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BHBM ~ v. I ^agrIMtural^ ma ? jm TOPICS OF INTEREST RELATIVE . TO FARM AND GARDEN. BgBj Rnles for the Orchard. jgflj Three rules iu regard to the operation Bgg -of pruning an orchard, and they will be hB ?hort ones: Kg Prune annnallv. Tf iudiriouslv done I none but small branches will be required to be cut, aud the wounds of those will soon heal. Make a clean cut and pare smooth with a sharp knife the edges of ihe wound. This will greatly facilitate the healing process and preserve the tree from decay. When the habit of the tree will allow take out the leading shoot at the height where you design to have the branches spread. A horizontal branch will produce more fruit than an upright one. Butter-Making, Then and Now. No branch of rural industry has met with greater change in its processes dur- j in# the last twenty years than butter I making. Then the milk was set in shallow pans upon pantry shelves, in the cellar, or iu nire cases iu a properly constructed milk-house. The dash-churn was almost universally in use, even when dog-power was employed. The process of churning was continued until the butter was ''garnered" iu a mass, which was then lifted from the churn to a huge wooden bowl, and the subsequent working and salting were laborious and -damaging to the texture of the product. The introduction of improved creamers and improved churns has changed all that. By means of the former, the milk is set in deep cans, cut off from all contact with the outside atmosphere and any possible odors or impurities. In the modern churns the butter is separated from the other constituents of the cream without breaking the globules, aud the process is arrestccl while it is in the granular 6tage. The buttermilk is easily drawn off, ami most ot tlie suosequent . working and salting are done in the churn. It is easier and cheaper to make uniformly good butter by the modern grocessts than it was to make tolerable utter by the old and unscientific methods.?American Agriculturist. Effect of Root Pruning. On a certain farm one year ago a roadway had been cut through an apple orchard, and to obviate a steep grade the soil was dug away between two rows in some places to the depth of 2? feet. The earth removed was not piled up against the trees, where the double covering of some roots and exposure of others might have killed them. It w;is taken away and spread for a road bed on the lower part of the orchard in line with the road. Now this spring, where the deepest cuts were made through the I bank, the trees on either side are full of bloom, while the balance of the orchard shows only a moderate amount of blossoms. Probably the trees were considerably injured by this severe treatment, but if properly manured now they will recover and be more valuable for it ever after. The trees on the bank had previously been unproductive, so it was not merely the reduction of excessive growth which caused them to b'ossom. Severe root pruning, eveu to the extent of endangering the tree, is therefore admissible iu cases of coutiaued barrenness, but such cases should be liberally treated afterward. Perhaps it was root pruning and manuring that was intended in the scriptural parable of the owner of an unproductive tree, who resolved to give it a further trial by digging about and dunging it. At least the best science of modern fruit growing could give no better formula than this for changing the character of a tree that had long been barren.?Cultivator. Best Fowls for Early Market. Good crosses are perhaps better than the pure stock when raised for market purposes alone, as they seem to grow faster aiid generally make larger birds, which point, of course, is always desirable to obtain. The breeder should, however, be very careful to dispose of all the half-bred stock at market time, for if they are kept and allowed to grow up on the nlflPP thoro i'q q r>Anci^nrnhln liohilitv nf their becoming mixed with the pure | stock, as they are oftentimes hard to I distinguish in looks, but the foreign blood wi:l most surely show itself sooner ! or later, and generally when it is least j expected by the breeder. i To one who has not given the matter ! much attention it would be surprising to | note the difference in the growth of the j different breeds during the earlier part of I -their life. For instance such fowls as the Houdans or any of the laying breeds will grow very fast for the first month or two, and generally mature earlier than the larger breeds do, while on the other hand Che larger breeds of the Asiatic classes are very sow in their growth for the first j month at least, but after that time they j seem to take a jump and then continue to grow remarkably fast until they are fully matured. These large breeds are j undoubtedly the best for market pur- j poses when they are kept all the season and so'.d during the fall and winter, but, I my experience has been that they are not j the most profitable to raise for thc'earliest j markets. a fv,r. k?.;n kn I xx viuoo i/cu' tcu vug mu uiwtuo u iu i much better for early market, and will ; partake some of the nature of both breeds. | ? Cincinnati Commercial. Healthy Hogs. It has been pretty definitely proved that fiith, impure water, and general waut of care are largely conducive to epidemics of so-called hog cholera, a number of diseases?lung, intestinal, and t blood diseases*?going under that name when more than usually fatal. In view of the fact that water-courses and ponds I are especially low this season, owing to ' the drouth, those who have droves of hogs should be especially careful that awine do not get water from these sources. Such water will be more than likeiv to carry the germs of malignant disease. The better plan would be to use only the water of wells, even at the expense of considerable extra labor. In addition to this, great care should be used that all the surroundings be kept perfectly clean. No less important is a diversity of food. The man who places his dependence on corn as diet for hogs, old and young, is generally the first to suffer when malignant diseases become epidemic. Swine is not only gregarious in their habits, but they are dej>endent upon a variety of food, and cannot be kept on one single article even as well as other farm animals. The sagacious man will easily understand the necessity of changingthe grain food of swine, as well as supplying a daily quantity of vegetable * 3 ???? s\f onr nlunfc fVlP 1UUU. l ni2> niaj tuudi^i' vi hogs will eat, including clover. So far as roots are concerned artichokes and potatoes