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r? I REV. DR. TALMAGE. I THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SP\I DAY SERMON. Subject: "The Christian Principles Involved in Ijife and Fire Insurance." Text: "Let him appoint officers over the land, d take up the fifth part of the land \ Of Egypt the seven plenteous years." I ?Genesis xli., 34. These were the worils of Joseph, the President of the first insurance company that the world ever saw. Pharaoh had a dream that distracted him. He thought he stood on the banks of the River Nile, and saw comiug up out of the river seven fat, sleek, glossy cows, And they began to browse in the thick grass. Nothing frightful about that. But after them, coming out of the same river, he saw seven cows that were guant and starved, and the worst looking cows that had ever been een in the land, and in the ferocity of hunger tney aevouiva ineir seven iutpitmevraavis. Pharaoh, the King, sent for Joseph to decipher these midnight hieroglyphics. Joseph made short work of it. and intimated the seven fat cows that came out of the river are seven years with plenty to eat, the even emaciated cows that followed them are seven years with nothing to eat. ''Now," said Joseph, "Let us tike onefifth of the corn crop of the seven prosperous years and keep it as a provision for the seven years in which there shall be no corn crop." The King took the counsel and appointed Joseph, because of his integrity and public spiriteduess, as the President of the undertaking. The farmers paid one-fifth of their income as a premium. In all the towns and cities of the land there were branch houses. This great Egyptian life insurance company had m.llions ot dolJars as assets. Alter awhile the dark days <jame and the whole nation would have j starved If it had not been for the provision ! they had made for the future. But now these suffering families had nothing to do but go up and collect the amount of their life policies. The Bible puts it in one short -phrase: "In all the land of Egypt there was oread." I say this was the first life insurance company. It was divinely organized. It had in it all the advantages of the "whole life plan," of the "tontine plan," of the "re served endowment plan," and all the other good plans. We are told that Rev. Dr. Annate, of Lincolnshire, England, originated the first life insurance company in lG'JS. No! it is as old as the corn cribs of Egypt; and God himself was the author and originator. If that were not so I would not take your time and mine in Sabbath discussion of this subject. I feel it is a theme, vital, religious and of infinite import, the morals of life and fire insurant e. About ten or twelve years ago there was a great panic in life insurance which did good. Under the storm the untrustworthy ana bogus institutions were scatterei, while the genuine were tested ana nnniy escaousnea, and where do?s the life insurance institution stand to-day? What amount of comfort, of education, of moral and spiritual advantage is represented in the simple statistic that in this country the Jife insurance companies in one year paid $'7,000,OUO to the families of the bereft; and in five years they paid $300,000,000 to the families of the bereft; and are promising to pay?and hold themselves in readiness to pay?$2,000,000,000 to the families of the bereft! They have actually paid out more by divir dends and death claims than they have ever received in premium.}. I know of what I speak. The life insurance companies of this country paid more than $7,000,00) of taxes to the government in five years. So, instead of these companies being indebted to the land, the land is indebted to them. To cry out against life insurance because here and there one company has behaved badly is as absurd as it would be for a man to burn down 1,000 Acres of harvest field in order to kill the moles and potato bugs?as preposterous as a man who should blow up a crowded steamer in AflnntU fKo mmvwo nf H^rnvinff itiiU'Aviaau^ ivi vuv |/ut w* -r .. ? j ?0 the barnacles on the bottom of the hulk. But what does the Bible bay in regard to this subject? If the Bible favors the institution, I will favor it; if the Bible denounces it, I will denounce it. In addition to the foracast of Joseph in the text, I call your attention to Paul s comparison. Here is one man who, through neglect, fails to support his family while he lives, or after he dies. Here is another man, who abhors the Scriptures and rejects God. Which of those men is the woi-se< Well, you say, the latter. Paul says the former. Paul says that a man who neg1^4-^ hit nmicwlinl.1 i< mnra nhnnt ious than a man who rejects tiie Scriptures: "He that provideth not for his own, and especially tho.se of his own household, is worse than an infidel." Life insurance companies help mo.it of us to provide for our families after we are gone; but, if we have the money to pay the premiums and do not pay them, we have no right to exjioct mercy at the hand <of God in the judgment. We are worse than Tom Paine, wor.se than Voltaire, and worse than Shaftesbury. The Bible declares it?we are worse than an infideL After the certificate of death has been made * - ? -1 aU.-a.. ?? nnccud aiwl OUL, CUiU CIH1 1) UI MAlj uujiiuitviwivu,^. the officer of the life insurance company comes into the bereft household and pays down the hard cash on au insurance policy, that officer of the company is performing a positively religious rite according to the Apostle James, who says: "True religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this: To visit the fatherless and the widow in their affliction," and so on. The religion of Christ proposes to take care of the temporal wants of the people as well as the spiritual "When Hezekiah was dying the injunction came to him: "Set thy house in order, for thou shalt di.9 and not live."' That injunction in our day would mean: "Make your will; settle up your accounts; make" things plain; don't deceive your heirs with rolls of worthless minintr c-+nr>lr rlfWt H<?