HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Advocate, 1890-4-10, Page 6Life's Key.
The hand that fashioned me tuned my ear
To chord with the major key.
In the darkest moments of life 1 hear
Otrains of courage, and hope, and oheer
From choirs that I cannot see ;
Aud the music of life seems so inspired
That it will not )et me grow sad or tired.
Yet through and under the magic strain
I hear, with the passing of years.
The mournful minor's measures of pain—
Of souls that struggle and toil iu vain
For a goal that never nears,
A,nd the sorrowful cadence of good gone wrong
Breaks more and more into earth's glad song.
And oft, in the dark of the night, I wake,
And think of sorrowing lives ;
And I long to comfort the hearts that ache,
To sweeten the cup that is bitter to take,
And to strengthen each soul that strives.
11oup to cry to thorn : " Do not fear
Help is coming and aid is near."
However desolate, weird, or strange
Lite's monody sounds to you,
Before to -morrow the air may change,
And the Great Dirootor of Music arrange
A programme perfectly new ;
And the dirge in minor may suddenly be
Turned into a juldlant song of glee.
How aohuny Lost the Prize.
His family and friends were there,
His uncles, cousins, aunts ;
And all wore sure that for the prize
Their Johnny had best chance.
'Twos Johnny's turn to speak his piece,
Re said, with outstretched hands :
" Under the spreading blacksmith tree
The village chestnut stands,"
ADOPTED BY THE DEAN
A STORY OPTW OIINTaIEft.
CHAPTER VI.
The De Mabilione met with a great deal
of sympathy, notwithatandine that such
losses as theirs were now everyday events.
The Lemeroiers were kindness itself ;
indeed, had it not been for madame's solid -
bade, Esperanoe would have fared badly.
Gaspard's wound healed all toogniokly,and
by the middle of December he had rejoined
his battalion, leaving Esperanoe to her
woman's lot of anxious waiting. This.
added to her grief and loneliness, would
soon have proved too much for her, had not
Mme. Lemercier, on the very first day of
Gaspard'a absence, paid a visit to the
quatrieme etuge, her kind little eyes spark-
ling with satisfaction as she felt the
brillanoy of her new idea.
Eeperance was sitting in a disconsolate
attitude, wrapped in a shawl, and knitting
as fast as her benumbed fingers would
allow. Madame's bright eyes grew dim for
a moment ; there was something inex-
pressibly sad in the look of silent suffering,
on saoh a young face. She made haste to
unfold her plan.
" You feel very cold here," she began,
with a little shiver put in for effect, as in
reality she was burning with excitement.
" Without doubt, the higher in the house,
the colder the rooms. Let me feel your
hands, child. Dame ! but yon will die of
cold if you remain here much longer."
" This is the worst day we have had,"
said Esperanoe, " and Javotte says there is
no possibility of getting coal, or even Doke ;
She has gone out now to try to obtain wood,
but they say it is very dear."
" Yes, and what is worse than that, it is
scarce," said madame, lowering her voice
impressively ; " if you get it today, you
may not be able to do eo to -morrow."
Mme. Lemercier was usually so very
sanguine that Esperanoe was quite sur-
prised to hear such gloomy forebodings.
She soon saw through the little device,
however. Madame, thinking she had
beaten about the bush long enough, cleared
her throat, smoothed her lade mittens, and
began. " My dear Eeperance. I name to
make a propoeal to yon. Yes, lay aside
your knitting, for it is a thing of import-
ance—of importance, I repeat, far life is
important even in a siege."
Esperance thought of Gaspard, and said,
"Yes, madame."
" It ie a change of life, then, that I come
to contemplate," continued madame.
" Below, in oar little salon, there burns a
fire of wood, a small fire. This morning,
moneienr said to me, ' Antoinette, which
do you prefer, a fire or a domestic ? We
can not keep both.' Atter a little consider-
ation, I replied, ' I prefer to have warmth.'
Thus you see dear, I am without a servant.
What takes place then 2 I come to pay a
viii' to recount my troubles. What do I
find ? That you have a servant, bait no fire;
while I have a fire, bat no servant."
Madame paused, out of breath. Esper.
anoe clapped her hands gayly.
" And you think we might unite our
forces ? Ah I but it is a good idea 1 "
" Really ? You find it so ? And your
brother, will he approve ? "
" Oh, yes, doubtless. He and Monsieur
Lemeroier can talk polities all the evening.
Picture to yourself how they will argue ! "
After a consultation with Javotte, the
arrangement was finally settled, and Esper-
ance was so happily excited by the change
of quarters that the day passed by almost
quickly.
Gaspard, returning in the evening, was
thankful enongh to find a fire awaiting
him, and though the conversation turned
entirely on the proposed., sortie, Esperance
could not find it in her heart to be wholly
unhappy, but resolved to enjoy the present
while it was hers, and for the future to
hope.