will be indicated, and if swine can j be allowed to gather these for themselves so much the better. At the first symptoms of disease the feeder should look to the surroundsngs and remove all the animals to clean pastures, separating the 6ick from the well. When we find droopHis mmm.. m ing'ears, low-hanging head, diarrhoea, vomiting, rapid breath, and an aversion to light, the hog is far on the road to deathFarm and Garden Xotes. A good dressing of well-rotted stable manure and wood ashes, worked thoroughly into the soil, is the best agency for re viving oia iruit trees. Deans, on poor ground, rarely pay; tipon clean, rich soil, they are profitable. Sow in drills thirty inches apart, dropping four beans every foot. Allow enough new raspberry root? that come up from the base to grow to produce canes for next year's fruit. Trah) up these and cut away all others. Lay straw, marsh hay or other mulcb along the strawberry rows, to keep the fruit clean. If berries are to be marketed have baskets, crates, etc., all ready. Swedish turnips may be sowu on rich, well fined soil; sow in drills, thirty inches apart, two pounds of seed to the acre. Later thin to two inches in the rows. ** Use no stable manure on your peacb trees. A mixture of some kind of min eral fertilizers is better. Experiments have shown marl to be excellent for peacb trees. The true mode of cultivation is by a iudicious svstein of rotation. The soil may fail to produce certain crops and yet be rich and well adapted to some other kind. The best way for getting rid of wil lows, is to cut the bark, about three feet high, and peel it to the ground. Do it about, the time of the full moon, in June. Gooseberries are not grown extensively for sale, but every farm and garden should have some space devoted to them. "When well trimmed they make very rank growth. Oats on poor land are greatly benefited by top dressing. Even after the plant has bloomed, it is best to apply nitrate of soda, though.it is better to put it on earlier. There are over fifty poultry associations in the United States that annually give exhibitions. They have been instrumental in greatly advancing the poultry interests. Chickens will eat wheat when they are two weeks old, and they should be given plenty of it. When rapidly fattening, they should be given daily a small portion of meal. In pruning trees it is better to have one strong branch or limb than two or three weak ones. Some think a very good time to prune trees is right after they have leaved out. The soil should be so thoroughly pulverized that the tine rootlets can penetrate it. Ground put in this condition will produce a much larger crop than where the soil is left full of lumps. The artichoke crop does well the first year, but a satisfactory return is seldom had for eight or ten years afterward. Thus, after the first crop of artichokes, the succeeding ones become a nuisance. In estimating the worth of a fertilizer, commercial values are set only upon the nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash; sometimes the lime is considered. The wheat crop ordinarily removes forty-five pounds of nitrogen per acre annually. It is a great mistake to draw soil around the stem's of plants with a view of forcing roots from parts where nature never intended there should be any. Even when transplanted, the stems of no kind of plants should be set deeper in the soil than they originally grew. Gardening for pleasure, health, and a knowledge of the vegetable world are the highest inducements that can be set before one to lead to the study and practice of horticulture. On farms more or less garden work should be engaged in every ay, and by every member of the family, whenever it is possible. More castor beans are grown in Southern Illinois than in auy other of the States. The acreage reaches 20,000, and large factories are maintained for extracting the oil. In California, also, the bean is extensively cultivated and does well. A soil that will answer for wheat or corn will suffice for the castor bean. Tomatoes raised in light, rather poor soil in a sheltered or warm situation, are always sweet in favorable seasons, while those raised in rich soil or in partial shade are always sour. A rank growth of foliage shades the fruit densely, and interferes with the development of the saccharine principle. Again, tomatoes raised in poorish, light soil ripen ten days earlier than those raised in rich soil. For green manuring red clover,rye and buckwheat are especially recommended. Most soils will improve best under a confrnofmont nf rrrnon moniirinor blU v&V 11V/UIU1VUV jjivvu o fallowing. Auother says, however,when fertilizers are at hand, either as barnyard manure and compost, or commercial fertilizers, it becomes a question in many instances whether it is profitable to expend green crops for enriching the ground,or time in restoring it,withnaked fallows. There arc many advantages in diversified crops. It is better for the land not to continue one kind of crop on it for an indefinite time. It is easier handling a hundred acres in different crops than if all is in one kind. A few acres in one crop will demand attention at one time, and is soon taken care of, and then another one is read v. When a farmer is growing different crops he runs less risk, for if one is not successful others may be. For the foregoing and other reasons, we would urge our readers not to plant the whole farm, or as much of it as possible, to corn. What is planted get in as nicely as possible, and plant the rest of the land to some other crop. Feather eating, says the E. N. Farmer, is caused by idleness and a lack of suitable food. Strew -the poultry house floor with dry leaves laid up in the fall for the purpose, or use cut straw and r i :i ainLici iuc ^rniu iuuu su 111c iuvria ? n have to scratch for it. Give a variety of food in which wheat or bran or both form a considerable part. A litle cookcd meat occasionally will be useful, also finely pounded fresh bones. A little salt may do no harm; some feeders consider it indispensable to success. Much would be injurious. Clear corn and corn meal dough are imperfect foods for either poultry or other animals. Corn docs not furnish a suitable proportion of flesh forming material to make eggs and sustain the health of fowls. Cold City Facte. The Burlington Free Press man says* "Please send us a few cold facts," Here goes: The ice man now comes Bringing tins season's rates, And he sings the same tune, 'Trice never abates." And the man with the screens Presents his large bill, And the gardener soon follows With terms for