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W ' r.j- ' " ry - _ REV. SR. TALMAGE, THE BROOKLYN DIVINE'S SUNDAY SERMON. Subject: "Tomb and Temple.*' Txxt : "Prom India even unto Ethiopia.* ?Esther L, 1. In all the Bible this Is the only book In Which the word India ocoura, bnt It stands for a realm of vast interest In the time of Bother, as in oar rime. It yielded then, as now, spices and silks and cotton and rice and Indigo and ores of all richness and preoioa* stones of all sparkle and had a civilization of its own as marked as Egyp tian or Grecian or Boman civilization, it holds the costliest tomb ever built and the most unique and wonderful idolatrous temple ever opened. For practical lessons in this, my sixth discourse in round the world aeries, I show you that tomb and temDle of India. In a journey around the world It may rot be easy to tell the exact point whioh divides the'pilgrimage into 1 halves. But there was one structure toward which we were all the time traveling, and having seen that we felt .that if we saw nothing more oar expedition -j- would be a auocess. That one object was the Taj Mahal of India. It Is the crown of the i. whole earth. The spirits of architecture met to enthrone a king, and the spirit of the Parthenon of Athens was there, and thesplrlt of 8t. Sophia of Constantinople was there, and the spirit of St. Izaak of Sc. Petersburg was there, and the spirit of the Baptistery of Pisa was there, and the spirits or the pyramid and of Luxor obelisk, and of the Porcelain, tower of Nankin, and of St. Mark's of Venice, and the spirits of all thefcreat towers, ' < great cathedrals, great mausoleums, great sarcophagi, great oapltols for the living and of great necropolises for the dead were there, v' And the presiding genius of the throng with Krel of Parian marble smote the table of Lsslan malachite, and called the throng of spirits to order, and called for a vote as to which spirit should wear the chief crown, and mount the chief throne, and wave the chief scepter, and by unanimous acclaim the cry was: "Long live the ( spirit of Taj, king of all the spirits of architecture 1 Thine is the Tal Mahal of India 1" The buildin? Is about six miles from Agra, and as we rode out In the early dawn we heard nothing bat the boob and wheels that palled and turned as along the road, at everr yard ot which oar expectations rose antil we had some thought that we might be dlsappointed at the first glimpse, as some say . they were disappointed. Bat how can any one be disappointed with the Taj Is almost as neat a wonder to me as the Taj Itself. There are some people always disappointed, and who knows bat that having entered heaven they may orltlc!s8 the architecture of ; the temple and the cat of the white robes, and say that the Blver of Life Is not quite up to their expectations, and that the white horses on which the conqaerors ride seem a little spring halt or spavined? My son said, "There It is!" I said, "Where?" For that whloh he saw to be the building seemed to me to be more like the morning cloud blushing under the stare of t the rising son. It seemed not so mach built tip from earth as let down from heaven. Fortunately you stop at an elaborated gateway of red sandstone one-eighth ot a mile from the Taj, an entrance so high, so arched, o graceful, so four domed, so painted and chiseled and sorolled that yoa come very gradually upon the Taj, whloh structure Is enough to intoxicate the eye and stun the i ^imaginationandentranoethe soul. We go ap the winding stairs of this majestic entrance of the gateway, and bay a few pictures, and examine a few curios, and from it look off apon the Taj, and descead to the , pavement of the garden that raptures everything between the gateway and the ecstaoy Of marble and preolous stones. Yoa pass ^ along a deep stream of water In which all " manner oz Druiiant nns swiri ana uoax. There are eighty-four fountains that spout and hand and arch themselves to fall In showers of pearl In basins of snowy whiteness. Beds of all imaginable flora greet the nostril before they do the eye and seem to roll in waves of oolor as you advance toward the vision you are soon to have of what human genius did when It did its best: moon > flowers, lilacs, marigolds, tulips and almost every where the lotus; thlokets of bewlldering bloom; on either side trees from many lands bend their arboresoence over your head or seem with oonvolnted branches to reach out their arms toward you In welcome. On and on you go amid tamarind and cypress and poplar and oleander and yew and sycamore ana banyan and palm and trees of rfuoh novel branch and leaf and girth you cease to ask their name or nativity. As you approaoh the doorof the Taj one experiences a strange sensation of awe and tenderness and humility and worship. The - building is only a grave, but what a grave I Built tor a queen, who, aocordtng to some, was very good, and acoordlng to others very bad. I choose to think she was very good. At any rate, it mokes me feel better to think that this commemorative pile was set up for the Immortalization of virtue rather than vice. The Taj Is a mountain of white marble, but never such walls faced eaoh | other with ezquisiteness; never such a tomb was cut from block of alabaster; never such a congregation of precious stones brightened and gloomed and blazed and chastened and glorified a building since sculptor's chisel out its first curve, or painter's pencil traoed Its first figure, or mason's plumb line measured its first wall, or architect's compass swept its first circle. The Taj has sixteen great arched windows, lour at each corner; also at each of the four corners of the Ta] stands a minaret 187 feethlgh; also at eaoh side of this building is a splendid mosque of red sandstone. Two hundred and fifty years has the Taj etood. and yet not a wall Is cracked, nor a mosaic loosened, nor an arch sagged, nor a Eanel dulled. The storms of 280 winters are not marred nor the heats of 260 summers disintegrated a marble. There Is no tory of age written by mosses on its white surface. Montaz, the queen, was beautiful, and Shah Jehan, the king, here proposed to let all the centuries of time know it. She was married at twenty years or age and died at twenty-nine. Her life ended as another life beiran. As the rose bloomed the rosebush perished. To adorn this dormitory of the dead, at the command ot the king, Bagdad sent to this building Its cornelian and Ceylon its lapis lazuli, and Punjab its jasper, and Persia its amethyst, and