The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, August 15, 1894, Image 7
j RELIGIOUS READING. I
A WISH.
By Helon Thorneycroft Fowlor.
I When the world to thee is new.
When its dazz ing dreams deceive thee
Ere they pass like morning dew?
Faith retrieve thee!
REV. DR. TALMAGE.
THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUNDAY
SEUiUOX.
Subject: "Narrow Escapes.'* i
i
Tkxt : "I .am p??cape1 with the skin of my i
teeth," Job six., 20.
Job had it hard. What with boils an-? bereavements
and bankruptcy and a fool of a |
wife he wisbM hf> was dead, an 11 do not
blame him. Ills flosh was son<\ and hU I
bones were dry. His toeth wasted away un- I
HI K,,( ^oonimt] QBSfllflii l?ff_ He I
U1 UULlliU^ I'Ul lit'/ vuit.Mv. _
cries out, "I am eseapod with the skin of my
teeth."
There ha9 been some difference of opinion
about this passage. St. Jerome and Schultens
and Drs. Good and Poole and Barnes
have all tried tiioir forceps on Job's teeth.
Ton deny my interpretation and say, "What
did Job know about theenameloftheteeth?"
He knew everything about it. Dental
surgery is almost as old as the earth. The
mummies of Egypt, thousands of years old,
are found to-day with gold flllin? in their
teeth. Ovid and Horace and Solomon and
Voses wrote about thesa Important factors
Of the body. To other provoking complaints
Job, I think, has added an exasperating
toothache, and putting his hand against the
Inflamed face he says, "I am escaped with
the skin of my teeth."
A very narrow cscnpe, you say, for Job's
body and soul, but there are thousands of
men who make just as narrow escape for
their soul. There was a time when the partition
between them and ruin was no thicker
than a tooth's enamel; but, as Job Anally
escaped, so have they. Thank Gol! Thank
God!
Paul expresses the same idea by a different
figure when he says that some people are
"saved as by Are." A vessel at sea is in
flames. You go to the stern of the vessel.
The boats have shoved off. The flames ad
??? onHnmthn heat no lonjrer
TdUCC. JLVU V.UU
on your fuee. You slide down on the side of
the vessel and hold on with your fingers unI
til the forked tonsruo of the tiro begins to
lick, the back of yoar hand, and yon feel that
Byoa mast fall, when one of the lifeboats
Boomes back, and tho passengers say they
B think they have room lor one more. The
boat swings under you; you drop into it;
yon are saved. So some men are pursued by
temptation until they aro partially con
Burned, but after all get off?"saved as by
fire." But I like the figure of Job a little
better than that of Paul, becauso the pulpit
has not worn it out, and I want to show you,
If God will help, that some men make narB
row escape for their souls and are saved as
B "with the skin of their teeth."
H It is as easy for some people to look to the
cross as for you to look to this pulpit. Mild,
H gentle, tractable, loving, you expect them
to become Christians. You go over to the
store and say, "Grandon joined the church
yesterday." Your business comrades say:
*That is just what might have been expect
ed." He always was of that turn of mind.
Bin youth this person whom I describe was
^Iways pood. He never broke things. Ho
never laughed when it was improper to
laugh. At sevon ho could sit an hourln church,
perfectly quiet, looking neither to the right
Land nor to the left, but straight into the
eyes of the minister, as though he under stood
the whole discussion about the eternal
decrees. He never upset things nor lost
them. He floated into the kingdom of God
so gradually that It is uncertain just when
the matter was decided.
^ Hero is another one, who started in life
with an uncontrollable spirit. He kept the
nursery in an uproar. His mother found him
walking on the edge of the house roof to see
he could balance himsqlf. There was no
|Hhorse he dared not ride, no tree he could not
^klimb. His boyhood was a long series of pre dleaments
: his manhood was reckless ; his
midlife very wayward. But now he is con verted,
and you go over to the store and say,
|H"Arkwright joined the church yesterday."
Yoar friends say; "It is not possible! You
must be joking." You say: "No; I tell_you |
the truth. He joined the church." Then
they reply, "There is hope for any of us if
old Arkwright has become a Christian."
In other words, we all admit that it Is
more difficult for some men to accept the
gospel than for others.
I may be addressing some who have cut
loose from churches and Bibles and Sundays
and who have at present no intention of becoming
Christians themselves, but just to
ee what is going on. And yet you may find
yourself escaping before you hear the end,
as ''with the skin of your teeth." I do not
expect to waste this hour. I have seen boats
go off from Cape May or Long Branch and
drop their nets and alter awhile come ashore 1
polling in their nets without having caught
a single Ugh. It was not a good day, or they
had not the right kind of a ner. But we expect
no such excursion to-day. The wuter
is full of fish ; the wind is in the right direction
; the gospel net is strong. O tbou who
didst help Simon and Andrew to fish, show
as to-day how to cost the net on the right
llde of the ship 1
Some of you, in commg to God, will have
to run against skeptical notions. It is useless
for people to saysharp and cutting things
to those who reject the Christian religion.
I cannot say such things. By wnat process
A# ?AIM /? I At* Katre vu I Vftn ha\'A
^HVl IVUi|;MtkIVU Vi ki. tut v* Wtkiljw* j vv* W.IW
Wcuma to your present state 1 know not.
