r f . REY. DR. TALMA (tR THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUNDAY SERMON. Subject: "Mothers In Israel." Text: "The mother of Sisera looked out at a window."?Judges v.. 28. Spiked to the ground of Jael's tent lay the dead commander in chief of the Canaanitish 'nost, General Sisera. not far from the river Kishon, which was oniy a dry bed of pebbles rnlion in 1RRQ in Pjllpstinp T8 ftrOSSed it. but the gullies and ravines whloh ran into it indicated the possibility of great freshets like the oneatthetimeof the text. General Sisera had gone out with 900 iron chariots, but he was defeated, and, his chariot wheels interlocked with the wheels of other chariots, ho could not retreat fast enough, and so he leaped to the ground an ran till, exhausted, he went into Jael's tent for safety. She had just been churning, and when he asked for water she gave him buttermilk, which in the east is considered a most refreshing drink. Very tired, and supposing he was safe, he went to sleep upon the floor, but Jael. who had resolved upon his death, took a tent pin, long and round and sharp, in one hand and a hammer in her other hand, and, putting the sharp end of the tent pin to the forehead of Sisera. with her other hand qhe lifted the hammer and brought it down on the head of the pin with a stout stroke, when Sisera struggled to rise, and she struck him again, and he struggled to rise, and the third time she struck him, and the eommauder in chief of the Canaanitish host lay dead. Meanwhile in the distance Sisera's mother sits amid surroundings of wealth and pomp and scenes palatial waiting for bis return. Every mother expects her son to be victorious, and this mother looked out at the window expecting to see him drive up in his chariot followed by wagons loaded with embroideries and also by regiments of men vanquished and enslaved. I see her now sitting at the window, in high expectation. She watches the farthest turn of the road. She looks for the flying dust cf the swift hoofs. The first flash of the bit of the horse's bridle she will cat3h. The ladU>s of her court stand round, and she tells thtjm of what they shall have when her son comes up?chains of gold and carcanets of beauty and dresses of such wondrous fabric and splendor as the Bible only hints at, but leaves us to imagine. "He ought to be here by this time," says his mother. "That battle is surely over. I hope that freshet oi the river Klshon has rfot impeded him. I hope those strange appearances we saw last night in the sky were not ominous, when the stars seemed to fight in their courses. No I No! He is so brave in battle I know he ha* won the day. He will soon be here." But alas for the disappointed mother! bhe will not see the glittering headgear of the horses at full gallop bringing her son home from victorious battle. As a solitary messenger arriving in hot haste rides up to the windows at whioh the mother of Sisera sits, he cries, 'Your armies are defeated, and your son is dead." Then* is a scene of horror and ?K!/>h TffQ f 11 T*T? O TXTfl_V OU^UIOU UVIU nuivu nuiuiu Now you see the full meaning of my short text, "The mother of Slsera looked oat at a window." Well, my friends, we are all out in the battle of life; it is raging now, and the most of os have a mother watching and waiting for news of our victory or defeat. If she ba not sitting at the window of earth, uhe Is sitting at a window of heaven, and she is going to hear all about it. By all the rules of war 8isera ous?ht to have been triumphant. He had 900 iron chariots and a host of many thousands vaster than the armies of Israel. But God was on the other side, and the angry freshets of Kisbon, and the bail, the lightning and the unmanageable warhorses, and the capsized o harlots and the stellar panic in the sky discomfited Sisera. Josepbus in his history describes the scene in the following words : 'When they were come to a close fight there came down from heaven a great storm with a vast quantity of rain and hail, and the wind blew the rain in the face of the Canaanites and so darkened their eyes their arrows and slings were of no advantage to them, nor wnnlH th? mldiywi of the air Hermit the sol dlers to make osa of their swords, while this storm did not so muoh incommode the Israelites because it came on their backs. They itlso took such courage upon the apprehension that God was assisting them that they fell upon the very midst of their enemies and slew a great number of them, so that some of them fell by the Israelites, some fall by their own horses which were put into disorder, and not a few were killed by their own chariots." Hence, my hearers, the bad news brought to the mother of Sisera looking cut at the window. And our mother, whether sitting at a window of earth or a window of heaven, will hear the news of our victory or defeat? not according to our talents or educational equipment or our opportunities, but aeoording as to whether God is for us or against us. . "Where's mother?" is the question most frequently asked in many households. It is asked by the husband as well as the child coming in at nightfall, "Where's mother?" It Is asked by the little ones whenthey get hurt and come in crying with the pain, "Where's mother?" It is asked by those who have seen some grand sight or heard some good news or received some beautiful gift, "Where's mother?" She sometimes feels wearied by the question, lor they all ask and keep asking it all the time. She is not only the first to hear every case of perplexity, but sne is me juagq m every court ui uumraui; appeal. That is what puts the premature wrinkles on so many maternal faces and powders white so many maternal foreheads. You