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TO THOSE WHO FAIL. , | Courage, brave heart; nor in thy purpose falter; I Go on and win the fight at any cost. jThough sick and weary after heavy conflict, f. Rejoice to know the battle is not lost. The field is open still to those brave spirits & Who nobiy ttruzgle till the strife is done, Through sun and storm with courage all un' dnnntdd, ! "Working and waiting till the battle's The fairest pearls aro found in the deepest waters, The brightest jewels in the darkest mine; And through the very blaekest hour of mid nijht The star cf Hope doth ever brightly I shine. Press ou! Press on! the path is steep and rugged And storm-clouds almost hide Hope's light from view; \ . But you can pass where other fe3t have , K. trodden: A few more steps may bring you safely through. sf * The battle o'er, a victor crowned with honors; By patient toil, each difficulty past, You then may see these days of bitter failure t But spurred you on to greater deeds at last. ?Nellie Barlow, in Once-a-Week. 6 THE RAJAH'S HORSE. < Ei. ~ ET CHARLES C. D. KOBEUTS. { i . . 1 The. Thalia. thf> American man of war on which I was midshipman, had, for some inexplicable reason, put in at Maaulipatam, India, and lay there over a month. Jack Shaler and I got leave to p go ashore and stay awhile at a sort of hotel, for the purpose of looking into native customs, ana so forth. Under the spell ~f a superabundance of servants and i ralaams we soon realized our great perj sonal and national importance, and wbat j is more, we succeeded in makmg the old t Rajah realize it. Thereupon the Rajah : feasted us, and gave .us a very good time US v- generally. I s The Rajah of Masulipatam has no doubt I s mauy weaknesses, but the only one which , teems to call for present comment was ! Eg?'-- his weakness for horses. Ilis stable3 were magnificently stocked, and I be: lieve thai his heart had its dwelling j therein. His steed was certainly one of [ the finest to be found in all India. [ One morning the Rujah sent two ( gojgcouslv appareled messengers to [ invite us to a boar hunt, or "pig stickI inc.'" as the English in India i all it. "o? --- O - -p The messengers,who camc on horseback, were followed by grooms in white turban v - ' and tunic, leading a pair of splendid S.; anima's for Jack and me to ride. Needp? less to say, we accepted the invitation thus effectually backed up, and set out for the palace wiih the highest kind of expectations. A boar hunt was just the experience we wanted. But we didn't it&v-- cet *^at f*ayWhen we reached the palace gate, to the evident surprise of our attendants, there was no hunting party gathered to receive us. We halted, without dismounting, and immediately one of the chief officers of the palace appeared. He almost effaced himself before us as he explained that there would be no hunt jjL\- that day. (Jack and I, you know, are v. pretty well up in Hindustani, having ? ' been grinding at it all the time wc were Bp* on the Indian station.) | ; * Presently the dusky apologist informed usthat,if we pleased,His Highness would ? "' receive us in the garden, whither he had ;v. betaken himself to woo forgetfulness L of a recent serious annoyancc. Of course we went at once to the amiable potentate, genuinely concerned that he should be iu Hfe: trouble. ? '. Through a massive, wide, but lowv arched doorway of exquisitely cut black marble, we entered the palace gardens ofM^flilipatam, and looked out upon a ^J^fscape which appeared to us to grow | ^PKore and more enchanting every time it met our gaze. The officer, knowing that we needed no further direction, and that his master -wished to see us alone, with- i j drew in silence. In a secluded portico by the canal we found the Rajah await- s ing us. ^ He came forward to meet us. He J \ v>.;- -was a man of the world, and had { traveled in Europe; and toward foreign- } ere he adopted the manners which be- ^ long to the gentlemau everywhere. He was full of regret at having to disap- \ point us, and assured us that the hunt was only postponed. His face wore a ? troubled expression,and Jack made a dis- s creet and sympathetic inquiry into the { fcause, of his disquietude. ? "The fact is," said the Rajah, "my ] beloved horse Bahrain has gone mad, ] hopelessly mad, I fear!" ? lev - "What! .Bahram? You don't meau ' L it?" I cried in consternation. I love ;, horses, and 1 had been consumed with j j envious admiration for that beautiful< \ animal, a dark, blood bay Arab, of mar- j velous stature. , "Yes!" said the Rajah, "he was acting very strangely y?sterday, and his . srroom could haidlv mauaire him. This i. morning, as he was being led out, and I ] iras almost preparing to mount in spite , of the excitement under which he was I ( laboring, he suddenly plunged forward with a horrid yell and seized the groom's | neck between his teeth. He shook the \ man just as in England I once saw one of ( those small dogs they call a temer shake \ a rat. And the man was immediately ( killed. Notwithstanding my great love , for Bahrarn, my pity for the unfortunate groom was so exceedingly great that I , was on the point of transfixing the horse through the body with my boar spear. But as I rushed forward, (my f-rigtcned attendants,'being- unarmed, had ran away precipitately) Buhram dropped his victim, and seeing the poor wretch was already dead I thought it unnecessary to slay the horse, which was so much more valuable, indeed, than many grooms. ' Instead of attacking me, as I antieipr.ted, the infuriated, animal now whirled about, and darted back into the paddock which sur- i rounds the stables. Leaping superbly into the air, ann uttering a wild and | '. fearful cry (which I have not the prop- i er English to explain to you), he darted ; ^at another of the grooms. But in the twinkling of an eye the fellows had all ; disappeared within the stables, and had : closed the doors. I beckoned one of my attendants to shut the gate beside which | I was standing. But Bahraui was now returning like lightning, aud the co wardly slave was reluctant fo come forward. Therefore I had to close the gate with j lay own hand, to keep Bahram imprrS-; ?Hfr o f. - [>ncd; and the slave I have had whipped for cowardice." ^ The Rajah's English was scrupulously elegant in accent, and he told the incident with a certain diguified eloquence of gesture that made it intensely interesting. We nsked it we could get a glimpse of the demented Eahram. In response the Rajah led us through a long winding alley of blossoming oleanders and into a part of the garden which we had never before visited. The terrace at this point overlooked the inc'.osure in which the stables stood aucl commanded at the same time a view of one of the busiest thoroughfares of Masulipatam, which