The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, December 06, 1899, Image 6
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CHAPTER VI.
| AT THE OPERA.
Mary flnng herself down beside the
lounge on which Dolores lay still inaensiblo
as when she 'had left her,
rigid, deathly pale and wjth eyes wide
open, fixed and staring.
"Oh, this is horrible!" sue crieu
"wildly. "It is not like a swoon, mamma!
What does it mean? It was the
sight of yon," turning suddenly to
Stanley?"it was the sight oi you that
did it! Clarence! Clarence! You
have killed her!"
At these wordq, Clarence Stanley
turned a startled, inquiring look on
the speaker, while Mrs. Hamilton said,
-with a touch of impatience:
"Mary, you are excited and unreasonable.
What can Clarence have
to do with this fainting fit? It is
t inexplicable, but it is not the first
time that Dolores has been so affected,
even in our brief acquaintance with
her; and 'it is more than probable
that she is subject to fainting-fits."
' "Mamma, dear, no. It is not at all
probable," returned Mary, decisively.
"You forget that Doctor Mac said that
- she was not at all of the fainting kind
and that her swocfh on the day she
r saved my life was caused by pain and
fasting. Besides,. this is not like a
fainting-fit, and that is what alarms
i ' : me. I don't tnean that Clarence wis
to blame in any way. Of course not.
How could he be? But is it not cur;
4 ious that Dolores should have become
'1 , insensible on meeting his eyes?"
/ ' "Did she become insensible on
meeting his eyes?" asked Mrs. Hamilton,
wonderingly.
"Yes, almost instantly. It was like
i ?like mesmerism or hypnotism, or
whatever it is called; something the
like of which I never saw and could
not have believed now, had I not actually
seen it."
"Don't talk absurdly, dear!" exclaimed
Mrs. Hamilton. "Hypnotism
and all that sort of thing, which are
being so talked of in these days, are a
mere fad, and will wear themselves
out like all these other'isms.' Don't
you think so, Clarence?"
The young man shrugged his shoulders;
and then, looking with renewed
interest at the still insensible DoloreB,
he answered, witn sudden seriousness:
"I hardly know how to reply to
' yonr question, dear Mrs. Hamilton,
tw It would seem very unbecoming in an
inexperienced fellow like myself, to
declare against men of science like
v Charcot, Bichet, Gibier, and a host of
others who have thought the subject
worth investigating; but I will venture
to eay that nine-tenths of the socalled
wonders of hypnotism are fraud
*nd nonsense. Perhaps I 'ought to
add that-1 have more than oqpe been
told by professors of the artorsoience,
whichever it may be, that I possess
in an unusual degree the special
magnetism that is required for the
exeroise for this peculiar power."
"Oh, Clarence," exclaimed Mary,
in a tone of vague reproach, "then
you have unconsciously hypnotized
Lorita?"
?T? twftll oatr *M T* rtAT>0/*lAT1 olrr '
xuu IUOJ ncn oaj uuwuovtvuuij)
Polly, for no such thought was in my
mind; bat if you are correct in that
surmise, perhaps I may be able to recall
her to consciousness."
"Oh, do, ple.ise, try, Clarence!
Sec! Already thu expression of her
face has changed; her eyes are closed
now, and she doem't look nearly so
alarming as she di 1 at first. Ought
we to send for Doctor Mac, mamma?"
During tbe talk between her mother
and Stanley, Mary had been kneeling
beside the sofa on which Dolores had
been placed, and she had been trying
by every means in her power to restore
the insensible girl to consciousness.
She now rose at once, while Stanley,
having moved forward a step or two,
fixed his.gaze intently^ on the insensible
face of Dolores, and began
slowly to make the upward mesmeric
passes as be had often seen them pei..
formed by professors of mesmerism.
The rigidity of the young girl's
figure had given place to the apparent
ease and relaxation of slumber; her
eyelids had slowly drooped over the
dilated, staring eyes, while her
breathing was as tranquil as that of a
deeping child.
Clarence Stanley continued to make
. the upward mesmeric passes slowly,
easily, but with an indescribable air
of authority and triumph, which Mary
noted at the time and often remembered
afterward.
\? Suddenly the heavy eyelids twitched
lightly; then with dazzling quickness,
the eyes opened wide, and
Dolores, amazed but conscious, stared
\ inquiringly at tlie eager, anxious
\ faces that were bending over her.
\ "Wiiat has happened? What is the
\ matter?" she asked almost sharply,
\ and rising quickly as she spoke.
. \ "Nothing, dear, except that you
. have frightened me horribly," answered
Mary, as she seated herself
feeside Dolores and put her arm about
h^r. "You seemed to faint almost
immediately on seeing Mr. Stanley;
and'now it appears to have been less
a faint than a kind of hypnotic trance,
v from which he has just recovered you,
by making what they call mesmeric
passes." .
"Is it possible!" exclaimed Dolores,
incredulously; "but I object to being
hypnotized. You must never take
such a liberty again," she.said imTiorakirAlr
t.nrninc a look of trreat ic
, f, -_0 n .
dignation upon Clarence.
"Certainly rot," lie answered, witli
a deprecating smile, "at least not
without your permission, sehorita;
but I beg to assure you that on thi?
occasion the effect was as \inintentional
as it was unexpected."
Dolores put h?r hand to her head in
a dazed manner, and drawing her finders
across her forehead and eyes, she
*' asked:
"Did I speak, Maruja, when I was
in this .tranced condition? Did I say
anything?"
"No, dear, nothing at all. -x But
-Why?"
.iv
>fl . TFegsOre
)<1 ?1>
)VEL.
(? ?inter.
CASTELAR.)
ROB**T BONJJin'g SeXr.)
"Because I remember a kind <
dream?it comes back to me now bi
indistinctly. It "was like a visionsaw!
Oh, I cannot describe what
was, but the impression is horrible
horrible!"
Her eyes dilated with sudden fe?
and horror; and turning toward Clai
ence Stanley, she fixed on him akeei
almost menacing look, which affecte
him more than he would have cared t
acknowledge even to himself. Fc
several seconds her gaze met hii
sternly, defiantly. At last she saic
"Mr. Stanley, you must never agai
make use of this singular power?
you possess it?to hypnotize me. ]
may be dangerous; and even moi
dangerous to you than to me."
