Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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KEV. DB. TALJ1AGE. THE BROOKLYN DIVINETS SUN- BAY SERMON. Subject: “Preeminent.’* Text: "He that cometh from above it aboye all."—John lit, 31. The most conspicuous character of history ■tops out upon the platform. Hie Anger which, diamonded wito light, pointed down to Him from the Bethlehem sky was only a ratification of the finger of prophecy, the finger of genealogy, the finger of chronology, the finger of events—all five fingers pointing in one direction. Christ is the overtopping figure of all time. He is the vox bumana in au music, the graoefulest line in all sculp ture. the most exquisite mingling of lights and shades in all painting, the acme of all climaxes, the dome of all cathedraled grand* eur and the peroration of all splendid lan guage. The Greek alphabet is made up of twenty- four letters, and when Christ compared Himself to the first letter and the last letter, the alpha and the omega. He appropriated to Himself all the splendors that you can spell out either with those two letters and all letters between them. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.” Or, if you prefer the words of the text, “above all.” It means, after you have piled up all Al pine and Himalayan altitudes, the glory of Christ would have to spread its wings and descend a thousand leagues to touca those summits. Pelion, a high mountain o' Thes saly; Ossa, a high mountain, and Olympus, a high mountain; but mythology tells us when the giants warred against the gods they piled up these three mountains, and from the top of them propose 1 to scale the heavens: but the height was not great enough and there was a complete failure. And after all the giants—Isaiah and Paul, prophetic and apostolic giants; P.aphaeland Michael Angelo, artistic giants; cherubim and seraphim and archangel, celestial giants—have failed to ciimb to the top of Christ’s glory, they might all well unite in thewordis ot the text and say. “He that cometh from above is above all.” First, Christ must be above all else in our preaching. There are so many books on homiletics scattered through the world that all laymen, as well as all clergymen, have made up their minds what sermons ought to be. That sermon is most effectual which most pointedly puts forth Christ as the pardon of all sin and the correction of all evil, individual, social, political. National. There is no reason why we should ring the endless changes on a few phrases. There are those who think that if an exhortation or a discourse have frequent mention of justifi cation, sanctification, coTenant of works and covenant of grace, that therefore it must be profoundly evangelical, while they are suspicious ot a discourse which presents the same truth, but uuder different phrase ology. Now, I say there is nothing in all the opu lent realm of Anglo-Saxonism or all the word treasurers that we inherited from tae Latin and the Greek and the Indo-European but we have a right to marshal it iu relig ious .discussion. Christ sets the example. His illustrations were from the grass, the flowers, the spittle, the salve, the barnyard fowl, the crystals of salt, as well as from the seas and the stars, and we do not propose in our Sabbath-school teaching and in our pul pit address to be put ou the limits. I know that there is a great deal said in our day against words, as though they were nothing. They may be misused, but they have an imperial power. They are the bridge between soul and soul, between Al mighty God and the human race. What did God write upon the tables of stones? Words. What did Christ utter on Mount Olive;? Words. Out of what digl Christ strike the 3 lark for the illumination of the universe? ut of words. “Let there be light,” and light was. Of course thought is the cargo and words are only the ship; but how fast would your cargo get on without the ship? W hat you need, my friends, in all your work, in your Sabbath school class, in your reformatory institutions, and what we all need is to enlarge our vocabulary when we come to speak about God and Christ and heaven. We ride a few old words to death when there is such illimitable resource. Shakespeare employed fifteen thousand dif ferent words for dramatic purposes. Milton employed eight thousand different words for poetic purposes. Rut us Choate employed over eleven thousand different words ior legal purposes, but the most of us have less than a thousand words that we can manage, less than five hundred, and that makes us so stuoid. When we come to set forth the love of Christ we are going to take the tenderest hraseology wherever we find it, and if it as never been used in that direction before, all the more shall we use it. When we come to speak of the glory of Christ, the Conquer or, we are going to draw our similes irom triumphal arch and oratorio and everything grand and stupendous. The French navy have eighteen flags by which they give sig nal ; but those eighteen flags they can put into sixty-six thousand different combina tions. And I have to toil you that these standards of the cross may be lifted into combinations infinite and varieties everlast ing. And let me say to young men who are after awhile going to preach Jesus Christ, ou will have the largest liberty and un- imited resource. You only have to present Christ in your own way. Jouatbau EJ wards preached Christ in the severest argument ever penned, and John Bunyau preached Christ in the sublimest allegory ayer composed. Edward Payson, sick and exhausted, leane 1 up against the side of the pulpit and wept out his discourse. (While George Whitefield, with the manner, and the voice, and the start of an actor, overwhelmed