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REV. DR. TALMAGE. ! i THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUN i DAY SERMON. > i I tfnbject: "The Three Tabernacles, * Story of Trials and Triumphs." / crsxT: "Let us make three tabernacles." ? ?Luke ix., 33. I Our Arab ponies were almost dead with , jfatigue, as, in Dec?mber, 18S9, we rode near a jthe foot of Mount Hermon in the Holy <j 'Land, the mountain called by one "a , [mountain of ic?," by another "a glittering 'breastplate of ice," by another "the Mont ? IBlanc of Palestine." Its top has an almost 0 unearthly brilliance. But what must it E have been in the time to which my text re- a fers? Peter and James and John were on c jthat mountain top with Jesus when, sud- p denly, Christ's face-took on the elow of the n aoondiiy sun. and Moses and Elijah, who ? tad been dead for centuries, came out from j. the heavenly world and talked with our ^ Baviour. What an overwhelming: three? ? Moses, representing the law; Elijah, repre- s eenting the prophets, tai l Christ, represent- j Ing all worlds. il . Impetuous Peter was so wrought upon by j, the presence of this wondrous three, that, ?without waiting for time to consider how 0 preposterous was the proposition, he cried oot "Let us make three tabernacles?one t for Thee, one for Moses and one for Elijah." f fWhwe would they get the material for g Jbuilding one tabernacle, much less material j, enough to build two tabernacle?, and still i n less, how would they get the material for Q building three? Whore would they get the Cl hammers? Where the gold? Where the ^ silver? Where the curtains? Where the jr( costly adornments? Hermon is a barren v peak, and to build one tabernacle in such a j place wouid have been an undertaking be- jj yond human achievement, and Peter was propounding the impossible when he cried ^ out in enthusiasm, "Let us build three taber- n nacles." tj And yet that is what this congregation n has been called to do ana nas aone. las c first Brooklyn Tabernacle was dedicated in ? 1870, and destroyed by fire in 1873. The ^ second Brooklyn Tabernacle was dedicated ^ in 1S74, and destroyed by fire in 1889. The a third Brooklyn Tabernacle was dedicated in a 'April. 1891, and in that we are worshiping c] to-day. W hat sounded absurd for Peter to propose, when he said on Mount Hermon, in (the words of iny text, "Let U3 build three tabernacles," we have not only done, but in the mysterious province oi God were compelled to do. ? I announce to you this day that we ar? at las-'-, a church, in smooth waters. Arrangements have been made by which our * financial difficulties are now fully and satis- J factorilv adjusted. Our income will exceed our outgo, and Brooklyn Tabernacle will be ? yours and belong to you and your children after you, and anything you see contrary to T this you may puc down to the confirmed ? habit which some people have got of misrepresenting this church, and they cannot) ***' - r L? 1.1 r a nop. yy nen 1 came kj orguuiu * u?us w ? mail church and a big indebtednesa We f' have now this, the largest Protestant church g In America, and financially as a congregatiou wo are worth, over and beyond all indebtedness, considerably more than f150,000. I have preached here'twenty-three years, M and I expect, if my life and bealth are cou- ? tinued, to preach here twenty-three years tl longer, although we will all do well to re- q member that our breath is in our nostrils, tl and anj hour we may be callod to give an ? account of our stewardship. All we ask for S .the future is that you do your best, contrib- tl Jnting all you can to the support of our insti- ? tutioas. Our best days are yet to.come; our bI greatest revivals of religion, and bur might- st lest outpourings of the Boly Ghost We o have got through the Red sea and stand to- tl J ? ?>>? KonV- cUnninff thn cvmhftla P uajr UU bUO VKUM MMia. ? of victory. ? Yes, twenty-three years have passed since ti I came to live in Brooklyn, and they have C been to me eventlul years. It was a pros- C trated church to which I came, a church so C fiat down it could drop no farther. Through r controversies which it would be useless to rehearse it was well nigh extinct, and for a c long while it had been without a pastor. c But nineteen members could be mustered to n sign a call for my coming. a As a committee was putting that call be- c t fore me in an upper room in my house in t { Philadephia, there.were two other commie- * I tees on similar errands from other churches 2 < in other rooms, whom my wife was enter- t \ taining and keeping apart from unhappy t collision. The auditorium of the Brooklyn 1 church to which I came defied all the laws o of acoustics; the church had a steeple that u "was the derision of the town, and a high box pulpit which shut in the preacher as * though he were dangerous to be let loose, h or it acted as a barricade that was uanoces- d sary to keep back the people, for they were b so tew that a minister of ordinary muscle q could have kept back all who were there. a My first Sabbath in Brooklyn was a sad s; day, for I did not realize how far the church c was down until theo, and on the evening of s that day my own brother, through whose s t pocket l entered tha ministry, died, and the f tidings or nis decease reacaea mraiv uuwi u in the evening, and I was to preach at half v past seven. But from that day the blessing t | of God was on us. and in three months we c , began the enlargement of the building. Be- o fore the close of that year we resolved to construct the first Tabernacle. It was to be d a temporary structure, and therefore we t called it a Tabernacle instead of a Temple, b >TF hat should bo th9 style of architecture c .was the immediate question. I had always a thought that the ampitheatrical shape would v be appropriate for a church. o Two distinguished architects were em- t' ployed, and after much hovering over de- n signs they announced to us that such a w building was impossible for religious pur- p poses, as it would not be churchly, and tl would subject themselves an 1 us to ruinous n criticism; in other words, they were not si ready for a revolution in church archi- ti tecture. Utterly disheartened as to my n favorite style of architecture, I said to the trustees, ".Build anything you please, and I * h must be satisfied." But one morning a p V young architect appeared at my bouse and c \ asked if we had yet selected a plan for our a \ church. I said, "No, and what