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f THE CHRISTMAS BELLS. Hark?hear the bells, Whoso music tells Of Christmas joy, as sinks and swells Each sound that sings Of happy things This birthday of the King of King3. Lo, on this day. The glad bells say. In Bethlehem, far, far away. And long ago, In manger low, Was bora the Christ Who loved thee so. A radiant star Shone bright and far Above the plains whore shepherds were, And led the way. That Christmas Day, To where the young Jesus lay. 0 glorious morn "When Christ was born Among the garnered wheat and corn; O happy place "Where His dear face' First shed the sunshine o? its grace. Above the plain A heavenly strain Of music rang; and its refrain Is ringing still O'er height and hill? "Be Peace on Earth, to Men Good-Will." j Rejoice to-day, The glad bells say; Put all the cares that vex away; Let Christmas cheer Find welcome here. And bless this best day of the year. To Christ, thy King, As tribute bring Thy heart, and let the offspring "With love be sweet. As at His feet Thy iips its grateful vows repeat. Rejoice and sing. The glad balls ring. In honor of the world's dear King; Let love inci-ease; "\fnv discord cease. All hail, all hnil, thou Prince of Peace! ?Eben E. Rex ford, in Youth's Companion, j A CHRISTMAS DEBT, j BY C. G. ROGERS. j .ji i I iii OMMY had sat and ! ,v*f\ pondered over it for a ! j? long time, and now j J C~ his mind was made up; I little Laura 6hould ' ; have that coveted slod LBut how was hie to vjr manage it? T^e sled was marked uyon the back in big. skeleton letters of chalk, $1 .50; and to his imagination they seemed to grin at him mockingly. The price was unchangeable; Mr. Sharpe, the storekeeper, had assured him that; | and Tommy had only fifty cents. X dollar more was needed. Tommy had worked the sum cut upon his slate a hundred times, and the result was in- j variably the same?one dollar, one dollar! It seemed a vast, unattainable fortune to Tommy Dodd just now. S?4>r?*rtn 1?rrn nrt/1 TmTT'P I It "WAS l>nrxoomao utuj auu x vuxui t o , mother was putting little Laura to bed. j .The sun had set two hours ago in an om- j inous, gloomy sky of angry gray, that i boded n storm; and even now a few flakes flickered silently down, but speaking1 quite a talc to Tommy Dodd, who watched thcrn aud the sky very closely. ''Do you think Santy Claus will bring i,lie sled, Tommy?" said Laura from her cot. "You said he would, you know, ' and mamma says he won't come this year." And the little girl sighed anxiously. 1 'He'llcome all right, sissy, never fear," returned Tommy quite confidently,though ! he wondered at his own temerity. But; when Laura, satisfied, went to sleep his mother said: "I wish you wouldn't put foolish ideas and hopes into your sister's head, Tom. J You know your father has only money ' 1 V f J L - DOUgn co uuy iuuu uu s s^uuc tu iu?u i for. And then Laura will be unhappy ' all day." Tommy said nothing; but a little later, Tinder a pretext of meeting his father in the lane, he left the cottage, and five minutes afterward he was tramping on the high road to the town, three miles off, with his treasured half-dollar deep ; and safe in his trousers pocket. "I don't see why I can't strike a job or j two, like Billy Ranee did last Christmas," j mused Tommy, as he neared the town. j ;4<At any rate, I'mgoin' to try." He passed Skinnum's, the grocer's with its windows brilliantly lighted, dis- ( playing wreathes of evergreens, with red l berries peeping brightly here and there, ! and he stopped for a moment to gaze at i the wealth of raisins and peel and oranges, j and a hundred other delicious things, j Looking into the shop he saw his father, a bent, tired looking man, at the counter j making his scant purchases. "It won t do for him t sec me, said .Tommy to himself, as he slid o2 into the darkness, "cos. if he does, it'll mean car- j Tyin' home them parcels, an' then't '111 be up with the sled." Presently he came opposite to Soakey's, the saloonist's. There was a jovial crowd I inside the gorgeously lighted place, with ; the hundred and more glasses and bottles ; scintillating and sparkling in a perfectly bewildering manner. Bursts of merry laughter came every moment to the illclad little boy as lie stood irresolute and j pondering outside. "I don't see why it wouldn't work," j soliloquized young Tommy Dodd, as he j withdrew his face from the big window, j 'Soakey hain't got a boy just now, an' j he's sure to have lots of parcels to deliver ' on Christmas Eve," And he walked j slowly but determinedly toward the door, j Just then the latter opened, and a young, rosy-faced man stepped out to | the road to quiet a pair of fretful spirited ; i u., l., I uuioco tuiii, otwuu uj uaiuc.^cu tu a u^ui j cutter. It was young Robin9, the son of j the richest man in the township. Robins caught sight of Tommy. "Hello, kid!" he said merrily, "what arc you standing out here for? Come in- j side and get warm and set 'em up!" " 'Set'em up,' "cchoed Tommy mentally, ! as he followed young Robins up to the bar, "that means stund treat !""He's a young man with his pocket full I of money, who wants to treat the crowd," j said Robins, and the crowd all laughed :and cheered lustily. * Selfishness was a thing not to kin to ^Tommy's nature, but he turned a trifle pale. Surely they wouldn't make him jBpend his money! "Come on, fork out, Thomas, cried Robins. "How much have you got? lHalf a dollar, eh?" as the big coin was,, solemnly laid upon the counter with ^Tommy's small hand still upon it; while iti owner's face was turned appealingly to the crowd of rough, grinning men, who scorned to enjoy the scene immensely. "Just 'naff, Tom." said Bob Brass,the grocer's hoy. "There's ten of us. Set 'em up, Soakey. an' give the kid a hot lcmingnade." The "kid''let the steaming "lemingnade" stand before him, and as all the men raised their glasses to their lips and exclaimed with a laugh. "Here's to ycr, Tommy," he said quietly: "No, not tome. To little Laura." The men set down their glasses. "To?to who?" demanded Mr. Soakey, i with a knowing wink at the crowd. jsSS, crr-b y "To little Laura," said little Tommy, looking