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% ' * > I \ REV. DR. TALMAGE. / [THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUNDAY SERMON. Subject: "Unsafe Lifeboats.'" f Text t "Then the soldiers ait off the ropes of the boat and let her fall off."?Acts xxvii., 82. r While your faaesareyet somewhat bronzed (by attendance on the international boat con * ttest between the Vigilant and the Valkyrie I jaddressyou. * Good things when there is no (betting or dissipation, those outdoor sports. i"We want more fresh air and breeziness in our temperampnts and oar religion. A stale and slow and lugubrious religion may have <lone for other times, yet will not do for , t (these. But my text calls our attention to a Plboat of a different sort, and instead of the Atlantio it is the Mediterranean, and instead of not wind enough, as the crows of theVigilant and the Valkyrie the other day complained, there is too much wind and the swoop of a Euroclydon. > I am not calling your attention so much I to the famous ship on which Paul was the distinguished passenger, but to the lifeboat kbf that ship wnich so one seems to notice. (For a fortnight the main vessel had been J I xossea ana driven. for laac twu wnu, iud I account says, 'the pnssj&ers had "oontinI ued fasting." I supp4jff the salt rvater, [ dashing oyer, hod' spotted' the sea biscuit, and the passengers wqre seasick anyhow. ( The sailors said, "It is no use; this ship - . must go down." gu^^hey proposed among themselves to lo^^H) lifeboat and get into | It and take the c^^H for reaohing shore, although they pz^^Hd they were going to ' get over the sid^l^^B big ship and down Into the lifebar ,^^ko do sailors' duty. That was p -; \ ,e. for the sailors that I haveknowi, yJcll intrepid feiiows and would rathe3\ xdown with the ship than do such a mean tiling as those Jack Tars of my text attempted. When on the Mediterranean last Jane the ,Victoria sank under the ram of the Camperdown. the most majestic thing about that awful scene was that all the sailors staid at their posts doing their duty. As a olass all over the world sailors are valorous, but these Bailors of the text were exceptional ami pretended to do duty while they werereallv pre paring for flight in the lifeboat. Bat these ' marines" on board?sea soldiers?had in especial charge a little missionary who was . % turning the world upside down, and when these marines saw the trick the sailors were bout to play they lifted the cutlasses from tte girdle and chop! chop! went those cutK lasses into the ropes that held the lifeboat, \ and splash! it dropped into the sea. m I My text describes it, "The soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat and let her fall off." < I As that empty lifeboat dropped and was capsized on a sea where for two weeks winds and billows had been in battle I think that many on board the main vessel felt their last hope o f ever reaching home had vanished. In that tempestuous sea a small boat could not have lived five minutes. t My subject is "Unsafe Lifeboats." We * cannot exaggerate the importance of the 1 1 * 11 1 T.Inn ft] 11I6DOSC. All QUUUf iy iuo uioiawij v? Lukin, the coach builder of Long Acre, London, who invented the first lifeboat, and I do not blame him for ordering pat on nis tombstone in Kent the inscription that yon may Still read there: "This Lionel Lnnkin was the first who built a lifeboat and was the original inventor of that principle of safety by which many lives and much property have been preserved from shipwreck, and he obtained for it the king's patent in the year 1785." All honor to the memory of Sir William Hillary, who, living in the Isle of Man, and After assisting with his own hand in the rescue of 305 lives of the shipwrecked, stirred 4h? English Parliament to quick action in the construction of lifeboats. Thanks to God lor the sublime and pathetio and divine mission of the lifeboat. No one will doubt its Important mission who has read of the wreck of the Amazon in the Bay of Biscay, of the ' Tweed running on the reefs of the Gulf of Mexico, or of the Ocean Monarch on the Sast of Wales, or of the Birkenhead on the .pe of Good Hope, or of the Royal Charter on the coast of Angleson, or of the Exmouth on the Scotch breakers, or of the Cambria on the Irish coast, or of the Atlantic on the rocks of Nova Sootia, or of the Lexington on Long i ' Island Sound. To add still further to the importance of the lifeboat, remember there are at least 3,000,000 men following the ssa, to say nothing of the uncounted millions thi3 moment ocean passengers. We "land-lubbers," as sailors call us, may not know the difference between a marline spike and a ringbolt, or , anything about heaving a log, or rigging out a flying jibboom, or furling a topsail, but we all realize to greater or less extent the importance of a lifeboat In every marine equipment. . A But do we feel the Importance of a lifeboat In the matter of thesoul's rescue? ThereJire times when we all feel that we are out at sea, and as many disturbing and anxious questions strike us as waves struck that vessel against the sides of which the lifeboat of my - text dangled. Questions about the church. Questions about the world. Questions about God. Questions about our eternal destiny. Every thinking man and woman has these questions, and in proportion astneyareuuntinft people do these questions arise. There is no wrong in thinking. If God had not intended us to think and keep on thinking, He would not have built under this Iwheelfcouse of the skull this thinking machine, which halts not in its revolutions fr^m cradle to grave. Even the midnight does not stop the thinking machine, for when we are in dreams we are thinking, although we do not think as well. All of us who are accustomed to thinking want to reaoh some ?0Ud shore of safety and satisfaction, anil it any one has a good lifeboat that we qiay honorably take I wish he would unswin j ft ' from the davits and let us get into it and out tor the shore. k But I give you fair notice I mu3t first fxAmine the lifeboat before I risk my soul in it or advise you to risk your soul in It. All the eplendid Bamsgate lifeboats, and Margate ^ lifeboats, and- goath 'Shield lifeboats, a?d I American lifeWphtlQM tested before being I put into practical QMn to their buoyancy and speed and etowafft and sslf-righting cai parity. Aad offer myscui a lib* boat i must flr?i|^ Hera is a tfpMndfct Sew lifeboat called Theosophy. Ithaaoalytt little while beet launched, although aoma or the plants are realty several thoioKBid.jaiirs old. and from. ? worm eaten ship, lot Ihey are painted jover and look new. They are raally fatalism and pantheism of 61dea time. But we must) iforgot that and call them thfeosophy. The kJrace Darling of this lifeboat was an oarswoman by the naqjtfr Ot Mae. Blavatsky, jbut the oarswoman SOW to Aante Besant. Ho many are