Vl'duru are two fates to your nature? the gate
Hot the head and the gate of tbe heart The
^Hnte ol your nead ia looked with bolts and
^Kars that an archangel could uot break, but
Hp he gate of your heart swings easily on its
Hhmgea. III assaulted your uody with wea pons,
you would meet me with weapons, and
^Et would be sword stroke for sword stroke,
Hand wound lor wouud, and blood lor blood.
H| bat if I come and knock at the door of yoni
^ houie you open it nnd give me the beet seat
^ ln your parlor. UI should come at you to?
^ daywithan argument, you would answer
H|ms with an argument; it with sarcasm, you
j^HUiswer me with sarcasm, blow for blow.
^Ktroke for stroke, but when I come and
knock at the door of your heart you open it
^Bmdsay, "Come in, my brother, and tell me
Hall you know about Christ and heaven."
H Listen to two or thre9 questions j Are you
Ki happy asyou used to be when you bettered
Hn the truth of the Christian religion'/ Would
S^ftrou like to have your children travel on in
|^Khe road in which you are now traveling?
j^Hrou had a relative who prof?wed to be a
a^Khristian and was thoroughly consistent,
^Hivlnsr and dyinp in the faith of the gospel.
I would yon UOt Hike IU Ilyn lun simo 411101
if? and die the same peaceful death? I reseived
a letter sent me hv one who has rinjected
the Christian religion. It says : "I
un old enough to know that the joys and
Measures of life are evanescent and to realize
he fact that it must be comfortable in old
ige to believe in something relative to the
bture and to have a faith in some system
bat proposes to .save. I am free to confess
hat I would be happier if I could exercise
he simple and beautiful faith that is
possessed by many whom I know. I am not
rlllingly out of the church or out of the
aitb. My state of uncertainty is one of unset.
Sometimes I doubt my immortality
md look upon the deathbed as the closing
cene, after which there is nothing. What
haU I do that I have not don?. Ah, skeptlJam
is * dark and doleful landLet me
ay that this Bible Is either true or false, It
t be false, we are as well off as you ; Kit be
rue, then whioh of us is safer?
Let me also ask whether vour trouble hfl<?
Lk bean that you confounded Christiiwlty
|^vlth the Inconsistent character ot some who
Hrofets it. Yoa are a lawyer. Id your proHKeeion
there are mean anddishoneet men. Is
anything atrainst the law? You are a
MHoctor. There are unskilled and contain pti^Hletnan
in yoar profession. Is that anything
H^Hgalnst medicine? You are a merchant.
I^Hhere are thieves and defrauders in your
^Hosineps. Is that anything against merohnn^Hfase?
Bohold, then, the unfairness of ohargBHigxipon
Christianity the wlokedaoss of its
^Hiiviples.
MM We admit some of the charges against
H^Kose who profess religion. Some of the most
^^ gnntio swindles of the present day have
^^Lcn carried on by members of the church.
^^Riere are men in the churches who would
^ ot b? trusted for $5 without goo 1 collateral
9^H>carity. They leave thoir business dishonI^Btles
in the vestibule of the church as they
R^E> in and sit Ht the communion. Having con^^Kided
the sacrament, they get up, wipe the
B^Bine from their lips, go out and take up
I^Heir sins where they let off. To serve tha
Kvll is their regular work ; to serve God, a
^^Brt of play spell. With a Sunday sponge
P^Roy expect to wipe off from their business
Hate all the past week's inconsistencies. You
[^^Lve no more right to take such a man's life
a specimen ot religion than you have to
B^Kke the twisted irons nnd spilt timbers that
HHs on the beach at Coney Island as a speclHen
of an American ship. It is time that wa
I^Kew a line between religion and the frail*
Ha of those who j>rofeas.it.
Again, there may be some of you who, in
the attempt alter a Christian life, will have
to run ag;tinst powerful passions and appetites.
Perhaps it is a disposition to anger
that you have to contend against, and perhaps,
while in a very serious mood, you
hear of something that makes you feel that
you must swear or die. I know of a Christian
man who was once so exasperate! that
he said to a mean customer, "I cannot swear
at you myself, for I am a member of the
church, kut if you will go down stairs my
partner In business will swear at you." All
your good resolutions horetotore have been
torn to tatters by explosions of temper.
Now, there is no harm in getting mad it you
only get mad at sin. Y<ou need to bridle
and saddle these hot breathed passions, and
with them ride down injustice and wrong.
There are a thousand things in the world
that we ought to be mad at. There is no
harm in getting redhot if you only bring to
the force that which needs hammering. A
mnn who has no power of righteous Indignation
is an imbecile. But be sure it is a
righteous iudignatisn and not a petulancy
that blurs and unravels and depletes the
BOUl.
There is a large class of persons in midlife
who have still in them appetites that were
aroused in early manhood, at a time when
they prided themselves on being a "little
fast, "high livers," "free and easy," "hall
fellows well met." They are now paying in
compound interest for troubles they collectj
ed twenty years ago. Some ot you are trying
to escape and you will, yet very narrowly,
"as with the skin of your teeth."
God and your own soul only know what the
struggle Is. Omnipotent grace has pulled j
out many a soul that was deeper in the i
mire than you are. They line the beach o.
heaven, the mnltitude whom God has re?
cued from the thrall of suicidal habits. I
you this day turn your back on the wrono
and start anew, God will help you. Ob, th?
weakness of human help! Men will sympathize
for a while and then turn you off.
