The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, August 28, 1901, Image 7
WOLVES OF THE SEA.
From dusk until dawn they are hurrying
on.
Unfettered and fearless they flee;
From morn until eve they plunder and
thieve?
The hungry white wolves of the sea!
[With never a rest, they race to the west,
To the Orient's rim do they run;
By the berg and the floe of the northland
they go
And away to the isles of the 9un.
They wail at the moon to the desolate
dune
Till the air has grown dank with their
breath;
They snarl at the stars from the treacherous
bars
Of the coasts th^t are haunted by
death.
They grapple and bite in a keen, mad delight
'As they feed on the bosom of grief;
And one steals away to a cave with his
I prey
And one to the rocks of the reef.
TlTifc-h fprtfVi r?n thf?ir !in? thpv follow I
the ships,
Each striving to load in the chase;
Since loosed by the hand of the king their
band
They have known but the rush of the
race.
They are shassgy and old, yet as mighty
and bold
As when God's freshest gale set them
free;
Not a sail is unfurled in a port of the
world
But is prey for the wolves of the sea!
Herbert Bashford,. in Frank Leslie's
Popular Monthly.
^ TAKING HIS ADVICE. ^
MIL SHELDON* was the
principal merchant in the
important manufacturing
town nf Tnrmonf TTp tvn?
v? . ?proud
of his wealth, but he was still
more proud of the fact that he had
made It all himself, aud his pride was
greatest because he had made It by
never allowing anybody to get ahead
of him.
"That's the secret of success in life,
Harry," he said, one day, to his favorite
clerk. "Sharp's the motto, if
you wish to rise. I don't mean you
should cheat; that, of course, is both
.wrong and ungentiemanly." (Mr.
Sheldon prided himself, also, on being
what he called "a gentleman," and
above all little meannesses.) "But
alwovs be wide-awake, and never let
anybody cheat you. I've noticed, by
the \?ye, that you've seymed rather
downhearted lately. If it's because
you'.^e your fortune yet to make, don't
despair) but follow my advice. An
opening will come at some time for
something better than a clerkship, and
though I shall be sorry to lose you,
jet I'll give you up, if it's for your
interest."
"Thank you," said Harry, apparently
not a bit cheered up by this cool
.way of being told he had nothing to
expect from Mr. Sheldon; "but it's not
exactly that. I suppose I shall get
along somehow."
"What is it. my dear boy. then? I
really take an interest in you. as you
know"?and he did, so far as words
were concerned. "Perhaps I can give
you ;some advice."
"Well," said Harry, with some hesitatic|p,
"I'm in love, and "
"In love!" exclaimed the rich merchant
"In love, and with only a clerk's
salary to marry on. It will never donever
do, Harry. Marriage for one
like you is fastening a- millstone
round your neck, unless, indeed"'?and
he stopped, as If a bright thought
had struck him?"unless, indeed, the
girl is rich."
"She is rich, or will be, I suppose,"
answered Harry, "for her father is a
.wealthy man. But that's just the difficulty.
Her father would never let
her marry a poor man. and she won't
marry without his consent."
"What a miserable tyrant!" said
Mr. Sheldon. "If I was the lover,
Harry, I'd run off with her. I'd
checkmate the old curmudgeon in
that way." and he chuckled at the imaginary
triumph he would achieve.
"Ton my soul. I would! I never, as
I told you. let anybody take a rise
out of me."
"But would that be honorable?"
(irrAnnMnKl/v<2 T
xiuuui uwitr; x 9ii i cvcijiutu^ ian
iu love and war? I thought you had
some pluck, Harry. How- I should
like to see the stingy old hulk rave
and stamp about on his gouty toes?
for he must be gouty?when he heard
of your elopement!"
And he laughed till his portly sides
shook at the picture he had conjured
up.
"He'd probably never forgive me,"
said Harry, dejectedly. "And then
what could I do. with a wife brought
up to every luxury, and only a poor
clerk's salary to support her on?"
"Never forgive you? Trash and nonsense!
They always do forgive. They
can't help it. B<??idcs." with a confidential
wink. "I think I know your
man. It's that skinflint Meadows.
I've heard of your being sweet on his.
daughter. She's a pretty minx.
though she is his child. Oh. you
needn't deny it. I saw how you hung
about her at our party the other
night; and when I joked about it with
my daughter the next morning she as
good as admitted that it was true,
saying it would be a very good match,
for you. Now. I owe old- Meadows a
grudge. He tried to do me in those
railway shares last winter, and I
mean to pay him for it. somehow. I
tell you what I'll do. I musn't ask.
mind you. who the girl is. Mum must
be the word. I mustn't, of course. bt>
known in the affair; but I'll Rive leave
of absence for a month and a check
for ?50 to pay for your wedding trip
if you'll make a runaway match. Is
it agreed? Well, there's my hand on
it Here's the check. Egad! Won't
the old rascal howl when he hoars
how we've done him!"