<->(>]' Vft theill With deeds for western lands that will never Jrield any crop but chills and fever; don't eave for them notes that have been outlawed, and second mortgages on property that will not pay the first." "Set thy house in order." That is, fix up things, so your ,going out of the world may mak< as little -consternation as possible. See the lean cattle devouring the fat cattle, and in the time of plenty prepare for the time of want. The difficulty is, when men think of their death, they are afraid to think of it only in connection with their spiritual welfare, and not of the devastation in the household which will come because of their emigration from it. It is meaidy selfish for you to be so absorbed in ithe heaven to which you are going that you forget what is to become of your wife and chiiui on after you are dead. You can get Out of this world without leaving a dollar and yet die happy if you could not provide for them: you can trust them in the hands of the Cod who owns all the harvests, ai:i the herds, and the flocks; but if you could pay the * otwl tiarrloot. tlmm if. is fL premiums un n jwutj uuu -T ? mean thing for you to go up to hoaven while they go into the poorhouse. You, at death, move into a mansion, river front, and they move into two rooms on the fourth story of a tenement house in a back strec-t. AY hen they are out at the elbows and knees, the thought of your splendid robes in heaven will not keep them warm. The minister may preach a splendid sermon over your remains, and th" quartet may sing like four angels in t' e organ loft, but your death will be a swindle. You had the means to provide for the comfort of your hous "hold when you left it and you wickedly neglected it. Oh,'" sayB soma one, "I have more laith than you; I believe when I go out of this world the Lord will provide for th 'in." Go to Blackwell's Island, go through all the poorhouses of the country, and I will show you how often God provi'ies for the neglected children of neglectful parents. That is. he provides for them through public charity. As for myself, I would rather have the Lord provide for my family in a private home, and through ray own industry, and p it ;rnal and conjugal faithfulness. But says some man: ''I mean in the next ten or twenty ye irs to make a great fortune, and so 1 shall leave my family, when I go out of this word very "comfortable." How do you know you are going to live ten or twenty years? If we could look np the highway of the future, we could sae it crossed by pneumonia, and pleurisies, and consumptions, and colliding rail trains, an I runaway horses, and breaking bridges, and funeral processions. Are you so certain you are (ioin<; to live ten or twenty years, you ran warrant your household any comfort after you go a way fro.x them? Beside that, the vast majority of men die ix>or! Two oidy out of a hundred succeed in business. Are you very certain you are going to be one of the two? Rk'b one dar, poor the next. A man in New York got $2,000,000, and the money turned his brain and he died in a lunatic asylum. \11 his property was left with the business firm, and they swamped it: and then the family of the insane man were left without a dollar. In i eighteen months the prosperity, the insanity, [ the insolvency, and the complete domestfc [ I 4-U~4- 4.1 U. .. ?I i uui. Kiiau, iiiyio atu tucu *?uv ui^ solvent, who are solvent before they gat under the ground, or before their estate is I sett'ed up. How soon the auctioneer's mallet ; can knock the life out of an estate. A man thinks the property is worth $15,000; under j a forced sale it brines $7.00 ). The business j man takes advantage of the crisis and ho compels the widow of his deceased {partner to sell out to him at a ruinous, price, or lose all. The stosk was sup-] posfd to be very valuable, but it has been so "watered" that when the executor^ tries to sell it he is laughed out of Wall street,' or the administrator is ordered by the surrogate to wind up the whole affair." The estate was supposed at the man's death to be worth ?()0,000; out after the indebtedness had been met, and the bills of the doctor and the un uerniKer, ana irit* romusionu cuccer nave oeen paid, there is nothing left. That means the children are to come home from school and go to work. That moans the complete hardship of the wife, turned out with nothing but r needle to fiiht the great battle of the world. Tear down the lambrequins, close the piano, rip up the Axminster. sell out the wararobe. and let the mother tak-1 a child in each hand and trudge out into the desert of the world. A life insurance would have hindered all thit. But, says some one. "I am a man of small means, and I can't afford to pay the premium." That is sometimes a lawful and a genuine excuse. and there is no answer to it; but in nine cas>\s out of ten when a man says that he smokes up in cigars, and drinks down in wmr, aim in iu.\uru? uuuu^u niuney to have paid the premium on a life insurance policy which would have kept his family from i>eggary when he is dead. A man ouerht to put himself down on the strictest economy until he can meet this Christian necessity. You have no right to the luxuries of life until you have made such provision. I aimire what was said by Rev. I>r. Guthrie, the great Scottish preacher. A few years before his death he stood in a public meeting and declared: "When I came to Edinburgh the people sometimes laughed at my black stockings and at my cotton umbrella, and they said I loooked like a common plowman, and they derided me Ixvause I live I in a house for which I paiil ?25 a year rent, and oftentimes I walked when I would have been very glod to have a cab; but, gentlemen. I did all that because I wanted to pay the premium on a life insurance that would keep my family comfortable if I should die." That I take to be the right expression of an honest, intelligent, Christian man. The utter indifference of many people on this important subject accounts for much of tho crime and the pauperism of the day. Who are these children sweeping the crossings with broken broom and begjdns of vou a penny as you go by? Who are these lost Rouls gliding under the gaslight, in thin shawls? Ah, they are the victims of want; in many of the cases the forecast of parents and grandparents might have prohibited it. God only knows how they struggled to do right. They prayed until th 3 tears froze on their cheeks, tliey sewed on tho sack until the breaking of the day; but they could not get enough money to pay the rent; they could not get enough money to decently clothe themselves; and one day in that wretched home the angel of purity and the angel of crime fought a great fight between the empty bread tray and the tireless hearth, and tne blackwinged angel shrieked: "Aha! I have won the day." Says some man: " I believe what you say; it is right and Christian, and I mean sometime to attend to this matter." My friend, you are going to lose the comfort of your household in the same way the sinner loses heaven, by procrastination. I see all around me the destitute and suffering families of parents who meant some day to attend to this Christian duty. During the process of adjournment the man gets his feet wet, then comes a chill and delirium and the doleful shake of the doctor's head, and the obsequies. If there be anything more pitiable than a woman delicately brought up, and on her marriage day by an indulgent fathei given to a man to whom she is the chief joy and pride of life until the moment of his death, and then that same woman going out with ueipieds uuuaiun uu uci uuuk ias an ug^iu ivi bread in a world where brawny muscle and rugged soul are necessary?I say, if there ba anything moro pitiable "than that, I do not know what it is. And yet there are good women who are indifferent in regard to their husband's duty in this respect: and there are those positively hostile, as though a life insurance subjected a man to some fatality. There is in Brooklyn to day a very poor woman keeping a" candy shop, who vehemently opposed the insurance of her husband's life, and when application had been made for o policy of $10,000 she frustrated it. She would never have a document in the house that implied it was possible for her husband ever to die. One day,in quick revolution of machinery, his life was instantly dashed out. What is the sequel i She is, "with anno?L;ng tug, making the naif of a miserable living. Her two children have been taken away from her in order that they may he clothed and schooled, and her life i! to be a prolonged hardship. 