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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times, 1895-9-12, Page 2THE EXETER trimBs :CUBIST IS THE CHIEF. C01. TALMAG1E ON THg MOST CON-- SPIPGOIJS FlGUMt4 RitS TORY. 0eaneon 1/luit NUM le Well of Iespira- *ea to chrieliettaas Macey where—gberist the Olideet or /faith an Love sad nape elereoseree eu /leaven. New 'York, $ept 1, --Toe hie sernaon fer this forenoon, lnev. Dr. Talmage se - leeks 4 tende Which must preve fuU ot baaphatten to ChrhAriane everywhere. The thin of hie deineurse ba "The Chieftain," and the text "The ohiefest among ten thousand," Canticles v, 10. The most conspicuous eharacter of tory steps out upon the platform. The finger which,diamonded with light pointed down to him from the Betble- nota Sky, was onlY a ratification of the *tater of propheoy, the finger of f so- ealOgen the finger of events—an five Ahrens pointing in oue dheetion. Christ tis the overtopping figure of all time 14e is the "vox humane" in all nmune, 'e gracettilest line in all sculpture. the most exquisite mingling of light and aleades in an painting, the acnie of all clemaxen the donne of an eathea, rated grandeur and the peroration of *I language. The Greek ahphabet Is made up or , Perm:ay-tour leteers, and when Crit eosupared biome:elf to the first tette' Ond the last letter, the Alpha and tne Canega, Jape a,ppropriated to himeeif all She splendors that you can spell out either with thoee two letters or all be lettenn between thena "I am the _Meala and the Omega, the beginning ant the end." What does that Scripture mean which as of Christ "Ine that oometn front above is above aa?" it mean:: after you have piled up an Alpine and Sitneslayan altitudes the glory of Cluest would hs.ve to spread HA wings and descend a thousand leagues to Mauell those summate Felon, a high mountain o/ Theesely; Ossa, a high maountain, and Olynapus, a high moun- tain, but mythology tells us when tne 'lents warred against the gods they addled up these three mountains, and tram the top ce them proposed to scale the heavens, but the height was no great eneugh, and there was a coni - ?tete failure. And after at the giants --Isaiah, and Paul, prophetic and epos - Mho giants, Itapbael and Michael An- gelo, artistic giants; cherubim and se- raphim and archangel, celestial giants —lave fated to climb to the top of Criers glory they might all well unite in the words of read and cry out, "Above an!" ''Above all!" But Solo - mean in nay text prefers to call Christ **The Chieftain," and so to -day I hail , First Caplet must be chief in out preaching. There are so many books em homiletics scattered through the country that eat laymen, as well as all clergymen, have masde up the trands what sermons ought to be. That ser. mon is the most effectual arbieh most pointedly Pats forth Chrest as the pardon ot an she and the correction o2 at evil—individnal, seial, political, net - thenal. There is no reason why we 'Mould rtng the endless changes on a few pkwases. There are those who think that If an exhortation or a dis- *aurae have frequent nmnation of just - deletion, sanctification, covenant of worke and covenant of grace, therefore et meet be profoundly evangelical, wehtle they are suepicious of a discourse whioh presents the sarne truth, but under different phraseology. Now, I say there is nothing in all the opulent reahn of Aandc-Sanoni4en, of an the word treasures that we inherited from The lean and the Greek and the Indo- 35-uropean, but we have a right to mar- shal it in rMigious discussion. Christ sets the example. His illustrations were from the grass, the flowers, the barnyard fowl, the crystals of salt as well as tenn the seas and the stars, and we do not propose in our Sun- day -school teaching and in our pulpit address to be put on the limits. I know that there Is a great deal said in our day against words, as though they were nothing. They may be rniaused, but they have an imperial power, They are the bridge between smia and soul, between Almighty God and the huraan race. What did Christ write upon the tables of stone? Words. What dad Christ utter on Mount Oln Vet? Words. Out of what did Christ etrilin the spark for the illumination of the universe? Out of words. "Let there be light," and light was. Of course, thought is the cargo and words ' are only the ship; but how fast would year cargo get on without the ship? What you need, my frtands, in aM your vinnle in your Sabbath school claim, in your reformatory inetitutions, And what we all need is to enlarge our vocabulary erhen we come to speak about God and Christ and heaven. We rtde a few old words to death, When there is such illimitable resource. Shakespeare employed 15,000 differenr weirds for dramatic purposes; Dalton employed 8,000 different words for poet - le purpoees; Rufus Choate employed ever 11,000 different words for legal purposes, bat the meat of us have less than 1,000 words that we can annumge, and that makes us so stupid. When we come to set forth the love of Christ we are gobee . to take the tenderest phraseology wherever We find It and if it hae never been used In that direction before all the more shah we use it When we come to speak or 'Mhe glory of Christ the conqueror we are going to draw our similes from triumphal arck and oratorh> and every- thing grand and stupendoud. The gneneh may have 18 flags by which