The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, July 14, 1904, Image 6
An Ideal Fish
By Robert W. Charab
HIIERE are, in some
fish known locally
itleal fish In shape a
pure silver except
oxydized silver. T
somewhat of the pi
dorsal tin nor the f
habit trout waters,
smaller ones, althoi
true. I know, however, that pickei
them eagerly.
Th >se fish rise to a fy and are
and often I have struck tbem in trou
fighters when tackie is ligl^ and wa
Animals and birds appear to be
seen eating then), perhaps because
Where Mohawk chubs are herons ai
I ever saw an osprev in that regio
The osprey dashed down within a r
must Lave weighed a pound at least,
across acres of swamp toward the di
0
The Life and H
By Dr. James H. McBi
0HE girls of the pres
comfortable conditk
much, no doubt, iu
lost something, in th
exercise, less of thj
and also developed
result of this poorei
sponsibility in the 1
not so great a sens
family had everyday, specific duties
that exercised the body as well as
such life, dreary and harsh as it soi
those things that we regard as eomm
tage of providing work that furnis!
done undep the sense of obligation,
ness in such a life that goes to the
and that puts purity of blood and vi
Tae number of young women w
the unexpected strain of new dutiei
.woman who had become a nervous
' said to me there was no apparent ca
been shielded from everything from
be shielded? Was it ever the case
shielded grew to be a forceful chara<
swift and onerous demands of life?
&
lie Newspapei
By Samuel Bowles, J
0HE difficulties of pro
are great. It cann
is at least self-susta
it exhibits qualities
public. Of course,
but the endowment
tion to serve some <
seems to me impo*
short-sightedly com
public mentor. Such a journal is aj
Intuence. The duty that rests upon
business, to so perform his part, that
appeals with peculiar force to the j
minded and far-sighted enough to s
reader the public is the best investmi
The life of the worker of the pros
Is strenuous and laborious. It is a
upon the patience and tue nerves. T
and the anxiety never cease; emerge
mand the full expenditure of brain
should do so with a keen sense of i
of the so-called learned professions
homes and haunts of the people sh<
tistic, beautiful. To please and imp!
constant aim of the maker. The pi
determining the contents of his she
exercise of skill, ability and energy
worthy sort in making his paper popi
The new conditions and problen
constitute a new and insistent call 11
to perform its obvious duty. These r
and State, but to the immediate e
land. The time is ripe for making on
and. village cleaner, fairer, richer, haj
is to come through a high developme
ment the press should be the most pi
/?>
'{he Art ot Sal
By L. D. Vojjel
- "tOOD salesmanship is so (
G worthy of intelligent stuc
mind, is lifted to the dit
that the definitions of sah
own, but quotations from
do from salesmen of expe;
entitled to respectful cons
TT1|,B1I "Salesmanship is the 1
.??_J acquired?whereby he is j
and sell a prospective customer any
I will quote a few others, which i
which I singled out of many and co
property, in a straightforward maun
with the least expenditure of time i
view the benefit to be derived by the
Another: "Salesmanship is that
la the shortest space of time, to pl.i
greatest amount of satisfactory mere
?>rs the greatest amount of profits; w
tag good will and respect of his cust<
Bear in mind, please, that a sales
cording to this authority, unless he
sivHi preserve the lasting respect and
Another definition that, it seems
follcvn; "Salesmanship is the scienc
ia spevh, loyalty to employer, the h
your weai points, of strengthening 1
but gaining new ones, cf being at all
I will tax your patience witli one
is as true and good as it is terse: ",
attributes are health, honesty. court<
of expression, a firm and unspeaka
knowledge v? and confidence in the i
, Certainly, 5011c of us will deny ti
so well and hx?e such confidence in
that he needs tiie goods; then lie nut
lie does purchase them, he will push
ers
cold, clear streams of the North, certain
as "Mohawk chubs." These fish are the
nd color?graceful, slim, elegant creatures,
on the dorsal ridge, which is the tint of
hey are tender-mouthed, and remind me
aylingf, although they have not the great
ragile mouth of that fish. They often inand
I have an idea that trout feed on the
igli I have no absolute proof that this is
el. maskalonge and black bass strike at
often quite as gamy as grayling. Often
t waters, and have found them interesting i
ter cold and swift.
very fond of them, or at least are often
they may be easier to catch than trout,
ad kingfishers congregate. The only time
n was once when whipping that stream,
od of me and seized a Mohawk chub that
bearing him up out of the pool and away
istant forest.?Harper's Weekly.
