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52: * " NAY AND YEA, A pretty little maiJea Lives across the street from me; Her father is a captain, Who is gone away to sea. I often nod to her, And she does not say me nay; In fact I think she likes it, Though she does not say me yea. I met her in the wood roadShe had been walking tliiro alone, [ And had stoppsd to rest a moment, | By .he path, upon a stone; So I sat me down beside her. And she did not say me nay; In fact I think she liked it, Though she did not say me yea. I met her one bright morning, Walking down the village street; Her dress it was so pretty. Her face it was so sweet, That I walked along besido her, And she did not say me nay, I rather think she liked it, Though she did not say me yea. We were wand'ring one evening, In the lane beyond the hill; The air was calm and fragrant, Thn nlaofl was cool and still: And I took her band a moment, She did not say mo nay; Then I claimed her mine forever! At last she said me yea. ?Emilia Elliott,in Commercial Advertiser. An Unsuspected Criminal. A THUE 8TORT. While I was journeying through Denmark as a young man, my stay at Copenhagen was prolonged by the intense interest which I took in the following case, which, for barbaric injustice and the severity of the penalty for the crime committed, exceeds any punishment which could be administered at the hands of a civilized community in modern times. After having viewed the Danish capital, I began to explore the surrounding country. In the course of one of my rambles, " and while proceeding'in the direction of Elsinore, I was overtaken by a sudden storm. The thunder growled, the lightning flashed, and the rain came down in such torrents, that, hardy as I was, and inured to such accidents, I was fain to - look round for shelter; and observing a cottage, through an opening in the trees, I hastened toward it. My request for shelter was cheerfully complied with, by Peter Jansen, the owner of the cottage; 1 his wife kindly pressed me to take some refreshment, while her daughter brought 1 me a seat. Being well acquainted with the Danish language, I entered into conversation with the good old man. "You seem to be very comfortable 1 here," said I. "Yes, truly, that I am," he replied; 1 "I have reason to be contented with my 1 lot; I have sufficient means for the sup- ' port of my family; I have a good wife, a 1 son to work for me, and," continued he, 1 looking at his daughter with a good ? - o w w humored smile, "a daughter to plague " me." The old man went on to tell me that his son Joseph, -who was daily expected home, was a sailor, and that his daughter, who was betrothed to a young sailor, a shipmate of her brother, was in 1 th? service of a lady residing near Copenhagen, who had permitted her to spend 1 a few days with her parents. So soon, however, as the important business of < preparing the winter provisions of the 1 . family was over, she was to return to < her parents' house, when the wedding was to be celebrated. There was an ap- s pearance of so much worth and goodness < about these simple people, that I willing- I ly complied with their invitation to rc- 1 main all night under their roof. 1 After having partaken of their frugal repast of rye-bread, milk and 1 eggs, I war conducted to a neat chambcr, where I slept as sound as a top till next ] morning. Soon after breakfast, I took j Iaawa ?m?v V% 4-o tttIia ttaiiM nnf 1 leave KJl IUJ 11UOIO) nuv ?vutv*. iivv j accept of any remuneration from me, 1 saying that if his sailor boy ever visited ] my home, I should repay what I had re- 1 ceived in kind. This I promised to do*v i p? and after having accepted an invitation i to witness the marriage of Elise with | Eric Polsen, I set out on my return to < Copenhagen. I had not, however, pro- ] ceeded fur, when I heard some one run- < ning after me and calling on me to stop. ] I turned round, and was surprised to see J Elise running up the hill, quite out of 1 breath with the haste which she had i made to overtake me. I observed that i she held something in her hand, whicti, 1 on her nearer approach, I discovered to i be my purse. < "Oh, Bir!" cried she, "I was so afraid < I would not overtake you. You left your purse on the table; and we were S3 1 vexed, for we did not know where to < send it to you; and what would have be- < come cf you without your purse in a for- i eign land?" i "Why, my amiable Elise," I replied, 1 "if all hearts were as good and kind a* 1 those I found under your roof, I should < not have missed it much." 1 I pressed her to take a piece of gold, < but she steadily refused; and, after re- i minding me of my promise to be present 1 at her marriage, and expressing many ( good wishes for xny journey, she returned I home, and I pursued my way to Copen- 1 hagen, which, however, I soon after left I on a tour through the country. I returned to the capital a short time < previous to the period fixed for the mar- ' riage of Elise, and my employment on i arriving in Copenhagen was to purchase i for her a quantity of bridal finery and ' some useful household furniture, and on a clear, fine morning I set out to visit my former host. On approaching the cottage I ob- i served that an unusual stillness reigned < around. The door was closed, and the i curtain of the little window of the room which the family generally occupied was 1 closely drawn. I feared that some evil | had befallen them. I knocked soltly, i but no one seemed to observe it; so I : lifted the latch and catered. But how i . _ r_ : .1 i_ _ J _ l a.1 were ray leeways suuc&uu at tuo scuae which met ray view. The good old maa i 6at with his bands over his eyes, apparently overwhelmed with grief, his snow-white hair hanging in disorder round his face. His wife stood leaning over him, her eyes red and swollen with weeping, while a tall, handsome youth, in a sailor's dress, was pacing about the room, while big tears rolled down his sun-burnt cheeks. I looked round for Elise; she was not there, and I doubted not that her parents were mourning her loss. "My good friends," said I, advancing, "I sympathize in your affliction; this is a sad stroke for parents to suffer." "You have heard, then?" said Peter, in a stifled voice. . r. "I have heard nothing," I replied, "but I find you in grief. I do not see your daughter; she has been taken from you. Lament not too deeply an early death; she ha3 been removed, but, I tru3t, to a happier coontry." The old man groaned. "Joseph," said lie to the young sailor, "tell him your sister s state; I cannot." "Although all Demark was to pronounce her guilty, I will not credit it!' cxclaimcd Joseph, with impetuosity. "But what difference doe3 that make?" continued he, dashing away a tear. "Who will believe me?" A considerable time elapsed before the sufferers were sufficiently