The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, July 03, 1889, Image 7
REV. DE. TALMAGE.
JEHE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUNDAY
SERMON.
Subject: "People "Who Dave Lost
Their Way."
Text: "And God opened her eyes, and
the saw a.well of water; and she went, and
filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad
rtirinfc."?Genesis xxi., iy.
Morning breaks upon Beer-sbeba., There
is an earfc- stir in the house of old Abraham.
There has been trouble among the domestics.
Hagar, an assistant in the household, and her
son, a brisk lad of sixteen years, have become
impudent and insolent, and Sarah, the mistress
of the household, puts her foot down
very hard, and says that they will have to
leave the premises. They are packing up
now.. Abraham, knowing that the journey
before his servant and her son will bo
very long and across desolate places,
in the kindness of his hoart sets about putting
up some bread and a bottle with water
in it. It is a very plain lunch that
Abraham provides, but I warrant you there
would have been enough of it had they not
lost their way. "God be with you !" said old
Abraham as he gave the lunch to Hagar, and
a good many charges as to how she should
conduct the journey. Ishmael, the boy, I
suppose, bounded away in the morning light.
Boys always like a change. Poor Ishmael!
He has no idea of the disasters that are ahead
of him. Hagar gives one long, lingering look
on the familiar place where she had spent so
many happy days, each scene associated with
the pride and joy of her heart?young IshmseL
The scorching noon comes on. The air is
tilling and moves across the desert with insufferable
suffocation. Ishmael, the bov, be?rlrt*rm
Kiif T-Toerap
guis w cuuipiam, auu uco uv^ii, >/uw
rouses him up, saying nothing about her own
weariness or the sweltering heat; for mothers
can endure anything. Trudge, trudge, trudge.
Crossing the dead level of the desert, how
wearily and slowly the miles slip. A tamarind
that seemed hours ago to stand only just
a little ahead, inviting the travelers to come
under its shadow, now is as far off as ever, or
seemingly so. Night drops upon the desert,
and the travelers are pillowless. Ishmael,
very weary, I suppose, instantly falls asleep.
Hagar, as the shadows of the night be.
gin to lap over each other?Hagar
hugs her weary boy to her bosom and thinks
of the fact that it is her fault that they are
in the desert. A star looks out, and every
falling tear it kisses with a sparkle. A
wing of wind comes over the hot earth
and lifts the locks from the fevered
brow of the boy. Hagar sleeps fitfully,
and in her dreams travels over the wearyday,
and half awakes her son by crying out
in her deep: "Ishmael! IshmaelP And
so they go on, day after day and night after
night, for they have lost their way. No
6ath in tho shifting sands, no sign in the
urning sky. The sack emnty of the
flour, the water gone from tne bottle.
What shall she do? As sbe puts
her fainting Ishinael under a stunted
shrub of the arid plain, she sees the
bloodshot eye, and feels the hot hand,
and watches the blood bursting from the
cracked tongue, and there is a shriek in the
desert of Beer-sheba: "We shall die! we
shall die!" Now. no mother was ever made
strong enough to hear her son cry in vain for
a anas, nereioiore sue uuu tuwiwi u? uuj
by promising a speedy end of the journey,
even smiled upon him when he felt desperately
enough. Now there is nothing to do
but place him under a shrub and let him die.
She nad thought that she would sit there and
watch until the spirit of her bov would go
away forever, ana then she would breathe
out her own life on his silent heart; but as the
boy began to claw his tongue in agony
of thirst, and struggle in distortion, and beg
his mother to slay him, she cannot endure
tie spectacle. She puts him under a shrub
and goes off a bow snot, and begins to weep
until all the desert seems sobbing, and her
cry strikes clear through the heavens; and an
angel of God comes out on a cloud and looks
down upon the appalling grief and cries:
"Hagar, what aileth theer She looks up
and she sees the angel pointing to a well of
water, where she fills the bottle for the lad.
Thank God! Thank God!
I learn from this Oriental scene, in the first
place, what a sad thing it is when people do
not know their place, and get too proud for
their business. Hagar was an assistant in
that household, but she wanted to rule there.
She ridiculed and jeered until her son, Ishmael,
got the same tricks. Sh9 dashed out
her own happiness and threw Sarah into a
great fr jt; and if she had stayed much longer
in that household she would have upset cum
Abraham's equilibrium. My friends, oneihalf
of the trouble in the world to-day comes
from the fact that people do not know their
place; or, finding their place, will not stay in
it. When we' come into the world, there is
always a piace reaay ior us. a piucw tux
Abraham. A place'for Sarah. A place for
Ha gar. A place for Ishmael. A plac9 for
you and a place for me. Our first duty is to
find our sphere; our second is to keep it.
We may be born in a sphere far
off from the one for which God
finally intends us. Sextos V was born on the
low ground, and was a swineherd, God called
him up to waive a scepter. Ferguson spent
his early days in looking after the sheep; God
called him up to look after stars, and be a
shepherd watching the flocks of light on the
hillsides of heaven. Hogarth began by engraving
pewter pots; God raised him to stand
in the enchanted realm of a painter. The shoemaker's
bench held Bloomfield for a little
while; but God called him to sit in the chair
of a philosopher and Christian scholar. The
soap boiler of London could not keep his son
in that business, for God had decided that
Hawley was to be one of the greatest astronomers
of England. On the other hand, we
may be born in a sphere a little higher than
that for which God intends us. "\V e may be
born in a castle, and play in a oostly conservatory,
and feed high bred pointers, and
angle for gold fish in artificial ponds, and be
familiar with princes; yet Gcd may have
fitted us for a carpenter's shop, or dentist's
forceps, or a weaver's shuttle, or a blacksmith's
forge. The great thing is to find just
the sphere for which God intended us, and
t.hpri to rwvnnv that snhere and oeeunv it for
ever. Here is a man'God fashionecfto make
a plow. There is a man God fashioned
to maxe a constitution. Tee man
who makes the plow is just as honorable
as the man who makes the constitution,
provided he makes the plow as well as
the other man makes the constitution. There
is a woman who was made to fashion a robe,
and yonder is one intended to be a queen and
wear it. It seems to me that in the one case
as in the other, God appoints the sphere; and
the needle is just as respectable is His si^ht as
the scepter. I do not know but that the world
would long ago have been saved if some of
the men out of the ministry were in it, and
8ome of those who are in it were out of it.