0 man, before forty-eight hours have passed away, appeal at the desk of soma of our great life insurance companies, have the stethoscope ol the physician put to your heart and lungs, and by the seal of some honest company decree that your children shall not be subjected to the humiliation of financial struggle in thf day of your demise. .But r must ask the rmn engaged in life In [ suranee business whether they feel the iin-: 1 portance of their trust, an 1 charge them I must that they need divine grace to Lnlp them in their work. In this day, when there j are so many rivalries in your line of busi-, ness, you will bj tempted to overstate tha amount of ass its and the extent of the surplus, and you will bo tempt id to abuse the franchise of the company, and make up the deficits of one year by adding some of the roeeiyts of another year; and you will be tempte 1 to send out m ian, anonymous circulars derogatory to other j companies, forgetful of the fact that anonymous communication moans only two things ?the cowardice of the author and the ineniciency of the police in allowing such a thing to ha date 1 anywhere sive insi le of a penitentiary. Under the mighty pressure many havtj gone down, and you will follow them if yuu uave 100 iuucii ( (uimencu in yuui.seu, an 1 do not appeal to the Lord for positive help. Bat if any of yon belong to that miscreant class of psop'.e who,without any financial ability, organize themselves into what they call a life insurano company, with a pretended capital of $i00,()0.) or if-J'KJ.OKJ, then vote yourself into the lucrative position, and then take all the premiums for yourself, and then, at tnj approach of the State Superintendent, drop all into the hands of those life insurance undertakers whose business it is to gather tip the remains of defunct organizations and bury them in their own fault?then, I say, you had better get out of the business, an 1 disgorge the widow's houses you have swallowo 1. But my word is to ad those who are legitimately engaged in the business. You ought to be bet cer tnim oitier men, not only because 01 i.ie j responsibilities that rest upon you, but because the truth is ever confronting you t+i it your stay on earth is uncertain, an.I your life a matter of a few days or ye irs. Do not those black edged letters that come into your oSica make you think? Does not the do -tor's certificate on the death claim give you a thrill? Your periodicals, your advertisements, and even the lithography of your policies warn you that you are mortal. Accordinj to your own showing the cluneos that you ,wiil die this year are at least ~ per cent. Are vou prepares ior me cretneinous exigency? I The mo<t condemne I man in the judgment day will he the unprepared life insurant man, for the simple reason that his whole business was oonneete 1 with human exit, an 1 he cannot say: "I did not th'.nk." His whole business was to think on that one thing. 0, my brother, get insured for etirnity. In consideration of wh it Christ has done in your behalf, have the indenture this day made out, signed and sealed with th? red seal of the cross. But I have words of eucourag 'in >nt and comfort for those of my hearers who are engaged in the fire insurance business. You are ordained by God to stand between us an l tne most ragtug eminent oc nature, vv o ore indebted to you for what the national board of underwriters and the convention of chiefs of tho fire department have effected through your suggestions a:id through your encouragement. "We are indebted to you for what you have effected in tho construction of buildings, and in the change in tU-j habits of our cities: so that bv scinntifl* prin'i;>lo* orderly companies extinguish the fiiv, i:ist\md of the old time riots which u>ed t > extinguish the citizens. And we are in l:>'ote 11 > you for the successful demands yo:i have ma le fur the repeal of unjust laws?for the battle you have waged against incendiarism an 1 arson ?for the fatal blow you have given to the theory that corporations have no souls, by the cheerfulness and promptituda with which you have met losses from which vou might nave escaped through technicality of the law. I do not know any class ot' :nen in our midst more high toned and worthy of conldence than these men. and yet I have so:ne times feared that while your chief bu3in2S3 is to calcttfate about IcfcB"39 on earthly property, you might without sufficient thought go inlo that which, in regard to your soul, in your own parlance might be called "hazards," "extra hazards," "special hazirds." An unforgiven sin in the soul is more inflammable and explosive than cami)hene or nitro-clvcerine. However the rates i may be?yea, though th? whole earth were paid down to you in one solid premium?you cannot afford to lose your soul. Do not take that risk lest it be said hereafter that while in this world you had keen business faculty, when you wont out of tho world you went out everlastingly insolvent. The scientific Hitehcocks and Sillitnans and Mitchells of the world have united with thesacrid writers to make us believe that there is coming a conflagration to sweep across the earth, compared with which that of Chicago in 1881. and that of Boston in 1873, and that of New York in 1835. were mere nothing, Brooklyn on fire! New York on fire! Charleston on fire! Sin Francisco on fire! Canton on fire! St. Petersburg on fire! Paris on fire! London on fire! the Andes on fire! the Appanin is on fire! the Himalaya on fire! What will be paculiar about tho day will ba that the water with whifh wa nut; out eraat fires will itself take flame: and the Mississinpi, ami the Ohio. and the St. Lawrence, and Lake Erie, and the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and tumbling Niagara, shall with red tongues lick the heavens. The geological heats of the center of the world will bum out toward the circumference, and the heats of the outside will burn down from the circumference to the center, and this world will become not only according to the Bible, but according to sci once, a living coal, the living coal aferward whitening into ashes, the ashes scattered by the breath of tho last hurricane, and all that will be left of this glorious planet will be the flakes of ashes fallen on other worlds. Oh! on that day will vou be fireproof, or will you be a total loss? will you be rescued, or will you be consumed? When this great cathedral of the world, with its pillars of rocks, and its pinnacles of mountains, and its cellar of golden mine, and its upnolstery of morning ??.J i4-r* Unn^i'Amnl frtnf /\P fllfl OaO oKoll uiuuu, aim lbs uajsuiaitiui iuiiv vi wnw ooc*, .?