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: > REV. DR. TALMAGE. THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUNDAY SERMON. Subject: "Touch Things in the Bible." Text: "In which are some things hard 0 be understood."?11 Peter iii., 10. The Bib'.e is the most common senso hook n all the world. But there are many things n it which require explanation. It all de>?nds on the mood in which you come to this ;rand old book. You may take hold of the landle of the sword or its sharp edge. You nay employ on its mysteries the rule of muliplication or subtraction. There are things, is my text suggests, hard to be understood, >ut I shall solve some of them,hoping to leave ipon all honest-minded people the impression hat if four or five of them can be explained, erhaps they may all be explained. Hard thing the first: The Bible says the irorld was created in six days, while geology I ays it was hundreds of thousands of years ! n process of building. "In the baginning. I rod created the heaven and" the earth." j 'In the beginning." There you can roll j 1 tea million years if you want to. ! There is no particular date given?no (ontest between science and revelaIon. Though the world raav have b9-?a iu >rocess of creation for millions of years, uddenly and quickly, and in one weak, it ! nay have been fitted up for man's residence, fast as a great mansion may have been nany years in building, and yet in one week t may be curtained and chandelierea and ushionei and upholstered for a bride and ;room. j You are not compelled to believe that the | rorld was made in our six days. It may not j ave been a day of twenty-four hours, the i ay spoken of in the first chapter; it may ; lave been God's day, and a thousand years I rith Him are as one day. "And the evening j nd the morning were the first day"?God's ay. "And the evening and the morning j rere the second day"?God's day. "And the : vening and the morn ng were thy sixth day" -God's day. You and 1 living in the seventh ay, the Sat bath of the world, the day or rospel redemption, the grandest day of all he week, in which each day may have been lade up of thousands of years. Can you tell le how a man can get his mind and soul into ich a blasphemous twist as to scoff at that rst chapter of Genesis, its verses billows of j ght surging up from sapphire seas of glory? The Bible represents that light was created n MntHaV- nnrj tho cnn wat nn*. rr#?at<?rl 1 ntil Thursday. Just think of it! a book j eclaring that light was created three days | efore the sun shone! Why don't you i now that heat and electricity emit Ii<jht j idependent of the sun? Besides that, when 30 earth was in process of condensation, i was surrounded by thick vapors and the 1 ischarge of many volcanoes in the primary | eriod, and all this obscuration may have ! indered the light of the sun from falling on J le earth until that Thursday morning, i besides that, Darid Brewster and Her.schel. ! 16 astronomer, and all the modern men of i leir class, agree in the fact that the sun is j ot light, that it is an opaque mass, that it is aly the candlestick that holds the light, a I hosp'.'.oreicant atmosphere floating around it, | langins and changing, so it is no- to be at , 11 wondered at that not until that Thursay morning its light fell on the earth. Bede that, the rocks in crystalizat:on emit ght There is light from a thousand sur- I ices, the alkalies, for instance. The metal! bases emit light. There was a time in the | [story of the world when there wjro j iou-ands of miles of liquid granite ' liming witii light Beside that, it his I Ben found that there are burned out vo!inoes in other worlds which, when they j ere in explosion and activity, musi have ; Iist forth an insufferable light, throwing a [are all o% er our earth. Besides that, there re the Aurora b'orealis and tho Aurora Anjalis. A book on physical science says: "Captain Bonnycastle, coming up the Gulf ! St Lawrence on the 17th of September, S26, was aroused by the mate of tne vessel i t great alarm from an unusual appearance. | i was a starlight night when suddenly the j :y became overcast. In the direction of i te high land of Cornwallis County an in- \ antaneous and intensely vivid light, re- j mblir.g the aurora, shot out on j le hitherto gloomy aud dark sea ' 1 the lea bow that was so brill- j nt it lighted everything distinctly, oven j i the masthead. The light spread over the j hole sea between the two shores, and the aves, which before had been tranquil, beime agitated. Captain Bonnycastle de- ; ribes the scene as that of a blazing sheet i ! awful and most brilliant light?a long aud i ivid line of light that showed the face of j le high frowning land abreast. The sky be- I ime lowering and more intensely obscure, j Dng, tortuous lines of light showed lmense numbers of largo fish darting about j i if in cons^rnation. The topsail yard j id mizzen boom were lighted by the ?iara, j i if gaslights had been burned directly be- j w them, and until just before daybreak, j S-i O ClOC.x, U1B must millUk9 vujovus nno ; istinctly visible.'' My hearers, thera are in thousand sources of light besides the j ght of the sun. Another hard thing: The story of the eluge and Noah's ark. They say that from 10 account there must have rained eisht undred feet of water each day in order that might be lifteen cubits above the bills, hey say that the ark could r.ot have been irge enough to contain "two oL' every >rt," for there would have been him- | reds of thousands and hundreds of thou- ] uids of creatures. They say that these reatures would have come from all lands nd ali zones. They say therp was only 0110 nail window in the ark. and that would not ave given fresh air to keep the animals in- j de the nrk from suffocation. They say } hat the ark f-'nallv landed on a mountain >venteeu thousand feet high. They say they o not believe the story. Neither do I. There no such storv in the Bible. I wilt tell , ou what the Bible story is. i must say that have changed my mind in regard to some iatter3 which once were to me very mys irious. They are ro more mysterious. This the key to the fait*. This is the story of au re witness. Noah, his story incorporate 1 Ilfterward by Moses in tlie account. .