The next few days were particularly
trying ; the sortie was several times
arranged, and then put off in a way that
taxed every one's patienoe sorely.
On the night of the 20th, however, Gas-
pard really was obliged to march, and
Esperance was painfully reminded of the
terrible parting before the last sortie. The
recollection, bowever, was not without its
comfort, for was not her father beyond the
reach of all pain, and weariness, and hard-
ship ? She could not help being really
thankful now, even though the desolation
and loneliness was so hard to bear.
Mme. Lemercier devised all manner of
distractions for her, a visit to the
Ladies' Society for Working for the Sulk
and Wounded, a walk with monsieur, and
new books to read. The news was not
very cheering --severe fighting for eight
hours, and little, if anything, gained. This
was on the 21st.
On the evening of the next day every one
felt dull and depressed; madame, her
chair drawn close to the little fire could not
suppress a heavy sigh every now and then
though each time it escaped her she would
give a little Dough, hoping to deceive Esper-
ance. Javotte—who, of coarse, had a share
in the one fire—sat, rosary in hand, mur-
muring " Aves " for M. Gaspard. Eeper-
ance, looking very pele and anxious was
reading Dumas' " Tulipe Noire " aloud,
trying hard to seem interested in the ad-
ventures of Cornelia° and Rosa, while she
strained her ears to patch the faintest
sound from below.
Gryphus was in the very act of dis-
covering a la tulipe," Cornelius in an agony
of grief, when Eeperance soddenly stopped,
and sprung to the door. Stops were slowly
:ascending the etairs, 112. Lemeroier'e voice
was board making some nnoomplitnentary
remark about Trachu--a hoarse voice
aseenting. A minute mere, and Gaspard
dragged himself into the dimly lighted
room, almost falling into the nearest chair,
while M. Lemeroier hastened to reassure
Esperance.
no, ho is not wounded, my dear
mademoiselle, only worn out with fatigue
and the cold. Some hot brandy and water,
Antoinette ; we shall soon revive him, do
not fear."
Eeperance took the musket from the,
stiff, benumbed hands, and bent down to
kiss her brother, starting back in horror to
find his mustache quite frozen. He was
just enough alive to be amused at her terror,
and to, whisper, hoarsely, that it would
thaw very soon•
Mme. Lemeroier and Javotte began to
tend him with great delight ; it was their
first attempt at nursing, and between their
care, the warmth, and the restoratives,
Gaspard was soon relieved, and able to give
some account of the sortie, whiab had been
unsuccessful
The intents cold was of long duration. It
told fearfully upon the National Guard, so
much so, that as many as could possibly be
spared, were sent back to Paris. Gaspard
had taken a violent chill and was ill in bed,
and Eeperance while thankful to have him
safe at home, was terribly distressed at the
short rations of unappetizing horseflesh,
which, in his weak state, he found almost
uneatable. She, far the first time, fully
realized all the disoomforts of the siege, and
longed impatiently for an end to their
privation and misery.
Christmas was not quite so sad as she
bad anticipated. To begin with, Gaspard
was much better, and able to come down to
the Lomereiers' salon, and madame was eo
bright and cheerful that it was impossible
not to catch something of her humor.
Then, too, there was a great surprise.
Javotte returned from her marketing with
a beaming face ; she had been standing en
queue for hours, bat what joy I she had
brought home rations of beef, and a little
butter, luxuries long unheard of.
Such good fortune did not come again,
however. Food became more and more
scarce, the thermoneter still remainea
twelve degrees below zero, and there was no
prospects of relief.
The Jour de l'an dawned gloomily, even
Mme: Lemercier felt a little depressed,
everything was eo triste ; no presents, no
amusements, no gayeties of any desoription,
but a gray sky, a mourning people, and
distant firing.
M. Lemercier went to a political lecture
at the republican club to which he be-
longed, Gaspard insisted on joining his
battalion, Javotte went out to the market,
and Eeperance and madame were lett to
their own devices.
Esperanoe began to make a wreath of
immorteilee for her father's grave. Madame
sat knitting for some time ; at last she
spoke—but hurriedly—as if she disliked her
subject.
" Esperanoe, mon amie, do you not think
that our poor Javotte grows very thin 2"
Eeperance started.
" I told her so only the other day but she
merely laughed, and said one did not
expect to grow fat in a siege. Do you
think she is ill, dear madame 2 "
" I have thought so for long, my poor
child ; but do not grieve, I may be mis-
taken. What makee me anxious is this :
for the last two days I have kept watch
with great care to see what she eats, and as
far as I can tell only two small pieces of
bread has she taken."
Esperance's eyes filled with tears.
