HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Advocate, 1897-2-25, Page 3A SHATTERED FAITH.
REV. DR. TALIVIAGE TO THOSE
BURDENED WITH DOUBT.
He Preaches an Eloquent Sermon Showine
the Foolishness of Questioning. the IIan
of Salvation—He Overcomes Many Objec-
tions named by the Skeptic.
De Funiak Springs, Fla., Feb. 21.—
After away years of invitation Dr, Tal-
mage preaches to -day at this great Chau-
tauqua. From all parts of the south the
people are assembled. The sexanon is
mightily helpful for those who find a
hard to believe everything. Dr. Talmage
returns this week to Washington, The
subject ei this sermon is "A Sbattered
Faith" and the text Acts =via 44, "And
some on broken pieces of the ship,"
Never off Goodwin Sands or the Sker-
ries or Cape Hatteras was a ship in worse
predicament than, in the Mediterranean
hurricane, was the grain ship on which
076 passengers were driven on the coast
of Malta, aye miles from the metropolis.
of that islet -id, called Otto Vecohia.
After a two weeks' tempest, when the
ship was entirely disabled and captain and
crew had become completely demoralized,
• an old missionary took command of the
vessel. He was small, crooked -backed
and sore -eyed, according to tradition. It
was Paul, the °illy =soared man aboard.
He was no more afraid of a Euroolydon
tossiug the Mediterranean sea, now up
to the gates of heaven and now slaking
it to the gates a bell, than he was afraid
of a kitten playing -with a string, He
ordered. them all down to take their
rations first asking for them a blessing.
Then he insured all tlaeir lives, telling
them they would be rescued, and, so far
frona losing their heads, they would not
lose so much of their hair as you could
cut off with one click of the soissors—
nay, net a thread of it, wbether it were
gray with ago or goldeu with youth.
"There shall not a hair fall from the
'head of any of you."
Knowing that they can never get to
the desired port, they make the sea on
the fourteenth night black with over-
thrown cargo, so that when the ship
strikes it will not strike so heavily. At
daybreak they saw a creek and in their
exigently resolved to make for it. And so
they text the cables, took in the two pad-
dles they had on those old boats and
hoisted the mainsail so that they might
come with such force as to be driven
high up on the beach by some fortunate
billow, There she goes, tumbling toward
the rocks, now prow foremost, now stern
foremost, now rolliag over to the star-
board, now over to the larboard; now a
wave dashes clear over the deck, and it
seems as if the old craft has gone forever.
But up she collies again. Paul's arms
around a mast, he cries: "All is well.
God. has given toe all those that sail with
me." Crash went the prow, with such
force that it broke off the masa Crash
went the timbers till the seas rushed
through from side to side of the vessel.
She parts amidships, and into a thousand
fragments the vessel goes, and into the
waves 276 mortals ere precipitated. Some
of them had been brought up on the sea-
shore and had learned to swim -with
, their chins just above the waves, and by
&the strokes of both arms and propulsion
of both feet they put out for the beach
and reach it. But alas for those others!
They have never learned to swim, or
they were wounded by the falling of the
inast, or the nervous shook was too great
for them. And others had been weakened
by long seasickness.
Oh, what will become of tbem? "Take
that piece -of aruclder," says Paulto one.
"Take that fragment of a spar," says
Paul to another. 'Take that image of
Castor and Pollux." "Take that plank
from the lifeboat." "Take anything and
head for the beach." What a struggle for
life in the breakers! Oh, the mereiless
waters, how they sweep over the heads
of men, women and children! Hold on
there! Almost ashore. Keep up your
courage. Remember what Paul told you.
There the receding wave on the beach
leaves in the sant whole family. There
crawls up out of the surf the centurion.
There smother plank conies In, with a life
clinging fast to it. There another piece
of the shattered vessel, with its freight-
age of an immortal soul. They must by
this time all be saved. Yes, there comes
in last of all, for he had been overseeing
the rest, the old missionary, who wrings
the water from his gray beard and cries
out, "Thank God, all are here!"
Gather around a fire and call the roll.
Paul builds a fire, and when the bundle
of stiok-s begin to crackle and standinz
and sStting around the blaze the passen-
gers begin to recover from their chill,
and the wet clothes begin to dry, and
warmth begins to come into all the shiv-
ering passengers, let the purser of the
vessel go round and see if any of the
poor creatures are missing. Not one of
the orowd that were plunged into the
sea. How it relieves our anxiety as we
read: "Some on broken .piecee of the
ship. And so it came to pass that they
escaped all safe to land."
