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HomeMy WebLinkAboutExeter Times, 1896-1-9, Page 6off THE EXETER TIMES CURRENT NO,TES. 1 THE JAILER QTTER,I. Tb.e pregrees of events in. the far . at has been lost sight of in the great- " slim, WHAT Hun I DO TO RE to Madera, attaching to the Turkish SAVED SittlatiOXI, but the neture a the changes Rev. Dr. Ta1mese on the Converted Sher. paa,de and, the forms contending there Question or ineounecrable bri- ttle none the less important. To begin with, J'apan has accepted 30,000,000 taels portauce-The Cry or an Aatteted Elena to the Unconverted. tis the price of the retrocession at the -A eau Lian-Tung peninsula, and. agreed. tb.a,t 'Washington, Dee. 29. -For the dos- evacimtion shall be complete within bag discourse, of the year Rev. Dr. Tal - three ro.onths, the Pekin government maga chose a subject which appeals to agreeing, it is said, that no part of the tbe unconverted everywhere -viz; "The eeninsule shall be 'ceded to a foreign Phillippian Jailer." The text selected power. Naturally, this agreement is was, "Sirs, what must I do to be ettributed to the protests of Great 13ri- saved?" Acts xvi, 30, tain against the proposed cession of the Incarcerated in a Phillippian peal - territory to Russia, and is assumed, to tentiary, a place cold. and dark and wholly ohange the situation, for if car- &ma and loathsome a,nd hideous, =t- ried out, it will forever deprive tb.e illumined save by the torch of the offi- northern power of a terminus for her Trans Siberian railway at Poet Arthur. Ateepting the report as correet, ia difficalr. to believe, however, that the purpose of Russia. to give her vast Siam. - Ian possessions an open port on the North Pacific will be defeated by the covenant, or that it was not made with a full understanding between the Rua - Bien and Japanese governments that it would be waived by the latter when necessity required. The Tokyo govern - Mena in view et the strong feeling in the, empire against surrendering all the gains of the war, could hardly do less than insist that if Liam. Tung was to be given up, it should not peas into tbe bands of another foreign power, and paaticularly a Russia. But this feel- ing still probably have largely abated. by the time the Siberian road is ready for connection. with Port Arthur, when the recipt by Japan from the czar of advantages elsewhere may be trustedto smooth the wey for a waivuxe of the covenant; and ie any event, it is im- probable that Russia trill abandon a purpose which she has had distinctly in view since she compelled a. revision of the treaty of Sinaonoseki. fati ------ levee t'ts ed Ler ions elm/ - wit i Core e ed Star fron Ltul ter, Dui , Ulf i trt. KO, defa the de.). the axn ele.e 1_ Lc , 1,bett after the of Con., wili the an• iee r the .F (IV •.g00' PM( ft cities into the, dust, Cathedrals and palaces and prisons' which have stood for thouaands of years will topple like a child's block aouse. The surges of the sea. will [submerge the land, and the Atlautic and Pacific, mewls above the Alps and. the, .Ande.s den their hands. Wba,t then will become of me? What then will lseeome of you '? I do not wonder at the aaxiety of this maxi, of my text, for he was not only anxious about the falling of the prison, but tee felling of the world. Again, I remark, cheraderize this question of the agitated. jail keeper as one of incomparable importanaa. Men are alike, and I suppose he had scores of questions on his mind, but ail ques- tion.s for this world are hushed up, forgotten, annihilated, in this one ques- tion of the text, "What must I do ta be saved'?" And have you. my brother, any question of importance compared with that question? Is it a question of business? Your c,omenon. sense tells you. that you will soon. eease worldly business. You know very well that cial who coraes to see if they are elite You will soon pass out of that par ner yet, are two mialisters of Christ, thear ship. You know that beyond a certain feet fast in instruments of tortureaheir Point of all the millions of dollars' shoulders dripping from the stroke o leathern thongs, their raouths hot with inflate/lateen of thirst, tbeir heads faint because they may not lie down. In a comfortable room of that same building and amid pleasant surround- ings is a paid officer of the governraeut whose business it is to supervise the prison. It is night, and all is still in the corridors of tbe dungeon save as some murderer struggles with a, horrid dream, or a ruffian turns over in his chains, or there is the cough of a dy- bag consumptive amid. the dampness, but suddenly erash go the walls?. The two clergymen pass out free. The jail keeper, although familiar with the darkness and the horrors hovering around the dungeon, is startled be- yond all bounds, and, flambe= in hand, he ruslaes through amid the fall- ing walls, shouting at the top of his voice, "Sirs what raust I do to be saved?" I stand. now among those who are asking the same question with more or less earnestness, and I aceest you ID this crisis of your soul with a mes- sage from heaven. There are those Meanwhile, the extent of the influence 'which Russia now wields in China is shown by the report that Pekin has re- quested her to intervene to suppress the rising of the Mohammedans of Kan Su, commonly called Tungans, or Dungane, on the south west border of Chinese Tar- tary. These Mussuireans have been joined by many of the Lamaist Tartar tribes of Eastern Turkestan, are fight- ing with great determination, have vir- tually destroyed Chinese authority in tacit quarter, and with the capture of Lanchau Fu, threaten an invasion of the Middle Kingdom. In its strait, the Chinese government has, it is said, re- quested Russia to send an army- corps into the disturbed provinces and