see, it is a question that keeps on for ail the years of childhood. It comes from the nursery, and from the .evening stand where the hoys and girls are learning their school lessons, and from the starling out in the morning, when the tippet or hat or slate herent thing for a mother out of li temper to punisli a child for getting tl mad, or for a father who smokes to shut w his boy up in a dark closet because he si has found him with an old stump of a o cigar in nis moutn, or lor mac motner to u rebuke ber daughter for staring at ii herseir too mucb in the looking glass when I the mother has her own mirrors so ar- tl ranged as to repeat her form from all sides! o The great Euglish poet's loose moral char- n acter was decided before he left the nursery, tl and Jiis schoolmaster in the schoolroom t< overheard this conversation: "Byron, your s! mother is a fool," and he answered, "I know it." You can hear all through the t< heroic life of Senator Sam Houston the it words of his mother when she in the war tl of 1812 put a musket in his hand and said: d "There, my son, take this and never a disgrace it, for remember I had rather all tl my sons should fill one honorable o grave than that one ot them should turn his si back on an enemy. Go and remember, too, n that while the door of my cottage is open to vf all brave men it is always shut against cow- h ards." Agrippina, the mother of Nero, mur- n dere3s, you ara nor surprised that her son a was a murderer. Give that child an over- a dose of catechism, and make him recite ^ verses of the Bible as a punishment, and a make Sunday a bore, and he will become a n stout antagonist of Christianity. Impress A him with the kindness and the geniality and o the loveliness of religion, and he will be its vt advocate and exemplar for all time and eter- a nity. ? A few days asro righfr.before our express f] train on the Louisville and Nashville rail- " road the preceding train had gone down through a oroken bridge, twelve care falling / 100 feet and then consumed. I saw that only J one span of the bridgo was down and all the other spans were standing. Plan a good bridge of morals for your sons and daughters, but have the first span of ten ? years defective, and through that they will e{ crash down, though all the rest keep ffj standing. 0 man, 0 woman, if you have .& preserved your integrity and are really * Christian, you have first of all to thank p God, and I think next yon have to thank t j. your mother. The most impressive thing at ^ the inauguration of James A. Garfield as President of the United States was that after he had taken the oath of office he turned round and in the presence of the Supreme Court and the Senate of the United States kissed his old mother. If I had time to &1 take statistics out of this audience, and I tl could ask what proportion of you who jc are Christians owe your salvation undei God to maternal fidelity, I think about C1 three-fourths of you would spring to your p feet. "Ha ! ha!" said the soldiers of the n regiment to Charlie, one of their comrades, l. What has made the change in you? You used to like sin as well as any of us." Pul!- tl ing from his pocket his mother's letter, in si which, after telling of some comforts she had 0; sent him, she concluded, "We are all pr.iying foryou, Charlie, that you may be a Chris- " tain," he said. "Boys, that's the sentence.' tl The trouble with Sisera's mother was that. C1 while sitting at the window of my text watching for news of her son from the bat- . tlefleld, she had the two bad qualities of be- it ing dissolute and being too fond of personal w adornment. The Bible account says : "Her Q wise ladies answered her yea. She returned .. answer to herself: 'Have they not sped? Have they not divided the prey?to every 0 man a damsel or two, to Sisera a prey of Ci divers colors, a proy of divers colors of o needlework, of divers colore of needlework _ on hoth sides?'" She makes no anxious 5 utterance about the wounded in bat- 1 tie, about the bloodshed, about the o dying, about the dead, about the princi- c pies involved in the battle going on, a battle so important that the stars and the freshets took part, and the clash of swords was an- t. swered by the thunder of the skies. What a she thinks most of is the bright colors of the i.wardrobes to be captured and the needlework. "To Sisera a prey of divers colors, a 81 prey of divers colors oineedlework, of divers f{ colors of needlework on both sides." Now neither Sisera's mother nor anx one ^ else can say too much in eulogy 'of ?the , needle. It has made more useful conquests ^ than the sword. Pointed at one end and IT with an eye at the other, whether of bone or ^ ivory, as in earliest time; or of bronze, as in ^ Pliny's time; or of steel, as in modern time; " whether laboriously fashioned as formerly by h one hand, or as now, when 100 workmen in s< a factory are employed to make the different jj parts of one needle, it is an instrument divinely ordered for the comfort, for the life, for the health, for the adornment n OI me nunum nice. a tie vjrw 01 ma needle hath seen more domestic -r comfort and more gladdened poverty and more Christian service than any other t eye. The modern sewing machine has in no o wise abolished the needle, but rather en- ,1 throned it. Thank God for the needlework, from the time when the Lord Almighty from c the heavens ordered in regard to the em- p broidered door of the ancient tabernacle, J "Thou shalt make a hanging for the door of the tent of blue and purple and scarlet and ? fine twined linen wrought with needlework." 