"Why bo?" exclaimed Stanley, ui
kable ?to restrain a slight start of suj
prise.
"Because in this hypnotic state,
may be clairvoyante. I have rea
something of the sort, though I don
understand it. And you may be on
of those people of whom clairvoyai
- i.i i. l.ill ||
revelations mignt De iaiai.
A gleam of mingled - anger and ter
ror shot from the young man's eyes
and his slender, white hand wee
quickly toward his-mouth, which i
concealed for some moments as h
seemed to caress the long ends of hi
blonde mustache. Then, with
slightly mocking smile, he answerec
"I think I have no cause to fearth
Senorita Mendoza. If I don't jnuc
mistake, we are far away cousins, an
our lives will often run in the sam
channels." .
Dolores looked greatly perplexed a
well tfs astonished, and Mary hastene
to explain Stanley's words on firs
hearing the name of Dolores Men
J
UU?tft. x
"That would be strange indeed,
she said in reply^ "I thought m
father's branch of the family extinct
except for myself. But, 6ven if yo'
are correct, I cannot congrainlate yo
in claiming kinship with the Mei:
dozas. We are a fatal family, excep
under special conditions, particular];
the men of our family. But, pardo:
me, Mr. Stanley; I am afraid you wil
think me very rude. I hope the curi
ous circumstance3 of our first meetini
will serve to excuse me. Maruja
deareBt, may I go to my room? Thi
singular scene has affected me s<
much that I feel almost ill."
"You shall do just as you please
Rita, darling, at all times," said Mar;
Hamilton. "Come I will go with you
and you will entertain Clarence till!
return, mamma."
Not a word or even a looked was ex
changed between Mary and Dolore
till they were alone in the latter'
room. Then, indeed, the Spanish gir
impulsively clasped her companion ii
her arms and in a voice of thrillinj
intensity said:
"Oh, Maruja! I hope you do no
love that man!"
"Love him? No?yes! I hardl;
know!" exclaimed Polly Hamilton
very pale from tuppressed excitement
"You remember what I said to you
"Rita- nod. nh. I did so lonsr to knov
your impressions of him! But nov
that they seem to be so far from wha
I had hoped for I think I would rathe
never hear them."
"They are not pleasant, truly?the;
are far from pleasant?and yet I can
not remain silent, Maruja, eventhougl
that seems to be what you would pre
fer. I cannot tell you why I have thii
great and sudden antagonism to Mr
Stanley?it may be caused by thi
dream or vision while I was uncon
scious?but I have always had a facult;
that some people call intuition, a son
of second-sight?I don't know hov
best to describe it?but it has nevei
deceived me. Perhaps I inherit i
from my Scotch ancestry through nr
Highland mother, or perhaps the mys
tic faculty that belonged to the Indiai
princess of whom I told you has de
scended through all these generation!
and lives again in me. Some day sooi
we will read that manuscript together
and then you will understand bette:
what I am trying to explain, Maruja
but whatever this faculty may be
whatever it is now telling me of tin
character and of the unknown past o
Clarence Stanley "
"Lorita!" exclaimed iviary namn
ton, with a sharp accent of pain in he
fresh, young voice, "surely?oh, no
it cannot be that you are going to brini
me unhappiness, misery! I will i5fb
?I dare not believe any harm of thi
man I love!"
She turned quickly as sho wroncbei
herself from the half-embrace of Do
lores; and, as she rushed from thi
room, the door closed after her with i
harsh and angry sound.
"The man she loves!" repeated Do
ores, gazing blankly at that closed
'ioor. "Ah, now she knows her tru<
feeling, and I have only precipitatei
matters. I had better, far better, sail
nothing."
Mary Hamilton had fled blindl;
along tbe corridor to tne somuae o
her own room, the door of whicli sh
had closed and locked impatiently ij
the face of her anxious waiting-maid
"What have I said?" shequestione
herself, unconsciously speaking aloud
"That I love Clarence? Well, then
it is true. I have loved him from th
first, though I didn't know it; an
now I am glad to have the knowledg
forced upon me?that is?if he love
me!"
She started from the chair int
which she had thrown herself an
rushed to a mirror, before which sh
stood for some moments in unusm
anxiety, that presently gave place t
pleased and innocent admiration c
her own girlish beauty.
"I'm surely pietty enough to wi
any w2U?" she said. "Not so beaut;
ful?oh, not nearly so beautiful?a
Rita; but. fortunately, she will neve
be a rival, for she hates poor Clarencc
and, apparently, he is not speciall
pleased with her. How strange! ]
is u case of mutual antipathy,
have heard Doctor Mao say thes
mutual dislikes ore scientific factf
' - F ; ' :
And I was so anxious they should
like each other! Well, well, per.
haps it is all for the bestj
I ana l muse Keep mem apart ag
much as possible! 1 hope dear Rita
didn't think me cross; and, as to Norah,
I don't think I ever spoke so crosBly
to the girl since she has been in mj
service!"
With a light laugh, Polly Hamilton
unlocked her door, called to the perplexed
and disconsolate waiting-maid,
who was pacing up and down the hall,
and in a brief time was dressed anil
looking radiant, as she went into din
ner with Clarence Stanley.
Df That gentleman, whatever his in>
it ward perturbation of mind might have
-X been?and the recent scene in the
it drawing-room had made a powerful
_ impression on him?had never seemed
to the Hamilton family more interest
tr ing or more engaging. He was imme<
[ - diately conscious of a difference in
i, Mary. There was an indefinable soft
d ness in her aspect, a faint, roseate
;o glow on her. face; and when theii
>r glances met, her look dwelt on him
with a modest air of possession ex
I: tremely flattering to his vanity. Later
n in the evening, as they sat beside each
if other at the opera, it was the same;
[t and Clarence unconsciously dropned
e into a manner of lover-like devotion
far more pronounced than had ever
i. been seen in his previous acquaintance
with Miss Hamilton.