composed to inform me of the cause of their grief, of which I at length collected the following particulars: A few days after I had last visited them, Elise returned to the family in whose service sbe was engaged. About this period, her mistress, Madame Muller, began to complain of missing valuable articles of wearing apparel, which Elise, under whose charge tho articles were placed, declared must have been stolen from tho paddock in which the clothes were dried. The losses at first were few, and Madame Muller, after enjoining a more strict watch to be kept, | passed them over; but this seemed only to embolden the culprit; and when damask napkins, laces and many other expensive articles disappeared, madame became exasperated, and charge Elise with having secreted them. Elise protested her total innocence, but in vain. The articles had been especially committed to her charge; they had been put into the paddock to dry; this paddock, which had afforded pasture for a cow, was surrounded by a wall so exceedingly high as to render it impossible that any one would venture over it. What made the affair appear still more against poor Elise w^s the fact that these thefts were committed in open day, the clothes never being ieft in the green after dusk, and also that the "window of the laundiy looked into the paddock; so that, if any one had come over the wall, Elise must have seen them. Poor Elise could only declare that she had put out the things to dry, that she had seen no person enter the paddock; but what became of the thiugs she knew not. Matters were in this state when a small silver spoon disappeared. A servant recollected having seen it in Elise's hand, who said tnat sue iiaa t>een using it for making starch, and that she had laid it down on the outer sill of the laundry window for a few minutes, while she went up to her mistress s chamber with jome clothes, and that when she returned the spojn was gone. The servants, all being examined, swore that , they had never gone near the window, . and* that no one but the family had en- , tered the house. In short, everyone be- ( lieved that Eliso was secreting these j things for her new household. She was ( charged with theft and committed to ( prison, and the time appointed for her , trial was fast approaching. You may well suppose how much I was , distressed by the account. The silent ( iffliction of the parents and the mprc ( frttrrnr orn'of nf thn vminir and ardent I, b""* J O jailor affected me deeply. "My friends," said I, "do not despair. 3he is innocent; I am certain sliJ 13 inlocent." As I said this the young man -wrung xiy hand. "Oh, sir," he exclaimed, "what a :omfort it is to hear these words; but how shall we be able to prove her inno:enc3?" "I can declare what at least is presumptive proof, that she is incapable of committing this crime," I replied; and I ;hen reminded them of the incident of ler bringing me the purse and of her refusal to accept of the gold I offered her ?circumstances which I hoped would weigh greatly in her favor. XT r? At.At.fmnB f/% nnnQAln fhndf* nrnrtfl 1TXJT UACl 11VUO KV V/VUoutv tuvwv gw>? 1 people were not without effect, and they ] gradually became composed. I learned l from them that Joseph was to return 1 next day to Copenhagen to take every | possible step to prove the innocence of ( his sister, and that Eric Poison was al- ] ready .there and eager to assist in clearing the fame of his betrothed. The ( cater part of the night was spent in j iiscoursiug on this mslancholy subject, j Early next morning I returned to the 1 :ity, accompanied by Joseph; and I re- \ paired without delay to the prison, where t [ was permitted to see my young friend, | with whom I had a long interview. If 1 iny doubt of her innocence had arisen in j ay mind, her demeanor would alone i aave been sufficient to dispel them. Her i ? ?Ttraa inrlnnrl 1 mgUUUUUa UUUUICUUUUU *uuvwv? j ilouded with grief, but no secrct feeling < jf guilt troubled her calm brow. ] i conversed a long time with her, but ^ without gaining*any information which 1 ;ould lead to the discovery of the real ] culprit. I learned that she was on the t most friendly terms with all her fellowjervants; that they gave evidence against i aer with the greatest reluctance; and that | they all bore the highest testimony to her < character previous to the time at which < these thefts were committed. I shall not ] iwell on the details of the trial; suffice j it to say, that the proofs of her guilt, | upon the strongest circumstantial evi- i ience that could be produced, appeared j beyoud a doubt. It was proved by the t witnesses that the articles missing hat.1 ) beeu in Elise's hands the last time they i were seen; and it was shown in an espe- j cial manner that the silver spoon, of which she was accused of robbing her ? mistress, had disappeared in such a way ] that no one else could have taken it. The < unfortunate Elise could urge no defense ( that made any impression on licr judges. f In their opinion she was clearly guilty of | the heinous offense of carrying on a reg- < ular depredation of her mistress's prop- < erty, and, according to tiie cruel laws 01 the country, was condemned to death. I took on myself tho painful task of breaking the afflicting intelligence to the parents; but the shock was so severe a3 to lay the good old man on a sickbed, from which it seemed more than probable that he would never rise. Joseph ( stifled his own grief, aud strove to con- ; sole and comfort his sister under this | terrible stroke. But the grief of Eric would not be controled, and a brain-fever was the consequence of the agonies of his mind. I never allowed a day to pass without visiting the poor prisoner. Conscious of her innocence, she had never i ceased to believe that this would be 1 manifested, till the fatal sentence put a period to her hopes; but she bore her affliction meekly, and courageously prepared to meet her fate. The more that I saw of the unhappy Elise, the more did I feol myself interested in her case. I perceived she was . the victim of some extraordinary mystery, which would sooner' or later be cleared up, aud establish her innocence; , V _ lU , -- . . ' . but, ia the meantime, she would bo put to an ignominious death, and it would serve little purpose to have her innocencc proved after she had yielded up her life. With these impressions on my mind, I lost no time in trying to procure a delay to her execution, or a mitigation of her sentence, in which I was assisted by the humane clergyman who attended her in prison. Through the kindness of the British Ambassador, I procured an audience of one of the principal men of the court. To this nobleman I communicated all that I knew and felt respecting Elise's case, the honesty of her family, and her own hitherto unimpeachable character, and