The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, February 01, 1893, Image 7

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f _ HE V. DR. TALMAGE. j THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SU3 DAY SERMON. Jpahject: "The Circle of the Earth." (Preached at Atlanta, Ga.) rr? ?n -- n. <t. i&Ai; i(? w attocwi u<r fiircle of the earth.1'?Isaiah xl., 22. i While yet people thought that the world gras flat, and thousands of years before they found out that it was round. Isaiah, in mj , text, intimated the shape of it?God sitting noon the circle of the earth. The most beautiful figure in all geometry is the circle. God made the universe on the plan of a circle. There are in the natural world \ straight lines, angles, parallelograms, diagonals. quadrangles, but these evidently are b not (rod's favorites. Almost everywhere l Where you will find Him geomotrizing you find the circle dominant, and if not the ' circle, then the curve, which is a circle that died younr. If it had lived long enough it -would have bsen a full orb?a periphery. An ellipse is a circle pressed only a little too hard at the sides. |? Giant's Causeway; in Ireland, shows what God thinks of mathematics. There are over 185,090 columns of rocks?octagonal, hexagonal, pentagonal. These rocks seem to Save been made by ri^te and by compass. iEvery artist has his molding room, where lie may make fifty shape?, but he chooses one shape as preferable to all others. I will not say that the Giant's Causeway was the world's molding room, but I do say out of a great many figures God seems to have selected the circle as the best. "It is He that aitteth on the circle of the earth." The stars in a circle, the moon in a circle, the sun in a circle, the universe in a circle, the throne of God the center o* that circle. |i When men build churches they ought to Imitate the idea of the Great Architect and > jput the audience in a circle, knowing that the tides of emotion roll more easily that fway tnan in straight lines. Six thousand years ago God flung this world out of His right hand, but He did not throw it out in a straight line, but curvilinear, , with a lease of love holding it so as to bring it back { gain. The world started from His hand jpure and Eienic. It has been rolling on through regions of moral ice and distemper. iHow long it will roll God only knows, but Hfc nrill in rfiiA tim? malfA mmnlfttn circuit Sand come back to the place whence it started it?the hand of God?pure and E Jenic. I The history of the world goes in a circle. iWhy is it that the shipping in our' day is improving so rapidly? It is because men are imitating the old model of Noah's ark. A shio carpenter gives that as his opinion. Although so much derided by small wits, that ship of Noah's time beat the Majestic and the Etruria and the City of Pans, of . . which we boast so much. Where is the ship on the sea to-day that could outride a .deluge in which the heaven and the earth a Iwere wrecked, landing all the pas3eugers in' safety?two of each kind of living creatures, thousands of species? Pomology will go on with its achievements until after many centuries the world will have plums and pears equal to the paradisaical. The art of gardening will grow for c?nturies, and after the Downing and Mitchells jf the world have done their best In the far future the art of gardening will coma up to the arboresoenoe of the year 1. If the makers ot colored glass go on improving they may in some centuries be able to make something equal to the east window of York minster, which was built in 1290. We are six ceuturias behind those artists, but the world most keep on tolling until it shall make the complete circuit and come up to the skill of those very men. ' If the world continues to improve in masonry we shall have after awhile, perhaps after the advance of centuries, mortar equal to that which'1 saw last summer in the wall of au exhumed English city, built in the time of the Romans, 1600 years ago?that mortar to-day as good as the day in which it was made, having outlasted the brick and the stone. I say, after hundreds of years, masonry may advance to that point. If the world stands long enough we, may hare a city as large as they had in old times?BabySon five times the size of London. I You go into the potteries in England and you And them making cups and vasaa after ther.tyle of the cups and vases exhumed from Pompeii. The world is not going back. Ob, no; but it i3 swinging in a circle and will come baclc.to the styles of pottery tj known so long ago as the days of Pompeii. ,The world must Keep on progressing until it m makes the complete circuit. The curve is in 'the right direction; the curve will kasp on until it becomes the circle. i Well, now. my friends, what ia true in the material universe is true in God's moral government and spiritual arrangement. That is the meaning of Ezekie.'s wheal. Ail commentators agree in saying that tne wheel means God's providence. But a wheel is of no use unless it turn, and if it turn it turns around, and if it turns around it moves in a circle. What then? Are we parts of a great iron machine whirled around whether we will or not, the victims of inexorable fate? No! So tar trom that, I shall show you that we ourselves start the circle of good or bad actions and that it will . surely come around again to us unless by divine intervention it oe hindered. Those !bad or good actions may make the circuit of many years, but come back to us they will as certainly as that God sits on the circle of the earth. ! Jezebel, the worst woman of the Bible, i slew Naboth because she wanted his vine' yard. While the dogs were eating the body I of Naboth, Elisha the prophet put down his compass and marked a circle from the dogs clear around to the dogs that should eat the :body of Jez)b?l the murderess, "impossible P the people said; "that will never * 'haopen." Who is that bsing flung out of th# palace window! Jezsbel. A few hours after they came around hoping to bury her. They find only the palcas of her hands and the skull. The dogs that devoured Jezebel and the dogs that devoured Nabotht Ob, what a swift, what an awful circuit! But it is sometimes the case that this circle sweeps through a century or through many centuries. The world started with a theocracy for government?that is, Ood was the president and emperor of the world. People got tired of -a theocracy. They said: "We don't want Go 1 directly interfering with tne affairs o? the world; give us a monarchy." The world