Raving on previous occasions looked at
tile other passengers, I confine myself to-
day to an examination of those who came
In on broken pieces of the ship. There is
something about them that excites in me
an interest. I am not so much interested
In those that could swim. They got
ashore as I expected. A mile of water is
not a very great undertakiag for a stroag
swimmer, or even two miles are not. But
I cannot stop thinking about those on
broken pieces of the ship. The great gos-
pel ship is the finest of the universe and
can carry more passengers than any craft
ever constructed, and you could no more
-wreck it than you could wreck the throne
of God Abniglity. I wish all the people
would come aboard of her. I could not
promise a smooth voyage, for ofttimes
It will be tempestuous or a chopped sea,
but I could promise safe arrival for all
'who took passage on that Great Eastern,
so called by me because its commander
came out of the east, the star of the east
• a badge of his authority.
• Not Regular Passengers.
But a vast multitude do not take reg-
ular passage. Their theology is broken in
pieces, and their life is broken in pieces,
and their habits are broken in pieces,
and their worldly and spiritual prospects
are broken in pieces, and yet I believe
they are going to reach the shining
shore, and I am encouraged by the ex-
perience of those people who are spoken
of in the text, "Some on broken pieces
• of the ship."
• One object in this sermon is to encour-
age all those who cannot take the whole
systera of religion as we believe it, but
who really believe something, to coins
ashore on that one plank.
I do not underrate the value of a great
theological system, but where in all the
Bible is there anything that says: Be-
lieve in John Calvin and thou ' shalt be
saved? or, believe in•Arrninius and thou
halt be saved? or, believe its synod. of
Dort and thou shalt be saved? or, believe
in the Thirty-nine Articles and thou
shalt be saved? A man matabe orthodox
and go to hell or heterodox and go to
heaven. The man who in the deep affec-
tion of his heart accepts Christ is saved,
and the man who does not accept hint is
lost.
I believe in both the Heidelberg and
Westminster catechisms, and I wish yon
all did, but you may believe in nothing
they contain except the one idea that
Christ came to save sinners, and that
you are one of them, and you are instant-
ly rescued. If you can come in on the
grand old ship, I would rather have you
get abroad, but If you can only find a
piece of wood as king as the human body,
or a piece as wide as the outspread hu -
ran arms, ad either of them is a piece
of the cross, come in on that piece. Tens
of thousands of people are to -day kept
out of the kingdom of God beeause they
cannot believe everything.
Some Excuses. •
I am talking with a man thoughtful
about his soul who has lately traveled
througa New England and passed the
night at Andover. Be says to rae: "I
cannot believe that in this life the des-
tiny is irrevocably fixed. I think there
will be another opportunity of repentance
atter death." I say to him: "My nrother,
what has that to do with you? Don't
you realize that the 1/aeal who waits for
another chance after death when he has
a good °hawse before death is a stark
fool? Had not you better take the plank
that is thrown to you now and head for
shore rather than wait for a plank that
may by invisible hands be thrown to you
after you are dead? Do as you please' but
all as for myself, with pardon for amy
sins offered me now, and all the joys of
time and eternity effered me now, I in-
stantly take them rather than run the
risk of such other olia.nce as 'wise men
think they can peel off or twist out of a
Soripture passage that has for all the
Christian centuries been interpreted an-
other way." You say, "I do not like
Princeton theology, or New Haven the-
ology, or Andover theology." I do not
ask you on board either of these great
men-of-war, their portholes iilled with
the great siege gulls of ecclesiastical bat-
tle, but I do ask you to take the one
plank of the gospel that you do believe in
and striae out for the pearl strung beach
of heaven.
Says some other man, "I would at-
tend to religion if I was quite sure
about the doctrine of election and free
agency, but that mixes rne all up."
Those things used to bother me, but I
have no raore perplexity about them, for
say to myself, "If I love Christ and. live
a good, honest, useful life, I am elected
to be saved, and if I do not love Christ
and live abed life I will be damned, and
all the theological seminaries of the uni-
verse cannot snake it any different." I
floundered a long while in the sea of sin
and doubt, and it was as rough as the
Mediterranean on the fourteenth night,
when they threw the grain overboard,
but I saw there was mercy for a sinner,
and tbat plank I took, and:I have been
warming myself by the bright firs on tlae
shore ever since.
