The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, April 13, 1892, Image 7
f
. REV. DRTTALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUNDAY
SERMON.
Subject: "Straining at Gnats and
Swallowing Camels."
Text: "Ye blind guides, who strain at a
gnat, and swallow a camel."?Matthew
xiti., 34.
A proverb is compact wisdom, knowledge
in chunkn, a library in a sentence, the electricity
of many clouds discharged in one bolt,
a river pnt through a millrao?. When Christ
quotes the proverb of the t&it'Be means to
aet forth the ludicrous behavior of those
who make a great bluster about small sins
and have no appreciations of great ones.
la my text a small insect and a large
quadruped are brought into comparison?a
enat and a came). You have in museum or
bo the desert seen the latter, a great awk- '
ward, sprawling creature, with back two
stories high and stomach having a collection
of reservoirs for desert traveC an animal
forbidden to the Jews a9 food, and in many
literatures entitled "the ship of the desert."
The gnat spoken of in the text is in the
grub form. It is born in pool or pond, after
a few weeks becomes a chrysalis, and then
after a few days becomes the gnat as 4re
recognize it. But the insect spoken of in the
text is in its very smallest shape, and yet it
inhabits the water?for my text is a misprint
and ought to read "strain out a gnat."
My text shows you the prince of inconsistencies.
A man after lone observation has
formed the suspicion that in a cop of water
he is about to drink there is a gmb or the
grandparent of a gnat. He goes and gets a
siere or a strainer. He takes the water and
pours it through the sieve in the broad light.
He says, "I would rather do anything alilrinlr
this wafjw until thifl larva
be extirpated." This water is brought under
inquisition. The experiment is successful.
The water rushes through the sieve and
leaves against the side of the sieve the grub
or gnat.
Then tbo man carefully removes the insect
and drinks the water in placidity. But going
out one day and hungry, he devours a
"snip of the desert," the camel, which the f
Jews were forbidden to eat. The gastronomer
has no compunctions of conscience. He 1
suffers from no indigestion. He puts the z
lower jaw under the camel's forefoot and his c
upper jaw over the hump of the camel's t
back, and gives one swallow and the drome- i
dary disappears forever. He strained out a j
gnat, he swallowed a camel 1
While Christ's audience were yet smiling j
at the oppositenessand wit of His illustration y
?for smile they did in church, unless they i
were too stupid to understand the hyperbole j
?Christ practically said to them. "That is j
Ku." Punctilious about small things; reck- <
s about affairs of great magnitude. No j
subject over withered under a surgeons ]
kniie more bitterly than did the Pharisees i
uader Christ's scalpel of truth. (
As an anatomist will take a human body t
to pieces and put them under a microscope [
for examination, so Christ finds His way to t
the heart of the dead Pharisee and cuts it j
out and puts it under the glass of inspection
for all generations to exam ins. Those (
Pharisees thought that Christ would flat- '
tev them and compliment them, and how ]
they must have writhed under the red hot i
words as He said, - "Ye fools, ye whited i
sepulchern, ye blind guides which strain <
out a gnat and swallow a camel." <
There are in our day a great many gnats ]
strained out and a great many camels 1
swallowed, und it is the object Qt this ser- j
mon to sketch a few persons who are ex- ,
tensively engaged in that business. \
First, I remark, that all those ministers (
of the Gospel are photographed in the text (
who are very scrupulous abont the conven- 3
tionalitieso'religion, but put no particular j
stress upon matters of vast importance. t
Church sei'vices ought to be grave and
solemn. There is no room for frivolity in {
religious convocation. But there are illus- ,
trntinns. And there are hvoerboles like that
of Christ in the text that will irradiate with .
smiles any intelligent auditory. There are j
men like those blind guides of the text who \
advocate only thosa things in religious ser- ]
ice which draw the corners of the mouth j
down, and denounce all those things which
have a tendency to draw the corners of the ,
mouth up, and these men will go to installa- ,
tions and to presbyteries and to conferences ]
and to associations, their pocket9 full of fine
sieves to strain oat the gnats, whib in their ]
own churches at home every Sunday there ,
are fifty people sound asleep. They make j
their churches a great dormitory, And their
somniferous sermons are a cradle, and the ,
drawled out hymns a lullaby, while some <
wakeful soul in a pew with her fan keeps the i
flies off unconscious persons approximate. ,
Now. I say it is worse to sleep in church than 1
to smile in church, for the latter implies at ,
least attention, while the former implies the ,
indifference of the hearers and the stupidity ,
of the speaker. " 1
In old age, or from physical infirmity, or
from long watches with the sick, drowsiness ]
will sometimes overpower one, but when a j
minister of the Gospel looks off upon an (
audience and finds healthy and intelligent j
people struggling with drowsiness it is time <
for him to give out the doxology or pro- 1
nounce the benediction. The great fault of j
church services to-day is not too much viva- (
city, but too much somnolence. The one is
an irritating gnat that may be easily i
stxainpd out- the other is a cTaat snrawlinc i
and sleepy-eyed camel of the dry desert. In <
all our Sabbath schools, in all our Bibla 1
classes, in all our pulpits we need to brighten <
up our religious message with such Christ- <
like vivacity as we find in the text. ]
1 take down from my library the biog- ,
rapines or ministers ana writers ot the past j
ages, inspired and uninspired, who have done i
the most to bring souls to Je3us Christ, and
I find that without a single exception they <
consecrated their wit and-their humor to ]
Christ. Elijah used it when he advised the i
Baalitee, as they could not make their God j
respond, telling them to call louder as their <
god might be sound asleep or gone a hunt- t
rag. Job used it when he said to his self- i
conceited comforters, "Wisdom will die
?with you.* Christ not only used it in the
^ text, but when He ironically complimented
' the putrefied Pharisees, saying, "The whole i
\ need not a physician." and when by one
\ word He described the cunning of Herod,
\ saying, "Qo ye, and tell that fox."