had a monarchy. From a monarchy it is ?roing to have a limitei monarchy. After awhile the limitsd monarchy will ba given no, nni the republican form oi government will be everywhere dominant and recognized. Then the world will get tired of the republican form of govsrnmsat, and It will have an anarchy, which is no government at all. And then all nations, fin ling out that a man is not capable of righteously governing man, will cry out for a theocracy and say: "Let God come baci and conduct the affairs of th9 world." Every step?monarchy, limitod monarcy, repuolicmism. anarchy?jnly differrat steps between the first theocracy and the last theocracy, or segments of the great cirsleof the eartn on waich tfoi sits. But do not become impatient bezaura you caonot ae the curve of events, and therefore canslude that Gol's government w going to break down. History tells us that in the nakin; of the pyramids it took 2>W men iwo years to drag one great stone from the |uarry and pat it into the pyramids. . Well, now, if men short lived can afford So work so slowly as that, cannot Gol iti the wilding of the eternities afford to wait? What tbough God saould tatce 10,000 years So draw a drcle? Shall wa take our little watch, which we have to wind up every aiflrht lest it run down, and hnld it uo beside she ctocic of eternal ages? If, according to the Biole, a thousand years are in God's tight as one day, then, accordiu* to that salculatiou, the tfuOi ye*rs of the world's Wtisteoce have Oeeu only to Goi as from Monday to Saturday. But it is often tae case that tha rebound is quicker and th9 circle is aooaer completed. You resolve that you will do wbat coo J rou can. in one week you put a word of counsel in tha heart of a Sabbath-school Child. During that same week you give a Setter of introduction to a youag man struggling in business. During the same week rou make an exnort&tiou in a prayer meetjng. It Is all gone; you will never hear of It, perhaps, you think. A few years aftsr a man comes up to you ind says, "You don't know me, do you?" You say, "No, I don't remember ever to have seen you." "Why," he says. "I was in the Sabbath-3chool class over which you were the teacher. One Sunday you invited ue to Christ. I accepted the offer. You ee that church with two towers yonder?" "Yes," you say. He says, "That is where I preach or, "D? you see that governor's pouse? That is where I live." One day a nan comes to you and says, "Good morn ing." You look at him and say, "Why, yc have the advantage of me; I cannot pla< pou." He says, "Don't you remember thirt fears ago giving a letter of introduction 1 i youn? man, a letter of introduction \ Moses fl. Grinnell?" "Yes, ye?, I do." I jays: "I am the man; that was my fir step toward a fortune, but I have retire from business now anl am giving ray tia to philanthropies and public interests. Con up and see me." Or a man comas to you and says: 1 want to introduce myself to you. I wei into a prayer meeting in Atlauta son rears ago; 1 sat back by the door; you aro to make an exhortation; that talk change the course of my life, and if ever I get t heaven, under God I will owe my salvatic to you." In only ten. twenty or thirt years the circle swept out and swept bac again to your own grateful heart. But sometimes it is a wider circle an does not return for a great while, i saw .bill of expenses for ourning Latimer an Ridley. The bill of expenses says; One load of fir fagots 3s. 4 Carcase of four loals of wood lis. Item, a, post Is. < Item, two chains 3s. 4 Item, two atap les < Item, four laborers 2a. i That was cheap lire, considering all tl circumstances, but it kindled a light tbi shone all around the world and aroused tl martyr spirit, and out from that ournlng < Latimer and Ridley roUed the circle wid< and wider, storting other circles, convolu ing, overrunning, circumscribing, overarc inz all heaven?i circle. But what is true of the good is just true of the bad. You utter a slander again jour neighbor. It has gone forth iro your teeth; it will never come back, y think. You have done the man all the m chief you can. You rejoice to sfee him wln< You say, "Didn't I give it to him!" Th word has gone out, that slanderous word, ( its poisonous and blastad way. You thii it will never do you any harm. But I a watching that word, and I see it beginnii to curve, and it curves around,and it is ah ing at your heart. You had better dodj it. You cannot dodge it It rolls into yot bosom and aftsr it rolls in a word of an ol i book, which saya, "With what measure j mete, it shall be measure! to you again." You maltreat an aged parent. "You b< grudged him the room in your house. Yo are impatient of his whimsicalities and gai rulity. It makes you mad to hear him ta the same story twice. You give him foot he cannot masticate. You wish he wa away. You wonder if he is guing to liv foreve* He will be gone very soon. Hi steps are shorter and shorter. He is goiat to stop. But God has an aocount to sett! with you on that subject. After awhil your eye will be dim, and your gait wi! halt, and the sound of the grinding will b low, and you will tell the same story twice and your children will wonder if you ar going to live forever and wonder if you wil never be taken away. They callei you "father*' once; now the; call you the "old man." If you live a fev years longer they will call you the "oli chapP' W*hat are those rough words wit which your children are accosting you They are the echo of the vary words yoi used in the ecu- of your old fathef fort; years ago. What is that which you ari trying to chew, but find it unmas ticable, aud your jaws ache, and you sur render the attempt? Perhaps it may be the gristle which you gave to your father foi his breakfast forty years ago. A gentleman passing along the street saw a son dragging his fattier into the street bj the hair of the head. The gentleman, out' raged at this brutal conduct, was about to punish the offender when the old man aro? and said, "Don't hurt him; its all right forty years ago this morning I dragged oui my father by the hair of his headV It is ? circle. My father lived into the eighties, and he had a very wide experience, and hi said that maltreatment of parents wa: always punished in this world. Other sinj may be adjourned to the next world, but maltreatment of parents is punished in thli world. The circle turns quickly, very quickly. Ob, what a stupendous thought that th< Brood and the evil we start come back to us Do you know that the Judgment Day will be only the pointe at