at one point adjoined the stable grounds. Moving restlessly up and down beside the narrow strip of bamboo fence which separated him from the street, we saw the wretched horse; and the Rajah's face grew even more dejcctcd as wc watched. The passcrs-by seciucd awed by the mud animal, for they kept crowding to the other side of the street and eyeing suspiciously the frail barriers of the bamboo gate. Ever and anon Bahrain would toss his head back convulsively over his shoulders, as if some insect were stinging the base of his brain. Then he would jump up and down two or three times aud press close against the fence in his mad hunger to get at the passing throng. He was never for an instant still. "It is a bad case," said the Rajah sadly, "aud in all probability incurable. That breed is liable to be affected thus in our climate. There is a chance of his recovery if he is left undistured; but that place is not good for him. The crowds excite him, and I know not how to remove him alive." "Why not lasso hnu?"suggested Jack. The Rajah did not understand. "I mean," continued Jack, "why wouldn't some fellows go into the padlock on elephants, aud throw a noose )ver his head and upset hiiu, and then :hrow another over his hind legs, and so jet him all tangled up so he'd be helpess? Then he could be carried off sonievhere and kept cool till his senses came jack to him." The Rajah's wocb'egone facc lit up at rack's proposal. "Certainly, we might try some such cheme," he responded. T^en we held in earnest consultation as tc ways aud neans. As Jack had a very defiuite idea >f just how the thing should be managed, ind understood the nice art of throwing i lasso, the Rajah committed the matter o his hands. It was decided that,while 3ahram s attention wa3 taken up with he crowds at the street gate, we should mter the inclosure from the rear, on .1 1? -1/. ??/! J-A f fV?r* liAron ;iepuuuu>) tiuu pyuctu vu buw ato a strait jacket. Hardly had we re-entered the palace o perfect our arrangements for the atack, when our ears were shocked by a erriblc outcry which arose in the street. V.s we started out to see what was the natter, we were met by the tidings we lad been dreading. The mad brute had >roken through the bamboo gate, and vas running amuck through the crowded treet. Having our revolvers in our >elts, Jack and I rushed forth barehead;d, jumped on our horses, and galloped oward the scene of terror. The Rajah >icked up his boar spear and made after is with digaified alacrity, at the same irae, in a tone they dared not disobey, trdering his attendants to follow. As we dashed down a sideway and merged upon the chief street, the irics and shrieks became appal ing. Poor wretches wild with error met U3 in throngs, while others on ither hand assailed with prayers and )lows the doors of the dwellings closed igainst them. Vvrc saw the mad horse biting from side to side, his cars flat on lis neck, his great mouth wide open. iVith his gleaming blood red coat he ooked like an incarnate fury. We had o see him catch now one flying wrctch, low auother, crushing their necks with lis mighty teeth and dropping them lifeess in the gutter. Ilis mood seemed one >f mingled rage and delight. Presently, n attacking a tall and athletic porter, le missed his accustomed hold, and the loomed man grappled with him maguiicently. Upon this the brute sprang ligh into the air and deliberately fell on lis victim. Then we were upon him. The Rajah, eager .and on a blooded teed, had distanced his attendants and vas now abreast of me, but we had both >een so hindered by fugitives that Jack lad got a little to the frout. As the mad lorse caught sight of him he left his last victim and rushed to the encounter. Drawing his heavy revolver from his >clt, and reining iu his horse, Jack took i cool aim, and tired. His horse swerved it the fhsh, and the ball, though it .truck, failed of its full effect. Jack ired agaiu instantly, at the same time .purring sharply to one side. This side novement doubtless saved his life, for Sahram, who was now upon him, only succeeded in grasping him by the boot. The stirrup protected the foot from beiug nangled. The brute raa<:lc a fine effort to pull Jack out of the saddle, but failed a :he first attempt. Ere he could accomplish his design the Rajah and I had come up. "Keep your grip!" I yelled to Jack, ind the beast dropped his hold aud made i lunge at me. At that very instant my revolver was fairly iu his ear?yet that Signified old Rajah, whom we had uever credited with such nerve, got in his ivork ahead of me. lie had dropped his boar spear in the crowd, but his long, thin, curved sword, ere my cartridge tracked, slid softly across the'brute's throat. My bullet found its mark, but the Rajah's promptness had rendered it superfluous, and the mad Bahram staggered against me." almost knocking me over, and then fell dead. When the excitcment was past, the Rajah, after expressing his admiration of Jacks daring, and satisfying himself that the foot was not seriously injured, relapsed into a profound despondency. For a moment we thought this was on account of the number of his faithful subjects who had fallen victims, and we attempted to condole with him. At first he stared r.t us in puzzled surprise. Then he laughed somberly, and explained that as far as those poor creatures were concerned, he had felt bound to protect their lives if possible; but that really the loss of a thousand of them would not cause him the sorrow he experienced at the fate ol Bahram. This was something of a sticker for us, but we felt the more called upon to admire His Highness's sense of duty and his cool effectiveness in an emergency so trying.?The Arqo?y. France receives a yearly revenue ol over $30,000,000 from its monopoly ot the sale of tobaco. ADout two pounds per inhabitant are consumed yearly there. M. KEY. M. TALMAGE. | THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUNDAY SERMON. Subjcct: "Mount Lebanon." Text: ilThc cedars of Lebanon which Ht hath planted.'