*?* blaze, will you get out on the fire escape of the Lord's deliverance? Oh! on that day for which all other days were made, may it be found that these life insurance men had a paid up policy, and these fire insurance men had given them, instead of t >e debris of a consumed worldlv estate, a house not made with hands, eternal in tha heaven?. FACTS FOR THE CURIOUS. The word nolite was formerlv annlied to glass or marble surfaces, which we now style polished. Guns as weapons of warfare were first used by the Moors in Spain at the siege of Algeziras in 1344. The kingdom of Sweden commenced in 1011), by Amund; ind of Denmark in 1014, by Canute the Great. It is said that during its period of growth, Indian com dra.vs from the soil thirty-six times its own weight of water. Cavendish, in 17G6. discovered hydro gen, and between 1774 and 1779 Priestley discovered oxygen, azote and nitrous gas. Papin, a native of France, and who died in Germany in 1(394, was the first man to make experiments on the power of steam. One of the Massachusetts laws of 1617 requires innkeepers to keep "good beer," and the penalty for violating the law was a loss of license. A lady in Lexington, Ga., has a ball of yarn that was spun and wove during the Revolutionary War, over 100 years ago, and yet the thread is seemingly sound and whole. Among tnc eariy nomans coiumanuera i of armies were called "imperatores," but when C'a?sar became Emperor the commanders were called dukes or lieutenants of provinces. In the reign of James I. men and women wore looking-glasses publicly?the men, as brooches or ornaments in their hats, and the women at their girdles or on their bosoms, sometimes (like the ladies of to-day; in the centre of their fans, which were then made of feathers, inserted into silver or ivory tubes. II. A. P. Carter, King Kalakaua's Minister at "Washington, says that the Ha wuiiau language is a very easy one to learn. It is spelled phonetically, and as every other letter is almost sure to be a vowel, the pronunciation is not at all difficult. It is a tradition that an English bishop once learned enough of the laugnage iu six weeks to preach his sermons in it. Among the peoples who inhabit the region near S:anley Falls iu Africa is one which has a very peculiar copper coinage, rnncistimr of pnnrnious snearheads made out of very thin copper. One of these is valued as equal to 200 English pounds' worth of ivory. Everything among them has its value reckoned" in terms of copper spears. Tinpoo-Tib, the rich and influential Arab trader whose henchmen not long ago captured the Stanley Falls Station, has sent one of these spears to London. This tribe manufactures highly artistic metal work. A Queer Orgy. About the queerest orgy that has ever been recorded, we imagine, is described as follows: It might well come under the head of the lJevel of the Tube. While a mill (somewhere in this country ?location not stateU) was eioseu lor re* pairs, the long iron tube conducting the water from the canal to the turbine was painted with a mixture of benzine and asphaltum as a protection against rust. While the work was in progress, the superintendent, while passing by, heard sounds of hilarity within, which were not strictly in accordance with workmanlike conduct, and looking through the manhole saw the half dozen employes in boisterous mirth dancing nround painting each other's faces and clothes. On seeing the superintendent they invited him to come and be frescoed. Suspecting the cause of the dirticulty he suiu< fnrf!i rif rnun find milfVl uiwuuu a n* i iviw v* wv ? difficulty was experienced in removing the men, although before all were taken out, the remaining ones were already in a state of partial stupor. The open air revived them, although it was followed by a true blue Monday headache. The affair shows that too great care cannot be exercised when it h necessary to make use of paint giving oil hydrocarbon vapors in places that are closely confined. ?Mech<iii ic<tl .Xews. A Portable Telephone. Two Belgians, Colonel Kcnard and M. Nothomb, the latter professor of telegraphy in a technical college, have just made "known at Brussels a wonderful discovery?namely, a portable telephone, wherewith telephoning is undo easy on open ground from any where to any where by means of a copper wire worked by a small but astonishingly powerful generator of electricity. In warfare, soldiers could carry the ----- 1 ?.rtnl.l lwi f,i tiir.-ite \Vir?,\ iHIU numn '/>. ... with others by simply throwing the wire ami roll in" it around a sword fixed in the ground to form the circuit and then spe iking through a small box. The said telephone also acts as a telegraph, and can be u<ed as a substitute whenever telegraph wires are cut. Experiments made between Brussels and Antwerp show the transmission to be so pcrfcct that sound can be heard even at several yards from the receiver. The portable telephone already exist in Germany, but costs so dear and so constantly gets out of order as to be ioinracticabie.?Frank Leslie's. EELIGIOUS HEADING. God the Spirit. O Messed Spirit! let me feel Thy vital breath opon my heart; Thirsting for Thee, I lowly kneel, And wait till Thou Thyself impart. ^ To Thee my earth-dimmed spirit cries;' Change Thou my blindness into sight \ Give me from shades of sin to rise, And batho my soul in heaven's pure lig&fc. Thou canst to my weak thought unfold | The wonders of Christ's matchless grace; vuiwu wiu ittiiiu o iat isucu uuuuiu The glories of His unveiled face! Ii but Thy quickening breath inspire, This heart with fervent love shall glow; And kindling as with Heaven's own fire, Heaven's bliss, on earth begun, shi 11 know. Come, Holy Spirit! fill this breast "With Thy sweet, soul-transforming power; Be Thou ray ever-present guest, My life, my joy, from hour to hour. ?