The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, December 12, 1888, Image 3
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REV. DR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN' DIVINE'S SUN
DAY SKIIMON.
Sabjcct: "An Obnoxious Diet."
Text: "And these are they which ye shal
, have in abomination among the fowls: th<
I owl. the vulture end the bat. These a1si
/ shall be unclean to you among the creepini
I things that creep upon the earth; the chame
l( Ion and the snail."?Leviticus xi., 13-30.
Tho Bible offers every possible variety ol
J theme, of argument, and of illustration. We
I care not much in what kind of a pitcher thi
I "water of life is brought, if it is only the
L clear, nura water. Go l eavo the ancients c
list of the animals they might eat, and a
list of animals that they might not
eat. These people lived in a hot climate,
and certain forms of animal food corrupted
their blood, and disposed them to scrofulous
disorders, depraved their appetites, and ,
bemeaned their souls. A. man's food, when '
he has the means and opportunity of select
ing it, suggests his moral nature. The reason
the wild Indian is as cruel as the lion
is because he has food that gives him
the bloo.l of the lion. A missionary
among the Indians says that, by changing
his style of food to correspond with theirs,
his temperament was entirely changed. Thero
are certain forms of food that have a tendency
to affect the moral nature. Many a
Christian is trying to do by prayer
that which cannot be done except through
i corrected diet. For instance, he who uses
J swine's flesh for constant diet will be diseased
in body and polluted of soul?all his
I liturgies and catechisms notwithstanding.
The Gadarene swine were possessed of
? the devil and ran down a steep
; place into the sea, and all the swine over
since seem to have been similarly possessed.
) In Leviticus, God struck this meat off the
table of His people, and placed before them
a bill of fare at once healthful, nutritious
and generous.
But, higher than this physical reason,there
was a spiritual reason why God chose certain
form3 of food for the ancients. God gave a
peculiar diet to his people, not only because
he wanted them to be distinguished from
the surrounding nations, but because certain
birds and animals, by reason
of their habits, have always been
suggestive of moral qualities. By the list of
things from which they were to abstain. God
wished to prejudice their minds against certain
evils; and in the list of lawful things
% *- - -1 i.--*? -T- I
given, ne wi nea to suggest certain mnus ut
good. When God solemnly forbade His people
to eat the owl, the vulture, the bat,
the chameleon, and the snail, He meant to
drive out of His people all the sins that were
thus emblemized.
I take the suggestion of the text, and say
that one of the first unclean things the
Christian needs to drive out of his soul is the
owl. The owl is the melancholy bird of
night. It hatches out whole broods
of superstitions. It is doleful and hideous.
When it sings, it sings through its
nose. It loves the gloom of night better
than the brightness of the day. Who ha3
not slept in tne cabin near the woods, and
been awakened in the night by the dismal
"too-hoo' of the owP Melancholy is the
owl that is perched in many a Christian
soul. It is an unclean bird, and needs to be
driven'away. A man whose sins are pardoned,
and who is on the road to heaven, has no
right to be gloomy. He says: "1 have so
many doubts," That is because 'you are
lazy." Go actively to work in Christ's
cause, and your doubts will vanish,
iou say: "I have lost my
property;" but I reply: "You have
infinite treasures laid up in Heaven." You
say: "I am weak and sickly, and going to
die." Then be congratulated that you are so
near eternal health and perpetual gladness.
Catch a few morning larks for your soul,
and stone this owl off your premises.
As a little girl was eating, the sun dashed
upon her spoon, and she cried: ' 0, mamma,
I have swallowed a spoonful of sunthine!"
Would God that we might all indulge
in the same beverage! Cheerfulness;
it makes the homeliest face handsome: it
makes the hardest mattress soft; it
runs the loom that weaves buttercups,
and rainbows, and auroras.
God made the crass black? No; that would
be too sombre." God irado the grass red?
No, that would be too gaudy. God made the
grass green, that by this parable all the
world might be led to a subdued cheerfulness.
Read yo^r Bible in the sunshine.
Remember that your physical health is
closely allied to your spiritual. The heart
and the liver are only a few inches apart,and
what affects one affects the other. A historrian
records that by the sounds of great
laughter in Rome, Hannibal's assaulting
army was frightened away in retreat.
And there is in the great outbursting joy
of a Christian soul that which can drive
back any iufernal besiegement Rats love
dark closets, and Satan loves to burrow in a
gloomy soul. "Rejoice in the I/ord, 0 ye
righteous! and again I say. rejoice!'
Hoist the window of your soul in this the
twelve o'clock of your spiritual night. Put
the gun to your shoulder, and aim at the
black jungle from which the hooting comes,
pull the trigger, and drop that croaking,
loathsome, hideous owl of religious melancholy
into the bushes.
Again: taking the suggestion of the text,
drive out the vulture from your soul. God
would not allow the Jews to eat it. It lives
on carcasses; it fattens among the dead:
with leaden wing it circles about battlefields.
Wilson, the American ornithologist,
counted two hundred and thirty-seven
vultures around one carcass. If crossing
the desert when there is no sign of wing in
the air, a camel perish out of the caravan,
immediately the air begins to darken with
ora munv nvnfoCCAlI Phris.
vuiiuica. uic *
t ans who have a vulture in their soul?. They
prey upon the character and feelings of
others. A doubtful reputation is o
banquet for them. Some rival in trade or
profession falls, and the vulture puts out his
head. These people revel in the details of a
man's ruin. They say: "I told you so.'"
They rush into some store, and say: "Havo
you hoard the news? Just as I expected!
Our neighbor has gone all to pieces! Good
for him!-'
That professedly Christian woman, having
heard of the wronji-doins of some sister in
the church, instead of hiding the sin with a
mantle of charitv, peddles it all along the
streets. She takes the afternoon to make
her long - neglected ca!b. She tells
the story ten times before sundown,
and every time tel!s it larger. She
rushes into the parlors to tell it, and into the
nursery to tell it, and into the kitchen to tell
it. She savs: "Would you havo thought
it? Well, I alwavs said there was
something wrong about her. Why. I
should not sneak to her if I saw her in t?ie
street Is it not horrible? But better not
say any thing about it. because there
may be some mistake. I do not want
my name involved in the matter. ^ I
guess I will just go over and ask them at No.
whether they have heard it. Guess it
must be so, for Mary Ann says that her husband
saw a man who heard from his business
partner that his blind old grandmother had
seen something that looked very suspicious!"