While I am talking to another man
about his soul he•tells me, "I do not be-
come a Christian because I do not believe
there is any hell at all," Ah, don't you?
Do all the people of all beliefs and nce.
belief at all, of good morals and bad
morals, go straight to a happy heaven?
Do the holy and the debauched have the
same destination? At midnight, in a hall-
way, the owner of a bouse and a barglar
meet. They both fire, and both are
wounded, but the burglar dies in five
nainutes, and the owner of the house
lives a week after. Will the burglar be at
the gate of heaven, waiting, when tile
house owner comes in? Will the de-
bauchee and the libertine go right in
among the families of heaven? I wonder
if Herod is playing on the banks of the
river of life with the children he mas-
sacred. I wonder if Charles Guiteau and
John 'Wilkes Booth are up there shoot-
ing at a mark, I do not now controvert
It, although I must say that for such a
miserable heaven I have no admiration.
But the Bible does not say, "Believe in
perdition and be saved." Because all are
saved, according to your theory, that
ought not to keep you from loving and
serving Christ. Do not refuse to come
nailerbecause all the others, according
to your theory, are going to get ashore.
You may have a different theory about
chemistry, about astronomy, about the
atmosphere, from that which others
adopt, but you are not, therefore, hinder-
ed from action.
Because your theory of light is differ-
ent from others do not refuse to open
your eyes. Because your theory ef air is
different you do .not refuse to breathe.
Because your theory about the stellar
system is different you do not refuse to
acknowledge the earth star. Why should
the fact that your theological theories are
different hinder you from acting upon
what you know? If you have not a whole
ship fastened in the theological drydocks
to bring you to wharfage, you have at
least a plank. "Some on broken pieces
of the ship."
"But I don't believe in revivals." Then
go to your room, and all alone, with
your door locked, give your heart to God
and join seine church where the ther-
mometer never gets higher than 50 in the
shade.
"But I do not believe in baptism."
Conae in without it and settle that matter
afterward. • "But there are so many in-
consistent Christians." Then come in
and show thenf by a good example how
professors should act. "But I don't be-
lieve in the, Old Testament." Then come
in on the New. "But I don't like the
book of Romans." Then come in on
Matthew or Luke. Refusing to come to
Christ, whom you admit to be • the Sav-
iour of the lost, because you cannot admit
other things, you axe like a man out
there in that Mediterranean tempest and
tossed in the Melita breakers, refusing to
come ashore until he can mend the pieces
of the broken ship. I hear hirn say: "I
won't go in on any of these plant s until
I know in what part of the ship they be-
long. When I can get the windlass in the
right place, and the sails set, and th,at
keel piece where it belongs,and that floor
tirnber right, and these ropes untangled,
I will go ashore. I am an old sailor and
know all about ships for 40 years, and
as soon as I can get the vessel afloat in
good shape Lwill come in." A man
drifting by on a piece of wood overhears
him and says: "You will drown before
you get that ship reconstructed. Better
do as I am doing. I know nothing about
shins and never saw one before I came
On board this, and 1 earmot swim a
stroke, but I am going tishoro on thir•
shivered. timber," num m t.,e °flints
while trying to it ena
The Inan who truseal to tho
saved. Oh, my brother, let your smashed
up system of theology go to the bottom
while you come in on a splintered spar,
"Some on broken pieces of the ship."
A Paradise or God.
You may get all your difficulties settled
as Garibaldi, the magnetic Italian, got
his gardens made. When the war be-
tween Austria and Sardinia broke out,
he was living at Capron., a very rough
and uncultured island home. But he
went forth with his sword to achieve the
liberation of Naples and Sicily and gave
9,000,000 people free government under
Victor Emmanuel. Garibaldi, after being
absent two years from Caprera, returned,
and when he approacbed it he found that
his home had, by Victor Emmanuel, as
• stu prise, been F,denized. • Trimmed
shrubboxy had taken the place of thorny
thickets, gardens the place of barrenness,
and the old rookery In which he once
lived had given way to pictured man-
• sion. And I tell you if you will corne and
enlist under the banner of our Victor
Emsnantiel and follow him through thick
and thin and fight his battles and endure
his saarinces you will find after awhile
that he has changed your bean from a
jungle of thorny skeptiscism into a gar-
den all abloom with luxuriant joy that
you have never dreamed of—from a
tangled Caprera of sadness into a para-
dise of God.