Matthew Henry's <Commentaries from the
'first page to the last coruscated with humor
as summer clouds with beat lightning. John
Bunyan'j writings are as full of humor as
they are of saving truth, and there is not an
aged man here who has ever read "Pilgrim's
Progress" who does not remember that while
reading it be smiled as often as he wept.
Chryeostom, George Herbert, Robert South,
John Wesley, George Whitefleld, Jeremy
Taylor, Rowland Hill, Nettleton, George G.
Finney and all the men of the past who
greatly advanced the kingdom of Go 1 consecrated
their wit and their humor to the
cause of Christ.
So it has been in all ths ages, and I say to
these young theological students, who cluster
in these services Sabbath by Sabbath,
sharpen your wits as keen as scimiters ana
and then take them into the holy war. It is
a very short bridge between a smile and a
tear, a suspension bridge from eye to lip.
and it is soon crossed over, and a smile is
sometimes just as sacred as a tear. There is
as much religion, aud I think a little more,
in a spring morning than in a starless midnight.
Religious work without any humor or wit
in it is a banquet with a side of- b?ef, and
that raw, and no condiments and no dessert
succeeding. People will not sit down at such
a banquet. By all means remove all frivolity
and all pathos and all Lightness and all vulgarity?strain
them oat through the si9ve of
holy discrimination; but, on the other hand,
beware of that monster which overshadows
the Christian churcu to-day, conventionally,
coming up from the (ireac Sahara Desert of
Ecdeenasticum, having on its back a hump
oi sanctimonious gloom?and vehemently refuse
to swallow that camel.
Oh, how particular a graat many people
are about the infinitesimals while they art
quite reckless about the magnitudes. What
did Christ say? Did He not excoriate th<
people in His time who were so careful tc
wash their hands before a meal, but did not
wash their hearts? It is a bad thing to have 1
unclean bands; it is a worse thing to have I
an unclean heart. How many people there
are in our time who are very anxious that !
after their death they shall be buried with
their feet toward the east, and not at all j
anemic. fhaf fhaif vhnln life thfcV '
should face in the ^rizht direction so that
they shall come up in the resurrection of the
just whichever way they are buried. How '
many there are chiefly anxious that a minister
of the Gospel shall coma in the line of
apostolic soooession, not caring so much ,
whether he oomes from Apostle Paul oi4
Apostle Judas. They hava* way of meat
uring a gnat until it ia larger than a camel.
. -L'. ilvkiv
Again, my subject photographs all those
who are abhorrent of small sins while they
are reckless in regard to magnificent thefts.
Yon will And many a merchant, who while
he is so careful that he would not take a yard
of cloth or a spool of cotton from the counter
without paying for it, and who if a bank
cashier should make a mistake and send in a
roll of bills five dollars too much would dispatch
a messenger in hot haste to return the
surplus, yet who will go intoastockfcompany
n which after awhile he gets control of the
itock and then waters the stock and makes
1100,000 appear like 1209,000. He stole only
H00,000 by the operation. Many of the men
>f fortune made their wealth in that way.
One of those men engaged in such unrighteous
acts, that evening, the evening of the
?erv dav when he watered the stock, will
ln<? a wharf rat stealing an evening newspaper
from the basement doorway, and will go
mt and catch the urchin by the collar and
;wist the collar so tightly the poor fellow
jannot say that it was thirst for knowledge
;hat led him to the dishonest act, but grip
ihe collar tighter and tighter, saving: "X
lave been looking for you a long while. You
itole my paper four or fire times, haven't
fou? You miserable wretch P' And then
:he old stock gambler, with a voice they can
lear three blocks, will cry out, "Police, poicer
That same man, the evening of the day on
vhich he watered the stock, will kneel with
lis family in prayer and thank God for the
jrosptritv of the day, then lds3 his children
good night with an air which seems to say:
'I hope you will all grow up to be as good
is your father!" Prisons for sins insectile
n size, but palaces for crimes dromedarian.
^"cr mercy for sins animalcule in proportion,
>ut great leniency for mastodon iniquity.
U ?'<? fi'ma fKbf. wa in A mavMno fhaf
do is not excusable in proportion as it detares
large dividends and has outriders in
iqutpagd. Many a man Is riding to perdition
postilion ahead and lackey behind. To
steal a dollar is a gnat; to steal many thousands
of dollars is a camel. .There is many a
fruit dealer who would not consent to steal
i basket of peaches from a neighbors stall,
rat who would not scruple to depress the
rait market; and as long as I can remain bar
ire have heard every summer the peach crop
>f Maryland is a failure, and by the time the
rrop comes in the misrepresentation makes a
lifference of millions of dollars. A man
rho would not steal one peach basket steals
Ifty thousand peach baskets.
Any summer go down into the Mercantile
ibrary, in the reading rooms, and see the
tewspaper reports of the crops from all pares
>f the country, and their phraseology is very
auch the same, and the same men wrote
/hem, methodically and infamously carryng
out the huge lying about the grain crop
'rom year to year and for a score of years.
&.fter a while there is a "corner" in the
wheat market, and men who had a contempt
lor a petty theft will burglarize the wheat
)in ot a nation and commit larceny upoa the
American corn crib. And men will sit in
:hurches and in reformatory institutions tryng
to strain out the small gnats of scoundrelsm,
while in their grain elevators and ia
;heir storehouses they are fattening huge
camels which they expect after awhile to
iwallow. Society has to be entirely reconducted
on this subject. We are to find
iiat a sin ia inexcusable in proportion as it
s great.