which the circles join, tho good and the bad we have done coming back tp us, unless divine intervention hindei ?coming back to us with welcome of delight or curse of cqndemnatioa. Oh, I would like to see Paul, the invalid missionary, at the moment when hia influ eoce comes to full orb?his influence rolling out through Antiocb, through Cyprus through Lystra, through Corinth, througt Athens, through Asia, through Europe througu America, through thenrst century through five centuries, through twenty cen turies, through all the succeeding centuries, through earth, through heaven, and at last the wave of influence having made full cir cuit, strikes his great soul. Oh, then I woulc like to see him 1 No one can tell the wid< sweep of the circle of his Influence save th< One who is seated on the circle of the earth I should not want to see the countenance of Voltaire when his influence comas to full orb. When the fatal hemorrnage seiz?: him at eighty-three years of age his influ ence did not cease. The most brilliant mat of his century, he had used all his faculties for assaulting Christianity, his oad influ ence widening through France, widening ou througn Germany, widening through al Europe, widenmg througu America, widen ing through the 115 years that have gone b1 since he died, widening through earth, widening through Uell, until at last the ac cumulated influence of his bad life in tier; surge of omnipotent wrath will beat against his destroyed spirit, and at tnat moment it will be enough to make the black hair ol eternal darkness turn white with the horror No one can tall hove that bid man d mflu ence girdled the earth save the ona who i sea tea on tne circle of ttie earth ?the Lon Almizhty. 'Well, now," say people in this audience * 'this in some respects is a very glad theorj and in others a very sad one; we would liki to have ail the good we have ever done cotni .back to us, but tne thou gat that ail the sin we have ever committed will come back U us tills us with affright." My brother, have to tell you God can breaic that circli and will do so at your call. I can brinj twenty passages of Scripture to prove tha when God for Christ's sake torgives a mai the sins of his M*s? lite never come bacii. The wheel may roll on and roll od, bu you take your position behind the croa and tne wheel strikes tae cross and is shat tered forever. The sins tty off from the cir cle into the perpendicular, falling at righ angles witn complete oblivion. Forgiven Forgiven! Tne meanest tiling that a mai can uo u; after some difficulty has been set tied, to bring it up again, and liod wiii no be so mean as that, (iod's memory is might: enough to hold all the events of the age but tnere is one tning tnac is sure to slip tii memory, oue thing He is sure to forget, an that is pardoned transgression. How do know it? I will prove it. "Iheir wins an their iniquities will 1 remember no more. Come into that state this morning, my dea brother, my dear sister. "Blessed is th on j whose transgressions are forgiven.',' But do not make tne mistake of thinkini that this doctrine or the circle stops wit this lite; it roils on through heaven. . Yo might quote in opposition to me what 8l Joan says about tbe city of heaven. H says it "lieth four sauve." That does seen to militate against this idea, bat you Icnov there is many a square house that has i family circle facing each other, and in t circle moving, and I can prove that this i so in regard to heaven. St. John says, " heard the voice of many angels round abou the throne, and the beasts, and the elders. Again he says: "There was a rainbov round about the throne." The former twi instance a circle; the last either a circle on semicircle. The seats facing each other, thi angels facing each other, the men facing each other. Heaven an amphitheatre ol glory. Circumference of patriarch and proph et and apostle. Circumference of Scotct Covenanters and Theoan legion and Albigenses. Circumferenca o.' ths good of all ages. Periohery of splendor unima^ined and indescribab e. A circle! Acirc.e! But every circumference must have i centre, and wbat is the centra of this heiv eniy circumfer<?tt3e5 Christ. His all th< glory. His alt the praise. His all the crowns. All heaven wreathed into a garland round about Him. Take off the imperi at sandal from His foot and behold the scai' of the strike. Lift the coronet o* dominion from His brow and see wheri was the laceration of the briers. Come closer, all heav en. Narrow the circle around His great heart. O Christ, the Saviour! O Cnrisf, the man' O Christ, the God! Keep Thj throne forever, seated on the circle of th? earth, seated on the circle of tbe heaven 1 On Christ, the wild'rock. I stand; All otber ground U sinking tand. A snow-white deer waa killed rec&ntt] ut Baker's Ban, in Clinton Oouaty, Penn, >?| TEMPERANCE. fl :a ;v to THREE TEARS OF PROHIBITION, to Notwithstanding the efforts of the liquor le lealers to the contray, drunkennes has been sc Umost wiped out?many a former moderate xl irinker has quit the habit, and above all, a ie lost of young meu have started on a sober le ind industrious career, under three year.? Influence of prohibition. The drink bill o? "I the two Dakotas dropped off seventy per ac lent, the very first year and has been growie ng materially less ever since, and no one se has been the poorer thereby but the saloonMi keepers, brewers and distillers.?Dakota bo Parmer. 7 THE EFFECTS OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES. ,J? Alcohol being the product of the decomposition of grape-juice, corn, malt, apples, d or other starchy substances, is therefore the a enemy of life, the very ashes of death, writes d W. J. Demorest, President of the National Anti-Nuisance League. Id. Scientists agree in placing alcohol among r the most irritant, virulent and deadly ' '<J. poisons to animal life. A small quantity ' s taken pure will paralize the nerve centers, j ? and kill instantly. _ Tha nr/finorv off art rtf ftlfiohol ia'tO irritate 20 and parch the mucus membranes of the iniC testines, and paralyza the nerves. When : 10 taken into the system, either in the form of .V, whisky, bandy, beer, cordials, or in light wines, etc., iw poisonous effects, while so , } ' exhilarating as to be very fascinating, are , deleterious to all the nerve tissues and fibers of the body, that a general derangement of ar3 all the vital organs inevitably follows. sC The effects of alcohol contained in . 