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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Advocate, 1896-6-4, Page 7ON THE STAGE OF LIFE WHY SO MANY MAKE FAILURES IN THE GREAT DRAMA. Drunkenness and Indolence and Selfishness Set Forth by Rev. Dr. Talmage ati Lead. , ing Causes of Failure --The Brighter Side of the Picture. Washington, May' 31.—Rev. Dr. Tan ^ mage, in his discourses, sots forth the causes of failure in life, drawing on a Biblical reference to the theater for startling illustration. His text was Job 'evil, 23, "Men shall clap their hands at him and shall hiss him out of his place." This allusion seems to be dramatic. The bible more than once makes such allusions. Paul says, "We are made a theater or spectacle to angels and to men." It is evident from the text that some of the habits of theater goers were known in Job's time, because he describes an actor hissed off the stage. The im- personator comes on the boards, and, either through lack of study of the part he is to take or inaptness or other incap- acity, the audience is offended and ex- presses its disapprobation and disgust by hissing. "Men shall clap their hands at him and shall hiss him out of his place." My text suggests that each one of us is put on the stage of this world to take. some part. What hardship and suffering and discipline great actors have undergone year after year that they might be per- fected in their parts you have often read. But we are put on the stage of this life to represent charity and faith and humil- ity and helpfulness—what little prepara- tion we have made, although we have three galleries of spectators, earth and heaven and hell! Have we not been more attentive to the part taken by others than to the part taken by our- selves, and,while we needed to be looking at home and concentrating on our own duty, we have been criticising the other performmers and saying, "that was too high," or "too low," or "too feeble," or "too extravagant," or "too tame," or "too demonstrative," while we our- selves were making a dead failure and preparing to be ignominiously hissed off the stage? Each one is assigned a place. No supernumeraries hanging around the drama of life to take this or that or the other part, as they may be called upon. No one can take our place. We can take no other place. Neither can we put off our character, No change of apparel can make us anyone else than that which we eternally are. Many make a failure of their part in the drama of life through dissipation. They have enough intellectual equipment and good address and geniality un- bounded. But they have a wine closet that contains all the forces for their social and business and moral overthrow. So far back as the year 959 Bing Edgar of England made a law that the drink- ing cups should have pins fastened at a certain point in the side so that the indulger might be reminded to stop be- fore he got to the bottom. But there are no pins projecting from the sides of the modern wine cup or beer mug, and the first point at which millions stop is at the gravelly bottom of their own grave. Dr. Sax, of France, has discovered some- thing which all drinkers ought to know. He has found out that alcohol in every shape, whether of wine or brandy or beer, contains parasitic life called bacillus potuinanioe. By a powerful microsoope these living things are discovered, and when you take strong drink you take them into the stomach and then into your blood, and, getting intp the crimson canals of life, they go into' every tissue of your body, and your entire organism is taken possession of by these noxious infinitesimals. When in delirium tremens a ;loan sees every form of reptile life, it seems it is only these parasites of the brain in exaggearted size. It is not a hallucination that the victim is suffering from. He only sees in the room what is actually crawling and rioting in his own brain. Every time you take strong drink you swallow these maggots, and every time the imbiber of alcohol in any shape feels vertigo or rheumatism or nausea it is only the jubilee of these maggots. Efforts are being made for the discovery of some germicide that can kill the para. site's of alcoholism, but the only thing that will ever extripate them is abstin- ence from alcohol and teetotal abstinence, to which I would before God swear all these young men and old. America is a fruitful country, and we raise large crops of wheat and corn and oats, but the largest crop we raise in this country is the crop of drunkards. With sickle made out of the sharp edges of the broken glass of bottle and demi- john they