University of South Carolina Libraries
r REV. DR. TALMAGE. THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUNDAY SERMON. Subject. ''The Ingathering Season." Text: "As a shock ot corn cometh tn ii his season."?Job v., 20. ( This is the time of the year for husking corn. If you have recentlv been in tht fields of Pennsylvania, or New Jersey, or New York, or New England, or in any of the country district#, you know that the corn is all cut. The sharp knife struck through the stalks and left them all along the fields until a man catn9 with a bundle of straw and twisted a few of these wisps of straw into a band, and then, gathering up as much of the corn as he could compass .with his arms, he bound it with this wisp of straw, and then stood it in the field in what is called ? shock. There are now at least two billion bushels of corn either standing in the shock or having been already huskad. The farmers gather one day on oue farm and then another day on another farm, and i'they put on their rough husking apron, and they take the husking peg, which is a piece of iron with a leathern loop fastened to the Iband, and with it unsheath the corn from :tbe husk and toss it into the golden heap . Then the wagons come along and take it to nur uut i u. About corn as an important careal or corn as a metaphor the Bible is constantly speaking. You know about the people in ! {amine coming to buy corn of Joseph, and tha foxes on fire running into the "standing com." and about the oxen treading out the corn, and about the seven thin ears of corn that in Pharoah'g dream devoured the saven good ears, and the "parched corn" handed ito beautiful Ruth by the harvesters of Bethlehem, and Abigail's fiva measures of ;"parched corn," with which she hoped to appease the enemies of her drunken hue band, and David's description or me vaiieys ('"covered over with corn," and "the handful of corn in the earth," and "the fall corn in the ear," and Christ's Sabbath morning walk through cornfield?, and the disciples 1 "plucking ears of corn," and so I am not surprised to find corn husking time referred to in my text, "As a shock of corn cometh in in his s jason." How vividly to all those of us who were born in the country comes the remembrance of husking time. We waited for it as for a gala day of the year. It was called a frolic. The trees having for the most part shed their foliage, the farmers waded through the fallen leaves and came through the keen morning air to the gleeful company. The frosts, which bad silvered everything during the night, began to melt off the top of the corn shocks. While the farmers were waiting for others tbey stood blowing their breath through their fingers nr thrashinc their arms around their bodv to keep up warmth ot circulation. Roarinz mirth greeted the late farmer as he crawled over the fence. Joke and repartee and rustic salutation abounded. All ready sow 1 . The men take hold of the shock of corn and burl it prostrate, while the moles and mice which have accreted themselves thare for warmth attempt escape. The withe of straw is unwound trom the corn shock, and the stalks heavy with the wealth of grain are rolled into two bundles, between which the busker sits down. The husking peg is thrust in until it strikes the corn, ana then the fingers rip off the sheathing of the ear, and tbere is a crack as the root of the corn is snapped off trom the busk, and the grain - disimprisoned is hurled up into the sunlight The air is so tonic, the work is so very exhilarating, the company is so blithe that some laugh, and some shout, and some sing, and some oanter, and some tease a neighbor for a romantic ride along the edge of the woods in an evantiae in a carriage teat noias out two, and some proplesy as to the number of bushels to the field, and others go into competition ax to which shall rifle the most corn shocks before sundown. After awhile the dinner horn sounds from the farmhouse and the table is surrounded Sa group of jolly and hungry men. From the pantries and the cellars and the perches of fowl on the place the richest dainties come, and there U carnival and neighborhood reunion, and a scene which Alls our memory, part with smiles, but more with tears, as we remember that the farm belong* now to other' owners, and other hands gather in the field, and many of those who mingled in that merry has king scene have themselves been reaped "like as a shock of corn cometh in in bis season." There is a difference of opinion as to whether tne orientals knew anything about the corn as it stands in our field*, but recent discoveries tiave found out tbat the aebrevr knew all aboac Indian maize, for there have been grains>oI corn picked up out of ancient crypts and exhumwi from hiding place* wbere they were put down many centuries ago, and toey have been planted in our time ana hare come up just such Indian maizs as we raise in New York and Ohio; so I am right when 1 say that my text may refer to a shoes of corn just as you and I bound it; just as you and 1 threw it; just ss you and 1 misted it. There may come soma practical and usetul and comtorting lessons to all our souls while we ttunk of coming in at last "like a shock of corn cometh in in his setuon." It is high time that the King of Terrors were thrown out of tbe Christian vocabulary. Avast tnultitu teof people talk of deain as though it were the disaster of disasters, insteaa of being to a good man the blessing of blessings. It Is moving out of a cold vestibule into a warm temple. It is mifrrafinop inrn arrnVM rtf rftrlnlflnr?A unrl nor. petuai fruitage. It is a change from biealr iMarch to roseate June, it is a change of ' manacles for garlands. It is the transmuting of the iron handcuffs of earthlf incarceration into the diamonded wristlets of a bridal party, or, to nse the suggestion of my text, it is only husking time. It is the tearing off of the rough sheath of the body that the bright and beautiful soul may go tree. Com tog in aJc? a shoes or oorn cometn in in his season." Christ broke ap a funeral procession at the gate of Nain by making a resurrection day for a young man and his mother. r\nd I would that I could break up jour sadness and halt the long funeral procession of the world's grief by some cheerful yiew of the lost transition. | We all know that husking time was a time of frost. Frost on the fencs; frost on the stubble; frost on the ground; frost on the 'bare branches of the trees; frost in the air; frost on the hands of the hmkers. You remember