I do not know how your theological
system went to pieces. It may be that
• your parents started you with ea:11y one
plank, and you believe little or nothing.
Or they may have been too rigid and
severe in religious discipline and oracased
you over the head with a psalmbook. It
may be that sorae partner in business
wilt: was a member of an evangelical
church played on you a trick that dis-
gusted you with religion. It tnay be that
you have associates who have talked
against Christianity in your presence
until you are "all at sea," and you dwell
more on things that you do not believe
than on thugs you do believe. You are
in one respect like Lord Nelson wben
signal was lifted that he wished to dis-
regard, and he but his sea glass to kis
blind eye and said, "I really do not see
the signal." Oh, my hearer, put this
fieldglass of the gospel no longer to your
blind eye and say I cannot see, but put
it to your other eye of faith, and you
will see Christ, and, be is all you need to
see.
V1011.11,0101staterIng.
If you believe nothing else, your cer-
tainly believe in vicarious suffering, for
you. see it almost every day in some
shape. The stezinasbip Knickerbocker of
the Cromwell line, running between New
Orleans and New York was in great
storms, and. the captain and crew saw
the schooner Mary D. Crammer of Phila-
delphia, in distress. The weather cold, the
waves mountain high, the first officer of
the steamship and four men put out in a
lifeboat to save the oresv of the schooner
and reached the vessel and towed it out
of danger, the wind shifting so that
the schooner was saved. But the five
men of the stettnaship coming back, their
boat capsized, yet righted, and a line
was thrown the poor fellows, but tbeir
hands were frozen ^so they could not
grasp It, and a great wave rolled over
them, and they went down, never to rise
egain till the sea gives up its dead. Ap-
preciate that heroism and sell sacrifice of
the brave fellows all who can, and can
wo not appreciate the Christ who put out
into a Mere biting cold and into a more
everwhelraing surge to bring us out of
infinite peril into everlasting safety2 The
waves of human" hate rolled. over him
from one side and the wave of hellish
fury rolled over him on the other side.
Oh, the thickness of the night and the
thunder of the tempest into which Christ
plunged for ear rescue.
Come in on one narrow beam of the
cross. Let all else go and cling to that.
Put that under you, and with the earn-
estness of a swimmer straggling for his
life put out for shore. There is a great
warns fire of welcome already built, and
already many who were as far out as you
are standing in its genial and heavenly
glow. The angels of God's rescue are
wading out into the surf to clatoh your
hand, and they know how exhausted you
are, and all the redeemed prodigals of
heaven are on the beach with new white
robes to clothe all those who come in on
broken pieces of the ship.
My sympathies are for such all the
more because I was naturally skeptical,
disposed to question everything about
this life and the next and was in danger
of being farther out to sea than any of
the 276 111 the Mediterranean breakers,
and I was sometimes the annoyance of
my theological professor because I asked
so many questions. But I came in on a
plank. I knew Christ was the Saviour of
sinners and that I was a sinner and I got
ashore, and I do not propose to go out on
that sea again. I have not for 80 min-
utes discassed the controverted points of
theology in 30 years, and during the rest
of ray life I do not propose to discuss
them for 80 seconds.
IVfan the Lifeboat.
I would rather in a inud scow try to
weather the worst cyclone that ever
swept up from the Caribbean than risk
my immortal soul in useless and perilous
discussions in which some of my brethren
in the ministry axe indulging. They re-
mind me of a company of sailors stand-
ing on the Reansgate pier head, from
wbich the lifeboats are usually launched,
and coolly discussing the different style
of oarlocks and how deep a boat ought to
set in the water, while a hurricane is in
full blast and there are three steamers
crowded with passengers going to pieces
in the offing. An old tar, the muscles of
his face working with nervous excite-
ment, cries out: "This is no time to dis-
cuss such things. Man the lifeboat! Who
will volunteer? Out with her into the
surf 1 Pull, nay lads; pull for the wreck!
Ha, hal Now we have them. Lift them
In and lay them down on the bottom of
the boat. Jack, you try to bring them
to. Put these flannels around their hands
and feet, and I will pull for the shore.
God help me! Therel Landed! Rama!"
When there are so many struggling in
the waves of sin and sorrow and wretch-
edness, let all else go but salvation for
time and salvation forever
I bethink myself that there are some,
here whose opportunity or whose life is a
anere wreck, and they have only a sinall
piece left. You started in youth with all
sails sot, and everything promised a
grand voyage, but you have sailed in the
wrong direction or have foundered on a
rock. You have only a fragment of time
left. Then come in on that one plank.