are cut down, and there are whole swathes of them, whole winrows of them, and it takes all the hospitals and penetentiaries and graveyards and cemeteries to hold this harvest of hell. Some of you are going down under this evil, and the never dying worm of alco- holism has wound around you one of its coils, and by next New Year's Day it will have another coil around you, and it will after a while put a coil around your tongue, and a coil around your brain, and a coil around your foot, and a coil around your heart, and some day. this never dying ,worm will, with one spring, tighten all the coils at once, and in the last twist of that awful convolu tion you will cry out, "Oh, my God!" and be gone. The greatest of dramatists in the tragedy of The Tempest sends staggering across the stage Stephapo, the drunken butler,' but across the stage of human life strong drink sends kingly and queenly and princely natures stag- gering forward against the footlights of conspicuity, and then staggering back into failure, till the world is impatient for their disappearance, and human and diabolic voices join in hissing them off the stage. Many also make a failure in the drama of life through indolence. They are al- ways making calculations how little they can do for the compensation they get. There are more lazy ministers, lawyers; doctors, merchants, artists, and farmers than have ever been counted upon. The community is s full of laggards and shirkers, I can tell it from the way they crawl. along the street, • from their tardi- ness in meeting engagements, from the lethargies that seem to hang to the foot When they lift it, to the hand when they put it 'oat, to the words when they speak. .Two young men in a store. In the morning the one goes to Ms post the last minute or one minute behind. The other is ten minutes before the time and, has his hat and coat hung up and ,is at hispost waiting for duty. The one, is ever and anon, in the afternoon` look- ing at his watch to see if it is not most time to shut up. The other stays half an hour after he might go, and, when asked why, says he wanted 'to 'look over some entries he hall made to be sure he was right or to put up some goods that had been left out of place: The one is very touchy about doing work not exactly belonging to him. The other is glad to help the other clerks in their work. The first will be a prolonged nothing, and ho will be poorer at 60 years of agethan at 20. The other will be a merchant prince. Indolence is the cause of more failures in all occupations then you have ever suspected. People are too lazy to do what they can do and want to undertake that which they canuot do. In the drama of life they don't want to be a common' soldier, carrying a half bred across the stage, or a falconer, or a mere attendant, and so thy lounge about the scenes till they shall be called to be something great. After awhile, by some accident of prosperity or circumstances, they get into the place for wh'ch they have no qualification, and very soon, if the man be a merchant, he is going around asking his creditors to com- promise for ten cents on the dollar, or, if a, clergyman, he is making tirades against the ingratitutde of churches, or, if an attorney, by unskilled management he loses a vase by which widows and orphans are robbed of their portion, or, if a physician, he, by malpractice, gives his patient rapid transit from this world to the next. Our incompetent friend would have made a passable horse doctor, but he wanted to be professor of ana- tomy in a university. He could have sold enough confectionery to have sup- ported his family, but he wanted to have a sugar refinery like the Havemeyers. He could have mended shoes, but ho wanted to amend the constitution of the United States,- Toward the end of life the people are out of patience, out of money, nut of friends, out of everything. They go to the poorhouse, or keep out of it by running in debt to all the grocery and dry goods stores that will trust them. People begin to wonder when the curtain will drop on the scene. After awhile, leaving nothing but their compliments to pay doctor, undertaker and Gabriel Grubb, the grave digger, they disappear. Exeunt! Hissed off the stage. Others fail in the drama of life through demonstrated selfishness. They make all the rivers empty into their sea, all the roads of emolument end at their door, and they gather all the plumes of honor for their brow. They help no one, encourage no one, rescue no one. "How big a pile of money can I got?" and "How much of the world can I absorb?" are the chief questions. They feel about