getting aboard the boat it is jworthy of examination, both because of the safety of those who haW wteicd it and because we ourselves are invited to get in. I Its theorj**Tb<u eve^thlagiaGod, Horsa and star and treo rad aaa^ U( parts of God. .We have three souls^-:ia animal soul, a human 30'i], a spiritual sooL Tha animal soul becomes, after awhile, a ?s2disfcg thing, trying to express itself through mediums. It enters beasts or enteMf a tmnttm being, and when you find an elTaraiaste man it is because a woman's soul hat got fcito th>i man, and when you 2nd a raaaenJUBewoman It is becauao 2 man's soul lias tafceejposseeaion of a woman'<; body. i , i If you 2nd ? woman has beaao&a a platform i cpeakor and lik?s politics, s'ue lepoeeeaied by | B (liWl paiUiClJU, n n?J iviijr the platform quake. The sou 1 keflps wan lor; 3 Ing ou mid on, and may htvo flftj oeJunu/ < iaera'olo different forms, and flntlly to nbjf sorbet in God. It wua God at the ftait and irlll be God at tho last. Bat who gives the (authority for the truth o! ouch a religion? Porno btinss living in a .".it-? in -'antral Asia. ,Tney are invisible to the nak? I efo, hot tkey cross coiitioonls raid so as ia v- Sas<k, . J My Ba-tiau brother I?r. HaldoqjMHK sa>* that"a theosoi-hiai ia Xctc York -ram vbited by one of tnese mysterious beings, from central Asia. The gentleman knew it from the fact that the mj-sterlous being" left hto :pocket handkerchief, embroidered with hit name and Asiatic residence. The mart UNCI* . derfnl achievement of the theo9opldrtS is that they keep out of the insano afyluin, I They prove the truth of the statement that 110 8 religion ever announced was so absuri bat Wk tt gained disciples. Societies in the United States and and other lands have been establlshe dtor the promulgation of theosophy. Instead,of needing the revelation of a Bible you MB lhave these spirits from a cave in central AtUf A*%11 mam All ?*An AnnVif frt onH afllif ,1V toil juu oil Jr vju uuijm w uiuit, I you leave this life you may become a prim* donna, or a robin, or a fjazelle, or a sot, OS 1 * prize fighter, or a Herod, or a Jezebei, anJM I so be enabled to have great variety of | 1 * :. . experience, rotating through the universe. now rising, now falling, now shot out in a straight line and now describing a parabola, and on and on. and up and up, and down and down, and round and round. Don't you see? Now, that theosophio lifeboat has been launched. It proposes to take you off the rough sea of doubt into everlasting quietude. How do you like the lifeboat? My opinion is you had better imitate toe mariners of my text and cut off the ropes of that boat and let her fall off. Anotner iireDoar tempting as iu uuioi ? made of many planks of good works. It is really a beautiful boat?almsgiving, Dractlcal sympathies for human suffering, righteous words and righteous deeds. I must admit I like the looks of the prow, and of the rowlocks and of the paddles, and of the steering gear, and of many who are thinking to trust themselves on her benches. But the trouble about that lifeboat is it leaks. I never knew a man yet good enough to earn heaven by his virtues or generosities. If there be one person here present on this blessed Sabbath all of whose thoughts have been always right, all of whose actions have always been right,and all of whose words have always been right, let him stand up, or if already standing let him lift his hand, and I will knojv that he lies. Paul had it about right when he said, "By the deeds of the law shall no flesh living be justified." David had It about right when he said, "There is none that doeth good, no not one." The old hook had it about right when it . - " _? * - - J A# +V A sold, "Ail nave sinnea &aa cuuie suwi mo glory of God." Let a man get off that little Rteamer called The Maid of the Mist, which sails up to the foot of Niagara lEaills, and then climb to thetop of the falls onth'e descending floods, for he can do It easier than any man aver will be able to climb to heaven by his good works. If your thoughts hare always been exactly right, and your words exactly right, and your dfeeds always exactly right, you can go up to the gate of hejaven, and you need not even knock tor admittance, but open it yourself and push the angels oat of your way and go up and take one of the front seats. But you would be so unlike any one else that has gone up from this world that you would be a curiosity in heaven and more fit for a heavenly museum than for a place where the inhabitants could look at you free of charge. No, sir, I admire your good works, andtha lifeboat you are thinking of trusting in is handsomer than any yawl or pinnace or yacht or cutter that eyer sped out of a boathouse or hoisted sallforarace. But she leaks. Trust your soul in that, and you will go to the bottom. She leaks. So I imitate the mariners of the text, and with a cutlass strike the ropes of the boat and let her fall of. Another lifeboat is ^Christian Inconsistencies. The ..plAoks *>f this boat are j composed of the split planks of shtpwreoks. 1 That prow is made out at hypoorisy from f thn liffl of a man who professed one thing and really was another, pne oar of this lifeboat was the falsehood Ol a church mem- ' ber, and the other bar waai tho wiokedness of some minister ot'lhe Gospel, whose iniquities were not (or d long while found out. Not one plank' from the oak of God's eternal truth in .'all that lifeboat. All the planks,, by universal admission, are decayed and crumbling and fallen apart and rotten and ready to sink. "Well, well," you say, *'no one will want to get info that lifeboat." Ob, my friend, you are mistaken. That is the most popular lifeboat eieer constructed. That is the most popular pfeboat ever launched. Millions of people Tfant to get into it. They jostle esoh other to get the best seat in the boat. You could not keep them back though you stood at the gunwales with a club, as on our ship Greece in a hurricane, and the steerage passengers were determined to come up on deck, where they would have been washed off, and the officers stood at the top of the stairs clubbing them back. Even by such violenoe as that you couid not keep people from jumping into the most popular lifeboat,made of church member inconsistencies. In times of revival when sinners flock into the inquiry room the most of them are kept from deciding aright because they know ao many Christians who are bad. The Inquiry room beoomes a World's Fair for exhibition of all the frailties ot church members, so that if you believe all is there told you you would be afraid to enter a church lest you get your pockets picked or got knocked down. This is the way thev talk : "I was cheated out of $500 by a leader of a Bible class." "A Sunday-school teacher gossiped about me and did her best to destroy my good name." "I had a partner in business who swamped our business concern