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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times, 1891-1-15, Page 7PRE MODFIRN PULPIT. THE OLE AND THE NEW. IsT Tux Len REV. =KAT woos easetian. "And the angel which I KM stand upon the pea and uro the earth litual up his heed to aeaven, ol swo,re by him teat axons for ever everalerlio created heayen, and the things at therein are, and the earth, and the things at therein are, and the sea, and the things Which are therein, that there thould be time UO ;011ger,"—Rev, x. 5, 6. There is no other imagination so exalted as that of the Revelator; awl although the imagery. whieh abounds in the book of Reve- littgins ts eery largely transferred from the vmems of the prophets of the Old Testament and reproduced, unlike the illustrations there they are here woven together. There are many elements of a grand picture now brought into groups and into eonsecutive developments. The scene is of the future. The elements are the great powers of good and evil. The Supreme Being, the heavenly host, the conflicts of good and evil, those wide -leaching influences which not only halt the globe. but go through the universe itself —these are the themes; and the elements by whieh these are &emetically set forth are not borrowed from any ignoble 'source. The Revelatar dips his pencil nine eolours born of the earth. Ilespealts of the sun, of the rain- bow, and of the glory, the power, the majesty, the might, and the terribleness of the eternal God; WA these he paints in colours harrowed from the realm. of Nature tend from the heavenly edam No Dante had such a conception mbis. No Dore in hte wildest moods could toush the canvas with melt magnificent fresco SS does the Revelator, And even if we should fail, by our eliallownees, to soma hs depth?, ; if these wonderful ecenie effeete move so high Above cur beads that they Seeln to us like sounding donne in a night wbose movements we hear, but of which we see eothing, never- thelees they heve been through the ages the inapiration and the comfort of IMMO of God's noblest men and nwesengero. "I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud; and. a rainbow was upon his head, and, his face was as a were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire; arid he had In his nand a little book open and he set his right foot upon the sen, and his left foot on the earth, and cried with a loud voice, as wben a lion roereth and when he had cried, gem thunders ut- tered their voieen Awl when the seven thunders bad uttered their voices, I WAS about to write; and I heard 4 voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those Mega which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not And the Angel which I soar stand upon the eea, And upon the earth lifted tip his band to heaven, and aware by Him that liveth for ever and ever, who created beam - en, and the things that therein are, And the earth, and the thins that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer." Can anything be more sublime, can any- thing be more mysterious, can anything infix itself in the imagination with more power And fruitfulness than this method of delineating the Divine pelves° by this declaration which is fulfilled in every age, in every aide of years, yea, in every year 1 teen ? There is something sublime in those celestial movements which measure out, time to men. Days and nights are eviaently the result of, eauees which are uppercut to our senses. We appreciate, therefore, this division of time. bummer and winter bear their own evidences with thorn. But what are the signs of the termination of the year? The year itself is a period that, when completed, utters no cry. It is nothing that oppresses the senses as dark- nees dims. It styes evidence of its corning and of its going byno hand like the summer's, bearing Ireasures. The year—that great period of' time in which the earth moves around the sun—begins silently, journeys silently, goea back to its starting -point silently ; and yet it is an event of tremend- ous magnitude ; and the contents of it are innumerable and incomprehensible. The mesh of life, the weaving together of events; the vast outplay of intelligence, of emotion, of will ; the great checkered movements across the face of human life upon the globe, in tlMforest, in the field, in the city, among the barbarous, among the civilized, among the heathen, and among the Christian ; the complexes of life—these are simply unut- terable and inconceivable. There goes THE OLD MACHINE, " ivorking without noise. There sails the great hulk, without clink, without grind, without any sound, which is bearing forth In the universe results which are incomper- elle and immeasurable. And the move- ment of the year—the globe accomplishing Het circuit around the central orb—the more one thinks of this annual journey, and of the conditions under which It is being performed, the more impressive it Is. And, surely, if it were only for the year there would be nothing incongruous or inap- propriate in this vision of the Apocalyptic seer. There would be something eminently proper in beholding a cloudy figure