I
ealth
of Young Girls
ride, the Alienist and Neurologist
ent day who are brought up under more
>ns than their grandmothers have gained
the change of conditions; but they have
at in many homes there is less of healthy
it kind of work that developed the body
simple and healthy tastes. There is as a
physical development, less feeling of relome
on the part of the young ladies and
>c of duty. "When every member of the
work to do that had to be done, work
the moral sense in discharging a duty?
uetimes was and often barren of most of
on comforts, had at least the great advanbed
physical exercise, and that was also
There is a moral and physical healthfulmaking
of strong and simple characters,
gor of constitution into descendants,
ho soon after marriage break down from
3 is very large. The mother of a young
invalid within two years after marriage
use for her daughter's illness, as she had
childhood. Why, indeed, should anyone
) anywhere that a person who had been
:ter or proved a success in presence of the
r and the State
ournalist
during a worthy and excellent newspaper
ot be efficient and independent unless it
iniug; or, to put it in another way, unless
which will command the support of the
the press may be endowed, in some way,
is apt to be encumbered with an obligaother
interest than that of the public. It
>sible for a journal that is entirely and
mercial in its spirit to be of value as a
)t to be more harmful than helpful in its
every member of society to so conduct his
good, not evil, shall flow from his action,
journalist. The true journalist is broad-;ee
that the best service he can possibly
ent he can make for himself.
;s who is thoroughly devoted to his calling
ttended with an almost incessant strain
he work is never ended; the responsibility
mcies are always imminent, and they deand
muscle. Those who enter upon it
Its responsibilities as if entering any one
i. The newspaper which goes into the
)uld be clean, harmonious, attractive, arrove
the taste of his reader should be the
jblic welfare should be his sole guide in
>et. That affords abundant field for the
, and the employment of sensation of a
alar and strong and profitable,
is created by the country's rapid growth
ipoC the press to rise to its opportunities,
elate not alone to the affairs of the Nation
mvironment of every newspaper in the
r home community life in every city, town
jpier. more just and more beautiful. This
nt of the civic spirit, and in that development
faetor.
& J&
esmanship
essential to all lines of business, and so
ly and execution, that the calling, to my
jnity of a profession. First, let ine say
ismanship which I shall offer are not my
what I have read; and, coming as they
rience who have been successful, they are
iideration.
quality in a man?partly inherent, partly
lble to successfully introduce, interest in
article or commodity."
mpress me as being particularly good, and
pied: "The ability to sell goods, or other
er, with satisfaction to all concerned and
und money, but having always chiefly in
person for whom the property is sold."
quality in a salesman which enables him,
ice in the possession of his customer the
handise, and in the coffers of his employhiie
at the same time preserving the lastDiner."
;n:an is not In '.he salesmanship class, accan
both make a profit for his employer
good will of the customers,
to me, contains many good points, is as
e of putting into each day's work honesty
a.:tie of modern civilization, of watching
hem, of not only keeping your customers
times a gentleman."
more quotation, and this one, to my mind.
Salesmanship is ability to make sales; its
ry. tact, resource, reserve power, facility
b!o confidence in one's self, a thorough
goods one is selling."
mt a good salesman must know his goods
them that he can convince the merchant '
st enthuse him in such a way that, after
them.
NATIONAL PLATFORM
Principles and Policies of Democrats
Issued By the Convention
CURRENCY. TRUSTS AND TARIFF
Syb-Committee, by a Vote of 7 to 3,
Votes in the Gold Plank?Yet to be
Fought T.jrough the Full Committee?Declared
That the Increased
Production of Gold Has Removed
the Issue.
Following is the full text of the
Democratic platform as adopted by
the National Convention at St. Louis.
THE PLATFORM.
"We, the delegates to the Democratic
party of the United States, in national
convention assembled, declare our devotion
to the essential principles of
the Democratic faith which bring us
together in hearty communion.
"Under them local self-government
and national unity and prosperity were
alike established. They underlaid our
independence, the structure of our free
republic and every Democratic extension
from Louisiana to California and
faithfully in all the States the tie be
tween taxation and representation.