they ean give eignal, but those 18 flags they cannot met into 66,000 different eambiriatiegio. And I have to ten you that these standards of the cross may be: lifted inta conibinatione of infinite Varleths eVerlatting. And let me sar to these: yet:Mg men who come from the theologkal seminaries into our sera Vices, and are, after awhile, gohng to preach IeSue ClihrUtt: You will have the largest liberty and unlimited re- , source. You Only have to present , hriat in your trivia way, Brighter than the light, fresher than •:the tountenS, deeper than the as, , nee an them gospel themes. Song at zto nuileciee -gravers hp sweetnese, sun. set akar, no dolor compared with theee •i4191l0nef theinte. t"hese harvests or race SPring Me quieter theta we oate eackle Veen% Idindling pulpits with their fire, and prodeioing revotateene with their povrer, lifting up dying- beas with their glory, they are the eweeteet tareught for the poet, eta they are tbe Meet thrilliteg illuretrataose for the era, tor, azul they offer the moot %Meuse Seene for the Waite, and they are to the embessador of the sky all enthu- siasm. Complete pardon for threat guilt. Sweeteet oomfort or lehastiteaf agony. Brightest hope for grimmest death, Grandest resurieetion for darh- est sepulcher. Oh, what a goepel to preacal Christ the chief. His birth, his suffering, Ills miracles, his parte- bles, his weat, his tears, his blooa, his atonement, hia intercession—what glorious themes! Do We exercise faith? Christ is its object. leo we have love? It fastens on Jesus. Have we a fond- ness for the ehuroh? It is because Christ died for it. Have we a hope of heaven? It is because Jesus vreta trier% the herald and the torerunner. The royal robe of Demetrius was 50 eosely, so beautiful, that after he had put it off no one ever dared put It on, but this robe of Christ, richer than that, the poorest and the weakest and the worst may wear. "Oh, my sins, my sins," said biaran Luther to Staupitz, "my sins, my sins!' The fact is that the brawee German student had found a Latin Bible that made hien quake, and notri ing else ever did make him quake, and when he found how, througm Christ, he was pardoned and. saved, he wrote to a friend, saying: "Come over a.nd join us great and awful sin- ners, saved by the graee of God. You seem to be only a slender sinner, and you don't much extel the mercy of God; but we that have been such very awful sinners praise his grace the more new that we have been redeem- ed." Can it be that you are so des- perately egotistical that you feel your- self in first rate spiritual trim, and. that froxn the root of the hair to the tip of the toe you are searlass and im- maculate? What you need is a look- ing glass, and here it is ha the Bible. Puler and wretched and miserable and blind a,nd naked front the crown or the head to the sole of the foot, fuil of wounas and putrefying sores. No health in us. And then take the fact that Christ gathered up all the notes against us and paid them, and then offered us the receipt! And how much we need him in our sorrows! We are independent of circumstances if we have his grace, Why, he made Paul eIng in the dungeon, and under that grace St. John from desolate Patmos heard the blast of the apocalyptic trumpets. After all other candles have been snuffed out, this is the light that gets brighter and brighter unto the perfect day; and after, unaer Inc hard hoofs of calamity, all the pools of worldly enjoyment have been tramp- , led into deep mire, at the foot of the eternal rock the Christian, from cups of granite lily rimmed, puts out the thirst of his soul, Again, I remark that Christ is chief in dying alleviations. I have not any sympathy with the morbidity abroad about our demlse. The Emperor of Constantinople arranged that on the day of his coronation the stonemason s.hould come and consult about a tomb- stone that after awhile he would need. And there are men who are monoman- iacal on the subject of departure from this life by death, and the more they think of it the less they are prepared to go. This is an unmanliness not worthy of you, not worthy of me. Saladin, the greatest conqueror of his day, while dying, ordered that the tunic he had on him be carried atter his death on his spear at the head of his army, and that then the soldier, ever and anon, should stop and say: ''Behold all that is left of Saladin, the states he conquered, of all the wealth states he conquerod, of an the wealth he accumulated, nothing did. he retain but this shroud!" I have no sympathy with such behavior, or such absurd de- monstration, or with much that we near uttered in. regard to departure mom this life to the next. There is a eommon senisical idea on this subject that you need td consider—there are only two styles of departure. A thou- sand feet underground, by light , of torch, toiling in a miner's shaft, a ledge of rock may fall upon us, and we may die a miner's death. Far out at sea, falling from the slippery ratlines and broken on the halliards, we may die a sailor's death. On mission of mercy in hospital, amid broken bones and reeking leprosies and raging fevers we may die a philanthropists death. On the field of battle, serving God and the gun carriage may roll over us, and our country, slugs through the heart, we may die a patriot's death. But, after all, there are only two styles of departure—the death of the righteous