we used to hide between the corn stacks so as to keep off the wind, but stilJ you remember how shivering was the body and how painful was the cheek, and how benumbed were the hands. Bat after awhile the sun was high up, and ail the frost? went out of the air, and hilarities awakened tiie echoM, and joy from one corn shock went up, "Aha, ahaI" and was answered by joy from another corn shock, "Aba, aha!" So we all realize that the death of our friend is WltJ UippiUt UL UUUiJ KUO 4.1 CW ing, toe chilling, the frosting o: many of our hoped. It is far from being a south wind. i it comes out of the frigid north, ani when they go away from us we stand benumbed in body and benumbed in mind and benumbed in soul. We stand among our dead neighbors, our dead families, and we say, "Will we ever get over it?" Yes, we will get over it amid the shoutings of tieaveniy reunion, and we will look bac* to all these distresses of bereavement only as the temporary distresses of husking time. "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." "Lignt, and out for a moment," said the apostle as be Clapped his hands) "light, and but for a moment." Tne chill of the frosts followed by the gladness that cometh in "like a shoes of corn cometh in in his season." Of course the husking time made roujh work with the ear of coro. The husking peg had to be thrust in, and the hard thumo of the husker had to come down on the swathing of the ear, ana then tuere was a pull and there was a ruthless tearing, and then a complete snapping off before the corn was free, and if the husk could have spoken it would have said: "Why do you lacerate me? Why do you wrench me!'" Ah, my friends, toat is the way God has arranged that the ear and husk shall part, and that is the way He has arranged tnat the body and the soul shall separate. You can afford to have your physical distresses WliOU JVU ?uw?f VM?W ?W .W. ins the soul's liberation. Everv rheumatic pam is only a plunge of the husking pog. Every neuralgic twinge is only a twjst by the busker. There is gold in you that must come ont. Some way the shackle must be broken. Some way the ship must be launched for heavenly voyage. You must let the HoavenKtandmen husk off the mortality from nortality. There ought to be great tloa in this for all who hare c ironic 1 \ \ . ailments, since the Lord is gradually aud more mildly taking away from you that which hiniers your soul's liberation, doing gradually for you what for many of us in robust health perhaps He will do in one fell blow at the last. At the closa of every illness, at the close of every paroxysm you ougattosay: "Thank God, that is all pis; now: thank Goi. I will never nave to suffer that again; thank God, I am so much nearer the hour of liberation." You will never suffer the same pain twice. You may have a new pain in aa old placs, but never the same pain twici. The pain does its worjc and then it dies. Just so many plunges of the crowbar to free the quarry stone for the building. Just so many strokes of the chisel to complete the statute. Just so many pangs to separate the soul from the body. You who have chronic ailments and disorders are only paying in installments that which some of us will hare to pay in one payment when we pay the debt of nature. Thank God, therafore, ye wno have chronic disorders, that you have so much less suffering at the last. Thank God that you will have so much less to feel in tbe way of pain at the hands of the Heavenly Husbandman when "the shock of corn cometh in in his season." Perhaps now this may be an answer to a """Hnn which I Ajikfvl one Sabbath morn. ing, but did not answer, Why u it that so many reallygood people have so dreadfully to suffer* You often And a good man with enough pains and aches and distresses, you would think, to discipline a whole coiony, while you will find a man who is perfectly useless going about with easy digestion and steady nerves and shining health, and his i exit from the world is comparativel y painless. How do you explain that? Well. I noticed in the husking time that the husking peg w*s r':rust into the corn, and then there must be a stout pull before the swathing was taken off the ear and the full, round, healthy, luxuriant corn was developed, while, on the other hand, there wa3 corn 11 *" * 11? ??*r/vxfh hiiolnnty. toac uaruij BeBUUOU vrvra vu We threw that into a place all oy itself, and we called it nubbins. Some of it was mildewed, and some of it was mice nibbled, and some of it was great promise* and no fulfilment. All cobs and no corn. Nubbins! After the good corn had been driven up to tbe barn we catre around with the corn basket and we Dicked up these nubbins. They were worth saving, but not worth much. So all around us there are pwple who amount to compwaoivoijr wu>ug. They develop into no kind of usefulness. They are nibbled on one aide by the world, and nibbled on the other side br the devii, and mildewed all over. Great promise and no folElmeat. All cabs and no corn. Nubbins! They are worth saving. I suppose many of tbam will get to heaven, bat they iu*e not worthy to be mentioned in the sime day with those who went through great tribulation into the kingdom of our God. Who would not rather have the pains of this life, the misfortunes of this life?who would not rather bo torn and wounded and lacerated and wrenched and husked and at last go in amid the very bast grain of the granary?than to be pronounced not worth husking at all? Nubbins? in other words, I want to say to you people wao nave distress of body and distress in business and distress of all sorts, the Lord has not any grudge against you. It is not derogatory, it is complimentary. "Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth," and it is proof positive that there is something valuable in you, or the Lord would not have husked you. You remember also that in the time of huskin; it was a neighborhood reunion. By the great fireplace in the winter, the fires roaring around the glorified backlogs on an old fashioned hearth, of which the modern stoves and registers are only the degenerate descendants, the farmers used to gather and spend the evening, and there would be much sociality: but it was not anything like the joy of the huatisj iinir, for then all the rarmers cams, ana taej came in the vary best humor, and they came from beyond the meadow and they came from beyond the brook, and they came from rexions two and ii > 141TOO UXUCB MUUUU. i Good spirits reigae! supreme, aai there were great handshakings, and there was caroival, and there was the recital of the brightest experience in all their live?, and there was a neighborhood reunion the msmory of which makes all the nerves of my body tremble with emotion as the strings oi a harp when the Angers of the player nave swept the chords. lb? buslcing time was the time of neighborhood reunion, and so heaven will ba just that. There thev come up' ' Tney slept in the old village churchyard. There they come up! They reclined amid the fountains and the sculpture and the parterres of a city cemetery. There they come up I They went down when the ship Foundered off Cape Hattenas. They coma up from all sides?from potter's field and out oi toe soiia masonry 01 esbmiuauu ?