The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, December 15, 1886, Image 3
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TALMAGE. "
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUNDAY
SERMON.
Subject: "A Family Quarrel Settled."
Text: Let there be no strife, I pray thee,
between me and the?, and between my herds
men and thy herdsmen. Is not the it hole
land before theeT Genesis xiii., 8, !).
Uncle and nephew?Abraham and Lo^
Both pious, bjth millionaires; with flocks so
large that the herdsmen got into a fight,
pe haps aliou'i 1 etter pasturage, or about
better water priv lege, ?r tho cow of one
' heid h oked the cow of another herd. It
was not their poverty of opportunity that
brought these two m.-u iuto a difference, but
it was their wealth of O 'fOi tunity. Abraham,
the glorious old Bedouin sheik, saw
that the controversy wa* absurd and he said
to Lot?for it really t^ee i e J like two ships in
?the middle of the Ailautic Ocean quarreling
about sea room?Abraham said to Lot:
"Now, let us a :ree to diiler. Here is the
mountaiu district swept of the tonic sea
bree :e, and with a far-reaching prosj e t,
aud out yonder is the Valley of the Jordan,
with cornfields and vineyards and tropical
luxuriance nnd immeasurable acreage of
wealth, and the groat river iu which to water
thetlo ten. You can havoeither." Lot,who had
not as much wealth as Abraham and might
huve been expected to make the second
choice, made the first selection, and with a
modesty that must have brought a smile to
Abraham's face, said: "Abraham, you can
have the rocky district aud tho fine prospects,
and I'll take the valley of the Jordan
-with tb*? cornfields and the great river in
which to water the flocks, and all the tropihiviirinnre
of the vinevards. I'll take
that" So the controversy was forever sectied,
and Abraham, great-souled Abraham,
earned out the suggestion of the text: "Lot
there be no strife. I pray thee, between me
.and thee, and between my herdsmenaud thy
h'rdsmen. Is not the whole land before
thee.'"
AV'ell. in this last quarter of the nineteenth
century, and in tlr's beautiful laud called
America, artor Auiericus Vespucius, but
which ought to have been called Columbus
after its discoverer, Colmnbus, we have a
wealth of religious opportunity and of ecclesiastical
advantage that is positively bewildering.
So many styles of creed, so many
styles of worship, so niauy styles of church
government, so many style? of architecture.
What opulence of ecclesiastical opportunity.
"While in desolate regions there may be ouly
one church, and it is that or nothing, in our
tbi kly settled districts of couutry there is
such vast variety of churches and such vast
variety of ci eeds, one would think a man
would have no dilScuity in making a selection.
Let there be no war of vestments, no
contest as between litutgi-al and non-liturgical
adherence, no ; strife about baptismal
modes, no quarrel as to whether a handfull
of water or a riverfull of water is the better.
If Abraham on the heights gets only the 1
sprinkling of tho clouds, let him notbsgrudge
- Lot, who has the whole river Jordan
in which to immerse himself. "Let there be
no strife, I p: ay thee, between me and thee
and between my herdsmen and thy hsrdsmen.
Is not tho whole land before thee?" Especially
is it unfortunato when in the home circle
there is an angry controversy across the
breakfast, or the dining, or the tea table,
and ou the one side of the table some one
mw "f nflvpr could h??ar the rif?id do.'trines
ri of Presbytenanism," and the answer come3
from the other end of the table saying: "I
never could endure tbe conventionalities
of Episcopacy," and from one side of
the tahle comes: "I can't see how they
Btand the noise in tbe Methodist Church,''
v? and from the other side there comes back tbe
response: '"AH the Baptists are bigots!"
Hundreds of families have been split of ecclesiasticism,
and as tbe dis ussion goes on
there is kindling of indignation, and it needs
some Abraham to come out aud put his foot
on the lighted fuse before tbe explosion takes
phue, and say: "Let there be no strife between
me and tbeeand between my herdsmen
and thy herdsmen. Is not the whole land
be.'ore thee?"' I undertake this morning a
discussion never before undertaken in
the pulpit, because it is a very delicate
subject, and if not rightly
handled might produce great o.Tense; b it I
approach the question without the slightest
trepidation because I feel I have the divine
direction in the matter to be proposed. It is
a tremendous question, often asked with
tears and so: s and heartbreaks?a question
involving sometimes tbe peace of families
and tbe salvation of immortal souls: "In
matters of church att -udauce and in matters
of religion, should the wife go with the husbnnd
or the bousbaud go with tbe wife?" I
lay ti e foundation for my remarks in the
tn.-t that all denominations of Christians |
have in them enough truth to save the
soul and fit us for happiness and for heaven.
Go with me into any well selected theological
library, and I will show you sermons irom
all denominations of Christians sotting: forth
the idea that man is a sinner and that Christ
i-i the deliverer from sin and sorrow. Well,
that is the whole Gospel. (Jet that into your
heart and your life and you are fit for the
here and the hereafter. The world has
twenty-six letters in its alphabet, but there
are only two letters ii the Gospel apbabet, S
- and Cj S standing for man, the sinner,
and C standing for Christ, tho deliverer.
Blessed be His glorious name
forever. Now, in any church where you can
learn t!i?se two letters and appreciate all they
stand for you ought to be edided and you
ought to be happy. Then there is a difference
between denominations of Christians,
and soma we like better than others. But
supi>ose four or five of us should agree to
meet ea h other one week from now in Chi
:?a?A
cago on SUUin V CI J lauu
one man should take the N. Y. Central
K. R., and another man should
take the Krio, and another man
? should take the Pennsylvania R. R.,
and another mau should take the Baltimore
and Ohio R. R. One because he likes the
scenery on this route the b.-tter, another because
he likes tho < arsjis they are morj luxuriant
on this route than the "others, auother
-man takes this route 1 e ause the train is
swifter, another man takes another route because
he knows all the employes on that
rood. It makes no diil'ereuce so far as our
engagement is concerned if we only get there.
