The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, July 17, 1889, Image 1
F ' Y ' ' ' - ... ' * . ' ' v
The Abbeville Press and Banner, j
\ BY HUGH WILSON. ABBEVILLE, S. C., WEDNESDAY, JULY 17, 1889. VOLUME XXXIV. NoT^ ||
A Story of TVingrs.
"Just now there Is again a deplorable tendency
towards the use of natural wings and
, whole birds in millinery."
I The wife ol the vicar was young and fair;
. The simplest hat on her braided hair
Borrowed such charm from her lovely face,
That It seemed a thing of artistic grace;
1 But like many another Is kind and good,
She fancied that Fashion understood
The how and the wherewithal to wear,
And trusted to modiste and milliner,
Instead of her own sweet womanly mind,
Which could but choose the fit and rcflned.
So one day she took from its wraps with caro,
A wondrous erection just sent to her,
Id wbloh was set one beautiful thing,
f- And that was a klttiwake's exquisite wing.
I j She was bound for a stylish afternoon tea,
I But first she must visit her nursery,
I l Wham tho hohv mwpd with delieht to touch
some ior ever so long, out x uiuu u
much about it, 'cause when you live in
a little cuddled-up house, and your papa
has to buy bread and shoes for so
many, the money all flies away before
it gets around to what little girls want.
I don't know how auntie found it
out unless Santa Claus told her, and it
wasn't near Christmas time, either.
They were such pretty brown mitts.
Tilly Jones said they were just the color
of my hands, b"ut I didn't care "for
that. Little hands will get brown
when they weed the garden beds and
do so many things. I looked at them
'most a hundred times in two days, J
guess, and then it came Sunday.
Wasn't I glad! I put them on and
walked to church, just so. Jack said I
held my paws like a scared rabbit, but
I didn't ever see a rabbit with mitts
on.
It isn't right to think too much about
what you wear when you go to Sunday-school,
and by ana by I didn't, for
we had such a good Sunday-school I
forgot every thing else. A missionary
man told all the folks about some poor
little children away off; how the fire
had burned down their school-house,
and they hadn't any nice houses, or
clothes, or any thing, but they were
trying so hard to get along and to
learn ; and he said what was given to
those little ones was just the same as
trivinc to .TftsuH. Think of that! Just
the same as giving to the dear Christ
Child! I just supposed every body
would give. Why, some of the folks
are worth as much as ten dollars, or a
hundred, and yet that basket stayed
'most empty.
I did wish I was rich, and all at once
I remember the poor widow in the Bible.
I'd read it that very morning,
how she had given her two mitts, every
living mitt she had ; it said so. So I
Blipped mine off and dropped them into
the basket, and I was glad, if my
throat did choke up. But pretty soon,
when that basket was carried up, the
gentleman picked them right out.
"Has any little girl lost her gloves?"
Nobody said anything, and he asked
again : "Did any little girl drop her
gloves in the basket by mistake?" It
was awful still in that room and I
thought he was looking right at me, so
I had to say something. "It wasn't a
mistake," I told him; "I wanted to
help and hadn't any money, but I
knew how that woman in the Bible
gave her two mitts, and so?" Then
those folks just shouted, they did ! and
I felt ns if I'd like to drop right down
through the floor.
I knew I had made some dreadful
blunder, hut I couldn't see what, for if
m-l-t-e-8 don't spell mitts what does it
spell ? 'Course I cried, but my teacher
put her arm right around me and
whispered, "Never mind, little Nellie
and she stood up and said, with
her voice all trembling: "Dear
friends, this little girl has given her
greatest treasure; have we older ones
done as much ?" Some way, the money
just poured into that basket after
that, and the missionary looked gladder
and gladder. They brought my
mitts back to me, and my teacher said
she would show me how to get some
r? The ornament which he fain would clutch;
And Harold declared with a wild halloo
[ That mother was just like a cockatoo;
WhileNelly'sinsiplent womanhood
Pondered the matterln thoughtful mood.
I But the lady had an hour to spend
Before she reached the house of her friend.
To her mother's meeting she bent her way,
Though rather shy of her dress that day.
, She met each one with kind look and word,
The little tales of their troubles heard;
. And she made the time pass pleasantly
I With her friendly talk and her sympathy.
' Before they lelt, she ventured to say
| , How It grieved her to soo their boys at play,
Stoning the thrushes, now weak with cold,
' And with winter sorrows manifold.
* 1 And then she spoke of God's loving care
* For the creatures He made, the birds of the
-v air;
How should their children grow good and
* kind,
While in cruel deeds they could pleasure find?
Good-bye was said. They went one by one,
And the lady thoueht herself there alone,
As making up her accounts she sat.?
When she felt a sudden twitch at her hat;
It came again, and made her start,
While quicker and louder throbbed her heart,
And then she suddenly was aware
Of a wingless kittlwake standing there
Upon the table It silence broke,
And (wonder of wonders!) thus it spoke
"That wing la mine?you wear to-day,
The thing that was stolen from me away.