besought him to procure for her the merciful interposition of the reigning Prince. "Stay but the execution for a few weeks," said I, "and I have no doubt whatever but the innocence of the young woman will, in that interval be madcapparent." My urgent representations did not, however, seem to be of much avail; the Baron was a courteous but a somewhat positive man; he did not like it to be supposed that he required any one to suggest a line of policy which he should follow. Bowing me out of the bureau, he said he would think of what I had represented to him, and see what could be done. Elise's religious attendant was at the same time busy in another quarter, and we yielded ourselves to a faint hope that the execution would be stayed, or the punishment altered. Day after day fled, yet each descending sun shone upon Elisc at the grating of herdungeon. Time flies on with frightful rapidity, when the moments arc counted by those who arc condemned to die on the scaffold. The eve of the day of execution at length arrived, and it harrows up my very soul when I recall to remembrance the horrible preparations which were making for the takiug away of the life of one of the most simple and amiable creatures that ever breathed. That night I could not retire to my place of residence in the town; I wandered round the prison in a sort of distraction, while the stillness was ever and anon broken by the noise which the workmen made in erecting the scaffold and preparing the apparatus of death. Morning dawned, and as soon as I could gain an entrance, I repaired to the prison with a heavy heart. Elise wa3 pale, but perfectly composed. After thanking me for the interest I had taken iu her misfortune, she said: "I have yet another favor to ask of you. Will you deliver these tokens of my affection to my dear parents and friends'*" I promised to fulfill her last wishes, and she then gave me a number of little packages, a lock of hair to her parents, and a favorite brooch for Joseph. Her companions and fellow-servants were not forgotten. There was some little gift for ?very one. She also made me the bearer vf n loff-or trt Ti!p!f tn lif> rrivpn to him should his life and senses be spared. "Pardon me, sir," said she, with a smile, "for tasking your kindness so leeply; but I feared that if I addressed my dear brother on this subject, his grief svould destroy the fortitude which I have struggled so severely to acquire." Joseph now entered; but I shall pass jver the scene that followed. It is many pears since I witnessed it, but the recol.cction still brings tears to my eyes. As jhe was conducted to the scaffold, all the spectators were in tears. Her youthful and modest appearance, her >weet and ingenuous countenance, and tier air ot resignation ana piety interesteu. ivcry heart; sobs and groans were heard :hrough every part of the assembled nultitude; women wept aloud, and many i gray-bearded man turned aside to dash iway the large drops that fell from his ;yes. The feelings of her brother aluost baffle description. On first encountering the moving mass assembled to .vitness his sister's execution, Joseph i ooked around with an expression of iercenes3 and disdain; but, on meeting :heir sympathizing glances and seeing :he tears that bedewed their faces, his countenance changed and he appeared icarly suffocated by emotion. The fatal moment at length arrived; ;he term of her earthly sufferings was ibout to close, when a sudden tumult trose at the extremity of the crowd. I ieard a confused murmur which gradlally increased in loudness. The sensa;ion, as it soon appeared, wa3 caused by ;hc approach of an officer of government, Hearing an order to release the culprit, a iardon having been granted in her :'avor, or rather, as it appeared, her inlocence having been made apparent. From gloom and sadne3s, all became suddenly joy and hilarious exclamation. [ confess my inability to depict the scene ;vhich followed in a way it deserves to >e portrayed; so let me explain, in a few lappy words, the cause of so happy a ;crmination of thia singular drama. Perhaps you may smile when I inform i irou that the true culprit, the only robber of Madame Milner's premises, was j Jiscovcred to be no one else but the j iow which browsed in the paddock belind her mansion. Its voracity in seizng upon and swallowing articles, certainly ill calculated to serve it for food ivas discovered in time to save poor EI se's life. The animal was slaughtered, ind in a cavity in its stomach was found | :he spoon which had been carricd off so ; njsteriously; a fact which explains everything else. The new3 of this remarkable event, ind the release of the deeply wronged I Elise, were received by all classes of citizens with the utmost gratification. | Crowds from all parts of the city?and, i imong the rest, Eric Polsoa, who would I permit no restraint on account of his rc- j cent illness?attended at the prison to congratulate the now fully acquitted Elise. A shout of joy met her oat- as iho stepped forth hanging on the arm of ler lover; the be3t men in the city shook aer by the hand; her fortitude was the ;hemc of every tongue; and when I deaarted from Copenhagen on my jouruey :hrough Holstein to Kcil, I had the exceeding pleasure of leaving her comfortibly married and restored to the affections of he" pareuts.?New York Ledger. CI ,i,4A In Doi\nat* diilic 111 i All cpicurcs arc very particular about their pepper, ana experience much difficulty in obtaining a kiud to suit thcin. The spice is so easily adulterated that few if any manufacturers can withstand the temptation* The Biddcford (Me.) Journal say that ground slate is "one of the neatest pepper adulterates," and that it is an opeu secrct that a few years age, quite an extensive business was carried on at the slate quarry in Saco, grinding and shipping slate to New York for the express purpose of increasing the peppei output. :V3 ' t -m-.pl ' .* >' ':\- . ;V"' :' 'v. ~ ' kev.dItalmage. THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUNDAY SERMON. Subject: "Lessons From the History of Orpah." Text: "And they lifted up their voice, and wept again; and Orpah kissed her motherin-law; but Ruth clave unto her."