his skill; And the boy with the hose . Wets you down to your toes. And a clinging mosquito Enlarges your nose; These are facts, cold and hard, As every one knows. Boston Globe. HOUSEHOLD MATTERS. Useful Hints on Pastry. Butter and eg?s for cake should always be beaten to a cream. In beating eggs beat the yokes until i you can take up a spoonful; whip whites J to stiff froth and stir them into cake with ! flnnr tlin lacf fliinrr 1 V**V UVU1 111V iUOV llllilg WiV* V cake into tins. Flour should always be sifted just before you wish to use it. Baking powder should be thoroughly mixed with the flour dry. ! To boil a pudding in a bag, dip bag (which should be made of thick cotton or linen) in hot water and rub the inside I with flour before putting in the pudding; when done dip bag in cold water and the pudding will turn out easily. Always put a plate on the bottom of the kettle to keep the pudding from burning. Preparation of Whitewash. Whitewash is one of the most valuable articles in the world when properly applied. It not only prevents the decay of wood, but conduces greatly to the healthfulness of all buildings, whether of wood or stone. Outbuildings and fences, when not painted, should be supplied once or twicea year with a good-coat of ' whitewash, which should be prepared in the following way: Take a clean, watertight barrel or other suitable cask, and put into it half a bushel of lime. Slake it by pouring water over it boiling hot, and in sufficient quantity to cover it five inches deep, and stir it briskly till thoroughly slaked. When the slaking has been thoroughly effected, dissolve in water and add two pounds of sulphate of zinc and one of common salt; these j will cause the wash to harden, and preI vent its cracking, which gives an unseemly appearance to the work. If desirable, a beautiful cream color 1 may be communicated to the above wash by adding three pounds of yellow ochre, or a good pearl or lead color by the addition of lamp, vine or ivory black: Foi fawn color, add four pounds of umber, I Turkish or American (the latter-is the cheapest), one pound of common lampblack. For common stone color, add four pounds of raw umber and two pounds of lamp-black. This wash may j be applied with a common whitewash brush, and will be found much superior, both in appearance and durability, tc the common whitewash.?Cincinnati Commercial- Gazette. Recipes. j Rice Waffles.?Boil half a pint oJ rice and let it get cold, mix with i't onefourth pouud of butter and a little salt. I Stir in one and one-half pints of flour; ; beat five eggs separately; add yolks, together with one quart of milk, lastly tht well-beaten whites. Beat well and bak? at once in waffle irons. i Tomato Salad.?Cut six ripe toma toes into slices and remove all the seeds rub a dish with onion and pour into il a mixture of oil and vinegar (in the proportion of two spoonfuls of oil to one ol ? \ fKn f/-\mofnoc: -npn. vmegcirj, opxiuivic uix mo rvr , per and salt, and leave tliem in the dressing two hours. They will then be readj to serve. Syrup of cnerr[es.?Procure somi fine ripe cherries, take off the stalks crush the fruit and leave them in thii 1 state for twenty-four hours. Then strait the juice through a sieve by squeezing . the cherries, and afterward through s jelly-bag. When the liquor is very cleat weigh it, and in a pint of juice dissolvi two pounds of white sugar; then put ii into a preserving pan; boil up once, anc take off the scum; strain it and putitintc small bottles. ; Ham Croquettes.?Take one-quartei of a pound of grated ham and mix with it two ounces of mashed potatoes; melt i piece of butter in a saucepan; add th< mince, season with a little pepper, aver] little stock,a little powdered sweet herbi and chopped parsley; stir until quite hot, then add, oif the fire, the yolks of tw< eggs; lay the mince on a plate to cool make it into croquettes; roll them in eggt and then in brown bread crumbs,and frj in hot lard; serve with fried parsley. i How to Boil Oxioxs.?To even quart of onions you will need a quart oi cold water and half a tablespoonful o: ' salt. Boil slowly for two hours, thci drain in a colander and let them gel cold. Make a sauce with a tablespoonfu of butter, the same of flour and one-hall pint of milk; rub butter and floui thoroughly together and add a littli black pepper; boil the milk and pour il over the flour and butter, and stir all th? time to keep smooth; put the onions ii ; the sauce and let them remain until th? sauce boils; the sauce ought to be ver] thick when served. Syrcp of Curraxts.?Take tw< j pounds of red currants not quite ripe, s one pound of cherries rather ripe, anc half a pound ot raspberries; take out th? stones from the cherries; crush the wholi together, and when well mixed leave th< fruits in a stone or crockery vessel fo) , twenty-four hours. Then put the whoh : in a wire gauze sieve and squeeze thi I fruits with the hands; place over th? | sieve a napkin well rinsed and strain thi | juice through it; leave it to run nseii. ! without pressure, for it should be verj i clear. Then take the strained liquoi i and to eaclupint of juice put two pound: i of best white sugar, pour it into < j preserving pan and set it on the fire, i After the third or fourth boiling tak? : the syrup off the fire, skim it aud poui . it into a pan or jug, and when cold pul j it into small bottles; well cork them and | keep them in a cellar or some cool place. Choked By n Black Snake. Mr. Karl Kramer, who is now at worh frescoing the interior of Mr. Josepl Bryan's residence, after getting througl with his day's work went to the brook i short distance below Mordecai's pond t< fish. While standing on the bank he noi ticed a large black snake coiled up on i ! log. Mr. Kramer struck at the .suakt I with his pole to frighten it off, but th< snake didn't move. lie then threw i rock at it. The snake sprang at him anc fastened its fangs in his trousers. Mr. Kramer seized the snake just below iti head a#d jerked it upward. Instantlj the snake coiled its fbody around Kra mcr's neck and began tightening its fold! until Mr. Kminer was nearly suffocated, lie endeavored to break the hold bm failed. Seeing that unless he was re leased from the deadly embrace he woulc be killed, Mr. Kramer, who was growing weak from the struggle, staggered up t< a large rock which was a short distanc off and beet the head of the snake againsi it, until it was killed. The snake meas ured eight feet long and six inchei around the body.?llichmond State. E. J. Baldwin's Santa Anita rancho, Los Angeles county, Cnl., has 1,20( acres in grapes, 10,000 orange and lemoi trees, 2,000 pommegranates, 3,000 Eng. lish walnut trees, 5,000 almond trees rt trnA A Ann nr??r q 9 OOl '6jV\J\J pUUULi -*,vvv ?.WM, ~ ~ , apricot trees, 1,000 fig trees, and sub sistence is furnished for 25,000 head o: sheep, 3,000 cows and pigs, and several hundred head of horses and mules, am 17,000 acres of grain. One hundred more acres of orange trees are being set EEY. DR. TALMAGE. THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUNDAY SERMON. "Thr* HnftVPno nncnert " Text: "Behold I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears, and ran upon Hin& with one accord, and cast him out of the city, and stoned Him; and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried u-ith a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to>, their charge. And when he had said thist he fell asleep."