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LOVE'S PROVIDENCE. Heart of my heart, my lite, mv light! K you were lost what should I <3o7 I 'Are not trust you from my sight Lest death should fall in love with you. j Such countless perils lie in wait! The pods know well how fair you are! 1 iWhat if they left me desolate And took and set you for a star! (3 Then hold me close, the gods are strong, c And happiness so rare a flower t No man may hope to keep it long? And I day lose you any hour. c Then kiss me close, my star, my Hower! 0 So shall the future grant us this: c That there was not a single hour t We might have kissed, and did not kiss! ?Mitchell Kennerley. c * kick A kic-kirk-k-k'k-kirk-k-k-k-kirir-k-k-k-k WiDSW PEASLEE'S TROUBLES; ? ? s By CLARA AUGUSTA. ************************** a ?? t JtOK RS. PEASLEE had been a t "WIT widow for two years, and O lyf O did Dot want to be un- " $1 wedded any longer. She Voir was very unhappy, being a 1 Widow. Not that she bad so much regretted I Peaslee?oh no! Indeed, if the truth were told, she had rather felt as if q Peaslee we re doing the handsome s thing by her when he caught the c measles. He was seventy-eight or t< nine before he did this, and, having v escaped the contagion during his first chiidnood he had a perfect right to it s in hi!? second, but it went hard with f iiim. and after an interesting illness I of foir days, during which he "swore t< the \cry hair off her head." as Mrs. a Peaslee informed her neighbor. Mrs. Brown, lie passed on. r a He was a man of property, and of v cou'se Mrs. Peaslee wept becomingly n at his funeral, and made herself as 1< I gloomy as possible with crape folds and bombazine. p She employed Paul Julius, the vil- c noet. to write a noem of sixteen a stanzas by way of an obituary notice? a poem which Mrs. Julius, who was d not romantic, declared touching enough to wring tears out of a grid- r iron. o She also hac a $200 tombstone set up J to his memory, with a very much bent s over angel, with, spreading wings, reclining against an urn which looked t like a patent coffeepot, and underneath, s the announcement of Mr. Peaslee's age v jwas inscribed this sentence from the Spanish: "Mas vale tarde que nunca." h She had asked one of her nephews? a wild, young chap, just entering his a senior year i'.t college, for some expressive sentence from some foreign u danguage to put on his Uncle Eben's n tombstone, and iiie young rascal had t imposed this: "Better late than nev- s or!" upon her, assuring her it meant: "There is rest in heaven." v When Peaslee's will was opened the o (widow was raging mad. Most of his h property had been willed to a certain b Jonathan Ebenezer Peaslee, a relative of his, and the wid'ow had only her v "third." But she charged the tomb- f stone, angel and all, to the estate. (3 and recovered the price of it. After a that, finding she was a desperate worn- ^ an to have around, Jonathan Ebenezer bought out her "thirds," and the [widow set up a house for herself. Directly crape began to give way to. t lavender ribbons, and when a widow \ begins to don lavenacr the fact is sig- t nificant. Mrs. Peaslee was still young?she owned to thirty, but was really about " forty?and a very good looking woman, s I suppose she had an undoubted right n to lqpk around after a second husband, a Barzilla Bodge was her first flame. F The courtship was made easy. Every- f ithing was lovely, and the course of t true love ran smooth. The wedding t dress, white silk, with pale lavender 1 trimmings, was ready, the day was t set and the cards printed. But, to use s toe language or tne twenuetii century, e life had soured on Barsrilla. and a week c before the wedding he was seized with r cholera morbus, and in a few hours he t 4was no more. Mrs. Peasiee was again r a widow. t She put on the.old mourning?it was n by no means rusty?and wore it three C months. At the end of that time she h got a little bilious, and black was not a becoming, so she went back to the lav- li ender. ^ t Squire Legro began to visit her. The p squire was a man of wealth, and Mrs. Peasiee considered herself very fortunate when he proposed. Again the bridal day was appointed, but, alas! fate 1 was still unpropitious, and stepped in P between the widow and her fond t hopes of felicity, in the shape of Annie a Tracy, the squire's seamstress, who s threatened to sue the sqt'.ire for breach a of promise. This was too much. for 0 that worthy gentleman, and he packet! up his movables