"Some on broken pieces of the ship."
You admit you are all broken up, one
decade of your life gone by, two decades,
three decades, four decades, a half cen-
tury, perhaps three-quarters of a century
gone. The hear hand. and the minute
hand of your olock of life are almost par-
allel, and soon It will be 12 and.your day
ended. Clear discouraged, are you? I ad-
mit it is a sad thing to give all of our
liaes that are worth anything to sin and
the devil, and then at last make God a
present of a first rate corpse. But the
past yea cannot recover. Get on board
that old ship you never will. Have you
only one more year lefttone snore month,
one more week, one more day, one snore
hour—come in or that. Perhaps if you
net to heaven God may let you, go out on
some great mission to some other world,
where you can somewhat atone for your
lack of service in this.
From many a deathbed I have seen
the hands thrown up in deploration some-
thing like this; "My life has been
wasted. I bad good mental faculties and
fine social position ahd great opportunity,
but through worldliness and neglect all has
gone to -waste save these few remaining
hours. I now accept Christ and shall en-
ter heaveu through his naeroy, but, alas,
alas, that when I might have entered the
haven of eternal rest with a fall cargo
and. been greeted by the waving hands
of a multitude in whose salvation I had
borne a blessed. part I must confess 1
now eater the barber of heaven on broken
pieces of the ship!"
Side Contact Trolley.
While all who have an eye for beauty
condemn or at least criticise tbe ordinal"'
overhead construution of electric trolley
lines, the trolley railroad people them-
selves are aware of the drawback consti-
tuted by its high cost and. the necessity
for a virtual duplication of the work
where a double traok is installed. To aid
In overcoming the objections to overhead
construction of electric railroads as cus-
tomarily installed John O. Henry, of
Denver, has devised a form of construc-
tion whiell meets the opposition halfway
by dispensing with one-half of the poles
and wires commonly used. His sc eine
comprehends a system of double traok
electric railway, with the cars traveling
in opposite directions and making con-
tact against the sides of a single trolley
wire which in this case is suspended be-
tween the double tracks from span wires
at the usual height. The poles, instead of
being located opposite each other, are
staggerea and occupy diagotal positions
on opposite sides of the street, so that
one-half of the nuanber ordinarily used
may be dispensed with and the strait: on
the remainder greatly reduced.
In the construction the span wire
strain is exertea in two directloias on
each pole—namely, laterally and In a
line parallel with the track, the latter
component being comparatively small.
With poles spaced, say, 200 feet apart on
opposite sides of the street, 50 feet be-
tween the curbs, the lateral strain on the
pole is only one-half as much as the pull
at right angles thereto—parallel with the
track—and the lateral pull is a balanced
one. The fact that but one trolley wire is
used for both tracks is also a relief to
the poles,
Each car, in place of the present long
trolley pole, would carry a fix d verti-
cal arm or mast, rising from 'he roof
from which collecting arras, mounted on
the top of this upright, will swing out
on either side far enough to engage side
contact with the conductor wire. Cars on
adjoining tracks use different vertical
sides of the common central wire.—
Providence Journal.
The Redheaded Boy.
"There is generally one boy in every
school," said an old teacher, "who learns
an the lessons of all the other boys. Ile
is usually red-haired and unprepossessing
In appearance, but the writers 011 peda-
gogy have not yet followed his career far
enough to decide whether this knack of
absorbing knowledge is of any real use to
him in after life, nor have the psycholo-
gists determined whether the propensity
goes with the red hair or is merely a
frequent coincidence.
"Some time ago I attended the exer-
cises in a public industrial school and ob-
served this intellectual phenomenon in a
very interesting case. A dozen children
were called up to recite little poems. The
schoolroom was crowded, and tbe red-
haired little boy was sitting close to the
reoiters. He knew every piece that was
said or sung. Be repeated each one half
audibly and just a little it advance of
the pupil that was saying it. Some of
them faltered over poems not thcroughly
conned, but the red-haired boy would
only assmne a look of mild surpxise that
anybody should miss such a simple thing
'and of hurt pride that one of ha school-
mates should not do better and then re-
peat the word of line like a prompter at
a play. When the teachers asked mies-
tions, he knew word by word both query
and. answer, whether the question was
put to him or to any other pupil. I
should like to watch that boy and see
what he may blossom into."—New York
Times.