Well I remember the morning fair,
When we skimmed the waves and cleaved
the air,
My mate and I, as we sought to find
Food for the little ones lelt behind,
When peal on peal broke like thunder's
sound,
And soon sea and rock and sands around
Were strewn with the fair birds dying and
dead. I
My mate fell flr#t?then, ere life had fled,
The wings were -wrenched from my bleeding
breast.
And 1 was flung on the billows crest
I once had enjoyed to tread, but now
A quivering mass I sank below.
Hearing my bungry blrdllngs' cry,
Worse than my own sore agony.
And you are a mother! well, that Is good:
What do you think of my starving brood?
The downy nestlings that 'neath that wing
Were wont so cosily to cling?
A nice, becoming plura6 for you?
And who can pity the thrushes too!
Murder and robbery In one dayYet
you'll wear that wing when in church
you pray."
And the poor bird, giving its anger vent,
Waxed so indignant and eloqueut,
That it was with almost a shriek it spoke,
And with its wall the lady awoke.
Her eyes were dim for the mother-bird's woe;
The room was dark, and the fire was low;
She was too late now for tne afternoon tea,
So she gathered her books up tremblingly,
And went a back way like a guilty thing,
She was so ashamed of that kittiwake's wing.
In her happy home the Are shone bright,
The room was full of a pleasant light,
, But warmer and brighter and yet more fair
The welcome her husbaDd gave to her;
But even that could not charm away
The troubled look on her face that lay.
And she could not find a moment's rest
Till the strauge, wierd story was confessed.
And she asked, with tears in ber eyes of blue,
If the phantom bird had told her true?
The vicar looked grave while he stroked her
hair,
And thought she never had seemed so fair,
As he answered her that the lovely wing
Was, spite of its beauty, a cursed thing.
"You will never have another." said he;
"I will never wear this again," sobbed she.
"Give it to Nell for her doll," said he:
"Nay, it is stained with blood, sighed she.
"Then we will burn It to-morrow," said he;
"No, we will burn It to-night," cried she.
Jake Budge.
Nellie's *Gift.
Did you ever want anything awful
bad and then have it come? Then you
know how I felt when the patkage
came from my auntie in New York,
and I opened it and found a pair of
real silk mitts. Jack said they were
just "splen-dor-if-ic," and Jack's my
"brother, and he knows. I had wanted
money to give. ButO, how full that
basket was ! And when that gentleman
counted it hi9 eyes grew all wet,
and he said softly (though I didn't
know what he meant), "A little child
shall lead them."?Ex.
Bea'fr Room.
Girls who are wondering what they
can do to keep their brothers at home
evenings may find a hint in the followin?
incident from the Philadelphia
Call:
"What a hideous green you are putting
in that tidy said Belle to her
"very best friend," as they sat talking
over their fancy work.
"I know it," said Kate, good-humoredly.
"You see, I bought it one
night, and began to work on. it by
lamplight, and thought it looked prettv
well. But some colors are so
changeable; it looks frightful by daylight.
I only know one thing I can do
with it?I'll give it to Ben."
"Why?will he like it!"
"Oh! I don't know; I guess so.
It'll help make him out for Christmas,
and do well enough for his room. We
stuff everything there." And Kate
gave a little short laugh, then flushed
suddenly, as she saw Bell's blue eyes
bent wonderingly upon her.
"Why," said the girl, and her fingers
stopped in their busy motion, "I'd
just as soon think of putting anything
ugly into t{ie parlor as into brother
Frank's room ; he is so choice of it."
"Oh! well, boys are different,"
stammered Kate in confusion.
And Belle, feeling that she was
treading on forbidden ground, adroitly
turned the conversation. Yes, she
knew that Ben was different from her
brother, and, oh! how thankful she
felt for that difference?thankful that
Frank was strong and manly, kept
above temptation?sorry for the great
contrast in her friend.
"You must all do something to try
to keep Ben at home these evenings,"
said his father one day. "I don't like
the way he is spending his time."
And Kate, as she heard the words,
wondered what she could do.
That afternoon there was a great
overhauling of furniture up stairs, and
by supper-time quite a transformation
had taken place in Ben's room. There
were pretty, bright chromos, and one
or two choice engravings, ou the wall,
hitherto bare; dainty white mats on
the bureau, fresh muslin curtains draped
back from the window, and everything
as inviting as thoughtful hands
coula make it.
"Now," she said, "I wonder if he'll
notice it."
"Have you a headache, Ben?" she
asked, as she passed his door that evening,
and saw him sitting with his
head bowed upon his hands.
"Oh, no!'' he answered; "only
thinking of going down town, but it
looks so pleasant and homelike up here
I guess I'll stay."
And he did stay; it wasn't the last
time, Either. By and by he began to
invite some of r,the fellows" to come
and see him at the house, and, with
great satisfaction, would ask them to
"step up" to his room. Was it strange
that from these little gatherings more
than one went away feeling that it was
a grand, good thing to have a home,
and be worthy of it f
Cost of Keeping a Horse.
The cost of keeping a horse by most
persons is mere guess work instead of
careful figures. Mr. J. H. Andre,
with a view to enlightening the
uninitiated, gave recently in Rural
Home the following estimates: If
one purchases a good horse four years
of age for $150, it is a good bargain.