It makes no difference by which route we
con.e if wo come to the terminus and meet
oui engagement. Now, in every denominate
of evangelical Christians, there is
enough tru h to take you to heaven. Although
some denominations may run train*
on a broad guage and others may run trains
k on & narrow guage, still you follow the
teachings of any ono of the evangelical denominations
of Christians and you will
come out at the Grand Central Depot of the
onive so?Heaven, the great metropolis of
God on high. Now, having understood this,
that a man is safe in any evangelical denomination,
I proceed to remark:
First?If in the marr'ed couple one be
a Christian and the other not a Christian,
then it is the duty of the one who is a Christian
to go with the one who is not a Christian
to any church preferred, if he or she will go
to no other. You of the connubial partnershiD
are a Christian. You are safe for the
skies.and your first duty then is to secure the
eternal salvation of your lifetime partner.
The salvation of the wife impenitent, or the
ealvation of the husband impenitent, is of
more importance than your church worship.
The residonce of your companion for a
Suadrillion of y are is a mightier conmderaion
than the gratification of your exlesias?
tlcal taste for forty or fifty years. If a roan
or a woman halt one half a minute before
surrendering a c hurch preference when the
question of the eternal salvation of a partner
is involved?I say if such persou halts for
half a minute in the consideration before
making the surrender, such person has no religion
at all, never has had, and, I fear, never
will hare. Mighty God, in all Thy creation
Is there one person professing to be a (
Christian and yet so stolid, so unthinking,
so far gone unto death as to hesitate about
surrendering a church preference before a
question of salvation and Heavenly reunion?
If you area Christian woman and you are
attendant on this Brooklyn Tabernacle, and
your unconverted husband will not come
here because he does not like Its minister, or
its music, or its architecture, or its uncomfortable
crowding, and he goes to no house
of God, but would go if you accompanied
him, then your first duty is to change your
place of worship. Tnke home your hymnbook
to-dav, say eo< d-bvo to those wbo are
near you in the pews and you go to any one
of a hndred evangelical churches withyour
husband until his soul is saved, and he joins
you on the march to Heaven. That ring on
the third finger of tho left hand is not of so
much importance as that God your Heavenly
Father sh"uld in the -alvation of your husband
say in regard to him in the words of
tho old parable: "Put the ring on his hand."
There never was a letter of more importance
that came to the great city
of Corinth?that city situated on what
was called a bridge of the sea, glistening
with sculpture and gated with a sty la of
brass so magnificent that the following ago?
have not been able successfully to Imitate it,
overshadowed by the Acrocorinthus.afortres?
of rock 2,000 feet high?I say no letter of i
greater Importance evpr came to that great J
citv of Corinth than the letter in which Paul
put these two startling questions: "How
knowest thou, oh, wife, but thou
shalt save thy husband/ How knowest
thou, oh, husband, but thou shait
save thy wife?" Any sacrifice you make is
cheap for salvation. Better go to the smallest
church, the weakest church, the most iusignilicant
church on earth, and be co-partners
in eternal bliss, than that you should attend
the most gorgeously att-active church and
one of you perish outside evangelical advantages.
Better that the drowning be saved
with a scow or a sloop, than that he or she
should go down w??j^ you sail past iu the
gilded cabins of a Britannic or a Great
Eastern.
Kemark the second: If both of the married
couple are Christians, but one is so naturally
constructed as to be severely secta- j
nan and could not be happy in another than
th9 one church or denomination preferred,
then it is your duty, you who are tuo less sectarian
and the more liberal, to go with the one'
who is very parti ular. As for myself, I feel
about as mu.h at home in one denomination
another. I have sometimes said I
thiuk I must have been born near
the line. I like the solemn roll of
the Episcopal liturgy, and I like the
spontaneity of the Methodists, and I like the
importance given to baptism by the Baptists,
and I like the freedom of the Congregationalisms,
and I like the government and the sublime
doctrines of the I'resbyterian3, and I
like a score of other denominations just as
good as those I have mentioned, and I could
live happily in any one of them, and preach
and die happily, and from th3 sacred doors
be carried out to my last resting place. But
some person^ are born with a stout and unbending
preference for some church or some
denomination,and it would be torture to them
to be anywhere else. From the very starting
it was indicate 1 what they were to be. and
what was to be tbe style of their ecclejiasticism.
It was written on the side of their
cradle, if father and mother bad eyesight I
keen enough to see it. When they cried in
their infancy they could not be silenced until
they hal for a plaything Westminster Cat?- .
chism or the Thirty-nine Articles. Now, it
would be a torture and a misery for such
person to be in any denomination that was
outside of the one preferred. But you can
afford to surrender your preferences
if you have not been oorn
with tha same spirit of sectarianism. It
is the duty of tha grapevine to follow the
sinuosities of the oak and the hickory.
If Abraham has a larger flock of
Christian graces thau Lot, who is built on a
smaller scale, then it is Abraham's duty to
say to Lot: "Let there be no strife between
us, or between my herdsmen and your herdsmen.
Is not the .vholo land before thee?" If
you can be happy anywhere, aad your husbaud
or your wife cannot be happy ex ept in
one pl:ice, surrender your preferences, and
surrender thiin without disjuss.'on.
Another remark: If both of the married
couple are equally strong in their sectarianism
and their preferences, then go to the
churches that please you best. You are not
bound to go to the same church. God does
not demand that you do so. Religion is sometiling
between your conscienceandyour God.
