , and happened to stray alone up a brook ie about four miles from camp. While engaged in fishing he caught sight of a bear cub. He gave chase, and 54 captured young Bruin, and started og ' for camp with his prisoner. The latter ,ns did not relish his new acquaintance, and ng kept up a squealing that made the woods ib- ring. Whiteside had barely started when he j. heard a crackling in the bushes, and, ' glancing back, saw young Bruin's ^1S" mother, a huge black bear, rapidly bearith ing down upon him. Whiteside took to of his heels, and to facilitate his Slight ;r_ dropped in succession his $15 fishpole, hat and coat, but 3frs. Bruin carca for 3a- none of these things, and came on like an 3." avalanche. In- After many regrets he concluded it jaa would be best to drop the cub; but what was his surprise and terror to find that the bear passed its offspring without ; it recognition and continued its mad Its charge. in. I It was gaining every minute, and once ith Whiteside slipped it caught a moutnfui of his shirt. In the desperation of lr(* the moment it occurred to him to try the etlect of fire, and taking a newspaper [}3. from his pocket he lighted it and thrust it into the bear's eyes. The effect was ' magical. The bear wheeled about and ?1* Whiteside continued1 his dejected' jourm ney into camp.^Grand Rapids {Mich.) m. Times. lve The Horses of the World. lot Professor D. Leonhard, of Frankfort, gives the following statistics of the horses i of various countries: ly, According to Schwarzenecker, Prussia possesses altogether 2,318,817 horses, or x 97 horses for 1,0(50 inhabitants (91 per 1,000). Austria-Hungary possesses three e9* and one-half millions, or 99 per 1,000 inthe habitants. Hungary alone has 2,000,'000. France has altogether 2,882,850 iVe horsrs and 300,000 mules, or 78 horses per 1,000 inhabitants, and 54 per square rs> kilometer. Denmark (census of 1881) , n/??aoaM 31ft linrsns: Belcrium. 283. L14Q jpVOOVOOWU ViV^wiv y B f f ice 103 horses, or 60 per 1,000 inhabitants; jj Holland, 250,000, or 73 per 1,000 inhaby itants; Italy (census 186a), 657,457, but *'e in 1879 she had only 615,457 horses, bein sides 293,868 mules: Switzerland, in 18U6, about 105,000, or 40 per 1,000 in|jg. habitants; Spain (in 1865), 680,373, be, sides 2,319,846 mules and asses; every ? " year there are killed in the bull fights ft* 3,000 to 4,000 horses; Portugal, 88,900 horses, 50,390 mules, and 127,950 asses; Russia (in 1872), 21,570,000 horses; Sweden and Norway, 655,456, or 115 horses per 1,000 inhabitants; Greece, the about 100,000; United States of America, ras 9,504,000; Canada, 2,624,000; Argentine Republic, 4,000,000; Uraguay, 1,000,000; er" Australia (in 1871), 304,000. aa:^e Three Brides for an Emeror. cd L The young Emperor of China has re *r~ I cently been engaged in the pleasant occuras | pation of selecting three ladies as brides of from among thirty-two assembled at his r_ palacc. These are collected from all over ,. Mantchooria from certain noble Mantchoo . families, and travel, some of them, ! ^ for hundreds and even a thousand miles Ho to Pekin to undergo review. The future e(j Empress is first selected, and then two assistants called the Eastern and Western . Empresses This is the ancient custom of the empire since the Mantchoos benk came its rulera. The Emperor will take over the reins of power next year. i ? ( A FATAL PET. THE FIERCE ONSLAUGHT OF A TAME RUSSIAN WOLF. Bitten by a Mad Do*, the Wolf In ', 'iTurn Becomes Mad?Many ;* ' ^ Persons Bitten?Ter- , rible Struggles. Some time ago fourteen Russian peasants who had been bitten by a wolf were . ?? sent to Paris for treatment against hydrophobia by M. Rasteur. Three of the peasants died. Dr. Felix L. Oswald % gives the following account of the wolfs attack in the Cincinnati Enquirer: Russian papers publish the following interesting details of the wolf episode that cost Mons. Pasteur three weeks of hard work, and the first professional dis- ;*yjj appointment. According to a correspondent of the Noxodi, the brute that caused all the mischief was not a wild wolf, but a domesticated pet, perhaps the most netted ouadruped u? Eastern ; Europe. ^Three years ago a berry-pick- :j| ing boy found him in the woods, and " brought him to the village of Biely, - V Government of Smolensk, where the I farmer, Stephen Wassiljew, adopted him as a companion to a motherless puppy. . h;*?