solemnly at the bartender, j, "She's my sister, y'know. She thinks , Santa Claus is comin' to our place sure, j to-night, with a big sled down there in Sharpc's door, that's a doller'n a half. ' That money was to help buy it; cos', you see, I told Laura she'd be cert'n to get it. But," continued Tommy, slowly? and the room would have been perfectly silent but for his voice, for all the then were intensely interested, "I?d'Vn't? see?how?I'm to?get it, unless?unless you can give me a job, Mr,i Soakey. That's what I came in here fer; not to drink!" ' I fon cnnnrxAc' Af POD f 1 H11 Pfl XJLlUlU \> Li ^ ttn ov^\-v/iivA.j v sileuce on the part of thel crowd, and then came a cheer that/ echoed clear across the street. When, it had subsided young Robins said: "Well, done, kid/ You didn't think we meant to take- your money, though, did you? Let's have a glass, Soakey, aud put sometEJug.;in it to start the collection." The sr.Yiooner went round, and when it was handed to Tommy it was freighted with over $4 in shining quarters and halves that ji.^jled merrily against the ?lass. Tommj^emptied the money out : upon the counter. "It?ain't?all?for me, is it?" he I gasped. I "Of course it is," saidRobbins. "And : j give the boy another hot lemonade, ! j Soakey, and let him go." j Tommy tried to thank his benefactor, but his voice faijed, and his eyes were i filled with happy tears. So he made the best of his way to the street. i Half an hour later he was outside the j: ; town, with a big parcel under his arm, | and pulling the long, handsome sled be-!! hind him. i It was snowing heavily, and the night 1 was pitch dark. Every little while he J j slid off into the ditch, but his happy, j! buoyant spirits brought him quickly to | the road again. The snow was a foot deep now, and 1 the sled pulled heavily through it. < Suddenly there was a rush and con- ] fused roar behind him, mingled with the i loud jingling of sleight bells. Tommy j partly tumbled to one side, and not a i moment too soon. A pair of runaway i horses dashed by him, the driver giving i a feeble yell as he sped by. In another moment horses and driver had van- 1 ished in the blackness. i "That's Robins," said Tommy with a : nervous shiver as he drew his breath and started after the runaway. lie didn't ' walk now, but found himself trotting as : well as he could through the heavy snow; j and finally he broke into a wild, plowing run. j ..({ i. ?,-r/ (*^)| 1/ mwvMMi? A mi MrnMM Suddenly he stumbled agaiust some- ] thing that lay on the edge of the road, i just at a point where the bush ended, i and where the tierce northwest wind had 1 swept the circling snow into a drift three feet high. The cutter had tilted and spilled its driver here. But cuttcr and horses had vanished. Tommy knelt down and shook the motionless form; but lie got only an inarticulate grunt in reply. "Drunk,"' said Tommy. Then he j stood up and listened attentively, hoping ! to hear the sleigh-bells of some home returning reveler. But only the "swish" of the wind as it dashed the snow in his face answered his unspoken and anxious inquiry. "One, two. three, heave!" said Tom- i my, as he dragged the heavy form of the man upon little Laura's Christmas present. One more big effort, and he had him on. If it was hard pulling before, what was it now? Poor Tommy made very slow progress, stopping every short while to gather breath and strength, while the snow came down heavier, aud the wind ( Diew wnner man ever, his iatner s cot- 1 tage was the nearest place, and that was a mile away. Still he trudged on, often | s coming to his knees: but as often he rose, j borne up, like Iloratius, "by the brave ' j heart within.'' Suddenly Tommy made an appalling t discovery that chilled him a hundred | times more than the bitter wind. He i j was off the road. He dared not leave his burden to try , and find the track; but he turned, as he j thought, directly back with his load, I t hoping to comc upon the road again. j Poor boy! He did not know that the j t road, as be turned, was just behind him, i and that he was leaving it at every heavy, ' tired step he took. , He was nearly done out now. His ill- * clad feet and bare hands were bitingly ^ cold, and the snow had worked under his trousers up to his knees. Almost every second moment he stumbled, and once his burden slid off the sled and he had terrible work getting the unconscious man on again. t He became very sleepy, too. He tried hard to keep up, but flesh and blood c were beaten, and he sank down completely exhausted. He lay beside Robins, his parcel of little purchases clasped under one arm and his head resting upon his sleeve. ' -c.H .. : .v A-k> ':k....&ss? Was that a shout? But he was too tired and sleepy to raise his head. How snug he felt! And how sleepy! * * * * * * Surely that was a shout, very faint, but repeated, sounding louder and. nearer. One voice, two, three?a dozen of them! He need have no care now! Wouldn't little Laura laugh and clap her tiny hands when she saw him: and the sled. But what had come over the sled? It seemed to have wings and to be traveling through the air like the famous wooden horse in the fairy talc, above the snow, and he upon it. Yet all the time the voices continued beside him, that sounded to his dreamy brain like the hum of bees. Suddenly the air grew wonderfully bright and warm, and Tommy opened his eyes to find himself?at home! * * * * * * When Tommy's father and a party of men, -with lanterns that looked like so many winter fireflies glimmering herp and there over the vast field of white., came to where Tommy lay they placed the lad upon the sled, and. covering nim with a warm coon coat, should?'red Tommy, sled and coon coat, and ' carried the boy home that way. Robins was save^i too, though his life was despaired of/Tor a short time: and in respect for the - 'nrave little lad who endured so mutfn to save a drunkard's life, be swore uvVer to touch liquor again, an oath-tie has not since broken. "That was ten years ago; little Laura was six years old then. And if you know your addition and add six and ten together you will get what is considered a very delightful age when a pretty