The Exeter Times, 1895-7-11, Page 7THE EXETER TIMES
THE GATES OF HELL.
REV. PR, TALMAGE SPECIFIES SOME
,QF THEM.
He Tolle What They Are Mule of end
Hammers. the _Sewn Panels With the
Anvil of God's Trutii-Swingiug Out and
Swinging in.
New York, jute 30. -In his sermon
for to -day Dr, .Talmage chose a momen-
tous and awful topic, "The Gates of
Hell," the text selected be.ng the fa -
miller passage in Matthew xvi, 18, "The
gates of hell shall not prevail against
Entranced, until We could endure no
rnore of the . splendor, we have often
gazed at the shining gates, the gates
of pearl, the gates of heaven. But we
are for awhile to look in the oppOslte di-
rection and see swinging open and shut
the gates of hell.
I remember when the. Franco-Germari
war was, going on, that I stood one day
In Paris looking at the gates of the
Tuileries, and I was so absorbed in the
sculpturing at the top of the gates-,
the masonry and the bronze -that I for-
got myself, and after a.while, looking
down, I saw that there were ofncers of
the law scrutinizing me, supposing, no
doubt, I was a German and looking ad
those gates for adverse purposes,. But,
my friends, we shall not stand looking
at the outsi,de of the gates of hell.. In
this sermon I shall tell you of both
sides,. and I shall tell you what those
gates are made of. With the hammer
of God's truth X shali pound on the
brazen panels, and with the lantern of
God's truth I shall flash a light upon
the shining hinges,
Gate the First -Impure literature.
Anthony Cornstc1ck setzed 20 tons of bad
books, plates and letter press, and when
our Professor Cochran of the Polytech-
nic Institute poured the destruotive
acids on those plates they smoked in
the righteous annihilation. And yet a
great deal of the bad literature of the
day is not gripped of the law. It is
strewn in your parlors; it is in your li-
braries. • Some of your children read it
at night after they have retired, the gas
burner swung as near as possible to
their pillow. Much of this literature
is under the title of scientific informa-
tion. A book agent with one of these in-
fernal books, glossed over with scien-
tific nomenclature, went into an hotel
and sold in one day a hundred copies
and sold them all to women ! Itis ap-
palling that men and women who can ;
get through their family physician all
the useful information they may need,
and without any contamination, should .
wade chindeep througn such accursed,'
literature under the plea of getting •
useful knowledge, and that printing
presses hoping to be called decent lend
themselves to this.einfamy. Fathers
and mothers, be not deceived by the
title "medical works." Nine -tenths of
those books come hot from the lost
world, though they may have on them
the names of the publishing houses ot
New York, Chicago and Philadelphia.
Then there is all the novelette liters-
. ture of the day flung over the land by
the million. As there are good novels
that are long, so I suppose there may
be good novels that are. short, and so
there may be a good novelette, but it is
the eareeption: NO one -mark this -no
one systematically reads the average
novelette of this day and keeps either
integrity or virtue. The most of thee
novelettes are written by broken down
literary men for small compensation, on
the principle that, having failed in lit-
erature elevated and pure, they hope
to succeed in the tainted and ,nasty.
Oh, this is a wide gate of hell 1 Every '
panel is made out of a bad book or
newspaper. Every hinge is the inter -
Joined type of a corrupt printing press.
Every bolt or lock of that gate is made
out of the plata of an unclean pictorial.
In other. words, there are a million men
and women in the United States to -day
reading themselves into hell! •
When in one of our cities a. prosperous •
family fell into ruins through the mis-
deeds of one of its members, the amazed
mother said to the officer of the law:
"Why, I never supposed there was any-
thing wrong. I never thought there
could be anything wrong." Then she
sat weeping in silence for some time
and said: "Oh, I have got it now! I
know, I know, I found in her bureau
after she went away a bad book. That's
what slew her." These leprous book-
sellere have gathered up the catalogues
of all the male and female seminaries
In the 'United States, catalogues con-
taining the names and residences of all
the students, and circulars of death are
sent to every one, without any excep-
tion. Can you imagine anything more
deathful ? There is not a young person
male or female, or an oldperson, who
has not had offered to him or her a
bad book or a bad picture. Scour your
house to find out whether there are any
of these adders coiled on your parlor
center la.ble or coiled amid the' toilet
set on the dressing case. 1 adjure you
before the sun goes down to explore
your family libraries. with an inexorable
scrutiny. Remeber that one bad book
or bad picture may do the work for
eternity. 1 want to arouse all your
suspicion about novelettes. I want to
put you on the watch against every-
thing that may seem like surreptltioue
correspondence through the postoffice.
e I want you to und gstand that impure
literature is one of the broa,dest, high- i
est, mistiest gates of the lost,
Gate the Second -The dissolute dance.
You shal not divert Me to the general i
subject of dancing. Whatever you may
think of the parlor dance or the meth- 1
odic motion of the body to sounds (if t
music in the family or social cirele, I
am not now discussing that queston.
