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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Advocate, 1897-1-28, Page 34.1 SOTTLRECQGNITIQN. DR. TALMAGE, SAYS WE SHALL KNOW EACH OTHER. Ile Takes the Theory Out of the Realm of Speculation and Surmise and Carries It Into the Itegioa of Positive Certainty...A Glorious Faith. Minneapolis, Jan. i.—Dr. Talmag liras been for a few days preaching and lecturing in Chicago, Minneapolis and St. Paul and his sermon is on a theme Which will absorbingly interest all who ✓ ead it. He returns this week to Wash- ington. The subject is "Heavenly Recog- nition," and the text, II Samuel zit, 28, "I shall go to him." There is a very sick child in the abode of Davicl the king. Disease, which stalks upthe dark lane of the poor and puts its smothering hand on lip and nostril of the wan and wasted, also mounts the palace stairs and bending over the pillow blows into the face of a young prince the frosts of pain and death. Tears are wine to the king of terrors. Alas for David the king. He can neither sleep nor eat and lies prostrate on his fade weep- ing and wailing until the palace rings with the outcry of woe. What are courtly attendants, or victori- ous armies, or conquered provinces under such circumstances? What to any parent is all splendid surrounding when his Child is sick? Seven days have passed on. There in that great house two eyelids are gently closed, two little hands folded, two little feet quiet, one heart still. The servants some to bear the tidings to the king, but they cannot make up their winds to tell him, and they stand at the door whispering about the matter, and David hears them, and he lookt; up and says to them, "Ts the child dead?" "Yes, he is dead." David rouses himself up, washes him- self, puts on new apparel and sits down to food. What power hushed that temp- est? What strength was it that lifted up that king whom grief had dethroned? Oh, it was the thought that he would some again into the possession of that darling child. No gravedigger's spade could hide him. The wiutry blasts of death could notput out the bright light. There would he a forge somewhere that, with silver hammer would weld the broken links. In a city where the hoofs of the pale horse never strike the pave- ment he would clasp his lost treasure. Be wipes away the tears from his eyes, and he clears the choking grief from his throat and exclaims, "I shall go to him." The Heavenly Throng. Was David right or wrong? If we part on earth, will we meet again in the next world? "Well," says some one, "that seems to be an impassibility. Heaven is so large a place we never could And our kindred there." Going into some city, without having appointed a time and place for meeting, you might wander around for weeks and for months, and perhaps for years, and never see each other, and heaven is vaster than all earthly cites together. And how are you going to find your departed friend in that country? It is so vast a realm. John went up on one mountain of inspiration, and he lookedd off upon the multitude, and he said, "Thousands of thousands." Then he came upon a greater altitude of inspiration and looked off upon it again, and he said, "Ten thousand times ten thousand." And then he came on a higher mount of inspiration and looked off again, and he said, "A hundred and forty and four thousand and thousands of thousands." And he carne ob. a still greater height of inspiration, and be looked off again and exclaimed, "A great multitude that no man can num- ber." Now, I ask, how are, you going to find your friends in such a throng as that? Is not this idea we have been entertaining, after all, a falsity? Is this doctrine of future recognition of friends in heaven a guess, a myth, a whiten, or is it a grani- tic foundation upon which the soul pierced of all ages may build. a glorious hope? Intense question! Every heart in this audience throbs right into it. There is in" every soul here the tomb of at least one dead. Tremendous question! It makes the lip quiver, and the cheek flush, and. the entire nature thrill. Shall we know each other there? I get letters almost every month asking me to discuss this subject. I get a letter in a bold, scholarly hand, on gilt edged paper, asking me to discuss this ques- tion, and. I say, "Ala, that is a curious man, and he wants a curious question solved!".But I get another letter. It is written ith a trembling hand and on what seems to be a torn out leaf of a book, and there and here is the mark of tear, and I say, "Oh, that is a broken heart, and it wants to be comforted!" The object of this sermon is to take this theory out of the region of surmise and speculation into the region of posi- tive certainty. People say: "It would be very pleasant if that doctrine were true. .haps it may be true. Perhaps it is true. . wish it wore true. ;" But -I believe that