we want we p \ cannot get." "What kind of building do you c I want?' he asked. And taking out a lead a Vjpencil and a letter envelope from my-pocket, d an less tnan u minute oy a iew curveu lines v 12 indicated in the rough what we wanted. c I^But," I said, "old architects tell us it can't ii be dona, and there is no use in you trying." t Ha said, "I can do it. How long can I have a to make out the plausT" I said, "This even- i ins at & o'clock everything is to be decided." s .. At 8 o'clock of that evening the architect t presented hi3 plane, end the bids of builder ( and mason were presented, and in Ave rain- t utes alter the plans were presented they ] were unanimously adopted. So that X 1 would not be in the way of the trustees dur- 1 fng the work I went to Europe, and when I < Sit back the church was well nigh done, ut there came in a staggering hindrance. , ;We expected to pay for the new church by ; the sale of tbe old building. The old one had been sold, but jusc at the time we must 1 have the money the purchasers backed out and we had two churches and no money. ? , By the help of God and the indomitable g and unparallelei energy of our trustees I (here and there one of them present to-day, 1 but the most in a better worla), we got the i jbuilding ready for consecration, and on t September 25, 1870, morning and evening I dedicatory services were held, and in the i 'oftnmfvjn +ho#>hi?dr*m witK snrMfc and millfci- I tudinous voices, consecrated the place to 1 ;God. Twenty thousand dollars were raised a that day to pay a floating debt. In the morning old Dr. Stephen H. Tyng, the glory of the Episcopal Church and the Cbrysostom of the American pulpit, preached sermon which lingered in its gracious effects as long as the building stood. He ; read enough out of the Episcopal prayer book to keep himself from being reprimanded by his bishop for preaching at a nonEpiscopal service; and we, although belonging to another denomination, responded with heartiness, as though we were used to the liturgy. "Good Lord, deliver us!" During the short time we occupied that building we had a constant downpour of religious e wakening. Hosannah! Ten million years in heaven will have no power to dim my memory of the glorious times we had in the first Tabernacle, which, because ? of its invasion of ths usual style of church architecture, was called by some "Talma^e's Hippodrome,' by others, "Church of the Holy Circus," and by other mirthful nomen"intnfo 'Rut it was a hiiildmor nerfect for acoustics, and stood long enough to hava its J imitation in all the large cities of America ' and to completely revolutionize church arch- I tecture. People saw ttiat it was th"? common pen* way of seating an audience. 1 Instead of putting them iu an angular I church, where ezch one chiefly saw the back 1 part of somebody else's head, the audience irere arranged in semicircle, so that thay ?uld see one another's factw, and the auditorium was a great family circle seated iround a fireplace, which wa9 the pulpit. It an iron structure, and we suDDOsed fire jroof, but the insurance companies looked it it, and after we had gone too far to stop n its construction they declined to insure it uccept for a mere nothine. declaring that, >eing of iron, if the inflammable material >etween the sheets of iron tooic Are no engine lose could play upon it. And they were ight. During those days we educated and ent out from a lay college under our charge ome twelve hundred young men and vomen, many of them becoming evangelists ind many of them becoming regularly orlained preachers, and I meet them in all arts of the land toiling mightily for Gol. One Sunday morning in December, 1872, he thermometer nearly down to zero, I was in my way to church. There was an ezcitenent in the street and much smoke in the >ir. Fire engines dashed past. Bat my I nin i was on the sermon I was about to ireach, until some one rushed up and told ne that our church was going up in the same ind of a chariot that Elijah took from the anks of the Jordan, That Sunday mornng tragedy, with its wringing of hands and rozen tears on the cheeks of many thouands standing in the street, and the crash hat shook the earth, is as vivid as though t were yesterday. But it was not a perfect 3SS. All are anxious to do something, and as n such occasions sensible people are apt to o unusual things, one of the members, at he risk of his life, rushed in among the alien walls, mounte 1 the pulpit and took a lass of water from the table ana nrouznt it 1 safety to the street. 80 you see it was ot a total loss. Within an hour from lany churches came kind invitations to ocupy their buildings, and hanging against a imppost near the destroyed building, beDre 12 o'clock that morning, was a board rith the inscription, "The congregation of Irooklyn Tabernacle will worship to-night 1 Plymouth Church." Mr. Beecher made the opening prayer. ?hich was full of commiseration for me and ly homeless flock, and I preached that night tie sermon that 1 intended to preach that lorning in my own church, the text consrning the precious alabaster box broken t the feet of Christ, and sure enough we ad one very precious broken that day. We ere, as a church, obliterated "But arise nd build," said many voices. Another rchitect took the amphitbeatrical plan of a hurch, which in the first instance was neo jsarily somewhat rude, and developed It ito an elaborate plan that was immediately dopted. But how to raise the money for such an zpensive undertaking was the question? rpensive not because of any senseless dornment proposed, but expensive because f the immense size of the building needed } hold our congregation. It was at that ime when for years our entire country was affering, not from a financial panic, but rom that long-continued financial depression rhich all business men remember, as the loud hung heavy year after year and comlercial establishments without number went own. Through what struggles we passed tie eternal God and some brave souls to-day am ember. Many a tima would I have gladr accepted calls to some other field. u& I could not leave the Qocic in tne wuaere$p. At last, after, in the interregnum, having 'crihiped in our beautiful Academy of tusic, on the morning of February 22, 1S74, ae anniversary of the Washington who conuered impossibilities and on the Sabbath sat always celebrates the resurrection, Dr. lyron Sunderland, Chaplain of the United tates Seaate, thrilled as through and irough with