Harry seemed to hesitate, however,
and it was not till Mr. Sheldon, eager
, to see his old commercial rival put
at a disadvantage, had urged him
again and again, and promised to
gland by him. that he finally consented,
and took the check which his employer
persisted in forcing upon him.
The next morning Mr. Sheldon came
down to breakfast in high glee, for
a note had reached him just as he
.was shaving, which ran as follows:
"Dear Sir 1 have, with much difficulty.
persuaded her to elope. It was
not, however, till I showed her your
cbcck that sbe vould consent to do co.
She said that she was sure you would
not recommend anything that was
wrong; that you would advise her as
if you were her own father, and she
hopes you will stand by us. We shall
be married to-morrow, before Mr.
Meadows is up. Very thankfully, ,
"Harry Conrad." *
The old gentleman brought the note
with him to the table, opened it out
before him, adjusted his spectacles
and read it over and over again.
"I'd give a ?10 note," he said
chuckling, "to see the old fellow's
face when he hears how Harry has
done him."
It was the custom of Mr. Sheldon
to read his newspaper at. breakfast,
while waiting for his only child and
daughter, who. a little spoiled by
overindulgence, was generally late.
But this morning Matty was later
I than ever.
The banker had read all the foreign,
as well as the home news, and even
reperused Harry's note and still she
had not made her appearance.
"The lazy puss!" he said, at last
Then he looked up at the clock. "Half
an hour late! Now. this is really too
bad. John!" he cried, addressing the
man servant at' the sideboard, "send
and see why Miss Sheldon doesn't
| come down. Tell her." with a severe
| air. "I'm tired of waiting."
I John came back in about five minutes
looking very much flustered.
"If you please, sir," lie stammered,
"Miss Sheldon's not in her room, and
the maid says that the bed looks as
if it hadn't been slept in all night."
The rich merchant's jaw fell.
He started up. with a cry of acrony,
[ to go and see. But he was prevented
by ttie footman appearing at the door
with a telegram.
"A telegram!" cried the merchant,
unfolding it with trembling hands.
"What can it mean? Has she been
found dead anywhere?"
This was the telegram:
"Dear Father?Harry and I were
married at eight o'clock this morning.
I would not consent to an elopement
till Harry assured me you had advised
it. and had shown me your check as
nrnnf Ha sjivs vou promised to stand
l/tvv" ?- ?* - ?
by us, and I know you pride yourself
on never breaking a promise. We
Trait for your blessing. Matty."
"Well, I never!" ejaculated Mr. Sheldon,
when he had recovered breath.
"The impudent, disobe "
But here he stopped?stopped, and
mopped his bald head, which, in his
excitement, had broken out into great
drops of perspiration. He remembered
that he had himself advised Harry
to elope, and that, if the story got
wind, he would be the laughing-stock
of the town, including?hardest cut
of all?Mr. Meadows. He remembered,
too. that he had but one child, and
that she was all in all to him.
So he accepted the inevitable and
telegraphed back:
"You may come home, and the
sooner the better, so as to keep the
fifty pounds for pin-money. Tell
Harry he's too sharp to remain a
clerk, and that I take him to-day into
partnership. Only he must remember
that partners never tell tales out of
afhnni Ood bless you! H. Sheldon."
The runaways returned by the next
train. The marriage proved, too, an
eminently happy one. The story never
got out. We only tell it now in confidence.?Woman's
Life. t
Severe Treatment.
The noise made by the burglar In the
Ferguson pantry, slight as it was, disturbed
the light sleeper is the bedroom
not far away, and the midnight
marauder was surprised a moment
later to find himself covered with a
big revolver in the hands of a determined
looking man in a long, white
robe.
"I hain't done notliin' but eat a few
cold victuals, mister." stammered the
burglar.
"I see," sternly replied George Ferguson.
"you have been eating the remains
of a strawberry shortcake my
wife made for dinner last night. Do
you know what I'm going to do with
you?"
"Turn me over to the police, I
s'pose," gasped the helpless thief.
"Worse than that," said Ferguson,
with a ferocious grin. "I'm going to
make you eat a quart of health food.
