University of South Carolina Libraries
* I =_ i :W HEN BABY WRITES A LETTER. .When baby writes a letter to her Dadd; far away, The occasion's most important, for sh has so much to say. She sit3 up to the table, as grown-up folk all do, lAnd then a pile of paper all around her w must strew. iWith Grandma's golden spectacles safi perched upon her nose She dips her pen into the ink, then straigh to work she goes, 'And the onslaught fierce that follow; would fill you with dismay? iWhen baby writes a letter to her Dadd; far away. "Bahy sends her love to Daddy, and hope I that he is well," Is the sentence Baby first indites?he: methods I must tell? For the sweet and simple message that ex presses Baby's love Is a dot and dash and big ink-splash be low and just above. 6he perforates the paper with many tin; pricks, And plays a tattoo on her chair with sun dry little kicks, And all the floor is scattered o'er witl fragments of the fray To tell us Baby*8 writing to her Daddy fai P. The letter is a long one, for 9cores o: sheets are used, And every one bears witness to the wa; it's been abused. A page for every word she takes, sh quite ignores the lines. While each one as it's written to oblivioi she consigns; Then proudly for an envelope Miss Bab; now will call. And she fills it full of paper, with n( writing on at all. The address is so illegible, I much regre to say, It's doubtful if 'twill ever reach dea Daddv far away. ?Charles Noel Douglas, in the Woman'; Home Companion. ooocooocoooocoocoooooccoot o c g An ^venture < ? in tije Rockies, j ? I ' Q By William Thomson. ( SwOOOCCCCOCOCOCOOCCOOSCOC( IX September, 1870, a small partj of us went up from Georgetown Col., to enjoy a few week#' bunt iug and fishing in Middle Park. As cooks, camp keepers and genera utility men, we bad old Joe Bruette a French-Canadian ex-voyaguer, nnc his grown son, Peter, both thoroughly efficient, pleasant fellows, and sc .warmly attached to each other tlia nothing less tban inexorable necessity could keep them apart for twenty four hours; nor would either of then ever engage with a party of tourists or sportsmen unless the other coulr go along, even if both had to work fo: one man's pay. After spending a day or two at Hoi Sulphur Springs. \ve moved our camr down to Williams River, almost undei Lthe shadow of Williams River Moun tains, where fish and game were ai that time plentiful. The trout, however, did not tak( kindly to our artificial flies; so, earlj one morning, while his^sou was doinc the camjM^iofea; Joe, taking a couplc of empty'nicble bottles ww out tow*?f tte foothills to gathe grasahoPPe? for bait p. *r->.iiad no nwre than half a mile t< ^ and as the night chilled insect; would be easily caught we expectec I him to return within an hour. Bu lie did not come, nor had he done so when Peter, already, as we thought absurdly anxious, announced brepk fast. About forty-five minutes after Jo? left we heard several rifle or pisto shots echoing among the foothills, bu I"youk father is xot dead." uch sounds wore so common that a he moment we paid no attention t< hem. While we were at breakfast ine of us, calling these reports t< nind, carelessly asked Peter if hi; athor had taken his revolver along "Why, yes. for sure; he never goe: nywhere without that," replied th oung man, "but I'm'fraUl he's got iuti ome trouble this time, or he'd beei iack long ago. Maybe, though, he'i ^Aiin/ln^ on /.1L> nn,1 line 5 ItUUUUCU au ?IUU liUO 1VUU CU 1 nto the mountains." After waiting another half hour ii he vain hope of his father's return ?eter became so distressed that, a lis earnest request. Dr. Lewis, Fret ieid and I agreed to accompany hiu ?n a search for the missing man. Arming ourselves with rifles and re rolvers. we set out at once and, 01 :oruing to a particularly green stretel if grass at the base of the foothills tund the two bottles, both dul: ^ked and full of grasshoppers, bu |H:ign whatever of Joe. ^Ken we three began to clrcli lnAl'Jnrr niiitu licalftdolr II^HUUf luvnuUb, l/Ut UOtlCOOlJ JB the mattoil grass for footprints EjHe Peter struck out for a grove o fug cottonwoods, bounding oa on lido of the meadow. He had not beei rone live minutes when from out th thicket's depths rang a horrified shriek followed by a frenzied, cry of: "Here, men, here! Hurry! Oh, fo Heaven's soke, hurry!" I Dashing like madmen across the lit tie plain, we reached the dlstressei |outh in a few moments, and then sav I fearful sight indeed. In Ihe mids If a patch 01 trampled, blood-staine< ushes lay the seemingly lifeless forii poor Joe. 'rhe scalp was strippei lorn the front part of the head am King down over his eyes. His lef Bin Tiroe liiiillv 1or-avninfl r?nri thft nrn Iliat side badly mangled, and brokei wo places; the clothing was ton h the upper part of his body, an< hs naked breast gaped four ragge< K"<vrs, evidently plowed by a singl Met from the claws of some glan Jbeast. Whatever the t\nemy. i ["obvious that the old hunter ha< i ?S m " I \ ! made a desperate fight, for all the chambers of his revolver were empty, y and his knife encrusted "with gore* e while the underbrush arou?d was beaten flat and the ground trodden 8 into blood-moistened dust. e Peter, dry-eyed, but piteously moaning, was lying by the senseless bodj'. e tenderly clasping it in his arms, and t on seeing us, exclaimed: "My poor father has been killed by a grizzly 3 bear; and. so help me Heaven, I'll ? npver tastp food till I've destroyed the brute. Life is no use to me now." "Why, Pete, my boy," said Dr. Lewis, who had knelt by the old man's r side."your father is not dead. He'll regain consciousness directly. Meantime, you run to the camp for my in strument case and tell our friends there to hurry along with the spring wagon, ^ a few blankets and other such articles . as they know will be necessary." Actually hugging the doctor in his 1 joyous revulsion of feeling, and softly r kissing his father's unhurt hand, Peter sprang to his feet and was off like a j shot. Going and returning, he must cover nearly a mile, but in less than y ten minutes he was back again with the little box of surgical instruments e and some clean clothing for the i wounded man, now sittiug up and in full possession of his senses. On seev ing this, the affectionate son dropped ) to his knees in an ecstacy of thanksgiving and fairly wept aloud for joy. Two minutes later the wagon tliunr dered up to the edge of the grove with our comrades, who had thoughtfully 3 brought splints, sponges, bandages, ana, mosi ueeuiui ul an, iwu w>acu buckets full of warm water. 