a dedicatory sermon from la^gai ii., 9. "The glory of this house sail be greater than that of the former, xith the Lord of Hosts." The corner stone f that building had bean laid by the illusrious and now enthroned Dr. Irenssus 'rime. On the platform on dedication day it, among others, Dr. Dowling, of the fiapist Church, Dr. Crook, of the Methodxst Jhurch, Mr. B^eecher, of the Congregational Thurch, and Dr. French, of the Presbyterian Ihurch. Hosannahl Another 935,000 was aised on that day. The following Sunday 328 souls were reeived into our communion, mostly on onfession of faith. At two other commulions over 500 souls joined at each one. At nother ingathering 828 souls entered this ommunion. and so many of those gathered hrongs have already entered heaven that re expect to feel at home when we get there. Ivlmyl Won't we be glad to see theru? he men *nd women who stood by us in days hat were dars and days that were jubilant! losannah! The work done in that church n Schermerhorn street can never be indone. What) self sacrifices on the part of many, rho cave almost till the blooa came! What lallelujabsI What victories! What wedingmarchesplayed with full organ! What laptismsl What sacramental What obseuiea! One of them on a snowy Sabbath fternoon, when all Brooklyn seemed to ympathize, and my eldest son, bearing my wn name, lay beneath the pulpit in the last leep, and Florence Rice Knox sing, and a core of ministers on and around thd platorm tried to interpret how it was besc that ne who had just come to manhood, and nth brightest worldly prospects, should be aken and we left with a heart that will not ease to ache until we meet where tears .ever fall. That second Tabernacle! What a stupendous reminiscence 1 But, if the Peter of my ext had known what an undertaking it is to mild two tabernacles he would not have iroposed two, to say nothing of three. As n anniversary sermon must needs be sornerhat autobiographical, let me say I have tot been idle. Daring the at&niling of those iro Tabernacles fifty-two books, under as lany titles, made up from my writings, -ere publisoed. During that time also I was ernutted to discuss all the great questions of le day in all the great cities of this conti* ent, and in many of them many times, bodes preaching and lecturing ninety-six irnea in England, Scotland and Ireland in inety-four days. Daring all that time, as well as since, I ras engaged in editing a religious newsaper, believing that such a periodical was apable of great usefulness, and I have been a?:i I constant coniriuutor uu u??i9|?)iiiio buu eriodic&ls. Meanwhile all things had beome easy in the Brooklyn Tabernacle. On , Sabbath in October, 1889, I announced to ay congregation that I would iu a few reeks visit the Holy Land, and that the offlers of the church had consented to ray goog, and the wish of a life to me was about o De fulfilled. The next Babbath morning, ibouE 2 o'clock, or just atter midnight, a ember of my household awakened me by aying that there was a strange light in the iky. A thunderstorm had left t&e air full >f electricity, and from horizon to horizon everything seemed to blaze. But that did lot disturb me, until an observation taken :rom the cupola of my house declared that the second Tabernacle was putting on red ivings. I scouted the idea and turned over on th? pillow tor another sleep, but a number of szcited voices called sie to the roof, and I 1. j I?I- ?ka ni'/tk# went up ana mw vicat tjr uouuou iu vuo ui^u? the fiery catafalque of our second Tabernacle. When I saw that I said to my family.' I think that ends my work in Brooklyn. Jurely th9 Lord will not call a minister to raild three churches in one city. The buildup of one church generally ends the usefulles* of a pastor. How can any one preside it the building of three churches?" But >efore twenty-four hours had passed we vere compelled to cry out, with Peter of ny text, "Let us build three tabernacles." ?v e must have a home somewhere. The old ite had ceased to be the center of our congregation, and the center of the congregaion, as near as we could find it, is where w? low stand. Having selected the spot, should we build m it a barn or a tabernacle, beautiful and iommodioas? Our common sense, as well as >ur religion, commanded the latter. But vhat push, what industry, what sk>"JJ. what acriflce, what faith in God were necessary! impediments and hindrances without num>er were thrown in the way, and had it not >een for the perseverance of our church offi:ials, and the practical help of many people, ind the prayers of millions of gooi souls in ill parts* of the earth, and the blessing of Umighty God, the work would not have >een done. But it is done, and all good 1 4.1 j 4 s?1 JOUJJiO wuu UCUW1U bUU bu UO'DUI'H iWl 1U binu learts, if they do not utter it with their lips, 'How amiable are Thy tabernacles, 0 Lord ?f Hosts!" On the third Sabbath of last Vpril this church was dedicated. Dr. Hamlin, >f Washington, preaching an insoirinz sernon, Dr. Wendell Prime, of New York, iffering the dedicatory prayer, and some ifteen clergymen during the day taking >art in the services. Hosannah! How suggestive to many of us are the vords spelled out in flowers above the pul>it?1-1869" and "1802" ?for those dates >ound what raptures, what griefu, what * m struggles, what triumphs. r mention It as a | matter of gratitude to God that in these twenty-three years I have missed but one Sabbath through physical indisposition, and but three in the thirty-sir years of my ministry. And now, having reached this twenty-third, milestone. I start anew. I have in my memorandum books analyses of more sermons than I have ever yet preached, and I tiave preached, as near as I can tell, about 3380 During these past years I have learned two or three things. Among others I have learned that "all things work together for good." My positive mode of preaching has sometimes seemed to stir the hostilities of all earth and hell. Feeling called upon fifteen years ago to explore underground New York city life, that I might report the evils to be combated, I took with mo two elders of my church and a JNew r ork police commissioner and a policeman, and 1 explored and reported the horrors that needed removal and the allurements that endangered our young men. There came upon me an outburst of assumed indignation that frightened almost everybody but myself. That exploration put into my church thirty or forty newspaper correspondents from north, south, I