-'?Psalm civ., 10. . In our journey we change stirrup foi wheel. It is 4 o'clock in the morning at Damascus, Syria, and we are among the lanterns of the hostelry waiting for the stage to start. A Mohammedan in high life is putting his three wives on board within an apartment by themselves, and our party occupy the maiu apartment of one of the most nncomfortable vehicles in which mortals were ever jammed and half strangulated. But we must not Jet the discomforts annul or disparage the opportunities. We are rolling out and up the mountains of Lebanon, their forehead under a crown of snow, which coronet the fingers of the hottest summer cannot cast down. \Ve are ascending tha heights around which Is garlanded much of the finest poesy of the Scriptures, and are rising toward the might lest dominion mat ootany ever recogmzeu, reigned over by the most imperial trea that ever swayed a leafy scepter?the Lebanon cedar; a tree eulogized in my text as having crown from a nut put into the ground by 6od Himself, and no human hand had anyj thing to do with its planting: "The trees of Lebanon wnich He had planted." The average height of this mountain is seven thousand feet, but in one place it lifts Its head to an altitude of ten thousand. No . higher than six thousand feet can vegetation exist, but below that lino at the right season are vineyards and orchards and olive groves and flowers that dash the mountain side with a very carnage of color and fill the air with aromatics that Hosea, the prophet, and SolomoD, the king, celebrated as "the smell i of Lebanon." At a height of six thousand feet is a grove of cedars, the only descendants of those vast forests from which Solomon cut his timber for the temple of Jerusalem, and where at one time there were one hundred thousand axmen hewing out the beams from which great cities were constructed. But this nation of trees has by human iconoclasm beeu massacred until only a small group is left. This race of giants is nearly extinct, but I have no doubt that some of these were here when Hiram, King of Tyre, ordered the | assassinatian of these cedars of Lebanon which the Lord planted. From the multitude of uses to which it may be put and the em- < ployment of it in the Scriptures, the cedar is the divine favorite. When the plains to be seen from the window of this stage in which we ride tc-day are parched under summer heats, and not a grass blade survives the fervidity, this tree stands in luxuriance defying the summer sun. And when the storms of winter terrify the earth and hurl the rocks in avalanche down this mouutain side, this tree grapples the hurricano of snow in triumph and leaves the spent fury at its feet. From sixty to eighty feet high ara thoy, she horizontal branches of great sweep, with their burden of leaves needle shaped, the top of the tree pyramidal, a throne of foliage on which mignt and splendor and glory sit. But so continuously has the extermination of trees gone on that for the most part the mountains of Lebanon are bare of foliage, while, I am sorry to say, the earth in all lands is being likewise denuded. The ax is slaying the forests all round the earth. To "stop the slaughter God opened tho coal mines of England and Scotland and America and the world, practically saying by that, "Here is fue>* as far as possible let My trees a'one." And by opening for the human race the great quarries of granite and showing the human family how to make brick, God is practically saying, "Here is building materia'.; let M)*" trees alone/' We had better stop the axes among the Adirondaclcs. Wo had better ston the axes in all our forests, as it would have been better for Syria if the axes had long ago been stopped among the mountains of Lebanon. To punish us for our reckless assault on the forests we have the disordered seasons, and now the droughts because the uplifted arms of the trees do not pray for rain, their presence according to all scientists disposing the descent of the showers, and then we have the cyclones and the hurricanes multiplied in number and velocity because there is nothing to prevent their awful sweep. Plant the trees in your parks that the weary may rest under them. Plant them along your streets, that up through the branches passers by may see the God who first made the trees and then made mail to look at them. Plant them along the brooks, that under thein the children may vlay. Plant them in your gardens, that as in Eden the Lord may walk tnere in the cool of the day. Plant them in cemeteries, their shade like a mourner's veil, and their leaves sound ing like the rustle of the wings of the departed. Let Arbor Day, or the day for the planting of trees, recognized by the Legislatures of many of the States, be observed by all our people, and the next one hundred years do as much in planting these leafy glories of God as the last one hundred years have accomplished in their destruction. When, not long before his death, I saw on the banks of the Hudson in his glazed cap, riding on horseback, George P. Morris, the great song writer of America, I found liiin grandly emotional, and I could understand how lie wrote "Woodman, spare that tree!" the verses ol which many ot us have iqje jiko quoting in belligerent spirit, when under tlie stroke of some one without sense or reasoM we saw a beautiful tree prostrated. As we rode along on these the mountains o? Lebanon, we bethink how its cedar* spread their branches and breathe their aroma and cast their shadows all through the Bible. Solomon discoursed about them in his botanical aorks, when he spoke of trees "from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springetli out ol the wall." The rsalmist says, "fhe righteous shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon," and in one his magnificent doxologies calls on the cedars to praise the Lord. And Solomon says the countenance of Christ is excellent as the cedars, and Isaiah declares, "The day of the Lord shall be upon all the cedars of Lebanon." And Jeremiah and Ezekiei and Amos and Zephaniah and Zeihariah weave its foliage into their sublimest utterances. As we ride over Lebanon to-day there is a howling wind sweeping past and a dash of rain, ail the better enabling us to appreciate that description of a tempest which no doubt was suggested by what David had seen with his own eyes among thesj heights, for as a soldier he carried his wars clear up to Damascus, and such a poet as he, I warrant, spent many a day on Lebanon. And perhaps while he was seated on this very rock against which our carriage jolts, he writes that wonderful description of a thunder storm: "The voice of the Lord is powerful. Tiie voice of tho Lord is full ot majesty. The voice of tha Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebauon. Yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon, "tte maketh them also to skip like a calf, Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn. The voice of the Lord divideth the flames of Are." As the lion is the monarch of the fields and behemoth the monarch of tho waters, the :edar is the monarch of the trees. And I think one reason why it is so glorified all up and down the Bible is because ws need more of its characteristics in our religious life. We have too much of the willow, and are easily bent this way or that; too much of the aspeu, and we tremble under overy zephyr of assault; too much of the bramble tree, and our sharp points sting nnd wound; but not enough of the cedar, wide branched and heaven aspiring and tempest grappling. But the reason these