W '
3
REV. DR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUN
DAY SERMON.
Subject: "Trouble on Both Sides "
Text: "Thore tons a sharp rock on the
one side, and a sharp rock on the other
side."?1. Samuel, xiv, 4.
The cruel army of the Philistines must be
taken and scattered. There is just one man,
accompanied by his bodyguard, to do that :
thing. Jonathan is the hero of the scene. I i
know that David cracked tho skull of the |
giant with a few pebbles well slung, and that ]
[ three hundrel Gideonites scattered tea thou- j
I 9and Amalekites by the crash of broken crock- i
ery; but here is a more wonderful conflict.
1 Yonder are the Philistines on the ro.-ks. j
Here is Jonathan with his bodyguard in the j
valley. On the one side is a rock called i
Bozez; on the oth.^r side is a rock called j
Seneh. These two were as famous in olden j
1 times as in modern times are Plymouth Rock i
and Gibralter. They were precipitous, uu j
1 1 ~1?? D,. H,?-? i
a^aicauio, uuu ouai p. uctt?ccu tuuoo n?v j
rocks Jonathan must make his ascent. The j
day comes for the scaling of the height.
Jonathan, ou his hinds an 1 feet, begins the j
ascent. With strain, and slip, and bruise, |
I suppose, but still on and up, first goes :
Jonathan, and then goes his b.dvguarJ. |
Bozez on one side, Seneti on the other. Alter i
a sharp tug, and push, and clinging, I sefe the
head of Jonathan above the hob in the
mountain; and there is a challenge, and a
fight, and a supernatural consternation.
' These two men, Jonathan and his bodyguard,
drive back and drive down the Philistines
over the rocks, and open a campaign
which demo'ishe3 the enemies
of Israel. I suppose that the overhanging
and overshadowing rocks on either
side did not balk or dis' oarten Jonathan or
his bodyguard, but only roused and filled
them with enthusiasm as they went up.
"There was a sharp rock on the one side and
a sharp rock on the other side."
My friends, you have been, or are now,
Bome of you, in this crisis of the text. If a
man meets one trouble, he can go through
with it He gathers all hi? energiK, concentrates
them upon one point, anain the
strength of God, or by his own natural
determination, goes through it But the
man who has trouble to the right of him,and
trouble to the left of him is to be pitied.
( Did either trouble come alone, he might
endure it, but two troubles, two disasters,
two overshadowing misfortunes, are Bozez
and Seneh. God pity him! "There is a
sharp rock on the one side and a sharp rock
, on the other side."
In this crisis of the text is that mail whose
fortune and health fail him at the same time.
Nine-tenths of all our merchants capsize in
business before they come to forty-live years
of age. There is some collision in commercial
circles, and they stop payment. It seems
as if every man must put his name on the
back of a note before he learns what a fool a
man is who risks all his own property on tha
prospect that some man will tell tbe truth. It
seemsas if a man must have a large amount
of unsalable goods on his own shelf before
he learns how much easier it is to buy than
to sell. It seems as if every man must be j
completely burned out before he learns the
importance of always keeping fully insured.
It seems as if every man must be wrecked in
a financial tempest before he learns to keep
things snug in case of a sudden curoclydon.
When the calamity does come it is awful.
The man goes home in despair, and he tells
his family: "We'll have to go to the paorhouse."
He takes a dolorous view of everything.
It seems as if he never could rise.
But a little time passes, and he says: "Why,
lam not so badly off after all; I have my
family left."
Before the Lord turn?d Adam out of Paradise
he gave him Eve, so that when he lost
' Paradise he could stand it. Permit one who
has never read but a few novels in all his life,
j and who has not a great deal of romance in
his composition, to say. that if, when a man's
fortunes fail, he has a good wife?a gool
Christian wife?he ought not to be despondent
"Oh," you say, 'that only increases the
embarrassment, since you have her also to
take care of." You are an ingrate, for the
woman as often supports the man as the man 1
supports the woman. The man may bring |
all the dollars, but the woman generally i
brings the courage and the faith in God. I
Well, this man of whom I am speaking :
looks around, and he finds bis family is left, j
and be rallies, and the light comes to his i
svm and t.hft smile tf> his fara. and tha !
courage to his heart. In two years he is ;
quite over it He makes his financial :
calamity the first chapter in a new era of j
prosperity. He met that one trouble?con- I
quered it. .He sat down for a little while j
tinder the grim shadow of the rock Bozez; \
yet he soon rose, and began, like Jonathau,
to climb. But how often is it that physical
ailment comes with financial embarrassment. I
When the fortune failed it broke the man's j
spirit. His nerves were shattered. His brain ,
was stunned. I can show you hundreds of
men iu New York whose fortune and health
failed at the same time. They came pre- I
maturely to the staff. Their hand trembled j
with incipient paralysis. They never saw a j
well day since the "hour when they called
their creditors together for a compromise.
If such men are impatient, and
peculiar, and irritable, excuse them.
Iliey had two troubles; either one of which
they could have met successfully. If, when
the health went, the fortune had been retained,
it wnuld not have been so bad. The ;
man could have bought the very best medical
advice, and he could have had the very best
attendance, and long lines of carriages would j
have stopped at the front door to inquire as
to his welfare. But po verty on the one side, ;
and sickness on the other, are Bozez and 1
Seneh, and they interlock their shadows, and
dfop them upon the poor man's way. God
help him! "There is a sasrp rock on the one
I side, ana a snarp rocK oa me oiner siue.
Now, what is such a man to do? In the '
name of Almichty God, I will tell him what
to da Do as Jonathan did?climb: climb up
into the sunlight of God's favor and consolation.