1 know in our time the tendency is to
charge religious frauds upon good men.
rhey say, "Oh, what a class of frauds you
iave in the Church of God in this day," and
when an elder of a church or a deacon or a
sinister of the Gospel or a superintendent
31 a DaDDaiu bcuuui lurus uut a uciauiwr
what display heads there are in man? of the
newspapers?great primer type; five line
pica?"Another Saint Absconded," "Clerical
Scoundrelism," "Religion at a Disjouat,"
"Shame on the Churches," while
there are a thousand scoundrels outside the
:burch to where there is one inside the
ihurch, and the misbehavior of those who
sever sea the inside of ? church Is so great it
is enough to tempt a man to become a Christian
to get out Qf their company.
Bnt in all circles, religious ani irreligious,
the tendency is to excuse sin in proportion
is it is mammoth. Even John Milton in his
"Paradise Lost," while he condemns Satan,
jivas such a grand description of him you
aave hard work to suppress your admiration.
Oh, this straining oat of small sins
like gnats, and this gulping down great iniquities
like camels.
This subject does not give the picture of
it one or two persons, but is a gallery in
which thousands of people may see their
likenesses. For instance, all these people
who, while they would not rob their neighbor
of a farthing, appropriate the money
md the treasure of the public. A man has a
bouse to sell, and he tells bis customer ic is
worth (20,000. Next- day the assessor comes
u-ound and the owner says it is worth $15,XX).
The Government or the United States
took off the tax from personal income,
imong other reasons because so few people
would tell the truth, and many a man with
in income of hundreds of dollars a day made
statements which seemed to imply he was
ibout to be handed over to the overiser of
the poor.
Careful to pay their passage from Liverpool
to New York, yet smuggling In their
Saratoga trunk ten silk dresses irom Paris '
in a a half dozen watches from Ueneva,
Switzerland, telling the custom house officer
an the wharf, "There is nothing in that
trunk but wearing apparel," and putting a
five dollar gold piece in his hand to punctuate
the statement.
Described in the text are all those who are
particular ntver to break the law of grammar,
and who want all their language an
? ??!??? it nrn(>T otrainlneT ntlfc nil
21t;gaub o^irnou V*.
the inaccuracies of speech with a floe sieve
jf literary criticism, while through their
Mnversation go slander and innueado and
profanitj and falsehood larger than a wkole
airavan of camels, when they might better
fracture every law of the language and
shock their intellectual taste, ana better let
rerb seek in vain for its nominative, and
jvery noun for its government, and every
preposition lose its way in the sentence, ana
adjectives and participles and pronouns get
into a grand riot wortny of the Fourth ward
on election day, then to commit a moral inaccuracy.
Better swallow a thousand gnats
than one camel.
Such persons are also described in the
text who are very much alarmed about
the small faults ot others and have no
alarm about their own great transgressions.
There are in every community and
in every church watchdogs who feel called
upon to keep their eyes on others and
growl. Ttey are full of suspicions. They
wonder if that man is not dishonest, if that
man is not unclean, if there is not something
wrong about the other mau. They are always
the first to hear of anything wrong.
Vultures are always the first to smell car
rion. They are self appointed detectives, a
lay this down as a rule without any exceptian?that
those people who have the moat
faults themselves are most merciless in their
watching of others. From scalp of head to
sole of foot they are full of jealousies and
hypercriticisms.
They spend their life in hunting for muskrats
and mud turtles instead of Hunting for
Rocky Mountain eagles; always for something
mean instead of something grand.
They look at their neighbors' imperfections
through a microscope, and look at their own
imperfections through a telescope upside
down. Twenty faults of their own do not
hurt them halt so much as one fault of som?
body elsei Their neighbor's imperfection!
are like gnats, and they strain thenaout;
their own imperfections are like camels, and
they swallow them.
But lestany might think they escape th?
scrutiny of the text, I have to tall you w?
all come under the divine satire when we
make the questions of time more prominent
than the questions o* eternity. Come now
i~?-... ~n ? ? , ? 2
JOU US Oil IUIU lUO UUIllCODIUUai. ATO UUV
all temnted to make the question, Whera
shail I live now? greater thau tb?
question. Where shall I live forever!
How shall I get more dollars here? greater
than the question. How shall I lay
up treasures in heaven? the question. How
shall I pay rav debts to man? greater than
the question. "How shall I meet my obligations
to God? the question, How shall I
aain the world? greater than the question,
What if I lose my soul? the question, Why
rHa God let sin come into the world? greater
than the question. How shall I get it extirpated
from my nature? the qu?stion,
Whatshallldo with the twenty or forty
or seventy .years of my sublunar existence?
greater that the question, What shall I do
with the millions of cycles of my poatterrestial
existence? Time, how small it is!
Eternity, how vast it is! The former more
insignificant in comparison with the latterkhan
a fmaf. in in<?icrniflnnnt- whan /?Amnor<w1
with a camel. We dodged the text. We
said, "That doesn't mean me, and that
ioesn't mean me," and with a ruinous benevolence
we are giving the whole sermon
iway.
But let us all surrender to the charge.
What an ado about things here. What 1
pooripreparation for a great eternity. As
;hougn a minnow were larger than a behe*
i .r-i-'i' /
o
moth, aa fchpugJS a swallow took wider ebr-- <
cnit than aa a! batrou, as though a nettle
were taller than a Lebanon cedar, aa
though a giant were greater than a camel,
as tbough a minute were longer than a
century, aa though time were higher,
deeper, broader than eternity. 80 the
texc which flashed with lightning of wit as
Christ uttered it, is followed by the crashing
thunders of awful catastrophe to those
who make the questions of time greater than
the questions of the future, the oncoming,
overshading future. 0 Eternity 1 Eternity 1
Eternity!