It's a new kind my wife heard of and
fixed up for us yesterday, and it's
LOOKING AHEAD FROM THE 1
before, and was marteed by sis boats
and buoys stationed at intervals oi
little more than six knots, the total
: distance to be gone over twice, oul
I and in. The path laj directly across
> ' - ' v v"; I
pretty dry eating, uui you 11 eat ev?.*
particle of it or I'll bore six holes
through you. There it is, in that big
bowl. Turn yourself loose on.it!"
With grim determination the indignant
householder stood over him till it
was finished, after wliic-h he picked
up the luckless scoundrel, who had
fallen exhausted to the floor, and
threw him out of the open pantry window.
"It may kill him," soliloquized Mr.
Ferguson somewhat remorsefully, as
he crawled back into bed. without disturbing
the rest of the family, "but a
man who breaks into another man*'
house takes bis life in bis bands anyway."?Chicago
Tribune.
A Short Lived Yacht.
An Instance of the rapid passing of
a racing yacht's ur^fulness is that of
the grand old Defender, the ISO.* cup
racer. It cost fully $100,000 to build
her?not to run her; just to put her
afloat ready for racing. Those who
designed the yacht thought that a
bronze bull with aluminum topsides
would slide through the water with
greater ceierity than any other combination
of metals that could be devised
for a hall. They so inform'd
the syndicate that ordered her. But.
they added, aluminum and bronze
make a poor combination, aud ia
course or time U18 ajummuui win iui#
where it joins the bronze, and the Defender
will be useless. But what
mattered that? She was to be built
tc defeud the cup; after she had defended
it she might rot. or not as she
pleased.?Frank Leslie's Popular
Monthly.
Hmnor of Encll?h Red-Tape.
Captain Oliver Young, of the English
Navy, when a lieutenant on board
Her Majesty's ship Beacon, in the
Egyptian campaign, was laid up in
hospital, and, being reported dead aud
buried, a stone was erected to his
memory at Suakim, where It still remains.
It is one of the humors of
English red-tape that the War Office 1
requested his executors to forward a
guinea, the cost of engraving his name j
upon the stone. '
gTHE'REGOltD-BKEAKM
? KAEE_DF THE ILLINOIS J
S By Stanhope Sams, Special Corre- a
2> spoudent of Collier's Weekly. i
SHE seemed almost conscious o
the part she played?the grea
battleship Illinois?as shi
settled down to her race
through the ocean path that had beer
marked out for her to prove that sh(
was the swiftest, and withal the mosi
terrible, sea-fighter of her class afloat
She gave the impression that tht:
beauty and splendor she will some daj
wear had been renounced, and thai
here she was to exhibit- oniy net
winged power of flight and her deadly
strength. So stripped was she thai
every muscle seemed laid bare, and
she was *till begrimed with the sweat
of labor that bad fitted her to run and
win the race against a hundred rivals
in the navies of the world.
The Illinois, a dull, dingy, gray hulk,
lay beyond the brooding islands and
ii
THE BATTLESI
the busy harbor traffic of Boston, on
the morning of June 12, awaiting the
supreme moment that should see her
transformed from a germ in iron and
Bteel into a battleship. She had lain
there for some time, and every hour
her picked crew and her shrewd builders
had made her fitter, and stronger
and fleeter. They had let the grime
and dirt accumulate on her decks, and
Boil the creamy white of her gracefully
curved sides; but they kept the-machinery
clean and free, and as sleek
with oil as the mouth of a milliongallon
"sponter."
The test of the ship bad been regarded
by all as a dramatie climax
toward which everything was moving.
Her builders bad been preparing her
for this moment ever since her launching
on October 4, 189S; and the United
States Navy, which was to reject or
accept her on the result of the trial,
had selected a trained body of offi:ers
to witness the race. As if to
mark the occasion as a sort of baptism
}f fire, Rear-Admiral "Fighting Bob"
Evans was placed at the head of this
Board.
On one, however, not even her builders
or her crew, expected that she
would run the marvellous race she
did, eclipsing all records. Eut after
she reeled off her wonderful speed of
17.31 knots so steadily, without fretting
or quivering, Admiral Evans said
she could easily be forced to eighteen
knots.
As soon as the members of the trial
board, which consisted of Rear-Admiral
Evans, Oaptain C. J. Train,
Captain J. N. Hemphill, Commander
.Charles Roelker, Lieutenant-Commander
Charles E. Vreeland, Lieutenant-Commander
T. S. Rodgers and
Naval Constructor J. J. Woodward,
had made a tour of inspection of the
ship, she left her anchorage in President
Roads and steamed slowly out
of the bay. At first she moved with
extreme caution, as if wary of the tortuous
channels, and hor helm was in
the hands of a harbor pilot. Then, as
the wide seaway opened before her,
she dropped the pilot, shook off her
swaddling bands, as it were, scorned
all guiding hands, save those of her
masters, and turned her head toward
Cape Ann for her life or death race.
