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HomeMy WebLinkAboutExeter Times, 1896-1-30, Page 7.7, Stacie ist aeeic31,riafeeetrilewrebayrehloglit near to PRACTICAL SERMON, . What a thrill went tbroegh the meet- - eey-General of the United States arose and said: "Last night I got uP • TALMAGE'S DISCOURSE and asked the prayers of God's peo- ple, I feel now perfectly sati,sfied, The snonolt lorrine otentwes 111 out. burden is rolled off and all one, and toone_Nothoig ome feel that I could run or fly into the ram S 're vit., IV*/ 41 1.14 -2"CrS OH TeStlin oily. ece Prayer -act tee lode woad Stew anrisi?avia°5;easajez,esroredslarroisrall time at." nd eter- made by Gellacious, the play Washington. Jan 19,—Rev. Dr, Tal -a. antnr the theatre at Heliopolis. A burlesque of Clarietianity was put upon mega ne,cee produced a more practical the stage. In derision of the ordinance and taiggestive sermon than tbis of of baptism. a bathtub, filled with water, toelen. We believe it will stir Chris- was pat upon the stage; and another tendom. Hie subject was "say so," Chris -actor. in awful blasphemy, dipped Gel- acious, pronoencing over him the and the text selected. was Psalms evil, 2, "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so." An overhare, an antiphon, •a eloxol- • egyf ts this chapter, and in my text David calls for an outspoken religion • and requests all who have been rescued. and blenteed no longer to hide the splen- did facts:, but to recite them, publish them and, as far as passible, let all" the morld know about it. "Let the re/learned of tbe Lord say so." There is a einful reticence which has been almost canonized. The people are quite as outspoken as they ought to be on all subjects of politics and are fluent artd voluble on the Venezuelan question and bimetallism and tariffs, high and low and remodeled, and fe- male suffrage and you bave to skill- fully watch your chance it you want to put into the active conversation a modest suggestion of your own, but on the subject of divine goodness, re- ligious experience and eternal blew- eaness they are not only silent, but boastful of their reticence. Now, if you. have (nen redeemed of. the Lord why do you not say sot If you have in your iaeart the pearl of great price. worth more than the Xohinoor among Victorian jevnils, why not let others see iU If you got off the wreck ir. the breakers, why not tell of the crew and the stout lifeboat that safely landed you? If from tbe tourth story you are rescued in time of conflagra- tion, why not tell of the fireman and. the ladder down whicb be carried you? If you have a manstam in haven awaiting yet-, why not sbow the deed to those who may by the same process get an emerald castle on the same boulevard? By the last two words of my text David, calls upon all of us who have received any mercy at the hand. of God to stop impersonating the asy- lums for the dumb, and in the preeence of men, women, angels, devils and all worlds, "say so." In these January days thousands of rainistera and private Christians are wondering about the best ways of etarting a revival of religion, 1 can tell lam. a. way of starting a revival, continental, hemispheric and world - SAY SO" THE SUBJECT OF DR, ing in. Portland,Ore, when an ex -At - ' tor wide. You say a. revival starts in. heaven. Well, it starts in heaven just as a prosperous harvest starts in heav- en. The sun must shine, and the rairis must descend, but unless you plow and sow and cultivate the earth you will • mailleeise a bushel of wheat or a peck of cern between now and the end of the weld. How, then, shall a univer- sal revival . start? By all Christian people tellingethe story of their own conversion. Let the men and women get up next weekein your prayer meet - mg, and, not in a aonventional or cant- ing or doleful -wee., but hi the same tone they employ 'in the family or plate of businesa tell how they cross- ed the line, and the revival will begin then and there if the prayer meeting has not been EA dull as to drive out - all except those concerning whom it was foreordained from all eternity that they should be there. There are so mhny different ways of being con- verted that we want to bear all -kinds, so that our own case naa,y be helped. It always puts me back to hear only one kind of experience, such as a man gives when he tells of his Pauline con- version—how he was knockecj senseless and then bad a vision and heard voices and. after a certain number of days of horror got up and shouted for joy. All that discourages me, for I was never knocked senseless, and I never had such a, sudden burst of religious rap- ture that I lost my equilibrium. But after a while a, Christian man got up ID some meetieg and told how' he was brought up by a devout parentage and had alwals been thoughtful about re- ligious things, and genclually the pears of the gospel came Into his soul like the dawn of the morning—no percept- ible difference between moment and moment—but after awhile all pertur- bation settled down into