01 these beverages finds its way to the lungs oi add arteries which are connected with heart, , is and they become more or less congested and , . :a paralyzed t>y the poison, and incapable of ( at rightly performing their ordinary functions; )D and this burning or corroding effect com- . lk mences with /he smallest quantity of alcohol m taken in the system. Therefore theri is no , lg such thing as "moderation" in the use of n alcoholic beverages; the poison in them is ;e always active in its deadly mission, and goes wj ir on all through the body. 0| d The result on the heart and brain is os- w 'e pecially noticeable, as these organs are very l... sensitive, and are so retarded in their opera- 0 >- tions tbat disease and death would rapidly , a ensue were there not in nature a generous i amount of active recuperation struggling to ( 11 counteract and eliminate the poiooa. w. i Alcohol, being a foreign, poisonous ele- m. s menr, even when greatly diluted, as in beer, e which ooutains 'from five to eignt per cent. * of it, does not assimilate like food, but taxes C nature with extra exertion to expel the in* ? truder, which is partly ejected through the , :? lungs or breath and mostly through the ' " pores of the skin and through the kidneys, L ? which are more or less inflamed, and there- ? ' * fore obstructed by congestion. Enough of ftJ. ? the poison will linger in the system to as;gravate any disease to which the drinker is : liable, and basten a fatal termination. I , This specific action of alcohol, while pro- A * duclng a general disturbance and injury to z. i all the vital organs, is especially true of the * ? brain, which is composed of numerous minute cells, of a gray, fatty substance, sur , 1 rounded by a limpid fluid. Alcobol has a , 7 strong amnity for water; and when taken if. 5 in the stomach, beinsr verv volatile, a oor- . tion of it goes immediately towards th? .u, brain, and disturbs the finely arranged nerve-fibers so as to impair their ability tc " t nourish this fatty substance, and in this way t it renders the brain incapable of continuous l 1 logical thought or action, and the man is t ' said to be more or less "drunk," which is th) another way of saying that the man's a brain is poisoned, or parched with inflamma- jm tion and congestion. _ j This effect can be tested by putting a drop of alcohol on the tongue: the smarting, stinging sensation proves that it is parched jg by the alcohol's eagerness to absorb or ! * at the waty* in the tongue, and this irritat- \y . ing effect is the same on all the organs of .?, the body, besides producing a craving mc thirst. ^jj A continuous use of alcoholic beverages [,0 produces results that are irremediable. Qyi After numerous attacks on the brain and other sensitive organs, a chronic change [ takes place in the victim of afcohol, whffch 1 manifests itself in all the man's actions and > character. ] He generally becomes moross and stupid, thi with a tendency to paroxysms of vloleaC9. an and sometimes idiotic hilarity. His will At power is sluggish or nearly gone, and he is otl left to be controlled almost entirely by bis en animal passions, which are clossly allied to <|H criminal insanity. Besides, an ever-increas- Cfc ing longing is engendered for more of the [& i fiery liquid to gratify the cravings of an in- no satiable appetite, and other symptons fol- thi low, such as a disease i fatty degeneration, a gia bloated bo jy, a sluggish action of the liver be and kidneys, accompanied by a red or in- ntl flamed skin, and sometimes by offensive inj r eruptions which can be plainly traced to al- na coholic poisoning, in Manv of these indications and symptoms wi of a poisoned, diseased body would horrify of drinKers were they sufficiently aroused, of bli Were they anxious or willing to believe the mi lacts as they develop themselves in their ex- de perience, or could they realize that they m< transmit to their posterity a hereditary taint wr that is too horrible to contemolate. Jsuttha cl< truth comes to their impaired brains througn nu so many insidious problems of prejudice, lif habit and appetite, and they are so enticed bli by the pleasurable exciting sensations that ?' they find difficulty in tracing the poisonous effects directly to the amount of alcohol l,<they consume, and so are constantly cheating and flattering themselves into a conviction that they can use these poisonous beverages with impunity. Hence the , poor victims of alcoholic poisoning, prompted by an imperious thirst, go on and . on, until finally chronic delirium or demen- ID' s tia takes possession of the brain, or death i itself, throueh some ordinorv or extroordin- 6(1 ary disease brought on or actively developed .y by alcoholic poisoning;, closes the scsqa. This A1 j is especially true when they are attacked by "*< b cholera or other infectious diseases. The b certain victims are always those who3e sys- ua 3 terns are impregnated with alcohol. f > Even when talcen as a medicine, alcoholic ?. I beverages frequently pro luce results far pi ? worse than the disease. Extensive hospital 5 practice, both in this country and Europe, c has proved the great benefits of an entire i exclusion of this poison as a remedy, other agents being usea, which are quite a3 effl- , t dent, but not followed by the paralyzing or p stupefying effects of alcohol's corrosive poi> son. , Alcohol, in its action on animal matter, is t somewhat analogous to arsenic, morphine, ^ I or strychnine; it tends to suspsnd decay in i dead matter, and in live bodies it paralyzes J. <* or inflames with congestion, in this way t showing that it is the active enemy of all 7 life, or death in disguise. '? We put snake3 and other animals, and * sometimes dead men, into alcohol, to nre^ vent animalcule or microbes in the aead an 1 bodies from generating or living on the 9a ? starchy substances contained in them; so all w| actual life in the bodies is suspended. But c;l r certain disintegration and death in its most e active form is produced by the corrosion of gu alcohol in living bodies, and in this way it h, 5 proves itself to be an acrid, deadly poison to u, "s' human life. tli J1 More than 3000 years ago the results of co * alcohol on the body were compared to the fr 6 bite of a serpent and the stinging of an i adder; and Alcohol has not changed its w; r nature since.' At the present time alcoholic pa < beverages are oertalnly the most injurious, it, 1 decsptlvb and dangerous elements of death 8H 8 and destruction that exist, and the annals of 0f * criminal courts prove tuat it is aa aggrs- j0 J vated public nuisance generally. ' is Yet these beverages are so fascinating, he ' and the poison in them so insidiou*, that the ji 3 whole human race has been deluded and w 1 cheated for thousands of year , and more si? 3 injury has resulted from their use than has (j( 5 been occasioned by all the woes of war, ' famine and pestilence combined; and now that science, experience and an enlightened 1 reason have so largoly dissipated such de' lusive cobwebs of appetite, prejudice and passion, these poisonous alcotiolic (leverages ' should oe banished trom society with all the . intelligent energy that an injured and out1 raged people can demand. WHAT RUINED HIM? , The following sad incidents, by Area- J deacon Farrar, are eiven in the Scottish tei League Journal: "At the entrance to one ^r sf our college cnapeis is a nameless grave; j that grave covers tne mortal remains of one . 