The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, January 23, 1889, Image 3
^BKTtalmage.
HBHVookLYN DIVINE'S SUNDAY
SEltMON.
flBUwjYect: "Dors Religion Pay?"
HHH: "Godliness is profitable unto all
WKUBnBKharing promise of the life, that novo
|^bKd^v/ that which is to come, "?I. Timothy
^^^Pappy Now Year to one and all!
Hj^^Vere :s a gloomy and passive way of
J^^ivcing for the events of the opening year ;
u> coma upon us, ana mere is a oeruit; woy (
of going out to meet them, strong in licxl and
H bearing nothing. When the body of Catiline I
H was found on the l>att)e-field it was found far I
in advance of all his troops and among the !
V enemy; and the best way is not for us to lio !
H down and let the events of life trample over j
Sm us, but to go forth in a Christian spirit de- j
termined to conquer.
Bfl The papers were made out, and some of ,
^ftrou have just entered into businete partner- j
^^Bhips, and others of you take higher positions :
^^ n the commercial establishment where you !
j^Mrere engaged, and others have entered upon j
^Hnew enterprises, and there were last week in I
^Kthese cities ten thousand business changes, j
You are expecting prosperity, end I am de- |
I^Bermined. so far as I have anything to do ;
HHkith it, that you shall not le disappointed, |
^Bnd therefore I propose, as God may help me ,
^^fthis morning, to project upon your atten- j
^Haon a new eJement of success. You will have
^^Kn the business firm, frugality, patience, in^^Hustry,
perseverance, economy?a very j
I^Ktroug business firm, but there needs to be ;
^Hone member added, mightier than them all, |
^Hfeand not a silent partner either?the one in- |
HBiroduced by my text: 'Godliness which is j
j^Mirotitabte unto all things, having the prom- i
H^Bse or the life that now is as well as of that !
^Hirhich is to come."
I suppose you are all willing to admit that ;
(^ Godliness is important m its eternal rela^vtions;
but perhaps some of you say: "All I j
H want is an opportunity to say a prayer be- I
M fore I die, anc' all will be welL" There are a |
H great many people who suppose that if they I
can finally get safely out of this world into a I
tvnplH th?v will have exhausted the I
It entire advantage "of our holy religion. Thay !
Ualk as though religion were a mere nod of
recognition which we are to give to the Lord I
IJesus on our way up to a heavenly mansion; j
fas though it were an admission ticket, of no j
[use except to give in at the door of heaven. |
L&nd there are thousands of people who have j
fereat admiration for a religion of the shroud,
fend a religion of the coffin, and a religion of
She hearse, and a religion of the cemetery,
Mvho have no appreciation of a religion for
i;he bank, for the farm, for the factory, for
she warehouse, for the jeweler's shop,
tor the broker's office. Xow, while I would
loot throw any slur on a post-mortem
Jreligion, I want this morning, and on the
i first Sabbath of the new year, to eulogize an
ante-mortem religion. A religion that is of
no tse to you while you live, will be of no
use to you when you die. "Godliness is
'profitable unto all things, having the promise
of the life that now is as well as of that
which is to come." And I have always
noticed that when the grace is very low in a
man's heart he talks a great deal in prayer
meetings about deaths, and about coffins, and
about churchyards. I have noticed that the
healthy Christian, the man who is living
near to God, and is on the straight road to
Heaven, is full of jubilant satisfaction, and
'talks about the duties of this life, understanding
well that if God helps him to live
! ight He will help him to die right.
2Cow, in the first place, 1 remark that Godliness
is good for a man's physical healthu I
<lo not mean to say that it will restore a
broken down constitution, or drive rheumatism
from the limbs, or neuralgia from the
temples, or pleurisy from the side: but I do
mean to say that it gives one such habits and
puts one in such condition as is most favorable
for physical health. That 1 believe,
and that I avow. Everybody knows that
buoyancy of spirit is good physical advantage.
Gloom, unrest, dejection are at war
with ever}* pulsation of the heart, ana witu
every respiration of the lungs. It lowers
the vitality, it slackens the circulation, while
exhilaration of spirit pours the very balm of
heaven through all the currents of life. The
scene of insecurity w hich sometimes hovers I
over an unregenerate man, or pounces upon |
him with the blast of ten thousand trumpets i
of terror, is most depleting and most exhausting,
while the feeling that all things are
working together for my good now, and for
my everlasting welfare,is conducive to physical
health.
You will observe that Godliness induces
industry, which is the foundation of good
. health. There is no law of hygiene that will
keep a lazy man well. Pleurisy will stab
him. erysipelas will burn him, jaundice will
i discolor him, gout will cripple hin>, and the
intelligent physician will not prescribe antiseptic,
or febrifuge, or anodyne, but saws,
and hammers, and yardsticks.and crowbars, j
and pickaxes. There is no such thing as good
physical condition without positive wors of
some kind, although you should sleep on
down of swan, or ride in carriage of softest
upholstery, or have on your table all the lux- |
uries that were poured from the wine-vats of I
Ispahan and Shiraz. Our religion says: j
"Away to the bank! away to the field! awav |
to the shop! away to the factory! do some- :
thing that will enlist all the energies of your j
body, mind and soul." "Diligent in business,
fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;'' ,
while upon tho bare hack of the idler and 1
/irona Mimes dnwii thfi sham lash of the anos- '
tie as h9 snys: "If any man -will not work, !
neither shall he eat."
Oh, how important in this day, when so
9 much is said about anatomy and physiology j
and there peutics and some new style of ,
medicine is ever and anon springing upon ]
the world, that you should understand that
the highest school of medicine is tbe school of
Chri?t. whi^h tb*"4, ,,ri?11ine?s is
profitable unto all things, having the promise
of the life that now is as well as that which
is to come." So if you start out two men in
the world with equal physical health, and
thea one of them shall get the religion of the
Lord Jesus Christ in his heart, and the other
shall not get it, the one who becomes a son
of the Lord Almighty will live the longer.
"With long life will I satisfy thee, and show
thee My salvation."
Again I remark that Godliness is good for
the intellect I know some have supposed
that just as soon as a man enters into the
Christian life his intellect goes into a be*
dwarfing process. So far from that, religion
will give new brilliancy to tho intellect, new
strength to the imagination new force to
the will, and wider swing to all the intellectual
faculties. Christianity is the great
central fire at which Philosophy has lignted
its brightest torch. The religion of the Lord
Jesus Christ is the fountain out of which
learning has dipped its clearest draught.