Want you to unite with me this hour in 1
recognizing» the fact that there le a t
dissolute dance, You know of what t
speak. It is seen not only in the low a
haunts de death, but in elegant rrian- 1
Mons. It is the first step to eternal ruin
of a great Multittitle of both Sexes. You '
know, my friends, what postures and s
attitudes and figures are suggestive of 0
the devil. ,
Those who glide in to the diseolute a
dance glide over an inclined plane, and t
the dance is swifter and 'swifter, wilder is
and wilder, until with the speed of t
lightning they whirl off the edges o a s
cleeent life into a fleey future. This g
gate of hell swings across the axmins
ster of many .e, no Parlor, and aorose y
the ballroom of the summer Watering
place. You have no right, my brother,
Mar Sister -40U have no right to take an
attitude to 'the eound of znusio whloh
would he unbeeorning in the atisenc
of musio, No Chickering grand of oity
parlor or fiddle of mountain Went° can
consecrate that which GQ n bath ac
cursed,
Gate the Third -Indiscreet apparel•
The attire of ;woman for the last few
years has been beautiful and gra,.oefu
beyond -anything I have known, bu
there are those who will always earn
that which is right into the extraord
inary and indiscreet. 1 charge Chris
titth women, neither by style of dres
nor adjustment of apparel to becom
adminietrative of evil. Perhaps non
else will dare to tell you, so 4 will tel
you that there are multitudes of me
who owe their eternall damnation to
what has been at different times the
boldness of womnly attire. Show me
the fashion plates of any age between
this and the time of Louis XVI. of
France and Henry VIII. of England and
will tell you the type of morals or
innnorats or that age or that year, leo
exception to it. Modest apparel means
a righteous people, Immodest apparel
always means a contaminated and de-
praved society. You wonder that the
city of Tyre was destroyed with such
a terrible destruction. Have you ever
seen the fashion plate of the city of
Tyre ? I will show it to you,
"Moreover, the Lord salth, because
the daughters of Zion are haughty and
Walk with stretched forth neols and
wanton eyes, walking and mincing as
they go, and making a twinkling with
their feet, in that day the Lord will
take away the bravery of their tinkling
ornaments about their feet, and their
cauls, and their round tires like the
moon, the rings and nose Jewels, the
changeable suits of apparel and the
mantles. and the wimples and the crisp-
ing pins."
That is the fashion plate of ancient
Tyre, And do you wonder that. the Lord
God in his ind'gnation blotted out the
city so that fishermen to -day spread
their nets where that city once stood?
Gate the Fourth -Alcoholic beverage.
Oh, the wine cup is the patron of im-
purity, The officers of the law tell us
that nearly all the men who go into the
shambles of death go in intoxicated, the
mental and the spiritual abolished, that
the brute may triumph. Tell me that a
young man drinks, and I know th
whole story. If he becomese a captiv
of the wine cup, he will beeome a cap
tive of all other vices. Only give him
time. No one ever runs drunkennes
alone. That is a carrion crow that goe
in a flock, and when you see that bea
ahead, you may know the other beak
are coming, In other wo:ds, the win
cup unbalances and dethrones one'
better judgment and leaves one th
prey of all evil appetites that ma
choose to alight upon his soul. There i
not a place of any kind of sin in th
United States to -day that does not fin
its chief abettor in the chalice ot In
ebriety. There is either a drinking ba
before, or one behind, or one above. or
one underneath. These people escape
legal penalty because they are all 11 -
sensed to sell liquor, The everts that
license the sale of strong drink license
gambling houses, license libertinism,
license disease, license death, license all
sufferings, all murders, all woe. it is
the courts and the legislature that are
swinging wide open this grinding,
creaky. stupendous gate of the most.
But you say: "You have described
these gates of hell and shown us how
they swing in to allow the entrance of
the doomed. Win you not, please, before
you get through the. sermon tell us how
these gates of hell may swing out to
allow the escape of the penitent ?"
reply, but very few escape. Of the thou-
sand that go in, 1.99 perish. Supp .se one
of these wanderers should knock at
your door, would you admit her ? Sup-
pose you knew where she came from,
would you ask her to sit down at your
dining -table. Would yoe ask her to be-
come the governess of your chrdren?
Would you,, introduce her among your
acquaintanceships ? Weuld you in he
the responsibility of pulling on the out-
side of the gate of hell while the pusher
on the inside of the gate is trying to get
out?
You would not, not one of a thousand
of you would dare to do.so You would
write beautiful poetry over her sorrows
and weep over her misfortunesbut
give her Practical help you never will.
But you say, "Are there no ways by
which the wanderer may escape ?" Oh,
yes, three or four. The one way is the
sewing girl's garret, dingy, cold, hunger
blasted. But you say, "Is there no other
way for her to eseape ?" Oh, yes. An-
other way is the street that leads to
the river, at midnight, the end of the
city dock, the moon shining down on
the water making it .look so smooth she
wonders if it is deep enongh. It is. No
boatman near enough to hear the
plunge. No watchman near enoueh to
pick her out before she sinks the thi•M
time. No other way ? Yes. By the
curve of the railroad at the point where
the engineer of the, lightning express
train cannot see a, hundred yards ahead
to the form that lies across the tack.
