Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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"october thoughts; Rev. Dr. Talmage Draws a Losson From the WiBdom of Birds. IFIlhUnerring* Instinct They Present Val? uable Lessons to Man?They Mln g;le M?sle With Their Work Or in Their Flight. Tho following- sermon by Rev. T. De IWtt Talmage on "October Thoughts" was selected as appropriate for publi? cation this week. It is based on the text: The stork In tho heaven knoweth her ap? pointed time; and the turtle and tho crane and the swallow observe the time of the; r com? ing; bat my peoplo know not the judgment of the Lord.?JerCiOlah Tili.. 7. When God would set fast a beautiful thought, He plants it in a tree. When He would put it afloat, He fashions it into a fish. When He would have it glide the air, He molds it into a bird. My text speaks of four birds of beauti? ful instinct?the stork, of such strong affection that it is allowed familiarly to come, in Holland and Germany, and build its nest over the doorway; tho sweet-dispositioned .turtledove, ming? ling- in color white, and black, and brown, and ashen, and chestnut; the crane, with voice like the clang of a trumpet; 'the swallow, swift as a dart shot out of the bow of Heaven, falling, mounting, skimming, sailing?four birds started by tho Prophet twenty five centuries ago, yet flying on through the ages, with' rousing truth under glossy wing and in the clutch of stout claw. I suppose it may have been this very season of the year?autumn?and the prophet out of doors, thinking of the impenitence of the people of his day, hears a great cry overhead. Now, you know it is no easy thing for one with ordinary delicacy of eye? sight to look into the deep blue of noonday heaven; but the prophet looks up, and there are flocks of storks, and turtle doves, and cranes and swallows, drawn out in long lines for flight southward. As is their habit, the cranes had arranged themselves in two . lines, making an angle, a wedge split? ting the air with wild velocity, the old crane, with commanding call, bidding them onward; while the towns, and the cities, and the continents slid un? der them. The prophet, almost blinded from looking into the dazzling heavens, stoops down and begins to think how. much superior the birds axe in sagacity about their safety than men about theirs; and he puts his hand upon the pen,' and begins to write: "The stork in tho heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe tho time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the Lord." . If you were in the field to-day, in the clump of trees at the corner of the field, you would see a convention of birds, noisy as the American congress the laut night before adjournment, or as the English parliament when some unfortunate member proposes more economy in the queen's household?a convention of birds all talking at once, moving- and passing resolutions on the subject of migration, some proposing to go to-morrow, some moving that they go to-day, but all unanimous in. the fact that they must go soon, for they have marching orders from the Lord written on the first white sheet of the frost, and in the pictoral of the chang? ing leaves. There is not a belted king? fisher, or a. chaffinch, or a fire-crested wren, or a plover, or a red-legged par? tridge but expects to spend the winter at the south, for the. apartments have already been ordered for them In South America, or in Africa; and, after thou? sands of miles of flight, they will stop in the very tree where they spent last January. Farewell, bright plumage! Until spring weather, away! Fly on, great band of heavenly musicians! 1 Strew the continents with music, and whether from Ceylon Isle or Carolinian swamps, or Brazilian groves, men see your wings, or hear'your voice, may they yet bethink themselves of the sol? emn words of. the text: "The stork in the Heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of theircoming; but my people know not the judgment of the Lord." I propose, so far as God may help me, in this sermon, carrying out the idea of the text, to show ?hat the birds of the air have more sagacity than men. And I begin by particularizing 'and saying that they mingle music with their work. The most serious undertaking of a bird's life is this an? nual flight southward. Naturalists tell us that they arrive thin and weary, and plumage ruffled, and yet they go singing all the way; the ground, the lower line of the music, the sky, the upper line of the music, themselves the notes Scattered up and down between. I suppose their song gives elasticity to their wing, and helps on with the journey, dwindling a thou? sand inileB into four hundred. Would God that ?we were as wise as they in mingling Christian song with -our every-day workl I believe there is such a thing as taking the pitch of Christian devotion in the morning, and keeping it all the day. 1 think we might take some