% uuwj. They come up 1 They come up I Ail the hindrance to th9ir bsttsr nature husked off. Alt their spiritual despondencies husked off. All their hindrances to usefulness husked off. The grain, the golden grain, the God fashioned grain, visible and oonspiouous. Some of them on earth were such disagreeable Christians you coald hardly stand It in their presence. Now in heaven they are ao radiant you hardly know them. The fact is, all their imperfections have been husked off. They did not mean on earth to be disagreeable. They meant well enough, but they told you how sick you looked, and they told you now many hard things they had heard about you, and they told you how often they had to stand up for yoa in some battles until you wished almost that thev hid bean slain in some of the battles. Good, pious, con cantrated, won meaning auagreeaoies. now in heaven all their offensivenesi has been husked off. Each one is as happy as he can be. Every one he meets as happy as he can be. Heaven?one great neighborhood re-union. Ail kings anil qu?ens, all son tar.*, all millionaires, all banqueters. God the Father wit-.h ITit pKIMran >11 urmirH Him. No "goodby" in afTthe air. No grave cut ia all the hills. River of crystal rolling ov-ar bed of pearl, under arch of chrysoprase, into seas of glass mingled with fire. Stand at the gate of the granary and see ths grain come inc out of the frosts into the sunshine, out of the darkness into the light, out of the tearing, and the ripping, and the twisting, and the wrenching and lacerating, and tho busking time of earth into the wide open door of the King's granary "like as a shock of corn cometh in in bis season." Yes, heaven is a great sociable, with joy like the joy of tasking time. No one there feeling so big he declines to speak to some one that i* not so large. Archangel willing to listen to smallest cherub. No bolting of the door of caste at one heavenly mansion to keep out the citizen of a smaller mansion. No clique in one corner whispering about a clique in another corner. David talcing none of cue airs of a giant killer; Joshua making no one halt until he passes, because he made the bUQ and moon halt; Paul making no assumption over the most ordinary preacher of righteousness: NaamaD, captain of tho Syrian host, no more honored than the caprive maid who toll him where he could get a good doctor. Oh, my soul, what a coun try! The humblest mail a king, the poorest woman a queeo, the meanest house a palac?, the short esc lifetime eternity, And what is more strange about it all is we may all get there. 4,Not I,* mjs #ome one stanltng baclc uu* der the galleries. Yes, you. '-Not I," says nmn ono who has not hivm in phurrh in fifteen years before. Ye?, you. "Not V' savs some one who has baen for fifty years filling uo his life with all kinds of wicjcedness. Yes, you. There are monopolies on earch? monopolistic railroads and monopolistic telegraph companies and monopolistic grain dealers, but no monopolies in religion. All who want to be saved may be saved, "without money and without price." Salvation by the Lord Jesus Christ for all the people. Of course use common sense in this matter. You cannot expect to get to Charleston bv takinz the ship for Portland. and you cannot Ret to heaven by going in an opposite direction. Balieve in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Through that one gate of pardon and peace ail the race may go in. \3ut," says some one, "Jo you really think I would be at home in that supernal ; ] society if I should reach it?'1 I thinlc you i would. I know you would. I remember that in the husking time thera was a great art noli r\f #Aalinr? amamm _ ~.Z ^ CMU?U?J vn. ioonu5 oiu jug wuo ueiguuura There at one corn shock a farmer would be i at work who owned two hundred acres of ground. The man whom he was talking with at the next corn shock owned but thirty acres of ground, and perhaps all that covered by a mortgage. That evening, at the close of the husking day, one man drove home a roan span so frisky, so full of life they got their feet over the traces. The other man walked home. Great difference in education, great differ- I ence in worldly means, but I noticed at the ( husking time tbey all seemed to enjoy each other's society. They did not aak any man ' how much property he owned or what his education had bean. They all seemed to be happy together in those good times. And so it will be in heaven. Our Father will gather Hi- children around Him, and the neighbors will come in and the past will be rehearsed. And some one will tell of victory and we will all celebrate it. And some one will say: "Here is my old father that I put away with heartbreak! Just look at him! He is as young as an v of us!" And some one will say; "Here is my darling child that I buried in Green woo J, and all the after years of my life were shadowed with desolation. Just look at her I She doesn't seem as if she had b?en sick a minute !" Great sociality. Great neighborhoo i IrinHn??