SABBATH SCHOOL,
1NTEUNATIONAL LESSON FOR
APRIL 17.
Lesson Tex;* "God's Works and
W ord," Psalm xlx., 1-14Goldun
Text Psalm xix.,
7?Commentary.
An Easter lesson is suggested 'Math,
xxviii.. 1-20), as optional instead of thip, but
with anointed eyes we may And an abundance
of resurrection troth in tins lesson, for certainly
the labt five verses of the previous
psalm are full of the resurrection triumphs
oi toe messiao.
1 - We bare in this psalm three books CreamoD,#i.,
d, Scripture, vii., 11, and Conscience,
xii., 14; and these have been called
David's whole library. The heavens may
include the aerial, solar, starry and highest;
the first three within nan<e of our vision,
and therefore here referred to, the last seen
by Paul in the Spirit (II Cor. xii., 3-4), We
cannot look up either by day or night, if we
have anointed eyes {Rev. iii., IS), without
beholding the glory of God in the works of
His hands.
'J. "Day unto day uttereth speech, and
night unto night snoweth knowledge." It
is written in Rom. i? 30, that His eternal
power and Godhead may be known by the
works of His hands'but surely not without
the aid of the Spirit who is ready to teach
every one. The stars taught Abram that so
Bhould his seed be (Gen. xv., 5>; that seed is
Christ and His resurrection joint heirs (Gal.
iii. lfl. 2fltiXohn xii.. 24)
3. "There is no speech nor language;
their voice is not heard." Tet they shine
steadily and continuously, preaching without
intermission, the one taking up where
the other left off; unappreciated by the
multitude, unthanked, ana yet delighting to
to the will of God. There are many earthly
lives something the same. Shine on, ob,
quiet one*. Thy God sees and approver be
content.
4. "Their line is gone out through all the
earth and their words to the end of the
world.*' For signs and seasons, days and
years (Gen. i., 14)), to the whole world.
Let Mary's memorial in all the world (Mark
jciv., 8, 9) encourage others to do what they
can unto Him.
5. "In them hath He sat a tabernacle for
the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out
of his Chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong
man to "run a race." The tabernacle, the
sun. the bridegroom are all suggestive of
Christ and His redeemed, both in humiliation
and resurrection glory He tabernacled
among us in the flesh and He now dwells in
us (John i., 14; R. V.,'margin xiv., 23; II
Cor. iv? 11). Every believer should be
looking forward to the marriage of the
Lamb, when the joy of Bridegroom and
Brid&shall be consummated, and then shall
the righteous shine forth as the sun (Rev
six., 7. 8; Math, xiii., 43.)
6. " 'Hia going forth is from the end of the
heaven, and HiB circuit unto the ends of it*
and there is nothing hid from the heat there
of." So shall we with Him in resurrection
power and glory share all that is His (John
xvji., 33) in heaven and on earth and cause
the richness of His grace and glory to be
known everywhere. But this cannot be till
that Easter morning when we shall be like
Him (I John iii., 3).
7. 4*The law of the Lord is perfect, converting
the soul, the testimony of the Lord
is sure, making wise the simple." Sun.
moon and stars silently proclaim Him, but
in the volume of the Boot we find Him more
fully. Law, testimony, statutes, commandments,
fear, judgments are all His * Notice,
ix times "of the Lord." He is the author
and the embodiment of all. He is my salvation
and my wisdom
8. "The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing
the heart; the commandment of the
Lord u pure, enlightening the eyes." He is
my jov and my light; His word ths joy and
rejoicing of my heart; Himself my light and
my salvation. Let Scripture speafr, and
read Job xxiii., 13; Jer. xv., 16; Pa. xxvii.,1:
cxix., 97, 105; John vili., 12; I John i 7
V "The rear or tne juora is clean, enauring
forever: the judgments of the Lord are
true and righteous altogether." Not only
solvation, wisdom, joy and lizht, but everlasting
righteousness are all in Him and
made ours by His word and Spirit (John vi.,
63). "What joy should All us because we
have His word, what zeal should possess us
to carry it to others?
10. "More to be desired are they thaD
gold, yea, than much fine gold, sweeter also
than honey and the honeycomb." Compare
Ps. cxix., 108. All this world's riches and
sweetness are here outdone. Even believers
have been known to turn away from the Bible
to other books tor sweetness, but while they
may know Jesus as Saviour they do not
know him as Lord, or they would not turn
from Him for anything
11. "Moreover by tham is Thy servant
warned, and in keeping of them there is
freat reward.*' His word in our hearts
eeps us from sinnine against Him (Ps.
cixx., 11) And while here in this life we
have the consciousness of sins forgiven, peace
with God, acceptance in the beloved (1 John
ii., 12; Horn, v., 1; Eph. i., 6, 7): who can
estimate the reward of the faithrul when like
Him, and with Him, we shall receive from
Him the crowns we may have won on the
earth. (Jas. i,, 12t ? Cor. lx, 25, I Pet. v/
4; II Tim. iv.. 8)
12. "Who ran understand his errors?
Cleanse Thou me from secret faults." The
contemplation of the King in His works and
His word reveals more fully our sinfulness;
and thoughts of His glory, which we shall
snare with Him, makes us want to be more
holy now (Isa. vi.,?; Job xlii., 5, I John
V: II Cor. iii.. 18)
10 T\ - L. _i__ ?
io. jveejj uoct xuy arrvnnb aiso irotn
presumptuous sins; let them not' have
dominion over me, then shall I be upright,
and I shall be innocent from the great transgression."