Thibet Its turquoise, and Lanka Us sapphire, and Yemen its agate, and Ponna Its diamonds and bloodstones, and sardonyx and chalcedony and moss gates are as common as though they were pebbles. You And one spray of vine beset ; with eighty and another with 100 stone*. Twenty thousand men wero twenty years in building it, and although the labor was lave labor, and not paid for, the building cost what would be about 960,000,000 * of our American money. Some of the Jewels hare been picked out ot the wall by Iconoclasts or conquerors, and substitutes of less value have taken their plaoes, but the vines, the traceries, the arabesques, the spandrels, the entablatures are so wondrous that you feel like dating the rest of your life from the day you first saw them. In letters ot black marble the whole of the Koran is spelled out in and on this angust pile. The king sleeps la the -j. tomb beside the qaeen, although be intended to bulid a palace as black as this was white on the opposite side of the river for himself to sleep Id. Indeed the foundation of. suoh a necropolis of black marble is still there, and from the white to the black tern*, pie or the dead a bridge was to cross, bat theson dethroaed him aad imprisoned him. and it is wouderfal that the kin;? had any place at all la whioh to be barled. Instead of wiadows to let ia the light upon the two tombs, there is a trellis work ot marble, marble cat so delicately thin that the sua ehiaee through it as easily as t hrough glass. Look the world over aad Had so much traasluenoy, canopies, traceries, lace work, embroideries ot stone. We had heard of the wonderful resonance o! this Taj, and bo I tried it. I suppose there are more sleeping echoes in that buildtfxiK waiting to be wakened by the human rvoloe than in any building every constructed, |l uttered one word, and there seemed descending invisible choirs in full chant, and "there was a reverbratlon that kept on long after one would have expected it to cease. When a line of a hymn was sung, there were Elying, rolling, rising, falling, interweavsounds that seemed modulated by bet seraphic. There were aerial sopranos and bassos, soft* high, deep, tremulous, |emotlonal, commingling. It was like an anjUphonal of heaven. But there are four or alve Taj Mahals. It has one appearance at sunrise, another at noon, another at sunset and another by moonlight. Indeed tba Krar trowel of the moon, and the golden wel of the stnligtit, and the leaden i trowel of the storm build and rebuild the glory, so that it never seems twioe alike. It has all moods, all complexions, all grandeurs. From the top of the Taj, whioh is 250 feet high, sprites a spire thirty feet higher, and that is enameled gold. What an anthem in eternal rhythm! Lyrics and elegies In marble. Soalptared hosanna. Masonry as of supernatural hands. Mighty doxology in stone. I shall see nothing to equal it till I see the great white throne, nH mi it Trim from whose faoe the earth and heavens flee away. The Taj is the pride of I ?'lla, and especially of Mohammedanism. An English officer at the fortress told as that when daring the general mutiny In 1857 the Mohammedans proposed insurreotion at Agra the English Qovarnment aimed the guns of the fort at the Taj and said, "You make insurrection, and that same day we will blow your Taj to atoms, and that threat ended the disposition for mutiny at Agra. But I thought while looking at that palaoe for the dead all this constructed to cover a handful of dust, but even that handful has probably gone from the mausoleum. How much better it would hava been to expend $60,000,000, which the Taj Mahal cost, for the living. What asylums It might have built for the sick, what houses for the homeless! What improvement our oentury has made upon other centuries In lifting In honor of the departed memorial ohurohes, memorial hospitals, memorial reading rooms, memorial observatories. By all possible means let us keep the memory of departed loved ones fresh In mind, and let there be an appropriate headstone or monument in tne cemetery, but there is a dividing line bei ween reasonable commemoration and wicked extravagance. The Taj Mahal has its uses as an architectural achievement, eclipsing all other architecture, but as a memorial of a departed wife and mother It expresses no more than the plainest slab in many a country graveyard. The best monument we can any of us have built for us when we are gone is in the memory of those whose sorrows we have alleviated, in the wounds we have healed, in the kindnesses we have done, In the ignorance we have enlightened, In the recreant we have declaimed, in the souls we have saved. Such a monument is built out of material more lasting h*n marhle or bronze and will stand amid the eternal splendors long after the Taj Mahal of India shall haye gone down In the rains of a world of which it was the costliest adornment. Bat I promised to show you not oaly a tomb of India, bat a onique heathen temple, and it is a temple under* ground. With miner's candle we bad seen .something of the underside of Australia, as at QimSie, as with guide's torch we bad seen at Ifferent times something of the underside of America, as in Mammoth oave, but we are now to enter one of the sacred cellars of India, oommonly called the Elephantaoavee. We had it all to ourselves, the steam yacht that was to take us aboat fifteen miles over the harbor of Bombay and betweea enohanted islands, and along shores whose curves and gulches and pictured rooks gradually prepared the mind for appreciation of the most unlqae spectacle In India. The morning had been full of thunder and lightning and deluge, but the atmospherlo agitations had oeased, and the oloudy ruins of the storm were piled up In the heavens, huge enough and darkly purple enough to make the skies as grandly picturesque as the earthly scenery amid whloh we moved. After an hoar's cutting through the water we came to the long pier reaching from the island called Elephanta. It is an island small of girth, but 600 feet high. It declines into the marshes of mangrove. But the whole island is one tangle of foliage and verdure: convolvulus oreeplng the ground; mosses climbing the rocks; vines sleeving the long arms of the trees ;red flowers here and there in the woods, like incendiary's toroh trying to set the groves on Are?caotus and acaola vying as to whloh can most ohann the be* bolder; tropical bird meeting particolored butterfly in jungles planted the same sum* mer the world was born. W? stepped out of the