Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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IMMORTALITY. Whatever begins must end. So say Philosophers both old and new. And nature's round, birth, fruit, decay, Doth prove the adage true. 6ung in the unripe acorn's coat A fallen oak tree slumbereth; 'fiie new-born infant's lusty throat Must rattle soon in death. And so, whatever hath no end. Never began anil ne'er was born; Its origin and finished blenl As night fades iuto morn. Infinity was by a ring In former ages signed and taught, Surely a plain and simple thing, Yet food for grandest thought. God is the end and final cause, The Alpha and Omega he, Before beginnings, more than laws, He was and is to be. And if our souls are plumed to flit Through being's circle, near and far, They lived before the sun was lit Or heaven had a star. Oh listen, brothers, listen well! It was a cheerful thing to hear An angel harp or shriek from hell To rid lis from this fear. For we are brutes or prisoned gods. And there is nona of us can gu^s "What life we passed before these clod3, This vile forgetfulness! ?George Horton, in Chicago Herald. THE END OF THE FEUD. BY JOIIJf P. SJOLAXDER. As far back as the oldest resident could remember there had been a feud between the Jasons and the Spratts. It had never been a deadly one, but it had been very bitter for all thtt, and had caused a great deal of ill-feeling, not between the two families alone, but among many others who through alliance with either had been dragged into the quarrel. There were people, too, in and about Tomsburg who took special delight, it seemed, in keeping the two families constantly in hot water by carrying tales between the two houses. Often these tales were flimsy fabrications, woven from the imaginations of the tellers, which could have been readily detected as fiction by people less prejudiced against one another than the Jasons and the Spratts; but as it was the busy-bodies and mischief-makers had an open and free field , wherein to exercise cheir more or less ingenious art of story telling. At the time of the ending of the feud Sim Jason was the representative of one side and Jay Spratt of the other. They . were both young men, unmarried, and , intelligent in everything save the one , anbject of the family feud, an exception | not to be wondered at, since they had [ imbibed prejudice against each other 1 with their mother's milk. But time, the resistless, that undermines empires and causes tbem to tumble in a night, brings chaDges everywhere. Sooner or later everything succumbs and is no more. The Tomsburg feud ended J in a night, and that, too, when it 1 eeemed to have grown more bitter and more deadly than it had ever been before. ^ Tomsburg is situated on the shore of j one of the many bays on the Texas coast, ^ where nine out of ten of the inhabitants ^ own a sailing craft of some kind, the greater number being what are commonly j called cat-boats, on which they make ? weekly trips to the adjacent cities, carrying the products of their gardens and , fields. \ Sim Jason owned one of these boats, a j trim little craft, and one of the swiftest ^ that plowed the waters of the bay. The j little vessel had been named the "Annie" after his sister. Like every other boatmpn, Sim was touchy on the subject of being beaten by any other craft, but his ^ particular sore spot was a banter from the Spratt adherents that Jay's boat, the "Lily," could outsail him under any and _ all conditions. I The "Lily," like the "Annie," had been named for the sister of its owner. It was a new boat, understood to have been ^ built expressly to beat the Jason boat. Boast and bautcr ran high in conse- ^ quence, and high words were exchanged daily between the backers of the two ^ C?ift3. v Odc evening Jay and Sim met down ^ by the shore, where they had come to look after their boats. Both men were accompanied by friends. "If I owned an old tub like that one j, yonder," said Jay Spratt to his companions, pointing to the "Annie" and speak- ^ ing in tones loud enough to be heard by ^ the Jason crowd, "I'd leave her to the mercy of the wind and weather, and let her take care of herself." "That tub, as you call her, can outsail ^ that bos of yours," retorted Sim, stopping and looking around defiantly. "I don't believe it." ' "I didn't ask you to take my word for It, Jay Spiatt. But if you have the spurk of a kitten, I can prove it to you this very night." j "IIow?" asked Jay, affecting surprise. j. "I'll sail you a race to Redfish light- ^ house and back. From the looks of the sky we are likely to have all sorts of weather?winds, and calms and squalls? and our boats will have an equal chance." ^ Jay considered a few moments. The t eky looked threatening, and the night j would be dark. The distance was J twenty miles, and to go out on the bay with every indication for a stormy night was a risky business; but Jay knew he must either accept the banter or back down in disgrace, tacitly acknowledging the inferiority of his boat, and incurring < besides the reputation of a coward. \ These thoughts flashed through his brain, , and in a moment his miad was made up. , Aye, ho. would outbrave Sim in accepting ; the challenge. < t;I accept your proposition, Sim,'' lie ; cried. Then he added: "And to make the race more even for you I will only take sister Liiv along to help me sail the boat." A wild yell of approval went up from his companions, for all knew that Lily Spratt was as plucky a girl :;s there was j in Tomsbutg, and th.it her skill in handling a boat was second only to that of the most expert boatmen in the village. Just then Annie Jason came upon the scene, and joiuing her brother, asked the j cause for the uproar. Sim told her in a i hurried whisper. "The Spnitts shan't crow over us, Sim," she said resolutely, stamping her email foot upon the saud, "I'll go with i you." When Sim had made known what his 1 sister Lad said, another shout, more wild ' and more j)rolongeu than the first, rent j the air. 1 In a short time the news of the proposed race spread through Tomsburg, and in less than half an hour's time men, women and children were congregated upon the shore, all taking a lively interest in the preparations being made there. The sun was just going down behind a dark mass of clouds wbx; Jay aud Sim, accompanied by their sisters, came down to the landing, where their respective friends had hoisted sail on the two boats, and made everything ready for a start. The young men made hasty survey to see that their crafts were in ship-shape, and having satisfied, themselves thai everything had been properly attended to grasped the tillers, gave the signal tc cast off and darted away from the shore, like birds on snowy wings, amid lusty cheers from those left behind. The sky looked rent and threatening. There were distant thunder and frequent flashes of lightniug. Dark