1 down to the womanly hands which this t winter in this tabernacle are presenting j for benevolent purposes their needlework. But there was nothing ex- a eept vanity and worldliness and social splash a in what Sisera's mother said about the needlework she expected her son would bring home from the battle. And I am not sur- J prised to find that Sisera fought on the t wrong side when his mother at the window I of my text in that awful exigency had her a chief thought on dry goods achievement and , social display. God only knows how many ^ homes have made shipwreck on the ward- n robe. And that mother who sits at the win- f UOW WHIcniUR lor vaiummiuua uiuuiim , millinery and line colore and domestic pageantry will, after a while, hear as bad news a from her children out in the battle of life aa t sisera's mother neard Irom tUo struggle at t Esdraelon. ^ But if you still press thequfstion, -'Where's mother?" I will tell you where ste is not, though once she was there. Some of yon o started with her likeness iu your face and v her principles in your soul. But you have r cast her out. That was an awful thing for +n hnf nn huvn Hnno it That hard. " grinding dissipated look yon never got from i her. If you had seen any one strike her you r would have struck him down without much * care whether the blow was just sufficient or fatal; but, my boy, you have struck her C down?struck her innocenee from your face j and struck her principles from your soul. j [ou struck her down? The tent pin that ael drove three times Into the skull of Slsera ras not so cruel as the stab you have made aore than three times through your mother's leart. But she is waiting yet, for mothers ,re slow to give up their boys?waiting at ome window, it may be a window on earth r at some window in heaven. And others nay cast you off. Your wife may seek livorce and have no patience with you. rour father may disinherit you and say, 'Let him never again darken the door of our louse." But there are two persons who do Lot give you up?God and mother. How many disappointed mothers waiting ,t the window ! Perhaps the panes of the rindow are not great glass plate, bevel dged and hovered over by exquisite lamrequin, but the window is made of small lanes, I would say about six or eight of hem, in summer wreathed with trailing ine and in winter pictured by the Raphaels if the forest, a real country window. The nother sits there knitting, or busy with her leedle on homely repairs, when she looks up nd sees coming across the bridge of the aeadow brook a stranger, who dismounts in ront of the window. He lifts and drops the eavy knocker of the farmhouse door. "Come a!" is the response. He gives his name and ays, "I have come on a sad errand." "There i nothing the mattar with my son in the ity, is there?" she asked. "Yes!" he says. Your son got into an unfortunate encounter rith a young man in a liquor saloon last ight and is badly hurt. The fact is he canot get well. I hate to tell you all. I am orry to say he is dead." "Dead!" she cries s she totters back. "Ob, my son! my son! ly son! Would God I had died for thee!" hat is the ending of all her cares and anxlees and good counsels for that boy. That i her pay for her self sacrifices in his behalf, hat is the bad new3 from the battle. So the dings of derelict or Christian sons travel to le windows of earth or the windows of eaven at which mothers sit. "Bat," says some one, "are you not misiken about my glorified mother hearing of ly evildoings since she went away?" 8ays jme one else, "Are you not mistaken about ly glorified mother Hearing of ray self sacrlce and moral bravery and struggle to do ightV" No! Heaven and earth are in con:ant communication. There are trains runIng every five minutes?trains of immortals scending and descending?spirits going :om earth to heaven to live there. Sprits escending from heaven to earth to miniter and help. They hear from us iany times every day. Do they hear ood news or bad news from the'battle, lis Sedan, this Thermopylae, this Austertz, in which every one of us is fighting on ie right side or the wrong side. 0 God, hose I am, and whom I am trying to arve, as a result of this sermon, roll over n all mothers a new sense of their responsiilitv. and upon all children, whether still i the nursery or out on the tremendous Isdraelon of middle life or old age, the fact lat their victories or defeats sound clear ut, clear up to the windows of sympathetic laternity. Oh, is not this the minute when ae oloud of blessing filled with the exhaled ?ars of anxious mothers shall burst in bowers of mercy on this audience? There is one thought that it almost too snder for utterance. I almost fear to start ; lest I have not enough control of my emolon to conclude it. As when we were chilren we so often came in from play or from hirt or from some childish injustice prac[ced upon us, and as soon as the door was pened we cried, "Where's mother?" and lie said, "Here I am,1' and we burled our reeping faces in her lap, so after awhile, rhen we get through with the pleasures and urts of this life, we will, by the pardoning lercy of Christ, enter the heavenly nome, and mong the first questions, not the first, but mong the first, will be the old question that re used to ask, the question that is being sked in thousands of places at this very loment?the question, "Whore's mother?" .nd it will not take long for ris to find her r for her to find us, for she will have been atchlng at the window for our coming, nd with the other children of our household f earth wo will again gather round ner, ana tie will say: "Well, how did you get throagh le battle of life? I have often heard from thers about you, but now I want to hear from your own souls. Tell me all about , my children!" And then we will tell er