University of South Carolina Libraries
REV. DR. TALMAGE. TDHE BROOKLYN DIVINES SUN DAY SEICMON. AnhiAct;: "The Chain of Influences.' Text: "Make a chain."?Ezekiel vti., 2-"5At school and in college in announcing the mechanical powers, we glorified the lever, the pulley, the inclined plane, the screw, the axle and the wheel, but my text culls us tc atudy the philosophy of the chain. These links o: metal, osie with another, attracted the old Bible authors, and we hear the chain rattle and see its coil all the way through from Genesis to Revelation, flashing as an ornament, or restraining as in captivity, or holding as in conjunction as in case ot machinery. To do him honor Pharaoh hung a chain of gold about the neck of Joseph, and Belshazzar one about the neck of Daniel. The high priest had on his breast-plate two chains of gold. On the camels' neck9, as the Ishmaelites drove up to Gideon, jingled chains of gold. The Bible refers to the Church as having A/)/v?vtmanfo covins* BUCU ^UblOI lli^ auvu uuiuuw, cuj -**-*0 *?/ neck is comely with chains of gold," On the other hand, a chain means captivity. David the psalmist exults that power haJ been given over his enemies, '"to bind their kings with chains." The old missionary apostle cries out: '*Kor the hope of Israel.I am bound with this chain." In the prison where Peter is incarcerated, you hear one day a great crash at the falling off of his chains. St. John saw an angel come down from Heaven to manacle the powers of darkness, and having "a great chain in his hand," and the fallen angels are represented as ''reserve! in everlasting chains," while in my text, for the arrest and limitation of the iniquity of his time, Ezekiel thunders out: ''Make a chain:" What I wish to impress upon myself and npon you is the strength in right aud wrong directions, of consecutive forces, the superior power of a chain of influences above one influence, the great advantage of a congeries of links above one link, and in all family government and in all effort to rescue others and in all attempts to stop iniquity, take the suggestion of my text ana make a chain 1 'lhat which contain* the greatest importance, that which incloses the most tremendous opportunities, that which of earthly things is most wretched by other worlds, that which has beatiug against its two sides all the eternities, is the cradle. The grave is nothing in importance compared with it, for that is only a gully that we step across *? ? .3 lv<?f Af*a/1la Koa if A jll ?| OCVJl'UU, UUV iuo v*c?vi.iw uuo "luiuu iu a new eternity, just born and never to cease. When three or four years ago the Ohio River overflowed its banks and the wild freshets swept down with ihem harvests and cities, one day was found floating on the bottom of the waters a cradle with a child in it all unhurt, wrapped up snug and warm, and its blue eyes looking into the blue of the open heavens. It was mentioned as somethiug extraordinary. But every cradle is, with its young passenger, floating on the swift currents of the centuries, deep calling to deep, Ohios and St. Lawrences and Mississippis of influence, bearing it onward. Now, what shall be done with this new life recent!/launched? Teach him an evening prayer? That is important, but not enough. Hear him as soon as he can recite some gospel hymn or catechism? That is important, but not enough. Every Sabbath afternoon read him a Bible story? That is important, but not enough. Once in a while a lesson, once in a while a prayer, once in a while a restraining influence? All these are important, but not enough. Each one of these influences is only a link, and it will not hold him in the tremendous emergencies of Ufa Let it be constant instruction, constant prayor, constant application of good influences, a long line of consecutive impressions, reaching from his first year to his fifth, ana from his fifth year to his tenth, and from his tenth to his twentieth. "Make a chain!" Spasmodis education, paroxysmal discipline, occasional fidelity, amount to nothing. You can as easily hold an anchor by one link as .hold a child to the right by isolated and intermittent faithfulness. The example must connect with the instruction. The conversation must combine with the actions. The week day consistency must conjoin with the Sunday worship. Have family prayers by all means; but be petulant aud inconsistent and unreasonable in your household and your family prayers will be a blasphemous farce. So great in our times are the temptations of young men to dissipation, and young women to social fo'lies, that it is most important that the first eighteen years of their life be charged with a religious p>wer that will hold them when the}' get out of the harbor of home into the stormy ocean of active life. There is such a thing as impressing children so powerfully with good, that sixty years will have nO more power to efface it than sixty minutes, what a rough time that young man has in doing wrong, carefully nurtured as he was! His father and mother have been dead for years, or over in Scotland, or England, or Ireland; but th6y have stood in tho doorway of dram-shoD that he entered, and under the chandelier of every house of dissipation, saying: "My son, this is no place for you. Have you forgotten the old folks? Don't you recognize these wrinkles, and this stoop in the 9houlder, and this tremulous hand? Go home, my boy, go home I By the God to whom we consecrated you, by the cradle in which we rocked you. by the grass-grown graves in the old country churchyard, by the heaven where we hope yet to meet you. go home! Go home, my boy, go home!" And some Sunday you will be surprised to find that young man suddenly asking for the prayers of the church. Some Sunday you will see him at the sacrament and perhaps drinking from the same kind of chalice tha? the old lolks drank out of years ago whep they commemorated the sufferings of the Lord. Yes, my lad, you do not have such fun in sin as you seem to have. I know what spoils your fun. You cannot shake off the influence of those prayers lon^ ago offered, or of those kind admonitions. You cannot make them %o away, and you feel like saying: "Father, what are you doing here? Mother, why do you bother me with suggestions of those olden times?" But they will not go away. Thev will push you back from your evil paths, though they have to come from their shining homes in heaven anl stand in the verv irates of hell, and thoir back-, scorched by the fiery blast, and with their hand on your shoulder, and their breath on your brow, and their eyes looking straight into yours, they will say: "We have come to take you fcoiue, O, son o( many anxieties!" At last that young man turns th^ouch the consecutive influence of a pious parentage, who oat of prayeri and fidelities innumerable, made