towering masses of clouds rose slowly upon all sides of the horizon. The wind was due east, blowing a stiff breeze. The two boats were close hauled on the wind, barely making their course. The water was rough and the waves ran pretty hi?h, casting a drenching spray over every thing as the little crafts were forced straight through them. The crews ol the two boats?the girls as well as the boys?were well protected, however, by long oilskin coats, reaching down to their feet, and southwester hats. For the first ten miles it was a pretty even race; then the wind died out completely. Night had set in. The thunder sounded louder and closer,and the lightning came in blinding flashes. Tho clouds rolled upward from every side until they met overhead. For a few minutes the thunder stopped its loud cannonade, and the lightning ceased; the only sounds that broke the silence being the dying murmur of a breaking wave and the gentle swash of the water against the sides of tue ooats. The darkness was intense; the air was hot and 6ti0ing. Then an omnious sound came from a distance?a sound that the occupants of the boats had often heard before?a low murmur at first, increasing gradually in volume, until at last, as it drew nearer, it sounded like a roar of wrath mingled with shrill shrieks of agony and despair. Sim and Jay hastily lowered their sails and furled them snug and fast; and just as the first chilly breath of the squall touched their sweat-beaded cheeks and foreh?ads they threw the anchors overboard. Then the storm broke loose in all its fury. The thunder roared more deafeningly, the lightning flashed more blind- j ingly than before. The phosphorescent water gleamed as an ocean of fire lushed and driven before the gale. The two jail boats were tossed like corks upon the angry sea, but their anchors held them head to the wind, while strong, nervous hands grasped the tillers and steadied them as they plunged up and down amoDg the furious waves. Tne two boats seemed to be riding tho jale safely, until suddenly the "Annie's" lable snapped. The Annie was to tho windward of the Lily, and when tho! HClDie partcu SilJ uruiuu auuiyut uunu 1 ipon the latter. They came together j frith a fearful crash. Then came a wavo j ligher crested and more lurious than its I fellows. It burst upon the boats whild j ;hey were yet side by side, sweeping their ! iecks from fore to aft, at the same tima | ;earing them apart and carrying one fai istern of the other. Jay looked around for his sister. At lis feet, in the small cockpit in which he vas sitting, now half filled with water, le saw a motionless figure, which he bought to be hers. He reached down lis hand and dragged her toward him. A long and vivid flash lighted up iverything around him, revealing instead >f the expected face of his sister that oJ innie Jason. At that moment a woman's piercing :ry rang out above the voice of the j torm. Jay heard it and sprang to hii eet. "It is Lily, and she is drowning," he :ried. "I'il cut the cable and drift down vith the wind. I may save her yet." He started forward, but just then the opping-lift broke and the boom came lown with all its weight upon his head. Vith a moan upon his lips he sank down, mconscious. It was a week after the night of tho rumll nn f.hp Vi.iv when .Tav Snratt awoke j ? - L o consciousness again. He was at his lome in Tomsburg. Two sweet faces rcre bending over him, while the arms >elonging to the possessors of the faces Fere wound lovingly around each other's raists. "Where am I?" "You arc at home, Jay, and all is rell," said Lily with a smile. "And you didn't drown?" "No, dear; thanks to Sim Jason, who i i3kcd his own life to save mine." "How did I get home?" "Annie " But here the blushing Annie placed ler disengaged hand over Lily's mouth. "Did you sail the boat and take me lome, Miss Jason?" asked Jay, looking ip into her face. "Yes," she whispered, "but be quiet low, and try to go to sleep." The great majority of the people in romsburg are well pleased to know that h& feud between the Jasons and tho jpratts is at an end. A double wedding s announced there to take place in eariy lutumn.?Times-Democrat. A Monster Encyclopedia. The Asiatic Society of Bengal has succeeded in procuring from Thibet, through the ageucy of a native emissary, a copy jf the "Tangyur." a monster encyclope3ia of Tibeta:i Buddhism, coraprisiug! 325 volumes,cach volume two feet long by six inchcs wide. No less a sum than 3000 rupees has been given for the work to a Buddhist monastery in Thibet, aud the amount has beeu in great part provided by the Government of India out of the usual grant to the Oriental translation fund. A copy of the work is in tho Secretary of Stuie's library at the India office.?Chiaujo Herald. A Queer Reptile. John Scrantland, of Rocky Springs, J Miss., killed a snake which is a strauger' iu these parts. This snake measured live feet two inche3 in length. The upper side was black and glossy, while the under side was red-spsttcd. At the junction of the trail a long "stinger," resembling that of the "wasp," was prominent. Inside of this reptile was found a solid stone measuring inches. This stone is now in the possession ol Robert Harvey.?Atlanta Conatitut&n. j I mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmarn I HEY. Dli. TALMAGE. THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUN DAY SERMON. Subject: "My Second Day in Pales tine." TrxT: "I went up to Jerusalem."?Gala tians, i? 18. My second day in the Holy Land. TVo an In Joppa. It is 0 o'clock in the morning, bui we must start early, for by uight we are t< be in Jerusalem, and that city is forty-oni miles away. We may take camel or horsf or carriage. As to-day will be our last opportunity in Palestiue for taking the wheel we choose that. The horses, with harness tasseled and jingling, are hitched, and. with a dragoman in coat of many colors seated in front, we start on a road which unveils in I twelve hours enough to think of for all time j and all eternity. Farewell, Mediterranean, | with such a blue as no one but the Divine j Chemist could mix, and such a fire of morning j glow as only the Divine Illuminator could | kindle. Hail! mountains of Ephraim and Judea, whose ramparts of rock we 6hall mount in a few hours; for modern engineers can make a road anywhere, and, without piling Ossa upon Peiion, those giants can scale the heavens. We start out of ths citv amid barricades of cactus on either side. Not cacti in boxes two or three feet high, but cactus higher than the top of the carriage?a plant that has more swords for defense, considering the amount of beauty it can exhibit, than anything created, fro passed out amid about four hundred gardens, seven or eight acres to the garden, from which at the right seasons are plucked oranges, lemons, figs, olives, citron and pomegranates, and which hold up their censers of perfume before the Lord in perpetual