east and west; whioh opened for me new | avenues In which to preach the Gospel that otherwise would never have been opened. Years passed on and I preached a series of sermons on Amusements, and a false report o? what I did say?and one of the sermons said to have been preached by me was not mine In a single word?roused a violence that threatened me with poison and dirk and pistol and other forms of extinguish* ment, until the chief of Brooklyn police, i without any suggestion from me, took possession of the church with twenty-four po llcemen to see that no harm was done. That /woltanusnt i-inonoH mnntT riruira whlnh T an- I tared for preaching the Gospel. After awhile cam* an ecclesiastical trial. In which I was arraigned by people who did not like the way I did things, and although I was acquitted of all the charges, the contest shook the American church. That battle made me more friends than anything that ever happened and gave me Chistendom and more than Christendom for my weekly audinnce. On the demolition of each church we got a better and a larger church, and not a disaster, not a caricature, not a persecution, not an assault, during all these twenty* three years, but turned out for our advantage, and ought I not to believe that "all things work together for good?' Hosannah 1 Another lesson I have learned during these twenty-three years is that it is not necessary to preach error or pick flaws in the old Bible in order to get an audience; the old Book without any fixing up is good enough for me, and the higher criticism, as it la called, means lower religion. Higher criticism is another form or infidelity, and its disciples will believe less and less, until many of them will land in Nowhere and become the worshipers of an eternal 11 What is it." The most of these higher critics seem to be seeking notoriety by pitching into the Bible. It is such a brave thing to strike your grandmother. The old Gospel put in modern phrase, and without any of the conventionalities, and adapted to all the wants and woes of humanity, I have found the mightiest magnet, and we have never lacked an audience. Next to the blessing of my own family I necnnnt the blessinc that I have always had a great multitude"o? people to preaoh to. That old Gospel 1 nave preachea to you these twenty-three years of rav Brooklyn pastorate, and that old Gospel I will preach till I die, and charge my son, who is on the way to the ministry, to preach it after me, for I remember Paul's tnunderbolt, "if any man preach any other Gospel, let him be accursed." And now. as I stand here on my twenty-third anniversary, I see two audiences. The one is made up of all those who have worshiped with us in the past, but have been translated to higher realms. What groups of children?too fair and too sweet and too lovely for earth, and the Lord took them, but they seem present to-day. The croup has gone out of the swollen throat and the pallor irom the choek, and they have on them the health and radiance of heaven. Hall, groupsof glbrified children! How glad 1 am to have* you come back to us to-oavl And here sit those aged ones, who departed Eh 13 lire leanns, au awtui vacancy in noma and churoh. Where are your staffs and where are your gray locks, and where you stooping shoulders, ye blessed old folks? "Oh ?' they say, "we are all young again, and the bath in the river from under the throne has made us agile and bounding. In the place from whlcn^we come they use no staffs, but scepters!" nau, racaarsana motners ii\ Israel; bow glad we are to have you coma back to greet us. But the other audience I see in imagination is made up of all those to whom we nave bad opportunity as a church, directly or indirectly, oC presenting the Gospel. Yea, all my parishes seem to come back to-day. The people of my first charge in Belleville, New J srsey. The people of my second charge in Syracuse, New York. The people of my third charge in Philadelphia. And the people of all these three Brooklyn Tabernacles. Look at them, and all those [ whom, through the printing press, we have invited to God and heaven, now seeming to sit in galleries above galleries, fifty gallleries, a hundred galleries, a thousand galleries high. I greet them all In your name and in Christ's name, all whom I have confronted from my first sermon in my first village charge, where my lips trembled and my knees knocked togethef from affright, speaking from the text, Jeremiah i., 6, "Ah, Lord God, behold I cannot speak, for I am a child! "until the sermon I preach to-day from Luke ix., S3, "Let us make three tabernacles," those of the past and the present, all gather in imagination, if not in reality, all of us grateful to God for past mercies, all of US sorry Tor miaimproved opportunities, au hopeful for eternal raptures, and while the visible and the invisible audiences of the present and the past commingle, I give out to be sung by those who are here to-day, and to be sung by those who shall read of this scene of reminiscence and congratulation, that hymn which has been rolling on since Isaac Watts started it one hundred and fifty yfears ago: Oar God. oar help in &ges past. Oar hope for years to come; Our shelter from the stormy olist. And oar eternal houe. WORDS OF WISDOV? Avarice ia a greedy egotism. Morning is the rosebud of day. Love is an unforgetable emotion. wnats money wituoui. nappmesnr Marriage is materialized moonshine. Youth brightens as it takes its flight. Stubborn audacity is the last refuge ol guilt. Women are weapons of offense and defense. No man ever loved a woman while he was busy. The hardest headed man was born witb a soft spot. No mun can be a hero when his liver is out of order. Manners are the final and perfect flowei of noble character. It is not always the man who looks like a fooi who is one. I There is no time in life when books do not influence a man. It is gentle manners which prove so irresistible in women. It is hard to find fault with people who think just jib we do. To endeavor to forget anyone is the certain way to think of nothing else. Little minds are too much wounded by little things; great minds sec all, and arc not even hurt. Blessed be mirthfulness! It is one of the renovators of the world. Men wili let you abuse them if only you will make them laugh. The moment a man finds a contradiction in himself between his amusements and his humanity, it is a signal that he should give thein up. Every man who can be a flrst-rato ;something?as every man can be who is ;a man at all?has no right to be a fifth'rate something; for a fifth-rate something lis no better than a first-rate nothing. ??;v .7-" SABBATH SCHOOL INTERNATIONAL LKSSOitf FOP APRIL 24. Lesson Text: "The Lord Is My Shepherd,''Psalms xxiii., 1-6?Gold* eiiText: Psalms xxiil., 1?Commentary. 