If you ask for their pardon, they will give
it and say they will try you again ; but, fall,
ing away again under the power of temptation,
they cast you off forever. But God
forgives seventy times seven?yea, seven
hundred times?yea, though this be the ten
thousandth time He Is more earnest, more
sympathetic, more helpful this last time than
when you took your first misstep.
I', with all the influences favorable for a
right life, men make so manr mistakes, how
much harder it Is when, for Instance, some
appetite thrusts its iron grapple into the
roots of the tongue and pulls a man down
with hands of destruction! If under such
circumstances he break away, there will bo
-?'- tin/iorfnUniF nr> holldav en
QU S|IU[l 1U Ilia uuvtw.... ,,, __
joymeDt, but ft struggle in which the wrestiere
move from side to side and bend and
twist and watch for an opportunity to fret in
a heavier stroke until, wit'i one final effort,
in which the muscles are distended, and the
veins start out, and the blood starts, the
swarthy habit fails under the knee of the
victor?escaped at last as with the skin of his
teeth.
In the last day it will be found that Hu^h
Latimer and John Knox and Hus3 and Ridley
were not the greatest martyrs, but Christian
men who went up Incorrupt from the
contaminations and perplexities of Wall
street, Water street, Pearl street, Broad
street, State street. Third street, Lombard
street and the bourse. On earth they weru
called brokers or stockjobbers or retailers or
importers, but in heaven Christian heroes.
No fagots were heaped about their feet, no
inquisition demanded from them recantation,
no soldier aimed a spike at their heart,
but they had mental tortures, compared
with which all physical consuming is as the
breath of a spring morning.
I find in the community a large class of
men who have been so cheated, so lied about,
bo outrageously wronged that they have bst
iaith In everything. In a world where everything
seems so topsy turvy they do not see
how there can be any God. They are confounded
and frenzied and misanthropic.
Elaborate argument prove to them the
truth of Christianity *?r thetruthof anything
else touches them nowhere. Hear me, all
such men. J. preach to you no rounded
periods, no ornamental discourse, but I put
my hand on your shoulder and invito yon
Into the peace of the gospel. Here is a rock
on which you may stand firm, though the
waves dash against it harder than the Atlantic,
pitching its surf clear above Eddystone
lighthouse. Do not oharge upon God
all these troubles of the world. As long as
the world stuck to God, God stuck to the
world, but the earth seceded from His govei
nment, and hence all these outrages and
all these woes. God i3 good. For many
hundreds of years He has been coaxing the
world to come back to Him, but the more Ho
has coaxed the more violent have men been
in their reslstame, and they have stepped
| back and stepped back until they have
dropped into ruin.
Try this God, ye who have had tbo bloodhounds
after you, and who have thought
that God had forgotten you. Try Him and
see if He will not help. Try Him and see if
He will not pardon. Try Him and see if He
will not save. The flowers of spring have
no bloom so sweet asthe flowering of Christ's
affections. The sun hath 110 warmth compnred
with the glow of HI9 heart. The
waters have no refreshment like the fountain
that will slake the thirst of thy soul. At
the moment the reindeer stands with his lip
and nostril thrust into the cool mountain torrent
the hunter may be coming through the
thicket. Without crackling a stiok under
bis foot he comes close by the stajr, aims his
gun, draws the trigger, and the poor thing
rears in its death agony and falls backward,
its antlers crashing on the rocks, but the
panting heart that drinks from the water
brooks of God's promise shall never be fatally
wounded and shall never die.
Making Haps.
Map makers seldom use copper
plates. Very often they print their
maps on cylinder presses from stereol
types. The engraving for the past
fifteen years has been done with the
aid of was. This prooess was invented
by a Buffalo man and it has revolution*
ized the map business. Maps were
never so cheap as they are to-day, and
i tne gazetteer wincn twenty-nve years
ago cost a small fortune can now be
had for a song. Map making is now
done iE a room whose temperature is
never allowed to fall below ninety degrees.
This temperature is hard on
the engraver, and workers on map engravings
do not stick to the business
long. The heat of the room keeps
the beeswax in a condition which
makes it susceptible to easy engraving.
A coat of this wax mixed with
some hardening ingredient is poured
on a metal plate. The wux sheet may
be as thin as tissue paper or it may
be an eighth of an inch thick. Pen
and ink drawings of the work are
given to the operators and they make
their own sketches in the wax with a
sharp steel tool. For the dotted lines
of different styles which are used to
mark county or township lines, or to
indicate real or proposed railroad
routes, little wheels like those which
women use in transferring dress patterns
are employed. Wherever names
are to be filled in the impression is
made in the wax with type, one letter
at a time. When the engraving is
completed the plate is taken to a cooling
room, where the wax hardens. A
coating of black lead is then rubbed
over the plate and it is suspended in
~ V? HP k A
nu cicub^u'piuuu^ uaiu, AUO
in eolation is deposited on the black
lead and forms the original. This
thin copper plate is backed with type
metal, and from this plate stereotypes
are made. Frequently from
twenty to forty plates are used in
printing one order of maps; and
when the map is small, sometimes a
dozen impressions of it are printed on
one sheet. But large or small, the
maps are printed by the fast presses
in enormous quantities. There is a
map concern in Chicago which has a
record of 624,000,000 maps printed in
twelve years?a million maps a week.
This would have been impossible
under the old process of printing from
Blone, copper or steel?Washington
Star. _
\v nen the glory fades away.