the common people as ,the Turks felt to- wards the Asapi, or common soldiers, considering them of no use except to fill up the ditches with their dead bodies while the other troops walked over them to take the fort. After awhile this prince of worldly success is sick. The only in- terest society has in his illness is the effect that his possible decease may have on the money markets. After awhile he dies. Great newspaper capitals announce how he started with nothing and ended with everything. Although for sake of appearance some people put handkerchiefs to the eye, there is tot one genuine tear shed. The heirs sit up all night when he lies in state, discussing what the old fellow has probably done with his money. It takes all the livery stables within two miles to funrish equipages, and all the mourning stores are kept busy in selling weeds of grief. The stonecutters send in proposals for a monument. The minister at the obsequies reads of the resurrection, which makes the hearers fear that if the unscrupulous financier does not come up in the general rising he will try to get a "corner" ou tomb- stones and graveyard fences. All good, men are glad that the moral nuisance has been removed. The Wall street spec- ulators are glad because there is more room for themselves, The heirs are glad „because they get possession of the long delayed inheritance. Dropping every feather of all his plumes, every certifi- cate of all his stock, every bond of all his investments, every dollar of all his fortune, lie departs, and all the rolling Dead March in Saul, and all the page - an try of his interment, and all the ex- quisiteness of sarcophagus, and all the extravagance of epitaphology, cannot hide the, fact that my test has come again to tremendous fulfilment, "Men shall clap their hands at him and shall hiss him out of his place." You see the clapping comes before the hiss. The world cheers before it damns. So it is said the deadly wasp tickles be- fore it stings. Going up, is he? Hurrah! Stand back and let his galloping horses dash by a whirlwind of plated harness and tinkling headgear and arched' neck! Drink deep of his maderia and cognac! Boast of bow well you know him! All hats off as he passes! Bask for days and years in the sunlight of his prosperity! Going down, is ho? Pretend to be near- sighted, so that you cannot see him as lie walks past. When men ask you if you know him, halt and hesitate as though you were trying to call up a dim mem- ory, and say: "Well, y -e -s, yes. I believe I once did know him, but have not seen him for a long while." Cross a different ferry from the, one where you used to meet him, lest he ask for financial help. When you started life he spoke a good word for you at the bank. Talk down his credit now that his fortunes are col- lapsing. He put his name on two of your notes. Tell him that you have changed your bind about such things, and that you never endorse. After awhile his mat- ' tors come to a dead halt, and an assign- ment or suspension or sheriff's sale takes place. You say: "He ought to have stopped sooner. Just as I expected. He made too big a splash in the world. Glad the balloon has burst. Ha, ha!" Ap- plause when he went up, sibilant de- rision when he came down. "Men shall clap their hands at him and hiss him out of his place." So, high up amid the crags, the eagle flutters dust into the eyes of the roebuck, which then, with eyes blinded, goes tumbling over the precipice, the great antlers crashing on the rocks. Now, compare some of these goings out of life with the departure of men and women, who, in the drama of life, take the part that God assigned them - and then went away honored of men and ap- plauded of the Lord Almighty.. It is about 50 years ego that in a compara- tively small apartment of the city a newly -married pair sot up a home. The first guest invited to that residence was the Lord Jesus -Christ, and the Bible given the bride on the clay of her espousal Was the guide of that household Days of sunshine were followed by days of sh l,dow. Did you ever know a home that for 50 years had no vicissitude? The young woman who left her 'father's house for her young husband's home started out with is parental 'benediction and good advice she will never forget. Her Mother said to her the day before the iniareiage: "Now, my child, you aro go- ing away from us. Of course, as long as your father and I live you will fuel that you can come to us at any time. But your: home will be elsewhere. From long experience I find it best to serve God. It is very bright with you now, my child, and you may think you can Fet