He may whistle "down brakes," but not
soon enough to disappoint the one who
seeks her death. But you say, "Isn't
God good, and won't he forgive ?" 'Yes,
but man will not, woman will not, so-
ciety will not. The church of C4o.i. rays
it will, but it will not. Our work, then,
must be prevention rather than cure.
Those gates of hen are to be pros-
trated just as certainly as God and the
Bible are true, but it will not be done
until Christian men and woinen, gust -
ting their prudery and squeamiehness
n this matter the whole Christian sen-
timent of the church and assail these
great evils of society. The Bible utters
ts denunciation in this direction again
and again, and yet the piety of the day
a such a, narnby parnby sort of thing
hat you cannot even quote Scripture
without making somebody rest less,
As long as this holy imbecility reigns
n the church of God, sin win laugh you
o scorn. I do not know that before the
hurch wakes up matters will get Worse
nel worse, and that there will have to
)e one Iamb sacrificed train each ot the
rrioSe carefully guarded folds, and the
wave of uneleanliness dash to the
pire of the village church and the top
f the cathedral tower.
Prophets and patriarchs, and apoetlee
nd evangelists and Christ himself have
huildeted against these sins as against
o other, and yet .there are those who
hink we ought to take, when we
peak a thee* subjects, a tone apolo-
etle. 1put my foot on all the corivera
tonal rhetoric on thia subjeot. arid I tell
ou plainly that erleee yell give up
that sin your dooni i seada and world
without end you will be Oozed by the
anathemas of an ineensed God.
rally yon to a beslogement ot the
gates of hell. We want in this besieg-
ing host not soft sentinecritalists, but
men who are willing to take ad give
hard knooks, The gates of Gaza were
carried off. the gates of Thebes were
battered downthe gates of Babylon
were destroyed, antl tha gates of hell
are going to be proi: trateu,
The Chrietianized printing press w,1l
a be rolled up as the ohlef hattering ram
Then there will be a long list of arous-
ed pulpits, which will be aseaiiing for-
tresses, and God's redhot truth 4104 be
1); the flying ammunition of the ciontest,
and the sappers and the miners will lay
the ti ain under thsss foundations of
sin, and at just the right time God, Who
leads on the fray, will cry, "Down with
the gates 1" and the expluSien beneath
will he answered by ail the trumpets
victory.
Buton high, celebi Meng universal
But there may 'be one wanderer that
would like to have a kind evorcl calling
homeward. I have told you that society
na.s no mercy. Did Ililrit at an earlier
point in this subject thet God will have
mercy upon the wanderer who would
like to come back to the heart of infinite
love ?
A cold Christmas night in a farrn-
house. Father comes in from the barn,
knocks the snow from his shoes and sits
down by the fire. The mother sits at
the stand knitting. She sa.ys to him,
"Do you remember it is the anniversary
to -night ?" The father is angered. He
never wants any allusion to the fact
that one had gone away, and the mere
suggestion that it was the anniversary
of that sad event made him quite rough,
although the tears ran down his oheeke.
The old house dog that has played
with the wanderer when she was a child
comes up and puts his head on the old
man's knee, but he roughly repulses
the dog. He wants nothing to remind
hiin of the anniversary day.
A cold winter night in a city church
It is Christmas night, They have been
decorating the sanctuary; A lost wan-
derer of the street, with a. thin shawl
about her, attracted by the warmth and
light, comes in and sits near the door.
The minister of religion is preaching
of him who was wounded for our trans -
e grespions and bruised for our inqui-
e ties and the poor eon' by the door said:
- "WhY, that must mean me. Mercy for
the chief of sinners; bruised f or our ini-
s quities; wounded for our transgres-
s sions." •
k The music that night in the sane -
s tuary brought back the old hymn
e which she used to a ng r, li n, with fath-
s er and mother, she worshipped God. in
e the village church, The service over.
7 the minister went down the aisle. She
e said to him : "'Were those words for
e me ? "Wounded for four LaugressIons."
Was that for me ?" The man of God
understood her not. He knew not how
to comfort a shipwrecked soul, and he
passed on, and he passed out. The
poor wandered followed into the street,
"What are you doing here, Meg ?"
said the police.. "What are You doing
here to -n ght ?" "Oh," she replied, "I
was in to warm myself," and then the
rattling cough came, and she held to the
railing until the paroxysm was over.
She passed on down the street, falling
from exhaustion, recovering herself
again, until after a while she reached
the outskirts of the city and passed on
into the cotintry road. It seemed so
familiar. She kept on the road, and she
saw in the distance a light in the win-
dow. Ah, that light had been gleaming
there every night since she Went away.