When of light the clouds bereave theo,
When the shadows mar the dayHope
relieve thee!
When despair's destroying breath
Come at eventide to grieve thee
With the bitterness of deathLove
reprieve thee!
When the bells at curfew toll.
When the lingering sunbeams leave thee,
When the night o'erwhelms thy soul?
God receive thee!
?The Quiver.
THE POWER OF THE BIBLE.
The Rev. Robert Newton of England, when
on a visit to this country a few years ago,
advocated at an anniversary of tbe American
Bible Societj*, the cardinal* principle of that
noble institution, the circulation of the
scriptures without note or comment.
Illustrative of tbe sufficiency of the Bible
to convert the soul, with God's blessing on
its perusal, he related the following anecdote:
A woman considerably advanced in years,
who had heard unmoved from Sabbath, to
Sabbath, the thunders of Sinai, and the affecting
appeals of Calvary, called one day on
the pastor of the church which she attended,
and to his astonishment and joy, apprized
him that she had found '"the pearl of great
price."
To his probing question she gave clear and
satisfactory replies; and he was convinced
that the work was the Holy Spirit's. In
tracing the changes to its source, he asked
her under which sermon of his she had been
converted. "Sermon!" she cried, it wns no
sermon that converted me, it was the text.
Before you had well begun your sermon I
was a converted sinner. The Lord carried
this truth home to my heart with mighty
Cower; and I dwelt and dwelt upon his own
lessed words until I found peace and joy in
believing. The precious text was, "For God
so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in*him.
should not perish, but have everlasting life,
John 3:16. Blessed be God for his unspeakable
gift.
I have read many interesting accounts of
the conversion of souls in solitary places by
the simple reading of the Bible; but a few on
the desert ocean, where the voice of the living
teacher was not; and these facts thould
no mrtrn ovcfflmnHfl nnrl lintipinff
efforts to circulate the Book of Life. The
duty is imperious; the encouragement great:
and the rewards?through grace?such as
"eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither
have entered into the heart of man,'' to conceive.
DIVINE COMMUNION'.
There is no possible way of finding comfort
amid the providences that come to us in life
but in intimate and habitual commmunion
with God. Much as we may desire to avoid
providences often of an afflictive and disciplinary
character, our heavenly Father sees
it wise to administer his government over us
in a manner that often hides his love to our
human thought. Doubtless in this way he
would keep us from pride and vanity, impress
upon us our absoluie dependence upon his
guidance, instil a deeper religious conviction
in our minds, perfect more fully our ideals of
truo life and clarify our vision of spiritual
things. But theorizing thu?, as we often do,
how few accept his way with unruffled composure,
rejoicing that we ate in his hands!
Such blessed rest in God comes to us only
Ana ,lnn r\of}i fho nnth nf
bllll/U^ll UUO n?711"HVUUVU buv |'?v" v*
holy prayer. We do not mean an approach
to the mercy seat merely at stated times and
in formal utterances, but a constant drawing
near to him in ttie silent depths of devotion,
in the soul's unuttered supplication", in the
hourly spiritual contact of the human with
the divine heart. But this power to pause
amid conflicting unceriianties. and let God
give light upon the path in his own good time,is
not i he product of human philosophy. This
ability to wait until he shall solve the problem
belongs only to souls that are constantly
closeted in his presence. Helping him to decide
difficult questions is one of his ways of
"rewarding them openly." And who will
say that this is not a rich reward for obeying
o*r Lord's command. "Enter into thy closet?"
Can anything surpass such comfort as is
found here? Toiling, weary pilgrim, wherever
thou art found, enter into the enclosure
of prayer, and abide very near to him who
"seeth in secret." Oh, what safety is here!
?Christian Advocate.
UNTIL HE FINDS IT.
A pleasant incident is recorded of General
Garibaldi. Ono evening he met a Sardinian
shepherd, who had lost a lamb out of his
noclc, ana was in great actress oecause ne
could not find it. Garibaldi became deeply
Interested in the man, and proposed to nis
staff that they should scour the mountains
and help to find the lost lamb. A search was
organized, lanterns were brought, and these
old soldiers started off full of eager earnestness
to look for the fugitive. The quest was
in vain, however, and by-and-by all the soldiers
returned to their quarters.
Next morning Garabaldl's attendant found
the general abed and fast asleep, long after
his usual hour for rising. The servant
aroused him at length, and the general rubbed
his eyes and then took from under his
bed coverings the lost lamb, bidding the attendant
to carry it to the shepherd. Garibaldi
had kept up the quest through the night
until he had found the lamb. This illustration
helps us to understand how Jesus Christ
seeks lost souls in the world of sin, continuing
the search long after others have given
it up, seeking until he finds.?Rev. J. R
Miller, D. D.
INFLUENCE OF GOOD EXAMPLE.
"Not long since,"savs a well known author,
"on board a man-of-war there was a young
midshipman who was in the habit of kneeling
daily at his berth. This was such an unusual
practice that the other middies resolved
to put it down, so they watched him. and
the moment he knelt 1 e encountered a volley
of caps and shoes. This was repeated again
and again, but still the midshipman persevered
i nd said his prayers. The
commander heaid of it, and summopthe
young man before him, bade
the persecuted middy state his grievance.
