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bgn w Mtleor. talmage. THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUN HHBH DAY SER3IOX. Subject: "The Decoration of th? Soul/' (Preached at Fort Scott, Kansas.) Text: ''Pat a ring on his hand.Luk? HH XV., 22: nn I will not rehearse the familiar story of the fast young man of the parable. You MHI know what a splendid home he left. You know what a hard timo he had. And you remember how after that season of vngahQMBO bondage and prodigality be resolved to go MWQH and weep out l.is sorrows on the bosom of parental forgiveness. Well, there is great excitement one day in front of the door of the old farm house. The servants come rushing up and say:''What's the matter' What is the matter r' But before they quite arrive MHO the old man cries oat: "Put a ring on his band." What a seemiag absurdity! What hBBH can such a wretched mendicant as this fellow * * 1 ' i j ka?aa I_ b"C "1'IV with a ring? Oh, he is the prodigal son. No i more tending of the swine trough. No mtrs longing (or the pods of the carob tree. No more blistered feet. Off with the rags! Cn with the robe! Out with the ring! Even so does God receive every one of us when we come back. There are gold rings, and pearl rings, and cornelian rings, and diamond rings; but the richest ring that ever flashed of the vision is that whicn our father puts ' upon a forgiven souL I know the impression is abroad among some people that religion bemeans and belittles a man; that it takes all the sparkle out of his soul; that he has to exchange a royStering independence for an ecclesiastical gtrait jacket Not so. When a man becomes a Christian, he does not go down, he start3 upward. Religion multiplies one by ten thousanJ. Nay, the multiplier is infinity. It is not a blotting out?it is a polishing, it is Ian arborescenee, it is an efflorescence, it is an | Irradiation. When a man comes into the I kingdom of God he is not sent into a menial service, but the Lord God Almighty from the palaces of heaven calls upon the messenger angels that wait upon the throne to fly and "put a ring on his hand." In Christ are the largest liberty, the brightest joy, and highest honor, and richest adornment. "Put a ring on his hand.'' I remark, in the first place, that when Christ receives a soul into His love He puts upon him the ring of adoption. In my church in Philadelphia there came the representative of a benevolent society in New York He brought with him eight or ten Children of the street, that he had picked up, and he was trying to find for them Christian homes; and as the little ones stood on the pulpit and sung, our hearts melted within us. At the close of the services a great hearted, I wealthy man came up ana said: "i u tajte this little bright eyed girl, and I'll adopt her as one of my own children;" and he took her by the hand, lifted her into hid carriage and went away. The next day, while we were in the church gathering up garments for the poor of New York, this little child came back with a bundle under her arm, ana she said: "There's my old dress; perhaps some of the poor children would like to have it," while she herself was in bright and beautiful array, and those who more immediately examined her said she had a ring on her band It was a rinjj of adoption. There are a great many persons who pride ' themselves on their ancestry, and they glory ( over the royal blood that pours through their arteries. In their line there was a lord, or a | duke, or a prime minister, or a king. But when the Eord, our Father, puts upon us the ; ring of adoption, we become the children of ] the ruler of all nations. "Behold what man- j ner of love the Father hath bestowed upon j us that we should be called the sons of God." j It matters not how poor our garments may , be in this world, or how scant our bread, or . how mean the hut we live in, if we have the j I ring of Christ's a loptioa upon our hand we , are assured of eternal defenses. Adopt! "Why, then, we are brothers and sisters to all the good of earth and heaven. We have the family name, the family di'ess, the family keys, the family wardrobe. The father looks after us, robes us, defends us, blesses us. We have royal blood in our veins, ( and there are crowns in our line. If we are , his children, then princes and princesses. It , is only a question of time when we get our coronet- Adopted! Then we have the fam- , ily secrets. "The secret of the Lord is with j them that fear him." Adopted! Then we ( have the family inheritance, and in the day when our father shall divide the riches of , heaven, we shall take our share of the man- , Isionsand palaces and temples. Henceforth . let us boast no more of an earthly ancestry. The insignia of eternal glory is our coat of arms. This ring of adoption puts upon us all honor and all privilege. Now we can take the words of Charles Wesley, that prince of hymn-makers, and sing: Come, let ns join our friends above, Who have obtained the prize, | And on ilie eagle wlcgi of love , To joy celestial rise. ^ Let all the saints terrestrial sing i With those to glory gone; i Far a 1 the servants of our King, j In Heaven and earth, are one. ^ I have been told that when any of the i members of any of the great secret societies j of this country are in a distant city and are / in any kind of trouble, and are set upon by < enemies, they have only to give a certain sig- ( nal and the members of that organization will flock around for defense. And when | any man belongs to this great Christian < brotherhood, if be gets in trouble, in trial, in j persecution, in temptation, he ha3 only to ] how the rinz of Christ's adoption, and all j I? the armed cohorts of heaven will come to hii i rescue. 1 Still further, when Christ takes a soul into 9 His love He puts upon it a marriage ring, i Now that is not a whim of mine: "And 1 j will betroth thee unto Me forever; yea, I 1 will bafcroth thee unto Me in righteousness, 1 and in jugment, and in loving kindness, ] anlin mercies." At the wedding altar the ! bridegroom puts a ring upon the hand of the 1 bride, signifying love and faithfulness. 