The most loathsome, miserable, God-for
sakon wretch on earth is a gossip. I can tel!
her on the street, though I have nover seen
her before. She walks fast, and has her
bonnet-strings loose, for she has not had time
to tie them since sbe heard that last scandal.
She Joo'cs both ways as sae passes hoping to
see new evidences of depravity in the windows.
T think that when Satan has a job so infinitely
mean that in all th? pit he cannot
find a devil ra^an enousrh to do it, an 1 all
bribes and threats have failed to get one
willing for the informal crusade, he savs to
one of his sergeants: "Go up to Brooklvn.and
in such a street, on such a corner, pet that
gossining woman, and she will be glad to
do it." And sure enough, like a hungry
fish, she tikes the. hook in her mouth, nil 1
Satan s'ackens the line, and lets her run out
farther and farther, until after awhile he
says: "It is time to ha-il in that line." and
with a few stroni pulls, lie brings her to
the beach of fire. What do you say?
That she was a raemh -r of the church? I
' an not help that. When Satan coes a-fishing,
he does not care wha t school the fish beIon?
to. whether it is a Presbyterian mackerel
or an Episcopalian'salmon. Amidst the
thunder crash of Sinai. God said: 4'Toon
shalfc not bear false witness againgt thy neighbor."
And in Leviticus he says: "Thoushnlt
not go up and down r.s a tale-bearer." Tak?
not intn vnnr par that scurn of hell that
people call tittle-tattle. Whosoever willinely
listens to a slander is equally Gruilty with the
one who tells it. and an old writer suvs
they ought both to he hung, the one
by the tongue and the other by the
?ar. Do not smile upon such a spaniel, lest,
tike a pleaded dojr. he put his dirty paw upon
voa Throw back the shutter of your soul,
ah, Christian rae*i and women, and i'
there be within vou a vulture with filthy
talons and cruel beak. Let not this unclean
thine roost in your soul, for my text say:
"Ye shall bold in abomination among tt?
fowls, Mw vultor?."
L
Again: taking the suggestion of the text,
drive out the hat from your soul. No wonder
God set tirs bird anion? the unclean. It is
an oTens? to every one. Let it flv into the
window of a summer night, and all the
hands, voung and old. are against it. It is
half bird and half mouse. It seems made
partly to walk and partly to fly. and does
neither well: and becomes an emblem of
thos" Christians who try to cling to earth
and heaven nt the Runtime. They w?nt. to
walk on earth In worldliness, and vet fly toward
heavon in spirituality: and their soul,
between feet and wines, is perplexed. Oh.
my brethren, he <-<ne thin? or the other!
Choose the world, if you prefer it: and seo
how many dollars you can win. and how
miuh applause you c.m cain, and how large
a business you can establish, and how gran l
a house you can build, and how fast
a snan of horses you can drive You
may he prospered until you can fail for five
hundred thousand doliars, instead of having
the disgrace of failing for only ten thousand
as some unenterprising peor-lo do. It is
quite a reward to be able for ten
or twenty years to be called one
of the solid men of Brooklyn or Boston: and
then, to make your fortune last as long as
possible, we will give you a splendid funeral,
and you shall have twenty-five carriages following
you, with somebody in the most
of them, and your coffin shall have
silver handles on the sides, and we
will muurn for you in splendid pockethandkerchiefs
bound with crape, and bombazine
twenty full yards long, trailing half
across the parlor, so that all the company
may stand unon it, and we will write our
letters for the next six months on paper edged
with black. But my friends, your worldly
fortunes will not last. I will buy out now
all that you will be worth in worldly estatf
seventy-five years from now. I have th?
money in my pocket with which to do it.
Here it is! Two cents! It is a large sum to
offer for all you will possess at the
close of seventy-five years. Choose the
world, if you want to; but, if not, then
choose heaven. That estate lies partly od
this side of the river, but mostly on the
other. It is ever accumulating. The prospect
of it makes one independent
of earthly misfortunes, so that JRogrrs,
the martyr, slept so soundly the night before
his burning, they violently shook him iD
order to get him awake in time for
the execution; and Paul exults at the
thought of the "joy unspeakable and
full of glory." Oh, choose earth or Heaven'
Make up your mind whether you will walk
in earthly joys, or fly with" heavenly expectations.
Be not a bat, fit neither to walk
nor fly, having just enough of heaven te
spoil the world, and so much of the
world as to spoil heaven. Christ says
that your present condition nauseates him to
positive sickness: "Because thou art
neither cold nor hot, I will
spew thee out of my mouth!" In the
ruins of Pompeii there was found a petrified
woman, who, instead of trying to lly from
the destroyed city, had spent her time in
gathering up her jewels. She saved neither
ber life nor her jewels. There are
multitudes making the same mistake.
In trying to get earth and heaven they
lcse both. " Ye cannot serve God and
Mammon." Be one thing or th6 other.
Tread the farth like a lion, or mount the air
like the eagle; for my text says: "Ye shall
have in abomination among the fowls, the
bat"
Again: taking the suggestion of the text,
drive out the chameleon from your soul.
There is some difference among good men as
to the name of this creeping thing
which God pronounced unclean, but I shall
take the opinion which saems best suited
to my purpose. The chameleon is a reptile,
chiefly known by its changeableness of color,
taking the color of the thing next to it, sometimes
brown, sometimes red, and
sometimes gray, but always the color
of its surroundings, a typ? of that class
of Christians who are now one thing in re4Xious
faith, and now another, just to suit
circumstances, always taking their color of
religious belief from the man they are talk:nsr
to. They go to ona place, and are firstrate
Unitarians. "Jesus was a good man,
but nothing more." They go to Princeton,
?nd they are Trinitarians, almost willing to
die for. the divinity of Jesus. Among the
Universalists they refuse the idea of future
punishment: and going among those of
opposite belief, announce that there is
a hell with a gusto that make3 you
think they are glad of it. Drive out that
unclean chameleon from your soul. Do not
be ever changing the color of your faith. Mv
friends, liberal Christianity,falsely so-called,
believes in nothing. God is* anything
you want to make Him. The
Bible to be believed in so far as you
tike it Heaven a grand mixing up of Neros
and Pauls. The man who dies by suicide in
hi= r*i<rVif. minH in 1KSS hpnt.incr into crlorv bv
ten years the Christian man who dies a
Christian death in 1SUS; the suicide proving
himself wiser than the Christian. Oh, my
friends, let us try to believe in something.