I can go through the churches, aud
show you men who lost fortune and health
at the same time, and yet who sing all day
and dream of heaven all night. If you have [
'any idea thatso.ind digestion, and steady
nerves, and clear eyesight, and good nearing,
and plenty of friends, are necessary to !
make a man happy, you have miscalculated. I
I suppose that these overhanging rocks only J
made Jonuthan a.ramb'.o harder nnd the j
faster to get up and out into the sunlight;
I ana cn:s comoiiiea snauuvv tu juvuuuisui uuu
financial embarrassment has often sent a man
up the ^quicker into the sunlight of (rod's '
favor and. the noonday of His glorious
promises. It is a difficu t thing for a man to
feel his dependence upon God waen ha has
ten thousand dollars in the bank, and filty
thousand dollars in Government securities,
and a block ofstoresan 1 threeships. ''Well,"
the man says to himself, "it is silly for me
to pray: 'Give me this day my daily
bread,' when my pantry is full, and
the canals from the West are
crowded with breadstuff9 destined for my
storehouses." Oh, my friends, if the combined
misfortunes and disasters of life have
made you climb up into the arms of a sympathetic
and compassionate God, through all
eternity you will bless Him that in this
world "there was a sharp rock on the one
side, and a sharp rode on the other side."'
Again, that man is in the crisis of the text
who has home troubles and outside persecution
at the same time. The world treats a
man well just as long as it pays best to treat
him well. As long as it can manufacture
success out of his bone and brain, and
muscle, it favors him. The world fattens
the horse it wants to drive. But let a man
I see ic ma amy u> cross me iracK 01 me
world, then every bush is full of horns and
tusks thrust at him. They will belittle him;
they will caricature him; they will cail his
generosity self-aggrandizement. and his piety
sanctimoniousness. The very worst persecution
will some time come upon him from
those who profess to be Christians.
John Milton?great and good John Milton
?so forgot himself as to pray, in so many
words, that his enemies miuht be eternally
thrown down into the darkest and deepest
gulf of hell, and be the undermost and most
dejected and the lowest down vassals of perdition!
And Martin Luther so far forgot
himself as to say, in regard to his theological
opponents: "Fut them in whatever sauce you
please, roasted, or tried, or baked, or stewed,
or boiled, or hashed, they are nothing but
asses!" Ah, my friends, if John Milton or
Martin Luther could come down to such
scnrility, what may you not expect from
less elevated opponents? Now, the world
.sometimes takes after them; the newspapers
take after them; public opinion takes after
them; and tbe unfortunate man is lied about
until all the dictionary of Billingsgate is
exhausted on him. You often see a man
whom you know 10 be good and pure and
honest set upon by the world, and mauled by
whole communities, while vicious men take
on a supercilious air in condemnation of him,
as though Lord Jeffreys should write an
essay on gentleness, or Henry VIII. talk
about parity, or Herod take to blessing little
%
Now, a certain amount of persecution!
rouses a man's defiaBce, stirs his blood for
magnificent battle, and makes him fifty times
more a man than he would have been without
the persecution. So it was with the
| great reformer when he said: "I will
| not be put down; I will be heard." And so
I it was with Millard, the preacher, in the time
i of Louis XI. When Louis XI. sent word to
I him that unless he stopped preaching in that
! ttyle he would throw him into the river he
! replied: "Tell the king that I will reach
heaven sooner by water than he will reach it
by fist horses." A certain amount of persecution
is a tonic and inspiration, but too
much of it, and too long continued, becomes
the rock Bozez, throwing a dark shadow
over a man's life. What is ho to do then/
Go home,you say. Good advice, that That is
just the place for a man to go when the world
abuses him. Go hom ?. Blessed be God for
our quiet and sympathetic homes. But there
is many a man who has the reputation of
having a home when he has none. Through
iinthinL'innrnocc ?nr r?rftr?init-fltinn t.hArA am
many matches made that ought never to
have been made. An officiating priest cannot
alone unite a couple. The Lord Almighty
must proclaim banns. There i3
many a home in which there is no sympathy,
and no happiness, and no good cheer. The
clamor of the battle may not have been
heard outside, but God knows, notwithstand-'
ingall the playing of the "Wedding March,"
and all the odor cf the orange blossoms,
and the bene liction of the officiating pastor,
there has been no marriage.
Sometimes men have awakened to find on
one side of them the rock of persecution, and
on the other s.de the rock of domestic infelicity.
What shall such a one do? Do as
Jonathan did?climb. Get up the heiehts of
God's consolation, from which we may look
down in triumph upon outside persecution
and home trouble. While good and great
John Wesley was being silenced by the magistrates,
and having his name written on the
board-fences of London in doggerel, at that
very time his wife was making him as miserable
as she could?acting as though she were
possessed with the devil, as I suppose she was;
never doing him a kindness until the dav she
ran away, so that he wrote in his dairy these |
words: "1 did not forsake her; I have not j
dismissed her; I will not recall her." Plant- |
ing one foot?John Wesley did?upon outside i
persecution, and the other foot on home .
trouble, he climbed up into the heights of |
Christian joy, and after preaching forty |
thousaud sermons, and traveling two hundred
and seventy thousand miles, reached
the heights of h?aven, though in this world
he had it hard e lough?"a sharp rock on the j
one side, snd a sharp rock on the other.''
Again, tha' wjraan stands in the crisis of
the text, who has bereavement and a struggle
Tor a livelihood at the same time. Without
mentioning name3, I sneak from observation
Ah, it is a hard thing for a woman
to make an honest living, even when her
heart is not troubled, ani she has a fair
cheek and the magnetism of an exquisite
presence. But now the husband, or the
father, is dead. The expenses of the obsequies
have absorbej all that was left in
the savings bank; and wan and wasted
with wponincr she eroes forth?a grave, |
a hearse, a coffin, behind her?to contend for
her existence and the existence of her children.
When I see such a.battle as that open
I shut ray eves at the ghastlineas of the
spectacle. Men sit with embroidered slippers
and write heartless essays about women's
wages; but that question is made up of
tears and blood, and there is more blood than
tears. Oh, give women free access to all the
realms where she can get a livelihood, from
the telegraph office to the pulpit. Let men's
wages be cut down before hers are cut down.
Men have iron in their souls and can stand
it Make the way free to her of the broken i
heart. May God put into my hand the cold,
bitter cup of privation, and give me nothing I
but a windowless hut for shelter for many I
years, rather than that after I am dead there ]
should go out from my home into the pitiless
world a woman's arm to fight the Gettysburg,
the Austerlitz, the Waterloo of life for
bread.