If, therefore, on Sunday morning you came
out from the front door of your house together,
and one goes one way and the ]
other goes the otlior way, heartily wish i
each other a gooJ sermon and an hour of ]
profitable devotion, and when you meet at 1
the noonday repast, let it bo evident each to
ea' h and to the children and to the hired
heln that you bath have been on the Mount
of Transfiguration, though you went up by
different paths, anil that you have been both 1
fed with the bread of life though it were
kneaded in different trays and baked in different
ovens.
But I am often asked?for I am not discussing
this morning an abstraction?L aru
often asked by parents: "What about the
childen." My reply is: "Let the children
make their choice." I have sometimes
thought that at ten years of age a child
knows more of religion than those who have
come on to forty, fifty, sixty or seventy years .
of age. We go out in the world and we get '
befogged with scepticisms, and we hear so
many of the discussions of unbelief, an 1 our
life gets so full of imperfection and so full of 1
sin that I have thought littl3 c hildren may t
know more religion than some of us who
have got older. At any rate, I give you the
advice, let children choose for themselves. *
They will probably grow up with a reverence
for both denominations represented by
you, the father and mother. And if you,
the father, live the holy life they will have 1
more reverence for your denomiuation, and I
if you, the mother, live the holy life, they
will have more reverence for your denomination;
and some day you will both be found
going to the same church and the same ser- 1
vice, and the neighbQrs will look out of the
windows and they will say: "Why, I won- i
der what's the matter with our neighbors,
the husband and wife going arm and arm to 1
the same church? I never thought they
would goto the same church. I wonder ,
what's the matter?" I will tell you what ?
is the matter. Something very impor- '
tant has happened. That day, the s
son of that family is announcing himself a
Christian. That dav the son of that household
is standing in the aisle to take the vows. '
He bad been somewhat waywai d and had <
given his father and mother a good deal of ,
anxiety; but their prayers have been answered
in hissalvation, and now, as he stands
in the church ai=le. and the minister of relig- !
ion says to him:' "Do you take the God <
who made you and the God who redeemed
you for your eternal portion?
and do you promise to serve Him all the
days of your life/" and the young man, with i
a manly voice, says: "I do." Thero is an j
April snower in the pew where father and :
mother sit, and arainbow of joy overarching
everything that makes the difference or
crouds lu.iniEss>ima!. Aye, on that very (
day, the daughtor of the family may put
her life on the altor of consecration, and
the sunlight coming through the church 1
window, railing on her brow and cheek
may make her look like the other daughter .
whose face took on the brightn;ss of another ,
world whei Goi took her into His Heavenly
keeping years ago. Aye, I should not woarier
if those pa-ents spent the eveuing of
their days in the same church, all their
church preference* overwhelmed in the joy
ot worshiping i i the pla^e where their sons
and their da ighters were prepared for usefulness
and for heaven.
But 1 will give you a recipe for ruining
your children. Angrily discuss aud contend I
in your household about raattsrs of religion. ]
and contend that your church is right ana ,
*11 othnr churches are wron?. esneclallv the
char h your compauion utte id*, bring
suear anl caricature to emphasize your opinions,
and your children will grow up to bs- .
lieve religion is a sha n, and they will 1
want none of it In t ie northeast storm
of domestic controversy the Rose of Sharon
and the Lily of th; Valley never grow. Fight
about apostolic succession; full1; about elec- ;
tion and free agency; fight about baptism;
fight about the bishopric: fight abou* gown
and surplice, and tbo religious interests of
your chddren will be left deal on the field. ;
You will be unfortunate as Charle3, Duke
of Burgundy, who iu a battle lost
a dia nond worth a nation, for you
will in the battle about church differences in
your household.lose th 3 prize of salvation for
vour own entire household. Of course, I say
nothing ugainst your advocacy of your own
belief. That is right. Gather all telling
illustrations, gather all de nonstrative facts,
gather all acute urguments prcrc -_-j.it
vour theories are the right theories,
but let there be no acerbity, no
stinging retort, no insinuation, no
superciliousness, as though you were right
and everybody else wrong. Ta';e a hint
fro n astronomy. The Ptolemi? system taught
that he earth was the center and the worlds
turnel around the earth. The Copernican
system camo and taught that the sun was
the center, and the worlds turned around
that The bigot thinks his little b lief is the
sin, and he wants e verything to turn around
hira: whil* the large sou'ed Christian says
the Sun of Righteousness is the centre of his
theology and all ti lie and all eternity turn
around it Over the tomb of William Stanley
in Westminster Aboy is inscribed tha
nf Sorintu e: '"T(iv monument is er- |
ceeding broad." Do not," therefore, crowd j
us on to a very thin path like the
the bridge over which, the Mabommedans !
say, mast go all the souls into glory j
if they get there?this bridge thinner than
the web of a starved spider, thinner than
the edjre of a razor or sword?and over
that bridge, reaching over hell into pira lise,
all must go, or not go at all, and the
Mahommedans sav many fall down
on that edze. While our way to Heaven
is no* so wide that we can take in all our
sins with us, I am glad to know it is so large
that all Christians of all faiths and of all beli
fs may march in perfect safety to
a glod-ius heaven, An abundant entrance,
not crowding through, but an
abundant entrance into the kingdom
of our God. Beware, my brothar,
how you make a sound creed th9 foundation
of your salvation. I fear some of you that I
know very well are making that mistake. A
man may own all the statutes of the State
of New York and yet not b9 a lawyer.
A man may own all the medical
treatises ever written and yet not be a
physician. A man may own whole libraries
of works on painting and statuary and yet
not be an artist A man may own great volumes
about architecture and yet nit be an
architect And a man may own all the sound
creeds on earth and not be a Christiau. It
is not what wo have in the hsad and on
the back, but what we have in the heart
and in our life that decides everything.