girl is concerned. />%\ 11 " Anyway, that's what young Robins thinks, who is going to marry Laura?no longer "little," but a tall, beautiful, modest young lady?this Christmas Eve.? Detroit Free Press. The Origin of Christmas. Lnnff before the Christian era. the 25th 0 of December was religiously observed by the "Sua Worshipers." On that day is about the first perceptible return of the sua to the northern hemisphere. His return would drive away the frosts and snows, warm up the frozen earth and clothe the earth in beauty and luxury. The people looked upon the sun as a jod, an intelligence, withdrawing to the south just long enough to let the people see what their home, the world, would Ije without his presence. His return on the 25th of December they hailed with delight. They rejoiced. They sent j presents to their friends. They held their religious feasts, with music, mirth | [ind dancing. Sometimes to great excess these feasts were carried. "When Christ j came and His doctrine was preached ! among the "Sun Worshipers," many j were converted to Christianity. To ( break off their old habits wos very difficult. When the 25th of December came, I it brought the "Sun Feast." There was the enticement to go and mingle, i T>1- _ 1 ***. nlATit 4-,* me vsiirisiuui icuuuia ?ci<j uuu oivrv w j see what the influence would be, so they j Grave the day a Christian significance. They met in their meeting houses. They r;ave presents to each other. They talked of Christ, the spiritual sun, who had comc to give light to and warm the spiritual world. He was the "light of j the world." "The people which sat in j darkness saw a great light," and "light ] had sprung up." "The light shineth in darkness, but the darkness comprehendeth it not." "The worlds were made by Him." Therefore the sun was made , by Him. The Sun Worshipers "worshiped the creature more than the1 Creator," but the Christians worshiped the "Creator, who is ble-sed forevermore." The superiority of this over hhafc was enrtn marie visible, and thfi ' masses were released from idolatry. It mattered not whether the 25th of De-! L-ember was the birthday of Christ or not, ' the effect was the same. A Holiday Fable. With drooping wings and a generally iejected air, .1 turkey was pacing the j )arn-yard, when a fox, who had slyly :rept up, put his head over the fence and islced in a sympathizing tone: "What is the matter, my poor friend? s there unv wav I can help you?" "I fear not," replied the turkey; ' 'only a little while ago I saw the farmer j syeing me critically as he sharpened his | cnife, and I think my hour has come." "Why not fly?" said the fox; "on this idc lies liberty." "I am too old a bird to be caught hus," replied the turkey; "better to be j tuiTed with oysters and richly garnished j han barbarously mangled by you." Just then the farmer appeared. "Wonder where the geese have all j roue," he said; "the old woman has deeded that she doesn't want any turkey or dinner, after all." " 'Tin better to endure the Ills we have Than fly to others that we know not of." j His Christmas Tree. "What did you have on yourChistmas ree, Softly?" inquired Nibson. "Myself. I had to climb a tree to get mt of the reach of my creditors." A Christmas Thought. The turkey is a liandsoine fowl As proudly 'bout he struts, But he's much handsomer when stuffed With dressing and chestnuts. eeWr. talmage. i " THE BROOKLYN* DIVINES SUN^ DAY SERMON. Subject: "The Holy City." (Preached at Jerusalem.) Text: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem. /"?Matt. | xxiii., 87. This exclamation burst from Christ's lips ! as He cam* in sight of this great city, I and. although things have marvelously I changed, who can visit Jerusalem to-day ! without having its mighty past roll over on j ! him, and ordinary utterance must give place | | for the exclamatory as we cry, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! Disappointed with th& Holy Land many have been, and L halve heard good friends say that their ardor about sacred place? had been so dampened that they were sorrow they ewt'x' visited Jerusalem. But with me city and its surroundings are a Capture, a solemnity, an overwhelming emotion. 0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem!. ' The procession of Kings, conquerors, vOetsand immortal men and women pass before me as I stand here. Among the throng are Solomon, David and Christ. Yes, through these streets and amid these sur roundings rode Solomon, that wonder of splendor and wretchedness. It seemed as if the world exhausted itself 011 that man. It wove its brightest flowers into his garland. It set its richest gems in his coronet. It pressed the rarest wine to his lips. It robed him in the purest purple and embroidery. It cheered him with the sweetest music in that land of harps. It greeted him with tbe gladdest laughter that ever leaped from mirth's lip. It sprinkled ! his cheek with spray from the brightest | fountains. Royalty had no dominion, wealth no luxury, gold no glitter, flowers no I sweetness, song no melody, light no rediance, j upholstery no gorgeousness. waters no gleam, ! birds no plumage, prancing coursers no metj tie, architecture 110 grandeur, but it was all j his. Across the thick grass of the lawn, fra- | I grant with tufts of camphire from Engedi, fell the long shadows of trees brought from j distant forests. Fish pools, fed by artificial channels that brought the streams from hills far away, j were perpetually ruffled with fins, and golden scales shot from water cave to water cave with endless dive and swirl, attracting the ! gaze of foreign potentates. Birds that had J | been brought from foreign aviaries glanceu i and fluttered among tbe foliage, and called to their mates far beyond the sea. From the royal stables there came up the neighing of j twelve thousand horses, standing in blankets j of Tyrian purple, chewing their bits over J troughs of gold, waiting for the King's order j to be brought out in front of the palace when j I the official dignitaries would leap into the J saddle for some grand parade, or, harnessed 1 to some of the fourteen hundred chariots of the King, the fiery chargers with flaunting mane and throbbing nostril would make the earth jar with the tramp of hoofs and the thunder of wheels. While within and without the palace you could not think of a single luxury that could be added, or of a single j splendor that could be kindled, down on the banks of the sea the dry docks o? j Ezion-geber rang with the hammers | of the shipwrights who were con- . I structing larger vessels for a still wider com- j i merce, for all lands and climes were to be I | robbed to make up Solomon's glory. No rest ! I till his keels shall cut every sea, "his axmen j | hew every forest, his archers strike every i I rare wing, his fishermen whip every stream, ; ' his merchants trade in every bazaar, his I name bo honored by every tribe, and royalty ! 