1 Trouble may come upon the household, and the carpets may go, the pictures may go, the piano may go, everything else may go?the last thing that goes is the marriage ring, for it is considered sacred. In the burial hour it is withdrawn from the hand and kept in a casket, and sometimes the box is opened on Ian anniversary day, and as you look at tnar ring you see under its arch a long procession of precious memories. Within the golden circle of that ring there is room for a thousand sweet recollections to revolve, and you think of the great contrast between the hour when, at the close of the ''Wedding March," under the flashing lights and amid the aroma of orange blossoms, you 82t that ring on the round finger of the plump hand, and that other hour when, at the close of the exhaustive, watching, when you knew that the soul had fled, you took from the hand, which gave back no responsive clasp, from that emaciated finger, the ring that she had worn so long and worn so well On some anniversary day you take up that ring, and you repolish it until all the old luster comes back, and you can see in it the flush of eyes that long ago ceased to weep. Oh, it is not an unmeaning thing when I tell you that when Christ receives a soul into his keeping he puts on it a marriage rin *. He (endows you from that moment: wun an ms wealth. You are one?Christ and the soulone in sympathy, one in affection, one in hope. There is no power in earth or hell to effect a divorcement after Christ and the soul are united. Other kings have turned out their companions when they got weary of them, and sent them adrift from the palace gate. Ahasuerus banished Vashti; Napoleon forsook Josephine; but Christ is the husband that is true forever. Having loved you once, He loves you to the end. Did they not try to divorce Margaret, the Scotch girl, from Jesus? They said: "You must give up your religion." She said: "I can't give up my religion." And so they took her down to the beach of the sea, and they drove in a stake at low water mark, and they fastened her to it, expecting that as the tide came up her faith would fail. The tide began to rise, and came up higher, and to the girdle, and to the * -?Ai?Anf inaf oo fKa woirtk I up, ana in tut) laau iuuuuuii, jim tw .^v> . w was washing her soul into glory, she shoutel the praises of Jesus. Oh, no, you cannot separate a soul from Christ. It is an everlasting marriage. Battle, and storm, and darkness cannot do it. Is it too much exultation for a man, who is but dust and ashes like myself, to cry out to-day: "I am persuaded that neither height, nor depth, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor any other creature shall separate me from the love of Stod which is in Christ Jesus, my Lord?" Glory be to God that when Christ and the soul are married they are bound by . a chain, a golden chain?if I might say so?a chain with one link, and that one link the golden ring of God's everlasting love. 1 go a step further, and tell you that when Christ receives a soul into His love He puts on him the ring of festivity. You know that it has been the custom in all ages to bes'ow rings on very happy occasions. There is nothing more appropriate for a birthday gift than a ring. You delight to bestow such a gift upon your children at such a time; It means joy. hilarity, festivity. Well, when this old man of the text wanted to tell how glad he was tbat his boy had got back, he expressed it in this way. Actually, before he ordered sandals to be put on his bare feet, bpfore he ordered the fatted calf to be killed to appease the boy's hunger, he commanded: "Put a ring on his hand." Oh, it is a merry time when Christ and the soul are united! Joy of forgiveness! What a splendid thing it is to feel that all is right between me and God. What a glorious thing it is to have God just take up all the sins of my life and put them in one bundle, and then fling them into the depths of the sea, never to rise again, never to be talked ? -'i ?? oil or again, rouuuvn mi ^uuc. t/u * illumined. God reconciled. The prodigal home "Put a ring on his hand." Every day I find happy Christian people. I find some of them with no second coat, some of them in huts and tenement houses, not one earthly comfort afforded them; and yet they are as happy as happy can be. They sing "Hock of Ages" as no other people in the' world sing it They never wore any jewelry in their life but one gold ring, and that was the ring of God's undying affection. Oh, how happy religion makes us! Did it make you gloomy and sad ? Did you go with your head cast down? I do not think you got religion, my brother. That is not the ef? foct of religion. True religion is joy. "Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." Why, religion lightens all our burdens. It smooths all our way. It interrupts all our sorrows. It changes the jar of earthly discord for the peal of festal bells. In front of the flaming farnace of trial it sets the forge on which scepters are hammered out. Would you not like to-day to come up from the swine feeding and try this religion? Al! the joys of Heaven would come out and meet you, and God would cry from the throne: ''Put a ring on his hand." You are not happy. I see it. There is no peace, and sometimes you laugh when you feel a great deal more like crying. The world IS a CUt'at. ll ill ou ncais jwu uv/?u with its follies, then it kicks you out into darkness. It comes back from the massacre of a million souls to attempt the destruction of your soul to-day. No peace out of God, but here is the fountaiu that can slake the thirst. Here is the harbor where you can drop safe anchorage. Would you not Tike, I ask you?not perfunctorily, but as one brother might talk to another?would you not like to have a pillow of rest to put your head on? And would you not like, when you retire at night, to feel that all is well, whether you wake up tomorrow morning at 6 o'clock, or sleep the sleep that knows no waking? Would you not like to exchange this awful uncertainty about the future for a glorious assurance of heaven ? Accept of the Lord Jesus to-day, and all is well. If on vour wav home some peril should cross the street and dash your life out, it would not hurt you. You would rise up immediately. You would stand in the celestial streets. You would be amid the great throng that forever worship and are forever happy. If this day some sudden disease should come upon you it would not frighten you. If you knew you were going you could give a calm farewell to your Deautiful home on earth, and know that you are going right into the companionship of those who nave already got beyond the toiling and the weeping. You feel oa Saturday night different from the way you feel any other night of the week. "You come homo from the bank, or the store, or the shop, and you say: "Well, now my week's work is done, and to-morrow is Sunday." It is a pleasant thought. There is refreshment and reconstruction in the very idea. Oh, how pleasant it will bo, ir. wnen we get through the day of our life, and we jo and lie down in our bed of dust, we can -ealize: "Well, nov the work is all done, ind to-morrow is Sunday?an everlasting Sunday." Oh, when, thon city of my God, Shall I thy courts ascend, Where rongregations ne'er break up, And Sabbaths have no end? There are people in this house to-day who ire very near the eternal world. If you are Christians, I bid you be of good cheer. Bear with you our congratulations to the bright yity. Aged men, who will soon be gone, ake with you our love for our kindred in the setter land, and when you see them tell ;hem that we are soon coming. Only a few nore sermons to preach and hear. Only a tew more heartaches. Only a few more toils. 