In olden times, in England,
before the modern stre ;t lamp was invented,
it was expected that every householder would
hang a lantern at his front door in the night,
and when the watchmen at the eventi le went
through the street* they cried: "Hanor /? *
v hplirhfc handout vourlierht." Oh. brothers
and sisters, instead of augrily and excitedly
discussing different styles of lanterns?one
liking this lantern better, another liking that
lantern better?as a watchman on the
wall of Zion I th:s day cry out: "Let your
light so shine before men that others
seeing your good works may glorify your
Father who is iu heaven. Haug out
your light, hang out your light!" And, above
all, do not, as soma of you, my friends. I fear
are doing, excuse yourself from accepting
religion because there are so many different
kinds of religionists. People say to me:
"This church believes so, and tbis other
church believes so, and I am completely bewildered
about the whole thing, and so I
shall not take this religion at all." Standing
in Westminster Hotel, London, looking out
of the window. I saw three clocks, and as
near as 1 can remember, one was on Westminster
Abbey, and another was on the
Parliament House and auotlnr was on St.
Margaret's Chapel, and they were a'l different,
and one clock said 12, and another clock
said five minutes before 12, and
another clock said five minute3 after 12.
Standing there I might jU5t a; wall have
said: "\V"ell, there is no such thing as time
because the time pieces differ," as for you to
sit audstaud there aud say ''there is nothing
in religion because religionist? differ and
the clocks in the church steeples
are so di.Terent, one saying ona thing
and another saying another thing. I tell
you it is about noon, it is about 12 o'clock of
the glorious day of gospel dispensation, and
there is enough light for all?the noon lay
light, how shall we escape if wo neglect so
great salvation. But oh, the glorious thought
comes over ma, that t'.iough now our families
are parted in their worsmp, worsnunng
partly in one church and partly
in another, or, worshiping at ths same
altar. th.*y have to'sacriflcetheir'preferences,
if we are reJeomed wo are on the way to a
perfe ct church where all our preferences will
te gratifiecL Great cathedral of eternity,
with arches of amsthyst and pillars of sapphire
and floors of emerald and windows
a^low with the sunset of earth and
the sunrise of heaven. What wide aisles,
spacious enough to allow whole empires
to enter. What amphitheatre,
with splendor above splendor, gallery above '
gallery, princes and princesses, kings and |
queen5 bending over them. What stupendous
towers, with chimei, angel hoisted ani an^el
rung. What multitudes of worshipers, white
robed and coronated What wa!h hung
with shields and Hags captured by church
militant, now become church triumphant.
What offlciator at the altar, the great high
priest of our profession. What doxology of
nations. Cornet to cornet, cymbal to cymbal,
harp to harp, organ to organ. Pull out th?
tremulant step to recall the suffering past.
Pull out the trumpit stop to celebrate the
victory.
When shall these eyes thy Heaven built walla
And pearly gates behold,
rhy bulwarks with salvation strong
And streets of shining gold}
PITH AND POINT.
A mean temperature ?Ten degrees beow
zero. I
' This beats me,'' as the egg remarked
vhen it saw the spoon.?Uonton Bulletin.
The lion's share of anythiug is usuilly
the mane portion of it.?Merchant
Traveler. |
Silence may be golden, but it doesn't '
lecessarily make a millionaire out of a
nute.?Call.
A fashion item says shoes are the same !
is in the spring* They are a little more
i /r... i
rvoru, uuwcver.?ijvwcu wit/ior*
It is said that the coming cow will
aave no horns. In that case the coming
nan will take none.?Picayune.
There is no oleomargarine about a :
?oat. lie is genuine butter every time,
md gives lull weight.?Drake** Maga' j
tine.
"Xerve Food" is advertised in differ- j
?nt papers. We suppose it forms the
:hief diet of book-agents.?Pith and
Point.
"IIow many women marry a good,
sensible man?" asks Kate Field. Only
>ne, if the man can help it.?North
American.
A fashion journal says there is a knack
xi putting on gloves. Come to think of
t, that's so. You have to get your hand
in, as it were.
A Vermont farmer who invented a
:ow-tafl holder lost twelve quarts of
anA *Via eUn nf Vila nnlflfta on its
irst trial.?tuck.
A new Western poet speaks of the
"unwiuking eagle." This is nonsense.
The eagle i3 always a wiug king.?
Washington Post.
"Every lassie has her laddie"
To whisper words of loveBut
every lassie has a daddy
To knock on the floor above.
-Life.
A Western farmer has harl his infant
son christened with twenty-six names,
[t is seldom wc hear of a man cherishing
such bitter enmity against his offspring.
? Graphic.
Whene'er the small boy makes a racket
Or annoys his mother with his tunes,
She is sure to say she'll warm his jacket,
Though she always warms his pantaloons.
?Judge.
Men often say that they were the
architects of their pwn fortunes, but you
never hear a man admit lhat he was the
architect of his misfortunes.?Philadelphia
Call.. I
"George Gould says he hits discovered
that marriage is a serious matter," remarked
Hobbs. "I could have told him
na much loner aero." remarked i'obbs,
Badly.?Humbler.
Sympathetic.?"Hello, old boy, how
arc you feeling to day*" "Oh, I'm improving,
but slowly?very slowly."
"That's excellent. I'm delighted to heai
it."?Pi tsburg Dispatch.
Irate person?"See here, did you call
mi; an "old celibate' in your paper jesterday?
l ditor?"No, I called you 'an
old reprobate."' Irate parson?"Oh,
that b very different."?Life.