cedars stand so well is that they are deep rooted. They run their anchors down into the caverns of the mountain and fasten to the very foundations of the earth, and twist around and clinch themselves on the other side of the deepest layer of rock they can roach. And that i9 the diit'erence between Christians who stand aad thy Christians who fall. It is the difference between a superficial character and one that has clutched its roots deep down around and under the Kocic or Ages. One of the Lebanon cedars was examined by a scientist, and from its concentric circles it was found to be thirty-five hundred years old and still standing, and therein such a thing as everlasting strength, and such a stanchness of Christian character that all time find all eternity instead of being its demolition shall be its opportunity. Not 6uch are those vacillating Christians who are so pious on Sunday that they have no religion left for the week day. As the anaconda gorges itself with food, and then seems<fer ft long while to lie thoroughly insensible, so there are men who will on Sunday get such a religious surfeit that the rest of the week they seem thoroughly dead to all religious emotion. They weep in church under a charity sermon. but if on Monday a subject I of want presents itself at the door the beggar's safety will depend entirely on quick limbs anil an unobstructed stairway. It takes all the grace they can getto keep them from committing assault and battery on those intruders who come with pale faces and stories of distress and subscription papers. The reasonthatGod planted these cedarsin the Bible was to suggest to us that we ought, in our religious character, to be deep like the cedar, high like the cedar, broad branched as the cedar. A traveler measured the s.orpad of the boughs of one of these trees and found it one hundred and eleven feet from branch tip to branch tip, and I have seen cedars of Christian character that through their prayers and charities put out one branch to the" uttermost parts of Ai/erica, and another brauch to the uttermost parts of Asia, and these wide branched Christians will keep on multiplying until all the earth is overshadowed with mercy. But mark you, the.^e cedars of Lebanon could not grow if planted in mild climates and iu soft air and in carefully watered gardens. They must have the gymnasium of the midnight hurricane to develop their arms. They must play the athlete with a thousand winters before their feet are rightly planted and their foreheads rightly lifted ana tneir arras rigiiwy muauivu. nuu i if there he any other way for developing strong Christian character except by storms I of trouble, I never h?ard of it. Call the roll of martyrs, call the roll of the prophets, call the roll of the apostles and see which of them had an easy time of it. Which of these cedars prow in the warm valley? Not one of them. Honeysuckles thrive best on the south side of the house, but cedars in a Syrian whirlwind. Men and women who hear this or read this, instead of your grumbling because you have it hard, thank God that you are in just the best school for making heroes and heroines. It is true both for this world and the next Hock that babyin a cradle cushioned and canopied: graduate him from that into a costly high chair and give him a gofd spoon; send him to school wrapped in furs enough for an Arctic explorer; send him through a colloge wh'.re he will not have to study in order to get a diploma because his father is rich; start him in a profession where he begins with an office, the floor covered with Axminster, nnd a library of books in Russia morocco, and an armed chair upholstered like a throne, and an embroidered ottomau upon which to put his twelve-dollar gaiters, ami then lay upon his table the best ivory cigarholder you can import Irom Brussels and have standinz obtside his door a prancing span tUat won the pnza at the ltnrso fail* nnn l^nra him onnnivh in dependent of all struggle, and what will become of him? If he do notdieearly of inanition or dissipation ho will live a useless life, nnd die an unlainented death, and go into a fool's oternity. A Lebanon cedar! John Milton on his way up to the throne of the world's sacred poesy must sell his copyright of "Faradise Lost" for S72 in three payments. And William Shakespeare on his way up to be acknowledged the greatest dramatist of all ages must hold horses at the door of the London theatre for a sixpence, and Homer must struggle through total blindness to immortality, and John Bunyan must cheer himself on the way up by making a Huts out of bis prison stool, and Canova, the sculptor, must toil 011 through orphannga modeling a lion in butter before he conld cut his statues in marblo. And the great Stephenson must watch cows in the field for a few pennies and then become a stoker, and arterward mend clocks before he puts the locomo'ive on its track and calls forth plaudits from parliaments and medals from kings. Abel Stevens is picked up a neglected child of th e street, and rises through his consecrated genius to be ons of the most illustrious clergymen aim Historians of t!io century. And Uishop Janes of the same church in boyhood worked his passage from Ireland to America, and up to a usefulness where, in the bishopric, ha was second to no ono who ever adorned it. While in banishment Xenophon wrote his ''Anabasis" and Thucydides his "History of the Peloponnesian War," and Victor Hugo must be exiled for many years to the island of Guernsey before he can come to that height in tne affections of his countrymeu that crowds Champs Elysees and the adjoining boulevards with one million mourners as his hearse rolls down to ths Church of the Madeleine. Oh, it is a tough old world, and it; will keep you back and keep you down and koepyou under as long as it caal Hail sous and daughters of tho fire! Thirty years from now the foremost men in all occupations and professions will be those who are this hour in awful struggle of early life, many of them without five dollars to their name. So in spiritual life it takes a course of bereavements, persecution, sicknesses and losses to develop stalwart Christian character. I got a letter a few days ago saying: "i nave iipruiy seen :i wen uuy sinca I was born, and I could not write my own name until I was 50 years of age, and I am very poor; but I nm, by the grace of God, the happiost man in Chicago." The Bi bio speaks of the snows of Lebanon, nnd at this season of the year the buows thenj must be tremendous. The deepest snow ever seen in America would beinsitrniflcant compared with the mildest winter of snows on tliosa Lebanon mountains. The cedars catch that skyful of crystals on their brow and on their long arms. Piled up in great heaps are those snows, enough to crush other trees to thfi ground, splitting the branches from the trunk and leaving them rent and torn, never to rise. But what do the cedars cara for these snows in Lebanon? They look up to tha winter skies and say: "Snow on! Emotv the white heavens uoon ns, and when this storm is passed let other processions of tempest try to bury m in their fury. We have for five hundred winters been accustomed to this, and lor the next five hundred winters we will cheerfully take all you have to send, for that is the way we develop our strength, and that is the way we serve God and teach all ages how to endure and conquer."