sup- press the revolt, a request which, if real- ly made, means nothing else than a Rus- sian protectorate of China, and the ulti- raate occupation of the northwestern portion, including Mongolia, by tae northern power. As in the south Pekin tias already- handed over to France the Shan state given, to China in the parti- tion of Siam, in order to form a buffer between French and British territory, and as the cession naturally carries with it the reversicra to France of the ricla provinces of Yunnan and lawang-Si. the nature of the partition of China, when it occurs, is fairly outlined. With the extension of French possessions north- ward between China and India, Eng- land's shain of the divided empire would ID confined, to the ceaatral coast region and the lower portion of the Yang-tse- Kiang valley, the richest share, but isol- ated from other British possessions, and rendered ineeeure by the vicinage of Ja- p,an and by direct contact with the French territory. When partition comes, however, Great Britaie raay be trusted to safeguard her own mterests, though there is complaint that she has done so with respect to her commercial interests in that quarter so illy that her supre- niacy, once unquestioned, is rapidly pass- ing into the hands of rivals. worth of goods sold you will not au a yard of cloth or a pound of sugar, or a penny's worth. After that if a conflagration should sweep,,, all Wash- mgyouto anudintwoouardhesu,otit mage nyootutoucihr every casaier stolid abscond, and every; bank suspend payment, and ev- ery insurance company fail, it steal pot affect you. Oh, how insignificant is business this side the grave with business on the other side of the gravel Have. you made any purchases for eterinty ? Have you any seourities that will last forever? Are you. jobbing tor tune when you might he wholesaling for eternity? Is there any question so broad at the base, so altitudinous. so overshadowing as the question, "What must I do to be saved?" Or is it a domestic question? Is it something about father or radber or husband or wife or son. or daughter that is the more important question? You know by upiversal and inexorable law that rotations will soon be broken up. Father will be gone. you will be gone. chil- dren. will be gone, but alter that Use question of the text will begin to bar - vest its chief grains, or deplore its woret losses, or roll up its mightiest inagm- tudes, or sweep its vaster oircles. in this audience who might be more skillful. in argunmet than I am; there are those here erbo can dive into deep- er depths of science, or have larger knowledge; there are in this audience those before whom, I would willingly bow as the inferior to the superior,but I yield to no one in tbis assemblage ID a. desire to Isa,ve all the people saved by the power of an omnipotent gos- pel. I shall proceed to characterize the question of the agitatea jail keeper. And, first, I characterize the question as courteous. He might have rushed ID and said: "Pani and Silas, you vag- abonds, are you tearing down the eesefully repented, in the last bour If Of 501 N. Of 401 No. Of 301 No. Of 201 No. Of 101 Isle. Of 5. No. OE 1 -only barely 1, as if to 'demonstrate, the fact that there Ls a bare possibility of re - last hour. But that is Pe improbable, awfully improbable, terri- fically improbable. One hundred. to one "The Boy Joeue" Luke 2.40-52. Bolden Text, Luke 2.1"2. THE SUNDAY SC1100L. INTERNATIONAL LESSON JAN. 12. ageanst the man. I my sister, you have ever seen a man try to repent in the last hour, you have seen something very sad. I do not knowany- thing on earth so sad. as to see a man try to repent on a death bed. There is not from the moment that life begins to breathe be infaney to the last gasp such an unfavorable, completely un- favorable, hour for repeptance as the death hour, tile. last bour. ere aXe GENERAL STATEliatiNT. The incident we study to -day occurred about thirteen years and six months after that of our last lesson, The gos- pel story tells us how Zacharias was stricken dumb as a sign of the verity of Gabriel's promise; bow angels were the doctors standing witle the meda sent to Mary and to jeseph; of the birth of John the Baptist and of Jesus the Christ; of the circumcision and pre- sentation in the temple; of the visit of the shepherds and the wise men from tbe East: of the flight into Egypt eines. There is the lawyer standing with the half -written will. There is tbe family in consternation as to what is to become of them. All the bells of eternity ringing the soul out of the body. All the past rising before us and all the future. Oh, that man an finite fool vrlio procradinate,s to the and the return to Nazareth. Great deathbed, his repentance 1 changes took place in altuast every part Oh, what a question -what an impor- tant question 1 Is there any question that compares eilth it in importance? What is it now to Napoleon 111. wheth- er he triumphed or surrendered at Se- dan. whether he died at the Tuileries or Chiselhuxst, wbether he was Emper- or or exile? Benause he was laid out in the coffin 'in the dress ot a field mar- shal did that give him any better chance for the future than if he had bean laid out in a. plain shroud? What difference will it soon make to you, or to me whether in this world we walked or rode, whether we were bowed, to or maltreated, whether we were applaud- ed or hissed at, welcomed, in. or kicked out? While laying hold. of every inp- ment of the future and burning In every splendor or every grief and river - arching or undergirding all time and elinternity will be the plain, startling, mfmite, stupendous question of the text, "Wbat must I do to be saved?" Again, I characterize this question of the agitated jail keeper as one crushed out by his misfortunes, pressed out by