The Helicon poured forth no such inspiring
waters as those which flow from under the
throne of God clear as crystal. Religion has
given new energy to Poesy, weeping in Dr.
Young's 'Night Thoughts," teaching in
Cowper's "Task," flaming in Charles "VVes|
ley's hymns, and rushing with
archangelic splendor through Milton's
"Paradise Lost" The religion of
Jesus Christ has hung in studio and in gallery
of art and in Vatican, the best pictures
?Titian's "Assumption." Raphael's "Transfiguration,"
Rebens's "Dtscent from the
Cross." Claude's "Burning Bush," and Angelo's
"Last Judment" Religion has made
the best music of the world?Haydn's "Creation,"
Handel's "Messiah," Mozart's "Requiem."
Is it possible that a religion which
builds such indestructible monuments, and
which lifts its ensign on the highest promontories
of worldly power, can have any elfect
upon a man's intellect but elevation and enlargement?
Now, I commend Godliness a3
the best mental discipline?better than belleslettres
to purify the taste, better than mathematics
to harness the mind to all intricacy
and elaboration, better than logic to marshal
the intellectual forces for onset and victory.
It will go with Hugh Miller and show him the
footprints of the Creator in the red sandBtonei
It will go with the botanist and show
him celestial glories encamped under the
ourtain of a water-lily. It will go with the
astronomer on the great heights where God
shepherds the great flock of worlds, tbat
wander on the hills of heaven answering His
voice aa He calls them all by their names.
Again I remark that Godliness is profitable
for one's disposition. Lord Ashley, before
he went into a great battle, was heard
to offer this prayer: "0 Lord, I shall be very
busy to-day; if 1 forget Thee, !orget me not."
With such a Christian disposition as that, a
man is independent of all circumstances.
Our piety will have a tinge of our natural
temperament. If a man be cross and sour,
afod fretful naturally, after he becomes a
Christian he will always have to be armed
against the rebellion of those evil inclina*
tions; but religion has tamed the wildest
nature; it has turned fretfulness into gratitude,
despondency into good cheer, and those
who were hard aud ungovernable and uncompromising
have been made pliable and
conciliatory. Good resolution, reformatory
I effort, will not effect the change. It takes a
mightier arm and a mightier hand to bend
evil habite than the hand that bent the bow
1
L2. ?
of Ulysses, and it takes a stronger lasso than
ever held the buffalo on the prairia A man
cannot go forth with any human weapons
and contend successfully against these Titans
armed with uptorn mountain. But you have
kuown men into whose spirit the influence of
the Gospel of Christ came, until their disposition
was entirely changed. So it was
with two merchants in New York. They
were very antagonistic. They had done all
they could to injure each other. They were
in the same line of business. One of the
merchants wa3 converted to God. Having
been converted, he asked the Lord to
teach him bow to bear himself toward
that business antagonist, and he
was impressed with the fact that it was his
duty when a customer askei for certain
kinds of goods which he had not, but which
he knew his opponent had, to recommend
him to go to that store. I suppose that is
about the hardest thing a man could do; but
hpinfr thoroughly converted to God, he re
solved to do that very thing,and being asked
for a certain kind of "goods which he had not
he said: "You go to such and such a store,
and you will get it." After awhile, merchant
number two louad these customers coming
so sent, and he found also that merchant
number one had been brought to God, and
he sought the same religion. Now they are
good friends and good neighbors, the grace
of God entirely changing their disposition.
"Oh," says some one, "I have a rough,
jagged, impetuous nature, and religion can't
do anything for me.'1 Do you know that
Martin Luther and Robert Newton and Richard
Baxter were impetuous, all-consuming
natures, yet the grace of God turned them
into the mightiest usefulness? A manufacturer
cares but very little for a stream that
slowly runs through the meadow, but a strong
torrent that leaps from rock to rock,
and rushes with mad energy through the
valley and out toward the sea. Along that i
river you will find fluttering shuttles and
grinding mill and flashing water wheel. And
a nature, the swiftest, the most rugged and
the most tremendous, that is the nature God
turns into greatest usefulness. Oh, how many
who have been pugnacious, and hard to
please, and irascible, and more bothered
about the mote in their neighbor's eye than
about the beam like ship timber in their owu
eye. who have been entirely changed by the
grace of God. and have found out that "Godliness
is profitable for the life that now is as
well as for tin life which is to come."
A train 1 remark that religion is good for a
man's worldly business. I know the general
theory is, the more business the less religion,
the more religion the less business. Not so,
thought Dr. Hans, in his "Biography of a
Cnristian Merchant," when he says: "Ho
grew in grace the last six years oi his life
more than at any time in his life; during
those six years he had more busiuess crowding
him than at any other time." In other
words, the more worldly business a man has,
- ? ?* riorl Hnna
lue more upjjuriuuii-j iu act >o <jv?. ?
religion exhilarate or retard worldly business?
is the the practical question for you to
discuss. Does it hang like a mortgage over
the farm? Is it a bad debt ou the ledger? is
it a lien against the estate? Does it crowd
the door through which customers come for
broadcloths and silks? Now, religion will
hinder your business if it be a bad business,
or if it be a good business wrongfully conducted.
If you tell lies behind the counter,
if you use false weights and measures, if you
put sand in sugar, and beet-juice in vinegar,
and lard in butter, and sell for one thing that
which is another thing, then religion will interfere
with that business; but a lawful
business, lawfully conducted, will find the
religion of tha Lord Jesus Christ its mightiest
auxiliary.
Religion will give an equipoise of spirit, it
will keep you from ebullitions of temper?and
you kuow a great many fine businesses have
been blown to atoms by bad temper?it will
keep you from worrimetit about frequent loss,
it will keep yon industrious and prompt, it
will keep you back from squandering and
dissipation, it will give you a kindness
of spirit which will be easily distinguished
from that mere store courtesy which
3hakes hands violently with you, asking
about the health of your family when
there is no anxiety to know whether your
child is well or sick! But the anxiety is to
know how many dozen cambric pocket
handkerchiefs you will take and pay cash
down. It will prepare vou for the practical
duties of every-day life. I do not mean to
cnv t.hnt. roliTi'nn wiil make us financially
rich, but I do say that it will give us, it
will assure us. of a comfortable sustenance
at the start, a comfortable subsistence all the
way through, and it will help us to direct the
the bank, to manage the traffic, to conduct
all our business matters, and to make the
most insienificant affair of our life a matter
of vast importance glorified by Christian
principle.