\oau [escribed the scene just as it appeared to [im. He saw the flood and he fathomed ps depth. As far as eye could reach I [varytbing was covered up, from ho' j pzon to horizon, or. as it says, " under the ! faoie heaven." He did not refer to the j Bierra Nevadas or to Mount Washington, for ! America had not been discovered, or, if it lad been discovered, he could not have seen 10 far o.V. He is giving the testimony of an ye witness. Cod speaks after the manner of nen when he says everything went under, pd Noah speaks after the manner of men prhen he says everything did go under. An hre witness. There is no need of thinking hat the kangaroo leaped the ocean or that he pelar bear came down from the ice. j \V hy did the deluge come.' It came for the Purpose of destroying the outrageous inhabit mts of the then thinly populated earth, learly all the population, probably very neai ihe ark before it was launched. What would | lave been the use of submerging North md South America, or Europe, or Africa j vhen they werj not inhabited? Anc j ls to the skeptical suggestion thai i n order to have the water as deep as the Bibl< J states, it must have rained 801) feet every day. i [ reply, the Bible distinctly declares that thi j nost of the flool rose instead of falling. Be j ore the acceunt where it says "the win- i ows of heaven were opened," it says, I all the fountains of the great deep 1 rere broken up." All geologists agree ! isaying that there are caverns in the earth I "-j ? ~i?i <..,1. Ifiiea TviLU water, aim cnejr iusiiwu lunu, umt i 111 the lakes and rivers forssok their bed. ' "he fountains of the great deep were broken ip, and then the windows of heaven wert pened. It is a strange thin? that we should be sked to believe in this flood of the Eible, rhen geologists tell us that again and again nd again the dry earth has been drowned ut? Just op:-n your geology and you will ead of twenty floods. Is it not strange that afidel scientists wanting us to believe in the wenty floods of geological discovery.should, s soon as we believe in one flood of the Jible. pronouncj us non compo? mentis? Well, then, another thing, in regard to tie size of the ark. Instead of being a mud ;ow, as some of thsse skeptics would have s understand, it was a magnificent ship, early as large as the Great Eastern, tbres iraes the size of an ordinary man-of-war. Lt the time in the world when shipailding was unknown. God had this easel constructed, which turned out a be almost in the same proportions 3 our stanches! modern vessels. After bousands of years of rperimenting in naval rchitecture and in ship carpentry, we have t last got up to Noah's ark, that ship leadlg all th-? fleets of the world on all the ?ans. Well, Noah saw the animal creaon going into this ark. He gave the ac)unt of an eye wintne33. They were ? animals from the region where he ved; for the most part they were animals jeful to man, and if noxious insects or >isonous reptiles went in, it was only to dispone 'iw patience and to keep alert the j generations after the floDd. He saw them going in. There were a great number of tbem, and he gives the account of an eye witness. They went in two and two of all flesh. Years atro I was on a steamer on the river Tay, and I came to Perth, Scotland. I got off, and I saw the most wonderful agricultural show that I have ever witnessed. There were horses and cattle such as Rosa Bonheur never sketched, and there were dogs such as the loving pencil of Edwin Landseer never portrayed, and there were sheep and fowl and creatures of all sorts. Suppose that "two and two"' of all the creatures of that agricultural show were put upon the Tay steamer to be transported to Dundee, and the next day I should be writing home to America and giving an account of the ocurrence. I would have used the same general phraseologv that "Noah used in regard to the embarkation of the brute creation in the ark?I would have said that thev w?nt in two and two of overv sort. I would not have meant six hundred thousand. A common sense man myself, I would suppose that the people who read the letter were common sense people. "But how could you get them into the ark?" ask infidel scientists. "How could they be induced to go into the ark? He would havo to pick them out and dri^e them I in, ana coax mem in." vouia not cne same God who gave instinct to the animal inspire that instinct to seek for shelter from the j storm? However, nothiug more than ordinarv animal instinct was necessary Have you never b?en in tho country I when an August thunder storm was coming j up and heard the cattle moan at the bars to get in? and seen the affrighted fowl go upon the perch at noonday,and heard the affrighted doe: and cat calling at the door, supplicating entrance? And are you surprised that in that j age of the world, when there were fever places of shelter for dumb boasts.at the muttering and rumbling and flashing and quaking and darkening of an approaching deluge, the animal creation came moaning and bleating to the sloping embankment reaching up to the ancient Great Eastern and passed in? I have owned horses and cattle and sheep and dogs, but I never had a horse or a cow or a sheep or a dog that was so stupid it did not know enonsh to come in when it rained. And then, that one window in the ark which afforded such poor ventilation to the creatures there assembled?that small window in the ark which excites so much mirthfulness on the mrt of infidels. If they know as much Hebrew as you could put on your little finger nail they would have known that that word translated window there means window course, a whole range of lights. Those ignorant infidels do not know a window pane from twenty windows. So if there is any criticism of tli9 ark, there seems.to be too much window for such a long: storm. And as to the other charge that the windows of the ark: must have been keDt shut and consequently all inside would have perished from suffocation, I have to say that there are people in this house to day who. i all th9 way from Liverpool to Barnegat ; lighthouse, and for two weeks were kept under deck, the hatches battened down because of the storm. Some of you, in the oldtime sailing vessels, were kept nearly a month with the hatches down because oi some louc storm. Then infidels say than th9 ark lanrled on a mountain seventeen thousand feet high, and ; that, of course, as soon as the animals came | forth they would all be frozen in the ieo. : That is geographical ignorance! Ararat is ' not merely the name for a mountain, but for a hilly district, and it may have been a hill ; one hundred feet high, or five hundred, or a thousand feet high on which the ark alighted, i Noah measured the depth of water above the hill, and it is fifteen cubits, or twenty-seven ; feet. Ah! mv friends, this story of the ark is no i more incredible than if you should say to mo: j "Last summer I was among the hills of New Enzland. and there came on the most terrific j storm I ever saw, and the whale country was flooded. Tue waters came up over the hills, and to save our lives we got in a boat on the river, and even the dumb creatures was affrighted they cams moaning and bleating, until we let them in the same boat." We are not dependent upon the Bible for the story of the flood, entirely. All ages and all literatures have traditions, broken traditions, indistinct traditions, but still tradi- J tions. The old books of the Persians tell about the flood at the time of Ahriman, | who so polluted the earth that it had < to be washed by a groat storm. The traditions of" the Chaldeans say j that in the time when Xisuthrus was King j there was a great flood,and he put his family j and his friends in a large vessel and all outside of them were destroyed, and after a | while the birds went forth and they came i back and their claws were tinged with I mud. Lucian and Ovid, celebrated writ- { ers, who had nerer seen the Bible described a flood in the time of Deucalion. Ho took his friends into a boat, and | the animals came running to him in pairs. So all lands, and all ages, and all literatures, ! stem to have a broken and indistinct tradi- j tiou of a calamity which Moses, here