1. "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want" Inasmuch as this psalm come3 between one that describes thedea?h and resurrection of the Christ, and one that speaks of the fullness of the earth belonging to the King of Glory, it looks as if this, too, was a kingdom psalm. It is one of the most helpful and practical of all the psalms for the daily life, but we are constantly enjoying kingdom truth by anticipation, "it is true for us now in a measure, but the fullness of fulfillment is yet future. David knew how he cared for his sheep, how he fed them, protected them, led them and all but laid down his life for them. He firmly believed that in much greater degree Jehovah as a shepherd cared for him. He is the good, great, chief Shepherd, who actuary laid down His life for the sheep, rose again from the dead, knows all His sheep by name, seeks them when they go astray, will never lose one of them, and when He appears in glory will reward all the under shepherds who have beefl faithful Lo Him (John x., II, 14, 27-30; Heb. xiii., 20; Luke xv., 6: Pec. v., 4). No good thing will He withhold from any who are truly Hi?, tut will supply all their needs according to His great riches (Ps. lxxxiv., 11; xxxiv., 10; Phil, iv., 19). To believe heartily and live daily upon this one verse would bring joy to many a sad heart. A statement like this toac aoes not ormg us joy ana peace 13 simply not believed. As to what the chief Shepherd will do for Israel when He comas in His glory read Isa. xl., 9-11; Ezek. xxriv., 11-23. 2. "He maketb me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me besido the still waters." Or, as in the margin, pastures of tender grass and waters of quietness. VVhen sheep lie down in good pasture they must be abundantly satisfied, and with quiet water close at hand what more can they want? What glories of millennial blessedness are here foreshadowed for Israel! and they shall dwell safely and none shall make them afraid (Ezek. xxxiv., 13-15, 28). ? No more hunger nor thirst, and the Lamb in the midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lead them into living fountains of waters (Rev. vii., 16, 17). But what about the believer now? Jesus Christ Himself is not only our Redeemer, but He is also our green pasture and fountain of living waters. "He that eateth Me shall live by Me." ' and "He that eateth Mv flesh and drinketh My blood dwelleth in Me, an d I in him," and "the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life" (John vi., 56, 57; iv.. 14). 3. "He restoreth my soul; He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake." He is the great restorer, and when He comes again He will restore all things of which the prophets have spoken. Then a King shall reiga in righteousness and princes shall rule in judgment. Righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins and faithfulness the girdle of His reins (Acts iii., 21; Isa. xxxii., 1; xiM 5). As to present experience, as He is the only Saviour, so He is the only restorer, and all our dealings must be person ally wittt mmseir. oaivaaon, once ours, cannot be lost. He gives ^imself to us and He is ours forever; and where He truly begins a work He will carry it on (John x., 27, 28; Phil. L, 6). But a very little thing may interrupt our communion and cause us to walk in darkness. The least turning from righteousness will cause a cloud between our souls and Him; but as all clouds are earth born, let us live in the heavenlies where we belong (Epb. ii., 5, 6,) and wa may have uninterrupted communion. Or if a cloud arose through our failure to abide in Him, one truly penitent lock to Him and He will restore our soul3 to conscious fellowship with Himself and not a cloud between. 4. "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death 1 will fear no evil, for Thou art with me. Thy rod and Thy statt they comfort me." Possibly there is a reference to the awful valley of death that shall be in connection with tho judgment upon the enemies of Israel when it shall require seven months to bury the dead. (Cojjpare Ezek. xxxix., 12; Joel iii., 2.* In those days Israel, the rod of God, shall be His comfort (Ps. ixxiv., 2- ex., 2; Jer. x., 10; Mic. vii., 14) As to the pi e<ent experience, we can rejoice that the sting oi deatD, which 13 S1Q u our. IT , u-7-vM;, uob uecu taiou away. Sin stung Jesus to death, and left its sting in Him, so that death cannot now harm any child of God. We may never die, but, like Enoch and Elijah, be translated body and soul (I Cor. xv., 51, 52). But if Jesus snould yet tarry awoile and we pass out trom the body for a little season, the promise will be as good in death as it has neen in life. "I, the Lord thy God, will hold thy right hand, saying, Fear not I will help thee1' (Isa. xiiJ, 13) To die is gain, to depart and be with Christ is far better. Absent from the body is present with the Lord (II Cor. v., 8; Phil, i., 21, 23). Not for one moment will the Saviour leave us, so that abiding in Him there may not even be a shadow. Many have found it so, and found it sunshine all the way. 5. "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over." Following for a moment the kingdom line of truth we turn to Isa. xxv., 6-9, and at the very time of the overthrow of Israel's enemies we read of a great feast for the people of Go.l. Zjch. xiv., ani Rev. xix., maybe read in the light of this with great profit. The anointing speaks of priest* and things, and suggests I?a. lxi.. 6 for Israel and Rev. v., 9, 10 for the church, in connection with Ps. ex., 4 for Him who i3 both King of Israel and head of the church. As to the daily li fe of the Christian, enemies are everywhere, seen and unseen, but the soul that has learned to feed on Christ has a continual feast, even in the prosence of his enemies, as He delighted in the Father's will and made that His meat and drink (John iv., 34; vi., 3S). Let us do likewise and our cups shall run over 6. "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will a wen in ine nouse ot uuo uoru iwravoi . Israel shall dwell safely in her own land; they shall obtain joy aud gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away (Isa. xxxv., 10). The church shall dwell in the New Jerusalem, the glory of God will lighten it and the Lamb be the Jight thereof (Rev. xxi., 23). The goodness and mercy of the Lord shall fill the whole earth; we shall see it and eujoy it in all the vigor and freshness of eternal youth if only we are redeemed by the pi toious blood of the Lamb. As to the present life "He who spared not His own Son bat delivered Him up for us all, how shall Ho with Him also freely give us all thuti?'J' And inasmuch as all things are for oar sakes, and working together for our good, and He will never leave us nor forsake us, how can it be anything but goodness and mercy all the way along to all who are the house of Christ??Lesson Helper. Greece has within her borders little more than 2,000,000 people, but there are some 10,000,000 of Greeks in the world, chiefly in the Turkish Empire or in countries bordering on it. Epiras and Thessaly and the Island of Crete are decidedly Greek in i n n mm (to nnrt svmnafchv. while iuuftuuftv r- * ? conflicting claims are made by Greeks and Bulgarians for preponderance in Macedonia and even in parts of Roumania. Greece's great past makes her people ambitious of a great future and they never cease to dream of once more having Constantinople as the national capital. That will probably ever remain a dream, for Russia and Austria bar the way. But the present crisis at Athens probably involves some secret move regarding the carving up of Turkey which will be revealed beforo .loner. circ did ?tan u?.v Jones?You didn't get out to the meeting last night? Brown?No. Circumstances over which I had no control prevented me "That so? What were they?" "Twins."?Exchange. V - -f " . * / RELIGI0US_READIN6. HOLD THE TRAIN. ((AfiiJowi tpa mlac fhp trfiin ftf R ^ "But can't you make it. sir?" she gasped. "Impossible! it leaves at three, And we are due at quarter past." "Is there no way? Oh, tell me, then, Are you a christian?" "I am not." "And are there none among tbe men Who run the train?" ''No?I forgot? I think tbe fellow over here, Oiling the engine claims to be." She threw upon the engineer A fair face, white with agony. "Are you a Christian?" ''Yes, I am." "Then, 0 sir, won't you pray with me, All the long way that God will stay, That God will hold tbe train at B ?" " 'Twill do no good; its due at three, And"?"Yes but God can bold the train, My dying child is calling me, And I must see her face again; Oh, won't you pray?" "I will"?a nod Empbauc. as he takes his place. When Christians graup the nnnd of God They grasp the power that rules the race Out from the station swept the train On time?swept on past wood and lea; The engineer with cheeks aflame, Prayed, "O Lord, hold the train at B !' Then flung the throttles wide, and like mAliotao Af fhn nldtn OUUic f&iaiib uiwnoiti Vi With panting siden ana mighfy strides, Past hill and valley ? wept the train. A half?a minute?two?are gained. , Along those burnished lines of steel wis glances leap, each nerve is strained, And still he prays with fervent zeal. Heart, hand and brain, with one accord, Work while his prayer ascends to heaven.' "Just bold the train eight minutes, Lord, And I'll make up the other seven." With rush and roar through meadow lands, Past cottage home and green hillsides, The panting thing obeys bis hands, And speeds along with giant strides. * # + # They say an accident delayed The train a little while; but He Who listened while His children prayed, Iu answer, held the train at B ?TNcw Orleans Picayune. HELPING THE MINISTER. Wallace is seven years old. Ever since he nrnn fhrp*. he has been a Sunday school boy. He loves Sunday school; but, till lately, has not liked going to church. It was so much pleasanter he thought to stay at home, as he was sometimes allowed, with mamma, who is an invalid, and listen to her stories from the Bible and 4,Our Little Ones." One day last spring a great change came into Wallace's life; his papa, a machinist, was suddeuly killed. When thenext Sabbath came, Wallace asked ''Mayn't I come home after Sunday school and stay with you?" But his lonely, heart-broken mamma had the courage to any, "No, my ton. Remember papa will not be there todav; and when I the minister looks from bis pulpit, and sees the empty seat, it may trouble him. I think he will like to see you in papa's place." So that morning, at the close of Sunday school, the little man went at once up-stairs and took the seat his father bad occupied from week to week, with rare exceptions, for years back. After, service he harried home to tell his mother: "I guess I helped bim a litte, 'cause he came and spoKe to me." Since then, every Sunday, Wallace feela that he has a place to fill in the church. When, sometimes', the ushers brings stran? A - 1 ?1 ?? U/vt? Kw tV?o Hnnp gers to mac pew, me muc uv; vj m. .w., standing up makes bis slender figure very small that tbey may pass in; but never gives up "papa's beat" to auy one. Not only tbe pastor, nut many of us, while our hearts ache with pity, feel confident that such a boy, with such'a mother, wi.l some day take bis good father's place in the church and tbe world.?[National Baptist. SOUR APPLES. To show how tbe joy of religion is proportioned to the dfgree of it, I sometimes teli a story. It is a parable most instructive, and fully to tbe point, and therefore I cannot help repeating it. It is a story of a man in America who was fond of growing the choicest apples. He asked his neighbor to come up to bis orchard and taste his apples which be greatly praised as the best in the world. He asked bim again and again, and still the friend did not come. He therefore hinted that there must be a reason for bis refusal. Well," said tbe other, "the truth is, that one day as I was driving by your orchard, I saw an apple or two that had dropped into tbe road, and [ picked up one and tas'ed it. and it was out of sight the sourest thing in all creation. I am very much obliged to you, but I have had enough for one lifetime." 