5 Thon, assisted by his pupil. Fred J) Reid, the doctor cleansed and stitched ^ iu place the pendant scalp, dressed the 3 , breast and shoulder wounds, set* and ^ bound up the broken arm and made his "> patient as comfortable as possible. But ' the tough old fellow would not rido 1 back to camp. Accompanied by Dr. Lewis and Reid. he actually walked, coolly telling the wagon men to bo sure, when ready to return, not to forget the grasshoppers! And I may as well say right here that in less thau two months he was as sound as ever, though around the edges of the replaced scalp appeared a semi-circular streak of snow white hair. It seems that on going for some purpose into the grove he almost tumbled over, not a grizzly, but an enormous cinnamon bear, at which he rashly fired. Then ensued a terrific fight, ending In apparent victory for the savage brute, which, though wounded by six revolver bullets and a number of knife thrusts, somehow managed to get away, only, however, to die; for as soon as Joe had left for camp, Peter, Tom Cooper and I nr> tiiQ hlnnd-atnined trail and t found tbe monster's carcass before we bad gone a mile. *' "Ha! lia!" jubilantly sbouted Pete, "my brave old father won the fight^ after all, and he's killed J cinnamon evftr in tbese moun'' tains, i;i uet!" The dead bear, a male, lay in a clump } of aspen scrub. All tbree of us had , leaned our rifles agaiust a rock about j twenty feet away, aud, stooping down, t were beginning to remove tbe pelt, when suddenly, with open mouth, blazing eyes and a hoarse shriek of rage, ' a buge she cinnamon crashed through the surrounding brush, and before we , could draw our revolvers, sent Cooper j and myself spinniug, heels over head, t to the ground, where for a few sec. onds we lay, stunned aud helpless. Fortunately, the furious beast, seeming at the moment intent only upon examining the body of her mate, had merely whirled us aside by her own momentum wuuoui siri&iug iu us ut all, and neither of us was seriously hurt. But the instant that she found that her consort was really dead, and while we still lay dazed, she turned upon us for vengeance. So great had been the force of the creature's first rush against and between us that we were hurled fully fifteen feet away, but, luckily, within five feet of the stacked arms. Yet this fact would not have saved us from being slain as we lay had not Peter, who never, under any circumstances, got rattled, bounded forward at the first glimpse of the bear and secured bis gun?and not the fraction of a second too soon. t Too confused and dizzy to even recllect that we had revolvers, we were vainly trying to x*ise. The old she, ^ frothing at the mouth with fury, was within three feet of our temporarily , paralyzed bodies. Next moment those g terrible paws would have crushed our skulls like egg shells, or those gleaming teeth have been buried in our throats 3 ?but something happened! In order, ? i suppose, to more effectually exert her * prodigious strength, the maddened beast reaped partially up; Peter, now j standing behind ub with his great buffalo rifle leveled, was coolly waiting j for this foreseen move. The bear's j mouth was wide open, and lie fired j into it point blank. The one and a half ounce pointed bullet, driven by six drachms of powder, tore its way ^ through neck and spinal cord, coming j out at the back of the creature's head, and she dropped dead as suddenly as '! if struck by a lightning bolt. t In a few minutes Tom and I were all right again, and by noon both bears were properly skinned, but the hides were so heavy that it was no easy task ' to carry them back to where the wagon j still waited. e uu urrjviujj m uuuip wuu our irupnies old Joe nearly went wild with joy, and I rather think that he and his . gallant boy found tliis*the most profi" table trip they had ever undertaken.? The Ledger. "A Lone Because a Single Life. 3 Miss Larissa Shaler, of Lyme, is 101 ir years and two months old. She was t born In the town of Haddam, Conn., il and resided in her birthplace 100 years n und six months. Last March she ac;1 cepted the invitation of her niece, Mrs. J Henry B. Sisson, of Lyme, to live with t iier. li iier inieueci is apparently as ciear a to-day as ever. Her health is good and a for exercise she walks up and down 3 stairs and into the yard surrounding J her home. e Miss Shaler decided to go through t life without a partner, and she attribt utes her extreme age to the fact that 3 she never married.?New York Sun. IDE. TALMAGESHRMQN SUNDAY'S DISCOURSE BY^HE NOTED DIVINE. inbject: The Merciful Interpretation of Human Behavior?Follow the Divine Leading?TVe Will Not Pass This Way Again, So Do Your Good Now. Washington, D. C.?This discourse is i most unusual presentation ot tmngs that take place in many lives, and Dr. Talmage pleads for merciful interpretation of human behavior. The test is Joshua ii, 4, "Ye have not passed this way heretofore." In December, 1889, I waded the River Jordan, and, although the current was 3trong, I was able to bear up against it, out in the time of spring freshet, when the snows on Mount Lebanon melt, nothing but a miracle would enable any one to cross this river. It was at the dangerous springtime that Joshua and the officers of his army uttered the words of my text to the people who were in a few hours to cross the Jordan. About that crossing we ?ay but little, because on a previous occajion we discoursed concerning that piling up of the waters into crystal barricade. We only speak of the march to the brink of the river. No stranger thing has ever sccurred in all history. The ark of the covenant was a brilliant :hest of acacia wood, overlaid with gold, on the top of which were two winged figures facine each other. It was five feet long and three feet wide. Poles were thrust through the rings at the side, and4 by these poles the ark was lifted. This' splendid box was to be carried three quarters of a mile ahead of the hosts of] Israel on the way to the crossing. That ' '? ' J iL. -J I distance Between me oox anu tuc auvuw ing thousands must be kept because of reverence. There was a sanctity in that divine symbol that they must observe by keeping three-quarters of a mile away. They must watch that glittering box and follow; otherwise they would lose their way and not arrive at the