incor- ! porating Noah's account, so grandly, so beautifullv. so accurately, so solemnly re cords. My prayer is that the God who created the world may create us anew in Christ Jesus; j and that the God who made light three days , before the sun shone may kindle in our hearts a lisht that will burn on Ions after the sun has expired; and that the God who or- j dered the ark built and kept open more than one hundred years that the ante- 1 diluvians might enter it for shelter, may graciously incline us to accept the invitation which this morning rose in music from the Throne, saying; "Come thou and all thy house into ihe ark." Another hard thing to be understood: The story that the sun and moon stood still to ! allow Joshua to complete his victory. Infi- , del scientists declare that an impossibility. | But if a man have brain and strength j enough to make a clocH, can he not j start it and stop it. anl start it again t and stop it again? If a machinist havo ! strength and brain enough to make a corn ; thresher, can ha not start it and stop it. and ' start it again and stop it again? If God have > strength and wisdom to mike the clock o? j the universe, the groat machinery of the i worlds, has He not strength enough ' and wisdom enough to start it aud ! stop it, and start it a^ain and stop it ; azam? Or stop one wheel, or stop twenty i wueels, or stop all the wheals' Is toe clock | stronger than the clock-maker.' Does the ; corn-thresher know more than the machinist? j Is the uuiverse mightier than its Gol? j Bnt people ask how could the moon have been t seen to stop in the day time? Well, if you have j ne7er seen the moon in the daytime, it is ba- | cause you have not been a very diligent ob- > server of the heavens. Beside that, it was : not necessary tor the world literally to stop. By unusual refractions of the sun's rays the day might liavo been prolonged. So" that, while the earth continued on its path in the heavens, it figuratively stopped. You must remember that these i Bible authors used the vernacular of their own day. just as you and I say the sun went down. The sun never goes down. We simply describe what appears to the human eye. | Besides that, the world, our world, ; could have literally stopped without throwing the universe out of balance. Our world has two motions?the ona around the sun and the other on its own axis. It might have stopped on its owuaxis, while at the same time it kept on its path through the heavens. So there was no nee 1 of steller confusion because our -vorld slackened its speed or entirely stopped in its revolutions on its own axis. That is none of the business of Jupiter, or Mars, or Mercury, or Saturn, or the Dipper. Beside that, within the memory o! mm there have been worlds that wore j born and that died. A few years ago astronomers tciegrapnea, v.irougn me \ Associated Press, to all the world?the ! astronomers from the city of Washington? ! that another world had been discovers;!. I Within a comparatively short space of tims j I astronomers tell us, thirteen worlds havo i burned down. From their observatory they notice frst that the worlds look like other worlds, then they became a deep red. showing they were on lire; then they became ashen, showing they were burned I down; then they entirely disappeared, show| ing that even the ashes were scattered. Now, ! 1 say, if God can start a world, and swing a I world, and destroy a world, he could stop j one or two of them without a great deal of exertion, or he cou!d by un? I usual refraction of the sun's rays continue the illumination. But infidel GCientists say it would have b?en belittling for other worlds to stopo.i account of such a battle. Why, sir3, what Yorktown was for revolutionary turns, and what Gettysburg was in our civil contest, and wr.at Ssdan was in the Franco-German war, and what Waterloo was ia the Napoleonic destiny?that wa.; this battle of Joshu i against the five allied armies of Gibeon. It was that battle that changed the entire course of history. It was a battle to Jcshua as important as though a battle now should occur in which England and the United States and France and Germany and Italy and Turkey and Russia should fight for rictory or annihilation. However much any other world, solar, lunar or stellar, might ba hastened in it errand of light, it would ba excusable if it lingered in the heavens for a littlo while and put down its sheaf of beam* and gazed on such an Armageddon. In the early part of this century there was what was called the Dark Day. Some of these aged men may perhaps remember it It is known in history as the "Dark Day." Workmen at noon went co their homes, and courts and legislatures adjourned. No astronomers have ever been able to explain that dark day. Now, if God can advance the night earlier than its time, can he not adjourn the night until after its time? I often used to hear my i father describe a night?I think he said it I was in 1833?when "his neighbors aroused him in great alarm. All the heavenly bodies seemed to b9 in motion. People thought our earth was coming to its destruction. Tons of thousands of stars shooting. No astronomers have ever been able to explain that star shooting. Now, does not your common sense teach you that if God could start and stop tens of thousands of worlds or meteors, he could start and stop two worlds.' If God can engineer a train of ten thousand worlds or meteors, and stop them without accident or collision, cannot he control two carriages of light, and by putting down a golden brake stop the sun, and by putting down a silver brake stop the moon? Under this explanation, instead of being skeptical about this sublime passage of the Bible, you will, when you read it, feel more like going down on your knees before uoa as you reau: 'oun, stana tnou suu above Gibeon, and thou moon in the valley of Ajalon." Then there is the Bible statemant that a whale swallowed Jonati ana ejected him up on the dry ground in three days. If you wHI go to the museum at Nantucket, ilass., you will find the skeleton of a whale large enough to swallow a man. I said to tho janitor, while I was standing in the museum: "Why it doss not seem from the looks of this skeleton that that story in the Book of Jonah is so very improbable, does it?" "Oh, no," he replied, "it does not." There is a cavity in the mouth of the common whale large enough for a man to live in. Thfre have been snarKS lound again and again wicii an entire human body in them. Beside that, the Bible says nothing about a whale. It says: "The Lord prepared n great fish;" and there are scientists who tell us that there were sea monsters in other days that made the modern whale seem very insignificant. I know in one place in th3 New Testament it speaks of the whale as appearing in the occurrence I have just mentioned. but the word may just as well be translated "sea monster-'?any kind of a sea monster. Procopious says, in the year 532, a sea monster was slain which liad for fifty years destroyed ships. I suppose this sea monster that took care of Jonah miy have bean one of the 1 great sea monsters that could have easily j taken down a prophet, and he could have lived there three days if he had kept in I motion so as to