?Acts vii., 50-60. Stephen had been preaching a rousing sermon, and the people could not stand it. They resolved to do as men sometimes would like to do in this day, if they dared, with some plain preacher of righteousness?kill him. The i only way to silence this man was to , knock the breath out of him. So they rushed f Aiif r\P fltA rrflfoc r?f flm oifv onrl unfh I j uicpuvii uuu ui uuc gavco ui uuo y uuu ?i?u curse, and whoop, and bellow they brought him to the cliff, as was the custom when they wanted to take away life by stoning. Having brought him to the edge of the cliff they pushed him off. After ,he had fallen- they came and looked down,> and seeing that he was not yet dead, they began to drop stones upon him, stone after stone, stoue after stone. Amid this rain of missiles Stephen clambers up on his knees and folds his hands, while the blood drips from his temples to his cheeks, from his cheeks to his garments, from his garments to the ground: and then, looking up, he makes two prayers?one for himself and one for his murderers. "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit;" that was for himself. "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge;" that was for his assailants. Then, from pain and loss of blood, he swooned away and fell asleep. I want to show you to-day five pictures. Stephen gazing into heaven. Stephen looking at Christ. Stephen stoned. Stephen in | his dying prayer. Stephen asleep. First, look at Stephen gazing into heaven. 1 Before you take a leap you want to know I where you are going to land. Before you ' climb bladder you want to know to what | point the ladder reaches. And it was right tnat Btepoen witnin a iew moments 01 heaven, should be gazing into it. We would all do well to be found in the same posture. There is enough in heaven to keep us gazing. A man of large wealth may have statuary in (he hall, and paintings in the sitting-room, I and works of art in all parts of the house, but I he has the chief pictures in the art gallery, j and there, hour after hour, you walk with catalogue and glass and ever increasing adj miration. Well, heaven is the gallery where j God has gathered the chief treasures of His ' realm. The whole universe is His palace. In this lower room where we stop there are many adornments; tessellated floor of amethyst ancLblossom, and on the winding cloud-stairs are stretched out canvas on which commingle azure, and purple, and S'ffron, and gold. | But heaven is the gallery in which the chief [ glories are gathered. There are the brightest i robes. There are the richest crowns. There j are the highest exhilarations. John says of | it: "The kings of the earth shall 1 bring their honor and glory into it." I And I see the procession forming, and in the line come all empires, and the stars spring up into an arch for the hosts to march under. They keep step to the sound of earthquake and the pitch of avalanche from th& mountains, and the flag they bear is the flame of a consuming world, and all heaven turns out with harps and trumpets and myriad voiced acclammation of angelic dominion to welcome them irr, and so the kings ol! the earth bring their honor and glory into it. Do you wonder that good people often stand like Stephen, looking into heaven? We liave a great many friends there. There is not a man in this house to-day so j isolated in life, but there is some one in I heaven with whom he once shook hands. As I a man gets older, the number of his cclestial acquaintance very rapidly multiplies. We I Kovo T?r?f KoH />no trlimrvjA nf t.hpm t.hft night we kissed them good-bye and they went away; but still we stand gazing at heaven. As when some of our friends go across the sea, we stand on the dock, or on the steamtug, and watch them, and after awhile the hulk of the vessel disappears, and then there is only a patch of sail on the sky, and soon that is gone, and they are all out of sight, and yet we stand looking in the same direction; so when our friends go away from us into tha future world we keep looking down through the Narrows, and gazing aud gazing as though we expected that they would come out and stand on some evening cloud, and give us one glimpse of their blissful and transfigured faces. While you long to join their companionship, and the years and the days go with such tedium that phey break your heart, and the viper of pain, and sorrow and bereavement keeps gnawing at your vitals, you still stand, like Stephen, gazing into heaven. You wonder if they have changed since you saw them last. Ynu wonder if they would recognize your face now, so changed has it been with trouble. You wonder. if, amid the myriad delights they have, they care as much for you as they used to when they {rave you a helping hand ?tiH nut Ihoir shoiilrlnr under tout burdens. You wonder if they look any older; and sometime, in the evemng-tide, when the house is all quiet, you wonder if you_should call them by tneir first namo if they would not answer; and perhaps sometimes you do make the experiment, and when no one but God and yourself are there you distinctly call their name, and listen, and wait, and sit gazing into heaven. Pass on now, and see Stephen looking upon Christ.. My text sayss he saw the Son of Man at the right hand of God. Just how Christ I looked in this world, just how he looks in | heaven, we cannot say. A writer in the time : of Christ says, describing the Saviour's personal apperance, that He had blue eyes and light complexion, and a very graceful structI ure; but I suppose it was all guess-work, j The painters of different ages have tried to imagine the features of Christ, and put them upon canvas; but we will have to wait until with our own eyes we see him and with our own ears we can hear Him. And yet