An infidel was called to the bedside of his
daughter. The daughter said: "Father,
which shall I believe, you or mother? Mother
took the religion of Christ, anl died in its
embrace. You say that religion isahumbug.
Now I am going to die, and I am very much
perplexed; shall 1 believe you, or take the
belief of my mother:"' The father said:
"Choose yourself." She said: "No: I am too
weak to choose for mvself; I want you to
choose for me." "Well," said the father,
affcur much hesitation and embarrassment:
"Mary, I think you had better take the
religion of your mother." The time will come
when ? e shall have to believe something. We
can not afford to be on the fen^e in religion.
Truth and error are set opposite to each
other. Tho one is intiuitely right, and the
other infinitely wrong. On the judgmentday
we must give an account of what wa
believed as well as for what we acted.
The difference between believing truth
and believing error is the differenca between
paradise and p?rdition. I beg you, in the
light of the Bible, and on your kneas before
God, to form your religious opinion
ami then stick to it, though business companions
scoff, and wits caricature, and the
air crackles with tho fires of martyrdom.
.Surely truths in behalf of which Christ
died, and angel3 of God trooped forth, and
tho whole universe is marshaled, are worth
livintr tnr fiml wnrhh fl vin-r for. Amidst tllQ
mast unclean things is this everchanging
chameleon of religious theory. Awav with
the reptile! God abhore it with an all-consuming
abhorrence.
Once more: take the suggestion of the
text, and drive out the snail from your soul.
God has declared it unclean. It is an animal
to be found everywhere between the coldest
north and the "hottest south. There are
fifteen hundred species of the snail. They
have no backbone, and they are so slow that
their movement is almost imperceptible. You
see a snail in one place today; go to-morrow
and you will find it has advaaeed only a few
inches. It becomes an emblem of that large
class of Christian people who go to work
with a slowness and sluggishness that js wonderful.
Thev are stopped by every little obstacle,
because, like the snail, they have no
backbone. Others mount up on eagle's wing3
but they go at a snail's pace.
0. child of God, arouse! "We have
apotheosized Prudence and Caution long
enough. Prudence is a beautiful grace, but
of all the family of Christian graces I
like her the least, for she has been
married so often to Laziness,
and Sloth, and Stupidity. "We have a
million idlers in the Lord's vineyard who
pride themselves o? their prudence. "Be
prudent," said the disciples to Christ, "and
stay away from Jerusalem:" but He went.
""no pruueHV sum rauis iriemis, "unu iuuh.
out for what you say to Felix," but he
thundered away until the ruler's knees
knocked together. In the eyes of tlie world,
the most imprudent men that ever lived
were Martin Luther, and John Oldcastle.and
Wesley, and Knox. My opinion is that the
most imprudent and reckless thing is to stand
still. It is well to hear our Commander's voice
when He says "Halt!'' but quite as important
to hear it when he says "Forward!" This
Gospel ship made to plow the sea at fifteen
knots an hour is not making three.
Sometimes it is most prudent to
ride your horse slowly and pick out the
way for his feet, and not strike him with the
spurs; but when a band of Shoshonee Indians
are after yon in full tilt,
the most prudent thing for you to do
i3 to plunge in the rowels and put
your horse to a full run. shouting: "Go
'Jong:" until the Rocky Mountains echo it.
J Ue roes or Lroa are pursuing us. xuo wunu,
the flesh, and the devil are after us; and our
wisest course is to go ahead at swiftest
sjved.
When the Church of God gets to advancing
too fast, it will be time enough to use
c.iution. No need of putting on the brakes
wliilu going up hill. Do not let us sit down
waiting for something "to turn up." but
go ahead in the name of God, and turn it
up. The great danger to the church now is
not sensation, but stagnation. Oh that the
Lord Goi would send a host of aroused and
consecrated men to set the Church on
fire, and to turn the world upside down.
Let us go to work and catch the last
snail in our souls. With Divine vehemence
let us stamp its life out; for my text declares:
"Tbeao also shall be uaclean to you among
the creeping things that creep upon the
earth; the chamelcon and the snail." I have
thu3 tried to prejudico these Christian men
and women against gloominess, and slander,
and half-and-half experiences, and changeableness,
and sloth. Our opportunities for
getting better are being rapidly swallowed
up in the remorseless past This golden
Sabbath is about to drop out of the calendar.
This moment we may drive out all the
unclean things from our souls?the vulture,
and the bat, and the owl, and the chameleon,
and the snail; and in place thereof
bring in the Lamb of God, and the Dove of
the Spirit! The case is urgent. Arouse! before
it be eternally too late! ''Whatsoever
thy hand findeth to do, do it!"
TEMPERANCE.
Liquor Adulteration.
In an official report to the editor of the
Christian Union from the laboratory of Ledoux
& Co., chemists and assayers,New York
City, some interesting facts are presented
with regard to the adulteration of liquor.
Samples were taken from second and third
class saloons in New York City and caivfully
analyzed. Mr. I.erloux concludes that the
"flavors and colons used at the present day
are either harmless or employed in such 9mall
quantity as to be fairly left out of consideration,"
and that "when the mechanic on the
Bowery or the sailor on Water street is
crazed by drink, it matters little whether he
hnnp-hfc n nint of cure fortv ner cent, alcohol
brandy at ninety cents,or a quart of twentyfive
per cent flavored and diluted at fifty
cents; it is the alcohol he craved and that
which produces the effect."
A Partial Record of Three Days'
Doings of the Liquor Traffic.
Wm. Moylan, an insurance agent of Brooklyn,
fell into the river while intoxicated, and
was drowned.
Mary Maher, thirty-eight years old, was
stabbed in the right breast with a pocket penknife,
in the h illway of her residence, by
John Dunn. Dunn was drunk.
Bernard Hueckman, a feed salesman of
Cincinnati, drank himself insane and then
requested Officer Louis Becker to shoot him
in the street. He was taken to the stationhouse.