They yet inspirit the masses of our
people, guarding jealously their rights
and liberties, and cherishing their fraternity,
peace and orderly development.
They remind us of our duties
and responsibilities as citizens, and
impress upon us, particularly at this
time, the necessity of reform and the
rescue of the administration of government
from the headstrong, arbitrary
and spasmodic methods which
distract business by uncertainty and
pervade the public mind with dread,
distrust and perturbation.
"The application of these fundamental
principles to the living issues of
the day constitutes the first step to
ward the assured peace, safety and
progress of our nation. Freedom of
the press, of conscience and of speech,
equality before the law of all citizens,
the right of trial by jury, freedom of
the person defended by the writ of
heabeas corpus, the supremacy of civil
over military authority; a well disciplined
militia; the separation of
Church and State; economy in expenditures;
low taxes, that labor may be
lightly burdened; the prompt and
sacred fulfillment of public and private
obligations, including fidelity to
treaties; peace and friendship with all
nations, entangling alliances with
m'vmsw nkpAlnfa oomtloQoOTiPn in thp will
UUUC, OUOUIUIC av\|UiV?w-vv *4. ?^
of the majority, the vital principle of
republics?these are doctrines which
Democracy has established as proverbs
of the nation, and they should be constantly
invoked, preached, resorted to
and enforced.
"1. Large reductions can readily be
made in the annual expenditures of the
government without impairing the efficiency
cf any branch of'the public
service, and we shall insist upon the
strictest economy and frugality compatible
with the various and efficient
civil, military and naval administration
as a right of the people too clear to be
denied or withheld.
INVESTIGATIONS PROMISED.
"2. The enforcement of honesty in
the public service and to that end a
thorough legislative investigation of
those executive departments of the
government already known to teem
with corruption, as well as other departments
suspected of harboring corruption,
and the punishment of ascertained
corruption without fear or favor
or regard to persons. The persistent
and deliberate refusal of both the Senate
and House of Representatives to
permit such investigation to be made
by either branch of Congress demonstates
that only by a change in the executive
and in the House of Representatives
can complete exposure,
punishment and correction be obtained.
"In broader furtherance of that end,
the Federal government should not
permit itself to be robbed by entering
into contracts with convicted trusts
or unlawful combinations in restraint
of inter-state trade, existing in violation
of lav. We believe that one of
the best methods of procuring economy
and honesty in the public service is to
have public officials, from the occupant
of the White House down to the lowest
of them, return, as nearjv as may
be, to Jeffersonian simplicity of liv-1
ing.
"3. We favor the nomination and
election of a President trained in the
ways of the constitution, who shall
set his face sternly against executive
usurpation of legisiativo and Judicial
functions, whether that usurpation be
ruled under the guise of executive
construction of existing laws, or
whether it take refuge in the tyrant's
pleas of necessity or superior wisdom.
TARlr'F PERVERSIONS.
"4. The Democratic party has been,
and will continue to be, the consistent
opponent of that class of tariff legislation
by which certain interests have
been permitted, through congressional
favor, to draw a heavy tribute from
the American people. The monstrous
perversion of those equal opportunities
which our political institutions were
established to secure, has caused what
may once have been infant industries
to become the greatest combinations
of capital that the world has ever
known.
"These publicly favored enterprises
have, through trust methods, been
converted into monopolies, thus brfnging
to an end domestic competition,
which was the only check upon the
extravagant profits made possible by
the protective system. These industrial
combinations, by the financial assistance
they can give, now control the .
policy of the Republican party.
"We favor a wise, conservative and
business-like revision and a gradual
reduction cf the tariff by the frienJs
of the masses and for the common
weal, and not by the friends of its
abuses, its extortions and its discriminations.
keeping in view the ultimate
c-nd of "equality of burdens and equality
of opportunities, and the constitutional
purpose of raising a revenue by I
taxation; to wit, the support of the!
Federal government in all its integrity !
and virility, but in simplicity; and;
l#;eping also in view, as men cf com*
iron sense should, existing conditions,
however wrongfully, mistakenly or unjustly
brought about, and the danger
to the cause of tariff reform itself of
abrupt and revolutionary reversal of
policy.