of the dullest, heavi? est, most disagreeable work of our life, and set it to the tune of "Antioch" or "Mount Pisgah." It is a good jBign when you heas a man whistle. It is a better sign when you hear him hum a roundelay. It is a st?l better sign when you hear him sing the words of Isaac Watts or Charles Wesley. A violin chotded and strung, if something accidentally strikes it, makes music, and I suppose there is such a thing as having our hearts so attuned by Divine grace that oven the rough, collisions of life will make a heavenly vibration. I do not believe that the power of Christian song has yet been fully tried. I be? lieve that if you could roll the "Old Hundred" doxology through the streets it would put an end to any panic! I believe that the discords, and the sorrows, and the sins of tho world are to be swept out by heaven born hallelujahs. Someone asked Haydn, the celebrated musician, w?y I fcc'alwavs composed such* cheerful mu? sic. "WI13',"' he said, "I can't do other? wise, When I think of God ray sou) is so full of joy that the notes leap and j dance from my pen." I wish we might all exult melodiously before the Lord, j With God for our Father, and Christ for our Saviour, and Heaven for our home, and angels for future compan? ions, and eternity for a lifetime, we should strike all the notes of joy. Go? ing though tho wilderness of this world, let us remember that we are on the way to the summery clime of Heav? en, and from the migratory populations flying through this alntumnal air learn always to keep singing. i Children of tho heavenly King, / Asyc journey, sweetly sing; Sing your Saviour's worthy praise, Glorious in His works and ways. Yo aro traveUng home to God; In tho way your fathors trod; They are happy now, and wo , Soon their happiness shall sec. The church of God never will be a triumphant church until it becomes a singing church. I go further, and remark that the birds of the air are wiser than we, in the fact that in their migration they fly very high. During the summer, when they are in the fields, they often come within reach of the gun; but when they start for the annual flight southward they take their places mid heaven and go straight as a mark. The longest rifle that was ever brought to shoulder could not reach them. Would to God that we were as wise as the stork and crane in their flight heavenward I We fly so low that we ore within easy range of the world, the flesh and the devil. We are brought down "by temptations that ought not to come within a mile of reaching us. Oh, for some of the faith of George MuUer, of England, and Alfred Cookman, once of the church militant, now of the church triumphant! So poor is the type of piety in ilhe church of God now that men actually caricature the idea that there is any such thing as a higher life. Moles never did believe in eagles, liut, my brethren, because we have not reached these heights ourselves shall we deride the fact that there are any such heights? A man was once talking to Brunei, the famous engineer, about the length of the rail? road from London to Bristol. The en? gineer said: "It is not very great. We shall have,after awhile, a steamer run? ning from London to New York." They laughed him to scorn; but we have gone so far now that we have ceased to laugh at anything impossible for hu? man achievement. Then, 1 ask, is any? thing impossible for the Lord? I do not believe that God exhausted all His grace in Paul, and Latimer' and Ed? ward Payson. I believe there are high? er points of Christian attainment to be reached in the future ages of the Christian world. You tell me that Paul went up to the tiptop of the Alps of Christian attainment. Then I tell you that the stork and crane have found above the Alps plenty of room for free flying. We go out and we con? quer our temptations by the grace of God and lie down. On the morrow those temptations rally themselves and attack uk, and by the grace of God we defeat them again; but, staying all the time in the old encampment, we have the same old battles to fight over. Why not whip out our temptations, and then forward march, making one raid through the enemy's country, stopping not until we break ranks after the last victory. Do, my brethern, let ns have some novelty of combat, at any rate, by changing, by going on, by making advancement, trading off our stale prayers about sins we ought to have quit long ago, going on toward a higher state of Christian char? acter, and routing our sins that we have never thought of yet. The fact is, if the church of God? if we, as individuals, made rapid ad? vancement in the Christian life, these stereotyed prayers we have been mak? ing for ten or fifteen years would be inappropriate to us as the shoes, and the hats, and the coats we wore ten or fifteen years ago. Oh, for a higher flight in the Christian life, tho stork and the crane in their migration teach? ing us the lesson! Dear Lord, and shall