by his trickery and then rolled up his eyes In Friday night prayer meeting, as though he were looking for Elijah's chariot to make a second trip and take up another passenger." But what a cracked and water logged and gaping seamed lifeboat the inconsistencies of others! Put me on a shingle mid-Atlantic and leave me there rather than in such a yawl of spiritual confidence. God forbid that I should get aboard it, and lest some of you make the mistake of getting into it I do as the mariners did on that Mediterranean ship when the sailors were about to get into the unsafe lifeboat of the text and lose their lives in that way. "Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat and let her fall off." Well," says some one, "this subject is very discouraging, for we must have a lifeboat if wo are ever to get ashore, and you have already condemned three." Ah. it is because I want to persuade you to take the only safe lifeboat. I will not allow you te bo deceived and get on to the wild waves and then capsize or sink. Thank God, there is a lifeboat that will take you ashore in safety, as sure as God is God and heaven is hoaven. The keel and ribs of this boat are made out of a tree that was sot up on a bluff book Of Jerusalem a good many ydars ago. Both of the oars are made out of the same tree. Tae rowlocks are made.out ot the same tree, 'fie sieoxiig gear is made one of the same trte. The planks of it were hammered together by the hammers of executioners who thought tbey were only killing a Christ, but weie really pounding together an escape for oil WnaviUH ormla r\t all acfPa , a" fmyoiu^u OVMIU v* It is an old boat, but good as new, though (t fa? been carrying passengers from sinking Bhlpt to firm shore for ages and has never losr 4 passenger. These old Christians begin to armle because it iq dawning upon them whattl mean. The fact is that in this way yearspgo they got off a wreck themselves, and Ino not wonder they smile. It is not a eensokss giggle that means frivolity, but it is a si ile like that on the face of Christians the m|hnent they leave earth for heaven? ?ea, like the smilo of Ood Himself when He ad completed the plan for saving the world. RigbJ after that big tumble of the Atlantia Ocean or seven weeks ago on the beach at EastiHampton I met the captain of the "* ? ?*? ?J/1 (trianfafn H n Uie SilVllJJ' BIBUUU ouu nuu, vuftiu-. you tliiik a lifeboat coald live in a sea like that?" (Although the worst of it was over, the captiiu replied, "No, I do not think it could"! But this lifeboat of which I speak can livetin any sea and defies oil breakers, and ail qyclones, and all equinoxes, and all earth, and all hell. In twenty years the life Saving a' paratus along our Atlantic coast saved th lives of over 45,000 of the shipwrecked but this lifeboat that I commend has s&vei <n twenty years hundreds of millions of t 0 shipwrecked. Like those newly invented Snglish lifeboats, it is u'nsubmergible, self ighting and self bailing. All aloi j our ronkv American coast things were left to chance for centuries, and the shiDwrec! e d crawled up ou the beach to die unless so ie one happened to walk along or some fish rman's hut might be near. 'But after th? ship Ayrshire w?jb wrecked at I Squan Belch, and the Powhattan left her 300 I dead stravn alonjj our coast, and another vessel weijt on the rocks, 400 lives perishing, the UnitedStates Government woiceuD ana made an appropriation of $200,000 for lifo Etatidas, and life lines from faking box are shot over the wild surf, and hawsers ars stretched from wreck to siore and what with Lylos's pun I and six oared surfhoat.with cork at the sides I to make it unsinkable, and patrolmen all I night long walking the beach until they meet each other and excbango metal tickets, so as I to show the entire beach has been traversod, and the Coeton light flashes hope from shore to sufferer, and surfmen, incased in Merriman life saving dress, and life car rolling on 1 the ropes, there are many probabilities o [ rescue for the unfortunate of the sea. But f the government of the united heavens tias inade better provision for the rescue of our ;^ouls. So close by that this moment wo can put our hand on its top and swing into it is t^i3 gospel lifeboat. It will not take you xapre than a second to get into it. "But while in my text we stand watching tfef marines with their cutlasses, preparing to iever the ropes of the lifeboat and let her f?Ilx>?r. notice the poor equipment. Only OJ^ lifeboat. Two hundred and seventy-six pcfeengers, as Paul counted them, and only Qtflijifeboat. Mytextuses the singular and not Mjftwural, "Cut off the ropes of the boat." :?sMk>t suppose it would have held more tShbi'I' ^ P60^9' loaded to the ' ' v . I think by marine law all onr modern ves[ sels have enough lifeboats to hold all the crew and all the passengers in case of emergency, but the marines of my text were standing by the only boat, and that a small boat, and yet 276 passengers. But what thrills me through and through is the fact that though we are wrecked by sin and trouble and there is only ono lifeboat, that boat is large enousrh to hold all who are willing to get into it. The gospel hymn expresses it: All m?v come, whoever will; This Man receives poor sinners still. | But I must haul in that statement a llftla. | Room for all In that lifeboat, with just one exception. Not you?I do not mean you, but | there is one exoeption. There have been cases where ships were in trouble, and the captain got all the passengers and crew into the lifeboats, but there was not room for the captain. He, through the sea trumpet, shouted : "Shove off now and pull for the beach. Good-by!" And then the captain, with pathetio and sublime self-sacrifice, went down with the ship. So the Captain of our salvation, Christ the Lord, launches the gospel lifeboat and tells us all to get in, but He perishes. "It behooved Christ to suffer." Was it not so, ye who witnessed His agonizin? expiration? Simon of Cyrene, was it not so? Cavalry troops, whose horses pawed the dust at the oruoiflxion, was it not so? Ye Marys who swooned away with the sun of the midday heavens, was it not so? "By His stripes we are healod." By His death * ' ?