A top buggy will cost $125. cutter $26,
harness $20, robe $10, blankets $3,
comb and brush $3, whip $2, which
amounts figure $337. Now if we take
all into consideration, these will last,
on an average, ten years. Perhaps the
wagon might last longer, but it would
need repairing in that time; on the
whole, ten years is a long average, as a
horse might be worthless in five years.
? id. 1^
II it ttosui;toot lur iaju yvtuu, it wuuiu
be at the rate of $33.70 per year, and
the interest on the whole outlay at 6
per cent, would be $20.22. Add to this
at least four tons of hay, which has
averaged in past ten years $12 per ton,
$48; one ton of straw for bedding,
$7.90 bushels of oats at 35 cents per
bushel, $31.50; shoeing, $5, and it
would be a cheap job to care for a
horse, wash wagons, etc., for $1 per
week, which would bring the price to
$52 per year, or the sum total of $197.42
for the year at moderate figures.
Ancf yet we find thousands who keep
a horse and have no real buisness for
it, and do not keep a cow, when the
cost of keeping a horse will keep two
cows, and yet they do not see how
they can keep a cow.
A Scrap Book.?We have frequently
advocated the use of a scrapbook
; but a useful hint will bear repetition.
One who has never been accustomed
to preserve short articles,
poems, tales, etc., in a scrap-book, can
hardly realize the pleasure it affords to
sit down and turn over the pleasant,
familiar pages. Here a piece of poetry
meets the eye, which you woula long
since have lost had it not been for your
scrap-book. There is a witty anecdote
?it does you good to laugh over it, although
it may be for the twentieth time.
Next is a valuable recipe you had almost
forgotten, and which you found
just in time to save much perplexity.
There is a sweet little story, the memory
of which has cheered and encouraged
you when almost ready to despair
under the pressure of life's cares. Indeed,
you can hardly take up a single
paper without reperusing. Then
hoard with care the precious gems,
and see at the end of the year what a
rich treasure you will have accumulated.?
Orant County Witness.
Teachers should not be absent from
the school a single Sabbath without
providing a teacher for the class. No
ordinary interference should be sufficient
to prevent attendance. When a
visit is contemplated or sickness comes,
always select a good substitute. Get
the best you can. The effect of this
forethought is, first, it will give your
class a teacher of your own selection
and not leave it to the mercy of a picked-up
teacher; second, it shows to the
superintendent, class and school that
the teacher i& thoughtful and exercises
the best of care. In no case should a
teacher, knowing of unavoidable absence,
leave the matter for the superintendent
to provide as best he can at
the moment when a score of things
need his attention and wisdom.
Teacher, lay this to heart.
When eating bread and butter at the
table, butter a small piece at a time,
not the entire slica.
; t . ;<
A Georgia Sermoa.
A BAPTIST BROTHER GIVES HIS OPINION
ABOUT THE PRESBYTERIANS.
A lady correspondent of the Independent
gives a sketch of a sermon
she heard in Georgia nearly half a century
ago from which we give an extract
:
The preacher was apparently about
fifty years of age, large, muscular and
well prop?rtioued. On entering the
pulpit he took off his coat and hung it
on a nail behind him, then opened his
collar and wristbands, and wiped the
perspiration from his face, neck and
hanas. He was clad in striped cotton
homespun, and his shirt was of the
same material. He had traveled several
miles that morning, and seemed
almost overcome by the heat. But the
brethren sang a couple of hymns
while he was fanning and cooling off,
and when he arose ne looKea comrortr
able and good-natured.
He had preached there once or twice
before, but to most of the audience he
was a stranger. Hence he thought it
necessary to announce himself, as he
did, as "Old Club Axe Davis, from
Screven county, a half hard and half
soft shell Baptist."
"I have given myself that name,"
said he, "because I believe the Lord
elected . me from all eternity to go
ahead in the backwoods and grub out
a path and blaze the way for others to
follow. After the thickest of it is cut
away, a good Methodist brother will
come along and take my trail and
make things a little smoother and a
good deal wiser. And after all the unaerbruRh
is cleared out, and the owls
and wolves skeered off, a Presbyterian
brother in black broadcloth and white
cravat will come along and cry for decency
and order. And they'll both do
good in their sphere. I don't despise a
farnt man, even if he don't dress and
think as I do. You couldn't pay me
enough to wear broadcloth, summer or
winter, and you couldn't pay a Presbyterian
enough to go without it in dog
days.
God don't make us all alike, my
brethren; but every man his own
sphere. When God has a place to fillHe
makes a man and puts him in it.
When he wanted General Jackson, He
made him and set him to fightin' Indians
and the English; when He
wanted George Whitfield, He made
him to blow the Gospel trumpet as no
other man ever blowed it, and when
He wanted old Club Axe Davis, He
made him and set him to grubbin' in
the backwoods.
"But my shell isn't so hard but I
can see good pints in everybody ; and
as for the Presbyterians, they are a
long way ahead of us Baptists and
Methodist in some things. They raise
fv.au s>hiirirpn hetter than any people
lUCii VUKH.v..
on the face of the earth. Onfy a few
days ago a Methodist class-leader said
to me: 'Brother Club Axe, I was
born a Methodist, I was raised a Methodist,
and by the grace of God I hope
to die a Methodist; but thank God I
got a Presbyterian wife to raise my
children.'