vre ever live. At this poor dying rate? Our love so faint, so cold to Thee. And Thine to us so great? Again, I remark, that the birds of the air are wiser than we, because they know when to start. If you should go out now and shout: "Stop storks and cranes, don't be in a hurry!" they would say: "No, we can not stop; last night we heard the roar? ing in the woods bidding" us away, and the shrill flute of the north wind has sounded the retreat. We must go. We must go." So they gather them? selves into companies, and turning not aside for storm or mountain top, or stock of musketry, over land and sea, istraierht as an arrow to the mark they go. And if you come out this mor:aing with sack of corn and throw it in the fields and try to get .them to stop, they are so far up they would hardly see it. They are on their 'way to the south. You could not stop them. Oh, that we were as wise about the best time to start for God and Heaven! We say: "Wait until it is a little later in the season of men^v. Wait until some of these green leaves of hope are all dried up and have been scattered. Wait until next year." After awhile we ~tart, nnd it is too late, and we perish in the way when God's wrath is kindled but a lit? tle. There are, you know, exceptional cases, where birds have started too late, and in the morning yon have found them dead on the snow. And there are those who have perished half way between the world and Christ. They waited until the last sick- j ness, when tho mind is gone, or j they were on the express train j going at forty miles an hour, ! and they came to the bridge and the I "draw was up," and they went down, j How long to repent and pray? Two | secondsl To do the work of a lifetime ! and to prepare for the vast eternity in j two seconds! I was reading of an en- j I tcrtainment given in a king's court, 1 and there were musicians tUere with elaborate pieces of music. After awhile Mozart came and began to play, and he had a blank piece of paper before him, and the king familiarly looked over his shoulder and said: "What are you playing? I see no music before you." And Mozart put his hand on his brow, as to.say: "I am improvising." It was very well for him, but oh, my friends,, iwe can not extemporize for Heaven. If we do not get prepared in this; world, we will never take part in the orchestral harmonies of the saved. Oh,, that we were as wise aa the crane and the stork, flying away, flying away from the tempest! ' Some of you have felt the pinching frost of sin. You feet it to-day. You, arc not happy. I look into your faces, and I know you are not happy. There are voices within your soul that will not be silenced, telling you that you. are sinners, and that without the par? don of God you are undone forever. Whai are you going to do, my friends, with the accumulated transgres sionn of a lifetime! Will you stand j still and let the avalanche tumble over j you? Oh, that you "would go away j into the warm heart of God's mercy, j The southern grove, redolent with j magnolia and cactus, never waited for i northern flocks, as God has waited for j you, saying: "I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Come unto me, all ye who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Another frost is bidding you away? it is the frost of sorrow. Where do you live now? "Oh," you say: "1 have moved." Why did you move? You. say: "I have moved." Why did you. move? You say: "I don't want as large a house now as formerly." Why do you not want as large a house? Yon say: !"My family is not so large." Where ?have they gone to? Eternity! Your mind goes back through that last sickness and through tho almost supernatural effort to keep life, and .through these prayers that seemed unavailing, and through that kiss ?which received no response, because the lips were lifeless, and I hear the shells tolling and I hear the hearts breaking?while I speak, I hear them break. A heart! Another heart! Alone! Alone! Alone! The world, which in your girlhood and boyhood was sunshin.fi, is cold now, and oh! weary dove, you fly around this world as though you would like .to stay, when the wind and the frost .and the blackening clouds would bid you away into the heart of an all comforting' God. Oh, I have noticed again and again what a botch this world makes of it when it tries to com? fort a soul in trouble! It says: "Don't cry!" How can we help crying when the heart's treasures are scattered, and father is gone, and mother is gone, and ?companions are gone, and the child is .gone, and everything seems gone. It is no comfort to tell a man not to cry. The world comes up and says: "Oh, it is only the body of your loved one that you have put into the ground!" But there is no comfort in that. That body is precious. Shall we never put our hand in that hand again, and shall we never see that sweet face again? Away with your heartlessness, oh, world I But come, Jesus! and tell us that when ithe