" It must have been in order that Gas-
pard and I should have enough 1 My poor
Javotte 1 how selfish I have been but even
then it seemed so little."
While they were still talking of her,
Javotte entered with her small market -
basket, which though light enough seemed
to hang heavily on her arm. She was an
ugly old woman, with a very yellow,
wrinkled faoe, made still more conspienons
by her pure white cap and scarlet necker-
chief ; but there was something pathetic in
her little black eyes, and in her odd, harsh
voice as she said, " The rations are but
small to -day, oherie, but they that at the
Marche St. Germain there are some pretty
little dogs and oats for sale."
Eeperance could not help laughing.
" Yes, yes, I told yon so, madame=-
Boucherie canine et feline.' I have seen it
with my own eyes. Doubtless that is
where my poor Minette went the other day,
when we missed her 1 But Javotte 1
Javotte 1 what is it ? " for Javotte had
suddenly tamed pale and would have fallen,
had madame not guided her to a chair.
" Dear child, du not fear," faltered the
old servant ; " it is only the cold—I shall
be warm soon."
Mme. Lemercier made her swallow some
brandy, which revived her for a few min.
utes, but she soon sank again into a semi-
oonsoious state, and though Esperance
chafed the wrinkled old hands, she could
get no warmth into them.
Madame began to be alarmed, and M.
Lemercier coming in at that minute, was
sent to fetch the doctor. They made a
temporary bed close to the fire, and between
them carried her to it, shocked to find what
a light weight she was. Tben madame
prepared some hot gruel, while Esperance
sat sorrowfully watching the inanimate
form, fall of sad forebodings.
At length the pale lips moved, and
Esperanoe bent down to catch the faint
words.
" Mon enfant bien-aime, who will go to the
market for you when I am dead ? You
must not go out unprotected."
" Oh I my poor Javotte, do not speak so.
Yon must not die, indeed you must not."
" Well, my pretty, I should like to live, I
have prayed that I may live to the end of
the siege, that I might take care of you ;
but I think it will not bo, for I feel myself
very tired."
' Dear, dear Javotte 1 yon have done so
much for us. See, madame brings you
some gruel, I will feed you."
Javotte seemed thronghly roused ; her
blank eyes turned anxiously in the direction
of the gruel.
" Madame has not need the good oatmeal
for me ? Ab, what a pity 1 it should have
been for Monsieur Gaspard tonight ; and
snob a large cup. No, no, I cannot drink it."
Even Mme. Lemeroier could not restrain
her tears. Esperance, with a bitter cry,
threw herself down by the bedside.
" Oh 1 Javotte, Javotte ! you have been
starving yourself for our sake, and now it
is too late 1"
Before she had recovered herself, M.
Lemercier returned with the doctor. But
alas, there was nothing to be done, the poor
old woman was evidently dying—mold,
hunger, and her own self-denial had slowly
but surely done their work.
Esperance waited for the end in heart-
broken silence, At Javotte's request she
bronght the carved, black rosary, and
placed it in the withered, nerveless fingers,
while, with failing breath, the old woman
murmured e. prayer ; then, with tronabling
fingers, elle placed the beads round Esper.,
anoe'e neck.
" Pour souvenir of your poor _ Javotte,"
she whispered.
Madame asked if she would not see a
priest, and she assented faintly, but before
he arrived the soul of the faithful old ser-
vant had passed away. Her last look had
been for Esperance. The poor child, full
of grief and self-reproaoh, had bent down
to kiss the cold brow, and had whispered,
"Dear Javotte, yott have given your life for
ns 1" .A.nd Javotte had looked up with a
beantifnl smile, and said, " Mon enfant
bien-gime, what would you then ? I love
you."
Then the smile had died away, and the
had fallen asleep like a little child.
Javotte had eeemed Duly an ignorant old
peasant woman ; all felt now that she was
indeed a saint..
While they were still standing round the
bed, the priest entered with his salutation
of peace. Madame hastened to tell him
that it was all over, and related poor
Javotto's story ; and Esperanoe felt a
strange thrill at her heart as she heard hint
reply :
" And the king shall answer and say
unto them, ' Verily I say unto you, inas
mnoh as ye have done it unto one of the
Ieast of these My brethren, ye have done it
unto me."'
CHAPTER VII.
The horrors of the bombardment of the
pity were now added to all the previous
misery. Small -pox and famine had been
oaerying off .hundreds and hundreds of the
inhabitants ; now a fresh agentenf death
made its appearanoe.
The first few days were full of terror to
Mme. Lemercier and to Eeperanoe. Naim•
bere of shells had fallen in their immediate
neighborhood, and they dreaded leaving the
hoose. But this alarm wore off with the
novelty, and very soon they went about as
unconcernedly as if no danger existed.