of all our earthly experiences, le holidays, the marriages, the birth hours, le burials, the heartbreaks, the losses, the iins, the victories, the defeats, and she will ty "Never mind, It is all over now. I see ich one of you has a crown, which was Iven you at the gate as you came through, ow cast it at the feet of the Christ who ived you and saved me and saved us all. hank God, we are never to part, and for all te ages of eternity you will never again ive to ask, 'Where's mother?"' The Wealth of the Poor. While we hear a great deal saia boat the fortunes of the few, and ieir millions are regarded as fabums, it is a wholesome experience to ill attention to the wealth of the oor, and the figures which are furished by the recent census in regard > farm and home proprietorship in venty - two States and Territories lpply something to go upon. It is jtimated that there are 4,500,000 trms in the United Statee, and that lere are 8,190,152 families that ocipv homes which are not farms. In le distribution of wealth by classes, i is found that 11,593,887 families are orth $17,35G, 837,343. Out of a total f 12,690,152 families of the country ; is found that ninety-one per cent, wn no more than twenty-nine per ent. of the wealth, and nine per cent, f the families own about seventy-one er cent, of the -wealth. Among tne ,096,205 families in which seventyne per cent, of the wealth of the ountry is concentrated there is a still arther concentration. It consists of be 4017 millionaires, whose property verages about $3,000,000. The famies here mentioned possess about sven-teuths as much as do 11,593,887 imilies. They possess two-thirds of hie property of the United States, and be poorer families are estimated to ave the other third. By this estilate seventy-one per cent, of the ealth of the United States is in the ands of the owners of farms and oines worth $5000 and over. This tatement is approximate, but it is beieved to be fair. Mr. George K. Holmes, who furishes these statistics in an article on 'rr,m ^ 1 A- -? TIT 1 4.U " i'M rne \joncenirauou ui ?r eumu iu. wc 'olitical Science Quarterly, estimates hat about twenty-seven per cent, of ur wealth is in the hands of private ebtors, and that about thirty per ent. is in the hands of public and rivate debtor. This wealth is widely listributed among persons and corlorations, and it is mostly subject to uterest charges. When we look to he increase of large fortunes in the uture, this interest and all profit bove interest are regarded as the chief ,mong the more permanent andimme[iate causes of the concentration of realth. This interest fund is reckoned o be more than $1,000,000,001) yearly, t is equal to one-twentieth of the nnual product of wealth and to onelalf of the annual savings. This immense sum is paid by the many to the ew, and it shows how the great forunes of the country are maintained nd increased. Mr. Holmes points out hat the chances for the sudden creaion and concentration of wealth in he United Stales are largely passing way, and that the fortune building, >n the whole, settles down to an moctmont nf thp suviners at a moderate ate of interest. The results of the ensu6 indicate that the land is passing nto the ownership of a smaller protortion of the inhabitants, and the wealth of the poor or of the middle lass of property owners is just in prolortion to their success in ceasing to >e debtors. ....... I t / . j ? ...1. SABBATH SCHOOL. INTERNATIONAL LESSON FOR FEBRUARY 4. . Lesson Text: "Beginning of the Hebrew Nation," Gen. xiL, 1-9? - I T1 4- . ? (! UUIUCU ICAb. VXCU. A.1*?| 2?Commentary. 1. "Now, the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee." We have come down the stream of time over 400 years since the first lesson. After the delude God began tbe race again with Noah and his sons, but as before, man left to himself proves n failure. Noah is drunken, Ham brings o curse upon Canaan, and iniquity consummates in an organized union against God. Lest they be scattered and to make them a name they will build a tower reaching to the skies. At the close of the nineteenth century we find ourselves in an age of tower building and man worship, but as the Lord confounded and scattered them in the plain of Shinar. so again when all 8hinar associations shall have had their consummation as in Zech. v., 11; Rev. xvli. and rcviii-, the Lord will humble all the pride of man, and He alone be exalted 'in that day(Isa. ii.. 11, 17). After the Babel judgment it seems from Josh, xxiv., 2, that the people fell greatly into idolatry, and from such surroundings in the land of Mesopotnmia. the God of glory called out Abram (Acts vii.. 2) to make of him a faithful witness unto the truth. A study of Gen. xi. will show that Shem, Arphaxad, Salah, Eber, Rou and Serug were all living when Abram and Torah loft Ur of the Chaldees, but whether every one had become aD idolator or not is not clearly stated. The new departure now is that instead of destroying or scattering them He will take out and separate one from them who will wall: with Him as Enoch did. It was a mistake to take Terah along, for Abram was only hindered by him until he died at Haran (xi., 31, 32 ; Acts vil., 3, 4). 2. "And I will make of thee a great Nation. and I will bless thee and make thy name great, and thou shall be a blessing." The people of Shinar wanted to make themselves a name (xi.. 4), but Jehovah says to Abram that He will make him a name. Those who to-day try the Shinar plan will fail as they did. but those who, like Abram, prefer to obey God will have a name without seeking it. Abram was to be blessed in order to bo a blessing, and Israel is destined yet to be a blessing to all Nations (Zech. viii., 13). When we are willing to be a blessing to others and forgetful of ourselves, then we shall indeed be blessed. But it must be the Lord's doing from first to last, and He must have the' glory. 