The lad replied that he . had no charge to
bring. The commander said that he knew
there was good cause of complaint and cautioned
the other midshipmen against repeating
the annoynnce. That night instead of
the usual volley, the kneeling middy heard
footsteps approaching, and to his surprise n
young companion bent at his side. Shortly
afterward came another and another, till 14
were found yielding to the influence of this
noble example."
DELIVERED FROM TEMPTATION.
When Wendell Phillips was a boy fourteen
years of age, in the old church at the North
End. Boston.he heard Lyman Beecher preach
on the theme: ,4You belong to God." He
went home alter service, threw himself on
the floor of his room, with locked doors, and
prayed: *'0 God, I belong to thee; take what
is thine own. I ask this that whenevi-r a
thinir bo wrong it may have no power of
temptation over me; whenever a thing be
right, It may take no courage to doit" From
that day on, he testified that whenever he
knew a thing to bo wrong it held no temptation
; and whenever he knew a thing to be
right, it took no courage to do it.
Prayer is s^ mighty an instrument that no
one ever thoroughly mastered nil its kevs.
They sweep ahmg the inlluite scale of mail's
wants and of God's goodness.?Hugh Miller.
Prisoners Strike.
Thora tos a big strike in the bolt shop of
the Ohio penitentiary, at Columbus, thr.
other day. The strikers were all convicts,
and they were not dissatisfied with their
wages, as they get none, nor with their hours
of labor. The trouble was with the food
that wa3 served them, and they vowed they
would do no more work until they were better
fed. The warden made a personal investigation
of the cause ot the complaint, after
which he promised the men that their desire
should be granted, and they went to work
with a will.
Less Business Failures.
There were 236 business failure throughout
the United States during the week ending
July 21, as compared with 4S7 the corresponding
week last year.
I
[ SABBATH SCHOOL
INTERNATIONAL LESSON FOR
AUGUST 19.
Lesson Text: "First Disciple of
Jesus," John I., 35-49?
Golden Text: John 1., 42
?Commentary.
35. 86. "Again the next day after Jobn
stood and two of discAles. and, lookingupon
Jesua as Hh walked, he saith, Behold the
Lamb of God." During the time of fasting
and temptation of our Lord John had gone
on preaching and baptizing and preparing
the way of the Lord. Then on a cortain day
he saw Jesus coming unto him and said, |
"Behold the Lamb of God. which taketh ,
; away the sin of the world" (verso 29). The
opening verses of our lesson ten us 01 me
day following. This cry of John is the
I answer to Isaac's question asked so long
ago, "Where is the lamb for a burnt offerine?"
(Gen. xxil., 7.)
37. "And the two disciples heard him
speak, and they followed Jesus." John was
not seeking to draw people to himself, but to
prepare them for and point- them to the
Lamb of God. When be heard later in his
ministry that all were following Jesus, be
said, "This my jov is fulfilled. He must increase.
but I must decrease" (John ill., 29,
90). We do well when our testimony leads
men to follow Jesus. Let us live to point
j Him out.
38. "Then Jesus turned and saw them
following and salth unto them, What seek
ye? They say unto Him, Rabbi, where
dwellest ThouV" We may imagine Him saying
to us every time we go to church, or
prayer meetinsr, or Bible class, "What seek
I ye?" Let us acquire the habit or asking
ourselves, what am I going for? And may
our hearts ever say, "I would see Jesus," "I
would know Him" (Johnxli., 21; Phil. Hi.,
10).
39. "He saith unto them, Come and see.
I They came and saw where He dwelt and
abode with Him that day, for it was about
the tenth hour." If the reekoning is the
same as in chapter xiv., 14, then it was about
10 a. m.. and they had several hours with
Him. We wonder what home was so fortunate
as to have Him for a guest, and where
He entertained those two that day, but it is
more important for us to open our hearts to
Him and have Him abide with us continually.
40. "One of the two whioh heard John
6peak and followed him was Andrew, Simon
Peter'8 brother." The other was probably
John himself, as he would not be likely to
mention his own name. From Math, iv., 18;
Luke v., 10, we gather that these four, Simon,
Andrew, James and John, were partners
as fishermen, and all left their boats
finally to follow Jesus and become fishers of
men, about the same time.
41. "He first findeth his own brother Simon
and saith unto him, We have found the
Messiah, which is, being interpreted, the
Christ." Tne result of that call upon Jesus
was that Andrew (which signifies manly)
became a true man?a manly man indeed,
for he henceforth lives to bring men to Jesus
and make Jesus known to men, and begins
' Kla Amn Vivnthafi
42. "And he brought him to Jesus." This
is the one thing to do -not bring him to a
church or prayer meeting merely, or to a
truth or doctrine, but to Jesus as a living
person. Andrew brought him to Jesus, who
was to die as a sacrifice, but wo bring people
to Jesus, who has died and is alive forevermore
and has nil power (Rev. i., 18 ; Math,
xxviii., 18). Jesus, who knows all men and
what is in man (chapter ii., 24, 25), told him
who He was and gave him a new name.
Compare Oen. xvii., 5 ; xxxif., 28.
43. "The day following Jesus would go
forth into Galilee, and flndeth Philip and
saith unto him, Follow Me." Either directly
by the Spirit, or by the Spirit through the
word or some person, God is ever seeking to
draw people to Himself. He beean in the
gnrden of Eden and has been at it eversinee.
"44. Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city
of Andrew and Peter." See how Jesus recognizes
earthly lriendships and continues as
friends In Himself those who had been
friends before, if they are only willing to
have it so. Special mention is made of Philip
in John vi.. 5, 7; xil, 21, 22, and xiv., 8, 9.