On that country road the passed until
she came to the garden gate. She open-
ed it and passed up the path where
she played in childhood, She came to
the steps and looked in at the fire on
the hearth, Then she put her fingers
to the latch. Oh, if that door had been
locked, she would have perished on the
threshold, for she was near to death!
But that door had not been locked
since the time she went away. She
pushed open the door. She went in and
nay down on the hearth by the fire. The
old house dog growled as he saw her
enter, but there was soms.hing in the
voice he recognized, and he frisked
about her until he almost pushed her
down in his joy.
In the morning the mother came
down, and she saw aebuitTe of. rags on
the hearth, but when the face was up-
lifted she knew it, arid it was no more
old Meg of the street. Throwing her
arms around the returned prodigal she
cried: "Oh, Maggie !" The child threw
her arms around her mother's neck and
said : "Oh, mother !" and while they
were embraced a rugged form towered
above them. It was the father. The
severity all gone out of his face, he
stooped and took her nderly and
carried her to her mother's room and
laid her down on mother's bed, for she
was dying. Then the lost one, looking
up into her mother's face, said :
"Wounded for our transgressions and
bruised for our iniquities ! Mother, do
you think that means me ?" "Oh, yes,
my darling," said the mother. "It
Mother is so glad to get you back, don't
You think God is glad to get you back?"
And there she lay dying, and all the'r
dreams And all their prayers were filled
with the words, "Wounded for our
transgressions, 11111 hruiscd fur our
clultios," un 11 just b Alore the moment
of her departure, her face lighted up
showing the pardon of God had dropped
upon her soul, And there she slept away
on the bosom of a pardoning Jesus. So
the Lord took back one whom the world
rejected.
John Bull Was There.
The British fleet at the Kiel oanal
oeremonies had more first class high
powered ships than all the other needful
together, The battleships 'Royal Sov.
reign, Empress of India and B,esolution
TH 4
SUNDAY SCHOOL
INTERNATIONAL LESSON, JULY 14.
`411'he Golden cair,14 Oxoti. St. 1.8, 39-39,
Goltlep Tot, 1 John 5.21,
PE8584bt STATEN ENT.
After the giving of the law Teo:A.19,M
Moses was celled to the ses":21it of Sitiai.
There God 'attracted hidel;onoerniag the
Sabbath, the establishineat of the priest
hood,and the construction of the tabernacle
Forty days and nights he remained on th
mountain top. When he returned wit
two tables of stone upon which God ha
written the oommendmeuts, he found tha
the Israelites had fallen into idolatry. The
had induced Aaron, their high priest, t
make them a golden image of a oalf, an
they had worshiped it and indulg
ed in heathenish festivities. Evidentl
the Israelites regarded this golde
calf neither as a gold itself nor a
an image of some heathen deity, but as th
representation to them of their own Go
who had brought them out of Egypt. Yet i
is in just this way that idolatry is fostered
Priests and doctors may distinguish b
tween the homage offered to God and th
adoration offered to images, but no sue
distinctions oan be graeped by the mass o
the people, God' e wrath was aroused b
the wickedness of the Israelites, and th
last of our lesaou tells of Moses' patheti
prayer for the people whom he so greatl
loved, and of theirforgiveness by the Lad
The time was, according to commo
chronology, July, B. O. 149l, perhap
seven weeks after the giving of the law
We are to think of the Hehrews as bein
still encamped in Er Rehab, the valley
which apseada out before Mount Sinai
The full importance of this incident can b
understood only when we bear in min
the oourse of events to which it was iaci
dental. God was turning a rabble of slave
into an organized nation, and was warier
ing them to be custodiens of spiritua
truth for all races and ages. It was ab
aolutely necessary that they should be a
chsoiplined that the moral law, once re
ceived by them, should permanently i
fluence their national life.
EXPLANATORY AND PRACTICAL NOTES.
1
hearts, but danoing and sporting in honer
of their god, The worship et meet idols
iucluded revelry in whieh there Was very
litIle restrahst and much appeal to every
pessioe. While condemning the Hebrews
for their slue we ehould remember that
they were a very ignorant people,aud they
were the only people lo all the wide world
who undertook lo worthip God without
some visible represeotatiou. Idolatry had
at thee time learning, wealth power,
popularity, and all the natured longings of
the hu retie heart on its side.