In New York city there was a merchant
hard in his dealings with his fellows, who had
written over his banking house, or his counting-house
room: "No compromise.*' Then
when some merchant got in a crisis and went
down?no fault of bis, but a conjunction of
evil circumstances?and all the other merchants
were willing to compromise?they
would take seventy-five cents on the dollar,
or fifty cents, or twenty cents?comin; to
this man last of all, he said: "No compromise;
I'll take one hundred cents on the dollar,
and I can afford to wait." Well, the
wheel turned, and after a while that man
was in a crisis or business, and he S9nt out
his agents to compromise, and the agents
said to the merchants: "Will you take fifty
cents on the dollar!" "No." "Will you
take anything?" "We'll take one hundred
cents on the dollar. No compromise.'' And
the man who wrote tho inscription over his
counting-house died in destitution. Oh,
wo want more of the kindness of
the Gospel and the spirit of love in
our business enterprises! now many young
. x 1
men nave luunu iu mo idu^iuuvi ./onus. I
Christ a practical help? How many there
are in this house to-day who could testify out
! of their own experience that Godliness is
; profitable for the life that now is. There
were times in their busines* career when
I thev went her* for help, and there for help,
and yonder for help, and got no help until
they knelt before the Lord crying for His
deliverance, and tbe Lord rescued them.
In a bank not far from our great metropolis?a
village bank?an oilicer could not balance
his accounts. He had worked at them
day after day, night after night, and he was
3ick ni^h unto death as a result. He knew
he hail not taken one farthing from that
bank, but somehow, for some reason inscrutable
then, the accounts wouldn't balanca
Tho time rolled on, and tho morning of
the day when the books should pass
under the inspection of the other officers
arrived, and he felt himself in awful peril,
conscious of his own integrity but unable to
prove that integrity. That morning he went
to the bank early, and lie knolt down before
God and told the whole story of his mental
anguish, and he said: "O Lord. I have done
right; I have preserved my integrity, but
here I am about to bo overthrown unless
Thou should come to my rescue. Lord, deliver
me." And for one hour he continued
the prayer before God, anri then he rose aud
went to an old blotter that he had forgotten
all about. He opened it and there lay a sheet
of figures which ha only needed to add to
another line of figures?somo line of figures
he had forgotten, and knew not where ho
had laid them?and the accounts were
balancjd.nnd the Lord delivered aim. You are
an infidel if you do not believe it. Tha Lord
delivered him. God answered his prayer as
He will answer your prayer, O man ot business,
in every crisis when you come to Him.
Now, if this be so. then I am persuaded, as
you are, of the fact that the vast majority of
Christians do not fully test the value of the r
religion. They are like a farmer in California,
with fifteen thousand acres of good
wheat land and culturing only a quarter of
an acre. Wiiy do you not go forth and
make the religion of .lesus Christ a pra?tical
affair every day of your business life and
all this year, beginning now, and to-morrow
morning putting into practical effect this
holv religion and demonstrating In your life
that Godliness is profitable here as well as
hereafter ?
tlow can you got along without this re ligion?
Is your physical health so good you
do not want this divine tonic? Is your mind
so clear, so vast, so comprehensive that you
do not want this divine inspiration? Is your
worldly business so thoroughly established
that you have no use for that religion which
has been the help and deliverance of tens of
thousands of men in crises of worldly
trouble? And if what I have said this morning
is true, then you see what a Jatal blunder
it is when a man adjourns to life's expiration
the uses of religion. A man who postTv->noc
rnlicrinn tn airf-.v vflars of (1?B CHtS re
ligion fifty yeftrs too late. He may got into
the kingdom of God by final repentance, but
what can compensate him for a
whole lifetime unalleviated and uncomforted?
You want reiigion to-day
in the training of that child. You
will want religion to-morrow in dealing with
that Western customer. You wanted religion
yesterday to curb your temper. Is
your arm strong enough to beat your way
through the floods* Can you without being
encased in the mail of God's eternal help go
forth amid the assault of all hell's sharpshooters?
Can yon walk a!cne across these
crumbling graves and amid these gaping
earthquakes? Can you, waterlogged and mast
shivered,outlive the gale? Oh,how many there
have been who, postponing the religion of
Jesus Christ, have plunged into in is takes they
never couldcorrect although they lived eighty
years after, and like serpents crushed under
cart-wheels, dragging their mauled bodies
under the rocks to die; so th^se men have
fallen under the wheel of awful calamity,,
crushed here, destroyed forever, while a vast
multitude of others have taken the religion
of Jesus Christ into every-day life, and first,
in practical business affairs, and secondly,
on the throne of heavenly triumph hav? illustrated,
while angels looked on and a universe
approved, the glorious truth that
"Godliness is profitable unto all things, having
the promise of the life which now is as
well as of that which is to come."
TEMPERANCE.
I Know a Bank.
There's a bank that I hear about now and
then,
Which takes deposits from workingmen;
It has glaring mirrors and flaring gas,
And its drafts aro drawn in a jug or glass.
The customer there lor his saving shows
A shaky hand and a blazing nose.
Keep out of its books, tor I've come to
learn
Tne Gin Palace Bank is a queer concern.
There's a bank that I hear about now and I
then
"Which takes deposits from workingmen;
Its clerks are never too proud or tine
To enter a trifle of yours or mine.
And the ponce mount up, as 1 hear folks say,
To a nice little sum for a rainy da}'.
Get one of its books, for I've come to
learn
The savings bank is a safe concern.
There's a bank that I hear about now and
then,
Which takes deposits from workingmen,
A shake of the nand, a smile, a look,
Is entered fair in an angel's book.
Good words are its silver, good deeds its gold,
And its riches ne'er fail, nor its bag3 wax old.
Oh, think of that bank, lor I've coma to
learn
To have treasure above is our chief concern.
?F. Langridgs.
The Habitual Useof Alcohol Even in
a Moderate Degree is Iujurious.