along without religion, but the day will come when you will want God, and my advice is establish a family altar, and, if need be, conduct the worship yourself." The counsel was taken, and that young wife consecrated every room in the house to God. Years passed on, and there were in that home hilarities, but they were good and healthful, and sorrows, but they were comforted. Marriages as bright as orange blossoms could make them, and burials in which all hearts were riven. They have a family lot in the cemetery, but all the place is illuminated with stories of resurrection and reunion. The children of the. household that lived have grown up, and they are all Christians, the father and mother leading the way, and the children following. What care the mother took of wardrobe and educa- tion, character and manners! How hard she sometimes worked! When the head of the household was unfortunate in busi- ness, she sewed until her fingers were numb and bleeding at the tips, and what close calculation of economies, and what ingenuity in refitting the garments of the elder children for the younger, and only God kept account of that mother's side - aches and headaches and heartaches and the tremulous prayers by the side of the sick child's cradle and by the couch of this one fully grown. The neighbors often noticed how tired she looked, and old acquaintances hardly knew her in the street. But, without complaint, she waited and toiled and endured and ac- complished all these years. The children are out in the world, an honor to them- selves and their parents. After awhile the mother's last sickness comes. Chil- dren and grandchildren, summoned from afar, come softly into the room one by one, for she is too weak to see more than one at a time. She runs her dying fingers lovingly through their hair and tells them not to cry, and that she is going now, but they will meet again in a little while in a better world, and then kisses them good-bye and says to each, "God bless and keep you, my dear child!" The day of the obsequies comes, and the officiating clergyman tells the story of widely and motherly endurance, and many hearts on earth and in heaven echo the sentiment, and as she is carried off the stage of this mortal life there are cries of "Faithful unto death!" "She hath done what she could!" while over- powering all the voices of earth and heaven is the plaudit ' of God, who watched her from first to, last, saying: "Well done, good and faithful servant! Thou hast been faithful over a few things. I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord!" But what became of the father of that household? He started as a young man in business and had a small income, and having got a little ahead sickness in the family swept it all away. He went through all the business panics of 40 years, met many losses and suffered many betrayals, but kept right on trusting in God, whether business was good or poor, setting his children a good exam- ple and giving them the best counsel, and never a prayer did he offer for all those years but they were mentioned in it. He is old now and realizes it cannot be long before he is going to leave his children an inheritance of prayer and Christian principles which all the defel- cations of earth can never touch, and as he goes out of the world the church of 'God blesses him, and the poor ring his door bell to see if he is any better, and his grave is surrounded by a multitude who went on foot and stood there before the procession of carriage came up, and some say, "There will be no one to take his place," and others say, "Who will pity me now?" and others remark, "He shall be held in everlasting remain - brace." And as the drama of his life closes all the vociferation and bravos and encores that ever shook the amphithea- tres of earthly spectacle were tame and feeble compared with the long, loud thunders of approval that shall break from the cloud of witnesses in the piled up gallery of the heavens. Choose ye be- tween the life that shall close by being hissed off the stage and the life that shall close amid acclamations supernal and archangelic. Oh, men and women on the stage of life, many of you in the first act of the drama, and others in the second, and come of you in the third, and a few in the fourth, and here and there one in the fifth, but all of you between entrance and exit, I quote to you as the perora- tion of this sermon the most suggestive passage that Shakespeare over wrote, al- though you never heard it recited. The author has often been claimed as infidel and atheist, so the quotation shall be not only religiously