"And I believe, my brethren, if the
Lord should open the way for me to
marry again, rd try my best to find a
Presbyterian woman, and run my
chances of breabin' her in into the
savin' doctrines of feet washin' and
immersion afterwards."
Just at this time be was interrupted
by two spotted hounds that had been
continuing running up and down the
pulpit stairs. One of them jumped
upon the seat and began to gnaw his
coat tail, in which was something he
had brought along for his lunch.
He turned slowly and took him by
the ears and tail and threw him out of
the window behind as easily as if it
had been a young kitten. The other
took warning and got out as rapidly as
possible, though not without howling
and yelping as if he had been half
killed.
He then turned to the audience and
said smilingly: "St. Paul exhorted the
brethren 'beware of dogs.' I wonder
what he would do if he were in my
place this morning? It appears like I
am compassed about with dogs, as David
says he was."
He had scarcely commenced preaching
again before there was a squealing
* ' , ! ?4Vm TY-mloa and
ana kickiuk uuiuu^ iuc uu.v. -?
horses that were tied to trees close by.
He put his head out of the window
and said : "No harm done, brethren.
Just a creetur with a sidesaddle broke
loose. Will some brother head the
animal ? for no sister can walk home
this hot day."
Quiet being restored, be continued:
"Well, my brethren, I will now try to
say what I alllowed to about the Presbyterians.
As I said before, they raise
their children a heap better than we
do. They behave better in church and
keep the Sabbath better, and read the
Bible, and learn the catechism better
than ours do. I declare, brethren,
their clildren are larnt that Westminister
catechism before the time they begin
to talk plain.
"It ain't three weeks since I was out
cattle huntin,?for two of my vearlins
had strayed off?and I stopped at old
Brother Hardy's on Rund creek and
took dinner. He is a deacon in the
Presbyterian church over thar. Well,
as sure as I stand here, my brethren,
sister Hardy had her little gal a standin'
right before her, with her toes just
even with the crack of the floor, ana
her hands were hanging down by her
side, and her mouth turned up like a
chicken when it drinks, and she was
putting this question to her out o' that
cate chism: "What are the benefits
which in this life do either aocompauy
or flow from justification, adoption or
sanctification ?"
"Now, the question in itself was
enough to break the child down. But
when she began to say the questiou all
over, (for that's the way it was in me
book,) and then hitch the answer to it,
and which all put together made this:
"The benefits which in this life do
either accompany or flow from justification,
are peace of conscience, joy in
the Holy Ghost, increase of grace and
preservance therein to the end!" I
thought the child was the greatest
wonder I had ever seen in niy life.
She tuck it right through too, without
balkin' or missin' the first word. And
she spoke so sweet and looked so like
a little angel, that, before I knowed it,
the tears was a runnin' down my
cheek as big as buckshot. I've seen
the day when I could have mauled
and split a thousan' rails auicker'n I
could a larnt that thing ana said it off'
like she did.
"Now, my brethren, that child
didn't understand or know one word
o'that. It put me to all I knew to
take it in myself. But just let that
Presbyterian young'un jjrow up, and
every word o' that catechism will come
back to her, and her character will
stiffen up under it, and she'll have the
backbone of the matter in her for life.
\
,,Now, I can't put things into my
children in that way. Nothin' don't
stay, somehow. It's like drivin' a nail
into a rotten log."
This last remark I never forgot.
For thirty years afterwards, as I would
stand by the blackboard, trying to fix
rules and principles in the mind of a
dull pupil, this remark would come
back to me with its peculiar pertinacity.
"I tell you my brethren," he continued,
"if our children had a little more
catechism and the Presbyterians a little
less, it would be better for both.
"Then, we don't pray in our families
like they do. I know their prayers
are mighty long, and they pray over
all creation ; but after all its the right
wav. It's better than nravin' too lit
tie."
"Now, my mother and father were
good Baptists, and raised their children
to be honest and industrious, but
I never heard one of them pray in my
life, and I was most a grown man before
I prayed a prayer myself, and it
was in this wise :
"There was a big meetin' over in Elbert
county, and I knowcd a pretty
gal. So I borrowed a little Jersey
wagin, which was a stylish thing in
them days, and went over to her home
and stayed all night, and engaged her
to ride to meetin' next day, which wtis
Sunday.
"We went and had a glorious timo,
and I might as well say right here,
that she was afterwards my wife, but a
comin' home I met with a powerful accident
that I've never got over to this
day. As I was a comin' down a steep
hill, some part of the gearin' give way,
and let me and the wagin' on my
creetur's heels; and bein' young ana
skeery, and not much used to wheels,
she riggled and tore from one side to
the other until I was pitched headforemost
as much as ten foot into a deep
gully, and it's a miracle of mercy that
my neck wasn't broke on the spot.
"Expect!n' to be killed every minit
I thought I ought to ask the Lord for
mercy. But as I had never prayed in
my life, I couldn't think of the first
thing to say but the blessin' my father
used to say before eatin' when he had
company, and which was this: "Lord,
make us thankful for what we are
about to recieve.'