Dr. William Pepper writes as follows in
the Chaittauqnan: The effects of the alco?
hoi habit vary enormously with the amount
consumed and with the form in which it is
taken, but they are always bad. Alcohol
should not be regarded either as a poison or
a food. It is strictly a drug. It belongs to
that class of substances which, like opium,
Indian hemp and tobacco, produce effects
which habit renders agreeable, but which
are followed by constant increase in the
craving for larger doses of the drug. This
increasing dependence upon alcohol is one of
the worst effects of its habitual use, and
?if ia ineannKohla fpnm it.3
?ILL1 U1U91 pel 9UUO IV liioopuiuwiu a? v*m ?vw
use even in small amounts. It is true that
nearly all can digest without apparent damage
a small quantity of alcohol, m sufficiently
dilute form, if taken only occasionally.
It is certain that the highest possible health
may be enjoyed without the use of alcohol.
This being so, its use, even occasionally and
under the restrictions above stated, is attended
with risk both physical and moral.
But when alcohol is taken in large amounts,
or in stronger forms, or is used habitually
even in moderation.it does positive harm;
and this harm increases rapidly as the habit
strengthens. In its lightest degree there is
some irritation of the stomach and impairment
of digestion, with slight disorder of
circulation and secretion and intellection.
Often enough these cause a false feeling of
weakness which leads to larger excess and of
course to great harm.
Perfect health can scarcely ever be enjoyed
continuously by one who uses alcohol, even
in strict moderation. I make an exception
in favor of some elderly persons with slow
and feeble digestions and with weak circular
tion, for in them small quantities of dilute
alcohol taken daily with their principal meal
improve their health. When once we pass
the lesser degrees of the use of alcohol the
effects of its habitual employment are striking
and disastrous. The mucous membrane
of the stomach becomes the seat of chronic
catarrh. The function of the liver is disordered
and the mosc important processes of
nutrition are disturbed. The nervous system
suffers, and mind and character alike deteriorate.
It is not only the injury which
comes directly from alcohol which 'we note
in such cases: there are associated with it
neglect of proper diet and of proper hours of
rest, and avoiJance?of exposure, which contribute
to the sum of damage wrought upon
the system.
The alcohol habit, if at all excessive,
causes organic disease directly, and rums
body and mind. Its habitual use, even in
very inoJerate amounts, renders health unstable
and increase? the liability to disease,
and the danger of disease when it occurs.
The true use of alcohol is in the treatment
of disease. There, when prescribed judiciously,
it does great good, and is at times
indispensable. But even there it should
never be prescribed unnecessarily, nor without
a clear recognition of the fact that the
tendency to the alcohol habit is great and
that this habit when formed is destructive.
Temperance at Indianapolis.
Francis Murphy and his son Edward, tha
teinj erance evangelists, recently closed their
meetings in Indianapolis. The older Murphy
began there three weeks ago. and was joined
by his son a week later; they have set on
foot the most successful Gospel temperance
movement ever inaugurated in that city,
addressing forty-five large meetings. The
result of their labors is something ovprGSOO
signers to the total-abstinence pledges and
several Gospel convertion*. The press and
people of Indianapolis regard their work
with great satisfaction. fliey wrnt there
at the invitation of J. C. Shaffer, President
of the Indianapolis Street Railroad Company,
and they were greatly assisted by the leading
ministers.
The last night's meeting at Tomlinson Hall
was one of the largest, fully 5U00 persons be
4. / ?_ I
ing prest'IIl/. V/li llio Ciu?uru suagc T?iiu tfu*
Shaffer was Samuel W. Allerton, the wellknown
Chicago millionaire, who made a
short address, wherein he urged the Murphys
to come to Chicago, where he believed a
greut work awaited them. He said they
were fighting dynamiters and hanging Anarchists,
but he believed the real cure for this
spreading evil was to send such men among
them as Francis and Edward Murphy to
preach their gospel and pull these misguided
Socialists out from under the baleful influence
of the liquor-dispensing element. He declared
he should return to Chicago with a
determination to inaugurate a movement
that would bring tho Murphys and other
evangelists into that field, and he M ould take
part in the meetings.
Among the Indianapolis conversions are
two saloon-keepers ana about three score of
the hardest drinkers in the city.
Temperance News and Notes.
The church, constructive; the saloon, doJtructive.
Temperance is th9 moderate uss of good
things and total abstinence from bad things.
It is stated that the Emperor William of
Germany has entirely given up alcoholic
liquors.
The rum-power is too colossal to be ignored,
too cyclonic to be regulated, too insolent
to be endured.
Not a newspaper in Kansas is advocating
the re-establishment of the saloon, while two
years ago there were fifty.
Absolute prohibition of th3 liquor traffic is
law throughout the 2,500,000 square miles in
the Northern Territories, Canada.
What a list of horrible crimes now burden
the telegraph wires daily. And intemperance
stands out as th? chiefest among the
causes for these terrible affairs.
The brandy cigarette is the latest thing from
Boston. It is made of tobacco that has been
soaked in brandy, and the smoker is enabled
to keep mildly intoxicated without touching
a drop of liquor.
Robert W. Page, of Atlanta, Ga, an employe
at Weller's slaughter-house, while
drunk, fell into the large kettle full of hot
water in which hogs were scalded. He had
l>pf>n in t.liH kfittle over an hour when found,
and his body was boiled almost into jelly.
Sing a soug of sixpence, you fellow full of
rye,
With not a cent to bury you to-morrow
should you die.
The keeper's iu the barroom counting out his
money;
His wife is in the parlor with well-dre3sed
sis and sonny;
Your wife has gone out working and washing
people's clothes,
To pay for old rye whisky to color up your
nose.
"Pretty Boy,'' an Indian of the Yankton
Sioux tribe, at Fort Peck Agency, crazed
with rum, killed his squaw in a most brutal
manner, murdered two policemen, fatally
wounded a third aid then killed himself.
EELIGIOUS READING, j
New Every Morning.
Every day Is a fresh beginning,
Every morn is the world made new;
You who are weary of sorrow and sinning.
Here is a beautitul hope for you?
A hope for me and a hope for you.
All the past things are past and over,
The tasks are done and the tears are shed;
Yesterday's errors let yesterday cover;
Yesterday's wounds, which smarted and
bled,
Are healed with the healing which night
has shed.