descend- ing upon the earth, and, like some radiant angel, covering the hemisphere, and stand- ing with one foot upon the sea and one upon the land, the feet being like piers of fire, and the head being as a flame, snrrounded by a rainbow; there would be something eminently proper in hearing a voice that was like many thunders leclaring when the earth had come again to Its appointed bounds and starting -place for ',nether year, "One year more is ended, ind for that time shall be no longer." And yet though we do not behold the vision' though there is no personal angel for us to see, the event is just as majestic, the history Is just as comprehensive, and the details are just as important as if they had been register- ed aftproclaimed with all dramatic cireum- stela", upon so vast and so illustrious a theatre., . At every annual revolution one period of time is consummated. The old year passes. When the year is rounded and cut off, it goes backward, as it were; but it is not ex- tinguished. The year may he said to have taken form, and it may be said to go, freight- ed, out frone our consciousness upon a voy- ege of its own. It requires no stretch of the Imagination to conceive of it as hav- ing passed through its appointed sphere, 1,S havinggathered all the way ihe experience's of the race, as being -severed from the continuous chitin otime, and as about to make a sepa- rate and speedy voyage of its own, bearing what contents it may. And what are the contents, w let is the freight, what is the cargo ot the year that has just left us end gone to report itself at the harbor of Giel? Look at the race comprehensively, ea, conceive hew many levee have pass- ed away during that year. Conceive that there are dying daily thousands and thou- sands of men! There are two lines—one coming in and the other going out. There is the cry of birth, and there is the muteness of death. They follow each other round and round the globe perpetually. Millions and milliens who began the year twelve months ago have ceased to breathe,and are no more, so far as this world is concerned, than the(1virtue and morality mad piety. The Church withered leaves of last autumn. Where are , teaches, the Church pointethe way ; but tbe the brilliant colours of the maple I Where isilworking OUt of a, man s virtue ie beyond the the rueset of Where th the hickory and the oak ?I:limits of the Church ; and there is but one aree flowers that have bloomed:method by can have the high- during the year? A.nd where are the hopes, ' which a manest benefit, and that is througb a conseera- where are the ambitions, of youthmiddrer4 the joys, !thin of his occupations to virtue and man , of ife, of age, and of old age? hood, Into that year has been poured, a vast Lamm So I ask for of human i life '• and it 14 beingborne away s. again. The host of the dead is nnumerable.e THE CONSECRATION. The year has removed from off the globe (.1i: /a:"Ar avocations. I ask you, merchant, millions and millions and millions that 1 you will mak e mere andi s li e a means of were as you are, and that perhaps grace. I ask you, mechanic, %it you set are as you speedily will be, And !verb and consecrate your industries to the of those who have been borne away jam intent of !), nobler soul -life ? I tak of Shier the shores of time and launched into that are in the most servile positrons, Will the eternities, there were sweet babes, you accept that relationship winch has been there were beautiful youths, there were a.pponated for you in the providence of God, in - loving of rep companions, and there were rmeltnot for thePurpose uf nionrnhig, and radiant rem and women who had mg, and of contention, but for endowment attained a ripe old age. Some event by the of a worthier and nobler manhood ? I ask of earthquake ; some went by the thunder-. those Who are appointed to study, Will you stroke ; some went bleeding and broken from instead of being puffed up by knowledge. the battle -field ; some went from hods of sick -make it the handmaid of virtue? and will ness; some perished under the assassin's stab; you bacome more yadiant and beautiful by some were burned in the hideous confla ra-thet. g yourdaily tion ; and some plunged headlong with ire „ , 1 ask those .ho ale eslled to ' disaster from the c.athem, r that sped as they I Will ' you be faithful to the duties of your thought, to their earthly home. In every qthere by making the beat ma Passible a way that life can end life has ended during tue elements that, come under your band the year that is past. And oh, if it were in every day ? I ask the lawyer, Will you. the power of the imagination to can out of while yo 1 adinienter justice to others, ai. darkness the vision of those that ere gone— minister justice to yourself? I ask the phy- the army of the demi ; tae hoary -headed ; the sielan, Will you, while you are healing other haggard -faced ; the crouching slave aria the Calks" hedies2 see that the sickness a your own ma is medicate4 ? I ask parenta, Will imperious deapot ; the happy and the rich ; the wretehed elecl the groaning ; if WO you, he more worthy to guide your children than ever before? I ask children, Will