helpful to ourselves, but grandly vindicatory of the great dramat- ist. I quote from his last will and testa- ment:— "In the name of God,amen 1 I, William Shakespeare, of Stratford-upon-Avon, in the county of Warwick, gentleman, to perfect health and memory (God be praised), do make this my last will and testament, in manner and form follow- ing: First, I commend my soul into the hands of God, my Creator, hoping and assuredly believing through the only_ merits of Jesus Christ, my Savior, to be made partaker of life everlasting." He Gave the Wrong Name. I was in the habit of wearing my hair somewhat long, after the style of' a Cir- cassian beauty. Entering the restaurant, I removed my hat, and, through habit, ran my fingers through my hair to keep it off my brow. Having seated myself and given my order, I curiously glanced about the room in search of a familiar face, when I observed a patron on the other side of the house conversing laugh- ingly with a waiter, with their eyes fixed on me. It seemed they were greatly amused about something, and that I wa-1 the cause of their amusement. Being somewhat annoyed, I motioned the waiter to my side and asked the cause of their joyfulness. "Well, sir," replied the waiter, "that gentleman over there ,wanted] vie to ask. you if your name was Pad—" Assuming my Most ferocious leek, .I glared at the person who had sent the message, end said quite loudly:— "You go. back and tell that fellow that my name is not Paddy Whisky or Paddy Brandy, but it's Paddy Ryan, theex- pugilist, and that I'll see him after I have finished my luncheon." ' I thought that would knock 'frim silly, but it didn't; for he replied back, much loader then I had spoken:— "You're a Nati:. I am Paddy Ryan; the es -g a .lisit• and I'll' see' 'eu. p , 3 bcrcre gnu finish your 'grub.'' But :he ascii ig for Iescaped ed from that reetatir r.nt before he had a chance to get up from, his table,—SanFrancisco Wave.: NOT A PHILANTHROPIST. a $200 New Floor fora $GOO Old O. Il is not very often, that such a seem- ingly philanthropic offer is made by one business man to another as that told of by a partner in an old bullion house to a Mail and Express reporter. "Not long ago," he said, "a dealer in gold and silver heard that one floor of a building which had not been occupied for some time was to be rented, but that the prospective tenant had insisted that a new floor be laid before he take posses- sion, as the old one had become very much worn. The bullion dealer knew that the previous occupant had been a manufacturer of jewelry and had been in. business in the place for inany,years. He promptly visited the owner of the prop- erty and told him that he would put in a new floor of the best wood for nothing. The owner made a few inquiries, but the dealer said very little in reply, except that he thought he would manage to scrape a good deal of gold and silver dust from off the floor. His offer was accepted The wood for the new floor and the la- bor for laying it cost about $200. "The old flooring was burned and the ashes put through a course of reduction. The result was that the bullion dealer obtained nearly $500 for the gold and silver which was brought out, or a profit of about 100 per cent. on the operation. "Every manufacturer of jewelry or worker in the precious metals calculates that he will lose about $800 in 'saturat- ing' new quarters of the usual loft size. The gold and silver dust penetrates the pores of the wood and small particles are ground into the floor. After just so much is lost in this way the waste ceases and all dust that falls to the floor or ad- heres to the wall may be swept up or off and saved. The sweepings in these fac- tories and in bullion offices are always saved and reduced,"—New York Mail and. Express. Too Playful. Young Algy Vervain had gone to call on Miss Edyth St. Clare and had found her out, but her mother was at home and Algy was asked to wait, as Miss Edyth was expected at any moment. Suddenly footsteps were heard in the hall, and Algy, who was of a playful dis- position, said gleefully:— "I'll just stoop down behind the big easy chair and appear suddenly and sur- prise Miss Edyth." "Oh, that will be a dear little joke!" said Edyth's playful mamma. Edyth was the only one of the trio disinclined to be playful. Something had occurred to disturb her self -poise and she was "out of sorts." "Anyone been here while I was out?" she asked. "Why do you ask?" inquired her smil- ing mamma. "Because that insufferably tiresome Algy Vervain—" "My dear! My dear!" "—said be was going to come poking up here, and—" "Edyth! Edyth!" "And