- xt-_ -J we live. By Hia smiung in me uot>j^ scu suffering we get off in a safe lifeboat. Ybs, we must put Into this story a little of our own personality. We had a ride in that very lifeboat from foundered craft to solid bore. Once on the raging: mm I rowed. The storm was 1 ud; the night was dark The ocean yawned and rudely blow'.l The wina that tos3ed my toundering bark. But I got Into the gospel lifebout and I got ashore. No religious speculation for me. These higher criticism fellows do not bother me a bit. You may ask me fifty questions about the sea, and about the land, and about the lifeboat that I cannot answer, but one thing I know, I am ashore, and I am going to stay ashore, if the Lord by His grace will help me. I feel under me something so firm that I try it with my right foot, and try it with my left foot, and then I try it with both feet, and it is so solid that I think it must be what the old folks used to call the Rock of Ages. And be my remaining days on earth many or few I am going to spend my time in reaommending the lifeboat which fetched me here, a poor sinner saved by grace, and in swinging the cutlasses to sever the ropes of any unsafe lifeboat and let her fall off. My hearer, without asking any questions, get, into the gospel lifeboat. Room! and yet }tnere is room! The biggest boat on earth is the gospel lifeboat. You must remember the proportion of things, and that the shipwrecked . craft Is the whole earth, and the lifeboat must be in proportion. You talk about your Campanias, and your | Lucanias, and jour Majesties, and your City of New Yorks, but all of them put together are smaller than an Indian's canoe on Sohroon Lake compared with this gospel lifeboat that is large enough to take in all Nations. Boom for one and room for alL Get in! "How? . How?" you ask. Well, I know how you feel, for summer before last on the sea ot Finland I had the same experience. The ship in which we saifed could not venture nearer than a mile from shore, where stood the Russian palace ot Peterdf, and we had to get into a small boat and be rowed ashore. The water was rough, and as we went down the ladder at the side of the ship we held firmly on to the railing, but in order to get into the boat we had at last to let go. How did I know that the boat was good and that the oarsmen were sufficient? How did I know that the Finland Sea would not swallow us with one opening of its crystal jaws? We had to trust, and we did trust, and our trust wes well rewarded. In the same way get into this gospel lifeboat. Let aa! As lone as you hold on to any othei hope you are imperiled, and you get no advantage from the lifeboat. Let go! Dees some one here say, "I guess I will hold on a little to my good works, or to a pious parentage, or to something I ban do in the way ol achieving my own salvation." No, no, let go 1 Trust the Captain, who would not put you into a rickety or uncertain craft. For the sake of your present and everlasting wellaro, with all the urgenoy of an immortal addressing immortals, I cry from the depths of my soul and at the top of my voice, Let go! Last stfmmer the life saving crew nt East Hampton invited me to cotoie up to tho life station and see the crew practice, for twice a week they are drilled in the important work assigned them by the United States Government, and they go through all the routine of saving the shipwrecked. But that would give little idea of what they would have to do if some midnight next winter, the wind driving beachwsrd, a vessel should get in the grasp of a hurricane. Seo the lights lJare from the sliip in the breakers, and then responding lights flaring from the beach, and hear tho rockets buz: as they rise, and the lifeboat rumbles out, and the gun booms, and the life line rises and falls across the splintered decks, and the hawser tightens, and the lif* oar goes to and fro, carrying the exhausted mariners, and tho ocean, as if angered by the snatching of the human prey from the white teeth ot its surf and the stroke of its billowing paw, rises with increased fury to assail the land. So * ?j nronH^. now l am en^ngeu iu uu ubuL t? ing for what may come over some of your | souls. It is with some of you wintry midnight, and your hopes for this world and the next ure wrecked. But see! See! The lights kindled on the beach! I throw out the life line. Haul in. hand over band! Ah, thero is a lifeboat in the surf, which all the wrath of earth and hell cannot swamp, and its Captain with scarred hand puts the trumpot to His lips as He cries. "Oh, Israel, thou hast destroyed thyeelf.Jjut In Me is thy help." But what is the usoljrf all this if you decline to get into it? 'You might as well have been a sailor oa board that foundering ship of th? Mediterranean when the mariners cut the ropes of thoboat and let her fall oil A Lesson in Science. At. nnfl bov on Catherine street knows more about electricity and the trolley than he did and so does his 'father. The other evening the boy was out in front of his home, which is not far from Broad Btreet, preparing to sprinkle the street and cool off the pavement. The nice, black, shiny hose had juBt been bought, and it was his first experience at the job. He unrolled the hose, coupled it on and turned on the water. First he sprinkled the pavement liberally, and felt grateful at the coolness which seemed to pervade the atmosphere. Then he sprinkled the street until tho dust was all mud and the water was trickling in streams into the erutters. Still he kept up the good work' and papa came out, lighted a cigar and sat down upon the steps to see Johnny do his work. Then mamma came out, too, and the neighbors who were across the street admired the family group. After wetting down the street and everything else in reach, Johnny looked around for more worlds to conquer. Suddenly he glanced upward and his eyes rested on the shining trolley wire which stretched away in the distance. It looked rather hot, and he concluded to sprinkle it as uu evidence of good faith. Without consulting papa lie turned the hose on the trolley wire und struck it fair with a nice, pluinp, strong stream of water, ivhiln Iip. held the nozzlo of the hose the bettor to direct the stream. Then Johnny was struck by the current of electricity which flew down the stream to meet him. He dropped to the sidewalk and the hoBC turned loose, sprinkling papa and mamma well before they could escapc. Then the admiring neighbors laughed and papa grabbed Johnny, lugged him into the shed and paddled him with a shingle, after which he delivered a lecture on electricity and the dangers of the trolley. Then j bo fondled Johnny again with a trunk strap and put a dry suit of clothes onj j himself. ?Philadelphia Call. RELIGIOUS READING. I.IXITED USES OF ZIOV E7. A great many of our business men are tompted to put the attainment of money above the value of the soul. It is a grand thing to have plenty of money. The more you get of it tho better, if it come honestly and go usefully. For the la?k of it sickness dies without medicine, and hunger finds its coffin in the empty bread tray, and nakedness shivers for want of clothes and fire. When I hear a man in canting tirade against money?a Christian man?a<> though it had no possum* use on earin, anu ae uuii uu luiwcst in it, I come almost near thinking that tho heaven that would bo appropriate for him would be an everlasting poorhouse! While, my friends, wo do admit there Is such a thing as a lawful use of money?a profitable use of money?let us recognize also the fact that money cannot satisfy a