Why do we always talk about putting
on a coat and vest/ Who puts oa a coat
before the vest? We also say shoes and
stockings. What's the matter with us,
anyhow/?Philadelphia Call. ,
Kate Field says she is tired of the I
world, and "would like to live apart I
from the fashionable bustle." Why don't
you take it off, then, Kate, and give it f
to the hired girl??Minneapolis Tribune
That the oyster is nutritious,
Quite exquisitely delicious,
Is a statement that can never be denied,
But he suddenly grows vicious;
Toward your stomach quite malicious,
When he's fried.
?Merchant Traveler.
It is noted that the number of insane
persons in Massachusetts has increased '
loO per cent, since 188;"), while the
increase in population is scarccly sixty
per cent. It is also estimated that ninetenths
of these patients are incurable.
-.-o, - "
TEMPERANCE. J
The Coflce-House in America: ^
The New York Tribune comments very i
sensibly on ihc proposal to open coffee- I
bouses in New York, fo lowing tbe plan |
which has been in operation for some
time in London. If the movers in this |
project only design to provide places i
where coffee and cakes can be bought
cheaply, the aim in view will be little
advanced. To break down the custom
of the saloon the coffee-house should rival
it in comfort and attractiveness. An
experiment in this direction would be
well worth trying, and would be cordially
sustained in Boston as well as New
York.?Boston Adrerti&'r.
Lfqaor Compensation.
Rov. J. IV. Sproull,in a recent address,
delivered at the annual meeting of the
Allegheny County (Penn.) C. T. A. A.,
referring to the subject of liquor compensation,
says:
"Compensation for what? For refusing
to allow a class of citizens to continuein
a business that makes sober people
drunkards, innocent and virtuous
men and women prematurely old and 1
hnrdimod ?n orinn and iin?_fnrr?fiKtnn I
to allow them to go on amassing wealth
by making wives widows and children
orphans??for refusing to allow them to
continue industriously sowing the seeds
of death and worse than death, not only
destroying the bodies, but also ruining
the souls of their fellow men??for refusing
to allow them to do all possible not
merely tn prevent this world being
brought into subjection to Jesus Christ,
but also to convert it into a very hell?a
class of citizens who, in spite of entreaty
and warnings, persist in carrying on th!a
accursed business, doing all in their
power to extend it; building mammoth
establishments, and who are determined
to do so untill compelled to desist? Com- j
nons-d-inn fnr rpfnsin-r to allow them to i
engage in such a business, a business
conceived in sin and the whole course of
which is stained with the stain of sin
and crime? Compensation for suppressing
such a business? Who ever heard of
a proposition more unreasonable? What
do they take us for that they dare thus to
insult our intelligence and our sense of
right? Do they think they can bribe or
intimidate or blind us? Do they think
we are willing to voluntarily close our
e^es against the light or to try and bribe
them? Whv dare they thus to trifle
with us? In tbe name of what justice,
we demand, dare they to ask for compensation?
"One would think these conspirators
against the welfare of society ought to
bs satisfied thaf they have been allowed
to go on so long unpunished preying on
those about them like wild beasts; that
they are not compelled to disgorge their
ill-gotton wealth and undo the damage
they have done."
Total Abstinence.
Total abstinence is not a virtue of
modem origin. Even though it be not
commanded upon all in the Bible text,
it finds frequent illustrations there in its
obvious advantage?. A ten day's trial
of it in the palace of Babylon showed
its superiority over wine driaking as a
means of restoring the freshness and
vigor of the travel-worn captives from
Jerusalem, in the days of Daniel. And
from that day to this, travelers in that
direction have had similar proofs of tho
gain of water over wine, in the East as
well a3 in the West, when they were as
rigid and sensible in their diet as Daniel
and his three companions. So, again,
in the days of the early Christian Church,
th3 advo ates of total abstinence gavo
proof in their lives of the gain of their
practices
Clement of Alexandria, writing at the
close of tho second century of our era,
rafcrs to Panl's counsel to Timothy to
use "a little wine" as a purely medical
prescription; and he adds, from his observation
of total abstinence, that even
as a medicine, wico needs to be used
with carefulness. "I therefore admire,"
he says, "those who have adopted an
austere life and who are fond of water
the medicine of temperance, and [who]
fee as far as possible from wine, shunning
it as they would the danger of fire.
It is proper, therefore, that boys and
girls should keep ai far as possible from
this mcdicine; for it is not right to pour
into the burning se?.son of life the hottest
of all liquids, wine; adding as it were,
fire to fire.*'?Newton LPenn.) Heasoner.
The Pinal Conflict.
The North Carolina Prohibitionist says:
"From every quarter of the land comes
evidence that the final conflict with the
rum power has begun, a conflict as inevitable
and irrcpressib'e as ever was
that between f eedora and slavery; a conflict
whkh is but another form of that
war between right and wrong which began
with history and will only end with
history. Good men will differ respecting
the methods by which this tight
should be conductrd, just as good men
have differed respecting the conduct of
every campaign against sin. But the
fight is on, and we are in it; we cannot
dodge it nor remain neutral, though we
may greatly pro ong the struggle and
add to its inevitable consequences of
pain and sorrow by ignorance or willful
sinfulness. That the right will conquer
in the end is as certain as that God exists.
Temperancc Notes.
When a man habitually tako3 his
"whistcy straight," he is quite apt to
walk crookcd.
Francis Murphy, tho temperance agitator,
is having great success in the interior
towns of Ohio.
Tne subject of temperancc was tho
most important considered by the recent
conferenDcof Connecticut Baptist ministers
held at Waterbury. The resolutions
adopted declared that the question of
constitutional prohibition ought to be
submitted to a popular vote. The Hon.
Francis Wayland, of New Haven, was
eleoted President of the association.