his auditory. It would have ’been a different thing if Jonathan E1 wards , had tried to write and dream about the pil- , grim’s progress to the celestial city or John Bunyan had attempted an essay on the ’human will. i Brighter than the light, frjsher than the fountains, deeper than the seas are all these Gospel themes. Song has no melody, flowers have no sweetness, sunset sky has no color compared with these glorious th-mes. These harvests of grace spring up quicker than we can sickle them. Kindling pulpits with their fire, and producing revolutions with their power, lighting up dying beds with their glory, they are the sweetest thought for the poet, and they are the most thrilling illustration for the orator, ami they offer the most intense scene for the artist, and they are to the embassador of the sky ail en thusiasm. Complete pardon for direct guilt. Sweetest* comfort for ghastliest agony. Brightest hope for grimmest death. Grandest resurrection for darkest sepulcher. Oh, what a gospel to preach! Christ over all in it. His birth. His suffering. His mira cles. His parables. His sweat. His tears. His blood. His atonement. His intercession, what glorious themes? Ho we exereise faith? Christ is its object. Do we have love? It fastens on Jesus. Have we a fou lness for the church? It Is because Christ died for it. Hava we a hope of heaven? It is because Jesus went ahead, the herald and the fore runner. The sroyal robe of Demetrius was so cost ly, so beau tTTffT.'TTiat after he oal put it off no one ever dared put it on; but this robe of Christ, richer than that, the poorest and the wanest and the worst may wear. “Where sin abounded grace may much more abound.” “Oh, my sins, my sins," said Martin Luther to Staupitz; “my sms, my sins.” The fact is that the brawny German student had fouud a Latin Bible that had made him quake, aud nothing else ever did make him quake; and when he found how, through Christ, he was pardoned and saved he wrote to a friend, saying: “Come over and join us great and awful smners saved by the grace of God. You seem to be only a slender sinner, and you don’t much extol the mercy of God; but we who have been such very awful sinuers praise His grac? the more now that we have been redeemed.” Can it be that you are so desperately egotistical that you feel yourself iu first rate spiritual trim, and that irom the root of the hair to the tip of the toa you are scarless and immaculate? What you need is a look ing-glass, and here it is in the Bible. Poor and wretched and miserable and blind, and naked from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot, full of wounds and putrefy ing sores. No health in us. And then take the fact that Christ gathered up all the notes against us and paid them and then offered us the receipt. And how much we need Him in our sor rows! We are independent of circumstances if we have His grace. Why. He made Paul sing in the dungeon, and under that graoe St. John from desolate Patmos heard P ] n; fi the blast of the apocalyptic trumpets. Af ter all other candles have been snuffed out, this is the light that gets brighter and brighter unto the perfect day; and after, under the hard hoofs of calamity, all the pools . of worldly enjoyment have been trampled into deep mire, at the foot of the eternal rock the Christian, from cups of granite, lily rimmed and vine covered, puts out the thirst of his soul. Again, I remark that Christ is above all in dying alleviations. I have not any sym pathy with the morbidity abroad about our demise. The Emperor of Constantinople arranged that on the day of his coronation the stonemason should come and consult him about his tombston-) that after awhile he would need. And there are men who are monom an local on the subject of departure from this life by death, and the more they think of it the less they are prepared to go. This is an unmanliness not worthy of you, noC worthy of me. Sal&din, the greatest conqueror of his day, while dying, ordered the tonic he had on him to be earned after bis death on a spear at the head of his army, and then the soldier, ever and anon, should stop and say: “Behold, all that is left of Saladin, the Emperor and conqueror. Of all the States he conquered, of all the wealth he accumu lated, nothing did he retain but this shroud.” I have no sympathy with such behavior or such absurb demonstration or with much that we hear uttered in regard to departure from this life to the next. 1 nare is a commonsensical idea on this subject that you and I need to consider—that there are only two styles of departure. A thousand feet underground, by light of torch, toiling in a miner’s shaft a ledge of rock may tall upon us, and we may die a miner’s death. Far out to sea, falling from the slippery ratlines and broken on the hal yards. we may die a sailor’s death. On mission of mercy in hospital, amid broken bones and reeling leprosies and raging fever, we may die a philanthronist’s death. On the field of battle, serving God and our country, the gun carriage may roll over us and we may die a patriot’s death. But, after all, there are only two styles of de parture; the death of tae righteous and the death of the wicked, aud we all want to die the former. God grant that when that hour comes you may be at hom*! You waut the baud of your kindred in your hand. You want your children to surround you. You want the light on your pillow from eyes that have long reflected your love. "Sou want the room still. You do not want any curious strangers standing around watching you. You want your kindred from afar to hear your last prayer. I think that is the wish of all of us. But is that all? Can earthly friends hold us when the billows of death come up to the girdle? Can human voice