a hope that had consoled and strengthenedbim during all the vicissitudes of a life- time. I said, "That is exhilarating; that was 1313r experience." And so I was strengthe,ned. In another prayer meeting a man got up and told us how he once hated God, and went through all the round of in- iquity until we were all on nettles lest he should go too much into the partic- ulars, but one day he was by some religious power hurled flat, and then got up a Christian, and had ever since been going around with a Baxter Bi- ble with large flaps under his arm, a isee- floating evangelist. Well, under this • et,ory many are not helped at all, "for they know they never bated God and they were never dissolute. But after awhile some Christian woman arises and says: "I have nothing extraor- dinary to tell. Yet I think the cares of life, the anxieties about my. chil- dren, and two gra,ves opened m our family 'plot made me feel the need of God, and weak and helpless and heart- broken I flung myself upon his mercy, and I feel what the Bible calls the pea,ce of God which passeth all an- derstanding,' and I ask your prayers that I may live nearer to the Christ who has done so muoli for me." I de -- dare that before that woman got through we were all crying, not bitter tears, but tears of joyful emotion, and in thtee days in that neighborhood all the ice had gone out of the river in a springtime freshet of salvation. "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so." I have but little interest in what people say about religion as an abstrac- tion, but I have illimitable interest in what people say about what they have personally felt of religion. It was ex- pression of his own gratitude for per- sonal salvatioa which led Charles Wes- ley, after a sea,S021 of great despond- ency about his soul and Quist had spok- • en toardon, to write that immortal hymn: Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing Inly great Redeemer's praise 1' It was after Abraham Lincoln had been eoraforted in tbe lase of Tad, the bright bay of the Waite, House,athat • ID said, "I now 80 as neves before • tie preeLsistniss of God's love in Jesus words, a1 baptize thee in the naine of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." But coming forth from the burlesque baptism. he looked ebang- ed, and was changed,. and he cried oat to. the audience: "I am a, Cbristan. I will die as a Christian." Though be was dragged out and atoned to death, they could. not drown tbe testimony !lade under such awful circumstances. "I am a Christian. I will die as a Chris- tian." "Let the redeemed of tbe Lord eay so." Whanat confirmation would come if all who bad answers to prayers would speak out; it all merchants in tight Places because of hard tiraes would tell how, in response to suppliestionn they got the money to pay the note; if all farmers in time of draught would tell bow, in answer to prayer, the rain oame Just in time to save tb,e orop; it all par - eats who prayed for a wandering son to come home would tell haw, not long aft- er, they heard the boy's hand on the latch key of ,the front door. Sarmel Rick, an English Methodist preacber, solicited aid for West India missions from a rich miser and. failed. Than the minister dropped on leis knees and the miser said, "I will give thee a guinea if thou wilt give over? But the minister continued. to pray. Until the miller Amid, "I will give thee two guin- eas if thou wilt give over," Then the money was taken to the missionary meeting. Ob, tbe power of prayer! Mel.- anclithon utterly discouragedevas Pass- ing along a place weere children were laeard praying, and he came back say- ing, "Brethren, take courage. The chil- dren are praying for us." Nothing can stand before prayer. An infidel came into a Bible class to ask puzzling (ince- titans. Many of the neighbors came in to hear the discussion. The infidel arose and said to the leader of tlie Bible class, 'I hear you. allow questions asked?" "Oh, yes," said the leader, "but at the start let us kneel down and ask God to guide us!" "Ole no," said the infi- del, "I did not come to pray, came to disciess." "But," said. the leader "you will of course submit Co our rule, and that is always to begin with prayer." The leader knelt in prayer, an(1 then arose and said to the Infidel, "Now you. pray." The infidel replied, "I cannot pray. I have no God to pray to. Let me go 1 Let me gel" The spectators, who expected fun, found itotbing but overpowering solemnity, and a revival started, anil among the first who were brought in was the infidel. That pray- er did it. In all our lives there have been times when we felt that prayer was answered. Then let us say so. There lingers on, this side of the river that divides earth and heaven ready at. any time to cross over, the apostle of prayer for this century. Jeremiah Calvin Lanphier, the founder of the Fulton street prayer meeting, and if he should put on Ins spectacles andread this I salute him as more qualified than any man &UM Bibles times in demon- strating