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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times, 1894-11-22, Page 2AGM IN BROOKLYN' W. TALMAGE RINDS LESSONS IN THE JOY OF COMING HOME. Of All Vforde thellangliage None Con- veys So Many Sweet Suggestions as the Word Home -foys of Christians and Angels Over the convert, BRoOKLY1c, Nov. 11 ,---Rev. Dr. Talmage, lyjng ooncludea his round the world tour, iiite selected. as the subject for to -day's dia- olosure through the press, 0 Home Again," am text ohosen. being Luke xv., 23, "Bring littler the fatted °elf and kill it." In all ages of the world it has been Gus. ternary to celebrate joyful event e by festivity -the signing of treaties, the proclamation of pesos, the Christrnate the marriage. However much on other days the year our table may have stinted supply, Thanksgiving day there must be eernething bounteous, and all the comfort. 4ble homes of Christendom have at some time celebrated joyful events by banquet and festivity. Something has happened in the old home. stead greater than anything that has ever iaappened before. A favorite son, whom She world supposed would become a vaga- bond and outlaw for ever, has got tired of Sightseeing and has returned to hie father's house. The world said he never would come baok. Tbe old man ewer said his son would come. ,He had been lookmg for hint day after day and year after year. Be knew he would :some batik. Now, having returned to his father's house, the father proclaims celebration. There is a oalf in the paddock that has been kept up and fed to ntmoot capaoity, so as to be ready for some occasion of joy that might come along. Ah, there never will be a grander day on the old homestead than this day. Let the butchers do their work and the housekeep- ers bring in to the table the smoking meat The musicians will take their places, and the gay groups will move up and down the floor. All the friehde and neighbors are gathered in, and extra supply is sent out to the table of the servants. The father presides at the table and says grace and. thanks God that his long absent boy is home again. Oh, how they miseed him! How glad they are to have him back 1 One brother indeed stands panting at the back door and says: "This is a great ado about nothing. This bad boy should have been. chastened instead of greeted. Veal is too good for him !" But the father says, "nothing is too good; nothing is good enough." There sits the young man, glad at the hearty reception, but a shadow ot sorrow flitting across his brow at the re- membrance of the*tronble he had seen. All ready now. Let the covers lift. Music. lie was dead, and he is alive again ! He was lost, and he is found! By such bold whitat you ere indulging-joye O thie world--anto the repturee ef the goepol, The world cannot satisfy yeu, you have fouled ene--Alezancler lensong for other world e to conquee, and yet &owned in his Own beetle, Byron whipped by disquietudes arou4 the world. Voltaire oursing his own gold while all the streeto ofParis were applauding him, Henry II consuming with hatred spinet Poor Themaet Becket -all illustrations of the fact that thia world oannob makes man happy. The very mem who poleoned the pommel of the saddle on which Queen Elizebeth rode shouted in the street, "God save the queen 1" One moment the werld applauda, and the next moment the world anuthemetizes, Oh, come over into this greater joy, this sublime solaom this magni- ficent beatitude I But Inotioe that when the prodigal came there was the father's joy, Be did not greet him with any forms' "how do you do I" Be did not oome out and say: "You are unfit to enter, elo out and wash in the trough by the well, and then you can come in. We bave had enough trouble with you," Ah, no When the proprietor of that estate proclaimed festival, ib was an out- burst or a father's love and a father's joy. God is your fateer. I have not much sym- pathy with that desoription of God 1 looms - times hear, as though he were a Turkish sultan -hard and unsympathetic and lis- tening not to the or of his subjects. A. man told me he'saw in one of the east- ern lands a king riding along, and. two men were in altercation, and one charged the other with having eaten his rice, And the king said, "Then slay the man and by post mortem examination find whether he has eaten the rice." And he was stein. Ah, the cruelty of a soene like that 1 Our God is not a Sulban, not a despot, but a father -kind, loving, forgiving -and he makes all heaven ring again when a prod- igal comes back. "I have no pleasure," he says, "in the death of him that :Beth." If a man does not get to heaven it 18because he will not go there. No difference the color, no difference the history, no difference the antecedents, no difference the surroundings, no difference the sin. When the white horses of Christ's victory are brought out to celebrate the eternal triumph, you may ride one of them, and as God is greater than all his joy is greater, and when a soul comes back there is in his heart the surgingrof an infinite ocean of gladness and to express that gladness it takes all!the rivers of pleasure, and all the thrones of pomp, and all the ages of eter- nity. It is a joy deeper than all depth and higher than all height, and wilier than all width, and vaster than all immensity. It overtops, it undergirds, it outweighs all the united aplendor and joy of theuniverse. Who oan tell what God's joy is? You remember reading the story of a king who on