7. hlo, get thee (Sewn. • Make haste to
descend ; do not tarry there is need of
. thyimmediate preeence. Thy people,
which thou broughtest out. God's treat -
matt of Moses here is very tender; he
" seeks to awake In hint the affection which
d shtts its full manifestation in verse 32
t Corrupted themselves. Tneir sin was
greater than he knew. They had broken
" their solemn oath to God, and tuned
° away from spiritual worship to sensuous
d worship, had rebelled against the Moat
wonderful love ever shown to human
beings. Their folly was as great abheir
Y sin, for in the wide wilderness, unguided
° and alone, they turned from the Guide
B
who had brought them safely thus far, e
e 8. They have turned aside quickly. A
d few weeks were enough to enable them to
forget their covenant. In connection with
" the study of tide verse we should =read
• verses 9-29. When Moses saw the
people in their wild worship, he trembled
e with indignation and shattered the tebleta
hf of the law on the rooks of Sinai. He
burnt the idol and reduced what remained
Y to powder, This he atrewed in the water
e of the stream from which they drank, as a
° symbol of their sin. This may seem to us
Y a whimsical punishment, but it was a olear
• demonstration to these barbarians of the
a folly and sin of their course, This calf
was Jehovah, was it? Well, out Moses
• grind Jehovah to powder? 1Ve talk now-
a.days of men swallowing their own words
• when they are compelled to retract what
' they have said ; these men were compelled
41' to swallow their own deeds, as it were.
Lastly, Meese summoned those who were
on the Lord's aide, and they took their
swords and slew three thousand men,
; doubtless the ringleaders of the turbulent
and very likely, as Dr. Bdifilheim sug-
gests, in a state of licentious attire, not
° yet sobered into shame.
30. Moses said. He had already been
° able to save thd people from instant and
'complete destruction (verse 14), but it was
necessary to bring them back to their for-
feited position as God's children. Ye have
e sinned. Though the leaders had been cut
o the masses who had followed them in
n idolatry still remained; and it was essential
that they should realize the depth of their
wickedness. (1) Every man who has held
, any object dearer than God's service is
e guilty of idolatry, Unto the Lord. (2)
, The first step in the way of pardon and
d salvation is to seek God. Peradventure.
e He epeaks without, certainty, for he has
. received no assurance of forgiveness for
the peOple, (3) How much higher is our
privilege, since we sue for a pardon pro-
inieed in advance I Make an atonement.
The word atonement means "reconoiliation"
and Moses hoped that he might be the
mediating agent to bring peace between
offending Israel and its offended Lord. (4)
Our peace is already purchased and our
atonement made in Christ.
• 31, 32..0, this people have sinned. He
offers no extenuation, but in behalf of the
people oonfeeses the .orime and humbly
seeks forgiveness. (5) Those who would be
saved must first recognize themselves lost.
If thou wilt. An entreaty so earnest that
its utterance is broken and unfinished: "If
thou svilt forgive their sin-" the rest being
left unspoken, as the possibility of an un -
forgiveness darts across his mind. If not,
blot me . . . out. So fully does he identify
himself with the people for whom he pleads,
that he will suffer their fate, even to ex-
clusion from the privileges of the covenant.
God had already offered to give him Abra-
ham's place as the father of a new :melon
(verse 10), but he will sooner perish with
Israel than be exalted by Israel's downfall.
(6) See the self-sacrifice of a noble nature !
Thy book. The book of life in which, as
in a reectrd, the names of the citizens of
the kingdom were enrolled.
33, 34. Whosoever hash sinned. One
step had been gained in the work of media-
tion, in that God oonsented not to destroy
the nation as a whole, but only those indi-
viduals who had rejected him. (7) Every
soul stands single and alone before God.
Lead the people. He was to resume his
place, and the people were to be restored
to their privileges. Mine Angel shall go.
The visible token of God's presence with
his people in the pillareof oloud and fire.
When I visit. In the day of my visita-
tion I will visit their sin." In the after
discipline of the people the results of their
sin were to be realized; yet it was to , be
discipline as to children, and not judgment
as to enemies. The Jews have a tradition
that in everyaffliction of their people there
is an ouuce of the powder of the golden calf.
The sword was withheld, but it was not
sheathed.
35. The Lord plagued the people. This
may indicate seine unmentioned scourge of
calamity or disease, but it more likely
refera to the sum total of trials, penalties,
and judgments during the forty years'
wandering in the wilderness. They
made . . . Aaron made. They made
it as its responsibleaoriginators, Aaron as
their agent; and both were held to measure
of accountabiltty. The calf. Probably an
image of wood, covered with plates of
beaten gold, in the form of Mnevis, the ox
divinity, which they had seen, and doubt-
less worshiped, in Egypt.
Verse 1. Id OB88 delayed. The forty day
spent in sweet and profitable oommunio
with his Maker seemed short to Moses ; b
Israel enoamped at the foot of the mountai
they seemed long. Gathered themselve
together. Came in a tumultuous crowd
Unto Aaron. Moses's brother, who was
in Moses's absence, chief ruler. Up, mak
us god, which shall go before us. Better
a god. They wanted a god that they coal
see. The miraculous manifestations of th
true God had become commou and unin
spired to them. The pillar of cloud and
file, the manna fresh falling every day they
were accustomed to now, and already the
spirit of ingratitude and distrust controlled
them. Who knows whether these manifes-
tations are not, after all, purely aocidentel
and na,tural ? The land they came from
was full of gods of stone and brass and
gold. They must have an image too. This
Moses. He was almost as great a mystery
to them as was the God he expounded.