1 shall have no dominion, wealth r.o luxury, j ! cold no elitter. song no melody, light no i radiance,"waters no gleam, birds no plumage, I i prancing coursers no mettle, upholstery no j I gorgeousness, architecture no grandeur, but j | it was all his. j "Well," you say. "if there is any man. I happy, he ought to be." But I hear him com- i i ing out through the palace and see his robes | actually incrusted with jewels as he stands in I the front and looks out upon the vast domain, i What does he say? King Solomon, great is | i your dominion, great is your honor, great is ; your joy? No. While standing here amidst ! all the splendor, the tears start and his heart breaks and he exclaims: "Vanity of vanities; all is vanity." What! Solomon not happy yet? No, not happy. The honors and the emoluments of this world bring so many cares with them that they bring also torture and disquietude. Pharaoh sits on one of the highest earthly eminences, yet he is miserable because there j are some people in his realm that do not want j any longer to. make bricks. The head of ! p/lrwaf/l T rtr.vioc iinrlor vnc ppawti honniiSA t.llft people will not pay the taxes, and Llewellyn, j Prince of Wales, will not do him homage, and Wallace will be a hero. Frederick ] William III, of Prussia, is miserable because j France wants to take the Prussian provinces. | The world is not large enough for Louis XIV. j and William III. The ghastliest suffering, the . most shriveling fear, the most rending jeal- ' ousies, the most gigantic disquietude, have j walked amidst obsequious courtiers, and been clothed in royal apparel, and sat on judgment . seats of power. Honor and truth and justice cannot go so j high up in authority as to be beyond the ; range of human assault. The pure and good ; in all ages have been execrated by the mob j who cry out: "Not this man, but Barabbas. t Now, Barabbas was a robber." By honesty, j by Christian principle, I would have you i seek for the favor and the confidence of your ! fellow men; but do not look upon some high I position as though that were always sun- \ shine. The mountains of earthly honor ore [ like the mountains of Switzerland, covered ; with perpetual ice and snow. Having obtained the confidence and love of your asso- i dates, be content with such things as you ! have. You brought nothing into the world, ! and it is very certain you can carry nothing j out. " Cease ye from" man, whose breath is j in his nostrils." There is an nonor mar is i worth possessing, but it is an honor that ! comes from God. This day rise up and take j it. '"Behold what manner of love the ( Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should . be called the sons of God." Who aspires not for that royalty ? Come, now. and be Kings and priests unto God and the Lamb forever. If wealth and wisdom could have satisfied a man, Solomon would have been satisfied, i To say that Solomon was a millionaire gives ! but a very imperfect idea of the property lie inherited from David, his father. He had at > his command gold to the value of six hun- i dred and eighty million pounds, and he had j silver to the value of one billion, twenty-nine | million, three hundred and seventy-seven ! pounds sterling. The Queen of Sheba made | him a nice little present of seven hundred and j twenty thousand pounds, and Hiram made j him a present of the same amount. If he had j lost the value of a whole realm out of his ' pocket, it would have hardly been worth his i while to stoop down and pick it up. He wrote t one thousand and five songs. He wrote three i thousand proverbs. He wrote about almost ! everything. The Bible says distinctly he j ok/Mif rJnnfc frnm fchft pprlftr nf TjP- .' banon to the hyssop that groweth out of the . wall, and about birds and beasts and fishes. I No doubt he put off his royal robes, and put | on hunter's trapping, and went out | with his arrows to bring down the > rarest specimens of birds; aud then j with his fishing apparatus he went i down to the stream to bring up the denizens j of the deeD. and plumed into tbe forest and j found the rarest specimens of flowers; and then he came back to his study and wrote , books about zoology, the science of animals; t about ichthyology, the science of fishes: ! about ornitholog)', the science of birds; I about botany, the science of plants. Yet, . notwithstanding all his wisdom and wealth, behold his wretchedness, and let him pass on. : Did any other city ever behold so wonderful t aman? 0, Jerusalem, Jerusalem! But here passes through these streets, as in j imagination I see him, quite as wonderful, and a far better man. David the conqueror, : the King, the poet. Can it be that I am in I the very city where he lived and reigned? j David, great for power, and great for grief. He was wrapped up in his boy Absalom. He was a splendid boy, judged by the rules of worldly criticism. From tho crown of his head to the sole of his feet there was not a single blemish. The Bible says that hv? I haa such a luxuriant shock of hair ; that, when onca a year it was shorn, j what was cut off weighed over three ; Eounds. But, notwithstanding all his ! rilliancy of. appearance, he was a bad boy, j and broke his father's heart. He was plot- ! ting to get the throne of Israel. He had marshaled an army to overthrow his father's government. "Hie day of battle had come and the conflict was begun. David, the father, sat