3nly a few more tears. And then, what an intrancing spectacle will be open before us! Beautiful heaven, where all is light, Beautiful angels clothed in white, Beautiful strains that never tire. Beautiful harps through all the choir, There shal. I join the chorus sweet, Worshiping at the Saviour's feet. I approach you now with a general invitation, not picking out here and there a man, lor here and there a woman, nor here and there a child; but giving you an unlimited : //X. All LUVlLttl/IUil, SajiUK, UUIUO 1V1 Ull uuiugv7 mv low ready." We invite you to the warm heart of Christ, and the inclosure of the Christian Church. I know a great many ;hink that the Church does not amount to much, that it is obsolete: that it did its work md is gone now, so far as all usefulness is concerned. It is the happiest place I have jver been in, except my own home. I know there are some people who say they ire Christians who seem to get along with>ut any help from others, and who culture solitary piety. They do not want any ordilances I do not belong to that clas3. I cannot let along without them. There are so many ihings in this world that take my attention !rom God, and Christ, and Heaven, that I fvant all the helps of all the symbols and of J1 the Christian associations; and I want irounrt about me a solid phalanx of men who love God and keep his commandments. Are there any here who would like to enter into that association? Then by a simple, child like faith, apply for admission into the visible church, and you will be received. No questions asked about ^'our past history or present surroundings, kjulj uuo w?u?uu juu love Jesus? Baptism does not amount to anything, say a great many people; but the Lord Jesus declared: "He tnat believeth and is baptized shall be saved," putting baptism and faith side by side. And an apostle declares: "Repent and be baptized, every one of you." I do not stickle for any particular mode of baptism, but I put great emphasis on the fact that you ought to be baptized. Yet no more emphasis than the Lord Jesus Christ, the gre it head of the church, puts upon it The world is going to, after a while, lose a great many of its victories. There are to be revivals of religion that will shake the earth. We give you warning. There is a great host coming in to stand under the banner of the Lord Jesus Christ. Will you be among them? Will you be among the gathered sheaves? Some of you have beeu thinking on this subject year after year. You have found out that this world is a jx>or portion. You want to l>e Christians. "V. ou have come almost into the kingdom of God; but there you stoD. forgetful of the fact that to be almost saved is liot to be saved at all. Oh. my brother, after having come so near to the door of mercy, if you turn back, you will never come at alL After you have heard of itie goodness of God, if you turn away and die, it will not be because you did not hav6 a good off.r. God'3 spirit will not always strive With hardened, self-destroying man; Ye who persist His love to grieve May never hear His voice again. May God Almighty this hour move upon your soul and bring you back from tho husks of the wilderness to the Father's house, and set you at the banquet, and "put a ring on your hand." Some French Intoxicants. "* Absinthe, the favorite intoxicant of the French, is almost always manufactured with alcohols of industry, iil-rectitied, renaerua green by the addition of the sulphate of copper and saturated with resin, so as to give it the beautiful greenish white precipitate produced by pouring water on it, and which drinkers so much admire. Vermouth, another favorite liquor, is adulterated with hydrochloric or sulpuric acid in order to give it a pungent taste. Kirsch is extracted From tho leaves of the cherry-laurel, and contains as much as twenty-two centigrams of prussic acid per litre, instead of five or six centigrams. Rum is manufactured always with alcohol distilled from beet root, to which is added other and formic acid The "bouquets'" of brandies are manufactured by the action o* sulphuric acid on castor oil. The coloring matters employed are extracted from logwood, the elder, sorrel, fuchsine and coaL Such is the trash which is daily consumed bv the Parisians. Dr. Richardson affirms that inn-keepers, publicans, and barkeepers have in London a higher death-rate- than any class except hackney-coachmen. _ _ RELIGIOUS READING. Palm and Pino. Couldst thou, Great Fairy, give to ma The instant's wish, that 1 might see Of all the earth's that one dear sight Known only in a dream's delight, I would, beneath some Island steep, In some remote and sun bright deep, See high in heaven above me now A palm tree wave its rhythmic bough! And yet this old pine's haughty crown, Shaking its clouds of silver down, Whispers me snatches of strange tunes And murmur of those awful runes Which tell by subtle spell, and power fif iavrpf. wmnathies. the hour When far in the dark North the snow Among great bergs begins to blow. Nay, thou sweet South of heats and balms, Keep all thy proud and plumy palms, Keep all thy fragrant flowery ease, Thy purple skies, thy purple seas! These boughs of blessing shall not fail, These voices singing in the gale, The vigor of the ;e mighty lines? I will content mo with my pines! ?{Harriet Prescott Spofford in Harper's Bazar. A Brave Ennig-a. When we are in earnest, really devoted to what we are doing, we forget ourselves. This it is that makes brave soldiers. It is the same devotion that helps our brave firemen fr? mm"! Hi?ir livou tn save thostrof others. X brave young ensign during the great I Peninsula war, was observed wherever the fight was thickest and strongest, to make his way to the front, holding up the colors, and to cheer the men by his wonderful daring and courage. Hour after hour he stood his ground, and while hundreds were falling around him, remained unhurt. At the end of the engagement his superior officers said tobim: ' Carnegie, how did you manage to stand fire as you did i You should let seme of us into the secret; you were always to the front, and yet you* have not a scratch. "What's the secret/" "It is the king's secret, sir, but you may know it better than I do, for you nave served him longer; I remembered who I was fighting for?ray king?and that gave me strength and courage so that I did not think of myself." Is that the way you serve your King? The Rilnle 3fot PcwtimUtic. 