And yet how many women there are
seated between the rock of bereavement on
the one side, and the rock of destitution on
the other?Bozez and Seneh interlocking their
shadow and dropping them upon her miserable
way. "Tnere is a sharp roc-t on the one !
side, and a sharp rock on the other side."
What are su^h to do? Somehow, let them
climb up into tin heights of the glorious I
promise: "Leave thy fatherless cnuaren; i
will preserve them alive, and let thy widows
trust in Me." Or get up into the heights of
that other glorious promise: "The Lord
preserveth the stranger and relieveth the
widow and the fatherless." O! ye sewing
woman on starving wages. 0! ye widows
turned out from the once beautiful home. O! i
ye female teachers, kept on niggardly
stipend. 0! ye despairing woman,seeking in
vain l or work, wandering along the docks,an !
thinking to throw yourself into the river last
night. 0! ye women of weak nerves and
aching side's, and short breath and broken
heart, you need something more than human
sympathy; you need the sympathy of Uod.
Climb up into His arms. He knows it all,
and He loves you more than father, or
" J U -- 4i,l .
motner, or nusoauu ever vuuju UI OICI uiu,
and instead of sitting down, wringing your
hands in despair, you bad better begin to
climb. There are height? of consolation for
you, though now "there is a sharp rock on
the one side, and a sharp rock on the other
side."
Again, that man is in the crisis of the text
who ha3 a wast?d life on the one side, and
an illuminated eternity on the other. Though
a man may all his life have cultured deliberation
and self-poise, if he gets into that position
all his s 'lf-posse-sion is gone. There are
all the wrong thoughts of his existence, all
the wrong deeds, all the wrong words?strata i
above strata, granitic, ponderous, over- j
shadowing. That rock I call Bozez. On the
other side are all the retributions of the future,
the tbroufs of judgment, the eternal
ages, angry with hi3 long deSance. That
rock I call Seneh. Between these two rocks
Lord Byron perished,and Alcibiades perished,
and Herod perished, and ten thousand times
ten thousand have perished. 0! manimmor- ]
tal, man redeemed, man blood-bought, climb '
up out of those shadows. Climb up by the
- * * ^ tt ?!
way.oi tne cross, nave your ?aai?u mo ,
forgiven; have" your eiei*n&t life secured, j
This morning just take one look to the past j
aud see what it has been, and take one look
to the future and see what it threatens to be. |
You can afford to lose your health, you can l
afford to lose your property, you can afford
to lose your reputation; but you cannot afford
to loss your foul. That bright, gleaming,
glorious, precio js, eternal possession you
must carry aloft in the day when the earth
burns up and the heavens burst.
You see from my subject that when a man
goes into the safety and peace of the Gospel,
he does not domean himself. There is nothing
in re.igion that leads to meanness or unmanliness.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ only
asks you to climb as Jonathan did?climbtoward
God, climb toward heaven, climb into
the sunshine of God's favor. To become a
Christian is not to go meanly down; it is to
; come gloriously up?up into the communion
i of saints, up into the peace that passoth all
i understanding, up into the companionship of
angels. He lives up; be die* up.
O: then, accept the wholesale invitation
which I make this morning to all the people.
Come up from between your invalidism and
I financial embarrassments. Cjme up from
j between a wasted life and an unillumined
| etornity. Like Jonathan, climb with all
j your might, instead of sitting down to wring
i vnnr bands in the shadow and in the dark
! ness?"a sharp rock oq the one side, and a
! sharprock on the other side."
A Disease as Well as a Vice.
A writer in the Ladies' Pictorial says:
"The fact that intemperance is often as much
a disease as it is a vice has long been recognized
by such of us women as has given any
study to this subject?one which, I am sorry
to say, is of growing importance as regards
our sex. A friend of mine, who has devoted
much time to the reclamation of female
inebriates, tells me of two cases which illustrate
the evil in the two extremes of social
life. In the one case a very poor woman had
become such a slave to it that it was only by
stepping into the road in passing a publichouse
and avoiding the mere smell of drink
that she was able to keep the pledge. In another
case a lady of good position used to
ttirow nerseu 011 a couca, ciuse u? uj ?.a,
clutch her hands, and literally tight against
the craving when it came with exceptional
force. Happily, she, too, conquered, but the
two instances show painfully enough how intemperance
may grow from a habit into a
Well-nigh incurable disease in any class of
wciety."
The Two Houses.
The public house and the private hous& declares
Rev. William Arnot, cannot both
thrive. The earnings of workingmen ar? not
sufficient both to supply the wants of their
own homes, and support an army of lazy
landlords and well-fed landladies. One must
go to the wall. Where the public house goes
3pdown goes the comfort of home; where
thd homes grow warm and happy, the spiritshops
are deserted and shut up.
RELIGIOUS READING.
,
The Iamb Lout and Foand.
A lamb had left the fold,
And wandered far away,
In search of greener grass,
And flowers more sweet and gay.
But no true food it found;
The flowers that seemed so fair
Were bitter to the taste;
Poison was present there.
The lamb still further strayed,
But searched and searched in vain;
Stumbling along the ground,
Weary and weak with pain.
It sank in miry bogs,
With thorns its fleece wa3 torn;
In fear of wolves, it soon
Began to bleat and mourn.
Tho Shepherd heard its voice
And sought the lamb astray;
He gladly gave His life
To drive the wolf away.
Within His loving arms
The wandering lamb He brought
Rejoicing He had found
The treasure He had sought.
Now, welcomed by the floclc,
Happy and fafe at home,
The grateful lamb resolves
It ne'er again will roam.
Dear Shepherd! give me grace
Nover to leave Thy side,
Nor seek strange food, content
With all Thou dost provide.
Still may I hear Thy voice,
And follow at Thy call;
Each whispered word obey,
And love Thee alori all.
A Belief In God,
I will frankly tell you that my experience
in prolonged scientific investigations convinces
me that a belief in God?a God who fs
behind and within the chaos cf vanishing
points of human knowledge?add * a powerful
stimulus to the man who attempts to
penetrate into the regions of the unknown.
Of myself I may say that I never make the
preparations for penetrating into some small
province of nature hitherto undiscovered
without breathing a prayer to the Being who
hides bis secrets from me only to allure me
graciously on to the unfolding of them.?