some great day of .festiviby scattered silver and gold among the people, who sent valuable presents to his courtiers, but methinks when a soul comes back God is so glad that he flings out new worlds into space, kindles up new suns and rolls arciong the white robed anthems of the red.eemed a greater hallelujah, while. with a voice that reverberates among the moun- tains of frankincense and is echoed back from the everlasting gates he cries, "This, my son, was dead and is alive again 1" imagery does the Bible set forth the merry- making when a epul comes home to God. First of all, there is the new convert's joy. It is no tame thing to become a Chris- tian. The most tremendous moment in a man's life is when he surrenders himself to God. The grandest time on a father's homestead is when the boy comes back. Among the great throttg- who in the par - tors of my chureh professed Ohrist one night was a young man, who next morning rang my doorbell and said: "Sir, I cannot oontaimmyself with the joy I feel. .1 came here this morning to express it. I have found more joy in five minutes in serving God than in all the years :Amy prodigality, and I come to say so." You have seen perhaps a man running for his physical liberty and the officers of the law after him, and you saw him escape, or afterward fon heard the judge had pardon- ed him, and how great, was the glee of that rescued man ! But it is a very tame thing that compared. with the running of one's everlasting life, the terrors of the law alter him and Onrist coining in to pardon and bleu and rescue and save. You remember John Bunyan, in his great story, tells how the pilgrim put his fingers in his ears and ran, trying, Life, life, eternal life!" A poor car delver, after heving had to strug- gle to support his family for years, sudden- ly was informed that a large inheritance was his, and there was joy amounting to bewilderment, but that is a small thing compared with the experience of one when he has put in his bands the title deeds to the joys, the raptures the splendors of heaven, and he can tray say, Its man - dons are mine ; its temples are mine ; its songs are mine; its God is mine 1" Oh, it is no tame thing to become a Christian. It is a merrymaking. Ibis the killing of a fatted calf, Ib is jubilee. You know the Bible never compared it to a funerabbut always compares it to something bright. It is more apt to be compared to a banquet than anything else. it is com- pared in the Bible to the water -bright, flashing water -to the morning, roseate, fire worked, mountain transfigured Morn- ang. I wish I could to -day take all the Bible expressions about pardon and pease and life and comfort and. hope and heaven, and twist them into one garland and put it on the brow of the humblest child of God in all this land and cry; " Wear it, wear it forever; son of God, daughter of the Lord God Almighty 1 Oh, the joy of the new convert Oh, the gladness of the Ohriatian service 1" You have seen sometimes a man in a religious assembly get up and give his ex- perience. Well, Paul gave his experience. Be rose in the presence of two churches - the church on earth and the churoh in heaven -and he said "Now, this is my experiences; Sorrowful, yet always rejoic- ing; poor 1 yet making man rich; having nothing, yet possessing all thingsr" If all the people who read this sermon knew the joys of the Chrisbiart religion, they week' all pass over into the kingdom of God the nextenoment When Daniel Sandal -rush was dying of cholera, his attendant said, "Have you much pain ?" "Oh," he replied, "since I found the Lord I have never had any pain except sin." Then they said to him, "Would you like to serid a meesage to yout friends?" "Yee, I would. Tell them that only buit night the love of Jesus came rush- ing hate my soul like the surges of the sea, and I had to my celb 'Stop% Lord. It is enough! Stop, Lord -enough !" Oh, the joys ot this Christian religion 1 Zust patio Over trom timed tate° joys in At the opening of the exposition in New Orleans I saw a Mexican flutist, and. he played the solo, and then atterwards the eight or ten bands of music, accompanied by the great organ came in. But the sound of that one flute as compared with all the orcbestra was greater than all the combined joy of the universe when com- pared with the resounding heart of Al- mighty God. I notie.e also that when a prodigal comes home there is the joy of the ministers of reliatom Oh it is a grand thing to preach this gospel! I know there has been a great lea' said about the trials and the hard- ships of the Christian ministry. I wish somebody would write a good rousing book about the joys of the Christian ministry. Since I entered the profession I have seen more of the goodness of God that I will be able to celebrate in all eternity. I know some boast about their equilibrium, and they do not rise into enthusiasm, and they do not break down with emotion. But I confess to you plainly that when I see a man coming to God and giving up his sin I feel in body, mind and soul a trans. port. When I see a man who is bound hand and foot in evil habit emancipeted, I rejoice over it as though it were my own winanci- pation. When in our communion service melt throngs of young and old stood up at the altars, and in the presence of heaven and earth and hell attested their allegiance to Jesus Christ, I felt a joy something akin to that which the apostle describes when he says: "Whether in the body I cannot tell, or out of the body