1 DO JD1UIO leacLies no J. CMUUISILI. it violates none in Christian believers. Its record of creation opens, "And God saw everything that he had made and behold it was very good." It goes forward with the song, "The Lord is good to all and his loving kindness is over all his works." It closes with a vision into the New Jerusalem, where "God shall wipe all tears from the eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain." It utters no long-drawn sighs like Buadha and Schopenhauer, that existence is an evil, because it has longings that can never bo satisfied. It formulates no hard dogma, like John | Stuart Mill, that the Creator cannot be both benevolent and omnipotent. Its tone never sinks to the minor key when treating of actual life on earth, like Pascal in his "Thoughts on Religion," or Baxter and Howe in their sermons on the decline of piety, or John Cotton and Cotton Mather in their gloomy letters on the decay of Puritan zeal. The Bible gives striking portraits of weak and nervous men, of men who look instinctively on the dark side of life and moan, like Jacob, "Few and evil have been the years of my life," and wail, like Solomon, after royal debauches, "All is vanity and vexation of spirit." But the broad sweep of revelation is towards gladness and praise. Its cheerful tone is inspiring: "0 waiiI/1 nt-oicn flm T,nrf] fnr hit cuau tuou nuutu v?w v? ?v. M? goodness." Lot everything that hath breath praise the Lord. "Praise the Lord, 0 my soul."?[Dr. Hemaji Lincoln. Ch?prlrMu?n of Infidelity. There is something very suggestive and instructive in a remark attributed to the arch infidel, Robert G. Ingersoll: "Life is verv sad to me; it is very pitiful; there isn't muca to it" Mr. Ingersoll's experience as tn. infidel is not singular. Other noted infidels, much more serious and profound, able to disclose to others and enjoy themselves any secn-t comforts there may lie hidden in philosophic unbelief, if such there be, have anticipated him and even yet more bitterly bewailed the calamity of human" existence. As Mr. Ingersoll only notoriously rehashes the old infidel arguments and sneers, adding absolutely nothing original, save it may bo th? brilliant tinsel of a unique sarcasm, or a jaunty blasphemy to point the inconsequent logic of his predecessors and his own, it is not to be expected that his occasional sober mo Ann in t.hia article, should be very different from theirs. How Mr. Ingersoll's lament respmbles that of his great French master and superior, Voltaire, who said: "The world abounds with wonders, also with victims In man is more wretchedness- than in all other animals put together. Man lores life, yet knows he must die; spends his existence in diffusing the miseries he has suffered, cutting the throats of his fellow-creatures for pay; cheating and being cheated. The bulk of mankind are nothing more than a crowd of wretches, equally criminal, equally unfortunate. I wish I had nevor been born." To the French sceptic "the cold and barren peaks" were burdened with slaughter and crimsoned witn Diood. To tbe philosopmc iiuine tney were shrouded in blackness and darkness. He s id: "When I look nbroad or. every side I see dispute, contradiction and distraction- When I turn my eve inward I find nothing but doatt and Ignorance. I begin to fancy myself in a very deplorable condition, environed with darkness on every side." Yes, tako soberest things the noted infidels have said of life or or death, and iney are at once a cuiiiuwih u^uu uu> . Ingersoll has said, and a confirmation of his judgment when the light of Revelation is not permitted to illuminate the little valley rounded by the else cold and barren peaks of the two eternities. But what is the testimony of those for whom that light shines; for whom there hang high above and casting light over peaks and valley, a cross and suffering saviour! Chie has said: "Yoa, though I walk through the vuiloy and shadow of death, I will fear no evil,"for thou ar; with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort mo." Another has said: "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Such a one after, "Rejoicing ill hope, patient in tribulation and finishing his course with joy," said: "I uni ready to bo offered and the time of my departure is at band. Then after a sweet and collected retrospect upon a glorious and fruitful past, ho anticipated in ''the full assurance of faith," beyond the peaks, not cold and barren, but radiant with tho light of hope, "a crown of righteousness" in the immediate and blissful future. Millions holding his faith have confessed life a rich and blessed opportunity and exit from it a coronation and a joy. Contrast life, its significance, dignity and joy in Christian experience with the mystery, barrenness and gloom of it in infidel confessions and lamentations and say which is to be preferred. ' The apples of Sodom do not grow on the tree of life, nor among the leaves which are for tfce healing of tne nations. Judging infidelity by its manifest fruits and by the bitter confessions of its wisest and best representatives the tree, root, leaf, flower and fruit is only evil.? [Dr. Stoaels, in New York Observer. God regards a saint in rags more than a sinner in robes. The whole of crumbling tabernacles now occupied by His people will soon be levelled with the dust; but it matters not since "He has prepared for them a city." ?[Jackson. Lean on Jesus and He will rest you. Labor for Jesus and He will bless you. Live for Jesu\ and your soul shall mount up as on an eagle's wing;you shall run and nevor weary, you shall walk arm in arm with Him and havap faint. How Women Begin to Drink. Out of an examination of 204 inebriate women I have found that 128 began their drinking by the use of beer, 37 by drinking whisky (as punch at first usually), 20 began with wine,8 with gin and 11 could not remember what beverage was first used. These young girls, mill and shopgirls largely, began by going to some so called refreshment saloon with their friends, and the debutante usually began by sipping a little tonic (made of hops, sugar and water, charged with carbonic acid gas and colored with burnt sugar); beer soon followed, and soon rioting, other kinds of intoxicants, recklessness ana crime; and what was an innocent, foolish girl yesterday, is today a branded criminal, and all for a glass of t beer.?QodtiSa Isidu Rnnk. TEMPERANCE, Wine-Drops. Squeezed and pressed from the bruised grape, I Bottled and corked, we are hurried away, To cellars moldy, dark and damp, And there for many a month we lay. Out once more to the light of day, Muddy and strong, we are brought at last, Fixed up with various poisonous things, And on to the busy world's markets passed. Red and strong, from many a cup, Carrying woe to all who drain, Into the flood of man we go, Clouding the senses, burning the bralJl. Catching the eye of a gay young man, We tempt him on with spicy breath, Uutil we poison bis strong young veins, And sow in his body the seeds of death. Breaking hearts in many a home, Filling towns with hate and strife,"' Wasting prosperity, houses and lands. Burning up hope and health and life. .. ? xoum s i eniperance uanner. The Drink Evil is Very Old. The following is an extract from a lecture on the "Drink Problem," delivered recently in London by Axel Gustafson: It stretches far beyond historic record, and many have tried to make this fact serve to prove their assertion that to take intoxicating drinks, whatever be the consequence, is natural to man. But if we look impatiently at probabilities we shall see how the drink habit insidiously gained its hold upon man and how