what prayer can do. Dear Brother La,nphier 1 The high heavens are full of his fame. Having announc- ed a meeting for 12 o'clock Sept, 23, 1857, he sat in the upper room on Ful- ton street, New York, waiting for peo- ple to come. He waited for a half hour, and then a, footfall was heard on the steps, and after awhile in all six persons arrived,- but the next day twenty, and the next day forty, and from that time to ibis for over 88 years, every day, Sabbath excepted, that Ful- ton street prayer meeting has been a place where people have asked prayer and answers to prayer have been an- nounced, and the throb of that great heart of supplication has tbrilled not only into the heavens, but clear around the world, more than any spot on earth. That has been the place where the redeemed of the Lord said so! Let the same outspokenness be em- ployed toward those by whom we have been personally advantaged. We wait until they are dead before we say so. Your parents have planned for your best interests all these years. They may sometimes, their nervous system used up by the cares, the losses, the disappointments, the worriments of life, be more 'irritable than they ought to be, and they probably have faults which have become. oppressive as the years go by. But those eyes, long be- fore 'they took on spectacles, were watching for your welfare, and their lands, not as smooth and much more deeply lined than once, bave done for you many a good day's work. Life has been to them more of a struggle than you will ever know about, and much of the struggle has been for you and how mucb they are wrapped up m your welfare you will never appreciate. Have you by word or gift or behav- ior expressed your thanks? Or if you cannot quite get up to say it face to face, have you written it m some holi- day salutation? The time will pass and they will be gone out of your sight, and their ears will not hear, and their eyes will not see. If you owe them any kindness of deed or any words of appreciation, wh,y do you not say so ? How much we might all of us save ourselves in the matter of regrets if we did not delay until too late an expression of obligation that would have made the last years of earthly life more attractive. The grave is deaf, and epitaphs on cold marble cannot make reparation. , • In conjugal life the lioneymoon is soon past, and the twain takeit for granted that eatah is thoroughly under- stood. How dependent on eachother they become, and the years go by, and perhaps nothing is said to make the other fully understand that sense of dependence. Impatient words some- times come forth, and motives are misinterpreted, 0.3141 it is taken as a naa,tter of course that the two will walk the path of life side by side until about the same time their journey shall be ended, but some sudden and appalling illness unloo.sens the right hands that were clasped years before at the altar of orange hkessoins, the parting takes place, and among the worst of all the sorrow is that you did not oftener, if you ever did at all, tell her or tell him bow indispeusable she was, or how indispensable he was to your happiness, and tbat ha some plain, square talk long ago you did not tusk for forgiveness for infirmities and neglects, and by some unlimited utter- ance make it understood that you fully anpreciated the fidelity and re -enforce- ment of many years. Alas, how many such have to lament the rest of their lives, "011, if I had rally said so I" My subjeet takes a wider range. The Lord' has hundreds of thousands of IMBS warowi' eeople among those who have never joined the army because of kionie high ideal of what a Obristian ebould be, or because of ,a fear that they nieY not hold out, or because of a spirit of procrastination. They, • have never publicly professed Christ. They have as much right to the increments and as much right to all tbe privileges of the cluirch as thousand s who have for yeans been enrolled in church mem- tershiP, and 5et they have made no positive utterance by -which the world may know they love God arid are on the road to heaven. They are redeem- ed of the Lord, and yet do not say so. Oh, what an augmentation it would be if by sinneudivine impulse all those ctutsiders saould become insiders! I tell you. whet would bring them to their right planes, and perhaps noth- leg else will. Days of persecution] if they were compelled' to take sides as between Christ and Ills enemies. they would take tbe side of Christ and the faggots, and the instruments of torture, and the anathemas of all earth and hell would not unke them blanch. Martyrs are made out of such stuff as they are. But let them not wait for such days as I ray to God may never come, Drawn y the sense of fairne.ss and justice and obligation, let them show their colors. Let the re- deemed of the Lord ay so! This chapter from which I take my text mentions several classes of per- sons who ought to be outspoken. Among them are those who go on a journey. What an opportunity you have, you who apend so numb of your time