and the death of the eVicked—and we all want to die that of the former. God grant that when that hour comes you may be at home. You want the hand of your kindred in your hand. You want your children to surround you. You. want the light on your pil- low from eyes that have long reflected your love. You want your room still. You do not want any curious strang- ers standing around watching you. You want your kindred from afar to hear your last prayer. I think that is the wish of us all. But is that all? Cart earthly friends hold us up when the billows of death come up to the girdle? Can human voice charm open heaven's gate? Can human hand pilot us through the narrows of death into heaven's harbor? Can any earthly friendship shield us from the arrows of death, and in the hour when satan shall practice upon us his infernal archery? No, no, no, no! Alas, poor soul, if that is alt Better die in the wilderness, far front tree shadow and from fountain, alone, vultures circling through the air, waiting for our body, unknown to men, arid to have no bu- rial; if only Christ could say through the solitudes, "1 WM never leave thee, veill never forsake thee." From that pillow of stone a ladder would soar heavenward, angels coming and go- ing, and across the eolitude an 1 the barrenness would come the sweet notes of heavenly minstrelsy. Gordon Hall, far Pram hernte, dying fn the door of a heathen temple, said, "Glory to thee, 0 God!" What did dying Wilberforce ream to his wife? "Come and sit beside me and let be talk of heaven. 1 never knew what /loaminess was Until 1 found Christie" What did dying Hannah Moore say? "To go to heaven, think what that is! T-0 go to Christ, Who deed that I might live! Oh, glorious grave! Ok, what a glorious thing it is to die! Oh, the love of Christ, the love of °allot!" What did Mr. Toplady, the great hymn maker. say in hil last hour? "Who can measure the depths of the third heaven? 0, the sunshine that fills my sour! I stall soon be gone, for surely no one can live in this world after suale wearied sie God has manifested te my soul." What did the dying Janevray say? "1 oan as ettaily die as °Wee my eyes OC' tarn ray head in sleep. Before a few hours have paasod I *hall stand oa Mount Zion with the one hundred and forty and four thousand, and with the just men made perfect, and we shall ascribe riches and honer and glory and majesty and dominion unto God and the Lamb." Dr. Taylor, condernn- ed to burn at the stake, on his way thither broke away from the guards- men and went bounding and lea.ptng and jumping toward the fire, glad to go to Jesus and to die far him. Sir Charles Hare, in his last moments, had such rapturous vision that he mead, "Upward, upward, upward!" An.d great was the peace of one of Christ's disciples that he put his finger upon the pulse in his wrest and counted tt and observed it, and so great was his placidity that after awhile he said, "Stopped!' and his life had ended here to begin in heaven. But grander the r that was the testimony of the wornout first missionary, when in the Marner- tine dungeon he cried: "I ani now ready to be offered, and. the tirne of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; hence- forth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me in that day, and not to me only, but to all them that love his appearing!" Do you not see that Christ is chief in dyhag alleviations? ' Toward the last hour of our earthly residence we are speeding. When 1 see the sunset I say, "One day less to live." When I see the spring bloseonis scattered, I say "Another season gone forever." When I close the Bible on Sabbath night, I say "Another Sale - bath departed," When I bury a. friend I say "Another earthly attraction gone forever," What nimble feet the years have! The roebucks and the lightnings run not so fast. From decade to decade, from sky to sky, they go at a bound. There is a place for us, whether marked or not, where you and I -will sleep the last sleep, axle the men now are living who will, with solemn tread, carry us to our resting place. Aye, it is known in heaven whether our departure will be a cor onation or a banishment. Brighter than a banqueting hall through which the light feet of the dancers go up and down to the sound of trumpeters will be the sepulcher through whose rifts the holy light of heaven stream- eth. God will watch you. He will send his angels to guard your slum- bering dust until, at Christ's behest, they shall roll away the stone. So also Christ is chief in heaven. The Bible distinctly says that Christ 13 the ohief theme of the celestial ascrip- tion, all the thrones facing his throne, all the palms waved before his face, all the crowns down at his feet. Cheru- bim to cherubim, seraphira to sera- phim, redeemed spirit to redeemed spirit, shall recite the Saviour's earthly sacrifice. Stand on same high hill of heaven and in all the radiant sweep the most glorious object will be Jesus. Myriads gazing on the scars of his suffering, in silence first, afterward .breaking forth into acclamation. The martyrs, all the purer for the flame through which they paesed, will say, "This is the Je- sus for whom we died." The apostles, all the happier for the shipwreck and the scourging through which they Went, will say, "This is the Jesus whom we preached at Corinth, and at Cappa- docia, and at Antioch, and at Jerusa- lem." Little