keep the gastric juices from taking hold of him and destroying him, j and at the end of three davs the monster j would naturally be sick enough to ' regurgitate Jonah. Beside that, my ' friends, there is one word which explains the j whole thing. It says. "The Lord prepared a | great fish." If a ship carpenter prepare a vessel to carry Texan beeves to Glasgow, ] suppose it can carry Texan beeves: if a ship j carpenter prepare a vessel to carry coal to j one of the northern ports, I suppose it can j carry coal; if a ship carpenter pre- i pare a vessel to carry passengers to j Liverpool, I suppose it can carry passengers 1 to Liverpool: aud if the Lord prepared a fish to carry one passenger, I suppose it could j carry a "passenger and the ventilation have j besn all right. So all the strange things in the Bible j can be explained if you wish to j have them * explained. And you can j hnilr? f.hum inf.n ft hpflilfifnl nnrl health- I ful fire for your hearth, or your can with , them put your immortal interests into con- | fiagration. But you had better decide about 1 the veracity of the Bible very soon. I want this morning to caution you against putting j off making up your mind about this book. | Ever since 1772 there has been great j discussion as to who was the author of Junius's Letters, those letters so full . of sarcasm and vituperation and power. I The whole English nation stirred up with it. j JJlore than a hundred volumes written to ! discuss that question: "Who was Junius?" "Who wrote the letters of Junius?' Well, it is an interesting question to discuss, but still, after all, it makes but little practical difference to you and to me who Junius was, whether Sir Philip Francis, or Lord Chatham, or John Horne Tooke, or Horace Walpole, or Henry (irattan, or any one of the forty-four men who were seriously charged with the authorship. But it is an j absorbing question, it is a practical question, it is an overwhelming question to you and to me, the authorship of this Holy Bible?whether the Lord God of heaven or earth or a pack of dupes,scoundrels or impostors. We cannot afford to adjourn that question a week or a day or an hour, any more than a sea Captain can afford to | say: "Well, this is a very dark night. I ! have really lost my bearings; there is a j lirrhfc /Mif. f.Korj I rlrm'f. bnrtrr ivhofhor I it is a lighthouse or a falsa light on the shore, 1 don't know wiiaS it is; but I'll just go to sleep and in the morning I'll find out" In the morning the vessel might be on the rocks and tha beach strewn with the white faces of the dead crew. The time j tor that sea Captain to find oat about the lighthouse is before hi goes to sleap. Oh, | my friends, I want you to understand | tiif.t in our deliberations about this Bible wo i are not at calm anchorage, but wo ara | rapidly coming toward the coast, coming 1 with all the furna.es ablaze, coming at the j rate of seventy heart throbs a minute, and I j must know whether it is going to bo harbor I or shipwreck. I was so glad t.o read in the papers of tho j fact that the steamship Edam lud coma , safely into harbor. A week before tho ! Persian Monarch, plowing it? way toward j the Narrows, a hundred miles out, saw sig- j nals of distress, bore down upon the vessel, ! and found it was the steamship Edam. Sha I had los5 her propeller. She had two j hundred passengers oil board. The merciful j Captain of the Persian Monarch endeav- i ored to bring lier in, but the tow line broKe. He fastenel it again, but the sea was rough and the tow line broke again. Then tho night came on and the merciful Captain of the Persian Monarch "lay to," thinking in the morning he could givo rescue to the passengers. The morning came, but during the night tho steamship Edaui had disappeared, ana me captain 01 ms Persian Monarch brought his vessel into harbor saying how sid he felt becauso ho could not give complete rescue to that lost ship. I am glad that afterward another vessel saw her and brought her into safety. But when I saw tbe story of that steamship Edam, drifting, drifting, drifting, I do not know where, but with 110 rudder, no lighthouse, no harbor, no help, I said: "That is a skeptic.that is an infidel, drifting, drifting, drifting, not knowing where he drifts." Aud then, when I thought of the Persian Monarch anchored in harbor, I said: "That is a Christiau.that is a man who does all he can 011 the way,crossing tbe sea to help others, coming p3rha')S through a very rough voyage into the harbor, there safe and safe forever." Would God that there might be some one today who would go forth and bring iu these souls that are drifting. In this assemblage, how many a score shall I say, or a hundred, or a thousand??not quite certain about th9 truth of the Bible, not certain about anything. Drifting, drifting, drifting. Oh, how I would like to tow them in. I throw you this cable. Lay hold of that cable of the Gospel. Lay hold of it. I invite you all in. ?Mrln unnil'rtl lar(?f> fnoiif h for i IIUUKIUU. J* ? nil the shipping. Corns in, U you wanderers 0:1 the de.*p. Drift no mo;?, drift no more. Coin3 into the harbor. See ttis glorious lighthouse of the Gospel. "Peace on earth, goo 1 will to men." Come into the harbor. Cod grant that it may be said of all of j-ou who are now drifting in your unbelief a-; it might have bean said of the pas| sengersoi the steamship Edam, and as it was said centuries ago of th-j wrsclred corn shin of Alexandria, "It came to pasi that they all escaped sate to laud." Oi.d Miss Toirson, of Pittsficld, Mass., ditd. She was a noted character. She- used to go to cattl?* sliowa bedecked with diamonds. In her effects were found fifty bonnet }, seventy shawls and many silk dresses fifty years old. But she could af.'ord what she pleased, because her personal estate probalod at $430,000. Mks. James Davis, of Youngstown, Ohio, has had her tongue entirely extirpated, the operation being rendered necessary by a cancer. It is thought she will leoorer. SHOOTING STARS, j THE SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION OF METEORIC SHOWERS. Some Rare and Historical Celestial Phenomena?The "Wonderful Relationship Between Comets and Meteors. There are few persons who have not witnessed the striking phenomena of the so called "shooting stars." They are visible any clear night, and with a {little patient observation several may be j seen during an evening. Flashing out | in various quarters of the heavens, they I are seen to dart across the sky, with i motions more or less rapid, and with brilliancy more or less marked, some , down toward mother earth, others across ! the starry arch, leaving behind them a phosphorescent glow generally visible ! only for a moment. Larger meteors ! (and the term at this stage cau only be i used in expressing their size by their j ; light) often leave behind them a very j ; marked glow, much like a faint cloud, i and which when the meteor's llight is I ; thus marked, usually remains suspended 1 I Li uic Sivy 1'Jl auLiiu uuus.uuiauii; uuic. I The writer saw such a meteor oa the : night of August !