The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, January 21, 1891, Image 2
HUMAN NATURE.
If life were not so sad a thing,
Who then could think of being merry!
If God's will would bear altering.
His plans we should not try to vary!?
Were we once free from pain and care,
We straight would seek some cross to bear!
If upon love a seal were set,
How many seals would then be broken!
If gentle speech were hard to get,
~ \ How many kind words would be spoken!?
If heaven were once denied us all,
How we should then to heaven call!
?Mary A. Mason, in Youth's Companion.
' "'A FEMALE CRUSOE.
On the 26th day of October, A. D.
1871, the trading schooner Little King
sailed out of the port of Siugapore,
bound for the Kinderoon Islands, to the
north, and only one of her crew wa3 ever
aeain met with. For five years before
the schooner had belonged to and been
commanded by Captain Ezra Williams,
an American from San Francisco. He
traded between Singapore and Sumatra,
Java, Borneo and the smaller islands of
the Java Sea, and in May, 1871, died at
Singapore of fever. He had then been
married for three years to an English
woman, whose maiden name was Danforth,
who had been a domestic in an
an English family in Singapore. She had
accompanied him in all his voyages, and
had sccured much experience aud information.
As she could not readily dispose
of the schooner, she determined to
continue in the business, acting as her
own supercargo.
Mrs. Williams secured an Englishman
named Parker as captain, another named
Hope as mate, and with three Malays before
the mast and a Chinese cook, and
with about $7000 in specie in the cabin,
she sailed away on her first voyage, and
it was four years later before she was
gain heard of. The purpole of this
narrative is to chronicle her advc^
tures in the interim, as I had it from her
own lips.
While it was a bit queer to start on a
voyage with a woman virtually in command
of the -craft, Mrs. Williams had
nothing to fear from her crew. The
officers were good navigators, and the
men willing, and all were anxious for a
profitable voyage. She had no complaints
to make until the islands had been
reached. The group lies between the
Malay Peninsula and the island of Borneo,
about 100 miles off the coast of the
former, and from 250 to 300 miles from
Borneo. There are nineteen islands in the
group, covering a length of 120 miles by
about forty broad. There arc only seven
or eight which are inhabited, and at the
~ time of which I write the people were a
lawless scl, and a share of them out-andpirate3.
The products were dried fish,
aea shells, cocoanuts, dye stuffs, various
herbs and roots for medicinal purposes,
and several sorts of spices. The schooner
had been there once before and made a
profitable trip of it. She had clothing,
powder, shoes, axes, and a great variety
of notions, and where none of these were
wanted she paid cash.
On the trip the schooner worked to
the northward and made her stop at the
Island of Qucwang, being the third one
from the northernmost island of the
group. She met with a cordial reception,
and at once began bartering for and receiving
cargo. She was anchored in a
sheltered bay, within 500 feet of the
beach, and had been there five days before
anything occurred to arouse Mrs.
Williams's suspicions that all was not
right. She then observed that the entire
crew were drinking deeply of a native
liquor which the natives were supplying
in a liberal manner, and that some of the
fellows were becoming impudently
familiar. When the Captain was spoken
to he laughed at her idaa of trouble and
promised better things, but the drinking;..
continued. On the afternong^/ the
seventh day seven;} women came of! in
the canoes?-One of them, who could
speak^tiDglish pretty fairly, was prewpftd
with some ornaments by Mrs.
^Jfalliams, and in return she hinted to her
^^g^^that it was the intention of the natives to
capture and loot the schooner that night.
They had discovered that there was a
large sum of money on board, and they
naa iouna me crew an easy one 10
handle. The native woman hadn't time
nor opportunity to say much, but no
sooner had the crowd of natives left the
Bchooncr at dusk, as was their custom,
than Mrs. "Williams set out to sound the
alarm. Imagine her feelings when she
discovered that every single man on
board, from Captain to cook, was so
much under the influence of liquor as to
be unable to comprehend her words. She
doufsd them with sea water and pounded
them with belaying pins, but all to no
purpose. The entire lot were stupidly
drunk, just as the natives had planned
for.
It was a perilous situation for the
woman to be placed in. If the natives
captured the schooner they would
murder every one of the crew as a natural
sequence, and the first step toward
capturing her had already t>een taken.
The step she took showed sound judgment.
The schooner's yawl was down,
having been in almost hourly use. The
native village was about forty rods back
irom tne Deacn, ana as tnc scnooner
6wung to tho ebb tide she presented her
broadside to the village. When the
yawl was pulled around to the port side
ehe was out of sight. Mrs. Williams's
first act was to step the mast; her next
to supply the craft with provisions aud
water. There were an unusual number
of lights burning in the village, showing
that something was on foot, but she had
no fear of an attack until a later hour.
The natives would wait until certain that
all the people were helpless.
Mrs. Williams had determined to slip
away from the doomed craft in the yawl,
although she had no experience in the
management of a small boat. After
water and provisions sho brought up all
her money, which was in boxes she could
handle. Not a penny of it was left behind.
There was a rifle, revolver and
double-barreled shotgun belonging to
her husband. These she took, togetliei
with powder, shot and fixed ammunition.
Thnn shr> renthcrpil nr> ;i11 lir?r Iiorlilino- I
and clothing, took three or four spare
blankets, two suits of clothes belonging
to the officers, and when these were in
the boat she took pots, pans, dishes
x. and cutlery, bundled up a lot of
carpenter's tools, secured two axes, a lot
of small rope, several pieces of canvas,
and, in brief, loaded the yawl with
whatever was portable and handy, including
the clock, compass, quadrant,
6cxtaut aud a lamp and four gallons of
oil. She worked for upward of two.
hours getting these things into the
boat, and the last articles taken aboard
were meat, flour, beans, tea and other
provisions from the lazarette.
_
It was about ten o'clock when Mrs.