children clad in white will say, "This is the Jesus who took us in his arms and bless us, and, when the storms of the world were too cold and loud, brought us into this beautiful place." The multitude of the bereft will say, "This is the Jesus who com- forted us when our hearts broke." afany who wandered clear off from God and plunged into vagabondism, but were saved by grave, will say: "This is the Jesus who pardoned us. We were lost on the mountains and he brought us home, We were guilty, ane he has made us white as snow." Mercy boundless, grace unparalleled. And then, after each one has recited his peculiar delivernaces and peculiar mercies, recited them as by solo, aft the voices 'will come together into a great chorus, whech will' make thr arches echo and re-echo with the eter- nal reverberation of triumph. Edward I was so anxioud' to go to the Holy Land that when he was about to expire he bequeathed $160,000 to have his heart, after his decease, taken to the Holy Land in Asia Minor, and his request was complied with. But there are huudreds to -day whose hearts are already in the Holy Land of hea- ven. Where your treasures are, there are your hearts also. Quaint John Bunyan caught a glimpse of that place, and in his quaint way he said: "And in my dream, and lo! the bells of he city rang again for joy, and as they opened the gates to let in the men I looked in after them, and lo! the city shone like the sun, and there were streets of gold, and men walked on them, harps hi their hands. to ring praises withal, and after that they shut up the gates, which when I had seen 1 wrshed myself among them?" The Kind to Have, Jack—My landlady is a young widow and good looking, Dick—Does she ever say any tender things to you? jack—You bet she does. She says "beefsteak" and " chicken" and— Dick —Hold on. That's the kind of a one I'm looking for. Any room for an extra eater there? Realizing On Assests, Old Bullion (playfully)—Suppose I should lose my money, and die poor, what would my little duekie darling do then ? Young Bride(thoughtfully)-ePerhaps a nnedies,1 eollege Would give me something for your corpse. DIE CONDUCTOR'S IRE, "Ghosts'5 snorted the oondactor, seorn- fully, "why, man alive, the woods are full of 'am in these mountains. just wait till we take the sidinfor No. to pass, and I'll tell you about Granny Whittaker and her cow, whose spooks 1 men with my own eyes. Ghosts 1 There'a at least one full- grown spook for every mile -post on the divieion." So it was I held my peace until the train was safely on the siding, and we were gathered around the stove in the caboose, The wind was howling wildly through the gorges, making the windows rattle and the doors oreak, while the unusual draftcaused Ilia iron stove to glow redly in the semi - twilight. One felt mighty comfortable inside the cab that evening. "Now, about them spooks," remarked the conductor, putting away his lunohpail and lighting hi pipe. "Pm not going to tell you any fancy tales bub just give you a short aocount of what I seen with my own eyes one winter about ten years ago, and you can believe it or not, as you see fit. At that time I was front brakeman on old Bill Sta,ley's crew, and we had the neme of bein' the toughest gang on the division all througlaincludin' the engineer and firemen. Pete Smith was at the throttle, and I do solemnly believe he was the most impious man on the face of the earth. Swear! Why, profanity came to his lips easier than anything else. I've seen him sit down on a log and curse the road from President to apprentice, because a nut got loose or a couplin' broke. "And he was as cranky as he was pro- fane. For itietance, eras day he got into his head the telegraph operator at Big Tunnel kept the red signal up a few seconds longer than necessary, which raised his wrath, so that when the board finally dropped old Pete wouldn't start, but instead got a wrench and .began takin' off a cylinder head. We knew it wasn't any use remon. stratin' with him, as he'd have his own sweet will in the matter. Meantime, train after train drew up behiud us, and the dispatcher at the other end of the division was nearly crazy. He asked by wire sem eral times what was the matter, and at last sent the message th reaten in' to suspend Pete until he got started within ten min- uts a When he got this word Pete, mho all the time had been tinkerin' with the cylinder as if he was makin' big repairs, began to swear. He sat down on the pilot and salivated that dispatcher until words failed him. 'Then 'he renewed his leisurely work upon the engine. At last he got in the mood to start after we had laid there two hours and twenty minates. The worst of it was nobody could say positively the cylinder didn't need repairs, so nothin' was done. "I mentioned this just to show what a mean cantankerous cuss Pete wee, and so yau'd better understand what I'm going to tell you. Ten years ago the country here- abouts wasn't near as well settled as it is now. The old residenters weren't over - good, either. They had themame of bein' a bad lot, and about the worst was Granny Whittaker, who lived in a rickety little log house in a clearin' near the top of the mountain. It was said she was a witch, and moat people avoided her as they would the Old Nick. "She haVan old mooley cow that used to run free all over the mountain, often as not takin' the railroad for a short cut