I cannot tell. God knoweth." Have not ministers a right to rejoice when a prodigal comes home? They blew the trumpet, and ought they not to be glad of the gathering of the host? They point- ed to the full supply, and ought they nob to rejoice when souls pent as the hart for the water brooks? They oame forth, say. ing, things are now ready." Ought theynot to rejoice when the prodigal sits down at the banquet? Life insurance men tells you that ministers of religion, as a class, live longer than any other. It is confirmed by the statistics of all those who calculate upon human longevity. Why is ib? There is more draft upon tbe nervous system than in any other profession, and their toil is more exhausting. I have seen ministers kept ou miserable stipends by parsimonious congre- gations, who wondered at the dullness of the sermons, when the men of God were perplexed almost to death by questions of livelihood and had not enough nutritious foodto keep any fire in their temperament. No fuel, no fire. I have sometimes seen the inoide of the life of many of the Ameri- can clergymen -never accepting their hos. pitality, because they cannot afford it -but I have seen them struggle on with salaries of $500 and $600 a year, the average less than that, their struggle well depicted by the western missionary who says in a letter: "Thank you for your last remittance), Until it came we had nob any meat in our house for one year, and all last winter, although ib was a severe winter, our chil- dren wore their summer clothes." And these men of God 1 finchin different parte of the land struggling against annoy. maces and exasperations innumerable, some of them week after week entertaining agents who have maps to sell and submit- ting them:selve8 to all styles of annoyance, and yet withoub oomplaint and cheerful of soul. How do yeti aecount for the fact that these life insurance men' tell us that ministers as a clots live longer than any others? It le because of the joy of their work, the joy of the harvest field, the joy of greeting prochgals home to their Father's house. When prodigale come home, just hear those Christians sing !It. is not a dull 'one you hear at such theme. just hear those • Ero Ohrietians pray 1 It ie not a stereotyped supplication we have heard over and over nate for 20 years'but a putting of the case in the hands tef God virith an importun- ate pleading. Mon never pray at great length indent they have nothiug to say, and their hearte are hard and oold. All the prayere in the Bible that were answer. est were short prayers ; "God be merciful to me a sinner ; "Lord,.that I may receive my sighb ;" " Rind, save me or I perish." The longest prayer, Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the temple was less than eight iniautes in lengthawcording to the ordinary rate of enunciation. And just hear them pray now that the prodigals are coming home Juet see them shake hands 1 No putting forth of the four tips of the fingers in a formal way, but s. hearty grasp, where the muscles of the heart man to clinch the fingers of one hand around the other band. And then see those Christian faces, how illumined they are 1 There was a man of Keith who was hurled into prisou in time of per. secution, and one day he got off his shack - els, and he name and stood. by the prison door, and when the jailor was opening the door with one stroke he strut* down the man who had incarcerated hint Passing along the streets of London, he wondered where his family was. He did not dare to ask lest he should excite suspioion, but, passing along e. little way from the prison, he saw a, Keith tankard, a cup that belonged to the family from generation to generation -he saw it in a wind.ow, Ilis family, hoping that some day be would get clear, oame and lived as neer as they could to the prison houee, and they set that Keith tankard in 'the window, hoping he would see it. lie came along andsaw it,and the longathsent family were all together agate. Oh, if you would start for the king- dom of God to -day. I know you would meet your friends and teaniliee around the holy tankard of the HolyCommunion. Oh, it will be a great communion day when your whole family its arousal the sacred tank- ard. One on earth, one in heaven. At the banquet of Lucullus sat Cicero, the orator. At the Macedonian festival sat Philip, the conqueror. At the Grectian banquet sat Socrates,•the philosopher, but at our Father's table sib all the returned prodigals, more than conquerors, Let all the redeemed of the earth and all the glori- fied of heaven rise, and with gleaming chalice drink to the return of a thousand prodigals, Sing, sing, sing! "Worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive blessing and riches a,nd honor and glory and power, world without end." 14,XBTIEto TIMES TILE SUNDAY SCHOOL. INTERNATIONAL LESSON, NOV, 25. "Opposition to Christ." Hark O. 22-35, - Golden Text, John if. 11. -- GENURA.L STATitioNT. Jesus is now at work in his almond tom of preaching in Galilee.. He has delivered to the twelve apostles mei a throng of Bat - (mere the Sermon on the .Mount; has healed the centurion's servant at Capereamn, and raioed to 'life the Widow's son at Naha Everywhere the deepest interest has been awekened,and the crowds that follow Jesus as he teaohes by the sea, in the synagogue, or on the hillside were never before so great as now. The secret dislike of the l'harisees and Scribes has at last broken out into open opposition; they have taken their