boat amid enough natives to afford all the help we needed for landing and guidance. xou can be catried by coolies in an easy chair, or you can walk, if you are blessed with two stout limbs, which the psalmist evidently lacked, or he would not have so depredated them when he said: "The Lord taketh no pleasuoe in the legs of a man." We passed up some stone steps, and between tne walls we saw awaiting us a cobra, one of those snakes which great the traveler oitumes in maia, lwo oi moguiuoa left the cobra dead by the wayside. They most have been Mohammedans, for Hindoos never kill that sacred reptile. And now we come near the famons temple hewn from one rock of porphyrv at least 800 years ago. On either side of the ohlef temple is a chapel, these cat oat of the same stone. So vast was the undertaking and to the Hindoo was so great the human Impossibility that they say the gods scoopea oat this structure from the rook and carved the pillars and hewed its shape into gigantic Idols and dedicated It to all the grandeurs. We climb many stone steps before we get to thegatewgjgte||HMUranaeto this temple has u^^^^Hffoorlceepers leaning on How strange! But I have seen doorkeepers of churches and auditoriums who seemed to be leaning on the demons of bad ventilation and asphyxia. + ?a Ka lAonlnr* An XJ\J\JL aucuuio VUgUk iy MU lOOIUU^ vu VUQ angels of health aad oomfort and life. All thesertons and janitors o( the earth who have spoiled sermons and lectures and poisoned the lungs of audiences by ineffleienoy ought to visit thte oave of Elephanta and be- ! ware of what these doorkeepers are doing, when Instead of leaning on theangello they lean on the demoniac. In these Elephanta caves everything Is on a Samsonlan and Tltanlan scale. With ohisels that were dropped from nerveless hands at least eight centuries ago, the forms of the gods Brahma and Vishnu and Siva were cut Into the everlasting rock. Siva is here represented by a figure sixteen feet nine Inches high, one-hall man and one-half woman. Bun a line from ttie center of tbe forehead straightto'the floor of the rock, and you divide this idol into masculine and feminine. Admired as this idol is by many, It was to me about tht worst thing that was ever out into porphyry, perhaps because there Is hardly anvthlng cn earth so objectionabje as a being half man and half woman. Do be one or other, my hearer. Man Is admirable and woman is admirable, but either in flesh or traprock a compromise of the two is hideous. Save us from effeminate men and masculine women: Yonder is tho King Havana worshiping. Yonder Is the scaltured representation of the marriage of Siva and Parhati. Yonder Is T\? Ir a V? o tha or?r? a f Prohmo hnrn fmrrt fhrt A/u&gu?| wuv ovu vi jviuuiuuj wuu thumb' of his right hand. He had sixty daughters. Seventeen of those daughters were married to Kasyapa and became the mothers of the human race. Yonder is a god with three heads. The center God has a crown wound with necklaces of skulls. The right hand god is in a paroxysm of rage, with forehead of snakes, and in its hand is a cobra. The left hand god has pleasure in all its features, and the hand has a flower. But there are gods and goddesses in all directions. The chief temple of this rock is 130 teet square and has twenty-six pillars rising to the roof. After tne oonqueror3 of nthoF lanria onH tha tmiHata frrtm all lands have defaced and chipped and blasted and carried away curios and mementos for museums and Homes, rnure are enough entramoements left to detain one unless he Is cautious until he is down with some of the malarias which encompass this Island or get bitten with some of its snalces. Yes, I felt the chilly dampness of the place and left thl3 congress of gods; this pandemonium of demons, this pantheon of indifferent deities, and came to the steps and looked off upon the waters which rolled and flashed around the steam yacht that was waiting to return with us to Bombay. As we stepped aboard, our minds filled with the idols of the Elephanta caves, I was impressed as never before with the thought that man must have a religion of some kind even if he ha3 to contrire one himself, and he must have a god even though he make it with his own hand. I rejoice to know the day will oome whoa tae one lioci 01 iae umverse will be acknowledged throughout Indln. That evening of our return to Bombay I visited the Young Men's Christian Association with the same appointments that you find in the Younj* Man's Christian Associations of Europe and America, and the nigQt after that I addressed a throng of native children who are in the sohools of the Christian missions. Christian universities gather ander their wing of benediction a host of the young men of this country. Bombay and Oalcutta, the two great commercial cities of India, feel the elevating power of an aggressive Christianity. Episcopalian liturgy, and Presbyterian Westminster oateohlsm, and Methodist anxious seat, and Baptist waters of consecration now stand where onoe basest idolatries had undisputed sway. The work which Shoemaker Carey inaugurated at Berampore, India, translating the Bible into forty different dlaleots, and leav i ing his wornout tody amid the natives whom he had oome to save, and going up into the heavens from which he can better watoh all the field?that work will be ootnpleted in the salvation of the mtllions of India. and bflside him gazing from the same high places stand Bishop Heber and Alexander Duff and John Scudder and Mackay, who fell at Delhi, and Moncrieff, who fell at Cawnpor, and Polehampton, who fell at Laoknow, and Freeman, who fell at Futtlgarb, and all heroes and heroines wbo for Christ's sake lived and died for the Christinlzation of India, and their heaven will not be complete nntll the Ganges that washes the ghats of heathen temples shall roll between charohea of the living God, and tho trampled womanhood of Hindooism shall have all the rights purohased by him who amid the cuts and stabs ot his own assassination oried out, "Behold thy mother!" and from Bengal Bay to Arabian Ocean, and fmm Hlmaiarfts to the coast of Corom nndel there be lifted hosannas to Him who died to redeem all natlona. Iq that day Eiephanta cave will be one of the places where idols are "ca3t to the moles anl bats." If any clergyman asks me, as an unbe'levin# minister of religion once asked the Duke of Wellington, "Do yon not think that the work of converting the Hindoos is all a practical farce?" I answer him as Wellington answered the nnbelieved minister, "Look to