They had been bending forward over
I the front of the box, for the moment
<3 both quite absorbed in the music;.but
't when the curtain fell they had both
e drawn back a little, and two pairs of
tt eyes, belonging to two young women
in the stalls, who had been earnestly
wotnliiTKy thflm. now looked at each
if other and smiled.
t "Of course, they are engaged?" said
it Olive Gaye, interrogatively; but'
e although the words were spoken more
i8 as an assertion than a question, a close
a observer might have detected an un[:
dertone of anxiety in the manner of
e the speaker.
h ' 'They certainly seem like an engaged
<1 couple to-night," returned Bertha Sefe
ton; "but, if they are, I am sure the
engagement is of recent date, You
8 know I am Polly Hamilton's most inti3
mate friend?at least I was till within
t a few weeks?and I am certain that
no one was more* entirely in her confidence
than I used to be. You know
" I had met her in San Franoisco when
y we were there more than a year ago;
we were constantly thrown together.
a I visited at her house for weeks at a
Q time, and met Mr. Stanley there almost
every.day; and, although it was cur
? ? 1 ? ?iVi An lUol OYAVA?>AA ott/1
|? X ciitlj X CpUI IOU tiicu lliab viqiguvo auu
j Polly were engaged, I knew from her
a own lips that they were not. Since
U she has come to New York, onr intimacy
has been renewed, and I feel
g sure as I can be of anything that Polly
r> would have told me if there had been
b any change in their relations toward
0 each other. I always thought she was
in love with Mr. Stanloy, though she
didn't seem to understand her own
j feelings; but it never seemed to me
t that he was in lore with Her, although
1 he followed her everywhere and really
stood in the way of rfny other man
. paying attention to her. He seems to
8 me more like a man who was watchs
ing a business speculation than like a
1 young man in love with a pretty girl."
a The listener faughed slightly and
g turned her gaze agaito toward the box
in which were seated Clarence Stanley
t and Mary Hamilton. The latter were
somewhat in the shadow of the curtain,
and still further hidden' from
^ view by tjie figure of Mrs. Hamilton,
' who bad come to tlie front of the box;
but to those who were now watching
' them with the keenness of personal interest
it was evident that theae two
I young people were at that moment so
completely wrapped up in each other
as to be almost unconscious of their
surroundings.
_ "He looks now," faid Olive, in a
i low but distinct tone, "as if he had
made up his mind that the speculation
was going to be a paying one."
"Yes," auswered Bertha, "he looks
' as if he had determined to marry Polly
Hamilton."
' TO BE CONTINUED.
When Rival Babea Met.
r Ttfo rival mothers with rival babies
? sat opposite each other in a "blue car"
the other day, en route for the great
^ east side.
One infant was pretty and the other
1 wasn't, and the beauty child got bo
much attention, so many chucks under
9 the chin, and such quantities of fool1
ish talk flung at it that the mother of
' the neglected child grew pale with
T anger and envy.
' "I felt so sorry for her," said the
' friend who told me this, "that I paid
? her poor little one some slight attentions,
which so encouraged its mother
that she became another being as it
were and broke out as follows:
r " 'Shure beauty isD't everythin' in
' a child, ma'am. My Patsey ain't no
picture child, but if he grown up good
an' honest an' hard workin' that's l>ete
ter than good looks, which is the ruin
of manv.'"
"Then she glanced over at the opposition
baby and added meaningly:
9 ' " 'There's been a plenty of robbers
4 and murderers that was good lookin'.'
"
And my friend left the car in some
haste to avoid the impending stordi
' that was gathering in the eyes of the
'? mother who sat on the opposite side
of the car.?New York Herald.
y A Family Driven Mad.
^ An extraordinary case of madness,
0 in which all the members of a family,
a consisting of father, mother and four
' children, were simultaneously afSicted
u i*.?a nnnnrrBil in n<>rmftnv. A tmrtv of
t v/v/v,? 4 - ?
strolling gypsies, who undertook to
'' tell the father's fortune by means of
? cards, declared that he would be killed
while Fervmg in the army, and this
e prediction so impressed him aud his
, family that in the course of the same
day they all developed signs of waver?
ing reason, and before long had to be
put under restraint. The gjpsies
? were arrested by the German police.
O / Am He KxpresneJ It.
A Hibernian member of the Twelfth
New York liegiment said that their
n mustering out was a fine sight. "They
were all there," he boasted. "Out of
* ' v 1 i. ii..
n the whole lot wno went wj we nuui,
>r not six absentees were present."?
!> New York Commercial Advertiser.
y
:t The first postal-card was made thirty
I years ago in Vienna at the suggestion
e of Professor Herrmann, of the Tecbni).
c?l Institute.
; ' " v '
DR TALMAGE'S SERMON,
SUNDAY'S DISCOURSE Br THE NOTED
DIVINE.
Subject: The Coming Sermon?Inspiration
For the Future Kellgiou* Exhortation
Will Be Drawn From the Living ClirUt
?Theology Must Take a Back Seat.
[Copyright, Louis Klopsch. 1899.1
Washington, D. C.?In this discourse Dr.
Tairaage addresses all Christian workers
??'.*1 HACM*?fhAa whftf1 hft thin Ira will hA thft
modes of preaching the gospel In the future;
text, Romans xli., 7, "Oc ministry, let us
wait on our ministering."
While I was seated on a piazza of a hotel
nt Lexington, Ky., one summer evening a
gentleman asked me, "What do you think
of the coming sermon?" I supposed he was
asking me in regard to some new discourse
of Dr. Cumming of London, who sometimes
preached startling sermons, and I
replied, "I have not seen it." But I found
out afterward that be meant to ask what I
thought would he the characteristics of
the coming sermon of the world, the sermons
of the future, the word "Cumming"
as a noun pronounced the same us the
word "coming" as an adjective. But my
mistake suggested to me a very Important
and practical theme, "The Coming Sermon."
Before the world Is converted the style of
religious discourse will have to be converted.
You might as well go into the
modern Sedan or Gettysburg with bows
and nrrows. Instead of rifles and bombshells
and parks of artillery, as to expect to conquer
this world for God by the old styles
of exhortation and sermonology. Jonathan
Tdwnrflo nrAni?hnd tlm nnrmonn mo#t
adapted to the age In which he lived, but
If those 9ermons were preached now they
would divide an audience Into two classes
?those sound asleep and those wanting to
go home.
Bat there is a discourse of the future.
