University of South Carolina Libraries
f ' REOK, TALMA.GE. SUNDAY'S DISCOURSE BY THK NOTED DIVINE. Subject: "Kindness for Another's Salfc." ? Textj^ "Is there yet any that Is left of the l house oi Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?" * * So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem, for he did eat continually at the kind's table and was lame on both his feet."?II Samuel ix., 1 and 13. Was there ever anything more romantic and chivalrous than the love of David and Jonathan? At one time Jonathan was up and David was down. Now David is up and Jonathan's fumllv ie rinnn Ac vnn have often heard of two soldiers beforegoing into I battle making a covenant that if one is shot the survivor will take charge of the body, the watch, the momentos and perhaps of the bereft family of the one that dies, so David and Jonathan had made a covenant, and now that Jonathan is dead David is inquiring about bis family, that he may show kindness unto them for their father Jonathan's sake. Careful search is made, and a son of Jonathan by the exceedingly homely name of Mephib'osheth is found. His nurse, in his infancy, had let him fall, and the fall had put both his ankles out of place, and they had never been set. This decrepit, poor man Is brought into the palace of King David. David gazes upon him with melting tenderness, no doubt seeing In his face a resemblance to his old friend, the deceased Jonathan. The whole bearing of King David toward him seems to say: "How glad I am to see you, Mephibosheth! How you remind me of your father, my old friend and benefactor! I made h bargain with your father a good many years ago, and I am going to keep it with you. What can I do for you, Mephibosheth? I am resolved what to do? I will make you a rich man. I will restore to you the confiscated property of your grandfather Saul, and you shall be ague^t of mine as Ions as you live, and you shall be seated at my table among the princes." It was too much for Mephibosheth, and he cried out against it, calling himself a dead dog. "Bo I still," says David; "I don't do this on your ' account; I do this for your father Jonathan's sake. I can never forget his kindness. I remember when I was hounded from place > to place bow he befriended me. Can I ever forget how ho stripped himself of his ' courtier apparel aud gave it to me instead of my shepherd's coat, and how he took of! his own sword and belt and gave them to me instead of my sling? Ob, I can never forget him! I feel as if couldn't do enough for you, his son. I don't do it for your sake; I do it for your father Jonathan's sake." So Mephibosheth dwelt in JerusaIlem, for be did eat continually at the king's i table and was lame on both his feet" There is so much gospel In this quaint incident that I am embarrassed to know where to begin. Whom do Mephibosheth and David and Jonathan make you think of? Mephibosheth, in the first place, stands for the disabled human souL Lord Byron describes sin as a charming recklessness, as a i gallantry, as a Don Juan; George Sand describes sin as triumphant In many intricate I plots; Gavarni, with his engraver's knife, f always shows sin as a great jocularity; but I the Bible presents it as a Mephibosheth, lame , on both feet. Sin, like the nurse in the context, attempted to carry us and let us fall, and we have been disabled, and in our whole moral nature we are decrepit Sometimes theologians haggle about a technicality. They use th? words ''total depravity," and some people believe in the doctrine, and some reject it. What do you mean by total depravity? Do you mean that every mac is as low as he can be? Then, I do not believe it either. But do you mean that sin has let us fall; that it has scarified and wounded and crippled our entire moral nature until we cannot walk straight and are lame in both feet? Then I admit your proposition. There is not so much difference in on African jungle ?with barking, howling, hissing, nghing / quadruped aud reptile, and paradise, with Its animals coming before Adam, when he patted them and stroked them and gave them name^, so that the panther was as tame as the cow and the condor as tame as the dove?as there is between the human soul disabled and that soul as God originally constructed it. I do not care what the sentimentalis's or the poets say in regard to sin. In the name ol God I declare to you to-day that sin is disorganization, disintegration, ghastly disfiguration, hobbling deformity. Your modern theologian tells you that man is a little out of sortR; be sometimes thinks wrong; he sometimes acts wrong; indeed, his nature needs a little moral surgery, t an outside splint, a slight compress, a little rectification. Religion is a good thing to have; it might some day come into use. Man is partially wrong, not all wrong. He is lame in one foot. Bring the salve of divine grace and the ointment and the pain extras tor, and we will have his one foot cured. Man is only half wrong, not altogether wrong. In what is man's nature right? In his will, his affeotions, his judgment? No. There is an old book that says: "The whole head is sick and the whole heart faint." Mephibosheth lame in both feet. Our belief of the fact that sin has scarified and deformed I our souls increases as we go on in years. i When you started life you thought that man was a little marred by sin and he was about one tenth wrong. By the time you had gone through the early experience of your trade or occupation or profession you believe i that man was about half wrong. By the time you came to midlife you believed that man was three-fourths wrong. But within these past few years, sinoe you have been so lied about and swindled and cheated, you have come to the conclusion that man * Is altogether wrong, and now you can say with the prayer book and the Bible, "Thereis no health in us." Now you believe with the prophet. "The heart is deoeitful, above all things, and desperately wicked." Whatever you may have believed before, now you believe that Mephibosheth is lame on both feet. Again. Mephibosheth in the text stands for the disabled human sou. humbled and restored. When this invalid of my text got a command to come to King David's palace he trembled. The fact whs that the grandfa:her of Mephibosheth had treated David most shockingly, and now Mephibosneth says to himself: "What does the king want of me? Isn't it enough that I am lame? Is he going to destroy my life? Is he going to wreak on me the vengeance which ho holds toward my grandfather, Saul? It's too bad." But go to the palace Mephibosneth must, since tne king has commanded it. With staff and crutches and helped by his friends. I see Mephibosheth going up the stairs of the palace. I hear his staff and crutches rattling on the