praise. We meet great processions of camels loaded with kegs of oil and with fruits, and some wealthy Mohammedan with four wives?three too many. The camel is a proud, mysterious, solemn, ancient, ungainly, majestic and ridiculous shape, stalking out of the past. The driver with his whip taps the camel on the foreleg, and he kneels to take you as a rider. But when he rises hold fast or you will fall off backward as he puts his fore feet in standing posture, and then you will fall off in front as his back legs take their place. But the inhabitants are use to his ways, although I find the riders often dismount and walk as though to rest themselves. Better stand out of the path of the camel?ho stops for nothing and seems not to look down: and in the street I saw a u? 4.u~ UU1IU UJ LUC auuao Ul U UUJICi O KJ.VJUV iWk hurled seven or eight feet along the ground. Here we meet people with faces and arms and hands tattooed, as in all lands sailors tattoo their arms with some favorite ship or admired face. It was to this habit of tattooing among the orientals that God refers in a figure when he says of his church, "I havo graven thee on the palms of my hands." Many of these regions are naturally sandy, but by irrigation they are made fruitful, and as in this irrigation the brooks and rivers are turned this way and that to water the gardens or farms, so the Bible says, "The king's heart is in the hands of tho Lord, and he turneth it as therivorsof water are turned whithersoevt'r he will." As we pass out and on we find about eight hundred acres belonging to the Universal Israelitish alliance. Montefiore, the Israelite ish centenarian and philanthropist, and Rothschild, the banker, and others of the large hearted have paid the passage to Palestine for many of tho Israelites, and sec apart lands for their culture; and it is only a beginniugof the fulfillment of divine prophecy, when these people shall take possession of tha Holy Land. The road from Joppa to Jerusalem, and all the roads leading to Nazareth and Galilee, we saw lined with pro- I cessions of Jews going to the sacred places, either on holy pilgrimage or as settlers. All the fingers of Providence nowadavs ore pointing toward that resumption of Palestine by the Israelites. I do not take it that the prospered Israelites of other lands are to go there. They would be foolish to leave their prosperities in our American cities, where they are among our best citizens, and cross two seas to begin life over again in a strange land. But the outrages heaped upon them in Russia, and the insults offered them in Germany, will soon quadruple and centuple the procession of Israelites from Russia to Palestine. Facilities for getting there will be multiplied, not only in the railroad from Joppa to Jerusalem, to which I referred last Babbath as being built, but permission for a I road from Damascus to the Bay of Acre has been obtained, ani that of course will soon connect with Joppa and make one great ocean shore railroad. 80 the railroad from Jerusalem to Joppa, and from Joppa to Damascus, will soon bring all the Holy Land within a few hours of connection. Jewish colonization societies in England and Russia are gathering money for the transportation of the Israelites to Palestine, ana for the purchase for them of lands and farming imElements, and so many desire to go that it 1 decided by lot as to which families shall go first. They were God's chosen people at the first, and He has promised to bring them back to their home, and there is no power in one thousand or five thousand years to make God forget His promises. Those who are prosp ered in other lands will do well to stay where they are. But let the Israelites who are depreciated and attacked and persecuted turn tneir face3 towards the rising sun of fcheir deliverance. God will gather in that distant land those of that race who have been maltreated, and He will blast with the lightnings of His omnipotence those lands on either side of the Atlantic which have been the instruments of annoyance and harm to that Jewish race, to which belonged Abraham and David and Joshua and Baron Hirsch and Monteflore and Paul the Apostle and. Mary the Virgin and Jesus Christ the Lord. On the way across the plain of Sharon we meet many veiled women. It is not respectable for them to go unveiled, and it is a veil that is so hung as to make them hideous. A man may not even see the face of his wife an til after betrothal or engagement of mar riage. Hence the awful mistakes ana tdo unhappy homes, for God has made the face an index of character, and honesty or dishonesty usually is demonstrated in the features. I ao not see what God made a fair face for if it were not to be looked at. But here come the crowds of disfigured women down the road on their way to Joppa, bundles of sticks for fire-wood on their heads. They started at three o'clock in the morning to gat the fuel. They stagger under the burden^ Whipped and beaten will somo of them be it their bundle of sticks is too small. All that is required for divorcement is for a man to say to his wife, "Be off, I don't want you any more." Woman a slave in all lands, except hose in which the Gospel of Christ makes her a queen. And yet in Christian countrie.there are women posing as skeptics, and men with family deriding the only religion that makes sacred and honorablo tho names of wife, mother, daughter and sister. What is that? Town of Ramleh, birthplace. residence and tomb of Samuel, tha Sonous prophet. JNear by, Tower of Fortj I artyrs, so called because that number of disciples perished there for Christ's sake; but "if towers had been built for all those who in the time of war as in time of peace have fallen on this road during tho ages Sust you might almost walk on turrets from oppa to Jerusalem. Now we passed the guard house^ which are casilts oi cnuppsu Sbraw uuu uiuu ?uao | at night and partly through the day armed men dwell and keeD the bandits off travelers. In the caves of theso mountains dwell men to whom massacre would bo hi^h play aud a purse with a few p3nnie3 would do compensation enough ror tho struggle that tb3 savage might have with the wayfarer. There Is only ona other defenso that amounts I to much in theso lands and that is tho law of hospitality. If you can get an Arab to eat witn you," if only one mouthful, you are suro of his protection, and that has been so from age to age. The Lord's supper was built on that custom, a spccial friendship after cartaking food together. To that custom Walter Scott refers in his immortal "Talisman," wherd JSaladin, with 0112 stroke of tho sword, strikes the head from an enemy who stands in Salatiin's tent with a cud in his hand and before he has tima to put it to his lip, and docs it so suddenly that the body of his-enemy, beheaded, stands for a moment after ttie beheafllng, with the cup still in his right hand. After tho cup had been sipped it