Charles Compton, of Buffalo, who had
been on a prolonged spree, turned up at
Niagara Falls. He bought two glasses of
beer and then committed suicide by jumping
over the Falls.
Matthew Ash, of Paterson, N. J., showed
a pocket full of money in his brother's liquor
store. Becoming intoxicated he started for
home, and was found in the Passaic River
next day, apparently murdered.
John Kelly, a hired man in the employ of
farmer Geo.Kippen, went to Geneva, N. Y?
got drunk, came home and without a word
of warning or provocation struck Ellen
O'Shea, in the employ of Kippen, on the
head with a club, killing her.
Henry Koehler,a saloon keeper of Chicago,
while under the influence of delirium tremens,
throw himself into the North branch
of the Chicago River. His wife tried to draw
him out, but was herself dragged into the
river. Both were drowned,
William Brown, a grocer and butcher of
i^aimmer, uuio, weno uiiu ui? dlui c iu a ni/am
of frenzy brought on by drink, and undertook
to blow up his store and kill himself.
Not succeeding in his attempt he took a
butcher's knife and cut his own throat
As Joseph Kroger, an old market gardener
of College Point, Long Island, was
quietly crossing the road opposite his house,
six drunken men with a cowboy leader
swooped down the road on horseback, hooting
like Indians. With a terriblo scream,
old Kroger tried to escape, but in an instant
was trampled to death. The men rode on
unheeding.
Thomas Conway, aged 20, a telegraph lineman
of Greenwich street in New York, was
a passenger from Staten Island. He had
been drinking. When the ferry-boat was off
Robbin's Reef Lighthouse, Conway staggered
from the forward cabin to the deck rail and
sprang overboard. The boat was stopped
and the man picket up. He is now in the
Chambers Street Hospital.
A drunken young Indian of the Winnebago
Reservation, Wis., murdered a helpless girl
at an annual hunting orgy. While some of
the older men were excitedly discussing what
should be done to propitiate the Great Spirit
and thus get better hunting, this young buck
jumped into a circle of dancers, seized a
young girl bv her hair and stabbed her sev/in
TTrt Kiu hanilo in tha
CIU1 UU1CO. liO vucu tscavtjwvt uw umumu iu vuw
blood which gushed from' her wounds and
smeared it over his face. '
Yellow Fever and Drink.
About the middle of August, when the yellow
fever epidemic was at its height, a statement
appeared in the papers quoting Mayor
Archibald, of Jacksonville, Fla., as saying
that "the yellow fever is the best temperance
lecture the city ever had." Two-thirds
of the fatal cases, ho said, liad been among
persons addicted to drink, while total abstainers
had been comparatively free.
The New York \oice wrote to Mayor
Archibald to know if these statements were
true, and received the following answer:
Mayor's Offic e, i
D. T. Gerow, Acting Mayor, \
Jacksonville, Fla., Oct. lo. 18SS.
"Editor The Voice?Dear ?>ir: Replying
to your communication of 13th inst., 1 'may
say that Mr. Archibald, who was for a time
acting mayor of this city, left sometime ago,
duriug the present epidemic. The statements
made by Mr. Archibald are substantially
correct with reference to the early
mrt of the epidemic. At the time of
his departure scarcely any colored people
had taken the disease, and the mortality
among the whites was probably 15 per cent.
Since then a large proportion of negroes have
been sick, and as they appear to be constitutionally
better able to withstand yellow fever
than Caucasians, the percentage of deaths to
cases reported has dropped to about nine.
"But doubtless your inquiry points to the
effect of the drink habit upon the mortality
anion# the yellow fever cases. In regard to
this my observation agrees with that of Mr.
Archibald. "While it is by no means the case
that men who abstain from intoxicants in- t
variably recover, as we have had the sad experience
of losing several of our citizens of
undoubtedly correct habits in every respect,
yet the fact of the greater liability to die on
the part of those who were accustomed to
the use of alcoholic stimulants was very
noticeable and the source of constant remark.
It has been almost invariably the case
that when a person of drinking habits has
been attacked by the fever, he has either succumbed
to the disease or has experienced a
very narrow escape. Conclusions readily
follow. Yours very truly,
"Oh T. GrEROW, Actire Mavor."
Who is Responsible?
The husband of a lovin<r wife; the father of
two beautiful children; the son of a highly
respected father and mother; this son lying
on a lounge awaiting death as the result of
having swallowed morphino with suicidal
intent. At the side of the man there kneels
a loving sister pouring out her grief and
praying God to save her brother. In answer
to her query: "Why did you do it:" hear his
nnswpi-! want todie! I cannot bear the
shame of living a drunkard, and I cannot
resist the temptation to which I am exposed.
Oh. pray for my soul! Pray God to save my
soul, but don't let me live. 1 wunt to die!
I want to die! I cannot live a drunkard!
Good-bye!" What a scene! What a spectacle
for God, angels, and man! Who is ro
sponsible;?Atlanta (Ga.) Southern Star.
Temperance News and Notes. i
The next annual convention of the National
W. C. T. U. will bo held in San Francisco.
Of the new Board of Aldermen of New
York, eleven are saloon keepers aud oue is a
brewer.
Miss Frances E. Willar.1 recently addressed
a large and enthusiastic meeting of
representative women from the various
philanthropic societies o! Philadelphia.
One of the W. C'. T. TJ. text-book*, "Intoxicants
and Their Bad Effects," has been
translated into the Hindoostani language,
and is taught in Christian schools in India.
The Free Church Temperance Scx'..2ty
claims to be the largest temperance organization
in Scotland, having about 050 abstaining
ministers, over UOl) congregational so
cieties and bands of Hope, and a constantly
increasing membership. Some encouraging
features mark tlio report, especially the fact
that plow lads are joining in increasing
numbers.
Fenelon: Wine is the source of the groatest
evils among communities. It causes disease,
quarrels, seditions, idleness,aversion to labor,
aud family disorders. it is a species of
poison that causes madness. It does not
make a man die, but it degrades him into a
bruta Men may preserve their health and
vigor without wine; with wine they run the
risk of ruining their health and losing their
morals. {
t |
. .' i
W0BD5 0*' WI&DUM.
Despair is the gateway to insanity.
Avoid moods and pets and fits of
sulkiness.
Study well the human body, the mind
is not far off.