The course of thirty-three knots
had been carefully measured the day
7"T
f the deep btght In the shore-line <
J Massachusetts and New Hampshii
and ended off Cape Porpoise beyoc
J Mount Agamenticus on the Mail
?
t LOOKING OVER THE STERN?HOW TD
BATTLESHIP STIBS UP THE WATE
> IN HER BROAD WAKE.
: coast The gunboat Hist was the firs
stake, and the others were, in the)
' order, the training ships Lancaste
: and Essex, the gunboats Newport an
[ Peoria, and the naval tug Potomac.
T a?? KnfAKA +V*n TlUnalc ronnho/1 flfln
, 1A/U5 UCLV/4C lilt 4VUVMV<W N/-J/
Ann she had worked up to a hlg
i speed, and when she swept aroun
the first stake-boat and swung easil
into the path she had to follow, sh
1 was making more than seventee:
* y ^
' "elk ?"
BjgMfeg
IIP ILLINOIS, THE FINEST WARS
knots an hour. So smoothly did sb
rush through the water, without vibn
tion or clatter, that even the naval es
perts could hardly believe she wa
moving at that wonderful speed. Onl,
the white beaten foam she dasbei
wide and far from her bows, and lef
in a broad -swath behind her, told 0
the tremendous power and speed wit
which she was being driven. Admire
Evans and President Calvin B. Orcut'
of the Newport News Shipbuilding an
Drydock Company, the builders, wh
were on the bridge, Admiral W. 1
Sampson, who watched the first pai
of the trial from a station near th
wheel, and all the other naval officer
present, held their watches to catc
the exact time of the start and finis
? O xU - /tVt n n JP iKn e?V?ir\ trrnt*
UL me insL lcai_u, as il iuc ouip uci
a racehorse nearing the wire in ,
sharply contested heat.
The gunboat Hist saluted as the bal
tleship crossed the starting-line, an
the great fighter snorted curtl
through her siren whistle in acknow
edgment.
At this moment, as the Illinois lia
attained almost her utmost pitch o
speed, she presented a remarkabl
spectacle, viewed from her own foi
ward fighting-top.
That she could and would make th
speed required by her contract?si:
teen knots an hour?was evident to a
from the moment she righted hersel
from the turn and moved down th
line of stakeboats that dlsappeare
in the direction of the Maine coast.
The crew, from Captain Hanlon an
helmsman and engineer down to th
deckhands, regarded the race aa
personal affair. Each one knew exaci
ly what the Alabama and the Wlscoc
sin had done, and, therefore, what th
Illinois was expected to do, and eac:
felt the heavy responsibility that rest
ed alike on steering wheel, or engin
snan, or sacu. in cum, ui vu a. smgr
drop of oil.
At the end of the half-course a sin
gular thing happened. Until the rac
la finished every power of the ship 1
guarded against mishap. For this res
son, the ship usually swings about o:
an easy helm, and reserves the test o
her ability to turn in a small clrcl
to the very end of the race. Bu
there was some confusion in orders
and the ship suddenly came about
hard a-port, and then as suddenly an
. ? 'O A \\
'OP OF THE FORWARD TURRET.
i j mysteriously swung hard to Btai
'. I board, like a tipsy sailor. Then sh
1 swung again in a stort curve, an
: came round, beautifully righting hei
i self, and seemed t? lean back l&t
>f the path for her spurt home. Sh<
rt behaved exquisitely under the seven
id strain, neither listing too much In th?
le abrupt swings to starboard and tc
port, nor throbbing or quivering undei
' the immense tension of her engines.
L At the finish, the Illinois made th?
= usual figure "8," to show how quicklj
she can turn, and swept a complete
! circle within three times her own
length.
Then she dropped anchor again in
President Roads, and the great record
breaking, historic race had ended
New records had been established,
^ and a new goal and prize set up for
B all future battleships to strive for.
The Illinois had made 17.31 knots.