Who will preach it I have no idea. In what
part of the earth it will be born I have no
idea. In which denomination of Christians
it will bo delivered I cannot guess. That
discourse of exhortation may be born In
the country meeting house on the banks of
the St. Lawrence or the Oregon or the Ohio
or the Tombigbee or the Alabama. The
person who shall deliver it may this moment
be in a cradle under the shadow of
the Sierra Nevadas or in a New England
farmhouse or amid the riceflelds of Southern
savannas, or this moment there may be
some young man in one of our theological
seminaries, in the junior or middle or senior
class, shaping that weapon of power,
or there maybe coming some new baptism
of the Holy Obost on the churches, so that
some of ub who now stand in the watobtowers
of Zlon, waking to a realization of
our present efficiency, may preach It ourselves.
That coming discourse may not be
fifty years off. And let us pray God that
itB arrival may be hastened while I announce
to you what I|thlnk will be the chief
characteristics of that discourse or exhortntlon
when it does airive, and I want to
make my remarks appropriate and Buggestlve
to nil classes of Christian workers.
First of all, I remark that that future religious
discourse will be fall of a living
Christ in contradistinction to didactic
technicalities. A discourse maybe full of
Christ though hardly mentioning His name,
and a sermon may beomptyof Christ while
every sentence is repetitious of His titles.
The world wants a living Christ, not a
Christ standing at the head of a formal system
of theology, but a Christ who means
pardon and sympathy and condolence and
brotherhood and life and heaven, a poor
man's Christ, a rich mun's Cbrist, an overworked
man's Cbrist, an invalid's Christ, a
farmer's Christ, a merchant's Christ, an artisan's
Christ, an every man's Christ.
A symmetrical and fine worded system of
theology is well enough for the theological
classes, but it has no more business in a
pulpit than have the technical phrases of
an anatomist or a psychologist or a physician
in the sickroom of a patient. The
world wants neip, iinmeaiato ana wona
uplifting, nnd it will como through n discourse
In wbicli Christ shall walk right
down into the immortal noul and take everlasting
possession of it, filling It as full of
light as is th(s noonday firmament.
That sermon of exhortation of the future
will not deal' with men in the threadbare
illustrations of Jesus Christ. In that coming
address there will be instances of
vicarious suffering taken right out of
evoryday Ufa, for there is not a day when
somebody is not dying for others?as the
Ebysiolan saving his diphtheritic patient
y sacrificing his own life; ostb?sbip captain
going down with his vessel while lie
1b getting 1.I& passengers into the lifeboat;
no fho flvamnn rtAnonmlnff in tliA hlirnlnff
building wbi|? lie i9 taking a child out ot a
fourth story window; as in summer the
strong swimmer at East Hampton or Long
Branch or Cape May or Lake George himself
perished trying to rescue the drowning;
as the newspaper boy one summer,
supporting bis mother for some years, his
Invalid mother, when offered by a gentleman
fifty cents to get some special paper,
and be got It and rushed up in bis anxiety
tp deliver it and was crushed under the
wheels of the train and Jay on the grass
with only strength enough to say, "Oh,
what will become of my poor, sick mother
now?" Vicarious suffering?the world is
full of it. An engineer said to ma on a
locomotive In Dakota: "We men seem to
be coming to a bettor appreciation than
we used to. Did you see that account the
other day of an engineer who to save his
passengers stuck to his post, and when he
was found dead in the locomotive which
was upside down, he was found still smiling,
his band on the air-brake?" And as
the engineer said it to me he put his band
on tbe air-brake to illustrate bis meaning,
and looked at me and thought: "You
would be just as much a hero in the same
crisis." '
Ob, in that religious discourse of tbe
future there will be living illustrations
taken out from everyday life of vicarious
Buffering?Illustrations that will Cring to
mind tbe ghastlier sacrifice o( Him, who in
the high places of the field, on the cross,
fought our battles, and endured our struggle
and died our death. A German sculptor
made an image of Christ, and he asked
bis little child, two years old, who it was,
and the said, "That must be some very
great man." The sculptor was displeased
with tbe criticism, so he got another block
of marble and chiseled away on it two or
three years, and then ho brought in his
llttlrt r>hlld. four or five vears of acre, and
enld to ber, "WUo do you think that is?"
8he said, "That must be the One who took
little children in His arms and'blessed
them." Then the sculptor was satisfied.
Oh, my friends, what the world wants is
not a cold Christ, not an intellectual
Christ, not a severely magisterial Christ,
but a loving Christ, spreading out His
arms of sympathy to press the whole world
to His loving heart.
But I remark ugain that the religious
discourse of the future will have to be
short. Condensation !<* demanded by the
age in which wo live. No more'need of
long introductions aud long applications
and so many divisions to a discourse that
it may be said to be hydra-headed. In
other days men got ail their information
from the pulpit. There were few books,
and there were no newspapers, and tbere
was little travel from place to place, and
peoplo would sit and listen two and a lialf
hours to a religious discourse, and "seventeenthly"
would fl?d them fresh and chip
per. m inose auys mere wtia cuuuk? muu
for a man to take an hour to warm himself
up to the subject and an hour to cool off.
Jlut what was a necessity then is a superfluity
now. Congregations are full of
knowledge from books, from newspapers,
from rapid and continuous intercommunication
and long disquisitions of wbat they
know already wtll not be abided. If a religious
teacher cannot compross wbat be
wishes to say to the people in the space of
forty-flve minutes, better adjourn it to
some other day.
The troubles we preach audiences into
a Christian Irame, and then we preach
them out of it. We forget that every auditor
has so much capacity of attention, and
when that is exhausted He is restless. That
accident on the Lou;; Island railroad years
ago came from the fact that the brakes
were out of order, and when they wanted
to stop the train they could not stop, and
bence the casualty was terrific. In all religious
discourse we want locomotive power
and propulsion. We want at the same time
stout brakes to let down at the .right instant.
It is a dismal thing, after a hearer
has comnrehended the whole subject, to
hear a man flay, "Now to recapltuluie,"
and "A few words by way of application"
and "Once more," and "Finally," and
"Now to conclude."
Paul preached until midnight, and Eutyehus
got sound asleep and fell out of a
window aud broke ills neok. Some would
' t:'
say, "Good Cor him." I would rather be '
sympatbetlc, like Paul, and resuBcltate
him. That acoident 1b often quoted now la
religious circles as a warning against somnolence
In churoh. It Is just as much a 1
warnlDg to ministers against prolixity.