position, and now openly assert there his mighty works are wrought by Satan's power and for an evil purpose. Jesus shows how absurd is their charge from the very char - eater of the miracles, which show Satan's overthrow and the expulsma of his dernons from their human dwelling places. Then with deep soleinnity Jesus declares that the deepesb of all sins is to impute to the Evil One the work of the Holy Spirie, and that for this crime there is no forgiveness, because it hardens the heart against all good intluenees. The reports of Jesus' work, perverted by their -channels, come to the immediate family of Mary,his moth - believed in his divine nature, and the heart of the mother must have been sorely tried by oontrary opinions. Thinking that per- haps her son's mind has been overwrought by his labors, she comes to the place of his teaching with her family, and sends a meg - sage of her desire to see him. The word is borne through the crowd to the house where Jesus sits surrounded by his disciples. He answers the summons by deolaring that the ties of grace are closer than those of nature, and his nearest friends are those who listen to God's word and keep it with loving obedience. Romance a a Photographer's Mistake. This is a photographer's story: "About a year ago a young man employed io a rail- road. office came in arid had his picture taken. About the same time a beautiful young woman from an interior town came n and had hers taken also; both left the rder desiring me to send them to their addresses as soon as imished. In the book my clerk put the initial of the first name and wrote the sirname in full. It happen- ed both bad the same last name ; the young men's name was John H. -and the young woman's Julia H-. When the pictures were mailed there was a mistake, the young man getting the young woman's pictures and vice versa. Now, oub of this incident quite a love affair has grown, the young peoplehaving fallen in love with one another at sight of the pictures. They oorresponded for several months. Some time ago the young man bought a solitaire diamond ring, and now he has ordered his wedding suit That is what I cell a first- class romance. 0 The best of it all ie that the couple are well suited in every respect and both are of good families." en account of the orowd. They said. Per. haps the words were spoken by enemies, who, through the family, hoped to obtain eerier:31 of Jesus. 33, 84. Who is my mother ? .Teene sees the entire purpose at a glance, and. meta it openly with word': which are surprising, yet °lastly proelaim his relation not only to the family of Nazareth, but to all man- kind. Looked round. Matthew Ode, "Ile stretched forth his hand upon Hie discip- les." Behold my mother area my bretheri Not that Jesus ignored his human relation, ship; bee that he wane to be more titan the (son of Mary," even the "Son of man." The tie that binds Chriet and his dieciplee, in every age, ia stronger than that between Jesus and his mother a000rding to the flesh. (8) Heace, we have no need of the Virgin's intercession with our Saviour. (9) We mey be as near to Christ as the dis- oiples who on that clay sat around him. 35. 'Whosoever shall do. Attachment to Christ will be shown by doing the will of his Father. The will of God. God's law as set forth in Holy. Scripture is the utterance of his will. Brother. ...aister ... another. All mankind stand in the same relation to Jesus Christ. Even. Mary is saved, not because she was his mother, but because she became his disciple. FIELD FOR EXPORT. Australa Offers a Capacious and Varied !Demand for Our Surplus Illantlfue- tures. The prospeots of trade between Canada and Australia assume anobleer shape now that the material of our manufactures for export has been made practically free of duty. If this change enables us to send er. His half-brothers have not as. yet 1 abroad large quantities of the product of our skilled Mon some of it we shall be sure to send to Australia, which offers a capaci- ous and varied demand to the countries which have surplus manufactures to market. We are now for the &et time on a footing to compete for a part of that de- mand. Heretofore the chances of come menial dealings between this cenintry and Australia were confined to the few natural eroduots we did not raise in common. These presented a small basis for a trans - Pacific intar-colonialtrade of sufficient magni tude to warrant a large outlay • on our part for a submarine cable. Mr. J. S. Larkes the Canadian 'Commissioner to Australia, has sketched in outline before some of our Boards of Trade. THE MARKET OPENINGS IN AUSTRALIA that this country is equipped to fill. He names cotton goods,boots and shoes, gloves, paper, and farming implements. This list may now be oonsiderably enlarged. All classes of hardware, such as nails, bolts chains, wire, harness fittings, axes, saws and. other tools, various articles of maehin. ery, engines, boilers, etc., are imported by the Australian oolonies, and are on the free list of most of them. The demand for machigery outfits for manufacturing plant will of course be limitei by the fact that manufactures are not far advanced in the colones:3, a oircufastanoe on which we cal- culate for a good demand for our finished Orders the King to qualify. King Humbert of Italy owns property n the little township of Rheme•Notre- Dame, in the Aosta Valley. As property- holderhe is entitled to vote for the muni- cipal officers. The Mayor of the place is evidently a