3f its most promising fellows, ruined of ihrouirh ilrinlr i raeeLved not vprv Irmir in: ; igo, a letter from an old scnoolfellow, a >>sc Clergyman, who, after Ion? and arduous ba' r labor, was in want of clothes, and alrno9tof doi , rood, i enquired the cause; it was drink, fw A few weaics ago a wretched clergyman lea jame to me in deplorable misery, who had ref iragged dowu his family with him into ruin. * 1' What hai happened him? Drink. And war i0is it that these tragedies are daily happen of1 . ing? It is through tne fatal fascination, the ' wuuctive sorcery of drink against which ??t ? Scnpturo so oiten warms." in IEL1GI0US READING. CAN HE CARE. Among so many, can he carc? Can special love be everywhere? A myriad homes, a myriad ways, And God's eye over every place, Over but in? The world is full, A grand omnipotence must rule; But is there life that doth abide With mine own living, side by side? From the great spaces, vague and dim, Way one small household gacber him? I asked: ray soul bethought of this: In just that very place of his. Where he hath put and keepetli you, God hath no other thing to do. ?[A. D. T. Whitney. DAKGF.ROl'S READI.VO MATTER. Hie evil of impure literature is one that mines many forms and disguises, ana spurs at unlooked-for points. Its miasmatic luence is felt long after the original cause ? disappeared. There is evidence that the jsser forms of literature have ceased to culate a>? freely as formerly, but the poison administered in a more unsuspected and srefore m a more daneeroua form. Only :eutly one of our prominent weeklies pubtied a story in which the reader came ruptly upoii a paragraph thoroughly brutal d repulsive in its suggestive incident. II is unfit to be read aloud in the family clr. Writers who steal the livery of heaven serve the devil in obtrude their wares on us. and we are powerless to avert the il because it finds us so unprepared. ?ubliibers, whose names have hitherto m a guarantee of purity and uprightness, ;ept a storv from some noted authoi lose name is one to conjnre with, and id out to the world the concoctions of an pure and fevered mind. How shall wc nedy this condition of affairs, how quarane our literature until it can come to us th a clean bill of health that we may wetno it to our families? Ttiere is but one iy. Viligance is good, and indeed imperae. With the wide rngne of reading at oui litnand, we must no more permit literate with the faintest tinge of impurity tc our homes than we would place ? :d bomb-shell down by the genial irmth of our fireside expecting it to re lin there harmless.?i^ion s xieraiu. A SWEET VOXCHJ There is no power of love so hard to gel d keep ns a kind voice. A kind hand if if and dumb. It may be rough in flesh d blood, yet do the work of a soft heart, d do it with a soft touch. But there is nc e thing that love so xouch needs as a sweet ice to tell what it means and feels, and il lard to get it and keep it in the right tone, e must start in youth and be on the itch night and day, at work, at play, tc 5 and keep a voice that shall speak at ail ies the thought of a kind heart. But this :he time when a sharp voice is most apt tc got. You often hear boys and girls say >rds at play with a quick, sharp tone, ai it were the snap of a whip! When one oi sm gets vexed 70U wiil hear a voice thai mds as if it were made up of a snarl, ? line and a bark. Such a voice often speaks worse than the art feels. It shows more ill wiil in tlx le than in the words. It is often in mirtt it one gets a voice or a tone that is sharp d sticks to him through life and stirs up will and grief, and falls like a drop ol II ou the sweet joys at home. Such a< se get a sharp home voice for use, and ep their best voice for those tbev meel ewhere. I would say to all boys and Is: ' Use your guest voice at home." atch it by day as a pearl of great price, foi svill be worth to you in the days to com< ire than the best pearl hid in the sea. A id voice is a lark's song to a hearth and me. It is to the heart what light is to th< 8.?[Jewish Messenger. ESSENTIALS. Hint, anise, and cummin! These are th< inns about which we cannot agree.. "W< i as one in the essentials. Wecansaytbt jostles' Creed together. But we fight eacl ler when we ought to be fighting the emy, because our different regiments weai lerent regimentals. Blind! blind! Th< iristian church is a mighty giant. Ther< 110 end to its streugth and its power, and limit to the possibilities of its victory ovei 5 world, the flesh, and the devil. But tb< mt is blind, and cannot tell the different tween a man and a tree, between th< tie snd the big. And the giant is break l twigs when he ought to be upliftinc tions. Christ healed a great many peoph the years of his pleasant ministry, but th< iters of the gospels seem especially fond telling us how he opened the eyes of tb< nd. For that U one of the sncramenta iracles. Beneath the outward gesture and ed lies the spiritual meaning. We are al >re or less blind. .We are all feeling oui ly about in the haze, not seeing anything arly, and often making blunders, takins ;r for trees. And Christ came to be tlu e of the world. He came to open ou: ind eyes, and to show us what things an to teach us the eternal difference between ju and trees.?