I'm so glad he didn't, for I—" "Edyth—my daughter!" "—abominate the sight of him! He's so stupid and conceited, and—" "Edyth, I beg of you!" "Now, mamma, you've said so your- self many a time, and—" "O, Edyth, I'm sure I—" "Why, indeed, you have, mamma. You said the other day that ho reminded you of that Italian organ grinder's mon- key, and—" "Edyth!" "—I think so, too!" "Edyth St. Clare! Will you keep still?'' Edyth's girlish shriek rang throughout the house when Algy rose to itis feet, and instead of uttering a playful "boo" said stiffly :— "I bid you gond night, Miss St. Clare," and he departed to return no mere, Value of Athletics. The true test of the value of any field or track event is that of common sense. For instance, it is well to learn to run 100 or 200 yards at..great speed, because there are frequent occasions when it is necessary to cover these distances in quick time. It is well to train for quar- ter -mile and half -mile running, because if one wants to go to any place distant a half mile nr so, the quickest way to get there unaided is to run. It is the same way with the mile or three-mile run. If you come to a brook, you use your know- ledge of the running broad jump. If you want to clear a fence (to escape a bull, for instance) you try the running high jump—not the standing high jump. If it is a high wall, and you have any know- ledge of the pole vault, you likewise, have • an advantage. Hurdle -racing teaches you to get across country fields and fences, and both the hammer and the shot events on the card give good train- ing for emergencies -that may rise.—Har- per's Round Table. • The Dear Old Lady's Mistake. Old Mr. and Mrs. Sherman , from Bryan went down to town, and in going to the hotel for dinner saw a crowd around the justice court. The old couple, with pardonable curiosity, inquired the cause of the gathering. They were in- formed that a man was on trial for beat- ing his wife. Edging their way through the bystanders to get a look at the pris- oner, the old lady whispered to her hus- band:— "What a murderous looking creature the prisoner is! I'd be afraid to get near him." "Hush," warned her husband. "That isn't the prisoner; he hasn't been brought in yet." "It isn't? Who is it, then?" "It's the judge!'''—Atlanta Constitution Recipe for Horehound Candy. A tested recipe for horehound candies consists of a pound of dried horehound leaves 'boiled in one quart of water, cooled and then boiled again for five minutes. After that strain off the liquid through a cloth, put it back on the fire and let it simmer until the quantity is reduced to four or five ounces. Add an ounce of gum arable, and when dissolved, enough line sugar to make a dough or paste, as for lozenges. Roll out and cut in perfectly small pieces with a perfectly clean thimble or a little cutter such as is used by confectioners. Telling a Story. Take a simple subject—baby's stock- ing, for instance, from the time that it frisked about on a wooly lamb. Clip it and cpmb,;it, dye, spin, weave and sell it for hi'`in, and do it dramatically, with a lavisiniese of pantomime. As the mod- ern home is a debtor to the whole uni- verse, so every article in it has its ab- sorbing history of growth or manufac- tgre, with .travels- and adventures not. hard to And out • and these histories well told,'the make every -day furniture' and nicknacks a never failing Wonder - book to the little ones. FISH, FLESH AND FOWL. Here is a first-class Chinese dinner in thirty-seven courses, as described by a writer in a London newspaper:— Course 1—Pyramid of ham and carrots in oblong slabs. 2, 3, 4 and 5 -The same of mutton, boiled pig hide, grilled fish rolled in su- gar, and boiled fowl dipped in soy sauce. 6—Shark fin shreds in pickle, served a la ha -cock. 7—Eggs stowed away, in lime till they had become black. 8 -Peeled "water chestnuts," the root of a sort of loto. 9—Cakes of cranberry jelly, very stiff, and piled in pyramids. 10—Sliced boiled carrots and turnips similarly arranged. 11—Pinnacled pyramids of green olives kept in place by bamboo pink. 12—Ditto of green gages soaked in wine. 18—Ditto of tamarinds.. 14 -Ditto of pieces of dried red melon. 15—Small piece of pastry rolled in brown sugar. 16—Sections of oranges, toasted melon pips and monkey nuts. 17—Small boiled dumplings with su- gar inside, pink tops. 18—Patties similarly filled, for all the world like mince pies. 19—Baskets of pastry filled with brown eugar of the sandy sort. 20—Packets of pastry filled with mince -meat, folded as for post. Now for the real "pieces of resistance" —eight big bowls containing:- 21—Sea slug rissoles, the enjoyment of which was spoiled by information as to what they were, though certainly, no worse than oysters. 