canbringanaccumulation on of argument to bear upon ac uulam tthis matter which will prove the doctrine of ) future recognition as plainly as that there is any heaven at all, and that the kiss of reunion at the celes- tial gate will be as certain as the dying kiss at the door of the sepulcher. Facts for Proof. • Now, when you are going to build a ihip you must get the right kind of tim- ber. You lay the keel and make the framework of the very best materials- the keelson, stanchions, plank shear, counter timber, knees, transoms—all iron or solid oak. You may build a ship of lighter material, but when the cyclone •tom;. Domes on it will go down. Now, we may -have . a great many beautiful theories about the future world built out of our own fancy, and they may do very well as long as we havesmooth sailing in the world, but when the storms of sorrow come upon us, . and the hurricane of death, we will be swamped—we will . be foundered. We want a theory built out of God's eternal word,' The doctrine of future recognition is not so • often posi- tively. stated in the word of God as• 'im- plied, and you know, my friends, - that that is, after an, the strongest mode of affirmation. Your friend travels in foreign lands. He comes home. He does not begin by arguing with you to prove that there are such places, as London and Stockholm and Paris and Dresden and Berlin, but his conversation implies it. And so this Bible does not so positively state: this theory as, all up and down its chapters,. take it for granted. What,' does my text imply? "I shall go to him." What consolation would it be to David to go to his child if he woulcl. trot know him? Would ' David have been allowed to record this anticipation for the inspection, of all ages if it were a ground- less anticipation? We read in the first book of the Bible: Abraham: died and was gathered to his people. Jacob died and wars gathered to his people. Moses hied and was gathered to his people. What .people? Why, their friends, their comrades, their old companions. Of rc:nrse it means that. It cannot mean anything else. Soin the very beginning. of this Bible four times that is taken for granted. . The whole New Testament is an arbor over which this doctrine creeps like a luxuriant vine full of the purple clusters of consolation. James, John and Peter followed Christ into the mountain, A light falls from heaven on that moun- tain and lifts it into the ,glories of the celestial. Christs' garments glow and his face shines like the sun. The door of heaven wings open. Two spirits come down and alight on that mountain,' The disciples look at them and recognize them as Moses and Elias. Now, if those disciples standing on the earth could re- cognize these two spirits who had been for years in heaven, do you tell me that we, with our heavenly eyesight, will not be able to recognize those who have gone out from among us only 6, 10, 20, 80 years ago? The Bible indicates over and over again that the angels know each other, and then the Bible says that we are to be higher than the angels, and if the angels have the power of recognition, shall not we, who are to be higher than they in the next realm,.have as good eyesight and as good. capacity? What did Christ mean in his conversation with Mary and Martha when he said, "Thy brother shall rise again?" It was as much as to say: "Don't cry. Don't wear yourselves out with this trouble. You will see him again. Thy brother shall rise again." The Bible describes heaven as a great home circle. Well, now, that would be a very queer home circle where the mem- bers did not !mow each other. The Bible describes death as a sleep. if we know each other before we go to sleep, shall we not know each other after we wake up? Oh, yes. We will know each other a great deal better then than now, "For now," says the apostle, "we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face. It will be my purified, enthroned and glori- fied body gazing on your purified, enthroned and glorified body. Reasons for Belief. Now, ,s demand, if you believe the Bible, that you take this theory of future recognition out of the realm of speculation and surmise into the region of positive certainty, and no more keep saying: "I hope it is so. I have an iden it is so. I guess it is so." Be able to say, with all the concentrated energy of body, mind and soul, "I know it is so!" There are in addition to these Bible arguments other reasons why I accept this theory. In the first place, because the rejection of it implies the entire obliteration of our memory. Can it be possible that we shall forget forever those with whose walk, look, manner we have been so long familiar? Will death come and with a sharp, keen blade hew away this faoulty of memory? Abraham said to Dives, "Son, remember." Utile exiled and the lost remember, will not the en- throned remember? Yon know very well that our