Yesterday is a part of forever
Bound up in a sheaf, which God holds
tight;
"With glad days, and sad days, and bad days,
which never
Shall visit us more with their bloom and
their blight,
Their fulneis of sunshine or sorrowful
night.
Let them go, <?ince we cannot relieve them,
Cannot ur d > and cannot atone;
God in His mercy receive, forgive them;
Only the new days are our own,
Today is ours, and today alone.
Here are the skies all burnished brightly,
Here is the spent earth all reborn;
Here are the tired limbs springing lightly
To face the sun, and to share with the
morn
In the chrism of dew and the cool of dawn.
Every day is a fresh beginning;
Listen, my soul, to the glad refrain,
And, spite of old sorrow and older sinning,
And puzzle forecasted, and possible pain,
Take heart with the day, and begin again I
?[London Sunday-School Times.
The Pure Heart.
Rev. James Caughey once said in a sermon
on "Blessed are the pure in heart," that
it was impossible to sully a sunbeam. "And
while the sunbeam," he said, "may dart
down into the darkest hole of fllth, and illuminate
it, it will soil nothing, and yet not be
soiled itself. So the ray of heavenly life and
love, existing in the perfect believer's heart,
goes into and comes out into contact with
the dark dwelling-places of iniquity and
filth, and cheers, and enlivens, and encourages
by its presonce, but is always kept
unspotted from the stains of the world. It
is God who gives to the pure in heart this
great gift and distinction. It is He only
who can keep the heart in perfect peace."
muj. ui. i k?.
JLUXS LllUUgUb IS UCHUIUUIIJ 11JU3UUICU *JJ
the scripture: "Though ye have lisn among
the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a
dove covered with silver, and her feathers
with yellow gold."?[Christian Witness.
Known by Their F. ult*.
The following forcible remarks are from
an article in the North American Review by
Frederic R. Condert, a Roman Catholic.
The men of today need to learn what
Christianity ha=i done and is doing for the
human race. They must be asked to refrain
for a moment from laughing at the bright
salliesof brilliant declaimers. And to inquire
into the possible results of a successful
campaign against the system of belief that
has been interwoven with the growth,
strength and progress of the world for the
last eighteen hundred years. None more
wisely and eloquently than Mr. Gladstone
could have warned society of the dangers
and evils which a reckless eagerness for untried
systems and an impatient sufferance of
whatever is, may produce. For the first
time in the history of our modern life, tho
law looks on in silence and leaves men's
tongues and pens free to malign and caricature
the religion which was, and still is,
part of the law of the land. The fear of pun
lsnmeni. using removeu, nutaiug uj ikll uui
self-imposed restraint of him who decries
sacred things to fix the measure and violence
of bis attacks. Whether Dr. Field and Mr.
Gladstone may or may not outshine Colonel
Ingersoll in debate, is not, after all, so important.
The question remains whether the
Lord's prayer may be abolished, and the
sermon on the ibount derided into general
contempt, without changing the whole structure
of our moral and social world.
After all we fall back on the Saviour's
word, "By their fruits ye shall know them."
Ingersoll's inflJelity moans some large audiences
at so much a head. It does not mean
anybody's good or anybody's benefit outside
of IngersolL Christianity takes the world
for its field, and is ever at work seeking to
make tha world better. As to arguing with
the blasphemer, we have only to say, they
waste their labor who enter into conflict
with him. Though dogs bay at the moon to
their heart's content, they cannot bay away
one moon beam. Let blasphemers howl, and
shriek their curses to the world's great mori I
sunshiDa, the religion of the L*>rd Jesus,
they cannot dim its lustre, nor stay its helpful,
healing beams.
Restitution.
During the last Convention at Northfleld,
Mr. Moody was speaking upon Prayer, and
an incident occurred, illustrating his subject,
which made a profound impression, and
came home to every one. He said true
Prayer consisted of ten elements?AdoraHon
fVmfocainn ThflTilrQci vinfT,
Unity, or Brotherly Love, the spirit of forgiveness,
Faith (ask with a beggar's importunity;
a >-ervant's docility; and a friend's
confidence), Perseverance, and, last, Submission.
When he came to the third element?
Restitution?a man rose in the audience and
cried out:
"Mr. Moody, let me cut in here. I went
to Texas five years ago, having cheated
my creditors of fifteen thousand dollars.
My wife and I thought we were real
smart. We settled in one of the cities,
bought a nice house, and furnished it tiptop?grand
piano, Brussels carpets, and mv
wife bought no end of lace curtains. But
we hnd havdlv got settled down, when Mr.
Moody came along; and. like others, we followed
the crowd of 'professors' and Church
members. He preached the same sermon we
have so far heard tonight The Spirit of
God convicted me and my wife both of sin,
on this head of Restitution, and we went
home perfectly miserable. I said, 'Loo,
what are we to do?' 'Do!' says she; 'you
know what to do without asking me: repay
everybody to the last cent.' No sooner said
than done. The house was sold, and an auction
called right away; and oh, the joy I had
in handine up the silverware and tbe china!
The piano and all went; but my wife was so
happy at parting with the lace curtains, it
was really curious. Then we took two
little rooms?a bedroom and a kitchen and
the only table we had was the one we had used
in the kitchen for chopping meat on; but
the Lord filled us with Himself, and wo hod
peace and joy, because we had pardon and a
clear conscience. The dear Lord has blessed
me far above my desert, and beyond what
the devil led me to steal: and we have come
to Nortbfleld to praise the Lord and carry
back with us to Texas a fresh baptism of the
blessed power which set us free five years
ago."
There was hardly a dry eye in the great
audienco, and to watch Mr. Moody was a
study; he did not say a word, but looked
over his glasses, now on one side, now on the
other, all over the house; then, after the
pause had had its effect, he quietly went on
with the next head of his discourse.
The true Christian i3 like the sun, which
pursues his noiseless track, and everywhere
leaves the effect of his beams in a blessing
upon the world around him.?[Luther.
Christ always sails in the ship of prayer;
He steers safely; He fees the hidden rocks
and secret shelves, and needs no star nor
compass. He fills the sails of the Church's
ship with prosperous gales, to bring her into
safety. He turns calms into storm-), ".o obey
his Church's cry, and raises the waves of
t.liA sab. so that saints are fflad because of a
storm, to bring them to a calm haven. Ob!
happy storms, that drive a saint to Heaven!