[Prof. Agassiz.
The Meet of VnbelieC
The eleventh chapter of Hebrews read3
like a poem. In that wonderful chapter the
apostle describes the triumphs of faith. By
faith the Red Sea was divided, the walls of
Jericho fell down, the mouths of lions were
stopped, the violence of fire quenched, and
even the grave robbed of its prey. God's
word everywhere represents faith as an irresistible
power. By faith we become Christians.
"He that believeth hath everlasting
life." By faith we vanquish every foe.
"This is the victory that overcomoth the
world." By faith we maintain a serene and
peaoeful spirit. "He that believeth shall not
make haste." If such be the power of faith,
terrible in its hindering effects must be the
g>wer of unbelief, and so it is. When
eter's faith fa led, he began to sink. The
deciples could not heal the poor demoniac,
because they had not sufficient fuith.
We read of a certain place that Jesus "did
not many mighty works there because of
their unbelief." Mark adds that he "could
not." Unbelief is the great troub!e with the
church today. When Christians relegate to
a p ist age many of the most precious gifts
and endowments of the church,how can these
promised blessings be verified? We have
money, members and machinery, but- in
many quarters these resources are rendered
inert for want of faith.
Jt may be said of many that they will believe
any one but God, and in anything but
his Word. Unbelief keeps men under the
power of sin. prevents their coming to the
cross, and it is the sin of all sin, because it
robs the soul of pardon, peace ana neaven.
Eve did not believe the word that God had
spoken, and so ate the forbidden fruit. Thus
unbelief let down the bars of Paradise, and
lost man's primal purity. Very often when
Christians get an answer to prayer, they
publish the weakness of their faith by proclaiming
it abroad as an astonishing thing,
as though it were the most wonderful thing
in the worM, that God had answered their
prayer. Men and women who do believe
God's promises in all their fulness and simplicity,
are lookol upon by average Christians
as marvels of faith and power. The
wonderful thing really is not that a few fully
believe God, but that $o many fa 1 to receive
his promises. Unbelief is the barnacle upon
the ship of Zion. Let but the gift of fail h
descend upon the church in the fulness of
its power, and the world will tremble before
the advancing hosts of God.?[Rev. Jesse &
Gilbert, A. M., in Times of Refreshing.
A Oail r Benediction.
On a granite shaft at the grave of a man
who had filled many offices of honor and
trust is this inscription, "He was a daily
benediction in his home." What a splendid
epitaph that is!
"What <? grand tribute it is to the character
of any man to say of him that he made his
home happy!
A German poet has said, "He is happiest,
bo he king or peasant, who finds his happiness
at home.''
May it not with equal truth be said that he
is happiest who carries happiness into his
hems, even as it is "more blessed to give than
to receive." '
It was well to have a day set apart during
the first week of the year to pray "for tiw
hallowing of the home in all its relationships.
"
What a cluster of home-graces this is,
"Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness,
coodness. faithfulness, meekness, temper
ance!" These are the fruits of the Spirit,
and he who hath thora will "show by his
good life his work in meekness of wisdom."
A friend of a good woman once said,
"When I heard her giving orders to her servants
I knew that her soul was at peace with
her Master."
It is ever true that "the fruit of righteousness
is sown in peace for them that make
peace."
Good homes arethj surest foundation upon
which the State can rest. Better for the
State than bolts and bars, are love and law
I in the homes. When these are wanting,
I then come reformatories and prisons.
| The home is the best place in which to sow
the seed of the word. A Christian home is a
church in the house, and a mother's pulpit is
a good place from which to preach. How
many prodigal boys and girls have been
brought back to home and to Christ by the
memory of a mother's counsel? and prayers?
"What grander se;m ns are ever preached
than the silent sermons of a godly life within
the home?
"It wasn't master's sermons, but it was
master's life that did it," snid a clergyman's
servant who had been brought to Christ.
Perhaps there never was a time when the
family-life more needed to have thi Christlife
within it than it dees just now in these
times of abounding temptations. How important
it is that the young should be taught
to "walk in the way of good men and keep
the paths of the righteous." A good way to
bring others to Christ is to give ourselves to
Him ; a goon way to teach righteousness ol
life is by the example of our own right
living. It wus said of a distinKished
New England jurist tint "he
ed the Beatitudes daily." Who can fully
estimate the power of such a life to win
others to Christ? A life like that in the
home would be of greater worth to thos? who
bear the family name than great ricbes or
earthly honor. An eloquent orator, who fills
a large space in the history of his country,
after making the bequests in his will, added
these words: "This is all the inheritance 1
can give to my family. The religion of
Christ can give them one which will make
I them rich indeed."
i That w. s a gocd prayer of David's, "Witt
[ thy blessing let the house of thy servant b
i blessed forever."?[N. Y. Observer.
During a discussion of thesubiectof Christianity
vs. Poverty, Newman liall said that
after thirty-four years of work in London,
he believed drink to be the chief cause of
poverty. He estimated that $o50,000 is spent
for intoxicants in London eva ry Saturday
and Sunday.
The Woman's Christian Temperance Union
of Phiiippopolis, Turkey, has issued, in the
native language, a small pamphlet with the
title: "The use of intoxicating liquors: is it
beneficial to health?' and a leaflet: "Taste
not intoxicating liquors."
The new Governor of fche Canadian Northwest
has abolished prohibition in that section
i and wUl grant permit? forthe gale of liquors.
TEMPERANCE.
The Temperance Tree.
What a mighty tree tbou hast grown
Since long years ago thy seed was sown,
Sown in the hearts of men by hand divine,
In days of old, look thou not upon the wina,
Thy root is deep within the soil,
Around tLo trunk no serpents coil,
No fear from thee of adder's bite.
Thou dost protect and aid the right.
Thy branches reach across the sea
All looking, reaching up toward Thee, ?
Though not Rlike, yet joined in heavt,
Of the grand old treo a part.
To guard the home ibey all agree,
.Like children of one great family,
A refuge from the serpent's power,
Thou art growing stronger every hour.
Think not it can e'er be slain,
"Truth crushed to earth will rise again,"
And right shall ever conquer wrong,
Though the strife be fierce and long.