naturally he came to acquire this essentially most unnatural and pernicious of evil habits. Primeval man did not know the use of fire. Therefore he could not cook his food which indeed must have largely consisted of roots and fruits. Now, what could have been more natural than that he should, upon finding that the fruit juice was what he most enjoyed, press it out and take it separately, and after satisfying his immediate thirst set it aside. We all know that on returning to it some days later he would find it changed. What more likely than that he should taste it and invite others to do so, and that they should marvel at the change in its taste and the strange excitement it produced. Of course others would try the same experiment, and some one or more would become what we call drunk. The story of these incidents would spread. It is probable that the primitive manufacture of intoxicants was tnus gradually discovered. Of course, when this discovery bogan to result in drunkenness and in the commission of crime under the influence of drink, remedies for the evil bogan to be thought of and sought for. Whether the individual, society or state should interfere depended upon the nature of the crime and the character and position of the individual or individuals who committed it. And as such a strange discovery?or perhaps discoveries, as it might have "been made almost simultaneous in several different quarters?must have spread "orviHlw In all flnd fOnditiOIlS. and therefore the awful results soon have become apparent, it becomes evident that drink and drunkenness were generally and probably had long been prevalent ere history begins to record the career of man; and that also, almost coextensively with the spread of the evil, were such remedies as primeval man could conceive employed by individuals, society aud state, in so far as such organizations existed. There can be little doubt that the words of Jesus [Matthew xxiv., 38-39] referred to this condition of the world n> that period when he says: "For in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, and they knew not until the flood came and took them all away." These words must clearly affirm that the people in those remote days had sunk into sucn depths of sottishness and gluttony that not only they were incapable ot any attempt at senpreservation when the great flood came, but Dut that they were too drunk to know even that they were about being drowned! That flood was divina Prohibition with a vengeance. ,The Bottle in Public Life. Admiring constituencies are as ready as ever to crown their representatives at 'Washington with laurel* for meritorious service, but there is a more general and growing disposition to bold them to a strict accountability for unbecoming conduct, and vices that once were borne with as being at least pardonable, if not the evidences of genius, are no longer patiently tolerated. There is no question of personal liberty involved in this matter. A man's peculiar ways of life are not justly subject to outside interference or officious criticism so long as they concern himself alone; but whenever he becomes invested with obligations or functions, for the proper discharge of which he is directly responsible to the .people^ the public has the right to demand that hi? walk and conversation be such as not to impair his official usefulness or put in jeopardy the trusts that have been committed to his keeping. "Whether it be allowable or not foraprivate citizen to get drunk and make a beast of himself, is not the question. He is certainly debarred from such privileges-when acting in a public capacity; ior, no iuuner uui uiieilectually gifted he may to or how well equipped tor the discharge of public duties, no man can drown his reason in drink or wallow in any sort of vice without to some extent betraying the cause or the party or the interest which he has solemnly sworn to uphold. It is gratifying to know that instances of this high moral treason have' become happily rare at the national capital, and that although now and then obtruding themselves upon the attention of the community they are more than ever malodorous for the reason that the general tone of official life is of a sober and self-respecting standard. But the rule in this case ought to have no exceptions, and a summary halt must be called to those grosser forms of inebriety and dissipation on the part of public men, whether in or out of Congress, that tend to hinder the progress of urgent legislation, to cripple the energies of any branch of the Government and bring the public service into contempt? Washington Critic. , A com-water *7*iiner. Rogers, Peet & Co., one of the great clothing houses of this city, gave- a dinner to 275 of their employes- last month. This firm divide a share of their profits with their employes, and at the dinner declared a dividend of three and a half per cent., which ranged from a few cents, which aa errand boy received, up to $2-15. The remarkable thing about the dinner, which was elaborate, was the entire absence of wine or intoxicating drinks. Cold water was the beverage, whicn was received with great applause, in his address Mr. Chambers, one of the firm, referring to the prohibition policy, said: liWe have no place for the idle or intemperate. Wedo not even offer you a g)a<s of wine to-night, that none may havo occasion to stumble."?New York Wttncss. I'empcranoe News and Notes. Nine of the leading insurance companies of Great Britain have recently decided to refuse to issue policies to saloon keepers. Professor Stewart, of Liberia, estimate* that for every missionary sent to Africa 70,000 gallons of rum are also sent to that country. Dr. Petitham, of Liege, says: "Alcoholism in Belgium has augmented with frightful rapidity, and cam ror immediate uuu thorough action." A physician cites the case of "a man, habituated to the use of alcoholic stimulants, who suddenly began to drink to excess, and took from sixty to seventy drinks a day, but claimed that they were small ones. When, however, the little drinks which the man took, say sixty or seventy tablespoonfuls, were added together, it was found that he was taking about a quart of whisky a day." Last winter a circus visited the town of Ayr, in Scotland, and to attract spectators, the proprietor offered prizes for the best answers to some conundrums. A liquor-seller of the town joined in with the question: "Why his whisky was like a bridge across tho wator of Ayr;" A poor boy handed in this answer, which took the prize: "Because it loails to-the poor-house, th<} lunatic usylum and the cemetery." The answer was quite a bnomeran? to the lianor man. The following "ad" of a grocory firm ?f Kirkaville, Mo., is a very good temperance sermon: "Any man who drinks two drachms of whisky per day for a year, and pays ten cents a drink for it, can have at our store " n Af rrronnlnfiiH au sacKS or nour, pu>u 6?? sugar and 72 pounds or good green coffee for the same money and