your marching orders, si? P* Or if any one having joined in the gospel attack feels like retreating I say to him, as General Havelock said to a retreating regiment, "The enemy are in front, not in the rear," and leading them again into the light, though two horsa3 had been shot under him. Indeed the taking of this world for Christ will be no holiday celebration, but as tremendous as when in India during the mutiny of 1857 a fortress manned by sepoys was to be captured by Sir Colin Campbell and the army of Britain. The sepoys hurled upon the attacking columns ourning missiles and grenades, and flred on them sbot and shell, and poured on them from the ramparts burning oil until a writer whowitneased It saya, "It was a picture of pandemonium." Then Slir Colin addressed bis troops, saying, ''Remember the women and children must be rescued!" and his men replied : "Aye, aye, Sir Colin! We stood by you at Bala k lava, and we stand by you here." And then oame the triumphant auault of the battlements. So In this gospel cam{>aign, which proposes capturing thtJ very ast citadel of Idolatry and sin and hoisting oyer it the banner of the cross we may have hurled upon us mighty opposition an lscorn and obloquy, and many may fall before toe work is done, yet at every call for new onset let the cry of the churoh be: "Aye, aye, great captain of our salvation! We stood by thee in other conflicts, and we will stand by thee to the last" And then, if not in this world, then from the battlements ot the next, as the last Appolyonic fortification shall crash into ruin, we will join In the shout, "Thanks be unto God, who giveth us the victory!" "Halleluiah, ior the Lord Gal omnipotent relgneth!" POPULAR SCIENCE. The sense of touch is dullest on the back. The estimated population of the world in 1893 was 1,500,000,000. Bussia is again agitating the question of introducing the deoimal system of weights and measures. Gas from petroleum is very extensively made and used in Bussia, Austria and many parts of Germany. Parisian dootors have warned the people that the eating of horseflesh is attended with danger of triohinosis. Under normal oircnmstances, a man throws off two pounds every day in sensible and insepsible perspiration. Petroleum has been used for some time in Germany as a means of preventing the formation of scale in boilers. The power of herculite, a new explosive, is almost beyond' belief. A half pound of it will mtive thirty tons nf af.nriA Explorations of Northern Siberia demonstrate that that region was inhabited by tigers until, within a comparatively recent date. The latest navigable balloon of Captain Benard, of the Frenoh Army, has a gasoline motor in place of one driven by electricity. He hopes therewith to maintain a speed of twenty-five milee for ten hours. Goat's milk is valued in Paris because it is always free from tuberculosis germs. But M. Burgault objects to the custom of taking the goats to the customers, beoause the animal's fatigue injures the quality of the milk: The novel vessel that M. Brazin is constructing at Argenteuil, France, is to be rolled over the water on enormous copper oylinders instead of being forced through it, and is expected to attain a speed of at least thirty-one knots. It is to be steered by a kind of hydraulio pump. The common dock is considered a nuisance by cultivators, and yet some of the species serve a useful purpose. > -- << ^" i j rne one kqowu ua uurrm ia uocu iu the Old World to make special sauces for meats, and one of the species is used in the form of spinach; this is known as the spinach dock. The effect which living at high altitudes has on the blood of man and animals has recently been investigated. The result shows that the proportion of oxygen and other constituents in the blood of Alpine' men and animals is exactly the same as among similar creatures living below sea level. A writer in La Mediome Modern asserts that sedentary occupations predispose to tuberculosis more than any others. Italian and Euglish statistics show, he says, that there are 459 deaths per 1000 from this disease among students, seminarians and vouncr clergymen; while farmers, boatmen and mountaineer3 enjoy almost complete immunity from it. The Earth's Heart Maj Grow Cold. Referring to the warmer climate which is evidenced as having existed at one time all over the earth, Six William Thompson says: "The earth might be a globe of white hot iron, covered with a crust of rock 2000 feet thiok, or there might be an .ice-cold temperature within fifty feet of the surface, yet the climate could not on that account be sensibly different from what it is, or the soil be sensibly more or less genial than it is for the roots of trees or smaller plants." Manifestly, therefore, the duration of life upon the surface can in no way be dependent upon the length or intensity of heat supply from the interior. This, it is claimed, could not at the present time melt a millimeter thickness of ice.?Chicago Herald. The New Treasury Warrant. The new Treasury warrant and fffaft, in the form of a oheck, reduced live-sixths from the old sixe and printed in green ink, was Issuod recently. It Is part of the reform Instituted by the Dookary Commission and greatly simplifies the face of the warrant. The Deadly Trolley. The year 1894 counted thirty-four victims of the Brooklyn trolley cars. Since the in* auguratlon of the system, two and a ball years ayo^niaety-two persons have been SABBATH SCHOOL. INTERNATIONAL LESSON FOR JANUARY 27. Lesson Text: "The Great Confession," Math. xvl., 13-23? Golden Text: Math, xvl., 16?Commentary. 13. "When Jesus came unto the coasts of Cssarea PhillppI, He asked His disciples, ? l?tI7U?.M -mam aim T eka flftf, HftyiUKr uuiu uu moil oujr iu<u x% iuu of Man, am?" After feeding the 5000, walklog on the sea and discoursing about the bread of life, Jesus went toward Tyre and Sidon and healed the daughter ot a Syrophenlclan woman, fed 4000 and cautioned His disciples against the leaven of the Pharisees andSadduoees, or the false teachings of hypocrites and rationalists. Then, having passed to another section, He asked the question of this verse. 14. "And they said. Some say Thou art John the Baptist, some Ellas, and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets." Jist as varied are the opinions of men now cor.cerning Him, for while many bate Him and turn their backs upon Him many who profess to be His friends will not believe that He Is God, and many more who confess with the mouth that He is God as well as man are not slow to say that In some things, as a man, .He was mistaken or spoke according to the mlst&Een notions of His times, while other* who would not dare to say any of these things will not believe that He is the coming one to sit on David's throne. 