there is a way of seeing and hearing Him now. I have to tell you that unless you see and hear Christ on earth, you will never see and hear Him in heaven! Look! There he is. Behold the Lamb of God. Can you not see Him? Then pray to God to take the scales off your eyes. Lcok that way?try to look that way. His voice comes down to you this day?comes down to the blindest, to the deafest soul, saying:' "Look unto Me, all yo ends of the earth, and be ye saved, for I am God, and there is none els?." Proclamation of universal emancipation for all slaves. Proclamation of universal amnesty for all rebels. Ahasuerus gathered the Babylonish noble3 to his table; George I. entertained the lords of England at a banquet; Napoleon IIL welcomed the Czar of Kussiaana the Sultar of Turkey to his feast; the Emperor of Germany was glad to have our minister, George Bancroft, sit down with him at his taDIe; out ten me, ye wuu juiun i most of the world's history, what other king ever asked the abandoned, and the forlorn, ! and the wretched, and t;he outcast, to come i and sit down beside him? O, wonderful invitation! You can bike it to-day, and j stand at the head of tho darkest alley in all : this city, and say: "Come! Clothes for your rags, salve for your sores, a throne for your eternal reigning." A Christ that talks like that, and acts likci that, and pardons like that?do you wonder that Stephen stood looking at Him? I hope to spend eternity doing the same thing. I must see Him, I must look upon that face once clouded with my sin, but now radiant with my pardon. I want to touch that hand that Knocked off my shackles. 1 want to hear that voice which pronounced my deliverance. Behold Him, little children, for if you live to ?J will nnna tnree score yean> ?uu ic.i j ? so fair. Behold Him, ye aged ones, for He only can shine through the dimness of your failing eyesight. Behold Him, earth. Behold Him, lieaven. What a moment when . all the nations of the saved shall gather around Christ! All faces that way. All t&rones that way, gazing, gazing on Jesus. " Hi 9 worth if all the nations Knew, Sure the whole earth would love Him, too." I pasji on now, and look at Stephen stoned. The world has always wanted to get rid of good men. Their very life is an assault upon wickedness. Out with Stephen through the gates of the city. Down with him over the precipice. Let every man come up and drop a stone upon his head. But these men did not so much kill Stephen as they killed them selves. Every stone rebounded upon t.Uem. I While these murderers are transfixed b.y the ! scorn of all good men, Stephen lives in the I admiration of all Christendom. Stephen stoned, but Stephen alive. So all good men must be pelted. All who will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution. It is no eulogy of a man to say that everybody likes him Show me any one who is doing all hill duty to Stat-3 or Church, and Ji will sbarw ycm scores of men who utterly artrtior him. I If all men speak well of you, it is because you are either a laggard or a dolt. If a steamer makes rapid progress through the waves, the water will boil and foam all around it. Brave soldiers of Jesus Christ will hear the carbines click. When I see a man with voice, and money, and influence all r-i'nrVif riHa. and some Pflrififltlirfl him, and some sneer at him, and some denounce him, and men who pretend to be actuated by right motives conspire to cripple him, to cast him out. to destroy him, I say: "Stephen stoned." When I see a man in some great moral or religious reform battling against grog-shops, exposing wickedness in high places, by active means trying to purify the Church and better the world's estate, and I find that the newspapers anathematize him, and men, even good men, oppose him and denounce him, because, though he does good, he does not do it in their way, I say: "Stephen stoned." The world, with infinite spite, took after John Frederick Oberlin, and Robert Moffat, and Paul, and Stephen of the text. But you notice, my friends, that while they assaulted him they did not succeed really in killing him. You may assault a good man, but yoa cannot kill him. On the day of his death, Stephen spoke before a few people in the Sanhedrim; this Sabbath morning he addresses all Christendom. Paul the Apostle stood in "M XT .*11 vu iuuia xxin nuui cooiu^ a uouuiui ui philosophers who knew not so much about science as a modern school girl. Today he talks to all the millions of Christendom about the wonders of justification and the flories of resurrection. John Wesley was owled down by the mob to whom he preached and they threw bricks at him, and they denounced him, and they jostled him and they spat upon him, and yet to-day. in all lands, he is admitted to oe the great father of Methodism. Booth's bullet vacated the Presidential chair; but from that spot of coagulated blood on the floor in the box of Ford's Theatre, there sprang up the new life of a nation. Stephen stoned: but Stephen alive. Pass on now, and see Stephen in his dying prayer. His first thought was not how the stones hurt his head, nor what would become of his body. His first thought was about his spirit. "Lord'Jesus, receive my spirit." The murderer standing on the trap-door, the black cap being drawn over his head before the execution, may grimace about the future; but you and I have zio shame in confessing some anxiety about where we are going to come out. You are not all body. There is within you a souL I see it gleam from your eyes to-day, an I see it irradiating your countenance. Sometimes I am abashed before an audience, not because I come under your physical eyesight, but because I realize the truth that I stand before so many immortal spirits, The probability is that your body will at last find a sepulture in some of the cemeteries that surround this city. There is no doubt but that your obsequies will be decent and respectful, and you will be able to pillow your head under the maple, or the Norway spruce, or the cypress, or the blossoming fir; but this spirit about which Stephen prayed, what direction will that take? What guide will escort it? What gate will open to receive it? What cloud will be cleft for its pathway? After it has got beyond the light of our sun, will there be torches lighted for the rest of of the way? Will the soul have to travel through long deserts before it reaches the good land? If we should lose our pathway, will there be. a castle at whose gate we may ask the way to the city? O, this mysterious spirit within us? It has two wings, but it is in a cage now. It is locked fast to keep it; but let the door of this cage open the least, and that soul is off. Eagle's wing could not catch it. When the soul leaves the body it takes fifty worlds at a bound. And have I no anxiety aoout it? Jtiave you no anxiety about it? 