Thy foes have tried, but all in vain,
To stay thy branches, rend thee in twain,
Yet all united thou still dost staud
For God, and home, and native land.
?Ellen A gnes Marlin.
Hum's Trade Statistics.
There were in 18S7 207,994 registered dealers
in all liquors in the United States; we
presume they all had licenses; 79,433,446 gallons
of distilled liquors and 71C,707,306gallons
of malt liquars were produced in the
United States during the year ending June
39, 1887. Mr. Edward Atkinson estimates tfce
total annual direct cost of liquor to the public
of the United States at $700,000,000; this
amount does not include the taxes, criminal
and pauper charges imposed by the liquor
traffic.?New York Sun.
Alcohol Dulls the Moral Sense.
Deterioration of the moral obligation is, asserts
Dr. W. C. Towers, among the earlier
phenomena of alcoholism. It is perverted
and enfeebled, and sentiments of noDor, of J
reputation and of decency are no longer [
cherished or regarded. "The responsibilities
of social life and the proprieties of parsonal
conduct are no longer considered. He who
was thoughtful uow becomes negligent, seirishand
indifferent; gives himself up to indulgences,and
cares not for his reputation or
that of his family. The conceptions of duty,
of honor, of justice are lost." These changes
are gradual and progressive, their evolution
being largely influenced by the hereditary
traits and previous moral culture of the individual
The sense of obligation to his
family is forgotten, and the responsibility of
providing for and caring for others is unfelt.
The afTections are not only enfeebled, but
Eerverted, and not rarely are they displaced
y hatred and aversion. He who was calm,
reasonable and patient becomes excitable
and perverse and intolerable of opposition
after a while, the character being more
changed, joys and sorrows fail to provoke
real feeling. At last the confirmed sot manifests
moral traits that are simply infantile.
Father Mathew's Fable.
Father Mathew frequently used the following
illustration: A very fat old duck
went out early one morning in pursuit of
worms, and, alter being out all day, she succeeded
in filling her crop full of worms; she
bad the misfortune to be met by a fox, who
at once prt)posed to take her life to satisfy
his hunger. The old duck appealed, argued,
implored, remonsti ated. She said to the I ox:
"You cannot be so wicked and hard-hearted
as to take the life of a harmless duck merely
to satisfy the cravings of hunger?" She exhorted
bim against the commission of so
great a sin, and begged him not to stain his
soul with innocent blood. When the fox
could stand her cant no longer, he said: "Out
upon you, madam, with all your fine feathers;
you're a pretty thing to lecture me for taking
life to satisfy my hunger. Is not your own
crop full of worms? You destroy more lives
in one day than I do in a month." This was
Father Mathew's reply to the makers and
venders of liquor when they charged him
with spoiling their trade and taking the
bread from the lips of their children.
Belgium's Blenace.
M. Emile Lavelaye, writing with great
earnestness and urgency on the economic
crisis in Belgium, adopts the line of argument
with which Britain has been familiarized
by the late William Hoyle, and charges
his countrymen with wasting by far too
large a share of their means in the consumption
of alcoholic liquors. There is a cabaret
for every ten families in Belgium, and
within the last fourteen years the consumption
of drink has doubled. Whereas the
drink bill of Britain is declining, that of Bel
- * 'J. Y 1
glum JS goiug up. m. ue juaveiujo uuuip'ains
that the government encourages
aram-drinking by not making "the trade"
contribute sufficiently to the cost of government.
The spirit duty is only one-fourth
of what it is in France, aDd one-tenth of
what it is in England.? New York Observer.
'lo He urunK is a Sin.
To drink deeply?to be drunk?is, say9 the
great English statesman, John Bright, a sin;
this is not denied. At what point does the
taking of strong drink became a sin? We
suppose a man perfectly sober; one glass
excites him. and to some extent disturbs the
state of sobriety, and so far destroys it;
another glass excites him still more; a third
fires his eye, loosens his tongue, inflames his
passions; a fourth increases all this; a fifth
makes him rooiisn and partially insane; a
sixth makes him stupid?a senseless, degraded
mass. But when does the sin begin? At the
first step toward complete intoxication, or
at the sixth, seventh or eighth? Is not every
step from the natural state of the system
toward the state of stupid intoxication an
advance in sin. and a yielding to the unwearied
tempter of the soul?
Temperance News and Notes.
Eternal temperance is the price of good
health.
Of 3000 convicted criminals examined by a
French medical man, M. Marambet, more
than half were drunkards.
The Topeka Capital says: "Kansas has
saved nearly $12,000,000 since she turned her
back on the whisky traffic."
r net-, vnnr 0(50 distilleries of this country
produced 75,974,370 gallons df whisky, with
an average net profit of $78,404.
Dr. Norman Kerr says one of the effects of
inebriety is "unblushing lying," and that in
police court3 it is carried to an alarming extent.
There are now eight mission vessels cruising
in the North Sea, each a combination of
church, chapel, temperance hall and dispeusary.
That was a wise reflection of the philosopher
who said: "He who spends too much
time before fche bar is apt to bring up behind
the bars."
The population of the Kansas penitentiary
has decreased sixty during the past year, and
several poorhousej have closed for lack of
patronage.
The St. Petersburg (Russia) Zeitung says.
"The race which proves unwilling to be free
from alcohol will be mercilessly trodden
under foot."
Out of the 200,000,000 natives under British
rule in India, there are 150,000,000 whose
religion requires them to abstain from intoxicating
drink.
Fx-Governor Berry, of New Hampshire,
who is now in bis ninety-second year, organized
the first temperance society In the State,
at Hebron, sixty-two years ago.
Through the efforts of Mrs. E. S. Moffat,
Assistant Superintendent for department of
soldiers and sailors, a law has been secured
prohibiting the sale of liquor within one
mile of the Soldiers' Home at Grand Rapids,
Mich.
Cardinal Manning, the eminent representative
of the Roman Catholic Church in Eng
Jand, says: "The drink trade, wnicn lsgiu ing
every year, is our national sin, our national
shame, and if not arrested soon, will be
our national ruin."