Williams took her seat in the yawl and i
cast off from the schooner, and the tide I
at once drifted her out of the bay and i
to the north. The only thiug of conse- i
Aiinnrtft ffnn WOO fl Af 4
l^UCUUC OUC UUU iUI^ULi^u iioa (I vuui u vi j
the Java Sea, which she could have put
her hand on at a minntc's notice, and it i
was the want of this which made a Crusoe
of her for several years. As the
yawl went to sea after its own fashion,
Mrs. Williams lost the points of the
compass at once. Indeed, had she kept
them in mind, it would have been of no
benefit just then, as she had not studied "
the chart and could not have told which 1
way to steer to reach auother group or '
the main land. She heard nothing !
whatever from the natives, but several
years later it was ascertained that they !
did not board the schooner uutil mid- ]
night. The men, all of whom were still
drunk and asleep, were stripped and
tossed overboard to drown, and then the .
absence of the woman and her money
was discovered. Five or six native .
crafts were at once sent in pursuit, while
the people who remained looted the
schooner of everything of value to (
them, and then towed her out to deep
water and scuttled her to hide the evidences
of their crime.
After drifting three or four miles out *
to sea the yawl got a light breeze, and :
after a few trials the woman learned .
how to manage the sail and lay a course.
She had no idea which way she was
heading, but rau o2 before the breeze,
and kept going all night and until raidafternoon
next day. She must have passed
the island of Upnong in the early morning,
but so far to the westward that she
could not see it. The wind hauling at
midforenoon altered her course by several
points, and the northernmost island
of the group named Poillo was thus
brought in line. The island is seven
miles long by three in width at its
widest part, and well wooded and
watered. Tne woman landed on the
east side, at the mouth of a creek which
forms a snug little harbor. She was
convinced that this was one of the islands
of the Kinderoon group, but she
did not know that it was the most northerly
one. By consulting the compass
she got the cardinal points, but not having
studied the chart she could not say
in what direction any other land lay.
She had seen the sails of two traders that
morning, but as they were native crafts
she had every wish to avoid them. The
boats which were seat in pursuit of her
must have taken another cousrc, as she
saw nothing of them.
When Mrs. Williams landed on the
island she had no idea of stopping there
for more than a day or two, or until she
could uccide on some plan. She had
scarcely gone ashore when a gale came
un which lasted about thirty hours, dur
ing which the yawl was so damaged that 1
she must undergo repairs. She unloaded ?
her goods on the shore, covered them *
from the weather, and then set out to explore
the island, pretty well satisfied
that it was inhabited, and hoping, if it
was, that her money might secure as- c
sistance. Before night she was f
satisfied that she wa9 all alone, and sae <]
made a shelter out of the blankets, and j
slept the night away as peacefully as if t
in her cabin on the schooner. Next day y
she exchanged her apparel for a man's ,
suit and began the erection of a hut. In ^
a grove about 200 feet from the beach {
she erected a shelter, 10x20 feet, which (
withstood tho storms of almost four v
years. While the sides consisted of can- s
vas and poles, the roof was thatched s
with a long gras3 which she found on the j
island in abundance. \
It took the women about a week to (
construct her hut aud move her stores t
into it, and this bad scarcely been doa^ L
when her boat, owing to f.Vefessness on ;
her part^vas-esrncd off by the sea, and ?
she now realized that she was a prisoner T
until such time as the crew of some t
trading vessel might land aud discover t
her. After her house was completed c
she made a more thorough exploration of ?
her island home. There were parrots f
and other birds, snakes of a harmless t
variety, Borneo rats, and a drove of ?
about 300 Java pigs, which are about tho s
oi^ft nf thfi American iieccarv. but are *
wild iustead of fierce. 1
The woman had clothing to last hor c
five or six years, but the provisions she c
had brought from the schooner would (
not supply her needs more than a few f
months. While hoping aud expecting r
to be taken off almost any day, she wise- E
ly prepared for a long stay. She had
fish-hooks and lines in her outfit, nnd ,
with fish from the sea, meat from the \
woods, and bananas and wild fruits from s
the groves, she had a variety and a plen- j
ty. Six months after she landed a na- ,
tive craft put in about a mile from her ^
hut, but creeping through the woods she ^
saw that all were Malays, and so savage t
in appearance that she did not dare make s
herself known. Seven months later a s
second craft sent men ashore to fill two
water casks, but she was also afraid of
these. She lived very quietly from that
time until uearly two years after her
landing, having remarkably good health 1
all the time, but naturally lonely and cast (
down at times.
One afternoon, as she was in the forest *
about half a mile from home, having her *
sliotgua with her, a iiorneo sailor sua- ?
denly coufrontcd her. lie was entirely !
alon3, and whether he had bsen marooned
or cast away she never learned. '
As she was dressed in a man's suit he 1
naturally took her for a man, but his first '
movement was a hotile one. He advanced <
upon the woman with a club in his hand 1
and uttering shouts of menace, and to 1
save her own life she was compelled to 1
shoot him. 1
Now and then, all through her stay,
trading vessels were sighted in the oil- 1
ing, with now and then a craft known to 1
be manned by Englishmen, but signals J
made to the latter by meau9 of smoke
were never heeded. Her main hope was :
that the loss of the schooner would in
some way reach her friends at Singapore, 1
and that a searching party might be sent |
out to her rescue.
Onp riav. when she had been on the 1
islaud four years lacking about fifty days, 1
the British survey ship, Sahib, then cn- i
gaged in surveying the group, dropped
anchor off the mouth of the creek and
sent a party ashore to explore the interior.
I had the honor not to only head
this party, but to be the first ruau to eec
and to speak to Mrs. "Williams. We
fouud her in excellent health, although
tanned and roughened by exposure to
the weather. When she had donned her
own proper apparel and had time to
tidy up no one could Gnd fault with her
appearance.
After a few days we sailed for Singapore,
where Mrs. Williams >ras safely
landed, and a few weeks later a tnau-ofwar
was despatched to the island where
the schooner had been seized. Natives
were found who gave all the particulars,
and the result was that eight men were
brought aboard, tried, convicted and
3wung up at the yard arm, while three
more were shot while trying to escape
from the island.?New York Sun.
rhe Indians of Northwest Canada,
Dr. Boas, in the British Association
report on the Northwestern tribes of the
Dominion of Canada, describes the Indians
of the Pacific coast as being able- j
bodied and muscular, with the uppet
limbs, owing to the strengthening of the
irms and chest by the constant use of the 1
paddle, generally better developed than |
the lower ones. They have a keen sight, !
but in old ape freauentlv becomo blear- I
-O" 1 * 9 I
jyed. Their mental capacity is high, as
is proved by the state of their culture.