right place for crossing. They had never been there before, and they must be guided. For that reason Joshua utters the words of my text. "Ye have not passed this way heretofore." And the subordinate officers At the head I of the regiments repeated it, "Ye have not I passed this way heretofore." What was truthfully said of the ancient Israelites may be truthfully said of us. We are making our first and last journey through this world. It is possible, as some of my good friends believe, that this world will be corrected and improved and purified and floralized and emparadised as to climate and soil and character until it shall become a heaven for the ransomed, but I do not think it. I have an idea that heaven is already built somewhere. Our departed friends could not wait until this world is fixed up for staintly and angelic residence. Having once gone out of the world, I do not think we will come back, except as ministering sDirits to help those who remain in the earthly struggle or per: I haps to look at the wondrous spectacle of a burning planet. But, leaving that theory aside, we are very sure that we are for the first time walking the earthly pilgrimage. "Ye have not passed this way before." Every minute is a new minute, every hour a new hoi"", every century a new century. Other foli'n have gone over the same road we are traveling, but it is our first trip. New appearances, new temptations, new sorrows, new joys. That is the reason so many lose their way. They meet some one on the road of life and ask for direction, and wrong direction is given. We have all been perplexed by misdirection after asking the way to some place we wished to visit. Some one said to us, "Take the first road to the right and, having gone a mile JgjafcJjk^^j^^^ake the first road on the I your destination." We took tnead vice, but out informer forgot a turn in the road or foxgc*. one of the roads leading to the left, and we took the wrong road and were lost in the woods, and night cama on, and we were put to great irritation and trouble. The fact is, I blame no one for making lifetime mistakes. I pity them instead of blaming them. There are so manv wrong roads, but only one right one. You can<n ?nnn trniir TrrmfVifnl ov. nut- U1 JUIU111C uion ui;i/u juui .ruwuium va Deriences for wisdom, for midlife is so entirely different from youth. You cannot in old age draw upon midlife experiences, for the two stages of existence are so diverse. What is wisdom for one man to do would be folly for another to undertake. A man of nerve and pluck is not qualified to advise a man timid and shrinking. An achievement that would be easy for you might be impossible for me. Human advice is ordinarily of little value. People review their own succesess or failures and then tell us what is beat for us to do. not realizing that our circumstances are different, our temperament is different, our phvsical and mental and moral capacities different. Most of the great mistakes that have been made have been made under human advisement. So, also, it may be said to every nation, "Ye have not passed this way before." Our own republic is going through novel experiences. Could wisest statesman twenty years ago have prophesied present :onditions? Every President, every Congress. has new crises to meet and new questions to settle. So prophecies made ibout conditions in this country fifty years from now may turn out as far untrue as the prophecies made fifty years ago by the Greatest of American statesmen when he declared on yonder Canitol hill that it was unwise to think of civilization or prosperity the other side of the Rocky Mountains, and according to his belief the Pacific coast would be the perpetual abode of barbarians and mountain lions, and we must not think of annexing those forbidding regions. Many prophecies in regard to our nation failed and many prophecies concerning its future will fail, because it is traveling a new road. Every step it takes on that road is a novelty. The oninion of a Monroe or a Jefferson in the far past is not of as much value as the opinion of our wisest men now. How could men know in 1823 ivlip.t it would be best for this nation to do in 1901? It is belittling as well as unwise for our statesmen, who are quite equal to the statesmen of the past and who have, in addition to the natural talents of their predecessors, attainments in knowledge that were impossible in any decade but our own, to depend on advice of men who have been dead three-quarters of a century. In all other things the world has advanced. Can it be that in statesmanship it has gone back, and that this opening of the twentieth century must consult tne opening 01 tne nineteentn century: "Ye have not passed this way before." Yea, our entire world is on a new pathway. It may be swinging in the same old orbit as when bv the hand of the Almighty immensity was sprinkled with worlds, but it has been rooked with earthquakes and scorched with volcanic fires and whelmed with tidal waves and wrought upon by climatic changes?cities sunk, and islands lifted, and mountains avalanched into valleys. So it is another world than that which was first started in the solar system. Yet it is all the time changing and will keep changing until the hour of its demolition. Of this beautiful world, this lustrous world, this glorious world, it may be said, "Ye have not passed this way before." What is the practical use of this subject? Instead of putting so much stress upon human advice and instead of asking of the past what we ought to do, follow the divine leading as the men of Joshua followed the golden lidded chest of acacia, which was the symbol of the divine presence. That three-quarters of a mile distance between the ark or sacred box and the front column of Joshua's troops mightily impresses me. It was a forceful way of teaching reverence for the Almighty. They needed to learn that lesson of reverence, -11 ."t (I? >VC rill IICCU IU ICUill lb. lltCVClCUWU UUS cursed all nations, and none more than our own. Irreverence in the use of God's name. Hear you it not on the streets and in social groups, and is not a profane word sometimes thought necessary to point jocosity? Irreverence for the Scriptures, the phraseology of the Bible often introduced into the most frivolous conversation and made mirth provoking. Irreverence for the oath in courtroom or custom house or legislative hall by the conventional and mechanical mode of