22 -Mutton stewed to shreds cut two inches long. 23—Fish tripe in white soup, not at all bad. 24—Stewed duck. 25—Stewed shrimps. 26—Stewed ]otos seeds. 27—Sliced chicken stew. 28—Red sturgeon stew. Then carne eight smaller bowls:- 29—Clear soup, styled on the Chinese menu "Mouth nourisher." 30—Raw pigs' kidneys, out into the shape of an open flower. 31—Stewed shrimps' eggs. 32—Balls made of sliced ham. 33—Ducks' tongues stewed with ham, many dozens of them. 34—Sliced pigeon stew, the bird being cut up like a joint. Tihrty-flue and thirty-six I failed to analyze, though I ascertained that the one was called hi Chinese "The Three Silken Strings," being composed of pigs' tripe, ham and ohieken, and the other "Precious Shield Hooke," the composi- tion of which I could not learn, 87—Last, but not least, with the excep- tion of huge bowls of rice brought in to fill up the corners, the dish that in these lands takes the place of bread—a sort of sweet pilau called "The Eight Precious Things." RAM'S HORN BLASTS. A great many people steal who are not called thieves. The brewer's horse is kept fat by food taken from the poor man's child, The devil stands a good chance with the man who loves money and hates work. It never makes meanness any whiter to baptise it and take it into the church. The lower a Christian goes down to help men, the higher stand he takes for Christ. When a Christian's walk does not cor- respond with his talk, the less he has to say in church the better. Many a man can be Bund standing on his brother's neck, while he claims to be looking up far into the sky watching for the Lord to conic. It is a slander to beasts to say, that the drunkard "makes a hog of himself." Brutes never degrade themselves. A hog' is a gentleman compared with a de- bauched man wallowing in the mire of drunkenness. If men will drink, let them make their wives their saloon keepers and pay thein the profit with which they now en- , rich the barkeepers. Buying by the drink, they pay a profit of three dollars a gallon to the retailer. By the plan sug- gested, they would in a few years, drink themselves rich,—Ram's Horn. IDEAS OF LIFE. t He lives long that lives well. Life is as serious a thing as death. Man's life is an appendix to his heart. Life is good, but not life in itself. Live well; how long or short, commit to heaven. Christian life consists in faith and charity. Life is a crucible. We are thrown into it and tried. A. handful of good life is worth a bushel of learning. Life is given to no one for a lasting possession; to all for use. Life is a pure flame, and we live by an invisible sun within us. This body is not a home, but an inn; and that only for a short time. The earnestness of life is the only pass- port to the satisfaction of life. Every man's life is a fairy tale, writ- ten by God's fingers. While man is growing life is in de- crease, and cradles rock us nearer to the tomb. Long life is denied us; therefore let us do something to show th'tat we have lived. MIND YOUR EYE. Don't read by •firelight, moonlight or twilight. Don't read by flickering gaslight or candlelight. Don't read books printed on' thin pa- per,. Don't hold the reading matter close to the eyes Don't read lying down or, in a y ,, con- strained position. Don't study at night but in the morn- ing when the eyes ave. fresh. Don't read books which have no ap- preciable space between the lines. CURED OF SCIATICA., THE EXPERIENCE OF A BRUCE CO, FARMER. Buffered So Severely That He. Became M. . most a Helpless Cripple—Il Agate Able t be About His Work as Well as Ever. From the Walkerton Telescope. During the past few years the Tele- scope has published many statements giv- ing the particulars of cures from the use of Dr. Williams' Pink Pills. They were all so well authenticated as to leave no doubt as to their complete truth- fulness, but had any doubt remained its last vestige would have been removed by a cure which has recently come under our personal observation. It is the case of Mr. John Allen, a prominent young farmer of the township of Greenock. Mr. Allen is so well known in Walker- ton and the vicinity,adjoining it, that a brief account of his, really remarkable recovery from what seemed an incurable disease will be of interest to our readers. During the early part of the summer of 1895, while working in the bush, Mr. Allen was seized with what appeared to him to be rheumatic pains in the back and shoulders. At first he regarded it as but a passing