between the gates of the palace waiting for tbe tidincs of the conflict. Oh. how rapidly his heart beat with emotion! Two great questions were to be decided: the safety of his boy, and the continuance of the throne of Israel. After awhile, a servant, standing on the top of the house, looks off, and lie sees some one running. He j is coming with great speed, and the man j ' * ' ' ' ' on the top of the bouse announces the com! ing of the messenger, and the father watches : and waits, and as soon as the messenger ; from the field of battle comes within hailing distance the father cries out: Is it a question in regard to the establisment of hU throne? Does he say: "Have the armiss of Israel been victorious? Am I to continue in my imperial authority? Have I overthrown my enemies?" Oh, no. There is one ques-, tion that springs from his heart to the lio* tuiu nuui tne up ini^ i?uo eat /vl tho besweated and bedusted mess^oi^er flying from the battle field?the question: ' I3 the young man Absalom safe9." When it was told to Divid, the Kinpj,' that, though his armies had been victorious, his son had been slain, the fat*v<jr turned his back upon the congratulations of the nation, and went up the staitrS of his palace, his heart breaking as he- went, wringing his hands sometimes, 3.u& then again pressing them against his temples as though ho would press them in, ; crying: "0 Absalom! my son! my son! Would God I had died for thee, O Absalom! j my son! my son!" Stupendous grief of ! David resounding through all succeeding ages. This was the city that heard the woe. ; 0 Jerusalem, Jerusalem. I am also thrilled and overpowered with j the remembrance that yonder, where now stands a Mohammedan mosque, stood the j temple, the very one that Christ visited. ; Solomon's temple had stood there, but Nebuchadnezzar thundered it down. Zerubba. bel's temple had stood there, but that had , been prostrated. Then Herod built a temple j because he was fond of great architecture, j and he wanted the preceding temples to seem ! insignificant. Put eight or ten modern ca, thedrals together, and tney would not equal that structure. It covered nineteen ! acres. There were marble pillars sup1 porting roof of cedar, and silver tables on which stood golden cups, and there ; were carvings exquisite and inscriptions rej splendent, glitteriug balustrades and ornamented gateways. The building of this tem [ pie kept ten thousand workmen busy forty' six years. Stupendous pile of pomp and | magnificence! But the material andarchi' tectural grandeur of the building were very tamn compared with the spiri tual meaning of its altars and holy of holies, and the overwhelming significance of its ceremonies. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem I i But standing in this old city all other facts ! are eclipsed when we tkink that near hero our blessed Lord was born, that up and down the streets of this city He walked, and that in the outskirts of it He died. Here was His only day of triumph, and His assassinai tion. One day this old Jerusalem is at the tiptop of excitement. Christ has been doing some remarkable works and asserting very I high authority. The police court has issued papers for His arrest, for this thing must be stopped, as the very government is imperilerl. News comes that last nteht this stranger arrived at a suburban village and that He is stopping at the house of a man whom He had resuscitated after four days' sepulture. Well, the people rush out into the streets, some with the idea of helping in the arrest of this stranger when He arrives, and others expecting that on the morrow He will come into the town and by some supernatural force oust the municipal and roval authorities and take everything in His own hands. They pour out of the city gates until the procession reaches to the village. They come all around about the house where the stranger is stopping, and peer into the doors and windows that they may get one glimpse of Him or hear the hum of His voice. The police dare not make the arrest, because He has somehow won the affections of all the people. Oh. it is a lively night in yonder Bethany! The heretofore quiet village is filled with uproar and outcry, and loud discussion about the strange acting countryman. I do not think there was any sleep in that house that night where the stranger was stopping. Although He came in weary He finds no rest, though for once in His lifetime He had a piliow. But the morning dawns, the olive gardens wave in the light, and all along yonder road, reaching over the top of Olivet toward this city, there is a vast swaying crowd of wondering people. The excitement around the door of the cottage is wild as the stranger steps out beside an unbroken colt that had never been mounted, and after His friends had strewn their garments on the beast for a saddle the Savior mounts it, and the populace, excited and shouting and fever isn, pusn on back toward tnis city or Jerusalem. Let none jeer now or scoff at this rider, or the populace will trample him under foot in an instant. There is one long saout of two miles, and as far as the eye can reach you se9 wavings of demonstrations and approval. There was something in the rider's visage, something in His majestic brow, something in His princely behavior that stirs up the enthusiasm of the people. They run up against the beast and try to pull the rider off "into then- arms and } carry on their shoulders the illustrious stranger. The populace are so excited that they hardly know what to do with themselves, and some rush up to the roadside trees and wrench off branches and throw them in His way; and others doff their garments, what though they be new and costly, and spread them for a carpet for the conquerer to ride over. "Hosanna!" cry tlio people at the foot of the hill. "Hcsanna!" cry the people all up and down the mountain. The procession lias nowcomo to th? hrow of vonrler Olivet. Matrnificent prospect reaching out in every direction? vineyards, olive groves, .iutting" rock, silvery j Siloam, aud above ali, rising on its throne of I hills, this most highly honored city of all the j earth, Jerusalem. Christ there, ill'the