joy in any oirouunstance is augmented by the companionship of our friends. We can- not see a picture with less than four eyes, or hear a song with loss than four ears. We want some one beside us with 'whom to exchange glances and sympa- thies, and I suppose the joy of heaven is to be augmented by the fact that we are to have our friends with us when there rise before us the thrones of the blessed, and when there surges up in our ears the jubilate of the saved. Heaven is not a contraction. It is an expansion. If I know you here, I will know you better there. Here I see you with only two eyes, but there the soul shall have a million eyes. It will be immortality gazing on immortality--ransoined spirit in colloquy with ransomed spirit—victor beside vic- tor. When John Evans, the Scotch min- ister, was seated in his study, his wife came in and said to him, "My dear, do you think eve will know each other in heaven?" He turned to her and said, "My dear, do you think we will be big- ger fools in heaven than we are here?" Again, I accept this doctrine of future recognition because the world's expect- ancy affirms it. In all lands and ages this theory is received. What form of re- ligion planted it? No form of religion, for it is received under all forms of re- ligion. Then, I argue, a sentiment, a feeling, an anticipation, universally planted, must have been God implanted, and if God implanted it is rightfully =- planted. Socrates writes: "Who would not part with a great deal to purchase a meeting with Orpheus and Homer? If it be true that this is to be the consequence of death, I could even be able to die often." Among the Danes, when a master dies, his servant sometimes says himself that he may serve the master in the fu- ture world. Cicero, Jiving before Christ's coming, said: "Oh, glorious day when I shall retire front this low and sordid scene to associate with the divine assem- blage of departed spirits, and not only with the one I have just mentioned, but with my dear Cato, the best of sons and most faithful; of men. Ife,I seemed to bear his death with fortitude, it was by no means that I did not most sensibly feel the loss I had sustained. It was because I was supported by the consoling reflec- tion that we could not long be separa- ted," The Norwegian believes it. The Indian believes it. The Greenlander believes it. The Swiss believes it. The Turks believe it. Under every sky, by every river, in every zone, theory is adopted, and so I' say a principle universally implanted must be God implanted, and hence a right belief. The argument is irresistible. Soul Features. Again, I adopt this theory • because there are features of moral temperament:. and features of the soul that will distin- guish us forever. How do we know each other in this world? Is it merely by the color of the eye, or the length of the hair, or the facial proportions? Oh,' no. It is by the • disposition as well, by na- tural affinity, using the word in the very best sense and not in the bad sense, and if in the dust out body should perish and lie there forever,' and there: should- be no resurrection, still the soul has enough feature and the disposition has enough features to make us distinguishable. I can understand, how in sickness a man will become so delirious: that he will not know his own friend, but will we be blasted with such insufferable idocy that, standing beside our best friends for all eternity, we will never guess ; who they are? Again, I think that one reason why we ought to accept this doctrine is be- cause we never in this world have an. opportunity to give thanks to those to. whom we are spiritually indebted The joy of heaven, we are told,is to be inau- gurated by a review of life's work. These Christian linen and women who have been toiling for Christ, have they seen the full result of their work? Oh, no! In the church at Somerville, N, J., John Vredenburgh preached for a great many years. He felt . that his ministry was a failure, although he was a faithful minister preaching the gospelall the time. He died, and died amid discourage - meats, and went home to God, for no one ever doubted that John 'Vrecienburgh was a good Christian minister. A. %little' while after Iris death there came it great awakening in Somerville, and one Sab- bath 200 souls stood. up at the Christian altar espousing the cause of Christ, among them my own, father and mother. And what was pecilliar in regard to nearly all of those 200 souls was that they dated their religious impressions from the ministry of John Vredenburgh. Will that good Christian main before the throne of God never meet those souls brought. to. Christ through his instru- mentality? . Oh, of course he will know them. I remember one Sabbath after- noon, borne down with the sense of my ,,sins and knowing not God, I took up Doddridge's "Rise and Progress." Oh, What a dark afternoon it