I really think that one-half of the world may
be divided into two-quarters?those who
have not found their sphere, and those
Who having found it, are not willing to stay
there. How many are struggling for a position
a little higher than that for which God
intended them. The bondswoman wants to
be mistress. Hagar keeps crowding Sarah.
The small wheel of a watch, which beautifully
went treading its golden pathway, wants
to be the balance wheel, and the sparrow,
with chagrin, drops into the brook, because
it cannot, like the eagle, cut a circle under
the sun. In the Lord's army we all want to
be brigadier generals. The sloop says:
"More mast; more tonnage; more canvas.
Oh, that I were a topsail schooner, or a full
rigged brig, or a Cunard steamer." And so
the world is filled with cries of discontent,
because we are not willing to stay in the
place where God put us and intended us to be.
My friends, be not too proud to do anything
God tells you to do. For the lack of a right
disposition in this respect the world is strewn
with wandering Hagars and Ishmaels. God
has given each one of us a work to do.
You carry a scuttle of coal up that dark allar.
You distribute that Christian tract.
"You give ten thousand dollars to the missionary
cause. You, for fifteen years, sit with
vui oiuc rneumausm, displaying the beauty
of Christian submission. Whatever God
calls you to, whether it win hissing or huzza;
"whether to walk under triumphal arch or
lift the sot out of the ditch; whether it bo to
preach on a Pentecost, or tell some wanderer
of the street of the mercy of the Christ of
Mary Magdalene; whether it be to
weave a garland for a laughing child on a
spring morning and call her a May queen, or
to comb out the tangled locks of a waif of the
street and cut up one of your old dresses to
fit her out for th? sanctuary?do it. and do it
right away. Whether It be a crown or a
yoke, do not fidgit. Everlasting honors upon
those who do their work and do their whole
work, and are contented in the sphere in
which God has put them; while there is only
wandering, ana exile, and desolation, and
wilderness for discontented Hagar and labmaaL
. ...
I '
Agarn, I find Ih tEs Oriental scene a Tesson I
of sympathy witli woman when she goes j
forth trudging in the desert. What a great I
change it was for this Elagar. There was the '
tent and all the surroundings of Abraham's j
house, beautiful and luxurious no doubt. [
Now she is going out into the hot sands of j
the desert. O, what a change it was! And in j
our day we often see the wheel of fortune turn.
Here is some one who lived in the very bright
home of her father. She had everything pos- j
sible to administer to her happiness. Plenty |
at the table. Music in the drawing room. .
Welcome at the door. She is led forth into j
life by some one who cannot appreciate her. J
A dissipated soul comes and takes her out in ;
the desert. Iniquities blot out all J
the lights of that homo circle. |
! Harsh words wear out her spirits. The high j
hope that shone out over the marriage altar j
j while the ring was being sot and the vows i
I given and tne oenecucuon pronounceu, uavo (
| all faded with the orange blossoms, and there |
she is to-day, broken-hearted, thinking of past i
joy and present desolation and coming an- |
j giiish. Hagar in the wilderness!
! Here is a beautiful home. You cannot !
! think of anything that can be added to it. j
j For years there has not been the suggestion 1
1 of a single trouble. Bright and happy children
fill the house with laughter ana song.
Books to read. Pictures to look at.
Lounges to rest on. Cup of .domestic
joy full and running over. Dark
night drops. Pillow hot. Pulses flutter.
Eyes close. And the foot whose well known
steps on the door sill brought the whole
household out at eventide, crying: "Father's
coming," will never sound on the door sill
again. A long, deep grief plowed through
all that lightness of domestic life. Paradise
lost! Widowhood! Hagar in the wilderness! j
How often it is we see the weak arm of
woman conscripted for this battle with the
rough world. Who is she. going down the
street in the early light of the morning, pale
I with exhausting" work, not half slept out
I with the slumbers of last night, tragedies of
suffering written all over her face, her lusterless
eyes looking far ahead as though for the
coming of some other trouble? Her parents
called her Mary, or Bertha, or Agnes on the
day when they held her up to the font,
and the Christian ministor sprinkled on
the infant's face the washings of a holy
baptism. Her name is changennow. I hear
it in the shuffle of the worn out shoes. I see
it in the figure of the faded calico. I find it :
in the lineaments of the woe begone !
countenance. Not Mary, nor Bertha, nor
Agnes, but Hagar in the wilderness. May |
God have mercy upon woman in her toils, j
her struggles, Her narasmps, ner aesoiauon,
and may the great heart of Divine sympathy
inclose her forever.
Again: I find in this Oriental scene the fact
that every mother leads forth tremendous
destinies. Yousav: "That isn't an unusual
scene, a mother leading her child by the
hand." "Who is it that she is leading?
Ishmael, you say. Who is Ishmael? A great
nation is to be founded; a nation so strong
that it is to stand for thousands of years
against all the armies of the -world. Egypt
and Assyria thunder against it, but" in
vain. Gaulus brings up his army,
and his army is smitten. Alexander
decides upon a campaign, brings up his
I hosts and dies. For a long while that nation
monopolizes the learning of the world. It is
the nation of the Arabs, who founded it? Ishmael,
the lad that Hagar led into the wilderness.
She had no idea she was leading forth i
such destinies. Neither does any mother. |
You pass along the street, and see pass bovs
and girls who will yet make the earth quake
j with their influence. "Who is that boy at
I Sutton Pool, Plymouth, Engiand,
| barefooted, -wading down into the
j slush and slime, until his bare foot
! comes upon a piece of glass and he lifts it,
i bleeding and pain-struck? That wound in
I the foot decides that he be sedentary in his
I life, decides that he be a student. That
| wound by the zrlass in the foot decides that
I he shall be John Kitto, who shall provide
the best religious encyclopedia tno woria nas i
ever had provided, and with his other writings
as well, throwing a light upon tho
"Word of God such as has come from no other
man in this century. O mother, mother,
that little hand that wanders over your
face may yet be lifted to hurl thunderbolts
of war, or drop benedictions. That little
voice may blaspheme God in the grog shop,
or cry: "Forward!" to the Lord's hosts, as
they go out for their last victory. My mind
to-day leaps thirty years ahead, and I see a |
merchant prince of New York. One stroke
of his pen brings a ship out of Canton. Another
stroke of hi3 pen brings a ship into
Madras. He is mighty in all trie money markets
of the world. "Wlio is he? He sits today
beside you in the Tabernacle. My mind
leaps thirty years forward from this
time, and I find myself in a relief association.