Oh. happy Heaven, that enjoys a perpeftual
and everlasting calm!?{Lee.
Temperance in Japan.
There are many temperance societies in
Japan, and all are"working for the principle
of total abstinence. The National femj>orance
Society contains men of higher position
than any other, and publishes a magazine at
the capital. North Shore Temperance Society
is the largest organization, and is carried on
in connection with a Christian mission. The
efficiency of the work of this society is proved
by the fact that prohibitory laws have been
adopted in two or three of the villages. The
Temperance Association, organized in ISSti
with eighty-nine members, now has a membership
of SUO and publishes magazine, the
Temperance} which has attained a large
circulation. !
The liquor traffic of the sii principal nations
of Christendom devours'year after year
the produce of 35,000,000 acrea of farm land.
~~ BUDGET OF FUNr~
HUMOROUS SKETCHES FROM
VAKIOUS SOURCES.
a. Saleable Reason?It Certainly
was Peculiar?Getting Even
with Him?A Matter
of Location, Etc.
" What is the meaning of the throng
In yonder clothing store/
There surely must be something wrong?
What are they gathered for.1"
" The cause is plain it seems to me,"
Replied the passing wit,
" Some person in there, don't you see,
Is taken with a tit!"
It Certainly was Peculiar.
"Mamma!"
' Wfill rr? Tf /3 on
IV bllf iUJ UV/U1 I
"What awfully queer -ways these
Western folks do have, don't they? I
have been reading an article in the
Slock BreederGazette that papa brought
home and it says that cows should have
their corn fed to them in the ear."?
Boston Beacon.
Getting: Even.
"I don't like that snob Brinkerson,"
said one medical student to another.
"Neither do I. I would like to fix
him for his superciliousness."
"There is only one way that we can
get even with him."
"What i9 that*" asked the other.
"We will cut him dead," was the
significant reply.?Merchant Traceler.
A Matter of Location.
Husband fat an evening entertainment)
?".My dear, what a charming manner
young Mrs de Courcv has. I admire
temper and spirit in a woman."
Wife?"Haven't I temper and spirit,
Johnr"
Husband?"Yes, but I mean when
they are possessed by other men's
wives."?Jbpocn.
How He Lost Time.
Pedestrian?"B-b-boy, can you t-ttell
me how f-f-far it is to the po-popostoiiice?"
Kewsboy?"What d'ye say, mister?"
Pedestrian ? "I-I-reckon you-youheard
me. How f-f-lar is it to the popostoftice?"
Newsboy?"Only half a block, mister.
If you hadn't a stopped to ask me you'd
a been there a'ready."? Life.
His Method of Revenge.
Woman (to tramp)?"Why do you
stand in that dejected, pleading attitude?
Ain't the pie good?"
Tramp?"Yes, ma'am, the pie is all
right, but I used to be a waiter, and I
got the habit of taking this pathetic posture
while looking for a fee."
Woman?"Well, what did you do
when you didn't get any fee?"
Tramp?"What could I do? I just
brushed a few crumbs into the customer's
lap or let his hat drop and let him go."?
JSew York Hun.
His First Experience.
The Anarchist haa just come home 1
with a clean shirt on.
'Good heavens, Barlowiski!" exclaimed
his wife, sinking into a chair,
"have you become a blood-sucking capitalist
and aristocrat?"
"No,"he said, "this shirt was a present."
"How does it happen that you haven't
traded it for whisky?"
"It was the saloon-keeper who gave j
it to me," he replied bitterly.? Chicago
Tribune.
Honor in Defeat.
"Sir," said the defeated highwayman,
as he slowly picked himself up and gathered
himself together; "that was done
very scientifically. May I ask of which
class of pugilists you are the champion
"Of none," replied the victor. "I
am simply a plain man who won't let I
himself be thrashed."
"Let me clasp your hand," returned
the other. "Iu this age of champions, !
men of your kind are so scarce that it is !
rather pleasant than otherwise to be
licked by one of them."
Unflnjrjrinir Interest.,
"What is the matter with you?" asked
a traveling man of a seedy looking fellow,
who was asking assistance. "You
look as if you are able to work."
"I am, but I can't get it. Ilost my
job about a month ago."
"Discharged for failure to attend to !
your duties, no doubt?"
"I don't know about that. The boss!
said that I attended to them with unflagsring
interest."
"What was your occupation?"
"I was station master at a small town
and let seventeen passengers get left." ?
Merchant Traceler.
Prepared for Business.
First Tramp?"Where'd yer sleep last
night?"
Second Tramp?"Had a hard night.
Slept on a lot o' hay."
First Tramp?"Well, what's the mat- j
ter with hay:"
Second Tramp?"It was baled hay.
"Where'd you sleep?"
First Tramp?"I had a bad night.
Slept in a bed."
Second Tramp?"Feather bed?"
First Tramp?"No, asparagus bed.
Say, let's go into business together." !
Second Tramp?"What kipd of business?"
First Tramp?"Funny business."?
De'.roit Free Press.
He Would Forget to Order the Meat
"Miss Clara," he began passionately,
"let me open my heart to you; let me;
toll you how long aud deeply I have i
loved you; how from the first moment:
your sweet presence beamed upon me, I ;
have "
T..?4. n /Iflftfoninrp nniap AllffliflA '
liiCII Lk UV/UIV/MiUi. uvr.ww
disturbed them and they hastened to the '
window. After resuming their seats, he j
went on:
"Oh?er?h'm?singular?what was j
the subject of our conversation when wc j
were interrupted? Ah, yes, I remember, j
From the moment your sweet presence i
first dawned upon me, I have longed to !
make you my wife."
"That can never be, Mr. Chalk," re- i
plied the girl, firmly. "You are too
absent-minded."?The Epoch.
Thonffht Him a Collector.
Clerical Caller?"Is Mrs. Paynothing
atnomer- I
Door Attendant?"Are you the man'
who's come to collect on the wringer?"
C. C.?"I am not!"
D. A.?"Or the sewing machine ;
man?"
e. C.?"No!"
D. A.?"Do you come from the place !
where she got her furniture?1'
C. C.?"I did not!"
D. A.?"Did you sell her the Bible on ,
instalments?"