home. That owcaused lots of trouble, tor there wasn't an engineer on the division who wouldn't a blame sight rather stop his engine and chase the brute away than incur Granny Whittaker's anger by killin' it— that is, exceptin' Pete. One &mallet cow got on the track ahead of him when he was in an extra bad humor, and he tried to run it down, sayin' he'd send the cow to king- dom come if he got that chance. He got it. The next day the cow wasn't quick enough, and Pete caught it square le the centre, knookin' it down the bank like a feather. Then he laughed. I think it was the first time I ever heard him laugh, and along with the reat of the trainmen I didn't like it a bit, for we was all afeard of Granny Whittaker, "The followin' day when we reached that spot again there was a red flag stickin' up between the rails. Contrary aa Pete was he didn't dare run past a danger signal, so he hlowed for brakes and the train came to a stop. • All at once old Granny Whittaker rose up, from somewhere and opened on Pete. She called down the most blood- curdling curses on him I ever heard, her skinny linger pointin' at him, and her eyes fiashin' fire and brimstone. Old Pete wriggled and tried to answer, but she didn't give him a chance until she ran oub of breath. I was lookin' for him to do some swearing himself, but he only said: 'Shea up, ye old hag, or I'll send ye to jfne the cum Then he started his engine. "She run alongaide his cab and screamin', put a spell on you and your engine, you murderer,' threw a little bottle of what looked like ink at him. It hit the window and busted, flying all over him and the engine. She cackeled and yelled with delight : 'You'll die by your own engine, you wretch, and me and my cow will haunt you,' she yelled as the engine moved sway. Pete wiped the stuff off with same waste and said nothin'. I saw the old woman standin' and pointin' after us till we turned the bend. "About a week after that we were changed from a day to a night run. In spite of old Pete's crankiness he was one of the best engineers on the road and had one of the beat engines, too, So when things began to go wrong with the machinery of old 290 the master mechanic couldn't under- stand it. The engifte would run all right for a spell and then get balky. At such thrum it wouldn't steam, the 'elven 'would stick, dravvheads would be jerked oat, or the fire would get choked up, all apparent- ly without any cause. Of course everybody blamed Pete, but after the road foreman of engines made two or three trips in her it was seen Pete wasn't responsible. So they sent her to the shop for general repairs and Pete was given another engine on another run. It was about two months before 290 was turned out for service again. Da the meantime old Granny Whittaker was found dead and Was buried in her garden, the church people refusin' to let her lie in eon* secreted ground,. " For a week after 290 was repaired she run like e charm, Then they put her back on our run and Pete took her again. We started oub the ifirstnight with a heavy trail', and beta' froat brakemaa, my place W88 on the cars next to the engine. 11 was raw and foggy, the kind of wether to intake amen feelnervoue itt epite of himself, epeoielly when gain' through them mount sine, I wee thinkin' of this when I heard Pete blow for brakes, or rather as if there was somethia' on the track. I edged over to the side of the box oars between which waestandiaa and holdin' on to the grab irons to eee what was the matey. Just) then I felt a soft bump and saw eomethint tumble down the bank. That's an animal', thought I ; but when the train stopped end we aal went back to look for it not a thing could be found. " Thansmighty funny,' said Pete ; 'I'm sure I hit a 00W.' " '00W '? said the flagman, 'why, there ain't a oow within twenty miles of here since Granny Whittaker's wee killed.' "Then the same thought seemed to strike all of us aa the fireman remarked that this WaS the exact spot where the old woman's cow had been killed. Nobody wahted to seem afeard, but we all hustled back to the train,not sayin' a word excep- tin' Pete, who begun cumin' the old woman, her cow, and cowe in general. All of a sudden the under -brush rattled and there stood Granny Whittaker, "Now, I'm not tellin' you a fairy tale,or makin' anything up, I'm just telliu' what I saw, and I don't mean to try to explain it; but there stood the old woman who had been dead for weeks, poinein' her finger at Pete. Then she disppeered.as quice as she oome. "Brabbied a lamp, Pete rushed into the woods and searched ell around, but not a sign of a human bein' could be found. I tell you that frightened us all but Pete. He swore it was a triok, and that he'd get even with whoever wae tryin' to fool him. "Next nighb the same thing happened, exceptin' no one but Pete tried to find the mysterious oow or the old woman, who appearegi at the ditch the same as before. Pete fired. a pistol at her, but she only hissed and vanished. The third night Pete asked me to ride in the engine with him, and,althought it was against the rules,Idid as he wanted, for to tell the truth, I eves afeared to stay by myself. "Everything seemed to go wrong that night. We were nearly an hour late get. tin' started, and before we had gone ten miles a coal car jumped the track, causin' forty minutes delay. In tryiag' to yank it on, a drawhead was pulled out, and we