'Oh," said tbe owner, "do you know I went forty miles to buy those sour apples, and I planted them all along the hedge; for I thought they would be good for the boys, and keep tbem from picking and stealing, they are a fine sort for that particular purpose. But if you come and see me, I will Jead you inside the orchard, and you w-ill find a sweetness and a flavor which will fill your mouth with delight." "I see," said the other, "I see." Do you also see my drift? All around the outside of religion there are sour fruits of prohibitions, rebukes, repentances, and self denials, to keep tbe hypocrites out. Have you never seen how long *" " M t?olinrtnii ft}*! lb V pilll Hieir IHCtrs, ua 11 men >?.e.vu rot agree with them? and that is because tuey Uuve eaten the sour appies on the outskirts. But, oh! if you would come near to the faith and joy which are in Christ Jesus, if you would give all your heart to heavenly pursuits, you would find it quite another thing/ Then would your heart "rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory." OUR DEBT TO MISSIONS. Why should you fee! a special interest in foreign missions? Because of your special indebtedness to them. This is one of the many replies which rmy be given to that question. Perhaps it is a reply which many have never considered. You may thank God for the long line of Christian ancestry from which you have sprung. You may jro back to the very times of the Reformation, and count among the heroes of those days some whose blood is Htlil coursing in yuur But go further tban that. Imagine fifty of your ancestors in a continuous line, gathered in your own home. Let them stand 9ide by side around tbe walls of one of your rooms; first your grandfather, and so on to the most remote. Now what group Lave you before you? While the nearer part of the line embraces the Christian ancestors of whom you boast, at the farther end they are a line of savages, ignorant, degraded worshipers of Thor and Woden and the other gods of the Holland marches, tbe German forest", the Scandinavian mountains, or tbe British Isles. Never were there more absolute heathen beneath the sun. And what has transformed that line into the beauties and graces of Christianity which you enjoy? It was the arduous," perilous, self-denying labors of missionaries from the shores or tbe Mediteranean, traveling tbe entire breadth of Europe on foot, clambering over its mountains, toiline through its weary forests, sacrificing comfort and often life, that they might proclaim to those wretched savages the love of God in Jesus Christ. Never were there more devoted missionaries. Some of them have left their names on the scanty annals of the church, but the most of them left no record on earth, but a shilling one on highYou shall meet tbpm there, and mnv learn from their lips the debt of gratitude you owe the foreign mission work they wrought, whose influences have reached even down ' T'"1" """ "Ail funnv fhflt: 10 your snivutiuu. nun wu j?u->-rv debt lietter than by doing what you cun to bring other heathen to the same sweet hope in Christ which you enjoy? "Freely ye have received, freeiy give."?["Christian Iutelligencer. urifftnrt or raDles. The superstition of the yellow donkey of India, the story of the swi.ft ass of Eastern Asia, the ass of Dionysius and many other marvelous ass stories, ~re all survivals of that curious form of religious worship, the adoration of the ass' head. Kothtng sharpens the arrow of sarcasm bo keenly as the courtesy that polishes It; no reproach is like , that we clothe with a smile and pre- , ?ent with a bow. WILD DUCKS! POINTS ABOUT THESE BIRDS OP A IK AND WATER. Three Groups of Ducks?Facts For Duck Hunters?Fatal Curiosity ot Canvas-Backs?Nests of Ducks. UCK8 are cosmoirmvo^n. Few crea5flV* I31 t"re8 pervade ao ft' 'li/fl JmaD7 continents or ff' ml ft 1/1 t.hrivp in mich #>t. flL It !{ fh~Mf tremes of climate, w .Wj The mallard is the WhtoW" 8ame bird in EuWSSs^V trope, Asia and ^America. Few JM hifds, too, are better ? adapted to two elements. We might say "fly like a duck" as well as swim like a duck," for I doubt if any pigeon can pass a blue-winged teal down wind. Endurance? From Labrador to to Florida just for a change of air and back again within a fortnight if the case is pressing. We have three groups of ducks, according to the naturalists: 1. Hind toe simple; these are the river ducks, all vegetarians, and they never dive for food ?to these beloug the mallard, pentail, teal, etc.?sexes much unlike. 2. Hind toe lobed; these are the sea ducks? purine fish frncn. crustAr.panfl?diviner for them?but using also some grasses, celery, etc.?canvas backs, eiders, scoters, etc. 3. Bill narrow and notched to keep the fish from slipping the wrong way; these are the fish ducks, knowu as mergansers?beautifully plumaged ducks not often shot with us. Of course this paper cannot go into description of species. All ducks have strainer-like teeth, a soft bill, with a horny nail at the tip. Divers, with which they WOOD DUCK. are sometimes confused, have no teeth, and a horny beak throughout. Geese have the scales on the shins hexagonal (reticulate), while those on the ducks simply lap, like a shingled roof. Perhaps to the hunter the most interesting trait of the duck is the regularity of its migrations ana its persistent fondness,for certain feeding grounds. There are places were ducks feed and places where they do not, though ordinarily one cannot see why one is not so good as the other. But there are times when ducks are everywhere and anyone who shoots may have a fine day's sport with little preparation. Sometimes to a favorite roosting place on a large pond they come whistling in between sunset and dark. Then take a stand, a strong shooting gun of good weight and bore, the best powder and the largest shot your gun will pattern well, and reach out for any duck that you can see the color-markings on. Hold well ahead. It is fall and flight combined, remember, as he sweeps to the water's surface. Six to eight feet is not too far if the range is long. The key to success may lie largely in concealment. Never dress conspicuously. If you can, keep y$ur drab coat outside, and for extra warmth put on more woolen under* ii i-Mi-J wear. dkuik iow u aujr tuaou ui wounded float, for most ducks?especially teals and red beads, circle again over fallen friends, even after they nlay have gone miles away. On dreary days, with a northwest wind threatening cold or snow, ducks leave the prairies, fields and ponds for the sheltered creeks and 4'hug the lee shore in a storm." It may be well to remember that ducks are said always to alight against the wind, and that you are moie likely to kill if you Are just as they are about to drop than if you wait till they have settled. Of course it is well to have a retriever when shooting duck9, but there are times when it is too cold to use one much without great cruelty, especially if he cannot be allowed exercise. A