Whiteness of skin and slendemcss of
limbs are considered among the principal
beauties of men and women, and long,
slack hair of women. In some of the
;ales red hair is described a3 a peculiar
aeauty of women. Red paint on the
:ace, tight-fitting bracelets and anklets
>f copper, nose and car ornaments ol
variegated haliotis shells,and hair strewed
;vith eagledown, add to tho natural
jharras. The fact that in honor of the
irrival of friends the house is swept and
itrewed with sand, and that the people
jathe at such occasions, shows that cleaniness
is appreciated. The current expression
is, that the house is so cleaned
;hat no bad smell remains to offend the
juest. For the same reason the Indian
t __ a. ?i ?- _ J.1 L ./ ; taL.i
:asesrepeated Dams oeiore praying, --mm
le may be of agreeable smell to the
leity." The Indian is grave and selfcomposed
in all his actions; and playing
s considered undignified and even bad.
in the Tsimshian language tho term foi
ilay means to talk to no purpose; and
loing anything to no purpose is con^mptible
to the Indian. He is rash in
inger, but does not easily lose control
)ver his actions. He sits down or lies
lown sullenly for days without parlakng
of food, and when he rise3 his #first
hougbt is, not to take revenge, but to
ihow that he is superior to his adversary.
3reat pride and vanity combined with
;he most susceptible jealousy, characterze
all actions of the Indian. He watches
;hat he may receive his proper share of
lonor at festivals; he can not endure to
)e ridiculed for even the slightest mis.ake;
he carefully guards all his actions,
ind lcoks for due honor to be paid to
rim by friends, strangers, and subordilatcs.
To be strong and able to sustain
he pangs of hunger are evidently conlideccd
worthy of praise by the Indians;
>ut foremost of all is wealth. It is conidcrcd
the duty of every man to have
)ity upon the poor and hungry. Women
ire honored for their chastity and for beng
true to their husbands; children, for
aking care of their parents; men, for
kill and daring in huuting . and for
>ravery in war.
The Surrender of tho Commune.
Nest day (May 22, 1871) it was genimII'it
Icnnron that the "Versaillais." as
hey were called,had entered the capital,
rhen opened the gloomiest page in the
listory of France. On one side were
he vandals of the commune, doing their
>est to burn Paris to the ground, murlering
innocent hostages, unchaining all
he horrors of civil war; exhibiting nil
he heroism, every act of ferocity and
:owardice,into which human nature when
mreatrained will rush. On the other
ide were the troops, irritated by the
itruggle, humiliated by the duty that
iad fallen upon them, exasperated .
>y so ra&ny horrors. Torrents of frotri:idal
blood deluged p&vement of the
jreatJF^Bck-cfty. While the struggle
vas goiDg on, there could be seen arrivng
at Versailles,escorted by the soldiers,
;angs of prisoners, the savage rabble
\*ho had plundered and spread conflagraion,
and who, in blind obedience to
heir leaders, had committed unparalleled
icts of barbarism. They arrived on tho
jreat Place d'Arraes, under a bright and
>roiling sun. The perspiration ran from
heir faces, blackened with gunpowder
md dust. Their clothes were in tatters,
imelling of smoke and petroleum. There
vere women, with features distorted by
latred and anger; precocious children,
casting a stealthy lookarouudthem; and
>ld men. crushed by defeat, with patches
>f clotted blood on their white hair and
jeards, marking them out as apostles of
evolution. Some, who had been jolted
imidst the lumber heaped on the carts,
vere taken out and put flat on the
jround. They Iny, stiff and motionless,
vith their eyes wide open and staring,
is if, after a loug fit of madness, they
lad lost all consciousness of an outer
vorld. The captives were separated into
groups, and sent to improvised prisons,
vhere an attempt was made to shelter
his army of disorder. They had added
hame to defeat, who had with lire and
word ravaged Paris.?Harper.
A Traitor's Ending.
John Fiske tells the old story of Benelict
Arnold's treason in an article of fas:inating
interest written for the Atlantic.
iVhat may be new to many readers is
tfr. Fiskc's statement that all the family
;radition goes to show that the last years
>f Benedict Arnold iu London were
rears of bitter remorse and self-reproach,
rhe great name which he had so gallanty
won and so wretchedly lost left him
10 repose by night or day. The iron
l*o/l wiflicfrvnrl fliA fntinriiPQ
11111111,*) nuitu 1AC*VA HlkUOVUVU ?.ww
if so many trying battlefields and still
nore trying inarches through the wildcraess,
broke down at last uudcr the slow
torture of lost friendships and merited
ilisgrace.
In tho last sad days in London, in
June, 1801, the family tradition says
that Arnold's mind kept reverting to his
old friendship with Washington. He
had always carefully preserved the American
uniform which he wore on the day
wheu he made his escape to the Vulture;
and now as, broken in spirit and weary
of life, he felt the last moments coming,
he called for this uniform and put it on,
und decorated himself with the epaulettes
rind swordknot which "Washfngton had
Ljiven him after the victory of Saratoga.
"Let me die, ' said he, ''in this old uniform
in which I fought my battles. May I
God forgive me for ever putting on any
other."
Snow Shoes lit TVar.
In the early wars with Frcncli and
Indians many a winter campaign could
never have been carried on but for the
snow shoes, which aloue made marching
possible. Id the winter attacks of the
savages upon the settlements in Northern
New England, and in the expeditions of
English and French troops, snow shoes
were a necessary part of their equipment,
their baggage being hauled on sleds or
toboggans.?New York Star.
- - ' - MB
rev. dk. taijage.
t'v/v- "
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUN~
DAY SERMON.
Sutyecis "A Religions Movement In
1891."
Text: "Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem
until ye be endued with power from on
high.1'?Luke xxiv., 49.
For a few months, in the providence of
God, I have two pulpits, one in Brooklyn
and tho other in New York, and through the
kindne&j of the printing press an ever
widening opportunity. To all such hearers
and readers I come with an especial message.