15. "He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?" As far as we tire individually concerned, the great question is not what others think of Christ, bat what we think of Him, lor "every one of as shall give acoount of himself to God" (Rom. xlv., 12). Ho will deal with eaoh one separately and personally, and the great question for me is: "What do I think of Corlst? What is He to me?" What Is my relation to Him? Is He my friend and Saviour, or do I act as it It was nothing to me whether He ever lived or not? 16. "And Stmon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." By comparing verses 2 and 4 of Math. 11., we see that "the Christ" Is synonymous with "the King or the J^ws." By comparing verses 33 and 36 of Johnx. we see that in their eyes "the Son of God" meant "equal with God," so that Peter's confession meant at least thus much : "Thou art the King of the Jews, the Divine Man to sit on David's throne." 17. "And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed an. thou, Simon Bar-Jona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, bat My Father which is in heaven." Flesh and blood, or the natural man, oannot reveal onto us heavenly things, even as It is written in I Cor. ii., 12,13. God only can teach us of Himself by His holy Spirit, but He is ready to teaoh ail who are ready to be taught. 18. "And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gAtes of hell shall not prevail against it." The Greek words translated "Peter" and "rock" are not quite the same, for the word translated "Peter" means a bit of rock, a rolling stone, but the word translated "rock" means a cliff or hedge, a solid rock. The church was not to be built upon Peter, a rolling stone, but upon the solid rock, Christ, whom Peter confessed to be the Christ, the Son oil God. Notice that the church was not, then, built nor being builded, for He saiji, "I will build My ohurolh." 19. "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound In heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in h?aven." We know from Acts ii. and x. that Peter was the first of all the apostles to preach th? gospel both to Jews and gentiles, and thuB. He opened the door to all, and this is the power of keys. As to the binding and loosing, we know that me sanio power mas givcu w iuu ?ui*tvu a whole In chapter xvltl., 18. Every believer Is authorized to proclaim the gospel (Bev. xxll, 17) and to point the repentant ,sinner to the passages which declare him loosed from his sins and the impenitent to the passages whloh deolare him still bound by his sins. , 20. "Then charged He His disciples that they should tell no man that He wa9 Jesus, the Christ." He had confessed to the woman of Samaria that He was the Messiah (John :lv., 25, 28) ; He had to the Jews given many 'proofs that He was their Messiab, and they only turned their backs upon Him, so that He will deolare it no more. See chapter xiL, 16-19. If the truth Is not reoelved when simply presented, there is the danger of the truth being withdrawn and a delusion received in its stead (II Thess. 11., 10, 11). Jesus Himself is the truth, and there is none other, for God can be known only in and through Christ. | 121. "From that time forth began Je3us to show unto His disciples how that He must go unto Jerusalum and suffer many thingsjof the elders and chief priests and scribes and be (killed and be raised again the third day." See the same facts repeated by Him In chapters xvii., 22, 23, ana xx., 18,19, and notice :ln verses 24, 25, of our lesson chapter that there Is no way to the kingdom but by the oross and entire self renunolatlon. While the kingdom is delayed, postponed because ol Israel's rejection of her King, the heirs of the King, the members of His body, the church, must be content to be treated aB their Master was and live as He lived, not unto TTJmaolf hnt lintO God. 22. "Then Peter took Him and began to rebuke Him, saying, Be it far from Thee, Lord, this Bhall not be unto Thee." The 'margin says, "Pity Thyself." It is the nature of the natural man to pity one's self rather than deny self. It is too muoh the case with Christians also that they live unto themselves, indulge themselves, please themselves, rather than please Him who hath called them, so that God alone can tell whether they are Christians at all or not. Christians should bea.* in mind that "we who live are always delivered unto death forJesus's sake, that the life also of. Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal .flesh" "that we should not henceforth live ,unto ourselves, but unto Him who died for us and rose again" (II Cor. iv., 11; v., 15). | 28. "But He turned and said unto Peter: lOet thee behind Me, satan. Thou art an offense unto Me, for thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men." See what the Lord thinks of pitying 'oneself. It is not from God, but from satan, tbe adversary of God and man. He hates the Christ life, and if he cannot destroy will do all he oan to hinder it. "Not I, but Christ, who liveth in me," is the true Christian motto, and only those who thus live can tie a giory 10 u-ou auu a oiessiiiK iv mou fellows. It is like man to get and enjoy and gratify himself; It Is like Ood to give and jrolnister unto and make others glad. "For the Son of Man came not to be ministered onto, bat to minister and to give His life a ransom fof many" (Math. xx, 28).?Lessoa Helper. Proprietors ortne united States. The Census Office has made public a roEort showing that the owners of farms and omes, regarded as substantially tbe landowners of the United 8tates, own moro than ninety per cent, of the wealth of the country, Of the white more than flfty-ono per cent, are owners ;of the colored people, more than seventeen per cent; of mixed white and oolored parentage, twenty-five per oent.; of the Indians, sixty-five, und of the Chinese | and Japanese, fourteen. The whit* owners of farms and homes that are free of mortgage form seventy-one per cent, of all white owners ; of the colored people, eighty-nine; of those of mixed parentage, eighty-seven; of the Indians, ninety-six, and of the Chinese and Japanese, ninety-seven per cent. The percentages of ownership are slightly higher for women than for men, and free ownership is also higher among