Never charge a bad motive if a good
one is conceivable.
We never thoroughly know a man
until we hear him laugh.
Passionate expressions and vehement
assertions are no arguments.
Originality is the faculty of adapting
an old idea to a new occasion.
Fame, like lightning, generally strikes
the man who is not expecting it.
A Prince has, in reality, need but of
eyes and ears; his mouth only serves him
for smiling.
Princes are brought up to live with all
the world?all the world ought to be
brought up to live with Princes.
Argument will pull a wise man down
to the level of a fool, but it never raises
a fool up to the plane of a wise man.
To be the friend of a sovereign, one
must be without passion, without ambition,
without selfishness?foreseeing and
clearseeing?in short, not a man.
Life is not dated merely by years.
Events are sometimes the best calendars.
There are epochs in our existence which
cannot be ascertained by a formal appeal
to the registry.
A happiness that is quite undisturbed
becomes tiresome. We must have ups
and downs. The difficulties which are
mingled with love awaken passion and
increase pleasure.
A moderate understanding, with dili
gent aud well directed application, will
go much farther than a more lively genius
attended with that impatience and
inattention which too often accompany
quick parts.
There's no coming back on the impetuous
stream of life. And we must all
set our pocket watche9 by the clock of
fate. There is a headlong, forthright
tide that bears away a man with his fancies
like a straw, and runs fast in time
and space.
Ambition is full of distraction; it
teems with stratagems, and is swelled
with expectations a3 with a tympany. It
sleeps sometimes as the wind in a storm,
still and quiet for a minute, that it may
burst out into an impetuous b'ast till the
cordage of its heart strings crack.
Snakes are Rough on Rats.
"What are you going to do with that
snake?" lacked a man who was dragging
a four-foot specimen of the reptile along
a dustv road iust above Eneelwood.
N. J.
"Going to keep him," he replied, as
he stopped and looked down at the
slimy creature at his feet with an expression
of mingled admiration and satisfaction.
'He isn't a?a?alive?" I ventured
rather suspiciously, as I beheld, or
thought I beheld, a certain movement in
the animal and drew away a few paces
in order to get out of range.
"Certainly, he is," answered the man
with a snicker, which assertion caused me
to draw away further still.
"What use do you make of them?" 1
inquired with a shudder, while I backed
off a few feet more as a simple matter of
precaution.
"I intend to keep him at home, where
I've got several others of the same kind."
"Oh. come oil! You're not going to
keep that snake in your house?" I responded,
rather incredulously, as the reptile
made an unsuccessful effort to disengage
his tail from the grip of his captor,
at observing which, on the ground
of personal safety, I lengthened the distance
a little more between us.
"I do, for a fact!" said the fellow.
"I keep them in the cellar to kill rats.
Hats are a nuisance, but snakes are by
no means bad company. I prefer the
snake every time, as long as he does hi3
3 11
auty. "Co
you seriously mean to tell me that
that creature will hunt vermin?" 1 asked,
raising ray voice, for I was now about
twenty feet away from the snake and his
friend, md getting farther off every
moment.
"Of course he will; unless he's different
from any of his kind I ever see,"
shouted the man, so that I might hear
him plainly at a distance.?New York
News.
Yneclnntion.
That smallpox ha3 greatly declined in
England during the past fifty years is
apparent from figures which have been
published by Dr. Henry Thorne. Prom
1838 to 184^ the deaths from smallpox in
England amounted to 47.2 per 100,001);
in 1880-84 the death rate was G.5 per
100,000. He thinks that vaccination
has not only a direct influence in causing
this reduction in the number of victims
to smallpox, but that it has also a
1 x- J 41..
tendency lo uecreiise me Iiuumtj IU me
disease of children of vaccinated parents.
In this connection it is interesting to note,
the Medical Pres* states, that out of the
five tnousand children born every month
in Paris only a thousand are vaccinated
by the medical officers appointed for that
purpose. The remaining four thousand
infants are, therefore, either vaccinated
by private practitioners or not at all. #
Seeing, however, that more than half the 1
population apply for and rcceive gratuitous
medical attendance, and that half
the burials are gratuitous, it is very unlikely
that all of the four thousand are
vaccinated at the cost of the parents.
It may fairly be assumed that a largo
proportion are not vaccinated at all, and
that is why smallpox exists as an endemic
disease at Paris, and does not disappear,
as it has done, to a great extent, in
Germany.
A Horse With Eight Feet.
James McG'loud, of Lodi, owns a horse
on his Dakota farm which has eight feet.
It is perfectly formed in all respects, except
that he has night feet. Not. until |
the pastern or fetlock joint Is reached in
the descent; from the shoulder to the
foot is there any apparent difference i
between this horse ana any other. But
at the pastern joint, or lower end of the
skin bone, the branch begins, aud two
perfectly formed feet are found, one on
each of the four legs. The horse runs on
the range the same as any, and is as fast
as most of them, and all eight feet are j
shod, or may be if desired. McCIoucl
has refused $2500 for a half interest iu
the curiosity, but he wants $5000 outright
for the whole animal.?Madmon
(Mi.} Journal.
A Famous At limine. i
The Liegeois is one of the most famous
almanacs in the world. It is published
at Liege, where the first edition
was issued in and it is distinctly :
the almanac of the peasants and others
who cannot read. Its instructions are j
foilowed by means of certain symbols in
connection with certain dates. Thus a
pair of scissors indicates the proper time
for cutting the hair. A vial denotes the
right season for rasdicinc in liquid form.
A pill box the season thought best to take \
pills. The almanac is purchased by many
as a book of advice, datea being regarded '
by them as of secondary importance.
*' '' , ' -* 'r ;
\
CHRYSANTHEMUMS.
A FLOWER THAT HAS BECOME
ALL THE RAGE IN AMERICA
Its Possibilities and Endless Varieties?Methods
of Its Cultivation
and Propagation?A.ntiquity
of Its Culture.
The culture of the chrysanthemum,
layi the New York Commercial Advertiser,
has reached a point in this country
from which it seems as if it could not
recede, as it has done in the past. Eight
years ago, says an authority on the subject,
there were sold in this country not
more than 5000 plants. This year it is
estimated that not less than 1,000,00!)
plants have been grown by florists and
sold.