[Rev- Ray Palmer, D. D., in Independent. The Fragrant Life. A while ago I found an exquisite fable in an old, musty volume, and it is worth recalling. Here stands an old oak with its great, brawny arms, and which storm and tempest have only rooted more firmly in the earth; just beneath, on a turfy knoll, grew a littlo violet. u A ro vnn r?nf nchnmoH nf " coi/I the oak one day, when you look up at me, Jou little thing down there?when you see ow large I am and how small you are, how wide my branches spread and how littlo space you occupy ? You will very soon be dead and gone, but I live for centuries, and then my wood will make a mighty ship that will float over the great deep." But the violet was happy and content. It had no lofty, ambitious thoughts, but was quite satisfied with its lot. "Wo are both," replied the violet, "where God placed us, and He has given us both something. He has given you strength and mo sweetness, and I oflfcr Him back my fragrance and I am thankful. True, I mav soon die and be forgotten, but I am well luiiuuiii/, x iiuvc n*t*u 11 ugiuui, uuu J. uupo to die fragrant, and this is all I desire.? [Selected. Follow the Cloud. All that the children of Israel had to do in the wilderness was to follow the cloud. If the cloud rested, they rested ; if the cloud moved forward, then they moved as it did. I can imagine the first thing Moses or any of the people did when the grey dawn of morning broke, was to look up and see if the cloud was still over the camp. By night it was a pillar of fire, lighting up the camp and filling them with a sense of God's protecting care; by day it was a cloud shielding them from the fierce heat of the sun's rays and sheltering them from the sight of their enemies. Israel's Shepherd could lead His people through the pathless desert. Why? Because He made it. He knew ever}' grain of sand in it. They could not have had a better leader through the wilderness than its Creator. Ana. sinner, can you in all your difficulties, or doubts and fears, have a better leader than Jehovah? Oh! I like that good, old hymn: "Guide me, 0 Thou great Jehovah, Pilgrim, through this barren landl I am weak, but Thou art mighty, Hold me with Thy powerful hand; Bread of Heaven! Feed me till I want no more." Yes, that is the true prayer of the bewildered sinner. God is able, and still more, He is willing to lead us.? [D. L. Moody. Temperance in the Sunday-School. From the Golden Rule we quote the following, which we commend to the thoughtful consideration of Sunday-school workers: "Is temperance taught in all the classes in our Sunday-schools? A lady arranging for a temperance entertainment, asked some little girls if they could sing a temperance song. They had never heard one. Older girls were called on, but they did not know any. In the singing-book, containing nearly 400 psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, two temperance selections were found. It is said many children are sung into Heaven. Surely in this school few would be sung into the temperance ranks. iiA.. ?"n :M dahIam) V-/II OUIIUUJ X/U111C1 III XJUUJ iUll niU) IUU lesson topic. Now we know some teachers are enthusiasts on teinueronce. 'Does your teacher tell you about the poor drunkard sometimes?' said an earnest worker to a little girl. 'No; I guess my teacher don't know any drunkards.' To a vouneman she remarked: '1 suppose you took up the wine question to-day f 'No; we never discuss temperance in our class.' 'Your boys are wide awake on the temperance question, I hope,' she said to a gentleman. 'Well, I meant to have spoken on the subject,' replied the teacher, 'but they were so interested about /rnrHuno nrirl fhtt whm*PJllmilfcs ftf LL1C UUXJ^XXig, ^uiuvno vuw .. the golden candlesticks of Solomon's temple, I really had no time.' "If we are ever going to teach temperance effectively, we must begin with the young. Do all the boys and girls in our Sundayschools become temperance men and women? How many young men once in Sunday-school refuse wine on all occasions? Let any teacher not interested in teaching temperance review the class record of ton or twenty years ago, and see if all the boys are now sol)er n\en. Our children know who burnt the houses of the s^eat men of Jerusalem; do they know the facts concerning alcohol? Thev can tell the results of idolatry among the Jews; can rvf i?fomruiron/?A in thair HJt'J tcil I,UC CUOV.W VI iiaw?M|/v?u..vw ... vmwm own town? 'Cannot civilization put a stop to this crime against humanity (shipping rum to heathen countries)?" is now the cry of Africa. 'Whiskey Is king here,' is the report of our home missionaries at the far west. Why then, not have temperance as well as missionary conceits? A teacher says she does not know how to teach temperance. Tell them what the Bible says, and take your boys and girls to the drunkard's home. Let "the children see for themselves. "Do not let us content ourselves that scientific instruction is given 111 our public schools. If the work is ever done it must be done by the church and Sunday-school. There are at least ij,000.000 scholars and teachers in our Sunday-schools. What may not this great host do to crush the greatest curse on earth? The bitter, unceasing cry from suffering wives and children is heard round the world. Do we believe it? What will our Sunday-school teachers do about it} Do you feci that you could rlo more, pray more, or give more, and are tempted not to do it' Look at it again in the light of Gethsem?io and Calvary. How the treasures and pleasures of earth pale, like the rushlight before the glorious noontide sun, as we think of the appeal of the great Apostle, who himself had sacrificed all for Christ. "Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, though he was rich, yet for our sakes became poor, that ye through, his poverty might be rich." ?f Donald McLeod. All after-humiliations of our Lord were as nothing to the first?namely, that of His in carnation. The great humiliation was to make Himself flesh. That being done, the manger and the Cross, and all that lay between, were comparatively small considerations. "Being found in fashion as a man," is not half so surprising that He should surrender Himself to be despised and crucified, as that, being Lord of all, He should be willing to put on our mortal flesh. Self-intelligent men find diflirulty in conceiving Jesus Christ to be the Lord our God, but 6imple hearts never did and never will. The law is well known in Heaven by which the sweet mystery is "hidden from the wise and prudent, and revealed unto babes. "?[J. PukfoivL T^mpcrance News and Notes. The seventeenth annual convention of the Catholic Total Abstinence union 01 America | was held in the city of Philadelpliia, Wednesday, Aug. a. .. The British Medical Temperance Association now numbers 350 membors, all total abstainers. and 72 associates, abstaining melical students. ? The Washington Sentinel says: "Prohibition has destroyed every brewery in Maine, Vermont and Kans is, and is now engaged in that unV"'" ?