and escaped. His hat c was found on the shore of Swift s River, together with a note directed * to Annie and the widow saying that c he preferred death to disgrace, and t announcing his intention "to shuffle * off." et cetera. ' His body was never found, and two years afterward he was seen in the * flesh?ISO pounds of it?in Chicago, s along with his wife and a pair of twin * babies. So, of course, he had not died * when he expected to. ' A month or two after the squire's exodus John Nugent came to town to * engage in the very striking business 1 of putting up lightning rods. a Immediately the widow was seized 1 with a terrible dread of lightning. She a bad rods put on all her buildings, the s hen house included. t lf? Mnnnr.t n t- l,?. I Iatjli. ivva u ivuui at ua liuuoc, Vhen it thundered she flew to him for irotection. He protected her. When t t iid not thunder she war. afraid it j vas going to, and sought >onsolation ] rom him. He consoled her. , There was more lightning ,Lan usual ^ fiat summer, and Mr. Nugent had his , iscids full. Altogether, it was delight- ( ul time. Everybody was happy. 1 August the fifth was set for the wed- j ling, but, alas! on that day of all othirs appeared at the Widow Peaslee's ront door, inquiring for Tim Jenkins. l freckled faced woman with five chil- ; Iren. i k Mrs. Feaslee told her that she had : lot thowhonor o' Mr. Jenkins' acquaint- ' nice. And she called Mr. Nugent i Sown to protect her from (?e woman's : ibuse. 1 At fbe first glimpse of him the woran darted forward and seized him by be arm. '"Oh, Timothy! yon heartless, unfeelng man, you! to desert your affectionte wife and all your interesting fam!y of children!" And then there was a fearful scene, luring which a good deal of hair hanged hands, and everything was iadly mixed up. And it all ended by Mrs. Jenkins aarching Jenkins ofT. with a young >ne on each of his shoulders, and the thers hanging to the legs of his panaloons. begging for cents to buy andy. Again the Widow Peasiee was a vidow. At first she thought of falling sick, ike the heroines in novels when great mergencies occur, but on second houghts she changed her mind, and ought consolation in various little iroverbs about "patient waiters." Scraps of poetry, also, came to reieve her niiud. She thought favorbly of the wonderful production which tegins, "If at first you don't succeed, ry, try, again " Then she remembered the spider: Three times tbe spider tried his web to tie fast to the beam: ?hree times to cross the main had i people tried before Columbus. will uot give up to spiders, Spaiu, or aught but death " uoth the widow courageously, and he bathed her eyes, for she had been rying a little, and prepared a plate of aast and jelly for old Peter Pray, who ras rich and a bachelor. But the widow Jones was before her upporting old Peter on her arm, and eedin? him with mutton broth. Mrs. 'easlee iwas too late. She gave the oast to Jellison's dog. and went home , lmost in despair. But providence ravoreu ner. a run oad was laid out in her vicinity. II raa constructed, and brought a grea" iany strangers that way. Mrs. Peas* ie took boarders?only single meu. 1 James Juniper was one of them. Ju liper was a rock worker, and had harge of biasing operations on a ledge little distance off. < The widow fascinated him, and in i ue time they were engaged. i The day before they were to be mar- 1 ied a blast of powder went off with- 1 ut giving any notice, and, as poor 1 uniper happened at the time to be J tanding directly over it, he went up. When he made the ascent he had wo lees and two arms: when he de cended it was found that.one of each ras missing. The widow received him at her louse?what remained of him. He lifted his powder-blackened face t sight of her and said, faintly: "Hannah, be you going to give me ip? Because, if you be. I won't have Lone of them doctors a-sawing off my ones, but if you'll stick, then let ""em aw and be hanged.'' But the widow was loyal, and James ras raised up to life again, though ne of his legs is a wooden one, and ie has only one arm with which to lug Mrs. Juniper. So you see that patience and perse'erance always brings forth their ruits, and when you feel inclined to lespair think of the Widow Peaslee nd renew your courage.?New York Veekly. 