One has said that the sins we see
and confess are only like a box of samples
compared with the stock in store. We may
count hairs or stars, but sins cannot be
numbered, and yet the blood of Jesus Christ
cleanseth from all sin. As to presumptuous
sins see Deut. i . 43: xvii., 12. He earnestly
desires cleansing trom all sin secret and
manifest, small and great. It is a good sign
when we hate all sin.
14. "Let the words of my nlouth, and the
meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Tliy
sight, 0 Lord, my strength and my redeemer."
This is like Paul, who says "We make
it our aim whether at home or absent to be
well pleasing unto Hiin" (II Cor., v., 9, R.
V). Healsosaid to Timothy -'Study to
show thyself approve! unto (rod" (II Tiin.
ii., 15). Only as we see ourselves to be dead
with Christ, and riseu in His Christ, and
kuow something of the power of His resursection,
shall we come to a life like thin.
W"hen we can truly say "Not I but Christ,"
then filled with His spirit, both words and
thoughts shall be pleasing unto Him. The
IT-lw D?..l ? ?!
xaujjt opu ib iuiuu^u x aui wua iu> buat wo ?r?
not sufficient of ourselvt?? to taink anything,
as ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God.
He also talis us that every thought is to be
brought into captivity to the obe lience of
Christ (II Cor. iii., 5; x., 5).?Lesson- Helper.
MYSTERIOUS MALADY,
An Epizootio Carries Off Many Valuable
Thoroughbreds.
It is estimate! that Marcus Daly's losses of
colts at the Bitter Root Stock Farm, near
Butte, Montana, this season will aggregate
$100,000. Five-sixths of the colte foaled
have died immediately after birth. The best
veterinary surgeons are unable to arrive
at the cause, but consider ic to oa au epizootic.
Mr. Daly has over half a million
dollars invested in his brooding establishment.
There has been a similar epizootic in the
breeding regions of Kentucky for the last
two years. The veterinary surgeons said
that it was the grip, but many expert horsemen
assert that it is due to breedin ; mares
so that the foals appear in January and
February instead of April and May. However,
the mortality is far less this year than
'hi 1891.
RELlGiO USJR E ADING.
. A 8WKKT PRAYER.
God of the mountain, God of the storm,
God of the flower, God of the worm.
Hear us and bless us,
Forgive lis, redress ust
Brentbe on our spirits Thy love and Tby
healing
Teach us content with Thy fatherly dealing,
Teach ua to love Thee.
To love one another, brother his brother;
And make us all freeFree
from the shackles bf ancient tradition,
Free from the censure of man for his
- neighbor,
Help us each one to fulfil his true mission,
And show us 'tis god-like, to labor I
God of the darkness, God of the-sun,
God of the beautiful, God of each one t
Clothe us and feed us,
Illume us and lead us;
Show us that avarice holds us in thrall.
That the land is all Thrine, and Thou givest
to all.
Scatter our blindness;
Help us do right, all thfe day and the night;
To love mercy and kindness;
Aid us to conquer mistakes of the past;
Show us our future to cbeer us and arm us,
The upper, the better, the mansions Thou
bast.
And, God of the grave, that the grave cannot
barm us.
?[F. R. Orton.
OKK VERSE READ AT A CRITICAL MOMEST.
A missionary in Japan tells of a young
man living in Yokabama, who had oeard
* U.J UM?AN mvon If
OI l/QntHimilly uiu UUU uciui ii?u Kiivu *
any special attention. Learning that his
father had been defeated in a lawsuit, and
believing that injustice had been done, he
became greatly enraged and determined to
take revenge by assassinating the governor
whom he believed to be responsible for the
result. While arranging to go home that he
might carry out his evil intention he called
to say good-bye to a Christian ?rieud,
who not knowing the object of bin journey,
bade him God-speed and gave bim a Bible.
He started on the journey, reading the liible
on the way. He happened to turn to the
first verse of the seventh chapter of Matthew,
and when be read it his conscience, was so
troubled that he gave up his purpose and re- *
turned to Yokohama. He continued to read
and became a true convert, aud then, not
satisfied with a mere profession, he gave
himself to the study of God's word and is
now a faithful worker for the Master in the
city of Toklo.
PUSH UPWARD.
What a bugle-blast the heroic old Paul
sounded in the ears of bis youuger bretbern
at C'olos3e when he exclaimed, "If ye then
be risen with Christ, seek those things
which are above!" In whatever way we
apply these words, whether as meaning a
preparation for heaven, or a coveting of
heavenly treasures or an upward push iu the
Christian life, they still breathe the name
aspiration. Jesus had delivered those Le.itb*
ern from the sepulchre of sin. They bad
risen with Christ. Now instead of still lingering
in the atmosphere of the charnel
noose, the great apostle exhorts them to
coat away their grave clothes, and to live as
Christ's freemen and the heirs to a magnificient
inheritance. Look higher! Live higher!
These were the inspiring ojlls of the veteran
to his younger fellow-soldiers in the warfare
for Christ. He exhorts them to "set their
minds" on the tblugs that are above, and
also to "seek'' them.