- wa." The whisky pool of Kentucky "prohibits" the manufacture of whisky until October 1, 18S8. They have o0,00U,0U0 gallons of old bourbon on hand. Why not pi-oliibit until TEMPERANCE. Songs of the Wheat and the Corn. BOB IXGERSOLL'3 PICTURE AND ITS REVERSE. There's a wonderful fountain of liquid joy Flowing forth in a crystal riU, Forever and ever it welleth up From the misty depths of the still; Tri ifcfi wiHnninrr ^nnrsA /i_q ifc hnrri?a nlnrw I It circles the wide world round, And side by side as they drink of its tide The prince and the beggar are found, While poet? sing, so merrily sing, As they qaaff it again and again: "It is only the lifo of the wheat and the corn Which Nature hath given to men." "Come drink of this nectar, and feel the warm glow, Of summer and autumn's content; Thy pulse shall thrill like the breath of a June, When the sunshine and shadows are blent ! With the carol of birds, in tbe dew-spangled dawn, WJ uuu mo uttwu la nayriMJiieu wiui ugut. Men and maidens shall 9ing the ?weet "Harvest Home" In ravishing strains of delight, And children shall laugh r while they join in song, Re-echoed through valley and den: 'Tis the mingled souls of the wheat and the corn, Which the Giver hath given to men." While the world is enticed by the poef 9 9ong, I sit by the worm on the still; I chuckle and laugh with the fiends by my side. And a death-dealing potion distill. Such glorious landscapes I paint on the brain They seem but a feast of delight; Then I rattle my skeleton bones beside lill reason hath ned in attrignt. Drink deep of the cup of the river of life, Drink deeper, I whisper; aud then I crush out tha life of tne wheat and the corn While I rivgt my chains upon men. My victims I craze with the fury of hate; Then the helpless hand I guide Till the dagger is drawn from the heart of a friend, When I feast on the crimson tide. I carry the keys to the prison doors And the halls where justice goes, For Justice is blind, and she heedeth not The weight of humanity's woes; She hears not the prayers of the prisoned wretch All the years, for three score and ten, Whil* I rob the souls of the wheat and the corn j.o nuii tne souis 01 men. I mingle the threads of the woven gold Which kings are entitled to wear With a web so fine that kings will choose To sleep in a beggar's lair. I crumble the wall of palaces grand, And build up hovels instead, While maidens and mothers with anguish moan, And children are crying for bread: My vassals are shouting in fiendish glee From mountain, from forest, and fen, The liquid joy from the wheat and the corn, Is the river of death unto men. And who shall hinder its surging tide As it moans in a sullen roar? "The world is circled from pole to pole, Vn cfrmnrl qava ^farnifr'a cHnro " Forever and ever it hurries on, And the world with woe doth fill, For demons are building the gallows high, ] Enwrapped by the mists of the still. And I gibber and laugh in ghoulish glee, As I hide me away in my den: ' Whence cometh the souls of the wheat and the corn? Whither goeth the souls of men?' ?Ludia J. CadwelL . 4. What a "Little Bit or Wine" Did. ' Please, sir, I am sick. Do not arrest me for God's sake!" TUa-'a wnrrla t*rara in fllA mrv?f. Sim. plicating tones by a fashionably-dressed lacfy who stood in front of the Lieutenant's desk at Central station one night. She was evidently respectable, and was attired in a neat-fitting, 1 t iilor-made costume of the latest pattern, and her every action bespoke the lady. A beautiful diamond-set ring sparkled on a finger of her left hand and solitaires most brilliant shone resplendent from her ear-drops. She moved back and forth and grasped the desk to prevent falling. Her fingers appeared powerless, however, and had not officer John Kratz grasped her she would have toppled to the Soor. The sight was touching. One of those sad affairs?a peep behind the scones. The poor woman was hastily taken from in front of I +iir?cA who stfwvl canine at her and removed I to the cell-room. There she gave her name to" Lieutenant Rakel as Mrs. Maggie Moyen,ancl her residence as No. 114 Barr street. She begged that the matter be kept quiet, even in her condition realizing the disgrace which might be brought upon herself and family. She had been found in the yard of a residence near the corner of John and George streets. She w?s wandering about when discovered. A patrol wagon was called bfore any inquiries were mad, und she was taken to tha station house. As near as can be learned the young woman but recently arrived in this city. Her husband is connected with the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railway in a lucrative position, and thoy were married a few years ago in Dayton, Ohio. She had been shopping during the afternoon, and had colled upon several lady friends. At each place a little bit of wine was indulged in, and the result was that, being unaccustomed to stimulants, | sh'j became intoxicated. In the cell-room she | : got deathly sick, and the heat of the place inllamed her brain. She in turns raved and : prayed that her husband might be sent for, and again that nothing be said and she be ! permitted to go free. Hpr condition was certainly pitiable. She was kept locked up < uutil sib became sober, when a policeman escorted her to her residence.?Cincinnati i Enauirer. Worklngmen and Drink. T. V. Powderly says in the Journal of Uni'ed Labor: In the City of New York alone it is estimated that not less than $250,*? ? ???i r,,ui A/\A in 1 uwaaay aru s|wui> iui uumt, oa3 week; $75,0)0,000 in one year. Who will 1 dispute it when I say that one-half of the policemen of New York City are employed to watch the boings who squander $75,00J,000 a year i Who will dispute it when I say that the money spent in paying the salaries and expenses of one-half of the police of New York could ba saved to the taxpayers if $75,' 00),000 were not devoted to making druuk ards. thieves, prostitute?, and other subje-tl for the policemen's net to gather in' If $250, ; 000 go over the counters of the rumseller in one day in New York City alone, who will i dare to assert that workingmen do not pay , ono-lifth, or 850,000, of that sum? If workingnien in New York Citv spend $50,0j0 a day for drink, they spend $300,0 JO a week, 1 leaving Sunday out. In four weeks they spend 51,200,000?over twice as much money as was paid in the general assembly of the Knights of Labor in nine years. In six weeks they spend $1,SO),000?nearly three times as much money as that army of organized workers, the Knights of Labor, have spent from the day the general assembly was first called to order up to the present day: and in one year the workingmen of New York City alone will have spent tor beer and rum $15,000,000, or enough to purchase and equip a first-class telegraph lino of their own; $15,000,0(0? enough money to invest in such co-operative enterprises as would forever end the strike and lock-out asa means of settling disputes in labor circles. What Prohibition Can Accomplish. It is now said that the Panama Canal will cost, when completed, $(300,000,000, or five times as much as the original estimate. Even at this enormous expense, however, the American Nation could build a couple of Panama Canals every year out of the money which is now worse than wasted on liquors and tobacco. Give us genuine prohibition, anil then; is almost noining mis country cannot do in the way of paying out money almost without feeling it. The man who spends an average of only twenty cents a day for J liquor for himself and family, thinks it a very small matter; but if 5,000,000 of men spend twenty cents each, that is SI,000,001) a day, or 000,000 a year spent for unwholesome drink, by moderate drinkers alone, without saying anything about those who drink to excess. 