tessellated floor of the throneroom. No sooner have these two nersons confronted each other?Meohib Iosheth and David, the kins?than Mephibosheth throws himself flat on his face before the king and styles himself a dead dog. In the east when a man styles himself a dog he utters the utmost term of self-abnegation. It is not a term so strong in this country, where, if a dog has a fair chance, he sometimes shows more nobility of character than some human specimens that we wot of, but the mungy curs of the oriental cities, as I know by my own observation, are utterly detestable. Mephibosheth gives the utmost term of self-loathing when he compares himself to a dog. and dead at that. Consider the analogy. When the command is given ffom the palac? of heaven to the human soul io come, the soul begins to tremblo. It says: "What is God going to do with me now? Is He going to destroy me? Is He ROing to wreck His vengeance upon me?" There is more than one Mephibosheth trembling now because God ha% summoned him to the palace of divine grace. What are you trembling about? God has no pleasure In the death of a sinner. He does not send for you to hurt you. He sends for you to do you good. A Scotch preacher had the following circumstances brought under his observation: There whs a poor woman in the parish who was about to be turned out be I cause sne coum noi pay ner rem. woo ui^ui she heard a loud knocking at the door, and bhe made no answer and hid herself. The rapping continued louder, louder, louder, but she made no answer and continued to hide herself. She was almost frightened un10 death. She said, "That's the officer of the law come to throw me out of my home." | A few days after a Christian philanthropist met har in the street and said: "My poor woman, where were you the other night? I game round to your house to pay your rent, why didn't you let me in? Were you at tome?" "Why," she replied, "was that you?" I'Yes. that was me. I came to pay your ent." '"Why," she said. "If I had had any dea it was you I would have let you In. I bought it was an offloeroometo cast me out r.s. .v j'I. :i-<-?f v - ' r ?> ? of my home." 0 soul, that loud knocking at the gate to-day is not the sheriff come to put you in jail: it is the best friend you ever Md come to be your security. You shiver with terror because you thinlc it is wrath. It is mercy. Why, then, tremble before the Kiusroi heaven ami earth calls you to His palace? Stop trembling and start right away. "Oh," you sav, "I can't start. I have been so lamea oy sin mm su mujci uj evil habit I can't start. I am lume in both feet." My friend, we come out with our prayers and sympathies to help you up to the palace. " If you want to get to the Ealnce. you may set there. Start now. The [olv Spirit will help you. All you have to do is just to throw yourself on your face at the feet of the Kim?, as Mepbibosheth did. Mephibosheth's caninlal comparison eeems extravagant to the world, but when a man has seen himself as he really is and seen how he has been treating the Lord, there is no term vehement enough to express his self condemnation. The dead dog of Mephibosheth's comparison fails to describe [ the man's utter loathing of himself. Mephibosheth's posturing does not seem too prostrate. When a soul is convicted, first he prays upright. Then the muscles of his neck relax, and he is able to bow his hea<l. After awhile, by au almost superhuman effort, he kneels down to pray. After awhile, when he has seen God and seen nimself, he throws himself flat on his face at the feet of the King, just like Mephibosheth. The fact is, if we could see ourselves as God see3 us, we would perish at the spectacle. You WUUIU UftVO IIU ULUU I\J VVCIUUUI Uiuvt pie. Your cry would be, "God be merciful to me, a sinner." And again, Mephibosheth in my text stands for the disabled human soul saved for the sake of another. Mephibosheth would never have *ot into the palace on his own account. Why did David ransack the realm to find that poor man nnd then bestow upon him a great foitune and command a farmer of the name of Ziba to culture the estate and give to this invalid Mephibosheth half the 1 proceeds every year? Why did Kins? David make such a mighty stir about a poor fellow who would never be of any use to the throne ] of Israel? It was for Jonathan's sake. It was what Robert Burns calls for "auld lang : syne." David could not forget what Jonathan had done for him in other days. Three * times this chapter has it that all this 1 kindness on the part of David to Mephib- ! osheth was for his father Jonathan's sake. The most important part ot every prayer ' is the last three or four words of it, "For Christ's sake." Do not rattle off those words as though they were merely the finishing j stroke of the prayer. They are the most ' important part of the prayer. When in earnestness you go before God and say, "For Christ's sake," it rolls in, as it were, upon God's mind all the memories of Bethlehem and Gennesaret and Golgotha. When you say before God. "For Christ's sake." you hold before God's mind every eroan, 6very tear, every crimson drop of His only begotten Son. If there is anything in all the universe that will move God to an act of royul benefaction, it is to say, "For Christ's sake." God is omnipotent, but He is not strong enough to resist that cry, "For Christ's sake." If a little child should kneel behind God's throne and should say, "For Christ's sake," the great Jehovah would turn around on His throne to look at her and listen. No prayer ever gets to heaven but for Christ's sake. No soul is ever comforted but for Christ's sake. The world will never be redeemed but for Christ's sake. Our name, however illustrious it may be among men, before God stands only for inconsistency and sin, but there is a name, a potent name, a blessed name, a glorious name, an everlasting name, that we may put upon our lips as a sacrament and upon our forehead as a crown, and that is the name of Jesus, our divine Jonathan, who stripped Himself of His robe and put on our rags and gave us His sword and took our broken reed, eo that now, whether we are well or sick, whether we are living or ?' ? " " iUni r?? wi A 14 m AWUfl UViUJ5, IX WO o^coa. ILiaw uauu 11, Uiv?w heaven 4o the center, and God says: "Let o the poor soal oome in. Garry him up into ti the throneroom of the palace. Though he ? may have been in exile, though sin may have a crippled him on this side, and sorrow may tl have crippled him on the other side, and he n is lame in both bis feet, bring him up into the palace, for I want to show him everlast- tl ing kindness, for Jonathan's sake." C Again, Hephlbosheth in my text stands 5 for the disabled human soul lifted to the b King's table. It was mote difficult in those