The time has arrived for a forward movement
such as the church and the world have
never seen. That there is a need for such a
religious movement is evident from the fact
? ?U n rm \ r\ rr
tlittl UCVOr MlilX} UUI nuxxu onauft vuw
among the planets has there been such aa
organized and determined effort to overthrow
righteousness, and make the Ten
Commandments obsolete and the whole Bible
a derision. Meanwhile alcoholism is taking
down its victims by the hundreds of thousands,
and the political parties get down on
their knees, practically saying: "0 thou almighty
rum jug! we bow down before thee I
Give us the offices?city, State and national.
Ob, give us the offices, and we will worship
thee for ever and ever; Amen."
The Christian Sabbath meanwhile, appointed
for physical, mental and spiritual
rest, is being secularized and abolished. As
If the bad publishing houses of our own country
had exhausted their literary filth, the
French and Russian sewers have been invited
to pour their scurrility and moral slush into
the trough where our American swine are
now wallowing. Meanwhile there are enough
houses of infamy in all our cities, open and
unmolested of the law. to invoke the omnipotent
wrath which buried Sodom under a deluge
of brimstone. The pandemoniac world,
I think, has massed its troops, and they are
at this moment plying their batteries upoD
family circles, cnurch cirole3, social circles,
political circles and national circles. Apollyon
is in the saddle, and riding at the head of hi;
myrmidons would capture this world foi
darkness and woe.
That is one side of the conflict now raging.
On the other side we have the most magnificent
gospel machinery thut the world evei
saw or heaven ever inveuted. In tho first
place there are in this coui vry more than
eighty thousand ministers of religion and,
take them as a class, more consecrated,
holier, more consistent, more st_* denying,
more faithful men never lived. I know them
by the thousands. I have met them in every
city. I am told, not by them, but by people
outside of our profession, people engaged in
Christian and reformatory work, that ths
clergy of America are at the head of all good
enterprises, ahd whoever else fail they may
bo depended on. The truth of this is demonstrated
by the fact that when a minister oi
? <%! ! oirtw /Taaa IaII i* nn AWAMvflAnal fVi n t fli n
ICJUgiUU uuca lOU, 1U lo OU CAV/^biuuai vuau uue
newspapers report it as something startling,
while a hundred men in other callings may
go down without the matter being considered
as especially worth mentioning.
In addition to their equipment in moral
character the clergy of this country have all
that the schools can give. All archaeological,
rhetorical, scientific, scholastic, literary
attainment. So much for the Christian
ministry of all denominations. In the noxt
place on our side of the conflict we have the
grandest churches of all time and higher
style of membership and more of them, and
a host without number of splendid men and
women who are doing their best to have this
world purified, elevated, gospelized. But
we all feel that something is wanting.
Enough hearty songs have been sung and
enough earnest sermons preached within the
last six months to save ail the cities of America,
and saving the cities you save tho world,
for they overflow all the land either witn
their religion or their infamy.
But look at some of the startling facts.
It is nearly nineteen hundred years since
Jesus Christ came by the way of Bethlehem
caravansary to save this world, yet the
most of the world has been no more
touched by this most stupendous fact ot
all eternity than if on the first Christmas
night the beasts of the stall, amid the bleatings
of their own young, had not heard tha
bleating of the Lamb that was to be slain.
Out of the eighteen hundred million of fchiL
human race fourteen hundred fliffiibn are
without God and witiwat hope in the world,
the camel dpy^of Arabia, Mahomet, with
his ulstJ wives, having half as many disciples
ps our blessed Christ, and more people are
worshiping chunks of painted wood and
carved stone than are worshiping the living
and eternal God. Meanwhile, the mo3t of
us who are engaged in Christian work?I
Bpeak for myself as well as others?are toiling
up to our full capacity of body, mind and
eouI, harnessed op to the last buckle, not
ablo to draw a pound more than we are
drawing or lift an ounce more than we are
lifting.
"What is the matter? My text lets out the
secret. We all need more of the power from
on high. Not muscular power, not logical
power, not scientific power, not social power,
not financial power, not brain power, but
power from on high. With it we could accomplish
more in one week than without it
in a nundred years. And I ara going to get
it, if in answer to prayer, earnest and long
continued, God will grant it to me. His unworthy
servant. Men and women wno know
how to pray, when you pray for yourself,
pray for me that I may be endued with power
from on high. I would rather have it than
all the diamond fields of Golconda, and all the
pearls of the sea, and all the gold of the
mountains. Many of the mightiest intellects
novnr nnn a rniirn nr it An.l manv of thfl less
than ordinary intellects bare been surcharged
with it Ana every man and woman on earth
lias a right to aspire to it, a right to pray foi
it, and, properly persistent, will obtain it.
Power from on the level is a good thing,
etch power as I may give you, or you may
give me, by encouraging words and actions.
Power from on the level when we stand by
each other in any Christian undertaking, j
Power from on the level when other pulpits
are in accord with ours. Power from on the
level when the religious and secular pres<
forward our Christian undertakings. Eul
power from on the level is not sufficlen
Power from on high is what we need to ta'c.
possession of us. Power straight from Go i.
Supernatural power, omnipotent power, a!
conquering power. Not more than one ou
of a thousand of the. ministers has it cou
tinuously. Not moro than one out of tei
thousand Christians has it all the time. Given
in abundance, these last tea years of the
nineteenth century would accomplish mort
for God, and the church, and the world thar
the previous ninety years of this century.
A few men and women in each age of thi
world have possessed it. Caroline Fry, thi
immortal Quakeress, had it, and three huu
died of the depraved and suffering of New
gate prison, under her exhortation, repented
and believed. Jonathan Edwards had it, and
Northampton meeting house heard the out
burst of religious emotion as he spake oJ
righteousnssa and judgment to come. Samue
Eudgett, tbe Christian merchant, had it, anc
his benefactions showered the world. Johr
Newton had it. Bishop Latimer had it. Isa
bella Graaam had it. Andrew Fuller had it
The great evangelists Daniel Baker and Dr
Net tie ton and Truman Oiborn and Cbarle!
G. Finney had it. In my boyhood I 'jaw Tru
man Osborn rise to preach in the villag<
church at Somerville, N. J., and before nt
had given out his text or uttered a wor/
people in the audience sobbed aloud with ro
figious emotion. It was the power from 01
high. All in greater or less degree may havi
it. Onco get it and nothing can stand befon
you. Satan goes down. Caricature go a
down. Infidelity goes down. Worldineai
goes down. Ail opposition goes down.