Poor Esperanoe felt Javatte's death
deeply. Almost unconsciously she had
leaned upon the good old servant ; and now
that her father was dead, and Gaspard
scarcely ever at home, she felt very lonely,
and often in need of advice and help, which
no one could give. Mme. Lemercier, good
and kind as she was, could not fill the
vacant place ; hers was a good-natured, but
weak character, wholly unfit for any sort of
guidance, and Esperanoe needed a much
stronger support.
The days passed by slowly and painfully.
Once only, a ray of comfort Dame, and for
a time the oinking spirits of the Parisians
were raised. News was brought from the
provinces by a oarrier-pigeon,. that Paid-
herbe had driven back the enemy in the
Pas -de -Calais ; that an unknown general
at Nuits, with 10,000 men, had beaten the
Prussians with 25,000 ; and that Garibaldi
was at Dijon gathering recruits.
M. Lemercier was much elated at snob
an unexpected turn of fortune ; and even
Gaspard, who of late had been despondent,
grew more cheerful, and his spirits were a
better page than M. Lemeroier's, for he
was exposed to far more danger and hard-
ship.
Three months of real experience as a
National Guard of the marching battalions,
bad. taught Gaspard more about life than
la's whole previous education. The dis-
cipline had been severe, the hardship great,
the failure and disappointment very trying,
but they had all done their work, and
under their influence Gaspard was greatly
changed.
Esperanoe soon found this out, even in
the short visite he paid her, and felt that
he was growing far more like their father
than she had ever ventured to hope. This
knowledge, however, sweet as it was, served
to make their partings far more painful,
and she looked forward with dread to the
next sortie, which all knew must soon be
attempted.
One last effort was to be made : if that
failed there would be no hope left for Paris.
Even Eeperance, in her grief, was roused
to a more patriotic feeling than she had
hitherto ehown, and _this helped to make
the parting, on the night" 'of the 18th of
January, rather more bearable for was not
this the " sortie de desespoir ? " There was
something grand, inspiring, in the very
name.
The time passed by wearily to the
anxious Parisians. Esperance thought no
day in the whole siege had been quite so
long and oppreseive. M. Lemercier'co'"' e
in about noon, reported that the move-
ments of the troops had been mach
hindered by a fog, but that the battle was
now at its height, the attempt being to force
the Praseians lines between Montretoat
and La Marche.
(To be Continued.)
What Mrs. Grundy Says.
That in many cases your " profound
thinker " is very much muddled himself.
That sometimes the strongest man loses
his head over the weakest kind of woman.
That it is a real pleasure to see a girl on
the street who walks without swinging her
arms.
That betting is one of the national sins,
and has broke out in planes where least
expected.
That emulation has brought more people
to impecuniosity than years of business
disaster.
That the number of complete cranks met
with everywhere nowadays is absolutely
astonishing.
That six out of ten " society women " of
to -day seem to have the wrong ideas as to
married life.
That political prophets say five years
from now there will be at least two more
European republics.
That some young men's ambition is Bettis.
fied with a bob -tailed horse and yellow.
wheeled waggon.
That the winter has almost passed with -
oat any book or novel good enough to be
" talked about."
That " going out between the acts " at
the theatre is confined to men of whom it
is to be expected.
That he is never gallant or kind who
criticises any amateur performance for
the benefit of charity.
That women who regale yon with their
troubles with servants and other domestic
affairs are fatiguing.
That where " attractive features" are
necessary in church services there is some.
thing amiss with the people.
That it is interesting to read in the
newspapers jest how much money engaged
people have.—New Yorke Hail and Express.
. That Imaginary Boundary
The boundary line between the United
States and Canada is not " imaginary," as
most people suppose. The fact is the lino
is distinotly marked from Lake Michigan
to Alaska by cairns, iron pillars, earth
mounds and timber clearings. There are
385 of these marks between the Lake of
the Woods and the base of the Rooky
Mountains, The British placed one post
every two miles and the United States one
between each British post. The posts are
of oast -iron, and oast on their faces are the
words, " Convention of London, October
20, 1818." Where the line mattes lakes,
mountains of stones have been built pro -
jading eight jeet above high-water mark.
In forests the line is defined by felling trees
for a space a rod wide.—St. Louis Globe.
Democrat.
Salesman—This is exceptionally fine ; all
hand painted. Small sitter, scornfully—
That's nothing ; so is the book of our
house.
The Gananogne Conrail found fault
with the Chief of Police of the town for, as
they alleged, not doing hie duty. The
chief was told to "hustle," and he ham
tled. Among the first of his victims were
the reeve and deputy.reeve, who had vie
fated a town bylaw.