t times even than 1t is now for oomtnon men to get into a royal dining room. The sub- d jects might have come around the rail of the tl palace, and might have seen the lights kin- u alert, and might have heard the clash of the 1 knives and the rattle of the golden goblets, but not get in. Stout men with stout feet 3 could not get in once in all their lives to one n banquet, yet poor Mepbibosheth goes in, e lives there, and is every day at the table, c Oh, what a getting up in the world it was g for poor Mephibosheth! Well, though you b and I-may be woefully lamed with sin, for t our divine Jonathan's sake I hope we will n all eet in to dine with the King. c Before dining we must be introduced. If ii you are invited to a company of persons v where there are distinguished people pres- ii ent, you are introduced: "This Is the Senator." "This is the Governor." "This is the k President." Before we sit down at the King's t table in heaven I think we will want to be introduced. Oh, What a time that will be, when you and I, by the grace of God, get into heaven, and are introduced to the mighty spirits there, and some one will say: "This is Joshua." "This is Paul." This is Moses." "This is John Knox." "This is John Milton." "This is Martin Luther." "This is George Whitefleld." Oil, shall we have any strength left after such a round of celestial introduction; Yea, wo shall be potentates ourselves. Then we shall sit down at the King's table with the son3 and daughters of God, and one will whisper across the table to us and say, "Behold what manner ol love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God!" Anil some one at the table will say. "How lon? will it last? All other banquets at which I sat ended. How long will this last?" and Paul will answer, "Forever!" and Joshua will say, "Forever;" andJohn Knox will say "Forever!" and George WhiteQeld will say, "Forever!" And the wine at that banquet will be old wine. It will be very old wine. It will be the oldest wine of heaven. It will be the wine that was trodden out from the red clusters on the day when Jesus trod the wine press alone. Wine already more than eighteen nenturies old. And no one will deride us as to what we wore in this world. No one will bring up our imperfections here, our sins here. All our earthly imperfecrinna enm flrtVfirrtd nn and hid ilen. Mephibosheth's feet under the t table. Kingly fare. Kingly vesture. King- i ly companionship. \Ye shall reign for- i ever and ever. I think that banquet will ] mean more to those who had It bard In this world than to thise who had It easy. That banquet in David's palace meant more to Mephibosheth than to any one else, because he had been poor and crippled and despised and rejected. And that man who in this world Is blind will better 1 appreciate the light of heaven than we who in this world had good eyesight. And that man who in this world was deaf will better aDpreciate the music of heaven than we who in this world had good hearing. And those will have a higher appreciation of the easy locomotion of that land who in this world were Mephibosheths. I f 0 my soul, what a magnificent gospel: It takes a man so low down and raises him so high! What a goapel! Come now, who wants to be banqueted and im placed? As V. ITT:ll 1 . ~ wueu rr uuenurue was iryiug iu mo "emancipation bill" through the British parliament and all the British isles were anxious to hoar of the passage of that ' emancipation bill," when a vessel was coming into port and the cuptain of the vessel knew that the people were so anxious to get the tidings, he stepped out on the prow of the ship and shouted to the people long before he got up to the dock, "Free!" and they cried it, and they shouted it, anrl they sang it all through the land, "Free, free!" 80 to-day I would like to souod the news of vuui jjic.icui .vuu ,>uur ciuiudi caiHutiyauvu until the angels of God novering in the air, and watchmen on the battlements, and bellmen in the town cry it, shout it, sing it, ring it, "Free, free!" 1 come out now as the messenger of the palace to invite Mephibosheth to come up. I am here to-day to tell you that God has a wealth of kindness to be9:ow upon you for His Son's sake. The doors of tne palace are open to receive you. The cupbearers have already put the chalices on the table, and the great, loving, tender, sympathetic heart of God bends over >ou this moment, saying, "Is there any that is yet left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?" Several well developed cases of leprosy have been discovered in the Kanaka settlement of Joaepha. Tooele County. Utah. SABBATH SCHOOL. INTERNATIONAL LESSON FOR AUGUST 2. Lesson Text* "David's Kindness," II Samuel ix., 1-1(1?Goldea Text: Rom. xll. 10? Commentary. 1. "That I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake." David is at rest in hia kingdom, reigning over all Israel and executing judgment and justice unto all his people (II Sain, vii., 1; viii.. 15). Read in Jet. xxiii., 5, 6, of it king who. on David's throne, shall reign find prosper and execute judgment and justice in the earth--Jehovah-tsidkenu. David had sworn to Jonathan that he would show the kindness of the Lord to his house forever (I Sam. xx., 14-17), aud he would now keep his word. What a wonderful word is this, "the kindness of God" (see also verse 8). It is the same word oft times translated "mercy," and aiso "loving kindness," as in Pa. xxiii., 6; xxv., 6; Ixlii., 8, etc. The honor of being a channel through which the loving kindness of God may be shown to others is given to every believer. See II Cor. vi.f 6: Col. iii., 12. 2, 3. "Jonathan hath yet a son which is lame on his feet" When the news came of his father's death he was a little boy five years old. His nurse took him up to flee with him. and in her haste she let nim fall, thus causing him to be crippled for life (II Sam. lv., 4). This story of the king's kindness to Mephibosheth for Jonathan's 6ake Is very suggestive all through of the love of God to sinners. The man wns lame through 110 IftUll or Qis own, auu u? was iuluc uu uuiu feet?could not walk at all. All are sinners through. Adam, and such sinners that in our flesh there dwelleth no good thing (Rom. v., 12; vll., 18). If his name signifies, as some think, "shame proceeding from the mouth," It is very suggestive of Rom. ii., 13; Math, rv., 18. 4. "He is in the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel in Lo-debar." The name of this place may signify "no pasture" and makes as think of the prodigal sOn, who, when he had wasted all his living, would fain have satenthe swines' food (Lukexv., 16). Every sinner who stays away from God and seeks :o bless himself in this world of no food for tte soul is somewhat like Mephibosheth in Lo-debar. 