charm open heaven’s gate? Can human hands pilot us through the narrows of death into heaven’s haroor‘ ; Can an earthly friendship shield us from the arrows of death and in the hour when satan shall practice upon us his internal archery? No, no, no, no! Alas! poor soul, if that is all. Better die in the wilderness, far from tree shadow and from fountain, alone, vultures circling through the air waiting for our body, unknown to men, and to have no burial, if only Christ could say through the solitudes, “I will never leave thee, I will never forsake thee.” From that pillow of stone a ladder would soar heavenward, angels coming and going; and across the solitude and the barrenness would come the sweet notes of heavenly minstrelsy. Toward the last hour of our earthly resi dence we are speeding. "When I see the sun set I say. “One day less to live.” When I see the spring blossoms scattered I say, “An other season gone forever.” When I close this Bible on Sabbath night I say, “Another Sabbath departed.” When I bury a friend I say. “Another earthly attraction gone for ever.” What nimble feet the years have! The roebucks and the lightnings run not so fast. From decade to decade, from sky to sky they go at a bound. There is a place for us, whether marked or not, where you and I will sleep the last sleep, and the men are now living who will with solemn tread carry us to our resting place. Aye, it is known in heaven whether our departure will be a coronation or a ban ishment. Brighter than a banqueting hall taroygh which the light feet of tae dancers go up aud down to the sound of trumpeters will be the sepulchre through whose rifts the holy light of heaven streamed!. God will watch you. He will send His angels to guard your slumbering ground until at Christ’s behest they shall roll away the stone. So also Christ is above all in heaven. The Bible distinctly says that Christ is the chief theme of the celestial ascription, all the thrones facing His throne, all the palms waved before His face, all the crowns down at His feet. Cherubim to cherubim, sera phim to seraphim, redeemed spirit to re deemed spirit shall r&cite the Saviour’s earthly sacrifice. Stand on some high hill of heaven and in all tue radiant sweep the most glorious ob ject will be Jesus. Myriads gazing on the scars of His suffering, in silence first, afterward breaking fortu into acclamation. Tne martyrs, all the purer for the flame throuzh which they passed, will say, “This is Jesus, for whom we died.” The apostles, all the happier for the shipwreck and the scourging through which they went, will say, “This is the Jesus whom we preached at Corinth, and at Cappadocia, and at Antioch, and at Jerusalem.” Little children clad in white will say, “This is the Jesus who took us iu His arms and blessed us, and when the storms of the world were too cold and loud brought us into this beautiful place." The multitudes of the bereft will say, “This is tne Jesus who comforted us when our hearts broke.” Many woo had wandered clear off from God and plunged into vagabondism, but saved by grace, will say; “Tuis is the Jesus who pardoned us. We were guilty aud He made us white as snow.” Mercy boundless, grace unparalleled. And then, after each one has recited his peculiar deliverances aud peculiar mercies, recited them as by solo, all the voices will come to gether in a great chorus, which shall make the arches echo and re-echo with the eternal reverberation of gladness and peace and tri- umou. Edward I was so anxious to go to the Holy Land that when he was about to ex pire he bequeathed *100,0110 to have his heart, after his decease, taken to the Holy Laud in Asia Minor, and his request was complied with. But there are hundreds to day whose hearts are already in the holy land of heaven. Where your treasures a,'e there are vour hearts also. John Bunyan, of whom I spoke at the opening of the dis course. caught a glimpse or that place, and in his quaint way he said: “Aud I heard in my dream, audio! the bells of the city rang again for joy; and as they openei the gates to let iu the men I looked iu after them, aud lo! the city shone like the sun, and there were streets of gold, and men walked on them, harps in their hands, to sing praises with all, and after that tney shut up tht gates, whicu when i had seen i wished my- seif among them!" i'riiitc anil “Peasant. One afternoon, as the two eldest sons of the German Emperor were riding home to Wiihelmshohe on their white ponies, they met a peasant lad who was galloping along also on a poney. Boy-like, the Crown Prince touched up his pony, and showed by his manner that he meant to outrace the rustic. The latter ac cepted the challenge, and by dint of voice and whip soon obtained a com manding lead. Thereupon he turned round and shook his cap to the princes in token of farewell, and. it may be supposed, of victory too. The Crown Prince took his beating like a man; and. indeed raised bis bat in acknowledgment ot the vic torious neasant’s salute. Large Family, Patsy Dooley was a very poor arithmetician, and was puzzled by a great many questions of numbers which did not enter other people’s heads. One day a new acquaintance re marked in his presence: “I have eight brothers.” “Ye have eight brothers?” said Patsy. “Then I suppose every wan o’ them has eight brothers, too?” “Certainly.” “Arrah, thin,” said Patsy, “how many mothers had the sixty-foor o* ve?"' RELIGIOUS READING. A triTLE PARABLE. I made the cross myself, whose weight Was later laid on me. This thought adds anguish as I toil Up life’s steep Calvary. To think mine own hands drove the nails! I sang a merry song. And chose the heaviest wood I had To build it firm and strong. If I bad guessed—if I had dreamed Its weight