1 Hoodoo Corners In Town. "I'll bet that woman is a stranger in own." said the conductor. "If she veren't she wouldn't have got off at hat corner." "Why?" asked a platform passenger, j "Unlucky," said the conductor. There is a whole dime novel full of uperstitions clinging around it. To ay certain knowledge there have been . score or persons Hurt tuere. Alter leople have lived in the neighborhood or a few weeks they find out about he accidents, and get off the car at he street above or the street below. ?hey would rather walk back a few locks than run any risks. There are everal of these unlucky corners on very street car line in town. In some ases there doesn't seem to be anj eally good grounds for the superstiion, but somehow the belief has taken oot that people who leave the cars at hose particular corners are sure to Qeet with misfortune of some kind. Conductors and motormen know thos? loodoo corners and frequently, when stranger signals to stop there, we deiberately run ahead a block, rathei ban take chances oil anything hap >ening to hiin."?New York Press. Stop Autos "With DnBt. Some of the farmer boys on the xmg Island roads have hit upon a lan to "get even" with the .hated auomobilists who slaughter pet dogs nd chickens in their wild bursts ol l peed. The liget even" plan is noc un- < ttended with danger for the project- i rs, but they seem to relish it. J The apparatus is simplicity itself, t onsisting of an old buggy, a good, r trong horse capable of getting ovet s he road at a fair rate, and a young edar tree. The latter is tied behind t he buggy and allowed to drag along S he road, which at the point selected < or operations is especially dusty. i When the boys see an auto coming I hev whin un their horses, tnkinsr the < ame direction as tbe approaching ma- 1 ^hine. When the old horse is urged t nto a gallop the amount of dust raised vould do credit to a small cyclone. f When they meet the "cloud of dust'' he autoists generally speed up in lopes of passing the supposed farmer l r ind giving him a little taste of his own nedicine. After trying this ruse for ibout thirty yards, they generally .low up in order to get the dirt out of heir lungs.?New York Press. Americans Abroard. j Among the London building contracts < secured by Americans is that of the tlotel Ritz, which is being erected in Piccadilly, overlooking Green Park, j Fhis building is expected to be one of the wonders of the European hotel svorld. It will cost upward of $o,000,- ] )00. Another hotel, to be known as the Waldorf, will be built in the East End by Americans. Up to-Date Learning. The phonograph has been turned to account in the teaching of foreign languages. In some English schools French is now taught iu this way. The machine delivers suitable specimens of French oratory, poetry and songs while the children iisten and acquire the accent. IN T]^ Pl^ BM?an M-LimAaQnn X'JQLJSi KJV IVIAAIjDUiwu vj VANDER GARDEN LOVE MAZE. 9a? on Miss Warren's Estate at Waltham, Mass., Often Thrown Opeu to the Public. Waltham, Mass., has acquired a now :Iaim to fame. For this it is indebted :o Miss Cornelia Warren, who has conJtructed on her estate, Cedar Hill, a love maze modelled after the famous naze at Hampton Court, said to hav^ >een designed by Henry II. as a boweii tor Fair Rosamond. 4 foe maze is a common feature of ' PLAN OF LOVB MA?E. English estates, but is little known in Ihis country, and Miss Warren's is an Jbject of great interest to people of Waltham and its vicinity. Miss Warren perpits the public to have access to the maze at reasonable hours, and hundreds visit it every week. No rec?rds of the number of visitors have been kept, except on Sundays, when 3329 people have been recorded. The maze is composed of hedges of arbor vitae about five feet ten inches in height, and set so close together that only oue person at a time can pass between them. The effect is extremely bewildering, and any one who ventures into the labyrinthian paths, soon feels as if he were lost in a great forest. In fact, many people have been lost in the maze, and after wandering for hours in a vain attempt either to reach the centre or to return to the entrance, have been obliged to call for aid to release them from tbeir predicament. Those who have been fortunate enough to unravel the mystery and reach the centre find there two artificial ponds, one above the other. On the bank of the lower pond a Japanese stork bids the successful adventurer welcome. ? The stork is the first prize, and few have set eyes upon him. The majority LOVE MAZE OF MISS WARREN'S lave to content themselves" with the t .'onsolation prize, a seat in the little c look just outside the centre, where i Hiss Warren has