yon could see the crawling, the limping, the leaping, the ever -flying =Wattle, hew inure illustriously than ever before tidal the strange the scene would be 1 Wrapived Mel duties of final love? up in the passage of the year 1r mt carne, what will you write down foryour- dramaa there are 2 'What wonderful ViSioUS •eelf at the beghlumg of the Ye" ? Win you writel " I will hive the Lard my God would men behold if it were even to them ou write, " I will love y as it was to the Revelator to picture the in- thte MWill r 2 ' ;e . visible and bring it up in reel forms—forms inneighbor as myself ?" PauseThink. of glory ; frame of power ; forma of suffering 1/' het a seuteuee A that 1 'i11 Y"" not weakness ; forme grotesque ; forma sublime take it Illian You ? Is it not just and right —wbet a wild aua strauge mixtureof thins tui,i.1 good ? Ought not every man to do It ? would they see perpetually going on in the 18 III you write, " I willlove my God this history of the race year as never before, and I will love my ? 0 happy young man I 0 joyous maiden! "%id)" " mYsell?" Will you undertake to if you can look through your oul and do it in spiteall cireutnetances and against sfind that all there ia every hid ndrance ? Will you begin- to do it SIC= WELL ATTUNED. If /oohing through your life at home there now ? ill you seek out something by which you eau satisfy yourself that you haVe begun . is nethieg that you wool fain bare ,j Will you put away something? Will you the house—no epectre ; skeletm in the closet, If looking into yourself you see nothing that binders, nothing that mars. If all is =cue in your soul; all is wholesome in your body; all is sweet and beneficent in your cocial eurroundiegn. Tben draw near with me and leek upon the year that goes out burdened with other men's sins and crimes, and say, "T bless God that I have take Oil something a VS all eon awe yin:: :es luotant zeal to perform that wide') ia right ? Will you give token to Gad that you NICAU to belietter this year then you lustre been in any other year ? Oh, these sweet and drowsy eentimentalities in which men indulge How pleasant it is to thiek of chiming belts! How deli haul itis in ourdevotionsto think of angels listening to our thoughts and feel - nothing to send away," ings, and bearing them away 2 How glori. Let 'the year go. Let it bear the sine and the miseries of the race, and aura. Let it, carry away our mistakes and our transgres. atone. 'We alien meet them all too soon. They are not to be sunk in the sen; for no deed done on earth ever perished. No volt - tion ever spends itself. The life of man, and the life of the globe on which lie dwells, will amigo their forms; but thesubstanee there- of remains, and never can be destroyed. .All that, wo have been, and all that Woare to the heat moment we shall know about again, by-and-by, either for joy or for woe. Deeply laden, black in the hull, thadowea by.olouds, ber sails filled, the old ship is going out of the harbour ; and meeting her, a ship of light,eurved, as it were, like the now moon, audlikeherradiant, there comes in the new year. How fresh, how buoyant, how beautiful is that new year in which' you are to bopassengers—tho new year which is to begin to take on something from you, something from thentitions, something from governments, something from cities, some- thing from the country, something frone the wildernessasoracthing from the household, something-irom the store, something from the shop, something from the ship, some- thing from the Area, something nem the field, something from the high and from the low, something from the rich and from the poor, something from all men, as con- tributions. What will you put upen the new year? Will you accept now the open- inAyear in a larger spirit, with a clearer vision, with a more manly purpose than that with which you ever accepted any of the years that have preceded it? Let me not too closely follow the figure : will you not in the year that is to come make your own self -development, instead of self-indulgence, an object of supreme im- portance, as you never have before? To a large extent we all live for the pleasure of the hour. A limited pleasure for the trim- sient hour is our privilege; but to dwell in the pleasure of the hour is no muds privil- ege and is self-indulgence. We are not in this life to be pleasure -seekers. Not only are we to seek nobler ends outside of our- selves, but we are to seek nobler ends in- side of ourselves; and pleasureis incident to the main object of our life. There are a great many of you wbo have been borne through the last year as sick men are, and, as prisoners are, coerced. It has hardly been given to you to say what you would be or what you would do. By the power of habit, by the force of public sentiment, and by your social surroundings, you have been carried on. To some of you who have walked through the year it has been a weary round. You have been part- ly carried, and partly you have carried yourselves • and you have been creatures very largely of .circumstances; mid for the most part you -have sought the development of things without rather than your own