-?Ruth i.f 14. Moab was a heathen land. Naomi is about to leave it and go into the land of Bethlehem. She has two daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah, who conclude to go with her. Naomi tells them they had better not leave their native land and undertake the hardship of the journey, but they will not be persuaded. They all three start out on their journey. After awhile Naomi, although she highly prized the company of har two oaughters-in-iaw, attempted again to persuade them to go back because of the hardship and self denial through which they would ba obliged to go. Ruth responds in th3 words from which I once discoursed to you: "Entreat me not to leave thee, nor to return from following after thee, for where thou goest I will go, and where thou lodgest I will lodge; thy psople shall be my people, and thy God my God, where thou diest will I die and there will I be buried; the Lord do so to me and mora aiso 11 augnc duc aeaua part cnee ana me. Not so with her sister Orpah. Her determination had already been shaken. The length and peril of the journey began to appall her, and she had worshiped the gods or Moab so long that it was nard to give them up. From that point Orpah turned back, the parting being described in the words of my text: And they lifted up their voice and wept again and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clave unto her. Learn from this story of Orpah that some of those who do not leave the Moab of their iniquities are persons of fine susceptibility. It was compassion for Naomi, in her wido whood and sorrow, that led Orpah to start with her toward Bethlehem. It was not because of any lack of affection for her that she turned back. We know this from the frief exhibited at parting. I do not know ut that she had as much warmth and ardor of nature as Ruth, but she lacked the courage and persistence of her sister. That there ore many with as fine susceptibility as Orpah who will not take up their cross and follow Christ is a truth which needs but little demonstration. Many of those who have become the followers of Jesus have but very little natural impressibility. Grace often takes hold of the hardest heart and tha most unlovely character and transforms it. It is a hammer that breaks rocks. In this Christ often shows His power. It wants but little generalship to conqner a flat country, but might of artillery and heroism to take a fort manned and ready for raking cannonade. The great captain of our salvation has ^awoa/1 uio tttott i?f/% monv on ftrmprl nojat.la I doubt not that Christ could have found many a fishermau naturally mora noble hearted than Simon Peter, but there was no one by whose conversion He could more gloriously have magnified His grace. The conversion of a score of Johns would not have illustrated the power of the Holy Ghost as much as the conversion of one Peter. It would have been easier to drive twenty lambs like John into the fold than to tame one lion like Peter. God has often made some of His most efficient servants out of men naturally unimpressionable. As men tako stiff and unwielaly timbers, and under huze handed machinery bend them into the hulk of great ships, thus God has often shaped and bent into Eus service the most unwieldly natures, while those naturally Impressionable are still in their unchanged state. Oh, how many, like Orpah, have warm affections and yet never become Christians 1 Like Orpah, they know how to weep, but they do not know how to pray. Their fineness of feeling leads them into the friendships of the world, but not into communion with God. They can love everybody but Him, who is altogether lovely. All other sorrow rends their heart, but they are untouched by the woes of a dving Christ. Good news fills them with excitement, but the glad tiding3 of great joy and salvation stir not their soul. An-rimis to do what is richt. vet thev rob God. Grateful for the slightest favors^ they make no return to Him who wrung out the last drop of blood from His heart to deliver them from going down to the pit. They would weep at the door of a prison at the sight of a wicked captive in chains, but have no compassion for their own souls, over which Satan, like a grim jailer, holds the lock and key. When repulsive, grasping, unsympathetic natures resist the story of a Saviour's love it does not excite our surprise, but it is among the greatest of wonders that so many who exhibit Orpah's susceptibility also exhibit Orpah's impenitency. "We are not surprised that there is barrenness in a desert, but a strange thing is it that sometimes the Rosa of Sharon will not grow in a garden. On a summer morning we are not surprised to fiad a rock without any dew on it, but if going among a flock of lilies we saw m them no glittering drop we would say: "What foul sprite has been robbing these vases?" We are not surprised that Herod did not become a Christian, but how strange that the young man Jesus loved for His sweetness of temper should not have loved his Redeemer. Hard-hearted Felix trembled, proud Nebuchadnezzar repented, and cruel Manassa'a turned unto the Lord; but many a nature, affectionate and gentle, has fought successfully against divine influences. Many a dove nas refused to come in the window of the art although finding no rest for the sole of her root. Again, the history of Orpah impresses upon I me the truth that there are many who make | a good starting, but alter awmie change their mltids and turn back. When these three mourners start from their home in Moab there is as much probability that Orpah will reach Bethlehem as that her sister Ruth and hsr mother-in-law Naomi will arrive there. But whita these continue in the journey they commenced, Orpah after awhile gets discouraged and turn3 back. This the history ot many a soul. Perhaps it was during a revival of rel gioa they resolved upon a Christian life ana made preparations to leave Moab. Before that they were indifferent to the sanctuary; churches were necessary evils. The minister almost always preached poor sermons, because they had not the heart to hear them. They thought the * bread was not good because thair appetite was poor. Religion did very well for invalids and the aged, but they had no desire for it. Suddenly a change came upon their soul. They found that something must be done. Every night there was a thorn In their pillow. There was gall in their wina. They found that their pleasures were only false lights of a 3wamp that rise out of decay and death. Losing their self-control they were startled by their own prayer: "God ba merciful to me a sinner." They did not suspect it, but the Holy Ghost was in their soul. Without thinking what they were doing they brushed the dust off the family Bible. The ground did not feel as firm under them, nnrdid the air seem as bright. They tried to dam back the flood of their emotions, but the attempt failed, and they confessed their anguish of soul before they meant to. The secret was out! They wanted to know what they must do to be saved. With Ruth and Naomi weeping Orpah started for the land of Bethlehem. Tney longed for the Sabbath to como. Straight as an arrow to the mark the sermon struck them. They thoight the minister must hava beard of tueir cas:e and was preaching right at them. They taought the sermon was very short, nor did thoy once coil themselves up in their pew with their eyes shut and head averted with an air of unmoved dignity. They began to pray