would have been impossible, according to the laws of the oriental hospitality, tb give the fatal blow. The only lands where it is safe to travel unarmed are Christian lands. Human life is . more highly valued and personal rights are better respected, and I am glad to believe that in our country, from the Atlantic ocean to the Pacific ocean, there is not a place to-, [lay where a man is not safer without a pistol than with one. But all through our journeys in Palestine wo required firearms. While the only weapon I had on "toy person was a New Testament we went through the region where I cniH tfi the rlr.ntrnmnn ,4T)Avir1 arn Tnii armed?" and he said "Yes," and I said: "Are thosa fliteen or twenty muleteers and baggage men and attendants armed?" and ho said "Yes," and I felt safer. On we roll through the plain of Sharon. Here gretv the roso after which Christ wag namea, Rose of Sharon, celebrated in all Christendom and throughout all ages. There has been controversy as to what flower it wa9. Borne say it was a marshmallow that thrives here, and soma claim this honor ror tne narcissus, and some for the blue iris, and some for the scarlet anemone, for you must know that this plain of Sharon is a rolling ocean of color wnen the spring breezes move across it, But leaving the botanists in controversy as to what it is, I would take the most aromatic and beautiful of them all and twist them into a garland for the "name which is above every name." Yonder, a little to the north as we move on, is the plain of Ono. The Bible mentions it again and again. The village standing on this plain of Ono is a mud village. Two great basins of rock catch the rains for the people. Of more importance in olden time than in modern time was this plain of Ono. But as the dragoman announced it and in the Bible I read of it I was reminded of the vast multitude of people who now dwell in the plain of Ono. Tney are, by their nervous constitution or by tneir lack of faith in God, always in the negative. Will you help to build a church? On, no 1 Will you start out in some new Christian enterprise? Oh, no I Do you think the world is getting any batter? Oh, no! They lie down in the path of all good movements, sanitary, political and religious. They harness their horses with no traces to pull ahead, but only breeching 6traps to hold back. For all Christian work I would not give for a thousand of them the I nrlno nf a nltnno^ fiin nifina Thflr ara yA .W V* C WMJSJSVUt W4* w ? W in the plain of Oh, no I May the Lord multiply the numbers of those who when anything good la undertaken are found to lire in the plain of Oh, yea 1 Will you support this new charity? Ohl yes I Do you think that this victim of evil habit can be reformed? Oh, yes I Are you willing to do anything, whether obscure or resounding, for tne welfare of the church and the salvation of a world? Oh, yea! But, I am sorry to say that the moat populous plain in all the earth to-day is the plain of Ono. Here now wa come where stood the fields Into which Samson fired the foxes. The foxes are no rarity in this land. I counted at one time twenty or thirty of them in one group, and the cry all along the line was 'Foxes! Look at the foxesr and at night they sometimes bark until all attempts to sleep are an absurdity. Those I saw and heard in Palestine might have been descendants of the very foxes that Samson employed for an appalling incendiarism. The wealth of that land was in the harvests, and it was harvest time and the straw was dry. Three hundred foxes are caught and tied in couple3 by some wire or incombustible cord which the flames cannot divide, and firebrands are fastened to those couples of foxes, and the affrighted creatures are let loose and run every whither among the harvests, and in the awful blaze down go the com shocks, and the vineyards, and the olives, and all through the valleys and over the hills and among tne villages is heard the cry of "Fire!" And in the burnt pathway walk hunger and want and desolation. All this for spite. And some theologians learn one thing and some another. But I learn from it that a great man may some times stoop to a very moan piece of business, and that if men would use as much ingenuity in trying to bless as they do in trying to destroy, the world all the way down would be in better condition. Yet the fire of the foxes kindled that night in Palestine has not gone out, but has leaped the seas, and the sly foxes, the human foxes, are now still running every wbither, kindling political fires, fires of religious controversy, fires of hate, world wide fires and the whole harvest of righteousness perish. It took the hard work of multitudes on these plains of Palestine for months and months to rear the vine and raise the corn, but it took only three hundred worthless foxes one night to blaze all into ashes. Brace up your nsrves now, that you may look while I point them out. Yonder is Kirjath-Jearim, where the ark of God staid until David took it to Jerusalem. Yonder John the Baptist was born. Yonder is Emmaus, where Christ walked with his disciples at eventide. Here are men plowing, only one handle to the plow, showing the accuracy of Christ's allusion. When we plow in America or England there are two hands on two bandies, but in Palestine only one handle. And so Christ used the singular saying, "No man having put his hand to the plow and ' ? ir? flf fKn binrr/^Am " THo AT I lUUKIU^ UUC& Ad Uu lui wuo aiutuvAMa v?? > is urged on by a wooden stick pointed with sharp iron, and the ox knows enough not to kick, for he would only hurt himself instead of breaking the goad. And the Bible refers to that when it says to Saul, "It is hard for thee to kick against the goads." Here is the valley of Aialon, famous for Joshua's pursuit of the five kings and the lunar arrest. And in imagination I see the moon in daytime halt. Who has not sometimes seen the moon dispute the throne with the sun? But when the king of day and the queen of night, who never before Joshua's time nor since then stopped a moment in their march, halted at Joshua's command it was a scene, enough to make the universe shiver: "Moon, stand thou still In the valley ot AjalonAt another time we will see the sun stop above Gibeon,but now we have only to do with the moon, and you must remember it was more of an orb than It is now. It is a Burnt out world now, a dead world now. an extinct world now, a corpse laid out in state in the heavens, waiting for the judgement day to bury it. But on the day oi [which I speak the moon was probably a living world, yet it halted at the wave of Joshua's finger, "Stand thou still!" Do not budge an inch until Joshua finishes those five kings, who are there tumbling over the rock3, sword of man slashing them, nailstones out of the sky pelting them. And there is the cavern of Makkedah, where they fled for safety, and whore they were afterward locked in. and from which they were taken out to be slain, and in which they were afterward buried, and you do 1 well to examine that cavern, for within a 1 few hours it became three things which no 1 other cave ever was?fortress, prison, sepulcher. 