get $2.50 premium for making the change in his expenditures." A lady living in Rappannock County, Va., had twelve stands of bees which were very valuable until a distillery was started in the neighborhood. Since it was started, how-1 ver, the bees pay frequent visits to the still, get very drunk, and are of little profit. Francis Murphy goes about among the mills at Pittsburgh talking to the workmen individually, or addressing them in crowds at the dinner hour, on the subject of temperance and right living. _ J CURIOUS FACTS. They are making glass tombs dow. More male children die than females. Modern needles first came into use in 1545. Pascal, the French mathematician, invented the wheelbarrow. Vienna gets its name from the river Wien, which flows through the city. Brunswick, Georgia, has an oak tree which can shade one hundred teams. It is said that for consumptives notliI ing is better than raw or half-cooked I snails. Napoleon, Wellington, Marshal Soult, and Humboldt, were all bom in the same year, 17G9. | A Russian law forbids the use of exclamation points in newspaper articles in that country. A lady living in Boone, Iowa, has just completed a crazy quilt which lias 24,764 pieces in it. The term Derrick is an abbreviation of Tlieodoric, a hangman at Tyburu, England, in the seventeenth century. The oldest known specimen of linen paper extant is a document written A. D. 1308. This was probably made as early as 1300. Envelopes for letteis are mentioned by Swift, 1720; but they did not come into very general use for more than a century later. George Miller, who died in Lancaster County, Penn., the other day, at the age of seventy-five, had attended o,700 funerals and made that number of coffins. Japanese papers tell of a native girl only twelve years and five months old who stands eight feet high and weighs | over 370 pounds. Her hands are nine inches long and her feet fifteen inches. If you will take au old English b, p, d and q you will see that they are all one letter in different positions, or viewed from different points. This is the explauation of "mind your p's and q's." The coldest spot in the world has been located in Siberia. At the point designated the tl ermometer marks 90 degrees below zero in winter, at which temperature a man would be struck dead as with a blow. When Charles Gillen^ of St. Louis, died the other day, his heirs found re ccipts for every dollar lie liaa paia out in lifty-four years. He even took receipts from bar-koepers when he paid for a drink. An English lady who came to this country in early life says she remembers when men used to go through the streets of New York calling out "Ickory hashes" (hickory ashes). They were purchased from housekeepers for soapmaking. The Khedive of Egypt is styled "Your Highness," the chiidren of kings and queens, "Your Royal Highness," and the children of emperors, "Your Imperial Highness." Till the reign of Henry VIII. the kings of England were styled "Your Highness," "YourGrace," "Your Excellent Grace," etc. ?* 1 ' r\ r? r -n VVliett ii*e laxe u. i\. j^ouivt-, xioouj, of theToledo Blade, was alive he took particular pride in the fact that none of his buildings bad ever been damaged by lire. It is a singular fact that since his death three of the best edifices erected by him in Toledo- have caught fire, and in each instanco- at the lop of the building. B. Napoli, an Italian ranchman at Dayton, Isev., discovered one of his cows choking on a potato; He thrust in his lumd and succeeded ini pushing the obstruction down the cow's throat, but when he undertook to' withdraw his arm the cow shut down on it like a vise, and kept her hold until her jaws were pried 1 ? /..awKsh TKr> lmncs and apart wnu u kiunuui-. - flesh of his nrm were so crushed that amputation was necessary. Despotic Power in Jtnssia. There was a theatre-in St Petersburg which wa3 paying its proprietor# profit of two thousaud" roubles a month. The inspectors decided that it waa-not safe from fire, and directed some improvements. The proprietor made them; in a slipshod sort of way, without regard to thedircc- ' tions of the officers, trusting to the popularity he enjoyed to carry, him through. 1 When the inspectors saw how he had 1 evaded their orders, and tried to circum- 1 vent them, they simply closed up the establishment and took the proprietor to prison, where he spent several months : - - j , reflecting upon me auiiijMi ui piojiu^ , with an autocrat. On one of the islands of toe-Neva is a i summer garden, with a magnificent cafe, and open air theatre, and a, fine collec- i tion of wild animals, a. mixture of restaurant, circus and park. It was fitted up at an enormous expense,, was the most popular place in Russia, ami the owner wa? a Prince, who was- coining money out of the enterprise,.which he ran under the name of his active manager. A guest ai the place was assaulted l>y a waiter and complained to the:police. They investigated the case, or attempted to do so, but found themselves thwarted at every turn by the manager, ivlio thought a man with a. Prince behind him could do what he pleajedi. The police directed that the man who committed the assault should report ait their headquarters the * " * A ? next morning> lie- uiu not come. a\u officer came tothe garden and asked why. The manager told hi in that he thought enough fuss had been made about a little affair already. Ilis opinions changed, however, for he was at once arrested, sent to,prison, and lhc place was closed for the refit oi the season, despite the efforts of the Prince, whose money was invested, to have it reopened. A little autocracy of this sort keeps a high state of discipline iu St. Petersburg.? Chicayo A'tticx Stransrc Re-L'nlon of Brothers. "When in St. Augustine, Fin., recently," said Mr. Lewis i'atison, of Newark, N. J., to a reporter of the Atlanta Constitution, "I had what might be called a remarkable experience. I was out of wcik and was rather hard up. So I applied to a batch ot men who were working 011 a new building. They i:skod me what I could do. and I told them I was a good mechanic and could do carpenter's work. The boss gave me a trial, and I gut along very well lor a week. J was thrown a good deal with one of the carpcuters who called himself Dunuiiitj. and the mm were always talking about the remaikabie resemblance between him and me. We got into con vcrsatioi), nn<l I learned that Punning was my own brother, wliom I had not seen for twenty years. lie ran away Irora home when llfteen years old and went to sea. About ten years ago lie settled down in St. Augustine and has been doing well. IIo has made a good living. Ail ihe family hud long ago given him up as dead. lie still goes tinder the name of Dunning, for some reason he baa not explained. This is what I call a curious coincidence." Philosophy triumphs easily over past evils and future evils, but present eviU | triumph over it. v HOUSEHOLD MATTERS. Best Way to Cook Griddle Cakes. The best way of