He seems to have grown in the knowledge of
Jesu9 very slowly, and to have been of a
easoning, calculating turn of mind.
45. "Philip flndeth Nuthanael and saith
unto him. We have found Him of whom
Moses In the law and the prophets did write.
Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
Philip certlnly did well in at once seeking
another. If, from that day on, every believer
had promptly brought another soul to Jesus,
think of the result.
46. "And Nathanael said unto him, Can
there any good thing come ou< of Nazareth?
Philip saith unto him, Come and see." It is
not a question of place or circumstances,
but it is a person with whom we have to do,
about whom we have to speak, and whom we
must show unto the people. It would seem
from this that Nazareth was not a place that
it was an honor to hail from, anotlier proof
that Jesus made Himself of no reputation
I fPhi). ii.,7).
47. "Jesus saw Natbanael coming to Him
and salth of him. Behold, an Israelite indeed,
in whom is no j^uile." What a testimony
from the searcher of hearts! Nathanael
mast have been a true worshiper up
to the light he had, one who walked uprightly,
wrought righteousness and spoke
the truth In his heart (Ps. xv., 2), one who
walked with a perfect heart in a perfect way
(Ps. ci., 2). Jesus will surely make Himself
known to those who thus sincerely seek to
know God. Consider the gentile Cornelius
(Acts x., 2) and see how God enlightened
him (Acts x., 47,48 ; xi., 14).
48. "Nathunael saith unto Him, Whence
knowest Thou me? Jesus answered and
said unto him, Betore that Philip called
thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I
saw thee." The eyes of the Lord are in
every place, they run to and fro through the
whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf
of those whose hearts are perfect toward
Him (Prov. xv., 3 ; II Chron. xvi., 9). We
might safely infer that Nathanael under that
lis; tree was engaged in studying the prophets
and in prayer.
49. ' Nathanael answered and saith untoHim
: Rabbi, tbou art the Son of God ; thou
are the king of Israel.", Philip might have
argued with him for houcs about the possibility
of a good thing coming even out of
Nazareth without convincing him, but a moment
with Jesus and a word from Him settle
it all. Jesus Himself, and none but He, is
the solver of all doubts, the dispeller of all
fears, the rest and peace and joy ot every
soul who comes to Him. Nathanael at once
proclaims Him divine (see John x., 33, 36),
and Israel's Messiah, the long expected
king, whereupon Jesus assures him that he
shall yet see heaven opened and the complete
iulfllment of Jacob's vision. It shall
be when Jerusalem from above and old
Jerusalem restored shall be in perfect accord.?Lesson
Helper.
The Wheat Yield.
The report* from the wheat-growing gallons
of the Uaitel State3 Indicate that th<j
yield will be something more than an average
crop. The advices from Great Britain
ore that the crop of wheat compares thlsyeAr
most favorably with the condition ot the corresponding
periods In the ^wo preceding
year?. Tnklng 100 as the average condition
for Great Britain, the report for England, in
which nine-tenths ot Grout Britain's crop 13
raised, reports as high as 102. The Argentine
wheat crop which last yarwas seventeen
bushols per acre?a phenomenal yield?Is
tully expected this year to amount to tnirteen
bushels nr. acre, which is about the Average
crop. The acreage in Argentine this year
hns been increased over last year about
twenty per cpnt. There would seem to be no
reason to believe that American wheat will
for many months be sold at one dollar per
bushel. .
Alien Laborers Must Go.
New York Stato has decided that nlien laborers
must go. at least so far as public work
is conccrned. Among the laws adopted by
the Leerislaluro this year is ono decreeing
that none but citizens of the United States
may be employed on any State or municipal
work, and the people of thoState show a disposition
to see that the law is enforced. The
Grand Jury at Buffalo'has just returned an
indictment against Henry J. Warren, Supsrinteudent
of the Barber Asphalt Company,
for employing Italian laborers on the streets
of the city, which liis company 19 paving.
Wrecked on the Great Lakes.
Between December 17. 1SS5. an I November
15, 1893. 227 vessel* were wreovuloaths
graat lakes, representing a loss 01
A BULL FIGHT.
HOW THE BRUTAL SPORT IS
CONDUCTED IN SPAIN.
Three Kinds of Bulls?Duties of the
Men "Who Fight the Brutes
?Raising Bulls for
the Ring.
V HATEYER the morality of
\ /\ / the thing may be, nothing
\ \ is more stirring and imposing
than the first part
of an extensive bull fight, There is
the ceremonions entrance to the blare
of trumpets, the procession of historic
costumes, crimson, pale blue, white
and canary, pea green, silver, white
and pink, scarlet, black, dark blue
and white?and over all the brilliant
sunlight and the enthusiasm of an
audience blazing with excitement.
The ring at Tarragona has seats for
17,000 people?more than the entire
population of this little city on the
Mediterranean, writes a New York Recorder
correspondent, and yet the
seats are often full, for the country
people flock in, on foot, on donkeys,
asses, horses and in bullock-cart.
When the great band strikes up the
stirring march, when the thousands
on the benches begin to move themselves
uneasily and scream down greetings
to their favorite fighters, when
the long procession glitters in the
ring, you have a scene before you not*
to be forgotten.