a chain. That is the chain that pulls mightily this morning on five hundred of you. \ ou may be too proud to shed a tear, and you may, to convince others of your imperturbability, smile to your friend beside vou, but there is not sc much power in an Alpine avalanche after il has slipped for a thousand feet and having truck a lower cliff is taking its second bound for fifteen hundred feet more ol plunge, as there is power in the chain thai pulls out this moment toward God ami Christ and Heaven! Oh! the almighty pull of the long chain of early gracious in fluences! But all people between thirty and forti years of age, yes, between forty and fiftyaye, between fifty and sixty years, and all septuagenarians as well, need a surrounding conjunction of good influences. In Sing Sing, Auburn. Moyami-nsing, and all the other great prisons, are men and women who went wrong in mid-life and old age. We need around us a cordon of good influences. We forget to apply tho well-known rule that a yfinin is no stronirer than its weakest link. If the chain be made up of a thousand links and nine hundred and ninety-nine are strong, but one is weak, the chain Will be in danger of breaking at that one weak link. We may be strong in a thousand excellences and vet have one weakness which endangers us. That is the reason that we sometimes see men distinguished for a whole round of virtues collapse and go down. The weak link in the otherwise stout chain gave way under the pressure. The first chain bridge was built in Scotland. Walter Scott tells how the French imitated it in a bridge across the liver Seine. But there was one weak point in that chain bridge. There was a middle bolt that was of poor material, but they did not know how much depended on that middle bolt of the chain bridge. On the opaning day a procession started, led on by the builder of the bridge; and when tb9 mighty weight of the procession was fairly on it, the bridge broke 1 J <-1? TKa hpiHfrc ana precipuatea iu? iuuiui>uu<?. was all riglit except in that middle bolt. So the bridge of character may be made up oi mighty links, strong enough to hold a mountain: but if there be ona weak spot, that one point unlooked after may be the destruction of everything. And what multi tudes have gone down for all time -and all eternity because in tb< chain bridge of their character there I was lacking a strong middle bolt. He I had but one fault and that was avarice i hence, forgery. He had but one fault and I that was a burning desire for intoxicants i hence, his fatal debauch. She had but one " , fault and that an inordinate fondness foi J dress, and hence her own and her husband's bankruptcy. She had but one fault and that a quick temper; hence, the disgraceful out , burst What we all want is to have pul around us a strong chain of good influences. Christian association is a link. Good litera tare is a link. Church membership is a link. Scripture research is a link. Faith in God is , a link. Put together all these influences, j Make a chain! 11 Most excellent is it for us to get into com , j p&ny better than ourselves. If we are given t to telling vile stories let us put ourselve| acione those who will not abide such utteri j ance. If we are stingy let us put ourselves t; among: the charitable. If we are morose let i1 us put ourselves among the good-natured. If j we are given to tittle-tattle let U3 put our. j selves among those who speak no ill of their ,' neighbors. If we are despondent let us pul ;! ourselves among those who make the best oi j tilings. If evil is contagious, I am glad tc I say that goo i is also catching. People go up ! into the hill country for physical health; sc [ j if you would be strong in your soul gel ) yourself up off the lowlands into the alti : > tudes of high moral association. For man; j of the circumstances of our life we are i not responsible. For our parentage we are , J not responsible. For the place of ou: nativity, not responsioie; tor our leanuoa, i our stature, our color, not responsible; for the family relation in which we were born, for our natural tastes, for our mental character, not responsible. But we are responsible for the associates that we choose and the moral influences under which we put ourselves. Character seeks an equilibrium. A. B. is a good man. Y. Z. is a bad man. Let them now voluntarily olioo3e each other's society. A. B. will lose a part of his i goodness and Y. Z. a part of his baduess.and j they will gradually aporoach each other i in character and will finally stand ou the same level. One of the old painters refused to look at poor pictures because he said it damaged his style. A musician cannot afford to dwell among discords, nor can a writer afford to peruse books of inferior style, nor an architect walk out among (lisproportioned structures. And no man 01 woman was ever so good as to be able tc ! a fl \r\r\ac\ 1 aafinno THorafrtW I said, have it a rule of your life to go amonz those better than yourselves. Cannot find them? Then what a pink of perfection you must be' Whin was your character completed? What a misfortune for the saintly and angfllic of heaven that they are not enjoying the improving influence of your society! Ah, if you cannot find those better than yourself, it is because you are ignorant of yourself. Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharasees, hypocrites! But, as I remarked in the opening, in sacred and in all styles of literature a chain means not only adornment and royalty of nature but sometimes captivity. And I suppose there are those in that sense deliberately and persistently making a chain. Now here is a young man of good physical health, good manners and good education. How shall he put together enough links to make a ch lin for the down-hill road? I will give bim some directions. First, let him smoke. If he cannotstand cigars, let him try cigarettes. I think cigarettes will help him on this road a little raoro rapidly because the doctors say there is more poison in them, and so he will be helped along faster, and I have the more confidence in proposing this because about fifty of the first young men of Brooklyn during the last year were, according to the doctors' reports, killed by cigarettes. Let him drink light wines fir3t, or ale or lager, and gradnallv he will be ab!e to take something stronger, and as all styles of strong drink are more and more adulterated, his progress will be facilitated. With the oldtime drinks a man seldom got delirium tremens before thirty or forty years of age; now he can get the madness by the time he is eighteen. Let him play cards, enough money put up always to add interest to the game. If the father and mother will play with him that will help by way of countenancing the habit And it will be such a pleasant thing to