[Rev. George Hodges, ii *"* ? o..?1 ? .... ?? Christianity ueiween auauaya. OOP QUIDES nis CHILD. The longer I live the more sure I am tba the ilevont soul God is constantly speak ; by the little incidents of dally life. Sucl nan will have that experience corroborat by the word of God on the one hand anc mpathetic circumstances on the other id though everybody says the man Is act 5 in a suicidal manner, the man himaelf li nviuced by wars he can not define that hi 8 learned the will of God. Lt may be that this relates to the giving u| a habit, taking a certain course or step ng out in some uutrodden path, but th< an knows that he knows the will of God however, you do not know, di it act. If I had a little child who couK it tell what I wanted, but who at the sarni ne needed to know my will, I would ex itin even to the adoption of the simples eech and the shorte.it words. So we mus ist God to make known his will to us. God also works in a man "to do." Whei >u know what God wills, you know tba iu bave sufficient power to do wbat hi irposes. You must not wait to feel it. Be ve it is there.?[Rev. F. B. Meyer. WHAT MAKES THE DIFFERENCE? Wbcat and wreds grow in the same sol id under the influence of the rays of tb* me sun. Why wheat and not weeds? an< by weeds and not wheat? What is th< use of the difference ? Is the cause of tin fference to be found in the soil and in Ik n? No. but in the character or nature o e sown seed. Clay hardens.and wax melt ider the same influences. Why? Becausi e difference is found in the fact that tbi ndition of the one substance is differen om that of the other. Evaporation of moisture hardeus the clay bile latent beat iu the wax expands tb articles, and causes them to run. Why i reasoning by cna'ogy, that under tb rae divine iitffu? nee*?the light of the sui Righteousness and the warm and genia ve of God?while the heart of the believe softened, the heart of the unbeliever i irdened? Becuuso the believer vields to th vine influence?yields to the will of (.todhile at the same time the incorrigible re t? the divine influence?resists the will o jil?resists the truth. I)o not coin senrrh of crucifixions, bin lien God (vrrnits them to reach you with .1 ....... Ii.it'i 11 tr ?r,n.rhr flll'lll tltPV TlPHi tver without your deriving profit frou cm.?Ft'iie'on. ItEFlTSES LSASBS T ) SALOO.V.S. Lady Henry Somerset, th* well-known nperance advocate, writes to London uth regarding statements that have oeen dely printed, both in lir^ac Britain anc er this country, concerning hor ownership public house?, aul nor consequent seein; inconsistency: "I inherited my father's ates ten years ago, and since that tune vd been enable.t to c.oss eight puoiic uses. 1 have during that time boon ofed considerable sums of money to extend ses before tfcey fall in, but have always used. I have never renewed the lease of caused bouse, nor do I ever intend to do All who understand the management property are aware that untila lease falls o the bands of the ground landlord it is ; his property, and ne cannon deal witu ic any way." , SABBATH SCHOOL INTERNATIONAL LESSON FOF FEBRUARY 5. Wesson Text- "Dedicating the Temple," Ezra vi., 14-22?Golden Icxt: Psalm cxxii., 1? Commentary. 14. "And the elders of the Jews builder, and they prospered through the prophesying of flaegai the prophet and Zecharlah, the son of Iddo." Our last lesson in this book was In the third chapter, where we read of the laying of the foundation of the Lord's house and of the joy of the people. Then follows an account of how the adversaries hindered the work and caused it to cease (iv., 4, 5, 24). In chapter v., 1, we are introduced to the two prophets named in this first verse of our lesson, and in the rest of chapter v. and the next chaDter ' down to this verse we are told of the success of the work. Observe the secret of their success in chapter v., 5, "The eye of their God was upon the elders of Hhe Jew.!." i Compare this with the encouraging words I of Hag. ii., 4, 5: "Be strong, be strong, ba strong and work, for I am with you, saith the Cord of Hosts. My Spirit remaineth among you. Fear ye not." 15. "And this house was finished-' The God of Israel bad commanded it and had moved upon the hearts of these kings to 1 assist His peoplo in the work. (Previous 1 verse, last clause.) "He doeth according to ' His will in the army ->f heaven and among the inhabitants of the eartb, and none can 1 stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doesth Thou" (Dan. iv., 35)? Any servant ' of such a Master had no occasion ever to I fear or be discouraged, for the work is His, L and He cannot fail (ba. xlii., 4; Math, xvi., i?). uur piace or rest is to rememoer taac "we are laborers together with God" (I Cor. iii., 9), but He is the employer. f 10. "And the children of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy." The temple finished meant the presence of God in their midst, and consequently peace and prosperity and victory orer all enemies. 1 * 'Let 1 hem make Ue a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them" (Ex. xxv., 8),were God's words to Mosee when he was commanded to build the tabernacle. "I have hallowed this house which thou hast built to putMy name there forever, and Mine eyes and Mine heatt shall be there perpetually" (1 Kings ix., 3), were God's words to Solomon on the dedica* tion of the temple, and had Israel only walked with God in humility and obedience she would have continued head among all Nations, because of the presence of the Lord, until this day. The building of this temple of Zerubbabel indicates another opportunity to have it so, and they are full of joy. 17. "And for a sin offering for all Israel, twelve he goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel." Bullocks, rams and lafnbs were the burnt offering, which also included an accompanying: meat offering, but the goat was the sin offering. See the . full statement repeated at least eight times in Num. xxix. The sin offering, typifying k Christ bearing oar sins in His own oody oa the tree, was to be offered first, for before we can worship God or do anything pleasing ' in His sight we most obtain the forgiveness of sins through the merits of His one great sacrifice (Lev. xvii., 11; Heb. ir., 11. 12-. j Acts Xiii., 39, 30). The burnt offering also > typifies the same great sacrifice of Christ, , but rather that aspect of if in which we see I Him as an offering and sacrifice to Go t for a sweet smelling savor (Eph. v., 2). The [ meat offering is suggestive of His holy and * spotless life. Being forgiven by His blood, . we are to present our bodies a living sacri5 flee, that Hemay live His life in us. On the phrase ''All Israel" see II Chron. xxx., 1; [ Rom. xl., 26; Ezelr. xxxvil, 22. , 18. "And they set the priests in their divisions and the Lavites in their courses for the service of Goi which Is at Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses." The Le????? ? /* tha oar. V i UC3 WW O a iV/l vug UMU W uu ?uv av* vice for the tabernacle and temple. They ? were chosen to stand before Him, to serve > Him, to minister unto Him and offer sacri> flee (Num. xviii., 8; II Chron. xxix., 11). i The priests' lips snould keep knowledge, and ; the people should seek the law at his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of Hosts 5 (JlaL ii. 7). 