women, except with the Indians and Chinese and Japanese. The Inventor or "Bloomers "Deaa Mrs. Amelia J. Bloomer, wife of D. C. Bloomer, died recently at Council Bluffs, Iowa. She was one of the earliest advocates of rational dress for women, as her publio use of tne new costume caused It to be called fco Ulnnmflp nostnme. She was seventy-seven years old, and a native of Homer, N. Y. She was married in 1840, and issued the Lily, a woman suffrage paper, from 1849 to 1853. She came to Oounoil Bluffs about twenty-five years ago. She attained a National reputation as a lecturer and advocate of woman suffrage and temperance. Died at the Age of 125. The Mobile (Ala.) Board of Health toned a oertlfloate for the burial of Sophie Plan* kett, oolored, aged 130 years. RELIGIOUS READING. THE EVENING PBAYEJt. A husband had been listening to the evening prayer of his little ones. Recollections of past days arose in his mind when he, too, uttered the same prayer at his mother's knee. "Far back," said he, "through many years, have my thoughts been wandering. At my mother's knee, nightly, I said, in cnildhood, mv <?vf?ninr> nrnvers 'Our F.ithftr.' that sh^ taught me. Childhood and my mother passed away. I went forth as a man intc the world, strong, confident and self-seeking. Once I came in great temptation. Had I fallen into that temptation, I would have fallen. I fear never to have ri3Pn again. The struggle went on in my mind for hours. I was about yielding. AU the barriers that I jould oppose to the in-irushing flood, seemed ust ready to give way, when, as I sat in ny roOm one evening, there came from an idjoining chamber, now first occupied for jiany weeks the murmur of low voices. I (istened. At first no articulate sound was aeard,and yet something in the tones stirred pay heart with new emotions. At length ihore came to my earn in the earnest loving TOice of a woman, the words, "Deliver ua from all evil." For an instant it seemed to me as if the voice of ray mother. Back with auddeu bound through all the intervening years, went my thoughts, and I was a child ih heart again. I was kneeling at my mother's knee. Humbly and reverently I said over the holy words of the holy prayer she had taught me, heart and eyes uplifted tc heaven. The hour and the power of darkness had passed. I was no longer standing in slippery places, with a flood of waters ready to sweep me to .destruction; but my feet were on a rock. My mother's pious care had saved her son. In the holy word she taught me in childhood was a living power to iresist evil through all my after life. Ah! that unknown mother as she taught her child to repeat his evening prayer, how little dreamed she that the holy words were to reach the stranger's ears, and save him through the memories ol his mother! And yet it was so. What a power there is in God's Word as it flows intc and rests in the minds of innocent children.' Tear3 were in the eyes of tne wire an.c mother, as she lifted her face and Razed with tenderness upon the countenance of her husband. Her heart was too full for utterance. A little while she thus gazed, and then witt trembling joy laid her head upon his bosom. Angels were in the ofcamber where their deal ones slept, and they felt their holy presence. PBECIOCS HINT TO ALL WHO LABOB FOB 60UL9 "I am afraid Mary is almost a hopeles.' case," said a good old elder to his young min Jster, as they stood conversing at the dfoor 01 an imposing brick house, which the eldei called his home. It was evidently a subject of deep interesl to both of them, for a tear trembled in th< eye of the old man, and a flush on the cbeekf of the youthful pastor bespoke no commor solicitude. ' "Dou you ever converse with her on the sub ject of religion?" asked the pastor. ' Yes, indeed," replied the old man, "even day of our lives, and it soems to disgust hewhenever we speak of it." "Is it not Dossible." asked the young man earnestly, "that too much has been said t< tier already: so much that she has wearied o it?" "No," replied the old man; "I used to tall to her gently about love and mercy, and thei the tears would roll down her cheeks; bu now she Is such a hardened sinner, I onl; try to awaken her by descriptions of th? judgment and such things." The pastor heaved a sigh and turned away He saw what the difficulty was?what was thi stumbling block of this gentle girl; and b< trembled as he thought that if this course was not soon ended, her precious soul would b< forever lost. He started, as he looked up, fo there before him was the elder's lovely daugh >.er, her sweet face glowins? with excitement and her large blue eyes dancing with joy.Was It not possible that she had already sue ceeded in driving away the solemn thought from her mind? Might this not be the Jus opportunity to converse with her alone? H stopped before her, and looking kindly int< her face, he laid his band on her shoulde and said, \Mary! the Savior Is waiting t( receive you; are you ready to go to him?' One buret of tears relieved the poor girL Ah, those magic words! they were th means of leading this youthful transgresso o?l- t\f anfatxr Vfiuro nftfir Ma!-V hp iv iuc ata v* ou*wj? ? came her pastor's wife, and will she not al ways remember with thankfulness her pas tor s simple exhortation? It was no denun ciatiOD, no reproof for her past crimes ;it wa no long sermon; but''Mary! the Savior i waiting to receive you; are you ready to g< to him?" un:desehved. The gifts of Chrint are bestowed upon us al undeserved. Here again he has given us no as the world giveth. We never receive gift but as a kind of return for past services. W never receive them,except from those betweei whom and ourselves, there is a reciprocity o kind feeling. Do we ever give gifts to thos who have no regard for us? How much le9 do we give to those who bate us! How mucl less to those who spend their whole life in try ing to injure us! Suppose we hated some on and had spent our life in trying to injure bin and he were, without waiting for us to tak the first step towards reconciliation to come t< us, to bestow on us gifts of princely value, t< identify himself with us,and raise us to a leve with his own imperial dignity? Suppose in or der to do this, he were obliged to sacrifice hi; life, and suppose that all the time he had i In his power to crush our enmity and our selves together, and annihilate us forever: How unlike the world such a deed would be! How could we ever reproach ourselves enough for ever having hated a being capable of such magnaminity? How could we