- So I say: Good cheer to all people who are snowed uude ! 1'ut your faith in God and you will come out gloriously. Others may he stunted growths, or weak junipers on the lower levels of spiritnalitv. but vou are soinir to be Lebanon ca dars. At last it will be said of such aj you. "These are they who carno out ol great tribulation and hail "their robes washed and made while iu the blood of the lunib." But while crossing over these mountains of Lebanon 1 bethink m.vsclf of what an exciting scene it must be when one of the cedars does fall. It does not go down like other trees with a slight crackle that hardly makes the woodsman look up, or n hawk flutter from a neighboring bough. When a cedar falls it is tho great event in the calendar of tho mountains. The axmen fly. Tho wild beasts slink to their dens. The partridges swoop to ttc valley for escape. The neighboring trees go down under the awful weight of the descending monarch. The rocks are moved out of their places, and the earth trembles as Irom miles around all ravines send back their sympathetic echoes. Crash! crash! crash! So when the great cedars of the worldly or Christian intluence fall it is something terrific. Within the pijst few years how many mighty and ovortopping inyi have gone down! There seoms now to be an epidemic ofmornl disaster, me moral world, tne religious world, the political world, the commercial world, are quaking with the fall of Lebanon cedars. It is nwful. We are compelled to cry out with Zachariah, the ^rophet. "Howl, fir trees, for the cedar is fallen:" Some ot the smaller trees are glad of it. When somegreat denier in stocks goes down the small dealers clap their hands and saj', "Good for him! " When n great political leader rocs down the small politicians clap their hands and say, "Just us i expected! " When a great minister of religion falls man' little ministers laugh up their sleeves and think themselves somehow advantaged. Ah. beloved brethren, 110 one makes anything out of moral shipwreck. Not a willow by the rivers of Damascus, not. a sycamore < n the plains of Jericho, not an olive tree in ull Palestine is Helped by the fall of a Lebanon cedar. Better weep and pray and ~ n..?pM M.i?:? +i.~ iiviuuic iuiu unvcit iu iuui o umiiu tu tiiu Galatians when ho snys, "Considering thyself lost thou nl*o bo tempted." No man is ?afe until he is dead unless he be divinely protected. A greater thinker thtn Lord Francis Bacon the world never saw, and lie changed the world's mode of thinking for all time?his ''Novum OrgnnuuT' a miracle of literature. With ?38,000 salary and estates worth millions and from the highesc judicial bench of the world, he goes down under the power of bribery and confessed his crime and was sentenced to the Tower and the scorn of centuries. Howl, fir tree, for the cedar is fallen! In my journey up and down Palestine and Syria nothing more impressed me than the trees?the terebinths, the sycamores, the tamarisks, the oleanders, the mulberr/e, the *., . ' i *,' 7 . ? . 1 . * _ jl olives, the myrtles, the palms, the cedars? ' all of theux explanatory of so muih of the Scriptures. And the time is conrug when, through an improved arboricu'ture, tlis round world shall be circum:erenced, engirdled, embosomed, emparudisoft in shkde trees and fruit trees and flower trees. Isaiah j declares in one place, "The glory of Lebanon ' shall be given unto it;'1 and in another place: "All the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree. Instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle tree." Oh. grandest arborescence of all time. Eegin! Begin! Oh, I am so glad that the holy land 01 heaven, like the holy land of Palestine and Syria, is a great pluce for trees, an orchard | of them, a grove of them, a forest of them. St. John saw them along the streets, and on | both sides of the river, and every month they yielded a great crop of fruit. You | know what au imposing appearance trees jive to a city on earth, but how it exalts my ideaofheaven when St. John describes the i :ity on high as having its streets and its rivers ' linel with them. Oh, the trees! the trees! , The jasper wails, the fountains, the temples J were not enough. There would have been something wanting yet. So to complete all that pomp aud splendor I behold the up branching trees of life. Not like those stripped trees now around us, which like banished minstrels through the long winter uigiii, uucr tiieir auiuruus luuieui, ur in iue blast moan like lost spirits wandering up and down the gale, their leaf shall never wither. Whether you walk on the banks of the river you will be under trees, or by the homes of martyrs under trees, or by the heavenly temple under trees, or along the palace of the King's immortal un3er trees. "Blessed are they that do Hi* jommandments that they may have right to the trie of life.' Stouewall Jackson's dying utterance was beautifully suggestive, "Let us cross over and lie down under the treeal" How to Kill a Tuirtle. A big turtle afforded the usual amusement for men and boys in front of a Madison street restaurant. An onlooker raised up his voice and said he would bet a dollar that no one in the crowd couid tell the process by which a turtle is killed. "Whether no one knew, or whether the crowd had been caught in the Baring Brothers' whirl, is not known, but the bet remained open. The man lowered it to a half, and it still remained "on the table." After he had departed another man, a little fellow without any overcoat or shirt collar, said: "If I had had any stuff I would havei taken that bet. I am a professional turtle killer. The business is a profession, and isn't picked up in a day. Now I will explain to you gentlemen how to kill a turtle. I know none of vou could do it after I tell you, but I want to show you that the duffer who bluffed the crowd doesn't know it ail. Sec? How pay attention. First persuade your turtle to stick out his head, and when he does you cut his throat. If he gets obstinate and refuses to stick out his head, it may be necessary to grab the head with a pair of strong nippers, and hold the head between them until the throat is cut. Then you cut the muscles that connect the