"We should bear in mind, in short,
these two thinge:
"First, The general principle that the
sole derivation of the power of taxaj
tion is the support of the Federal government
economically, effectively and
constitutionally administered, and, second,
the equal truth that in the assertion
of any general principle and in
reaching any ultimate end. however
sacred and logically unavoidable, due
regard, but only due regard must and
should be paid to actually existing conditions.
TARIFF ON TRUST PRODUCTS.
"5. We favor the reduction of tarifT
taxation upon trust-produced articles
to the point where foreign competition
may enter the American marked whenever
trusts and combines, seeking monopoly.
raise their prices to the American
consumer above a resonable and
Just profit, by such reduction depriving
trusts and monopolies of the power to
extort from the American people under
shelter of American law, prices
higher than those charged foreigners
for identical articles.
ISTHMIAN CANAL FAVORED.
"The Isthmian Canal: Our party
having long and earnestly advocated
the construction of an Inter-oceanic
canal for the purposes of national defense
and commerce between the States
nnH oritVi frirpfpn natinns vp favnr the
early completion of the Isthmial Canal,
But while making this declaration and
accepting the results of an accomplished
and irreversible fact, we cannot
too forcibly express our disapproval of
the methods by which, in disregard of
the usages and obligations of international
law and treaty obligations canal
route has been required, or too solemnly
record our hope that this precedent
of defiant diplomacy may never
be used against us to our humiliation
and injury.
TRUSTS DENOUNCED.
"Trusts and Unlawful Combinations:
We recognize that the gigantic trusts
and combinations designed to enable
capital to secure more than its just
share of the joint product of capital
and labor and which have been fostered
and promoted under Republican rule,
are a menace to beneficial competition
and an obstacle to permanent business
prosperity. We demand the vigorous
and impartial enforcement of the laws
already made to prevent and control
such trusts and combinations and we
favor such further legislation in restraint
thereof as experience shows to
be necessary.
"Corporations chartered by authority
of the people must forever remain subject
to regulation in the interest of the
people. A private monopoly is indefensible.
We recognize the right of capital
In all legitimate lines of enterprise to
combine for the increase of business
for enlarging productive capacity and
for decreasing the cost of production;
but when such combination in its purpose
or effect, creates, or tends to create
a monopoly in its productions, to
restrain trade or to stifle competition;
to increase cost to the consumer or to
control the market, it violates the
spirit of the laws, because inimical to
public welfare and peace and should be
so regulated, controlled or prohibited
by law as to amply protect the public
interests.
"We demand that the restraint of
such illegal combinations be entrusted
to the Democratic party which is not
responsible for their existence, and
which has ever protested against their
continuance.
TRUSTS CONDEMNED.
"We condemn the Republican system
of legislation under which trusts monopolies
are enabled to exact higher
prices for their manufactured products
from our own people than they sell
them for abroad.
"We demand an enlargement of the
powers of the inter-State commerce
commission to the end that the traveling.public
and shippers of this country
may have prompt and adequate relief
for the abuses they are subjected to in
the matter of transportation.
"Monroe Doctrine: We favor the
maintenance of the Monroe doctrine in
its full integrity.
"Reciprocity: We favor a liberal
trade treaty with Canada.
"Army and Navy: We favor the reduction
of the army and of army expenditure
to the point historically
demonstrated to be safe and sufficient
We favor the maintenance and liberal
annual Increase of the navy as our best
defense In our Isolated continental conditions
against foreign foe and a
source of no possible danger to our liberties
as a people. *
"We favor the enactment and administration
of laws, giving labor and
capital impartially their just rights.
Capital and labor ought not to be enemies.
Each is necessary to the other.
Each has its rights, but the rights 5f
labor are certainly no less "vested" no
less "sacred" and no less "Inalienable"
than the rights of capital.
PROTECTION OF CITIZENS.
"American Citizenship: We pledge
ourselves to insist upon the just and
lawful protection of our citizens at
home and abroad, and to use all proper
measures to secure for them, whether
native born or naturalized, and without
distinction of race or creed, the
equal protection of laws and the enjoyment
of all rights and privileges
open to them under the covenants of
our treaties .of friendship and commerce;
and if under existing treaties
the right of travel and sojourn is denied
to American citizens or recognition
is withheld from American passports
by any countries on the ground
of race or creed, we favor the beginning
o? negotiations with the governments
of such countries to secure by
new treaties the removal of these unjist
discriminations.