midst j of the procession, looks off and sees here for- j tressed gates, and yonder the circling wall, and here the towers blazing in the sun, Phas- | aelus and Manamne. Yonder is Hippicus, t.hs i King's castle. Looking along in tne range } of the larger branch of that olive tree, you see the mansions of the merchant pnnces. Through this cleft in the limestone rock you see the palace of the richest trafficker in all the earth. He has made his money by selling Tyrian purple. Behold now the temple! Clouds of smote lifting from the shimmering roof, while the building rises up beautiful, grand, majestic, the architectural skill and glory of the earth lifting themselves there in one triumphant doxology, the frozen prayer of all nations. The crowd looked around to see exhilaration aud transport in the face of Christ. Oh, no! Out from amid the gates, and the domes, and the palaces, there arose a vision of this city's sin, and of this city's doom, which obliterated the landscape from horizou to horizon, and He burst into tears, crying: u Jerusalem, Jerusalemv uus xnat was i the only day of pomp that Jesus saw iu and i around this city. Yet He walked the streets of this city the loveliest and most majestic being that the world ever saw or ever will see. Publius Lentilus, in a letter to the j Roman Senate, describes Him as "a man of stature somewhat tall, his hair the < color of a chestnut fully ripe, plain to the j | ears, whence downward it is more orient, curling and waving about the shoulders; in ] the midst of His forehead is a stream, or par- | tition of His hair; forehead plain, and very i delicate; His face without spot or wrinkle, a | < lovely red$ His nose and mouth so forked as nothing can be represented; His beard thick, i in color like His hair?not very long: His eyes \ gray, quick and clear." He must die. The , French army in Italy found a brass plate on 1 which was a copy of His death warrant, c signed bv John Zerubbabel, Raphael Robani. Dauiel Robani and Capet. ' ? Sometimes men on the way to the scaffold have been rescued by t'ue mob. No such at- a tempt was made in t his case, for the moi > . were against Him. From nine in the morn ing till three in the afternoon, Jesus hung j I U-UJ1U? 111 Wit? UUIMKU l.> UL LUn . At * *.-? j a scene of blood. Ws are so constituted that [ nothing is so exciting as Wood. It is not the ; , child's cry iu the street t'nat so arouses you as the crimson dripping from its lip. In the 1 dark hall, seeing tiie finger marks of blood on the plastering, you cry: 1 "What terrible dead lias be?n done here?" g Looking upon this suspended victim of the r. cross, we thrill with the sight of blood? " blood dripping: from thorn aud nail, blood g rushing upon His cheek, blood saturating His . garments, blood gathered in a pool beneath. * It is called an honor to have iu one's veins { ^ the blood of tae house of Stuart, or of the j u house of Hapsburg. Is it nothing when I | point you to the outp,>uring blood of the j ? King of the universe? Iu England the name of Henry was so great ^ that its honors were divided among different c reigns. It was Henry the First, aud Henry " the Second, and Henry the Third, and Henry ' the Fourth, and Henry the Fifth. In France the name of Louis was so favorably regarded that it was Louis the First, Louis the Second, B Louis the Third, and so on. But the King who walked these streets was Christ the t, First, Christ the Last, and Christ the B Only. He reigned before the Czar mounted the throne of Russia, or the throne of Aus- a tria was lifted, "King eternal, immortal." Through the indulgences of the royal family, the physical life degenerates, and some of U the Kings have been almost iml)ecile, and ftheir bodies weak, and their blood thin and watery; but the crimson life that flowed upon B v;. I 1 "" ' Calvary had in it the health of immortal God. Tell it povr to all the earth and to all the heavens-AJesus, our King, is sick with His last sj'Jknesa. Let couriers carry the swift dispatch His pains are worse; He is breathing^ last groan; through His body quiver? th<a last anguish; the King is dying; the King jfs dead! It is royal blood. It is said that some 'religionists make too much of the humanity of Christ. I respond that we make too little. If some Romau surgeon, standing under the cross, had caught one drop of the blood on his hand and analyzed it, it would have been found to have the same plasma, the same disk, the same fibrin, the same albumen. It wa? unmistakably human blood. It is a man that hangs there. His bones are of the same material as ours. His nerves are sensitive like ours. If it were an angel being despoiled I would not feel it so much, for it belongs to a different order of beings. But my Saviour is a man, and my whole sympathy is aroused. I can imagine how the spikes felt?how hot the temples burned?what deathly sickness seized His heart?how mount flint and city, and mob s^vam away from His dying vision?something of tho meaning of that cry for help that makes the blood of all the ages curdle with horror: "My God.' my God! why bast Thou forsaken me?" Forever with all these scenes of a Saviour's suffering will this city be associated. Here His unjust trial and here His death. Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem! But finally I am thrilled with the fact that this city is a symbol of heaven which is only another Jerusalem, "The New Jerusalem!" And this thought has kindled the imagination of all the sacred poets. I am glad that Horatio Bonar. the Scotch hvmnist. rummaged among old manuscripts of the British museum until he found that hymn in ancient spelling, parts of which we have in mutilated form in our modern hymn books, but the quaint power of which we do not get in our modern versions: Hierusalem. my bapple home'. When shall I come to thee? When shall my 6orro\ves have an end, Thy joyes when shall I eee? Noe dampish mist is seene in thee, Noc colde nor darksome night: There cverie 30u)e shines as the sanne, There God Himseife gives light. Thy walls are made of precious stoneS, Thy balworkes diamondes sqnare; Thy gate* are of right orient pcarle, Exccedin, s riche and rare. Thy