was, and I read the chapters, and I read the prayers, and I tried to make the prayers my own. Oh, I must see Philip Doddridge. A glorious old book he wrote! It is out of fasbion now. There is a mother before the throne of God. You say her joy is full. Is it? You say there can he no ,augmentation of it. Cannot there be? Her son was a wanderer and a vagabond on the earth when that good mother died, He broke her old heart. She died leaving him' in the wild- erness of sin, She is before the throne of God now. Years pass, and that son re- pents of his crimes and gives his beast to God and becomes a useful Christian and dies and enters the gates of heaven. You tell me that that mother's joy cannot be augmented? Let them confront each other, the son and the mother. "Oh," she says to the angels of God, "rejoice with hue! The dead is alive again, and the lost is found. Halleluiah! I never expected to see this lost one conte back." The Bible says nations are to be born in a day. When China Domes to God, will it not know Dr. Abeel? When India coshes, will it not know Dr. John Scud - , cud, der? When . the Indians came to Goal, ♦gill they not know David Brainerd? Soul Modesty. I see a soul entering heaven at last, with covered face at the idea that it has ('one so little for Christ and feeling borne down with unworthiness, and it says to itself, "I have no right to be here." A voice from a throne says: "Oh, you for- get that Sunday school class you invited to Christ! I was one of them," And an- other voice says: "Yon forget that poor man to whom you gave a loaf of bread and told of the heavenly bread. I was that man." And another says: "You for- get that sick one to whom you , gave medicine for the body and the soul. I was that one." And then Christ, from a throne overtopping call the rest, will say, "Inasmuch as ye did it to one of the least of these, you did it to me." And then the seraphs will take their barps from the side of the throne and cry, "What song sball it be?" And Christ, bending over the harpers, shall say, "It shall be the harvest home!" One more reason why I am disposed to accept this doctrine of future recognition is that so many in their last hour on earth have confirmed this theory. I speak not of persons who have been delirious in their last moment and kuew not what they were about, but of persons who died in calmness and placidity, and who were not naturally superstitious. Often the glories of heaven have struck the dying pillow, and the departing man has said he saw and beard. those who had gone away from him. How often it is in, the dying moments parents see their departed ohildren and children see their departed parents! I came down to the banks of the Mohawk river. It was evening, and I wanted to go over the river, and so I waved my hat and shouted, and after awhile I saw some one waving on the opposite bank, and I heard him shout, and the boat came across, and I got in and was transported. And. so I suppose it will be in the evening of our life. We will come down to the river of death and give a signal to our friends on the other shore, and they will give a signal back to us, and the boat comes, and our departed kindred are the oarsmen, the fires of the setting day tinging the tops of the paddles. Oh,have you never sat by such a death bed? In that hoar you hear the depart- ing soul cry, "Hark! Look!" You hark- ened and you looked. A little child, piin- ing away because of the death of its mother, getting weaker and weaker every day, was taken into the room where hung the picture of her mother. She seemed to enjoy looking at it, and then she was taken away, and after awhile died. In the last moment that wan and wasted little one lifted her hands, while her face lighted up with the glory of the next world and cried out, "Mother!" Do you tell me she did not see her mother? She did. So in my first settlement at Belleville a plain man said to me: "What do you think I heard last night? I was in the room where one of my neighbors was dying. He was a good man, and he said he heard the angels of God singing before the throne. I haven't much poetry .about me, but I listened and I heard them too." Said I, "I have no doubt of it." `Why, we are to be taken up to hea- ven at last by ministering spirits. Who are they to be? Souls that went up from Madras, or Antioch, or Jerusalem? Oh, no; our glorified kindred are going to troop around us! ' An Idoa of Heaven. Heaven is not a stately, formal place, as I sometimes hear it described, a vory frigidity of splendor, where people stand on eold formalities and go around about with heavy crowns of gold on their heads. No, that is not my idea of heaven. My idea of heaven is more like this: You are seated in the evening tide by the fireplace, your whole family there, or nearly all of them there. While you are seated talking and enjoying the evening hour there is a knock