"Pensions: The Democracy would
secure to the surviving soldiers and
sailo:s and dependants generous pensions,
not by an arbitrary executive
order, but by legislation which grateful
people stand ready to enact. Our
soldiers and sailors who defend with
their lives and constitution and the
laws have a sacred interest in their
just administration. They must, therefore.
share with ue the humiliation
with which we have witnessed the exaltation
of court favorites, without distinguished
service, over the scarrc-d heroes
of many battle, or aggrandized by
executive appropriations out of the
treasuries of a prostrate people, in violation
of the act of Congress which
fixes the compensation and allowances
of the military officers.
SHIP SUBSIDY BILL DENOUNCED.
"Merchant Marine: We denounce the
ship subsidy bill recently passed by the
United States Senate as an iniquitous
appropriation of public funds for private
purposes and a wasteful, illogical
and useless attempt to overcome by
subsidy the obstructions raised by Republican
legislation to the growth and
development of American commerce on
the sea. We favor the upbuilding of a
merchant marine without new or additional
burdens upon the people and
without bounties from the public I
treasury.
"Civil Service: The Democratic
party stands committed to the principles
of civil service reform, and we
demand their honest, just and impartial
enforcement. We denounce th#
Republican party for its continuous
and sinister encroachments upon the
spirit and operation of civil service
rules, whereby it has arbitrarily dispensed
with examinations for office in
the interests of favorites and employed
all manner of devices to over-reach and
set aside the principles upon which the
civil service was established.
"Condemnation of Polygamy: We de
uiuiiu lutr caici uiuiauuii ui j
within the jurisdiction of the United
States, and the complete separation of
chuAh and State in political affairs.
"Reclamation of Arid Lands and Domestic
Development: We congratulate
our Western citizens upon the passage
of the measure known as the Newland's
irrigation act for the irrigation
and reclamation of the arid lands of the
West?a measure framed by a Democrat,
passed in the Senate by a nonpartisan
rote and passed in the House
against the opposition of almost all
the Republican leaders by a vote, the
majority of which was Democratic. We
call attention to this great Democratic
measure, broad ahd comprehensive as It
is working automatically throughout
all time without further action of Congress
until the reclamation of all the
lands in the arid West capable of reclamation
is accomplished, reserving
the lands reclaimed for home-seekers
in small tracts and rigidly guarding
against land monopoly as an evidence
of the policy of domestic development
contemplated by the Democratic party,
should it be placed in power."
NEWSY GLEANINGS.
Many men have deserted from the
battleship Illinois.
Cotton grows wild in Colombia, and
the natires are beginning to think
seriously of cultivating it.
A man asleep on a roof in New York ;
City rolled off, struck a cable and slid
down It, escaping injury.
Labor unions of Georgia are advocating
the establishment of a Bureau
of State Labor Statistics and Mining.
A passenger on a Brooklyn. N. Y.,
car was almost roasted to death by a
broken trolley wire, that coiled about
him.
The new trans-Canadian route from
Liverpool to Yokohama will be 2200
miles shorter than that across the
United States.
The Budget Committee of the Chamber
of Deputies voted against an appropriation
for the French Embassy
at the Vatican.
The second wife of John G. Underbill,
of New York City, who married
him four days after his first wife divorced
him, has also secured a decree.
Edward Denton, an insane Long
Island farmer, after starving his
family four days and with a shotgun
defying four deputy sheriffs, was overpowered?
The Iter. W. S. Newson. of Califon,
N. J., clad only in pajamas, married a
runaway couple just before the pursuing
parents of the bride arrived to
forbid the ceremony,
The Poland tunnel, 8071 feet long,
between the Agua Fria and Lynx
Creek valleys of Arizona, has been
completed. It is for the purpose of
private mining development.
The Cunarder Campania arrived in
New York City having printed on it*
voyage a daily ocean newspaper, of
which the wireless telegraph service
was superintended in person by Mr.
Marconi.
THE NATIONAL GAME.
Holmes is playing a g-xxl game foi
Chicago.
Keeler is stealing a base in most
every game.