Luther Benson, the Indiana temperance
orator, is described as a second Gough. He
was once a forsaken drunkard, but reformed
and is now a consistent church member. He
is an eloquent speaker. He is a heavy set
man, with a deep bass voice and raven black
hair.
As the annual local consumption in France
of brandy is 12,000,000 gallons and the yearly
product only 13,0JO,000 gallons, American
lovers of eau de vie are wondering what the
stuff is which comos across the Atlantic
labeled as French brandy. Scientific experts
say that most of it is cheap German spirits,
flavored with cunningly devised extracts and
* cordial*. .. _? __
CURIOUS FACTS.
A silver penny was thirteen cents.
A hog will not eat a watermelon.
Collegiate decrees are coeval with
universities.
An ephah, or bath, coutains seven gallons
and five pints.
Photographs have been taken by the
light from a fireplace.
Calming'the sea with oil is now regularly
and systematically done.
A Biblical day's journey was about
twenty-three and one-fifth miles.
A French laundryman cleans linen
without soap by rubbing it with boiled
potatoes.
Mr. Bullington, of Georgia, has just
baptized his own wife?a case never
heard of before.
Transplanting teeth has been revived.
It was done twenty-five or thirty years
ago in very rare cases.
It is proposed to build a three foot
wiae cinaer patn between JNew iorK
and New Haven for bicycles.
Masters and doctors existed A.D. 826.
Those in law are traced up to 1140, in
medicine to 1384, in music to 14G3.
A vulture, measuring nine feet from
tip to tip, was lately shot near Jul'en,
Cal.,as it was sailing awuy with a full
grown sheep in its claws. *
One of the curiosities exhibited at the
Cincinnati Centennial is a petrified
watermelon, which was found near the
quarries of the Southern Granite Company,
at Lithonia, Ga.
A Scotch paper has this singular advertisement:
"To be let, a beggar's
stand, in a good, charitable neighborhood,
bringing in about thirty shillings
per week. Some good will is required.
"*
Gov. Crittenden's favorite daughter,
tipon her death bed, asked a pardon for
Stevenson, a convict who had used his
leisure to make toys for the child, and
so won her heart. The Missouri Governor
granted the request.
Parchment wa3 invented for writing
1 1 1 V. ? ~ C T"? 1.1
DOOK3 uy r-uuieues, ui i ergumus, ma
founder of the celebrated library of Pergamus,
formed on the model of Alexandria,
about 190 B. C. Parchment books
from this time became most u3ed.
A campaign torch is being made in
large quantities with an air tube up the
handle. By blowing in the tube the
flame-can be made to leap up about twofeet
for an instant. The effect of a thousand
such spurts of fire at once-will be
striking.
Edison is perfecting a device consisting
of a female face, which he proposes
to set in the face of a clock. The lips
of this figure will move at the hour, the
head will bow and the fictitious lady
will say: "Good evening, ladies and
gentlemen, it is bedtime."
T_ it 11_ _ r xl L T1 I* . i
in me rows 01 uie uruisn raruauien/r
1445, is a petition from two counties setting
forth that the number of attorneys
had lately increased from six to twentyfour,
whereby the peace of those counties
bad been interrupted by lawsuits. They
asked that the number be reduced to
fourteen.
Captain George Murphy, of Philadelphia,
possesses amoDg other relics, the
barrel of John Brown's riflle. It is an
octagonal smooth-bore Springfield,
weighing about twenty pounds, and has
a telescopic attachment. Near the butt
is a little silver plate set in steel, bearing
the name of John Brown.
The battle of the Thames was fought
by Cencral Harrison ou the 5th of October,
1S1.5, against the 'British and the
Indians under Proctor and Tecumseh.
In this battle Tecumseh was among the
killed. The result of this victory was i
the recoverv of Michigan and the termina- I
tion of the war in the Northwest.
Postal Chirogi aphy.
"How about the difficulty of illegible
handwritings?" asked a Ilera'd reporter
of the Superintendent of the Chicago
Post Office.
''Well, that is, generally speaking,
not as bad as might be expected, especially
in a cosmopolitan city like
Chicago, which can boast of all sorts of
national handwritings. Long practice j
has skilled our eyesight and gift of dis- !
tinction so that we but rarely have
difficulty in deciphering any style of
writing. In my tweuty years' experience
I think I remember only two or three oc- j
casions where I was unable to make the
writing out. Judged by nationalities
the Chinese are by all odds the worst
penmen?that is, of our style of writing.
You'd die laughing if you could see
sometimes the chirography some of those
almond-eyed gentlemen indulge in. '
"The Italians come next as illegible
writers, and then some of the Scanaina- I
vians and a few of the Germans, who
affect German script and got off some
very bold figures with the pen. The
Americans are, that goes without saying,
the plainest aud most distinct writers.
But even among them there are a
good many who affect such peculiarities
of handwriting that puzzle us not a little.
Especially what's called the 'backhanded'
ones?-it may look, pie'.ty
enough, but the characters all run into i
each other and make the effect of blurr- j
ing the -whole. It takes study to decipher
this style of writing, and you often
have to twist the letter and turn it
sideways and upside down to get any
sense of it."
A Curious Cane.
Mr. E. G. Osgood, of Maine, has a
curious walking caue. The stick is octagon
in shape, and is of white maple
with cherry head, the entire body being
made hollow, with the displaced wood
made iuto different designs and left in
the hollow space. In the carved head is
set a compass; in the first joint or hollow
space are three loose balls; in the
second, three dice: in the third, a
mounted cannon; in the fourth, a rolling
pin: in the fifth, a chain; in the
sixth, a sailor's loe:, and in the seventh,
a dumb-bell and nondescript somewhat
resembling an hourgl;iS3. The whole is
tipped off with an octagonal ferrule of
brass. In circles around the cane is the
following inscription: "Made by E. G.
Osgood, Portland, Me., in 1884. Total
abstinence from all that intoxicates?E.
G. O." Mr; Osgood has been offered
quite a sura of money for the stick to
place in the Boston museum.?Detroit
Free /Yew.
uciuuin? ine uocior3.