waterspaniol is good, a Chesapeake Bay dog better, but if only occasional hunter your bird dog should be trained to answer. The best I ever saw was a pointer though that was certainly exceptional. You are apt to give your hunter rheumatism with much of this sport. Always reshoot a wounded duck till disabled, and do not chill or di?pnurft<Tfi vour doer bv a loner, useless ?0" 9/ O W chase, unless you are training a puppy. Wounded ducks often take to the grasi and hide deftly, when any dog that can trail will prove useful. It is well to learn to know by the style of flight whether ducks are alighting j near or going on by. If the flocks are high?all tending the same way, maintaining a constant attitude, shape, and steady wing beat, you had better stay at home that day, but if they swoop down and up, break their graceful flock<shjpe and change direction often, then it is not "vainly the fowler's eye might mark thy flight to do thee harm," aa Bryant has it, for they intend alighting some- | where Lear. One, too, should know j something of the habits of individual ' species to be able to hunt them successfully. This can only come of experience. While all ducks feed promiscuously huddled, the various kinds soon Hock together iu their flight. Mallards may be known by their size, pintails by the tail plumes, teal by smallness and rapid wing, wood duck by conspicuous markings and ?n.~_~ u_ morlo Tuhen friflht UllJUo t?jr iuc ov/uuu liiu^w ? c ? ened or the peculiar whistle of the wing or curve of flight. It requires clo3e observation tor all this. America is so rich in her varieties of this game that it takes an expert to classify many species of this game after they are in hand. Canvas-backs, have a curiosity liko ( that of the antelope of the plains, apd can be induced sometimes to swim near shoro by the display of some bright, moving object. Little dogs are sometimes trained to roll ludicrously in view I of flocks, while the hunter lies in waiting. This is a trick said to have been : learned lrom the fox, who practises it upon the ducklings. Mallards decoy readily; so also do leal and red-heads, i and all may be caused to come lower i down by use of some of the excellent : calls that can now be purchased. Some-j times flocks can be made to swerve fori ther in shore by placing some conspicuous object far out, which they avoid, and tha hunter in cornfield shooting,- which is very uncertain sport, can sometimes tie his horse for similar effect. A few decoys well arranged are, of course, a great help, but on water never set their heads a a ^ UUWU vr 1UU. a uuua uiiicio iivui w horse in this respect as well as others.. If you know favorite resorts build,before the birds come, blinds of brush of cornfoddcr, or sink a barrel flush with the rtr&tl .f:A HALLARD DOCK. *' . 1 surface. Fine aport can sometimes be obtained by having someone row you around among the little swampy estuarioa, especially in the spring after the mallard* have paired bat not yet departed. In shallow reed beds or among the wild celery you can often wade out in high , i rubbers and have some good shots. The wood duck, which, like the poor,f < is always with us, does not decoy well, and its call is simply inimitable. la sneaking along the banks of stream!" watch well the bends or pools near a large log. The "water-gap" is a favorite place. So far as my knowledge goei cms 13 me oniy UUSK. mas pervuta awaj irom its neat, so you can look well on over-hanging branches or logs projecting from the water. It nests in trees. The black duck also breeds in the South,anl the butterball also breeds in trees. The gad-well breeds anywhere, bat Alaska and the Northwest are favorite resorts o? most of the species. I have frightened the pintail from her nest on the praries of Dakota, whence in sad plumage, barely able to fly, she betook! herself to the lakelet that is always near.! Hybrids of this bird and the mallard I . ;:i have been frequently taken, and it ho* been proved that these breed among' ~f themselves. On these Northwestern' lakes the young are found abundantly in the middle summer, whore they thrive,i and grow adept at hiding among the reeds. The style of duck nests vary with that 'fh species, but with a fow exceptions they are all lined with feathers from tha birds'breast. The blackhead has only; a few rude sticks, while the nest of the eider is at the other extreme of comfort. At first this downy lining is exclusively ;J from the mother's plumes, but when thai rapacious down hunters exhaust that thai TEAL. drake "bares his breast" in tho interest >| of posterity. The eggs of all ducks are unusually from six to tea?much like the domestic birds iu coloring?with only; one brood a year iu the Ugh latitudes., Perhaps those nesting in the South may raise a second brood, but I hare seen no rccord of it.?St. Louis Republic. Trees Growing on a Court- House Tower a numhftr of fine vounsr maples are growing and flourishing on the courthouse tower at Greensburg, lad., 135 feet above ground. For years they bavo grown and multiplied, and recently began to put forth the first leaves of returning spring. There they hare stood unprotected from the scorching rays of the .'/A summer sun and the cold a&d freezing N<j blasts of winter. No human band has ever watered or cared for theiu. They have depended solely on the element* for their nourishment. .. f A short tirno ago, says the New York World, tb? court-house was repaired, and tho architect decided that the roots of the largest tree, which is about twelvo feet tall and three Inches ib diameter at .- * the butt, were loosening the heavy sand* stone cappings of the tower. He d/>- ? clarcd that in tho interests of public 3 safety and the future welfare of the tower the tree must be removed. At soon as the intentions of the architect became known the citizens protested against the proposed action, and in responsc to the popular wish the grovo ' was left untouched. THE TRESS OS THR TOWBK. How the trees cam? to ^row on tbi? elevated and unproductive spoc is problem that has never been satisfactorily solved. The tower, as stated, is 135 feet high, and is composed of solid brick and stone masonry. The top is covered with heavy sandstone bedded i? cement. The prevailing theorv is that seeds of the maple were' cirried either by birds or the wind and deposited in the crevices of the masonry. Hera they sprouted and, watered by the de* and warmed by the sun, gre>vand flour-i ished like the proverbial peach. j