"C. C.?"No, I did not, and cannot i
understand this questioning. I am her
pastor. Is she at home?"
D-A.?"Faith, I feared ycu were a
collector of some kind, and I was towld
to tell any of thim that she waa out.
'
Step into tho parlor, sir, and I'll tell her
you are there."?Boston Budget.
The Duel of the Future,
Scene?At a telephone.
Ding-a-ling-a-ling.
First Citizen?"Hello, exchange;
give me seventeen thousand and ten.
Hello, is this seventeen thousand and
ten? Is Blanky in? Tell him to step to
telephone, please. Is this Blanky? Well,
I called you up, Mr. Blanky, to tell you
that I know what you have been saying
about me, and I wiah to remark right
here to your face that you are a liar."
Second Citizen (at the other end of
the wire)?''Under those circumstances
I will be compelled to challenge you.
Will name Gatling guns as weapons, and
will request your attendance on the roof
of the club house at 4:30 this afternoon.
I will add, however, that you are much
mistaken; I am not a liar."
First citizen?"Will you give me your
word as a gentleman that you are not?"
Second citizen?"I will."
First citizen?"Then, of course, I
cannot do otherwise than accept the explanation,
and withdraw the challenge."
Second citizen?"That will be entirely
satisfactory. Call around and see me
when you get time. Good-bye."
First citizen?"Good-bye."
Ding-a-ling a-ling"?Merchant Traveler.
A SUp Somewhere.
We were humping along at the rate
of thirty miles an hour on a train bound
into Nashville, when I spotted a couple
of three-card monte men in the car.
They had made up to a farmer-like chap
and had things all their own way. One
of them tossed the cards and the other
acted as a capper and made a hit of $20
the first thing. This was to egg the
farmer on, and he was willing to be
egged.
"Reckon I've got a leetle money that
says I kin pick that yerekeerd," he said,
and he slowly counted out three $10
bills.
"You pick the ace of hearts, do you?"
asked the thrower.
"She's the one."
"And which is it?"
"This ar' the one."
"And vou bet $30 on it?"
"I do."
The card was turned over, and lo! it
was the ace of hearts and the old man
had won. He pocketed the money and
the monte man retired in disgust. Later
on I asked the thrower how he came to
make such a mistake.
"Why, I paid a feller $20 to learn me
the business the other day, and this is
my first trip. There's $50 clean cash
gone to Goshen, and I'm going back
home to farm it for the old mau at $18
a month."?Detroit Free Press.
Gratitude.
"Good morning, sir."
"I glanced from my desk at a tall, cadaverous
looking individual, clad in a
faded brown ulster."
"I hope I don't disturb you?"
**V/\n Kovon'f TTof T nKcopoorl
i vu uia< vu u J y t vv??
"Thank you, very much. If it isn't
troubling you, would you be kind
enough to permit me to show you the
advance sheets of our new work on "Art
in the Middle Ages?"
"I don't want it."
"Thank you; but I don't ask you to
buy it, but merely to look at it."
I am of a very obliging disposition. I
turned over a few pages ha?tily, without
giving him an opportunity to recite his
usual lecture.
"Yes," I said, as I handed the book
to him, "it seems to be a pretty good
book, but I'm not able to buy it."
"I'm very much obliged to you for the
opportunity of showing it to you."
"Not at all," I replied, turning to my
balance sheet.
Louiuii t i uiicr you uouie luuuue*
ment in the way of easy terms?"
"I can't afford it on any terms at
present."
"lam sorry," he said, as he started reluctantly
toward the door: "but, as it is,
I owe you a debt of gratitude for permitting
me to talk to you about it. The
life of a book agent, sir, is hard; and it
is like an oasis in a desert to meet a man
who will permit an agent to describe his
book. Good morning, sir."
I was half-way down a column ot
figures, when he came back and remarked,over
my shoulder, insinuatingly.
"Would fifty cents a month bring it
within your means?"
No," I said, with a touch of impatience;
"I can't buy it at? any price. I'm
too busy to talk about it now, anyhow."
"Well, good morning, sir. I'm sorry
to have disturbed you; but I'm more
than obliged to you for the opportunity
of showing you the work and letting you
know what it is."
I started down the column of figures
again, and had reached a total of 257,
when a voice remarked, apologetically,
close to my ear:
"Excuse me.'sir; but would you object
to my inquiring when you think it is
possible that you will be likely to have
leisure to examine the work a little more
thoroughly?"
I could bear no more. I arose from
my desk, and calmly but firmly took my
visitor by the collar, and led him out into
the hall and to the head of the stairs.
Then, with a skill derived from long
practice, I kicked him downstairs.
I stood and watched his abrupt and
somewhat undignified descent. The
sound of breaking bones came up the
hallway. A moment later the bookagent
picked himself up, slowly and
painfully, and called back to me in a
broken but grateful voice, as he limped
away:
"Thank you, sir: I am ever so much
J x r?i^4.4.:?? AiuA n
OUUgeu IU jruu lur letting lud vil anvg,
?Puck.
Town-Life as a Canse of Degeneracy.
The general unfitness and incapability
of the dwellers in our large hivas of industry
to undergo continued violent
exertioD, or to sustain long endurance
of fatigue, is a fact requiring little evidence
to establish; nor can they tolerate
the withdrawal of food under sustained
physical effort for any prolonged period
as compared with the dwellers in rural
districts. It may be affirmed also that
through the various factors at work
night and day upon the constitution of i
the poorer class of town-dwellers, various j
forms of disease aie developed, of wnicn
pulmonary consumption is the most
familiar, and which is doing its fatal
work in a lavish and unerring fashion.
Thus it may be conceded as an established
fact that the townsman is, on the
whole, constitutionally dwarfed in tone 1
andhislife, manforman, shorter,weaker, 1
and more uncertain than the country- i
man's. I hold the opinion t'hat the de- j
terioration is more in physique, as im- 1
plied in the loss of physical or muscular ]
power of the body, the attenuation of
muscular fiber, the loss of integrity of '
cell-structure, and consequent liability
to the invasion of disease, rather than in
actual stature of inch-measurement. The
true causes of this deterioration are
neither very obscure nor far to seek.
They are bad air and bad habits. To i
these may be added a prolific factor ;
operating largely to produce degeneration
of race, and that is, frequent in- |
termarriage, often necessitated by relig- i
ious affinities.? Popular Science Monthly.