3. "And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee, and in -?> ' ill? ~1,? tnee Brian an muimm ui mo nmn. u-j blessed." Here is a true idea of election as taught in Scripture?a choosing of one or more to make them a blessing to others? whosever will may be elected, for him that cometh will in no wise be cast out (John vl.. 37). Who can possibly find fault with this? See also how God takes man into union with Himself. It makes us think of these words, "He that heareth you heareth Me, and ht that despiseth you despiseth Me" (Lukex., 16). We shall find this covenant repeated four times after this to Abram and once each to Isaac and Jacob, making seven in all. The fullness of its meaning is yet to be seen. L "So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken unto him, and Lot went with him. and Abram was seventy and Ave years old when he departed out of Haran. '' He went out, not knowing whither he went (Heb. xl., 8). He only knew that God knew and that the end of it all would be a city which hath foundations whose builder and maker is God (Heb. xl., 10), and with implicit confidence in God he went on. He believed the gospei, * " ?*- - 11 Ka Ktacaa/I ana an wao ububyo iu-uojt mu m with him (Gal. 111., 8, 9) and made a blessin? to others. 5. "And Abram took Sarah, his wile, and Lot, his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered and the souls thit they had begotten in Haran, and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan, and into the land of Canaan they came." Haran was but a partial obedience. This is now full of obedience, whioh, it is to be feared, the Lord gets from very few of us. Many are content to be hindered by the affections of those who will go part of the way but not all the way to the promised land of whole hearted surrender to God. Yet Jesus says, "He that loveth father or mother, son or daughter more than Me, is not worthy of Me" (Math, x., 87). 6. "And Abraham passed through the land into the place of Sichem, unto the plain (or oak) of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land." To the neighborhood of Ebal and Gerizim he oame (see Deut. xl, 29, 30) full halfway down through the land, and he saw the laud filled with people, yet believed that God would give it to him as He had said. He walked not by sight, but by faith, and was lully persuaded that what God had promised He was able to perform (Rom. iv., 20, 21). If we think more of the Canaanites than of God, we will be discouraged, like the ten spies. The only way is to see no man save Jesus only (Math, xvii., 8). 7. "And the Lord appeared unto Abram and said, Unto thy seea will I give this land. And there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him." We read of no appearance at Haran and no new communication, for Abram there had not done as he had been told. "To him tha: knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin" (Jas. iv., 17). Therefore if we are not living up to the ltgnt we nave and are constfously disobedient we cannot expect any fresh revelation of God to our souls, but to every obedient soul there will be growth in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour T?nij., /TT T>a? iat O C3U3 V/UXIOL ^ JLA J. ci< nil j jL\jy. 8. ''And he removed from thence to a mountain on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west and Bai on the east, and there he builded an altar unto the Lord and callod upon the name of the Lord." He is a pilgrim and a stranger, just a sojourner (Heb. zL, 9); hence the tent is sufficient. He lives with God, atod hence the altar. His whole life, when in fellowship with God, might be designated "the tent and altar." 9. "And Abramjourneyed, going on still toward the south. Because of a famine he goes into Egypt, but this is evidently a misstep. for we read of no altar in Egypt, and not until he gets back to Bethel, where he again calls on the name of the Lord (zlll., 3, 4). We might with profit take the phrase in this verse?going on still?and make it a good daily motto, provided we avoid all going down to Egypt. Put it with II Sam. v., 10, "David went on and grew great (margin, going and growing), and the Lord God of Hosts was with him," and it will be very helpful?Lesson Helper. An u.ra or uriuge Ltiuiaing. The present seems to be an era of big bridge building in both this and foreign countries. The bridge across the Mersey at Liverpool 'o to consist of tni-ee arched suspension spaaa of 1150 feet. ISO feet abova high water, with railway tracks. It is proposed to bridge the Bosphorous at Constantinople by a structure8645 feet lonu. The channel bridge between England and v~an,.n na ut rirvqpiif nronosed will consist of seventy-three spans alternately 1300 and 1025 feet in length with a clear headway of 175 feet. Two bridges have ju?t been completed across the North Sea and Baltic Canal with 1500 feet spaua carrying railway tracks, roadway and loot paths. lu this country the new East River bridge at New York, as projected, will have a spaa of 1C70 feet, a total length of 3200 feet, a clearance of 140 teet, and will carry four railroad tracks. The North River tiridge as provided for by a recent bill passed by the House of Representatives is required to have u clear waterway of 2000 feet and h. clearance of 150 feet. &csi Island Cotton. Thn miifurn of Sfla island cotton on the coast of Georgia aai South Carolina Is a profitable Industry sad it seems to be growlnc* The Savannah News has collected very full data as