self -development. Have you during the last year been more seriously thoughtful of how to make honour broader; of how to make truth clearer and parer in yourself; how to live with more simplicity and more sincerity; how to bear your burdens in a more manly spirit; how to work out virtue upon virtue, and achieve- ment upon achievement ; how to be more fruitful of joy itself, which; reflecting from you, becomes the joy of others? Will you at the beginningof the year which has dawn- ed upon you, determine by the help of God that it shall be a year of self -development? And if this be your purpose, is it a purpose merely of fugamous feeling? or are you ser- ious? and will you begin at once the regis- tration of this purpose? and will you begin to carry -it out? Will you begin to develop more soul culture ; more richness of heart; more knowledge for the head; more skill in the hand ; more love, not toward your- self but toward others? And if so will you enter now upon the consecration of yourself to all those methods by which God works out manhood in men? I do not ask you whether you will in the new year avow that you will enter upon a reformation which , simply includes the observance of the Sabbath a,nd attendance upon the services of the Church. The Church is an instrument of teaching; but life outside of the Church is more im- portant than the Church itself. As I read the economy of God, it is be the cares and labours and duties of the household, it is in the operations of the shop, it is in the traffic of thestore itis in the wholestrifeand enterprise of men working with each other, that God trains and drilla them to practical ous it IS to sings in sweet, symphonious ac- cord, these hymns of sentimentality 2—alt of wbielt are well enough if they aro the at. mosphere of songs more solid, more cogent, and more imperative. I ask not that you should dispossess yourself and your experi- ence of sentiment ; but I ask that smitiment should work choice, that choice should pro- duce action, and that action should take hold upon character and life. I am speaking to TEE DEAD. - Come, up! Rause you eself, 0 man 1 Rire God knows that you shall never see another year's end. I am speaking in the open face of men who shall not again come to a New Year. In the midst of life, are you? Strong, are you Are you stronger than they were who perished by the hundred in the flame? safer than they were who plunged engulfed in the dreadful massacre of the train? Are you more secure than the men whom tile fever elm AS with the stroke of the sword.? I am speaking to the anointed. On your head I see the muffled crown. You are marked for death. To you there is but one more left—nor all of that. A few months at most have you remaining; and what you do you must do quickly, whether it be for your- self, for your household, or for your kind. Times presses; ited all ye that mean to cast away the frivolity, the vanity, the folly, the sins, the aims, tho hideous evils of the past; ye that have einned away the year that is gone, and AM about to enter Kim a new yam with renewed virtue and with re- newed piety, begin at ouce ! There is no time to spare: for to many of you the angel is lift- ing up the hand commissioned of God, and "For you time shall be no more." And may God in Ilia infinite mercy grant that when to you and to me shall come the fulfilment of that annunciatinn, and time shall be no newo, you may as I will, rejoice as the thread is out, and we launch away to iny God and to your God. lam not afraid of God. I am not afraid of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am not afraid of hell. Tam not afraid of losing heaven. I dwell in the arms of eternal love. I am ripening in the suinmer of love. The flavour and the lustre that come with the fruit tell the story of the sun; and• my soul knows that it is of God from the flavor and the colour; and I am not afraid to go to Him. I am not reluctant to yield up this place where for thirty years I have stood to make known Christ and the Gospel. I am not afraid nor unwilling to leave the happiness, and the fidelity, and the affection unparalleled of loving friends, and to say, "Farewell 2" at any hour. When God wills, I will. To depart and be with Christ is better; though for you it may be more needful that I should remain. It is much easier to reconcile an enemy than to conquer him ; victory may deprive him of his poison, but reconciliation of his will. President Harrison last week issued a proclamation formally eating the seal of the Government on the Chicago World's Fair, announcing that the fair will be opened on May 1st, 1893, and inviting 'alt nations"of the earth" to take part in it. John P. Matthews, the Republican post- master at Carrollton, Mo., was shot by W. S. McBride yesterday. The two were hunt- ing for each other with Winchesters, and McBride secured the first shot, which proved fatal. That the substance is more than the form, and that a usage which has lost its ad- aptation to the time and people who observe it, should be cast away, is a truth which mankind are slow to learn. It seems, how- ever, that the American Jews have awaken- ed to