The central idea of a bull fight is to
show the courage and dexterity of
men. It is acknowledged that the bull
is more than a man's match?the bull
with his strength, fopocity and sharp
horns?the man armed only with a
slender sword. The man must kill
the bull with but a single stroke; this
stroke must be delivered in a special
spot, behind the shoulders, and to
give this stroke the man must face the
bull. All this is delicate and dangerous?witness
the lamentable death of
the young and handsome Espartero,
killed in the ring at Madrid by a bull
BAN" DERI LlrKBO STEPFDK
of no great courage, cunning or force
of character. When 1 &peak of a bull's
moral qualities, it is no idlo word.
Bulls are of three kinds, aud whenever
a new bull jumps into the ring the
people know by hi? first movements
just what kind of a bull he is. Bulls
arc levantados, parados and aplomados
?just as men are heedless, indolent
and well balanced.
Tho lev.nntado, the giddy or thoughtless
bull, rushes immediately, with a
high head, across the ring. He makes
in turn for every aide, he leaps and
dashes, often comically. Then he
nhr.vnroa r?-n linrcAR ftnrl f.KlA niPY!
-who ride tliem. He is an easy bull to
kill. His adversary knows how ho will
act?he is a bull who jumps directly
at the last thing taking his attention.
The parado, or lazy bull, comes on
'in a little trot, then stops, wheels
around and returns to the gate whence
he emerged. But it is necessary to
distrust a lazy bull. Sometimes he
becomes irritated in the very midst of
his laziness, and then he is a terrible
nrr.Ls in the stalls.
opponent. There is no counting with
him then. His character is changed.
The aplomado, or level-headed bull,
however, is the most dangerous of all.
Nothing is more splendid than his entrance
to the ring. He stands before
the public with bin head thrown up,
without excitement. His air is so majestic
that the people shout. He i
scarcely notices the enemies, but
eeerns to look entirely at the andiouce,
as if io .i3k their admiration. Then !
pouuding on the ground with hia forefeet,
he rushes surely at the apearsinan
mounted on his shaky and blindfolded
horse. Throughout the tight J
he takes care not to tire himself, but |
shows an .ntcliigcnce ami decision I
that amount to generalship. It is not j
strange he fciiould?the Spanish light- j
j ing bull is cut * common bull.
The music hf-.s ceased playing, and
j the light commences. The bull is in
the riug ant1, he is bt?ii'g teased by men
with red cloak?, which they flaunt before
him. He is a s!eud<-r animal, with
small hind quarters, but with a tremendon*
neck and shoulders. Jrlo is rather j
small than large. His horns are
ntraigbt and sharp, and he i3 quite
quick and trieiy. They flaunt their
cloaks before his face, escape by a mere j
inch; they jump tlw fence. But for
tLo Lorse there is no escaoo. The I
hu:3en are poor creatures, ready for j
tho oliamblctt. They would be killed j
anyway, for they are useless and decrepit.
The reason for the introduction
of tlis hvrsea is (1; to show the
1
vigor of the hull, who tosses them j
with wicked strength; (2) it is to tire i
the bull a little, in order that a single
handed man may face him ; (3) it is to ;
^ .St '
ESP AX) A RECEIVING APPLAUSE.
give the bull a smell of blood, that
being naturally what he himself is
fighting for; and (4)?it must be said
?it is to give the people themselves a
smell of blood. They like the blood !
The fighters who have waved the
cloaks are toreadors; the men who ride
the horses are the picadors, and those
who come in after three or four or
seven horses have been killed are banderilleros.
The coming of each set of
men is like a new act i'^* tragedy.
And their coming and their going are
marked by long flourishes of trumpets.
Each of the banderilleros holds two
beribboned darts, which he must stick
in the bull's neck. It is a matter of
great skill and danger. 1 saw a banderillero
ruined for life at Madrid in
the spring of 1S92. The reason why
thev prick the bull with these steel
darts is to make him ferocious after he
is tired. It is a trying thing to watch
the daring and the danger oi the banI
5 ASIDE FROM THE BULL.
derilleros. The bull comes with a rush
upon tie nimble fellows, wno evaae
him by a hair's breadth. Each evasion
fiud each trick of their bravado has its
name, and is applauded by the thousands
on the benches.
The trumpets blow again and the
dram rolls. It is the entrance of the
matador?the "toreador," as he is incorrectly
called in "Carmen." He is
the high professional who holds the
sword. So he is called "espada,"
swordsman, which is the name he prefers.
After the Paris Exposition of
1S89 when they (the Duke of Yeragua
and others) were trying to maintain a
permanent bull ring in the City of
Light, there was an outcry in the
papers, saying that such cruelty was
not in the French character. The
Courrier Francais brought out a cartoon
by Willette, which, being circulated
throughout Spain by humane
Spaniards with a missionary zeal, provoked
the bitter curses of the populace.
It showed a black-faced "es"
? ? <?.?1 otyion " in <v hull rinrr
jl/UUUj Ui OITVIUQIUHIU) M ?Q
with ft flying bull behind him. He
was starting back, in guilty fright,
from a fair, shadowy female figure
representing France. She pointed to
his sword, which she had broken at
his feet, and said: "The sword is not
for the butcher!"
The matador must kill a crazy animal.
The bull is weakened, but the
banderilleros with their darts, have
gixen him a temporary strength, which
comes from his aroused ferocity. For
| a few moments he is stronger even
j than at first, although it is a strength
that cannot last. In these few moments,
full of danger, theespada must
dispatch him. Do not talk of cowardice
! These espadas are the bravest
kind of men.