A great multitude of Christian
women have met together for a generous
purpose. There is one woman in that crowd
who seems to have the confidence of all the
others, and they all look up to her for her
counsel and for her prayers. Who is she ?
To-day you will find her in the Sabbath-school,
while the teacher tells her of that Christ who
clothed the naked and fed the hungry and
healed the sick. My mind leaps forward
thirty years from now, and I find
myself in an African jungle; and
I to a micdnnnrv of the cross ad
dressing the natives, and their duskycountenances
are irradiated with the glad
tidings of great ioy and salvation. Who is |
he ? Did you not hear his voice to-day in the
first -6ong of the service ? My mind leaps forward
thirty years from now, and I find myself
looking through the wickets of a prison.
I see a face scarred with every crime. Hi3
chin on his open palm, his elbow on his knee
?a picture of despair. As I opened the wicket
he starts, and I hear his chain clank. The ;
jail keeper tells me that he has been in there I
now three times. First for theft, then j
for arson, now for murder. He j
steps upon the trap door, the rope is fastened j
j to his neck, the plank falls, his body swings |
into the air, his soul swings off into eternity, j
j "Who is he, and where is he? To-day playing |
j kite on the city commons. Mother, you are j
j to-day hoisting a throne or forging a chain? i
I you are kindling a star or digging a dungeon. !
| A good many years ago a Christian mother j
I sat teaching lessons of religion to her child;
| and he drank in those lessons. She never
| knew that Lamphier would come forth and j
! establish the Fulton street prayer meeting,
and by one meeting revolutionize the devotions
of the whole earth, and thrill the
eternities with his Christian influence.
Lamphier said it was his mother who
i brought him to Jesus Christ.
She never had an idea that she was leading
forth such destinies. But 0, when I see a
mother reckless of her influence, rattling on
toward destruction, garlanded for the sacrifice
with unseemly mirth and godlessness,
gayly tripping on down to ruin, taking her
children in the same direction, I cannot help
but say: "There they go, there they go?
Hagar and Islimael 1" I tell you there are
J wilder deserts than Beersheba in many of the
j domestic circles of this day. Dissi- |
j pa ted parents leading dissipated children.
I Avaricious parents leading avaricious children.
Praverless parents leading prayerless
| children, thev go through every street, up
; every dark alley, into every cellar, along
every highway. Hagar and Ishmael! ana
while I pronounce their names, it seems like
the moaning of the death wind?Hagar and
Ishmael!
I learn one more lesson from this
Oriental scene, and that is, that every
wilderness has a well in it. Hagar and
Ishmael gave up to die. Hagar's heart sank
within her as she heard her child crying:
IUW.4..I I I( U ? .
I ! ff 0>ici ; uctrici ; ??atci ; xiu, auc oaj a, .?ij <
'darling, there is no water. This is a desert."
And then God's angel said from the cloud:
'"What aileth thee, HagarF' And she looked
up and saw him pointing to a well of water,
'where she filled tne bottle for the lad. Blessed
be God that there is in every wilderness a
'well, if you only know how to find it?fountains
for all these thirsty souls to-day. "On
that last day, on that great day of the feast,
'Jesus stood and cried: "If any man thirst,
Jet him come to Me aud drink."
'All these other fountains you find
j are mere mirages of the des-'
j ert. Paracelsus, ycu know, spent, his time in
j trying to find out* the elixir of life?a liquid
which if taken, would keep one perpetually I
young in this world, aud would change: the
! aged back again to youth. Of course, ho
was disappointod; he found not the elixir.
But here I tell you to-day of the elixir of
everlasting life bursting from the "Rock
of Ages." and that drinking that water
you shall never cet old. and vou wiU
never be sick, and you will never die. "Ho,
every one that thirsteth, come ye to the
waters." Ah, there is a man who says:
"I have been looking for that fountain a
great while, but can't find it." And here is
some one else who says: "I believe all you
say, but I have been trudging along in the
wilderness and can't find the fountain." Do
you know the reason? I will tell you. You i
never looked in the right direction. "0," you J
say, "I have looked everywhere. I have
looked north, south, east and west, and I
haven't found the fountain." Why, you are not
lookingin the right direction at all. Look up,
where Hagar looked. She never would have
found the fountain at all, but when ?he
heard the voice of the angel she looked up, I
and she saw the finger pointing to the supply.
And O, soul, if to-day, with one earnest, intense
prayer you would only look up to
Christ, He would point you down to the supply
in the wilderness. "Look unto Me all ye
ends of the earth, and be ye saved; for I am
God, and there is none else." Look! look! as
Ha par looked.
Yes, there is a .well for every desert of bereavement.
Looking over the audience today,
I notico signs of mourning. Have you
found consolation ? 0 man bereft, O woman
bereft, have you found consolation ? Hearse
after hearse. We step from one grave hillock
to another grave hillock. We follow corpses,
1 1 i:i-~ 4-U, TUA I
ourselves suuu uc uno mvm. iuc nvnu
is in mourning for its dead. Every
heart has become the sepulcher
of some buried joy. But sing ye to God,
every wilderness has a well in it; and I come
to that well" to-day. and I begin to draw
water from that well. If you have lived in
the country, you have sometimes taken hold
of the rope of the old well swe9p, and you
know how the bucket came up dripping with
bright, cool water. And I lay hold of the
rope of God's mercy to-day, and I begin
to draw on that gospel well sweep,
and I see the buckets coming
up. Thirsty soul! here is one bucket
of life! come and drinli of it: " Whosoever
will, let him come and take of the water of
life freely." I pull away again at the rope,
and another bucket comes up. It is this promise:
" Weepine may endure for a night, but
joy cometh in the morning." I lay bold of
the rope again, and I pull away with all my '
strength, and the bucket comes up bright,
and beautiful and cool. Here is the promise: |
" Come unto Me, all ye who are weary and
heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
The old astrologers used to cheat the
people with the idea that they could
tell from the position of the stars what
would occur in the future, and if a cluster
of stars stood in one relation, that would be
a prophecy of evil; if a cluster of stars
stood in another relation, that would be a
prophecy of good. What superstition!