The general impression was that this
flower was a pretty object for borders in
the fall of the year, that it needed but
little care and attention and would produce
an abundant bloom cf pleasing
color when nature was about to don its
more severe and melancholy look. Little
they could have dreamed of its possibilities
as we see them to-day. CerfcftinW
Tift flftmor V*aa rof-. l\onn
which produces at once such a profuse,
delicate and vari-formed bloom. The
possibilities it has shown in the direction
of color alone should win for it an
esteem which no other flower can share.
From the deepest of crimsons it may be
followed through every known shade of
reds, yellows aud browns to the purest
and snowiest of white. In shape it gives
suggestions of form and line quite unapproached
by anything else in tioricultural
art. Granted that its growth is
often irregular, there is in most of the
finer specimens the evidence of a design
embodying elements of singular beauty.
Nothing certainly could surpass the symmetry
of some of these gorgeous Chinese
varieties with their conically disfiosed
petals, while for gracefulness of
ine some of the Japanese varieties with
their multiplicity of radiating petals
waving from large golden centers and
rounding at their tips in graceful curves
towards their centres again, there exists
nothing more artistic or beautiful.
The varieties of the chrysanthemum,
too, are endless. One flower sends out a
multitude of quilled petals of varying
length that looks like rays of light spread
ing from a common centre; others, contrary
to all laws of symmetry, form a
tumbling mass of feathery down: others
again show balls of incurved petals that
seem to be guarding the blusli of delicate
colors that hide below toe surface:
while others still spread out in bold and
certain curves, in spiral twirls, or hug a
central disk with close tenacity.
It can be readily imagined what a mass
of varieties there may be to speak of;
what shades, and half shades of color,
what changes of form, when it i3 known
that, there are in existence more than
(iOOO distinct varieties of the flower,
which have sprung from three modest
and original species that resemble our
common flel l daisy. Each of the <!0(J0
differs from its fellow in color or in form.
The only characteristic they all have in
common is that they have not a sweet
odor, though what they have is not an
unpleasant one.
In the original form of the flower there
is a yellow centre and radial petal:
about it in a single row. It grows wild .
in this way in three Asiatic countries, in
Japan, in China and in India. In China
the speciei is divided again into flowers
of three different colors?yellow, white
and lilac. The Japanese flower is the
same, but with one or two other shades
of colors added, while the Indian possesses
the deep crimsons and bronzes.
From these few plants assiduous care and
l *i ,i?
oLLouLiuu nave uuvuiujjcu iuc buuusauus
of varieties we know, by peculiarities of
inter-breoding and propagation.
Some of the exhibition plants now
measure three feet in circumference. .
When the planet was first introduced
into this country it was propagated for
its medicinal qualities, as a febrifuge.
It had a bitter taste and a slightly disagreeable
odor. As early as ld20 some
Chinese varieties were first introduced
and cultivated as ornamental plant3. For
centuries it has been so regarded in China
and Japan, the cultivation of the llower
in Japan being so old and so extended
that it has become a national emblem in
the nation, and has a festival day set
apart in its honor. On some ancient
Japanese embroideries of the fourteenth !
century the flower iignres prominently, i
It was not until the end of the last cen- j
tufy that it found its way to England.
In 1820 there were only twolve sorts
known in that country. In 1834 new
varieties had been propagated. A list
made at the time mentions as many as
sixty kinds. In this country it was not
until 1860 or thereabouts that John
Beach and Robert Fortune gave an impulse
to their cultivation, in less than j
thirty years the fondness for them nas I
grown almost to a craze.
Varieties,as we have said, are brought !
about by crosses of various kinds. Many !
flowers are difficult to cross with others
of their own species, but the chrysanthemum
is not. The pollen of one kind
will fertilize another as readily a* it will
one of its own kind. Starting with the
three original varieties, and these each
divided again into different colors, it is
easy to see that their cultivation is simply
endless. It is a mere matter of
arithmetical progression.
Though originally from a temperate i
climate the chrysanthemum is a hardy ;
plant. It will stand several degrees of |
frost without injury, though a sharp
frost will often wilt the bloom. On tnis |
account florists generally protect the !
plant in this country. Iu warrh weather, J
however, it thrives in the open air. The
cutting practised seems to have the 3ame i
effect oil it which inter-breeding has on j
animals. It renders it delicate, not so j
much to the air as to its mode of life. |
To grow the best varieties chrysanthe- j
mums need a rich soil,and just the right ,
quantity of water. Too much surfeits ,
them; too little starves them. There-1
fore they need watching. Again, their j
growth must be carefully attended to. '
At certain times they must be pinched t
to give them strength: at others the J
laterals must be cut out, the buds j
carefully thinned down or manures of i
different kinds given. The tirst pinch- j
ing is generally done soon after the ;
Plant gets well under way in the spring, i
f the growth is strong then it may be i
left to t:ike its course. Those plants i
which are least interfered with will give j
the best bloom in the fall. The lirst !
pinchings have a tendeucy to make a j
plant bushy, sometimes tho plant is |
grown as a standard?that is, one stalk j
alone is allowed to grow to a certain ,
height when it is pinched, aad all j
laterals below the top removed. Tho |
shoots thrown out at the top are then j
bent down and woven about a circular I
hoop, and the blossoms disposed at will
in due season, as they appear.
The finest fiowers of all, the large ones
which are displayed with such taste in
the exhibitions, are not grown with very
much more care than the others. They
aie generally in pots and short, though
the nature of the chrysanthemum is to
prow long and lanky. The reason is
this: That thes? plants arc grown almost
* . V
* .*
.\'V entirely
from cuttings made in July and
August. At that time the tops of plants
are cut and planted at once. They strike
root within a few days, and from then
until they bloom at the end of October
they are well nourished, all lateral
branches cut off, and only one or two
buds at most allowed to appear. The
result is a grand flower like the Mrs.
Carnegie?a bouquet in itself, rich or
delicate in color, as the case may be,
and a perfect mass of large spreading
petals.