was meant for me, I should have built a lighter cross To bear up Calvary! —Annie Reeve Aldrich, in August (Fiction Number) Scribner. TO YOUNG CHP.ISTIA58. Afore than fifty years ago the late Dr. Bacon closed a sermon to young Chris tians with the following appeal, the spirit of which was grandly illustrated in his after life: “Would to God I could make you know what results are aepending upon you; what interests of the church and of a dying world are involved in y’our future character and ef forts. When I look at the young Christians of this njje and reflect that they are soon to sustain the ancient glories of the church of God—when I look abroad on the earth and see the crisis that is at hand—when I listen to the cries that come from every quarter of the world summoning the people of God to new eftort and more splendid ex hibitions of piety—I seem to see the hoary generations that are past rising up from their repose to watch over the young follow ers of Christ; I seem to hear the voices of blessed spirits from above cheering them on in the career of piety; I seem to see a world in misery, turning its imploring hands to them anti beseeching them to be worthy of their name, worthy of their privileges, of their noble destiny: I seem to hear, Ido hear, God himself speaking from the heavens, "Ye hare chosen the better part; be faithful unto death, and I will give you a crown of life.” THE CRUCI AL QUESTION. If one could get the ear of modern enter prise and progress, what question would he want to ask of this wonderful giant that is conquering the earth? What but this: “Dost thou believe in the Son of God?” Ask it of the business that fills our streets, of the sci ence that discovers, of the philosophy that thinks, of the labor that creates, of the in vention that devises. Ask it of education, which is the atmosphere, and politics, which is the electricity, and home life, which is the sunshine of the days men live. Ask it of art, ' ask it of philanthropy; ask it at the doors of schools and counting-rooms and state bouses and city halls and museums and homes. “Dost thou believe in the Son of God?” Have you faith in a spiritual purpose behind, under, through and through all that you are doing— the soul by which it lives? Do you believe in and are you inspired by a pure, clear faith in God’s love and in man’* destiny as all gathered and summed up in the redemption of the God-Mau, Jesus Christ? “Dost thou believe in the Son of God?” A strange <$iestion for such places, but if they could answer it what a new life would be in them all !—(Phillips Brooks. SERIOUSNESS AND FRIVOLITY. History shows that thedisposition to make light of things has been often attendant upon national degeneracy, and the subject is worthy the attention of Americans. We would by no mears advocate the taking of life hard; we believe that pleasantry and humor have proper and valuable uses,’ but it will be a sad day when earnestness of pur pose fails to arouse respect, and when friv olity takes the place of that inteutness of purpose and conviction which has always been at the bottom of real progress and de velopment.— [Episcopal Recorder. SABBATH SCHOOL. ! TEMPERANCE. international lesson for august 21. Lesson Text; “The Apostles Perse cuted,” Acts v., 25-41—Golden Text; Acta v., 2»—Com mentary. MADE NO MISTAKE. The Lord made no mistake in patting man fnto this world, and He makes no mistake in keeping him here. There ix an idea, upon the part of some, that they could be saved if they were only once safe in heaven. But do you know, heaven is a place prepared for those who have fought the battle and won the victory here on earth. God made no mistake when he prepared a salvation which was intended to save here. Of course men are lost because of the deeds committed on earth, and God proposes to save a man right on the ground where he is lost. Jesus Christ is glorified more here through victo ries won, than through final rest enjoyed in heaven. Did I say glorified more nere? I think I may say lie is only glorified here through the grace which he bestows. He is certainly not much glorified by it in heaven. Jesus did not pray that His disci ples might be taken out of tbe world but that they might be kept from the evil which is in the world. Ah ! friends. God proposes to arm you with suflicient grace, and then have you fight the battles which are neces sary to be lougbt; and so he says, “Count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations.” The very thing that causes you trouble, is that which ought to cause you joy. There will never be any victories till there have been some battles; and. brethren, vou will never know the grace of God in its fulness, till you have met temptation iu its every form. You will never develop the bone, and muscle, and sinew, that belongs to every son of God. till >ou have utterly’ routed ;be old man. I be lieve God proposes to raise a band of men and women iu this world who shall be glor iously triumphant through all the afflictions that life may bring to them. A certain per son once said in my hearing, “When I see a great trial coming T begin to rejoice, for I anticipate a grand victory.” It is one thing for a person to get up and say, “I love the Lord. ’ hut it is quite another thing to have this love demonstrated in your life. It is all very well to go into battle with a grand huzza, but it is better still to come out a vic tor, and covered with the smoke of war. “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and up- braideth not; and it shall be given to him.” — [Rev. John Short. Religion is not a mere sentimentality; It is a practical, life-giving, healthful fruit— not posies, but apples. “Ob,” says some body, “I don’t see what your garden of church has yielded.” Where did your asylums come from ? and your hospitals ? and your institutions of mercy? Christ planted every one of them; he planted them in his garden. When Christ gave sight to Bartimeiis, be laid the corner stone of every’ blind asylum that has ever been built. When Christ soothed the demoniac of Galilee, be laid the corner of every lunatic asylum that has ever been established. When Chrl.»t said to the sick tnau, ’Take up thy bed and walk,’ he laid the corner stone of every hospital the world has ever seen. When Christ said, “I was in prison and you visited me,” He laid tbe corner stone of every prison-reform association that has ever'been organized. Thecburchof Christ is a glorious garden, and is full of fruit.