at the door and the door opens, and there comes in a brother that has been Tong absent. He has been absent, for years you have not seen- him, and no sooner do you make up your . mind that it is certainly he than you leap up, and the question is who shall give him' the first' embrace. That is my idea of heaven —a great home circle where they are waiting for as. Oh, will you not •know your mother's voice there? She . who al- ways called you by your first name long after others had given you the formal "Mister" You were never anything but Ames, Or John, or George, or Thomas or Mary, •or'Florence to.her. Will you not know your child's voice.; She of the bright eye and the, ruddy cheek, and the quiet step, who came in front play and flung herself into your lap, a very shower of mirth and beauty Why, the picture is graven in your soul, It cannot: wear out. If that little osis . should. stand on the • other side of some heavenly hill and` call to you, you would hear her voice and above the burst of heaven's great orches- tra. 7Snow• it! You could not help but know it. Now I bring you this glorious consola- tion of future recognition. If you could get this theory into -your heart, it would lift a great many shadows that are stretching across it. 'When I was. a lad, I used to go out to the railroad track and put my ear down on the track, and I could hear the express train rumbling miles away and coming on, and to -day, my friends, if we only had faith enough we could put our ear down to the grave of our dead and listen and hear in the distance the rumbling on of the chariots of restrrection victory. 0 heaven! sweet heaven'? You do not spell ]heaven as you used, to spell it— h-e-a-v-e-n, heaven. But now when you want to spell that word, you place side by side the !woes of the loved ones who are gone, and in that irradiation of light and love and beauty and joy you spell it out'as never before, in songs and halle- luiahs. Oh, ye whose hearts are down under the sod of the cemetery, cheer up. at the thought of this reunion! Oh, how muoh you will have to tell them when once you meet them! Before the Throne. How much you bave been through since you saw them last. On the shining shore you will talk it all over. The heart- aches, the loneliness, the sleepless nights,. the weeping until you had no more power to weep, because the heart was withered and dried up. Story of vacant chair and empty cradle and little shoe only half worn out, never to be worn again, just the shape of the foot that once pressed it. And dreams when you though that the departed had come back again, and the room seemed bright with their faces, and you started up to greet them, and in the effort the dream broke and you found yourself standing amid room in the midnight—alone. Talking it all over, and then, hand in hand, walk- ing up and down in the light. No sor- row, no tears, no death. 0 heaven! beau- tiful heaven—heaven where our friends are! Heaven where we expect to be! In the east they take a cage of birds and bring it to the tomb of the dead, and then they open the door of the cage, and the birds, flying put, sing. And I would to -day bring a cage of Christian consola- tion to the grave of your loved ones, and I would open the door and let them fill all the air with the music of their voices. Olt, how they bound in, these spirits before the throne! Some shout with glad- ness. Some brealc forth into uncontrol- lable weeping for joy. Some stand speech- less 'in their shock of delight. They sing, They quiver with excessive gladness. They gaze on the temples, on the palaces, on the waters, on each other. They weave their joy into garlands, they spring it into triumphal arches, they strike on tihnbrels, and then all the loved ones gather in a great circle around the throne of God -fathers, mothers, brothers, sis- ters, sons and daughters, lovers and friends, hand to hand around about the thieue—the circle, hand to hand, joy to joy, jubilee to jubilee, victory to victory, "until the day break and the shadows flee away. Turn, my beloved, and be like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether." Oh, how different it is on earth from the way it is in heaven when a Christian dies! We say, "Close his eyes." In heaven they say, "Give him a palm." On earth we say, "Let him down in the ground." In heaven they say, "Hoist him on. a throne." On earth it is, "Fare- well, farewell." In heaven it is, "Wel- come, welcome," And so I see a Chris- tian soul comping down to the river of death, and he steps into the river, and the water comes up to the ankle. He says, "Lord Jesus, is this death" "No," say,s Christ, "this is not death." And he vvaules still deeper down into the waters until the flood comes to the knee, and he says, "Lord Jesus, tell me, is this death" And Christ says, "No, no; this is not death." And he wades still farther down until the wave