After all they had known him only a very,
very short time, and now they supposed
they should never see him again. Woe
Know. These were the people who had
seen the thunder and lightning descend on
the top of Sinai, they had heard these
solemn words of promise and threat and
had made no less solemn promises of obed-
ience, and now they break the plainest of
&lithe oommands.
2. Aaron said. He was a man who
studied expediency and not duty. Break
off the golden earrings. The service of Bin
demands as many sacrifices,and more, than
are demanded by the aervice of God. These
idolaters were called upon, first of all, to
sacrifice for tho sake of the golden calf
their covetousness and their love of display.
Where these golden earrings carne from we
can only conjecture.
3. All the people . . . brought. They
gave with cheerfulness what was needed
for their purpose. Spiritual worshipers
may.sometimes learn wholesome lessons of
self-sacrifice from those wbo are far beneath
them in devout intelligenoe.
4. Fashioned it with a graving tool. Some
translate this, "bound it [the gold) in a bag;"
some, following our translation,interpret it
to mean that with "graving tool" he
made a mold into which he poured the
molten gold. It is impossible to determine
certainly just what were the characteris-
tics of this golden calf. Throughout the
East the buil was the represeutative of
oreatiye force. In many places its worship
did not rise above the worship of one of
the force's of nature; but often some
spiritual apprehensions clustered about it
also, as may be inferred from the fact that
often the image of the bull was given wings
and a human head-symtols of omnipre-
sence and omniscience. Calf worship was
familiar to all peoples in Aaron's day.
These be thy gods, 0 Israel. The plural
form here has no speoial emphasis. The
whole narrative indicates that it was still
Jehovah whom they worshiped, but in wor-
shiping they broke thesolemn covenant they
had made with him to obey his command,
and they display a sad laok of intelligent
faith. 'Which brought thee up out of the
land of Egypt. Ali men are tempted either
by superstition or by skepticism, and often
by both. These poor ignorant Hebrews
could not believe that the invisible Jehovah
could take care of them without Moses.
They must see somebody or something, and
if they can no longer behold the majestic
genius that guided them,they must at least
have an image to look at. But they were
superstitious also, and with celerity they
passed from the worship of the invisible
God to the worship of the molten oalf.
These two simaskeptioiern and superstition,
opposite as they, seem to be, are often
committed by the same people on the same
accoont.
5, 6. When Aaron saw, Saw how
greetly pleased the people were. He built
an altar before it. Being the high prieea
he was prompt to take it in charge. Made
proclamation. In the absence of hie brother
e was the chief ruler and his proclamation
ad despotio force. To -morrow is a feast
o Jehovah. Aesop evidently desired to
etp the people true to the true God, but
e oared little how fer they deviated from
pirtual worship. " To -morrow" does
ot neuessarily mean the day after
he earrings had been brought, foe
oubtlese the making of the calf had
ctoupied several days. Burut offerings,
fferings entirely tioneumed on the altar,
eaoe offerings. Such at werepartly eon.
tmed and partly eaten by those svho
Shred them.Sat down to eat and todrink
rorship and feasting went arin in OM in
ose days, Rage lip to play, • To itidulge
singing and dancing and merry making,
it not ehpeople nowadays might do with'
i
out other mpulse than the liveliness of their
were all over 14,000 tons, capable of h
steaming 17 knots an hour. The Re- h
Umberto, of Italy, was their only equal. t
Thecr Meer Blenheim was also the swift- k
wit of her class of ships represented. This h
superiority was not arranged for, there s
being hi the Mediterranean and on other n
stations the mai compleinent of filet class t
naval representatives of Britain's power'. d
The empire of the seas Seeins to be in the o
right hands yet, 0
A Special despatch froth Shanghai says at
that fighting is in progress at Taiwan, iso
hold of Formosa, where ten thotteand V1
/40,01E114gs are eattembled. The Japenese th
are attacking the forts at that plan, and in
the British Spartat is removing the for. bt
°ignore irons the town.
Crime in Franee.
Suggestive infdrmation is to be derived
from the report on crime in France in the
year 3892, just addressed by M. Trarieux,
Minister of Justice, to the President of the
Republica It shows a diminution in the
number of premeditated murders, but a
decided increase in attacks on persons
attended with fatal results. Offenses agaiost
property have detained ; but on the (Aber
hand this falling off is fully counterbalanced
by the augmentation in the statistics of
assaults. In Algeria and Tunis orime of
every kind is on the increase. The age at
which men seem most prone to crime is
from twenty-six to thirty, while with
women the worst period is from twenty-one
to twenty-five.
-
A Fling at Poets,
If I had a girl with golden hair,
And 'teeth of etguisite pearl,
And eyeli that were gems, tee plenden a rare,
Do you know what I'd do with that girl ?
I'd carry the beautiful, previous thing
Right deism to a jeweler's place.
And I'd sell her quick for what she would
bring
As an ornament to her rase.
Concruer a vice to -day and you Save your
desoendants untold misery, --Anon.