with an earnestness that astonished themselves and astonished others. Shoving the plane, or writing up accounts, or walking the streets whon you might have thought their mind entirely upon the world, they were saying within themselves: "Oh, that I were a Christian 1" Orpah is fully started on tho road to Bethlehem. Christian friends observing the religious anxiety of the awakened soul say: "He must certainly ba ' a Christian. There is another soldier in 1 Christ's ranks, another sick one has been cured of the leprosy." The observers turn 1 their attention another way; they say: "Or- ' pah is safe enough, she has gone to Bethle- s hem." ' Alas! alas! Starting out for heaven is a very different thing from arriving there. ' Remember Lot's wife. She looked back 1 with longing to the place from which she 1 came, and was destroyed. Half way between Sodom and the city of refuee that ' strange storm comes upon her, and its salt 1 and brimstone gather on her garments un- ( til they are so stiffened she cannot prosead, 1 nor can she lio down booau33 of this dreadful wrapping around her garments and ] limbs,*and long after her life ha3 gone she i still stands there, so covered up bv the 1 strange storm that she is called a pillar of i 7'^jTii 'fitl T M* t-vl'' V-- w- i.T-'.i"F*. salt, a? soma sailor on ship's deck in ths wintry tempest stands covered with a mail of ice. Ten thousand times ten thousand men have been destroyed half way between Sodom and the city of refuse. Orpah might a3 well never have started as afterward to turn back. Yet multitudes have walked in her footsteps. Go among those the least interested in sacred things, and you will find that they wereonce out of the land of Moab. Every one of them prayed right haartily and studied his Bible and frequented the sanctuary, but Lot's wife looked back wistfully to Sodom, and Orpah retreated from the company of Ruth and Naomi. It is an impressive thought that after Orpah had cone 30 far as actually to look over into the land of Bethlehem she turned back and died in Moab. Again, let our subject impre33 upon us the truth that tho3e who have once felt it their duty to leave their natural state cannot give up their duty and go back to hardness of heart without a struggle. After Orpah had thoroughly made ud her mind to go back to the place from which she started she went through the sad scene of parting with Ruth and Naomi. My text says: "They lifted up their voico and wept." Ah, my hearer, it requires more decision and perseverance to stay away from the kingdom of God than to enter it. Although she did not know it, Orpah passed through a greater struggle in turning back into the land of Moab than would have been necessary to take her clear through to Bethlehem. Suppose you that those persons who have remained in their evil ways have had no struggle? Why, they have been obliged to fight every inch of their way. auo iuau iu uoauu u iivv ouwa mmor fng as some ministers have been accustomed to describe it. From beginning to end it is fighting against the sharp sword of the Spirit. ItTs climbing over the cross. It is wading through the deep blood of the Son of God. It is scaling mountains of privilege. It is wading through lakes of sorrow. It is breaking over communion tables and baptismal fonts and pulpits and Bible3. It is wedging one's self tnrough between pious kindred who stand before and press us back and hold on to us by their prayers even after we have passed them in our headlong downward career. No man ought to think of undertaking to go back into Moab after having come within sight of Bethlehem unle33 he have a heart that cannot be made to quake, and a sure foot that will not slip among inflnite perils, and an arm that can drive back the Son of God, who stands in the centre of the broad road spreading out His arms and shouting into the ear of the thoaghtles3 pilgrim, "Stop! stop!" "Wo talk abont taking np the cross and following Jesus, but that cross is not half so heavy as the burden which the sinner carries. It is a very solemn thing to be a Christian. but it is a more solemn thing nob to be a Cnristian. There are multitudes who, afraid of the self denials of the Christian, rush into the harder self denials of the unb> liever. No yoke but Christ's, however tight and galling! Orpah goes back to her idolatries, but she returns weeping, and all who follow her will find the same sorrows. Just in proportion as Gospel advantages have U Ml k? /x# VW311 UULLUOl UU5 Will UO IUO UI9UU1 U^UUO UL WiU heart that will not come to Christ. The Bible says in regard to the place wlnro Christ was buried: "In the midst of the garden there was asepulcher;" and in the midst of the most flowery enjoyments of the unpardoned there is a chilliness of death. Although they may pull out the arrows that strike their soul from the Almighty's quiver, there remain a sting and a smarting. If m9n wrench themselves awav from Christ they will bear the mark of His hand by which He would have rescued them. The pleasures of the world may give temporary re ief from the upbraidings of conscfenca, but are like stupefying drugs that dull th9 pain only temporarily. Ahab has a great kingdom, and you would think M ouzht to be happy with his courtiera and chariots and palac33, yet he go93 to bed sick because Naboth will not sell him his vineyard. Haman is prime minister of the greatest nation in the world, and yet one poor min who will not bow the head makes him utterlv miserable. Herod monopolizss the most of the world's honor, and yet is thrown into a rage because they say a little child is born in Bethlehem who may after awhile dispute his authority. Byron conquered the world with his pen, and vet said tnat he felt moro unhappiness from the criticism of the mo3t illiterate reader than e experienced pieaaiuo h ulli mo prauo ul all the talented. In the last century in England lived tin immortal Shenstone. Portions of his life were given to the writing of p39try, but this was not evidently the fl9ld for which nature had equipp3d him. His name will never ba forgotten, bacause of the home which he adorned and beautified until thare probably never has been so bright a spot since the Garden of Eden as what he loved to call "The Leasowos." In addition to the marrels which nature had wrought he added the perfection of art. Arbors and terrace and slope and rustic temple and reservoir and urn and fountain here had their crowning. Oak and yew and hazel put on their glory of verdure. What the greenness of deep grass and the foam of cascade and the glitter of the still lake could give of beauty were added. No life was more diligent and no soul was more ingenious than those of Shenstone, and all that genius and diligence directed to the adornment of that treasured spot. What more could one want to make home happy? Yet there is