man who takes his duties very seriously, for he has addressed a summons to "Mr. His Majesty Humbert I., King of Italy, rate -payer of the town," in which the King is ordered to appear before the Board of addermen to prove that he is able to read and write, end, therefore qualified to vote. A similar summons has reached the Duke of Aosta. Both have been noti- fied that, unless they conform to the regulations, their names will be removed from the list of voters. A Woman Recruiting Sergeant. England has a woman recruiting sergeant. She is Miss Gould, of London, and she differs from the usual recruiting sergeant in that she does not lie in wait fir young volunteers at public houses and attract them by the brilliancy of her attire. She has worked among the poor for many years, and has lately turned her attention to young thieves. Having once got hold of them she never feels safe about them until they have accepted the Queen's shilling. - Gets a Move on. The clam is commonly taken for an exam. pie of all that is unprogressive, but he is by no means a stationary creature. Every man bred at theseaside knows how a clam Isis upon the sand will utterly disappear by sinking himself below the surface ; but the clam also has a forward movement and will travel thirty feet in the course of a week. The large muscle of the clam, which helps to make him indigestible, is his single leg, and by the aid of this he makes his pro. gross. Liable to Insanity. It was formerly supposed that people of pale complexion, especially if the hair Was a pronounced blonde, fine and thin, were specially liable to mental excitement and brain disorder. Statistics which have re. cently been compiled prove this to be another of the grave errors of the old•titne "specialist" At the Kirkbridge iEngland) iwyltim out of a total of 265 patients only one has red hair, pe nd only three either light, hair or feet complexion. In the New York, London and Paris hospitals for the ineeme the same proportion hold e good. Exactly why dark-haired persons are more liable to mental disease than thou: of other shades of color has not yet been explain. ed, Irrevocably Gone, ",I set four pies out on the window sill to cool," said Mrs. Hunker to her husband, "and they have all been efoleron "Then we must dumber them tienoeg the lost tarto," was the phil000phishel rea!y. EXPLANATORY AND pRA.CTIOAL NOTES. Verse 22. Scribes . . from Jerusalem. Leading members of the order who had come for the express purpose of passing judgment upon the claims of Jesus. From their position their utterances would ems - seas great weight with the people. Thus far the attitude of the rulers, though un- friendly, had not been determined against Jesus. (1) Everyman must make his own decision concerning Jesus. He hath Beel- zebub. According to the Jewish view, the evil spirits were of different ranks, under the control of Beelzebub, or Satan. The name was originally that of an idol among the Philistines (2 Kings 1. 2). The Scribes asserted that Jesus, who cast out dames, was himself possessed by the prince of the demons. No baser nor more abominable perversion of good into evil could possibly be made ; and such a charge in such an age could not fail to prejudice the minds of the people against Jesus. Casteth lw out devils. Not even the worst enemies of Jesus sunsto undertook deny the fact of his m 23, He celled them. Desiring to meet his slanderers face to f ace, he sentfor them to come to the house where he was abiding, (2) The Gospel never shrinks from an open contest with its foes. In parables. That is, not in set parables; such as in the suc- ceeding chapter, but teaching by illustra- tion. Satan cast out Satan. Was it possi- ble to suppose that one inspired by the spirit of evil would go shout setting men free from evil spirits and breaking Satan's chain? Could anyone preach a Gospel so pure and uplifting, and yet be the ag,ent of the wicked one? (3) The true origin of Clhristianity may be shown still by its in- fluence over men 24-26. Kingdom be divided. The nation which spends its strength in civil war must filially lose its power; so if Satan's kingdom is fighting itself and working againse its own interests, it must fall before the king- dom of God. (4) Notice that Christ, to whom the invisible worlds are open, recog- nizes the reality of Satan's kingdom. (5) Notice also the traits of Satan's kingdom: 1. Unity, 2. Subordination; 3. Opposition to God. Rath an end. Satan's power may be great,but his defeat and doom are certain. (6) Let us rejoice in this assurance of victory. 27.- A strong man's house. The strong man is Satan; his house is the human heart. Spoil his goods. Take possession and control his property. Except he will first bind. In other words, Christ's power to expel Satan and his demons from men's hearts is a convincing proof that he is mightier than Satan, and utterly disproves the charge that he is Satan's subordinate. The statement is more full in Luke 11. 21, 22. (7) No man unaided by divine power can transform himself from a sinner into a saint. 28-30. All ains shall be forgiven. That is, all sins except the one named in the succeeding verse. Blasphemies. Insults to Gud, whether in irreverence, profanity, or unbelieving sneer and jest. Blaspheme against the Holy Ghost. From the s con- nection ib is shown that this means a will- ful and wanton attributing to Satan's power the work of the Holy Ghost by those veho may know and ought to know, the truth, or "treason by professed mem- bers of the kingdom of God againot the spirit of Goa." -L. Abbott. This is some- thing more than mere obduracy of heart against the gospel ; more than mere careless and heated utterances against God, how- ever presumptuous or even blasphemous. God's word purposely leaves the awful crime undefined, that men may not venture near its borders. Rath never forgiveness. 