Ttyere was to be.an inward longing and an
outward living Christward. Fau;'s boglecall
is needed in our tiroes to vast numbers
of God's people, who, like Bunyan's man
with his muck-rake, are grubbing away
among; the straws and rufobisli. without even
lifting their eyes towards the crown above
their beads. *Tens of thousands, whose
names are on the rolls of onr churches are
barely alive. Instead of growing they are
only gasping. Their pulse is feeble. Their
joys are few; only an occasional sunbeam
iu a watery sky. 'Their assurance of hope is
so scanty that they can barely say?''well,
I hope that I atn a Christian. I think that
I was converted several year* ago, and when
I die I truxt that I shall be saved." xnere 13
no muscle in their faith, no power in their
prayers, no ring in their voices, no force in
their daily examples, no Iruit of tbe Spirit,
in commercial phrase, their Christian life
does not pay expenses; they are running behind
every year.
Now what Bball these baiting, doubting,
crippled and almust useless professors do?
8hall they lieatUl jusb-where they are?with
the desperate hope that when death overtakes
them they will somehow scramble into
heaven? Thw is too tremeudous a risk to
run. And even if by God's grace thev are
saved from hell they "will have a wretchedly
e>or and meaner preparation for heaven.
0 crowns awaiting them there! No
sheaves; not more than a spear or two of
grain. All this style of existence is better
than death; but it is not genuine living.
Every one of these cumberera of the soil
may become a fruit-bearer tomorrow if he
only will. Every back-slider may become a
joyous, useful servant of Christ at once if he
will only heed Paul's bugle-call, and awake
to the glorious possibilities before him.
LIGHT ABOUND THE THROXE.
1 remember being in a meeting after tbe
war of the great rebellion broke out. The
war had beengoir gon for about six months.
The armv of the North had been defeated at
Bull Run. in fact ve had nothing but defeat,
and it looked as though tbe Republic was
going to pieces. So we were much cast down
and discouraged. At this meeting every
speaker for awbite seemed as if he bad hung
his harp upon the willow; and it was one of
the gloomiest meetings I ever attended. Finally
an old man with beautiful white hair,
got up to speak and bis face literally shown.
"Young men," be said, "you do not talk
like sons of the King. Though it is dark just
here, remember that it is light somewhere
else." Then be went on to say that if it
were dark all over the world, it was light
around the Throne.
He told us he bad come from the east,
where a friend had described to him how he
had been up a mountain to spend tbe night
and see the sunrise. As the party were
climbing up tbe mountain, and before they,
lmd reached tbe summit, a storm came on.
' " ' * ' 1 A- tC- ?T saril! rtiwo
This inena saw to uie guiuc, i v
tbis up; take me back." The guide smiled,
and replied, I think we shall get above the
storm soon." On they went; and it was not
long before they got up to where it was as
calm as any summer evening. Down in the
valley a terrible storm ragejL: they could hear
the thunder rolling, and see the lightning's
flash; but all was sereue on the mountain
top. "And so ray young friends," continued
the old man, "though all is dark around you
come a little higher and the darkness will
flee away." Often when I have been inclined
to get discouraged, I have thought of
what he Mid. Now if you are down in the
vallev amidst the thick fog and darkness,
get a littte higher; get nearer to Christ, and
kuow more of Him.
You remember the Bible saye, that when
Christ expired on the cross, the light of the
world was put out, God sent his Son to be
the light of the world; but men did not love
the light because it reproved them of their
sins. When they were about to put out tbis
lijrht, what did Christ say to his disciples?
"Ye?h:ill be witnesses* unto Me." (.Acts
1:8). He has gone up yonder to intercede
for us; but He wants us to shine for Him
down here. "Ye are the light of the
world." (Matt. 5:14). So our work
is to shine; not to blow our own
trumpet so that people may look at us. What
we want to do is to show forth Christ. If
we have any light at all it is borrowed light.
Someone said to a young Christian. "Converted!
it is all moonshine!'' Said he "I
thank you for the illustration, the moon
borrows it.s light from the sun; and we borrow
ours from the Son of Righteousness." If
we are Christ's we are here to shine for
Him: !>y and by He will call us home to our
reward.?TMof) I v.
Ward McAllister mlgnt arrange
his classification of New York society
on a more satisfactory basis if he
would take a hint from the oyster
dealers. Why not brand the first
grade as "New York counts," the second
as "selects," the third as "standards,"
and so on?
tVk begin to see a reason ror cnicago
capitalists building their blocks
so big and high. Burglars recently
carried off a stationary engino with
several tons of plumbing, and wero
going back for the building, but coneluded
to wait until It was fitted up
again.
Deys of Algierv.andja now a barracks
or"military headquarters. If Ir VSre'
going to construct a city on one of yoor
steep sand hills on the model of a labyrinth
I think I should build something
analogous with ancient Algiers. It is a
town made up of narrow streets of unequal
length, presenting in their wind
THE MOOR AT HOME.
PECULIARITIES OF MOORISH
MANSIONS IN ALGIERS.
External Ornamentation Not Favored
? Magnificent Interior
Adornments? Lavish Use
ot Valuable Material.
rcR houses are oar
^*!mI W?|Pri8on,'"*afkJ8 &q ow
L'f'vySB S Sa Jproverb, which can
MM ^ bcapplied to the
jKSS Arabs. With their
^SlESro ^^^ j/seYere an(* oloisteral
XTaspect, their walls
^vVVi"'' pierced by rare and
narrow openings.
they might readily be taken for dungeons
instead of for habitations. Isolated
upon the slope of a smiling hill in the
midst of green trees, they are rather attractive,
but here in Algiers they offer
nothing that is very sumptuous so far as
outside show goes.
Your good Mussulman does not like
grand outlines -in architecture, or outward-display,
as is the pleasure of us who
aie civilized. The Arab is selfish and
wmnts to enjoy alone his household gods
and goods;'Wd^his is-why he takes care
that his residence shall seem of no account
to all passers by.