But here is a new astrology in which
I put ail my faith. By looking up to
the Star of "Jacob, the morning star of
the Redeemer, I can make this prophecy in
regard to those who put their trust in God:
"All things work together for good to those
who love God." I read it out on the
sky. I read it out in the Bible. I read
it out in all thines: "AH things work
together for good to those who love
God." Do you love Him? Have you
seen the Kyetantnes? It is a beautiful
flower, but it give3 very little fragrance
until after sunset. Then it pours its
richness on the air. And this grace of the
Gospel that I commend to you this day,
while it may be very sweet during the day
of prosperity, it pours forth its richest
aroma after sun down, and it will be sun
down with you and me after a while. "When
you come to go out of this world, will it be a
desert march or will it be a fountain for your
soul?
A Christian Hindoo was dying, and his
heathen comrades came around him and tried
to comfort him by reading some of the pages
of their theology, but he waved his hand as
much as to say: "I don't want to hear it."
Then they called in a heathen priest, and he
said: "Ir you will only recite the Isumtra it
will deliver you." He waved his hand as much
as to* say: "I don't want to hear that."
Then they said: "Call on Juggernaut."
TT- Iiao/J oo a a
XI? SliUUU. li-LO tw Mv?
to say: " I can't do that."
Then they thought perhaps he was too weary
to speak, and they said: "Now, if you can't
say 'Juggernaut,' think of that God." He
shook his head again, as much as to say:
"No, no, no." They then bent down to his
pillow, and they said: "In what will you
.trust?" His face lighted up with the very
glories of the celestial sphere as he cried out,
Rallying all his dying energies: "Jesus."
0 come tc-day to the fountain?the fountain
'open for sin and uncleanness. I will tell you
[the whole story in tsvo or three sentences.
Pardon for all sin. Comfort for all trouble.
jLight for all darkness. And every wilderness
has a well in it.
TEMPERANCE.
MISSIONS AND LIQUOR.
Seldom has there been a more interesting
debate in the British House of Lords than
that which took place a few nights ago on
the liquor traffic in Africa. Complaintsnavo
been made from time to time by the missionaries
in letters from different centers to the
Home Boards: and in various ways and at
different times the Boards have brought
the facts before the Government. The results,
however, have been small.
It is ouly latterly, and partly through the
interposition of one of tne native Queens,
that the matter has been seriously looked at
by the upper classes, and by the men in
power. Among xae more prummcuu pui suu.i
who have interested themsplves in the matter
is the Duke of Westminster, who, although
be has not cut himself off from all the en joyinenfs
of social life, has come to be a potent
personality in moral and religious circles.
The subject to which we have referred above
was brought before the House of Lords by
the Duke in a speech of much weight. It
was shown by the Duke, and by others who
followed in the same vein, that the European
settlements in Africa, instead of being
"centers of civilization and light and moral
healthfulness were really cancerous sores,
thrusting their roots deeper and deeper into
the land, and spreading disease and death."
The cause was clearly pointed out. It was
cheap spirits?gin and sometimes rum. Imported,
as it was shown, in large quantities,
these fiery and poisonous compounds, when
brought within the reach of the natives, arcs
eagerly sought after, and exercise a most demoralizing
influence. Every product of the
country is brought to the traders to be exchanged
for them, anil, instead of bales of
merchandise, kegs of spirits are taken into
the interior, whero their destructive effects
baffle all description. It was stated on good
authority, by the Duke and others, that
wherever the spirits wore introduced cotton
goods and other products of civilization
ceased to be in any extensive demand. The
appeal to the Government was therefore
based on trade as well as on humanitarian
considerations. It was shown that much
good had followed the enforcement of stringent
laws in Zululand and other parts. As the
result of tho debate tlio Government has
promised to take all possible steps to remedy
the evil.
It remains to be seen what will be done. It
is most certainly one of the disgraces of this
nineteenth century that we should be building
and tearing down in tliis fashion?sending
missionaries and sending rum to heathen
lands at one and the same time.?J/aii and
Express.
A BArtKEEPER ON* TEMPERANCE.
One of the most estimable ladies of Minneapolis
heard of a temperance lecture in a place
where she was not expecting it tho othe>
A^-rr cove Hf innrv??r*nHc Trf7)w?p It, WHS
vac*j, oajo wiv ?
in a liquor store, and the man who delivered
it was the dispenser of sour mash and cognac.
The ladjr is not only a firm beliver in temperance
principles, but a prominent worker in
one of the prominent churches in the city, as
well known as any in the city. Under ordinary
circumstances she would not use
brandy to season mince pies, "but it was an
urgent case of sickness and she wanted as
good an article of brandy as could be had.
She asked her physician where the best could
bo found in the city, and was given the number
of a prominent firm on Nicollet avenue.
As she was down town that morning she
went for it herself. The man who filled the
flask asked no questions, but looked curiously.
"I amusing this for diphtheria," said the
lady, as she took her change. "I should not
be purchasing it if it were not for a case of
sickness."
"Diphtheria!" said the man who was waiting
on her, "I know all about that. I've
had threo eases in my own family this spring."
"I suppose you used this same remedy, aid
you?" said the lady.
"Not a drop of it," said the man behind the
bar in a tone of horror. '\&Iy M ifo won't
have it in the liouso and I never touch it myself.
We are temperance people. It is dangerous
stuff to have around and we won't use
it even for sickness."
The lady took her change and went out
thunderstruck, while the temperance man
began mixing whisky sours for a group of
gentleman who had just come in.
THE ECONOMY OF PROHIBITION.