his nsisfortune.s. The falling of the' penitentiary, bis occupation. was .gone. Besides that, the flight of a prisoner was ordinarily the death of the *ler. He was held responsible. If all had gone well; if the prison walls bad not been shaken of the earthquakeif the prisoners had. all staid. quiet m the stooks; if the morning sunligat . had calmly dropped on the jailer's pillow do you think he would have hurled this redhot question from his soul into the ear of Ms apostolio prisoners/ Ale no! You know as well as I do it was the earthquaka that roused him up. And it is trouble tbat starts a great many people to asking the same gnes- Moe. Your apparel is not as bright as it once was. Why have you. changed, the garb? Do you not like seller= and crimson and. purple well as once? Yes, but you say: While I was prospered and happy those colors were accordant with my feelings. Now they would be discord to my soul." And so you have plaited up the sheen ows into your apparel. The world !s a Tara different place from what was once for you. Once you. seed, "Ob, if I could. only have 1.4 quiet for a little while!" It is too quiets Some people say that they would not bring back their departed friends from heaven even if they had the opper- tunity, but if you had the opportimity you, would bring back your loved opes and soon their feet would be sounding in the hall, and soon their voices would. ID heard in the family, and the old times would come back just as the fes- tal days of Christmas and Thanksgiv- ing -days gone forever. Oh, it is the earthquake that startled. you to ask- ing this question -the e,arthqualte of domestic misfortune. Death is so eruel, so devouring, so relentless, that when it swallows up our loved ones We must have some one to whom we can carry our torn and bleeding hearts. We need a balsam better than any- thing that ever exuded from earthly tree to heal the pang of the soul. It is pleasant to have one friends gather around us and tell us how sorry they are and try to break up, the lonelinees, but nothing but the hand of Jesus Christ can take the bruised soul and put it in His bosom, hushing it with the lullaby of heaven. 0, brother! 0, My text does not selawer the ques- tion. It only asks it, with deep and Ln portunate earnestness asks it,. and, according to the rules of sermonizing, you would say. "Adjourn that to some other time," But I dare not. What are the rules a sermonizing to rae when I am after ;souls? What other time could I bave, when, perbaps tbis is the only time This might be ray last time for preaching. This might. be your last tune for hearing. After my friend in Philadelphia died hie children gave his church Bible to me, and I read it ; looked over it with much interest. saw the margin written in lead pencil. "Mr. Talmage said this morning tba,t the most use- less thing in all God's universe is that any sinner ;should perisli." I did not remember saying it, but it is true, and I say it now, whether I said. it then br not. The most useless thing in all God's universe is that any sinner should, per- ish. Twelve gates wide open. Have you not heard how Christ bore our sorrows mad ,how sympathetio he is with all OUT woes? Have you not bes.rd. that with all the sorrows of heart and all the agonies of hell upon hint he cried: "Father, forgive them. They know not vrhat they do?" By bis feet blistered of the mountain way, by his back wbip- Ped until the skin came off, by his death couch of four spikes, two for tbe hands and two for the feet. by his sepulcher, in whicb for the first time for 33 years the cruel world let him alone, and by the heavens from which he now bends in corapession, offering pardon and peace and life eternal to all your souls, I beg of you put down your all at his feet. I saw one banging on a tree In agony and in blood, Who fix. his languid eyes on rae As near his cross I stood, Oh, never till ray latest breath Will I forget that look. It seemed to charge nae with his death, Though pot a word I spoke. In the troubled times of Scotland. Sir John Cochrane was condemned to death by the king. The death warrant was on the way. Sir John Cori:wane was bid- ' farewell to his daughter Grizel at he prison door. He said.: "Fare- well, my darling child. I must die." His daughter said, "No, father, you shall not die." "But," he said, 'the king is against me, and. the law is after me, end the death warrant is on its way, and must die. Do not de- ceive yourself, my dear child." The daughter said. "Father you shall not die," as she left the prison gate. At niaht, on the moors of Scotland, a dis- guised wayfarer stood waiting for the horseman carrying the mailbags con- taining the death warraet. The dis- guised sverfare, as the horse came by, clutched the briale and shouted to the rider -to the man who carried the mailbags. "Dismount I" He felt for his arras and, was about to shoot, but the wayfarer jerked him from his saddle, and he fell flat. The wayfarer picked up his mailbags,. put them on his shoulder and vanished in the darkness, and 14 days were thus gained fee the prisoner's life, during which the father confessor was pleading for the pardon of Sir John Cochrane. The second time the death warrant is on its way. The disguised wayfarer comes along and asks for a little bread and a little wine, sterts on across the moors, and they say: "Poor man, to have to go out on sueh a stormy night. It is dark, and ,you will lose yourself on the moors." Oh, no," he says, "1 will not 1" He trudged on and stopped amid the brambles and. waited for the horseanan to come carrying the mail- bags containing the death ararrant of Sir John Coolarasse. The mail carrier spurred on his steed, when suddenly through the storm and through the darkness there was a flash of firearms, and the horse became