— [Selected. Send a sweet breeze from thy sea, O Lord, From thy deep, deep sea of love; Though it lift not tbe veil from the cloudy height, Let tbe brow grow cool, and- the footstep light. As it conies with holy and soothing might, Like the wing of snowy dove —[Frances Ridley Havergal. To be full of goodness, full of cheerful ness, full of sympathy, full of helpful hope, causes a man to carry blessings of which be is himself as unconscious as a lamp is of its own sbiniii;’.—[H. W Bc. cher. COFFEE-HOUSES. “Thousands of young men in New York go to the devil because there seems nowhere else to go,” says the Rev. Thomas Dixon, Jr., in Frank Leslie’s Weekly. “Suppose the ten thousand saloons in New York were op posed by five thousand coffee-houses on the style ot the English establishments. Sup pose they were fitted up as handsomely and situated as well, and filled with good cheer, would not drinking be reduce! to a min imum' I have yet to hear of the every-day young mmi who buys a keg of beer or whis ky, takes It up to his cheerless room, sits down over it and drinks merely for the sake of drinking. Is it not time that we recognize the fact that the saloon has built itself into the social structure of modern life, and that we must seek here for one of the most im portant secrets of its power?" • 25. “Then came one and told them saying. Behold the men whom ye put in prison are standing in tne temple and teaching the people. The account of the arrest, impris onment and deliverance is found in verses 11 -20. When released on a former occasion and forbidden to speak in the name of Jesus, their reply was to the effect that they must speak wuat they had seen and heard (chap ter iv., 16-20). 26. “Then went the captain with the offi cers and brougnt them without violence, for they feared the people lest they should have been stoned. The people were benefited by the apostles’ preaching and miracles and heard them gladly (verses 14-16), just as the common people heard Jesus gladly (Mark xii.,37)- It was the religious rulers who did the persecuting and tried to hinder this blessing to Ihe people. 27. “And when they had brought them they set them before the council." Jesus bad told them that it would be even so (Math, x., 16, 17; John xv., 20;, and the same thing is true to-day, for if a man will preach tbe whole truth, according to the plain, obvious sense of God’s Word in the power of the Holy Spirit, he will soon find opposition from some religious rulers and worldly minded professors. 28. “Ye have tilled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” Thus the council accused the apostles, reminding them also of the re strictions which had been placed upon them. It was good testimony to the earnest work of the apostles that they had already filled the city with their teaching. 29. ’Then Peter and the apostles answered and said. We ought to obey God rather than men." if we please men rather taan God we are not servants of Christ; and He Himself taught us that we cannot serve God and mammon. The friendship of the world is enmity with God, and to love the world is to forsake God (Gal. i., 10; Luke xvL 13; Jas. iv., 4; II Tim. iv., 10). 30. “Ihe God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.” To their face they again fearlessly accuse them of being guilty of His blood, b ut they testify that God has raised Him up. Com pare ii., 32; iii., 15; iv., 10, 33; x., 40., • , - . *iu., what a prominent topic the was in the preaching of the 33. and see resurrection apostles. 31. “Him hath God exalted with His right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.” Exalted to be a Saviour to the verv men who crucified Him if they would only turn to Him in true penitence; ready to give them even repentance as well as full forgive ness. See Isa. i., 13; xxxviii., 17; xliii., 25; Acts xiii., 38, 39. 33 “And we are His witnesses of these things, and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God nath given to them that obey Him.” Their bold and fearless testimony was that of the Holy Spirit speaking through them as Jesus had said. See Acts i., 8, and com pare iv., 31. The same Spirit is in every true believer as He was in the apostles be fore Pentecost (John xx., 22), but our need is to be filled with the Spirit. 33. "When they heard that they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them.” Not only was the blood of Jesus upon them, but tney were ready to bring upon them also the blood of the apostles. So likewise did they desire to do to Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the deal (John xiL. 10). Tne truth of God when cot meekly received, makes manifest chat the carnal mind is enmity against God (Rom. viii., 7). 