its administration. Irreverence for the holy Sabbath by the way it is broken in pleasure excursion and carousal. Irrevei-cnce on the part of cliil-, dren for their parents, insolence being substituted for obedience. Irreverence for rulers, which induces vile cartoons and assassination. Irreverence in church during prayer, measuring off song and sermon by cola, artistic or literary criticism, and in prayer time neither bowing the head noz bending the knee nor standing as one does in the presence of earthly ruler, thus ghow* ing more respect for a man than to the King of kings. We ask not for genuflexions or circumflexions or prostrations, but when prayer is offered let us either botf fV?o Koarl r?r Vu>nA fVio lrnPA or lpfc llfl ITT some way prove that we are not indiffer- i ent. In how many placea have presumption and foolhardiness taken the place of rev- j e vence! That three-quarters of a mile be* | } tween the cheat of acacia covered witfc i gold and mounted with wings?a symbol j of the divine presence?and the marching . regiments of .Joshua suggests a reverence ! that ia woefully lacking in social life, in i legislative hall and religious assemblage. A fanner went to the wheat field, taking his son with him. The child said, "These stalks that stand straight up must havt the best grain. Those stalks that bend over cannot be worth anything." Then the father broke off two of the tops of the stalks and said, "Child, that one thai bends clear over has the grain." It is the soul that bows in deepest reverence which is the best soul. As you have had no experience of this kind upon which to draw for wisdom and j aa you cannot fully state all the circumstances to any human ear, go to God and tell Him all about it. Me knows already, but it will relieve you and help you if you I tell Hira. That is what He has been I doing ever since the world got into trouble M' disobedient behavior on the banks of j /Lie Euphrates. No one has come to midlife who has not j been stung of ingratitude. On the battle- | field of Alma in 1854 a wounded Russian j was crying in anguish of thirst for water. I Captain Eddington, of the English Army, I ran to him and gave him drink. As the ! captain was running by to join his regi- j ment the wounded soldier 9hot him. Al- | most all languages have nroverbs setting i forth this perversity. English proverb, j "Bring up a raven and it will nick out 1 your eyes." Arabic proverb. "Eat the ; present and break the dish." Italian pro- 1 verb. "The ass, after having drunk, gives j a kick to the bucket." An old proverb j says, "If God were to be so complacent i as to carry us on His back to Rome, we j would not thank Him for Hi6 pains if He did not also set us down in an easy chair." j You will never be happy in this world il you do not do all the good you can and \ look for no responsive gratitude. All the j damage I did a man who is my enemy was ; to take him from a position where he re> j ceived S700 a year salary into a position j where he has ever since received $2500 a ; year. He never forgave me. but has pur- j Riierl me with nen vitriolic ever sincp. The worst enemy you ever had is the man j you introduced and favored and helped, i But be not disturbed or even irritated, j You are no better than your Lord. If the world had had any thankful ap- ' preciation of His coming it would have ! filled that Bethlehem caravansary with j flowers, which bloom there clear on into | the December month, and Herod, instead of attempting His death, would have sent ! a chariot to fetch the infant to the palace, j and the oyer and terminer of Pilate's j courtroom would have pronounced Him i not guilty, and instead of a cross and a crown of thorns it would have been a coro- ] nation, with all the mighty ones of the earth kneeling at the foot of His throne. I We talk about the great discoveries of the age, the electric power, the steam i power, the telescopic and microscopic j power, but do not say anything about the discoveries we all make year by year and day by day. There are surprises all the time. It is a new road we are traveling. ! "Ye have not passed this way before." j But closely allied is the other fact which we hinted at in the opening?that we will not paw* this way again. This is our only . on^ottumty Iv doing certain things that ought to be done: On ail siuea tueii are I griefb we ought to solace, hunger we ought to feed, cola that we ought to warm, kind | words that we ought to speak, generous deeds we ought to perform. All that you j and I do toward making this world better : and happier we must do very soon or ' never do at all. Joshua and his troops never came back over the way they were j marching toward the crossing of the Jor- , dan. The impress of the sandal or the bare feet of each soldier showed in what . direction he was going, but never did the ! impress of the sandal of any one of them show that he had returned. We are all facing eternity to come. There is no retreat. Alertness and fidelity would not be so important if we could truthfully say: "I will be back here "again. The things I neglect now I will do the next time I come. ' I will be reincarnated, and I will resume my earthly obligations. Having then more I knowledge than I have now, I will discharge my earthly duties better than I can now discharge them. I do not give solemn farewell to these obligations and opportunities, but a smiling and cheery good-bye until I see them again." No, we cannot say that. There will be no new and corrected edition of the volume of our earthly life. After we make exit from the ! stage at the close of the fifth act we can- , not re-enter. 1 nuw iiiauy minibus ui pcupic iiavc ixvcu and died I know not, but of all the human race who have gone only seven persona that I now think of have returned, the son j of the widow at Zarephath, the young man of Nain, the ruler's daughter, Tabitha. Eutychus, Lazarus and Christ. Among all the ages to come I do not suppose there will be one more who will return to this , life, having once left it. At this point I ask you to notice the fact that my text does not call attention to the crossing of the Jordan, but to the way leading thereto. We all think much of our crossing of the Jordan when the . march of our life is ended, but put too lit- ; tie emphasis on the way that leads to the crossing. What you and I need most to care about is the direction of the road we arc traveling. We need have no fear of the crossing if we come to it in the right way. In other words, we need not care about death if our life has been what it ought to be. We will die right if we live right. i What an absurdity it would have been for Joshua and his men to have asked each other questions like these: "Howcan we cross the Jordan if we get there? Will not the water be too deep to allow us to wade? Will we not all be so saturated that we may lose our lives by exposure? How many of us can swim? Had we bet ter not wait until the annual freshet has subsided?" No such folly did they com- ; mit. They were chieflv anxious about the way that they had not passed before" and were ignorant of and to keep their eyes on the golden covered acacia box, wine mounted, which was the ark of the covenant. 