unmanageable, and as the mail carrier discharged bis pistol in response, the horse flung him and the disguised wayfarer put his foot on the breast of the overthrosvn rider and said "Surrender nowl" The mail carrier surrendered his arms, and the disguised wayfarer put upon his shoulders the mailbags, leaped 'aeon the horse and sped away into the darkness, gaining fourteen more dans for the prisoner, Sir John Cochrane, and before the fourteen days had ex- pired pardon bad come from the king. The door of the prison swung open, amd Sir John Cochrane was free. One friends, they congratulating him, the disguised wayfarer appeared at the gate, and he said, " .Admit him right away." The disguised wayfarer came in and. :Said: "Here are two letters. Read them sir, and east them into the fire." Sir John Coclarane read them. They were his two death warrants, and. he threw theni into ,the fire. Then said Sir John Cochrane: "To whom am I indebted? Who, is this poor wayfarer who scored my life? Who is itt" And the wayfarer pullea aside and pulled off the jerkin and cloak and the hat and, lo, it was Grizel, the daughter of Sir John Coclunne. " Gracious heavens," he oriea, "ray child, ray saviour, my own Grrizel 1' But a mere thrilliug story. The death warrant had come forth from the King of beaven and earth. The death warrant read: "The soul that sinneth it shall die." The death warrant coming en the black horse of eternal night. We must die. But breasting the storm and putting out through the da,rknese was a dis- gaised wayfarer, who gripped by the bridle the oncoming doom and flung it back and pat his wounded and bleed- ing foot on the overthrown rider. Meanwhae flaahed from the throne, and, Go free I Open the gate Strike off the chain! Go free 1 And to -day your liberated soul. stands in the pres- ence of the disgedeed wayfarer, artd aS he mills off the eheguise of his eaxthly humiliation, and the disguise of his thelais, end the dieguiee cfrf the seams robe, eon find that be is bone of your bone, flesh of your flesh, your Brother, Voar Christ, your pardon, your eternal ife. Let all earth and heaven break ortb in vociferation. Victory through our Lord jesus Christ 1 A guilty, weak and helpless worm, On thy kind arm I fell. Be. thou my -strength and righteousness, prison.? Aren't you satisfied with dis- turbing the peace of the city by your infamous doctrines? And are you now going to destroy public property? Back with you to your places you vaga- bonds!" He said no such thing. The word of four letters, "sirs," eamvalent to "lords" recognized the anatieste and the honor ot their mission. birs 1 If a man with a captious spirit tries to find the way to heaven, he will miss: it. If a man comes out and. pronounces all Christians as hypocrites, and the re- ligion of Jesus Christ as a fraud, and asks irritating questions about the mysterious and the inscrutable, say- ing: " Come, my wise man, explain this and explain that; if this be true, how can that be true?" No such man finds the way to heaven. The question of the text was decent, courteous, gen- tlemanly, deferential. Sirs1 Again, I characterize this question of the agitated jail keeper by saying tbat it was a practical au.estion. He did not ask why God let sm come into the world, he did not ask how Christ could be God and man ixi the -same person, he did not ask the doctrne of the decrees explained or want to know whom Cain married or what was the cause of the earthquake. Hispresent and everlasting welfare was involved in the question, and was not that prac- tical? But I know multitudes of peo- ple who are bothering themselves about the nonessentials of religion. What would you think of a man who should, while discussing the question of the light and heat of the sunapend his time down in a. coal cellar when he might come out and see the one and feel the other? Yet there are multi- tudes of men, who in discussing the chemistry of the gospel, spend their time down in the dungeon of their un- belief whet God all the while stands telling them to come out into the noon- day light and warmth of the sun of righteousness. The question for you, my brother, to discuss is not whether Calvin or Arminius was right, not whether a, handful of water m holy baptism or a baptistery is the better, not whether foreordination an d free agency can be harmonized.. The practi- cal question for you to discuss and for me to discuss is Where will I spend eternity?" Again, I characterize this question sister! The gravestone will never be of tbe agitated jail keeper as one per- lifted from your heart until Christ lifts sonal to himself. I have no doubt he it. 1Vas it not the loss of your friends or the persecution of your enemies, FORMER NAVAL TACTICS- The•English Fentflit to Destroy the Enemy, the French to ProServe Their Ships. The line of battle simply meant that, upon coming in touch of an enemy, an Admiral formed his fleet in one long line, in which each ship followed in the wake of the one immediately preceeding it, sufficient distance to al- low room for maneuvering. In this order the two fleets ranged alongside of one another, diecha,rging their broad- sides as they passed, until one line was thrown into confusion, whereupon the commander of the other hauled down his signal for "a line head," and. hoisted. that for "a general chase," which meant that bis ships were to close with those of the enemy, and finish the busi- ness with the grappling -iron and the eu.tlass. This was a navel battle in, the - i le• ory ; and, supposing the antagonists really in earnest, the theory was ca r te, good practice, bat in the eighteenth a$ a century that was just what the French af titrarely were. The tradition of the Eng- lish service was tbat a commander should destroy- his enemy's ships; the French, that lee