A correspondent of the Newcastle (Eng.\
Daily Chroniclc emphasizes the economy of
prohibition by careful statistics. He shows
that in 188S in that district the proportion
paid for manual labor in making spirits was
not quite two pence in every sovereign's
worth of liquor, and that only ten pence*out
of every pound spent in liquor went to the
working classes. Any one therefore who
bought ?5 worth of alcoholic drinks last year
benefited the labor market to the extent of
four shillings and two pence. Contract this
with the statement that of ?5 spent for shoes
?2 goes bock for labor, and of ?5 spent for
woolen cloth ?3 goes back to labor.
RELIGIOUS READING.
THE MASTER S QUESTIONS.
''If any man servo Me, let him follow Mo;
and where I am, there shall also My servants
be; if any man serve Me, him will My
Father honor."?John 12: 26.
Have ye looked for sheep in the desert,
For those who have mbsi their way?
Have ye been in the wild waste places,
Where the lost and wanderiug stray?
Have ye trodden the lonely highway,
The foul and the dark-oine street?
It may bo ye'd s'e in tte gloaming
The print of My wounded feet.
Have ye folded homo to your bosom
The trembling neglected lamb,
And taught to the little lost c ne
TKo CAM11/) /-.f flm Sh<anh?r<i\q name?
Save ye searched for tho poor and needy,
With 110 clothing, no home, n > bread?
The Son of Man was among: them?
He had no where to lay His bead.
Have ye carried the living: water,
To the parched and thirsty soul?
Have ye said to the sic c and wounded,
"Christ Jesus makes thee whole?"
Have ye tplcl My fainting children
Of ths strergi h (f the Father's hand?
Have ye guided the tottering footsteps
To the shore of the 4 'golden land?"
Have ye stood by tho sad and weary,
To smooth the pillow of death,
To comfort the sorrow-striken,
And strengthen the feeble faith?
And have ye felt,wi en the glory
Has streamed through i ho open door
And flitted across the shadows,
That I had been the:e before?
Have ye wept with the broken-hearted
In their agony of woe?
Ye mieht hear Mo whispering beside you,
" 'T s the pathway I often gal"
My brethren, My friends, My disciples,
Can ye dai e to follow Me?
Then wherever the Master dwelleth,
There shall the servant be I
?Selected.
" WniTTE^ IX HEAVEN."
To have one's "name written in heaven"
is the highest honor. You may write your
i name on tablets of stone iu tho Dantheon of
fame; you may inscribe it on the pages of
history, and be praised in oration and p em
for the glory of your deeds, but the humblest
peasant whose name is 41 written in heaven
has attained a mora las'iug honor. To have
our names "written in heaven" means that
we are children of the King Immortal, that
we have overcome by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of our testimony, that we
are citizens of the new Jerusalem ? freeholders
in the Capital of the eternal kingdom,
kings and prie-ts unto God, and heirs
of eternal life. This is more than to be
famed on earth as a brilliant writer, an eloquent
preacher, a noble cohquerer of devils.
Keader, is your name wriiteu in heaven?
Then rejoice I?Evening Messenger.
SAFE.
The fact that we know a thing to be wrong
does not prevent our doing it. Knowing
that a thin^ is wrong restrains us from its
commisso.i only to the degree that our
knowledge that it is wrong is suffused with a
living sense of the sinfulness and damnableness
of the act contemplated. It is tolerably
clear where our work needs to be put. How
can I learn to hate sin? Not by studying it.
Looking at the darkness does not make it
blacker; it makes it brighter, and the longer
you look the more threads of whiteness you
will find in it. Nor can we become more
conscious of the sinfulness of sin by any resolved
and heroic straining and produ- ing of
onr m ral parception?. Sin di.-closes its heinousness
only as it is behold in the light of the
perfect holiness of Almighty God. The
ground still needs the sky; the nether
firmament yet hangs upon toe uppor. Christ,
that bundle of heavenly sunshine, is
this gross world's only hope. History can
not utterlv fail till it has succeeded in expunging
the memory of the thirty-three years
of the perfect Jesu-. It was in God's eye
that David saw the foulness of his own adulterousness.
The Lord opened the heavens
above u=>, and let the Eternal shine in the
midst of our days, and cause his own revta
ed holiness to work within us the perfect
knowledge of sin and the perfect abhorrence
of it. Then we are safe; safe from the devil
and a whole hell full of his arigels; safe as
Paul wes safe, who >tood unflinching before
the thorn, be.ause he had h-ard thevoice3
that wero unutterable; safe as the Lord was
safe, who stepped forward triumphant to
Calvary, because on the mount he had gathered
armament from the prophets, and been
suffused with the light and wrapped about
with the glory shed upon him from the uncovered
heavens.?Rev. C. H. Parlchurst.
JOYOUS CHRISTIANS.
No one will question that there is room for
more gladness in our world. Who is to supply
it if the Christian does not? When
thoughtful men seriously propound the inquiry,
"is lite worth livings" it is surely time
for all who love Christ to answer that question
by the most practical of m9tho:ls?to
show the woj Id the gladness of he life which
Christ inspires. Wordsworth has given us
an Immortal ode on the happiness wmcn
comes from duty. We want a singer to inspire
us all with a not less noble aim?the
duty of happiness, and specially of happiness
as Christians.
No influence or power is more manifest in
nature than that of joy. It is the great
mainspring starting oil the wheels cf nanature
s activities. The sun delights < o shine.
The stars never look tired of their calm
watchful gaze. The streams rejoice to run
and sing. The flowers delight in blossoming.
Joy laughs in a thousand little buds, and
donees in youug leaves, and carols in the
song of birds. The very grass however you
cut it, or treai upon it, lifts up its head
with a nt w joy every morning,
and welcomes you in your evening weariness
to the re t of its cool, playful shadows.
The little child, fresh from God, comes to us
with joy on its d mpled fac?. and gladness in
its play and merry movements. No feature
in nature is more marked than that of joy.
Coleridge said that 'the sunny hues, and
fair forms, and breathing sweets of nature
made it impossible for him to be a jarring
and difcsonant thing amongst the general
minstrelsy."
Joy is both full of insight and is medicinal.