Eutychus was wrong in his somnolence,
but Paul made a mistake when he kept on
*11 Ha ah rthf f a Vt ava of Arirvo/I I
UUWI IUIUUIKUI. UD UUgUb l>V UUIO OkVupwM i
at 11 o'clock, and there would have beeq
no accident. If Paul might have gone on
to too great length, let all those of us who
are now preaching the gospel remember
that there is a limit to religious discourse,
or ought to be, and that in our time
have no apostolio power of miracles. Na? 1
poleon in an address of seven mlnuteg
thrilled his army and thrilled Europe.
Ohrlst's sermon on tbe mount, the model
sennuu, was jcsb iuau ciijuiccu iuwuli? iuu^
at ordinary mode of delivery. It is not
electricity scattered all over the sky that
strikes, but electricity gathered into a
thunderbolt and burled, and it is not religious
truth scattered over and spread out
over a. vast reach of time, but rellgioun
truth projected in compact*form that
flashes light upon the soul and rives Its
indifference.
When the religious discourse of the
future arrives in this land and in tlia
Christian church, the discourse which Is to
arouse the world and startle the nations
and usher in the kingdom. It will be a brief
discourse.
Hear It, all theological students, all y?
just entering upon religious work, ail y<
men and women who In Sabbath soboolt
and other departments are tolling foi
Christ and the salvation of Immortals?
brevity, brevity!
Bat I remark nlso tbat tbe religious
discourse of tbe fatare of which I speak
will be a popular discourse. There are
those in these times who speak of a populai
sermon as though there must be something
wrong about it. As these Critics are dull
themselves, the world gets the impression
<tbat a sermon is good in proportion as it 1j
stupid. Christ was the most populai 1
preacher the world ever saw and, considering
the small number of the
world's population, had the largest au?
dience ever gathered. He never preached
anywhere without making a great
sensation. People rushed out in the wilderness
to hear Him reckless of their phys>
leal necessities. So great war- their anxiety
to hear Christ that, taking no food witb
them, they would have fainted and starved
had not Christ performed a mlraole and
fed them. Why did so many people take
the truth at Christ's bands? Because the;
all understood it. He illustrated His subject
by a hen and her chickens, by a busbel
measure, oy u utiuuiui ui ami, uv a uuu e
flight and by a lily's aroma. Ail the people
knew what Hemeant, and they flocked to
Him. And when the religious discnarse of
the future appears it will nut be Princetonian,
not Itochesterlan, not Andoverlan,
not Mfddlettfnian, bat Olivette?plRin,
practical, unique, earnest, comprehensive
of all tbe woes, wants, sins and sorrows ol
an Auditory.
Butwhen that exhortation or discourse
does come there will bb a thousand gleaming
Bcimlters to chtirgeon it. There are in
so many theological seminaries professors
telling young men how to preaeh, themselves
not knowing how, ana I am told that
it a young man in some of our theological
seminaries says anything quaint or thrill- '
ing or unique faculty and students fly at
him and set him right and straighten him
out and smooth him down and chop hico
ofT until he says everything just as everybody
else says it. Ob, when the future re
ilgious discourse or tue(jnnstian cnnrcuarrives
all the churches of Christ In oar great
cities will be tbrongedl The world wants
spiritual help. All who have barled their
dead want comfort. All know themselves
to be mortal and to be immortal, and they
want to hear aboot the great future. I tell
you, my friends, if the people of cur great
cities wbo have bad trouble only tbougbt
they could get practical and sympathetic
help in the Christian church, there would
not be a street in Washington or New York
or any other city which would be passable
on the 8abb.ith day if there were a ohurch
on it, for ull the people would press to
that asylum of mercy, that great boose ol
comfort and oonsolation.
A mother with a dead babe in ber arms
came to the god Siva nnd asked to have
her child restored to life. The god Siva i
said to her, "You go and get a handful of
musturd seed from a bouse in wblah there
has been no sorrow nnd in which there has
been no death, and I will restore your
child to life." So the mother went oat,
and she went from house to honse and
from home to home looking for a place
where there had been no sorrow and where !
there had been no death, bat she foand '
none. She went back to the god 8lva and
said: "My mission is a failure. You see, 1
haven't brought the mustard seed. I can't
find a place where there has been no sorrow
and no death." "Ob!" says the god
Siva. "Understand, your sorrows are no
worse than the sorrows of o thers. We all
have our griefs, and all have our heartbreaks."
"Laugh, and the world laughs with you;
Weep, and you weep alone; '
For the sad old earth must borrow its
' mirth, ,
Cut has trouble enough of its own." '
We hear a great deai of discussion now
all over the land about why, people do not I
go to church. Some say It Is becausc
Christianity is dying out and because peo- '
pie do not* believe In the truth of God's
word, and nil that. They are false reasons;
The renson Is because our sermons and ex- I
hortatlons are not Interesting and practi*
cal nod helpful. . j
Some one might as well tell the whole
truth on this subject, and so I will tell it.
The religions discourse of tbe future, the
gospel sermon to come forth and shake tbe
nations and lift people out of darkness,
will be a popular sermon, just for the simpie
reason that it will meet the woes and
, tbe wants and the anxieties of the people.
There are in all our denominations ecclesiastical
mummies sitting around to
frown upon the fresh young pulpits of
America to try to awe them down, to,cry
out: "Tat, tut, tut! Sensational!" They
stand to-day preaching in churches that
bold a thousand people, and there are a j
hundred perions present, and if they cannot
have the world saved in their way it I
seems as if they do not want it saved at <
all. <
I do not know but the old way of making 1
ministers of the gospel is better?a col- 1
legiate education and an apprenticeship 1
under the care and home attention of some
earnest, aged Christian minister/the young
man getting the patriarch's spirit and assisting
him in his religious service. 1
The printing press is to be the great '
agency of gospel proclamation. It is high <
time that good men, instead of denouncing '
tbe press, employ It to scatter forth the <
gospel of Jesus Christ. 1
The vast majority of people in our cities 1
do not come to church and nothing but the 1
printed sermon can reach them and call <
them to pardon and life and peaoe and <
heaven.