34, 35. “Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men.” The apostles having been sent out of the council for a little while, Gama liel, a learned and honorable member, at whose feet Saul of Tarsus had been educated us begins to address his to have had something eph and Nicodemus who [mo members of the coun- ohn vii., 50). We do not received Jesus as the 4e wisdom and spirit of &y almost hope tnat he (chapter xxii., 3) brethren. He see of the spirit of J also were at one ell (Mark xv., 43; know that he e’ Christ, but from this address we did. 36, 37. “For before these days rose up Thtudus, boasting himself to be somebody." He quotes two cases of deceivers who for a time hud quite a following, but iu each case the leaders perished and their followers were dispersed. The mark of a deceiver is that “he boasts himself to be somebody,” while a true follower of the Lord seeks only to glor ify God. Jesus sought neither His own will nor His own glory (John vi., 33; viii., 50), aud Paul detertnmou to kuow nothing but “Jesus Christ aud Him crucified,” his mot toes being, “Not I, but Christ,” “Not I, but the Grace of God” (I Cor. ii., 2; xv., 10; Gal. x\ 20). If any man, be he preacher or professor, D. D. or LL. D., boasts himself to pa somebody, he is very evidently not true to Jesus Christ. SS. “And now I say unto you. Refrain from those men and let them aloue; tor if this counsel or this work be of men, it will pome to nought,” He probably thought ot such words as these, “The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought; He ipa.keth the devices of the people of no ef fect (Ps. xxxiii., 10). Bee also Isa. viii., 9, 10, for very strong words iu this connection. It is a great comfort for the true believer to know that no weapon formed against Him can prosper (Isa. liv., 17). 39. “But if it be of God ye cannot over throw it, lest haply ye he found even to fight against GoJ.” The counsel of the Lord standeth forever, the thoughts of His heart to all generations (Ps. xxxiii., 11). My counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure (Isa. xlvi., 10). I kuow that what soever God doeth it shall be forever (Eccl. iii. , 14).* We hope that Gamaliel really be lieved in his heart that this work was the work of God. 40. “And to him they agreed—and when they had called the apostles and beaten them they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.” Why beat them if they were innocent of any crime? But Jesus had said that it would be so (Math, x., 17). and they were walking in His footsteps. Ponder, I Peter ii., 19, 20; iv. , 12-16, and may the spirit cause us to es teem it a great honor to suffer for the truth. 41. 42. “Rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.” Scourged and bleeding backs, full of pain physically, full of joy inwardly. What a glorious reality is Jesus, who can enable men to take such treatment, not only without resentment, but even joyfully. See II Cor. xii., 10. How much of this spirit have we? How much can wu,bear cheerfully for His sake? How much do we desire His power to rest upon us? His grace is sufficient. Let us be loyal to Him.—Lesson Helper. Ullquette. The word “etiquette” Is Anglo- Norman, and primarily had a some what different meaning from its present one. It formerly meant sim ply the ticket which was tied to the neck of bags or fastened to packages, to note their contents. Finally it seemed that the word came to be ap plied to cards given out at an enter tainment, with certain rules of be havior for guests printed upon them. Thus behavior was or was not “the ticket.” or “etiquette.” and the slang term, “just the ticket.” and our ele gant word “etiquette” have the same derivation. O, WHAT A SIGHT! O, what a signt! A shocking frignt! What dreadful wreck and bother! O, can it be? Tnis sight I see— A human man and brother? With shambling gait Far, far from straight, He takes up half the pavement; And as he walks He thickly talks The talk of rum’s enslavement. His nose is red— His aching head Is big and bruised and bloated His bloodsbot eyes Of monstrous size To misery seem devoted. His walk is slow— His footsteps go No longer light and frisky He’s had too much Of gin and such. And brandy, rum and whisky. He used to think He’d only drink In careful moderation. He couldn’t stop; But had to drop Deep down in degredation. —Rev. A. Taylor, in Temperance Advocate. LABOR PERFORMED OX OATMEAL WATER. It is supposed to be the proper thing at the close oi a novel to introduce a moral with which to adorn the title. In like man ner the recent gauge conversion by the Great Western Railway Co. has its moral side. It was a wonderful feat, and it was accomplished without the aid of alcohol. Time was, and is now in some quarters, wneu no work could be carried on unless in toxicants were supplied It was supposed that nothing could exceed the sustaining ower of alcoho!, and this supposition has ecome crystal! zed into one of the most dan gerous of customs. This testimony has been scouted ha the past. But the late railway conversion was a striking proof of its truth. Over two hundred miles of broad-gauge railroad had to be transformed to narrow dimensions in the shortest possible time and with the greatest possible care. To accom plish the work nearly 5000 men were em ployed, and they worked two successive days of seventeen hours each, with only short in tervals for meals. The strain on the men was exceptional, yet not beer but oatmeal and water was provided by the railroad company. Testimonies to its refreshing, thirst-qnenching and sustaining power were heard on every side. This triumph of oat meal water over beer should not pass fin- noticed. Will farmers and other employers take cognizance of the explosion of the idea that beer is more sustaining than any other beverage?