0 hearer, stop bothering about your exit from sublunary scenes! By the grace of God get your heart right and then go ahead. If the Lord takes care of you clear on to the bank on this side of the river, I think yoa can trust Him to take you from j bank to bank, from the willows on this side the stream to the palms on the other side, from the last kiss of sorrowing ones on this side to the welcome, saintly, cheru- \ hie, seraphic, deific on the other side. ' Keep your eye on the ark. and, whatever . betides, you will go through all right. One Easter morning Masaena, the Mar- : shal of France, appeared with IS,000 armed men on the heights above the town j of Feldkirch. There were no arms to de- I fend the town, and the inhabitants were ' wild with terror. Then the old dean of the church cried out: "My brothers, this is Easter day! We have been depending I on our own strength, and that fails. Let | us turn to God. Ring the bells and have service as usual." Ihen the bells rang 1 out sweetly and nvghtily from the church towers of Feldkirch, and the people thronged to the houses of nrayer for worship. The sound of the bells made the enemy think that the Austrian army had come in to save the place, and Massena and his 18,000 soldiers retreated. By the timp the hells had stopped ringing there was not one soldier in sight. So put your trust in God, and when nosts of troubles, and temptations march for your over-1 throw ring all the bells of hope and faith , and Christian triumph, and the threaten-1 ing perils of your life will fall back, and '-four deliverance will be celebrated all up and down the skies. The God who led you through the way you never parsed before will be with you at all the crossings. [Copyright, 1901. y, Klopsch.] / ^I w > , . ? 4. v ' 1 THE SABBATH SCHOOI i INTERNATIONAL LESSON COMMENTS I FOR JANUARY 5. Subject: The Promise of Power. Act? J. ] 1-14? Golden Text, Acts 1., 8 ? Memorj Verses, 0-8?Commentary on the Day'i Lesson. 1. "The former treatise." The gospe! of Ltuke. Luke was also the author of the Acts. "O, Theophilus." Nothing ii VnAUrn r\ t fV>IQ kltf lin ntnn n/% "uv"" vi WHO uui. uc ?> as iiu uuuui a person of rank and perhaps a Roman officer who had been converted to Chris tianity. "Began." The gospel is'not a history of all that Jesus did, but only &v account of the foundations which He laid and on which the church should after ward be built. "To do and teach." A very important statement, dividing the work of Christ into two great branches; the one embracing His work on earth, the other His subsequent work from heaven; the one in His own person, the other by His spirit; the one the beginning, the other the continuance of the same work; thfe one complete when He sat down on the right hand of His Father, the other to continue until His second appearing. 2. "Until tha day." The fortieth day after His resurrection. "Through the Holy Ghost." God gave not the Spirit by measure unto Him. John 3: 34. Jesuf i who was annointed with the Holy Ghost {Luke 4; Matt. 12), in the power of the Holy Ghost gave commandments to the apostles to be His witnesses. "Apostles." The twelve generally called disciples in the gospels are in the Acts spoken of as apostles, or "those sent forth." i 3. "Passion." Sufferings on the cross. "Infallible proofs." The single Greek word, translated "infallible proofs," denotes the strongest proofs of which a sub ject is capaoie, an irresistible proor. ine proofs here meant are Christ's speaking, walking and eating with His disciples after His resurrection. "Forty days." At different times during a period of fortj days. "The kingdom of God." This expression has several significations, but here, as in Mark 1: 14. it includes the whole Christian dispensation, its message, progress and economy. The meaning is, j Jesus gave them instructions about the organization, spread and edification of His church. 4. "Assembled with them." Probably on ascension day. "Commanded them." The last commandment given by the Lord to the auostles directed them to await the eift ot the Holy Ghost in Jerusalem. "Not depart from Jerusalem." The coming of the .Spirit was to be at the next great feast after the crucifixion. Jerusalem was the centre of Jewish influence. and at that time strangers would be reached from all Darts of the Vrorld. They were not qualified to go until after the baptism of the Spirit came upon them. "Wait." Many run too soon. "Promise of the Father." Through the prophets the gift of the Spirit had been promised by the Father. See Isa. 44: 3; Joel 2: 28. 29. Compare Acts 2: 17, 18. "Heard of Me." This promise is found in John 14: 16; 15: 26. Reference is also made to it in Luke 24: 49. The Holy Ghost was promised to the church through Christ. 5. "John." The Baptist, the forerunner of Christ.- "With water." John's baptism was, 1. A baptism unto repentance. 2. A type of the baptism of the Holy Ghost. John pointed to Christ who should baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire. "Shall be baptized." This wag the promise of the Father, it could not fail. "With the Holy Ghost." The Holy Spirit was about to be given them in greater fulness than ever before. At this time their hearts would be cleansed and they would be filled with love. 6. "Were come together." At the Mount of Olives. See Luke 24: 50. "Dost thou at this time," etc. (R. V.) Is this the hour when the Roman yoke is to be broken from our necks and the kingdom of the Messiah established? 7. "Not for you to know." Christ consfcwij'.ty giving His disciples a direct answer to .^"vstions which could only satisfy their cunosi..' and be of no particular benefit. "In His ..