The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, January 23, 1895, Image 7
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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