'I do not care what you do with my body when my soul is gone, or whether yon believe in cremation or inhumation. I shall sleep just as well in wrapping of sackcloth as in satin lined with eagle's down. But my soul?fceforo I leave this house this morning I will find out where it is going to land. Thank God for the I intimation of my text, that when we die i Jesus takes us. That answers all questions for me. What though there were massive bars between here and the city of light, Jesus could remove them. What though there were great Saharas of darkness, Jesus could illume them. What though I get weary on the way, Christ could lift mo on His omnipotent shoulder. What though there wore chasms to cross. His hand could transport me. Then let Stephen's prayer be my dying litany: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." It may be in that hour we shall be too feeble to say a long prayer. It may be in that hour we will not be able to say the " Lord's Prayer," for it has seven petitions. Pe rhaps we may be too feeble even to say the infant prayer our mothers taught us, which John Quincy Adams, seventy years of age, ' said every night when he put rns head upon his pillow: "Now I lay me down to sleap, I pray the Lord my soul to keep." We may be too feeble to employ either of these familiar forms; but this prayer of Stephen is so short, is so concise, is so earnest, is WA QlllHilw will hft flhlA t/*fc SU tuuipi gucxui > oj ??w oui \saj ww ?u MV wvaw say that: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." 0, if that prayer is answered, how sweet it will be to die! This world is clever enough to ns. Perhaps it has treated us a great deal better than we deserved to be treated; but if on the dying pillow there shall I break the light of tliat better world, we shall I have no more regret about leaving a small, dark, damp house for one large, beautiful, and capacious. That dying minister in Phil- I adjilpbia, some years ago, beautifully depicted [ it when, in tho last moment, be threw up his hands and cried out: "I move into the light!" Pass on now and I will show one more picture, and that is Stephen asleep. With a pathos and simplicity peculiar to the Script-' ures the text says of Stephen: "He fell asleep." "O," you say, "what a place that was to sleep! A hard rock under him, stones falling down upon him, the blood streaming, the mob howling. What a place it was to sleep!" And yet my text takes that symbol of slumber to describe his departure, so sweet was it, so contented was it, so 1 peaceful was it. Stephen had lived | a very laborious life. His chief work had been to care for the poor. How many loaves of- bread he distributed, how many bare feet he had sandaled, how many cots of sickness and distress he blessed with ministries of kindness and love, I do not know; but from the way he lived, and the way he preached, and the way h? died, I know he was a laborious Christian. But that is all over now. He has pressed the cup to the last fainting lip. He has taken the last insult from his enemies. The last stone to whose crushing weignc ne is | susceptible has been hurled. Stephen is dead! The disciples come. They take him up. They wash away the blood from the wounds. They straighten out the bruised limbs. They brush back the tangled hair from the brow, and then they pass around to look upon the calm countenance of him who had lived for the poor and died for the truth. Stephen asleep! I have seen the sea driven with the hurricane until the tangled foam caught in the rigging, and wave rising above wave seemed as if about to storm the heavens, and then I have seen the tempest drop, aud the waves ( crouch, and everything become smooth and burnished as though a camping place for the glories of heaven. So I have seen a man, whose life has been tossed and driveu, coming down at last to an infinite calm, iu which there was the hush of heaven's lullaby. Stephen asleep! I saw such an one. He fought all his days against poverty and against abuse. They traduced his name. They rattled at the door knob while he was dying, with duns for debts he could not pay; yet the peace of God brooded over his pillow, and while the world faded, heaven dawned, and the deepening twilight of earth's night was only the opening twilight of heaven's morn. Not a sigh. Not a tear. Not a struggle. Hush! Stephen asleep! I ^-11 I have not tfie iacuity 10 wju uw noamoi. . I can never tell by the setting sun whether I there will be a drought or not. I cannot tell by the blowing of the wind whether it will be fair weather or foul weather on the morrow. But I can prophesy, and I will prophesy what weather it will be when you, the Christian, come to die. You may have it very rough now. It may be this week one annovance, the next another annoyance. It may be this year one bereavement, the next another bereavement. Before this year has passed you may have to beg for bread, or ask for a scuttle of coal, or a pair of shoes; but spread your death couch amid the leaves of the forest, or make it out of the straw of a pauper's hut, the wolf in the jungle howling close by, or inexorable creditors jerkjng the pillow from uuder your dying head?Christ will come in and darkness will go out. And though there may be no hand to close your eyes, i and no breast on which to rest your dying ima/i ami no candle to lift the night, the | odors of God's hanging garden will regale your soul, and at your bedside will halt the chariots of the king. No more rents to pay; no more agony because flour has gone up; no more struggle with the world, the flesh, and the devil;""but peace?long, deep, everlasting peace. Stephen asleep I " Asleep In Jesus, blessed rtsep, From which none ever wake to weep; A calm and undisturbed repose, Uninjured by tho laat of foes. " Asleep In Jesus, far from thee Thy kindred and their graves may be; But there is still a blessed sleep. From which none ever wake to weep." You have seen enough for one morning. No one can successfully examine more than five pictures in a day. Therefore we stop, hav ing seen ims cluster or umne napnaeis? Stephen gazing into heaven; Stephen looking at Christ; Stephen stoned; Stephen in lua dying prayer; Stephen asleep. TEMPERANCE. The Gospel Temperance Ship. See the wake of light, And canvas as white As the foam on the waves of the sea? The swift-sailing ship Is making her trip Round the