on rail trams or on shipboard. wbet/aer on lake or river er sea 1 Spread the story of God's goodass and your own redemption wberever you go. You will have many a long ride beside some one whom you tvill never see again, some one who is wait- ing for tbe word of rescue or console - than. Make every rail train and steam- er a moving palace of saved souls. Casual conversations have harvested a great host for God. There are many Christian workers ni pul its, in mission stations, in Sale bathse ools,ni unheard of places who ere dolug their best for God, and with- out any recognition. They go and coxae, and no one eheers them. Per- haps all the reward they get is harsh criticism or repulse, or their own fatigue. If you have ever beard of any good they have done, let them know about it, If you find some one benefitted by their aims, or their pray- ers, or their cheerily; word, go and tell them. They may be almost ready to give up. their mission. They may be ennost in despair because of the seera- mg laic of results. One word from you may be an ordination that start them. 0/3 tbe chief work of their hfetune. A Christian woman said to her pastor: "My usefulness is done, do not know why my life is spared any longer, because I can do no good." Then the pastor replied: "You do me great good every Sabbath." Sbe ask- ed: "How do I do you any good?" and he replied: "In the first place, you. are always in your seat in the church. and thee; belps me, and in the second place you, are always wide awake and alert, looking right up into my face, and that helps me; and in the third place I often see tears running down your cbeeks, and that helps met" What a good thing he did not wait until she was dead. before be said so I There are hundreds of ministers who have bard work to make sermons lie- ca.use no one expresses any eppreeia- tion. They are afraid of making him yam. The moment the benediction is pronounced they turn on their heels and go out. Perhaps it was a subject on which he had put • especial pains. He sought for the right text, and. then did his best to put the old thought into some new shape. Be bad prayed that it might go to the hearts of the people. Ile had added to the argu- ment tbe most vivid illustrations he could think of. He had delivered all with a power that left him nervously exhansted. Five hundred people may hew been blessed by it, and resolved upon a bigher life and nobler purposes. Yet all he hears is the clenk of the pew door, or the shuffling of feet in the aisle, or some remark about the wea- ther, the last resort of inanity. Why did not thee. man come up and say frankly: "You.have done roe good!" Why did not some woman come up and save "I abet' go home to take up the btirden of life more cheerfully ?" 'Why did not some professional man come up and say: " Thank you, dominie, for that good advice? 1 will take it. God bless you." Why did they not tell him so? I have known ministers, in the nervous reaction that conies to some after the delivery of a. sermon with no seeming result, to go home and roll on the floor in agony. But to make up for this lack of out- spoken religion there needs to be and will be a great day when, amid the solemnities and grandness of a listen- ing universe, God will "say so." No statistic.s can state bow many motkers have rocked. cradles and hovered over infantile sickness and brought up their families to manhood and womanhood and launched them upon useful and successful lives and yet never received one "Thank you!" that amounted to anything. The daughters become queens m social life or were affianced in higher realms of prosperity; the sons took the first honors of the uni- versity and became radiant in mone- tary or professional spheres. Now the secret of all that uph ted maternal in- fluence mast come out. Society did not sea so, the church did not say so, the world did not say so, but on that da.y of all other .days, the last day, God will sa.y so. There are men to whom life is a grind and a conflict, hereditary ten- dencies to be overcome, accidental en- vironments to be endured, appalling op- position to be met and conquered, and they never so artech as had. a rose ned to their coat lapel in admiration, They never had a song dedicated. to their name. They never had a book presented to them with a complimen- tary word on the fly leaf. A.11 they have to show for their lifetirae bat- tle is scars. But in the last day the story will come ott, and that life will be put in holy and transcendent • rhythm and their courage; and per- sistence and faith and victory will not only be announced, but rewarded. "These are they that came out of great tribulation and had their robes washed and made white in the blood of the lamb." God will say so. We miss one of the cnief ideas of a last judgment. We put into the picture the fire, and the make, and. the earth- quake, and the de,scending angels, and the uprising dead, but we omit to put into the picture that which makes the last judgment a magnificent oppor- tunity. We omit the fat that it is to be a day of glorious explana,tioe and commen.dation. 