1 he only reason why a simple sum like this does not at once arrest attention an 1 impress upon the public conscience the injury done to general commerce hy the liquor traffic, is that while the single payment of twenty cents seems insignificant the aggregate cost is so enormous as to b:j outside the range of ordinary comprehension.?2'/i . The brewers of Pennsylvania have formed nil association io ugtic rruniuiuuu, an., .n their call for a State convention say: "Tj-ftde is placed in such a positiou that wj j-mst fight or die." i ? - at ? ? ? WORD&OF WISDOM. To act a lie is worse than to ?peaU one. 3Ien are very much what women make them. There are few who arc good judges oi their own faces. An emotion has more influence with a women than a reason. If all the world were agreed^ it would ue a very stupm pmce. The good dog, if he does not Iwnt today, will hunt to-morrow. What is a noble ancestor wort& if the descendants are unworthy. It is only the weak and dishonorable that nurse despicable thoughts. Twenty years! That is long at any period of existence, but in youth it i? an age. Th? world could not go on if people gave up labor whenever it became irksome. How many hearts are eaten out in longing for what they have no power to reach. What ao achievement to know how to> bear a corrodiug sorrow without letting the ulcers-show on the face. Wealth covers a multitude of blotches, not only on escutcheons, but on bodily forms and mental characteristics. Every man has his chain and his clog, only it is looser and lighter to one man than anotheraind he is more at ease who takes it up than he who drags it. A very large mass of the poverty in the world is the sheer and clear resujts of profuseness, want of forethought, idle- I ness, and, most of all, drunkenness. As from the smallest seeds germinate I the noblest trees of the forest,* so from the lowest rounds o-f toil, rise men whose I influence is as world-wide as the paths of ; commerce. How Gold is Shipped to Europe. When one recalls the millions npon millions of dollars in gold that annually seek Europe to provide for the necessities of our import trade, the question of how gold is shipped to Europe becomes a curious and interesting one. The Bank of America, writes a New 1 ork corre jpondent of the Globe-Democrat, is the I largest single shipper of gold abroad, j Shipments are made m stout kegs, very i like the ordinary beer keg. Every one j contains $50,000 in coin or bar gold, i The latter is the favorite for these ship ments, since the government has p?r- j rnitted the sub-treasury to exchange bar i for coin gold, as coin in $1,000,000 ship- j ment is liable to a loss by abrasion of from eight to twenty ounces, from $128 to $320; and the bars only lose about three-fourths of that amount. When coin is sent double eagles are preferred. They are put in stout canvas bags, each : AAnfn?ninr? 10" fl AllKln Aorrloo A* Jttg tuuiuiuiu^j x -v-y uvuviv vnjj.vv/, V4 . $5,000,and ten bags fill each ke^. About j the only precaution taken against tampering with the kegs is a treatment of the i keg ends, technically known as "red- ! taping. Four holes are bored at equal j intervals in the projecting rim of the : staves above the head. Red tape is run | through these, crossing on the keg's j head, the ends meeting at the centre, | where they arc sealed to the head by the I hardest of wax and stamped with the j consignor's name. The average of insurance , is about $1,500 per $1,000,000. Then j there is an expense of $2 a keg for pack- j ing and cartage aboard ship, or $200 for the same sum; and the inevitable loss by abrasion, whatever it may prove to be. There arc great Wall street firms shipping from $25,000,000 to $40,000,000 annually. Some of these have insured themselves, and assert that the saving j lias been sufficient to replace the loss of I $1,000,000. These are large figures. But j this has become a country of large figures i and atfairs. Knmscliatkans aud Their Homes, j nhnrirnnftla nf Tv&mschatka and ! Kamschatdales and Koriaks; but little is ! known of their origin, and both have I decreased in numbers since the Russian j occupation. The country is now chiefly | peopled by Siberian-Russians, and by a j race the product of inter-marriage be- j tween them and the aboriginal Kam- j schatdales. This new race it is usual to , distinguish as Kamschatdales; and a J greedy, disagreeable kind of people they seem to be. They are of a low order, and live in summer either in wretched . . 1 _ . i _J i i.? ? LllltS l)J IIIC river uauns, vi iu m>g i above the sheds in which they hang their j fish. In winter they have semi-subterranean dwellings. Their habits and diet are alike liltliy; and their notions of lionesty meagre. The pure Kamschatdales, on the other hand, appear to be a kindly and a hospitable people. The houses of the better class of natives of Russian blood are usually < log built, unpainted, containing usually two, and sometimes, but rarely, four rooms, in which will be found a few chairs, a rough deal table, a tawdry gilt eikon of the I'ussian church, and any niiml>r>r nf mikroaches and unmentiona ble insects. The houses are in many places raised above the ground, either upon stones, like haystacks, or upon low wooden pillars. The floors are boarded, and the house is warmed by means of a hu<;e brick stove built in between the rooms, which develops immense heat. The diet of these "upper classes'' is?besides fish?milk, sour cream, rye bread and bilberries. The bilberry seems to be the only fruit in Kamschatka.?Chambers's Journal. The Hi? Prizes of Literature. The Philadelphia Preis gives some interesting information about the priccs paid to writers of books. Stanley is to ?et $30,000 f?rthe account of the trip lie is now undertaking. This is one of the largest sums ever paid for a single volume. Thackeray's largest income from any onbook was not over $23,000; Wilkie Collins got $20,000 for "Armadale"' George Eliot $40,000 for "Middlemarch,'' Scott $-10,000 for " Woodstock," and Macaulcy $100,000 for his History, 'l ne $494,000 received by Mrs. Grant for the memoirs of the General stands unique in literature. The earnings of the late Sylvanas Cobb, .Jr., who wrote those remarkable (ales for the New York L ihjrr, were about $10,000 a year. These an- the big prizes of literature, but thi>y illustrate the general fact that literary work was never so lucrative as to-day. The market value of brains gets higher as the world becomes more civilized. An Evening Concert. When the mantle of night o'er the earth is spread And the sky with its twinkling gems istarred. Again on the roof of the i?ok yam sneu The feline sit'u tiiul chorus is heard. Then the neighboring windows are upward vaisitl Ami wltibo-robed forms through the gloom wv spy, Ann swift from tho hands of men half eraz^jt, Tho showers of boots and bootjacks liv. Hushed for a whilo are the lullabies, And the wrathful people go bac-'^to But ere sweet sleep lias sealed t!