> fin in and dine. What thouzh John Milton sit down on one side and Jofin Howard sit down on the othar side? No embarrassment. What though Charlotte Elizabeth sit down od one side and Hannah More sit down on the other side? No embarrassment. A monarch yourself, why be embarrassed among monarchs? A songster joureelf, why be embarrtssel among glorified songsters? Go in ana dine. All the shocks of corn coming in in their season. Oh, yes, in their seasoD. Not one of you having died too soon, or having died too late, or having dial at haphazard. Planted at just the right time. Plowed at just the right time. Cut down at just the right time. Husked at just the right time. Garnered at just the right time. Coming in in your season. Oh, I wish that the two billion buaheld oC corn now in ine neias or on their way to the seaboard might be a typa of the grand yield of honor and glory and immortality whnn all the shocks come in. I do not know how you are constituted, but I am so constituted that there is nothing that so awakens reminiscancas in me as tha odora of a cornfield wheu I cross it at this time of year after the corn has been cut and it stands in shocks. And so I have thought it might be practically useful for us to-day to cross the cornfield, and I have thought perhaps there might be some reminiscence rousad in our soul that might be salutary and might be saving. In Sireden a prima donna, while her hous9 in the city was being repaired, took a home in the country for temporary residency and she brought out her great array of jewels to show a friend who wished to 898 them. One night after displaying thesa jewels and leaving them on the table, and all her triends had gone, and the servants had gone ?one summer night?she sat thinking and looking into a mirror just in front of her chair, when she saw in that mirror the face ? - ? - 1 or a roDDer looking in at mo nuiuun u?hind her and gazing at those jewels. She was in great fright, but sat still, and hardly knowing why she did so she began to sing an old nursery song, her feirs making the pathos of the song more telling. Suddenly she noticed, while looking at tho mirror, that the robber's face had gone from tne window, and it did not come back. A few days after the prima donna received a letter from the robber, saying. "I beard that the jewels were to be out that night, and I came to take them at whatever hazard, but when I heard you sing that nursery song with which my mother so often pang me to sleep I could not stand it, and I fled, and I have resolved upon a new and honest life." Ob, my friends, there are jewels in peril thn? which lav upon that table that night. They are the jewels of the im- ) mortal soal. W ould Grod that some song | rolling up out of the deserted nursery of your childhoo 3, or some song rolling up out of the earn flslds, ths song of the huskera twenty or forty years ago, might turn all our ieet out of the paths ot sin into the paths of righteousness. Would God that thoso memories wafted in on odor or song might start us this moment with swift feet toward that blessed placa where so miny of our loved ones have already precoie . us "as a hook of corn cometh in in his season." Siralloiriusr Abilities of S iakes. The jsws of the chicken snake are hung on hinges that can be taken apart or displaced for the time being &s tue case may be, and an entire Texas cottontail rabbit can be persuaded to enter head and all with little effort, and the 1???1--! -> 1? t_ j:_ ui 1:1 UUUjr umug uuauc ui au xuuwiuuuci-uac material and very stretcliable, the kicking little animal soon finds a lodgement in the stomach. His snakeship then carefully resets his jaws 83 that his mouth assumes its normal size and blissfully reposes for the succeeding six hours. The powerful gastric juice does the balance, and no Texan can testify that he ever heard of a chicken snake suffering from indigestion or chronic dyspepsia. The capture and digestion of chickens, songbirds, turkey eggs, and rats constitute simple pastime to the' snake, and ? ii * i t a ? does noc cau ior a six-aour utjr-uu iu feeding time. The rattler's jaws can also unhinge when he has to tuck away an exceptional morsel of food like a grown rabbit, and, like his harmless competitor in the consumption of food, his body can expand to four timee the regular size. An old-time cowboy Texas, who has spent a lifetime in roaming over the fertile praries and along the creek bottoms of Calhoun County, which are covered with brush and timber, informed the reporter that he had seen a monster rattler conctal a jack rabbit with two vigorous gulps. When killed the deadly reptile was found to have eighteen rattle*, and the jack rabbit was found to be kicking for dear life. The chicken snake has important advantages over the rattler. He can move ) about over the country faster and is more cunning, and in times when food is scarce he is always better fed and more satisfied with life. A Poor Reward for a Tr.iltor. Pleasant stories of Napoleon I. are exceedingly scarce, but here is one: The Freuch Colonel Varennes had written several confidential letters to a pretended friend, in which he censured Napoleon ibow some military action?. The pre* tended friend, expecting a good reward bv Dromotion or otherwise, sent the letter to the Emperor. Varennes was summoned before him. Napoleon showed him what he had received, and asked: 4'Are you not ashamed of these letters?" Yarennes did not Jose his self-command. "No, sire,'' he replied, "but I am ashamed of the address from which the letters last came." Napoleon's manner brightened. He said: "You are right. Your communications to your pretended friend were confidential, but he has played the traitor on you. But if in the future you want to subject my orders to criticism you ought to send your opinion to a better address; that is to say, to myself. and 1 hereby appoint you a member of my Council of War." The pretended friend was transferred to a .subordinate position far away on the frontier of the empire.?DetroitFree Press. There must "bo something peculiarly romantic about the southern part of Virginia. Hardly a week passes without an elopement. The couples go across the State line into North Carolina, and are married without much trouble. It is worthy of note, too, that parental forgiveness usually follows the marriages. Are the marriage laws of Virginia too expensive to follow? If not, what 13 the explanation? When a man finally does give up and cries, he look9 so much like a drunken man that Me gets no sym- | pathy.?Atchison Globe. temperance. NOT 7BOM MY BOTTLE. "Woe to him that giveth his neighbor drink, that puttest thy bottle to him and maKest mm arunic.?tiaD. 11.. i.