Several times in the history of the churcl
and the world has this power from on higl
been demonstrated. In the seventeentl
century, after a great season of moral de
pressiOD, tnis power iroin uu uijju uiuu
iiovva upon John Tillotson and Owen and
Flavel and Baxter and Bunyan, and then
was a deluge of mercy higher than th<) top
ot the highest mountains ot sin. in the
eighteenth century, in England and America,
religion was at a low water mark. William
Cowper, writing of the clergy of these daya,
said-.
Except a few with Ellr? spirit bloat,
Hophni and Phlncaa may describe the rest.
The infidel writings of Shaftesbury and
Hobbes and Chubb ban done their work.
But power from on high carto upon both
the Wesleys and Lady Huntington on the
other side the Atlantic, and upon William
Tennant and Gilbert Tennaat and David
Brainerd on this side the Atlantic, and both
i :?#Alf fi'ooH nf n nar/lnninff
UUUiiayiici ca ion w. ? r ?
God. Coming to later date, there may be
here and there in this audience an aged man
or woman who can remember New York in
1831, when this power from on high de
scended most wondrously. It came upon
pastors and congregations and theatres and
commercial establishments. Chatham
Street Theatre, New York, was the scane of
a most tremendous religious awakening.
A committee of Christian gentlemen called
upon the lessee of the theatre, and said they
would like to buy the lease of the theatre.
He said, "What do you want it for?" They
replied, "For a church." "For wh-a-ati"'
said the owner. "For a church," was the
reply. The owner sSKI, "You may nave it,
and I will give you a thousand dollari to help
you on witn your work." Arthur Tappan,
a man mightily persecuted in his time, but a
trmn as I saw him in his last days, as honest
and pure and good as any man I ever knew,
stepped on the stage of old Chatham Theatre
as the actors were closing their morning
rehearsal and said, "There will be preaching
here to-niirht on tfci? staze:" and then crave
out ana sang witn sucn people as were mere
the old hymn:
The voice of free grace crie3, escape to the mountain,
For aH that believe Christ has opened a foontaln
The barroom of the theatre was turned into
a prayer room, and eight hundred persons
were present at the flret meeting. For
seventy successive nights religious servic33
were held in that theatre, and such scenes of
mercy and salvation as will be subjects of
conversation and congratulation among tna
ransomed in glory as long as beaven lasts.
But I come to a later time?1857?remembered
by many who are here. I remember
It especially, as I bad just entered the office
of the ministry. It was a year of hard tiine3.
A great panic had flung hundreds of thousands
of people penniless. Staryation enteral
habitations that had never before
knoiva a (rant. Domestic life in many cases
became a tragedy. Suicide, garroting,
burglary, assassination were rampant. What
?n awful day that was when the banks wen.
down I There has been nothing like it in
thirty years, and I pray God there may noJ
be anything like it in the next thirty centuries.
Talk about your Black Fridays! It
was Black Saturday, Black Sunday, Black
Monday, Black Tuesday, Black Wednesday,
Black Thursday as well as Black Friday.
This nation in its extremity fell helpless
before the Lord and cried for pardon and
peace, and upon ministers and laymen the
power from on high descended. Engine
nouses, warerooms, hotel parlors, museums,
factories, from 12 to 1 o'clock, while the operatives
were resting, were opened for prayers
and serm6n3 and inquiry rooms, and
Burton's old theatre on Chambers street,
where our ancestors used to assemble to
laugh at the comodies, and all up and down
the streets, and out on the docks and on the
.eoKs or snips lying at tne wnarr psopie san:;,
"All hail the power of Jesus's name," whil3
others cried for mercy. A great mass meeting
of Christians on a week day, in Jayne's
Hall, Philadelphia, telegraphed to Fulton
Street Prayer Meeting In New York, saying,
"What hath God wrought?" and a telegram
want back saying, "i'wo hundred souls
saved at our meeting to-day." A ship came
through the Narrows into our harbor, the
captain reporting that himself and all the
crew had been converted to God between
New Orleans and New York.
In the busiest marts of our busiest American
cities, where the worshipers o? Man*
mon had been counting their golden beads,
men began to calculate, "What shall it profit
a man if he gain the whole world and lose
his soul?" The waiters in restaurants after
the closing of their day's work knelt among
the tables where they had served. Policemen
asked consent of the Commissioner of
Police to be permitted to attend religious
meetings. At Albany members of the New
York legislature assembled in the room of
the Court of Appeals at half-past eight
o'clock In tne morning ror prayer ana praise.
Printed invitations were sent out to the firemen
of New York saying. "'Come as sniti
your convenience best, whether in fire 01
citizens' dress, but come! cornel" Quarrymen
knelt among the rocks. Fishermen
knelt in their boats. Weavers knelt among
the looms. Sailors knelt among the hammocks.
Schoolmasters knelt among theii
classes. A gentleman traveling said there
was a line or prayer meetings from Omaha
to Washington City, and he might havg
added a line of prayer castings from the
Atlantic to the Pacific coast, and from tha
St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico.
| In those days what songs, what sermons,
what turnings to God, what recital of thrilling
experiences, what prodigal? -toaught
home, what burning .tijjfogs' of souls saved,
what ser/^um of sin emancipated, what
wild rout of the forces of darkness, what
victories for the truth I What mijlion3_on
earth and in hoavon are now tbanldng uocl
for 1857, which, though the year of worst
financial calamity, was the year of America's
moat glorious blessing. How do you
account for 1S57, its spiritual triumphs
on the heols of its worldly misfortune)
It was what my text calls the power from on
i 'f hat was thirty-thrao years ago, and
though there have been in various parts of
the land many stirrings of the Holy Ghost,
there has been no general awakening.
Does it not seem to you that we ought tc
have and may have the scenes of power in
1857 eclipsed by the scenes of power in 18911
The circumstancaa are somewhat similar.
While we have not bad national panic and
universal prostration as in 1857, there has
been a stringency in the money market that
has put many of the families of the earth to
their wits' end. Large commercial interest?
collapsing have left multitudes of employe
without means of support. The racke
brains of business men nave almost or entirely
given way. New illustrations all ov>*
the land, of the fact that riches have not on!
feat, on which they walk slowly as they com
but wing* on which they spaed when thr.