5. "King David sent and fetched him." Be did not send him word to come and see lim because he had good news for him, but le took means to bring him right into his presence. Our David, blessed Lord Jesus, ioes not tell us to make ourselves fit to come ofiim, but knowing our Incurable lameness 3e comes right to us with His love and grace, ind we helpless creatures have only to x6:eive Him and all His love (John L, 12). 6. "He fell on his lace ana did reverence, ind David said, Mephibosheth. and he anwered, Rehold thy servant." A sinner on lis face before God is a hopeful sight, as lonviction of sin is an essential to oonverion, and nothing work? conviction like the ovihg kindness of God. See Luke v., 9: isa. L, 5; Job xlil., 5, 6; Aots iz., 5,6. David ailing him by name makes us think ol John , :x., 16, "Jesus salth unto her, Mary." 7. "Fear not, for I will surely show thee Jndnesjs for Jonathan thy father's sake." lee the comfort, the restoration and the utare provision contained in the words of his verse. The perfect love of God casts iut all fear and enables us to sing Isa. xli., L We have restored in the grace of God in 'hrist more than we lost in Adam, and He eho spared not His own Son, but delivered lim up for us all, will wiih Him also freely rive us all things. 8. "What Is thy servant that thou houldst look upon such a dead dog as I am?" lS we 8ee and believe the love of God to ua re become increasingly filled with a sense f our own unworthiness. A decreasing esLma:e of self is good growth in grace, as rhen Paul saw himself to be the lea?t of the postles, then less than the least of nil saints, aen chief of sinners. As Christ Increases re decrease. 9. "I have given unto thy master's son all fiat pertained to Paul and ro all his house." t was all of grace for all had been forfeited, o with the sinner we lost all in Adam's sin, ut God commendeth His love toward us in bat while we were yet sinners Christ died Dr us. He loved us even when we were ,ead in sins (Rom. v.. 8; Eph. iL, 4.5). All bat we receive in Christ is God's free gilt to 3 in grace (Rom. vi., 23; ill., 24; I Jonnv., 10. "Mephlbosheth, thy master's sod, hall eat bread always at my table." Ho light have been forgiven and had the proprty restored without being made a member >f the king's family, but s?e the "exceeding Teat riches of his grace" in taking him to lis own table. To be forgiven is very great, o be justified or accounted as if we had iever sinnea is greater, out 10 we mauu u hild of God and joint heir with Jesus Christ 3 greater still (I John li., 12; Rom. ill., 24; 1; Acts xill., 38,39; Rom. vili., 16; I John U., 2). 11. "According to all that my lord the :lng hath commanded His servant, so shall hy sen-ant do." These wore the words of hat Ziba who afterward slandered his maser and sought to turn away the heart of )avid froraiim (II Sam. xvl., 8: six., 27). f we are children of God, we must expect to e slandered by some one. and if the landerers are those of our own household re must not think it strange, but rather acept it as fellowship with Christ and count t a privilege. 12. "All that dwelt In the house of Ziba eere servants unto Mephibosheth." Every rue child of God by faith in Christ Jesus las all things working together for his good' Rom. viii., 28), so that all things may truly >e said to serve him. As in Ezek. 1., 19-21, he wheels and the living creatures move toother controlled by the same spirit, so all he events in life are controlled by the Spirit ?f God for the highest good of every believir. All the love and power of God combine o make all things work for God's glory and >ur good. 13. "So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem, or he did eat continually at the king's ta>le and was lame on both his feet." Here is t beautiful picture of that which every Christian may be and do. Jerusalem signiles "city of peace," in which every believer nay dwell. The king's table is the word of >od, at which we may constantly dine, ivoiding all the tempting delicacies of the vorld's tables, with their light reading, so sailed, or even the more learned works which ' irn not according to ScriDture. while, as to ' ;ur corrupt natural man, we must be con;ent to own that It Is still within us, though t may be persistently reckoned dead. Christ done is our peace, ovjc life, our joy.?Lesson Salper. ENLISTMENTS IN THE ARMY. Decrease In the Number, But Quality Is Better. There has been a slight decrease In arm1? Bnlistmonts of late, and the present strength of the army Is about 600 less than its maximum forae of 25,000 men. Officers of th? A-djutant-Gftneral's office at the War Depart ment are authority for the statement thai the quality of .the recruits is much bettei than for many years, and that connection with the Hie of the army no longer carrle* with it the social degradation, which formerly attached to It. The improved condition is stated to be due In part to the new oystea of recrulilni;, which allows a regiment to flli all vacancies from its immediate neighborhood. It is also due in a great measure to the stringent rules now governing admissions to the ranks of tho army. Greater care is nnw titlron In thn f.h.irnltop of the recruits than heretofore, aac the candidate must produce satisfactory proof on that point to insure his enlistment. According to one of the officers at the Wat Department toe conditions ot the soldier are much better than they were even ten years ago. The better class of soldiers has made the service more agreeable, and there is a more congenial relationship existing between oflicers and mea, although, of course, there cau never be an absolute commingling of the commissioned and enlisted branches. The posts now have their libraries; there is a gymnasium at every station, where, also, there is a recreation room and exchnnge. For the soldier who remains in the army there is increasing pay with length of service, and, after thirty years, retirement on three-fourths pay and allowances of clothing andjood. "me army is Dy no means rue cusroputable organization it was onco charged with being," said an army officer. "It is really agreeable, and I should say preferable, in every way for a man who Is doomed to manual labor ail his life, with nothing to ibow for It at the end, and very ltttto relaxation as he goes alone." - RELIGIOUS READING.