think over in the day of judgment when the parents give account for the elevated manner in which they have reared their children. Every pleasant Sunday afternoon take a carriage ride and stop at the hotels on either side the road for Sabbath refreshments. Do not let the old-f03^ prejudices against Sabbath breaking dominata you. Have a membership of some c'ub wutfrw uutu mitja gu auu urn auuuu i/ucu vr/ torious sins, and laugh as loud as any o! them in der.sioa of those who belong to the saraa sex as your sister and mother. Pitch your Bible overboard as old-fashioned and fit only for women and children. Read all the magazine articles that put Christianity at disadvantage, and go to hear all the lectures that malign Christ, who, they say, instead of being the Mighty One he pretended to be, was an imposter and the imp:anter of a great delusion. Go, at first out of curiosity, to see all the houses of dissipation, and then go because you have felt tne thrall of their fascination. Getting along splendidlv now! Let me see what further can I suggest in that direction. Become more defiant of all dAfftrtrv.mnrrtInnrt-mouthed in vonr atheism. more thoroughly alcoholized, and instead of the small stakes that will do well enough for games of chance in a ladies' parlor, put up something worthy, pat up more, put up ail you have. Well done! You have succeeded. You have made a chain?the tobacco habit one link, the rum habit one link, the impure club another link, infidelity another link. Sabbath desecration another link, uncleannessanother link, and altogether they make a chain. And so there is a chain on your hand and a chain on your foot ani a chain on your tongue and a chain on your eye and a chain on your brain and a chain on your property and a chain on your souL Some day you wake up and j'ou say: "I am tired of this and I am going to get loose from this shackle." You pound away with the hammer of good resolution, but cannot break the thralL Your friends join you in a conspiracy of help, but fall exhausted in the unavailing attempt. Now you begin, and with the writhing of a Laocoon, to try to break away, and the muscles are distended, and the great beads of perspiration dot your forehead, and the eyes stand out from the sockets, ?>>r) wifb all t.hft concentered energies of body, mind and soul you attempt to get loose but have only made the chain sink deeper. All the devils that encamp in the wine flask and the rum jug and the decanter ?for each one has a devil of its own?come out and sit around you and chatter. In some midnight you spring from your couch and cry: "I am fast; 0 God, let me loose! O ye Dowers of darkness, let me loose! Fattier and mother and brothers and sisters, help me to get loose!" And you turn your prayer to bias! phemy and then your blasphemy into prayer, ! and to all the din and uproar there is pla\ ed ; an accompaniment, not an accompaniment by key and pedal, but the accompaniment is J rattle, and the rattle is that of a chain. For , five years, for ten years, for twenty years, you have been making a chain. \ But here I take a step higher and tell you [ there is a power that can break any chain? ? chain of body, chain of mind, chain of souL j The fetters that the hammer of the Gospel j have broken off, if piled together, would [ mike a mountain. The captives whom Christ has set free, if stood side bj side, would make an army. Quicker r than a ship chandler's furuace evei . melted a cable, quicker than a key ever I unlocked a handcuff, quicker than the bay; onets of revolution pried open tne Bastile, you may be liberated ana made a ' free son or a free daughter of God. You i have only to choose between serfdom and emancipation, between a chain nnd a coronet, k/t*niAnn Cafan ortrl M o I'Q 11 n XTrtJll mind and make it up quick. "V^hei the King of Sparta had crossed th< ' Hellespont and was af>out to march througi Thrace, he sent word to the peonla in th( ' different region* asking them whether h< should march through thoir countries as i ! friend or an enemy. "By all means as ? i frirnd." answered most of the regions, bui th3 Kin? of Macedon replied: "I will tak< time to consider it." "Then." said th< > King of Sparta: "Let him consider in i hut meantime, we march?we march.' So Christ, onr King, gives us our choio between his friendship and his frown, an< i many of us have long been considering wha we had better do: but meantime He marche [ on. and our opportunities are marching by ! And we shall be the loving subjects of Hi reign, or the victims of our own obduracy 1 So, I urge you to precipitancy, rather thai slow deliberation, and I write all over you: I oA,,1 tlio vrnr-Aa r\f PVlHflt: T SAW inscribed OH th ' monument of Princess Elizabeth in the Isl 1 of Wight, the words to which her inde: 1 finger pointed in the open Bible when she wa | found dead in her bed after a lifetime o trouble: "Come unto Me, all ye who ar k wpary and heavy laden, and I will give yoi 1 r<>3t." Is there a drunkard here? You raav.b; th^ Saviour's grace, have that fire of thirs utterly extinguished. Is there a defraude 1 here? You may be made a saint Is ther 1 a libertine here? You may be made as pur * i as the light When a minister in an outdoo; meeting in Scotland was eulogizing goodness, : there were hanging around the edge [ of the audience some of the most depraved ; men and women, and the minister said noth5 ing about mercy for prodieals. And a dep praved woman cried out: ' 'Your rope is not s long enough for the like of us." Blessed be t God. our Gospel can fathom the deepest - depths and reach to farthest wanderings, and t here is a rope that is long enough to rescue the worst: "Whosoever will." But why take extreme cases, when we all have been or are now the captives of sin and death? And we may through the great Emancipator drop our shackles and take a throne. You have looked at your band and arm onlv as being useful now, and a curious i piece of anatomy, but there is something 5 about your hand and arm that makes ma think * they are an undeveloped wing. And if you would know what pos, sibilities are suggested by that, ask ' the eagle that has looked close into the eye of the noonday sun; or ask the albatross that . has struck its claw into the black locks of the 5 tempest; or ask the condor that this morning > is descending to the highest peak of Chim i borazo. Your right hand ana arm and your , left hand and arm, two undeveloped wings, > better get ready for the empyrean. ; "Rise, mv soul, and stretch thy wing, I Thy belter portion tracj." There have been chains famous in the > world's history, such as the chain which > fastened the prisoner of Chillon to the pillar, into the staple of which I have thrust my , hand, on the isolated rock of the Lake of Geneva; such as the chain which the , Russian