to the present crop and finds it the largest that has been produced. The News places the crop at 52,000 bales, against 45,000 in 1802. A New Secret Labor Organization. The existence of a new secret National labor organization was discovered at Lansing, Mich., through a secret meeting of the National Committee. The order was secretly -founded in Chicago, December 27, by representative? from thirty-seven States, and is called the Ancient Order of Loyal Americans. ? ! .:LJ \ V I TEMPERANCE. "licensed." Licensed to make the strong m.in weak, Licensed to lay the strong man low ; Licensed the wife's fond heart to break, And make the childrsn's tears to flow. Licensed to do thv neighbor harm. Licensed to kindle hate and strife; Licensed to nerve the robber's arm. Licensed to whet the murderer's knife. Licensed thy neighbor's purse to drain, Ajid rob him of his very best; Licensed to heat hid feverish brain. Till madness crown thy work at last. Licensed, like spider for a fly, To spread thy nets for men, thy prey; To mock his struggles, suck him dry, Then cast the shattered hulk away. Licensed, where peace and quiet dwell To bring disease, and want, and woe; Licensed to make this world a hell: And flt man for a hell below. P0I80NED WITHOUT KNOWING IT. Sir William Gull, the eminent docto says: '"A very large number of people society are dying day by day, poisoned 1 alcoholic drinks without knowing it, wit out being supposed to be poisoned by the: I hardly know any more powerful source disease than alcoholic drinks. I do n think it is known, but I know alcohol to be most destructive poison. I say, from n experience, that it is the moat destructh agent that we are aware of in this country, BAB-BOOM VS. FAMILY FIBE8IDZ. From some strange perversity, which would puzzle a metaphysician to accoui for, thousands of young men would rnthi spend their evenings in bar-rooms than i the society of cultivated young women i their own age. We can more readily coi ceive of an Esquimau preferring train-c and tallow candles to turtle soup and sprii chickens, than that a young American gei tleman should forego the society ofhissiste and their female friends in order to drir unwholesome liquor in a crowded room an contribute his quantum of iil-flavored vapi to the smoke-cloud which befogs such haun of dissipation. But so it is. Any citizen who has nerve enough to ris suffocation by making a visit to a doz< fashionable saloons on any given night wi see, if the fumes be not too thick for his vi ion to penetrate, numbers of young mt wit'ain his own circle of acquaintance?ea< one of whom has a cheerful home to go t and to whom many other pleasant homes a open?doing their best to stupefy the brains with alcohol and cigars. Such brigl youths, perchance, may think it manly 1 congregate in bar-rooms to puff and swill,: ? preference to partaking of the refined, mor iind intellectual pleasure which results fro social contact with well educated, pur minded young women; but we tell them, : all kindness, that to compare them to "beas without discourse of reason" would bedoii them too much honor. Now evenings a long, cheerful fires are blazing in the fami) sitting-rooms of thousands of city home The daughters will be there, sewing, knJ ting, reading, chatting; but where will 1 the sons? Let truants answer this questic by filling their heretofore vacant places 1 the family fireside and their mothers' ar sisters' hearts with thankfulness and joy. New York Ledger. NOVEL CUBE FOB DBUXKENKESS. "Thirteen years ago," said a well-kno* gentleman of Waycrosa, Ga., "I was wor $20,000. The money was inherited from i uncle. I was as poor as a church mousa b fore the legacy came, and when it did con It fiimnrl mv h?ad I heron drinkiniz mo erately at home and took occasional spre in neighboring towns. It was not long b fore I was a slave to djink. Every week was on a spree. For sir years I paid no ? tention to business, lost everything and w a confirmed drunkard. One night, aft having been on a long spree in a town ne home. I lay down on the sidewalk in fro of a store and was soon fast asleep. I w helpless and could not speak. After awhi I heard some 003*3 talkinz. They said th would give me a free ride. Shortly afterwn a hogshead was rolled up to where I wc The head way knocked out. The boys p me in the hogshead by lorce. I was help ft and would not speak. After nailing the hw back in the hogshead the boys rolled meov town. I was carried at a fast speed ov gulleys, bridges and stumps. The joltii was terrible, and I was braised all over. F only an hour the rolling was kept up. I nally I grew sober and called for help. Th the boys removed the head from the hot head and left me. I did not know that could get out and remained in the hogsbe all night. Next morniixg I saw the sun r ing and a crowd gathered around me. I w sore all over and could not bear to move, was sober and ashamed of myself. I ask the people to help me out of the hogshec They did so and I stood before them with determination that I would never dri again. I said: 'Gentlemen, I promise y that I will never get drunk again.' I ha kept that promise and often think of 1 strange experience in a hogshead." DBIXK AKD DESTITUTION. Commenting upon the great distress ai destitution now prevalent in the mining di trict of northern Michigan, the Chicago Ti buna says: "Last year the saloon-keepers of Iri Mountain, Mich., paid $80,000 ta the8ta for licenses and more than $50,000 as re for their places of "business." This in "city" the population of which was but 86 at the date of tbe last census ana cann sinco have much exceeded 10,000. the tot vote Cftst there a year ago being 1774. 