this important fact, and though the change involves the doing away of a custom hoary with age, are moving in the direction of altering their ritual so as to render their services more intelligible to the English- speaking worshippers. A despatch from Cincinnati states that the committee ap- pointed at the Central Rabbinical, Confer- ence at Cleveland last July to formulate a ritual to be used by all the Jewish syna- gogues in the United States met here, and has agreed upon the following plan :—The Sabbath and holyday prayers will be so re- cast as to be in accordance with the modern conception of Judaism, so that while retain- ing the striking and typical sentences in the Hebrew; the greater .part of the service willbe in EnglisheasSpeeral forms of prayer will also be added or special occasions, such as marrieges, funerals, confirmations, VAS - over celebrations, eto." The present indications show a tendencaj to make trimmings more upright and Ing than they helm been of late. On the boat - shape hats the birds bristle upwards as if about to fly. Ail kinds of effeete requiring ostrich tips and full plumes will be worn, the return to. these feathers being very de- eided. Wioe outside bands and an immense use of bias velvet in tin:Taming are certain, and overdue straight orsquere crowns velvet will be laid in soft folds and. waved puffings. For the velvet toques, roses of bright pink and yellow will be used. The velvet for ties is cut bias attached at the side. On a hat of b 1 I 'P Pa ly matching and partly of a pale rose color, one of which -curls down over the hair at the back. In order to display the very else gent plus now used in the hair some shapes . are cut off at the back. For an eldarly lady a bonnet of blaelr vels vet has a projecting brim which ehades the face, and over it droop feather. The back is not turned up nor cut off, but, straight. The hats for bridesmaids will be either 'Wiens or Golushorough, which last shape, - Although no longer called by that name, has always been a favorite for weddin and is so Ai. 1. The crown is low and greatly concealed " by the Weaning. As lately set forth by the shape of the bride's hat for traveling is, smell and has ita crown eulte holden by feather tips. Shaded feathers, especially in reds and be k greens shading lo light, will worn. :Mingled with them are the stiffer wings of rho still much-111ml blaelthird, the cock, and the sea -gull as well as the dove. In fact, as the birds, fashion seems to be melting up for baying somewhat uegleeted them for a time. Even emetics and swallowa are used, the first on reception awl theatre toquee. A novel and pemlier hat of felt has a etraight front, bias folds of matehing velvet, and over the erown broad ends of velvet which form three wings imitating those of a, bird, and are late forward in a somewhat high effect and held by an eagle's claw in metal. Nina, USA will be made of the natural ostrich feathers, as alas of metal galloon. The big artiatic or picture hate as they are veiled, in felt and bea,ver bave the plumes arranged in midi a way as to spread carelessly over the cromeofteu fallingliesrand the brim at their ends, and mealy =tan- sres hanging 50 fax beyond, the brim at the back as to loosely encircle the throat in the novel and extremely pietnresque style firet seen last year, and much liked for youthful faceta These hats frequently show a 1113SS- ing of feathers at the back, with Dana ViSibla in front where bows of velvet are used. The " beef -eater" crown is quite often Simply surrounded by feathers, without dis- play of loops or bows, Then again, 4101111- ler of small birds will he seen mixing with the ostrich tire and either matching or in brightly contrasting hues, as light green with Mack or brown, yellow with black, or red with dark blue. On toques for theatre wear, some import- ed examples show tiny parroquets billingand cooing, as it were, or wrangling, more prob- ably, after the manner of parraquots, and mingling with them small flamingo wing. The feathers of the lard -of -Paradise are used on some inverted hate, in natural or dyed effects. Uee is made of rich jet for coronets, as also of fine jet galloon and passententerie of the more delicate kind, as ale° of flat metal braid in bronze, ;sold, and silver as well as of steel. Red velvet bonnets of the Duchess of Fife and toque shape are quite covered with a very elegant inish lattice -work tracery of fine cut jet, e special piece being 115(1(1 when a coronet is added to a raised brizn, as seen on. the centradivided or folded velvet crown. Ladiestfelts of assorted colors are trimmed with fancy velvet, fancy feathers, and felt braid. Examples will he found of felt shapes upon which soft velvet folds are laid over the crown, held down by jewel -headed pins and metal leaves, as of the holly, mistletoe, aud laurel, laid forward of the velvet so as to garnish the front of the brim. Velvet facing. A felt trammed with a velvet ribbon in Persian pattern has soft folds held down by pins toppea with coins anda 'willowfeather healing over the right of the dented brim. A shape with projecting brim cocked up pointedly on the dented