exile c'anks on his wav to the mines , of Siberia; such as the chain which Zenobia, : the captive queen, wore when brought into ( the presence of Aurelian. Aye, there have . been races in chains, and nations in chains, ' and there has been a world in chains; but, ] thank God. the last one of them shall be ] ( broken, and under the liberating power of . the omnipotent Gospel the shackles shall [ fall from the last neck, and the last arm, and . the last foot. But these shattered fetters , shall all be gathered up again from the dunL geons, and the work-houses, and the mines, ( and the rivers, and the fields, and they shall L again be welded.and again strung link to link, and polished ana transformed until this world, . which has wandered off and been a recreant world and a lost world, shall by that chain ! be liftal and hung to the throne of God, no , longer the irou chain of oppression, but the ( golden chain of redeeming love. There let this old ransomed world swing forever! Roll ? on ye years, roll on ye days, roll on ye hours,and hasten the glorious consummation! TEMPERANCE. The LiA9t Glass. A merry crowd, a careless throng, Where foaming glasses, jest and song i ; t niea up cne nours. i There gathered rough and bearded men, ] And fair-faced boys, within that den } Of Satan's powers. One came as often as the rest, To share the flowing wine and jest, With reckless air, 1 As if pursued by fiends within He sought the place where drink and di* Soon banished care. One night the usual glass was poured, Amid the revels songs encored 1 By those who heard; The poison almost finds his lips When from his hand the goblet slips, Without a word. A muttered oath?a dogged air? A sudden 4ull?a general stare? Then loud and clear Hespoke: "Fill me another glass; JJiy nerves urn auaKjr ?iet iv j?w? i Here's to all here." He lifted up the glas? Hgain, But set it down and faced the men Who sat around. '4Joys," and his voice was hoarse with dread, "1 cannot drink that glass," he said? A sudden sound. Like smothered laughter?then his face, All stern and \Vhite, subdued the place, All silence felL "I cannot drink it, for there lies Within its depths a pair of eyes, Like neaven and hell. "I cannot drink it, for there swims A face above the foam that brims? The face of one Whose heart would ache to see me here; Whose heart would break, I am so dear; Boys, I am done? "Done with the poison; here's my hand; And with God's help I mean to stand By all I say; And stand by her whose dear face lies Between me and the revelries I leave to-day." , ?Emma Lundon, in Detroit Free Press. | ' ? i A Petition to the World's Rnlers. The following petition addressed to the rovernments or the world, has been circuited by the W. C. T. U.: We, your petitioners, although belonging i to tho "physically weaker sex, are strong of heart to lovo our homes, our native land, and tho world's family of nations. i We know that clear brains and pure hearts i make honest lives and happy homes, and that by these the nations prosper, and the time is*brought nearer when the world shall be at peace. We know that indulgence in alcohol and opium, and in other vices which disgrace our social life, make misery for all the world, and most of all for us and for our children. We know that stimulants and opiates are sold under legal guarantees which make the i governments partners in the traffic, by accepting as revenue a portion of tlieprofits.and we know with shame that they are often forced by treaty upon populations, either ignorant or unwilling. We know that the law might do much,now left undone, to raisa ti e moral tone of society, and r nder vice difficult. We have no power to prevent these great iniquities beneath which the whole world groans, but you have Dower to redeem the honor of the nations from an indefensible complicity. We therefore como to you with the united i voices of representative women of every land, beseech.ng you to raise the standard of i the law to that of Christian norals. to strip i away the safeguards and sanctions of the state from the drink traffic and the opium trade, and to protect our hom s by the total prohibition of these curses of civilization lii/'-:i-/.11out all the territory over which j oi.r ;overument extends. His Red Nose. 1 "I will give $500 to tbe man who will re- ! irtore my nose to its natural color," said a ] well-dressed man in hearing of a Philadelphia l r :ss reporter recently. Then as if to gi vt * zest to his remark, he gulped down a big drink of whisky, and, putting the glass down on the bar, he took a long and wistful look into the dim prospective of his life when his < j nasal organ was of the tinge it should be i I now. "1don't know how it ever got so red,'' ' i he continued, after ordering "a little of the i r same." At this remark the bartender i winked slyly at the man's companion and gave a significant glance at the empty glas> i on the bar. i . ( > Temperance News and Notes, t Louisville, Ky., has six saloons to each i church. ' A vile drink called pekoe ha3 been intro[ jduced into Marseilles, and is circulating over .France. The man who introduced it has made a big fortune. In the country at large we sp9nd $GO),000,000 a year for strong drink and only $5,500.l)0i) for home ani foreign missions. In JNew York city there are 10,000 saloons, but only S0J places of worship. t Beer is still King in England. According J to the latest parliamentary returns, $500,000 j .was received for beer licensor in England last . year, and as an indication of where the prof1 its go it is announced that; Lord Lansdownp e 1ms just sold three of his finest pictures, two i Kembrandts and a Cuyp, for $250,000, to Sir t Arthur Guinness, who nas made his money s in brewing beer. * The temperance people of New Hampshire J are taking advantage of the "nuisance act" . passed by the Legislature last winter, to i niako the country very uncomfortable for r liquor dealers. The act declares that any 9 building, place or tenement that is resorted 9 to or used for the illegal sale or keeping for t isale of spiritous or malt liquors, wine or 9 cider, shall be considered a "common f nuisance." The prosecution began almost as 0 soon as the act went into effect, and has been u fsuch as to greatly alarm the "saloon ele? ment" The number of voters reauirod to t secure an injunction against a saloon, was r I found in nearly all the large towns and cities, 0 l and in many of the smaller ones. As a cona Sequence, the liqupr nuisance has been abated f > in many sections of ttw State. ? , v , v ~ ; v '' r-- ; RELIGIOUS READING, j "Under the Shadow of HU Wing-*." Under His sheltering wings, as spread Over each faithful servant's head, They safe shall rest; Never can harm, awake, asleep. Come to the saints whom God shall keep, 1/iViiiCljr U1091* Never the pestilence, by night, Never destruction's noontide blight, Shall here invade; Never shall sun, nor moon here smite, Those who of God are his delight, He is their shade. Rest and repose to them he brings, Who shall abide beneath His wings, No danger there; He shields against incoming foe3, He safely guards from eartnly woes, For them will care. Under His wings, above we soar Where surging ills dis*urb no more, We mount, we rise, Lifted on high, the soul now sings Gkxi's wondrous grace, 0, wings, O, wingu, Beyond the skies. ?