>, 1SS8, which left in ' ' its path a greenish glow, visible to the | ' naked eye for fully twenty mirutes. i ! Such occurrences are rare, however, and j a few are witnessed in a lifetime. In- { stances are on record of meteoric showers j visible in broad daylight, and well-at tested statements have been made of single meteors of great size seen to fall \ in various parts of the country between 1 sunrise and sunset. } Meteoric showers have in numerous instances been so marvelous that the fall j 1 presented an appearance like that of a I light fall of illuminated snow. One of the earliest of recorded phenomena of ! this character, and which is well attested, was witnessed by Humboldt and Bonpland early on the morning of November 12, 1799, during their visit to the east coast of Mexico. Another wellattested statement is that of Arago, the well-known astronomer, who on the night of November 12,18:33 (aud here note that both occurred on the same day of the same month, and divided by a space of thirty-four years), witnessed such a marvelous shower that he estimated during his observation of three hours 240,000 visible meteors passed over the i heavens. A rough estimate of the num- i ber of meteors, sufficiently brignt to oe j seen by the naked eye under favorable circumstances, and those invisible, ow-! ing to the daylight, and which enter the ! earth's atmosphere during the j space of twenty-four hours, is! about 7,000,000. Some well-known j scientists, taking.1 iiuto *consideration ! those which wov.ldbe revealed if the eye j possessed the light-gra3ping power of j our larger telescopes, increase that num- | ber to about 41)0,000,000. "We often hear of the falling of "graat balls of! fire," with startling explosions follow- [ ing. Scientists tell U3 that these so- j called balls of tire are really compact j groups of small meteors. When such a 1 group comes within the attraction of the ! earth it is drawn rapidly toward her sur- j face. The encounter with the atmos-' phere separates them and at the same ! time consumes them, producing no little j agitation of the air, and thus causing the j sound. This action of separation and j burning would give a result in some j cases much like that of a rocket explod-; ing in the air, with which display all are familiar. Instauces of meteoric bodies falling to j earth are comparatively rare. To enable ; it to reach the earth the mass of matter j composing a meteor mu3t be of sufficient bulk to prevent complete dissipation or j consumption during its passage through the atmosphere to earth. However, } "showers of stonc9"are matters of history. On the 2Cthof April, 181):;, such a shower occurred at L'Aigle, in Normandy. The number of meteoric stones within a space of fourteen square miles was over 2U0(>. ! This fall was accompanied by "bright light and loud explosions." The height at which meteors first appear visible is a much disputed question. Estimates J made by well known observers give re- j suits varying from forty to ninety miles; j the average velocity accorded them j being about twenty-six miles per second, J or nearly half as fast again as the earth | travels around the sun. Some meteors, j however, have been observed to possess a velocity of over JO!) miles per second, or 000,OUO miles per hour. Perhaps the reader will ask: "Why are these bodies burned up*" The I answer is this: Suppose two bodies moving in space with such great vc- j locity and in independent orbits en- ! counter; what will be the result? A sudden check of their motion converts j that motion into heat. This rule ap-; plies in all eases. In the case of the j 1 earth and the meteors the action is I identical. The mean rate of motion of 1 ( the earth in her orbit is about nineteen miles per second. Moving along at this rate she encounters a cloud of meteors : ! whose motion is further incrcasud by the i attraction of the greater body. The j ! cloud of meteors encounters resistance in ! the earth's atmosphere and the friction ! | produced converts the motion into heat j | ao great that the meteoric bodies are ! ! rapidly dissipated. Of course, some j heat is generated in the earth's atmos- : phcre, as its share of the encounter, but 1 the relative amount of the bulk, or j quantity, is trilling. It is slated that j the amount of heat ordinarily developed by the above described encounter is enough to vaporize any known substance almost instantly! The fact that the greater number of meteors are consumed and disappear before they reach the earth is suiTicient evidence that their mass is small. Such of these meteoric visitors as have been discovered on the j surface of the earth and afterward analyzed show, in general, only terrestrial elements. Distinction is made between "accidental meteors" and "meteoric showers." ( As relates to the lirst named, their visibility is common at all times and mi^lit be called "accidental" because they usually appear in widely dii'erent quarters of the sky and possess widely differ- 1 ent path;. ".Meteoric showers make their appearance in certain portions of the sky?that is they appear to radiate always from some particular constella- j tioti. These showers always take place on certain nights of August and November of every year. It is believed, from the fact that the cccur annually, that the meteors causing them revolve in orbit around our su" and intersect the earth's orbit at points reached by her in August and November. Further, that these rincs of meteors are of varying thickness at different points, giving us showers of varying splendor. The greatest display by the November meteors takes place every thirty-four years. The orbits of the August and November meteors have been calculated by I.everier and others, who discovered the wonderful relationship between meteors and comets. The polariscope shows us that comets appear to shine by reflected sunlight. Schiaparelli, of Milan, established the identity of the August meteor shower jand comet III of lb62. This astronoper's theory of the wonderful relation T..v?'"v"'.i %V?3i3"S 2 '"'V '. ?v 3?p?|?f^ ship existing between comets, meteors ana nebula is worthy of careful consideration. It is about as follows: Clouds of meteoric particles exist and move about through space. Leverier states that a cosmical cloud entered our system in January in the year 120, and by passing too near the planet Uranus its path became transformed into an elliptical orbit around the sun. This orbit, as calculated, agreed with the calculated orbit of Temple's comet of 1865, and this latter orbit agrees with the calculated orbit of the November meteors.? Wash' ington Star. WORDS OF WISDOM. "We may be ruined by the excessive use of good things. The greatest of fools i3 he who imposes on himself. There is always a spot in our sunshine; it is the shadow of ourselves. "Almost" is the difference between the conscientious man and the liar. If conscience smite thee once it is admonition; if twice, it is condemnation. Always hold fast to love. We win by tenderness, and conquer by forgiveness. When borrowing reaches the chronic staae it also assumes the malignant form. Many men will work harder for a day's pleasure than they will for a week's wages. The chains of habit are generally too small to bo felt till tney are too strong i to be broken. When a man has not a good reason for doing