5 19. "And the children of the captivity 1 kept the passover upon the fourteenth day r of the first month." "By faith Moses kept ! the passovar and the sprinkling of blooa, 5 lest He that destroyed the firstoorn should 5 touch them" (Heb. xi., 28). These "sons of the transportation" (ver% 10. margin) did well to remember the deliverance from > Egypt, but there is now drawing nigh a de5 liverance from Russia and from all Nations I that shall far outdo the deliverance at the } institution of the passover (Jer. xxiii., 5-8), 1 Then shall we understand the words of the 1 Lord Jesus in reference to His last passover, I "I will not any more eat thereof until it b< fulfilled in the kingdom of God (Luke xxii., : 16). ; 20 "For the priests and the Lavites wer< B purified together, all of them were pure.' t There was a ceremonial purification neces sary to the keeping of the passovar, and ii 1 the days of Hezekiah we read that they kepi 1 it on the second instead of the first montt because the priests were not sufficient!} sanctified (II Chron. xxx., Si, 3; compare Num. ix., 10,11). It we would eD joy Christ our Passover, who has been sacrificed for us . we must cleanse ourselves from all fllthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness it " the fear of God (i Cor. v., 7; II Cor. vil. 1) 21. "All su ch as had separated themselve I unto tftem from tne tlitniness oc the heathen of the land to seek the Lord God of Israel * did eat." It would seam that many of those a who had been living in the land when thej s saw the temple builfled ana tbe worsnip 01 the true God established joined themselves } to Israel. So sha'l it be in the days that are . coming, when ra>_. 'f all languages shall say ? to the Jews, We will go with vou, for God ^ is with you (Zech. viii,, 23>. So it is now, j when Christ is seen in us and not self, people j will be drawn away from the follies and , filthiness of this present evil world to the re. alities of a lite of faith in the Son of Gad, [ and God v?ill be glorified in us (Gal. i., 2*). t 22. "And kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy, for the Lord had 1 made theui joyful and turned the heart oi t the king of Assyria uato them." When He . giveth quietnes?, who then can make trouh ble (Job miv., 29;? If God be with us, whc can be against us (Rom. viii., 31)? The king's heart is in the hands of the Lord, as the rivers of water; He turneth it whithersoever He will (Prov. xxt., 1). I', as Hu people, we are only willing and obeaient, H* 1 will make us eat the gooi of the land and e drink of the river of His pleasures (Isa. i., J 19; Ps. ixxvi., 8). It is the pleasure of the e Lord to bave us tun 01 joy iJoan xvi., -? i xvii., 13>, but it must be His joy, aud that e was to do the will of UoJ.?Lossoa Helper. e In these days or progress in the e arts, sciences, manufacturing, and general industry, farmers should not . be backward in trying new methods, | Experiment opens the gateway to t progress. It is by this means thai ] the best methods are discovered: ! without some change from the old, ! established, and long-practiced meth! ods, it will never be learned whethei - there is anything better and deserv1 ing of adoption. A9 some little change in manufacturing has beec * '? >Ka anr*^aca or mc iljcdug yjk tuc ui^uv/ov oiavvvuw, wv the latent power of the farmer may 'I be so developed in some new depart? ure as to turn the tide of his prosperity to success. Let no man cry for leisure in ordei ! to do anything. Let him rather pray that he may ever be useful. If he 1 really wishes to do any good thing h< will always flad time for it by prop , erly arranging his other employ ments. Mrs. Reform (joyously)?Now thai you have been elected to the Citj Council, I suppose we'll have decern drinking water at last. Mr. R'.'forn; ?Y-e-s, I cau afford to have an artesian well now. f MAUUA LOA. THE GREATEST VOLCANO IN THE WORLD IN ERUPTION. Description of the Giant Mountain " Whose Lava Streams are Pouring Toward the Sea?The Fright at Hilo. B0NLY five years since Mauna Loa was corenng its northwestffioB ern slopes with an NEK], enormous outflow of lava. It is again in eruption, and its (ava streams are flowing east and northeast. Mauna Loa, says the New York Sun, is the greatest volcano in the world. It is almost in the centre of Hawaii, the A LAVA STREAM LE. . ^ largest island in tbe Hawaiian archipelago. The greatest elevations of the big island are all active volcanoes, and their enormous craters are now and then full of boiling lava. Tbe other islands are also pitted with craters, but plutonic phenomena are very feebly displayed in them, and are chiefly revealed only by the appearance at the surface of hot springs. The volcanoes of these lesser islands have lost their primitive force, and most of their craters and lava streams have become indistinct and are covered with dense vegetation. It is evident that volcanic flres in the western part of the archipelago became extinct miny centuries ago. Mauna Loa means "the great moantain." It rises by long and very gentle" slopes to a,height of about 14,000 feet. The fact that its slopes are so long and gentle shows that its lava streams have always been what they are to-day, so completely liquefied that they flow easily for a great distance and spread over Ihe country many miles away from their outlet. If they were of a more solid character they would not travel so far from their vent, and the mountain would have far steeper slopes. The mountain rises 3000 feet above the zone of vegetation. Its summit is crowned by a group of craters, specially designated by the natives under the name of Mokuaveoveo. It is an immense symmetrical abyss, with its longer axis A STREET IX HILO. ' in a north and south direction. At the ; centre of this immense cavity is the ' primitive crater, which has a diameter * of about a mile and a half and a depth | of over 1000 feet. It is still the moat active of Mauna Loa's craters, and lofty r buttes of scoria, some of them volcanic 1 vents and others extinct, are nitea nign ' above the bottom of this tearful abys3. ! To the north and south of this greater i crater