All moo run mansions?oy jnoors 19
meant those Arabs who live in cities?
are bailt on the same plan and method.
It is always the house of the orient; it is
with the richest bey or pasha as with the
poore?. merchant or mechanic, a square
9ttucture of one or two stories only.
There is no front to them, that is to say,
no facade as we understand it; merely
INTERIOR OF A
high walls pierced at irregular dlstaaces
with small-sized openings covered with
iron or wooden bars. There is a low,
thick door, in a stone or marble frame,
which may be and often is curiously
carved, and usually there are old-fashioned
locks and queer-shaped knockers.
This is the exterior appearance of an
Arab's house; there is no more luxury,
no other ornamentation and no front
yard either.
But you should see the inside of these
dwelling-places. Marble columns with
delicate flutings, ogire arches of elegant
desiga, balistrades of precious wood,
large doors with fine panels,ceilings with
arabesques and bright paintings, mosaic
floors and fountain playing?these are
the sort of things you find inside a Moorish
home. The door which opens on the
street never lets you at once into the
apartments. You enter first a hall more
or less spacious, according to the impor
* * 5 J At*** iwaaHk
ranee or me mansion uuu tuc V?t?a&bu v*
the owner, and on both sides of which,
under niches sustained by graceful
columns, and marble seats extended for
visitors and customers.
Next is the courtyard, bordered on its
four sides by galleries, and this court is
the common promenade of all the home
folks. It is also used for recaptions and
marriage ceremonies, when the tiled or
mosaic pavement is covered with matting
or carpcts, and a cloth is stretched
overhead to protect the guests against
sudden rain or overdose of daylight.
Around the galleries of (his ground floor
are the kitchen, storerooms, bathhouse,
cistern and chicken coop.
The pavement of the hall of the
court?when it is not laid in tiles or
mosaics?the steps of the staircase, the
columns, the door posts, are all in stone
or marble. The walls are inlaid with
A STltn^' Of AT-GIER8.
faience of various colors, skilfully combined,
and the effect produced is quite
interesting. The floor above is similarly
arranged as to division walls, and these
nre the sitting and sleeping rooms.
Finally we come to a flat roof which
serves as a terrace for the women and
children, and to it they go in search of
fresh air and swap gossip with their lady
neighbors.
Most of all these houses are in the old
Arab town, and they rise by stories, so
to speak, above and back of each other
on the slope of a high bill as fur as the
ruined ramparts of the Kasbas. That
edifice used to be the residence of the
iu?o auu twiauuge everj iuiu
and curve, staight lines being seldom
noticeable.
Your Mussulman fatalist does not like
change of any sort, and looks with grief
on the opening of wider avenues, which
the local authorities are constructing,-so
as to bring light and air into dark and
unwholesome quarters. Moreover, Arab
architects seem to feel instinctive repulsion
toward right angles. The houses
are without exterior windows, or with
loopholes at most. The different stories
protrude, the upper stiU further than
the one below, and in su^h a way that
at the top buildings on opposite sides of
the carro* street often touch each other.
Sometimes the public way runs for a
rnnftirinrAhlft distance in A vaulted nu
sage, and everywhere the -walls are of
dazzling whiteness. It in the custom to
whitewash them twice in every year,
but now and then some cranky Arab lays
on a coat. of blue, ,aod, the contrast is
very striking.?San Francisco Chronicle.
Progressive Japanese Yiseonnt. .
It is only a little over a year ago that
Japan adopted a constitutional form of
government, fashioned very closely after
the systems of America and Europe. The
Viscount Tanl has been one of the fore*
most spirits in bringing, this about, and
is certainly a fair type of a people who
already rank among the most intelligent
and progressive to be found anywhere.
The plan of government adopted was
MOORISH HOUSE.
that of a diet with two houses, one of
which was to be composed of delegates
duly elected, while iu the other sat the
peers. Already the new constitution
has encountered breakers. In ordinary
parliamentary systems, when the deputies
and the Government do not agree, it is
the latter that goes under. In Japan,
where everything is done differently, the
house of representatives has been dissolved
and a new election has been ordered
to test public opinion.
The Viscount Tani is on the side of
the Government, and claims that tne ministers
have made a good showing. It is
charged that the popular party has resiated
all Government hills indiscriminately;
among others, several for the reVI8COTOT
TAXI.
lief of the sufferers by the recent earth
quakes. Two other accusations made
are that a majority of the representatives
insisted upon unwise reductions 01 national
expenditure, and rejected bills for
the national defense, for railway extension,
and for lightening local taxation.
Immediately after dissolving the house
the Government, on its own responsibility,
took measures to relieve the earthquake
sufferers.?Chicago Pos t.
Don't be a Slave to the Doctors.
Tattered Timothy?"I've been trampin'four
years, Ma'am; an' it'a all 'cause
I heard dat der doctors recommended
walkin' as der be9t exercise."
Mrs Prim?'-Well, the doctors ar6
right. Walk along!"?Puck.
,~ .:. ' ' * ' ';j. - " '
? C \
,. Something U^eoanwn I* R?f?. , ,M
I was calling on a friend at a welP
known importing house this week,writes
a New York correspondent, and in the
course of conversation he said; "Would
you like to see something uncommon in
rugs ? " I of course said "yes," whereupon
he got a bunch of keys from their
Aiiaf^i'an an si tAnlr ma infjt a arvpr-i*]
ViUPbUUIOU ****** *vv?? I**V ?uw w vjrvvHM
room about the size of an ordinary draw- :
ing room, in which were several piles of
rugsf while others were displayed about
the walls. 4'It may interest you to
know," he said, "that in this little room
is $100,000 worth of rugs, and yet the
real treasures are kept even more closely,"
He then went to a substantial cupboard
and unlocking it drew forth a
folded silk rug, which if he threw open
with a flourish. It would need a Rfiskin
and a Turner combined to do justice
to the sight which met the eye.: . ^
The ruir was nearlv sauare. being about , '
five by seven feet, and its richness WM
dazzling. The price, I was informed,. {
was $7500. It contained 9,000,000stitches
and was about 300 years old.