*>. "We must be polite," and "sometimes we must treat?" Not from my bottle, oh, no! And some men "will have it" whenever they meet? Not from my bottle, ob, no! The saloon may go on, and my vote may be l06t, My influence, too, may not count with the host, And hquor be bought at whatever the costBut not from my bottle?fio, no! "But all men are free, sir, to drink if they choose?'' Not from my bottle, oh. no! "'Twill be sold on the sly and the licens3 we'll lose?" But not from my bottle, oh. no! The ladies may sip and the boys learn to drink. The men stagger down into hall's awful brink. The rum may flow on till all Christendom sink? Not from my bottle, no, no! "It will always be drunk, tho' a lew may oppose ?" Not from my bottle, oh, not "There is more sold thAn ever, as each season goes?" Not from my bottle, oh. no I ""Hs iianlom t.hftv aav. u vou're a fraction so slight." Perhaps. But the fraction at least will be right And God will reward him who all through the fight Criecfc "Not from my bottle, oh, no.n ?flattie Horner, in the Voice. APPALLING FIGURSS. The highest statistical authority in the United States, David A. Wells, declares that the yearly wa3te in the United States, through driult, is at least $500,000,OjO. Id forty years $10,000,000,000 have been thus wasted. This is equal to the whole savings of the people from 1783 to 1S57. THE DRINK SVTL IN FRAACE. It has been frequently stated that since the war drinking nabits have increased in France to an alarming extent. In 1869, according to recent statistics, there were 865,865 cabaret?, or dramshops, in France, being one for every eighty-seven inhabitants. Since then, by reason of the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine, France has lost 1,500,000 inhabitants, but the cabarets have increased to 410,000. In 1850 the consumption of alcohol was 585,000 hectolitres of alcohol, or 1.46 litre per head of the population. It has now risen to 1,660,184 hectolitres, or 4.40 litres per head. The alcohol formerly was distilled from wine: it is now made from fruit and grain, the effects of which on the human organism are deleterious in the extreme. The increased consumption of absinthe is Bpacially attended with the most deplorable results, and it is /rti? tUa T n/rialofupa +A in tar. U1UIU Miau btuio 4V? W *?*wv? (ere in order to check the growing evil. THEY DRAW FLIES. Close observers have noticed that (lies will gather upon a half-drunkeu, sleepy sot, while a dozen sober men in the same room are not molested by them The flies will buzz around their subject with great de? light, frequently alighting upou hw perspiring (ace. Off they go and return again and again, quaffing the alcoholic nectar issuing from his pores. After a while their flight becomes uncertain and eccsntric, and sometimes they come in collision. Recently a drunken man raised his hand and brushed them into his face. Some fed to the floor and lay there paralyz9d. Alter a while tney gee on tueir feet ant wearily ay off, half daz?d. Porhapa they have a head on. Many adimala yie-i to tha sen action of ram drinking, especially elephants, horse?, cows and swine. Poultry, especially turkey*, will absorb tu* tempting drirk till they tumble over i? a leaden sleep, lying around as if they were dead and utterly-ignoring their accustomed roofs. On awaking they .stagger for a few moments and soon r^com-, out It is hours before thoy renew their cheerful ciiciiiiag.?Chiaigj Jlerald. LIFJC FOR ADRISK. A great many students of life as it passes have frequently pondered over the problem of what a victim of alcohol would?or, rather, would not?do for a drink when his system craved it. Of course, they admit that thorn ia no crime which a man crazed by liquor may not commit, but the question has been to what length will a man in possession of his senses go when his appetite hungers for stimulant Colonel Puil Trounstine, of Colorado, told a story yesterday which illustrates what one individual would have done if a taste of the ardent had not been forthcoming. 'Along the latter seventies," said the colonel, "I found myself suddenly called upon to make a trip of about a hundred miles into southern Colorado. There was to be no stage for three days as the regular>coach had left that morning, and the busines was so urgent that I had to start at once. I looked around for some sort of conveyance, as I had to carry some traps that I couldn't pack on horseback very well^md struck a fellow who had a pretty comfortable wagon and two pair of horses. Well, we struck a bargain and started. It was evening and I curled uo and took a nap. Early in the morning my driver asked me to give him a drink, i had a quart to use in case of accident you know, but I told him 1 hadn't a drop. About three hours later he asked me if I would drive. I didn't raltah ririvintr four hnrum ? had naid Some* body else to, and asked him what the matter was. Ha said that he would hare to lie down, because he felt that he was going to die. He said that he had been on a ten-day spree just previously, and had only brought half a pint with him, thinking that he could tight down his cravinj, but he couldn't, and he knew he was going to die. I took pity on him when I understood hi* condition and gave him a drink. An hour or so afterward he asked me for another, and whan I refused, seemingly aocapted the inevitable, but begged me to let him lie down for a few minutes, and I did so. Pretty soon I heard saj : " 'Throw up your hands and giva me that bottle.' "I turned my head to And myself looking into my own gun, as I had taken off my belt nnri loir! if. in fho vtra crr%n "'You wouldn't kill ma for that bottle, would you?* I asked. " 'I must nave some liquor,' ha replied, and I saw he was desparace. 'Promise ma you will give me a drink waen I ask for it and I will take your word and give you this gun; but I must have it T "1 promised him and he hanlei me the weapon, tie only asked for a drink every hour or two, and when we reached our destination next day I asked him if he really would have killed me if I had refused him. He looked me square in the face and said: " 'I would* have killed my mother at that time yesterday if it had been necessary to get whisky and I kaew she had it.' And 1 believe he would have done it, too."?Washington Pest. TEMPERANCE NEWS AND NOTES. There are 7i)00 saloons in Chicago, any one to every 200 inhabitants. The unchanging; decree of Ood is that no drunkard shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. Queen Victoria insists that a man shall not enter her employ as a piper unless he is a teetotaler. It is alleged that the peculiar Savor of sherry wine is imparted to it, in Spain, by hanging fresh goac skins in the fermenting vat. In one of the great Paris hospitals, out of eighty-three patients who suffered from epilepsy sixty were found to be childreu of drunken parents. Miss Borden, President of tjie New Mexico Woman's Christian Temperance Union, has been licensed to preach. 