sbould preserve his Pritit• own. Consequently, is French Admiral Unite • would never accept battle until he had .est gained a position in which he could, at . any moment, run out of action before the wind, and, as an English Admiral .,, A would. never break his own line to force him, most actions ended in the fleets - ta defilieg past one another, the French a brixiging down the English spars, the able, of bein.g converted into extremer; miles away from Jerusalem, where this ca,ravan is said to have stopped. Kiratfollt and acq,uaintance. The roma- bers of this caravan were doulatlese more or • less acquainted with each ether; neiglabors at the outset, their frequent journeys to Jerusalem would bring them together, for a tourney by caravan. is ahroet exclustve and. in- clusive as an ocean voyage. With the conditions of oriental life, every detail of his narrative harmonizes. 45. When they found him not. They turned back, doubtles.s much perplex- ity. They eau.st leave tbeir caravan, and when they could find their boy, return with the imxt one which started north. Seeking. him. But with very slight clews; indeed, none at all. Ancient erienta,1 cities bad eo street numbers and no alphabetized directories, no po- licemen witla an appointed "beat" who might be supposed. to recognize habi- tues and observe strangers. They bad -absolutely none of the means to which we would promptly. look for help in searcbing for a missing child. Then, too, Jerusalem at this time was, as we have se,en, overcrowded, with millions of people peeked into an area less tban one fourth the size of Philadelphia.. 46. After three days. This is an idiona for "on the third. day," for Jews reekon every fraction of a day as if it were a whole. He wa,s probably missed on the first day, and the search filled, the sec- ond, and part of the third. In the temple. In one of its courts. Sitting in the midst of the doctors. The rabbis, professional expounders of the Mosaio law, sat as a court of appeal every day Trona about nine to about three, while tea Sabbaths and feast days they gave popular lessons on the law, sitting sur- rounded by tbeir pupils on the temple terrace. 47. Astonished. Amezed, astounded. Understa'nding. Sagacity, spiritual in- sight. .Auswers. Young as he was, they found his answers wortb their pro- found cousideration. 48. Araazed. The boy's quiet, rever- ent home life had. never suggested to them such presumption as they thought he showed here in discussing theology with these holy specialists. His mother said. unto him. With tender reproach. Sought thee sorrowing. Better, "sought thee with aching hearts." 49. How is it that ye sought me? Why did you, not come here at once? Where else would, I be About ray. Father's business. The Itevised Version makes it, probably more accurately, "In my Father's house." The Greek really gives no noun; "In my Father's -se." 51. Was subject unto them. A model of submission to his parents. In Naz- a,reth he took up his father's, trade and became a carpenter, or what we would call a cabinetraa.ker. 52. Increased in wisdom. His beauti- ful development up to twelve went peacefully on, after the incidents given. tbis lesson, to inanhood. His youth continued. in a, natural, normal increase of everything that is beautiful in body, mind, and soul. In favor with God and 'nen. God loves purity ; men love it so long as they do not foal its rebuke. It was in accordanc,e with the deepest laws of human. nature that the Naz- arenes should hold. the Boy "in favor" and. "cast out" the Mae. of the world during the twelve years of Te,susa boyhood. ' Herod the Great had. died soon after his massacre of the ahildren of )3ethlehera. When Jesus was ten years old. a Roman governor, Roman soldiers, and Roraan coinage were introduced into Judea,. Herod's son, Herod Antipas, was now king over Galilee and Perea. The country groan- ed in its bondage, and. thousands of beasts waited with ardent hopes for the coming of the Me.ssiale To. follosv the narrative given in these verses one must- iraagine the divine Child amid his Nazarene surroundings; the de- lightful holies which would arise in his heart when his parents promised bira this trip to Jerusalem; the long jour- ney there, occupying three or four days or more --and probably made by cross- ing the J'ordan near the south end of Lake Gennesaret, and slowly walking with the rest of the caravan from Naz- areth througb the rural town.s to Perea, a region at that time ricb with trees and fountains, and thickly populated; then the entry into Jerusalem; the days spent there in devout formal worship; the steady pursuit of truth by Jesus; the aurry and excitement of the return; the anxiety of the father and mother over his Toss; the rapid retracing of • their steps to Jerusalem, and bis dis- covery there; and the quiet return to Nazareth, where be he again "became subject unto them," EXPLANATORY AND PRACTICAL NOTES. Verse 40. The child grew. "In this short statemerita' sets Dr. Spence, "the story of twelve gent veers is told." l'i'axed strong in spirit, filled with wis- dom. "Waxed" means bacreased. The words "in spirit" are not found in the best of the old manuscripts. The whole verse shows that this Soy learned just as other boy,s learned, by bard study. The grace. of God was upon him. The divine favor. We have no reason to be- lieve. that any work of power was done or any word of teaching was epoken Untxl Jesus had reached his thirtieth year, but during his boyhood he was al- ready marked as gracious and godly. T.he brief statement of this verse are in- compasably nobler than the flimsy in- ventions of the apocryphal gospels. 41. According to the best authori- ties the poverty of tbe common people of Palestine in Jesus's time was des- perate ; but their religion called them to go at stated times to Jerusalem, at necessarily great expense, and. they gladly went. His parents went to .Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover. All male Hebrews were required by their religious law to be present in Jerusalem at three great feasts each year: (1) The feast of the passover; (2) The feast of pentecost ; (3) Tim feast of tabernacles. Of course changes of conditions, Which dispersed millions of Jews fa.r fram Palestine, naade the observance of this law impos- sible to many, but the crowd still gath- ered at the capital city, especially at the.pessover, and many women accom- panied their husbands. The feast was joyful in character. It lasted for a week, and, as all Bible students know, commemorated the preservation of the firstborn of the Israelites on the night when the firstborn of Egypt were slain. The advantages of such great religious gatherings to the Jewish nation were many: they intensified religious feel- ing, conserved theology, maintained national unity, and added greatly to social progress. 42. Twelve years old. At twelve or thriteen the Jewish -boy was regarded as grown up; he was permitted to go to his first passover feast at Jerusalem, and was required to learn a trade. Every stage in the life of a boy was marked by precise Jewish customs, at his third, at his fifth, at his tenth, at his twelfth, and at his eighteenth year. ,After the custora. In the usual way; that is, by a casavan. A large number of families front Nazareth and vicinity would make the journey together for the sake of both convemenc4 and safe- ty. 43. When they had fulfilled the days. The feast was seven days long, but they were permitted to return after the third day. It seems probable, though it is not certain, that Jesus's parents started out for Nazareth before the close of the feast. As they returned. As they got ready to return. The eland Jesus. laterally, the boy Jesus. A boy of twelve in the East is very much further developed than one of that age with us. He had probably been by him- self during much of the visit, and seems to have gravitated toward the house of God, where the great teachers of religion were. Probably the three or four clays already spent in Jerusalem had be,en passed almost entirely in the temple courts. An endless succession of ceremony interested and drew the mut- titude,s there. • Especially must it have been attractive to the religiously inquir- ing mind of this boy. A worthless legend tells how Jesus started witb hie parents, but left the caravan and returned to Jerusalem. Knew not of it. They would not readily miss bine for in. the earavan of Galilean pilgriras children seem to have usually travel- ed together. They could not easily find him, for the male population of Jerusalem at the passover season was estimated at nearly three., millions. 44. In the company. In the Naza- rene caravan. The caravan moved along the winding roads various groups, and only came together ba one place at nightfall. • The boys and young men walk, the women a,nd aged ones are 'mounted on camels and mules. Minor music with weird harmony is often made, while drums and timbrels sound without rest. Tbere is =moll of inno- cent je,st and much of what passes fax mirth in the Orient a.s the caravan stiove,s on. A day's joinney. About twenty-five miles usually, but • the fleet day the caravan dia, not advance more than six or eight. erstitious My jeeus and. my . monks still show a place, i -J3 r 11 it4 English lealling the Fxencli with every shot, until tbe French, having as thee tt obbsiderecl, made pursuit irapossible, put eaddenly about and ran before the wind to fulfill their destiny of living to fight another day. Of course, it was always open to a, deterrained officer to disregard "the line aheaci," ana dose witia the enema • penmen by means ot a "general chase,' Arida fell back on this in his battle -with La Jongaiere and St. Geerge, when Aarne of waiting 111252a1 niaht HIS GRAVE WAS- HIS TREE. ematusor a German Barents Monello's- of zw eneteat Oak. One of the mod curious mausoleuirsa in the world was discovered the , other day in an orchard at the village of Noeh- denitz in Saxe-Alteriburg. A gigantio ' old oak tree, which a storm had robbed of its crown, svas up for public auction. Ainong the bidders happened to be Bar- on von Tatman:lel, scion of a family ot ancient lineage that bas given the world of literature one charming poet and. the fatherlend many distinguished states- men. The Baron, who lives on a neighboring • estate, had ridden to the auction pla quite accidentally, As no one sesame eager to help out the auctioneer, started. the bidding at a small figure. " This aroused the pea.sents' suspicion ; they thought there might be some value in this old. tree and tried for a time to outdo their feudal lord ba. tie:seinen The battle raged for an ' finally the tree was kricekad &own a, . the Baron for 200 marks. Upon his arrival at the castle ats told ing the tree axid its situation. " Wray - an old. servriat of Isis purchaSe, deserib- be,' said the man. "Your Isordship has. bought one of your ancestors at the 'c't same time." The old. servant said Ise remerabired attending the funeral of a Baron Thum - mel seventy, or eighty years ego, and. that, the body had 'been buried la. eat tbousand-year-old oak the standing on a plot of:ground beloriging to the parsonage. Investigation peoved that the orchard„ had once been the property of the village church, and. that at one sid.e of the old oak was an iron shutter, rusty and tinae-worn, that the. people of the tone had always eupposed to have been played there by some joker or mischievous boys. This iron shutter proved to be the gate to the mausoleura of Baron Hans- 1Vilhelm. von Thummel, at one time Minister of State of Saxe-Altenbueg, who