|S Before the end of the summer the wnelp ' had superseded his foster-brother. He yM had an ultra-canine talent for flunkeyism, and fawned himself into the favor of so many "visitors, that his owner was v.'Sj repeatedly offered thirty roubles for the bushy-tailed little sycophant that 'Jjg would lick the hands of every stranger, and romp with the village youngsters and billy-goats. One of the - 3 farmer's girls was his favorite playmate. At the mere sound of her voice he would start from his couch at the hearthstone and scratch and whine at the door till | his girl friend entered the-kitchen. That /;> young lady was chiefly responsible for - the ensuing tragedy. On the 23d of February, Dushka?"Sweetheart," as she v called her pet?was bitten by a' suspicious cur, who forthwith died with all the characteristic symptoms of hydropho- . bia, but when a dozen of his canine vie- / 'ijj 4>?w%a wa*a \fia? W OflfllHpV Ifltflr I IsJLlllO ngiO AAIAV-Vly JLIJA99 II MWWA.JW.. w.?. ceded for her pet. They locked him up ,'fi^ in a barn-to await development*. Early the next morning, March 2.1886, Dushki managed to break out, and in the course I of that day not less than twenty-eight ^ persons were fiercely bitten, besides a .''s'il dozen or two who got off with snap-bites v;|J and torn clothes. At the very beginning ! of the trouble the pluck of one heroic Mujik would have prevented all further mischief if-his companion had notturned craven at the critical moment. Peter Tcherkow, an athletic young villager, ac- ^ companied by his sister and ayounghwjjhbor, was returning from an all-night^la?co .. , % when they saw the wolf coming aowii the road in a sort of sidelong trot and with an uncanny leer that made them step aside to give the traveler a chance to leave the neighborhood by the straightest ; route. But Dushka had seen them, and rW in the next moment made a rush and caught Peter by the breast. "Save your- ' :";|2 self, Olga!" the brave Mujik cried to fiis sister, as he grappled with the wolf, and ?"$3 then calling on his companion, he 'x'i'&k clutched the brute around the neck and - -C'gj wrenched his head down till he had pinned him flat on the ground. At that moment a common pocket-knife' m--$ie hands of a resolute man could have ended the affair, but the cowardly neighbor had taken to his heels?to protect the retreat of the girl, as he afterward ex- > plained it, and Peter's struggle with the ' -'j| wolf now became a duel for life and death. Too soon tne grip 01 ma ^ fingers relaxed, and in spite of his frantic efforts to maintain his van- . jMsi tage the wolf got his jaws free and began to use them with terrible effect, when at last a teamster appeared on the scene and began to belabor the monster with a long hatchet. The wolf then left his victim and turned on the new-comer, and with two successive ripstore his face almost off. Minus his checks, lips and ,.-j nostrils, the unfortunate man staggered out of the way and left the ogre 'atleisure to tQrn his attention to a third adversary, the Mujik Jackolen, whom Peter's sister, had in the meantime summoned, from the next farmstead. Jackolen, too. was terrible mangled, and had to back- out toward the team, trying in vain to cover , .. V his retreat with a club, but by this time neighbors with flails and axes came running up from all sides and succeeded at last in routing the apparently indestructible monster. But in the outskirts of the ?* ? :il~venAmmAnPPfi. And ncil? V lllttgc but m> t w a . t betore night nineteen persons, some of them torn almost to pieces, were turned over to the district hospital at Semstow. The village priest of Biely and the game-keeper, Niktin Garaewitch, died on the following day from wounds as desperate as any treated in the fieldhospitals of modern armies, for the pet . of Biely had attained the size of the ' largest specimens of his tribe. Two more died in the course of the week, and three of M. Pasteur's patients died. The Russians, as a nation, are notmoch given to lynching, their official provisions for retributive justice being rather in excess of demand, but at the massmeeting of the Sem8tow peasants the wretch whose cowardice had cost the lives of so many braver men was denounced in terms which induced him to consult his safety by disappearing under cover of the next night. In Western Russia, where even the urox has been permitted to survive, wolves still infest all larger forests, and their whelps are caught and tamed about as often as the fawns of our Southern Alleghenies. ^ r?i? i .' V Leaders of Wall Street Death, failure, and voluntary retirement have of late depleted Wall street of its great "leaders. Vanderbilt and Wocrishoffer by death, Gould by apparent withdrawal, Villard by failure and exile, Henry N. Smith and James R. Keene by bankruptcy, William Heath by failure and death, George I. Seney by disastrous railroad operations. These 0 11? Tiovo Vu>An are some 01 cue my men mw ~ retired from Wall street leadership dur ing the past two years. Who are left? Only three or four names answer to the roll-call. Addison Cammack, P. D. Armour, S. V. White, and perhaps one or two others are all who remain of the active traders. The Vanderbilt boys are not active in Wall-street speculation, and at present it looks as if Mr. White | was the coming man of the street. He has given a taste of his ability in his I clever manipulation of LackawanaTon two or three occasions. He is about fiftysix years old, and is treasurer of Plymouth Church and a warm adherent of Henry Ward Beecher. He makes astronomy and politics his recreation ?Baltimore Sun. Unlqae Birth Announcement A recent Berlin paper contains a birth announcement in rhymes, which may be thus translated: "This morning at eight \'t I knocked at Berlin's gate. My parents wera glad, But I yelled like mad." ?Richard Koth, Jr. I '