Sarney and the Mob.
Francisque Sarcey, the distitguishesi
Parisian dramatic critic, was the object
of a disagreeable manifestation recently.
He was del vering a lecture in the
Odeon, to precede a special math ee per-
forinnaace of ''Plautus." Several students
began to ask the lecturer questions, and
from questicns proceeded, to scurrilous
epithets and even to catcalls. M. Sarcey
took the disturbance calmly, shrugging
his shoulders and remarking that his
enemies in the audience were entirely
lacking in oieginality. The audience was
impatient at the interruption, but it was
not till several policemen were called that
the lecturer could go on, which he dicl
with the greatest coolness. After his dis-
course was finished he was met by a
crowd of students at the theater exit, but
his smiling good nature quite disarmed
them, and na further disturbance was
attempted.
Some Queer Requests.
Congressmen get curious letters' and
probably the 3host curious of recentdate
is that, just received by Mr. McCall of
Massachuseta from ono of his constitu-
eats, asking him to "send at once one
goods healthy male baby." But congress-
men are not the only persons subject to
freak inquires. The secretary of . the
Chicago board of trade received a letter
awhile ago from a Kansas man, who
wrote, "Please send me at once all news
and all facts about Chicago." Another
Westerner wrote to say that he had for-
warded a carload of jack rabbits and
added, "Sell them at once aad forward
the money, as I need it right away."—
Troy Tiraes.
She Was a Daughter Herself.
"Afight I ask," said the lady from
South Americas "why that plain person
at the far ende of the room arrogates unto
herself so many airs?"
"She is a Daughter of the Revolution,"
said the one interrogated, in awed tones.
"Iler oncost:7 fought in the Revolution."
"Oh said the lady Stem South Amer-
ica, I myself •am a daught r f seven-
teen of them."
SCOTCH MARRIAGES.
Some Od Downs of Wedded Life n the
X.sed of Cnkes.
The marriage market for 1896 has been
more than usually busy. This doubtless
is owing to the eatra, work which has
prevailed during the year. According to
one registrar, marriages fluctuate to a
very large extent with trade. Christmas
and the New Year season are invariably
associated with marriages. During the
latter season ninny of the poorer classes
enter into the bonds of aaasriage with as
little concern as they would change their
lodgings. Tbe serious aspeet of the cen-
tract and its responsibilities never nem
to trouble their heads. In many cases it
is all a matter of coavenieuce, Indeed a
city registrar declares that seven out of
every ten marriages, in his opinion: have
little to do with love. In his long expern
ence he had met with many cases where
couples raa "spliced" and not only had
no home to go to, but had barely enough
to get their supper. This is especially so
among young couples, and, by the way,
it may here be stated that boy and girl
marriages in towns axe on the increase.
During the year just elosed a considerable
number or youths from 18 and even
younger have been married. Before many
months were over—in some instances it
was but a feW weeks—they were appli-
cants to the parish, council or Sodas, for
Improving the Condition of the Poor for
help. A couple appeared at one of the
offices to have their fourth child register-
ed, and neither of them was over 21.
It is surprising to find in these days of
education how ignorant many people are
when they visit the registrar. Not a fen.
are unable to sign their names. Some
are unable to give the name or hour of
birth of the child they wish to register.
In filling up marriage schedules some
ludicrous answers are given. For instance
a couple were asked if they were related,
and answered, "Yes, we live up the same
olOse." A highlander svho was asked. if
his father was living said, "No, She lives
in ta heelans."
Incidents which have a condo and
tragic ending occurred throughout the
year. In the sunnner a party attended
one of the offices to get marriea by spec-
ial license, The bridegroom, begged to be
excused for a few minutes and left the
room. As be did not retura a search was
instituted. After ransacking several pub-
lic houses and. tobacco shops the truant
was found by the mother-in-la,w sobbing
out his heart in the vicinity of the Castle
rock and was dragged beck to his fate.
An intending bridegroom recently poi.
soiled himself on the morning of his
wedding day. The poor fellow had two
claimants for his band and thought that
he would be happier without, either of
them, A real love match was recorded
some weeks ago, one which would form a
grand subject for a novelist. The two
were married on tbeir deathbed! They
had grown up together, knowing not tbe
time when they did not love each other.
Both were victims of constoption, and
being conscious tlaat their and was near
they desired to die in the bonds of wed-
lock.