comes to the girdle, and the soul says, "Lorti! Jesuti, is this death?" "No," says Christ, "this is not." And deeper in wades the soul till the billow strikes the lip, and the depart- ing one cries, "Lord Jesus, is this death?" "No," says Christ, "this is not." But when Christ had lifted this soul on a throne of glory, and all the pomp and joy of heaven came surging to its feet, then Christ said, "This, 0 tran- sported soul, this is death!" Is Gibraltar Useless ? • .An article of exceptional interest --evi- dently written by a Spanish military officer—appears in the Memorial de Artilleria, showing that the extended range of modern artillery has completely revolutionized the conditions which have hitherto enabled Gibraltar to protect its own arsenal and dockyard and to afford safety for vessels at anchor under the guns of the fortress. When Gibraltar was taken by the Eng- lish nblish in 1704, the greatest range for artil- lery fire was only about 8,000 yards, so that a fleet under the batteries of Gibral- tar was secure against attack from the Spanish coast. It is new pointed out that with a com- paratively small expenditure of money by the Spanish government batteries con- structed in the bay of Algeciras, upon the ridge of mountains known as the Queen of Spain's Chair, would actually command Gibraltar at a distance of 9,000 yards, and would be capable of demol- ishing the whole length of the fortifica- tions from the Galleries to Europa point. These Spanish batteries would also. threaten the entry of ships of war to Moles. This plan would merely involve the. mounting of some 40 heavy guns of from 4.7 inch to 12 inch caliber and a smiler number of howitzers. At -the present moment the strategical points on this part of the Spanish coast are entirely =fortified, and with Spain's present embarrassments in Cuba and the Philippines it is not likely, as the Broad Arrow points out :that the Madrid gov- ernment will take immediate action in the matter. But that these batteries may beconstructed some day or other is Sar from improbable, and, in view of the great importance to England of Gibraltar as a naval base and the renewed expendi- ture upon xpendi-ture-upon its combined arsenal and dock- yard the subject is beginning to attract the serious attention of naval and mill- Lary authorities.—New York erald. TRAPPING CROWS. 0 Is Not an Easy Matter to Net the Wily Birds. Crows are trapped and sold to sports- men for shooting matches, usually bring- ing $10 per 100, but, like other things, when scarce they bring more. It is no simple matter to trap crows,' for the orow is a wily bird, and to catch him in a net set for that purpose re- quires skill, and patience as well, but the hunger of the crow is always the trapper's greatest aid. One man alone Would make but little headway catching crows and would probably sit all day in bis little bough house ready to spring his net, but the crows would give his bait a wide berth because they would know that he was there. , After placing the carcass of some ani- mal on a field the net is set close to it by bending poles of saplings, on which the net is hung fiat to the ground, where they are held down by triggerlike pegs, and a line run 50 yardsor more to a house built of boughs, where the trap- per is secreted. .A.nother carcass is usually laid some hundreds of yards distant on the same or another field, where there is no net set. The trappers, usually two in num- ber, go into the bough house together beforedayligbt, and when the crows be- gin to assemble on the fields one of them goes out and walks away. The crows, seeing him leave, grow a little bolder and approach the bait in ones and twos, but stop only long enough to get a beak- ful of the flesh and fly off again. The caroms where there is no net set is of course the best patronized, but the trap- per on the outside makes it his business to walk near enough to that to keep the crows from settling on it in numbers and thus satisfying their hunger with- out going to the one where the net is. After awhile their hunger gets the bet- ter of their judgment or their fear, and they gather on the carcass where the net is. This is the opportunity of the man in the bough house, who, with a vigorous pull on the line, springs the net over item, Quick work must be done then by the trappers, who rush up to the net, to keep the trapped crows from crawling out at the ends and the front, where it is not staked fast to the ground. With their hands covered with stout buckskin gloves, to keep the crows from biting and scratching them, the captured birds are put in bags ready to be parried off the field. From 40 to 60 are frequently caught at one pull, but it is a rare thing to get more than two springs of the net in one day.