a thing, he ha? one good reason for letting it alone. The greatest pleasures often originate in pain, and the worit pains usually spring out of pleasures. Only what we have wrought iuto our character during life can we take with us into the other world. Silence is the softest response for all the contradictions that arise from impertinence, vulgarity and envy. Only in rare cases do people stumble upon profitable success. We must work for it and the work must be well directed. Inauguration Expenditures. The inauguration of President Harrison cost a great deal of money. If the weather had beeu fine instead of bad, there would have been much more money expended. The city, or a committee of citizens acting for the whole country, spent about $100,000 that was contributed from all the States in preparations for the inaugural celebration. About l.i0,000 vis'itorj came to Washington from distances varying from fifty iriiipe t.n :-!iioil The nverace cost of the trip to each of the persons for fares alone is estimated at $10* -which would eat up $1,501),000, or put it in the pockets of the railroads. If the visitors boarded at the rate of $5 for the stay of two or three days, they spent ?750,000 more, all of which went into Washington pockets. Then there were ball tickets sold to the amount of :?5S,000, and twothirds of them were undoubtedly sold to strangers. Cars, cabs, carriages, stages, restaurants, saloons, all collected money a9 fast as they could render service and collect, and they must have taken up enormous sums. The celebration was profitable to the marketmen, who advanced prices to everybody; to dealers in cots and mattresse?, who also advanced prices; to men who had chairs to sell, and to lumber dealers, who were willing to let lumber and timber go out to be "used in stands. The reviewing stands and windows rented lor tlie aay i evidently repaid those who put up the stands aud released the windows. If the cost of windows alone was estimated at ?2000 a block, which is very much too low, the amount received from that source for the length of the procession must have been $10,000. My impression is it would prove to be nearer $100,000, for som; t'ours were rented at $:)00, and one at least as high as -f jOO for the day. If the saies of seats on the public stands were estimated at ?l a head, they certainly brought into the standholders $10,000. But many seats sold as high as $ > when under cover, and back seats brought ?1 every where.?New York Tima. Hismnrck'd Mastiffs. One of the peculiarities of Herr Von Bismarck has always been his extraordinary fondness for big dogs, carefully trained to obey no one but himself. At the tender age of eight years he had already for his favorite friend a colossal mastiff, who followed him from morning to night in his wanderings through the domain his father owned in Pomerania. When a student at Heidelberg, and later, at Goettinberg, his faithful companions were two enormous Dalmatian dogs, who acted as his gardes* du-corps, aud made him eminently re - 1 -- 4.1.*.., 1,0,3 specteci wnerever ne wem, us mcj been taught to growl threateningly as soon as some angry discussion arose around him. One evening, as he was making merry in boisterous company over the happy issue of one of his duels, he began throwing full bottles of wine through the inn's window in the street. One of them struck the head of a serene burgher, who was peacefully going his way back to his "frau." Otto Von Bismarck and his fellow-revellers yelled with delight; but the incensed burgher, covered with blood and Rhine wine, ran to the house of the University's Dean and entered a formal complaint against Otto, whom he had identified at the window. At daybreak Otto was summoned before the Dean, and soon made his appearance at the latter's door, simply clad in his dressing-gown, but Hanked on either side by his formidable dogs. | "Hold on!" exclaimed the trembling i Dean, hold the door against his early visitor when he saw the two brutes showing their teeth and heard their ominous snarl. "I didn't summon your dogs,, did I? Send them away at once, sir." "Impossible, Herr Dean; they won't go away without me." Hnnnr wpnt the door, and Otto Von 1 Bismarck never heard of the mad burgher afterward.?JVetc York Sun. Ago and Weight of Cavalry Recruits. General Schoficld has issued a circular to the army announcing that the maximum age for cavalry recruits upon original enlistment is fixed at thirty years; also that the standard of minimum weight for cavalry rccruits established in 1 Juue. 1SS7, is abolished, aud that hereafter enlistments in that service may be made without regard to a minimum weight, provided that chest measure* ment and chest mobility are satisfactory. About two years ago the weight requirement was established, and the practice has demonstrated that it is of no value as a test of the qualification of re| cruits. It has been found that men of comparatively light weight, when prop' erly proportioned, are as efficient and j capable cavalrymen as heavy men. This ; last action was taken upon the recom mendation of Surgeon Greenleaf. Three large men-of-war will be built | by Russia during the present year. ----- ' - - - i. aiflffffri'rifcatfirnirii " V .* . .j ' RELIGIOUS READING: A Pillow-Song. Pillow my head on a promise Divine, Comfort my soul with a word that is Thine, Calm me and rest me and soothe mo with psalm, Breathe o'er my spirit a message of balm! Spare me a seraph out of Thy host, Send me the angel who lovet i Thee most, Let him but whisper the praise of Thy Name, Till my tired spirit can murmur the same. Cradle my soul on Thy wonderful love, Teach me the song that they warble above! In the night watch, Thou callest for me, f-eacefully, swiftly, I'll hasten to Thee! ?Clara Thivaites. A Heart to Give. It is a great blessing to have a heart which makes us willing to do what wo ought to do. It is a ?>ad thing to be mean by nature; and we all have enough of meanness to know the importance of a generous spirit?in others. Some men and women are more inclined to be open-handed t:.an others are. They deserve no special credit for this, but wo can't help admiring them. And as to those Christians?for there are such, a good many cf them?who can hold on to money in spite of 7 r?n 11 r?f fin/1 nr mnn when tliov nncrhfc to part with it freely and gladly, they are to be pitied. They would give, if only their hearts m-de them willing. The i rouble is not in thtir pockets, I ut in their puckered and shr.veiled hearts. Poor creatures!?Sui> day School Times. Finish What You Begin. My old great grandmother Knox h' d a way of making her children finish their work. If they began a thing they had to complete it. If they undertook to build a cob-house, they must not leave it till it was done; and nothing of the work or play to which they > et their hands would she allow them to abandon incomplete. I sometimes wi?h I had been trained in this war. How much of life has been wasted in unfinished work? Many a man ues up his time in i-plendid beginnings. The labor devoted to commence ten things and leave them useless would finish five of them and make them Erofitable and useful. Finish your work. ife is brief; time is short. Stop