13oca.use of the very terms of his guilt he can never meet with convietion, for he considers the Spirit's work as no better than Satan's. Eternal damnation. Is guilty of an eternal sin." (Revised Ver. sion). Eternal sin, because it can never be blotted out by forgiveness. 31, 32. There atone then. "There come" (Revised Version). Mules gospel has a characteristic -the use of the present tense, ao if to illustrate the activity of 0hrise's life. His brethren. Probably the younger half-brothers of Jesus, children of Joseph and Mary. Their names are given in Mark 6,3, Some of them afterwards became his followers (Acts 1. 14), and one ofathom an epostle (Gel. 1. 19), is mother. Though believitig that her Son was divioely end:need, Mary doubtless Was perplexed by the reporta concerning iTesue, by the eves deuces that he was disappointing thapopular expectation as Meseta, and by the high authority of the Scribes who were aopposed to him. Perhaps et this moment she was a mere tool in the bends of Ohristla enemite, Standing without. Unable to come near; ITHE PROWLERS OF PARIS. THERE'S NOTHING SLOW ABOUT FRENCH "CROONS." Clever Tricks In 4,11Kold-11p"--,110w Foot- pads Pounce lipon Their Victims- iflCoupleetStddaililiT•trAToin-TheY Travel t Frenoh crooks have speoial tricks in rob- bing people. In many of them they excel. We are not speakidg of the thefts in which blood is shed, or 'Which may resalt in the death of the victim and bring the Authors of it to the scaffold, but simply of the coinma», petty thefte which do not harm the viotaisinsasvery numb, It is the method of these criminals not to be more brutal than zkeory. An old offender on being brought before the judge, who asked him why he had nearly killed the mason 'whom he had first robbed, answered "Why, I should have °rippled that fool if I did not expect that he would come into my clutches again." Let us start with the lowest grade and most inoffensive of ell thieves, called in French "vol an poivrier" or " thieves of drunkards," who most of the time have not eeough money left to hire a room for the night, and who are stranded on a benoh or some lonesome place outside of Paris. They are principally the victims. The false friend who promises to bring him home, or the tough waiting for a chance to do mischief, will only find a few cents, a paokage of to. baeco or a pipe in his pooket-less than nothing. The better prey for them is a working- man, who has received his monthly pay and Who has taken too much drink. In neither ease is any cleverness required to operform such an act. The only precaution the thief has to take is to look out that no policeman or witness is around and then hehasfh all stiiemepee:ecessary to pick the pk Sometimes, to his great surprise, the latter will suddenly clutch his wrist and awake, as by a miraole, and exclaim, with a funny laugh: "You are caught, my boy; come on to the station house." That day he has hid the hard luck to meet a detective, who,not having iaything else to do,aenused himself by fishing for small fry. THE TRIO OF WATCH STEALERS. If nothing is easier than to rob a drunk. ard asleep on a bench, it would seem to everybody that it is absolutely impossible to take a watch or a pooket-book protected by a tightly.buttoned coat out of a sober man's pocket. Nevertheless, this happens quitts e jw often. I " /understood that the thieves who do4work are not beginners, but are regir pickpockets, and three at least are required for suocess. products. But the country has a large and growing dairy industry, and works its gold, silver, and copper mines. It therefore needs refrigerators, separators, and mining machinery. In Queensland there is a lame sugar industry for which plant is required. There are also lumber mills and grist mills and railroad for which running stock will be in demand. New South Wales admits free many lines of dress goods, cotton goods, paper, linseed, metal goods, harvest ma- chinery, tools, locomotive wheels, etc. It has plenty of coal, and has iron ore, but so far has not succeeded in building up ad iron industry. Victoria admits free of duty nearly all kinds of metal manufactures. South Australia has on its free list cloth, leather, bags, boots and shoes, paper, cot- ton goods, many lines of hardware, iron in every shape, steel rails, machinery, etc. Western Australia has only a five per cent. duty on the chief metal products. Queens. land offers a good market for machinery in its saw mills, sugar mills, and refineries. Tasmania, exempts from duty a long list of metal manufactures, as does also New Zea- land. In nearly all these colonies THEY ILAVE THE NATURAL CONDITIONS for establishing manufactures. Most of them have coal and iron, most of them raise large numbers of cattle and therefore produoe leather, and their vast herds of sheep yield a large porportion of the world's total wool supply. It would seem that some of the colonies could have the whole progeny of iron industries to make their own finished iron and steel, their own loco- motives, steel rails, and machinery, their own agricultural implements,their own tools and hardware. Raising