had to rig up a chain couplin'. Then something beneath the boiler worked loose. and Pete tinkered at it twenty minutes before he made repairs. Of coarse all this didn't improve his temper, and by the time we got on a steady run, he was grumblin' and cursin' pretty lively. "Well, when we reached that stretch of track where we'd killed the cow,there was the brute on the ties as usual, only old Granny Whittaker was stand in' beside it. I saw that as plain as I see you sittin' on that keg this instant. Pete was crazy mad, and instead ef reversin', he ripped out a curse, put on a full head of steam, and the engine give a jerk which nearly knocked me off the tank. I reckon we were goin' fifty miles an hour when the pilot struck 'ern. "Zip I bump 1 the cow went flying down the bank. Then Pete give a yell. Lookin' past him I saw something crawlin' over the pilot and steam chest. It was Granny Whit- taker. Maybe I wasn't soared. She reached up and grasped the sand rod and turned her eyes on Pete. My, how horrible she looked. "Then she beckoned to him, and would you believe it, he got up and crawled out on the footboard toward her. The fireman and me was paralyzed ; we couldn't say a word or move a finger. The engineer moved slowly toward the old woman, and she stepped backward, seemin' to influence him by her eyes. Back, back, into the steam chest, then onto the pilot, and then around in front of the boiler out of our sight she led him. A second later we heard a yell. " That broke the spell, and between the fireman and me we shut off steam and blowed for brakee. The terrific speed at which we were movin' caused us to go a considerable distance before we stopped, but as aoon as the train elackened we jump- ed off and run forward. Pete wasn't there. We didn't think he would be. We found him a mile back, and there wasn't a whole bone in his body. The next day engine 290 exploded within fifty feet of the spot where we found Pete. "Now, as I said, I saw these things with my own eyes, and I'm not tellin' you any yarns, but the downright truth. Some time if I get a chance I'll tell you about another spook, but I guess you don't want any more to -night." I did not. Sweetheart, Good -by. The dew is on the summer rose, The summer moonlight sadly gtowsr, And softly, too, the night wind blo ws, And echoemigh for sigh. Ofttimes good night with smile and bow I've said, while laughter lit thy brow; But comes a sadder parting now, Sweetheart, good -by. Good -by! If we should never meet Thy smile hath made the past so sweet Fair memory's lamp shell light my feet Weere'er my p ahway he. But now, when fortune bids me stray From all that makes the present gay, Alas! how hard 11 15 to say, Sweetheart, good -by. Good -by, sweetheart, with eyes Of blue, Whose glance can shame the morning dew And teach the stare to shine more true, For thee rd gladly die. You are my dream asleep or wake, For thee my heart would rather break Than live in bliss for other's sake ; Sweetheart, good -by. Patrick's Bargain. Lady (suddenly returned from Europe) —Patriok, what does thie mean? • I left you in oharge of our residence while abroad, and I find the front yard filled with clothes -lines, and every line full of clothes. Our beautiful place looks like a Chinese laundry. You promised me that- Our wife would not take in vra;shing. Patrick—We haven't taken in any washin', mum. We've only been takin' in hangin' out clothes. • How to Aequire a Bass Voiee. Ferrari, the celebrated compoier, relates the following anecdote in his Memoirs. On a cold December night a man in a little village in the Tyrol opened the window and stood in front of it, with hardly any clothing to his back. Peter 1 shouted a. neighbor, who was pa,ssing, what are you doing there? I am catching cold. What tor ? So that 1 can sing bees to -morrow at chureh. Prudence. She—Surely, my dear, you will consider the matter carefully before consenting to Olara's marriage to old Mr, Cashman? Hee-Certainly. I shall have hie books examined by an export. ROW TREY FARM I JAPAN THE PRIMITIVE METHODS Elfi. run= IN THAT COUNTRY. Jepati Is One Twit Garden—a Couple of Acres COnStitnt0 a Peritt•--CUSLOSS 151 • Engaged—MCC dltaiStilg is the Prttlet* pat lucluslrY, which ge,000,000 Men and Women are There cam be no market for agricultural implements and nmehinery. in Japan for two very simple reasons. First, the farms are not big enough, and, second, labor is too plenty. If a Japanese farmer should introduce a modern reaper oiad self.binder upon his arm he would cut doNea every- thing in the way of crops while he was turning it around, and there wouldn't be anything left for him or his family to do all the rest of the season. Most of the farming iniplements are of a very primitive character and many are honne-auele. Just as the primitive farmer used to whittle his ax helves before the big log tire in the minter, so the Japanese farmer makes his own flails and rakes of bamboo and the handles for his hoes, spades and sickles in cold and stormy weather. The iron portion is fashioned at the nearest blacksmith shop. These tools last for a lifetime, as they are kept with great care, and are often passed down from generation to generation. Everything is done by hand. You can travel all day in some of the farming counties without seeing a horse or a mule or any other kind of a beast of burden, and goats and oheem cows' and