1 Now we pass the place where once lived one of the greatest robbers of the country, Abou Gosh by name. From this point you Bee he could look over tae surrounding country, and long before the travelers came up to him the plan for taking of their monay or their life, or both, was consumated. Ho ono day found a company of monks who would net pay, and he smothered them to death in a hot oven, in his last days he lived hera like an oriental prince, and had attendants and admirers to whom he told his storie3 of brigandage and assassination. So late as when our eminent find beloved American, j William C. Prime, passed through, Abou Gosh, the scoundrelly Bedouin, sat at his doorway smoking his pipe. His descendants liveiu this vitlaga. ain probxbly ara no mor honest than their distinguished ancestor, but marauding and murder are not as safe a ' business now as when all this route to Jerusalem was subjected to outrages panieinoniae. I Hero we pass the village of Latrun, home 51 the penitent thief, the village, a few straggling houses on steep hill.--, rising from tlio valley of Ajalon. Up those stesp hills in his ?arlier days the thief had carried the spoils Df arson and burglary, and down them he bad bora the heavier burden of a guilty Roart. lint nigner taan meso nuis u? uouuted after ne had repented, from tho transfixed posture on tho cross to the bosom Df a forgiving God. Now we come to tho brook Elah, from which little David took the smooth stones with which he prostrated Goliath. There is a bridgo spanuin^ the ravine, but at the season wo crossed there is not a drop of water in tho brook. We went down into the ravine and walked amid the pebbles that had been washed smooth, very smooth, by the rush of the waters through all the ages. There ia where David armed himself. Ho walked arounu ana picked up Hvo or these polishod pebbles. He got them of just tho right sizo. Ho prepared himself for five volleys, so that if the giant escaped the first he will not escape the whole five. Tho topography of tho place so corresponds with the Hiblo story that I could see tho memorable fight go on. It is the only fi^ht I ever did watch. Pugilism I abhor; but here wera two champions?the one God appointed, the other Satan appointed, and deciding the destiny of a nation, the destiny of a world. It was a Marathon, an Arbela, a "Waterloo, a Blenheim, a Sedan, concentrated inta two i&hfc s r: ^ arms. Here are two ridges of mountains 500 feet high, the Philistines on one ridge, the Israelites on the other ridge. The fight la In the valley between, at that season shaded and swe2t with terebinth and acacia, David the champion for the Israelites, Goliath the champion for the Philistines, Havid under-' sized and almost effeminate, only a mouthful for Goliath, who was nearly ten feet high, They advance to meet each other, but the Bible says that David made the first step forward. Nearer and nearer they come, but I do not think David will wait until he comes within reach of Goliath's sword, for that would be fatal, and David has a weapon with which he can fight at long range. Closer and closer they come, but David advances the more rapidly. "Come to me," said the Riant, "and I will give thy flesh onto the fowls of the air and to the beasts of the field." You see Goliath going to rive David for a banauet to the vultura and Jackal. He, tha mountain of flesh, will fall over on that littlo hillock. I hear him laugh through the mouthpiece of hi3 helmet. He will toast the little whiffet ou the top of his long sword. He will call all the crows for a breakfast. "Come to me, you contemptible little fellow, and I will make quick work with you. The idea that a n vefooter .should dare to come out against a ceo-rooterl Let the two arinles"looking down from the ridges watch me F David responded, "I come to the a in the name of the Lord of HostsT' Aha! that is the right Irind of battle shout. "In the name of the Lord of Hosts 1" How that cry rings through the "WadyesSumptI Ho who fights in that spirit wins the day. The almost Israelitish awarf entarges into omnipotent proportions. The moment to strike nas come. David takes his sling, with a stone in it, and whirls it round his head until he has put the weapon Into sufficient momentum, and then, taking sure aim, hurls it. The giant throws up his hands and reels back and falls. The stone jank into bis forehead. That was the only available point of attack. But how about the helmet on his head? Did the stone that David flung crush through the helmet? No. An old rabbi says he thinks that when Goliath scoffed at David the giant so suddenly and contemptuouslv jerked up his head that the helmet fell off. That is like enough. David saw the bare forehead, a foot high, and aimed at the centre of it, and the skull jracked and broke in like an eggshell, and the ground shook as this great oak of a military chieftain struck it. Huzza for David! But we must hasten on,for the dange now Is that night will be upon us before we reach Jerusalem. Oh I we must see it before sun iown. We are climbing the hills which are terraced with olive groves, uplands rising above uplands, until we come to an immenrity of barrenness, gray rocks above gray rocks, where neither tree, nor leaf, nor bash. Qor grass blade can grow. The horses stnmble, and slip and pull, till it seems the harness must break. Solemnity and awe take possession of us. Though a vivacious party, ind during part of the day jocularity had reigned, now ifo one spoke a word except to jay to tne dragoman. "Tell us when you get the first glimpse of the city." I never had luch high expectation of seeing any place as of seeing Jerusalem. I think my feelings may have been slightly akin to those of tne Christian just about to enter the heavenly Jeruslaeai. My ideas of the earthly Jerusalem were bewildering. Had I not seen pictures of it? Oh, yes; but they only increased the bewilderment. They were taxen rrora a variety of standpoints. If twenty artists attempt to sketch Brooklyn or New York or London or Jerusalem they will plant their cameras at different p'.ace3 and take as many different pictures, But in a few minutes I shall see the sacred city with my own eye3. Over another shoulder of the hill we go, and nothing in sizht but rocks and mountains and awful gulches between them, which make the head swim if you look down. On and up, on and up, until the lathered and smoking horses are reined in. and the dragoman rises in front, and points eastward, crying "Jerusalem!" It was mightier than an electric shock. We all rose. There it lay, the prize of nations, the terminus of famous pilgrimages, the object or Roman and crusading wars, and for it Assyrians had