~ But aB a fighter? It Is not enough
it that a battleship can steam fast. She
r must hi? fihlf* to vanauish her ad*
if versary after running her down. Can
d the Illinois do this? Let "Fighting
Bob" Evans answer:
e "The English sometimes say we
b overburden our ships with armament,
d That is what the fighting ship is for?
y to carry all the guns she can effectue
ally use. She is a floating battery,
a and if she can hurl more weight of
HIP AFLOAT.
e metal than her enemy, and can hurl
t- it as accurately and timely, she will
> win, and the ship is built to win.
s She must get to her fighting ground
y quickly, and outfight her foe.
d' "I believe the Illinois can do both,
t I believe she is the fleetest ship of
f her tonnage and fighting power on
h the sea to-day and can whip anything
il that can now force her to fight, and
t, many battleships that she could force
d to fight her 011 her own terms."
o The Illinois was launched October
\ 4, 1898, at the yards of the Newport
t News Shipbuilding and Drydock Coine
pany, Newport News, Va. Her hull is
s 3GS feet long at load-water line, her
h beam seventy-two feet, and draught
h at normal displacement of 11,525 tons
e is twenty-three feet and six Inches,
a Her indicated horsepower is 10,000;
her speed is 17.31 knots, and her
t- coal supply is 1500 tons. She will
a - - .
e ON THE BRIDGE DUBINQ FULL SPEED.
a
t- have forty officers and 449 seamen
l- and marines. She has triple-expan^
e sion twin-screw propelling engines,
h capable of 120 revolutions a minute.
Her ormor consists of a belt, four
e feet below and three and a half feet
e above the load line, of s'iiteen and onehalf
and nine and one-half inches
i- thickness. The turrets are protected
e by seventeen inches of steel plate,
s She carries two thirteen-inch guns
t- each in her forward and aft turrets,
a fourteen six-inch rapid-fire guds, and
f a secondary battery of sixteen quicKe
tiring six-pounders, and four quickt
firing one-pounders, and two Colt and
5, two field guns.
t. The speed of the Illinois in the trial
d race, as given above (17.31 knots an
_ hour) is the actual time made against
tide and currents. Her corrected
speed, calculated by the Board of Inspection
and Survey, is much better17.45
knots. This great speed places
hor otlll fnrthor in the lffld of Ameri*
catt battleships, and is her warrant to
rank pre-eminently as the fleetest
9taip of her class in the navies of the
world.?Collier's Weekly.
Golf Tendon the Late?t Malady.
The golf tendon is the latest discovery
of surgery. A Chicago doctor has
recently written a description of the
newly affected ligament. The tendon
begins to make itself felt when the
"duffer" throws his weight on his loft
heel This causes a sudden and great
strain on the golf tendon, which rebels
under repeated strains, goes on a
strike entirely, with the result that
the "duffer" is compelled to take tc
his bed as a sufferer from a novel
malady.
In some cases the rebellious tendon
/mmnlAfAlrr nn/1 n TVO*?Mol
uaa ouu^|/cu auu a puwui
paralysis of the golfer's leg is said to
have ensued.
If the "duffer" persists, in spite of
the protests of the tendon, and develops
In time Into a golfer, he learns
- that the most effective strokes are not
r- given by standing on his heel,
e Then he stands squarely, until the
d swing of the final stroke carries his
r- weight to the ball of his foot.?New
o York Mall and Express.
. ......
DR. TALMAGES SERMON
SUNDAY'S DISCOURSE BY THE NOTED
DIVINE.
inbjeet: Religion a Great Refreshment ?
Water For the Thirsty ? God a Fountain
of Joy That Is Unappreciated ?
An Everlasting Well of Gladness.
I Copyright 190L1
Washington, D. C.?In this discourse
Dr. Talmage represents religion as a
jreat refreshment and invites all the world
to come and receive it; text, Genesis xxix,
?, "We cannot until all the flocks be gathered
together and till they roll the stone
from the well's mouth; then we water the
sheep."
A scene in Mesopotamia, beautifully
pastoral. A well of water of great value
in that region. The fields around about
it white with three flocks of sheep lying
down waiting for the watering. I near
their bleating coming on the bright air
and the laughter of young men ana maid
ana indulging in. rustic repartee. 1 iook
off, and I see onier flocks of sheep coming.
Meanwhile Jacob, a stranger, on an
interesting errand of looking for a wife,
comes to the well. A beautiful shepherdess
comes to the same well. I see her approaching
followed by her father's flock
of sheep. It was a memorable meeting.
Jacob married that shepherdess. The
Bible account of it is, "Jacob kissed Rachel
and lifted up his voice and wept." It
has always been a mystery to me what he
found to cry about. But before that scene
0?curred Jacob accosts the shepherds and
asks them why they postpone the slaking
of the thirst of these sheep and why they
did not immediately proceed to water
them. The shepherds reply to the effect:
"We are all good neighbors, and as a matter
of courtesy we wait until all the sheep
of the neighborhood come up. Besides
that, this stone on the well's mouth is
somewhat hrivy, and several of us take
hold of it an. push it aside, and then the
buckets and che troughs are filled, and
the sheep are satisfied. We cannot until
all the nocks are gathered together and
till they roll the stbne from the well's
mouth; than we water the sheep.