prepared a consolaion bench, on which the weary may | est and ponder over their failure to iolve the puzzle. Near the entrance of the maze is a ower surmounted by a summer bouse, seated in this one ciin overlook tbe ^ mtire maze and get abundant amusenent from tbe bewilderment of tbe )eople in tbe maze. Miss Warren >ften entertains lier friends by taking :heiu to this eyrie on tbe days when he place is open to tbe public. The maze is twenty-two feet in ividth, and the shortest way from tbe entrance to the centre is 949 feet, or ?ighteen-hundredths of a mile. But iven if they are fortunate, most people travel ten times that distance before reaching the goal of their endeavjrs.?New York Times. ltats a? Wire-Walkers. A graceful exhibition of wire walking was given by a number of rats at Sligo the other afternoon, soys the London Mail. An excise officer, who was cycling by the Town Hall, happened to looic i up and saw an enormous rat making its way aiong an overhead electric i wire. I He pointed it out 10 the Town Hall afficials and they watched nearly 1?>0 1 of the rats pass along until they were bidden from sight by a lofty flour mill. ; The rats useu uieir tans as uie jirufessional walker uses his balancing pole. Monkey Wi h a Pigtail. A monkey with a short twisted tail like that of the domestic pig has arrived at (he London Zoo from the Malay Peninsula. BLIC EYB. J re H. FORMERLY MISS CONSUELO , BILT. ru 1 Gi QUEER FRUIT, THIS. The Northern tourist in rural Georgia Di is likely to 1/fe treated to uncommon lai sights and experiences, and one of the de oddest is the strange trees, of which the accompanying illustration shows T. a very fair sample. Seen from the roadside the tree apparently grows 1)13 with luxuriant foliage for about ten feet, and above that its slender trunk F6 and leafless limbs rise for twenty or thirty feet. What seems to be a rich its md ripening crop of gigantic golden lpples pendant from the branches. fT\ But closer scrutiny reveals the fact pr that-the curious, tree with its tempting tvi growth is a fake. The superstructure ta of the leafy tree is a "dead one," and the pseudo fruit, wbich is nothing ac more or less than dried gourds, is tied te ? th ER va A GEORGIA GOUBD TBEE. { 011 its branches. Tlie Georgia farmer has learned that .the best chaiice his tol chickens have of growing into lives of usefulness is to keep hawks away au from them; and there is nothing that ] will keep as close watch on hawks as L( bee martins. Furthermore bee mar- -wi cii rSWi't y 11 iittlMias?aHiBttaMMMWl ha til ESTATE AT WALTHAM, MASS. L( ins are nowhere so thoroughly at home re is when nesting in a nice, roomy gourd br u a treetop.?Philadelphia Record. INDIAN HOUSES IN CENTRAL AMER Pi ICA. no The houses of the Central American er [ndians are unusually simple in construction, being built of a few posts P'( ind rafters, with thatched roofs of j,' straw or palm loaves, cane, bamboo or m rush filling up the walls. The houses cj" liavc usually but one room, some mats, $and perhaps a hammock. The more pretentious villages, however, have houses built of sun-dried clay covering ^ n wnnilpii frame, and havine two or ? - ? la three rooms. In almost every house sa may be seen bundles of meat, which, has been salted, dried and hung up un- ai til the feast days arrive.?Good Litera- er ture. ' it Texas, in the fiscal years 190G and hi 1907, will play $900,000 to Confederate ce veterans for pensions. f . ... . UTS INEIS WASHINGTON. The text of tlie President's forth' iming message, to be presented tc >ngress on December 5, has been com eted and put in type, and he is gog over the proof sheets. Judge Kimball declared in favor of e whipping post for wife-beaters. The report of the Chief of Engineers the Army gives $705,778.55 as the timated ainouut necessary for cometing the East River improvement. President Roosevelt signed an order oviding for filling all consular otiict'.s )ove the $1000 grade by promotion or lamination. OUR ADOPTED ISLANDS. A.mpatuan, the successor of Datto i, the brigand chief who was killed American troons last month, lias rreudered unconditionally with fifty ies at Cottabato,* P. I. DOMESTIC. Police Captain Hodgins, of New York ty, raided an alleged prize fight in e new Bleecker Athletic Club. An electrical exposition in Chicago, I., in January is expected to surpass i.vthing of tbe kind attempted in this untry. A bitter row that has lasted fo; ?eks may deprive the University of isconslu of the services of Deau W, enry and several others of the lacty. Charged with the larceny of $11,000 !