[J. Byington Smith in Baptist Weekly. llaveni at Elijah'* Brook. The following scene was witnessed a few rears ago in Palestine by Dr. Robert Morris, then visiting the Holy Land. He says: "In coming up one day from Jericho to Jerusalem 1 was forcibly reminded of God's provident care over all his creatures. As I was ascending the steep hill by the afde of the place known as "Wady Kelt, the same I think that in the Bible is called 'the brook Sberith,' and if so it is the very spot where Elijah was concealed when Ahab sought his life and where the ravens fed him from day :o day, as I eot about half way up the hill I ieara some loud screams far dotvn in the ravine below me, and I know they came from a nest of young ravens. Tbese youug sirds were uttering the cry of hunger, it tves near noon anu I suppose the hungry birds had yet bad nothing to eat that lay; the old birds had gone away to Junt food for tboir little ones. The place ivas lonely and desolate, the little birds could :ot get out of their nest, and even if they jould have left tbeir nest, they would not lave known what to eat nor where to find ;heir food. As I looked into the nest and leard the cry of those hungry fledgelings, I vondered whether God really heard them. Sould it be that God was so near that lonely jlace and that he heard those hungry little jt'rds? Yes, it was even so. 'For he beareth ?A?TAno amt * Sorflrol hnnrfl before God had sent the parents of those poung birds across the valley of Jordan down ;o the river to procure food for their aungry children. Those wise black crea:ures knew where to find the right kind of food, for God had taught them. God used ;hem as stewards to provide for their little Mies. They went in haste, flying over Elisha's fountain and over the ruins of Jeri:ho, and so on down to the Jordan where John baptized Christ, a distance of about tight miles. As I looked down into that ndst )f screaming young raveDS I knew what :hey did not know, I knew that God had jiven their parents wisdom (instinct), strong wings and bills, and loving hearts to pro- J vide for their hungry children. The loud :ries were kept up. Would father and nother never come? I began to be afraid,not ;hat the old birds had forgotten their duty, )ut that somebody might have shot them lown at the river, for a party of drunken Bnglish sailors hod that day gone down to :he Jordan and were firing their funs at everything they saw. As I ;hought of this I felt sad, for I knew that if ;he parents were shot the young birds would mve to starve. I went down the milsiae ibout a hundred steps, and finding the ihadow of a great rock, I snt down in it and :ook out my pocket Bible and m?de up my nind to wait and see whether those young jirds would get anything to eat. Ana ;here I read what God says about providing 'or all his creatures. 'He feeds the fowls of. he air and the beasts of the field, and hall he not much more feed you?' Fust as I got to that passage a shadow passed before me. I looked up, and there were the >ld birds coming with food for their hungry ittle ones. As soon as they reached the jest the cries of the young birds ceased and [ knew that their mouths were filled. Did lot God hear those young ravens which :ried?" Jesus says, Luke 12:24, "Consider ,be ravens: for they neither sow r or reap: ind God feedeth them: how much more are re better than the fowls 1"?[American Me#tenger. tike Chrl?t. Some people who are vary unlike Christ iow, are dreaming of being like him when le 6hall appear. They have probably never nade a careful study of his character, or a prayerful examination of their own, and so are utterly ignorant of the wide dissimilarity existing between them. Cbist was meek md lowlv of heart but they are confident, issuming and bold. Christ was prayerful uid dependent upon his Father, Dut they iraj little or none at all and are completely self-reliant. Christ was sympathetic and compassionate; they are unmoved by sorrows and distresses, and are destitute of good works. Christ was active in his ninisiry, going about continually ioing good. They have no deinite religious aim or undertaking, and go ibout contiuually doing nothing. Christ was generous and forgiving; they are nar ow and relentless. Christ was pure in :haracter and life; they follow not after purity, perhaps deny its possibility, and live is if sin were an essential ingredient in the nip of human conduct. Christ instituted or lerfected a plan of salvation for all men to jmbrace, but they keep aloof from it and leek assimilation to the divine character by lorue other means or device, thus rendering ;he atonement of no effect. Whatever is excellent and beautiful in the character of Jesus is wanting in them, yet they dream hat in some manner and at some time, by a itranee transition, they are to bear the im ige of the heavenly. No mistake could be more fatal or farreaching in its consequences. Our mission lere on earth is to become Christ-like. We ire to be partakers of his Spirit. We are :o have the mind that was in him. We ire to adorn his doctrines and precepts by a well-ordered life and conversation. We are to be transformed into his image from ?lory to glory. The one supreme purpoiie 3f redemption is to deliver men from guilt and sin. and restore them to the divine image rod favor. If this cannot be done the agonies of the cross were vain. Whoever denies the possibility of this, either by speech or lire, crucifies the Son of tiod afresh and puts him to an open shame, rhe crucial test of nineteen centuries of Christian history, through all which Jesus I as shown his power to save, establishes beyond cavil the validity and efficiency of the work on Calvary. The testimonies, verb .l and exemplary, of millions on millions of * -- 41 *- ?i? .?, 4\.A souls ciytng in mia iaitu suiraiuuuiav? truth that Jesus is fulfilling his promise to Bvery believing soul: Lo, I am with you a)way, even to the end of the world. The Holy Spirit is Christ's continued life on earth. The Holy Spirit convinces of sin, points out the remedy, applies the blood, and witnesses to the r ctory. The Holy Spirit teaches, preaches, woos and win*. The Holy Spirit transform* character, irradiates the countenance, snnctifies the heart, and comforts the soul. As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sens of God. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. The Spirit soarches the deep things of God and shows thorn to the believer. The Spirit testifies to adaption and mokes the regenerated sou' a sharer in Christ's sufferings and joys, that in the end that soul and Christ may be glorified together. Vain is the hope of reigning with Christ unless we first become like h'm. "Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even ns he Is pure." To neglec t thi3 work of publication is to nonlect tho essential condition of eternal blessedness with tije Saviour.- [Miohigan Chr. Adv. A Bottle Told tJic Tal?. As the northbound passenger train on the Columbia and Port Deposit Railroad was passing Cold Spring, Perm., one morning recently, the body of a man was discovered lying on the roadbed. The train stopped and the train hands found the body bactly mutilated. The head was severed from the body, one hand and. arm cut off, the shoes torn from the feet and the body otherwise cut up. Close bp the body was lying an emptp bot lie. ine doming ot me man was 01. ^wu material, and it is thought he was not a tramp. The man is supposed to have been run over by a southbound freight train about midnight. The empty bottle is, no doubt, a satisfactory ezpleuiatioa of the cause of the accident, . ' ' ' k ,' - : > ' ' ' * BUDGET OF FUN. HUMOROUS SKETCHES PROM VARIOUS SOURCES. Watering and Frogglng Milk?Inherited Traits?Getting Even H7UU IT^ \T^ ii itu ncr?iietti ij m2jjl hausted?Etc., Etc. The doctor said: "This is a stone, And proof there is in plenty, The frog's been in it all alone, Say, eons ten or twenty." A granger scoffed: "Sir, if you please, Iknow, and tell you truly. It's nothing but a hunk of cheese, Made down in Ashtabula. ?Job Fish, Jr., in Pack. Inherited Traits. Bliffins (wrestling with his infant? "I nfivpr knfiwhf>fnr#> bow much Flnrinda takes after me." Wife?"Takes after you. How?" Bliffins?" Well. to begin with, she has my hair?ouch!"?San FrancUco Examiner. Getting Even With Her. Mrs. Quiver (waking in the night)? "John, I'm sure there's bur&lars down stairs!" Mr. Quiver (sleepily)?"Stuff! Let 'em burgle." Mrs. Quiver?"O, John! didn't you promise st the altar to protect me?" Mr. Quiver?"Bah! And didu't you promise to obey me? It's a stand off." ?Judge. Nearly Exhausted. loung Alun (to editor)?"Did you receive a poem from me, sir?" Editor?"I believe I did." Young Man?"After looking it over were you able to do anything with it*" Editor?"Yes, I had just strength enough left to throw it in the basket."? Bazar. Went to the Bad. Woman (to tramp)?"Have you got any friends or relativesV' Tramp?."I have a brother, Bill." Woman?"Is Bill a tramp, too?" Tramp?"No; Bill didn't turn out very well. He tried most everything i ami finally drifted into the milk business."?Time. How He Got There. Friend (to dentist)?"Now that you've got the Custom House job you were | after I a'DOse vou'll crive ud pulling i teeth? Dentist?"Yes, indeedy." Friend?"How did you manage to get that job, Charley?" Dentist?"I had a strong pull,"? Si/tings. Ho Enjoyed Water. "Ah, that is nice and refreshing," said Billy Bliven, as he set down the soup at the boarding house table. "I'm glad to learn you liked it," said the landlady. "Yes," replied Billy, enthusiastically. "If there's anything that I do enjoy its a big refreshing draught of pure water." Merchant Traveler. That Greedy Dog. "What is the baby crying about, Maggie?" "1 don't know, mamma." "And what are you looking so indignant about." "That nasty dog's been and took and eaten my sponge cake!" IftlT Tl.? 1 AA1fA "*TT lijr, 1 auw juu canug waao a minute ago!" "Oh, that was baby's 1"?New York World. A Punishment Fitting the Crime. First Counterfeiter?"Jimmy, did you know that the garret had been burglarized of every one of that last batch of dollars-." Second Counterfeiter (bitterly)?"And yet they call this a well policed, lawabiding city. One consolation, the sin of the infernal thieves will find them out. They'll be sure to get caught shoving that stuff. It's the poorest lot we ever turned out.?tiiftings. A Little Music. Young Mr. Sisay (who prides himself on his music?"So you would like to hear me sing before I go, would you, Bobby?" Bobby (politely)?"Yes, sir; if you ; would be bo kind." Young Mr. Sissy?"Areyou particular | about what I sing?" Bobby?"Yes, sir, I would like to he*rsome of -what Sister Clara calls your alleged singing."?Epoch. Something Burning. They were sitting on the porch and it was growning late. "Would you mind if I lighted a cigar, SJiss Clara?" he asked. ^Certainly not, Mr. Sampson," she roplied. And presently the old man, who wa9 getting desperate, spoke from an open window above: "Daughter," he said, "I left my rubber overshoes near the kitchen stove and you had better see to 'em. I can smell something burning."?Philip F. Welch. His Sentence Commuted. "Evelyn," said young Mr. Buttercup huskily, "Bpsak one word of hope to me. Do not crush me with your disdain. You say you do net love rae now, but if I should come to you at some future time, perhaps?perhaps?oh, Evelyn, you see my sad condition. Ought I not to receive something more than a cold dis missal T* "Perhaps so, considering your condition," saia Evelyn, softly. "Then," exclaimed the young man, joyously, "you would change your sentence to " "Ninety days," murmured the beautiful girl.'1?C/iiotgo News. A Ulalognc witn a cmnax. Scene, newly married pair on bench in park. Old gentleman supposed to be isleep. She?"My darling!" He?">Iy dove!" She?"My doggie!" He?"My pussie!" ^he?"My duck!" He--"My pretty birdie!" She?"My goosie!" He? "My kitten!" She?"My ch ckee!" He?"My lambkin!" Oi l gentleman (interrupting brutally ?"Can't you call each other Noah's arks and have doue with it?"?Idea. A Witticism of Larry Jerome. One nf lipqfc stories told of tha late "Lairy" Jerome is that when traveling not very long aj?o he stayed at a hotel, the proprietor of which asked him, wTien he was about to depart, to sign his name in a book not quite like an ordinary hotel register, but one used, after the fashion of an# old English custom, for the purpose cff obtaining the names of distinguished guests. When Mj. Jeroqie about to plaec \ \ ? \ , ^ "' ""x ' his signature with the othera he san that the writer just before him had in scribed the comment, "I came here foi rtlianswA orirJ waf r?r\4- i 4- 1} Hit? r% i uuu iLoi auu xb, v^uiv/iv a< thought the witty clubman penned beneath it: "I also came here for change and rest, but the waiters got the change and the landlord got the rest."