world, and the wind's blowing free. A flag is made fast To the tapering mast? xis ine nag inac win conquer ana save; The cross and the stars, More potent than Mare, Fly with the white-winged ship on the wave, On deck, firm and true, Stand Captain and crew. "Stand by the mast!" the commander cries; And the canvas crowds Like clouds upon clouds, And winds of heaven come down from thl skies. All hail to tbe ship That's making her trip To every land that the sun shines oat Her banners of light Will banish the night. Many a fight for the right she has won. With Faith at the helm. No storm can o'erwhelm Our ship. He who masters the sea Winds and waves obey, As they did that day When he calmed the storm-swept Galilee. May fair wind3 blow The sails white as snow In the soft light of the guiding star, And speed the good ship That is making her trip To the nations anear and afar! ?George W. Bungay, in National Advocate. Labor and the Drink-Habits. In a thoughtful article ou " Drink and La" it i.u~ c?. t /t 4 j nj, ~arj?.^r LKJI, LUU Ob. XJUU13 uciurui VW UtIUIt auiu corte says: " Labor reformers contend that the destititution and want of the poor are caused by inadequate wages. The standing formula by which they express their chief grievance is: 'Wage workers do not get a fair share of the joint product of capital and labor.' This means simply that wages are too low, and is doubtless true. But one cause of low wages is the drinking-habits of workmen. Sober labor has to compete with the labor of drinking men, and this not only lowers the general average of wages, but actually makes the wages of sober men less than they would be if all were sober. A witness before the Senate Committee testified that 'drinking workmen keep wages down to the rate they themselves can command. They are obliged to sell their half-drunken labor at the lowest figure,and when pressure comes they have no reserves, and so must go into the market and accept what they can obtain.' The drinkhabits of working people also lessen wages in another way: wages depend upon the demand for labor, which,in turn, depends upon the demand for the products of labor, which in turn, depends upon the purchasing power of the people. The enormous sums wasted by the poor in drink would,if not so spent, be used by them to purchase the products of legitimate industry, and would greatly increase the demand for these products, and thus the demand for and price of labor would be increased. The waste in drink by the rich and well-to-do classes does not tend in this way to reduce wages, because they have the means to buy all they want of other things. But two-thirds of the $900,000,000 drink-bill of this country, or $000,000,000, is paid by wage-workers, and this is all needed by them to procure food, clothing, fuel and homes, with whatever is necessary to make them comfoi-table and a44MA/tf{?ra< Arts? fUo orrootai* narf. nf if. txrrtiilri auci ai/UiTc1 uuu vu? gAvwbv* ? w *v vuiu^ but for their drink-habits, be spent for these purposes Add to the $600,000,000 they pay for drink as much more lost in time, wasted by drinking men, and the sum, $1,200,000,000 would still be below the actual amount annu ally withdrawn from the purchasing power of the poor and from the industries that furnish labor and wages. In the light of these facte it is clear that what is called over-proproduction is largely due to the under-consumption of people impoverished by drink. It is equally clear that wages are very appreciably diminished by this under-consumption." Prosperity of Maine. The opponents of Prohibition make a great outcry against it as injurious to the general business interests of the community. Atlanta, they say, is. being ruined by it, though by authentic testimony the fact is well attested that the past has been the most prosperous business year in its history. Maine, which, according to the liquor fraternity, has been many times ruined, also appears to be in a most prosperous condition. The Lewiston (Me.) Journal in an editorial on the present encouraging business outlook in that State, entitled ''Maine's Faith in Maine." says: "Probably there never was a time when Maine people had more faith in Maine's future than now. Ask most anv man vou meet what are the prospects in his vicinity, and nine chances to one he will answer tbiat the outlook in his county never was better." Again it says: "The fact is, few towns feel poor. Why should they? In the great majority of cases the town debt is steadily decreasing or has already disappeared entirely, and with mouey in the treasury, few paupers, and a good business prospect, why should not a town show its good circumstances by its better apparel?" It also adds, with much significance: "People no longer stand back and call for outside capitalists to give them a lift, but they take hold and help themselves." There are many localities in anti-Prohibition State3 which could endure that sort of "ruin" with great complacency! ?National Advocate. How Men Drink Farms. The Plowman, in a characteristic way, tells how men "drink farms:" My homeless friend with the chromatic nose, while you are stirring up the sugar in that ten-cent glass of gin, let me give you a *** *+ ^Awn with Vmi sav VOU have for years longed for the free, indef endlife of the farmer, out have never been1 able to get enough money together to buy a farm. But that is just where you are mistaken. For several years you have been drinking a good improved farm at the rate of one hundred square feet a gulp. If you doubt this statement, figure it out yourself. An acre of land contains 1'orty-three thousand five hundred and sixty square feet. Estimating, for convenience sake, the lands at per acre, you will see that brings the land to just one mill per square foot, one cent for ten square feet. Now pour the fiery dose, and imagine you are swallowing a strawberry patch. Call in five of your friends and have them help you gulp down that five hundred foot garden. Get on a prolonged spree some day, and see how long a time it requires to swallow a pasture large enough to feed a cow. Put down that glass of gin: there's dirt in it?one hundred square feet of good, rich dirt, worth ?43.50 per acre. Something About Restrictive Laws. Prohibitionists do not question the sincerity of thousands of the misguided temperance reformers who favor High Licensa as an alleged "restrictive measure," nor is the Prohibition opposition due to any disposition to refuse i "half a loaf." The simple ground of the Prohibition opposition is this: High License, or """ fni-m nf lr.