tears fall they fall into God's bottle; that the dear bodies of our loved ones shall rise radiant in the resurrection; and all the breakings down here shall be liftings up there, nnd they shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on on them nor any heat, for the Lamb, which is in tho midst of the throne, shall lead them to living fountains of water, and God shall wipe all the fears from then* eyes." ~ You may have noticed that when the chaffinch or the stork or the crane starts on its migration, its calls all those of its kind to come too. The tree-tops arc full of chirp and whistle and carol and the long roll-call. The bird does not start off alone. It gath? ers all. of its kind. Oh, that you might be ' as ? wise in this migra? tion to Heaven, and that you might gather all your families and your friends witn you! I would that Han? nah might take Samuel by the hand, and Abraham might take Isaac, and Hagar might take Ishmael. I ask if those who sat at your breakfast table this morning will sit with you in Heaven? I ask you what influences you are trying to bring upon them? Are you calling them to go with you? Aye, aye, have you started yourself? Start for Heaven and take your chil? dren with you. Come thou and all thy house into the ark. Tell your little ones that there are realms of balm and sweetness fof all those who fly in the right direction. Swifter than eagle's stroke, put out for Heaven. Like the crane or the stork, stop not night nor day until you find tho right place for stopping. Seated to-day in Chris? tian service will you bo seated in the same glorious service when the heav? ens have passed away with a great noise, and the elements have melted with fervent heat, and the redeemed are gathered around the throne of Jesus? The Saviour calls, Ye wanderers come. Oh. ye benighted souli, Why longer roam? The Spirit calls to-day, Yield to His power; Oh, grieve Him not away, 'Tis mercy's hour. Amen to This. Some people fail entirely to pray for the thing they most need. A brother was praying with much noise for faith ?"soul-saving faith, sin-killing faith, devil-driving faith." Just then a brother, to whom the noisy man owed a large bill, shouted out: "Amen, amen, and give us a debt-paying faith, too." It may be as well to pray at oth- j ers less and pray to God more about our own sins and weaknesses; and not cut short our prayers if they hit our own pocket-books.?Farm and Fire side. ?Just now, as nt all times, there is ? need of good and true workers in the cause of Christ; and whero so many fields are open, there is no necessity j for anyone to complain of lack of J PICTURES IN THE SKY. Tlioy Ara Common Around tho Lako Ontario Region. ?1 Surprising and Impressive Exhibition Recently Witnessed by tho People of Buffalo?A City In tho Air. Tho region about BiifEalo and for a good' many miles cast of that city seems to bo a favorable ono for seeing the more distinct and remarkablo effects of that optical illusion known as tho mirGgo, says the Ilartford I Times. A surprisingly distinct ono 'was seen bet ween nine and ten o'clock on a recent morning by tho people of Buffalo. Like a previous one, seen by the passengers in a New York Central, train a dozen miles or more east of Buffalo' somo years ago, the spectaclo was at tho north. The one seen from the cars showed Lake Ontario, with all its capes and other shore features, including the trees, with remarkablo distinctness in the sky, although tho real lake a'; its nearest shore was thirty or forty miles away and wholly invisible. The ono seen at Buffalo was the entire city of Toronto, in Canada, on the lake, somo sixty miles away. Its steeples, docks and other features were seen, at great distance, with wonderful distinctness of detail. Even the steamers on the lako and a yacht were distinctly shown?tho former pouring out the trailing smoke from their smokestacks, and the lat? ter, showing exactly the position of tho sails, oould l>e seen careening before the west wind. The lako itself was largely visible. It must have been a very surprising and impressive exhibi? tion. Seen in the sky by the caravan trav? elers on the desert, the mirage pre? sents an appoarancc of objects reflected in a surface of water; cool lakes, with shady palm tress, mock the hot and thirst-strickea travelers. The heated earth rarefleu the lower air faster than it can ascend and escape. Tho air is denser overhead?contrary to the cus? tomary experience; and the flatness of the desert contributes to the duration of the attractive but deceptive appari? tion. There must be somo real lake, in some case 3, as a basis for these re? ported exhibitions. Tho .airage is caused by the excessive refraction, or bending of light rays in penetrating adjacent layers of air of greater differ? ing densities, not far above the surface of the earth. This excessive refraction presents, when the . lower stratum of air is heated by a very hot sun, an