To obtain new varieties wc must oper*
ail; YVllU tut; CCCU, VUlli?awwu uac ^iauuallv
made this more and more diflicult,
for the iris which appears in the original
flower is often almost lost in highly cultivated
varieties, This iris, composed
of stamens and pistils, through constant
encouragment now gradually throws out
petals in place of the yellow mass of
generative parts. Having selected two
line specimens the pollen is transferred
with a brush from one plant to the other,
and thus aa artificial fertilization is
made. It is a curious fact, however,
that out of 100 seedlings propagated
one-third at least will revert to one of
the original" types and be worthless, a
second H'6 per cent, will show marks of
progress, and of the remaining 33 there
are not likely to be more than two or
three new varieties of any value. For
this reason it is always best to grow the
chrysanthemums from cuttings. It is a
waste of money for any but fanciers to
buy seed. Good cuttings will not revert,
though they will often show inferior
qualities dnring tho lirat year of their
g v.wth. A weak cutting will give a
p~.>? riower, snd even a, strong cutting
wili show poor results if its food supply
is neglected, or it is subjected to too
great heat or cold.
The chrysanthemum will thrive?even
the finest varieties?out of doors, but
they should be carefully protected from
frost as the time for bloomins? aD
proaches. In winter the branches are
cut down after flowering, and the plants
placed in a cellar, cold frame,or under a
heavy bed of leaves. When growing
there is no plant easier to propagate.
For this reason great care is taken by
florists to obtain new varieties which
they will not sell until they have abundantly
supplied themselves with young
plants for the market. These plants
bring everywhere from fifty cents each
to $1. A single plant started in the
spring will soon grow and put out a
half dozen leaves. Each leaf and an eye
of the stalk can then be planted and
will soon produce another plant, which
will grow and soon furnish material for
another half-dozen. By forcing the
plant through the winter a large demand
can be supplied at rates which
certainly look remunerative. Once the
plant is out of the hands of the sole
owner, however, he can no longer protect
himself against competition. For
this reason the greatest circumspection
must be employed to guard against the
loss or straying of a single plant.
A Horse Canses Amazement in Africa.
Several incidents of recent African exploration
call to mind the stories that
were told of the earlv travels of whito
men in this country. A white man on
horseback is a very unusual spectacle in
tropical Africa, and the animal Mr.
Hodister rode a few months ago made
almost as much of a sensation as the
horses that Cortez introduced into
:9xico. Hodister's journey was a short
3:<e, extending only from Landana, on
the coast, to bona, on the Congo, but it
led the traveler through a densely peopled
region of which little is yet known.
"My horso," he writes, "made a great
sensation. At sight of him all the women
in the villages were at first petrified
with astonishment. They stood motionless
with their eyes fixed on the strange
animal. Coming to themselves at last,
with their hands raised above their
heads, they raised their cry of "Ho, ho,
ho?" expressive of boundless astonishment.
Some of them threw themselves
upon the ground, smiting their breasts.
Could it be, they said, that such a great
beast, with a white man above him, was
harmless? Such an animal must certainly
eat black people.
"When we convinced them at last that
the horse was harmless and that he was a
very useful animal they ventured nearer.
attmo fnr o nvrtViinrr Knf. fhn
I lACJ U*KA uu ?W
horse. As wc passed through the villages
many of the inhabitants followed us.
The men turned bajk after a mile or so.
but many of the women, who showed
the greatest interest and curiosity, followed
us for three miles. Wnon my
horse trotted they trotted, too. their
eyes fixed on the beast. Unmindful of
where they were stepping they fell into
the furrows of the manioc fields, and
tumbled down iu the tall grass. They i
kept pointing the animals out to the
baoies that were fastened on their backs.
From some of the villages deputations
came to me asking mc to stop a while in
their towns that they might have time to
admire the prodigy."
A whole menagcry of African curiosities
would not excite so much attention
in the civilized world as this horst i
aroused in a part of Africa where the |
zebra never roams and no species of the j
horse family is known.?New York Sun, <
Old Shoes for Decorative Purposes. 1
The journal of the Constantinople ]
Chamber of Commerce describes the in- 1
dustrial uses of old boots and shoes <
which are thrown out into the streets or ,
into ash pits. After being collected ]
they are ripped open and the leather is i
subjected to a treatment which renders '
it a pliable mass, from which a kind of j
artistic leather is derived. This in ap- j
pearance resembles the finest Cardova |
leather. In the United States patterns
are stamped on this, while in France it '
is used to covcr trunks and boxes. The 1
old boots and shoes are also treated in j
another way, by which they are con- |
verted into new one*. The prisoners in ;
Central France arc employed in thf. way, i
the old shoes coming chiefly from Spain. ^
They aro taken to pieces as before, the (
nails being all removed, and the leathei
is soaked in water to soften it. The c
uppers for children's shoes are then cut ?
from it. The soles nre also used, foi j
from the smaller pieces of the leather ol c
the old shoes the so-called I.ouis XV. s
heels for ladies' shoes are made, while 4
the soles of children's shoes are made (
from the larger and thicker pieces, the j
old nails arc also put to use, for by r
means of magnets the iron nails and the c
tacks aud brads are separated and sold. ?
The contractors of the military prison at ?
Montpelier say that these nails alone paj S|
lor the old snoes. ivotningnow remain: ^
bat the scraps, and these have also thcii
value, for they arc much sought after bj
certain specialists for agricultural purposes.
m " ^
Comparative Animal Longevity. s
Attention given to the study of animal *
lifetime has evoked this formula from ?
Flemish folklore, a "town"' or inclosura ^
being supposed to last three years: c
A town lives three years, f
A dog lives three towns, .
A horse lives three dogs, 1
Man lives three horses,
An ass lives three man,
A wild goose lives three asses, *
A crow Jives three wild geese, a
A stag lives.three crows,
A raven lives three stains, 8
And the bird phoenix lives three ravens. a
' ^ '1 '' ' - '''r '
' . . M
EELIGIOUS BEADING.
?
1 Striving. ( '4
There fa no rest without the toll,
The patient, strong endeavor;
'Tis he who wins divides the spoil
The coward takes it, never.
We cannot all the prizas take;
We cannot all be thriving; 1
We can our evil self forsake?
We always can be striving. \
.
To dare is better than to doubt,
For doubt is always grieving;
Tis faith that finds the riddles out,
The price is for believing.
To do is better than to dream;
Life has enough of sleepers;
To be is better than to seem?
The sowers are the reapers.
??Rev. Henry Burton.
A Common Christian Thought.