~ LOYALTY THE TEST OF LI11EBTY. With the growing disposition in the church to break away from old llxed codes of be- j lief and conduct, and to regulate personal thought and practical ethics entirely by the dictates of the individual conscience, the question has inevitably risen in earnest and devout minds: "What is now the test of Christian fidelity? Are wo not all adrift, so far as a definite standard of religious belief and conduct is concerned ? Who shall determine whether this man belongs in the church or out of it? Yea, am I a Christian or not?" To all such troubled questionings there seems to be but one adequate and convincing reply. Since authority is no longer the tribunal to which the belief and conduct of each and every Christian may be referred, we must nfiaorvo thf* life of the individual itself, and judge belief and conduct according to their effects upon Christian character. Loyalty to Christ is the crucial thing. If the newlyfound liberty of the believer of today shall seem to impair in any degreo his fidelity to his Master, that has the now dispensation, so far as this believer is concerned, 1 been proven inferior to the old. If there 1 is less earnestness, Jess moral stamiua, ! less unselfishness and devotedness in any J Christian life, because of the greater i freedom of thought and action which has ,J recently come into the church, then it were well if wo could return to the old crecds and j moral statutes at once. But if, on the other j hand, the liberty of today does stand the test of loyalty ; if Christians in general are ' ~ 1 or\A oalf.cflftrifln ]U3l as pure?, uuu cuiut-ai, uuvt ing, and devoted as they ever were?nay, an; more Christlike In these respects than formerly?then, we say. all this so-called ' "new departure" in religion, this broadening of horizon and loosening of restraints, is a step, and a grand stej\ forward toward the millennium. How, then, does modernized religious liberty, in the church itself, seem to stand the test of loyalty to Christ ? Is the church doing less for the Master than she used to do ? Look at the grand expansion of missions, of charities, of organizations for benevolence and for Christian culture, which has gone hand in hnnd with the great liberalizing movement in the modern church. Look at the magnificent, the astounding acr cession of enthusiastic young people to the working force of the^ church. Look at the practical devotement of time, talent.energy. resource, to work among the poor ana uneducated. Look at the present esprit de corps of the whole religious republic. Look at the new, Christlike love and fellowship springing up between the denominations, which are all, as we now see, children of one mother, whose only affront to each other is that they have, one by one. gone out from the paternal roof and raised and sheltered a family of their own. Truly, there is no more reason for sects quarreling than for married brothers and sisters ; and the more Christlike Christianity of today is beginning to see it. So as the testimony of a general outlook goes, there is yet no falling-off in loyalty to Christ * because of the liberty which has come into the church as the result of aggressive modern thought. But tust as soon as devotion to Christ is seen to le falling off in the least degree among j Christians, it will be time to question the , healthfulness of the religious atmosphere? to ask, "Is not too much liberty weakening i the moral fibre and leading to indifference ?" Loyalty the test of liberty?that ( is the principle which we must apply. . True to Christ, true to oneself, and true to *;he church. i LOVE OUT OF A PUBE HEABT. j In Jesus Christ the end of the command- i | ment is love out of a pure heart, and a good ' conscience, and faith unfeigned. Nothing i can exceed the absolute plainness, the reit- < erated simplicity,of Christ's teaching. A 1 I child, a wayfaring man, a fool, can under- 1 stand it. ''If ye love Me," He says?what ? 1 go into the desert ? shut yourself up in a i monastery ? spend your days in the vain ' repetition of formal prayers ? No ! but --"If you love Me, keep My command- ' ? nrtmmnnnlAPM''1 Vftll wi ll LUrilbS. ?? . ,, say; ''how elementary! how extremely ordinary. Why, I learned all that years ago by my mother's knee; I have got quite be- | yond all that." Ah ! but have you ? Like ) the Pharisee, you may not be an extortioner, < unjust, an adulterer; but have you, even in | man's judgment, kept, in all their divine ; breadth, the law of kindness, the law of purity, the law of honesty, the law of truth, ] the law of contentment V Have you loved i God witn all the heart? Have you loved ] your neighbor as yourself??CannonFarrar. j We cannot all find the same things in 1 nature. She is all things to all men. She j is like the manna that came down from 1 heaven. "He made manna to descend for < them,in which were all manner of tastes: and every Israelite found it what his i palate was chiefly pleased with. If he de- 1 sired fat in it, he had it. In it the young 1 men tasted bread ; the old men. honey ; and I the children, oil." But all found it in sub- 1 stance and strength. So with nature. In ] her are all manner of tastes"?science, art, poetry, utility, and good in all. The botanist has one pleusure in her, the ornithologist another, the explorer another ; what all may , have are the refreshment and exhilaration | which come from a loving and intelligent | scrutiny of her munifold works.?John Burroughs." COMMUNION WITH OOD. Communion with God i3 a great comfort 1 in times of loneliness. We may be separated from our dearest earthly friends, but we can j never be separated from our best Friend; His sweet assurance comes, "Lo, I am with 1 you alway." But communion means something more than presence. . It implies a confiding interchange of thought aud feel ing between our Lord and ourselves, a heart to heart conference together, in which we have a part. We listen to ' hear what God the Lord will speak," and, in turn, he waits for our words. If there is no response from us there can be no communion. God said to Moses, "I will come down and talk with thee." And the record i stands, "The Lord spake with Moses face to face as a man speaketh with his friend." What could be more personal than this? Just as truly, we may speak with the Lord a9 we would with the most intimate friend, and he will hear the very words we utter. We may breathe iuto his ear our deepest longings and desires, our love and praises, our complaints even, and he will answer us in tho joy of our heart.?Mrs. C. L. C. BITTER MUST BE ACCEPTED. We are continually coming to points at which we hesltute. ''In all but this, dear Lord," we say. "I can take Thy way and do Thy will." Still the answer comes, "In all ways, my child." There must be no reserve, no withholding, no exception. The loved sin must be given up, though it seem only a little one. though giving it up be like cutting off a right hand or plucking out a right eye. The hard path must be taken, though it lead among thorns that pierce the feet, over sharp stones, through Are and flood. The painful duty must bo done, though it cost place, ease, position, though it