up? lifted, distorted or inverted image of some actual object or scene. Along certain portions of the Italian coast it sometimes produces the' exhibition of an inverted ship, up in tho ah*?tho real ship being distant and invisible and, of course, right sido up. Thoso aerial and marine reflec? tions, often strange and complicated, and known as mirage, "looming," and the Italian, "fata morgana," according ^> the characteristics they present, aro all allied to a general law. The school books have explained tho general phe? nomenon. It is out of tho usual course of things foi' the lower stratum of au? to be rarer than the one above It, but It sometimes happens. Suppose the light rays arcs coming from a distant (and in? visible) object, situated In the denser Btratum, which in these wonderful ex? hibitions lies over instead of being be? neath the rarefied stratum?as a hill a little above tho earth's surface?tho rays come in a direction nearly paral? lel to tho surface, and meet the lower, rarer medium at a very obtuse angle. Instead of passing into that warmer air, the rays are reflected back to tho don&jr stratum above ? the common surface of the two strata acting as a mirror. Let the spectator be looking from some eminence, at an object thus situated, like himself, in the denser air, 'and ho will see it by directly transmit? ted rays; but rays from it also will bo reflected?from the upper surface of :.the lower, more heated air?presenting ithe image inverted and in a lower posi? tion. In the reproduction of distant and !invisiblc objects?as in tho case of tho city of Toro:ato, seen so plainly In tho .'sky sixty miles south, at Buffalo ? tho ^phenomenon belongs, apparently, to the class known to sailors as' 'looming." HOW HE FOOLED HER. The Little Baldheaded Man with the Mae. terfol Sjpouao Got Beer Money, j A little man with a bald head and an inoffensive bluo eye drifted into a Main street saloon and threw' a half dollar on the bar, says the Buffalo Ex jpress. 1 "Gimme a schooner of beer," ho said. The schooner was given him. Just as he was about to drink It a big man came in and said: "IIolio, Shorty, who's i buying?" ! "I am," replied Shorty, with dignity. ! MYou," scoffed tho big man, "why, ?you never had a cent In your life. Your wife gets your wages." "That's all right," said Shorty, "mebbe she does, but I've got money to-day." "How'dyou get it?" "Well," replied Shorty, "I don't know as I mind teUin'. I had a couplo of bad teeth an' she gimme enough to get 'em pulled." "Did you get 'cm pulled?" "Sure, but I worked her l!or fifty cents for gas, an' this is tho fifty, j See?"_j Mrs. Cleveland's First Flnncc. Doubtless there Is one woman in these I United State? who is thankful that she aid not marry her first love, says tho Philadelphia Press. When &ho was a young girl she met, on a visit to friends, a theological student to whom, eventually, she became engaged. This youth afterward showed himself fickle and jilted the girl. Later on he again jilted another young woman to whom he afterward became engaged and, al? though she forgave and subsequently married him, he has never been any? thing more than a very ordinary coun? try clergyman whom the first girl could not regret. She has since mar- j ried, too, and her present name is Mrs. Grovcr Cleveland, _ FINGER FOR A NEW NOSE. j Tho firmarknblo Operation of a London Surgeon on a JToneless Alan. Tho achievements oi American sur? geons in bold and extraordinary opera? tions have- long been the wonder of tho world. But now from the other oido ,of the Atlantic comes a story which Bhows that the old country is waking ?up a bit in the art of engrafting human flesh. A young man has put his finger to his nose, and it remains there per? manently. : A few months ago, says the Now j 'York World, a youth whoso nasal or * gan was missing, as tho result of an acefdent, called at Charing Cross hos? pital, London, with tho request that tho surgeons ? would supply tho de? ficiency, artificially or otherwise. Ho expressed himself as willing to under? go any sort of treatment by which his disfigured face might lx) made fairly presentablo, and not absolutely ro pulsivo to his best Sunday pummer girl. : Mr. Bloxam, the senior surgeon, took tho Interesting* caso in hand. ; First, the amputated finger of an? other patient was carved and fash? ioned to the semblance of a nose, and then securely grafted on the face. But 'it was found that this mutilated digi jtal appendage had not survived its cut? ting up. It was "dead,'* and failed to take fresh root. The noseless man, nothing daunted, thereupon agreed to tho surgeon's sug? gestion that one of his own (tho pa? tient's) fingers should be cut off to fur? nish a nasal, organ. But in order that the finger should not be wasted in the event of this operation being unsuc? cessful, it was only half amputated. Tho patient's arm being encased in plaster, for four weeks ho held his own live finger