-i-,: i ' 1' i'" V__ 'j"
. .. . ' . ; ; "
I RELIGIOUS READING.
A Prayer.
0, Saviour Christ, their woes dispel;
For some are sick and some are sad,
And some have never loved Tbee wel1,
And some have lost the love they had.
And fome are pressed with worldly car.',
.ind some are tired with sinful doub\
And -omesuch grievous pinions tear
| Thtit only Thou canst cast them out.
And Jiome have found the world i< vain,
Yel; from the world thev break not free; .
And i;ome have friends that givo them pain,
Yel; have not sought a Friend in Thee.
?Henry Twells.
Be Kind to the Aged.
The loneliness of age! How few think
of this and treat with due tenderness
and consideration those who have outlived
their generation, and whose early
companions and friends have been taken
frnm thnmt TTnaUln t.n #>norft(7fl in the
? ?o~o
activities of life they aro no longer
brought into contact and sympathy with
those around them, and no tie of common
interest and mutual dependence
bindii them together. Their views and
tastes have naturally grown apart. They
share little in common with others. The
future of this life has nothing to Inspire
their ambition or excite their hopes.
What calls forth the energies of others
has no inspiration from them. They
necessarily, to a great extent, live
in a world of their own, with
which those around them are not familiar.
The communings of their hearts '
are with the scenes of the post and the
companions of other years who have
long passed away. Lover and friend
have been taken from them, and their
acquaintance laid in darkness. The
forms they admired and loved arn gone,
the eyes that looked into theirs with the
tenderest affection are sightless, and the
voices that' cheered and stirred their
? ' * ? x mi 1 _
souls nave long Deen suenc. ineir euriy
world of hope and life has become a desolation,
and they sit in silence contemplating
the ruin that has been wrought.
They ha^e but littlo to interest them in
this world. Who would not do what
ho can to cheer the loneliness of age, to
smooth their pathway, and comfort
them in their declining years??Methodist
Record.
Graceless Giants.
One of the most popular preachers of
the day, And one especially blessed to
young men, is the Rev. Thain Davidson,
of London. Preaching from tho
giants of the early days (Gen. 0:4) he
says:
' "It is a grand thing, no doubt, to
have a stalwart frame, a robust physique;
but there is just a littlo tendency in
certain quarters to worship mere animal
force, and to go in for what is called a
muscular Chistianity. A gymnasium is
an excellent thing, but it won't do much
for the scul.
"You want to be developed all round.
A broad chest, a tall figure, and a
stalwart arm are excellent in their way;
but I have in my mind's eye certain
young fellows whoso ambition seem3 to
reach no higher; and, thereforo, I think
it as well to remind you that, amongst
the biggest giants that have trod the
earth, have been some of the most
depraved and unmitigated scoundrels
ever known.
"I want to know what those giants of
the olden time did for the human race?
In what respect was the world the better
for their existence? What memorials
have they left behind them on the earth
to awaken our gratitude? I- know of
none, wnere mere corporal muguituuu
and animal strength have been worshipped,
there has generally been u corresponding
short-coming as regards mental
and moral proportions; even as tho
fabled Titans of Grecian and Egyptian
mythology were not more distinguished
for their stature than they were for their
imbecility and cruelty.
41 'Were I so tall to reach the pole,
Or grasp the ocean with my span,
I must be measured by my soul:
The mind's the standard of the man."
"Bjhold Goliath of Gath, with terrific
form and swaggering mien, stepping
forth to defy the armies of the living
God: and lol a pebble hurled by a
shepherd boy lays the monster low.
'Fling but a stone, the giant dies.' And
then look at Paul, a little feeble man,
pale and puny in physique, but grand in
moral majesty and intellectual strength,
causing the Roman Procurator Felix to
tremble in his presence 1
"Saul of the Old Tcstameut. the first :
If in rr of Israel, whs a man of Coodlv
? ? " F - w
physical proportions?standing head
and shoulders above all his fellows, he
must have had a portly and commanding
presence. Yet who can read his
history without perceiving that iu
character, in all that constitutes real
manhood, he was a poor weakling?
Jealous, pusillanimous, and irresolute,
he was kingly in nothing but in bodily
figure. Why, little Zaccheus, of Jericho, i
turned out a better man than he.
"Now the Christian church should bo
a manufactory of men. Here all the elements
of a true and noble manhood j
should be developed. The normal type J
of manhood can never be reached cxcept
in Christ Jesus. I assert that no man j
can be n man in tho full sense of that ;
splendid and magnificent monosyllabic, '
who is not a Christian. Till you come i
to this you are dwarfed,you are pinched, i
you are belittled; only from the moment I
of conversion do you really be^in to j
grow up toward perfect men, and tho
* - * * * * \ - _ t AL ?? |
stature 01 tne iumesJ oiunnsu |
What a fearful contrast is shown in the |
charge of Archbishop Jeffries, who, after
spending thirty one years in British
India, says: "For one leally converted i
v hristian as the fruit of missionary labor,
the drinking practices of the English
have made 1.0U9 drunkards.
The p >litical philosophy taught i
liijuor ^aloous istue jugglery of vice and
corruption under the guise of persona]
liberty and opposition to sumptuary
laws.?Demoreti.
MAKING DRUMS. ~~
A PLACE WHERE 1,200 ARE
TURNED OUT DAILY.
The Sonnding Skins Made In England?Tin
Barrels Supplanting
Woqden Ones?Tightening
the Drum Hoops, Etc.