8he is tUe first woman minister in the Territory. Mrs. Annie Wittenrneyer, the first President of the W. C. T. U., is a beautiful white haired woman, brigut eyed and vigorous, though past her seventieth year. Mrs. rv luentneyer nas wrirain several uuons. A man might visit ten saloons a day in Now York for avery day in the year, and then not make the rounds, for there are nearly 4000 of them. Loudon's saloons, ;t is reckoned, extend seventy-flve miles if sec side bj side in a straight line. ' RELIGIOUS READING. FEAR NOT. Why should I fear tomorrow? Tbe Lord directs my way. Wbv should I trouble borrow? I live but for today. Whenever I am weary m uou l nnu my rest, And when my past seems dreary I know it's for the best. Why should I fear tomorrow? I have a gracious friend Who knows my every sorrow And will my cause "defend. I see Him near me smiling, In trial biid in joy, My weary hours beguiling In His own best employ. i win not trouoie oorrow, There is a better way, For when it comes, tomorrow Will be another clay. Oh give me graec. dear Saviour, Thy constant love to see! Today I seek Thy favor, Tomorrow leave with Thee. ?[New York Observer. WALKIXQ ON THE WATEE. The real error which Peter committed in attempting to walk on the water lies in that he undertook what the Lord did not require of him. No doubt he asked and obtained bis permission, but even this shows how the i^ora may permit ?113 servants to nna toe bottom of their own resolutions, and in His wise love teach them deep and UBeful lessons by their own failures. Peter assayed love to do by faith what faith was quite competent to do, had the Master needed It and asked it. Bat, taking it up of bis own mor tion, even with the Lord's permission, the disciple threw himself into circumstances of danger ami difficulty to which his measure Of faith proved unequal. To aim at being for Christ, to expect to do for Christ what Christ has neither enjoined nor promised, is really not faith, but fanaticism. There is considerable resemblance tetwaen the two, on the surface. The one has been again and again mistaken for the other. There is a likeness in their tone, in their earnestness, in their ardor, sometimes, for a while, in their eftects: but tb?y are entirely different in their source, their principle, their results. Faith arises out of grace. Fanaticism has Its source in self.Faith is ruled by the Word of the Lord; fanaticism by the wish, will and impulse of the creature. Faith results in solid fruits and works for Christ. Fanaticism burns it* self out In fruitless fervor, or dashes itself to pieces in a terrible fall. The dangers of our time lie, however, for the most part, in quite another direction. The material and the secular have, in these days, the most powerful swny over the minds of men. The spiritual is treated as if it did not exist at all. For, more frequently than fanaticism is mistaken for faith, la faith ridiculed and run down as fanatical. And, in truth, all real living and working for Christ has in it an element of paradox, which the world is very apt to mistake for enthusiasm. It is aiming at results and exruph'nar rpanlti urMrh Hp nillfp hf?VOnd the channel of ordinary, rational life. There is no real success in the work of Christ's kingdom which is not to man's judgment as impossible as to tread tbe waves. When Paul went to convert the nations of Grecce and Rome to tbe faith of the Crucified Nazarcne, he went .to walk on the waters. All reason was against the probability of his success. When Luther revived the Gospel of free graoe in the face of tbe Roman hierarchy ana the empire, he went to walk on tbe waters. Pope, emperor, princes and churchmen were ready to swallow bim up. There is not a true missionary abroad or true mission worker at home but goes to seek results above nature, by methods that work beyond reason. If we would truly serve Jesus and His kingdom, walk on the waves we must; .for we walk by faith, not by sight. Only let us gather from the incident in Peter's experience that we are to take up our motto * Ult T>a*A?I Tn. lruui lPaiau laiuci man itviu & vwt. .?* stead of choosing for one's self the path of duty, and saving, "Lord, bid me come," let ua put ourselves and our service always into His band*, saying, in answer to his question, *4Who#will go for us?" "Here aifi I; send me." The miracles of our Lord.?[John Laidlaw, D. D. SIX SHORT RCLK8 FOB YOUNG CHRISTIANS. Were a star quenched on high, For ages would it* light Still traveling downward from the sky Shine on our mortal sight So when a great man dies, , For years beyond our ken, The light he leaves behind him lies Upon the path of men. As Brownlow North lav on his death-bed he < nioved. according to his own confession, "perfect peace." To a bv-stander he said: , "You are young, in good health, and with the prospect of rising in the army; I am dying, but if the Bible is-true, and I know it is, I would not change places with you foi all i be world. Mr. North wrote the practical counsels which follow: 1. Never neglect daily private praver; and when you pray, remember that God is present. and that he hears your praver.?Heb. ix. 0. 2. Never neglect daily private Bible-readin#: and when you read, remember that God is *penking to you, and tbat we are to speak and act upon wane ne savs. i oeiievt that all back-sliding begins with the neglect of these two rules.?John t. 39, 3. Never let the day pass without trying to do something for Jesus. Every night reflect on what Jesus has done for you, and a*k vourself, What am I doing for him?? Matt* v. 13?16. 4. If ever you are in doubt as to a thing 1 eing right or wrong, go to your room kneel down and a9k God's blessing upon it.?Col. iii. I7. If you cannot do this, it is wrong.? Romans xiv. 23. 5. Never take your Christianity from Christians, or argue that, because such people do so and so, therefore you may.? [Cor. x. 12. You are to ask yourself. "How would Christ act in my place?" and strive to follow Him.?John x. 27. G. Never believe what yon feel, if it contradicts God's word. Ask yourself, Can What I feel te true, if God's word is true? and if both cannot be true, believe God, and make your own heart the liar.?Rom. iii. 4. 1 John v. 10,11. the basket of wateb. A student went for advice to a pioua old man and said to him, "Father, I love much hoop nhnnt find and spiritual things, but all the good I hear seerus to go in one eat and ont at tbe other; I forget it 00 soon and tbis grieves me." Tben the old man said, "My son. take tbii basket, and bring it to me rail of water." The student obeyed; he took tbe bnsket and went to a wide brook and worked bard for a long time, but be could get no water to stay in tbe basket; as soon as it wns full it became empty again. Then at last be got tired, for be saw that all bis labor waa in vain, no be wnt back to tbe father and told bim wbat bad happened, and bow tbe water wonld not remain in tbe basket. Then tho father uaid, ''Give me the basket and let me ?'