A somewhat smart trick was played
on tlie doctors of Boston by the Globe of
that city the other day, which sent a reporter,
an athlete, in splendid condition
physically, to ten of the leading physicians
for advice. He described a collection
of imaginary symptons, telling the
same story to each. Not one of the examiners
pronounced him a healthy man,
but every one of them gave a diagnosis
ani a prescription?the diagnosis and
the prescription in every case differing
from the other niue. But in justice to
the medical profession it should "be understood
that physicians have never been
trained to diagnose a lie, and that is
vrhat they were called upon to do in this
case.?New York Graphic.
TORTURES IN JAPAN.
METHODS OF EXTORTING CONFESSIONS
FROH CRIMINALS.
A Dark Pa^e In the History of the
Mikado's Kingdom?Cunning
Devices of the Japanese
Inquisitors.
Since the fall of the dual government
and restoration of the Mikado as responsible
ruler, in 18118, Japan has so
completely entertained the idea of progress,
seeking the broad sunlight of
civilization, that one must turn to any
dark or cruel page of her history with
a feeling of reluctance. Until recently
one of the lingering relics of barbarism
was the torture of persons arraigned in
the courts of justice. In 1878 it wa3
freely reported that torture was applied
to some of the soldiers of the Takebaahi
barracks, but it may fairly be understood
that the mutineers of Takebashi
were the last to suffer the repulsive punishments;
and the very decided expression
of opinion on the part of foreign
officials in Japan hastened the abolition j
of the hatefui practice at once and for- j
ever. But the purpose now in view is j
to glance at the old criminal law of \
Japan, and to briefly describe some of !
the forms of torture employed during ex- |
amination of prisoners to provoke them
into a confession of their crimes.
The most extreme of revolting cruel - j
ties were the various applications of the ;
fire torture, but for the victims some of ]
them had tbe one advantage of more j
speedily terminating bis terrible suffer- j
ings. The accused, with bands and feet j
Becured, was suspended, head down- |
ward, in a cage made of green bamboo, j
The cage was contrived to slowly re- |
reive, the culprit being exposed to the !
fierce heat of a charcoal fire, which was 1
frequently replenished by the execu- j
tioners.
Oftentimes, happily for the wretched ;
ufferer, the fumes of. the charcoal produced
suffocation. Another fire torture
was to compel the prisoner to staud upon
a heated grating or grid, beneath which
a fire was constantly kept burning. He
was unable to leave- the small enclosure,
being quite surrounded by a strong railing.
Lighted charcoal placed in the interior
of a metal funnel was another
description of lire torture. The tube,
containing the lighted charcoal, was se
curely bound ia the grasp of the prisoner,
and he was forced by the attendants
to walk quickly about, exposing
the broad end of the tube to the wind, !
thereby accelerating ihe heat and in- I
creasing his own sufferings. Another !
agonizing torture was produced by the !
application of boiling oil to the body of j
the victim, and it was a torture applied I
in so many ways that only sickening de-;
tails of devices to intensify human I
suffering could picture, if that were possible,
its extent and variety.
The store torture was usually tho first
cruelty practiced upon a prisoner. He j
was forced to- prostrate himself, face j
downward, upon the apexes of five !
triangular-shaped blocks of hard wood, j
the front of his legs being exposed to !
the sharp edges. While securely held j
in this position heavy stones were placed
on the victim's thighs and others were !
slowly added?to increase the terrible
weight?until he became unconscious or
signified his intention to confess.
The box torture was a still more,
atrocious contrivance. Bountl hand and i
foot, the culprit was forced into a strong !
box, about two feet square, having a !
covering made to fit the inside, and!
capable ot being lowered or laised at
will. Heavy weights were placed upon j
it, and as these were increased in nura- <
ber, depressing the lid, the poor wretch '
within the box was slowly crushed to
death.
In using the water torture it was be- j
lieved that the torment of thirst would !
induce a prisoner to confess his guilt.
After several days' subsistence on a salt
diet, without rice and water,the accused
was shut in a room where he could see
and hear the dropping of water on all
sides, but out of his reach. The cravings
and sufferings became fearful under the
agony, often aprroaching the bounds of j
insanity. I
Deprivation of sleep was effected by j
placing the criminal upon a bed. or mat, !
over which a small stream of water was
continua'ly flowing. Attendants were
j in readiness, and at the slightest indication
of slumber they would rouse their I
| victim by ringing bells, beating drums,
or the applicatiou of fire to his body, j
I The treatment rendered sleep impossible, !
the poor wretch's mind became dis- j
ordered under the torture afid oftentimes
loft him a raving maniac.
The old style of trial in Japan in- j
eluded only about four persons?the
judge, 1he secretary, the torturer and the
j accused. The latter was taken into tne
examination room securely bound, and
was forced to kneel during the investi- '
gation of his case. If he persisted in re- J
! maining mute,or appeared to equivocate
j in his reply to the questions addressed
I to him, the "investigation whip'' was j
used smartly?an instrument capable of
inflicting jjreat punishment, made.of;
I three long strips of bamboo cane. !
| Should he continue stubborn a mu. h
' heavier whip was applied, the torturer j
repeating the blows until the prisoner
1 either yielded or fainted under the terrible
infliction. But no fatal injuries were
permitted to be inflicted during these
preliminary investigations, and a judge !
causing the application of torture to in-1
nocent person", or to those of very ad!
vanced or tender yeArs, was himself liable
to severe punishment.
Such were some of the inhuman methods
of torturing prisons in Japan practiced
certainly within a score of years?
j and less?and not a few of the death
I sentences described, excepting the most
atrocious tortures, the present writer has
I actually witnessed.?Manchester Ouari
dian.
A Freak of Lightning.
j The Vicar of Midgham, Reading,
England, is voucher for a story about a
' man recently in his employ. The man
was mowing grass when a rain storm
came up, and he took refuge under an
elm tree. There was not, the Vicar affirms,
any sign of either thunder or
lightning, but as the man was whetting
his scythe he heard ahis9ing sound, ana
I in an instant he was knocked against
the tree, the sleeve of his shirt split
from top to hottom. his arm rendered
powerless, his scythe doubled up, and a
hole the size of a florin made in the brim
! of his felt hat. All this without any
perceptible noise, except the hiss, or any
flash.