so much leatbor they might be expected to make their own boots and shoes, and it would seem the destiny of &country of sheep walks and wool to become a country of woollen factories and to be an exporter of cloth. But the price of labor appears to be yet too high for the Australian colonies to enter upon a career of manufacturing. Nor do they seem to be contemplating such a depar- ture in the nea rfuture, as the tendency of the popular will in all of them appears to be towards lower tariffs. A Curious Compound. A. German chemist is reported to heve disoovereclea new substance which his the remarkable and unique property of solidi- fying when heated and remaining liquid at temperatures below zero.. It has been named " oryostase," and is obtained by mixing together equal parts of phenol, camphor and saponine, and adding a some -- what smaller proportion of essence of tur pentine. Certain sabstancea, like the albta xnens, harden on heating, but this is the only product that again liquifies on cool- ing. A Curious Marriage LaUr. One of the mese curious customs of Siaria is that each yearis named after an animal, and only certain animals are allowed to intermarry. A pernon born in the year of the elephant, for instance, cannot marry a person bort in the year of the tiger; neither may the lion mate With the lernle. The law imposes dire penalties upon all who give false ages, or who represent that they are gay gazelles when in feet, they aro mit- chievoire mortosys, and therefore it is it law which would not be weleoingN in weetern lauds, to rob those who ore eat a Match for thOill. One of the two will seize a mark horn behind, and, putbing hia arms around his lealyeveill eneircle him in Beiag vise, and at the same time handioo.p his logs w41t his own, The poor fellove will naturally not be able tO more, and the parther will have all the time net:emery to rob him. Only this mob, as well as tee one before, has this dispel. vantage ; that after the operation is over the vtotina will be able to call for help, and even run after the thieves, and perhaps have them arrested. The question presented itself then to find a possible way of plUnCloring 1:140146 without bloodehed, yet te render them ma oornadous enough for thereto remain several minutes before being abhe to recover the use of the voice or legs. This has beim found and called "le ooup de Pere Francois" or "old retiree Francis's case." The croak owning from behind will paws a handkerohiefaround hie viotines neolt,and, turning quickly around will make him lose his balance and fall upon his beak. The hand, kerchief will stramglethe poor fellow, who will not be able to utter any sound, After a half minute he will fall to the ground where he will lay, and will be taken later ou by the passer-by for a drunkard. When put on Itis feet again it will be abooluteiaimpossiale f or him to give any olew aboat the assault, neiter will he be able to remember the facie of his assailant, nor the direction he took. The victim might even think himself the prey of an hallucination,if it was not for his sore throat This latter case would be the deal of the marauders if it had not this drawback; it sometimes happens that the " operation is too long, or the one operated , has weak lungs, and will met awaken again from hie senseless situatiat. This happens very seldom, though, and, until the crooks find something better, it will be in general; favor among the rougher prowlers of Paris. A quiet and respectable man walks along the street, his mind deeply absorbed in thought, or in reading his newspaper, when all at onoe somebody runs up against him. His first movement is to turn around and see who has has done such a thing without giving the least apology. If the fellow laughs in his face, or shrugs his shoulder, or abuses him, anger will overcome him, and the beginning of a row will be the re- sult. The preoccupation will be so great that he does not take care that other people will rub up against him or push him aside. It is et this moment that the parbner comes in with a carefulness belonging specially to the "John Bull Sons." He will unbut- ton his overcoat and even the coat, if neces• sexy, and to take out the pocketbook or the watch will then be an easy thing for him. It will be the one who has unbuttoned the coat who will take out the watch or pooket book, but in no care will he keep it. He will pass it to a third fellow, a quiet wit- ness ot the game. If the victim finds out in time that he has been robbed, and an arrest billows, the pickpocket brought be. fore the ;judge will vigorously protest his innocence, and will demand that he be searched in order to show that hie accuser is wrong. That is why this kind of a rob- bery has to be performed by at least three men. The question will come to anybody. How is it that a watch attached to a chain can lie taken without a heavy pull which would bring anybody back to his senses? It is child's play. As soon as the robber has the watch in hand he will press the bow or ring of the watch with his -thumb and fore. finger' and as if by magic the bow will jump out ofthe watch. You oat try if you like with your own watcheind you will see how easy it is. Nearly all the stolen watches have no rings, and in this way you can surely detept where they come from. THE PERVERTED BALANOE. Having spoken about the pilfering accom- plished without the use of any violence, but mostly by dexterity, we will now de. scribe those which need the use of