WHEN DRESSED IN 1/1DO1J1
A NW PROCESS )3Y WHICH SILK
IS PRODUCED FROM WOOD.
ri is saread,y issonsivoy used -vile New
Material Coete Less' Titan Natttral
Stik 111"i le field to ilte Ito -mural -et
Company to Be rormett Sit 31.0uSreal
to Alameineture the material.
A process hes been discovered by which
a materiel closely reserribliag silk may be
manufacturedfrom wood. Even now women
are walking' about the streets of Egropean
cities in the most elaborate gowns of eilk
in the manofacture of which the worm had
no pare, In fact, the silkworm has lost
IIS occupation.
The palm for this valuable discovery in
chemical scienoe must go to Switzerland,
fer a native a Zurich, Dr. Lehner by name,
is the inventor of the process.
Some years ago he Liven to snake obser-
vations on the habits and physical char-
acteristios of the silkworm, and became
deeply interested in the subject. Be
discovered the chemical action which took
place in the worm in produoing its cocoon,
and at odd timea Sought to conterfeit the
work of nature. So oonvinced did he be-
come of the feasibility of his ideas that he
soon abandoned all other work, and devoted
his time to Chia single study, in whicila he
has achieved a single triumph.
In the process of manufacturing the new
fabric the principal ingredients used are
sprucewood. pulp, cotton or jig?), wasted
etc., oombined with a large ivantity of
alcohol. The nee of the eubstantial or
solid materials mentioned creates a market
for what was hitherto of no use whatever,
being burned infactory furnaces to get it
out of the way.
SPRUCE SAWDUST
now has a market value, for this as well
as the other materials, are digested by a
chemical process, in which alcohol plays an
important part. The material thus digeea
ed is so muoh like the cocoon spun by the
allkworm that when the two are placed
side by side in a finished state it takes an
expert to determine which is which.
The artificial material at one stage is in
a liquid state, and of a density about equal
to the ordinary eyrup of commerce. When
in this state a machine of Dr. Lehner's
invention,which may be called an artificial
silkworm, comes into play. This machine,
which is very simple in construction, re-
quiring eo little attention that it may be
kept et work with about as much labour
as is devoted to a twenty-four hour clock,
performs exactly the same mechanical
work that a silkworm does. It draws
from the liquid a continurus, unbroken
thread of even diameter and unlimited
etrength. As this thread is spun another
portion of the -machine takes it up, and
twista it into any desired thickness of yarn
with perfeot regularity.
Thus the fabric can be made of any
desired weight or thickness, so that it will
be seasona.bie at ell times.
This artificial silk has been spun in
Bradford, England, and worked up into a
large variety of fabrics. In the dyeing,
weaving, and finishing of these no epecial
treatment has been found elecessary. It
has been dyed in all imaginable
SHADES AND COLIMES,
and owing to the peculiar qualities of the
material it takes a, dye more ieadily and
gives& more brilliant effect than the natural
article. In texture it is the equal of the
pest of Chinese and Italian silks, being
soft and silken to the touch. It is expected
that it will be used largely in combination
with natural silk and cotton for produeing
brocaded effects. These latter have been
so expensive lately as to be out of reach of
all but the fattest purses. The new inven-
tion will greatly reduce the oost.
It would seem that this new process
would give an immense impetus to the
manufacture of textile fabrics all over the
world and probably will, but Dr. Lehrer
also differs from the average inventor in
that he combines financial ounning with
his remarkable genius so that every yard
of this new material made will put so many
pennies into his pocket.
Patents on the process have been
obtained in most of the European countries,
and an application for one M the United
States is now on file at Washington, as
well as in the patent office of the Canadian
Government. A company with a capital
etock of 31,500,000 is about to be formed in
Montreal to manufacture the material.
There has already been formed in England
a company having a capital stock of
$540,000, the inventor receiving $160,000
In cash and 8180,000 in fall -paid shares,
the remaining $900,000 being used as a
working capital.
It was originally intended to manu-
facture the article in England, but when
the demonstrating plant was established
at Bradford it was found that there was a
prohibitive tariff on alcohol used for manu-
turing purposee. For that reason the plant
was located at Glattburg, near Zurich, Ger-
many, where there is no tax on alcohol
used in manufactures. From this place
the raw material is sent to England for
manufacture.
Right Honorable H. Campbell -Ban
nerman.
The British Secretar' of State or
War, in the Rosebery Cabinet,
lYlight be Disgraeed.
Young Wife -What I You think of
joining the army 1 Horrors
Ilusbend (tendetly)a-Are you afraid /311
gret killed ?
Young Wife -..o) l'itt afraid you'll run.
GOLD GUARDED BY INSBOTS.
lerieeiess Nuggeie surrannolte4 bliiivrantill
of knoeguttoea-irSte Plague Drives WOr
ers avrity.