cooking ejriddle cakes is on a soapstone griddle. Some object to these for various reasons. If not properly heated the results will not be satisfactory, and the ignorant trying "just the least bit of grease" will make matters worse, besides spoiling the griddle. Those who do not use a soapstone will find in the old iron griddle an available substitute, which in some respects is better than a soapstone. But first the scaly, carbonized surface must be scraped and then clcaned with soap and sand, or rubbed with either sand-paper or emery-cloth until as smooth as possible. If very rough and time is valuable, it will be cheaper to buy a new one. The clean, smooth griddle must be heated to the neccssary degree to produce a delicate brown, and the batter put on in spoonfuls and baked in the usual manner. No grease must be used and if the "riddle is keDt at the ricrht heat, the result will be an even, velvety, golden-brown surface, the beauty of which cannot be produced by the use of grease. Some, after giving this method a trial, adopt it at once; others, after an unsuccessful attempt with a griddle too hot or too cold, gave it up as being beyond them. The fact that waffles have been baked without grease in a common waffle iron with irregular surfaces should dispel any doubts as to the success of baking cakes on a plain, smooth griddlo. Thethickcr the griddle the better, though excellent results have been obtained from a thin, pressed iron frying-pan. A good, stiff cake-slice is convenient in turniug cakes, but a knife will do. A round griddle is the best shape, as it is easily turned and kept at a uniform temperature.?Good. Housekeeping. Roast Ribs of BecC It seems like a waste of time to the writer to write about roasting, or rather baking beef, yet one of the rarest dishes served in private families is beef properly cooked. For some reason or other the outside is so well done that the ordinary carving knife makes no impression upon it until the strength of the carver is nearly exhausted, wb'ie the inside of the beef is raw and cold looking, as though the fire had not yet penetrated it. The reason for this is that the oven was too hot when the meat was put into it. It therefore follows that the o ven should be tested before using, and the best way to do this is to throw a tablespoonful of flour on the oven floor. If it takes tire or quickly assumes a dark brown color the temperature is too high, and the oven should be allowed to cool a little. If it remains white after the lapse of a few seconds the temperature is too low and the meat would stew in its own'juices instead of roasting. In this case the gravy would almost be the choicest part of the dinner. When the oven is of the proper temperature the flour will turn a biownish yellow and look slightly scorched. The selection of the meat is a most im portant consideration. The fat should be white; smooth and firm to the touch. If of an oily yellow color the animal was overheated and feverish, or worse, when killed. The lean part of the meat should be of a bright,, dark red color and flecked with small particles of creamy fat. If the fillet is drawn and the top skin or fat is thin and poor looking do not accept it if offered gratis. It would disorganize a well regulated household quicker than a case, of .smallpox. Select the first ribs if the family is small and light beef eaters; the middle rib&if fair consumers of beef; if many eaters-, boy the sixth and Beventh ribs of the first chuck. Salt the joint well and turn it three or four times while it ia cooking. The length of time it will take to cook, depends entirely oa the beef. If a heavy joint, say fourteen to sixteen minutes, and from nine to twelve minutes to the pound if a light beef. Meat is sweeter if oooked with the bone; the only object gained in removing the bone is to assist an indifferent Tvicv fl 11 f T7 ATfiin UtlLVCL 1U pguviiuiu^, UH^ uuvji A|VM> J ori Herald. Recipes. Pcff Puddixg.?Eight eggs,one quart 3weot milk, eight tablespooululs of flour, wet the flour with enough milk to beat smooth, then gradually stir in the whole quart, beat the yolks and stir them in slowly, then lastly the whites; bake in buttered dish. Eat with hard sauce. Baked Umelet.?Heat trurce teacupfuls of milk, melting in it a. bit of butter as large as a walnut. Beat well together rive eggs, one tablespoonfulof flour and I a scant teaspoonful of. salt and add to \ the hot milk, stirring.as-rapidly as pos- I sible. Turn into a hot, well-buttered j fryiug-pan and bake in.a. quick oven one- j Quarter of an hour. To (Jan Corn.? Put the- corn raw into cans, then fill it in with cold water even with the top of the cora; solder up the . can, pricking a small; hole in the cover; solder that also. Boil the can and contents in boiling water two and a half j hours; tlieu with a. hot iron open the j small hole and let the gas blow out, after : which solder up and. boil again two and a half hours and set aside for use. Peas, string beans and. Linuu beans can be put up in the same way; To Bon. Salt Meat.?"Wash well, and put on in,plenty of eold water; as soon as it boils rcmowe to the back of the fltnve and. let it simmer till perfectly j tender. Corned, beef is improved by putting it while hot into a bowl or deep dish, and putting a plate with a heavy weight on the- plate on top of it, this presses- its tog-ether so it cuts in smooth slices. Ham is bettered by skinning when welL (lone, aa:l putting it in a drippingpan half filled with soui cider and w<.ter. Baste weli^ and bake till the fat is brown. Noodle?.?Mix a very stiff dough out of three eggs a little salt and flour, roll, Lnto> very thin sheets, allow to lay a few moments, then roll all up together and cut iuto shreds with a sharp knife,shake apart and allow to dry (one can dry thoroughly, put away in a paper poke and use at any time). These can thea Le added to beef broth, chicken soup or may be cooked about fifteen minutes in salt water, dipped from the water and browued, butter poured over for season* ing, or they are very good seasoned with plenty of milk, butter and cream with a little thickening. Chili Sauce.?This sauce is taking j the place of old-tiine tomato catsup. It , is better to keep ana ueiter m ???, than catsup. This tesied recipe can scarcely be too highly recommended: Remove the skii from a peck of ripe tomatoes and peel eight white onions. Put them on the fire and cook them ten or fifteen minutes; then add a pint of vinegar and a tablespoonful each of ground cinnamon, allspice and black pepper, and a tablcspoonful of cloves. Tie the spices in a bag of coarse material. Cook the mixture from four to five hours, or until it is quite thick. Be careful not to let it burn. When it is ready to tnkc off the fire stir in a tablespoonful of ground mustard, a tablespoonful of cayenne pepper, two teaspoonfufc Qi white frinsrer. and salt to taste. 