Christians remembering their sainted kindred
dead, and hoping that they also are remembered
by them, may ,and do look forward
to the time of their own departure
from earth, when the present suspension of
intercourse between them will come to an
end, and will when social relations sundered
by depth will be re-established, not in the
form and with all the circumstances marking
them in this world, bat in a sense that
will involve mutual recognition and reunion
in a better world, and be a source of heavenly
pleasure. This is a common Christian
thought, affording delightful anticipation in
this earthly scene, ana somewhat mitigating
the griefs of bereavement; and though
not a matter of direct and positive revelation,
it is uot without a rational
probability in its favor. It is a much better
thought than the horrid creed of the skeptical
materialist, who sees nothing in death
but an absolute extinction of our conscious
being. The instincts of our nature welcome
the thought, and are quite willing to regard
it as true, even without a positive and explicit
revelation affirming its truth. Sad to
affection and sad to hope, would it be if
earth's farewell was final. God be praised
that better possibilities and berter probabilities
are within the reach of our faith and
commend themselves to oar acceptance,?
[Independent.
National Enthusiasm.
One cannot contemplate without deep Interest
the enthusiasm of a grtat nation, and
it is well worth while to study the progress
of a general election canvass in the United
States. One subject absorbs the attention
of the entire land. Everywhere there are
clubs, meetings, processions badges and banners.
The best of speakers are secured at
the cost of millions of dollars to each great
party, the papers are full of political matters,
the questions at issue are hotly debated In
every circle, and money is given with a
lavish hand for campaign expensea No
doubt there is much evil mingled with all
this: large amounts of money are wasted*
and a frightful sum is 6pent in purchasing
votes and influence. The zeal of many vt
promoted by desire for office more than by
love of the country. Yet on the other hand
the interest of the mass of votere is truly
patriotic; large sacrifices of time and means
are made from nobly unselfish motives, and
ine universal ana eager discussion ot important
questions of public policy does much
to instruct our people and increase their patriotism.
"It is good to be zealously affected in a
good thing," and we find much to approve
in American zeal in our national election.
Would to God that we might witness a like
general enthusiasm in advancing Christ's .
kingdom in the earth; a similar lively appreciation
of the urgency of the cause, as
keen an interest in all that works for or
against it, as great a readiness to devote
time and money to secure its triumph! If
the children of light were as wise in their
generation as the children of this world, how
swift would be the progress of the cause in
which all the hopes of mankind are embarked!?[American
Massenger.
The Shut In Society.
The Shut In society, mention of which has
been so often made in paper and periodical,
is doing a good work among invalids, for to
take one's thoughts from one's own sufferings,
and become interested in the welfare
of another is one of the surest ways of becoming
happy. Mrs. J. M. D. Conklin of
Convent, N. J., is president of this association,
and Mrs. Marv L. Dickenson is the editor
of the Open Window, a twenty-page
monthly magazine, the organ of the associa
lion, now, wmie me sympatuy ui uvuur invalids
is very grateful, it seems to me that a
good, full letter from a healthy person who
goes about the world, and is alive to all of
its activities, must be more cheering and
welcome to a shut in. How one healthy person
can cheer and comfort a whole house full
of invalids 1 What a field is open to women
of means and leisure, if they will only look
about them. Indeed one has hardly to look,
so plentifully do these cases apDear, and appal
to our sympathies. Rich " women are
longing for careers wherein to distinguish
themselves, and not only for
the sake of distinguishing themselves, but in
many cases to make themselves useful to
their fellow beings. Money is all-powerful,
and the rich woman has a wider sphere of
usefulness than she could enjov without the '
accompaniment of money. On, the blessings
to a sick room that money can supply.
A young girl who delighted in making
paper flowers, and who was happy in a beautiful
home, imagined how a children's hospital
might be brightened by natural looking
bunches of these oright things, and accordingly
made a number of boxes of tbem, and
sent to the hospital to be put up about the
room. And so there are innumerable ways
in which the rich may sweeten and brighten
the lives of the poor, and especially the suffering,
among both of which perhaps a number
of the Shut Ins may bo reckoned.
The Emperor and the Child.
A story is told of a certain Indian monarch,
many years ago, who took a great interest
in bis people, bat who made very
strict laws, and severely punished those of
his subjects who broke them. He was fond
of going about in all parts of country
iressed in rough clothes like a workman, to
see whether his people were well or ill-treated,
and how his laws were observed. Although
ae was very Kind, there were many persons
who hated bim bitterly and thought him unjust
and cruel.
On one occasion, as he was walking
through the city, there was a terrible uproar?men,
women and children running
in all directions, and screaming as if welfligh
frightened to death. An enormous
elephant had broken loose in a fit of rage
'rom one of the groat bazaars, and was
taring through the streets, destroying all
sefore it.
A poor, little, half-starved child had
slipped, and fallen in the elephant's track;
md in another moment would have been
crushed to death. But a man, dressed as a
inhorer. snrane out in front of the furious
>east, caught up the child and leaped beck
just in time to escape the charge of the elephant.
As the man jumped back,his turban
"ell off and every one saw that he who had
isked bis lire to save a little child was none
>ther than the emperor himself.
But we read in the Scriptures of the King
>f kings, who became poor that poverty
itricken rebels might be made rich (2 Cor.
mi, 9). And the Saviour not only risked
lis life to rescue poor, perishing man, but
leliberately offered himself a sacrifice for
ins; became a substitute for the sinner, and
'bare our sins in his own body on the tree"
1 Pet. ii, 24).
Havo you, my friend, received the Lord
fesus Christ as your Saviour? "As many aa
eceived Him, to them gave He power to becme
the sons of God. even to them that boievo
on his name" (Johni, 12). '-Hethat
elieveth on th? Son hath everlasting life;
nd be tbat believeth not tin Son shall not
se life: hut the wrath of God nbideth on
[ira (John lii, 86).
The Tassar brothers, the last of
vhom, John Guy Vassar, died not long
igo, have done much for education and
or the higher development of women.
lohn Guy Vassar was a fortunate man
>f business. He appreciated the beneits
of a liberal education. Ho and his
jrothers founded Vassar College, which
vas really the first definite attempt to
istablish an educational institution
lolely for the benefit of women. It ia
t grand monument to the generosity
,nd breadth of the founders.
? : -r ' -J*- > V*.'. - :V*A