The drum sounds. Come now, let
us kill him! He calls to the President:
"I greet your worship and all
amateurs and ail men of courage!
Ole!" He has a flag in one hand,
He tries the bull with a great wave.
A little more and there would be one
matador the less. What an escape!
Now, Ajaja! That came off well!
"Take that!" Ah! He feared to
strike. A hiss. Now every one is
quiet. Now for a stroke! Oof! The
sword bends; it has struck a bone.
He strikes again, like lightning!
"Long live my merit and my art!
And let it be as God wills!" Applause,
applause, applause! It was a great
stroke. There is no blood from the j
bull's mouth. He has been struck '
straight through the heart, not in the
lungs. The bull sways, drunken.
Then he comfortably settles on his
knees. Then he sits down as if he
were to go to sleep at night. Then
he is dead.
The matador is walking round the
ring and bowing, while cigars, oranges
and hats ami flowers rain down on
him by thousands. It is a way the
audience has of showing its delight i
ana namiruuuu.
Tin? lighting balls of Andalusia have |
thoir breeding places chosen for them
as if they were young princes with a
taste for natural scenery, or gods masquerading,
as they one time did, in
bovine shape. No valley is too fresh
andswoet with odorous herbs for them,
no stream of mountain source too virginal
and oool for their hot youthful |
hides to wallow in. The young bulls j
have even chaperons to keep them i
company and keep them out of harm.
There are the cabestroa, very intelli
ijent oxen, who fulfill toward them the
office of guide, philosopher and friend
from their youth up. As soon as a
young bull goes beyond the limits of
bis natural pasturage these cabestros,
without even an order from the guardian,
dash after him, ringing their
bells which hang from their fat necks.
They soon surround the young deserter,
who, without the least resistance
comes back with a lowered head,
as if he were ashamed.
The usefulness of these cabestros is
no less even in the bull ring. From
time to time young bulls are tested in
the ring, with leather balls around
their horns. A crowd of boys climb
down from out the audience and show
off their skill by teasing him and slipping
from him. There is not much
danger for the boys, excepting brokeu
ribs, and for the bull there is not even
pain. They tease him with their coats,
but may not strike him. But he gets
excited, rushing furiously, and you
cannot make him leave the ring. Or,
as it sometimes happens, a brave and
intelligent bull at a real fight is spared
his life at the demand of the audience,
or disables two men or kills one. In
each case he must go free. But it
nmnlil in vain tn tnr Vlim
" -? ?J ' ~
from the ring. Yet it ia sufficient th^t
these good old oxen should appear
ringing the remembered bells of his
childhood for ^ie young bull or the
old bull to hasten to join the group
again and run out to the stables, after
a short trot round the ring.
A Fruitful Tree.
C. W. Madison, section boss of the
Louisville and Nashville Bailroad, at
Ocean Springs, Miss., has favored the
Picayune with a specimen of the fruit
of his pear orchard. It is a bit ot a
branch some two feet long, broken
from a four-year-old tree, and along it
cluster fifteen large and perfect pears.
They are yet green, and apparently
not more than half grown. The gulf
coast is one of the best places in the
country for the culture of this fruit.
This year the pear trees along the
coast have suffered some from the
blight for the first time in many years,
but the damage so far to the crop is
not serious. There are many other
kinds of fruit that flourish to perfection
along the coast, notably grapes
and scuppernongs, figs and persimmons.?New
Orleans Picayune^
Oldest Mason in the United States.
The oldest Freemason in the United
States, Adna Adams Treat, was born .
in Hartford, Conn., April 8, 1797. In
1823 he became a member of Apollo
Lodge of Troy, N. Y., and he is still
a member of that organization. In
1825 he married Miss Jane Reilay, of
Troy, who died October 28,1890. For
a number of years Mr. Treat has lived
in Denver, Col., with his daughter,
the wife of Doctor Burnham, of that
city. He is the oldest churchman in
the West.
In early life this aged Mason was
engaged in the picture frame buiness
in Hartford. He was one of the founders
oi "the Troy L.ooking-Glass Manufactory."
In 1830 he removed to
Syracuse and engaged in the grain
trade. Subsequently he resided in
Ohio and Indiana, going westward
ADN'A ADAMS TREAT.
with the population of the period. Ho
was eighty years of age when he began
the writing of poems of an anniversary
and descriptive character. Hia
description of the Rocky Mountains
and the poem written' on tne ninetysixth
anniversary of his birth have
been published.
The^old Mason and his bride, Jane
Reilay, were regarded as the handsomest
couple in Troy back in 182-5.
Mr. Treat is hale and hearty in hia
ninety-eighth year and bids fair to
reach the coucluding years of the century.
He has been a Mason more
than seventy years. ?New York Times.
The greatest naval review of modern
times was by Queen Victoria in
1854 at the beginning of the Crimean
war. The fleet extended in an unbroken
line for live miles an4 comprised
300 men-of-war, with twice that
number of store and supply ships. The
fleet was manned by 40,000 seamen.
The Greek common people not only
paid no taxes, but received large appropriations
from the State in the
shape of free shows and games.
There are 220,000 men of all nations
in the British army.
When the "Kldw Turned.
The Dog? "I'll frighten the life oat
3f that kid.
"Good gracious!"
"What'er matter, doggy?"?Life.