to his*face in the hope of its taking root. This it did. The portion which was still attached to his hand was then cut through and soon joined the rest in adhering firmly to the face. Although minus a finger, the young man now has a, new noso of his own flesh and blood. The transferred cartilage has been so manipulated by clover Dr. Bloxam that its original identity is entirely lost, and the further process of shaping it is now being proceeded with. It is not known whether the plucky young Briton prefers the "nez retrousse" or tho aquiline. He will doubtless be in a position to take his choice. He is certainly not the sort of man to be con? tent with any sort of noso that hap? pens to turn up. LANDSCAPES WHILE YOU WAIT. A Lightning Artist Who Kcepa Up with tho Auctioneer. The great American desideratum of speed is strikingly illustrated by a painter who has opened a studio and auction room on one of tho principal business streets, apparently to demon? strate that Longfellow was entirely in error when ho wroto "art is long," says the Boston Transcript. A man who happened to stray into tho art gallery one morning chanced to speak of Raphael, and was asked by tho painter who Raphael was, and if he be? longed in tho 2:30 class. Beforo he could answer tho artist had executed "The Falls of the Yellowstone" in oil, the picture had been framod, sold, and the purchaser had gone out with tho prize under his arm. The lightning colorist had his paints spread out be? fore him in heaps on a sort of mortar board and ranged behind him in pails, whilo on one side of him are the thou? sand canvas frames that he turns off before breakfast. Follow him while he produces a moonlight scene; First, he gets out his whitewash brush with? out the long handle, and, dipping it in the slate-colored ink, primes the sky of evening. But he is careful to leave a small circle unscathed in the center; that is to stand for the moon. Then across the bottom of the canvas the brush is flashed, leaving behind it a heavier trail, while, two big patches of black paint at each side form the shadowy hills! Then, with a narrow brush of black, tho trees and their bare branches arc located, as if the artist were striping the wheels of an express wagon. Another dash of black answers for a. boat, and two irregular touches arc the men propelling it. By this t-timc the auctioneer is crying: "How much for this elegant moonlight scene in the north woods? Start me I? One dollar and sixty-five cents do I hear? Sold!" And the buyer gets the colors on his sleeve in putting it under his arm. "Little boys," said the auc? tioneer at this point, "you had better go homo and give the old folks a show. But, boys," ho cries after the slowly retreating forms, "come down to-mor? row. I'll have some nico beds put up hero to-night, so that you needn't go homo to sleep." And the "professor" has tho load by throe pictures on tho auctioneer, who begins to point out the merits of "an elegant forest scene." An Unusual Coincidence. The Vienna correspondent of tho London Standard says that on one of the estates of Count Potocki in Galicia the very rare event of a mother, daugh? ter and granddaughter each giving birth to a son on tlie same day has just occurred. The mother is; forty-eight, and the infant son is her sixteenth child. The daughter, who has just presented her husband with his eighth, is thirty-three years old, and the grand? daughter, who was married last year, is n?t yet quite sixteen. All the threo new-born sons arc strong and healthy, and the same mav 1>2 said of their ! mothers, who belong to tho Polish I peasant class. India Shawls mt Windsor. Queen Victoria's store of India shawls j is failing. The shawls are getting scarcer and scarcer every year. After the India mutiny tribute was laid upon ' certain princes and chiefs in India to their sovereign lady of divers costly stuffs, and for a number of years tho shawls, etc., arrived regularly; but of late years, owing to the deaths of somo of tho tributary potentates and tho suppression of others, the stock has much declined. The precious articles ere kept in sandolwood wardrobes at Windsor under the care of the queen's ! first wardrobe woman. MIRACLES OF UGLINESS. - ? Human Frights Assemble- in Bel? gium's Capital Prlzos Offered for tho fllose Illdeous Spec? imens of Facial Deformity ? The Contestants Proud of Their Repulsive Blemishes. Tho quintessence of human ugliness of the world is gathered here to show itself in tho international competition for ugly men, says a recent Brussels letter in the New York Advertiser. Every country has sent its Calaben, while many barbario nations are each represented by several (Quasimodos, Prizes of flvo thousand, two thousand and ono thousand dollars go to tho three exhibits which tho judges decide are the most hideous specimens In t his collection of over four hundred and fifty-six frights. The judges have no easy task on the^r