"Now, my brethren, do you 'spose
any Presbyterian raised boy was ever
put to such a strait as that- for prayer?
No. He would have prayed for himself
and gone off after the Jews and
heathens, while I was a huntin' up
and gettin' off that blessin.'"
Disarmament?Pari*.
A new iournal, Le Desarmement,
comes forth from Paris. It is under
the auspices of the Church of Rome.
It wisely opens its columns to men of
all creeds and parties. Its first number
contains letters from W. E. Gladstone,
Emiles Castelar, Simon, and
Fredric Paspy
The conductors of this anti-war
innrnftl hecin their camnaism thus :
? ?O ? A W
/Men of Europe! In view of the
fact that at the present time, the nations
of old Europe have tor their
frontiers, lines of soldiers, and that
multitudes of men, without clearly
knowing why, are preparing for mutual
destruction, we think the hour is
come when we should proclaim the
unrecognised rights or humanity.
Just as if no account were taken of
the wishes of the populations, it is
said, with truth, that an imprudent
remark, any incident whatever, a
word, or a mere nothing, may transform
fertile plains into a human
slaughter-house. In this way millions
of men would, under compulsion, and
without explanation, be sent to death
like cattle. Do we live, then, still in
the terrible times when, for the satisfaction
of two or three ambitious
chiefs, their unhappy subjects were
required to massacre each other ?
"Is the will of tjie mass of the people
sovereign or not ? Either the
tbree hundred millions of men who
inhabit Europe have the hearts of slaves,
or war will cease. If they do
not desire war, yet it takes place, then
war is made by them, in spite of them,
and against tbem.
"Ze jDasarmemcnt, organ of the
popular will, always demanding universal
Peace, will declare everywhere,
without distinction of country, these
-* * matr ha wurfl
Sl^IiUl II UHJD, mat uuciu UJHJ w ?
which are glorious for the great, but
never for the humble; that the
wretches who let loose this plague
hold mankind in contempt, and that
the men who suffer it are by that very
fact to be despised; thus if cannonshot
is the last word of kings, then
simultaneous disarmament is the last
word of the j>eople.
The question then arises whether
we are pursuing a chimera, and whether
disarmament is a Utopia? That is
an objection constantly thrown in our
teeth. We reply that as war is as
detestable as it is stupid, the real Utopia
is to regard it as eternal. Nations,
as they develop, end always, after
more or less successful efforts, in getting
rid of that which does not deserve
to exist. The day, then, will come
when the guns in our arsenals will
share the lot of those in front of the
Hospital of the Invalides. Our sons
will find them in museums as they
And other curiosities of the savage
life. It is a question of time, but it
will come. The car of civilization
moves slowly some-times, but it never
goes back."
* *****
'Men of Europe! we are ruining
ourselves! To make war we must pay
the tax of blood; to maintain the
armed peace we must pay the tax of
money. In these times, when starving
people multiply, the military machine
seeks to absorb all the nation's
wealth. In his letter, Mr. Gladstone,
-* ?. 10/in 0:
nays: tliat bo long ago an iot^, on
Robert Peel regarded the armaments
of Europe as excessive, and as dangerous
to peace. What, then, would this
statesman have thought of the armaments
of 1889?"
"The French peasant is paying taxes
in order to arm a soldier to kill the son
of a German pesant, and the German
peasant is paying taxes to arm a German
soldier to kill the son of a French
peasant. Both are therefore paying
for the murder of their sons. Inasmuch
as, after the war which menaces
us, and in comparison with which other
wars were but child's play, the conqueror,
whoever he be, can exercise no
mercy, the nations are preparing fora
deadly struggle. Each desiring to
crush her neighbours at any price, it
will be a rivalry of madness, but one
which will cost dear indeed. We
spend each year a thousand millions of
francs (?40,000,000) for swords, rifles,
and cartridages. And moreover, our
greatest hope iB that all this material
may not be used'! But one fortieth
part of the above turn would provide
two millions of poor old men with an
annual pension of &20 a year."
After an appeal to the fathers and
mothers of families, the Address concludes
with these words:
Lastly, we offer our help to you, the
unfortunate, the poor, the humblest
members of society?to you who see
yourselves condemed to perpetual
misery. It is your lot which we have
most at heart. It is for you, above all,
that we are determined not to cease
labouring until the barracks shall
everywhere be thrown open to those
who are in need, and the soldiers shall
be restored to their homes."
The Deadly Military of Lord Wolseley.
We rejoice to see the Methodist
Timet is for making war on War. In
a leading article recently entitled,
"Christ or Apollyon?Whicn? the editor
exclaims: "Has not the time come
for all who have any trace of the mind
of Christ to make war on War?" aud
again, "One thing is certain. We
Christians cannot repudiate responsibility
for the horrible condition of Europe.
If we all acted energetically
together, we could make a European
war impossible," In previous issues
this paper contains a series of addresses
or sermons by Mr. Hugh Price
Hughes, M. A., delivered at th<3 SunHov
Afinmnnn Conferences at St.
James's Hall, in which the "deadly
delusions" contained in Lord Wolseley's
late address at Birmingham are
powerfully exposed .?English paper.