lead to want, suffering, homelessness. The bitter grief must be accepted, though it seem to take all and leave nothing, and must be accepted sweetly, lovingly, cheerfully, with unquestioning faith. Condescension is an excellent thing, bn| it is astonishing how one-sided the pleasure of it is 1 He who goes fishing among the Scotch peasantry with condescension for a bait will have an empty basket by evening. ?Robert Louis Stevenson. You picture to yourself the beauty of hmvflrv nml fastness. And then some little, wretched, disagreeable duty comes, which is your martyrdom,the lamp"for your oil; and if you do not do it, how your oil is spilt!?.Phillij.ii Brooke. Abandoning Tobacco Culture, The splendid farms in Pennsylvania, near near Marietta, belonging to the estate oi tho late Colonel James Duffy, and containing over 600 acres, have been noted for the past twenty-five years for their great yields of tobacco?among the largest In Pennsylvania. This year not a tobacco plant will be raised, the profits from tobacco farming being too small to offset the risk of a failure of the crop. Not three-fourths of the usual acreage will be put out In tobacco in Lancaster County this season. A few years a<jo is.ooo acres were devoted to this crop alone. Newfoundland'* R?venne. The customs revenue of Neflrfoundlnnd for the quarter ending June 30 was 1402,000. TEMPERANCE TO A JVQ OF RI75L This "Address to a .Tug of Rum" was first rablished in 1815. It Is as applicable now us yhen it first appeared: "Here, only by a cork control'd, And blender walls of earthon mould, In all the pomp of death, repose The seeds of many a bloody nose; The chattering tongue, the horrid oath; The fist for fighting nothing loath; Th" passion which no word can tame, That bursts like sulphur into flame; The nose carbunoled, glowing red; The bloated eye, the broken head; The tree that bears the deadly fruit Of murdei*. maiming and dispute. Assaults that Innocence assails; The images of gloomy jails: The giddy thought ou mischief boat; The midnight hour in riot spent; All these within this jug appear. And Jack, the hangman, In the rear." A 8TRANOE TEMPERANCE WAR. Probablv one ol the most remarkable tem perance crusades ever recorded was that ivhich took place in a village of Madagascar, jailed Lohnrano (The Well), lying half way between Antananarivo, the capital, and Am? soaitra. There 19 a resident missionary at Loharano. The people of Loharano soma time since made an agreement among thenjelves that no I'um or strong drink should be Introduced into their market, and for some time nonn was introduced. At length, howaver, somo rumsellors, taking counsel together, resolved to force an opening for :helr trad?. Accordingly, they combined to :he number of neventy, concealed their short tnives under their lambas, aud one day took ip a position in tho market place with their rum beforo thom. Their idea was that the people would make an attempt to drive them snt, and then, "the worao for the people." But their expectations were not realized. By jome means the folk of Loharano got to know of the hidden weapons. They went to ;he missionary for advice, and then out their beads together and concooted a plan. All that day the purveyors of the ? oroidden liquor stood in the glare of the sun in the market place, waiting for the thirsty customers to come and buy. But all day long ihe Loharano men left thom severely alone, find passed and repassed before the eyes of the rumsellers with aggravating stolidity. When evening came on, the disgusted merchants loaded their donkeys again and tvent off to encamp for the night. But they were not to be daunted by mere laok of encouragement, and the next morning found tViam oonin nil ^Av?ntv. dulv nested on the market place. Presently the townsfolk be?an to appear, and their numbers increased till the whole male population was crowded iround the rumsellers, who beheld with trepidation the gleam of the sunshine on naked knives and gun barrels, Then a man stepped out from the crowd and made emphatic representations, advising the intruders to go away. The rumsellers, seeing themselves outnumbered, had no alternative but to take up their demijohns and depart.? Christian Herald. A SHARP BEJOINDEE. 8ome years ago Rev. E. Klumph, now of Elm, Wayne County, Mich., while seated in a village etcre, accosted a saloon keeper with the remark; "Come over to the church to-night and bear me lecture on temperance." The reply was: "I won't; you said whisky sellers were robbers." N I didn't" repnea air. iuumpo. "What did you say?" "I said you were worse than a robber. I said yon took my Innocent boy, and sent me home a maudlin tool. I said you took in intelligent man, and sent a lunatic to the isylum. I said you took a respected citizen, ind sent a criminal to prison. I said you took a father and sent a fiend to throw bis Family Into the street. I said you took a loving husband, and sent a demon to kick bits wife. I sala you took the Immortal soul md sent It to heli. I said you were worse :ban a robber." Sharp and yet terribly true.?National Temperance Advocate. "HABMLXSS CIDEB." A few months ago two boys rode to a counrry store. One of them bought and drank tour glasses of "harmless older." They then ivent to a country church, disturbed the congregation, who were holding a social, and, rtartlng home, overtook others. The boy, only nineteen years old, who aad drank th? cider, began a quarrel with mother young man, and before the others realized what was taking place, had killed tiim; end he was the son of a widow. The Knw nniv ninfiteflii veara old. was sentenoed to the penitentiary for twenty years. So two homes are made desolate by four glasses of jlder. Not until the anguish of that widowed mother's heart, as she sat listening for the bounding step of her boy and heard instead the tread of those who bore her the lifeless form of her boy, can be estimated can we know the cost of four glasses of cider.? Illinois Watch Tower. ONE MAN'S REASONS. An eminent Englishman said on one occasion: 'About ten years ago or more I first became a total abstainer becnuse I was easily convinced that the use of alcohol was not a necessity, and a great deal turns upon that. I law, for instance, that whole Naticns had not only lived without it, but had flourished without it. I saw the remarkable fact that there was some 20,000 persons in England who, though many of them had made themselves mere funnels for drink, though they had been acoustomed to drink from their nMiHhnnH thnnch most of tbem had been brought to prison, either directly or indirectly, through drink, yet th'o very day that they entered the gates of a prison all drink was entirely taken from them, and yet there was not a single instance on record in which