Oh, this is a thirsty world! Hot for
the head and blistering for the feet and
parching for the tongue. The world's
great want is a cool, refreshing, satisfying
draft. We wander around, and we find
the cistern empty. Long and tedious
drought has dried up the world's fountain,
but centuries ago a shepherd, with crook
in the shape of a cross and feet cut to
the bleeding, explored the desert passages
of this world, and one day came across a
well a thousand feet deep, bubbling and
bright and opalescent, and looked to the
north and the south and the east and the
west and cried out with a voice strong and
musical that rang through the ages, Ho,
every one that thirsteth, come ye to the
waters!"
Now, a great flo^k of sheep to-day
gather around this gospel well. There
are a great many thirsty souls. I wonder
why the flocks of all nations do not gather?why
so many stay thirsty?and while
I am wondering about it my text breaks
forth in the explanation, saying, "We cannot
until all the flocka be gathered together
and till they roll the stone from
the well's mouth; then we water the
sheep." /
If a herd of swine come to a well they
angrily jostle each other for the preceHPn
if a rl rniro nf no f f lo 'rtinmo frt nroll
they hook each other back ffMfif the
water, but when a flock olsh&p come,
though a hundred of th^nr' shall be disappointed,
they only express it by sad bleating,
they come together peaceably. We
want a great multitude to come around
the gospel well. I know there are those
who do not like a crowd; they think a
crowd is vulgar. If they are oppressed
for room in church, it makes them positively
impatient and belligerent. We nave
had people permanently leave church because
so many people come to it. Not so
did these Oriental shepherds. They waited
until all the flocks were gathered, and
the more flocks that came the better they
liked it. And so we ought to be anxious
that all the people should come. Go out
into the highways and the hedges and
compel them to come in; go to the rich
and tell them they are indigent without
the gospel of Jesus; go to the poor and tell
them the affluence there is in Christ; go
to thff blind and tell them of the touch
that gives eternal illumination; go to the
lame and tell them of the joy that will
make the lame man leap like a hart.
Gather all the sheep off all the mountains;
none so torn of tne dogs, none so sick,
none so worried, so dying, as to be omitted.
Why not gather a great flock? All
this city in a flock; all New York in a
flock; all London in a flock; all the world
in a flnolr
This well of the gospel is deep enough
to put out the burning thirst of the
1.600,000.000 of the race. Do not let the
church by a spirit of exclusiveness keep
the world out. Let down all the bars,
swing open all the gates, scatter all the
invitations, "Whosoever will let him
come." Come, white and black. Come,
red men of the forest. Come, Laplander
out of the snow. Come, Patagonian, out
of the south.' Come in furs. Come panting
under palm leaves. Come one. Come
alL Come now. As at this well of Mesopotamia
Jacob and Rachel were betrothed,
so this morning at this well of salvation
Christ, our Shepherd, will meet you coming
up with your long flocks of cares and
anxieties, and He will stretch out His
hand in pledge of His affection while all
the heaven will cry out: "Behold the
bridegroom cometh! Go ye out to meet
Him.
You notice that this well of Mesopotamia
had a stone on it, which must be removed
before the sheep could be watered,
and I find on the well of salvation to-day
impediments and obstacles which must be
removed in order that you may obtain
the refreshment and life of this gospel.
In your case the impediment is pride of
heart. You cannot bear to come to so
democratic a fountain. You do not want
to come with so many others. It is as
though you were thirsty and you were invited
to slake your thirst at the town
pump instead of sitting in a parlor sipping
out of a chased chalice which has
just been lifted from a silver salver. "Not
so many publicans and sinners. You
want to get to heaven, but you must be
in a special car, with your feet on a Turkish
ottoman and a band of music on board
the train. You do not want to be in com
panv wun rustic jacoo ana nacnei ana to
be drinking out of the fountain where 10,000
8heep nave been drinking before you.
You will have to remove the obstacle of
pride, or never find your way to the well.
You will have to come as we came, willing
to take the water of eternal life in
any way and at any hand and in any kind
of pitcher, crying out: "0 Lord Jesus, I
am dying of thirst! Give me the water of
eternal life, whether in trough or goblet.
Give me the.water of life. I care not in
what it comes to me." Away with all
your hindrances of pride from the well's
mouth!
Here is another man frbo is kept back
from this water of life by the stone of an
obdurate heart, which lies over the mouth
of the well. You have no more feeling
upon this subject than if God had yet to
do you the first kindness or you had to do
God the first wrong. Seated on H)s Ian
all these years. His everlasting arms sheltering
you, where is your gratitude?