IT KAII IrnAnraaf. npftmnpfl
gu. liai UVU i * uvu auw ? ww? ' ? 1
and severe and solemn a time it is with maay.
And as the business ruin of 1S57 w followed
bv the zlorious triumshs of srrace. lot
trie awful struggles or 1390 ba followed by
the hallelujahs of a nation saved in 1891.
I Brethren in the Gk>3pel ministry! if we
spent half as much time in prayer as we do
in the preparation of our sermons nothing
'could stand before us. We would have the
power from on high as we never had it. Privat<
membership of all Christendom! if we spent
half as much time in positive prayer for this
influence as we do in thinking about it and
talking about it, there would not be secretaries
enough to take down the names oi
those who want to givo in their names for
enlistment.
| As the power from on high in 1857 waa
more remarkable in acalomies of music and
lyceum halls and theatres than in churches,
why not this winter of 1891 in these two
academies of music, places'of secular entertainment
where we are during the rebuilding
of our Brooklyn Tabernacle, bo grandly and
graciously treated by the owners and le3sor9
and lessees; why not expect and why not have
the power from on high, comforting power,
arousing power, convincing power, converting
power, saving power, omnipotent power?
My opinion is that in this cluster of cities by
the Atlantic coast, there are Ave hundred
thousand people now ready to accept the
Gospel calf, if, freed from all the conventionalities
of the church, it were earnestly and
with strong faith presented to them.
! In these brilliant assemblies there are hundreds
who are not frequenters of churches,
and who do not believe mush if at all iu ministers
of religion or ecclesiastical organizations.
But God knows you have struggles in
which you need helD. and bereavements in
which you want solace, and persecutions in
which you ought to have defense, and perplexities
in which you need guidance, and
with a profound thoughtfulness you stand by
the grave of the old year, and the cradle of
the young year, wondering where you will be
and what you will be when "rolling fears
6hall cease to move." Power from on high
descend upon them I
Men of New York and Brooklyn. I offer
you God and heaven! From the day you
came to these cities what a 'struggle you have
had I I can tell from your careworn countenances,
and the tears in your eyes, and the
deep sigh you have just breathed that you
want re-enforcement, and here it is, greater
than Blucher when he re-enforced Wellington;
greater than the Bank of England when
last month it re-enforced the Barings?namely,
the God who through Jesus Christ, is
ready to pardon all your sin, comfort all your
sc rrows, scatter all your doubts, and swing
all the shininp gates of heaven wide open
before your redeemed spirit. Come into the
kingdom of Godl Without a half second of
delay come in 1
Many of my hearers to-day are what the
world calls, and what I would coll splendid
fellows, and they seem happy enough, and
are jolly and obliging, and if I wero in
trouble I would go to them with as much
-nnfidan as I would to mv father, if he
were yet alive. But when "the/go to their
rooms at niglit, or when the excitements o?
.social and business life are off, they are not
content, and they want something better
than this world can offer. I understand
them so well I would, without any fear of
being thought rough, put my right hand on
their one shoulder and my left hand on their j
other shoulier and push them Into the
-iv*''vt "T" ' \
i
kingdom or God. Bat I cannot, rower
from on high, lay hold of them!
At the first communion after the dedication
of oar former church three hundred and
twenty-eight souls stood up in the aisles and
publicly espoused the cause of Christ. At
another time four hundred souls; at another
time five hundred; and our four thousand
five hundred membership were but a small
part of those who within those sacred walls
took upon themselves the vows of the
Christian. What turned them? What
saved them? Power from the level? No.
Power from on high.
But greater things are to be seen if ever
these cities and ever this world is to be taken
for God. There is one class of men and
women in all these assemblages in whom I
have especial interest, and that is those who
bad good fathers and mothers once, but they
are dead. What multitudes of us are orphans!
We may be 40, 50, BO years old, but
we never get used to having father and
mother gone. Oh, how often we have had
trouoies maiwewouiu use kj uawunu uiciu.
and we always felt A3 long as father and
mother were alive we had some one to whom
we could go! Now I would like to ask if you
think that all their prayers in your behalf
have been answered. "No," you say, "but
it is too late; the old folks are gone now."
I must courteously contradict you. It is
not too late. I have a friend in th9 ministry
who was attending the last houra of an cgea
Christian, and my friend said to the old
Christian, "Is thera no trouble on your
mind?" The old man turn ad his face to the
wall for a few moments, and then said:
"Only one thing. 1 hope for the salvation of
my ten children, but not ona of them is yet
saved. Yet I am sure they will be. God
means to wait until I am gone." 80 he died.
When my friend told of the circumstances
eight of the ten had found the Lord, and I
have no doubt the other two bafora this have
found Him. Oh, that the long postponed
answers to prayer for you, my brother, for
you, my sister,'might this hour descend in
?\ntror frnm nn hich
Ob, unanswered prayers of father and
mother, where are you? In what room of
the old homestead have they hidden? Oh,
unanswered prayers, riso in a mist of many
.tears into a cloud, and then*break in a shower
which shall soften the heart of that man
who is so hard he cannot cry, or that woman
who is ashamed to pray! Oh, armchair of
the aged, now emnty and fn the garret among
the rubbish, speak out! Oh, staff of the pitgrim
who has ended his weary journey, tell
of the parental anxieties that Dent over thee!
Ob, family Bible, with story of births and
deaths, rustle some of thy time worn leaves,
and let us know of the wrinkled hands that
once turned thy pages, and explain that spot
where a tear fell upon the passage: "Oh.
Abialom, my son, my son, would God I had
died for thee."
Good and gracious God! what will become
of us, If after having had such a devout and
praying parentage, we never pray for our
selves! We will pray. We will begin now.
Oh, for the power from on high, power to
move this assemblage, power to save BrookIvn
and New York, power of evangelism that
shall sweep across this continent like an ocean
surge, power to girdle the round earth with
a red girdle dipped in the blood of the cross!
If this forward movement is to begin at all
there must be 6ome place for it to begin, and
why not this rlaoe? And there must be some
time for it to /jejdn. and why not this time?