?Neu York Press. He Did It. It is an unusual wit which enables its possessor to be as funny in speech as he is on paper. W. 8. Uilbert, author ol the "Bab Ballads," is evidently readj at any moment to thrust or parry. Once, in leaving a large reception, he stood in the hall, waiting for a servant tc bring him his coat and hat. As he lingered there a "heavy swell" descended me stairs, TOOK nun ior a servaui, anu called out to him: "Call me a fourwheeler Mr. Gilbert put hi3 glass in his eye, looked blandly at the young man and said: "You are a four-wheeler." "What do you mean?" cried the other. "You told me to call you a fourwheeler, and I have done so. I really couldn't call you handsome (hansom), you know." The Privilege Denied Them. A traveler, who returned from a two weeks' vacation among the Maine watering places, relates an amusing incident that occurred at a small New England hotel where he chanced to stop for a daj while journeying to Bar Harbor. The hotel was a small one, and the principal Serson in charge of the office was the aughter of the proprietor, a buxom lass of probably twenty summers. When the morning of departure camc this fair Diana presented the hotel billtc the traveler, and it so happened that neither of them could ehange a note thai was tendered in payment. In a gallanl way the traveler, who had something oi the Don Juan in his nature, although h( did live on Walnut street, smilingly offered to k:ss the young lady and let the change go. She drew herself up haughtily, "I'd like you to know, sir, that in this^hotel we don't kiss transients," she replied in freezing tones "Such a privilege is only given to per manent boarders. Will you take a prospectus for next season?"?PhiludeLphic Times. A Darin? Amateur Lion Tamer. "An announcement was made by thi crier," says the South, Wales N^tos, "tha a man named William Samuels, a loca inn Keeper ana ine cnampion Doxer o Wales, would enter a den of lions a Messrs. Wombwell's menagerie. At ! o'clock the band played: 'For he's i jolly good fellow,' and then Samuels walked up to a den containing a lion and about a dozen lionesses. Mr. Bos tock, the manager, mounted a platform and informed the public that his olc friend Samuels had volunteered to perform a deed of daring such as had nevei been done in the menagerie since its es tablishment in 1805. 4,'J he announcement was received witl great cheering. Samuels seemed to have nc feelings of uneasiness. Attired as a priz< fighter, and with a blue rosette on his breast, he appeared at the entrance to th< cage, and, cudgel in hand, boldly entered it. The lions appeared in no waj a. is.v. iv.:. i LU reiiMi mis JUUU31UU, auu it iuuacu though Samuels would have a warmei welcome than he bargained for. Possessed apparently with nerves of steel the man walked undaunted up to the enc of the cage where the animals were huddled together, awaiting only the slight est encouragement to spring on the in truder, and held his cudgel threateningly before the nose of the fiercest. Growls of rage greeted this act; bul Samuels, in no way discomposed, walked among the animals, and made them fij right and left before him. This he die several times, and on one occasion actec so rashly thut grave fears were enter tainod for his safety by those in chargi of the exhibition. These?who, as i precaution were armed w.th red hot ironi ?were ready to .act promptly, whei Samuels again obtained the mastery ovei his savage companions, and showed hi: fearlessness of them by firing a loaded pistol at their faces. Then, his courag< maintained to tne last, ne went tome gati and waited in a dangerous positioi while Mr. Bostock presented him, amic the cheers of those present, withauniqir chain composed of spade and crown, anc with a certificate recording the fact tha he had accomplished his purpose. Im mediately afterward the band played 'See, the Conquering Hero Comes," am Samuels was borne in triumph out of th menagerie and through the streets." Presidential Candidates. 1789 George Washington. No opposition. 1792 George Washington. No opposition. 1796 John Adams Thomas Jefferson. 1800 Thomas JelFerson..John Adams. 1804 Thomas Jefferson..C. C. Pinckney. 1808 James Madison C. C. Pinckney. 1812 James Madison DeWitt Clinton. 1816 James Monroe #Rufus King. 1820 James Monroe No opposition. 1824 John Q. Adams....Andrew Jackson. 1828 Andrew Jackson. ..John Q. Adams. 1832 Andrew Jackson...Henry Clay. 1?86 Martin Van Buron..Wm. EL Harrison. 18-10 Wm. H. Harrison..Martin Van Buret 1844 James K. Polk Henry Clay. 13kS Zachary Taylor....Lewis Cass. 18o3 Franklin Pierce....Winfleld Scott. 185K James Buchanan. ..John C. Fremont. 1800 Abraham Lincoln..S. A. Douglas. 15*54 Abraham Lincoln.. G. B. McOrellan. 18(18 U. S. Grant. Horatio Seymour. 1872 U. S. Grant Hoiace Greeley. 1876 R. B. Hayes S. J. Tilden. 1880 James A Garfield.. W. S. Hancock, 1884 Grover Cleveland..Jumee G. Blaine. Curious Collection of Pens. A man in Denver, Col., named Lyon got an idea some years ago that it woul* be a fine thing to collect nil the odi shaped pens he could find. So he starter in, and to-day he has a lot comprisinj over 100 dillerent varieties. Abou twelve different metals are represente< in the collection. Then there are a nuin ber of wooden peas and lots of od< quills. The collection embraces speci mens from Eng'and. Ireland, Scotland Germany and other European countries besides America and Canada. There ar pens pointed fine enough to make line of microscopic acncacy, ana omers iu tended for men who use the first pet sonal pronoun a great deal in their coi resnondeuce. Some are in shape lik shovels, others resemble a section o stovepipe and others are delicate an< diminutive.?S-ifety Valve. "Wnke Me Up When Kirby Die*." In 184(i or 1S47 an ^old actor name< Kirby was a great favorite at the famou Chatham Theatre on the New Vorl ]J.owery. Kirby was strong ou melo drama and could die so pathetically tha he always captivated the house in tha scene. Once he was going through particularly dull play and a kid in th pit jjrew wuury. jfj ui.uoBu iu ' a nap lie requested his nearest neighbo | in a tono cleariy audible: "Wake me u] whoa Kirby dies." The expression raised a hurrah. Th curtain \tas rung down and Kirby wa obliged to make a speech. 