Young lawyers study with old lawyers, j
young physicians with old physicians, ana '
I believe it would bo a great help if every '
young man studying for the gospel ministry
could put himself in the lirme and j
heart and sympathy and under the bene' 1
diction and perpetual presence of a Chris- '
tian minister.
^But, II remark again, the religious dis
course of the future will be an awakening
sermon. From altar rail to the front door
blOf, UUUIil 1U1U rcnuuu, ULA UUU.V.V. | ,
will cot up and start lor heaven. Tbert
will be in it raynyH staccato passage. II
will not be a lullaby. It will be ft battle
charge. Men will drop tbelr sins, forthej
will feel the Lot breath of pursuing retribution
ou tlin bank of their necks*. It will
bo sympathetic with all the physical distresses
us well as the spiritual distresses
of tin world. Christ not only preached,
but IIo healed paralysis, and He healod
epilepsy, and He healed the dumb and th
blind and the lepers.
That religious discourse of the future
will bean even day sermon, going right
down into every man's life, and it will
teach him how to vote, how to bargain,
how to plow, bow to do any work he is
called to do, how to wield trowel and pen
and pencil and yardstick and plane, and it
will teach women how to presido over theii
households and how to educate their chil*
dren and bow to imitate Miriam and Esthei
and Vushti and Eunice, the mother ol
I Timntiiv nnd Marv. the motlier of Ctrlst,
and those women who 011 northern and
southern battlefields were mistaken by the
wounded for angels of mercy, fresh from
tbe tbrone of God.
The time will come when all the village, '
town and city newspapers will reproduce j
the gospel of Jesus Christ, and sermon.?
preached on the Sabbath will reverberate '
all around the world, and, some by type and '
some hy volco, all nations will h? orange- 1
llzert. 7 - '
<
i . _ .
rHE SABBATH SCHOOL.
NTERNATIONAL. LESSON COMMENTS
FOR DECEMBER 10.
SabJect: Lotions in Giving. Mai. I.. 0-11: I
111., 8*13?Golden Text: II. Cor. Ix., 7?
Memory Verse: Mai. 1U., 10?Commentary
on the Day'* Leaion.
Connecting Links. We should stud;
the whole book of Malachi as well as the
last obapter of Nehemlah to get that which
belongs to this section of history. Malachi
opens his prophecies by reminding the
people of God's great and distinguished
love toward them and their fathers, which
they were so slow to acknowledge. He
then reproves tbem sharply for their sins
and forewarns them that the Lord, of
whose delay they complain, will come suddenly
to His temple to sit in judgment
tbere; an advent which they will not be
able to endure, for it will consume th?
wicked.
6. "A son honoreth his father" 'Is bound
to honor. "Where is mine honor....my
fear." Since It Is evident I am not only
your Lord and have a right to govern and
command you by My creation of you, but
also may be esteemed your Father on acnnnnf
r\t fha orfinarv hAnafl fa T hn v?
bestowed upon you? where are those proper
dispositions which I might expect to
find in you in return??namely, reverence
for Me and fear of offending Me as your
Lord and Master, and love and honor toward
Mo as your Father.
7. "Ye offer polluted bread." Made according
to your own ways and not as'prescrlbtd
by law. "By your actions you declare
how little value you have for the
worship of Ood, since you care not In how
slight and contemptuous a manner It i?
performed."
8. "The blind for sacrifice." See Lev.
22:22. This is designed as a reproof to
Israel for offering such sacrifices for the
service of God's altar as were imperfoct;
and such as, If offered to a superior, would
not be accepted.
9. "Beseech God." As the national intercessors.
Supplicate God to pardon the
nation as well as yourselves for what offences
have been committed against HU
laws; for ye have been the prinolpal cause
of them by the disregard you have had for
God's service. The* priests were specially
guilty because it was their duty to reject
improper offerings.
10. "Shut the doors for nought." ft ia
plain that general avarice prevails and is
practiced among you; for even the officers
or ministers whose duty it is to open and
shut the doors of the tomple, and to klndh
fire on the altar, will r ot perform their office
without making a gain of it or recelv
log fees for it. You would be content to
have the doors of th& temple quite shut
up, and God's worship wholly cease. "I
have no pleasure." I can take no pleasure
in men so intent upon their own profit as
ye are; and under the Gospel I will put an
end both to your priesthood and the sacrifices
which you oner. 1
11. "My name shall tie great." If the
Jews found no joy in the service of God,
but neglected it, orsoaght only selfish gain
by it, God would here notify them that He
would raise up a people who should honor
and magnify His name in the earth. "The
Gentiles." All other nations, and considered
by the Jews as not included in the
family of God. "Incense shall be offered."
True praise. "A pure offering." A broken
and contrite heart. The heathen, who have
lived in darkn&ss and worshiped idols,
shall better glorify God than this nation,
whose history tells of almost continual instability.
. |
3:8. "Will a man rob God?" Sacrilege is
the highest of crimes. And the most guilty
is that done by those olalming to be God's .
people. "Ye have." This evil Is not only
the guilt of priests, but of the whole nation.
"Wherein." To do wrong and havb
no conscience about it. id almost to get
beyondbope. "Tithes."' Deut. 18:4. The
tithe was "the tenth" of the increase of
their property, the produoe of their orchards,
vineyards, flocks, herds, and all
their grains. One tithe, amongtbe Jews,
corresponds to oar State and town taxes
for the support of the Government and for
the poor; another tithe was taken for
religious worship, for the support of the
priests, etc. Lev. 27: 80-88; Deut. 14: 38,29.
"Offerings." The first fruits?not less than
one-sixtieth part of the corn, wine and oil.
The word is general here, lnoludlng all tlie .
offerings and sacrlfloes tfcey were required
by the Jaw to make. Befuslng these,whioh
were due to Ood's worship and God's poor,
they robbed Ood.
9. "Ye are onrsed^.i-WIth famine and
scarcity.*God.bud thus punished them for
neglecting to build tbo temple (Hag. 1: 10,
11); now, for not maintaining the temple
Bervice.'
10. "Bring ye all the tithes." Hake good '
your solemn engagement with Xehemlnh.