swine are equally scarce. Japan is one vast garden, and as you look over the fields you can imagine that they are covered with toy farms where children are playing with the laws of nature and raising samples of different kinds of vege. tables and grain. Everything is on a di. minutiae scale, and the work is as fine and accurative as that applied to a cloisenne vase. What would an Ontario or an Mani- toba farmer think of planting his wheat, oats and barley in benches, and then, when it is 3 or 4 inohes high, TRANSPLANTING EVERY SPEAR of it in rows about as far apart as you can stretch your fingers. A Japanese fanner weeds his wheat fields just as one farmer weeds his onion bed. When grain is ripe it is cut with a sickle close to the ground. The bottom ends are carefully tied together with a, wisp of straw; the bunch is then divided and hung over a bamboo pole, or a rope, like Monday's mamhing, to dry; somethnes in the field and sometimes in the back yard, and even in the street in front of the house. When it is thoroughly cured the heads of grain are cut off with a knife and the stravvs are carefully bound up and laid away in bundles. The heads are then spread out upon a piece of strawanetteag and beaten with a flail. Another method of thrashing is to take handfuls of straw and pull them through a mesh of iron needles. After the thrashing is done the grain is &ellen up in a sort of scoop basket made of bamboo and shaken by one woman who holds it as high as her head, while another woman stands with a Targe fan which she waves rapidly through the air and blows the lighter chaff away from the heavier grain as they are falling. The richer farmers have separators built upon a prim. itive plan and turned with a crank peo. ple often winnow grain by pouring it from a scoop upon a fan 3 or 4 feet wide, upon which it is tossed up and down gently so as to leave the chaff in the air when it lalls. Another method of thrashiug is to beat the heads of the grain upon a row of bam- boo poles. Sometimes you see a whole variety of agriculture is oarried on famvleyryatit. in a manner similar to that one I have de- scrihed, and the aoil is in constant use. A couple of acres are considered a large tract of land for farming purposes. Host of the farces are of smaller area, and the crops are greatly diversified. Upon such a little spot of land will be grown almost every- thing known to the vegetable kingdom; A FEW SQUARE FEET of wheat, barley, corn and millet, a plat of beans perhaps 10 feet wide by 20 feet long, an equal amount of potatoes and peas, then a patch of onions about as big as a grave, beets, lettuce salsify, turnips, sweet pota. toes, vegetable oyster% and other varities of cereals and roots occupy the rest of the area. Tho farmer looks upon his growing erop every morning, just as an engineer will impeed the movements of his 'machinery, and it anything is wrong repairs it. if a weed appears in the bean patch he pulls it up; if a hill of potatoes or anything else fails, it is immediately replanted. Axel when he cuts down a tree he always plants another to take its place. The artificial forests of Japan cover many hundreds of square miles, and by this accuracy, economy and care the prosperity of the country is permanently assured. As one crop is harvested the sod is worked over,fertiliz- ed and replanted with sornething else. The largest area of agricultural lands in Japan is devoted to raising rice, perhaps as much as nine -tenths of the whole, and as that crop requires a great deal of water, the paddies are banked up into terraces, one above the other, and divided off into little plats 25 or 30 feet square, with ridges of earth between them to keep the water from fiowing away when they are flooded. Alt farnang land is irrigated by a system that is a thousand years old, and some of the ditches are mated up with bamboo wicker work. - The farmers live in villages and their farms are detached, sometimes a uale or two and three miles away from there homes. There ate no fences or other visible signs of division, but every man knows his own land for it has been in his family for genera- tions. Irrigating ditches arid little paths. are usually the boundary lines. , Theoretically all the land belenge to the Ernperor, but the greater part of that under cultivation has been held by the same familiee for generations, and always descend from the father to the oldest soh, The offioial statistics of Japan show that there are 11,400,008 men and 10,948,053 aennen engaged in agriculture Which is more than half the total population. Efficacious Remedy. A gentleman went into a chemist's shop rand inquired: Do you keep a good cure for cone 1 Yea alt; hero you have an excellent pre- paration. One of my oustomere ha's been tieing it for the last fourteen years with very good remits. THE AUTUMN MANOEUYRES, llow the Voluntriee or Europe 41,r e rrepar ing ter the Next Great The saying, long a ooramonplace in the mouths of European abetment., that the best way to insure peace is to be prepared for war, is this year to have a striking exemplification in military movemente over I505. The armaments of Italy and England have been steadily undergoing improvement for decades past. France, despite the iaoreas. ing deficit in her fiaanoes, has been able to raise the peace footing of her army to five hundred and forty thousand men, an iu- crease of