man's soul; that it cannot glitter in tho dark valle^; that it cannot pay our fare across tho Jordan of death; that it cannot unlock tho gate of heaven. There are men in all occupations who seem to act as though they thought a pack of bonds and mortgages could be traded oiT for a title to heaven and as though gold would be a lawful tender in that place where it is so common that they make pavements out of it. Salvation by Christ is the only salvation. Treasures in heaven are tho only incorruptible treasures. Havo you over ciphered out in the rule of loss and gain. "What shall it profit a man if he train the whole world and lose his soul?" However Quo your apparel the winds of death will flutter it likn rags. -Homespun and a threadbare coat have sometimes been the shadow of coming robes made white in tho blood of the Lainb. The pearl of great price is worth more thau any gem you can bring from the ocean, than Australian or Brazilian mines strung in one oarcanot. Seek after God; find his righteousness, and ail shall bo well here: all shall bu well hereafter. DUTY- TO ONE'S FAMILY A man has more responsibilities than those which are discharged by putting competent instructors over his children and giving them a drawing master and music teacher. The physical culture of the child will not be attended to unless the father looks to it. Ho must sometimes lose his dignity. He must unlimber his joints. He must sometimes lead them out to their sports and games. The parent who canuot forget the severe duties of life sometimes?to fly the kite and trundle the hoop and chase the ball and jump tho rope with the children?ought never to have been tempted out of a crusty and unredeemable solitariness. If you want to keep your children away from places of sin, you can only do it by making your homo attractive. You may preach sermons and advocate reforms and denounce wickedness, and yet your children will be captivated by the glittering saloon of sin unless you can "make your home abrightor place than any other place on earth to them. Oh, gather ail cnarms in o your uumc. xi juu can afford it, bring books and pictures and cheerful entertainments to the household. But. above all, teach those children, not by hair an hour twice a year on the Sabbath day, but day after day, and every day teach them that religion is a great gladness that .throws chains of gold about tho nock; that it takes no spring from the foot, no blitheness from the heart, no sparkle from the eye, no ring from the laughter, but that "her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." I sympathize with the work being done in many of our cities by which beautiful rooms are set apart by our Young Men's Christian Association, and I pray God to prosper them in all things. But I tell you there is something back of that and before that We need more happy, consecrated, cheerful Christian homes in America. MUTUAL 8EBVICH. A switchman in giving an account of his conversion said: ^'I was signalman at tho A Junction. Uliu uuy, just ?o x Iiau oiQnalled 'clear,' and tho express was coming up at full speed, I was horror-struck at seeing a gentleman about to cross the line. I rushed to the door, and shoutod with all my might, without attracting his Attention. In a frenzy I blew my whistle: this he beard, saw his danger, gave a spring, and just cleared the rails as the express thundered past. He then came up to the signal-box to thank me for having saved his life. 'You have had a very narrow escape,' I said, 'another moment, and what then?' A smiie lit up the gentleman's face as he replied, 'I. should have been in glory now.' and then' putting his hand on my shoulder, ho inquired, 'Suppose you were suddenly cut down, would it be glory for you,' 'No, sir. I said. 'I'm afraid not.' He stayed and talked with me, and hescjmed so happy and so sure tout it would iiavo ooen all right with him if he had been killed that I envl*3d him and I told him I wished I was like that. In my business wo generally go ofT suddenly, and I knew there would be no time to do anything when tho end came. He explained to me what I ought to do and the first minute I had to spare I threw myself on my knees, confessed my sins, and cried to God for salvation. He hoard my prayer. I rose from my knees a saved man, and since then my life has been a new thing. I am trusting in Christ, and when my time comes I shall go to be with Him. The gentleman always drops into my box when he is near and thanks me for saving his life that day. but I won't admit it What was that servico compared with what he did for me in setting me seeking eternal life?"?[Christian Herald. WHAT YOO CAN DO. You cannot set the world right or the times, but you can dosomething for the truth, and all you can do will certainly tell if the work you do is for the Master, who gives you your share, and so the harden of responsibility is lifted off. This assurance makes perfect satisfaction and repose possible even in the partial work done upon the earth. Go to the mon nrhfi i9 carrincr a stone for a building; oak him where is that stone going, to what part of the templ^. and how is he going to get it into place, and what does he doV He points you to the builder's plans. This is only one stone of many. So when men shall ask whore and how is your little achievement going into God's plan, point them to your Muster, who keeps the plans, and then go on doing your little service as faithfully a? if the whole temple were yours to build.?[Phillips Brooks. a soldier's faith. In the United Service Magazine. Lord Wolseley, who had served on his staff, thus speaks of the religiou i faith of General Sir Hope Grant: '*H:s religion influenced all he did. His Maker was always uppermost in his mind, and to him he couflded his cares, troubles and difficulties, and to Him he n* nil Hmni /in<l nnrlop all eiretim stances for a way out of them. His trust was indeed in God, and I very much doubt if any man. even Abraham himself, ever had- a more eom[ lete or practical faith in the Almighty." , When, upon his deathbed, he saw an aid-de-camp break down and burst into tears he said: "What's tho matter, Bobby! Why, death is only like going from one room into another." A little stir and all is over! Behold yon bravo old oak in tho meadows; of what goodI ly stature! how strong and lasting! how indispensable to the landscape! Hew it down and how empty the sky! Yet in a few days, the evo growing accustomed to tho changed aspect of the field, tho oak is not missed? the landscapo is as perfect as before. Thus the proud one of the world passeth ; tho little gap that his late presence filled eloseth forever; and his niune becoineth a memory. Dear God! and is this all of lifer ?