turrcttcs aud thr pinnacles With carbuncles doe shine: Thy verric streets are paved with gould, Surpassing clear ana fine, Thv houses are of yvorie, Thy windows crystal cleare: Thy tyles arc made of beaten gould, O God! that I were there. Our aweete is mixt with bitter gaule, Our pleasure is but paine: Onr ttrirrrf* loaf lnntpfnc nn. Our sorrows stille reraaine. Bnt there they live in such delight. Such pleasure and such clay, As thit to them a thousand yeares Doth seme as yesterday. Thy gardens and thy gallant walkes Continually a.e greene: There grow such sweete and pleasant flowers As no where else are scene. Thsrc trees forevermore bear fruito And evermore doe springe; There evermore the angels sit, And evermore doe singe. Hierusalcm! my hippie home! Would God 1 were in thee! Would Goa my woes were at an end. Thy ioyes that I might see! SABBATH SCHOOL INTERNATIONAL. LESSON FOR DECEMBER 29. Last Quarterly Review?Golden Text Ezek. xxxiii., 20. Plan of Review?The lessons naturally fal into two groups about the two great Kings 1. David's Reign, Lessons 1 to 7. 2. Solo mon's Reign, Lessons 8 to 12. They forcibly illustrate in both these lives the two opposite conditions of good and evil, of blessings and judgments. vVa see in David's case, sin against the purity of the family working out avil in his children. Introductory?The monarchy as a united kingdom was of short duration. It lasted only 120 years. The last twelve lessons to be reviewed cover eighty years of that period. This was the most brilliant period in Hobrew History. The prosperous reigns of David and of Solomon were long remembered and always recalled with pride by the later Hebrews. To this day the Jew points to those days of David and Solomon, as memorable for the blessings of God upon Israel. David serving God. David sinning and repenting. David grieves over sin. David clinging to God. Solomon choosing wisely. Solomon building wisely. Solomon choosing foolishly. Solomon rending a kingdom. QUESTIONS. Introductory?How long did Israel remain united? How many years are covered by the last twelve lessons? What Kings reigned in this period? 1. Under whom were the tribes of Israel united as King? Where did David bring the ark? Who had taken it? In whose house was it left for a time? Why? 2. What Psalm was studied? What was the title of that lesson? Which of David's sons was rebellious? How was he slain? How did David feel at his death? What are said to be David's last words? 3. What wise choice did Solomon make? What great building dedicate? What rich Queen came to see him? What is said of her in the Golden Text? What led Solomon into sin? What befell the kingdom for this sin? 4. State which Lessons about David refer to: The United Kingdom: the ark: a rebel lious son; a fathers grief; Thanksgiving; sin; promise; forgiveness; a covenant. , 5. Which Lessons show Solomon's wise choice; talks with a Queen; dedication of a temple; fall; sad ruin of his kingdom? 15. What lessons may we learn from ( David's faithfulness to trod? What from his , grief? 1 7. What lessons from Solomon's good con- i duct at first? What from his fall, and broken t kingdom 1?Lesson Helper. i It in dangerous to let a mau die in a \ hotel in Pans. A queer French law i enables tlie landlord to present his bill ' to the relatives for the death. Seven ] hundred francs was the item recently ' lemanded from an American family for ] he decease of one of its members in a j yell-known hotel. This extortion s vould have been three times as great j f the person had died of a contagious j lisease, and doubled if the deceased f vas a pnnce or a member of any rich j Id aristocratic family. The allow- t inces by the judges, however, are gen- t Tally much less than the claims of the andlords. i ?- e Among Senator Edmunds' many wit- < ;y speeches and crushing repartees } lardlv one can have been wittier or c nore crushing than his answer to some peeeh of a Senator from Texas. The 0 rexas Senator had just sat down hot, , ixhausted and convinced. Senator ? Edmunds got up and in his driest man- n ler sent this rustling across the aisle: ? Now, if my friend from Texas has any ;o?.>d reasons for his proposition, I wish ie would kindly state them, instead of ;iving us the poor reasons and keeping he good ones to himself." ? Gevehat. Grant was no admirer of t tatues of public meu as he had seen I hem in the United States. He once ^ aid that when he thought of death, * mong the uread pictures conjured up 11 ras that oC himself in bronze, mounted s pon one of those sorry steeds, of which 0 here aie too many in the Washington y ft f If a, ? t I ' / % rl ' .'i - i * * . ' V* <*''y? >* . rK,: - * .w* RELIGIOUS READING. THE WOBD WAS OOD. With God He was, was very God, Before the skies were arched abroad; Before the stars were set on high, To syllable His majesty; Ere earth bad her foundations laid, Or onfc of dust was mortal made; With God He was, was very God, He who for us the winepress trod. The world Hi3 coming waited long, The theme of prophecy and song, Yearned up to God, through blood and fire. IT..-,.J i.? viioabioucu iici uao uwac, And all creation groaned afroah, To see Sod manifest in flesh.; \ To see ?rth's tribes, scattered abroad, Gathered in One, the ?ons of God. When TItt.9 was ripe, of woman born. Men turncu rrpon Him in the.r scorn; A Man of sorrows and of grief, In vain He sought on earth relief; . Homeless by dav; at night no bed, * Nor pillow for His weary head; For Him no respite conld-there be, Till finished was His ministry. He walked beneath the circling aun, Fpake but the word, and it was done; ' Rebuked the waters in their might, Gave to the blind their longed-for sight; He spake, the deaf were quick to hear, The rifled tomb confessed Him near, So gracious He to guide an<i teach, The common people loved His speech. The shiv'ring rocks were rent in twain, And earth herself felt throes of pain; The sun for shame, in hi) high place, Hid from the sight his very face; The startled tombs gave up thpir dead. When this Man bowed His .thorn-crowned head. Who tasted death for vou and me, AlAno frhnf rial* rtn Palirnrv ?7 J " ?J?ev. /. E. Rankin, ZL. 