Where is yoilr morning and evening prayer?
Where are your consecrated lives?
1 say to you, as Daniel said to Belshazzarw
"The God in whose hand thy breath is
and all thy way thou hast not clorjiied."
If you treated anybody as badly as you
have treated God, you would have made
500 apologies ? yea, your whole life wouid
Via vn hrnri n n riiinlntrv Thrnr* timpj a illiV
you have been seated at God's table.
Spring, summer, autumn and winter lie
has appropriately appareled yiu. Your
health from Him, your companion from
Him, vour children from Him, your home
from Him, all the bright surroundings of
yout life from Him.
There are men who are perfectly discontented.
Unhappy in the past, unhappy
to-day, to be unhappy forever unless you
come to this gospel well. This satisfies
the soul with a high, deep, all absorbing
and eternal satisfaction. It comes, and it
oners tne most unfortunate man so mucn
of thi3 world as is best, for him and
throws all heaven into the bargain. The
wealth of Croesus and of all the Rothschilds
is only a poor, iniset^ble shilling
compared with the eternal fortunes that
Christ offers you to-day. In the-Far East
there was a king who used once a year to
get on a scales, while on the other side I
. ' ' . .
. . /Ai
r %
the scales were placed gold and silver an?
gems. Indeed enough were placed there
to balance the king. Then at the close of
the weighing all those treasures were
thrown among the populace. But Christ
to-day steps on one Bide the scales, and oa
the other side are all the treasures of the
universe, and He says, "All are yours?all
height, all depth, all length, all breadth,
all eternity; all are yours." We do not
appreciate the promises of the gospel.
When an aged clergyman was dying, *
man very eminent in the church, a young
theological student stood by his side, ana
the aged man looked up and said to him,
"Can't you give me some comfort in my,
dying hour? "No," said the young man,
"I can't talk to you on this subject. You
know all about it and have known it so
long." "Well," said the dying nwin,
"just recite to me some promises." The
young man thought a moment, and he
came to this promise, "The blooa of Jesus
Christ cleanseth from all sin," and the
nld man clanDed his hands and in his dy
ing moment said: "That's ju3t the promise
I have been waiting for, 'The blood of
Jesua Christ cleanseth from all sin." Oh,
the warmth, the grandeur, the magnificence
of the promises! '
If I could gather all the griefs ot all
sorts from these crowded streets and could
put them in one scroll, neither man nor
angel could endure the recitation. Well,
what do you want? Would you like to
have your property back again? "No,"
you say as a Christian man, "I was becoming
arrogant, and I think tlat is why
the Lord took it away. I don't want to
have my property back." Well, would
you have your departed friends back
again? "No." you say, "I couldn't take
tne responsibility of bringing them from
a tearless realm to a realm of tears. I
couldn't do it." Well, then, what do yoa
want? A thousand voices in the audienc* /
cry out: "Comfort! Give us comfort!"
For that reason I have rolled away the 0
stone from the well's mouth. Come, all
ye wounded of the flock, pursued of the
wolves, come to the fountain where the
Lord's sick and bereft ones have come.
"Ah," says some one, "you are not old
enough to understand my sorrows. You
have not been in the world as long as I
have, and you can't talk to me about my
misfortunes in the time of old age." WelL
I may not have lived as long as you, but I
have been a great deal among old people,
and I know how they feel about their fail- ? ."
infe health and about their departed
1 e- ' J i-l?A lA?<t1i'naoa fit of anmA?
irienus uuu auuut mc iuuuiui.ra w??.~
timea strikes through their souls. After
two persons have lived together for forty
or fifty years, and one of them is takes
away, what desolation!
I shall not forget the cry of Dr. De
Witt, of New York, when he stood by the
open grave of his beloved wife, and after
the obsequies had ended he looked down
into the open place and said: "Farewell,
my honored, faithful and beloved wife.
The bond that bound us is severed. Thou
art in glory, and I am here on earth. We
shall meet again. Farewell! Farewell!"
To lean on a prop for fifty years and
then have it break undfer you! There were
only two years' difference between the
death of my father and mother. After my
mother's decease my father used to go
around as though- looking for something.