[J- T. Trowbridge. Atter Tjong Years. j Albert Joues, a farmer living near Grandview, Texas, was woundod in the leg at the battle of Chickaaiauga nearly thirty years ago. Thp wound has given him no inconvenience until within the last twelve months, and a few days ago it was found necessary to amputate the limb. The bullet was found imbedded in the bone. A large forgotten reservoir waa tapped in Lockport, N. Y., the other day by workingmen who were excavating for a foundation. It beionged to a system of water works abandoned many years ago. - .. . . " v- -. V' ; . - ' ' SABBATH SCHOOL. INTERNATIONAL LESSON FOB NOVEMBER 12. Lesson Text: "The Grace of Liberality,'^ Cor. vili., 1-12?Golden Text: 2 Cor. viil., 9 ?Commentary. 1. "Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit (make known to you) of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia." Phillippi, Thessaloniea and other places in Macedonia were ino nrer in Europe 10 near the gospel through Paul (Acts xvi.. 9, 12, xvii., 1). These churches became noted for their faith and works (I Thess. L, 3, 8 ; Phil, iv., 15, 16). And.Paul loved to tell of every manifestation of the grace of God that thus others might be quickened to works of faith and labors of love and patience of hope in our Lord.Jesus Christ. As to his own abundant labors he credited all to the grace of God (I Cor. xv., 10). "How that in a great trial of affliction tho abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality." At Thessalonica they received the word in much affliction, but with joy of the Holy Ghost. It was there that Paul wrought night and day for his own support that he might be no burden to them (I Thess. i.. 6 ; ii., 9), yet they managed out of their poverty to do much for others, and this self denying work the Lord greatly appreciates. He said of the widow who gave the two mites, "She of her want did cast in all that she had" (Mark xii.. 44). 3. "For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power, they were willing of themselve?." There are still those who seem to go beyond their power in the matter of giving; but, oh. how very few! If half the members of our churches would give as they are able, what an abundance there would be for the work of tho Lord! When the love of Christ constrains one (II Cor. v., 14)?thHt is, takes possession of one as a fever doesit will not be a question of how little service we can render and yet reach heaven, but rather a question of how much use we can be to Him this little while. "Praying us with much entreaty that we would receive the gift and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saint3." It is not usual to have gifts for the Lord's poor pressed upon you and be uged to please pass thi9 ?5 or ?10 or $20 on to some needy ones. I myself have the^privliege of being a channel for thousands of dollars annuallyto foreign missions, out no one needs to entreat me?I enjoy the service. 5. "And this thej* did. not as wehoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God." It is to be feared that there are many who receive Christ as their Saviour (John i., 12) who ,<Jo not accept Him as their Lord and Master. They do not present their bodies unto Him as a living sacrifice that He may conform their lives to His own (Rom. xii., 1, 2). Yet anything less than this is a failure in Christian livingy 6. "Insomuch that we desired Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also finish in you the same grace also." While "it is God who worketh" (Phil, ii., 13) He is graciously pleased to use the earthen vessels that it may be more clearly manifest that the excellency oi me power is an 01 mmseu uor. iv., i; I Cor. xv., 10). Philip was the ves3el to the Samaritans and to the eunuch, Peter to Cornelius. aud in this case Titus to Corinth. 7 "Therefore as ye abound in everything, in faith and utterance and knowledge and in all diligence, and in yotir love to ua, see that ye abound In this grace also." Ih his first epistle he taught them to abound in the work of thffLord (I Cor. xv.. 58). Now he exhorts them to abound in giving. It seems to require exceeding abundant fjrace with some to develop this gmce of giving, but it is true, as in all else, that His grace is sufficient (chapter xii., 9). 8. "I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others and to prove the sincerity of your love." We can Erove the reality of our faith and love only y our works, and there is no use in saying that we love God whom we have not seen if we love not our brothor whom we have seen (I John iv.. 20; Jas. ii., 26). The Saviour's command is tbat we love one another as He loved us (John xv., 12). 9. "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich." Here is the word that captivates; here is the love that constraineth. Consider the riches in trlorv of the Lord Jesus which He had with the Father before the world was (John xvij., 5). Think of His emptying Himself of all that and humbling Himself to Bethlehem and Nazareth and Gethsemnne and Calvary (Phil, ii., 7, 8, R. V.). Hear Him say, ''If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me" (Math, xvi., 24) ;then hear Him tell His Father that He has given His glory to all His followers, and He wants them to see and enjoy it (John xvii., 22. 24), and If it does not make you want to give all you are and have wholly up to Him for His service it must be that you do not believe the facts. 10. "And herein I give my advice, for this is expedient for you who have begun before, not only to do, but also to be forward a year ago." In chapter ix., 2, He also speaks of their zeal of a year ago, the mention of which had stirred many, and now He sends the brethren to receive their promised bounty, inciting them by many words to manifest their thankfulness to God by their ministration to the saints and keeping before them the love of God In the unspeaKable gift of His dear Son (chapter ix, 12, 15). 11. "Now. therefore, perform the doing of it. that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have." When God works, He works both to will and to do. When we have the will and the wherewithal, there must surely be a performance; otherwise the will Is really not there, and what seems a willingness is merely a word of mouth without any heart to it. "Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only deceiving your ownseivee. 12. "For if there be first a willlng mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath and not according to that he hath not." There is no use wasting breath in telling what wa would do If we couid. for God only asks u willing mind to do what we can. If It shall be said of us that we did what we could (Mark xiv., 8), we can ask no highei commendation. As to the willing mind and offering read Ex. xxv., 2, xxxv., 21. 22. 