THE PULPIT AND BUSINESS,
Doubtful Money -liaising Do y g Methods In
Church and Shop.
p
KANT'S STANDARD ON MORALITY.
Duty of Criticism—Clean Methods Desir-
able—Lotteries and Games of Ciiance—
Why Gambling is Wrong.
SECOND mean.
To rooapitalate the conclusions of the
preceding paper : There is a growing in -
tercet in questions of asooiological charm-
,
tera. marked evidence of which is the
pulpit attention now being devoted to them.
This is a hopeful sign, not only for the
Church as an organization, but also for the
weal of mankind, toward which it is so
eminently adapted to contribute. -The
Christian minister will receive a warm
welcome into the ranks of the students of
sooiology, but the degree of usefulness or
success to which he may attain there will
be entirely dependent upon his application
to the etudy of human progress and his
ability to dissooiate hie mind from precon-
ceived ideas and the diota of authority, and
to laboriously and carefully discover and
define manse and effeot, action and conse-
quence, and their result on the status of
mankind. ` Science recognizes no virtue in
ordination ; every worker is a philanthro-
pist, and the rewards she offers Dome not by
belief, but by work. She has no
sanctum sanctorum from which critics
are excluded and in which botch work is
sheltered ; and she recognizes no conclusion
as entitled to immunity from the critical
demand for proofs.
That religion mast benefit from the ele-
vation of society to a higher plane of
morality is almost self-evident. Sociology
concerns iaself with true morality, and,
while I may concede the distinction be-
tween the merely moral and the religious
for which the pulpit so strenuously non.
tends, I find it impossible to conceive of a
true Christianity lacking in morality. Tree
morality is, aocording to Kant, to " aot
always o that the immediate motive of
thy will may become a universal rule for
all intelligent beings." If the religion of
the day could claim far its adherents a due
conformity to this rule there would be little
left for the sociologist to accomplish.
But it has not so well succeeded. A
short time ago a well-known minister de.
parted so far from the use of " the drag-
net of comfortable conformity" as to preach
at specific, everyday business methods of
doubtful morality. For his temerity in
abandoning illustration by patriarchal
lapses from virtue he was roundly berated
and attained to more or less of a certain kind
of notoriety. Now, it may be that his
denunciation was too severe or hie generaliz-
ations too comprehensive, bat the incident
tends to show that while our bosoms glow
with charity for the suffering martyrs of
many centuries ago, and while we go out in
spirit with David to whip Goliath, our
tears for the suffering of to -day come none
too readily and our resentment of present
wrong -doing is none too keen. Moreover is
it not too true that we can take far more
satisfaction out of seeing Davidand other
fallible worthies of the dead past pilloried
for their moral offences than in having our
own imperfections displayed beside the
strict rale of Truth and Justice?
7 But the minister was well within his duty
in discussing the morals of the day, and if
fault was properly to be found it could
only be on the ground that he had not suf.
fioiently verified his data to totally exolude
error. What of a religious teacher who is
dumb before dishonesty ? of a religion that
bas not parity—personal and as a church—
or its ideal?
Dishonesty in business unfortunately ex•
ists and is wide -spread and varied in its
methods. Perhaps strict propriety has not
always been regarded even in our
" schemes " for obtaining church funds,
not a few of which savor of gambling. The
merohant who sells a piece of goods which
he guarantees not to " run, fade or crook,"
yet which grievously disappoints the pur-
ohaeer, ought not to have the cheek to
grumble if a general condemnation of die.
honesty includes his methods. The mer-
chant may be deoeived himself, of course,
but he should then be oarefal of hie per-
sonal assurances. Judged by Hume's
standard of morality the man who, selling.
ing a property, conceals a defect and thus
allows a purchaser to be deceived is as guilty
as if he actually misrepresented its condi-
tion under a general statement. Is that
too high a standard? And if it is, what
degree of votive or passive deceit may be
tolerated ? Has the pulpit always urged
upon the pews this high ideal ?
It may be said that there
are few men who would go out of their way
to point eut a defeat in an article they have
to sell ; but is that not merely a confession
of laxity in morals? Why could not busi.
nese be done on such a principle? "Here
is a piece of very fine china. Looks like
Dresden ware, doesn't it ? But it isn't. You
would have bought it for Dresden ? Yes.
Well, I wouldn't take advantage of yon. It
is a beautiful pieoe and as serviceable as
the best at a very cheap figure, but not
Dresden, you know." Or, " Here is a very
nice new print which was sold to us as a
good washer. I think it will wash, but it
is new and we have not tested it ourselves."
I think a goad deal of business is done on
this fair, honest basis ; why should it not
all be so done ? The pulpit ought to keep
prominently before the pews the fact that
the man who deals on the prinoiple of
getting all he can out of his fellows so long
as he can keep out of the clutches of the
law is very far from being a moral man—
his actions are not the outcome of respect
for moral obligations or his duty to hie
fellows, but fear of the law -and he may be
a very bad man.