*"? power." "Authority." R. V. The word renderedjpowir is not the same as the one 30 rena&ed in the next verse. It should be ticted that, Jesus did not disapprove of the qttMtidaK asked in verse 0. but, as Lange ?ay?,*;?F? " rather confirmed it by declaring that the-Father had fixed the time." 8. "Shall receive power." The energy ' of the Holy Spirit was to be given to them. It wa3 not the power of logic or eloquence, but "the power of a living union with a living God." "Is come upon you." The Holy Spirit gives. 1. Knowledge and understanding. 2. Faith. 3. Holiness. t. A (Spirit of prayer. 5. Courage. 8. Steadfastness. 7. Zeal. "Shall be witnesses." They shall not merely bear witness, but be witnesses in their own persons. They were to be witnesses to a crucified, a risen and a coming Christ. "In Jerusalem." etc. They were to begin at home, with the .Jews, and gradually reach Dut until the glorious gospel reached the (vhole human race. 9. "While they beheld." The disciples j did not see Him rise out of the grave, because His resurrection could be easily Sroved by their seeing Himt afterward, . ut they saw Him return to" heaven, as there would be no other way to prove it. "A cloud." Pprhaps it was like the fiery, cloudv pillar, the wilderness. 10." "Were looking" (R. V.) Wonderins: what it all meant. "Two men." Angels in the form of men, "White appar* el." See Matt. 28: 3. The white garments were an emblem of purity. 11. "Shall so come." The second or final coining. This will not be in obscurity like His first coming, but "He will come in power.and glory, in the clouds, and with His holy angels with Him." Matt. 24: 30, 41: 20: 64. 12. "Olivet." Frequently called the Mount of Olives. "Sabbath day's journey." About three-fourths of an English mile. ' 13. "Come in." That is. into the city from the country. "Into the upper chamber" (R. V.) Probably the upner room which had been used by our Lord and His disciDles for the "passover feast. "Where abode." "Where they were abiding." R. V. This does not mean that this was their nermanent habitation, but ( thev remained there for the descent of the ] Holy Spirit. 14. "Continued." During the ten days they waited. "With one accord." Wi'hi one mind. There were no schisms, no di-* i eided interests, no discordant nurposes.! "Steadfastly in prayer" (R. V.) Their, prayers were earnest and persistent. With the women." This probably refers to the women who followed Him from Gal-, ilee, but it may mean merely that women were present. "Mary." This is the last ! mention in Scripture of the mother of -? /<tt- 1 J.I >i rpi. _ 1 _J.1 _ e I ,Jesus. nis ureuireu. mc uretmcii ui Jesus at first rejected Him (John 7: 5), but now they believe in Him and are present at the Pentecost outpouring. Farming In Rliortft lalanu. i Last year the Rhode Island farmers ' tilled 712 square miles of land. That is a ' little more than two-thirds of the State's land surface. The chief statistician for agriculture estimates the value of the 3498 Rhode Island farms at $23,125/260, and thj i value of the things raised on them in 1899 i at $G.333.S64. Of the whole number of < farmers in the State 5470 are white men i and twenty-eight are negroes; 3058 own i their farms. "The gradual abandonment 1 of cereal production," remarks the statistician, "has been attended by a corresponding growth in other branches ol agriculture, notably dairying, poultry-rais- j ing, the culture of small fruits and genera! ] market gardening. t I Loss of Life on the Lakes. ' Not 6ince the introduction of modern boats in lake service has there been such a loss of life as in the season just passed. The figures of fatalities on the inland seasf are 132 persons lost, as compared with^fl last year, 100 in 1899, 95 in 1898, and G6 in 1896. In the past loss of life has steadily grov^^H^HHflj standing the improvement States life saving service, anHHHHB ment in seaworthiness of lake^Bflflfi^^H Telephones for The is in dangerous mt(^n^HnKHB0| an location miner a ^^hhb v f ' ' ' ' '* ' ' ' v', \ j P&Ki v '.' '. V; . SOD'S MESSAGE TO MAN PREGNANT THOUGHTS FROM THE WORLD'S GREATEST PROPHETS. Poem: Optimism? The Kingdom Qf God is Here Because It t? "Simpiv a Way of Looking at Things"?We Must See in God a Father. Have courage! If the road were fair. The sunlit sky without a cloud, Fain would we idly( linger there At pleasure's shrine in dalliance bowed, Who never to the mountains rise, But toil unceasingly on the plain, Will miss the rosy morning skies, But fuller noonday splendor gain. Have patience! Let the world disdain The service of our daily needs; Account is kept of cost and pain By the Great Register of deeds. The soul that no low duty fears, But bows to fate's imperious nod, Will build by littles through the years A Btairway reaching up to God. > The Field to Serve Him In. "Boston?" said the young graduate of Radcliffe. "Did you ask where Boston is? Why, Boston is not a place; it is & way of looking at things." And the young miss was correct in her statement. She would have been equally correct had she 8&id it of London, Paris or Pekin. Just as it iB true that "Stone walls do not a prisoner make Or iron bars a cage," eo true is it that the soul dwells in a spiritual environment all its own. The "yellow primrose" is not the same thing to the clown, the botanist and the poet. The Frirsed Gentian was a closed book until Bryant -broke the seal. The glad, green earth ' nd the dec.d, cold moon swing round tM same planetary orbit, and heaven and hell, though separated by an impassable gulf, are concentric circles. Every once in a while, just now with repeated frequency, we hear that Jesus Christ came "to set up a kingdom, which has never yet been realized," and to which the accepted, "conventional" internreta-tions of tlic da7 oppose themselves; that it can never come until we have new laws, , customs, relations of classics, and what not. That was what_the Jew said and he spat upon Christ. That was what irilate thought, and he crucified Him. Instead of being centuries far remote, Jesus said, twenty centuries ago: "It is here." It wa3 our privilege years ago to know the famous American sculptor, Hiram Powers, and we took great delight in visiting his studio in the old city or Florence. We noted one day after a careful study of the works he had placed on exhibition that there was scarcely a single statue or bust unrelated to American history. Here were her statesmen, soldiers, naval commanders, singers