—Phila- delphia Record. . A STORY OF LONGFELLOW. Mrs. Fields Tells an Interesting Anecdote of the Author. Speaking 'of Longfellow, in her 'vol- ume of literary reminiscences, Mrs. Jane J. Fields says: "His kindness and love of humor car- ried him through many a tedious inter- ruption. He generously overlooked the fact of the subterfuges to which men and women resorted in order to get an interview, and, to help them out, made as much of their excuses as possible. Speaking one day of the persons who came to see him at Nabant, he said: 'One man, a perfect stranger, came with an omnibus full of ladies. He descend- ed, introduced himself; then, returning to the omnibus, took out all the ladies, one, two, three, four and five, with a little girl, and brought them in. I en- tertained them to the best of my ability, and they staid an hour. They bad scarce- ly gone when a forlorn woman in blank came up to me on the piazza and asked for a dipper of water. "Certainly," I replied, and went to fetch her a glass. When I brought it, she said: "There is another woman just by the fence who is tired and thirsty. I will carry this to lier." But she struck her head as she passed through the window and spilled the water on the piazza. "Oh, what have I done!" she said. "If I had a flooroloth, I would wipe it up." "Oh, no matter about the water," I said, "if you have not Burt yourself." Then I went and brought more water for them both and sent them on their way re- freshed and rejoicing.' "It would be both an endless and un- profitable task to recall more of the cu- rious experiences which popularity brought down upon him. There is a passage among Mr. Fields' nFhtes, how- ever, in which be describes an incident during Longfellow's last visit to Eng- land whichshould not be overlooked. Upon his arrival the queen sent a grace- ful message and invited him to Windsor castle, where she received him with all the honors, but be told nie no foreign tribute touched him deeper than the words of an English hod carrier who came up to the carriage door at Harrow and asked permission to take the hand of the man who had written the 'Voices of the Night.' " The End of Boole. What brings about the end of books? Is it fire, water, worms?.. As every ship launched is bound to be wrecked, every theater to be burned, the finis of the book is its reduction to ashes. What be- came of the Alexandrian library? Did the Saracens burn it in 640? There is this question asked: Was there any li- brary at Alexandria containing 700,000 books? Gibbon inclines to the opinion that there was no such library. Canon Taylor insists that if there had been a library it was burned in the tinge of Ju- lius Caesar. Tradition seems to indioate, however, that there was a library in the Serapeum, by no means a large col- lection, but whether destroyed by The- ophilus or Theodosius is not known. It looks as if the charge brought against the Arabs rested on no foundation. Re- cent explorations of Alexandria, 1895-6, show no traces of the Serapeum. The seaport of Egypt was built on a damp foundation, and, granting that there was a library, if not destroyed by fire, then the ,papyri might have suffered from decay due to water. Books of to- day taken to India, to the southern states and to the West Indies perish through mildew. --New York Times. HOUSEHOLD NURSING ¥ALU a,BLE INFORMATION UPON THIS IMPORTANT SUBJECT. How the Boons and the Bed of the Patient Should Be Arranged — Make Things Bright and .Cheerful -- Sow 'Poultices Axe made andApplied. The term household nursing impilesthat some person other than a regularly trained professional nurse has charge of the pa- tient. An iron or brass bedstead, with chain spring or hair mattresses, or horsehair mattresses and straw palliasse, is what ex- perience has shown to be most useful and comfortable. Heavy bedclothes must be avoided. Blankets of good quality sbould he used, and extra warmth obtained by an eiderdown or some other light covering— never by a waterproof. The bed ought to be of medium :height. If too low, .extra work is thrown upon the nurse. If too high, the:patient experiences difficulty in getting in and out, Curtains are not, in the writer's opinion, desirable, provided that the sickroom is free from drafts; with infectious eases they are inadmissible. Ii is more convenient that the iron or brass work of the bedstead should not rise at the foot above the level of the hair mattress, but this is not a matter of great impor- tance exceptin some surgical oases where dressings are required to the feet or .legs, A comparatively narrow bed Is infinitely preferable to a broad one. The bedclothes can be changed with far greater ease, the patient approached from either side, and uncomfortable hollows are avoided. Ii would be well if every household were pro- vided with an invalid bed. It could be used at ordinary tines by any person who sleeps alone, and when sickness arises would at once be available. Its extreme comfort would guarantee that It was not put aside merely for emergencies. When in use for sickness, the bed bead le placed, if possible, against an "inner" wall, the sides and foot being free, in order that air may freely circulate about the bed and that the patient may be wily reached. 