One day a well known street musician
presented himself at an office and regist-
ered his wife's death and to the surprise
of the registrar turned up next morning
seeking the requisite form to marx7 an-
other woman. This sort of thing happens
more frequently than most people think.
The ages of brides and bridegrooms
form a curious and interesting study.
The average in several offices for the fair
sex runs from 21, while the average for
the sterner sex runs from 25. The aver-
age of elderly brides and bridegrooms
runs about 40 and 70. Some of the latter
have been married three and four times.
It has ofteu been said that a girl gives
up hope at 80, but if the registers of
marriages prove anything they thaw that
spinsters of 80 and upward are much
sought after. "Marry in May and rue
for aye" scorns still to hold good, This
month is the dullest in the season, but
with the advent of June the business be-
gins again. Fashionable marriages have
greatly increased in number and display.
At a marriage between the daughter of a
Glasgow distiller and a city brewer there
were more cabs than were ever teen at
any general assembly sitting in the same
neighborhood.—Dundee Advertiser.
The Skull's capacity.
One of the most important branches in
the study of antropology and etlanogra.phy
is doubtlessly the measuring of skulls,
and while it is easy to obtain outside
raeasurements it is by no means a simple
matter to obtain the exact inside cubic
measurement of a skull. The methods
usually resorted to before this were the
filling of the skull with leaden shot or
whole peas, the contents being afterward
weighed to furnish comparative estimate.
In the December meeting of the Berlin
Anthropological society Professor W.
Krause introduced a new system for
measuring the contents of skulls, invent-
ed by a medical student of the Berlin
university, M. Poll, which is easier,
quicker and. withal more reliable than
the older methods. Poll introduces into
the skull a rubber bag of very fine ma-
terial, which he fills with water. Of
course this rubber bag fills out every nook
and crevice of the skull, and it is an
easy matter to measure the cubic dimen-
sions afterward by withdrawing the
mad bag from the skull, inserting it
into a graduated vessel and. reading off
the result. The heretofore difficult find-
ing of the skull capacity is thereby con-
✓ ted. into an operation which can be
performed by anybody.—New York Jour -
A MINISTER'S STORY.
VIE PIN
AFUL 1XNC
rERIEE OF
REY. C. H. BACKRUS,
For Five Months life Was Helpless and En•
duted Agonizingld
Pains—Cou. Neither
Rise Up Nor Sit Down Without Aid—He
Tells How He .Found a Cure.
From the Tilsonburg Observer.
The Rev. C. H. Backhus is a resident
of Baybam tovsnship, Elgin county, Ott.,
and there is probably no persois iii the
county who is better known or snore
highly esteemed. Re is a minister of the
TTnited Brethrert Church. Be also farms
quite- extensively, superintending the
work and doing quite a share of it hutt-
self despite his advanced age, But be was
not always abbe to exert himself as be
can to -day, as a few years ago he under-
went an illness that many feared would
terminate his life. To a reporter who re-
cently had a conversation 'with him the
reverend gentleman gave the particulars
of his illness and cure, with permission
to snake the statemeat public. The story
as told. by Rev. Mr. Backlaus is substant-
tally as follows: About three years ago
he was taken ill and the doctor who was
called in pronounced his tassubIe an at-
tack of la grippe. He did not appear to
get any better and a second doctor was
called in, but a7Ith ao more satisfactory
results, so far as a renewal of bealtla was
concerned. Following the la grippe pains
of an excruciating nature located. them-
selves in bas body. lie grew weaker and
weaker until at last he was perfectly
helpless. He could not sit down nor rise
from a. sitting posture without assistance
and when with this assistance be gained
his feet he could hobble but a few steps
when he was obliged to be put in a obair
again. For five months these agonizing
pains were endured. But at last relief so
long delayed came, A friend urged him
to try Dr. Williams' Pink Pills. He
yielded to the advice and had not been
taking them long when the longed for
relief was amticed coming. He could move
snore easily, and the stiffness and pains
began to leave bis joints. Be continued.