1 The first justice that millions of unrewarded. and unrecog- nized and unappreciated men and vvo- ree,n• get will be on that, day when services that never called forth so much as a newspaper line of finest pearl or diamond type, as the printers term it shall be called up for corona- tion. That will be the day of enthrone- ment for those whom the world called "nobodie,s." •Joshua, who conamanaed the, sun and moon to stand still, needs no last judgrae,nt , to get justice doue him, but thine men ao need a. last judement • wive at times, in all armies, under •the, naost violent asault, 111 obedienee to conamancl, themselves stood still. Deboreh, who eneourageci Barak to bravery in battle against he ePereasors of Israel, needs no last judgment, to get atistice d,one ber for thousande of years have clapped. her applause. But the wives who in all ages tave encouraged tbeir husbands to the battles of life, women whose names were hardly known beyond the next street or the next farmhouse, 3:nest have God sayto them: "You did well 1 You, did gloriously! I saw you down in. that dairy. .1 watched iron in the old. farmhouse mending those children's clothes. I heard what you said in the wayof cheer waen the breadwinner of t e household. was in despair. I remember all the sick cradle.s you have sung to. I remem- ber the beekacbes,. the headaches, the heartaclies; I know the story of your knitting needles as well as I know tee story of a. queen's scepter. Your cas- tle on the heavenly hill is all ready Lor you. Go up. and take it 1" And. turning to the surprised multitudes of heaven he will say: "She did what she could." God will say so. And now I close with giving my own personal testimony, for I must not en- join, upon cehers that which I decline myself to de. Born at Bound Brook, N. J., of a parentage as pious as the world ever saw, I attest before earth and heaven that I have always felt the elevating and restraining influences or having had a good fatter and a good mother, and if I am able to do half as well for my clailaren as the old folks did, for me I will be thankful for- ever. The yeara of nay life passed on until, at about 18 years of %Ile, I felt the pressure of eternal realities, sand after prayer and religious counsel I passed into what I took to be a sav- ed state, and. joined the 'church, and I attest before earth and heaven tbat I have found it ae roost belpful and. inspiring. association. I like the cora- panion,sinp so well that I cannot be satisfied if I hone a day less of it than all eternity. After graduating at nal - legate and theologicel institutzone I had the hands of ten or twelve •good men put upon my head in solerao or- dination at Belleville, N, J., and I at- test before earth and heaven that the work of the gospel ministry has been delightful, and I expect to preach until my la.st hour. Many times I bane pass ed tbrougb deep winers and bereave- ment, and but for the divine proixiise of heavenly reunion I would have gone under, but 1 attest before earth and heaven that the comfort of tbe gospel is higb, deep, glorious, eternal. -afany times hare le been maligned and my work misrepresented, but all suet. false- hood end persecution have turned out for my advantage and. enlarged my work, and I attest before earth and heaven that God leas fulfilled to me the proraises, "Lo, I am with you al- ways! and the gates of hell sball not prevail against you 1" For the cheer of younger men in all departments let me say you will come out all righ.t if you mind your own business and are patient. The assault of the world is only being rubbed down by a rough Turkish towel, and it improves the circulation. and makes one more vigorous. 'Male the future • holds for me many mysteries -Mach I do not pretend to solve; I am living in expectation and when my poor work is dime, I shall go throua the gates and meet my Lord and all me kindred wbo have preceded me, a precious group whom I mess more and more as the years go by, and I attest before earth and heaven that the glories of the heavenly world illumine my path- way. In courts of law the witness may kiss the Bible or lift his right hand in oalh, but as I have often kies- ed the dear old book I now lift my right hand to take oath by Hine that liveth forever and ever that God isgood, and that the gospel is a mighty consola- tion in days of trouble, and that the best friend a man ever had is Jesus, and that heaven is absolutely sure to those who trust and. serve the blessed Redeemer, to whom be glory and do- minion and victory and song, and chorus of white robed immortals standing on seas of glass mingled with fire. Amen and amen!. OTIOL,ftgaMP.43VPUrt,,,V44,oraperirmisir....