11 is undesirable, except where delirium is. present, that one side should he against the wall. Where possible, the light from the window is allowed to fall across the bed, and if a pleasant view ie' obtainable, all the better. The window should Lave a dark blind, so that when the patient needs sleep during the daytime light can be ex- cluded. B, dark curtain will serve the same purpose. It is fortunately an ex- ploded notion that the sickroom must be always kept dull or dark. On the contrary, it must be made bright and cheerful, but there should be a command over the light. As to ventilation, an adequate supply of fresh air end an avoidance of drafts are in- sisted on. Poultices, fomeutations and plasters de- serve consideration; The poultices com- monly employed are made of linseed or bread, the latter being used when small areas only require treatment. There is only one right way of making a linseed poultice; there are various methods of ap- plying it—some nurses preferring one basis, some another. To prepare the poul- tice, take a large bowl and thoroughly beab it with hot water. Pour this out and put in sufficient bailing water to make the poultice of required size --the amount is found by experience. Into the boiling water sprinkle the Iineed and stir gently. Continue adding linseed until the mase has become semisolid, then spread on the poultice basis with a hot spatula or knife (heating the spatula in boiling water pre- vents the linseed stinking during the proc- ess of spreading). The poultice basis is mode of linen, calico, brown paper, muslin or carbolized tow. The latter is best adapted for hospital use, and, though a little more trouble to prepare, is, when continuous poulticing is required, to be strongly rec- ommended for private work also. Unless special orders are given poultices are applied as hot as can be borne and changed every three or four hours. Be- tween a poultice and its bandage a thick layer of nonabsorbent cotton wool is placed. A large poultice applied to the chest is conveniently kept in position by a few turns •(round the body) of flannel bandage, four inches wide, provided with braces of the same material passing over the shoulders, their ends tacked to the bandage. Fomentations are hot, moist applications used for the relief of pain or to allay in- flammation. They are made of flannel or lint, some form of antiseptic lint being used in surgical oases. Over the fomenta- tion when applied is placed mackintosh material or oil silk, nonabsorbent cotton wool and bandage (to this order). It is frequently directed that one or more tea- spoonfuls of turpentine shall be sprinkled on the fomentation. In this case no maok- intosh or oilskin, is used, lest by retain- ing the vapor blistering be produced. In the absence of waterproof material, dry heat may be used instead of moist. Mustard plasters should be made with cold water. 4 tablespoonful or more of mustard ig taken and stirred with suffi- cient water to produce a thiok, creamy fluid. It is spread on layers of tissue pa- per, cartridge paper, or, less advantageous- ly, on linen, the edges turned over, a cou- ple of layers of muslin placed on the sur- face of the mustard and applied to the part as direoted. When ordered for children, the mustard must be diluted with three to four vol- umes of flour, their skins being highly sensitive to irritants. The time a mustard piaster may bo left on varies with the sen- sitiveness of the part; from 10 to 80 min- utes usually suffice. On removal the skin must be cleansed from all particles of mustard and a little vaseline'or zinc oint- ment applied. A poultice is sometimes ordered to be sprinkled with mustard. This should bo a mere :sprinkling—a tea- spoonful or so over the whole poultice. It cannot be borne as long as a simple poul- tice. Any room may be used: forthe sick so long as light, ventilation, warmth, free- dom from drafts and general oomfort are preserved. In infectious diseases a room should be chosen, if possible, at: the top of the ]foils°, and stripped of all unnecessary furniture. Nothing should be left in the room which cannot be destroyed or sub - jested to a rigorous disinfection, --New York Ledger; Physical Culture. If a woman wishes to look slender and willowy, she makes a great mlatake in lacing in order toachieve what she desires. She needs to develop her chest and . arms rather than to compress her waist. ":'Sys- tematic physical culture, especially the employment of ohest movements, will soon "broaden the chest and eboulders,. which will, of course, make the waist ap- pear much smaller. Do not lace,. no rasa - tar what happens.