He would often get np from one room
without any seeming reason and go to another
room, and' then he would take his
cane and start out, and sonpe one would
say, "Father, where are you going?" And
he. would answer, "I don't know exactly
where I am going."' Always looking for
something. Though hp,; was a tender*
Kienrt-AH man T never saw him CrV bat
once, and that was at'.fhe burial of my
mother. After sixty years' living together
it was hard to part. And there are aged
people to-day wno are feeling just such ft
pang as that. I want to tell them there if
perfect enchantment in the promises of
this gospel, and I come to them and offet
them my arm, or I take their arm and I
bring them to this gospel well. Sit down,
father or mother; sit down. See if then
is anything at the well for Vou. Come,
David, the psalmist, have you anything
encouraging to offer them? "Yea, says
the psalmist; "they shall still bring forth
fruit in old age; they shall be fat and
flourishing to show that the Lord is upright.
He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness
in Him." Come, Isaiah,
have you anything to say out of your prophecies
for these agev people? "Yes,"
says Isaiah; "down to dff.age I am witb 1
thee, and to hoary hairs will I carry thee."
Well, if the Lord is going to carry you,,
you ought not to worry iftuch about yout
ailing eyesight and failing limbs.
You get a little worried for fear that
some time vou will come to want, do youl
Ydur children and grandchildren some
times speak a Uttie scarp co you oecau.'je
of your ailments. The Lord will nol
speak sharp. Do you think you will come f .
to want? What do you think the Lord
is? Are His granaries empty? Will He
feed the raven and the rabbit and the lion
in the desert and forget you? Why. naturalists
tell us that the porpoise will not
forsake its wounded and sick mate. And
do you suppose the Lord of heaven and
earth has not as much sympathy as the
fish of the sea? But you say, I am bo
near worn out, and I am of no use to God
any more^' I think the Lord knowa
whether you are of >any more use or not.
If you were of no more use He would have
taken you before this. Do jwu think God
has forgotten you because He has taken
care of you seventy or eighfcv years? He
thinks more of you to-day tnan He evei
did because you think more of Him. Mar
the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob
and Paul -the aged be your God forever.
But I gather all the promises to-day in
group, and I ask the shepherds to drive
their flocks of lambs and sheep up to the
sparkling supply. "Behold, happy is the
man who God correcteth." "Though He
cause grief, yet will He have compassion."
"Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the Lord delivereth him out of them
all." "Weeping may endure for a night,
but joy cometh in the morning." > I am
determined that no one shall go out of
this house uncomforted.
So I come to your timid and shrinking
soul to-day and comoel you to come out
in the presence of the Divine Physician.
He will not hurt you. He has been healt
r .. rr_ ,?:n
Mg wounaa IOr many years; aim aic niu
give you gentle and omnipotent medicament.
But people, when they hAve trouble, go
anywhere rather than to God, De Ouincey
took opium to get rid of his trouolea,
Charles Lamb took to punch, Theodore
Hook took to something stronger. Edwin
Forrest took to theatrical dissipation, and
men have run all around the earth, hoping
in the quick transit to get away from
tneir misfortunes. It has been a dead
failure. There is only one well that can
slake the thirst of an afflicted spirit, and
that is the deep and inexhaustible well of
the gospel.
But some one in the audience says,
"Notwithstanding all you have said this
morning, I find no alleviation for my troubles."
Well. I am not through yet. I
haw left the moat potent consideration
for the bat. I am going to soothe you
with the thought of heaven. However
talkative we may be, there will come a
time when the stoutest and most em* ..
phatic interrogation will evoke from ua
no answer. As soon as we have closed
our lips for the final silence no power on
earth can brt-ik that taciturnity. But
where, 0 Christian, will be your spirit?
In a scene of infinite gladness; the spring
morning of heaven waving its blossdms ir
the bright air; victors fresh from battle
showing their scars; the rain of earthly
sorrow struck through with the rainbow
of eternal joy; in one group God and at.
eels and the redeemed?Paul and Silas,
Latimer and RidVy, Isaiah and Jeremiah,
Payson and John Milton, Gabriel ana
Michael, the archangel; lone: line of choristers
reaching across the hills; seas of joy
dashing to the white beach; conquerors
marching front gate to gate, you among
them. Oh, what a great flock God will
gather around the celestial well! No stone
on the well's mouth while the shepherd
waters the sheep. There Jacob will recocrniRachel,
the shepherdess. And.
standing on one side of the well of eternal
r.mture your children and standing on the
other side of eternal rapture your Christian
ancestry, you will bo bounded on all
aides by a joy so keen and grand that n?
other world has ever been permitted to
experience it. Out of that one deep well
of heaven the Shepherd will dip reunion
for the bereaved, wealth for the poor,
health for the sick, rest for the weary.
And then all the flock of the Lord's sheep
will lie down in the green nastures, and
world without end we will praise the
Lord that on this summer Sabbath morning
we were permitted to studv the story
of Jacob and Rachel at the well