one man who site sighing in those bowers, and casting gloomy looks upon those parks, and the mirth of leaping waterfalls makes no melody in his ear. It is Shenstone, the owner of thg Laasowas. "I have lost my road to happiness," say3 the despondent man. "I am angry and envknn, an? dejected |mj frantic, and disregard all present things, just as It baiooaai a madnau to do." My menus, taere 13 uj saiia unpEiness in anything but religion. I care not ow bright a homa Orpah has in Moab when she turns away from duty she turns away from peace. Amid the bacchanalia of Bslehazzar's feast and the glitter of chalice3 there always will come out a handwriting on tha wall fearfully ominous: "Pekel? weighed in the balances and found wanting." Again, this subject teaches that a religious choice and tha want of it frequently divide families. Ruth and Orpah and Naomi were tenderly attached. They were all widows, and their life had bean consecrated by a baptism of tears. In the of fire trial their affections had baen forged. Together thay were so pleasantly unitedyou can hardly imagine them separated. Yet a fatal line i3 drawn dividing them from each other, perhaps forever. Naomi cannot live in a heathen country. She must go into Bethlehem, that there among the pious she may worship the true God. Ruth make a similar choice, but Orpah rebels. "And they lifted up their voice 3 HrnoK IH-aaftH hflr tuiu >?Opu a^aiu, aitu v? {a*u i?.wwvM ? ? mother-in-law, but Ruth clava unto her." The history of this family of Elimelech is the history of many families of this day. How often it is that in a circle of relatives, while they look alike and walk alike and talk alike, there is a tremendous difference. Outwardly united in the affectional relations of this life, they are separated in the most im portant respects. Some now are the children of light and others the children of darkness. These are aliva in Christ and those are dead in sin. Ruth in the land of Bethlehem, Orpah in Moab. Of the same family are David and Solomon, worshipers of the Most High God, and Adonijah ana Absalom, wno live and die the enemies of all righteousness. Belonging to the sama family was tha holy and devont Eli and the rackles3 Phinea3 aDj Jonathan E I wards, the good, and Pierrapont Edwards, tfia bad, belong to the same family. Aaron Burr, tha dis3oluta a A~UX.HA..*. i. I uau u lu^u cao.iidju lauuoi . x/jmu? jou lUi* mortal hearer, by tho solemnity of the Earental and filial and conjugal relation, y the sacrednos3 of tho family hearth, by the honor of the family nam 3, by the mamory of departed kindred, I point out this parting of Ruth and Orpah. Again, this subject sugge3t3 to ma two of the prominent reasons why people refus9 the kingdom of Christ. There may have been many other reasons why Orpah left her sister and mother-in-law and wont back home, bus there were two reasons which I think wore more prominent than the rest. She had been brought up in idolatries. She lovod the heathen god3 which her ancestors had worshiped, and though these blocks of wood and stone could not near she thouzht they :ould hear, and though they could not see she thought they could see, and-thouzh they ;ould not feel she thought they could feel. A. new religion had been brought to her attention. She had mamodagoilymin. Sin iiuit often haye heard her mother-in-law :alkof the God of Israel. She was so mil eh shaken in her original belief that sin concluded to leave her idolatries, but coruia? to the margin of the land of Bethlehem ner determination failed her and speedily she returned to her gods. This i3 the yery reason why multitudes of persons never become Christians. They cannot bear to give up their gods. Business la' tho American juggernaut that crushes more men than the great car of the Hiadooi To 10 ouojr nay tueir morning ana evening prayers. A little of Christ's religion may creep into the Sabbath, but Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday are the days devoted to this American idoL Every hour there is a sacrifice on the altar. Home duties health of body, manly strength and immortal affections must all burn in thi3 holocaust. Men act as though they could take their bonds and mortgages and saws and trowels and axe3 and day books with them into the kingdom of heaven. There are many who have no unholy thirst for gold, yet who are devoting themfelves to their worldly occupations with a ruinous intensity. Men of the Stock Exchange, men of the yardstick, nnn of the saw, men of the trowel, men of the day , book, what will b9come of you, if unforgiven, in the great day when there are no houses to build, and no gooJs to sjII, aai no bargains to make? It is po33lble to devote one's self even to a lawful calling until it becomes sinful. There is no excuse on the earth or under the earth for the neglect of our deathless spirit. Lydia wa3 a seller of purple, yet she did not allow her offemlva occupation to keep her from bacoming a Christian. Daniel was secretary of State and attorney general in tha empire of Babylon, and yet three time3 a day he found time to pray with his fac3 toward Jerusalem. Tha man who has no tima to attend to religion will have no time to enter heaven. But there are others who, while their worldly occupation has no particular fascination over them, are entirely absorbed in the gains that come to that occupation. This is the worship of Mammon. The ring of dollars and cents is the only litany they ever utter. Though in the last day the earth itself wui dod 09 worsn a iarining. a neap or asnej scattered ia the whirlwind, tney are now giving their time and eternity for the acquisition of so muoh of it as you might at last hold in the hollow of on9 haul. The American Indian who gave enough land to make a State out of for a string of beads made a princely bargain compare! with the speculation of that man who gains the whole world and loses his own soul. How much comfort do the men take who died unforgiven ten years ago, leaving large fortunes to their neir3? Do they over coma up to count the gold they hoarded or walk through the mansions they built? Though they could have bought an empire, tiny have not now as much money as you have this moment in your pocket. Solomon looked upon his palace and tbe grounds surrounding it, pools rimmed with gold and circling roads along which at time3 rushed his fourteen hnndred chariots, while under the outbranching sycamores and cedars walked the apas and peacocks which by the navy of Hiram had been brought from Tarshish, and from the window curtains with embroidered gold and purple through which came out the . thrill of harps and psaltiri63 min^'hig with the song of the-waters. When Solomon saw that all tho33 luxuries of sight and sound had been purchase! by . hi3 wealth, he broke forth in the exclamation, "Money answereth all things." But we cannot receive it as literal. It cannot still the voice of conscience. It cannot drown fhn anrrAwra nf fchA a/vil Tf. nannrth nut: a briba in the hand of death. It cannot unlock the gate of heaven. The tower of Siloam fell and killed eighteen of its admirers; but this idol to whose worship .the exchanges and banks and custom houses of the world have been dedicated, will fall and crush to death its thousands. But I cannot enumerate the idolatries to which man give themselves. They are kept by them fro an a religious life. ?