Our best po. ts del ght to depic* its power in
each of these ministries. Wordsworth said
it was "with an eye made quiet by the deep
power of joy that he saw into the life of
things." Then he felt sensations sweet passim
into his purer mind, with trauquil restoration.
Then he came to know that blessed
mood in which the burden of the mystery of
this unintelligible world is lightened; and he
became a living soul. If this be the ministry
of the joy of nature, surely the "joy of the
Lord" would lighien maDy dark problems in
life, lift many a burden, change the home
and the business of many a weary and
fi'fert fhilri nf On-i ftnd fill them 'with
brightness and song.?The Quiver.
The Lord may lead you round, but Co will
lead you right.
He who seems not to himself more than he
is, is more than he seems.?Goethe.
Man originally fell by losing his confidence
in God, and can only be raised by the restoration
of his confidence: in other words,
unbelief was his ruin, and he now stands by
faith
"Since from t'.y bounty we recieve
Such proofs of love divine,
Had we a thousand hearts to give,
Lord, they should all be thine."
?Clericusin American Messenger.
O Christian, the God whom you servo is so
excellent that no good can bo added to Him;
and so infinite'hat no good can be ' ' uin.
ished in Hi'ii! He make< happy, uiv' y< i|
not the less happy; Ho shows mercy to i.<
full, anu .yet remains full of mercy.
BEKR AND 3USINESS.
Of twenty-six of the leading business firms
and nmnufactiu-ers in the United States?all
rated by Dun's Mercantile Agency as possessing
a capital of at least $750,000?interviewed
by us, only one allowed the use of liquor in
his establishment, and then only during tho
dinner hour. Everyone reports that the
business interests of the employer are
jeopardized by the dram-shop association of
tho employe, and that most cases of individual
poverty among the latter can be
traced to the saloons. ?Homilctic Review.
Newcjistle, England, shows a conviction for
drunkenness annually for each fifty-two of its
population; Liverpool is disgraced br one in
forty. Norwich, which is the least drunken
city in England, boasts of only one conviction
in 687 of tne population.
WORDS OF WISDOM.
A lie is black even if it is a white lie.
The post of honoi is the post of duty.
"I can't," is a humbug and a nuisance.
Wishes at least are the easy pleasures
of the poor.
You believe that easily which you hope
for earnestly.
When you assist the needy don't do it
ostentatiously.
Don't say "I am a gentleman;" it is
never necessary.
, Be loyal to death to those who have
befriended you.
The only disadvantage of an honest
heart is credulity.
When there is room in the heart there
is room in the house.
People who are disposed to complain
never find a lack of subjects.
Charity and personal force are the only
investments worth anything.
If you should escape the censure of
others, hope not to escape your own.
It is right to be contented with what
we have, but never with what we are.
Without content, we shall find it almost
as difficult to please others as ourselves.
The covetous man pines in plenty, like
Tantalus up to the chin in to water, and
yet thirsty.
Beauty is always precious, but after all
:it is light in the balance when opposed
to gracious manners.
i We do love beauty at first sight; and
we do cease to love it, if it is not accompanied
by amiable qualities.
, A child that stayeth at one stature,
and never groweth bigger, is a monster.
Unless we go forward, we slip back.
Violent zeal for truth has a hundred to
one odds to be either netulancv. ambi
tion or pride.
The denial of man's immortality involves
a violation of the general normal
consciousness.
. Most people would succeed in small
things if they were not troubled with
great ambitions.
In matters of conscience first thoughts I
are best; in matters of prudence last
thoughts are best.
< He who receives a good turn should
never forget it; he who does one should
never remember it.
Candor is the seal of a noble mind, the
ornament and pride of man, the sweetest
charm of woman, the scorn of rascals and
the rarest virtue of sociability.
; A Great University in California.
: Mr. G. T. Shepley, the architect of the
Leland Stanford, Jr., University of California,
states in the San Francisco Building
Advertiser that the work on the large
dormitory in connection with the university
has been commenced. The buildings
completed, or nearly so, number
fourteen, and consist of lecture rooms, reI
-A/vmn InVvArof ArinO On/1 oil f.llfi
uepiiuu 1UUU1S, iauumiuiiW) UUL
requisite departments for a complete educational
course. The dormitory will be
situated about a thousand feet from the
other buildings. It will be 275 by 145,
four scories high, presenting a very imposing
structure. The material used is
San Jose stone. The bulding will accommodate
200 students. Single rooms will
be 18 by 25, and double rooms 24 by 26.
Altogether there will be from onr- hundred
and twenty-five to one hundred and
fifty rooms. There will be only one dining
room for the two hundred students, and
this will occupy the central portion of the
lower floor. The kitchen, laundries, etc.,
are in the basement; but, as the dining
room is raised considerably above the
floor on which it is situated, there will be
plenty of light and air afforded for the
basement. All the fifteen buildings will
be heated by steam and lighted by electricity
from one central station placed in
the rear of the quadrangle. The university
will not resemble any of the Eastern
universities to any great extent. All the
old colleges .are built around quadrangles,
and in this one point the Leland Stanford
Jr.. University will resemble them, bufc
in no other. There will be a magnificent
view from all the sleeping rooms of the
dormitories.
The Secret of Snake Charming.
Of course people with eyes in their
heads know that this snake-charming
'business is the biggest fake around the
circus, said a candid feminine snake
charmer, but it pays very well, and I get
more money than any of the other freaks
in this side-show, although the tattooed
girl draws only $5 less a week than I do.
Those snakes in that box couldn't bite me
if they wanted to, and you bet they don't
want to. We always keep them stuffed
just as full of meat as their skins can
hold, and they are half asleep all the
time. Sometimes I have a great deal of
trouble to make them seem alive, and I
have to squeeze them so that they will
stick their tongues out and twine their
bodies nround me. The only unpleasant
part of tlie business to me is the nasty
feeling the snakes give me when their
slimy bodies twist around on the bare
skin of my neck. I was never frightened
but once. I took a boa out of the box?
of course that's the only kind of a snake
wo use?and he scratched himself on one
of the diamonds in my necklace when I
twisted hiui around my neck. He got
angry and gave me a pretty severe chok 5r.fr
onrJ T wns so srvired that I was Drettv
wuu " *
badly hurt before I could scream and the
men came and unwrapped him. Now,
you see, whenever I perform, one of the
show men stands by me and watches the
snakes.? Globe-Democrat.