the use of the pills for some time longer
and the care was cosnplete. Seeing Mr,
Backhus now it would be difficult, to
think. of him as the crippled, and help-
less tnan of those painful days, Mr. Back -
bus is now past his 80th year, but as he
said, "by the aid of Dr. Williams' Pink
Pills 1 ana as able as those ten years
younger. You can readily judge of this
when I tell you I laid forty rods of rail
fence this year. I am glad to add ray
testimony in favor of Dr. Williams' Pink
Da Williams' Pink Pills strike at the
root of the disease, driving it from the
system and restoring the patient to health
and strength. In cases of paralysis,
spbsal troubles, locomotor ataxia, sciatica,
rheumatism, erysipelas, scrofulous trou-
bles, etc., these pills are superior to all
other treatment. Tbey are also a specific
for the troubles which make the lives of
so many women a burden, and speedily
restores the tieh glow of health to pale
and sallow cheeks. Men broken dowu by
overwork, worry or excesses, will find in
Pink Pills a certain euro. Sold by all
dealers or sent by mail postpaid., at 50e.
a box, or six boxes for $2.50, by address-
ing the Dr. Williams' Medicine Company,
Brockville, Ont., or Scheneetady, N. Y.
Beware of imitations and substitutes
alleged to be "just as good."
Experiments With the Mind.
Wholly unsuc,essful experiments with
X rays were made -upon two blind boys
recently in the Corbutt laboratory, near
Philadelphia. One of the boys has been
blind sluce soon after his birth, though
he can distinguish the position of a bril-
liantly lighted. window. The other, who
lost his sigbt at the age of 13 years, can-
not do even that. The farmer, when told
to open and shut his hand in front of the
excited tube, at first declared that he
could make out a changiag shadosv, but
his failure to tell when another person's m
band made the same motions proved
that he had been misled by imagination.
His companion admitted from the be-
ginning that neither the Crookes tube
nor the fluoroscope produced the slightest
effect upon his eyes.
IN JURY AND NEGLECT
He Failed in Health aid Strength—Ms
Pad neys Ached and Be Took Dcald'S Kid-
ney
Deseronto, Feb. 15.—(Special)—.A.mong
business people here, and especially by
his fellosv workmen, great interest has
been taken in the case of Mr. James
Stokes, wbo for the past fifteen years has
been shipper for the Rethburn Company.
Lately he had run down in health and
strength, to the point of being compelled
to quit work and his recovery now as
the result of using Dodd's Kidney Pills,
is the talk of the tosva. On seeing Mx.
Stokes he said:—
"From over lifting and strain I suffer-
ed weatly from kidney -taauble. Being
advised, after all else had. failed, to use
Dodd's Kidney Pills, from the first dose
I got relief, and hundreds of people here
can vouch for nay cure."
A. Decided Success.
Dora—What is that D. R A. that you
belong to?
Clara—The Dancing Reform Associa
n-
al. tion—gentlemen dance with gentleinen,
and ladies with ladies.
"Is that idea a success?"
"'hes, indeed. At our last dance no one
danced at all. We just promenaded about
the conservatories."
"Do you call that a success?"
"Do I? Look at this ring."
New English Journalism.
A. peculiar developanent of English
journalism is noted by Elwyn 3301-ron. 11
seems that a great deal of social news
from America is now being printed in
the London dailies, and. the fact is nota-
ble that in accounts of weddings elabor-
ate descriptions are given of the wedding
presents, with the names of the • donors.
Although this custom hae long been com-
mon enough in the Engliah society week-
lies, which go to all ends to get such in-
formation, it had not been generally done
In tho English dailies. The reason is that
the English papers charge so Much per
line for printing such information, and
naturally the grande dames of the social
world object to seeming to wish to adver-
tise their doings. Most social events of
magnitude are dismissed with a short
paragraph, the names of the naost dis-
tinguished guests being inserted and per-
haps a reference nand° tq the bride's
toilet in the case of a wedding. So it
comes with eomething of a shoek when
a correspondent sends from New York an
account of a so-called swell wedding that
includes a long list of presents and, their
donors. It is barely possible, however,
that these accounts are sent by aspiring
Americans who are willing to pay the
heavy charges of the English papers for
such social exploitation.
ONE OF THOUSANDS
"I was a martyr to sick and Nervous
Headaches, caused by Constipation,
unlit for business on an average
2 days a week.
,,Some pills helped me,but Dr. Agnew's
Liver Pills at 20 ots. a vial cured me.
"This is my- own testimony, and 'it's a
fact. Now 1 never lose an hour
or miss a meal."
This is the written testimony of a well
known Toronto journalist—you can have
his name if you want it. Dr. Agnewas
Liver Pills, at all druggists, 10 in a vial,
20 cents.
Had it Pat.
Teacher—Now what do we call the
scientist who spends all his time collect-
ing eggs?
Tonnny Traddles (promptly) — An
egotist.