Gilbert's fielding continues to be a
feature of the New York's work.
Brown's pitching for Chicago has
justified Sciee's trade of Jack Taylor
for him.
It is next to impossible to double
the speedy Bay, of Cleveland, at first
on an infield bit.
Pitcher Breitenstein has been appointed
manager of the Natchez Club,
of the Cotton States League.
O'Lcary, of Detroit, is showing the
way to all short stops of this year's
crop, with an average of .940.
Not long ago the Washiuugton Club
was offered $15,000 for Coughlin and
ratten, but turned the offer down.
Bradley, Ilolmes and Dougherty
come in order named as the run-getters
of the American League.
Kruger, the Pittsburg substitute, hit
in the head by pitcher Wilhelm, is
now at his home in Chicago for a long
stay.
The veteran Herman Long has resigned
from Toledo. Ilis sucessor as
manager-captain is second baseman
Burns.
Says the Boston Globe: "No League
team had struck this town yet that
looks as good as Pittsburg, when the
long road to go is considered."
Outfielder Niieckard has been sent
South by the Brooklyn Club to size up
minor league talent. Six Brooklyn
players are marked for the axe.
Of Pittsburg's $4000 college pitcher.
Lynch, the ex-Yale pitcher, John S.
(Jarvan says: "Mike Lynch has every
other college pitcher beaten a mile."
Dcviin, of New York, made by far
the best showing of any minor leaguer
recruited by the National League this
year.
Whatever goes up must conic
down" is unfortunately not true ol
the book on the shelf.
THE SUiNDAY SCHOOL
INTERNATIONAL LESSON COMMENTS
FOR JULY 17.
Subject: Aaa'a Good Helen, II Cliron.,
xlv., 1-12?Golden Text, II Cliron.,
xtv.# 11?Memory Verne*. 2-3?Commentary
on the Lcuan.''
T. Reformation under Asa (vs. 1-3). 1.
"City of David." Jerusalem. "Asa. his
son." Abijah had many sons (chap. 13:21).
"Reigned." Asa reigned forty-one years.
"Was quiet." That is, they had no wars.
"Ten years." This was probably the result,
largely, of Abijah's great victory over
Jeroboam. These% ten years of rest are
naturally to be assigned to the beginning
of Asa's reign; later on there was a rest
of twenty years (compar- chap. 15:10 with
15:19). The number ten here makes a
discrepancy with 1 Kings, for Haasha became
king of Israel in the third year of
Asa, and "there was war between Asa and
Baasha all their days" (1 Kings 15:32). 2.
"Good and right." After the division of
the kingdom not one of the nineteen kir.gs
that ruled over Israel was a good king,
and only a few of the uineteen who rulea
over Judah were good. Asa was the first
good king of Judah. He followed the commandments
of God with ins whole heart,
and in hat respect was like David. "la
the eyes of?God." 1. He aimed at pleas
mg uoa. i. xie saw uou s eye ama>?
upon him. 3. God approved of what ho
did. The important question is not whether
we are right in our own eyes, or in the
c^es of the world, but are we right before
3. "He took away." This statement,
which is again repeated in verse 3, seems
to be contradicted in chap. 15:17. where it
is said ' the high places were not takea
away out of Israel." There are different
ways of explaining this apparent discrepancy.
Perhaps the best explanation is that
Asa made a great effort to remove them
from his kingdom, and was largely successful,
but that notwithstanding all his efforts
he failed of complete success. The writer
does not say that he took away "all" the
high places. Some think that the high
places here referred to were those of the
strange gods, while thosfc where Gad wag
worshiped were suffered to remain; otlters
think that at one time in his reign Asa
succeeded in abolishing all the high places,
but that they subsequently appeared azain.
"Strange gods." Heathen deities. "High
places. It was the practice of thcheathen
to erect altars for their idolatrous worship
on the tops of hills or mountains, supposing
they were nearer to God and heaven.
"Groves." "Asherim." R. V. Thio
word is the proper nape for a heathen
goddess. Asherah (plural for Asherim
and Asheroth), and is another form for
Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Zidonians.
Asherah was their female. a9 Baal was
their male divinity. In the plural it is
often used in the more general sense of
idols.
4. "To seek the Lord." Compare chap.