The casual visitor would never suspect
that the quiet rural village of Granville,
Mass., sends out into the world thousands
of noise-making instruments,
cheap, it is true, but none the less welcome
to the average boy. This place
can practically be cal'ed the center and
heart of the drum-making business." It
turned out 200,000 lust year. It was in
1855 that the idea of engaging in the
drum-making business first suggested itself
to a Mr. Cooley. He had been to
Pit Wfield, where a relative of his, Samuel
Cooley, was making a few drums in an
old barn. Disgusted with the business,
Samuel Cooley was about to throw it up;
he offered it to his nephew, John, with
the remark that there was doubtless
money in it. Returning to Granville, J.
P. Cooley broached the subject to his
friend Noble, whom he found a ready
listener. They went to work, made a
drum, which is still cherished at the old
shop, took it to Boston, showed it, received
orders, and coming back invested
$4.50 in material, and thus started probably
the biggest concern of its kind
in the world. The first year they
built a little shed and altogether turned
out 150 drums, mainly of one pattern.
Year by year the business increased,
their quarters had to be enlarged, their
help multiplied, and to-day 125 men and
women are kept busy turning out daily
about 1,200 drums.
Within the last few years business has
greatly developed. The old-fashioned
arum with wooden barrel, which was
formerly the only kind in the market, is
being supplanted by the neater and
lighter model with a tin barrel. For the
manufacture of the latter tin of various
colors is employed, blue and red predominating.
though the larger Quantities are
made of a brass imitation. This tin
comes in sheets of two sizes, 14x20 inches
and 20x38, the sheets being packed in
cases holding 112. These sheets are first
sent to a knife which cuts them into various
lengths, from which drums varying
from six and one-half inches across the
head to thirteen inches are made. This
done the strips are each punched with a
hole, then secured and tightened together.
Hoops are placed on the inside
rims and the barrel is then ready to receive
the sounding skin. This is generally
a sheep skin, which is stretchei
tightly across the head above and below
and from the outside by hoops. These
skins are sent to the factory all ready for
use from England. They come in hogsheads
holding from fifty to 120 dozen,
and cost from $1.75 to $2.50 per dozenNoble
& Cooley expended forskins alone
last year $8,000, using mainly the higher
priced kind. Previous to using the skins
they are stretched and dried by steam in
the winter and.the sun in summer. Before
being stretched over the drum barrels
they are once more moistened, generally
in a solution of pure water or
water slightly tinctured with ammonia.
Then remains the tightening of the drnm
hoops. This is done either by strings or
rods. The first are diagonally, leather
i!..Li
U?[Utcaert? uciu^ jusaicu iu stiueu iuq
sound skins. The rod9 are hooked on
one eud and screwed at the other. Of thi3
latter kind the consumption is over six
times that of the old-fashioned. The
wooden drums differ but slightly from the
above. The barrels in this case are generally
bass or whitewood, occasionally
oak. The stray hoops are of oak or
beech. Eefore the strip of wood can be
used it needs to undergo many processes,
among others being bending, planing
and sweat ng. The first drums made
used to be boiled in open tanks, and the
limit that could thus be prepared daily
was less than fifty. The introduction of
machinery and more perfect methods has
increased the daily production, so that
2,000 drum pieces is considered nothing
more than one man's fair day's work.
It is interesting to watch the continuous
process by which a log, roughly
hewn from the forest, is transferred to a
drum barrel. The machines which aflect
this transformation are various. The
most important is that which does the
slicing. The log, no matter how thick,
is placed between the tce:h of this huge
| machine, usually being reduced to three
feet in length, and the slicing begins.
The knife receives it, and as the log revolves
the piece sliced is recived on a
wooden cylinder and then rolled up.
Seventy-five thicknesses make one inch
of the log. If, then, the log is three
feet through, one revolution will yield a
piece nine feet long, and the total length
sliced from the log would extend over
mile. Cutting machines further reduce
this huge sheet to the desired length. A
core of six inch thickacss is left, which
is taken out of the jaws and split into
drum sticks or ten pins. The veneers
are heated, then bent and are soon ready
to be shaped as a drum. There are also
planing and sand-paper machines, all
run by water power. The strips are put
through the beuder from three to six at
a time. The sticks are smoothed by
rolling in revolving barrels, the process
being continued for three or four hours.
This about completes the manufacture of
drum?, each part being distributed
among 125 workers in the factory.?Detroit
Free Press.
There is an artesian well 1,030 feet
deep in Aberdeen, Neb., that throws out
numbers of fish that look like the ordinary
brook minnow.
The School Marm.
Oh, School Marra?
Thou who teachest the youn? idea
How to scoot, and spankest the erstwhile
Festire small boy with a hand that taketh
the trick:
Who also lammeth him with a hickory
switch,
And crowneth him by laying the weight
Of a ruler upon his shoulders,
Oh!
Thou art a daisy!
Thou makest him the national emblemRed,
white, and blue?
Thou furnished the stripes,
And he seeth the stars.
Oh, School Marm,
We couldn't do without thee,
And we don't want to tiy!
Thou art lovely and accomplished
Above all women, and if thou art
Not married, it is because thou art
Too smart to be caught that way!
AU school maims are women,
Btt all women are not school marms,
And, angels pedagogic,
That's where thou nast the bulge on thy
sisters!
Oh, School Marm!
Thou mayest not get much pay here below,
But cheap educatiou is a national specialty,
And thou wilt get thy reward in heaven;
| The only drawback being that thou stayest
there
| When thou goest after it, and wo,
Who remain here below for our reward,
Miss you like thunder.
School Marm, if there is anythiug we can do
for you
Call on us!
Apply early and avoid the rush!
Office hours from 8 A. M. to 7 P. M.!
Wo were a schoolboy once ourself,
And can show the marks of it.
?Washington Critic.