Gambling is a very common vide. It
enters into many lines of business ; it is
the drawing card in many entertainments.
It has not been condemned, absolutely, by
the pulpit with any degree of unanimity ;
and it has been, and is even now, used to
raise funds for the propogation of a gospel
that contemplates a different system of
ethics. Isn't it a rather htinniliating
thonght that while it is by law a misde-
meanor to organize or even advertise a
lottery or drawing by obanoe, because it is
demoralizing, the right to hold such draw-
ings hi specially reserved as a privilege of
the Church and charitable institutions ? If
drawings and lotteries are evils from which
the citizens of the State, as citizens, are to
be guarded by statutory penalties against
their promoters, where is the alembic that
transmutes the evil into good for the fur-
theranoe of eohemes of religion and philan-
thropy 7 Now, I do not share in the cur-
rent prejtidioe against games of chance,
as games of chance ; but as the
mediums for gambling, whether for a
minstrel troupe or a foreign mission, they
are only evil. At a church entertainment
in a Canadian pity not long ago a big pins
cushion well filled with pins was a centre
of attraction. Ten dente paid for one guess
at the number ot pins ata the nearest
guesser got the pin-ousltion, Another
eobeme was the " grab-bag," and there
were many other ' obanoe " schemes.
Wherein was the moral difference between
these schemes ot making (money (apart from
the objeot) from the Louisiana and kindred
lottery eoemes ? There ia no more funda-
mental violation of eooiologioal laws than
the vice of gambling, whether for ohuroh
or race track In the normal condition re-
ceipt of benefit implies efforts pat forth
and a contribution of equal benefit to the
other party, whereas in gambling there is
not only a lack of effort hat inetead of en
exohange of benefits the; happiness of the
winner meaua suffering to the loser. Of all
the condemnation visited on gambling very
little of it is on these lines; yet an ex.
emanation will convince thatthis is the
only true test of its good or evil. All the
nonsense about the " sinfulness " of gamee
into which chauoe enters may be
briefly passed over here, The word
"°hence" has been to pertain persons what
the red cloak of, the niatadore is to the
bull, and on the strength of a misunder-
standing of that word Theology has sand.
bagged Science whenever opportunity
offered. Chance," as I have used it, and
as it is known to science, may be thus do•
fined by illustration : We vee a piece of
paper gyrating in a whirlwind and speak of
it as'000upyiug a given position, or desorib•
ing a given course, by " ohanoe.'. But that
does not exolude cause. Indeed, the
scientist will laugh at a suggestion of " an.
caused" action, and he will tell you that
were he in possession of a knowlege of the
forces, and their direction, aotivg upon the
piece of paper he could demonstrate that it
could not but move as it did.
Yee, frauds in business are not confined
to the great unpewed. Can the pulpit
stimulate morality in its hearers ? Deceit
cannot be reckoned a Christian virtue. It
exists and, passively and actively, widely
prevades society. Is it too much to ask that
gospel exponents set up before their
hearers that standard of morality which
abhors even passive deceit ? Honesty may
not be Christianity, but it is eminently a
Christian virtue. If the money gained by
doing a wrong to our fellows was red hot a
good many pookets would require to be
Made of asbestos. But this question of
individual and national honesty opens up
too wide a field to be covered here. More
IMOD. MAsQtJETTE.
Ambidexterity.
The sword exercise in which the Raman
soldier was practiced trained him to use
the weapon as skilfully in the left band as
in the right, so that in case of injury to
either arm he could still defend himself.
The pains then taken to make an efficient
soldier should now be taken to make of
every youth an effioient workman. This
can bo done only by giving to tine left hand
equal ease and strength with the right.
There are many kinds of work in which
the laborer finds a decided advantage from
an occasional shifting of hands. It rests
him almost as much as it would to stop
working. This is the ease where the strain
comes mostly on one hand, as it does in
using the hoe. It is mach the same with
the use of the spade, the rake and the pitoh-
fork, the axe, the saw and the hammer.
Again, there are places where two
can work together more comfortably
and more effectively if one of them can ass
the implement lofthanded. By lefthanded
nee is understood the putting the left hand
forward upon the handle of the axe, the
hoe, the shovel and so on. In felling a
tree two choppers oan work together if
they stand on the same side of the tree.
To stand together they must -chop one left-
handed, the other righthanded. Were they
to stand on opposite sides of the tree. t
would be difficult to tell just where the
tree would fall. 8o, too, inshovelinga pile
of .dirt, two persons oan work together
until the last shovelful is taken up if they
neo the shovel in different hands : other-
wise they cannot. This training belongs
to the home. It is most successfully given
in the early years of the child ; but tie each
tool and implement is first put into the
hands of a boy he should be carefully
practiced in the different ways of handling
it.—Youth's Companion.