8u posing the number of adult males to double the number of voters, eaoh of the contributed on an average $23 last year pay saloon rents and licenses alone, besld what It cost the keepers for liquors, ligbtin and attendance, and the sums they put by i net profits after meeting all the expenses the business. "That statement explains a large part the story of dire destitution that comes fro Iron Mountain, and doubtless similar co ditions have existed at several other poln in the now poverty-stricken iron ore district While the mines were being operated active the miners earned good wages and spe. them lavishly on strong drink. Now tbi and their families are menaced with starv tion unless the charitable come to their aid T!U? rrritKVirtM /.hnW JLUO X L ll/ll UC nuuiu nnuuv?u vuuk* la this time of sore need, especially from tl women and children, but thinksitathousai pities^thatthe liquor-sellers who have fatteni upon the wages of the men cannot be ma< to disgorge, and that "It is a burning shame that the relief mu come out of the savings of many men ar women who now would have nothing to gi< had they been equally rickless in the past i were the iron miners on tho Upper Feni, sula." But the saloon-keepers of Iron Mounta were doing a "legitimate" business, ai paid the State of Michigan $30,000 for the licenses. It is indeed a "burning shami that the temperate and prudent are no obliged, for humanity's sake, to take fro their own savings money for the relief of tl destitution for which the drink waste is i largely responsible. But it is part of tl outcome of the license system, which prolific of kindred results wherever it o tains.?National Temperance Advocate, TESTTEBAN'CE NEWS AND NOTES. The toper devotes himself to one absorbii topic, and that is himself. The moderate drinker is one of the be helpers the devil has on earth. Women aro employed at railway switch* and crossings in Italy becauso they ke< sober. Whenever you see a drunken man it oup; to remind you that every boy in the world in danger. The devil has both arms around the mj who feels conlldent that moderate drink.li won't hurt him. If the money spent every3-ear in this cou j try on drink were given to a person in ; gold pieces, he might walk round the wor at the equator and drop three at every ste and then only just exhaust the supply. Some of the adulterations found iu be are cocculus indicus, capclcum. ging? j quassia, wormwooa, uaittuius rwi, uuum and coriander seeds, copperas, sulpbui acid, cream of tartar, alum, carbonate potash, ground oyster shells, nux vomiu plcrotum and strychnine. Says Frances Willard: "I oncc as!: Thomas A. Edison if he were a total abstai er, and when he told me that he was I sal May I inquire whether it was home infl ence that made you so?' and he replied, I think it was because I always foil that I hi better use for my head.' " 1 iV. - - T-r RELIGIOUS BEADING. HOW IT BEGAN. InHlltAll von hnnr hiiH *inH hlichted llvas begin?the life of the deplorable drunkard, the life of the degraded wife-beat^r, the life of the harlot and the felon, the life of which the so-called home is as the lair of wild beasts; the life which hides itself in the cell of the lunatic and in the grave of the suicide. Many a million of such lives seemed as fair and bright in promise a3 that of any young boy here. See thsm young and happy in the day-school or the Sunday-school, clothed, as it were, and in their right mind?then looked on twenty, thirty, forty years. This blighted, loaflng, disgraced, bleareyed man; this bent thing of uselessnea? and scorn who will soon die of delirium tremens and be huddled into a pauper's grave, is he that once bright laughing, promising boy? Yes, he is. Look on this picture and on that! What has made the frightful difference? How did it begin? It began in the boy thinking himself too much a man to love, honor, and obey his parents any more. It began in forsaking the guide of his youth and forgetting the covenant of (r> his God. It began in bad companionship, in corrupting goOd manners. It began in >y broken Sabbath days and turning the back b" on holy communion, and neglecting the worn* ship of the church of God. It began ty walking in the way of the ungodly.standing in the ot way of sinners, sitting in the seat of the ,a scornful. It begau when he went like a fine >y young fool, to be "treated'1 or to stand "treat" in vile drink at the public houses. It began in the twilight, in the evening, in the dark night, when the young fool in his . desperate simplicity, led bySntan, went as ' an ox to the slaughter, as a fool to the cor" rection of the stocks, till a dart struck " him through his own liver and, In the midst of that nasty company ? which ho now hasjoined, of which he now is ."j one he discovers in shame and remediless hor' ror--afterward too late in the ruins of his life ?he discovers that the dead are there,and her guests in the depths of hell. Ah, my dear r? young people, one and all of you, may the ^ grace of God make you more happy and !~ more timely wise! And that it may do so, ^ "Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come nor, nor k the years draw nigh, in which thoushall say, 'I have no pleasure in them.' "?[Archdeacon jj Farrar. sm THE MIDWEEK PRA.TE2-1IEETINQ. jj1 Dr. John Tincent writes forcibly of tho prayer-meeting in an article for the Treasury. jti lie declares that the pray-meetlng may be In j~ the popular thought too much a time, a placo " and a thing to which we are summoned by i the regular ringing of bells, and in which we i are in peril of monotony and mechanics. We al may depend too much on the "singing," the ra -'people," the "interest," and the set "pray.e" ers," so often liturgical, although unwntten. 