- - ' :
'V V
POPULAE SCIENCE^
Professor Herzen has recently shown,
from vivisectional experiments, the inti<
mate relation between cold and. touch!,
and that an injury to the cortex of th<
brain that destroys the sense of toucn in
any region will usually also abolish correspondingly
the sense of cold. ^
Eugene Tyler, of Adairville, Ky., is k
wonderful young man, whose body seems
charged with electricity. He comes of &
good family, is well educated, and is variously
described as being a spiritual medium,
a living walking battery, a lightning
generator, and as navi ng fire enough
in him to run a locomotive.
Professor Thurston says when a drop
of oil is placed upon the surface of water
it first rapidly spreads in all directions,
forming a film of exceeding tenuity, and
affecting the waves as if a sheet or carpet
of thin, flexible, elastic and yet tenacious
substance, like rubber, had been
spread over the waves.
T* ia /ilonail tViot flia inr>rp?<A in fill* t
AW lO V/lUIUiVM bUMH VUW V* WWMW ?
number of persons us'ng glasses is fully
thirty-three and a third per cent, over
previous periods. This is set down ail
partly due to the practice people have of
buying glasses of unskilled persons and
partly to notions of economy in buying
cheap glasses. The number of opticians
has, of course, correspondingly increased.
The Medical Record reports that Professor
Windle conclude! from his researches
that man's origim 1 dentition included
six incisors in either jaw; thgt
two from each, jaw have gradually disappeared
; that this loss is due to the contraction
of the anterior part of the palate
; that this process of contraction will
probably go on and result in the loss of
two further incisors, and that the conical
shape of many of the supernumerary
teeth indicates a reversion to the primitive
type of tooth.
The measuring cf the candle-power of
a light is accomplished by comparing
the shadow cast by a rod in the light of
a standard candle with the shadow cast
by the light to be tested. By moving
the latter toward or away from the rod a
point will be reached at which the
shadow cast by both lights will be of the ~
same intensity. The intensity of the two
lights is directly proportional to the
square of their distance from the shadows,
i. e , suppose the light to be tested
is three times the distance of the candle,
iiinminii^'nn nnwAP ia ninfl times ai
HO UlUUilUUblug tf v> w ...
great.
A German professor spent twenty
years in studying.the habits and charac*
teristics of a certain snail, and learned
this interesting fact respecting it. Oil
the Pacific coast of America, where it is
found in great abundance, it is preyed
upon by a certain fish which abounds in
the Pacific Ocean. As an aid iji escap*
ing from its formidable enemy it has
been provided with an eye on the back
of its ncad. The same snail is found on
the Atlantic coast, exactly like its far
western brother in every particular except
that it has no posterior eye. And
the reason for this is that there is no cor* .
responding fish to prey upon it in tho
Atlantic Ocean.
At a recent meeting of the Physiological
Society of Berlin it was stated that
when the bee has filled the cell either ?
with pure honey or a mixture of polleudoucrh
and honey, and has completed tho
lid, a drop of formic acid obtained front
the poison bag connected with the sting
is aaded to the honey by perforating tha
lid with the sting. Numerous experiments
show that this formic acid preserves
honey and every other solution
from fermentation- If this bo well established,
it will show that the sti?g and
the poison apparatus of the bee nas a
further purpose than that of a defensive
or offensive weapon. Another interesting
fact suggests itself in connection
with this. So far as is known most of
the insects that have stinging apparatus
similar to that of the bee are collectors
and storers of honey.
WORDS OF WISDOM.
A good way to make children tell the
truth is to tell it yourself.
Things are ours that we may use them
for all, sometimes that wo may sacrifice
them.
No man is more severely punished
than he who is subject to the whip of hie
own remorse.
He that will not look before him will
have to look behind him?and probably
with some regret.
Mistakes are lessons of wisdom. The
past cannot be changed. The future is
yet in your power.
He is rich whose income is more than
his expenses, and he is poor Whose expenses
exceed his income.
If we hope for what we are not likely
to possess, we act and think in vain, and
make life a greater dream and shadow
than it really is. 1
It is impossible that an ill-natured
man can have a public spirit, for how
shall he love ten thousand men who
never loved one? i
There cannot be a:more worthy improvement
of friendship than in a fervent
opposition to the sins of those whom
we proiess to love.
Love is like a painter, who, in drawing
the picture of a friend having a
blemish in one eye, would picture only
the other side of the face.
A child who grows up loving good
books is saved from many temptations
that beset the empty-minded. He can
always find a good "companion; he need
never be lonely.
He is the greatest man who chooses
the right with invincible resolution, who
bears the heaviest burdens cheerfully,
and whose reliance on truth and virtue
is the most unfaltering.
As to IVlilsfcers.
Two fallacies arc in vogue regarding tho
whisker question, une is mat a ima<
.aced man should support side whisker?
to widen his face; the other that a
round faced fat man should favor lon?
cbin whiskers to lengthen his face. Both
are adopted on the counter-action an<$
antidote principle, but are wrong as
wrong can be. A man with a sharp
chin exposed is thin and appears thin in
spite af his Burnsides. And a moon*
shaped man gives himself a humorou3
and clownish appearauce by wearing a
long, sharp tuft on his chin. The principle
of conformity should be observed
or a wholesale change made. A thin
man, for instance, should not wear chin
whiskers, no whiskers at all, or a beard.
He no more looks well with side whiskers
and a peaked chin than he would to
stuff his chest and not his cheeks and
calves. To look well he must be uniformly
and consistently thin, or he may
modify it by a complete beard. A fat
man should bj smooth-fared or wear
universal whiskers quite closely cropped.
The well-proportioned and moderately
full-faced man may vary the style and
quantity of his whiskers with impunity
so far as tne thin or broad appearance ia
concerned. A very short beard gives an
animal look; if very large it indicates
vanity or crankiness.?Cincinnati
Graphic.
n 'ft-?L. . '