29; IChron. xxix.. 9. Then remember that "God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that ye always having all sufficiency in all things may abound to every good work" (chapter ix., 8). It is not a question of what we can or cannot do, but n question of what God can do through us wtien we are willing to let Him.?Lesson Helper. Tlic Louisiana Rice Crop. As a result of n severe, almost unbroken drought during the growing pcnoa, tnousanda upon thousands of acres in the southwestern parishes of Louisiana have practically lost their rieo crops. There are exceptional instances where, through sufficient rainfall or because of provision being made against possible lack of moisture by the laying aside of water reserves or pumping, fair crops are acknowledged : out even including these, many claim that the outcome will not be over one-fifth that of last year. This estimate, as we gather, applies only to the Calcasieu region ;still, as it contributed over four-fifths of the previous crop, tne total outcome of the present year in Louisiana, at above ratio, is not likely to be more than 750.000 sacks. as against 2.000,000 in 189*2, and 1.000.000 in 18.01. The shrinkage is appalling. and cannot fail to seriously affect both individual and corporate interests in that part of the State, as well as the milling interests of th*? city of New Orleans, to which nearly nine-fnths of the proju-t is sent to be cleaned and distributed. t<i,? n.iunnl- in ( rfniniv anvthing bat cheering for the various cluneal forces which wait upon and earn their livelihood out of this particular agricultural product. The factor, broker and merchant will Had that the ills of the planters are. to a considerable extent, theirs. The marvelous expansion of the crop last year had excited even greater expectations from the present one. and its failure excites apprehension as to the full effect upon co-ordinate branches of business. As quite general in other parts of the South, credit enters largely into the making of the crop. The local or commission merchant furnishes supplies, and often money, for which he is reimbursed out of the crop when made. This year four-tlfths, It is said, make no crop, and what becomes of the "advances made on wind, sunshine and rain?" Again, as above suggested, there had been a looking forward to and preparation made for the handling of a great crop. .<<>,. :{>i. . -V . v- ?V . , " ' ' ;'r' . r:: | AGRICULTURAL TOPICS OF INTEREST RELATIVE TO FARM AND GARDEN CTJLLTSO OUT ANIMALS. It is true that all unprofitable animals should be culled out at this season of the year and sent to the "Knf it ??11 M ) WUU 1U UUCO UUl l?aJ ViJ ocu them just as they are. No matter how poor the cattle may be, they will improve with feeding. The flocks should be weeded out, and those intended for the butch 3r should be fed fattening rations for a few weeks. A little forcing in this way will make very light cattle take on considerable flesh, and by the time they are ready for selling they will bring ten per cent, more than if sold when first separated from the others.?New York Independent. IMPORTANCE OF THOBOUGHLY CLEANED SEED It takes but a little while longer to run the seed grain through the fanning-mill a second time, and those who have not tried it will be surprised at the amount of foul stuff and light grain that will be cleaned out. The light grain and small kernels are far better for feedinsr purposes than for sowing with the expectation that they will give as great an increase as tho kernel that is plump and well matured A safe rule to go by in cleaning seed grain is to use a little coarser screen, that all the small kernels may bo taken oat, and ran thd mill at a little highe;: speed than asaal that all light and. false kernels may be blown out. Of course none of this refuse grain is lost, but may be used for feeding chickens or other animals. Guard particularly against sowing weed seed of any kind Better go twenty miles after pure, clean seed than sow seed contaminated with foal stuff.?American Agriculturist. I EGOS FOB MARKET. It is universally conceded that It pays to sort and pack carefully all fruit intended for market, but many persons are under the impression that when it comes to eggs this care is unnecessary. As long as the eggs are not broken they imagine nothing else mattorn They never madu a bigger mistake. To sell well all kinds of food mast be tempting to the eye. Cleanliness is the first thing to be considered, and for this reason many of the eggs mast be washed. The next point is the uniformity of color, which is attained by keeping certain breeds that lay eggs of the same color. In this connection it is well to find out the color in demand, as 6ome markets require brown eggs, while in others the white are preferred. Finally, the eggs should be sorted according to size. All housekeepers feel themselves cheated if they find on a or more small eggs among their pur. chases. For this reason small eggs should not be mixed with those of the usual size. On the other hand, uncommonly large ones should also <be laid aside. They are equally objectionable, as they tend to make the others appear small by comparison. Attention to all these points pays in the long run.?New York World. WIHTEK STORAGE OF FABM IMPLEMENTS. Upon storing farm implements in proper condition depends, in no small degree, the success of farming, writes J. M. Stalil, of Illinois, The man who provides a dry, airy shelter for farm tools and machines, and pats them in it when they are not in use, has done a wise and profitable thing; but he may have done only half of what he might and should do for the preservation and good work of his tools and machines. He should also put the tools and machines away in good condition. This includes freedom from dirt. The plow, for example, put away coated with ,mud will rust and rot, though in good shelter; and such a coating is yet njore harmful to the delicate parts of machines. Though bright and steel surfaces are clean they will probably rust unless coated with oil in some form; and to be sure that even clean wood does not rot one must coat it with paint or oil. For coating metal surfaces coal oil or beef tallow is good. Of course tlie tallow should be applied in a liquid condition. It will pay to coat rough but unpainted metal surfaces as well as polished ones, For farm tools and machines mineral paint is better than artificial pigments, and brown mineral paint is very cheap indeed. Anyone ought to be able to mix it?use only boiled linseed oil, and the best is certainly the cheapest; or one can buy ready-mixed paints of good quality at reasonable prices. One should have two brushes?a large one for ordinary surfaces and a small one for narrow surfaces or small corners. It is advisable to put away all tools and machines in condition for work?plows, hoes, harrows or sickles, sharp and with all breaks repaired and weak parts strengthened. There will be more time for this at the close than at the beginning of the season's work ; ana taen one nas toe comionmg assurance that as soon as the season permits he may begin work. When one puts away the implements just as they