..nm 4 vi-hpn h? took the basket in IUVk HI 11. ^uv. , hi* band and bad examined it, be said, "Now see, my son, you have not worked in vain; true it ts, indeed, that no water baa remained in the basket, bat it has washed it has washed it clean and pure. So it is, too, with you, and everv one whol eirsand reads Go'l's Word with diligence and prayer; he may not retain everyfhing, but still it purities his mind, and makes him more fit to enjoy God now and in the glory hereafter." One evidence of earnestness in prayej is that it is followed by earnest work. Because the Viceroy of China has seen fit to kick and cuff a few of his Inferiors, the hasty conclusion has been reached that his mind Is tottering. The t-'flth can only bo-known when it shall be demonstrated in Just what degree the cufTed and kicked deserved their castlgation. Perhaps the Viceroy is an instance of raging sanity. Some restaurant table-cloths are like a country fair; they display a little of everything.?BiDghamton Republican. * 1:'+$ y -- N-:vv5\i ' ; ^ . v v v' / '.i . . ."f * ( SABBATH SCHOOL. INTERNATIONAL LESSON FOB DECEMBER 18. Kevlew ot tbe Last Quarter?Golden lext: Roman *., 4?Commentary. Lesson I.?Saul's Conversion (Acts I*., 1> 20). Go.den text (John iii., 3), ''Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." Saul had an excellent character and standing in the eyes of his fellows and in his own estimation, but a sight of Jesus made him count it all as dross (Phil, iii., 4-11). Saul was chosen that he might bear tbe name ot Jesus, manifest the life of Jems and suffer great things for His sake. Lesson- II.?.Eneas and Dorcas (Acts ix.t 32-43). Golden text (Acts ix., 36), "This woman was full of good works and alms deeds which she did." Saul being persecuted at Damascus came to Jerusalem and was received by the apostles, who were first afraid of him, through the commendation of Bar* nabas, after which he went to Tarsus, his birthplace. Thi? lesson speaks of Peter at Lydda making iEneas whole Instantly after keeping bis bed eight years, and at Joppa raising Dorcai from the dead. The result in each case was that many turned to the T.fswA i- Ui? iA A- i". uuiubuu WHimai IU mui (VOTStW 00. 4'il. Lesson III.?liter's Vimon (Acts 120). Golden text (Acts x? 34). "Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons." The church thus far was gathered only from the Jew?, but It was the purooae of God to (rather an elect company out of all nations. See Math, xxviii., 19; Mark xvi., 15. Actsi, 80. This lesson tells bonr by a special vision Peter was led to go to the Gtantitee. Consider Cornelius?devout, prayerful, beneficent?and mark how heaven and earth are moved on his behalf. An anzel is sent to him, and a vision granted to Peter in connection with certain earthly matter?, all to bring light to his dark and longing soul (read Rom. viii., 32). Lesson IV.?Peter at C?sarea (Acta 30-48). Golden text (Acts x., 43), "Through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins." Peter having arrived at the house of Cornelius is told in the presence of all the story of the angel's visit, and is then informed that they are all waiting to hear what God has commanded him to say. lie preaches to thtm Jesus?Hia life, death ana resurrection; His anointing by the Spirit and the power of God manifest in Him.and.that ail who receive receive in Him the forgiveness of sina. Those bearing believed and received the gift of the Holy Spirit, even although they bad never been circumcised. Lesson V.?Christians at Antioch (Acts r!., 19-30). Golden text (Acts zi., 21), "A great number believed and turned unto the Lord." The persecution about the time of Stephen's martyrdom resulted in a great 1 scattering of the disciple*, but not of the apostles (Acts viii., 1). Some of these went I as far as Antioch preaching the word, but only to the Jews. Although the preachers ' were not apostles, God blessed their preach* in?, and many received Jesus. The news reached Jerusalem, and Bdrnabas was sent to encourage them. He brought Saul from Tarsus, and the good work went on. Mark the phrase?, -'Turned unto the Lord," "Added unto the Lord," "Cleave unto the *Lord" (verses 21,28, 24). Lesson VI.?Peter delivered from prison (Acts xii., 1-17). Golden text (Fs. xxxiv., 7), "The angel of the Lord encarapeth ari^nd ahniif thftm that faoP Aim anH Hnliiwflth them." We now return to Jerusalem to find James, the brother of John, gone to be with Jesup, and Peter in prison apparently about to foliow him, whle the church is given up to earnest prayer. Lesson VlL?Sent by the Spirit (Acts riii., 1-13.) Golden test (Luke rxiv.,47), "That repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His Name among all Nations." Barnabas and Saul having carried to Jerusalem the alms of the Annoch believers return to Antiocb taking John Mark with them, and are now by the Holy Spirit separated unto special work in far off portions of the land. In this lesson we follow them only through Cyprus, and find the old enemy ot the garden of Elen already ahead of them, but our h&rts rejoice to see one soul snatched from bis cruel bondage. Lesson VIII.? missionary sermon (Acts xiii.. 26-43). Golden text (Acts xiii., 26). "To you is the word of this salvation sent." Leaving Cyprus they croa to the mainland, whence John returns to Jerusalem. Paul and Barnabas are next found in the synagogue in Antioch in Pisldia, and being invited to speak Paul preaches this sermon in which he rehearses the story from Egypt to David, and then enlarges upon the Bon of David, whom ha proves Jesus to have been. And from Psalms ii. and xri. shows that David expected an immortal heir, one who should rise from the dead. He siows that J as us crucified and risen is the promised Son and King, and that He offers forgiveness to all who will receive Him. I Lzbson IX.?Blessinz for the Gentiles (Acts xiii., 44 to xiv., 7). Golden text (Acta xiil., 47), "I have set ?n<M to be a light of the Gentiles." The work,goes on encouragingly until the Jews begin openly to contradict and blaspheme; then the apostles turn to the Geatiiee, ana many believei and the word was published through all the region. Driven from Antioch