fought, and Egyptians had fought, and the world had fought?the place where the Queen of Sheba visited and Richard Cceur da Lion naa conquered. Home or Solomon; horns ot Ezekiel; home of Jeremiah; home of Isaiah; home of Saladin. Mount Zion of David's heartbreak, and Mount Moriah, where the sacrifices smoked; Mount of Olives, where Jesus preached, and Gethsemane, where He agonized, and Golgotha, where He died, arid tne holy sepulcher where He was buried. O Jerusalem! Jerusalem! Greatest city on earth, and type of the city celestial! After I have been tea thousand years in heaven the memory of that first view from the rocks on the afternoon of December 2 will be as vivid as now. An Arab on a horse that was like a whirlwind, bitted and saddled and spurred, its mane and flanks jet-as the night?and there are no such horsemen | as Arab horsemen?had come far out to meet j iia r?r?H imnteiifl *n hie hrttol irwiria t.h<* <rAfy*a I But arrangements had been made for us to stay at a hotel outside the gates. In the dusk of evening we halted In front of the place and entered, but I said: ".No; thank you for your courteous reception, but I must sleep to-night inside th9 gates of Jerusalem. L would rather have too poorest place inside the gates than the best place outside." So we remounted our coach and moved on amid a clamor of voices, and between camels grunting with great beams and timbers "on their backs, brought in for building purposes ?for it is amazing how much a camel can carry?until we came to what is called the Joppa Grate of Jerusalem. It is about forty feet wide, twenty feet deep and sixty feet high. There is a sharp turn just after you have entered, so planned as to make the entrance of armed enemies the more difficult. On the structure of these gates the safety of Jerusalem depended, and all the Bible writers used th9m for illustrations. Within Ave minutes' walk of the gate we entered David wrote, "Enter into thy gates with thanksgiving," "Lift up your haads, O y? gates I" "The Lord loveth the gates of Zion," "Open to me the gates of righteousness." And Isaiah wrote. "Go through, go through the gates." And tho captive of Patmos wrote, "The city had twelve gates." Having passed the gate we went on throng h the narrow streets, dimly lighted, and passed to our halting place, and sat down by tho window, from which we could see Mount Zion, and said: "Here we are at last, in the capital of the whole earth." And thoughts of the past and the future rushed through my soul in quick succession, and I thought of that odd hymn, sung by so many ascending Kiirits: Jerusalem, my tippy Dome, Name ever ooar to mel When shall my labors have an cnJ, In joy nnd peace and thee? When shall these oyoa thy hoav'n ballt wallf And pearly gates behold? Thy bulwarks with salvation strong, And streets of shining gold? And so with our hearta full of gratitude to Sod for journeying mercies all the way from loppa to Jerusalem, and with bright mticipation of our entrauca into tho shining fate of the heavenly city when earthly lournoys are over, my second day in. Palestine is ended. TlieAmericau or Street Chestnnt. Almost every boy who has gone nutting is familiar with this well-known American nut-bearing tree, and every fall thousands of bushels of nuts are gathered in the forests and find a ready sale in our large cities, bringing from ?1.50 to $3 or per bushel, according to earliness, supply and quality. Tho great destruction going on constantly of the timber of this sort naturally diruin- j ishes the supply of nuts. Some idea of j the value of this timber may be gleaued j from the fact that we have frequently j known tho wood leave (permission to j cut the timber, and having uo referenco j to tho purchase of the land) of good J chestnut timber tracts to sell for from $75 to $150 per acre. The buyers would not so readily pay these prices if they did not know they could realize much more j than that when they marketed the tim- 1 ber in proper shape for the trade. Trees j of this variety grow rapidly, and when ! ton or twelve years old arc of geed size, but are more profitable at fifteen years. If carefully cut, they will soon succor up from tho old stump or root, and in a few years produce good-sized trees again, especially, if you do not permit too many shoots to grow from each stump.?Xeio York Observer. 0 RELIGIOUS READING. IF WK KNEW. Could we but draw back the curtains That surround each other's lives, See the naked beart and spirit, Knew what spur tbe action gives, Often we should find it better. Purer than we judge we should? We should love each other bettor If we only underst< od. Could we judge all dc rds by uiotivi s, See the good and b: id within, Often we should love tbe Miner All the while we lcatbe the sin. Could we know the powers working To o'erthrow integrity. We should judge each other's errors With more patieu!; charity. If we knew the earn and trials, Knew the effort ail in vain, And the bitter disappointment, Understood the loss and gain, Would the grim, eternal roughness Seem. I wonder, just the same? Would we help where now we hinder? Would we pity < rbere we blame? Ah! we judge each other harshly, Knowing not life's hidden force; Knowing not the fount of action Is less turbid ai its source, Seeing not amid the evil All the golden grains of good; O! we'd love each other better If we only understood. ? [Woman'8 Work. THE PKOMISE9 OK 001). "The promises of God are the motive power of prayer. Who could pray without the assurance of a praver-hearing God ? And who could expect answers to prayer if there were no promises to plead at the throne of grace? As soon as great uecd or emergency is upon us, we lay hold on some promise suited to our case. Happily there are 'exceeding great and precious promises' and we are encouraged to accept and lean upon them." So speaks the Christian Inquirer. And we are led to think of how few Chri;tians really venture upon the greatest of God's promises." Wc do not measure their height and depth fully. If we did there would be more inspiration to pray, and more power in our praying. THE STCDY OF THE BIBLE. It is wholly out of my power to renly to your letter in the manner which its purpose would recommend and its object requires. But I am unwilling altogether to withhold a few words which may, at any rate, serve as an indication of sympathy with your desire to profit by the treasures of the divine Word I will "not dwell on the need of a light from above, or the duty of seeking it; of beiug vigilant against the" excuse of the slothful spirit; of cultivating humility; of bearing in mind that God has, through all the long ages, had a people whom he has led; that we are not the tirst who come to the wells of salvation opened bv Christ and HU apostles. I will assume that you are strict adherents of method in this great study, so as to make your results comprehensive. In this view I recommend