* i
righting a Bear and Three t'nM. -*"The
morning I met the bears," said
Spruce Williams (of White Camp,
W. Va.), "I started down the creeU
to my corn-field, about a quartet
of a mile below the house. I took
nothing with me, except a big hickory
stick, not expecting to see anything at
that late hour in the morning. I had
entered the field, but had not passed a
dozen corn shocks before I heard a loud
sport and a grunt of some animals,
which I instantly recognized as bears,,
not twentv feet awav. While I wa?
looking around for the bears a halfgrown
cub ran out of a shock of fodder
close to my side. Without stopping to
think I ran up to the cub ana hit it s
welt with the club. The bear tumbled
over on its back and began to cry and
whine. Before I could hit it again the
old she-bear came tearing up, followed
by the othex two cubs, and then I had ' :J
my hands full. There wa9 more fight ia
those three bears than I ever saw before.
They were in dead earnest from the
start, and gave me no chance to back
out or run off. The old bear came up,
and when within a few feet of me she
reared herself on her two hind feet and
tried to catch me in her arms. I gave
her a welt over the nose which settled
her back on all fours for a second; bub
before I could hit her again one of the
cussed cubs had slipped up behind me
and gave me a fearful rip with its sharp 'f.
claws on the right leg. The claws tore
my trousers ana hide into ribbons and
penetrated the llesh almost half an inch.
Then it was hot work. All three came
at me at once. I leveled one of the
small ones, but got a ripper from behind
again, and just then the old she-beai
got close enough to strike me with hoi
claws. She raked me, as you see, from
my chest clear down to my waist, and
would probably have killed me then
and there if I ha d not been lucky enough
to punch her in one of her eyes. The
blow must have hurt terribly, for she
laid down and rolled and whined, but I
did not have a chance to finish her be
fore the two biggest cubs came at m?
from both sides. I rained blows on theii
heads and bodies, but didn't succeed in
jetting in a real good one before they
bad about torn my hide and clothes into
ribbons.
"Just at this time my foot struck a
stone, which I saw was a big bouldet
weighiog about eight or ten pounds. ] s
dropped the stick aod picked up the
rock in a second, and let the big one
have it between the eyes. That settled
her. I now had more time to devote to
the cubs, and although I was mighty
gore, and bleeding from dozens of
wounds I succeeded in finishing them.
After the fight I dragged myself to the
creek and jumped in". The cool water.
revived me somewhat, and I finally got
out and managed to get to the house,
when the old woman put me to bed and
went to work to stick me together again.
I am getting along well enough, I sup*
pose, but you'll never catch Old Spruce
while he lives in these mountains going
out again very far without a gun or some
other weapon."?Cincinnati Enquire.
?
Europe's Crowned Heads.
The present Emperor of Germany ia
William II. He is twenty-nine years of
age.
The Emperor of Austria, Francis
.losepn, is tnty-eignt years or age, ana
has worn the imperial crown for forty
years.
The reigning Prince of Montenegro is >
Nicholas L, who is forty-seven years
old, and has reigned for twenty-eight
years.
The King of Portugal, Luis I., is fifty *
years old, and is a man of enterprise and
progress. He has been for twenty years
a King.
The Emperor of Russia, Alexander
IIL, in forty-three years of age, and ascended
the throne after the murder of
his father, seven years ago.
j The President of the French Republic,
M. Camot, i3 tifty-oae years of age,
and was elected to office in December
1887, as successor to M. Grevy.
The Sovereign or Sultan of Turkey,
Abdul Hamid IL, is forty six years old,
aod succeeded to the throne twelve years
aeo, when the Sultan who preceded" him
was deposed.
The King of Servia, Milan I., is fortyfour,
and was crowned only six yean
ago, but before that he had held the
throne for fourteen years by election aa '
Prince Milan Obenovich IV.
The King of Sweden and Norway,
Oscar I., is in his sixtieth year, and has
reigned for sixteen years. He is a fairly
liberal monarch, and has favored some
reforms during his reign.
The King of Koumania, Carol I., is
forty-nine years of age, and was proclaimed
King only seven years ago. but
for fourteen years before that time ha
had been chief of the Roumanians.
Bible Scenes Still Enacted.
In writing from Fayal, one of the
Azores Islands, a correspondent of the
Boston Transcript says: "On the country
roads and near the wind mills you
will see circular threshing floors made of
hardened pumice stone. When cows
and oxen are driven over the grain,
crossing and recrossing it, these are a
distinct and frequent feature in the
landscape, and reminds one of Bible
scenes. 'What is that strange noise
I hear from afar:'I say to my native
companion. 'Why, it is an ox cart
coming along the lane with a load of
grain.' I watch and wait and within
half an hour it passes, with its two or
three yoke of oxen dragging this, uncouth
cart with its high encircling
wicker front and sides, its great solid
- < 1 J ?
wooaen wneeis creun. nuu yiuau. ?u?
i9 impelled to be merciful and beseech
the owner to oil his wheels. But no, I
must not, and am told that this noise is
a part of the equipage, and no farmer is
satisfied unless his wheels have the
proper amount of squeak. A law was
once made by the Portuguese Governmeut
that no creaking cart should be
allowed to enter a city, but the people
rebelled and the law was repealed."
Goloshes.
Goloshes (formerly called galoshes),
from galoche, a word through the
French derived from galocha, the
Spanish for a patten, clog or wooden
shoe. The Frcnch applied the term at
first to shoes partly of leather and wood,
the boles being wood and the uppers
leather. The term was introduced into
England as a cordwainer's technicality
to signify a method of repairing old
boots and 9hoes by putting a narrow
strip of leather above the sole so as to
surround the lower part of the upper
leather. It was also adopted by the
patten and clog makers to distinguish
what were also called French clogs from
ordinary clogs and pattens. Clogs were
mere soles of wood, with straps across
fho inat^n tr? lfppn tViAm nn. Pattens
""?r ? r
were the same, with iron rings to raise
them f rom the ground, but the galoshes
were wooden soles, usually with a joint
at the part where the trend of the foot
came, and with upper leather like very
low shoes. By the term goloshes is now
generally meant the india-rubber over*
shoes which are generally so called ia
England.?Dry Good* Chronicle,