>ru Warren B. Page, an investor In e stock of the Ubero Plantation Comny, Ferdinand E. Borges is under arst at Boston, Mass. Federal Juuge Grosscup has overled a motion to compel the People's is Light and Coke Company, of Chigo, 111., to ,give bond for $l-&,000,000 gas litigation. ludge Tayler, of the United Statea strict Court, has decided at Clevead, Ohio, that A. Booth'& Co., flsli <>)orc or* nrvf a Trust in anv sense. A.11 of the 235 inmates of the W. C. U. settlement school at Hindmau, y., escaped when the property was irned. The Trustees' Investigating Commiti of the New York Life Company has tained James B. Dill as counsel and iployed accountants to work under > direction. A.t the foot of the steps leading to his out door, Luther H. Dearborn, a ominent attorney, of Chicago, III., as found djrlng, either from an atck'by robbers or-lllnfess.' ' Chicago has 18,000 deserted wives icording to Lester Bodine, Superin ndent of Compulsory Education ir e Windy City, who blames larg< milies and small salaries. A witness before the Grand Jury lien 300 persons were indicted foi nspiring against homesteader*. Pinl; lams has been assassinated at Brookiven, Mass. Tired by the excitement and worrj the camoaism. Major McClellau ft New York City for a 'week's resi Boston, Mass. President Jolter announced thai alpli Voorlrecs, the blind philan ropist, of Clinton, N. J., is the givei $100,000 recently received by Hope )llege, at Holland, Mich. Ten steamships sailed from Boston ass., carrying 50,000 tons of cargo ilued at $2,003,900, the largest it ars. Senator Burton, of Kansas, was incted for the third time on a' charge receiving money from a broker's incern under investigation-by the >stoffice Department. President Roosevelt's railway rate gulation plan was indorsed by the ssocialion of Hardware Maaufacturs of New York City. FOREIGN. George W. Poss, a San Francisco igineer, now in charge of the Egyp in Cotton Mil}*, at Cairo, has as< unded the Arabs by swimming in the ile from Old Cairo to Basus, eleven id one-quarter miles. King George of Greece arrived in )ndou, Eng., on a visit to King Edird. One -white man and sixty-seven na ircs were drowned in a mine at Drie ntein, South Africa, by the break g of the pump. A. special cable dispatch stated that nor Palma, President of Cuba, has is ed orders to spare ncf expense in fhting the encroachment of yellow ver on the island. Italians are exasperated over the larrels in the Garibaldi family. The ad hero's youngest son, General Itic>ti Garibaldi, says his father's sword s been pawned and redeemed several nes. The Shanghai correspondent of the mdon (Eng.) Morning Post says it i* ported that an insurrection has oken out at Vladivostok. There has en street fighting and much blooded. The Union of the Government emoyes of the arsenals and dockyards Toulon, Brest and other Freud ival headquarters, has ordered a gen al strike. In consequence of the discovery ol 3ts to blow up the St. Petersburg and jrlin Railroad, all the railroads in ussian Poland are now guarded by uuary. The commission or experts at Ha,na, Cuba, has decided thai the Spanli woman who ivas isolated was sufring from yellow fever. Anothei spected case has beeu reported. A. garrison in Finland mutinied, but ere was no bloodshed. The St. Petersburg correspondent of e London (Eng.) Daily Mail reprents Georgia as being lost to Russia, e says that 24,000 Georgians, armed ith modern rifles, hold the country id are ready to repel three important iissiau forces that are converging on em. A great meeting, organized by the onist Federation, to denounce the assacre of Jews in Russia, was held London, Eng. Practically all the idience wore mourning. The Japanese Government has de Jed to issue a new foreign loan ol 30,000,000 at four per cent. Count Witte's new cabinet met al Petersburg, and considered the ~ C IUa P/xnnnil UJCUL ui iiiuaiu^ IJtii u ui mc?wuuv.ii the Empire elective. The proclama)n of martial law in Poland, It is id, liad tlie approval of Count Wittc, The Prince and Princess of Wales rived at Bombay, India, and wore ithusiastically welcomed. In a special dispatch from Caracas is stated that sensational revelations ive caused France to accept the conssions offered by President Castro settling the diplomatic incident. . V . I THE PULPIT. g t* "inj AN ELOQUENT SUNDAY SERMON BY ja1 THE REV. C. L. PALMER; sir Subject. Ancient Wornhljir no all Kingston, N. Y.?The