you to consider whether the table cf lessons, "old or new, may not be of much use. Two things, however, especially I commend to your thoughts. The first is this: Christianity is Christ and nearness to Him and His image is the end of all your efforts. Thus the Gospels, which continually present to us one pattern, have a kind of precedence among the books of Holy Scripture. ladvise your remembering that the Scriptures have two purposes?one to feed the people of God on green pastures, the other to serve for proof of doctrine. These are not divided by :i sharp line from one another, yet thev are provinces, on the whole, distinct, and in some ways different. "We are variously called to Various works: but we all require to feed in the pastures aud to drink at the wells. For this purpose the Scriptures are Incomparably eimple to all those willing to be fed. The same cannot be .?aid in regard to the Sroof or construction of doctrine. This is a esirabl2 work, but not for us all. It inquires to be posxessed with more of external helps, more learning and pood guides, more knowledge of the historical development of our religion, which development is one of the most wonderful parts of all human history, and, in my opinion, affords also one of the strongest demonstrations of its .truth and the power aud goodness of God.?[Mr. Gladstone to a Leader of a Men's Bible Class in Manchester. B'BLICAL EMBLEMS 0? RETRIUCTIOV. Tho Scriptural emblem* of the endless death have a secret burden of significance. An abyss of meaning yawns behind and beneath them. They do* not mean what we mean when we flip .them like peppercorns into the air with the go-bv, "They arc all mere figures of speech." Figures of specch, indeed, they are; but figures?that is, pictures?of eternal verities, the most fearfully tragic of all that we know in the history of the universe. They are prophecies. They are heavy-laden with God's infinite indignation. They mean what inspired meu saw in'awe-stiuck vision, of the cycles of duraImlv or?na{Mlif{fVa IIUU 111 ttlJICU 114C HHiiiitv.j UV4(I ol God shall express themselves in undying wrath against undying wrong. Those which our Lord originated mean what He foresaw when His mission as the Judge of the living and the dead dawned upon His trembling consciousness. They mean what they seem when weighed with the retributive enginery of the spiritual body. "If any man shall take away from the words of the Book of tbis prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the Book of Life." The modern pulpit ueed.i the biblical emblems in retributive discourse to arrest an alarming decadence of the popular faith in the reality of retributive inflictions. Of the fact of such decadence I am compelled to judge, not from personal her.ring, but from correspondence. This source of infirmation has brought to. Tny heritage evidence of such signs of the limes as these, namely, that many of our preachers, with no avowal, and probably with no consciousness of unbelief, do not preach the doctrine of endless puuishnient at all; that many more preach it only by implication in the* discussion of collateral truths; that in many pulpits it is taught more by censure of its extremes and abuses than by the cilm. bal need, compassionate/yet bold, presentation of its biblical forms; that it is seldom proved as a fundamental element of evangelical faith; that often its proofs are so weighted by its difficulties tuat the impression, as a whole, is that of a negative; that, to a very considerable extent, it is evaded in the instructions of our Sunday schools and Bible classes; and that the more amiable features of the divine government are obtruded in such disproportion that the biblical equipoise of truth is hopelessly broken. The retributive sentiment is. to a large extent, dropped out of the popular conception of the ! character of God. In short, many of our I pupils are practising the perilous experiment of preaching law without its underground of penalty, and love without its underground | of fear. The change which has come upon the I us aire of oar pulpits respecting commiiiatory J : discourse is revolutionary. Forty years a;.;o | the doctrine of endless punishment was preached without compromise or rescrva- J tioti. By argument. by illustration, by expostulation. by appeal,"it was planted deep in the popular faith. It lived in the popular conscience. Men are still living in whose memory the echo reverberates of the imperial tones of President Finnvv, in which he pictured the endlessness of "hell torments" m that apostrophe at which men sprang to their feet?' Kternity, Oeternity!" Men still live who heard the walling confessions of Albert Barnes, from which thej caught some conceptions of the crushet spirit of our Lord in His anticipations of thi day of doom. Where can we hear sucj preaching now??[I'rof. Phelps. xhere are In St. 1'etcrsbTrg 733 benevolent institutions, upon which the city spends yearly 7,000,000 roubles. The maintenance of hospitals and iutirniaries costs 2,590,000; poor houses, 1,- : 150,000; asylums for children, 2,224,- j 200; schools, 1,137,000; kitchens for the i poor, 47,000; workhouses, 12,00J, and ! lodging houses, 7,000 roubles. The ! Binking funds of all these institutions, besides their respective possessions in real estate, are estimated at 60,500,000 mnlilaa. ... . . SABBATH SCHOOL INTERNATIONAL LESSON FOB OCTOBER 26. - 'j Lesson Text: "Jesns in Gethsemane," ' Luke xxlL, 89-58?Golden Textt Isiah lili., 8?Commentary. 89. "And He came out and went as He was wont to tlie Mount of Olives; and His disciples also foHowed Him.'' After the last lesson we must listen to His most gracious words as recorded in John xiv., xv., xvi., then we hear them sing a hymn, and then bow our heads and hearts in deepest adoration ns wo hear Him nrav as never man prayed before (Jolm xvii). Ha prayed "so earnestly for them, and for us who believe on Him through their word, and again as He thinks of His finished work the glory fills His vision, and He asks tbat for as too. Then they follow Him, no doabt silent and wondering, having heard such strange things about another to take His place as their comforter teacher, friend. He had often gone to this mount before in the evening (chap, xxi., 37; John viii., 1), bat perhaps never so late as this; and now it was the last time, and He was more alone than ever as far as human sympathy went His disciples follow, but they do not understand 40. "And when Ho was at the place Ha said unto them. Pray that ye enter not into temptation." They nad all joined Peter In saying that they would never deny Him. (Mark xiv., 31), and cow they are about to have a little test of how far they can go with Him and how much they can bear for Him. According to Mark, He left the eleven (perhaps just inside the garden), and took Peter, James and John, and began to be sore amazed and very