Lord Wolsely is trying to make his
project of compulsory army service
palatable to Englishmen by associating
it with high words about patrot
ism and the growth of our Empire.
He thinks he knows how to perfume
his poison. But Colonel G. Pomeroy
Colley baa told us that "no nation ever
did or ever will accept conscription
except of necessity."
What Lord Wolseley now favors,
Sir Garnet Wolseley condemned,
remarking in 1882 that we need only
go to Hamburg to see thousands of
ablebodied men leaving the country to
escape from the infernal and cursed
burden of universal service. Thanks
to the conscription his lordship glorifies,
nationalities in these days are
born into a state of servitude. Young
Italy, Bulgaria, Greece, are staggei1ing
under burdens which threaten to
stifleout their life. Freedom, to mainain
its being, must live in a garment
of iron ; new-born peoples whose energies
should be devoted to increasing
their vigor and stability, must spend
tbeir life-blood in supporting vast armaments
; nations can only preserve
their liberties by bearing a self imposed
yoke of slavery; in order to preserve
peace we must threaten war.
This is our so call Christian civilization
! Well may Mr. Hughes, in
burning vrords, called upon the
Churches of Christ to rouse themselves.
At this moment France and
Germany are madly and wickedly
arming for the most terrible and useess
war of the century, and the
hurches are dumb. The ministers
of Christ are standing with folded,
arms' calmly looking on as the callous
crowd looks on when two infuriated
fools are stripping ror a ngm m a uwi
street. Will no one protest against
, this unparalleled wickedness? Mr.
Frederic Harrison is quite right in
holding the Christian Churches responsible
for European wars. If
Catholics and Protestants joined hands
on great social issues, as Lord Nelson
devoutly suggests, they could at once
put a veto on war. If they allow ecclesiastical
differences or false patriotism
to keep them silent, they will be
responsible before God and man for
the rivers of human blood which their
silence permits to flow."
If all such war "Lords" as Wolseley
were compelled to serve as privates in
war and in battle put in the front it is
more than likely their views would be
modified. Who would say that such
assignment could be unjust. The people
ought to decree that it should be so
done.
Ed. C. JV.
Abolish the Pistol.?The invention
of gunpower is the most satanic ol
inventions* If it were not for the pistol,
it may be that Abraham Lincoln
and James A. Garfield would be alive
1 today. I believe that, next to alcohol
itself, the pistol is the most frequent
occasion or murder. The very fact
that a man knows that he has a pistol
in his pocket tempts him to act the
bully. Many a man who has not the
open bravery to strike his foe with his
fist, will resort to the cheap bravery of
drawing a concealed pistol, and cravenly
take advantage of forestalling hie
"""ty.itia MTwiotivorpd fire.
CiiCiilJ D UMUVM .
Treatment op Animals.?That
mysterious force which we vaguely
call "principle of life," and which the
Bible distinguishes from spirit by calling
it "soul," is common to both man
ana animal. Ah! little we know
what mystic bonds of kinship join animal
and man. How human-like the
ways of the higher forms of animals !
Whistle to your devoted Fido; see
how joyously he bounds toward you,
wagging his tail in nervous ecstasy;
how lovingly he rests his paw and
head on your knee. Bpeak sharply
to him ; see how he slinks away, crestfallen
and grieved.
No wonder, then, that Israel's lawgiver,
in proclaiming to his people the
code dictated to him from heaven,
guarded so jealously the sacredness of
animal life.
A curious and noteworthy statement
haa been published in regard to the
great river Euphrates. It appears that
this ancient river is in danger of disappearing
altogether. Of late years the
banks below Babylon have been giving
way so that the stream spread out into
a marsh, until steamers could not pass,
onri nnlv r narrow channel remained
for native boats. Now this passage is
becoming obliterated, with tne probable
result that the famous river will beswallowed
up by the desert.
"Doctor," said the patient, "I believe
there's something wrong with my
stomach." "Not a bit of it," replied
the doctor, promptly. "God made
your stomach, and he knows how to
make them. There's something wrong
with the stuft' you put into it, maybe,
and something wrong in the way you
stuff it in and tramp it down, but your
stomach is all right." And straightway
the patient discharged him.
My, how a man does hate to have the
doctor tell him the truth !
If the milk foams and troths in the
chum, the probability is that the
temperature is not correct.
Very Costly Ships.
The London Daily Mews remarks:
The enormous expense that has attended
the construction and getting
ready for sea of our recent battleships,
is indesd enough to make a Minister
think twice ere he proposes to build
something that shall be still more
costly. Taking, as examples, our
eight battleships olr the Mediterranean
Fleet, we find that the earliest of
them?the "8ultan"?has cost up to
the present time for construction, completion,
machinery, repairs and alterations,
552,000/. Similarly the "Temeraine"
has cost 541,000/.; the "Dreadnought,"
882,000/.; the "Agamemnon,"
540,000/.; the "Alexuidra,"
802,000/.; the "Edinburg," 664,000/.;
the "Colossus," 662,000/.; and the
"Benbow," over 760,000/. The eight
ships, therefore, represent a total expenditure
by the country of nearly 5,000,000/.;
and costly though they are
not one of them is so oostly as the
"Nile" or the "Trafalgar," both of
which are now being completed.