following cru* Sri ; dite and eloquent sermon on "Ancient fa: Worship" was preached Sunday iu the ho i Reformed Church of the Comforter by ? ( <he pastor, the Rev. C. L. Falmer, Dr. Pe Palmer said: ^al History discloses ;hat the worship de , of the New Testament is not the crea* tic tiou of the later dispensation, but is Gc ! the result of a long and complex process of evolution. All we know re- dn specting the time of its inception is that it is as old as the human family. which confirms the belief that religiou and life are inseparable. - 1 Throo nrinr?innl Alompnts ronstihlte ihl religion, worship, doctrine and life. t0< Worship is the altitude of the individ- tin unl or .nation toward its. deity. Doc- 110 trine is the abstract formation of truth Pr| into definitions and conception. Life fai is the conduct that is presupposed to conform to one's belief. Which shall ati be more prominent is determined by ev the spirit of the age. Since religion is both natural and su- nn 1 pernatural we must look beyond the It 1 former for the channels of revelation, fo 1 All creation is one harmonious doxol- ru ogy to the Creator, but His -works do ta ' not give us all the information re- on ' quired for the true worship of God. ?r Accordingly God has appointed certain Ui ones to (.'ommunicate His will. The to prophets were a class chosen to in > struct the people in the. character and i requirements of God. Their teachings . are called the "word" of God. Sages ?t uttered proverbs, riddles and dialogues sti while priests gave instruction i;. the in form of law, which recognized no dis- J tinction between civic and religious l?f ; life. ' -il-.x J! <!????? VinVtUc .IT i i>Ol WUnsliUlUlIig 1UL m.i uuu uiivim -? have undergone many-radical changes, fri there are certain features of worship 1 that remain essentially the same, it There has always been a certain place he 1 dedicated to the service of God. With as us it is the church, but in the early he times it was the temple, synagogue, w tabernacle, altar or grove. * 1 A certain number of men are dedi- M cated to the work of the Christian min- hi istry, but ia the earlier days there i were priests and prophets who labored 1 for the elevation of mankind. At a of still earlier time the father of a family w or head one of a tribe or clan conduct- P? j ed the worship. ra Sacrificial offerings have been dis- Si | continued among Christians, because ai the Lord Jesus. Christ has been sacri ->ficed ance -for all. It was not so lu the distant past. It was then be- tL | lieved that the fellowship between God th " and His people was fostered by sacri- cc j fice. The occasion was not unlike a ai social meal in which the god of the vt clan or family partook of the repast P' with its members. While the original pi idea of communion with the deity was w paramount, sacrifice did not assume n( its full religious significance until per- w fected in the temple ritual. Other ai r acts of worship, such as prayer and t the vow, have ever occupied an im- tfc t portant place, as well as music, and at v< times dreams, sorcery and dancing. ti I Worship presupposes a time for the k' service of God. In the remote past tl when the people lived a wandering pi i life, i,t was not possible to have a par 1 - -- ?i?? nlnna Ktlf tchon thpT tl llt'UiUl llUiC UUU (I1UI.C, uu L nuvu ^ settled down to agricultural life three e; feasts were instituted, one in the iu ' spring another in the early summer tn and tue third in the autumn, corre- w sponding to our modern Easter, peule- G cost and tbanksgiviug. Worship without hymns and songs is cl 1 Inconceivable. If we were deprived ni of some of our favorite .hymus it would, :pl destroy one of the most potent motives Ri of worship. The psalms were just as pi precious to the ancients as the modern c( hymns are to us, and exerted the same ^ influence. The most reliable scholars are of the ?3 conviction that the legal code of the Pi Old Testament was not the result of a pi , single authorship, but the work of a redactor who compiled existing tradi- P' tions and documents. This is more in li ( harmony with the method God em- tl ploys to accomplish His purpose, and f< is certainly explanatory of the way that our Bible took form. b It should be borne in mind that it is ci not my purpose to present the ideal vt worship of the New Testament, but to ei study the course of religious development that culminated in the service of the Christian church. In so doing we ti shall encounter many things that