any of them had suffere I in consequence." A HINDEREB OF WOBK. Sir Andrew Clark said: "I call perfect health the loveliest thing in this world, and alcohol even in small doses will take the bloom off, will injure the perfection of loveliness of health, both mental and moral; I go still further and say, alcohol is not only no helper of work, but a hinderer of work, and every man that comes to the front of a procession in London is marked by this one characteristic, that the more busy ho gets the less in the shape of alcohol ho tn kes, and his excuse is 'I ain very sorry, but I can not take it and do my work.'" DEOBADING IN EVEBY WAY. A writer in one of the French macazines says that the manufacture and consumption of alcohol in that country is degrading the people mentally, morally and physically, refilling the hospitals, asylums and Drisons. These physical wrecks bring into the world miserable offsprings which inherit a weak body and soon show the tastes of their parents. The great danger seems to be in the consumption of liquors matte from essences, and especially absinthe, which is said to be as fascinating as it is harmful. AN EXPLODED THKOBY. The theory that whisky is necessary in the treatment of pneumonia has received a blow from Dr. Bull, of New York City, who discovers that in the New York hospitals sixtyfive per cent. of the pneumonia patients die with alcoholio treatment, while In London, at the Object Lesson Temperance Hospital, only Ave per cent, die.?Scientific American. TEMPERANCE NEWS AND M0TE9. Every moderate drinker is leading an army of boys toward the pit. Appetite for drink is the devil's Iron chain on the drunkard's neck. When a man gets up early in the morning to drink, he is apt to spend the day in doing nothing else. In 1893 one in seventeen deaths whioh occurred in Switzerland were ascribed to drinking habits (including women and children). The easiest time to let drink alone, is before the first drink is takeD. In Glaszow, Scotland, fifty-nine out of sixty-two criminals tried at one session of a court testified that drinking had led to their crimes. The Board of Excise of Ithaca, the seat of Cornell University, has refused all applications for renewal of licenses to sell liquor In that town. According to the Scranton (Penn.) Index, the sentiment In favor of organizing women's total abstinence societies Is growing steadily every day. When the Queen of Madagascar shut up the saloons in her kingdom, and their owners asked for compensation, she replied, "Compensate those you have wronged, and I will pay tb.e balanoe.", . < - _ __ . v. ' f -JA:-' ' . . - AGRICULTURAL If TOPICSj OF INTEREST RELATIVE t r TO FARM AND GARDEN. c t MTLK FBOM STRIPPER COWS. j When a cow has been long milliing ? and is not in calf the quality of the i milk changes, and at times it is impos- s sible to get butter from the cream, t This is so pronounced a characteristic of such milk that one cow in a herd of Ihis kind will be apt to cause trouble in the churning. The most satisfactory way to manage a herd is to have at least half of the cows within not . more than two months of their calving, or at most four months; then the effect of the long milking of the others is not apt to have any ill effect on the hfillftvinr of t.hft Arpnm in tVia />Kn>n A HOMEMADE GARDEN ROLLER. The illustration herewith shows a handy garden contrivance that oan be made in a few moment. A section is sawed from a round log and its surface smoothed. Two round bits of iron rod are driven into the centre of each end, and the roller is ready to take HOMEMADE ROLLER. the place of the wheel in the wheelbarrow, the latter being unshipped for this purpose. The special value of this arrangement is that no new frame nor handles are needed for the roller, and that the barrow can be weighted 1 to give just the pressure desired.? New England Homestead. RULES FOR THIS XING FRUIT. First?No tree should have more fruit on it than it oan hold up well and mature in perfection?that is to say, that the trees should be not so loaded as to require their being propped, or so much that the blanches bend very severely. This checks the growth of the fruit to such an extent as to injure the quality. Second?Every time a tree has too much fruit it weakens its vitality to suon an extent as to require two or three years to recover, or so ohecks its growth that it begins to decline, and is permanently injured. Third?In the production of an overcrop it costs the tree more to ripen the seeds than to make the fruit. Fourth?If from a tree heavily loaded there is taken one-half or even three-fourths of the fruit, there will be more bushels of fruit than there would be if all was left on the trees. Fifth?By this. practice there will be less poor fruit put upon the market, and the goqd will bring better prices and give infinitely better satisfaction . Sixth?Thinning makes the fruit of much better quality, makes it keep longer and produces finer, handsomer, more attractive and much more desirable and salable fruit. Sttrpnt.Vi?WTi?n nni? nrnhardiffta shall look upon thinning as important as cultivation, pruning, care and attention, they will succeed in supplying our markets with perfeot fruit and of the very best quality, and thus increase the demand, enhance the value and give vastly more satisfaction to both the producer and the consumer. ?Coleman's Rural World. A3?OCT COLD STORAGE. The cold storage business is taking on inynense proportions, Its development in the principal cities of the country has been nothing less than phenomenal of late years. And now cold storage warehouses are being erected at oountry shipping points. In some cases they are put up by the farmers themselves, who organize cooperative stock companies and conduct the business on the same general principle that is applied so successfu y in co-operative creameries. Most of these cold storage plants in both city and country use chemical refrigeration or other artificial means nf nrAotinir Anri mainhninina ft low temperature. We understand that recent progress in this line makes it possible to build and equip a cold storage plant at comparatively reasonable cost. Of course, where the ice crop is assured, no expensive refrigerating machinery is required, and in such localities cold storage can be provided in connection with a neighborhood ice house. The fact that cold storage is coming into such extensive use in the cities is the best possible evidence that it generally pays to thus hold perishable products until they can be marked to the best advantage. Now, if this is such a good thing for marketmon, cold storage oan be equally useful to farmers, especially as they can utilize its advantages by the co-operative method. Almost any farmer can have a fruit