died in 1824 and wished to be buried "in the 1,000 -year-old. tree he loved, se well." The oak, which measures about. ten feet ba diameter. has, or over a, century, been licalow, so it was 1%ixned, beginning at a point about five feet above its base. In this hollow Baron Hans caused. to be built a sepulchre of solid. masonry large enough to accoramodate his cof- fin. The coffin was placed there, as the church records show, an March 3, 1824, and the opening was closed by an. iron gate. In the course of time a wall of wood. grew over the opening, which had been enlarged to admit the coffin and work- men, and for many years it has been. completely shut, thus removing: the lad. vestige of the odd use to which the old. tree had been put. The pre.sent Baron caused the reop- ening of the matnoleum by removing the wood and. placed a new evroegbe iron gate in front of it, also improve the surroundings. The tree has stiJl some life in it and its rica verdure is only now turning a violet tint. The. coffin in which Baron trans repasee has on one side grown to the tree, the dead and the live wood joining in eter- nal embrace. APPALLING FACTS. • te saw tan greet. Mee plarmg their Id 11coalfe Med(' Wee 9t it on that winter efternoon hen, with a gale howling a• lee shore he followea Con- had many friends, and he was D2 ested their welfare. I have no doubt that there were persons in that prison who, if the earthquake had. destroyed them, would have found. their case deeperate. He is not questioning' about them. The whole weight of his ques- tion turns on the pronoun "In "What shall I as?" Of course, when a man becomes a Christian, he immediately becomes anxious for the salvation of other people, but until that point is reaches' tbe most important spiestion is about your own salvation. "What is to be my destiny ?" "What are my prospe.ots for the future?" "Where am I going ?" "What shall I do?" The trouble is we shuffle the responsibility • off upon others. We prophesy a bad end to that inebriate and terrific ex- posure to that defaulter and. awful catastrophe to that profligate. We are so busy weighing other people we forget ourselves to get into the scales. We are so busy watch:bag the poor gardens of other people that we let Our own. dooryard go to weeds. We. are so busy sending off other people bito the lifeboat we sink in the wave. We cry "Fire!" because our neigh- bor's house is balmins,e down and Seem to be uninterested although our own house is in the conflagretien. Q wens dering thougbts, disappear to -day. Blot oat this etre taelieeee;Acept youat tite gexe not in tins house to - self. Yon. tare is it tiaxd ed.? satoiir I da ar thorse who are postponing until death, i. it esovicled for Jour heaieti, ti last hour ef living the Sittending is it ttred? A mightier earth take to the thinge of the soul give it as fiens threugh the shallows and between them, that Which demolished the my opinion the nine y n* t f the. ae granite reefs into Quilaeron Bay, and ialiian PenetenliarY will rumble ebout hundred deathbed repeniances amoubt, eseaWen adopted it -whee M. de la Clue Your ears. The foundations of tbe to nothinf . Of all the 5eareS of persons showed him. ins heels along the Barbary eo•rth will give way. The earth byeone 1 mentione as dying in the Bible, of ones. tremor will fling- all the American how many do yon read tbat they suo- or the overthrow of your wor y tate-was it not an earthquake that started you out to ask this stupen- dous question of my text. But I remerk again, I characterize this questton of the agitated jailkeeper as hasty, urgent and iramediate. He put it on the run. By the light of his torch as he goes to look for the apost- les behold his face, see the startled look and see the earnestness. No one can cleifbt by that look that the man is 'in earnest. He must have that ques- tion answered before the earth stops rocking, or perhaps he will never have it answered at all. Is that the way, my brother ,my sister, you are putting this question? Is it on the run? Is it hasty? Is it urgent? Is it immedis,te 1 No. Of 101 No. Of 5? No, Of 1 -only '1. That is the only. kind of question that is answered. It is the urgent and. the immediate questions of the Gospel that, Christ atiswers. A great many axe asking this question, bat they drawl it out, and there is indifference in their manner, as if they ,do not mean it. 111a,ke it an urgent cinestion, and then you will have it answered befpre an hour passes, before a minute passes. When it men with all the earnestness oi his soul erie,s out fee God, he finds la and. fi ds hirn right away, THE SULTAN AND HIS RULE. 1111010.1.1 limbers of Imperial Family Lead s Lire r Rigorous SeelusiOn. Mr. Richard. Davey -who is well ac- quainted with and. is an authority on Turkish affairs -has acintributed a statesmanlike article in the Fortnight- ly, in which he explains some of the numerous failings of the Turkish Gov- ernment. Three hundred years ago, the then Sultan made a law condemn- ing all the members of the Imperial family to a life of rigorous seolusion, thus. p.ractically preventing them from acquiring' any real knowledge of life or of the art of government. That evil law has been the greatest curse of the Erapixe. By Turkish law the eldest male of the House of Othman succeeds to the throne, and the pres- sent heir-Itaschid Effendi -who is now practically a close prisoner in the Sultan's palace, is not allowed to re- ceive a single letter, book, or news- paper, nor a single visitor from the outside world. Possibly he mey clan- destinely learn a little, but at great personal risk to everyone connected with tbe attempt. To expect a Sul- tan thus reared., kept in ignorance and sarrounded from childhood with ignorant and bigoted Mussulmans, to rule wisely is like expecting a