front has a rich trimming of ribbon with half its width in stripes of yellow and half in black, a small bird at the back and. a cock's feather curled backward from the front. On the edge is box -pleated yellow satin ribbon beyond a pleating of black velvet. Small toque shapes are covered with Per- sian designs in gold tracery of great delicacy and have, in addition to this elegant decor- ation, a simple crushed puff on the front, as in the picture of the Duchess of Fife shape, a small bird of bright color or a bunch of aigrette feathers or of gold wheat. Such bonnets are suited to theatre parties or recep- tions. Small coronet shapes witb folds of velvet and a wreath of velvet flowers or leaves over which a drapery of lace is thrown, Spanish fashion, are worn by middle-aged ladies to reception or for morning visits. We have already spoken of the ribbon set withje waled nail -heads and now used for win- ter trimming. Never was there a handsomer display of all kinds of material for millinery. The only difficulty is in choice among so much that is attractive. The very large hats and very small bonnets are the two present extremes of the mode. MILLINERY, INTERESTING ITEMS. Clerical Appeal for the North-West. OTTAWA, Jan. 14.—Bishop Grandin, of St. Albert, has issued an appeal to the aarish priests of the Province of quoin°, be which he asks them to use their influence in inducing French-Canadian Catholics, who desire to emigrate, to make their future home in the Canadian North-West, instead of going to a strange land. The North-West of Canada, the bishop says, was discovered chiefly by French-Canadians, whose missionaries had brought out to those regions the blessings of Christianity and eivilizationsend he deplores that so few of their descendants have gone there to take advantage of the opportunities that are placed within such easy reach of hem. Another Effect of the MoKinley Bill. Epstein—" Ve are going to haf our tin vedding, my vife and me, next Monday night. Ve vould be glad if you und your vife come ofer and spent der efening vie Oppenheimer—" Your tin vedding? Vas you married ten years ?" Epstein—" No, ve is nearly married fife years." Oppenheimer—"My poy, dot vas a vooden vedding.in fife years, not a tin vedding." Epstens—" Yes, I know, but me and •Leals vould ruder hef onr tin vedding first for tin vas pin' to be bretty high on agount dot.MeGinley hill. —tAn'scrica. Dom Pedro's throne was recently sold at auction in Rio de Janeiro for $400. Blackening the nose and cheeks under the eyes has been found an effectual preventive of snow blaednees, or the injurious effect Of the glare from illuminated snow upon eyes unaccustomed to it. The baloois proposed for polar explore - tons is 99 feet in diameter and 500,040 cubic feet in volume. The journey will be from Spitzbergen, and with a favorable wind will last four or five days. 'The Jewish population of France, in- cluding Algiers, is about a bemired and thirty thousand. Of these over a. third live re Paris, where they have their own educa- tional and charitable institutions brought to a high degree of perfection. le has been suggested that the study of the influence of ,lie e and habit upon the odour of hair in different mations of men may entree discoveries by whieb the colour of the hair in the human race may be modi- fied by judielons treatment. A rug valued at $5,000 was boughe be London lately. It was about thirteen feet square md bed about 258 stitches to the inc. The material was wool eonahed, not cut, from the =mai, and worth more than its weight in silk. The wholesale price of whalebone is now $10,000 a ton. A project is on foot to or- gauize whaling expeditious from Australia to the Antarctic ACAS. where It is believed plenty of whales are to be found. It ban almost untouched whaling ground. Tbe chief ludustry of Zanzibar ana Pemba is clove -growing. i he tree was introduced in 1830, aud ti e harvest this year is expected to be 13,000,00 pounds, at an average local value of ten centa pound. A text -year-old tree is capable of yielding twenty pounds of cloves; trees of twenty years often yield up- ward u(100 pounds. NEW USES OP BLEOTRIOITY. - fildva ebealelY mid tinteltly Tanned by the Agency or the current. For sonie time past reports have been our- reut as to the perfection, in France, of method of taming by electricity, and the Inat,,er has excited greet curiosity through. out the country. This country is, as Amer. is, one of the largeet leather -producing ountries of the world, and bas ea fewer than 3,000 or 4,000 tanning establishments. Within the present month the process hao Actually been experimented with au Amer- ica, and the mutts are now ex aiting no small amount of discussion and controversy inleather circles. The process, which is Inc invention of Worms at Bale of Paiis, has been under trial abroad since 1efi7, in a WI' nery in Perla, and another large tanneey has been started fax the same purpose at Long- jumem. In this method the tanning ie expedited in two wa-s. Fine by the agitation of the skins in contact with the tanning liquor, and secondly, by the passage of the electric current. through the body