-Ye cannot ssrv9 God and Mammon," ahd the first thing that Christ do33 when He come3 into the temple of the soul is to drive out the exchangers. But it was not only the gods of Moab that made Orpah leave her sister and mother-inlaw. She doubtless had a dread of the hardship to which they would be exposed on the journey to Bethlehem, and Orpah wa3 not alone in the fear. Doubtless soma of you have been appalled and driven back by the self denials of tha Christian life. The taunt of the world, the charge of hypocrisy which they would sometimes 09 obliged to confront, ha3 kept many away froin the land of Bethlehem. They spend their life in counting the cost, and beoauso a Christian life demands so much courage and faith they dare not begin to build. Perhaps they are courageous in awamt Af.Kai? Thatr at*a nnh timid In Eresenca of an/danger excapt that of trustlg in the infinite mercy of Christ. The sheep are more afraid of the shapiiard than of the wolves. Th9y shrink away from the presence of Christ as though Ho were a tyrant rather than a frieai who sticketh closer than a brother. They feel more safe In the ranks of the enemy whera they must suffer infinite defeat than in the army of Christ, which shall ba more than conquerors through Him that lovei them. Men shiver and tremble before religion as though they were commanded to throw their life away, as though It were a surrender of honor ana manliness and reason and salf-re3pact and all that is worth keeping. What has God ever done that His mercy should be doubted? Was there ever a sorrow of His frailest child that He did not pity? Was there ever a soul that He left unhelped in the darkness? Was there ever a martyr that He did not strengthen in th9 flames? Was there ever a dying man to whosa relief He did not came at the cry of "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit?" Aye, my soul, what has God done that so basely thou has doubted Him? Did He make the whole earth a desert? Are all the skies dark and storm swept? Is life all sickness? Is the air all plague? Are there nothing but rods and .scorpions and furnaces? 'God kuew how many suspicions and unbeliefs men would entertain in ragard to Him, and therefore, after making a multitude of plain and ITanltnaa Wi'a Kand An TTia pi ouiyua JJt v/m uv L/iuvw I r t umuu vu - own heart; ana swears by His" own existence: "As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth." Why then fight against God? This day the battle rages. Thou art armed with thy sins, thy Ingratitude, thy neglects, and Christ is armed against thee, but His weapons are tears, are dying agonies, are calls to mercy, and the battle cry which He this day sends over thy soul as He rushes toward thee is "Save thee from going down to the pit, for I have found a ransom." I would not [ envy thy victory, 0 hearer, if thou dost conquer, for what wilt thou do with the weapons thou hast snatched from the armed Redeemer, what with the tears, what with His dying" agonies, what with His call* to mercy? Would God that Orpah would get tired of MoabI Would Goa thai Orpah would go to Bethlehem 1 AN inquest recently held in Calcutta on the body of a wealthy Hindoo disclosed a curious custom. The deceased trATvi mnlanftl fpvpr. and iiau. SUUCiOU avxu , after his death arsenic and mercury were discovered in the stomach. A servant stated that an hoar before the death of the deceased a do3e of medicine properly prescribed was administered as a stimulant. The coroner oxplained that this medicine contained mercury, which along with other poisonous drugs is given to patients on the foint of death. The jury returned a verdict of death from natural causes?to wit, malarial fever. A romantic young woman named Barbara, who gets her mail at Oketo, Kan., wrote her address on an egg, and in due course of time a postal card arrived at the Oketo office from James Miller, of 521 Flushing avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y., saying that in a lot of eggs received at hi4 store thn one was found, and if the young lady was so inclined | he would be pleasvjl to hear further from her; also that he was single and alone, but that it was by 110 means certain tliat he would always remaiu so. Further developments are awaited. Is a prehistoric cemetery, lately uncoverd near Montpo-llier, France, among other things found and reported to the Paris Academy, were two skulls evidently belonging to the Aryan race, and some bones that must have beI longed to a man at least ten feet in I height. - ^~Ti - iaijjgfljjjii SABBATH SCHOOL INTERNATIONAL LESSON FOR JULY 13. _________ Lesson Text: "The Great Supper," Luke xiv., 15-24?Golden Text: Luke xiv., 15?Commentary. " f S3? In our last lesson we saw the religious leaders of tho people contending with Him because Ho healed a woman on the Sabbath day; but He put them to shame and caused His followers to rejoice. So shall it be again when those who cast out others for His sake say, Let tho Lord be glorified; but He shall appear to the joy of His people and His enemies shall bo ashamed (Isa. lxvi.,5), He then repeated tbe parables of the mustard seed ana the leaven, both of which had a fulfillment in Israel at that time, and are having a fulfillment in the '? church to-day. He added a prophecy concerning tbe coming desolation at Jerusalen because of her rejection of Him, indicating its continuance until He should come again. After this we find Him in tbe house of a Pharisee on the Sabbath day, where He had evidently been invited to dine. He here heals a man who had tho dropey, and speaks a parable to the invited guests to teach them humility, after which He tells His host that if, when be makes a feast, he would invite those who were unable to return the compliment, he would have a recompense at the resurrection of the just; and this leads one of the guests to give utterance tothe first words ot our lesson. 15. "Blessed is he that shall eat bread in fVm Irfnonrlnm nt Hrvl " AoonrHinrr tn fHa first part of this verse, that which caused the guest to utter these words was the Saviour's remark concerning the resurrection of the just. Thoso who dj the Spirit have eyes to see may find the doctrine of the resurrection in the story of the cherubim in the Garden r of Eden. Tho eleventh chapter of Hebrews makes it plain that Abe), Euocb, Noeb, \ Abraham, Moses and the others believed and rejoiced in the resurrection. And while Ps. xvi. speaks of the resurrection of Christy Ps. i., 5 speaks of the very resurrection -3 which Jesus referred to, tho resurrection o? ^ the blessed and holy of Rev. xx., 6, leaving Jk the bodies of tho uugodly to remain in their graves a thousand years longer (Rev xx., 5). 