*nse. is not restrictive, but positively strengthening to the saloon. Facts indisputably prove this statement. Proof in a nut shell is seen in the fact that since the < license system has been operative in this country, the consumption of liquors per capita has increased tenfold faster than the population. The reason of the increase is that the license fee is an incentive to sales, ! and the higher the fee the greater the incentive. The government tax of ninety cents per gallon is an excessively high fee, but since 1 its imposition the consumption of liquors has * increased from about four and a half to 1 twelve gallons per capita.?Connecticut 1 Home. ( With certain recent cases of atrocious mui'- , der of prominent temperance men committed ?. 4.1. i..,nnnitv bv liouors-sellera in mind, the W1UU liwj/w-v -a - A Burlington (Iowa) Free Press, with biting sarcasm, represents a prominent lawyer replying to the question of an Iowa citizen: "Is it murder to kill a man?' "Yes, in every instance except when he is trying to suppress th9 liquor traffic!" RELIGIOUS READING. The liar of Faith. <4T VlOflr f Vl Q OAlin^ okiin/liinAA Af rain." What an ear had Elijah ! Not s speck or cloud above the hori on. For three and a lialf long years that brazen sky had not let i all a single drop of raia upon the parched fields, or distilled a drop of dew upon the grass. Did he hear the rain pattering down upon the blue Mediterranean? Did he hear the stormwind roaring on the far off Adriatic? Did he hear it lashing the iEgean into fury and breaking on all its thousand isles? No; his was the ear of faith. Hast thou decided for God? The blessing is imminent:1 The springs start the fountains begin to flow, the famine is over. Tune thine ear and prepare thine heart. Look for the blessing. Look m the right direction. Clouds arise from the sea. Elijah did not look toward the desert. From thence nc rains came. If you have become 8 Christian, don't look for God's blessing immediately upon your merchandise. That may come, and it may not. But look in the right direction; look to your higher spiritual self. Look often; "go again, go seven times," and first you shall see a speck. *'First a speck, and then a vulture; then the air is filled with pinion3." First a speck, and then a cloud of mercy. W. J. Frazeb. Talking 1'aiUrn Up and Talking Them Down. The Religious Herald of Hartford makes a suggestion on a certain kind of pastoral support which it holds to be '- W more important than an abundance ol bank notes. The suggestion might b4 profitable any time, but some parishes in n * n j. H? J !.1 cue vicinity 01 jdubiou may imu it specially timely just now. The illustration, which the Herald takes as the basis of the suggestion, is the case of Dr. Jame? Shaw, pastor of the Brick Presbyterian church of Rochester, N. Y. After he bad been settled several years, there began to be expressions of dissatisfaction with his qualities as a preacher, and many of the members were discussing the question Whether it might nol be best for them to get another pastor. The congregition fell off, and the state of things was becoming quite deplorable. At thif junctuie two prominent business men, who attended the church, talked over the situation, and concluded to advise the church to change its course at once, They said: "ilr. Bhaw is not a great preacher, but he is a good man, and we. all have confidence in him. I(ow, * instead of talking him down, let us talk . - him up," This advice was given and acted on. A marked change was soon apparent. The congregation rapidly increased, and the church prospered. Dr. Shaw has been the pastor 47 years, and is still active and influential, and the church has a membership of 1500. The story carries its own moral with it. If more churches adopted the practice of talking their pastor up, instead ol talking them "down, there would b? fewei instances of pastoral relation* hastily and unwisely severed. The Ualn of Loll, "Thinks bo unto Thee. 0 Lord, for all our dear ones who aro safo at home, having passed over the nver and catered into the rest that rem&incth for Thy people." The words formed part of tho prayer preceding tho sermon, and my heart thrilled in response to tho minister's thought, as memory quickly gathered into a shining cluster the - names of my own beloved who are no longer in this world, but who have taken up their abode forever in the city of God. "Eeautifui city, built above!" One by one they are going to it, who walk as pilgrims here. One by ono we aro going to it, we know not how soon, aud life takes on deeper meanings and clothe* itself in fairer colors, bccause every daj is a stepping stone to Heaven. As life goes on, with its many changes, it comes to pass often, that the aged grow very lonely. Their boys and girla are married aud gone. They arS absorbed in life's many interests, and though they love their parents still, they have not much time to spend with them. 13y-and-by, the one who stays with mother is not tho mid dio-aged, common-placc business man who was her Ned, or her Johnny, long ago. She half wonders sometimes if he ever was indeed her boy, to be kissed aud potted and chidden. She loves him and leans on him, and lie loves her, but does not abide with her, as the baby does, who wont away many HUU mau* ? amw. little child who fell asleep in Jesus, is the child forever in her tender memory, and she hears tho music of its lisping voice and the patter of its tiny feet as she sits by herscil ia tnc gloaming, una the evening star comes out iu the sky. Precious and vital is that gain of loss which is outlined in the words of Scripture: "From patience experience, and from experience hope.1' "Because thou hast been my help, therefore in tho shadow of thy wings will I rejoice." Help implies need. Wo realize tho strength of a helping hand when wo are in extremity. So it ia after loss and after sorrow, that wc roach the rich fruitage of confidence in Him who camo closest when wo wanted Him most. William R. Stocking, Superintendent^ of the Workhouse, Black well's Island, New York city, has sent Mayor Hewitt a statement showing the good effects of enforcing the Sunday law by closing the city's saloons / Dn that dry. He says that most of those who are sent to the Workhousa are committed on a charge of drunkenness or disorderly conduct, and shows that the number of persons 3ent there during the past month was thirtysix per cent, less than the number for the previous month. Petroleum V. Nasby?D. R. Locke, editor of the Toledo (Ohio) Blades&ys: "A politician may safely snub the church, but he grovels in the dust before the wielder of the beer mallet.