beginning forty things, and go back and finish four.? Christian Observer. God's Work Must Bo Done. A distinguished General related this pathetic iucident of bis own experience in our civil war. The General's son was a lieutenant of battery. An assault was being made. The father was leading his division in a charge. As he pressed on in the field, suddenly his eye was caught by the sight of a dead battery officer lying just before him. One glance showed him it was his own son. His fatherly impulse was to stop beside the dear body and give vent to his grief; but the duty of the moment demanded that he press on in the charge. So, quickly snatching one hot kiss from the dead lips, he went on leading his command in the assault. So Aaron was summoned away from gTiei XO QUfcJf, Uliu UUUIU uvu uauow jlva | mourning on the death of nis two sons. I Usually the pressure is not so intense, and | we can pause longer to weep and do honor to i the memory of our dead: yet the principlo | is the same. God does not want us t > waste j our life in tears. We are to put our grief J into new energy of service, and it should : make us more earnest, more useful. God's j work must not be allowed to suffer while we stop to mourn. The fires must still be kept burning on the altar, and the worship must j still go cn. The work in the household, in the store, in Ihe f eld, must be taken up again ?the sooner the better. '1 his is a lesson wo need to learn well, that when a shock of sorrow comes, we mny not bo paralyzed by it, but may riso again at once and press on in the path of duty and appointed service.? Westminster Teacher. Family Religion. Ten ypars ago, says a student, when an unconverted man, I boarded in the family of a pious woman, whose husband was not a Christian. There was a daughter of nineteen, another of fourteen, and a son of ten. Every mnrninir after breakfast, I heard that hum ble woman gather her family in the kitchen, and read with them a chapter, 'Verse about," in the Bible. Then, as I could not help listening, there was a peculiarity of service which quite mystified mo. At last I Rskt (I one day if I might remain. She hesitated, her daughter blushed, but said 1 cou'd do so if I really desired. So I sat down with tho rest. They gave me a Testament, and wo er.ch read a verso in turn. Then, kneeling on the floor, that mother began her prayer audibly for her dear ones tile: o, her husband, and herself; and then pausing a moment as if to gather her energies or wing her faith, uttered a tender, affectionate supplication for mo. She closed, and her daughter began to pray. Poor giifZ, sho was afraid of me: I vas from college: I was her teacher; but she remulously asked for a blessing as usual, fhen came the other daughter, and at last Jic son?tho youngest of that circle, who >nlj* repeated tho Lord's Prayer, with me petition of his own. His amen was said, out no one aross. I knew they were waiting, i or me. And I?poor, prayerless I?had no word to say. It almost broke my heart. I hurried from tho room, d solate and guilty.' A few weeks only passed when I cskfd their permission to come in once more; and t!:cn I prayed too, and thanked my ever-patient Saviour for tho new hope in my li- art, and tho new song on my lip.?Christian Uuardian. "Food 3Iy Lambs." There had been continued service m .a certain church u number of days, and the. religious inlerc-t throughout the community was intense. It was the most powerful i evival I have ever witnessed. Among those who had constantly been attending the a'rvicfs was a little boy. the grandson of Jmine Blank, a distinguished mm in the community, and the grandson of one of the founders of the Christian church in Kentucky. Our pastor announced me day, that on that evening there would be a meeting of the session for the reception of members. This little boy was only 11 years old, but his heart had been touched by the spirit of God. He asked he permission of his grandmother, under whoso cnarge he was, to present him self t:> the elders. She was astonished and embarrassed, and said: "My dear child, you are too young for such a very serious step. You must wait until you are older." This was more than the child could endure. I!- burst into tears, and hid his head in her lap. It was some time beft ro ho regained composure. He then said: "Grandma, if you had a Hock of sheep and lambs, and it was win er time, would you put all the big sheep in stables and leave the little lambs outsiuo in the snow and the cold?' The little hoy's faith and earnestness triumphed. His grandmother assented. He was examined as to his faith in Christ, ami received into the church. - T*rnc it is many years muu: converted. He was al tor wards n studlit nt college under my tuition. Ho was a bright and intelligent student. Hi* became a p: ysirian. and the h ad of a public institution of the State of Kentu ky. He is still an earnest and devoted follower of Christ. Early piety is apt to becoin .* eminent piety.?American Messenger. Kind words produce their own imago in men's souls, and a beautiful image it is. They soothe and quiet anil comfort the hearer. They shame him out of his sober, morose, unkind feelings. We have not yet begun to us kind words in such abundance as they on^ht to be used?Pascal. I ?? A Temple of Temp rauce. | The project of building a National Temperance Temple, twehe stories high and j costing $500,000, was at first but a dream of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. This dream, howerer, is fast taking shape as a very substantial and practical reality. Building stock to the amount of almost $ .011,000 has already been subscribed, and various methods are being employed to more than double this sum. Mrs. Matilda B.Caive, President of the Building Association, whose remarkable business ability, tireless energy and dauntless enthusiasm are wholly devoted to this work, is confident of ultimate and i complete success. The building wiU be called the "Woman's Temple," and wiU be nationa. headquarters for alt philanthropic and literary associations of women. ' ^ . . ?'' ~*x '; ?- q ': * \ ,' TEMPERANCE. j A Knot of Ribbon. A gift?a knot of ribbon white _ -* ' So frail, I rend it with my hand. And yet, with strongest ties it holda The firmest, truest, holiest band That ever loved, and lived to save "For God," their "homes and native land.' - j! A pledge?"I promise to abstain," It is no sacrifice to me; Eut joy, to burst the shackles loose # And help to set the captive free; * To lead from rum's dark thraldom forth, Into God's glorious liberty! A tow?that never while life lasts, While hope exists, while faith endure, To fail or falter at our task; Or doubt the Great Physician's cure; Watching through darkness, for the day That dawns, eternally, and sure. And so, dear friend, this ribbon white, Pure emblem of our sisterhood, < I'll treasure through the coming years, And willing toil for future good, Trusting in Him whose promises . Have for "sternal ages stood." ?Jennie E. Kinmore, in New York Voica Drink Robs One of Precious Years. A collective investigating committee ou "Habits of Intemperance," appointed by the British Medical Association, have made a report, published in the British