body with the shell, and leave the turtle to die. Now, how n^any of you can tell me how long that will take? None. Of course not. You don't know. Well, about twenty-four hours. There is a good deal of the human about a turtle. It likes to bang on, the turtle does. If I had had the stuff, 1 could have won that bet." A philan tliropic man ia the crowd, who said he was loud of turtle soup, tipped the man a quarter aud passed oa.? Chicago Tribune. Elephauts Fond af Finery. Strange as it may sr.em, the elephant is passionately foad of finery, aad delights to see himself decked out with gorgeous trappings. The native Princes of India are very particular in choosing their state elephants, aad will givo fabulous sums for an aaimal that exactly meets the somewhat fanciful standards they have erected. For these they have made cloths of silk so heavily embroidered with gold that two mea are hardly able to lift them. An amusing iustant of elephantine pride in his own gorgcou3ness is narrated by Baker. The elephaut which usually led the state procession of a Rajah being sick, the magnificent trappings were placed on one which had, up to that time, occupied only a subordinate placc. The animal, delighted with its finery, showed its glee by so many little squeaks and kicks of pleasure that general attention was attracted to it. Not long after another state procession, was formed, and the previous wearer of the gold cloths being restored to health, took his accustomed place and trappings, when the now degraded beast, imagining, perhaps, that he was being defrauded of his promotion, was, with 1 great difficulty, restrained from attack* ing the leader of the parade.?Weio York Journal. Lantern Symbols of Rank. The distinctions of rank which exists in iiiuropcaa countries give rise iu mauj troubles which, though they may seem rather amusing as well as trivial to us, are in reality quite serious to the persons concerned in them. In Stuttgart, years ago, there existed a curious custom which is not yet entirely abolished, and, in fact, still llorishes quite vigorously in some parts of Germany and Switzerland. This was the use of lanterns of different varieties and size3 by which, at night, the rank of the party could be easily distinguished. The lanterns were carried by the servants who were sent to escort their mistresses home from places of amusement, and they made the square in front of the Royal Opera House, where most of the entertainments were then given, quite picturesque, with their lights bobbing up and down in every direction. The differences betweeu some of these lanterns were slight, but they had to be strictly observed, or trouble arose. The - t 1. lUnnt orucr ui ruutv, a^> out iuuu iu cuu taua list," was something frcru which they could never swerve. Some had lanterns of tin, some of brass; some had wax lights, and others tallow; even the number of lights was prescribed for each separate class or Tank.?routn s Loinminion. The Camera Caught a Royal Kiss. The camera is becoming- a recognized accessory of any historic scene. Tho crowning incident ot the Moltke celebration was a presentation to him by the Emperor, standing amid a galaxy of fellow sovereigns, generals and statesmen. The Emperor concluded by askiug tho Count to accept a new marshal's baton of silver, magnificently iulaid with stars and crowns of rubies and diamonds. Count Moltke could only find a few brief and incoherent words of reply, but !ie took the Emperor's hand and imprinted on it a long and fervent kiss. A photographer in attendance seized the moment and tho negative will be developed into a gr.iud I historic picture.? New York Journal. | * 'w ' ' ' . * ' i - . RELIGIOUS_READim THE NEW TEAR. "I am the little New Year, lio! ho! Here I come tripping it over the stiow Shaking my bells with a merry dia; Bo open your door3 and let me iu ''Blessings I bring to one and all, Jiig folk and little folk, short and tall: Sach one from me a treasure may win, lo open your doors and let me in. Some shall have silver, and some shall have gold; i >nic shall have new clothes, and some shall have old; Seme slr.ll hrve brass, and some shall have tin. Jo open your dcors and let rae in. "Some shall have water, and some shall lnve milk; Some shall have satin, and some shall have silk; But e.ich one from me a blessing; may win, So open your door:* and let me In." " GO AND DO IT. Don't live a single hour of your life without doinj< exactly what is lo be don*, in it, and going straight through it from beginning to oiut. Work, play, study, whatever it is, take hold at once aiid linish it up squarely and cleanly. Then, do the next thing, without letting any moments drop between. It is ?.r.i,rln?fI t<-k sin Imiv in-illv limir* those ueO p!e contrive to 111:1 Ice in inlay. It is a* if they pickeii up tbe moments that the drawl-era lost. And if you tind yourself where you have so many things pressing you that you hardly know how to begin, let me tell you a secret: take hold of the drat one that comes to hand aud you will find the rest all fall into tile andfollo'w after like a company'of well-drilled soldiers. A man was once asked how he ' occomplished so much in his life." | "My father told me," was the reply, | "when 1 bail anything to do, to go aud do it," There 13 the secret. A HUMAN on A DIVIXI CnitfST? Dr. Cairns, eminent for ability and learning. has been lecturing in London on "Christ *nu criticism." In the course of it he asks: lWby is American Unitarianism so feeble Ohfit it has onlv some three hundred corgre1 a t 1 rr.!..:* Rations a<jainsc seventy luousanu j ruiuorian?" lie answers: "A human Christ has keen weighed in the balance and found wan tins; he brings no light from the higher world." "The Unitarians,'' lie says, "have, no douOt, a simpler Christ, hut an infinitely poorer one. who has no mystery, becau e he bad no greatness. He was dead, but was not aliv; and he claimed a victory which was onlyvlelusion, was blasphcmv, A divine Christ we may be unable luiiy to underatand; but it is the mystery of greatness, Df atonins love, of constant fellowship, and Of full salvation which will ever move and ?vln the human heart.'' This is the true and full explanation. The American Unitarian ministry is learned, scholarly, often eloquent. Its vessels are of exquisitely ornamented china, of silver and gold; but" they contain *tones while the world asks for bread, and lio ninro ep.ntiofil rtf fHfni l)PAr 9eorDionS to hungry men asking ^or fish.?