are terraces on which are many * volcanic vents, and others are scattered along the sides of the great depression. When Mauna Loa becomes fairly active there is little rest for the people of the island. The sight at night is one of the most magnificent spectacles that can be conceived, as the great mountain belches forth columns of dame and smoke, while streams of redhot lava flow down the sides. The lava streams some* I times pour down one side of the mountain and sometimes another. In 1843 a great lava river flowed far to the northeast and divided into two streams at the J base of Mauna Kea, which they partly ; surrounded. In 1880 another stream, escaping ? from the same part of the big crater, ! spread its burning flood for six days in ; the same direction, until it had deposited i on the surface of the island 700,01)0,-1 > 000 cubic metres of material. In 1852 a stream flowed down the eastern i flank of the mountain to the cultivated ; coast regions and destroyed a number of 1 villages. The great craters of the summit, however, are not the sources of the largest volumes of lava that are carried seacard. Most of the lava comes from orifices thkt ? are far below the great dome of the volcano. It was thus that in 1655 a flood i of lava, pouring out of an orifice that opened on the northeast side of the . mountain, swept toward the sea until it reached the outskirts of Hilo, stopping it a time when all the people in that little town believed that theii homes were * doomed. This lava stream covered 200 ' square miles of territory. It had au 5 average depth of 100 feet, and its voli ume would nearly have built Vesuvius. > Three years later a great orifice opened r six miles to the north of the big craters , of the summit, and the stream that poured out of it flowed to the sea, and half tilled the Bay of Kiholo. When Mauna Loa is ia a quiescent state it is a favorite resort for tourists, Everybody who visits Hilo takes the reg' ular tourist stage line or a mule or ' 'V.. .f \fotinii I private conveyaucu iur iuc ivy ?. ? 5 Loa. It is a lovely journey. The richness of vegetation is seen along the route, and as the road winds to the upper slopes of the mountains a grand view is presented of the country and the sea beyond. A comfortable house on the road up the i mountain, known as the Volcano House, ' has long been maintained for the accom1 modation of travelers. The slope of the i mountain is so gradual that it takes, along the usual route up the mountain, twenty miles of travel to jjaiu an altitude of 9500 feet. The sight the tourist witnesses when he reaches the top and looks down into the enormous abyss of Manna Loa with its babbling lava, its rising smoke and fames, and the hissing of steam as it escapes from a hundred vents, is one never to be forgotten. Several years ago Captain 0. E. Dutton, ot the Ordnance Corps of oar army, made a careful study of the Hawaiian volcanoes. He said that a moderate eruption of Maun a Loa represented mora material than Vesuvius had emitted, since tbe destruction of Pompeii. After the biir emotions there is mneraliv oer feet quiescence for some years in all parts ? the mountain. One of the pictures shows a street iia the pretty town of Hilo, onlhe northeast coast. The telephone is a great institution in this town, and, as the picture shows, the underground system of disposing of the wires has not yet been in-* ^ Sfc <? rl WING THE ' CBATBK. ?- ' ': traduced. The newt from Hawaii is that Hilo is again threatened by the outpourings from Mauoa Loa. Whoa the great eruption of 1880 threatened Hilo the inhabitants concluded that there was no hope of saving their < ; 7; little village. The stream was making straight for Hilo. '* In the last days of its flow, however, its progress was much less rapid. Still it kept pushing on at the rate of 300 yards a day. All the portable property in the town was packed up, and the people prepared to more at a moment's ' notice. The lava stream split into two large branches and seemed to be about THE VOLCANO HOU3K. to encircle the tows. The two ante had reached the outskirts of the Tillage when suddenly, without any premonition, the Sow stopped and the movement was not renewed. Tej. table- Malformations. Pafskig below ground, there are more abnormities to be found than most persons are aware ot. The peculiar coo- , ditions that attend the subterranean habit favor monstrous growths. Not long ago a cluster of sweet potatoes was \ brought to me. Some were all red upon 1 ' the surface, others were all yellow, and some were one-half red and the other side yellow. The Irilb potato is 1 fertile in its freaks. Seemingly not contest with the underground situation, pota- ' toes sometimes appear upon the branches among the leaves. Occasionally a potato \ when planted whole will develop other new and small potatoes beneath the skin and out of sight, which only calls to mind how a hollow turnip may have its cavity filled with an after-growth of? foliage, only to be discovered when the root is cut in two. 3ometimes the abnormal growths bear a strong resemblance to some other object very far from the one really shown. Thus the illustration shows what might well pass for the human hand, but it ia nothing more or less than an ear of corn with the grain removed. Instead of ari^innr in fchfl I1411A.I WAV. it hiS beCOUlO branched, thus giving rise to the "fingers," while the lower portion of the i A HAND-LIKE EAR OF CORK. cob makes a fair-shaped "wrist." The engraving is made from a photograph recently sent from Missouri.?Popular Science Monthly. One of Japan's Sports. Fencing with the quarterstaff is not a very pleasant pastime unless one i* properly clothed for it. The accompanying picture, which is taken from an arh_ ? ^ A GENTLE SPORT. ' * cle in Outing on Japanese sport#, represents two Japanese athletes wearing the recognized quarterstaS armor. There are no tbrasts, but the fencing is done simply by heavy blpws until one or the other is brought to the earth. The sport is hugely enjoyed in Japan. It looks very brutal, but is in reality harmless. The blow which brings the fighter to the ground doe3 not necessarily cans* hiui pain any more than it dots to tackle and throw a man in football. Any breaks in the armor, however, should be promptly patched up. The first novel of the late T. Adolphus Trollope was written in twenty-four* days in order to obtain the money to tgivehis wife a change of air ordered by he doctors. The Canadian Pacific's Atlantic steamer line will be put on duriu<r 1893.