An Indian Romance.
An interesting romance hns just come
to light at White's Indian Manual Labor
Institute, near AVabash, Iud., where
Indian children are being educated at
Government expense. It has been discovered
that Lizzie Carlow, a half-breed
Sioux Indiau maiden from the Pine Itidge
Agency in Dakota, has rich and influential
relatives in Baltimore and at Zanesville,
Ohio. Iler father, John Carlow, left
Baltimore twenty years ago for the Black
Hills, and he has not since been seen by
his Eastern relatives. Years ago Carlow
married an Indiau woman aud the little j
girl now at the institute here was the result
of the union. Recently Carlow,who j
is still in the West, sent Lizzie's photograph
and one of her monthly merit cards
given by the institute to his relatives,
which was their first intimation of her
existence. They have become g/eatly
interested and have written to have Lizzie
pass her coming vacation with t^biem.
The girl went to Zanesville to sey her
aunt, whose husband is Superintendent
of the Water Works atthatplace.?CklobeLemocrat.
. - - / -+ -
"BUDGET OF FUN.
HUMOROUS SKETCHES FROM
VARIOUS SOURCES.
Ehe Railway Dinner?Explaining His
Smallness?From a Baseball
Standpoint?His First AY as
Qne, Etc., Etc.
"Superfish."
Sing!
"Stakerliver."
Bang!
"Pieorpu.i."
Bung!
"Teareough."
Sling!
'Cheessrcrack ere."
Slang!
"rmtsrapples."
Slung!
All outl
Fifty cents!
Awlaboard?
Pk-wiz!
EXPLAINING HIS SMALLN'ESS.
'How is it your Tommy is ss small
for his age, Mrs. Briggs?"
"Oh, the little dear always was a shrinking
child," explained its mother.?New
York Sun.
FROM A BASEBALL STANDPOINT.
She?"How did you like our new
minister yesterday?"
He (a bashful crank)?"Oh, he'll
make a good pitcher in time; his delivery
it pretty puzzling."?Harvard Lampoon.
HIS FIRST WAS ONE.
Mr. McCrackle?"Young Brown won't
have to wait ten years before celebrating
his 'tin' wedding."
Mrs. McCrackle?"How is that?"
Mr. McCrackle?"He married a girl
irorth $200,'000 in her own right."?New
York Sun.
A DESPERATE ALTERNATIVE.
He (poor and idle)?"You reject my
hand. Cruel girl! Reverse your decis
ion or i snail ao sometmng desperate i"
She (an heiress -who knows he woos
her to be maintained)?"Go to work, I
juppose!"?Siftings.
NO INTERMEDIATE STATE.
Caller (at a hotel)?"I cannot find
Colonel Kaintuck."
Clerk?"Isn't he in the barroom?"
Caller?"No."
Clerk?"My! My! Inquire at the
morgue."?New York Tribune.
A HIGH-SPIRITED GIRL.
"But if you don't love him, Clara, why
are you going to marry him?"
"Because he dared me to, mamma.
He knew my high-spirited nature, too.
Oh, I'll make him sorry enough for it?
don't you be afraid."?Chicago Tribune.
HOPE FOR THE HUMBLEST.
Fifteen years ago a Missouri boy left
his home and started out to become the
President of the United States.
He got as far as Cincinnati. The boy
is now a man, and he is also one of the
best shoemakers in the Ohio State Prison.
?Life.
A JUDGE OP ART.
Bobby (to his sister) ? "Is Mr. De
Lunkhead, your beau, a judge of arts ?"
Sister?"A very good judge, Bobby.
But why do you ask?"
Bobby?"Oh, he told me last night
that he was going to get the man who
painted your portrait to paint his house."
?Drake'i Magazine.
BETTER LEFT UNSAID.
Mr. Jonathan Trump?"You are
charming to-night."
Miss Penelope Peachblow?"Indeed?
Wbat nice things you men say! Sir.
Brown just told me the same thing."
Mr. Jonathan Trump (anxious to depreciate
his rival)?"Of course you don't
believe he meant it!"?Life.
AMBIGUOUS.
"So old Tubbs remembers me, does
he? Well, well, we used to be great croaies,
Bill and I did. Did he says anything
about me?"
"Yes, pa-paw."
"What did he say?"
"When I told him that I was your
daughter, pa-paw, he said he never would
have believed it."
OCT HUNTING.
"My dear fellow you can't imagine how
t felt the first time I caught sight of a
<auirrd-^a. real, live squirrel ! My heart
jumped into my throat. What joy!
What emotion! I raised my gun to my
jhoulder, took aim, and fired. The gun
went off all right"
"Well?"
4'And so did the squirrel."
BASEBALL LINGO.
Baseball Maiden?"Yes, Mr. Joblots,
ill is over between us. Here is the
ring."
Mr. Joblots?"I am to understand,
then, Mabel, that our engagement is at
in end?"
Baseball Maiden?"Exactly. I give
fou your release, and cxpect to sign a
flew man the latter part of the week.
Good-bye."?Minneapolis Tribune.
JOHNNIE WAS PRACTICAL.
Stranger?"I say, Johnnie, is it against
the laws to catch fish in that pond?"
Johnnie?"Yes, sir/'
"But there's a police officer fishing
there now. He wouldn't do so if it was
?gainst the law."
"Well, it may not be against the State
law to catch fish in that pond, but it's
igainst the laws of nature, for there isn't
i blessed fish in it."?Statesman.
NEW RULES.
Hotel Clerk (suspiciously) ? "Your
bundle has come apart. May I ask what
lhat queer thing is?"
Guest?"This is a new patent fire escape.
I always carry it, so in case of fire
( can let myself down from the hotel
window. See?"
Clerk (thoughtfully)?"I see. Our
!erms for guests with fire cscapes, sir, arc
invariably cash in advance."?Keid York
Weekly.
A FRUITLESS APPEAL.
Prodigal Son (feelingly)?"Father, I'm
In hard luck again. Debts of honor, you
snow. The boys are down on me and I
:ome to you for?a?a?succor."