[Christian Advocatc. THE WALK TO 3MMAUS. It sometimes seems strange to us that, after the very plain woriH' in which Jesus had many times told His disciples ?f His resurrection on the third day, that they should sot have confidently watched for and ex| pected it, instead of being so perplexed and astonished and hard to convince. But just because thev did not expect it, and were so slow to believe it, their testimony is the stronger and more unquestionable. Just as God put on record all the piopbecies concerning the Redeemer of the world, and left them to be overlooked an I misunderstood for centuries, until the time of their fulfillment cune, so Jesus spoke of His death and resurrection to men who, in spite of their loving fidelity, could not understand his meaning till the time should come when He Himself was ready to open their understanding. It was not the eleven chosen ones to whom k'.one the news of the resurrection was home. There were multitudes of disciples in Jeru* lalem, scattered about, keeping out of sight, fettinz together secretly, not knowing how ioon the hatred that had crucified their Waster might be turned against his followers. Front one to another the message was carried; some heard it from the lips of the women, and some not so directly, but they felt no assurance, only greater perplexity? COllWI It uer W83 11 {justeiuiu; i>cn? w.ia WJI? tninly srone from the tomb, but Lad lie risen? and if he hnd would be appear to them again or had he gone to his Father as he had said to the Jews when he assured them that they should seek him and not tind him? Questions like these must have been in many hearts, and two disciples, we know, were* discussing them as t .ey walked along the road from Jerusalem to Emmatis on this very day of the resurrection. They seemed to have lived in the little village, and wer? perhaps returning to it after the passovei feast. They were sad, for they loved the Master; sad because they had great hopes which seemed to have come to nothing; but though they feared they had been mistaken in supposing that Jesus was the promised Messiah, they knew he was a grent Erop! et. to whose power in word and de</ otli God and man testified. As they went on talking and questioning and growing more earrest, a stranger joined LI?With thf?m Wfl IIIIJ19C11 II,* UlUlii tiiiu iiaiavu fiivu vuviu too, was coming from Jerusalem, and when, after listening awhile, lie asked tliem what it was of which ihay were talking with such an air of sadness "they turned to him with astonishment. Was he a stranger in Jerusalem? Hut even a stranger mast have known the things that had been passing there in these days. "What things?" asked the stranger, and, wondering still more, they told him briefly of their laith and disappointment, and the hopes that could not give up to despair, but clung feebly to a strange and hardly crelib.'e story >ome women had told about a vision of angels which said He was alive. They seemed almost to apologize for telling the story, and yet they found some comfort in it, as a mother might in a dream of her deatf baby. But now the stranger speaks; not scorn fully or even rebukiiigly. but rather with pitv and compassion. The mother takes ? -- -C-r ? ...1 nhll.l UAt. on.l o-ivu tier iriguieuiu tunu m uci ??.?. ?.v?, "Ob. you foolish little thing!" while she comforts anil reassures it. So lie said, "0 fools, nnd slow of heart to believe!" and thou, with wonderful speech, went on to show them that this death, whieb to them seemed the end of hope. was real I v its fruition; that, instead of showing that Jesus of Nazareth was not the Christ, it proved that he wa<, since only by sutl'ering these things could he have entered into his glory. How tbev listened while this stranger, whose face they did not know, hot -whos6 voice seemed to thrill their very hearts, repeated to them the familiar prophecies! He opened unto them the Scripture as one might open a box of jewels, and. taking out of its depths promise after promise, beginning with Moses, held it up to the light, that they might see bow upon every one was the same ' name?the name of Jesus Christ. Can you not imagine how Cleopas looked at his friend, and how this other disciple ' smiled bark at Cieopas. as t .e truth concern- ' ing Jesus began to dawn upon them? How j they would go slowly on. forgetting every- 1 thing but these strange words, some- ' times so absorbed as to stop for a mo- j ment by the way to listen, until before they 1 reached Kmmaus the darkness was begin- 1 liing to gather. Did not a look or a gesture j or a tone sometimes draw their eyes quickly J tothefaeeof this stranger, only to tind that j it was indeed strange? Their hearts burned within them, for love J knew its Master, bur l,their ey?* were holden that tbev knew him not."?[Emily Huntiuv' 1 ton Miller. In* Moscow may be seeu in the street!! j iuy day a beggar who was a few years ] ago one of the liche.-st men in the city. < His father loft him $7,500,000, but he j gambled it all away. He cared literally 1 for nothing but gambling, and if he 1 had the money again ho would risk it i once more in the same war. Some dudea, who were annoying a ] Chinaman at Sedalia, Mo., were aston- ( inhed when ho suddenly mounted one , of their bicycles and rode away, his , que streaming straight out behind ] him, as if Old Nick were after him. ] sabbath"school. m ? i INTERNATIONAL LESSON FOB JANUARY 4. ? Wesson Text: *The Kingdom Di vided," I Kings xil., 1-17? Golden Text: Proverbs xig., IS?Commentary. I. "Rehoboam?Shechem?all Israel?to make Him Kinj." Such are the words and phrases in this verse demanding onr atfcen- . tion; but let us remember that we are reading . ' the wnl'l? of tho T.nrr1 nnrl +hn TTrtlv Srviri* in this word is ever bringing before us persons, places and events which show us God honored or dishonored. God manifest and Slorified, or the adversary manifest and God espised. Rehoboam was, so far as we know, the only son of Solomon,and therefore heir to the throne. His name, according to Young, signifies "Freer or the people," but he proved to be a great oppressor. Shechem was a city of the Levites, also a' city of ' ? refuge, situated in Mount Ephraim. It was the place of Abraham's first altar in Canaan, and the Lord's first appearance to him in that promised land. There also Jacob bouzht a field and erected an altar, calling it 'God, the God of Israe'." There the body of Jo- ', seph was buried after the conquest of the land by Joshua (Gen. xii., <}, 7, zxziii., 20; Josh, xxiv., 32). There all Israel gathered to makeRehoboam Kin* of Israel, but God had determined that Solomon's son should not be King of all Israel (chap, xi., 31-96), atid not all Israel nor all nations can overthrow tho purpose of God. 3. "Jeroboam and all the congregation of ; Ia-ael came and spake unto Reboboam." This seems outwardly all fair and submissive, byt r Jeroboam cannot have forgotten the promos of the Lord by the prophet Ahijah (xi., 2931), and he is only quietly awaitfhg the developments which shall give him the ten tribes for his kingdom. 