leave the field, it is often found that it has been forgotton that some must be mended and others sharpened, and this is not recollected until they are brought out for work; then valuable time must be lo6t in going to the blacksmith. ' WHY THE APPLE CROP PAHA I do not remember when there has been such a scarcity of apples at this season of the year as there is now. There are very few farmers, if any, that have had apples to put up. What j has caused this scarcity ? I believe j neglect of the owner is the main cause. | I have been observing the orchards in I this vicinity as well as my own audsee | none xnat nave nan a goou, square meal given them in several years, and many never had one in all their existence. To wash fruit trees is a practice little known among farmers. In seeking out the prime cause of insects injuring trees and destroying so much fruit, I believe it is starvation. This causes limbs to die through the top, and the bark to scale on the truuks and thus make dens in which insects deposit their eggs. When hatched the young penetrate the bodies of the trees and spread over taem, destroying leaves and injuring the fruit, causing it to fall iminaturely. _ J . '' ' * : .x *vJ . In mo.st orchards some trees a?ff more favored than others and these are the ones that give the most and' best fruit. Two row? of my trees runup to a tobacco barn, and the nearer the barn the finer the tree. While the trees have been pruned several! times of d ead and useless limbs, yet I have not washed them lor several years, and I find the trunks are scaly up to the branches and many of the branches particularly so. Now I need) not expect fine, profitable crops of fruit from these trees if not betteti cared for. i I have some young peach trees and ft Le Conte pear growing ip a poultry yard where the soil is rich aud covered with a fins sod. The trees have been well cultivated the past two years, well headed in and are now quite , v. & stocky, the trunks smooth and their' twigs indicating health and vigor. An-! other very important item in securing! good crops o! choice fruit, which i seldom practised, especially by thej general farmer, is thinning t^he fruit) while growing on the tree. Nature} , perpetuates all fruits by the production of seed. The maturing of these1 makes the heaviest drain on the vital energies of the tree. Thinning the fruit lessens the number of seeds to be ripened by the tree and therefore increases its vigor. Judioious thinning improves the quantity, quality and general appearance, and is also? great protection against disease of the tree . , and fruit. * The demand for strictly prime fruit is muoh greater than the supply, and those who produce the 7 best are always sure of obtaining the highest price.?New England Homestead: 1v ' - fc,-i B ? ' FARM AND GARDEN NOTES. Don't waste the eggshells. Is the binder under shelter? V. Glean np and paint the machines.^ " % Tall grass is objectionable in a sheep pasture. ; A wise farmer puts his tools in order on rainy days. I Look well to the fences between the pasture and cornfield. I Plow round the stacks in' the field, . or back fire from them. Clean sand will go a good way in' keeping the quarters clean. ( If butter is underworked it will be striped; if oyer worked it will look like lard. j. When the cat and the chickens lie down together, the ohicken takes that inside place. ' { * It is said that wood ashed and salt fed to cattle will .prevent clover and' alfalfa bloat. j Enough poultry should be kept oxr every farm to pick up whatever wouldt otherwise go to waste. I ' ! I '/v'vfi When two vessels of ripening cream ? ? . < t x ... 1 \i are poured togetner oe careiui u> mix; thoroughly by stirring. I It is claimed that roofing felt is ex-j cellent in poultry-houaes, as the tar odor keeps vermin away. I A warm, comfortable house is appreciated by the hen, who reciprocatea| with a good eupply of eggs. | The last eggs of a hen's clutch are not considered nearly as fertile as the) first, nor are the chicks as strong or healthy. J If you do not know what color to: paint the wagon and machinery, give! them a coat of linseed oil?that is tho) preserving part of paint. Make all the hay and save all thai hah nan Tt Inrtlra as if th?n>a. would be a demand for A1 hay. fo*! * shipment across the sea. i The time between harvesting thai small grain and corn cutting may bef well used in plowing. Done early itj prevents many weeds' from going to' , f The production of choice mutton, j with the secondary profits of wool,! . manure and fertilizers, is the best ' ^ source of profit of the most successful! English farmers. } Feather-pulling is the way the hem. put into practice the old saying: ' 'Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do." If for hands you read1 hens, you can understand the situation1 at once. I When you dig the potatoes there will be some that are too small for market. Don't make your wife ua? these up at home but boil them in a; big kettle out in the yard and feed) them, mashed with milk, to the calves.. They will pay you as well for them a* will any of the stock. Some men keep sheep in pasture? where there is scant water supply because they think these animals do not need water as much as other stock. It is perhaps needless to say that t-hej are not the ones who make a brilliant ' success of the sheep business. Sheep need water in their pastures and com- ~ mon sense in their management. A good team of mares is never out of place on the farm. They will da the work up in good shape, and if you' are wise in the selection of the stallioni and in the time of breeding they will' give you two good colts each year without much interference with the work J of the fields. Don't think that any sort will do, but have good ones, that will do their share toward producing: valuable colts. r-' A Remarkable Life History. Herman Kreismann, of Berlin, Germany, is a remarkable man. He is now President of the famous tramway corporation of that city, the biggest institution of its kind in Europe, carrying as it does 170,000,000 people ? year. When an infant his parents, i who were not well-to-do, brought him i to this country and settled in Chicago.' His father was a mechanic and brought his son up well. Ho got a good eda cation unci studied for the Bar, to which he was filially admitted. For three years he was city clerk of Chicago, and in 1861 he was made Secretary of the American Legation at Berlin. From this position President U.,' S. Grant promoted him to the consulship at Berlin and shortly afterward1 to the Consul Generalship of that city. The strangest part of Mr. Kreismann'a career is that he still retains his citizenship of the United States after an absence of thirty-two years, although ooirorol n/ionsinni) ho wan a air or] trt recover his German naturalization is order to be elected to the Reichstag., ?Pittsburg Times. % - *