The bill for each of these will amount
to nearly 9000,000/., at1 which price,she
will be more than worth her weight
in copper at the present quotations.
It has of late been unofficially announced
that the Government proposes?in
the course of the next four
years?to lay down ten new armored
? J a nnmka* A!
VCPWJUSj 111 AUUlUUli IV UMUiUVf vi
cruisers.
Sabbath ObncTsace.
The American Sabbath Union, No.
23 Park row, New York, asks that, action
be taken by all general assemblies
and oi;her church councils and conferences
and conventions in accordance
with i.he following extract of its constitution
:
BASIS.
Thri basis of this Union is the Dt
vine authority, and universal and perpetual
obligation of the Sabbath, ai
manifested in the order and constitution
of nature, declared in the revealed
will of God, formulated in the
Fourth Commaadment of the moral
law, interpreted and applied by our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, transferred
to the Christian. Sabbath, or
Lord's Day, by Christ and His apostles,
and approved by its beneficial influence
upon national life.
OBJECT.
The object of this Union is to preserve
the Christian'Sabbath as a day of
rest and worship.
MEMBERSHIP.
1. Representative Members?rThe
representative members shall be such
persons as have been or may be appointed
by the various Christian denominations
of our country?that accept
our basis?four representatives,
from each denomination, with an extra |
representative for each 100,000 members
or major fraction thereof in the
denomination.
The Union asks also from all such
bodies the indorsement, by vote, of
the following or a similar petition to
the United States Senate, with a duplif>ata
inr thfl House of Renresentatives;
To the United States "Senate ;
The undersigned organization earn*
estly petition you to pass a bill forbid*
ding, in the government's mail: and
military service, and in interstate com*
merce, and in the District of Columbia
and the Territories, all Sunday traffic
and work, except works of necessity
and mercy and such private work by
, those, who religiously and regularly
observe another day of the week by_ab1
staining from labor and business, as
will neither interfere with the general'
| rest nor with public worship.
Dying at (he Top.
Dr. Clokey says that the youths of
our country are dying at the top. He
makes the following "Startling statements
concerning young men":
Of the 7,000,000 young men in this
country
75 per cent, do not attend church.
1 95 per cent, do not belong to the
churcn.
97 per cent, do nothing for the
1 churcn.
70 per cent, of our incarcerated criminals
are young men.
90 per cent. (nearly( of all crimes are
' committed by young men.
85 per cent, of the patrons of saloons
- and bagnios are yourg men.
The "worm beneath the bark" are
1 impure personal habits, neglect of parents,
prayerlees homes, a secularized
Sabbat n, the saloon and the social vices.
Let all read the evidence and
consider. Copies of this little work
1 placed in tbe hands of our boys and
1 young men may save many 01 iubuj
from ruin.
Forests and Rain Fall.?There
i is nothing of greater importance to
the agriculturists than rain at the
proper season and in proper quantity;
ana science has demonstrated that the
forests of a country are potent in the
! regulation of storms, the formation of
clouds, and the descent of rain. Anything
which vitally affects the interests
of the farmer and producer affects the
- whole State, and demands the earliest
1 attention of the people's representa'
tives. The reckless destruction of for1
eats, so strongly condemned by many
American writers, which has been
! practiced by their countrymen, is now
bearing its fruits in the terrible spring
and autumn floods which of late years
have affected large portions of the I
United States. The Americans might
spare much of their care for the chan1
nels of the Mississippi if they would
t restore the groves cut from the hills
which feed its sources. To disforest a
mountain slope is to devote the height
to barrenness, the valley to flood, and
both to parching drouth when drouth
is most injurious.
Formation of Flowers.? It has
been discovered by Prof. Sachs, the
distinguished German botanist, that
the ultra-violet and invisible rays of
the solar spectrum especially promote
the development of flowers, whose
growth is exceedingly feeble when
* ...?. nooail althrmorh
inose rays tire Bupmcaoou,
that of other parts or the plant Is very
luxuriant. Prof. Sachs supposes that
extremely minute quantities of one or
more substances are formed in the
leaves and aot upon large quantities
of plastic substances to produce the
flowers. Dividing the solar spectrum
into three distinct regions, or sets of
rays, he finds that the yellow and adjacent
rays cause the decomposition of
carbonic acid in plants, and are active
in assimilation; the blue and visihle
violet rays are those which produce tire
movements of irritation ; while the
ultra-violet form in the green leaves
the subtances which are active in developing
the flowers.
We can deny ourselves, but we can
not cleanse ourselves.
T
CareleM .Varda.