>lr eyeo. The concert^ r?- U ned Oil another shed. i ?Boston Courier, % THE UNDERTOW. J A PHENOMENON THAT Ig PECULIAR TO OCEAN WAVES. ? m A Powerful Undercurrent That Frequently Overcomes the Strongest Swimmer?Curious Illustrations of Its Force. Every wavo that rolls up from the sea and breaks on the gently sloping beach has in it the elements of an undertow. As soon as the wave has expended its force the waters begin to recede. For a moment it would seem as if the sand was running away from beneath your feet, and no sound foothold could be obtained. Every bather has experienced this sensation, and the timid ones invariably grasp the safety-rapes with a little gasp of terror. If seized suddenly by a strong undertow they would have about , ' 3 the same feeling, only in the latter case the sand would all wash away under their feet, or, more accurately, their feet would be carried away from the sand. The sudden unbalancing of the body would be fatal to the bather, unless a strong rope was in reaching distance; for it docs not require a very strong current to carry a floating body out to sea. The Unfortuuate frequency of undertows near our beache3 makes it dangerous for bathers to enter the water unless they are well acquainted with the tides and currents in the neighborhood. The under tows are not | so marvellously strong as is frequently I quoted, but that they will often carry bathers off their feet and pull them quite a distant seaward is auite evident. When one ventures into salt-water up to his waist he is very light on his feet, and an undercurrent suddenly strikes him and washing the sand along with it is liable to upset him in an unceremonious manner. Entangled in the treacherous current, he would be carried hundreds of yards from the shore before he could recover himself, even though he be a good swimmer. As the undertows flow out to sea they gradually leave the surface of the water and penetrate deeper into the liquid mass, losing their force as they do so. Sometimes their strength is dissipated altogether when reachins deeo water and coming in contact with numerous counter ; -i'ijj undertows or currents, but more often they flow into some permanent current which travels the whole length or breadth of the oeean; hence objects that are caught near the shore by the undertow and carried under the water by the force of the current are likely to be thrown up ^ on the surfacc of the sea some distance from the bcach. The length of time that the objects will remain under water depends solely upon the stutngth of the rushing waters. This fact has been illustrated froquently in curious ways. Some ten years a^o a small schooner laden with a valuable cargo went down off Fire Island Lighthouse in the middle ? ? ? - /!?*? UUa V*n/^ cnMtn/v o 1 aolr UI U UlCill UUJ, kJUC uau o i;i uug a luaa, and owing to the clumsiness of the heavy articles composing the cargo the sailors could not reach the spot where the water wa9 rushing in. The vessel gradually settled down in the water, while the crew took to their boats and escaped to the beach. The exact spot of the accident was located, however, by the captain, and preparations immediately maac to raise the sunken schooner. The water was comparatively shallow, and ITttle difficulty was anticipated in getting at the wreck. But the wrecking crew and the captain were all considerably puzzled, when they attempted to find the schooner, at not being able to discover the faintest sign of her whereabouts. The bottom of the ocean was sounded in all directions around the spot pointed out by the captain, but all to no purpose. Finally the work was given up,and the strange disappearance of the schooner attributed to some of those mysterious workings of the sea that have in all ages astonished navigators and divers. The history of the wrecked boat would have probably ended there had it not been for an accidental discovery made shortly afterward. While sounding the sea off the lighthouse during a fog the lead from an ocean steamer came in contact with the rigging of a wrecked vessel, which was reported to the proper authorities on arriving in the city. On examining the place the lost schooaer was brought to light. She was at least three-quarters of a mile from the spot where she had gone down. On discovering later that during high tide a strong undertow frequented that part of the beach, the cause of the strange removal of the boat was attributed to it. It was supposed, and reasonably so. that when tho boat sunk, the undertow caught it before it struck bottom and carried it along with it, and finally dropped it in deeper water. In the same way the strength of the undertows have frequently caused considerable damage in carrying the sounding-lead of vessels along with them. On approaching certain shores the waters frequently become abruptly deep or shal low, so that the time between two "heaves" of the lead might be long enough for a steamer going at a moderate rate to run full upon a submerged sandbar. Cases arc on record where the lead has been thrown and the bottom reached s with a moderately short line, and then thrown again only to find no bottom at all. The fact was, however,that the bottom was nearer the surface of the water than when the first lead was thrown, but a strong undertow having seized the heavy piece of lead, the line was played out until it was brought ui> with a jerk when the end was reached. "The lead was hauled in slowly, as plenty of water seemed to be present, and only thrown again after the boat had run ahead a considerable distance. It did not require many fathoms of line to reach the bottom in the next heave; in fact, there was scarcely water enough to float the vessel. The signal to reverse the engines was given at once, but all too late. The boat ran high and dry 011 the reef before her head n ay could be cheeked.?Harper's Weekly. Pulled Bread. * A New York Times correspondent has garnered these {joints: Pulled bread? there is an edible that ought to be on every American table. It is designed to be eaten with cheese, and it is delicious. Tak.^ a loaf of newly-made brc.v!, and while it is still warm pull the inside out of it in pieces the size of your hand or smaller. Put these into an oven hju bake thcui a delicate brown. When cool they aro crisp, and full of flavor as a nut. Eat ?)i:.}l(.d bread once with your cheese and vou will want it ofte.i. a Poisoning by Ivtftw.c?. A ca>c of poisoning by nutmeg is re corded >u til'.' JJnCM .ue:i?.\u lourmuy iu which one nutmeg had Uvea cuti>n by a patient :?-* a cure for sickness. Ic caused him to Kvome giddy, stupid, and very . drowsy nil next day. The narcotic properties of these*seeds, and of others of the same natural order, dj not appear to be generally known, C.ud st'em worthy ot ' investigation. ' '^Tf' "'l ' ' X