thirty thousaud. Austria looks to her Reicasrath for a grant of twelve rnillion dollars to be expended in providing her forces with new weapons. In Russia ten regiments have recently been added to the armed watch whioh the tear mein. tains along the Polish frontier, Meanwhile, both Germany and Franee are making preparations for a series of manoeuvres on a scale of magnifirience uever before equalled in the military annals of modem Europe. Of late them demonstrations of national power have greatly increased, both in the numbers participating, and in the splendor of the spectacle presented. The a st time Roam° witnessed a military review, she watched the marching and countemmarching of one hundred thousand Russian troops; so late as 1893 Austria- Hungary sent one hundred and fifteen thousand men to manceuvre at Guano. But this year Germany is to outdo both of these displays. Early in September itis her intention to pour into Pomerania four full army corps and two divisions of cavalry numbering, horse and foot, upward of one hundred and eighty thousand men. Her display will include the brilliant feature of a sham battle in which the Emperor Wil - ham will leadseventy.five thou.saud picked troops against an equal number commanded by General von Waldersee. At the end of the manoeuvring, which is -to last two weeks, ninety thousand men will march past the kaiser in grand review. The French spectacle, also to take place in September, will be on a scale still more magnificent. Two army corps are to take part, each ninety-five thousand strong, the one under De Negrier, the other command- ed by Jamont, with accessories of pioneer corps, balloon divisions, and bicycle bat- talions. The two generals have instruotions to march to Langres, in the department of Haute Marne. There it will be the business of General Saussier, military governor of Pariato unite the two corps and lead them in an attack upon a aupposed enemy. Nor will the review lose anythiam. from the absence of royalty, for it is to be wound up in true French style by a banquet to the president of the republic. This manoeuvring of an army of about two hundred thousand Frenchmen on the plateau of Langres provides &counter -dem.' onstration to the German display of foreeev Pomerania. Both reviews will make. brave show in the eyes of the world, and may count for something in that game of military " bluff " in which from time to time even the great European powers are glad to indulge. GRAINS OF GOLD. If the wicked flourish, and thou suffer, be not discouraged. They are fatted for destruction ; thou art dieted for health,— Fuller. The discovery of what is true and the practice of that which is good are the two most imporbant objects of philosophy.— Voltaire. He who seldom speake, and with one calm, well-timed word, can strike dumb the loquacious, is a genius and c hero.--, Lavater. The bread secured by the sweat of the brow is twice blessed bread, and it is far sweeter than the tasteless loaf of idleness.— arTheco wquilni.stant duty of every inan to his fellows is to ascertain hie own powers and special gifts, and to strengthen for the help of others.—Ruskin. Man only clogs with care his happiness, and while he should enjoy his part of bliss, with thoughts of what may be, destroys what is.—Dryden. The conqueror is regarded with awe, the wise man commands our esteem, but it is the benevolent man who wins our tiffectiom —Front the French. A king that would not feel his crown too heavy for him must wear it every day, but if he thinks it too light, he knoweth not of what metal it is made.—Bacon. Fame may be compared to a scold; the best way to silence her is to let her alone, and she will at last be out of breath in blowing her ovvn trumpea—Fuller. How fleet is the glance of the mind, compared with the speed of its flight! The tempest itself lags behind, and the swift -winged arrows of light.—Cowper. Honor with • some is a sort of paper credit, with which men are obliged to trade, who are deficient in the sterling cash of mortality and religion. ---Zimmer- man. Memory, a souice of pleasure and in- struction, rather than that dreadful engine of colloquial oppression into which it is sometimes directed.—Sydney Smith. Can that man be dead whose spiritual influence is upon his kind? He lives in glory; and his speaking dust has more of lifaetohman half its breathing molds. —Miss Lnd Fear naturally represees invention, be nevolence, ambition; for in a nation of slaves, as in the despotic governmente of the Beet, to labor after fame is to be candidate for danger.—Goldarnieh. How Old is the Earth ? Men of Science have given many widely different answers to this question. More than thirty years ago Lord Itelvin, then known as Professor William Thompson, set down the age of the earth at one hun- dred million years. By the earth's age he meant the time that has elapsed since the consolidation of the globe. The estimate was based upon certain experiments shav- ing the rate ab which the rooks probably cooled down from a molten condition. Recently more numerous and accuratc eeperiments bearing on this question have been made, and in vlew of these Lord Xelvin has revised his original figures, and has very greatly reduced his estimate of the age of the earth. Re now puts it at only twenty...four nti11in years, This) however, seems to be a very reeneotehle old, age, even for �planela ,