—New York Times. P’ bi AET HIS BRAIN ON FIRE. *'I was present at the autopsy of a noted rid ‘rounder' of my town a few weeks ago,” said John A. Holliday, of Troy, N. Y., at the Lindeli. to a St. Louis Globe- Democrat reporter, “and I was startled and shocked at what I saw. The dea 1 man was about sixty years old and had been the town drunkard for forty years. The doctors ha! surmised that when they cut his head open a pronounced smell of alcohol would issue Irom the skull. “I thought it only one of those grim son of jokes that the l-Escuiapians indulge in sometimes when they are carving a fellow- man to minca meat in the interest of thei; science. p “But I soon learned that it was no joke, for when the surgeon’s saw had cut off the top of the man’s skull the odor of alcohol *hat filled the room was strong enough to almost sicken one “Then one of the surgeons struck a match and held it close to the brain. Immediately a blue flame enveloped the entire portion ol the cerebral organ exposed, and the quiver ing flesh s:zzled as if on a gridiron. “That experiment aud disclosure set me to very seriously thinking about the error of iny way. I am not a temperance lecturer nor a Prohibition politician, but I must most re* spectfully and firmly decline your invitation to have something. I don’t want my braic to float around in a sea of alcohol, as did that of the poor old town drunkard of Troy. There is no telling how many otner men’s brains will reveal the same condition if an autopsy is held upon them. - if. BAKER &. CONFECTIONER. AND DEALER Df m GOODS, SHOES, I0TI0IS UD GHOCEBIES, AT ROCK BOTTOM PRICES. TOBiCCO UD CIGlfiS la final Tarlaij. fojs, Hniorts, etc., Ii Stock, Laurens Sfreai and Park Ivanna, Mean, S. 6. * •iThe Osceola Hotel, G. T. ALFORD, Proprietor. In tli© Bend of Bing" Stareetv CHARLESTON, S. C. Large and Comfortable Rooms. SATES, $2.50 PEE DAT. COMPL oxzorfis POWDER: SAFE;CDRATIYE;BE&UTIFTIHfi. (.2.3. 1 1 rOZZOMT’g 1 I tints THREE WRIGHTS HOTEL S. L. WRIGHT ft SOHS, Props, COIcUMBL^ - • - S-C Taote • applied with tbe beat Boema large ’ '"dl f-irniahed. One ot tbe most eomfertabic ae mi- in th« South. RsbCOfl P.P.P. CURES ALL SKIN AND BLOOD DISEASES; THE HARMFULNESS OF ALCOHOL. There has been a great controversy as to whether it is not bad to give up the fluid al cohol. Yon will ask. Is this fluid positively harmful? Yes, it is narmful. It changes the natural order of the body and produces a fascinating effect for the moment. It quickens the pulse aud the breathing, excites tbe mind, leads to sudden impulses which make men or women feel for the time that they are strong and happy, but iu all that it leads them from the natural course of things. Everything is ordered as to time in the humau body, and all this is eqnal, and if that equality be followed out, tnere is a long stage of life beiore every living man. Nature will not be interfered with. Change that order; put into the body a substance like alcohol, which is foreign to it, which quickens the pulse, the breathing, the im pulses aud the thoughts, and you hasten the period of death. That is the peculiarity of all, or nearly ail, who indulge largely in this strong drink, that they become prematurely old. And so, is it not common sense, and common science, too, that when we see ef fects like the following from a misuse of the substance before us, that it is better for every man, woman and child never to vary from the natural course of nature so as to induce these pleasurable sensatious and quickened lif e into the organic life? I think you will all be of opinion that it is the right and proper view for everybody to take. We are all born to drink no other fluid than water. Why should we ever depart from it? Why break the pledge which na ture has given and which makes man cease to be what he was intended to be? Not one bit of good ever comes all through the trial. When we take a pledge with nature, there is no service rendered afterward by breaking of it. This substance goes to form no tissue or give warmth. It imperfectly dissolves everything in the way of food which comes in contact with it, interferes with the di gestion and the distribution of food, pro duces false products in the body, disease in the organs of the body, sadness always after a time when it has been taken, aberration of mind, so that fourteen per cent., at least, of the unfortunates in our asylums are there because of its presence. It makes diseases, some of which are specifically its own and that are called after it, and we can calculate by figures in premature death what will be the value of life in a person who is freed from this agent and the value of life in ona who continues to take it. This in common sense should make every one of us resolve to go back to nature if nature has been de parted from, and that we will let our lives pass from beginning to end in pure obedi ence to nature and in obedience to that Power from which all nature springs.—Dr. B. W. Richardson. Fiijiiri.n* endorn p, p. p. & iplemli.i combination, •nd pmcrlb* It with great •atUfaction for th« cura« of all forms and stages of Wimary, Seeondary and Tertiary P ’pf'^p ^ Lures scrcfulA Bypolllt, SypnlMtlo Rr.eumatlim. Scrofulou* Ulc.n ud Sorei, Glandular Swalllnga, Riwomatiim. Malaria, old Chronic Ulcan that fcara railiUd all traatmant. Catarrh, CLIRFQ hm poison fikinDTseasesT^ciemaT'^bronl^FemaU^CompTaJnU^Ser^ ctirial Poison, Tetter, Scald Head, etc., etc. P. P, P. is a powerful tonic, and an excellent appetiser. p p # p • Cures’rheumatisM building up the system rapidly. Ladies whose systems are poisoned and whose blood U In an Impure condition, doe to menstrual Irregularities, are CURES T.r Malaria peculiarTy^benehteT""^ the wonderful tonic and blood- cleansing properties of P. P. P-, Prickly Ash, Poke Root and Potassium. rjerSTP To Perforate Glass. in drilling glass, stick a piece of stiff clay or putty on the part where you wish to make a hole. Make a hole in the putty the