16. "Then said He unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many." This parable is somewhat similar to that in Matt, xxii., but that was spokeu durinz Passion week in Jerusalem, and this while on ^ . His way to Jerusalem (Luke xiii., 23; xviii., 31). 17. "Come; for all things are now ready." This was the message which the servants was to carry to John the Baptist, and the twelve were some of the servants as they went forth, saying: "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at haud." 18. "And they all with one consent began to make excuse.*' Nothing to d? but to t*ko it; simply to accept the invitation and bs there;" yet they prefer not to. How anxious many are to get au invitation to anything great in this world, and how disappointed u left out. Here is the God of Heaven inrit rirr fraolw flirt rirtlioc aP Rid CTTA f*A HTI/1 giory, and it is not considered worth accepting. "I have bought a pieoe of ground, and I mu3t needs go and sea it; I pray th9e have me excused." His little piece of ground for which he has paid a few shekels is of mora importance than that which ha3 cost so much. "I pray thee" seeuis to imply an admission that ha ought to go, but be evidently does not waut to. How Moses and all the prophets entreated Israel to walk in God's . ways that they might enjoy His favor, bat they preferred their own ways (II Chron. xxxvi.. 15, 16; Jer. ii., IS). 19. ''I have bought five yoke of ozen, and I go to prcvo them; 1 pray thee have me excused." Lands must be seen to, and oxen most"' : be proved, but the great feast provided by infinite love may go a begging. It is nothing to them. The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof; the cattle on a thousand hills are His (Ps. xxiv., 1; 1, 10); yet there are fools (and plenty of them today) who prefer a little which they can purchase to the great riches which the Lord of all offers .so I l'roely to "whosoever will." I 20. "I havo married a wife, and therefore 1 I 1 cannot come." This is no better than the ^ J other?, yet the refusal is even more decidesf*"^^? "I cannot come." If tho invitation didlSot include his wife, he rai*ht have had some excuse; but God's invitations include all who V are willing; and while tho other? might V have to leave their lands and oxen, he could bring his wife with him if he had minded to I comc. 21. "So that servant cam a, aud showed hit lord these things." A servant has only to doliver his master's message, and take the answer back, if there is any; Ua has do power to excuse people. Our responsibility ceases when wo have lovingly and faithfully given the invitation, proclaimed the glad tidings. Then it becomes us, liko the disciples, to toll Jesus all wo had done and taught (Mark vi., 30). leaving results with Him. "Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in thither tho poor, and tho maimed, and tho halt, ana the blind." These have no earthly possession* or pleasures to entangle them; they will b? more likely to accept the invitatioa. It was just these four classes which Jesus advised the Pharisee, in whoso house Ho was, to invito to his feast in order that he might be recompensed at t^o re^jxrrcction .of the just* and Jesus does not advise another to ao what He does not do Himself. 22. "And the servant said, Lord, it is don# as Thou bast commanded, and yet there is room." The servant has only to obey, lovingly to deliver His message and report for further orders. It is not said whether any among theso classos excused themselves or not, but it is said: "Yet thero is room." What abundant provision! What riches of HU erace! What plenteous redemption! I What a Kingdom id hero foreshadowed when 'The eyes of tho blind shall be opened, fl the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped, the fl lama leap as a hart, and the tongue of th? I dumb sing'' (Isa. xxxv., 5-6). And thank I God, yet there is room, and whosoever will ~-fl may come. fl 23. '-And tin Lord said unto the 3<*rvaot; fl Go out into the highways anl hedges.1' fl Again it is "Go!" Tne word for the oat- fl sder is "Come!" And the encouragemant is: fl "Him that cometh onto Me I will in no wiw cast out." "Coma unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden." "Coma now and let y usreasjn together, sail the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow, though they be red like crimson they shall be as wool" (Tohu vi., 37; Matt, ri., 23, Isa. L, 18). "Compel them to coma in, that my house may be filled." We are not simply to invite, but to urge and lovingly constrain them to come. Our indifference to the salvation of others is a strange sight. We believe that w? are joint heirs with Christ to au inheritance which is incorruptible and everlasting, and that all who are not in Christ are on the way to everlasting punishment; yet we can meet them, do business with them, havj fellow ship with them, and never even invit9 them to share our inheritance, much less compel them to come to the feast. 24. "For I say unto you, That nono of those men which were bidden shall taste of ray supper." Rofusing to accept His graaous mvitation they doom themselves to near ttto learful words, "Djpirt from Ma ye cursed into everlasting fire, preparel for the devil ind his anpjeLi" (Mitt, xxv., 41), as to tue m irst invited who refused, an I the others B jathered from strosts an 1 lanes, highways B and hedges; we know that Israel has lost tho B privileges of the Horeb covenant (Es. xiz., B j-S; Deut. v., 3. 3), and they are to be given Bfl bo the elect church gathered from all na B tions. "The Kingdom of God shall he taken B from you and given to a nation bringing B forth the fruits thereof' (Matt, xxi., 43) tm This does not, however, conflict with the B fact that when the church has bean gathered B the promises to Abraham shall ba made fl good to a believing remnant in Israel who B shall be converted at tho appearing o! the SB| Lord (Mic. vii., l'J, 20; Luke xxi., 24-38).? B Lesson Ileloer James Sparks, of JDahlonega, Oa., I the ditch-walker on the lower section H of the hand-ditch, has been walking H this line daily for eleven years, a dis- H tance of sixteen miles. At this rate he^^^B has walked 41G miles per month, 4,992^^M miles per year, or a total of 54,912 B miles, or nearly two and one-half times H tho distance aiound the world. Mr. H Sparks is now some seventy-odd years H old, and is still apparently as active ag H a young man, JH