of theliquid. To attain these two ends A. eireular drum is employed, and as the drum rotates current IS passed through it by means ofa wire brought to tenter:se at its side. The skins, to undergo this procese, are prepared in the ordinary way, the hair being takaa off by Thee, and they are then put into the drum with the tanning solution. rite current to which they are subjeutea averages about seventy to 100 volts, and the direction of the current is changed every twelve hours, so as to act equally on the skins, which constitute the electrodes. During the operation the liberation of gas is insignificant, so that the hides may be considered to not in the same way its the plates of an accumulator. Goat and sheep skins require onlyabout twenty-four hours for complete tanning. Calf skins require forty-eight hours. Cow, steer, and horse hides require from seventy-two to ninty-six hours, according to their texture. The leather produced in this way has been ex- amined by experts and is said to be of excel- ent quality. A LION'S PRISONER. An African Kept MI a Rock tn111 the San Itonated His Toes. The following is told on the authority of a well-known Cape missionary. A man hav- ing sat down on a shelving, low rock near a small fountain to take a little rest after Isis hearty drink, fell asleep ; but the beat of the rock soon disturbed his dreams, when he be- held a large lion crouching before him, -with its eyes glaring in his face and within little more than a yard of his feet. He was at first struck motionless with ter- ror'but, recovering bis presence of mind, he eyed his gun and began moving his hand slowly toward it, whenthe lion raised its head and gave a. tremendous roar, the same awful warning bceng repeated whenever the man attempted to move his hand. The rock at length became so heated that he could scarce- ly bear his naked feet to touch it. The day passed and the night also, but the lion never moved from the spot ; the sun rose again and its intense heat soon rendered his feet past feeling. At menthe lion rose and walked to the water, only a few yards distant, looking be- hind as he went, lest the man should move, when, seeing him stretch out his hand to take his gun, it turned in a rage, and was on the point of springing upon him. And another night had passed as the former had done, and the next day again the lion went toward the water, but while there he listened to some noise apparently from an opposite quarter and disappeared in the bushes. The man now seized his gun, but on first essay- ing to rise he dropped, his ankles being with- out power. At length he made the best of his way on his hands and knees and soon after fell in with another native, who took him to a place of safety, and, as he expressed it, with bis "toes roasted." He lost his toes andwas a cripple forlife. Measuring Niagara Falls. A survey has just been made of Niagara Fells, and the engineer's report has been presented to the United States Commis - stoners. It shows that the total mean reces- sion of the Horseshoe Falls since 1742, when the first survey was made, has been 104ft 6in. The maximum recession of the American Falls is 30ft 6in., Tbe length of the crest has increased from 2260ft to 3010ft by the washing away of the embankment. The total area of the secession of the American Falls is 32,900 square feet, and that of the Horse- shoe Falls 275,406ft. Three Wieys of Describing It. Two men, A. and B., met a third C., on the street one day recently and halted him, telling him they wished himtodecide agues - tion under discussion. "1 say,," said A., "that D. 's house burn- ed down. "And I say,' said 13., "that D.'s house burned up." "You are wrong, both of you," said C., "for I have it on good authoeity that D. was burned out." NO aux, He Tried Inetteetualiy to Got 14 •r if* *ono for marts irowstets. A wise commander may eardoe the reck- lessness of young soldiers, 1 ull4 anitaal spirits, and ambitious tO distinguisa theta. selves by deeds of daring. But he frown upon the veteran whore, wax of courage makes him foolhardy, wit does not oblige him to expose hiteaelf. Malortie tells of a Waterloo veteran, a Volger, who did a very foolish thing in t first Holstein campaign. On the day before the storming of Dup. pel, be was on duty in the teenchee. The gallant Danes who defended Dup-pel ehot so accurately that no Prussian dared look over the earthworks. Suddenly, to the astonish- ment of his officers, Col. Volger was aeen riding his old gray mare up and down in front of the earthworks, amid a shower of 4 bullets. Thinking he bad gone to inspect the out. posts, no one ventured to make a remark. But when he passed for the third time the t place where the officers had congregated be. hind the breastworks, the senior captain stepped out toad called :he coloriere attention to his seedless expoeure, and entreated him not to court death this reckleni manner. The colonel grinned, thanked the captain for his warning, and then explained his conduct. " There's no danger," said he " they are pared 9f duffera ; can't sheet & bit; thoy unse even roy old mere, though. I've treated them to a splendid target. The mare is