Gold in plenty may be feund in the Sanct
of the Tolador Rivera etreagi of modere
ate velume that comes tournbling from tit
enow line of the Sierra de St. Merthe
Setith lemerioa--but though the lowlend
region and the river bed where the Pseeieus
metal aboueds in fabulous quantities are
easily accessible, the moequitoea aro as
thick and terrible there that all attempts
to rifle the sands of their gold have so far
failed.
Elisee Reclus, the oelebreted French
geographer, was the trot to explore the
plata about the Voiadar'e mouth. It aeemed
like an earthly paradise at first, and the
stinghig insects were no mere numerous
than one naight have expected. But as the
rainy season came on and the air grew hot
and humid the moequitoes appeared in in.
credible swarnse, 111. Reolus had thought
of establishing an agricultural oolony iii
the fertile lowlands, but found the plague
of insects so unbearable that he vvaa forced
to beat a retreat and
ABANDON IITS PRO,TECT.
He was the discoverer ot this wonderfel
stream, whose waters sweep over sends
that are literally golden. He told the news
to the French Vice-Oonaul at Rio Sachs.,
and this officdal obtained the oonceesion
this Elorado. The dangers he was to en
ocnuiter he knew perfectly well. He took
with him when he set out an ingeniouely
oonstructed gauze tenv of large dimensions.
For two days he tried to live under its
shelter and watch the operations of his
workmen, who toiled in the stifling heat,
.
clothed thiok garments, and protected
by heavy boots, gloves and veils. At the
end of the second day, however, both em-
ployer and employees with one accord gave
up the struggle and. retreated.
The next to try to wring fortune from
these auriferous sands was an Italian, who
obtained permission from the Vice -Consul
referred to above. The Italian laughed at
the idea of mosquitoes driving any pee
away from a place where gold could be
picked up almost by the handful. He
started out with a party of six who shared
with him his belief, and so they took along
no apeoial protection against the insects.
They endured for less than half an hour
the awful torture and then fled. They
found their way back to Rio /Each% with
difficulty, for the eyes of five were so badly --
swollen that
TFIET WEBB BLIND.
The sixth's face was a sight to behold, and
he had to pick out the pathway with the
aid of one eye, which the mosquitoes had
not entirely closed.
Yet there are human beings who oan
venture with impunity into this hell whorl*
guardian demons are mosquitoes and these
are some of the savage natives of moun-
tains from whose rooky steeps the river
comes tumbling down. These savages who
are mosquito proof are rendered so by their
bodies being covered_ with the scales of
that awful disease leprosy. Strange to say,.
the mosquitoes will not touch them. But
neither gold nor the gaude of civilization
will tempt them to labor, and there is no
human power, apparently, which will drag
them on from their rude caves on the
mountain side and make them labor for the
white men.
It is an old and true saying that one
might as well try to gee along without furs
in the Arctic regions as without mosquito
nets in the tropics. Mosquito nets seem to
have been of little avail, however, in the
instances related. The insects are said to
have been both unusually large and unusu-
ally venomous, and they come in such
myriads that they bad the appearance of a -
mist hanging over the waters of the river.
The intense pain and aotion of the poison
on the system speedily drive the strongest
mad.
One of the favorite tortures among the
natives of the region about the valley of the
Volaclor is to serip their viotim and bind
him naked to a stake. In a moment his
body will be literally covered with mos-
quitoes ani in a half hour's time it will be
enormously swelled. The torture is indes-
cribable.
A Pretty Lawn Table.
Stumps of good old trees that have out-
lived their' usefulness and been relegated -
to the wood pile, are not uncommonly seen
upon our lawns, ond many attempts are
made to turn them to artistic) and useful
acooant. Perhaps as successful a way as
any and rather more to the artist's taste is
that suggested by the accompanying sketeh.
Its simplicity recommends it se well as
does its use and pleasing effect on thalawn.
The stump is first sawed off perfecbly level
and then fitted with a top of thzok board
atisTIO PLANT sewn)
of the desired dimensions. Four rustle
supports or brackets are placed underneath
at the four corners. Therm should be as
much as possible in their natural state,
with any little crookedneases or knots al-
lowed to show, as they add mull to the
pretty effect of the whole. The edges, too,
of the top board may be given a rustic tone
by tacking to them strips of wood. with the
bark on them. When the little table is
finished and "set" with its dishes and pots
of plants, the owner of it is quite sure to
stand is little way off and admire it audibly,
All mummer long it will be is charming'
abiding place for the choicest hotise plente,
out of the reach of tiny marauders Dead
within sure reaoh of admiring eyes,
Why She Will Stay at Home.
Mrs, Fatpurse-Is it possible? Se you
are not going outs of the city thie summer
Mrs. Thinpurse smart woman) -Of
course hot. Wherie could / got thaem
children.
Why They Came Late.
Husbatid (in hat and overooat)-Good
gracious Haven't you get yOur coitt on yet?
Wile-eIt'a all fixed, exoept tucking ih
my dress Sleeves so they won't, get retested.
I'll be iettaly in half an hour,
nt,