'n We may go simply because we ought. We ts may take credit to ourselves for going?almost as the knowledge of penance done works peace within. Oh, when shall the church '5* bell call us to a higher order of spiritual serif vice!" ,l" The prayer-meeting is a spiritual opportu)e nity. It is for spiritual edification and for spiritual worship. What the prayer-meeting 3 J needs is faith in the realities; Keen, penetrat_ tng, ethical conviction; religious desire with conscience in it; a sense of sin and a burning desire to get rid of it; a sight of holiness and an overwhelming, insatiate longing to posm sess iL This faitn, this conviction, this deth sire and longing, mu6t be the fruits,the truths .n of the Holv ScriDture annrehended, pondered, e- accepted, appropriated, Then prayer is born no ? true prayer, fervent prayer. d- Out of such spiritual service comes conslstes ent living. The atmosphere of the world is filled for us with spiritual power. Habits, I choices, aspirations, trend of soul come unit der the spell of this Scriptural'life. It may us not yield perpetual rapture, but it gives perei petual peace. It touches every hour of every ar day of every week the long years through. nt as He A DISOUSTED DUO'KAED. rij One woman determined that her husband ls should know how he looked when he was ui drunk. She knew how he looked, well jgs enough, and needed not that any man should :l(j tell her. Her children also knew by sad exer perience, but the man himself had a very imei perfect idea of the state of his case. So once Qfi when he came home and fell into a maudlin or slumbershe sent forthephotographerto come p|. forthwith; and on his arrival she set him to sn work. She ordered the photographer to phorg. tograph her husband as he sat in his chair. j The photographer did his work and did it ad well; and when the photograph was fin; shed IS. and laid beside the husband's plate at hreakag fast it was a revelation, and the sobered j gentleman experienced a decidedly new senetj sation. There was no need or explanation; t(3. the thing explained itself. There was no chance for contradiction: the sun tells no lies. Qb There was no room for argument. There ou was only one thing to do, and that was to Vf quit: and it is very fortunate that the man had courage and sense enough to do it.?[Selected. BE PEBFECT. j"* My faith in perfection is very weak when 1 look at others: it is extinguished altogether when I look at myself. But when I look at Jesus I can believe in nothing else. He is perfect in all His works, and no other aim than this can ever satisfy Him. The work * which He has undertaken to do for us would * "' ?*" '' iL onvirhorfl ?? not Dear Jtiis stamp n owujiL.cn* "V short of perfection; and for such a vast expenditure and cost I dare not think ol anything less than this. Be perfect P~ Here it is that my faith in holiness an< JJ? my hope for it begin to live, and I seo Hiu as I linger in His presence and sit at Hi) feet When He cometh, what limit shall I se XT to His grace? What failing shall he tolerate' *! What sin shall baffle his skill? 80, a3 I starn . looking up that slippery height, wonderinj how its submit is to be reached, He comet! . with gracious words: My child, fear not That which thou seekest is not in thy climb ~~ ing up: its in My climbing down. Be perfect ?" ?Rev. M. Guy Tearse. 8. From the Christian, of London, we mak< 5y the following extract which we regard aj a- most excellent advice for teachers of childrer in our Bible schools: "Common-sense teache< ty that the time has gone by for mere seculai ie educatiun in our Sunday schools, but how ? *r*4f h Jmnnr+inff nflf. Id muny t'uuicui mcui^rnco ????.?* tui{/>?u Vienna. ( Dr. Jasow Brows, of Sheboygan, Mich.? hae translated his valuable work, "Turnips Xil as a Disease Producer," Into Swedish, fo* i which he has received a decoration from the Sing of Sweden and Norway. i Edwabd Atxinsok, sneaking of the Equity Union in Boston recently, declared Cornelhw Yanderbllt to be the most useful man who* ever lived In New York. He said the work of the capitalist was work of the hardest kindj Thebe are numerous instances where sons. have succceded their fathers in the House of; Representatives, but only twice, it is said, la the cases of Thomas F. Bayard and Donald Cameron, have they sucoeeded their father# in the Senate. Alfred Phtchot is the first American Ur be graduated at a school of forestry and to take up forestry as a profession. He is th? V consulting forester on the estate of George W. Yanderbllt in the North Carolina mourntains, and has published a pamphlet The familv of the late Mayor Carter Harrison, of Chjpago, has placed an order for* jj Barre (Tt.) granite monument for the dead mayor. The spire of the monument is forty feet high, of dark stock, and the only pollw is on the letters. Edwabd Dunbab, the author of the hymn, "There's a Light in the Window for The?, Brother." died a few days ago In the jail at Coffeyville, Kan., where he had applied lot lodging as a tramp. Dunbar was once a noted evangelist, but his oareerwaa cut short ; by a term in the Minnesota State Prison for bigamy. 5. THE LABOR WOBLD. Thebe are 311 molders' unions. Boston reports 90,000 unemployed. Belgium has 20,000 miners on strike. r Ptttsbubo has 8000 Knights of Labor. IT i/iQTvva fliHitan aVirtHuh liniwnlftkM.' Maxchzstbb, N. ZL, has 14,000 textile workers. Sa.it Jose (CaL) employers will dispense with Chinese. The Sioillian sulphur deposits employ 18,000 miners. Ik eighteen States ten hoars is the legal day for children. ? The be is a great scarcity of domestio ser- :* ? rants in New York City. Loooebs at Marshfleld, Wis., are hampered . *:w .^?vY .