2)., in iV". F. Oft server. -'*>* REST IN THE LOUD AND WAIT. The Lord would have us know that we r are weak and that he alone is strong. It may cost us many struggles before wa comprehend this fact. Ambition soars and strives, and falls; humanity plans and struggles and fails; but when man comes at \ last into the presence of his Maker, and casts himself unreservedly upon Him, he then lays hold upon eternal strength. How easy it is for the Lord to abase our Eride, to humble our solf-confidence, to ring to nought our fondest nlans and most cherished purposes, and then, upon the wreck and ruin of all our hopes, he can lay broader foundations, and build for us better. than rfll.our plans, and show us that He is f a tender Father, and a gracious God, supreme in power, boundless in wisdom and in love.?The Christian, BE CHBERFDIj. "You find yourself refreshed by the presence of cheerful people; why not make earnest efforts to confer that pleasure on others? You will find half the battle is gained if you never allow yourself to say . anything gloom v." We were recently impressed by the above wholesome remark at a most opportune season. A Christian was bemoaning the sad condition of affairs.!. Nothing was right in the church or out of it.j The crops were failing; the financial outlook of the country was most unpropitious; the weather was most unfavorable to health; and as he SDOKe his verv face reflected a contin ual prophecy of ill and mental disturbance. The worst feature of all was that at the very moment that he indulged these feelings he stood be'ore an unbelieving world as the representative of a religion tnat seeks to fill the soul with "joy unspeakable and full of glory." He not only rendered himself miserable by fruit'ess repinings, but ha caused others to stumble through his gloomy forebodings, instead of ministering to their ' highest good. In whatever light we viewt such conduct, we must see how utterly at' variance it is with the Christian state. Sons of God! Heirs to au eternal mansionl j Let us cultivate cheerfulness. Verily, it is! the way to show our kinship with the saintsin light.?Christian Advocate. >?4 INSIGNIFICANT WORK. ' Big men do big things, but how many big things are bigfailures. The biggest ship that' ever was built was no profit to anybody, till it was soia ana oroKen up lor oia junc. Many a little ship during the same time had made good voyages and brought profit" to its owner. A man writes a big book. He,1 is a great man, but few people ever read hisj book, yet it is learned and bulky, and -perpetuates the man's fame through generations. Another man write3 a little letter,*a pamphlet, an enistle, which can be read in an hour, carried in the pocket, copied in a' little while, sent through the mails, or; $ printed on a few passes, and that little pamphlet is translated into hundreds of; , < languages, scattered by millions in every quarter or the globe. Paul, chained to a soldier in his hired' house at Rome, wrote no big books. Aj dozen pages would contain the largest trea- i tise he ever wrote.pnd yet the thoughts there' embodied, and th6 truths tlier? declared.;' ? live through all the apes ami go to tue ends of the earth. A seed is a little thing, but in it there is the promise of waving harvests through jjj] tfyg years to come. A granite monurftenTis a" |r6at tping, but it has no ad yap cement, no promise, no growth. Let the mail who does little things wait on God, who can make little things great, can give a bUssing to weakness, and accomplish his own purposes of grace and eowlnflss.. working wonders by means of the feeblest instruments, through Hismatchlis* wi d >m and His powerful love.?Sel, j I . TIIE BETTER WAT. When a great need is brought before God in prayer. He may answer that prayer by. supplying the need or removing it: just as we may balance a pair of scales with a heavier weight in one scale than the other, by adding sufficient to the light scale to counterpoise the weight or by so reducing the weieht hs to leave ?nlv the countcrnolse to the lighter scale. Faul was distressed byi burden which he felt that he had not x ^ itrength to bear, and asked that the bnrdtp % might be removed. God answered the prayer >o far as the inadequacy of his strength to! bear the burden was concerned, not by ta|f>,' hg it away, but by giving him the power wd the grace to bear it joyfully. Thus, that" which had been the cause of sorrow and] regret, now became the occasion of rejoicing! ind triumph. And was not this really a better answer to Paul's prayer than the mere removing of x lis thorn would have been? The latter X jourse would have left him open to the iame trouble when the next distress came; - 1 >nt God's method at ones and forever deivered him from all the oppression of the iresent and of all future similar trials. lence. he triumDbantlv exclaims: "Most fladly, therefore, will I rather glory or reoice in my weakness, that the strength of Christ may overshadow and cover me?as he covering of a tent or tabernacle em>raees and protects all it contains." Ah! who would not wish to shore in the Apostle's thorn in the flesh, if thereby he night he brought in reality into the experience of his deliverance from the opp eision >f all weakness, all injury, all necessity, all >ersecution. all distress; and might henceforward know that the very hour and time >f weakness was the hour and time of truest trengtb? But I'aul had not only this joy: he had ilso one further source of still greater pleaaire. Xot only did he find strength in weakiess, and joy in distresses, but "for Chrijt'a olrn'' ho >>nnlH "tabu nl<?a*nre'' in thfint I (Ct-iiuse (.'hrist was exalted and magnified, .:id received glory through the weakness nd suffering of His servant.?Ilcn. J. Iludun Taulor. Thk King of Siam is about to send ive Siamese boys to the United States o be educated at his expense. The >oys are to be placed in charge of an American missionary and will probably JfK >e sent to school in Pennsylvania. It a the King's custom to educate the ons of the noblemen and the princes f his domain in various countries, and rhen they return to Siam appoint them ohigh Government positions.