done for ; that's the reason 1 home been walking her up and down for the last quarter of an hour. It's thirty pounda in my pocket if they kill her, but I've no luck," (The gov- eminent allowed thirty pounds to an °Meer if his home was killed in battle.) At that moment *bullet struck the eol. onel's sward -belt, and, slippWg 04 0, anew°, made the round of his portly waist, slightly grazing the skin. The colonel shrugged ahouldera, and unfasteued hie belt. " Captain, you may be right," be said I "it is eafer on the other side ; those fellows are capable of missing the mare aud treating roe to another idiot higher up. Only a foe* lower and the mare would have bad it, and I should have received thirty pounds. Pro- voking, 'on uxy hosier 1" Following the ce,ptaiu, he amyl,' roar into the trenches, where he dismounted, and patted the old mare saaing " 1 daie say oho wou't be sorry le: be spared this time." 'Ile mare was not hit during the whole campaign. On his return to Ifatiover, the coheir) sold her. much to his disgust. for eight pounds. She ended her days between the shafts of a four -wheeler. TEE AramAN PIGMIES. How They Live in the Depths eV the Great Forest. Their villages, situated evader the impers vious foliage of the largest clump of trees to be found near the locality -where they pros pose camping, struck us as being comfort. able'snug, and neat. I have seen ninety* twobuts in one of these villagers, arranged in a circle of about fifty yards in diametee, The pigmy camps are generally found at the crossways, where two or more paths inter., sect, and =from two to three Miles distant from agricultural settlements. Our oath:tit( always lessened on meeting them, for tin( more paths we found, the more we were ae, mired of food, and the roads improved. Sometimes these forestarillages were planted midway between parallel linea ot settlements, A short walk from our ening through the woods, north or south, would take us to. plantations large enorgh to sup- ply a regunent 'with food. One time we came to a group of dwarf villages whence a broard path tux feet wide communicated with another group three miles distant. This road was°. revelation. It Wormed ut that the tribe was more thanusually power. ful ; that it was well establisher'; that tht chief :possessed power, and was permitted to exercise it. Outside of the great kingdom of Uganda, we had not seen in Africa a cut road longer than half a mile. The huts in every pigmy camp were of tortoise -back figure. The doortro.yswere nj more than three feet high, and were place at the ends, one being for daily nse, and Qui other, which fronted the bush, for escape. Those for constant conveniencelooked out on the circular conunon and pointed to the cons tre, where stood the tribal chief' s hut, ea though the duty of every household was to watch over the safety- of him who ruled the community. We rarely found a hut higbi than four feet six inches. In length they va ed from seven to ten feet, while the widt would be from four and a half feet, to seven. Timbal appeared to be old -established camp we found rough cots constructed, which were raised a few inches above the ground, aften the style of our own forest couches. Several layers of phrynium leaves make a luxuriodi bed.—From "The Pigmies of the Great African Forest," by Henry M. Stanley, hi January Scribner. Coronets of Nobility. French counts have nine equalapearls their coronets. The British baron is entitl to a coronet of four big pearls. The Engli viscount has a coronet of seven pearls of evea size. The earl's coronet shows Eve small pearls and four strawberry leaves. The English marquis is entitled to three straw7 berry leaves and two large pearls. French marquises bear three strawberry leaves and two clusters of three small pearls. French viscounts are entitled to a coronet contain- ing three large pearls and two smaller ones. French barons are not entitled to a coronet; but to what is called a tortil, a circlet of gold having a necklace of tiny pearls turned three times around it. The German prince's coronet is very peculiar, with its graceful curves of pearls, its ermine circlet and the globe and cross, indicative of an imperial grant. It is used in all countries on the con- tinent, with or without the interior velvet cap, awl is allowed only to descendants of sovereign families or members of the highet house of parliament. The Tongue. "The boneless tongue, so small and weak, Can crush and kid," declared the Greek. "The tongue destroys a greater horde," The Turk assorts, "than doth the sword," Or sometimes takes this form instead: "Don't let your tongue cut on your head." " The tongue can speak a word whose seed," Says the Chinese, outstrips the steed. While Arab sages thisimparl.: • " The teugue's groat storehouse is the heart." From Hebrew wit this maxim sprung: "Though foot shouldslipateler let the tongue. The sacred -writer CrOWUS the whole; "Who keeps his tongue doth keep his soul." What he Reminded Her of, He—I must be going, so I will bid yots good -night She -011, your call makes inc think of one member of a 'base -ball nine. He--Wnat member, pray 7 She—Why, the short-stog