are e< : very much below the Christian stand- m ard, but we may not on that account i ignore them, since they are necessary to illustrate the progress in which we .. have now occasion to rejoice. ! , The evolution of worship is too vast ^ [ a theme to cover in one discourse, "j i we shall therefore confine our atten- P' L tion to its earliest phases. f I. The ancient Semitic worship. tr This antedates the religion of Israel, 01 and contaius practices that would not " ha endured bv the church of Christ, | though we must not forget that the I UI j now unchristian land of Arabia was 111 1 the mother of religion. The Semitic ai family has given the world the two w earliest known forms of civilization? {?' Egyptian and Babylonian and the ,e k three highest faiths, Judiasm, Chrisi tianity and Mohammedanism. In the earliest period belief and life constituted a very insignificant part of tc worship. Then the emphasis was upon . pi 1 the forms. The amount of one's reli- w [ gion was estimated by his devotion to al ceremony. It was not until a very H much later time that doctrine and it practice were giveu the attention they le deserve. ' ol At this time there were no states or ai nations. The people were joined to- it gether in families, tribes or clans, g' They had no abiding place, but jour- ir neyed from place to place to furnish tl their cattle with pasturage. The god ol of the tribe was supposed to be an ancestor, who determiued their prosperity or adversity. i Each tribe had its god. who could be j, worshiped only by the members of the 1 k clan. If one united with another trib*> j SJ i lie was obliged to do homage to tlie tl deity of it. Nor could the deity of one g i clan bless outside of its own territory. e, ! According to the most primitive con- w I ception but little importance was at- fC > tached to the doctrine of the immortal- w ity of tlie soul. Future life has ever sj been a tenet of every religious system w > but it was emphasized less than the present life, since it* was held that no service could be rendered the deity beyond the grave. This explains the I reason for embalming the dead. \ Sacrifice occupied a most important * ) place among the Semites. And there (,< | are traces of human sacrifices which under tlie Christian dispensation have w - been offered only by heathen. Tlie ( Semites living in tribes or clans had a w local deity to whom they offered sacriSee. He sat at the table and partook ;i of the slain animal. II. The primitive Hebrew stage. { This period covers the patriarchal and di nomadic epoch, while the people were p.' t'.ii about. It is.not iur- B "1 ' 1 =^. . islng to discover many points ot semblance between this period an# ^preceding. Tbey were jusflt emerg5 from the ancient darkness into th* :ei day. God bad assigned then* iders whose work it was to lead? ein into the truth, but they wer* >w to follow. Beiug nomads they appointed wor? In whorevor tliPV WPre. There W8? temple, tabernacle or ark. A rud* % :ar erected out of the stones of thes Dund was their temple. In Jacob's mily were found teraphim or houseId gods. Sacrifice still retained the social asct so tbat it meant little more thai] a: / ' mily gathering at which the locaV ity was present. However, by tbi? ue Jehovah was recognized as 'the>d of the Hebrews. Other acts, of >rship, such as prayer, vows and earns were observed. < ' "f} Tbere were very few if any hymn* this time. The law bad not beea lly compiled, and a limited literature-. :il. This division introduces us to i Canaanitish state. Great change#' >k place during .his epoch, because - people of Israel discontinued their, madic life and settled down in the- > omised land among tribes of foreign itb. We naturally find that tbe chou people suffered no little contaminion, of which subsequent liistoty is idence. ' Sacred places increased in numbers -1 ?