And so I sound for your ears a rhythmic Invitation,
which, until a few days ago, never
came under my oye, but it is so sweet, so sobbing
with pathos, so triumphant with joy,
that whoever chimed it, instead of being
anonymous, ought to be immortal:
Thy sini I bore on Calvary's tree;
Tne stripes, thy fine, were laid on ms.
That peace ana pardon might be frea?
0 wretched sinner, come!
Bnrdaned with gallt, wonldst thoa be bleit?
Trnst not the world; it gives no rest;
I bring relief to hearts oppreat?
0 wejry sinner, come!
Come, leave thy burden at the cross;
Count all thy gains but empty dross,
My grace repay* all earthly loss?
0 needy sinner, come!
Come, hither bring thy boding fears,
Thy aching heart, thy bnratln? tears,
'Tis mercy's voice salutes thine ears;
0 trembling sinner, come;
CURIOUS PACTS.
A Chinese pheasant is worth $5 in
Oregon.
Matches have been in common use
since 1829.
Gatchina, the Russian Czar's home,
contains 700 rooms.
In France the bankrupt man is not
allowed to serve on the jury.
Charles Little has been arrested in
Indiana for stealing a monument.
The coinage of a sovereign costs the
English mint three-quarters of a penny.
The Corean alphabet is phonetic, and
so simple that any one can learn to read
in a day.
It has been calculated that there are
about 200,000 families living in London
on about $5 a week.
" - - ? fii. J
A schoolboy of gooa iamuy commmeu
suicide in Vienna, Austria, because he
found Latin so difficult.
The Buddhists of Japan propose to
establish a bank in order to obtain funds
for the propagation of their religion.
It is alleged that the catacombs of
Rome contain the remains of 6,000,000
human beings, and those of Paris about
3,000,000.
To a certain extent, the harder a teaplant
is picked, the more it becomes
stimulated to reproduce new shoot3 in
place of those lost.
There are only two manufactories of
tape measures in the United States?the
principal one at Brooklyn, N. Y., and
the other at Cleveland, Ohio.
The white mourning of the youthful
Queen of the Netherlands is a revival of
au old custom. Some ancient orders
of nuns, corresponding to the passionate
one for men, used to diess in white.
It is usually said that there are but seven
nine-lettered monosyllable words in
the English language, viz.: Scratched,
stretched, crunched, scranchsd,
screeched, squelched and staunched.
A man who lately refused to aid a
British policeman struggliug with a
party of roughs has been fined 8100.
The law requires that a citizen shall
render help under such circumstances.
An Abilene (Kan.) man recently settled
a large estate belonging to his deceased
father in New York, dividing the
property satisfactorily among a number
of children at a C03t of only thirty cents,
and that was for postage.
Smokeless powders are not noiseless,
as is so frequently stated. The noise is
I somewhat different from that of black
J powder being on a higher key; but it
can tie neara quite as uisuuuuj ?uu <?
far as when the latter is used.
Some huntere will not eat the meat of
a deer that has been run and worried by
Jogs, but only of those which have been
I killed by what is called still hunting?
I that is, which are shot and killed and so
don't suffer much before they cue.
Thomas II. Beuton and Charles Lucas,
of Missouri, fought two duels on Bloody
Islaud in the Mississippi River in the
same year, 1817. The first occurred
August, 12th, the second September
27th. In the first Lucas was wounded
and in the second he was killed.
Thousands of goldcrcsts annually
cross and recross the North Sea at the
wildest period of the year, and, unless
the weather is rough, generally mako
their migrations in safety. And jet this
is the smallest and frailest British bird?
a mere fluff of feathers and weighing
1 only seventy grains.
.
i jl.
SABBATH SCHOOL \
i /S
INTERNATIONAL LESSON FOB
JANUARY 25.
/
Lesson Text: "Elijah and the Proplv
cts of Baal," I Kings rrlll.,. 25-89
?Golden Text: I Kings xviiL, ]
12?Commentary.
. ' <3
. '^>3
25. "And Elijah said onto the prophets ot .
Bcwl, Cbooae yon ona bollock for yoonelvw,
and drew it first, for ye are many, and call >s
on the name of yonr God, bat pat no Are
under." At Clienth (cutting) anaZarephath
fraflntncrl RUiah hod been Gilt off from all
human resources, and refined in tho school of _
poverty and close communion with God, and
thus qualified for the contest now before him.
lie who had bean so much alone with God
bad co fear of King Ahab nor of the hundreds
of prophet* of Baal. Even the king
and the prophets are obedient to the word of
such a man, for he comes in the nanKFdfthe
King of kings. :
26. "Oh, Baal, hear us. Bat there was no
voice nor any that answered." Fire was to
be the test, and they hod agreed that the
God who would answer by fire should be-ao- . 3
knowledgod as the true God (verse 94). ^Tney
had slain their bullock, cut it in pleca*. laid it
on the wood, and from morning until noon
they had been crying: "Oh, Baal, hoar us."
27. "And It came to pass thai at noon
Elijah mocked them and said: Cry aloud, for
he is a God." Surely he must be a reality;
or there would not to 450 prophets (verse 19)
tanpMncr nennla tn nnrshtn mm TTn mint
be busy or away from home, or asleep;, cry
aloud, wake him up. Thus talked ttifemaa of
God to these deluded ones, and they seemod
to think that he meant it. If people receive
not the truth they will most readily believe
a lie (II These, li., 10-12). ' L
28. "And they cried aloud, and cut themselves,
after their manner * * * till the
blood gushed out upon them." Fancy
hundreds of men leaping up and down f
(verse 26, margin), and shouting afad cutting U.
their bodies olltue blood streamsd from
them, and all to make the god .whoa they ^
worshiped hear them. Central Africa could '
not produce anything worse. But those
men bore the name of Israel, ani professed : ^
to be the people of the true God. %
29. "There was neither voice, nor any to ;
answer, nor any that regarded." Hoar
after hour they kept-it up until the time of " J
the evening -sacrifice; for six hours at least
they had been crying unto the god thsy
worshiped, while in reality they had been .
crying to no one. W-* tSF
30. "And Elijah said unto all the people,
Come near unto mo.^ And ell tha people . ?&
came near unto him.n In cahmnttJS'Tio had ,
waited, his soul doubtless communing with Sj
his God, but now the decisive moment bad ;*
come; 450 men had failed?what coifld this
one man do? He was one or tbose or wnom j
it is written, "One shall chase a thousand, and
two pat ten thousand to flight" (Dgut. ;
rnriii., 30).