and ideal figures rep* resenting the very latest evente in our national hisior-. "How do you manage, Mr. Powers, to lcess in touch with Ameriqln life so symr-ilietically? How often do you' visit the home land?" "My friend," he replied, "I have not been out of Italy for twenty-nine years, but I have never lived anywhere e~oeot in -he States." If the kingdom cf heaven has not yet come we shall non2 ot us ever see it. If it be not possible under ihe iron i-u!c cf a Nero as well as under the bencficent swaj- of a Marcus Aure'ius, it were poor'v fitted for this world. "It is nol a place"'1?a time, a mode of government; it is that "way^ of looking at things" which sees in God a father; in self, a forgiven sinner, and in the world a field in which to serve .Hiu ? Chicago Interior. Your Own Cross tho Host. There is a poem called "The Changed Cross." It represents a weary one who thought that her cross was surely heavier than those 0.T ethers about her, and wished that she might choose another instead of her own. Stic slept, and in her dream she was to a pices where many crosses lay, crosses of divers shapes and sizes. There was a little one, most beauteous to behold, set in jewels and gold. "Ay, this I can wear with comfort," she said. So she took it up, but her weak form shook beneath it. The jewels and the gold were beautiful, but they were far too neavy for her. . Next she saw a lovely cross with fair Bowers entwined around its sculptured fot^L Surely that was the one for her. 6?? 'lifted it, but beneath the flowers were gjeitjliifr thorns which tore her flesh. * a.3 s'ne went on, she came to a plain. cri?3 without jewels, without carving. willi o?ly a few words of love inscribed udoii f. This she took ud and it proved the best of all, the easiest to be borne. And as she'looked upon it, batbed in the radiance that fell from heaven, she recognized her own oid cross. She had found it again, and it wai the best of all and lightest for her. . J God knows best what cYoss we need to' bear. We do not know how heavy other people's crosses are. We epvy ?ome one who is rich; his is a golden cross s?t with jewels. But we do not know how it is. Here is another whose life very lovely. She bears a cross twisw\ with flowers.* If we could try1*!!Vth#ji other crosses that we think ligntrf tlua ' ours we should at last find that not on?<qt; them suited us so well as our owd.^PB . Miller. Soul SarlnrSoul-saving is the ultimate aim in thia world of all Christian wcuk. It is well * enough to talk of building character and of developing Christian graces and of reforming society. These are the finishing touches to be put on the structure after its foundation and walls are in place, but there is only folly in hanging up painted scenery for a world's admiration while there is nothing but gauze to support this artistic display. Nor do we bslieve there is any better way of improving character than by keeping forever closely at the task of saving souls. The temple is built by fitting eacn individual stone and boara for its place and this fitting is to be done in forest and quarry, not after the material _i j "ll_ 11 n a 1 D i.* J. is piacea in me wan.?v^enirai xjiipust. Lesson of the Morning Sun. Certainly the morning sun, with a muBic full of golden chimes, proclaims the fact that the Supreme Power has kept His word while we slept, and it floods the world with the radiance of a supreme faithfulness.?Rev. Frank W. Gunsaulus, Central Church, Chicago. Nothing to Fear. Christianity has nothing to fear from, the most searching questions and the most' defiant challenges. It has gained its greatest victories always on the hotly contested fields of doubt and debate.?Bishop Samuel Fallows, Reformed Episcopal. Chicago. Christianity is Practical. Christianity is the religion for to-day as. I well as for the distant future. Christianity is the most practical thinf we hav^ inywhere. Let us give it a fair chance.? i Rev. C. E. Davis, Methodist, Boston. Look Up and Not Down. God made man erect that he might look jp into the heaven, where the infinite ] neadows are sprinkled with rarest flow- i ;rs, but often we find him focalizing his 1 irision upon the deformities of earth and i .vatching the crookedness of the race.? 1 dev. Caleb A. Ridley, Monticello, Ga. i i Honor God la Little Things. ] Let us not think that we must do some 1 rreat thing, as we call it, to honor GodJ < Let the little things of life be done with ] i true motive, and God will be honored.? iev. Dr. E. S. MacArthur, Baptist, New I fork. ? Splrltualliin a Religion. Spiritualism is a religion and the prac clairvoyance cannot be regulated ^se Vo practice it levied, was the V the State Court at Lincoln, ? Htest case. The court held that r Hpitualism was professed by so { ^Kded by so many, did not di- j m relicious character, and that i m??at regulation was interference i ^HMB^nts of consciencc ?nrl religious c ease was backed by the I H^^H^Balist Association and its nov- f HHn imich attention. HH? University. SI^HHrrsitv of Calcutta, India, ia BBHj^^Hhe largest educational corpora- c i^^BH^Kvov'.d. Every year it examines 11 H^^^Ktudcnts. 1 ' 1^1 THE QBEAT DES^ygf- 1 SOME STARTLING CTS_ ?j| THE VICE OF INTEMPEW^ T flH Th? Coat to the Community of the\ -/^HK Drunkard, and HU Degenerated olous Children?Alcoholism Deflf- > Predisposes to Tuberculosis. \ H In different countries of the world \ Ha isters who have coarse of -the financial partment like to calculate the sum \ ,'^B State gets fronr the duty on alcohol, a. H they shduld deauct" from-it the cost to tA community of the family of th$ ruin el drunkard, his degenerate, infirm, scroftn lous and epileptic children, who must have\ Jfl shelter. The invasion of alcoholism ought \ to be regarded by everyone as a public \ V danger, and this principle, the truth of \ _ .v.?u iw. w v&39 WillCU i? wuuuteauiuie, euvum wv ??v? ? ,.v? cated into the masses, that the future of V. the world may be in the hands of the tern- ; Y \ i perate. \ 1 In the Edinburgh Medical Journal for V -j September is an article by Dr. Kelynack, X Vfl of Manchester, which follows the same line . of argument. Dr. Kelyzack- puts 'the p<>. ' 1 sition as regards the aspects from which' L the question is viewed by present-dayy- , scientific men as follows: (1) That aleo> B holism is antagonistic to tuberculosis; (21 "'Vyvthat alcoholism bears no special relationship to tuberculosis; (3) that alcoholism -v3H definitely predisposes to tuberculosis, and he gives the views of wen-known jjhVsfcei&us of various countries bearuig oat^e " ? H point at issue. V Flint used alcohol freely, that is, from j[ six ounces to a pint of spirit daily, and appears to have had & firm belief in its . ' ;.?m efficiency in the treatment of tuberculosis. Chartens, writing in 1877, concerning the Jj administration of whisky to phthisical patients, saya: "In privr.te practice I order it to be taken ad libitum." Hermann Weber expressed himself in like . terms, | but Bell, of New York, as far back aUh^ >,j 1859 opposed the view, then generally cmqj ^ rent, "of the .beneficial influence of large quantities of spirit on the courae of ^'2-; '* ,va| monary tuberculosis. si That alcoholism definitely predispose* r.'i to tuberculosis has of recent years wi 'M ceived much support, and the theory rolg&SH^H ajipear to be gaming ground at a rate. Hector Mackenzie bsHeves that co'holism must be regarded ma powqrfuj predisposing cause of tubercui^is. (Xalei^B^HH refers to the subject thus: "It\raa merly thought that alcohol wrs way antagonistic to tuberculous H but the observations of late years icdic^^H^HD clearly that the reverse is the case, iMBHSB that chronic drinkers are much more ble to both acute and pulmonary tubCrcu-^M^^M losis. It is probably altogether a question ^EEHj of altered tissue soil, alcohol lowering:'^^?H the vitality and enabling the bacilli more HB readily to develop and grow." Dr. Kely- Ifl nack himself sayo that, having had exceptional opportunities of studying large num- a| bers of cases among workhouse ana hospi-. ' i.i ?*:?* _ ?!,.? fkn ntiV>. - tai ^abicuifO, uc xa tuu* uiwcu vuav vuv wuw lie bouse or saJoon must be considered as ,V. one of the most serious obstacles to the , 1 speedy and effectual stamping out of tu- 1 berculosis. - I Italians, Germans and physicians of I other countries who have studied the eft' fects of alcoholism in connection with to? berculosis have arrived at similar conclusions. It is further contended by soma that, in addition to a general impairment H 9 of vitality and pernicious environment,' HjH there is a special nrejudical. influence arising from the action dfjthe.a|^olandite. associates. - This, as, Dr. out, is very hard to prove, aHSfflHHR and until investigations haveflH^^^SK^MBH it. Jlu eiuciaaieu tu? matter, we tent with the knowledge that alcohol exerts little or n^^H|^^EnHH influence on the course of tH|^HMBH but that, on the contrary, it te^HHRnH dispose to the malady those wHlM^^UBHHM it to any extent. - Indirectly the fact is undeniable that prominent -cause of tubercu]^HD||^HB^H^H ering the vitality of its subje ing poverty ana necessit&tm^KnflHB^^HHH healthy surroundings, by cai4HSgKjflHB|HHQ ation of the individual and by these means rendering the^^HHHHHBD susceptible and prone to infecti^^HQB^^^QEfl pression of alcoholism should nand with that of tuberculoflBHBg|^^^^Bfl York Medical Record. Why America Is At a recent meeting,in IIII ll il li | Mil i I i the presiding officer, E d wi "We are being beaten in^H^BHj|Hj^^MB She has been lavisn^HM^flmM^M money in educating the brai^^MMnHBHH| pie, while we have been lavj^HHRKH^HH^^B ing them. If we spent per nVIH|^M9|^^HN hoi the same as America, qnr would be about $330,00f,00(r now is. We cannot sncceed commerri|HflDDflD| while we are handicapped in this way the extent of forty-eight per' cent. TqH peat mass of the worlring people in country are totally ignorant of the effecl^HHfl of drink." He said that England ough^HH^n not to leave the education on this subj^^HH^S merely to the temperance societies, '{hat it "should be undertaken 1>hHH| Kate. Surely if the State must encflK^BHH thfc traffic for revenue, it should ^S>.ite every child in Governm^H^^^H^BH u nature and danger^^MMH^^^HH and tW.henefits of total abst^H^H^HH^HH *r jr. oUniriT. ' XItf auiiv? v'v/"V*0' , "If the N?;tate will only dren a7ainAf' strong dnnJflKH^^^^^BHSH mercially majf evea yet It has beerNwlseiy supremacy belc^B8 the cheatf^t^HHHHB^BBn^mHM improved machinVO^^B^^^HflBH^^^BSB As clear brains needed for the prepa^^HH^^^^^^HB^MH rirj and machinepr, af^^HHHflflBB^^HHHS use production, things bein~ equal, whot^^H^S^^^B^^flHH dulled by alcohol and oth^HH^KHH|^^^^H win in the world's competil^^M^HH^^HB^Bj Absinthe Kills an Peculiarly sad the otrner death of Counte de Toulouse eccentric young artist so closely^^^DRBBj^^^n with the present craze for the art at Paris. Much of the vagaril^Hu^E^^HH hrhifprl in his wr.rlr hp hirnsplf a to the little green goddess. It wat that caused his death. He was cons^^^^^^nEE the most talented of the new school Bastian Le Page, yet he was only a lit^HSHB over thirty years of age. Fined For Selling to an Inebriate. A jury awarded Mary Garrigan a verdict vnH for $1800 damages against bainuel Kennedy, a Dell Rapids (Iowa) saloonkeeper, for selling her huabaud liquor. Garngan ^Hj became intoxicated on liquor bought o{ * Kennedy, and later committed suicide. ji This is the first conviction under the new license law prohibiting the sale of liqwto inebriates. ' .. "The Brewer*' Big Hoiaei." . In the killing and maiming of people in Brooklyn the brewery wagons have become rivals of the trolleys. Within the last five days two children were killed and mother badly injured by one of these vehicles. Police records shows that the lumber of people injured by wagons alnost equals the record of the electric cars. Drivers of brewery wagons, as a rule, are illowed to have nil the beer they can irink, and it is not uncommon to see one lolding the reins like an automaton. fhey usually work from fourteen to six;een hours a day, and many of them fall islecp when their vehicles are on crowded |_t~ A German Mistake. , The common belief that Germany is ;aved from the grosser forms of drunken* less by its excellent beev and light wines \f flin PKinn onrl f cpoma fA ko a nistakc. Strong liquor is eating its way nto the Fatherland. At Breslau the other lay "The Society for Combating the Use >f Spirituous Liquors" met, no fanatical jody of prohibitionists, but real' worker# or the temperate use of drink, and de:larcd that thirty quarts of spirits per 1 lead of the whole population are coniumed in Germany every year. The university professors are trying to induce stu- . lent* to drink less and are making a stand tgainst the Fruhscboppen, the morning g Irinkiug. but with little effect. 9