Medical Journal, in which, as one of their conclusions, tney saj: inai? ui uiuii ?uu uttro poasou the age of twenty-fire, the strictly temperate on the average live at least ten years longer than those who have become decidedly intemperate." If their conclusion concerning the effect of intemperance upon tbe average length of 1'fe is correct, it will be seen that the number of years thus sacrificed annually by the army of drunkards in our own and other countries, is in the aggregate enormously large. ."j ??? ' *5 "After Tour Boy." During the Christian Endeavor Convention at Chicago, one of the delegates, a young business man dressed in a natty rough-ana-. ready suit, every movement alert ana eager and telling of bottled energy within, came suddenly upon a red-faced citizen who evidently had been patronizing the hotel bar. Buttonholing the delegate a trifle unceremoniously, the latter said: "What are you fellows trying to do down at the Battery? You are hot on temperance. I see by the papers. Do you think you could make a temperance man of me?" "No," replied the delegate, looking him over from head to foot with a keen glanoe slightly contemptuous, " we evidently with von hut we are after WUiUU V uw 4UWVM ft J your boy." At this unexpected retort the man dropped his jocular tone and said seriously: ''Wall, I - guess you have got the right of It there, jf somebody had been after me when I was a boy I should be a better man to-day." . S The young man gave in a nutshell the sum and substance of the Christian Endeavor movement.?The Outlook. The Young Corporal. A lad, a corporal in the French army, when drunk, struck his superior officer. He > was tried by a court-martial and sentenced to be shot, and cast into prison to await the execution of his sentence. There was an effort made to secure his pardon, but without success. The Colonel, however, was much attached to him, and was unremitting in his i efforts to secure a pardon, which be at ! length succeeded in doing, on condition that i if ever known to be drunk again he should be j shot dead. The Colonel went to the prison to inform the young corporal of his pardon. "Ah, Colonel," said the unhappy young man as the officer entered, "see what my folly has brought me to." 1 " ri.1 1 IUUA4i TAVAHM Suppose," saia me v^uiuuci, mat nuwiu J tell you that on condition that you never in j your life drink again a pardon is extended | to you." A gleam of hope brightened the 1 young man's face. "Your life to be the forI feitif you ever taste liquor again." added the Colonel. 'Impossible!" said the poor lad. "I cannot live and not drink. Must I never drink? "Never." . 3 The poor young fellow relapsed into hopelessness. "Nothing could keep me from it. It would : be impossible to keep the condition." j "I want your word and pledge of honor as a soldier," said the Colonel, appealing to the military spirit and high sense of honor be so well knew the youth to possess. The lad's soul kindled within him. Tha appeal wrought the effect intended. "See, Colonel," cried the young soldier. "See here and now," and he lifted his arm toward heaven, "that never with the help of God, will I put liquor to my lips again." That lad became commander of the Imperial Guard whose very name became such a power, and he kept the pledge in the same spirit thac characterized his memorable utterance: "The Old Guard dies, but never surrenders." Now you see how much that sting of the liquor serpent costs. It came very near cost: ing that brave young corporal his life. It is | a very costly thing to the country in dollars j and cents. It costs us three hundred and sixty | times as much as it does to pay the salaries i of all the ministers of the gospel. The sala! ries of our ministers amount to sixty millj ions of dollars. And it costs twenty-two * j?a ?tri LrAAn thftl in nor Iiunureu. luiuiuuo vri 4 a j traffic, and keep the sting of the liquor s?r| pent doing its work. ' Damages for a Drunkard's Death. ! When William McCarthy went home at the end of his day's work he was sober. After supper lie went to Wells's saloon, drank I ' a glass full of whisky," stayed there half I an hour and left partly intoxicated. He drank at several other places during the evening, and by ten o'clock was so intoxicated that "h- appeared unable to walk and was in charge of two men who bad hold of him, one on each side, and were encouraging him to try to walk." He was not seen aiive after that. His body was found in a mill-race, where he had been drowned in about three feet of water. This was in Oneida County, N. Y. His widow sued Wells under the Civil Damage act of 18T3, which provides that? Every husband, wife, child, parent, guardian, employer or other person who shall be injured in person, property or means of support by an intoxicated person, or in consequence of the intoxication, habitual or otherwise, of any perion, shall have a right of action against; any person or persons who shall, by selling or giving away intoxicating liquor, have caused the intoxication in whole or in part. Mrs. McCarthy won her case on trial and got a verdict for damages from the jury. w?lis insisted that ha was not liable for McCarthy's death and appealed to the General Term of the Supreme Court. That tribuual has decided against him. "We are of opiuion," says Justice Martin, "that th& evidence was sufficient to warrant the jury in finding that the death of the plaintiff's husband was caused by his intoxication, and that bis intoxication was caused in whole or in part by liquor furnished him by the de? fenaant."?New York Herald. Temperance Ne*.vs and Notes. The Mohammedans call intoxicating liquor "shame water." Massachusetts has incorporated a prohibition of cider into its proposed amendment. Mrs. Richardson states that although California people consume larger quantities of wine, there are few States where the amount of distilled liquors used is so great for the population,and in those districts where winedrinkirfg is almost universal saloons receive large patronage. The heathen Emperor of China teaches America a worthy lesson when he says: "I will never consent that the State shall seek profit from the suffering and degredation of the people." But from a purely financial standpoint the license policy is "penny wise and pound foolish." lie v. D. E. Bushnell, D.D., a Presbvteriaa clergyman of high standing,gives the "following strong testimony: "I have positively seen an entire family,including the prattling baby and the fray-haired grand-dame,drunfc to a'stupor in their own home on their own home-mad?, pure, light California wine." Mississippi Masons in a recent sission pronounced against the saloon by unanimously sustaining the action of Grand Master Evans in arresting the charters of lodges disregarding the resolution passed at their last general meeting, that no saloon keeper couid remain in fellowship with the Masonic body. Arthur D. Cochrane, of New York city, is making a great success of the junior prohibition movement. Boys and girls under twenty-one years of age, who believe in fighting the liquor demon with the invincibl* and uncompromising weapon of national prohibition, are organized into dubs and trained in the methods b?st Vj warfare.