*- r>?i a ilie wurijinii ui oaui uuuusucu* seems to be a tirue of degeneration*. r the worship of Jehovah was cor-1 pted. The ark containing the two l)les of stone was transported front e place to another. Images wew ocied to represent the deity, and tfie, rim and Thummim were employe# ' ascertain the will of Gpd. Sacrifice was regarded as commnnion, ith the deity. The burnt offering ems to have been used more than anyi her. Prayer, vows, visions were ill observed, while sorcery was lo?g its hold. Having discontinued their wandering e they observed the Sabbath, tbeasfs of.the moon and of harvest. It M pears*.',lMHveyer,' that* they were not ee-froui ^^yuptipii. " Music andwdwiciug had its place, an<t> is said of David as' a later time that T Uaha Tt*At?n hcmno flnftK : UUllCCUt iuuit n tig u^uiuw, i the exodus song, the pong of De> rah and the song of Hannah. Law# -"J ere assuming form as the outgrowth. custom. They were not written by. oses, but compiled or formulated by, m. IV. The prophetic stage. This part is so called because of the number prophet.; who exercised a most. v holesome influence on the life of the ?ople. This was done by teaching a' ore enlightened conception of God. imuel, David, Elijah, Blisha, Isaiah. id Jonah were among those who ised the standard of living. The high places were still used foe, ie worship of Baal, and at one time te worship of Baal and Jehoyah were; msolidated. At the time of David the' v k of the covenant was taken to Jeico lam mid thp temnle waB com- . eted lit the days of Solomon, VhfcW oduced a more orderly system of orship. Idolatrous practices were )t, however, entirely superseded, foe e read of golden calves at Bethel" id Gilgal. ,, I The completion of the temple made ie most perfect organization and deilopment of the priesthood impfcrave. To this time no distinction was v nown between church and state, bat te division of the' monarchy - in. 975. roduced a complete separation. The acts of worship continued about ie same as in the preceding period* icept that certain restrictions tvere - oposed. Sacrifice was offered to e? iblish commiwflon with God. There as some human sacrifice. Praying to' od was becoming a pleasure, and >ws were made by Nazarites. Ora-' es and dreams were regarded as cbanels through which Jehovah commtiicated His revelations. Sorcery wa? fapticed against the protests of the rophets. A hymn book was in pro;ss of compilation and the priest? ere compiling law. f The attitude of the prophets toward listing conditions wiir~help us to apreciate our theme and make its aplication. The prophets considered the high, laces as detrimental to thQ religious; f fe of the nation. They maintained? lat the temple was all they required1 >r the worship of the true God. The prophets insisted upon purity of fe among the people of God, espeally the priests. It appears from the ' >cords that the sacred office was not ?^wa/v fr>f\rtr* onrni nf inn \ I III CIJ JLACC 11V/IU cwi.4 U|/V*VM. They further insisted upon the trnfr orship of the heart. While achnitng the place of forms, they contend1 that the forms must be spiritual ' / God'i School. ^ God keeps a costly school. Many of s lessons are spelled out through. tars. Old Richard Baxter saiil:-' "O, od, I thank Thee for a bodily disci- . , line of eight and fifty years," and he? not the .only man who has turned a * ouble into a triumph. This school of ir Heavenly Father will soon close for s; the term time is shortening everyay. Let us not shirk a hard lesson r wince under any rod of chastiselent. The richer will" be the crown, nd the sweeter will be heaven, if e endure cheerfully to the end arid i-aduate into glory.?Theodore L. Cuyr, D. D. S ?' Evening l'rayer. Father, the day is done. We bring Thee the record of our work for ap-' roval ana correction. >ve trust iuul e have done well, that our work, [though riot perfect, may be passing.* [elp us to attain the average, and if be Thy will may we receive excel?ct\ Advance us to new lessons, to her tasks, and thus from day to day! nd year to year under Thy teaching lay we be promoted, until our time of raduation, when imperfect life and nperfect love are made perfect irough Thee. Receive us for the sake f Jesus. Amen.?George E. Mayer. The ICeward of Earnestness. Christ met multitudes of men in rvim dor Rut' f.ir nsr vn* now He picked out only two for. >ecial blessing. The reason was that lese two were the most in earnest.' artimeus would be heard, though otb s tried to hush his voice; Zaccheus ouhl see, though the crowd over?pped him. So these two won the reards of earnestness. A vague dere will never bring us close to Christ; e must be in earnest.?Presbyterian. Bow George Fox Learned Patience. I found something within me that ould not be sweet and patient and ind. I did what I could to keep it own, but it was there. I besought ?sus to do something for me, and; hen I gave Him my will He camo ito my heirt, and took out all that ould not be patient, and then Helut the door.?George Fox. Path to Victory. God's trials, nobly borne, in obe-, / ience to His righteous will, a^e tb& iths to victorious triumph. ? S. A? rooke. li-?