heavy, saying, "My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death." As He enters into the deepening shadow* of the cross only these three are privileged to come near. It is the place and nour, and they are permitted to continue thus far. 41. "And He was withdrawn from them ' nWuifc a ctnnp'c rust and kneeled down and prayed." The shadows still deepen, and these, too, must ba left. And now He la . alone, ana He falls on His face In prayer. He treads the wine press alone, and of tho people there is none with Him (JLsa. lxiii., 3). Gethsomane may be a fulfillment, if not the tflflllment of those words. The adversary Is about to engage Him in deadly conflict, ind will prevent the atonement if he possibly can. 42. "Saying, Father, If Thou be willing remove this cup from Me; nevertheless, not My will but Thine be done." He cannot mean the crcss and His being made a corse thereon, for to that He steadily and unflinchingly journeyed: but this is another cup, a sore conflict with the enemy of which we can understand but little. Let me state it as I see it and then prove it. In His great atonement which He came to accomplish He wae to be made a curse by being bung upon a tree (Gal. iii.. 13). His bands and feet were to be pierced (Ps. xxLi_ 16); yet not abone was to oe broken (Ex. ill, 46). Thus His death by crucifixion was plainly foretold and must be r'ulfllled. Now if Satan could manage to <ill Him in this Gethsemane conflict, then :he work that He came to do wou'd be un lone. This seems to have been the aim of the adversary. And if the Father should so will it, Jesus would submit. 43. "And there appeared an angel unto Him from heaven strengthening Him." One of those blessed ones so ready to wait upon Him and upon all who are His; who announced and heralded His birth, and who waited upon Him at His resurrection, and Soke to Mary and the other women so kindly, ow often we are strengthened by their loving ministrations we will never Know while * in the mortal body. 44. "And being in an agony He prayed more earnestly; and His sweat was as it were, great drops of blood falling down to the ground." Being strengthened He continues the conflict and is victor: but who can tell the agony which caused this sweat like drops of blood? 45. "And when He rose up from prayer nnd was come to His disciples He found them sleeping for sorrow." The other gos? pels record that He prayed three times, and after each prayer' came and found them * sleeping. Ir it was for sorrow how was itl that their sorrow made them sleep, while His sorrow, which was exceeding great' (Mark xiv., 34), caused Him to sweat, as it were, great drops of blood? May it be that their sorrow was for themselves, or if in some degree of pity for Him, their dear Master, whom they saw to be so overcome with sorrow, how little they knaw of the reality of His sorrow or of the conflict through which He was passing. 46. "And said unto them. Why sleep ye? Rise and pray lest ve enter into temptation." It was a poor numjmenu 01 lu?u iwuuicm to die with Him; butasHesaid, "whiletheir, spirit was willing their flesh was weak," timl He pitied them. They did not know the powers of darkness with which they had to contend, with whom He had just been in deadly conflict, and with whom they, to their sorrow, would in due time be better acquainted . 47. "And while Ho yet spate, behold 4 multitude, and bo that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them, and drevr near unto Jesus to kiss Him." He has been contending with the adversary In person, and now He is about to meet him in one of Hit professed disciples, who while professing friendship has murder in his heart. 48. "But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betray est thou the Son of Man with a kiss!" Mark says that Judas said, "Master, master," and kissed Him. Some one has remarked, how coolly deliberate, deeply hypocritical, diabolically malicious! See what Satan can do and God can suffer. 49. "When they which were about Him eaw what would follow, they said unto Him. Lord, shall we smite with the sword?" Haa He not spoken of sword and advised their obtaining them? This, then, was surely the time to use them. But. ah! they knew TTtm not, thev understood Him not, tney had not much of His spirit; while we may lawfully defend, w? must not attack. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal. 50. "And one of them smote the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear." The servant s name was Malchus. and it was Simon Peter who had blundered (John xviii., 10). Had Peter been watching and praying instead of sleeping he had not actei thua^ rashly and unbidden. 51. "And Jesus answered and said. Suffer e thus far, and He touched his ear and healed him." Suffer ye thus far is not as if He said to Peter, You have gone far enough, be content, for Peter had gone too far and Jesus gently rebukes him, and also adds, "Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to MySather, and He?ball presently give Ma more than twelve legions of angslsr' (Matt, xxvi., 51-53). But He says to those who would apprehend Him. who were probably making noise enough about Peter's act, and ready to kill Peter. "Bear with this, suffer this much, for 1 will remedy it," and at th* same time He restores the man's ear. Hia last act of healing is upon an enemy who has suffered at the hands of one of His disciples. 52.' "And Jesus said unto the chief priests, and captains of the tetuple, and the elders, which were to come to Him: Be ye come out as against a thief, with swor.ls and staves?" Had H-j been some robber chief they could hardly have mad? greater preparation to ,al-? Rut. wh;?ii xyq consider that He was tha Prince oi Peace, the meek and I lowly Jesus, harmless ai a dove, how strange I it all seemed! B bo. "When I was daily with you in the I temple ye stretched forth no hand against I Me; but this is your honor and the power of I darkness." The triumphing of the wicked is I short (Job xx., 5), yet he often has his I triumph over the righteous here in this I world for a little season. "I have seen the I wicked great in power, and spreading him self like a green bay tree, yet he passed away audio he was not"' (fs. xxxvii., 33, 36). I Thehcur of the wicked is very short, but the hour of the righteous shall be forever.? I Lesson Helper. 9 The present Harpers are grandsons I of the original printers, but they retain! their adherence to the craft. They are! still printers, and each one of the fam-B ilv that intends entering the firm mustl first learn the trade. He starts as anfl apprentice, and is not admitted firm until ho has mastered the craffil A large vein of pure white sancJ suitable for making glass, has bee J found near Pittsburg, Pa. The discov-I ery will save the gla3s manufacturers? of that city thousands of dollars annu-l ally, as ther have hitherto bean oblige? to send across the Alleghany Mows tains for their sand, ,y M