4. l,Thy father made our yoke grievous; mSKe thou the" griwoua service * *. * mJ lighter, and we will serve thee.""TtsivCOop seems fair and reasonable, and it looks as if all misrht ha well with Eehoboam if be will only ao right. The grievous service and heavy yoke of Solomon was a fulfillment of the word of the Lord hv Samnul when tha peopl * demanded a King ("I Sam. viii., 11-18). Things always turn out as God sayB. 5. "Depart yet three days, then come again to me." The third day in Scripture is the dav of resurrection and life and deliverance lSo:?. vi., 2; John ii.t 19; Matt, xvi, 21), hut only /or sucii as follow on to know the Lord. "Neither Rbehoboam nor Jeroboam nor their followers were at this time much concerned about folio wing the Lord, as their after conduct plainly testifies. 7. "If thou "wilt be a servant unto this people this day, * * * and speak good words to them then thev will be ihv servants for ever," If he would only seek the welfare and peace of his people, as did those Kings who sought to do right in the sight of the Lord, and as did Mordecai (Estb. x., 3j at a later period, then all would be well. But this was not his spirit. He had not the spirit of the ' King of JEings, who though He was rich, yet for our sakes became poor: who laid aside His glory, and for His people's sake became a servant, saying: "I am among you as one who serveth" (II Cor. viii., 9; Luke xxii., 27). 8. "3ut he forsook the counsel of the old men * * and consulted with the young men." The old men had stood before Solomon, his father, but thesa young men had gTown up with himself and stood before him. ' % They would be more to his mind, and being his fellows he would be more apt to listen to them. 'Just as young men tq-day are more likely to heed the advice of their com panious than the advice ot tneir semore, wao are too often deemed by them as fossils of a past age, having very antiquated ideas. 9. "And he said unto them, What counsel yc?' If he had only cried to the WonderfulCounselor, 'Shew me Thy ways, 0 Lord; teach rae Thy paths" (P*. xxv., 4), how well it would have oeen with hiin. But he profeiTed an arm of flesh, and proved in his experience the truth of the "Thus saith tne Lord, Cursed be the ruau that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm. and whose heart departeth from the Lord" kJer. xvil, 5). 10. "My little finger shall be thicker than 1 my father's loins." This is part of the answer which the young men instructed him to J give to the people. The loins are significant of strength as in Job xl.,16; ProV. xxxi., 17; -J 1 * - ? Sir%)t\mr\v\ if or ay cf?'?n<rt.h C\f "< UUt ill Luc vase \jl u^tvutv/u aw wuwm vmq*. ?. ^ ( r oppression. Observe that in the text the word '"finger" is in italics, indicating that there is no word for finger in the Hebrew. The sense seems to be:. "My little or least shall be thicker or heavier than my father's strongest; or the heaviest yoke which my father put upon you shall seem light when compared with what I will do to you. My lightest yoke shall be heavier than the heaviest of my rather." 11. "My father hath chastised you with ~ whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions." So they would have him draw his people to * him by encouraging him to act not as a shepherd of his poople. but as a cruel taskmaster, ? ? a veritable Egyptian Pharaoh. Such insane advice one would think enough to slay itself :.i and those who gave it. 12. ''So Jeroboam and all the people cams to Reho'ooam the third day as the Icing had appointed." It is a dark day for Israel. ^ Tney are to hear no comforting words; their yoke is not to be lightened nor their service onsi'Rr. And vet this man was king on the throne of David, ruling over the Lord! people. A sorry representative of Jenovac surely he was. How he belied his God and acted as a true representative of the great oppressor, the father of lies, whom he served. 13. "And the kin?: answered the people roughly." "Roughly" is the same word that in verse 4 is translated "grievous." Joseph also spoke "roughly" to his brethren (Gen. xiii,, <, 30), but m his case it was only outward roughness, yet well deserved, while hack of it there was forgiveness and love. Je6u?, the true King of Israel, always had compassion upon the people, and only spoke roughly to self righteous hypocrites, who richly deserved it. "He was all love, but love despised brings wrath. 14' "And spake to them after the counsel of the young men." Wicked counselors are a great curse, and are all in the service, for the time at least, of the first wicked counselor. who in the garden led Adam and Eva astray. It is bad enough when friends give evil counsel, but how much worse when one's own mother is the evil counselor (Ggn. xxvii., 13; II Chron. xxii., 3). 15. "The cause was from the Lord." Back of all these apparently ordinary circumstances God was working. He cannot do evil, but He often permits evil to take its course, and yet overrules all for the good of His paople. lti. "All Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them." Then they leparted to their tents and made jerouoam tueir mere was uuuu that followed the house o* David but the tribe of J udah only. And when Relioboatn would have gone forth to subdue the rebels God by His servant forbade him, and he had to be content to have it so ;vs>. 20-34). Thus the highly privileged nation was divided because-of their sins, and to this day they have never been as a whole nation reunited. 17. '"But as for the children of Israel vhich dwelt in the cities of Judab,Rehoboam eigned over them." Not for his sake, nor Solomon's, but for David's sake was this on? ;ribe left him (xi., 13, 3fi); and because the scepter should not depart from Judah till Shiloh should come (Gen. xlix., 10). Shiloii lias come and gone, but He is coming again ;o make the twelve tribes one nation in tneir jwn land forever, and He Himself will be :heir King, the true freer of His people [Ezek. xxxvii., 21-2S; Luke i.. 31-33). Let js not forget that in these there were soma faithful witnesses for God (xi., 39; xii., 23), svho believed His word and stood nobly for Him. Here are tlie names of the two, but m larker days than these He had T00(? who jor/ed not down to Baal. Am I one of His faithful few '.?Ltssnv Helper. The excavations of the Greek Archrolopjical Society on the Acropolis of Mycernu have been rewarded by the liscovery of some sixty different objects of antiquity, among which are bronze swords ana Knives, several tiatchets. a razor, a round mirror and 3ome gold ornaments. A French attorney was writing oat a brief. He was in splendid health, snly forty years old, and was writing rapidly, when all at once he stopped, ind from that moment could not tell bis own name. Memory went out froia him like a flash of lightning. \ i