Neb. 10: 29. "Into the storehouse." The
chambers whioh surrounded the temple on
three sides. These had been so empty that
in Nebemiuh'e absence one of them had
been fitted up fof the abode of the heathen %
Toblab. Neb. 10: 38,,13: 5-0,12, 18- "I'liat ,
there may bo meat." That there may be
provision for the dally sacrifice!, and for
the maintenance of :Mv ministers, tbe
priests and Levltes who attend npon tbe
service of My temple. "And prove me."
Take God at His word. Your way, at best,
has been a failure. "Windows of heaven."
A poetical, proverbial expression, SignifyIn^
agreilt dowa-pourlng. "Gen. 7:11; 2
Kings 7: 2. Every good and every perfect
Uift Is from above, and cometh down from
tbe Father of lights. James 1:17. "Pour
you out a blessing." "Empty out," as if
God meant that He woutdr?mpty forth His
vast reservoir of blessings. Tbero la here
Bvldently allusion to copious rain; and it is
implied tbat tbe land bad been suffering
?-?? - ?TI.a l.la?A?u A< fKn
JXULLL u aOVJTO UXUU^IJi. JIUCUiOkUlj \Jl buo
Jews in the time of Hezokiah had already
afforded an example of the reward of faithful
obedience, in tbe matter of tithes and
offerings, in overflowing abundance bestowed
upon them by God. 2 Chron. 31:
10. "Not be room enouirh to receive it."
Donstunt obedience will produce a constant
abower of blessing.
11. "I will rebuke." Prevent from coming.
"The devourer." Tbe locusts, the
canker-worms, the caterpillars and nil
other destructive Insects. "For your
sakes." Because of My love for you, and
tor tbe sako of your prosperity. The derourer
had been sent because of their sins.
12. "All nations shall call you blessed."
Happy. So great will be your prosperityand
bapplner.s that tbe fame thereof will
extend to oil nations, as in Solomon's
time. God's people do in truth live in a
lelightsome land, a land of green pastures
md still waters, of dear companionships
ind delightful skies. Blessed are that
people who render lovingly to God the
things that are His own. "A delightsome
land." Your country will again be known
is tbe pleasant laud, as It was formeily
jailed. , i
Tsachixgb.?It is a great sin to make a
?- - /1r*r! Ho <o f ha mrtfflf
[BUCK VI BCIHUK vjiwvi. ?? ?- i
thief who robs God. Avnrlce In the heart !
ilrles up the lountain of love. To the j
obedient God's blessings are ns the rain
iropsfor plenty. What God can do for us
far outreaches what we can do for ourselves.
Disobedience calls' forth the de- j
k outer.
STILL USE BIRDS' WINGS. J
tVorn More Than Ever l)eiplte the Protests
of Ornithologist*.
The seventeenth annunl meeting of the j
i.inerlcftii Ornithologists' Union has just
jeou held in the Academy of Natural
sciences In Philadelphia. The lecture room
vas lllled with representative students of
tfnrth Aimnri/?ftn hlrrlfl a rinnihflr of ten in An
;elng in the audience. Dr. C. Hart
derriam, of theDepartmeut of Agriculture,
ireslded. Amonpr the report9 presented
va? that of tlie Committee ou Bird Protecion.
The report stilted that, although the
ast year saw a greater use of birds' wings
n millinery, yet ut the same time the proest
against the use of such was never 1
greater. Investigation showed that many l
>f the birds used for this purpose were im>orted
from I'oreiKU countries, where there j
ire no laws against the killing of birds. A .
lumber of papers of Interest to ornitbolo- 3
jists were read. .
|
1
? 1
ueer in connectlcnt. j
l'his season, especially since the loave9 I
left the trees and uuderbrusli, deer have
jeen seen in Connecticut in uncommon i
numbers. Several have been seen In both ,
roiiand and Litchfield Counties. lit one j
:ase a doe was seen with a fawn, indicating i
that the animals in the State huvo boguu tc i
propagate. The State law protects deei j
intil the yeer 1903, under penalty of a Hue I
>f *100. I
J
i
i .
- e- . . Jr ... " - ' - * ?
THE GBEAT DEStaOYE^
SOME STARTLING FACTS ABOUT THi^JI
VICE OF INTEMPERANCE.
TYtm Tnifaiumilanit Wln_A VllrhlATOU#' "
and Immoral Decision??Bad In Law^
Bad in Logic?Too Much 8j*p?lhy
Shotrn to Drunkard*.
I stand before you, onaand all,
To sound alood the temperance oal!," /v'JSl
And pictu re to you, if I can,
The real Independent maar- J ,-M
The Independent mahl
He neither smokes, nor drink*, nor lelnfft
The glass he firmly can ref ase; ^
He llres not under terror's ban;
He Is an Independent man?
An indenendent man. - '
By living right he garners health '?y?S
He makes good friends and gather* wealthy
The charms of nature he can scan
With joy, this Independent man? " - vSfi
This independent man. , $ . .
He counts hi* home a plaee of rest; v
His wife a^nd ohlldren are the best; '
Noiirnnken tamper mars the plan/
Of this the Independent man? >
Our independent man!
The tempter finds him all prepared;
His good right arm Is ever bared. ; ''
To vletory he leads the van,
This very independent man?
This Independent man. r v'IflB
Drunkards and Crime. .
One of the most mischievous and Immoral decisions
ever pronounf&l In a court is re?
Eorted from Philadelphia, where a Jndg?tt&gBS
%e declared that: drunkenness is a compe-J -A t
tent defense against the charge of embep-,-. )ff
zlement. The piirticular case which ?av?? V"
rise.to this amazing dletnm was that of af- 'Hi
man who bad taken the collections be bad '. T:
fnade for the firm by wblob be was em- % -V
pioyel and spent them on liquor. Moith :r fj
rational la bis sober moments tnr^n tn& .rawa
judge, be bad admitted bis crime andpleaded
guilty. Bat the court ordered blml v
to withdraw the plea and to enter one of.'
not stailty, anc. then said: j
"Where a firm Intrusts with money W /.>%
person whom It had reason to suspect o|' ' y
inten perate habits, and be does not approv ' \
prlat) the money dt hla own use or nnltef ,
oil with It otherwise than to Indulge in th?.
grntiioation of his habit, employers must
understand that It is extremnly doubtful .
whetlier the crime of embezzlement can b?- / ?
maitivnnt nnH?p nAh'AlmnittitiinMl." f'.'lflH
Bad la law, bad In logic, bad In
thenonatoosweeping condemnation wbiohi '
the wholly indefensible opinion calls fori;
Tiie law has always been that drunkteo-j '
nesfi is "flo excuse for any orime, and so far
as we know it has ndver been seriously di*?pnted.