News from Scotland.
The Earl of Aberdeen has consented to
come forward as the Liberal candidate for
the Rectorial Chair of Glasgow University
in opposition to Mr. Balfour.
Provost Stevenson, of Haddington, died
on the 13th instant, this being the 5th
Scottish Provost who has departed this
life during the last two or three months.
Major-General Alexander Mackenzie,
C. B., who for eleven years prior to 1878
was commanding officer of the 78th High-
landers, died at Avooh, in the Highlands,
on the 5th inst.
On the llth instant Lord Provost Muir,
Glasgow, gave a grand ball to inaugurate
the new City Chambers. Every person of
any note in the whole city and county
attended. It was a great emcees.
The Iate Provost Beveridge, Kirkcaldy,
Fifeetire, has bequeathed the sum of
£50,000 for the purchase of a park and
library for the town, and £3,000 for various
religions and benevolent purposes.
The Earl of Orkney was hunting on the
12th inst. with Lord Rothschild'° etag-
hounds in the Vale of Aylesbury, when his
horse stumbled ata fence and his lordship
sustained severe injury to one of his thighs
and was severely hurt internally.
Mr. John Roxburgh, shipowner and in-
surance agent, Glasgow, who died recently,
has bequeathed £10,000 for religious and
charitable objects. £3,500 goes to the
Free Church, £2,500 to Glasgow Infirma-
ries, 54,000 to the London Missionary
Society for African Missions, £1,000 to the
Glasgow Sills Poor and Private Nursing
Association, and £2,000 to other institu-
tions to be selected by his trustees.
Hobson's Choice.
Cross -Examining Counsel—Isn't your
hneband a burglar ?
Witness—Yes.
Crosti-Examing Connsel—And didn't you
know he was a burglar when yon married
him?
Witness—Yes ; but I was getting a little
old and I had to choose between a burglar
and a lawyer, ao what else could I do?
An Alarming Discovery.
(Ins -Why; Algy, what's the matter ?
Aro you siok ?
Algernon—No, nay deah follah, but I'm
fwightened about myself. A dootor told
me yesterday that the air is pweeoing on
me with a pwoesnre of fifteen pounds to
the inob. That's a tewwiblo thing, and I
don't believe I can stand it mach longer."
The
Qaeexi hap appointed Sir Arthur
Havelock, K. C. M. G., late Governor of
Natal, to be Governor and Commander -in -
Chief of the Island of Ceylon and its de•
pendeneioa.
It goes without saying that gashes of
Scotch tartan are to be very much the
fashion.
" They can't do anything until I get
there," as the condemned man &aid when
on the way to hie execution.
WIN9oaIE Woatieta'a %RAiYl9
Two Great Heiresses Captured by
Hand -
The matrimdooaaenFloiwt.hat
two great
heiresses are engaged to be married 10 two
masoaline beauties The young ladies are
Miss Tesaie Fair, daughter of the tanaous
California millionaire, and Miss Mayy
Armour, daughter of the equally celebrated
Chicago Croesus. The youpg men are New
Yorkers,and mach alike in being big, broad.
shouldered athletic fellows, either 9f whom
might serve as a model for a statue of
Adonis. Herman Oolriche ia the choice of
Mise Fair.. Ho ie wealthy himself, and for
fifteen yeare,'atIeaet, has figured as a club
man, a patron and participant in athletio
sports, and latterly as a politician, having
aoted as chairman of the Democratic cam-
paign committee. The coupling of Frank
Ferguson and Miss Armour affords more
faote that are interesting to publish.
Ferguson is a handsomer chap than Oel-
riche, being a six.footer, with a fine face
and a • complexion as clear as a
girl's. He is about 35 years old. He
came to this country from Scotland at the
age of 20, and the Scotch accent is still per-
ceptible in his speech. He went to work in
this city as a shoemaker, but the bench
proved an uneasy seat for a young fellow
of his ambition. Although he began to
carve out his own fortune with a shoe knife.
he soon changed the implement to a sur-
geon'e scalpel. He got work in St. Luke'a
Hospital, one of the largest in the oity, his
duties being mixedly those of a janitor and
a custodian of the anatomical department.
He soon made himself valuable in the pre -
partition and Dare of surgical epecimene,
and from that advanced to the department
of dissection. He developed surprising
skill with the scalpel, and five years age
was appointed chief dieeeetor at St. Luke's.