retarding house built on a side hill, which does not require ice, and a small cold storage room should be a feature of every farm or home ice-house. ?Orange Judd Farmer. A FOE TO POTATO BUGS. There's a cure for everything, arid at last a cure has been found for the potato bug. Thnt red, persistent and gregarious creature has for yearn and years shortened the lives and the potato crops of 1 farmers all over the country. Paris green, in powder and in solution, scattered with a blower, or filinwpr(>H frnm anrinklinc uot. had I ' not been able to prevail against him. He has kept right on eating the tope f off the crops, and, in some years, has raised the price of potatoes to an almost prohibitive notch. But now, in the State of Indiana, at 1 the smart town of Johnstown, has 1 been found another bug, who^e bright particular business in life is to smite the ring-streaked and pestiferous ' potato bug, hip and thigh, and never leavo him nor forsake him until he is dead. It ia a green bug, diamond-shaped, and equipped with a long and fabulously sharp beak, with which he pene trates tlae marts 01 iuu puiaiu uug uu eight. He does not do this because be wants all the potatoes himself. As jet he has shown no iuclination to do damage to crops of any kind. His " >'.v W;; * ? i / l't # *' ivorite diet is the blood of the potato ^ and on that he thrives. Hoosiers all over Indiana State have hronged to Johnstown to secure these ommendable bugs, and transfer them o long suffering potato patches. Already the benefits of this bug-eatng bug's eSorts have been made maniest. The potato bugs seem to know ntuitively of the presence of their mall, but active enemy, and when hese long-billed diamond-backs put 1 THE POTATO BUG AND ITS ENEMY. in an appearance in a potato patch, the potato bugs, in a body rise up and migrate to some other garden, with all the agitation and headlong haste that deadly terror can inspire.?New York Journal. GRADES OF FUSE BRED HOGS. Observing farmers, when they con* mat. sornVi afnr>t unfli crraAaa aaa fit once a vast improvement, and continning their investigation further, > find the pure bred animal still much superior to even the high grade. It then becomes a question as to whioh will be the most profitable, saorifioe the present females and invest in pure bred animals exclusively, or retain the females and trust to a pure bred male to raise, the .quality of the herd. Oa this subject George 0. Newton writes: "I would be pleased if you would give me a little information in regard to breeding up my present stock of hogs. I have a good average stock of U*. 11 1 L i. uugn. ?y uuiu lb pay ueat iu procure a thoroughbred boar, or would it be beat to get a thoroughbred sow and . breed her to the best I can obtain in this country? Please tell me whioh you consider the best and quickest way >,, ' to do. I am much pleased with your paper in every way." If the intention is to raise hogs and dispose of them for breeding pur* poses there is but one answer to the foregoing, and that is to procure one or more pure bred sows and mate them with the best pure bred boar obtainable. Competition among breeders is now keen and it would be folly for ft beginner to start in the business with any but the best stock that money could buy. But on the other hand, if the intention is to raise hogs to be u it. - _i._i j__ n buiu oil mitr&ob iuf puin., wo wuuiu not advise sacrificing the present sows, if they are good breeders, bat would purchase a pure bred male, as good as our pocket book would allow. By continuing this method for several years, invariably selecting the best of the young sows for breeders, it would require but a short time to secure an excellent herd. The great object among swine breeders bas been to produoe an animal as near as possible in confirmation. to a rectangular box, with four legs set squarely below for support. And now when they have succeeded the packers and butchers unite in telling us that such hogs are no longer desired. The hog now in demand is somewhat thin and spare with the sides well streaked with lean, and this being the case the chances are that the sows of oar correspondent would be equally as well adapted for raising pigs to be fattened for slaughter as would some of the pure bred. If desired a pore bred sow, one or more might be puxchased as means will allow, and by keeping the progeny separate a few years at most would suffice to have all pure bred sows necessary for breeding purposes. But as regards the boar, we have decided opinions on that subjeot, and would earnestly urge every reader to be satisfied with nothing short of a pure bred animal of individual merit. For a farmer in moderate circumstances, and with present prices prevailing for hogs, we oould not advise the sacrifice of good average sows and the investment of the proceeds in pure bred stook, when the progeny is to be sold for slaughter.?Iowa Homestead. FOB POULTRY BAISEBS. Always carefully look over you* flock once a day, and if you see any birds mopey or drooping their wings, remove them then and there, as one ill bird may effect all the rest. Always keep some Epsom salts and sweet oil by you, as you may want them at any moment. Always give just enough food at one time, that it will all be eaten up; none should be left lyiDg round. Always give as great a variety of food as possible; constant change of diet is the way to get the chickens on. Always give your birds a little hemp seed and cooked meat when moulting. Always keep the floors of the houses and coops well covered with sand or ashes. Always rake the droppings off every morning. Cleanliness is a great preventive to sickness. Always keep a sharp lookoat for vermin, and eradicate them as quiokly aa possible. Always do little odd jobs that want doing at once. "Procrastination is the thief of time," and often a nail here or a tack there will save an hoar's work. Always buy your food in as large quantity as possible, as you will then generally be able to get it at a cheaper rate. Always keep a strict acoount of all you buy or sell. By treating your liobby in a thoroughly business way, you will derive greater pleasure by seeing exactly how much profit you have earned. Always De particular wnen writing ? description of what you have to sell to an intending purchaser; this often saves a lot of unpleasantness. Always remember that promptness in replying to letters is the' way to secure customers. Always hear in mind that by continually advertising you bring your name before the public, and thereby build up a substantial business. Mr. Hamo Thornevcroft has been five years in executing a statue of Queen Victoria. It is now complete and will be erected in the interior conrt of the Koyal Exchange in London, which she opened in 1811, .;