size you want the hole, reaching to the glass, of course. Into this hole pour a little molten lead, when, unless it is very thick glass, the piece will drop out. No Tw* Alive. It is said that in all the forests of the earth there are no two leaves exactly the same. It is also said that amid all peoples of the earth then; are no two facesjjreeiaely alike. TEMPERANCE NEWS AND NOTES. In Damascus drunkenness is known as the “English Disease.” The Young Abstainers’ Union in London uas now over 8000 members. Fifteen thousanl children are numbered in the membership of the Norwegian Total Abstinencs Society. A plan for pensions of five shillingsa week for all persons over sixty-five years of age is receiving tbe attention of well-known states- nen aad journalists in England. It is pro- oo^ed to levy a tax on all alcoholic drinks in jrder to raise the fund necessary. In a suit to recover the price of a lot of utoxicating liquors soid in Boston to a hotel- keeper in Maine, tbe Massachusetts .Supreme Jourt says that the contract was void and .he plaintiff cannot recover, because ho tuew of the prohibitory law in Maine. A woman in Ithaca, N. Y., has waged a mccessful lawsuit under the Civil Damage Act, with a hotel-keeper wno furnished her ausband liquor, who, in a state of intoxica tion, shot himself before her eyes. She has i little child who also witnessed the trag edy. A practical joke caused tho reformation of a toper in Peoria. While he was in a drunken slumber, his partner entered his room and filled the bed and his pockets with dviag horned toads. Half an hour later he saw the toper on his knees, praying, and vowing that ho would never touch intoxi cants again /P.P.P. Cures dyspepsia LIPPMAN BEOS., Proprietors, Druggists, Lipprnan’s Block, 8AVAU BAB, QA. For Sale by W. J. PLATT, Aiken. S. C. TT* Preach—f oq Practice. In other word#, we will teach you FREE, and start you in business, at which you can rapidly gather in the dollars. We can and will, if you please.teacl) you tjuinkly how to earn from to ** 10 a day at the start, and more as you go On. IToth sexes, all Bgca. In any part of America, you can com mence at home, ffiving all you! time, or spare moments only, to the work. What we offer ii new and^t has been proved over and ove» agr&in, that great pay is snre foi every worker. Easy to learn. No special abili ty required. Reasonable in dustry only nec essary foe sure, »acee»*« We start yoa, ftxmlshing ev erything. This t» one of the great etridet forward la useful, Inventive progress, that enriches ell vrr rkers It Is probably the greatest opportunity laboring people have ever known. Now is the time. Delay means loss. Fall pert;mlart frs***. Berter write at once. Address, OEOKGC ST1XSOX JL Co., Box 4g8,ForU—d, Maine, MONEY SAVED IS MONEY MADE. Save 25 to ou cents on every dollar you -pend.’ Write for our mammoth Catalogue, a sou-page book, containing illustration and giving iowe-t man ufacturers’ nrices, with manufacture>’ discounts of every kind of goods and supplies manufactured and imported into tbe United States, (iroceries, Household Goods, Furniture, Clothing, Ladies' and Lents’ Clothing and Furnishing Goods, Dress Goods, White Goods, Dry Goods, Hats, Caps, Boots and Shoes, Gloves' Notions, Glassware, Stationery, Watches, Clocks, Jewelry, Silverware, Buggies," Whips, Agricultural Implements, etc. ONLY FIUST CLAsjS GOODS. Catalogue seut on receipt of - 25 cents for expressage. We are the only concern which sells at manufacturers’ prices, allowing the buyer the same d.ecount that the manufacturer gives to the wholesale buyer. We guarantee all goods as represented; if not found .o, money refunded. Goods sent by express or freight, with privilege of examination before pay ing. A. K.YllPEX <fc CO., 122 Quincy street, Chicago, 111. WE WILL PAY A salary of *25 to $50 per week to GOOD age-.* to represent us in every county, and sell our general line of Merchandise at manufacturers’ prices, ©xot THOSt WHO WA!«T STEADY EMPLOYMENT MEED apply. Catalogue and particulars sent on receipt of 25 cents for expressage. . A. KARPEN A CO. 22C Quincy Street, Chicago, I1L FOMONUIU HUBSIBDS, TV, o.. Are known by their frutie, ms the*, are testifying for themselves mlM through the Southern and horde* States and giving flattering report^ Every fruit that is known to sue* ceed in the South is being added from all parts of the globe. Own 300 acres in actual nursery •twofe* Some of the specialties are the JCeln seys, Japan, Baton and Sateumd Plums. The Lucy Duke Pear and all the new fruits, as well as the olds Evergreens, Shade Trees, Boses and everything usually kept in a first* class nursery. Pour large Greem Chrysanthemums, Camas t lon^md many Greenhouse Plants* Rose growing a specialtj^^ Pla, from Greenhouse ready put out in April and May. DescriptivS Catalogue No. 1, Pruit Trees, Yines, Ac., and Greenhouse Catalogue No, 2 will be sent free to applicants. Special rates to large planters. Cor* respon.den.ee solicited. Address Pomona Hill Nurseries, POMONA. N. C. NEW ARRANGEMENT. ADGDSTA HOTEL RATES. SI.50, $2.00 and $2.50 P.r Dtj The Bert Table Board Can be Had at $4JN Per Week, in Cluba of 8 or 10. Cgy Rooms a t Very Low Bummer Rato* Omnibus and Porter at ever j train. B. S. DOOLITTLE, Proprietor. LIPPMAN BROS., Proprietors, Druggists, Lippman’s Block. SAVANNAH. GA. For sale by W* J. PLATT, Aiken, S. C. A BB< r\s a ai’mieii aqulvi For sale bv W. J. PLATT, Aiken, S. C. RMAN ™L FOR ONE DOLLAR. A OnS-cia*. Diction at* f-iteu wul at m price to enoourmc* tae stu j ot tbe Gera Lenruece. it gives hn*h.h words wua a equivalents, r ' “ ~ 3 SeOnl LIOBA. A very cheep bn BOOK PUB. liOL’ssfcL 13 ^CUjs MSdBN ewe e< tfcee- and derma word, wtih l bnofc Send * _ 34 UeeaArd su. ■ with tke