His ability in this specialty not long age
led him into serious difficulty. When
Bishop, the mind reader, died at the hos-
pital, Ferguson sawed off the top of his
head, in order to' supply his brain to the
physicians before the requisite order had
been given by a coroner. That was
A AREAEAGE OP TIIE LAW,
wbioh forbids any post-mortem examina-
tion without formal authority. Bishop's
mother made all the row possible,and much
interest was excited by the fact that Bishop
himself, having being a subject to oataleptia
Lite resembling death, had dreaded that he
might be buried alive. Mrs. Bishop under-
took to provethat he was not dead at the
time of Ferguson's operation, and the evi-
dence was sufficient to induce a grand jury
to indiot Ferguson and the surgeon at
whose orders he had made the autopsy.
Within a month after this occurrence, Fer-
guson repeated the offence, and wa@
promptly arrested. Whether he will be
punished remains to be seen, but his aota
have at least led to a reformation in the
matter of hasty dissection in the hospitals.
His skill with the knife, however, has
brought to him a tolerable income, and,
while wielding it, he has assiduously
studied medioine and surgery, with n view
to going into a general praotioe. He affords
an instance of a man self-made by hie
own energy and brains.
Miss Armour has for several years anent
considerable of her money in New York
pity. Her education in music and lan-
guages has been pursued there, and she has
figured in one of the many rich and polite
circles of society. She is good-looking,
vivacious and amiable, something more
than 20 years bf age, and her friends say
that she doesn't put on airs because her
father is a millionaire many times over.
She has attended services at Dr. John
Hall's church in Fifth avenue, where Dr.
Ferguson is an active member. Ho has
the direction of one of the charities of thia
opulent congregation—that of providing
medical attendance in connection with a
mission chapel ; and Mies Armour con-
tributed money and time to this same par-
ticular good work. Thus the two persons
were brought into familiar intercourse,
which developed into a matrimonial
engagement, the public announcement of
which is here made for the first time. The
wedding is set for neat September.
Fecundity.
According to the naturaliets a scorpion
will produce 65 young, a common fly will
lay 144 eggs, a leech 150 and a spider 170.
A hydraobna produces 600 eggs and a frog
1,100. A female moth will produce 1,100
eggs and a tortoise 1,000. A gall insect
has laid 50,000 eggs, a shrimp 6,000, and
10,000 have been found in the ovary of an
asearis. One naturalist found over 12,000
eggs in a lobster and another over 21,000.
An insect very similar to an ant (I utilla)
has produced 80,000 eggs in a single day,
and Lenwenboeck seems to compute 4,000,-
000 eggs as the Drab's share. Many fishes
produce an incredible number of eggs.
More than 36,000 have been counted in a
herring, 38,000 in a smelt, 1,000,000 in a
sole, 1,130,000 in a roach, 3,000,000 in a.
sturgeon, 342,000 in a carp, 383,000 in a
tench, 546,000 in a mackerel, 992,000 in a
perch and 1,357,000 in a flounder. But of
all the fishes ever yet discovered the cod
seems to be the most prolific. Onenatural-
ist computes that this fish produces more
than 3,686,000 eggs, and another as many
as 9,444,000. A rough calculation has
shown that were 1 per Dent. of the eggs of
the salmon to result in fall -grown fish, and
were they and their progeny to continue to
increase in the same ratio, they world in.
about sixty years amount in bulk to many
times the size of the earth. Nor is the
salmon the most prolifio of species. fn s
yellow perch weighing 3,1 ounces have been
counted 9,943 eggs, and in a smelt 10a
inches in length 25,141. An interesting
experiment was made in Sweden in 1761
by Charles F. Lund. He obtained from 50
female breams 3,100,000 young, and from
100 female perch 3,215,000 young, and
from 100 female mullets 4,000,000 young.—
Exchange.
Tho Secret of Her Power.
Any one who has been at Drury Lane
Theatre, in London, and seen a whole
audience spring to their feet and join in
singing " God Save the Queen I" as if they
meant it, can understand what has made
Great Britain the power ehe is in the
world. The reason usually aosigned for
our backwardness in such matters of senti-
ment is that we aro a " praotical " people.
We could lay a vastly stronger claim to the
virtue of practicality if we made use of
some of the best and most legitimate agen-
cies for keeping the hearts of our people
stirred with patriotic emotion, undeterred
by the fear that we shall be oonoidered
sentimental.—Kate Fields' Washington.
First girl, in street oar—That man oppo-
site has been looking at you for the last ten
minutes. Isn't he rade 7 Second girl—
Oh, you must not judge people by their
looks."
It is reported that many farmers in
the neighborhood of Kingston, owing to
their heavy indebtedness, are mortgaging
their farms and deaaniping to the United
States.
The Doke of Portland has been die -
appointed again. It it a girl, and the pre-
cedent of a century, during which no direct
heir has boon born to the house, teniaina
unbroken.
1