15:12, 13. Asa commanded the people to
observe all the divine institutions which
they had been utterly neglecting. After .
destroying idolatry, Asa revived religious
worship (1) by his personal example, and
(2) by the use of his authority. He car- *
ried out the reforms in a spirit of self-consecration,
coitrage and zeal. He sought to
please God first and not himself or his
courtiers. 5. "Images." "Sun images."
R. V. The original word is different from
the one used in verse 3. The Hebrew word
is of uncertain meaning, and it is possible
that no kind of image is meant, but rather
the hearth on which the sacred fire was
keot. The Hebrew root means to be hot.
"Was quiet." The people obeyed the commands
of Asa and sought the Lord (chap.
15).
tt A?f M.*I a o\ a
II. 1184 s military ucieiises p?. voj. v.
"Built fenced cities." He probably restored
the fortresses which Shishak, the
kin? of Egypt, had taken and dismantled
(chap. 12:24). The kingdom of Judah
had probably been tributary to Egypt
since the time of Shishak's invasion (cnap.
12:8), but now Asa discerned a favorable
time to throw off this foreign yoke, and
while the land was unguarded by the
Egyptians he fortified his kingdom. "Lord
had given." Asa had not gained rest and
success by his own valor, but God had
given it. 7. "Land?before us." That is,
while the land was unoccupied and unguarded
by their enemies and they were
free to go at their own pleasure. "Sought
the Lord." It is always good to seek the
Lord. Those who pursue the world meet
with vexation of spirit, but God gives
peace and prosperity and real prosperity
can come only from God. 8. "Targets and
spears." See R. V. The Hebrew word
here rendered target means a large shield.
"Out of Judah." Asa's array is divided
into heavy-armed soldiers, carrying spears,
belonging to Judah, and light-armed bowmen
belonging to Benjamin. "All these."
This does not mean that Asa had an army
of 5S0.000 professional soldiers, such as
compose European armies or our standing
army, but there were in Judah aud Benjamin
this number of men capable of bearing
arms and liable to be called into service.
III. Asa defeats the Ethiopians (vs.
9-15). 9. "Zerah the Ethiopian." He
probably belonged to the same dynasty as
Shishak (chap. 12:24), for his army wag
composed of the same nations. This proves
him to have been an Egyotian and ^ot. as
some have thought, an Arabian or Asiatic
"king. His object in invading Judah was
doubtless to recover to Egypt the cities
which Asa had been fortifying, for Asa's
procedure had been virtually a rebellion
against Egypt. "A thousand thousand."
This is the largest collected army of which
we hear in the Scriptures. But some think
that the number is not to be taken literally,
and that a thousand thousand signifies
that there was a great host too great
to number. "Three hundred chariots."
The chariots, though comparatively few,
r.rc mentioned because Asa himself had
rone at all. "Mareshnh." One of the
citie3 which had been fortified bv Reho- t
boam (chap. 11:8). It was probably near
the western border of Judah, about twenty-five
miles southwest of Jerusalem.
11. "Cried unto tne Lo 1." Asa saw
that his ho'ie of success was not in any effort
he might be able to make, but in God.
His faith and courage mounted high, and
with holy boldness he pressed his case.
"Nothing,with Thee." See R. V. It is
alike to rhee to help the powerful or the
weak. Thou canst as easily help the weak
as the strong. "In Thy name." That is,
by Thy commission, in confidence of Thy
assistance, and for the maintenance of Thy
honor and service and people. "We go."
Although relying on God for victory, yet
Asa made the best preparations possible
and went out to meet the enemy. "Against
Thee.' Asa thus made the battle the
Lord's, and called upon Hint to maintain
His own honor. 12. "The Lord smote."
But not without the help of Asa .and hit
Jewish and Benjamite forces. "Fled."
Filled with terror the vast Ethiopian
-? fled to the south.
Red Rose Paid for Rent.
Probably one of the longest leases
known was granted for a small piece
of meadow land, some sixteen acres
in extent, in Surrey. It is for the
term of 2.000 years, and was granted
on St. Michael's Day, in 1651, at the
singular rental of "a red rose when
demanded." It Is not stipulated that
the rose shall be the product of this
land, which is fortunate, for no such
rose grows anywhere on the sixteen
acres.