hands, because the candidates are all so preternaturally ugly that it will xequlre the nicest dis? crimination to truthfully determlno which three should bo returned prize winners. Five of the foremost portrait painters in Be lgium have been induced to serve as judges. ?Meanwhile the unsightly crew wan? dered up and down the town, followed by throngs of curious citizens. Each ono seems uglier than the other, but they are . all as proud as peacocks. They are of all sizes and shapes. Com? pared with the least Ill-looking one, the homeliest Chinese idol is a thing of beauty. A squatty Burmese dwarf, scant three feet high and weighing nearly two hundred pounds, with a head little bigger than a cocoanut, swivel eyes and a nose like a tapir's snout, was for a time by the press awarded the palm for hideousnesa. But it wasn't long before a host of others far uglier began pouring into Brussels. A Kaffir, whoso ears had been cut off and his mouth slit from ear to ear, after the fashion of the "man who laughs,"' was viewed with curious favor until Jhiji Sgllngl, from Madagascar, put in an appearance. He has but one eve, and it is double the natural size. His nose is of the bulbous type and his lips are so short that the long teeth are constantly exposed, giving his counte? nance the look of a wild teast, with a snarl stamped immovably upon his face. Then there is a brawny miner from Norway, whose frontispiece was fright? fully misshapen by an explosion. The appearance of this Norwegian is more disgusting than horrible. Seen from behind, his magnificent figure .and fine head, thatched with crisp yellow curls, lead most personti to guess that his face, too, must be handsome. But when they look upon his distorted phia they are struck with horror. From Brazil comes Sam Bong, a cor? pulent negro, with a swinish face, the porcine expression of which is Increased by the protrusion of an ugly yellow, tusk from cither corner of his mouth. A Malay whose face has been clawed out of shape by a tiger is another sight, as is a Laplander minus a nose and with a hairless face as flat as a shingle. Turkestan is isjpresented by four human horrors, brought hither by an enterprising showman, who hopes to land at least one of the prkes. The ugliest one of this lot is one Ethiopian of middle stature and slender build, but with a blubbory looking head forty-three inches in circumference and a face like an ogre. Asiatic Eussia sends a man whose countenance is so thickly covered with warts that hardly a bit of skin can tie seen. Then there arc hairy men, and men with no hair, at all, fellows seamed with torture marks and scarred, with fire, creatures livid from disease and every other imaginable blemish that makes the human eountenance offensivo to the sight of man. Women, however,, seem to have the reverse feeling toward these fearfully, ugly men. In fact, wherever these Cal? ibans go they are followed by troops of women. Nor are these feminine dev? otees to hideous-faced mankind re? stricted to the lower walks of life, for women of fashion are quite as keen in their pursuit of them. It is not at all uncommon to see women of quality utop their carriages to make the acquaintance of the ugly men. Some of these ladies have actually taken some of these manly horrors to their homes to show them off to visitors. This sort of thing has set all the good-looking men in Brus? sels by tho ears. If they had their way the ugly horde would be driven from the city. It is said that the hand? some wife of a well-known nobleman became so enamored of a Hollander with a double nose and a hare lip that her husband has hurried hor off to Paris to keep her out of further temp? tation. Theso fellows arc proud of their fa? cial blemishes, too. But men of this sort were ever so. It was squinting Wilkes' boast that he was only a quar* tcr of an hour behind the handsomest man in England. Another, a distin? guished officer, said: "I am quite aware that I am the ugliest man In tho British army, but then (and hero he used to throw his shoulders back) I have probably the finest figure." Tho Due do Koclorc, the favorite of Louis XIV., was very forbidding both in face and person, but thero was another no? bleman at court who was still less agreeable looking. This person had killed a man in a duel and besought De Roclorc's interest with the king for pardon. "Why do you want to save this fellow's life?" ask^d the mon? arch. "Sire," replied the duke, "If ho were to suffer I should be left the ugli? est man In France." English Judges. By 1S90 ten of the thirty-three Eng? lish judges will have served fifteen years, and be entitled to retire on pen? sion. The master of the rolls, Lord Eshcr (Brett) has served twenty-five years; Baron Pollock, "the last of the barons" of the exchequer, twenty-two; Lord Justice Lindslcy, nineteen; Lord Justice Lopes and Justice Hawkins, eighteen. The lato Lord Coleridge had been twenty-one years on the bench*