ever love, and thank, admire, und reverence him as we ought? I'ct this has been done foi us. It is no matter of supposition, but of fact It is a dav of the history of the universe, inscribed with God's own hand on the archives of eternity. Yes, "while we were enemies. we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son"while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Was ever love like this! It passeth knowledge. Surely this is everlasting love, without beginning and with. end; beyond our conception; unfathomable, as eternity, and worthy of God. Surely this is given not as the world giveth. HOW SOCIETY WEIGHS CHIME. Society has a way of scaling crime and sins thnt it is pretty difficult to And any warrant fot in the Holy Word; and a great deal of it comes from the difficulty which men experience in keeping distinct tilings which are essentially different, and from confusing things which lire essentially distinct. One reason why we regard certain crimes as more wioked than others is because the state punishes them more severely; but that is no safe criterion if their wickedness, inasmuch as what the state punishes a crime for is not sinfulness, but its harmfulnes} to society; and it grades its punishments according to the degree ol that harmfulness. That is why it punishes forgery and counterfeiting, for instance, with more extreme penalties than it does petty larceny. The criminality of a crime is according to tne degree in wnicn tnat crime is liable to injure society. The sinfulness of a sin is accord ng to the degree in whicn that sin is an expression of the sinner's indifference or antagonism to the will of God. So that the acts which will be most likely to land a man in jail are not necessarily the acts which will be most likely to land him in hell.?C. H. Parkhurat. A "Good Will Farm" is being tried with success iti Maine. Bad boys are sent to it instead of to reforn s liools. On the farm they are separated as fir as possible into groups, in a number ot cottages that have been jrected. The idea is that in this way the >oys may he subject to the beneficial influences of home '?f? ? Hiim'a Hnm Diphtheria Robbed of Its Terrors. Dr. Behring, the discover of the antitoxins remedy, was decorated with the Cross of the Legion of Honor in the New Year's list, and Paris disoloses increasing confidence that the pest of diphtheria has been definitely robbed of its terrors. Drs. Behring and Boux declare that of 100,000 oases now on record there is not a single instance of tho vacolne doing the slightest injury. It has been fcjoertained that the French, Bonx method of preparing the new serum remedy for diphtheria is superior to the German. In the latter the serum is preserved with the aid of carbolio add, which leads to various nervous and other complications whloh are avoided bv the Frenoh method, which substitutes camphor for th? oarbolio add. . Miss Vanderbilt's Debut. Miss Gertrude Vanderbilt, daughter of Cornelias Vanderbilt, recently made her sooial debnt in New York City. The reception afforded fashionable folk their first opportunity of inspecting the interior of the new VanJBmm* MISS GERTBUDE VANDERBUjT. . derbilt mansion. The debutante, who was dressed in a simple white gown, received her callers in the first of the series of drawing rootns on the Fifth avenue side of the house. The entrance was from the Fifty-eighth street front, and, from 4 until 7 o'clock, an incessantly moving line 01 carriages went in at one gate and oat the other. A band of Hungarian musicians was stationed in the library, and in the ballroom twenty-five of Lander's ma* sicians played. The new ballroom in the reconstructed chateau is the largest in any private residence in America, except the ballroom in George Vanderbilt's Southern castle. Five hondred persons can dance with comfort in the ballroom at the same tini^ Dealers in flowers in New Tork had occasion to hail the social debut of Miss Vanderbilt into society with delight. Miss Vanderbilt received a grand total of 148 bouquets, sixty of whioh were made in one upper Fifth ? ? " A ? Al? /v A! avenue nower uuup. on tuo {u?d ??. the bouquets ranged from $10 to $25, $2500 is a conservative estimate of the value of the bouquets. Miss Gertrude Yanderbilt is the second ohild of Cornelius Yanderbilt. She is eighteen years old and resembles her father. She is a very tall, slender girl, with dark hair worn brushed back from her forehead, large, flashing dark eyes, and a wonderfully brilliant complexion. Her faoe is animated, rather beautiful, and is usually wreathed in smiles. She is ' a simple, unaffected girl, and is gracious in her manner as though $50,000 a year was not the sum whioh will go with her)like with all the other trirls of her family. The other four children of Mr.' and Mrs. Vanderbilt are Cornelius Vander- ' bilt, Jr., the oldest, who is a student at Tale; Alfred Vanderbilt, the third child, now a student at St. Paul's School, at Concord, X. H.; Reginald Vanderbilt, and Miss Gladys Vanderbilt, who is about twelve years old. The Wonderful Princess Paulina. ^ Princess Paulina, smallest woman in the world, arrived at New York recently and met a number of invited guests at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. She was brought into the room in a boatshaped wioker basket, packed with Sowers. The floral ship was carried in the arms of the Princess's sister, and from a slip of a card attached to | it these facts were read: "The Princess Paulina was born at Ossendrecht, Holland, 'February 26, 1876. She is the seventh child of a family of twelve. Her father and mother are a robust couple, rather above the medium height, as are also PRINCESS PAULINA. her six sisters and two brothers, wh? are living. Her weight is eight anl one-half pounds." Paulina was lifted from her placi of state and stood on the table in i long-train dress and piped "gooi aftynoon" in a wee voice. She ges tnred with her mites of bediamonei hands and told all about herself, an? when at length she was set on the floor she went about and shook hands with everybody. She retired, only to reappear in a minute in a jaunty siLb costume w ith knee skirts. Then she did some things that made the spectators' eyes stick out. She jumped from the table, twice her height, and went through a variety of hand-stands on the floor and on the backs of two tiny chairs?tests of strength of which any big man gymnast might be proud. She performed, using the huge forefingers of her great big 200-pound brother in lieu of a bar, evolutions orwl as nomnli j CJUIUtt. UD ?? ? ? i cated. Princess Paulina has appeared be! fore royalty and in tho best showhouses in Europe. Her head, the smallest in the world, measures fifteen inches in circumference, but there's a great deal in it. The little lady has made and broken two marriage engagements, and now wears the ring for a third. The elephant is commonly snpposeo to be a 6low, clumsy animal, but.wheD excited or frightened, can attain a speed of twenty miles an hour and keep it up for half a day. During the twelve months ending October 31 New Zealand sent 102,144, 389 pounds of frozen meat to Great j Britain. J- -/.vv"Vr..5^r-V-:VJ-.