A sentimental plea of palliation W l"
sometimes pnt in (or the drunkard who If
continually receiving an undeservedsymv
pathy, when what he needs most is dlacUpline
and punishment. But this is quite ai
different matter Ixom absolving him en?
tlrely.
As for the logic, the Judge contradict* \ >- ?
himself by an nttsrly impoaslbto distlbc^tlon.
Headmits tlie definition of embea-[ * f ?5
zlemen: when he speaks of the approprla^
tlon of another's money for one's own use;
and then says that embezzlement Is not . /
embezzlement If thu embezzled fands arc
aevoiea 10 mo particular use ui puniuM'/mM
ing whisky to gratify a worse than besistlj^&jSs
habit. If, theD, the embezzler wilt begin
operations by going aboot.with a whisky
breath and wilt celebrate his eritpe by
glorious drank his escape from the peni? .
tentlary is assured.
Morally the decision is an ontrageWhioh '?3
should com? as a shocfk-to the community.. ,'J
In which it was rendered. If it were gen- > -'$
erAlJy followed in prlnoiple and the dnmk-i
urd were considered absolutely irresponst-f . *)
ble there is no crime whien he might not
commit with impunity. He should have- j:.3
no such encouragement, but should be held
rttiucr lu a KioBiox luuuuuuuiuii iumi uot
ever been demanded of him. One great'
defect of tbe temperance orasade hitnerto-.v^
has been that Jt baa glren blm its tears4nd
directed Its hatred, scorn and Indignation ,
against the saloonkeepeh We are not con~
cerned with the latter'a defense, bat ttwlcodalingof
drunknrd* U a grievous and
fatal mistake. It pate them In a mood tof /:
ezcnse themselves and tt> calculate on .
further Indulgence. No one appreeU|:?rf
so shrewdly as they tne tendency of Ctib ,
pleasing doctrine that they are not responsible.
, ' . 4jofli
We speak for countless thousands" of, '3E
sqffering families, for dlstraoted, despairing
women, for shamed and hopeless chll~'
dren when we say that the drunkard!
should be judged as strictly for his offense*
as though he had never tasted a drop or <7
liquor. He Is to a great eitent the prod-juot
of that jnisplaced sympathy which re-j- laxes
the ordln.4ry rules of human conduor
In bis favor and substitutes a petition fora
command which should ring oat with alB -'M
the authority of the decalogue.?Editorial1
In the Chicago Times-Herald. ^
The Land of Steady flablts. f '?'
Connecticut's direct drink bill, as Jntiftt- {&??
Edgnr M. Warner, of Patnam, told'the:. ' .<*
NnHnnnl Prison Association. In session in;
Hartford, is 1240,000. That is the cost ot -Jfc
prosecuting and jailing the public drank-*
urds, at an average of $10 pec head for* Ja
each of 2000 arrested monthly. Just howl"
to lessen this burden of the sober mon^.
Judge Warner said be did not know. H?
was satisfied, however, that the treatment
the drunkard receives does not sober bim;'"
nor protect the sober part of society. There
is no attempt whatever at the reformations
of the drunkard or the petty offender, noclassification
of Jail prisoners, no edioation,
and no trade schools ?(or them, and.
little or no moral instruction. More thad V r |
seventy-five per cent, of the Inmates, of th?<
jails are drunkards. They are washed1. :
and well fed, get little, it any, work to
unrt annlatv /In AO not AVftn think that thev'r -
will be reformed. "
British Army's Motto.
Watch and be 8ober," la the motto of ."--.3
the Brtisli Army Temperance Association,. -.A
which has a membership of;28,000 men la t
the service in India,whloh means one*thl?l - <
of the white troops there and 14,000 In thehome
service, Including the British Isles,.
Austrulia, Canada and the West Indies. .V
:?
Tbe Crassde In Brief.
The only safe course Is to let liquor entirely
alone.
Drinking whisky never helped o man o?
the road to Heaven, nor added to the com*
forts of his home.
Thirty-two Mayora of English provincial
towns are 9aid to have signed the pledge of
total abstinence. /''X
If we had a million pens everyone of , >
tbem would write: "Train the children to,
banish the drink fiend." /Moderate
drinking puts one In the way
of all tbe seductive forces of temptation
that center in the saloon.
Startling testimony in regard to the .
aauiternnon or wines aau nquurs nw
given before the Senate Committee on
Manufuotures.
It is estimated that In England one7"Id . *'
every 1000 persons la arrested for drankenness
and fined and imprisoned.
The Young People's Temperance Federation
lias started a movement looking toward
establishing coffee-houses as substitutes
for saloons ia all parts of Chicago.
Dr. Margaret A. Stewart, one of a dozen
worann doctors who have teen speecbmak- v
ing lately, says that more women tban men
bave become drunkards during the last few
years.
' The application of the laws of heredity ' .-A,
to tbo drink curse bus long been known.
How much suffering and misery nre brought
upou tbe Innocent and helpless by this
[UltilUS IS uoyuuu UUUi|'Uvauvu.
A new temperance ?oc!ety was started
to-day in Chicago, pledged to secure 1,000,#
300 votes for the Prohibition party.
There is something unspeakably distressing
in the bondage, shame, suffering, degradation,
poverty and ruin of drunken-*
B6?8. ' .
"No up-to-date saloonkeeper can afford
to have other than a gentleman behind the
bar," says the Washington Liquor Dealer.;
ind yet this is the business .hat turns gentlemen
into vagabonds and loafers. j
The Kansas Issue tells of one John Bell j
who got drunk on liquor, of which the city
jot .some llfty cents. While drunk Bell
killed one Bryan Cusbman, thus wreoking
:wo families. The trial cost the county
iome $1000. This Is how the traffic bene4
[Its a community. , ^ o