7T' f ': ' "V '. ' V - ' POPULAR SCIENCE. | The mean depth of the whole ocean is 12,480 feet. I A Providence man has invented a fog horn which can be heard eleven miles. v A mercury plumb bob has lately been made. It consists of a small steel rod, bored out and filled with mercury to give weight. Palladium, a metal of the platinum group, but of far lower density than the latter, may be substituted for steel in the manufacture of watche9. , The weight of air on each person's body is about fifteen tons. A surface covering of lead of equal weight of the air would be a little over five feet thick. Though there are from two to six per cent, more males born than females, yet there is an excess of more lhan six per cent, of females in the various popula-' tions. 4 The area of the dry land of the world is estimated at 55,000,000 square, miles,' the area of the ocean at 137,200,000 square miles. The bulk of the dryland above the level of the sea is 23,450,000 cubic miles, and the volume of the waters of the ocean is 323,800,000 square miles.1 A Belgian entomologist has produced the numerous color varieties of certain coleoptera by chemical means, though he does not claim that his process is that of nature. Alkalies and acids give colors varying from brown through red to yellow, and calcic chloride and heat yield all the tints from green to violet. I A French geographer, mentions having seen on the flanks of high mountains in Mexico clay strata not deposited by the waters nor by the decompdsition of the rocks, but produced by the dust raised fiom the plains by the winds and left on the lulls. These deposits vary; from 100 to 300 feet in thickness. The use of the mosquito has been at last discovered. Professor Webster says that "injurious organic matter in the water, instead of decomposing and poison- - ing people, is changed into 'wiggle tails, ^ which in due time become mosquitoes,! and the winged matter flies -away, leav-> ing the water purified to the extent o? their ability to remove the impurities, j The interest at last aroused in Egypt makes it probable that the Nile will soon; be admitted to the valley of the artificial lake Moeris, by a canal eleven miles.' long. The creation or restoration of this great artificial lake will give fertility to a wide area, and will reduce the| annual inundations of tho Nile, while storing water to replenish the river today seasons. A alrntinor mnflrmntinn f\t tllft thftOTT ;r of the source of supply of the artesian, waters baa been observed in Tours, where the water, spouting with great velocity from' a well s hundred and ten metres in' depth, brings up, together with fine sand,' fresh water shells and seeds in such a state of preservation as to show that they, could not liavar been more than three or four months on their voyage. Some of, the wells of th* Wady Itir have alao ejected fresh water mollusks, fish and: | crabs, still living, which must, therefore, have made a still more rapid transit. | The cooling effeeft of ice is actually dependent upon its melting, as in this nrnresa the heat which causes it to melt is absorbed from the surrounding bodies.' A pouni of ico in melting will absorb sufficient heat to cool a pound of water from 174 degrees P. to the freezing point,; or to cool 142 pounds of water one degree. The heating power of steam is due to the converse of this principle. A pound of water converted into steam, and passed into a radiator,, will, upon condensing, give out enough heat to rxise one pound of water, or about 4.2 pounds of air, from 32 degrees to 1004 degrees. A plan recently introduced into Belgium for preserving word from decay produced by the atmosphere, water, etc., is to fill the pores with, liquid guttapercha, which is said to perfectly preserve it from moisture and the action of the sun. The solid gutta-percha is liquefied by mixing it with parnffine in proportions of about two-thirds of gutta-' percha to one-third of paraffine; the mixture is then subjected to the action of heat, and the gutta-percha become? suf? < ?* nnoiltr infrn^nro/f jj ncienuy nquiu tu uc vuouj auviw?.>v?-^ into the pores of the wood. The guttapercha liquefied by this process hardens in the pores of the wood as it becomes cold* The Persian Barber. In Persia the barber is quite an important man; his profession does not stop at shaving chins and heads, but includes both surgery and dentistry; , just as it used to do in England before Queen Elizabeth's time. His shop is a stall-like place, with an open front and a brick floor. In the centre of the floor [ is a little tank of water, or perhaps a ; miniature flower garden. A breast-high recess in the thick wall is the receptacle i) for the miscellaneous tools ami implements of the barber's triple profession. The razors are set straight and stiff in the handles like table-knives. Several of these, scissors, combs and a little hand-mirror complete hisbarbering tools; but side by side with, them are fleams and lancets for bloodletting, branding-. irons for actual cautery, aim a pair 06 rude iron pincers for pulling teeth. The Persian barber's-customers sit cross legged! on the floor, or mote often, in flue weather, outside the shop, ia the street., To get shaved, with a Persian, is to have j not merely the face shaved, but the ' | entire head, save- for a Little tuft on top j or cne ou eaohiside. Not every Persian i shaves his beard, but hie- always gets his head shaved. In the case of boys the tuft on top' of the head is allowed to grow long, the idea being that in case of death. Mohammed will have something to lift, them into Paradise by. Old men ?a + V>i^lr tTinir wllt^lv'PrS I WllUtlJUftVlUg uuuua iuian vuv. erovidc this needful hand-hold and so &v.e their scalps quite clean. Young moil aad beaux nave a little tuft, termed tltt-ryuU^ or lovc-lock, left on oach side to,grow long and dangb behiud the ear. ?Lidiuanpijlii Xsics. l ? With Locked VVIugs. The recent discovery of the power pos! sessed by soaring bird3to set their wings I when fully expanded, to remain locked j independent of muscularaction, explains | to my mind a phenomenon that has puzzled me for many years. It has beta my custom for many seasons to spend a few days each fall duck shooting at the lakes bordering the Illinois Ki\erin C'enI . v:?i_ tral Illinois. I uu uuus wuic auuvov iuvariably shot in mid air. while flying rapidly by, ami often, when not killed at once, they would :-ct their wings and sail gradually down to the water or ground, which they would rcach dead, the distance being from 100 yards to a quarter of a mile, apparently corresponding to the height of the bird when shot. And it was a maxim with duck shooters on these lakes, "That bird U killed, for he has 3et ? * ?? Dnol^n tlm rlnrlra T hftVft 1113 WIUJJS. U"'"" ??? ? . ?ccn this phenomenon illustrated in the wild turkey aud prairie hen. In wing ihooting the wild turkey, if it sets its wings and gradually came to the earth a quarter of a mile or more away, we always marked the spot, well expecting to find the dead body when wc reached, it ,~-8ci?nct>