they come to Icouium, and continue preaching and also working signs and wonders, and a great KnWi nf Java *nri i+rftflts believed. Notice that everywhere they preached toe Gospel, the /ail story of Jesus, and that was all. Lxssok X.?Paul stoned (Acts xiv., 8-23). Golden test (Math. xiL, 21), "In Hia name shall the Geotiies trust." On* of the mightr works wrought by the risen Cnrist through these His servants was the healing of the man at Lystra who had never walked, and part of Paul's wages for the same was a stoning uoto death because he would not consent to be popular and let the people wnrahfn him. But Paul had ihis eves fixed on the glory to be revealed, and longed to win men to the Lord of glory and not to himself. \ Lesson XI.?The Apostolic Council (Acts< xv., 13-29). Golden taxt (Acts xv., 11), "Through the grace oI the Lori Jeeaa Christ we shall be saved even as they." Satan hates to see people receiving the free iritt nt riftH anrl st?nds out aDDarently as ministers of light those who teach that it is Jesus and?not Jesus only?who saves. If he can make people believd that anything is necessary in addition to the finished work of Christ he has gained his point and hindered a soul. The only salvation of Scripture is that of grace because of the work of Christ, now to some Jews and Gentiles (whosoever will), then to all the Jews at His coming in glory anri then to all the Gentiles (Isa, xzvi., 6; xi., 9; lx., Lesson Helper. An Old Jewish Can to in. 1 * viftmfl a# q tpaii irnnwrr> taw At U1IO UUU1C yk H TTvit mavtr w vv?t was iecetftly seen a tiny flame burnin? in a fine goblet. Examination showed the goblet to be half filled , with water, on the top of which floated an inch of pure olive oiL A miniature float of corks, fastened on either side of a metallic ring, rested fVia nil On t.hp rinar was nlared UUO V?* V" WMV 0 .. ? J ? a wax taper, passing through a small circle of thin wool, so that the lower end of the thread dipped through the ring into the olive oil. The upper end of the taper was lighted as above mentioned. The oil drawn through the wax-covered taper served to keep it alive for several hours. "We burn this," said the lady of the house, "In memory of one of our dead. When the taper burns nearly out we substitute another, so that the flame, like the vestal Are, never goes out. We light the taper when our relative dies and let it burn a year, the last one being allowed to burn out. We attend to these lights with great care, thus keeping alive i J T+ tne memory 01 our iu>eu uue. ah ia an old custom of ours, and one seldom now observed. Some Durn it for a week, while others burn it for a month. Our family adheres to the custom in all its purity, always keeping the flame alive for a rear. A big man groans most when he gets sick because there is more of him to suffer.?Atchison Globe. The World's Sell. Russia, says Frank G. Carpenter in tbe Washington Star, is a land of belle. Ev.;rj Tillage church has its sacred bell, and there are more than 2000 bells in ~sT 1 THE WORLDS BIGGEST BELL. , this city of Moscow. The biggest bell ia the worid lies at the foot of this tower, aad though it Is against the law*; I took a photograph of it this morning , while the guards were not looking. X posed a young Russian upon it while I V"| snapped my camera, and 1 had another photograph taken with myself standing beside it. This bell was cast in the fourteenth qeatury, but the tower in which it was huag was burned again ana again, and when it fell about two hundred years ago it was broken into pieoes. It was cast in a larger size, and it is sail that the ladies of Mocow in a frenzy of religious enthusiasm tlrew their jewels into the metal, and this rendered it so imperfect that when it was rung a great piece broke out of its side. It fell to the ground during a fire which occurred about a hundred and fifty years ago, and it has never been restored. It now stands on a granite pedestal, and it is as big as a goad-sized two-story house. It is fiftyfive feet in circumference, is two feet thick, and the piece whioh has been broken out of its side is taller than a' man, and you can walk into the hole where this piece was, and you find yourself in a sort of bronze tent. The pieoe lies on the ground beside the pedestal, and though the bell itself is of dark green, this piece has been so polished by the people leaning against it that its . edges are as bright as a brass breastpin. This bell weighs more than 200 tons, and it would take *uu gooa corses w , pail it if could be loaded on a wagon.' The biggest bell that strikes is in this tower of St. Iran. It is only half as large in size as the bell at the foot of the tower, and it is, I judge, about twenty feet high and fifteen feet in diameter. You could hardly put it in the average cottage parlor, and it has a tongue which . J weighs hundreds upon hundreds of , pounds. It takes about six me a to make this tongue strike the bell, and I tried to push it from one side of the bell to the other, but I found that I was not strong enough to move it. New Weapons of the New fork Police. There was & procession of bltfecoats passing in and out of the Property Clerk's room at Police Headquarters all day yesterday to receive their new, short batons in place of the old, long locusts j NEW WEAPONS OF THE FORCE. "?* and the new whistles prescribed by the Police Board. There is nothing extraordinary about the whistles. They are nickel plated. about three inches long, with a chain attached to fasten them to the coat but tons of the policeman. A brass reed inside coutroLb the tone, which in most *- ?1 ??I:I?A linan nioH hr of tnem 13 not uuu&c VUVOW MWW<* cyclists. The clubs are of errenadilla wood aod *':Xy , 13^ inches long, If inches thick at the outer end and tapering to one inch at the handle. .Each policeman had to pay eighty \ cents for his whistle and baton. The majority of the bluecoats sniffed contemDtuously at their new batons, and a r - v number prophesied that some policeman in the lower precincts would be "done up" before thej had carried the new sticks long. The new batons and whistles will be t carried for the first time to-day.?Not York Herald. What He Got For Christmas. "Did you get anything for Christmas, Billy?" ,. v.. n?,3 nio twn liokins. an I "* 1 C3, i/au gi* ,? _ didn't hang up no stockin' for them neither I"?Life. The Czar of Russia is the larges* individual land owner in the world. The area of his possessions is far prettier than that of tae entire republic of Franee.