Chi- nese lady -after having bad her feet bandaged and. compressed from in- fancy -to be an active and vigorous pedestrian. During the last 450 years nine Sultans have been either mur- dered. or FORCED TO ABDICATE , • Terrible Suture °fa SioderaUvel Esattge• meat iletween Iron Clads. At the great naval -tattle off the • a' Yalu Itiver last/jeer the Chinese iron- clad battle-saaa Chen Yuen, was com- manded by ,ithilo McGriffen. Captain McGriffeas, who has but lately recover - ed in part from injuries received in this already historic battle, gives many strik- ingly interesting details illustrative of tbe terrible nature of a modern naval engagements between iron -clads. In it recent conversation he said: "You can form little conception of the awful character of battle inside armor - plated stea,m-vessels, where space and air are necessarily mueli restrictea and confined. The din made by the iiamen of heavy projectiles against the tiuck metal sides is frightfully beyond de- scription and seenas to shake one's ye* life. I wore cotton in both ears, but am still somewhat deaf. "As the Japanese wax -ships were fast- er than the Chen Yuen, we inede all steam possible to secure speed for our evelutions. From being so closely shut the engine -room and fire -room became intolerably hot; yet the engineers and stokers stuck to their posts, even after the temperature rose to two hundred degrees Fahrenheit! The skin of their hands and arms was actually roasted, ani nearly evely man b_came blind from the searing of the outer membrane of the eye. "One of the enemy's rapid fire gun - shells struck an open gun -shield early in the fight and glanced down through the port; seven gunners were killed and fifteen disabled by that one projectile. "Very .soon I noticed that the Maxim ID gun up the foretop on our military mast was silent, and saw a hole in the ermor-plating around it. After the bat- tle the officer and six men stationed there was foand dead, shockingly mangl- ed all destroyed by a single shell from a rapid-fire gun. • "Late -in the adion, after my hair had been burned. off and my eyes so etepair- ed by injected blood that I amid see out of but one of them, and then only by lifting the lid with my fingers, it be- came necessary for me to observe for myself the position of the enemy's ships. • "As I groped My way around the pro- tected deck, with one hand on the inside of tbe armor -plating, a hundred -pound shell struck and came through it about a foot and e half from where my hand rested. "Itt an instant my hand was so burnt that much of the skin stuck to the metal plate -from the. sudden heat engeedered by the, blow. I was not aware that any fragment of the hell or armor struck me, but my clothing was rent to tatters by the detonation or concussion, as it seemed." Captain 1VIcGriffee adds, " Despite mu:h which has been said tat the coward- ice of the Chinese soldiers and sailors. I gladly bear testimony that the most of my crew abeard the Chen Yuen were as brave and faithful as is possible for men to be." -practically almost synonymous terms. The Sheik-ul-Islam ranks next to the Sultan hi the Mussultnan hierarchy, oc- cupying the position in the Mohamme- dan world that the Archbishop of Canterbury does in England; but with this difference, that the Sultan can displace him and appoint an- other. Thus, if he isa mere tool, the Sultan is safe (except from assassina- tion), for the latter cannot be deposed without the written consent of the Mufti. Hence arises one of ID. difficulties in the way of the more enlightened Turks, who wish to dethrone tbe present Sul- tan, for outside the palace clique he is disliked by all classes and reli- Oans. One trouble is, that he in- sists upon doing everything himself, with the result that much is left un- done, and most of the rest is ill - done. Another trouble is, that he mis- takes cunning for statesraanship. But matters are irt such confusion that in all probability sooner or later he will ID dethroned. Apart from the terrible • sufferings to which the Arraenians have been subject, a,nd which have called. forth the mdignation of the civilized world, these tormented people have a legiti- mate claim on the six powers aris- ing out of the stipulations of the Treaty of Berlin in 1878. A good deal has been said about the -action of the Arraenian Itevolutionaxy Committee seeking to .attain their ends end to obtain reforms by incitements to crime in other that • Turkish retaliation might horrify the world. All that can be said in this direction, however, is as a mere drop in the bucket com- pared with the unprovoked atrocities that have been inflicted by the devil- ish Turks. The London Spectator, m the last issue to hand, says that there is grave reason to believe that if the Consular •reports of the massacres had been published they would have made the, boiling indignation of Europe force the hands of statesmen who wish to wait. 14 15 probable that the half of 'the recent • Armenian atroci- ties have not been told. - Some of the Chicago elearclaes have abandoned holding Sunday evening ser- vices. Rev. J. H. Barrows predicts the eltimate failure of the evening service, on the ground that the America.n, peo- to recognize more • The New York Police Commissioriers have just appointed a bicycle squad. William Marehall, aged 84, mei 1Vliss Minerva, aged 14, were maxried about a raonth ago at Chester, Pa. Last Week Marshell said he was tired of his wife, and bas not Four profe,ssors of the University of been seen since. California, after iistening as ;ledges to a public debeee on the 11CW woman mOvement, voted solidly against the new 'woman, deciding that the move I inning tle aro and more that Sunday everiutgs should meet e Le not fr.r Ov, ,es be devotecl to the houne. hei- rate " "-•tat, r.