An Educated Beggar.
' "JParis has an educated beggar in the
person of a young man formerly a pupil
of the Kcole Normale, whose modus
J operandi is as follows: He comcs up to
. the terrace of a cafe and addressing himself
to the most intelligent-looking man
present invites him to ask any historical
question he can think of, any date of
j French history, from th; curliest to the
present time. fusing: 1 wm uuo.?vi
once." He fulfills his promise with re(
markable alacrity, and with equal alacrity
passes around the hat.
BSC***
WORDS Of WISDOM.
A fool is always beginning.
Dearth foreseen never came.
Never try to outshine but to please. 1
When two quarrel, both are in the The
liar is sooner caught than the
When the head is sick the whole body
A man's own business does not defile
his fingers.
He who has enough is richer than h?
who has more and is discontented.
Appearances will go a good ways but
reality will keep going right along.
Life will soon bo done. Be not weary
or disheartened. What are a few yeari
of toil iu prospect of the eternal life?
Remember that good manners an
thoughts filled with kindness and refine*
ment and then translated into behavior.
Be not ostentatious in dress or deport
raent; nothing can be more vulgar. Set . ^5
that costume* fit the time and occasion. :^f|B
Nature is upheld by antagonists. Pas- '
sions, resistance, danger, are educators. j$|
We acquire the strength we have overcome.
Be rude to none; rudeness harms noJ
even the humblest and poorest to whom ;
it is directed, but it injures the ex- ' _
hibitors.
There are do conditions that can sue*
cessfully compete with earnestness ol
purpose backed up by character and persistent
industry. . . We
are hanging up pictures every day -:r$M
about the chamber walls of our hearts
that we shall have to look at when wf
sit in the shadows.
There are two ways of being happy:
we may either diminish our wants or C'J
augment our means?either will do?the
reiult is the same.
Few mortals- are so insensible that
their affections cannot be gained by ,
mildness, their confidence by sincerity,
their hatred by scorn or neglect.
A man should never be ashamed to
own. that he has been in the wrong, . ,
which is but saying in other words, that he
is wiser to-day than he was yeater- ';v|
A Chinese Headsman at Work.
On one occasion we were ashore in
Canton. China, writes a naval officer in '
the Mail and Express, seeing everything
curious that was to be seen, when through .
the streets came a large body of troops
guarding five men carried in Bat baskets rM
suspended on bamboo rods from the
shoulders of coolies.
"Sam, what are they going to dorwith
those men?" we asked of one guide.
"Oh," said he, they are pirates, and
the troop3 are going to cut off their ? ia|
heads."
We followed, and in a short time came . .
to an open courtyard just off one of the
main thoroughfares of the city. The
soldiers filed in one each side, and the
Mandarin, who wore the blue button,
seated himself in a chair.
The five prisoners were made to kneel on
the ground in Indian file, their "queues"
were coiled up on the bacfcs of their ',"'4
heads, and with a slight inclination the
backs of their necks were made perfectly
bare. An officer was sent for the execu
tioner, ana ne appeared, malting iaa
salute to the Mandarin. A look in his
face revealed nothing save the same
stolid expression that is seen in all ,*
Chinamen, but he carried himself with
a swagger, that plainly said that he wa?
the most observed of all men there, and j
that it was an easy task that he was
about to perform.
The prisoners were kneeling, their
hands tied behind their backs, and
heavy bamboo rods weighed at each end
were laid across the calves of their legs.
The Mandarin rose and read the warrant . j
of execution. On the faces of the people
who had docked to see the executions
an expression of fear and anxiety was <
depicted. A command was given, the
executioner walked to the side of the
first man, and drawing a long, narrow p.
knife from under his robe awaited the
order. The supreme moment had come;
five lives were to be taken. The men ia <
the refer coald see every movement of
the executioner and of the man in front
of nim. To the "outside barbarian" it
was a fearful moment A command was
given, and in an instant the knife was in
the air and in the next moment a head lay
on the trround. A srreat fountain of blood '
spurted from the" neck, and the executioner
wa? beside the next man. Agaia
the command, and a headless body the
result, and in less than the time it takes
to write this line the five men were beheaded.
We ran to the bodies in our curiosity
to see if any muscular action was taking
plar e, but there was none beyond the
slowly closing eyelids. The law was
vindicated. The troops formed in line,
the heads were put in the baskets that
lately carried the bodies of the pirates,
and the march was resumed through the
city.
??
Ben. Butler and the Cripple.
There was a boy in Lowell, Mass., the
son of a poor man, who, a number of
years ago, was run over by a railroad
train. Both legs had to be amputated
close up to the hip. The company told
his father they would give him $1000
or the boy a practical education. The
father accepted the lafter alternative, and
the railroad company made a telegraph
upcrmur ui iuc biippiuu uuj. m um us
became of age he found he was not getting
as good pay as other operators. He
wrote to General Butler and asked if
anything could be done. General Butler
sait for the boy. The whole story waa
gone over.
I "I'll take your case," said the noted
lawyer. Then he sent for the solicitor
of the railroad company. When the
solicitor arrived at the General's office
the legless boy was in a chair on the top
of a long table. General Butler explained
that he proposed to begin suit
for the boy to get damages.
"But," said the solicitor, "we agreed
with his father to give him a practical
education. We made a telegrapher out
I of him, and there is no law for getting
j any further damages."
' You can't tell me anything about the
law," was General Butler's reply; "but
how much damages do you think that
i boy would get if he sat on a table lik?
that before a jury?"
! The railroad lawyer caught the poitrt
i at once. "I do not know," he aaid.
| "How much do you think he would
i get?"
| "About $10,000," replied General
Butler.
I ^"I'll compromise with you," hurriedly
' returned the lawyer, aud by his shrewd
stage effect (General Butler got ovei .
iKH) for the boy without going into
trial. The lawyer knew Butler could
J make it cost the company that much, as
1 well as a good deal of trouble, and he
' was glad enough to compromise.?
| Chicago Tribune.
The demand in the London market foi
lilies has bccomc so great that lilj
growing has become a great industry io
Bermuda.
-. .J* ,i? . . .... ).; - ^*7