How* it got to the New York market the .
dealer was not all disposed to say, aaff .<
this leads me to remark that in thaw . <
choice Eastern rugs there is often a bid* .. ?
den chapter of romance, which, if put to
literaryuses ,might furnish more than
one ntffci like Wilkie CoUins's "Moonstone"
to the library of "thrill." These
priceless rugs all have their history?
whether they carry with them into exile
something of that power to bless and
curse, which is supposed to go with some
of these Oriental gems that have been
torn from their holy nooks . in the East
to be made traffic ot by the infidels, I -i
will not undertake to say. Possibly *
this superb rug would be as unoomfort- n
able a possession as that complacent
"fallen idol" which caused such distress ;
in the wild narrative of Anstey.
Clever Horses end Cattle. 1
That horses and cattle can commuai- ' v
cate intelligence to each other, and are
endowed with a certain amount of tea. ?
soning faculty, the following facts are 'Avjj
pretty conclusive proof: I once pur-'
chased a station on which a large num-"
ber of cattle and horses had gone wild. .' V
To get cattle io, I fenced the permanent . J
water (a distance of twenty miles) lear- : -:j
ing traps at intervals. At first this an- ^
swered all right, but soon the cattle became
exceedingly cautions about enter- ; ?J|
ing the traps, waiting outside for two ott . ',&
il tli 1 9 1 f? <? . i i '
inree nignts Deiore going id, ana u tneyj , j
could smell a man or his tracks, not go-' ' ^
ing in all. At last they adopted a plan; .^
which beat me. A mob would come to -M
the trap-gate, and one would go ia audi
drink and come out; and then another
would do jthe same, and so on till all Xpj
had watered. They had evidently arrived
at the conclusion that I would net
catch one and frighten all the other*1 ft
away.
To get in wild horses, 600 of which ^
were running on a large plain (about .
20,000 acres), I erected a large stockyard,
with a gradually widening Jane, ia * ' ||
a hollow where it could not easily be listen,
and by stationing horsemen at intervals
on the plain, gallopod the wild
horses in. My first hunt (which lasted'
some days) was successful, the wild
horses heading toward the mouth of the >
lane without much difficulty, but, of 'V||j
course, some escaped by charging back
at the stock?yanl gate and in other \
way8. My Second hunt, about a month , |
later, was a failure; every mob of horses 4.J|
on the plain seemed to know where the I
yard was and would not turn that wayThis
seemed to show that the horses
that escaped from the first hunt told all -;|j
the others where the stockyard was.? 'cfl
London (England) Spectator.
i mm?
The Form of a Bainbew.
The form of a rainbow depends on
the relative position of the sun and the .*(
observer. It is caused by the light of;
the sua passing through the drops of
rain, by which the light is refracted, as
bj a prism, when the rainbow colors are
perceived. Thus when the sun shines
through a shower of rain, in a parallel
direction, the rainbow is circular, but
when the rays of the sun strike the
shower st an angle, we see only a part of
a circle, which is less as the angle is
less. When the sun is high and shines ' %
through a cloud,which consists of minute . '"*4
drops of water, at a great height, we see '"d
the circle and call it a halo. But it is
actually a rainbow. The compound' {>J
rainbows, sometimes seen at .a great
height in the sky, are caused -by the
light passing through ice crystals in the ' |
clouds, when the refraction is more com
plicated. The double rainbow is doe to
the action of the sunlight that is reflected
from both sides of the raindrops,
as well as refracted bj their passage '
through the drops. These reflections produce
faint colors which are seen within
and without the principal rainbow. The
phenomena of the rainbow have been
studied by philosophers sihce the Four* J.
teenth Century, but it was Newton who
discovered the most interesting facts
concerning this curious appearance. The
so-called sun dogs which appear in hazy
weather are merely different exhibitions
of the same phenomena of the refraction
of light.?New York Times.
A New Twine Fibre. :
-V'Oje
J. C. Best, who lives a few miles
south of Kansas City, Mo., thinks he
has solved the binding twine problem
for the American farmers. Mr. Best J
proposes to use as a substitute for ma- -,J\
nilla and sisal tibre m toe manuiaccure
of twine, the fibre of the yucca plant or ' V
"Spanish bayonet" as it is called in
New Mexico. A Kansas name for it is
"tear grass," so called on accoant of
the great strength of its fibre. Mr. Best
has been experimenting with the yucca
plant for several years, and he has progrossed
so far that he has invented?
machine that will satisfactorily separate *
the fibre. Driven by a horsepower engine
and operated by two men, it will
separate 4000 pounds of clean fibre in
ten hours, which c&n be manufactured
into binding twine much more cheaply
than manilla and sisal fibre, while at the
same time making a twine that is quite
as good. Mr. Best says the manufacture
of his twine will bring the trust
to more reasonable terms.?St. Louis
Republic.
The Color of the Eye.
The color of the iris is not uniform in
any eye. Some eyes hare spots, othert
stripes, still others blotches of white,
green, blue, yellow and black, and the
eye take3 its color from the predominance
of one hue. An eye that is considered
grey will often be composed of
black and yellow. An eyo that is
thought to be brown will be very darlc^
red, with spots oi jellow or blue*