some strength, without excluding cleverness. First of all is the balance or "coup de Is bascule " which ie used by those obliged to work alone. With one hand the footpad, from bhe front, will take hold of the collar of the passer-by, who surprised by the suddenness of the idack, will instantly throw himself backward. At that moment he will tumble, for the assailant will have handicapped one leg by tripping up his vim tim, and this forms the main part of the a.ot. The victim, on feeling that he is losing his balance, will move his arm to try and get on bis feet again, ineteed of taking hold of his aseaultee's miller. Meanwhile the robber, with his other hand left free, will quickly piek or pull the watch with the chain this time. This operation finished, he will knook the victim dowa, or ' throw him in a corner, and tua away. Tbe balance needs a great deal of quick. nese end determination and is a- method which fails very often, therefore the one called "the little chair" is preferred. Two are regaired for this game. The passersby is seized by the collar,the same ire in the last 'operation, and while his brevet ie tightened around his neck he fells and sits down on the knee of the thief. As in the last case, he will lose his balance, and will aot be able to use his arms ; his pockets will then be easily visited. The remedy in these two times is, as soon as you feel yourself assault- ed, nob ea fight, bub to kick your aggro:3. sor's legs. THE [NESE EMPRESS' SUICIDES Slapped in tbe race by lier Royal Sponse' She Takes Wrench Leave or ISbn., THE "dOur PANTE." Another way of robbom-one of the Most of all, especially when there are two to extoomplish it. -is the one called "coup do pante," a method of "doing up" the victim used principally by rough people It is quite true that the young Emprees' of China has committed suicide. She was rebuked by the Emperor, wht slapped her face, whereupon she took poison. The married life oi the young Emperor of Chine, has not been a happy one... The outside world knows little of what goes on, inside the sacredly guarded Imperial palaoe at Pekin, but enough has transpired to' show that the Emperor, who is hot -tempera, ed and spirited, bitterly resented the manner in which his consort was thrust' upon him against his inclinations by the, imperious and self-willed Empress Dowee ger. The young Empress, to -Ho -Na -La,' foundethe five years of marriea life filled . with discord. and Unhappiness until at last, after a violent scene with her angry spouse, she put an end to her earthly troubles by taking poison. It was in 1889 that the Emperor married. He was then a youth of eighteen. The selection of his bride was governed by the , rules laid down in the Book of Rites,and is a tedious and elaborate prooess. The dyn. asty is Manchu, and the ;taperer must marry one of his own race. For a year before the marriage was celebrated hundreds of fair competitors,all daughters of Manchu maadarians of not less than the third rank, competed for the honor of sharing the Imperial throne. After several inspections, in which the beauty, family influence and intellectual attainments were taken into grave consideration, the list of aspirants was reduced to 30. The Emperor himself was deeply smitten with the charms of the daughter of a high Manchu militery officer, and he expressed his intention to share hie throne with her. He also selected another fair damsel whose beauty struck his youthful heart with admiration for his second wife. But the old lady whe had so long and so nobody THE LATE =MESS OP ORIN& wielded the soeptre during *his minority had no intention of allowing the young Em- peror to follow his bent in this matter, and , had already decided on a match for him by which the throne would be shared by one of her own family. Aocording, the lady selected was her niece, who was anything but a beauty, from a Chinese or Manchu point of view, and after a great many scenes" and violent altercatimee the EMT, press Dowager proved her autbdrity h'Y having the marriage with her 'niece celeb- rated. But. the unhappy bridegroom, though he wields sway over a third el the human race, is as human and obstinate in affairs of this kind as any other boy of eighteen ; and hie marriage was the oota- mehooment of a 'hitter strife between hini. self and the old lady who had so kindly looked after his inatrimohial welfare. He neve • got over his disappointment, and ever afterward regarded both the Empress Consort and hiereLnperial aunt wibh an antipathy which daily grow stronger. Theetinhappy young Empress was at the time of her marriage only thirteen yea:mold. She was the daughter of Generel Kuei- haiang, younger brother of the Empress Dowager. A marriage initiated uhder such unhappy ample:Is couel scarcely prove sat- isfactory in any respect, and the past film years have bhp filled with quarrels be. tween the Imperial eouple. Now the end of it has come. The girl Empress, oompletly broken in spirit by the humiliation to which she found herself eonstemtly subjected, has chosen to face death rather then try to bear the burden of her unheryineso any longer. One of the curiosities of Brazil fa a tree whoee wood and barkareontain so much ailiea that they are used by potter% Both wood ancl bark are burned in equal proper - times with °ley, proatioing a Very superior Ware. The tree grows to a heighth of 100 feet, but does not exceed a foot in diameter. The fresh bark outs like seagleteno, and when dried le brittle and harm