31. "And Elijah took twelve stones, ao- i
cording to the number of the tribes .of. tha 1
sons of Jacob." See swelve stones in the :1
same connection in Ex. xriv., 4; xxViii,, 21;
Josh, iv., 8,8. 9, 20. Although the twelve
tribes were divided into ten and two, mak- - ?
ing two nations,yet they were onlvooenation ;A
before God, and He has ever before Him the "~-j
time when they shall be -reunited under one j
king (Ezok. xzzvii., 21, 22). All Israel had I
at this time become idolaters, and hence the \
necessity of a testimony to the twelve tribes 1
concerning the true God.
"Unto whom the word of the Lord came t!N
saying, Israel shall be thy name." This re- " , ,i
fers back to an event over 800 years before
(Gen. xxxii., 28;, when Jacobin conscious
weakness clung to the angel and prevailed,
and received the name of Israel, or a prince
of God. Elijah in conscious weakness1 as to
himself is now before the people in the nam* v
of the unchangeable and Almighty God erf
Israel.
32. "And with the stones he built an altar
in the name of-the Lord." The altar of the
false prophets was unto Baal aad In his
name; this one was unto Jehovah and in Hit
name. Whatsoever we do in word or deed ii
to be done in the name of the Lord Jesus
(Col. ill., 17), and to the glory of Gpd^CI CsC.
t 3H , nt-hr.*3Y.3d of WOrshiD- ?
o ^ ? --m ,
ing some Baa!, and there aro eight or ten J
different ones mentioned in Scripture. :]
83. "And he pat thewood in arJert.*ad cut j
tho bullock in piccss, and laid him oa the --j
wood." A bullock was used both as a sin of- - 1
fering and cs a burnt offering (Lrsv. i., and j
iv), and in these chapters Cull instruction!
are found as to the manner of offering. Th? ' -J
sin offering was a type of Christ baarinz oar , J
sins; the burnt offering was a type of Christ -Toffering
Himself without t^pct to God. In
this case while the great point w&g to show
God as the only living and true God, the bollock
was probably offered as a sin offering;
for God could only reveal Himself as the
righteous one requiring a sacrifice for sin.
84, 35. "Tiie water ran around about the
altar, and he filled the trench also with
water." Once, twice, thrice was the sacrifice.
and the wood and the altar drenched'
with water. There was to be no deception
here, no fire hidden somewhere about, which J
might be secretly used. If any one had such
a suspicion these repeated drenchings would V>
dispel such an idea, and seemingly make it
impossible to ever kindle a fire with such
material. 1
36. "Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and ol .. I
Israel, let it bo known this day that Thou art I
God in Israel and that I am Thy servant.?
By this title God revealed Himself to Moeat j
at the burning bush and said, "This is My ^- "a
name forever, and this is My memorial untg J
all generations" (Ex. ill., 6,15,18). Observe J
that the prophet's whole aim is that God mtcf j
hA mmTnlflM. :*)
"Ad3 that I hare done all these things at ->'1
Thy word." Then tho altar and sacrifice and . j
wood and water and an3wer by flro were no J
mere thoughts of Elijah, but simple com- 1
mands of God wbich ho had only to obey, 1 Aj
trusting God for all results. The path of im- |
plicit obedience is tbo only path to walk in.
87. "Hear me, 0 Lord, hear me; that this ~
people may know that Thou art the Lord
God, and that Thou hast turned their heart back
again." "If we know that He hear us,
whatsoever we ask, we know that we have f>
the petitions that wo desirea of Him" (I John
v., 15). So that Elijah's one d&riro now was
for God to hear him. "And this is the confidence
that wo have in Him, that, if we ask '
anything according to His will, He heareth Z
US? ;
38. "Then the fire of the Lord fell." Pio- "V
ture to yonrself tho multitude gazing on
this lone man a? ho stands calmly before .
them boside his drenched and drippiug altar and
sacrifice and trench full of water, conscious
of the presence and favor of the Lord
God of Israel. Ho does not cry aloud nor ?<
leap up and down, but quietly looks up to \
heaven, and wit a his .whole heart utters wthese
few words (just thirty-four in the Hebrew)
unto his God in the hearing of all the >.'
people. 1
"And consumed tho burnt sacrifice, and -Vi
the wood, and the stoaos, and the dost, and ' M
licked up the water that wa3 in the trench."
r?4. ?? H^iir>ntir>n of the f.ibc-rnaacle.
and the temple, and the offerings of Gideon ;
and David, supernatural flro consumed the
sacrifica (Lev. ix., 24; II Chron. vii., 1; Judg. J
vi., 31; I Chron. xsi., 36), so it happened ]
now. I have no doubt but the offering of
Abel was accepted in the same way.
39. "And when all the pjoplesawit they
fell on their faces. And tney said, The Lord
He is the God; the Lord He is the God." So:
well they might, for the God of Mosas and ^
Aaron, of Gideon, and David and Solomon,
God, who is a consuming fire (Deut. iv., 24;
ix., 3), had again declared Himself by the on*
failing but awful sign, telling them of the
wrath that would fall on them unless they
came to Him in true penitence and byway,
of true sacrifice, as He had appointed. Woraa
are nothing apart from deeds. Their lips now
confess Him If their lives shall prove their
sincerity it will be well with them, but if oth'-]
erwise their words are only idle worda
(Matt, vil., 21;xii.,30).? Lesson Helper.
In "his address to tne sixtieth annual
mfletiucr of the British Association for u
the Advancement of Science, the President,
Sir F. A. Abel, reviewed the progress
of science since the last meeting
Df the association at the same place
'Leeds) in 1858. The subject to which,
reference was made included the transmission
of electric energy, the application
of voltaic energy to the fusion
and welding of metals, the discovery of
the use of aluminium in the production
of irou and steel castings, the meas?
urement and control of the explosive
force of gunpowder, the composition
ind valuo of tko smokeless powders, HB
recent inventions of explosives for min- E?|
ing purposes, and the development of^Hj
the petroleum and natural gas Helds^flH
the United States.
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