>.^ A-/.< v ' ' .- ;. . HOUSEHOLD MATTERS. WASHING SOCKS. It is unusual for the oolor to ran if the socks, etc., are washed in the right way. A lukewarm lather should be used; the articles should not be soaped, but thoroughly well shaken in the lather, rinsed at once in cold water and dried quickly. The cooks, etc., washed according to these instraotions, should not show any signs of running ; but if, in spite of all precautions, tne color should run, try a little an gar of lead (poieon) in the lather and rinse m above, or wash in nearly cold water with oxgall soap. This always prevents running, but it needs very careful and economical handling, as it melts away rather quickly, and aervants are apt to use it very extrava- r gantly. ?New York Telegram. BEMEDY FOB CABPET BEETLES* The State Entomologist of Massachusetts, who has been studying the ways of the buffalo carpet beetle and the pitchy carpet beetle, a similar pest, cautions housewives to look out for the beetles of the first-mentioned nuisance as early in the year as the months of February and March. At that time watch for them on the windows and window-sill i, look over all woolen clothing not in frequent use, and examine every day any pieces of red carpeting on your floors. As is well known, the beetles are later in the year?sometimes brought into the house in flowers, and have a special liking for the blossoms 01 spirea. m order to prevent the larvse from attacking carpets from the under side, saturate the cracks with benzine, and oover them completely with carpetpaper or newspapers. The exposed edges of oarpets are protected bywashing them with a solution of corrosive sublimate and aloohoL Sixty ^grains of the sublimate to a pint of alcohol is the proportion given by Mr. Fernald. This remedy, whioh ia a poison, cannot be safely used where there are little children who play upoa the floor.?New York Post. ' HOW TO CLEAN FUBS. Notwithstanding the old idea that really good furs will wear forever, the owner of a nice sealskin jacket, or a fine ermine cape, cannot repress s sigh of disappointment when she looks at her fors for tne nrst time since their long summer seclusion. "It may be true," sighs she, "that my fors will never wear out But it is equally true that they look very shabby after lying in a camphor chest for six months. Why, eome of this fur is so f flattened that it actually looks as if it were moth eaten. . If a furrier has had charge of the fun during the summer they are all right now, for a dealer has every convenience for oleaning and keeping furs. But if the home mother has taken them into her own keeping she will no doubt be glad, at this time, to learn ' how her treasures may be renovated and made as "good aa new." Ermine and sealskin are best cleaned with soft flannel. Bub the fur delicately against the grain, and when it has been thoroughly lifted and reversed, so to speak, dip the flannel into common flour and rub lightly any spots that look dark or dirty. Shake the fur well and rub with a clean, dry flannel until the flour is all removed. oaoie, ciuuvuiuti, e^uutci >?? monkey skin may be very nicely cleaned with hot bran. Get a small quantity of bran meal and heat it in the oven until it is quite warm. Bab stiffly into the far and leave for a few minutes before shaaking to free it from the bran. Mink may be oleaned and freshened , with warm cornmeal, and, like the other short-haired furs, may be done without removing the lining. Bat the long-haired furs are best ripped apart and freed from stuffing and lining. rru-"" mart nnt nurfl fco CM to th? 1UUCO "UV U4WJ -V ~ Q- -- trouble of taking fur garments apart will find that the simple remedies described will go a long way toward making the jackets and capes look clean, even if not ripped apart.?Detroit Free Press. RECIPES. Parsley Sauce?This rarely gets any seasoning, except white pepper and a few drops lemon. The parsley must be finely chopped and must never boil, only warm through. # . Oyster Dressing for Turkey?One pound of bread crumbled fine, two stalks of celery chopped fine, one-half pound of butter, melted, salt and pepper to taste. Add to this two quarts of the best oysters, strained from their liquor and picked carefully over for bits of shell. When the oysters are mixed with the bread, add enough of their liquor to moisten stuffing well. Fill the turkey, and baste with equal ' parts of liquor of oysters and water. Royal Corn Muffins?One pint of corn meal, one pint of flour, one tablespoonful sugar, one teaspoonful salt, three te?.apoonfuls baking powder, one tablespoonful lard, two eggs, one pint mink- Sift together corn meal, flour, sugar, salt and powder; rub in lard cold and eggs beaten and [ milk; mix the batter of consistency of I cup cake; muffin pans to be cold and well greased, then fill two-thirds. Bake in hot oven over fifteen min utes. Trifles?One quart of flour, one oup of sugar, two tablespoonfuls melted butter, one egg, two teaspoonfuls of baking powder sifted with the flour, and enough sweet milk to make stiff as crullers. Boll into thin sheets, and cut in pieces about two by four inches. Make as many cuts across the short way as possible. Pass two knittingneedles under every other strip. Spread the needles as far apart a? possible, and with them hold the triflea in the fat until light brown. Almond Cream Cake?Two cupfula of powdered sugar, one of sweet milk, liroa nf flraip. nnA-fourfcll of a CUDftll of batter, whites of four eggs, well beaten, two teaspoonfuls of baking powder and half a teaspoonful of vanilla. Bake in four tins and put together in layers, with cream made aa follows: Whip one cupful of sweet oream to a froth, and stir gradually into it half a cupful of powdered sugar, a few drops of vanilla, and one pound of almonds blanched and ohopped. Spread quite thiok between the layers of cake. Frost the top and aides. I