attack, and thought that it would disappear in a day or two. On the contrary, however, he daily continued. to grow worse, and it was not long be- fore he had to give up work altogether, From the back the pains shifted to his right leg and hip where they finally set- tled and so completely helpless did be be- come, that be was unable to do more than walk across the room and then only with the aid of crutches. Of course. heconsulted the doctors, but none of them seemed to be able to do him any good. People lu speaking of his case, al- ways spoke pityingly, it being generally thought that he had passed from the world of activity, and that he was doomed to live and die a cripple. We are free to confess that this was our own view of the matter, and our surprise, therefore, can be readily imagined when seine few weeks ago, we saw this self- same Sohn Allen driving through the town on the top of a large load of grain. Great, however, as was our surprise at first, it became still greater when on ar- riving at the grist mill, he proceeded to jump nimbly from the load, and then with the greatest apparent ease began to unload the heavy bags of grain. Curious to know what it was that had brought this wonderful change, we took the first convenient opportunity, to ask him. "Well," said he in reply, "I ani as well as I ever was, and I attribute my cure to Dr. Williams' Pink Pills, and to nothing else." Mr. Allen then gave us in a very frank manner, the whole story of his sickness, and his cure, the chief points of which we have set forth above. After consulting two physicians and find- ing no relief, lie settled down to the conviction that his case was a hopeless one. He lost confidence in medicines, and when it was suggested that he should give Pink Pills a trial, he at first absolutely refused. However, his friends persisted and finally lie agreed to give them a trial. The effect was beyond his most sanguine expectations, as the Pink Pills have driven away every trace of his pains and be Is able to go about. his work as usual. As might be expected Mr. Allen is loud in his praise of Pink Pills, and was quite willing that the facts of his case should be given pub- licity. hoping that it might catch the eye of some one who was similiarler afflicted. Dr. Williams' Pink Pills act directly' upon the blood and nerves, building them anew and thus driving disease from the system- There is no trouble due to either of these causes which Pink Pills will not not cure, and in hundreds of cases they have restored patients to health after all other remedies had failed. Ask for Dr. Williams' Pink Pills and take nothing else. The genuine are al- ways enclosed in boxes the wrapper around which hears the full trade mark "Dr. Williams' Pink Pills for Pale Peo- ple.", eo- ple."May he had from all dealers or sent post paid on receipt of 50 cents a box or six boxes for $2 50 by addrestsing the Dr. Williams' Mediciine Co., Brock- ville, Ont. Cure for Scours in Calves. We have tried pretty nearly everything in times past as a cure for scours in calves, which, try as we will, are some- times unavoidable where it is not possi- ble for one person to do the feeding every time. Even ono over -feeding will some- times cause the mischief to start. Last spring raw eggs were fed, three or four times a day, to a calf which everything else had failed to relieve. She soon gained strength. She could not get up alone at fleet, and the disease was checked: To- day the calf is as strong as any. Very little milk is fed while giving the eggs, —Coleman's Rural World. 0111' A'uly Lies. if we do not wring our happiness out of the fair, peaceful, humble duties of the present, however great its trials,, we shall never find it : in the weakened. forces, in the darkened rays of the fu- ture. Our duty lies, not in regrets, not in resolutions, but in thought:; followed by resolves and resolves carried out in ac- tions. Our life lies not in retrospect'of a vanished past, not in hopes of an ambi- tious future; our life is here, to -day; In our prayers, in our beliefs, in our daily, hourly conduict. Manuscript Gospels Found. It is reported from Constantinople that an ancient and beautiful manuscript copy of the Gospels,. dating back to the sixth century, has recently been found in Asia Minor. It is written on. the ' finest and thinnest of vellum, wihch is dyed purple,. and the letters are in silver, except the abbreviations and sacred names, which are in gold, Representatives of English and American universities have unsuc- cessfully sought to obtain possession . Of p the find, which has been'seethed by Russia.