4 Wake m up when Kirby dies" was a Bowery ex pression from that time down to a ver short tim&tsp. ?Seto York World. ) ' 'i ' . f Early Saratoga Days. In a letter to the Cincinnati Enquirer, % jj t describing New York's famous health; , resort, Saratoga Springs, the well- '*$ known correspondent, Gath, says: Yott -] '_M . may be sure to find a new spring here ' -p i every year you come, though you should :M , live to be one hundred years of age. ;"i'J The earliest spring was Nature's own revea'ment, the High Rock, which, flowing out of a swamp, had deposited ( tufa, or impure magnesia, along its sides i until there had arisen a cone threa or " ; four feet high, entirely made out of the t droppings of the water. It was easy to determine the age of this cone from the ' i amount of organic matter deposited from t each gallon. Hundreds of years had , that cone been in the course of forma[ tion. At that time the ruling Indian* [ of America were ihe five Nations or Six Nations of Iroquoi*, who lived at no great distance from these springs; if you 'm cut across the country from Saratoga to 'rag [ Schenectady, or a little above it, you aro in Iroquois land. The British Govern- ' ment, knowing that these Indians con- is trolled all the other tribes from the . Atlantic to the Mississippi River and be yocd, gave them a superintendent who was equal to the superintendency of all Vj the Indians in the country?8Ir William Johnson, an Irishman. Johnson, of course, had to be half Indian to get , along with the savages. He got drunk '.-M with the Indians; he danced with the Vj ; Indians. In the course of time old Johnson felt the ravages of disease* He had gone out to New London to bathe ;^j , in the sea water, and that seems to have :t 7$ I been one of the earliest watering-places /-M *- A 4 4ltA Tn/5iond 1 I 5 j ill mu t'uuuujr. At iaow mc iu\mhu^| . , I considering that they were to lose a great ' ^ and good friend, as well as numerous i gilt buttons, red shirts, doses of whisky, , etc.. concluded to take him to their / ; medicine spring, which had been the ; cure of innumerable drunken Indians, ' : whose stomachs had yielded to the J;Vj? < attacking power of rum, brandy; etc. > They put old Johnson on a littet, otherwise a stretcher, took him by concealed ''cm ) trail through the woods some thirty , miles, to the High Rock Spring, which was down in a swamp, and its surround- '&: iDgs extremely dirty. Johnson drank the water,felt its agree- able effccts, and put it on record that here was an extraordinary fountain of ''-:,? , health and restoration. The Versatile Indian. - ^ Of all misunderstood and misrepre- ytty sented people, I consider the North American Indian the most SO. Bv some | he has been painted an incarnate'fiend; '"./v ' by other's he has been represented as a < njga ' sage and stoic, his mind stored with JS 1 philosophy, in demeanor grave, taciturn ? and delighting in solitude; his body <|2 capable of great endurance, and,*his spiriv sustained by unflinching courage. By such wresting, twisting and mi?representation as would make a poem ; J out of the multiplication table, or an : allegoiy out of a problem of Euclid, his childish fetishism has blossomed into ] a sublime theology. His myths, which are like the dreamings of insanity, are remodeled to resemble legends of the lives of the saints, with a dash of the ? V Arabian Nights. With a language of but little more than a hundred words ' he has become the author of sublime poems, dealing with the abstract and -H the complex. Even gentlemen of the Masonic fraternity have discovered that he has anticipated the signs and secrets * j oo .i'M oi meir oraer. no ib ucsvnuw ? vw stoical, yet it is an every day affair to /, 'ia r sec a full grown Indian buck sit down, ?3 ' lifs up'his voice and weep over the most y'% trifling disappointment. He is called ^ taciturn and loving solitude, and yet he >| ' will chatter like a magpie; gossip is his -h principal business in life, and ne will ride for miles to be the first to tell any m f news; while there are not sufficient inducements on this whirling globe to [ influence him to live a solitary life for & "M ! single kmonth. He is supposed to b? ^ I naturally brave and physically strong, \ * but he is not, nor does he pretend oven ?? 3 to himself to be either.?Forent and ' 1 Stream. 1 A Spaniard Kills Fifty Malays. r A correspondent says that a taob in J the village of Antique, near Hiolo, in ^ l the Indian Archipelago, attempted to $ 3 kill a Priest, and fifty of them were sue- | * oVtnf dnan anH Irillfld. TllB ' UtOO 1 ItlJ OUVU VtV II A* - I iilln^M^? 1 village, which is near Manila^ is in* habited by several thousand native^. The 0 only white men are a Spanish Priest, * and another Spaniard, who lived some *-i t distance away on his own estate. There has been for some time past. bad feeling 'M between the natives and the race that 1 holds them in subjection, and recently & '. m e mob of the natives attacked the Priest, intending to put him to death by torture. The other Spaniard, who was quickly informed of what had occurred, ^ took his ride and cartridges and hastened to the re>cue of the Priest. As soon as he arrived at the Priest's dwelling, which was surrounded by a black mob howling for blood, he opened lire on the crowd. He picked out the biggest and and forcmest men and shot them down one by one. When he had used up fifty cartridges fifty dead blacka lay before ' him. The natives, awe stricken, fled in ter' ror. crying that the Spaniard was as sisted by the evil ene, and that be baa a "] gun tbat could shoot forever without reloading. They did not even come back to gather up and bury their dead, leav- ; v -*f ing this duty to the two white men. It is believed that had it not been for the marksmanship and nerve displayed in this case the natives in the neighboring provinces would have risen and massacred the Europeans living there.? Singapore Free Press. j The "Funnel" of Old England. [j The word "punnet" is given in Engj lish markets to various si-es of what we 3 would call small measures or baskets. \ For instance, a radish punnet, if informed to hold "six hands," is eight inches in diameter and one inch deep, j aud a twelve-hand punnet is nine inches [. by one inch, and a sea kale punnet is eight inches diameter at the top, aud ' seven and a half at the bottom, and two g inches deep. Fruits and vegetables are . * ? sold by the sieve, hand, bunch, buudle, " bushel and pottle; the latter is used for .. strawberries, and is a long tapering bas.. ket, supposed to hold half a gallon, but ( rarely holding more than one quart. The f system of measuring, practised in out j markets is most absurd and unsatisfactorv to purchaser, but that in general use in the English markets is no better. ?New York H n>. 3 The Cradle of Samoa. s The Samoiui cradle is a torture box. < The baby is lashed tit aboard with strong > thongs. Under the head is a pillow t formed of mo:-s or rabbit sicins. aud a mo nf wood is ulnced over the head at a at incline, and is l.cld in its place by V, e cords that reach to the foot of the queji r cradle. The forehead is bandaged, and r the pressure of the inclined board gradpj ually flattens the head of the child to the desired degree. Imprisoned thus, e the baby passes the first eight months ol s its existence. i-uring all ; his time it i* e never wholly relea>ed, though various - bandages are taken off at stated intervals y from motives of cleanliness. A flat head is the S&moan type of beauty. ' . vf