Alas ! how thoughtless and wicked
we sometimes are, preparing for. ourselves
misery in future yean, simply
because we are so heedless now! By
careless words, we sow the seeds of estrangement
and bitterness, for which g
we may repent in after days, when the
grave has parted us from the friends
we have wronged, or even in this
world, when it is too late to repair the
mischief and win back the hearts we
have alienated. Can we not be wise in
time, and study our unconscious faults, '
so that we may utter ontythe words or
a true love and our speech may be always
with grace?
ii n
Self-control.?Self-control on the .<
part of the mistress is really all impor- i
tant. To lose one's calmness because
cups and saucers are chipped, beeanse %
breakfast is delayed, because the cook
is in a fractious mood, or because any-1
thing below stairs is a little crooked,
is altogether unworthy and ill-bred. Besides,
it defeats itself. You can never
possias authority over those less care- ^
fully educated and less fortunately v~
placed than yourself, unless you have i
yourself well in hand. It is well, in
our dealings with servants, to remember
that it is as unreasonable and as ^
vaiu w iook i?r ausuiuw iwtieuuuu -i,
among them as to expect to find it in
their superiors in station. Do not lim- ; !
it yourself to finding fault with them
when they fail; encourage tbem by #*
judicious praise when they do well: ,i
take an interest in their welfare, and v
let them see that you regard it, and >
you will have less cause to complsln of
their unfaithfulness.
Mrs. Margaret E. Sana tier* s Hour*
with Girts. m
Two Gentlemen.?I saw two gentlemenott
a street-car lately. One of'
them was grown up. He was hand- t
somely dressed in a gray business suit,
j and had very neat kid gloves and fine $j
| boots. The other was about twelve v.te
years old. His jacket had several
I patches, aud needed more; and his
shirt was of brown' cotton, and not
very clean. Do you wonder how I '
knew he was a gentleman ? I will tell - V?
you.
The boy weut through the car to , *7
give some message to the driver. As
fie returned, he gave a little Jump
through the door, and, as he did so, his
bare foot touched the grown-up gentleman's
knee, and left a little mud on it.
Turning around on the platform, he /
raised his straw hat, and said very po- $
litely, in a clear tone, ''Please excuse
me." Then the other gentleman bowed
in his turn, just as he would have '-"v
done to one of his own age, and said
with a pleasant smile, "Certainly." ;i|!
Black Peppeb.?The two kinds
of black pepper known to this coqntry
oome from Sumatra and Singapore. ?
Very little pepper is dusted before it ia
ground, notwithstanding the claims of
spice grinders. The shell or skin on
good pepper contains the essential oon-.
stituents of the spite much more / than
the inside kernel, which when free
fmm the shell produces white, hot
black pepper; But the heavy gains g
with the shell on,-make the beet pep* *
per. The Singapore pepper, which la
the best, is separated into heavy and
light grains and the better quality?
the heavy?is mostly sold whole, while
the light grains are ground. It is
better for the housekeeper to buy . |
whole pepper and grind it herself. . ^
{Good Housekeeping.
Can war cease while Christians
themselves are the advocates ? If this
world is to be delivered from war by
the gospel, the gospel must bo applied
for the purpose. Would the gospel ever
convert the heathen from idolatry,
if Christians should themselves en*
courage idolators, by a compliance
with their customs? But as little may '
we expect the solpel will maka wars . /
cease without the exertions of Christians,
and while they countenance the . \
custom by their own example.
Green Cobn Cakes.?With a pint
of grated green corn mix half a tea- . /
cup of milk, a tearcup of flour, a piece
of butter half the size of an egg, a tea*
spoonful of 8altf one egg well beaten,
and a little pepper. Drop from a
spoon into a little hot butter, and .
when done on one side turn to .the
other. 8erve hot for lunch or tea.
An English clergyman, it is said,
who was recently telling the story of
the Good Samaritan, got two incidents
in the Bible mixed, with a decidedly
indinmiiH result. After reoiting the
Good Samaritan's promise to the landlord
of the inn, "And when I come
again I will repay the?," be added, "
"This he said, knowing that he should
see his face no more." '
A mixture of oil and graphite will
effectually prevent screw* from becoming
fixed, moreover, protect them
from yea re against rust. The mixture
facilitates tightening up; is an excellent
lubricant and greatly reduces the
friction of the crews in its socket.
An Arab rule for selecting a good
horse is to measure him from the tip
of tte nose to top of the withers, apd
and from the latter point to the root' of
the tail. The longer the first measurement
is in propotion to the latter the
better the horse.
Henry Martyn laments that want of
private devotion, reading, and shortness
of prayer though incessan sermon-making
had produced much
strangeness between God and his soul.
Many a preacher is learn from the
same cause. *
. Jtv
Don't nag. There is more saving
virtue in one quick, stern reproof, tlun
in an hour's aimless scolding. A nagging
woman is a constant thorn in the
flesh.
I -,g
We can not make a more lively rep
resentation and emblem to ourselves of
hell, than by the view of a kingdom
??% tlTO !
in n?u
There is Dot much future for* young
man who knows how to spend a fortune
before he knows how to make
one.
The man who is too lazy to be a gen
tleman during his aetive buimeea life
generally finds it impossible to be one
when he retires from trade.
If you would And a great many
faults', be on the lookout; but if yoa
want to find them in unlimited quantities,
be on the look-in.
To love those who love us is manlike
; but to love those who hate ui is
Christ-like.
Life is a crucible. We are thrown
into it and tried. The actual weight
and value of a man are expressed In
the spiritual substance of the man.
All else is dross.
t '