Obdurate Father (freezingly)?"Waste
ao words, young man, I've 'nothing but
idvice to give you. Go to those dear
"boys" and, in the delightful vernacular
with which you are familiar, inform
| them that the old man cannot be worked
for a sucker."?Pittiburg Bulletin.
ill
__
A FINANCIAL NECESSITY.
Anxious Young Man?"What will yon
charge for publishing this list of persons
who have been killed by eating ic?
cream?" j
Managing Editor?"About $50."
Anxious Young Man?Well, print iti
I am secretary of the Trying-to-save-a-cent
Young Men's Club, and we must do some-!
thing to counteract the present expensive
crnze, or drop out of society."?
Omaha World. ).. 1
^'*?8
A GLIMPSE OP HER FUTURE.
Flossie is six years old. "Mamma" she
asked one day, "if I get married will I
have a husband like pa?" I >}
"Yes," replied the mother with an
amused smile.
"And if I don't get married will I have
to be an old maid like Aunt Kate?" ?
"Yes." ; -. *?
"Mamma" (after a pause)?"It's a
tough world for us women, ain't it?"?
Binghamton Republican.
"""""""""
A TRAMP PHILOSOPHER.
P.* ATI 11 IT? i *;
J.' 1151/ X IttUJp?? Xil C LUIJJM a UCU CYV
lent-lookin' old chap, pard. Let's tackld
'im for the price of a night's lodgin'." i
Second Ditto (something of a philosopher)?"Don't
you think of it, Bill; let's ,
wait for somebody that's half full. Them
benevolent-lookin' ducks always wants to
organize themselves into a society, elect
a board of directors, and 'ire aorfice afore
they gives you a cent. T'other sort is the,
sort to lay for."? Grip. <
___
A THOUGHTFUL FRIEND.
"Who was that you bowed to on th?f
car?" she asked of her friend, as they ^
stood in a store-door on Woodward
avenue. jr.
"That's Katie !
"How sweetly she bowed back." .? .j
"Yes,-we love each other dearly. When
her father died last year I was the only
friend she had thoughtful enough to '
count the carriages and tell her there
were fortj -seven."?Detroit Free Prea. ><
PERFECTLY SATISFACTORY.
"Have you any work on punctuation I*
she asked at the book store.
"Sorry to say we are just out."
"Well, perhaps you could tell me what >
I want to know. What does a mark
under a word signify?"
"That is to emphasize the word."
"Oh?I see. Thank you."
And as she passed out a clerk heard he?
whisper to herself:
"And James put five marks under the ;
word 'Dear!'"?Detroit Free Prest.
m
EXPATRIATED.
Particular Boarder?"This fish, wait-:
Truthful Waiter?"Was killed this
morning."
Particular Boarder (approvingly) ?
"You did right to kill it." ?
Truthful Waiter (inquiringly)?"Yes,1
sir?"
Particular Boanier (firmly)?"Because it
had been ashore so long it had forgot
how to swim and would have drowned
if ever it went to sea again."?Burdclfa*
i-v.
THE CHORUS OP MUSIC. ,
Podsnap (to neighbor Bjones)?"My
daughter Angie will be home from tha
conservatory next week. She has com- '
pleted her musical education."
Bjones?"How delighted we shall bel
You will have a houseful of visitors all
the time, and Miss Angie's entrancing
strains will hold us spellbound. Your
charming daughter is a veritable pro-'
digy."
Bjones (ten minutes afterward, to his
wife)?*"I)on't distribute that cat poison
just now, Maria. The Poisnap howler
is expected home next week. I'll go to
A ^ ' T ?AM A /infe
lowII ilUU sue 11 X UU ICiiu a uvavu vuw
for the season. I'm bound to enjoy some
rest !"?Drake's Magazine. * ' './?
WESTEI^r HAWKSIIAWS.
Chicago Police Captain (reporting)?- <-c
"Smith was put on tfce detective force
because he is a great friend of the mur- .
derer we are looking for." i
Chief of Police?"And Brown?"
C. P. C.?"He is a member oi tha
same secret society as the murderer."
C. of P.?"And Jones?"
C. P. C.?"He is the murderer's cousin*
but not the same name, you know."
C. of. P.?"And Robinson?"
C. P. C.?"An amateur detective;
perfectly harmless."
C. of P. (excitedly)?"Just the sort of
carelessness which might give the whole
snap away. He might accidentally find
a clew we couldn't suppress. Discharge
Robinson at once, and be more careful in
future."?New York Herald.
PIGS ALL IN.
Agent?"I want to show you some-;thing
new in safes, sir." j ?0
Bank President?"Just got one." !
Agent?"But this is the new 'pigs-inths-pcn
combination,' with double time
locks." ; '
Bank President?"How does it work?'*
Agent?"Why, you see, sir, you loclc
the cash up in this compartment, the
bookkeeper in the next, the teller in the
next and the President in the last. Each
compartment furnished with folding bed
and all the modern conveniences, sir." f
Bank President?"But what the
dickens do I want to lock the President
up for?" }
Agent?"So you can keep watch of the
others; and to relieve your mind of all
undue responsibility here's a slot fox you
to drop this extra key out to the night
watchman, who will return it to you at
the proper hour next morning." !
Director (entering)?"Order one at
once."?New York Graphic. t
UNDER THE SILENT * * * *. I
"What makes you so thoughtful to-j
night, Gteorge?" asked Nellie.
"Well," said George, as he threw his:
eyes up to the ceiling and took a fresh:
hold upon her slender waist, "I was
thinking that if your mother was willingto
become ray mother-in-law, I would,
like it very much."
"You would?"
"I would, indeed."
"Then if it will afford you any satis-!
faction I can inform you that I am quitej
willing that she should and also that she,
is quite willing to act in that capacity inj
a quiet and unostentatious manner." i
And thus under the silent stars t he*
arrangements were concluded by which!
two lives hitherto running apart are tobe
blended into one, and a youth hither-i
to his own master is to stoop under the!
yoke of a mother-in-law.?BostonCouriei'.
The Methodist Book Concern is believed
to be the largest publishing housa,
in the world. _ , r