-1114:. THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. INTERNATIONAL LESSON, FEB. 2. "The Power ofdesn4." Luke 5.17-26. Golden Text. take 5.24. GENERAL STATEMENT. For nearly a year Jesus had. stood prominently before the people, teach - life. This incident probably occurred in tae epring or eea,rly sentraer of aten 28. It warred in Canernawn, whiele is not generally identified with the extensive ruins at Tell Hum, toward the end of the Sea of Galilee. It is not straege that Jesus selected this town as Ms residence, for it was at the junc- tion of the great roads leading from Syria and the far Eat, to the inediter- ranetin on the west, and Jerusalem and 'Egypt On the south, and it wa.s itself the ceriter of the busiest raa,nufaetur- inn district of Palestine As be was teeching. Probably in the courtyardof a private boa. It is a prevalent fancy that he was in the residence of Peter. There were Pherieees and doctors of the law sitting by. The act or party of Pharisees at this time exerted an in- fluence over the minds a the common people as great as if tint greater than, the influence of the priests. They had begun centuries before as a sort of "Puritans," but the fervent devotion a the fathers of the sect bed, most of it, died away, and Pharisees were now petty critics of morals, intent on minute and worthless details of the law, and oblivious to its great funda- mental principles. Jesus repeatedly characterized them as a olass of hypo- crites, but recognized, as we must re- cognize, many earnest and laoly men among them. The "doctors of the law" were teachers, rabbis who ordinaril thronged together in Jerusalem.ye have no institution in our modern life which at all resembles the system of fundamental teaehing which was recog- nized by theeancients, both of the He- brew and Gentile world. The ee doctors were,. like all of the later Jeweela teaab- ers, notable for their appeals to author- ity. They did not pretela,d to origin- ality of thought. Which were ooroe out of every town of Galilee, arid Judea, and Jeru.salem. To bring out the full sense there sbould be an "of" before Judea. All re,gions in Palestnne, and especially the capital eitY, sent representativest� investigate this new force. The power of the 'sera was eresent to beal them. Jesus frequently interrupted his own discourse to heal some ot the pitiable persons presented to him. There eeems to bane been little or no malignity on the part of the critics, and probably a fairer audience had never gathered about our Lord. It included fishermen and statesmen, peasants and. lawyers. Note verse 16, where Luke notices the necessity on the part of Jesus for a re- newal of his spiritual forces bnconamun- ion witlt God. 18, 19. And, bold. An unexpected turn in affairs. The quiet teaching was suddenly interrupted. Men brought in a, bed a, ma,n which was sick with a_ palsy. The men were four in number (Mark 2. 3). The palsied sufferer lay on a rug or mat wbach was carried by the four corners and sagged down witb his weight. The "palsy" was certainly some form of nervous exhaustion. Our Saviour's wards seem to indicate that tbis mana illness was closely. connected with his sin. Every sufferer in that day seems to heve been confident tbat if be could bring his suffering into the pre- sence of the Master he would. be healed, but many must have been disappointed because of the dense crowd. If, as often before, Jesus should suddenly withdraw, this palsied. man might never have an- other chance as good. They souglet means' to bring him in, and to lay him before biro. These four num are models for us not only in their faith, but in theix ingenuity. (1) If the ingenuity of young Christians were consecrated to God the Church would take a great leap forward for practical devices for the salvation of the multitudes, They could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude. Any- one who has come straight up against a crowd knows something of the solid- ity of the obstacle here interposed. They went upon the housetop. Probably using the stairway on the outside of the house. The roof was flat as always in the East. The Lord, as we may conjecture, was in the court around where the bouse was built. Let him down through the til- ing. During the rainy season the courts are often closed with tiles, which are removed in the summer time, Their task was not a hard one. "The making of an aperture in the roof is an every- day matter in the East," says Canon Farrar. Before Jana The crowd which could not be persuaded to part to let the sufferer through, swayed back rapidly no doubt, as the sick man was let down from above. 20. Ile saw their faith. If tbat deed were done in our country the crowd that saw it would break out in ap- plause. Oriental crowds are more de- monstrative yet, and. we, as we read it, applaud the men in our hearts. But for what? Ingenuity, taersistence,pluck, affection, a dozen noble qualities; but Jesus &SW their faith. "For a moment the great Physician gave place to the heart reader," says Dr. Spence. (2) How much more trouble people will take for the sake of their bodies than of their souls! The man himself after- ward showed trust equal to that of his hearers. Ile said unto bine. The four men on the roof are silent, the sic.k man is silent, the crowd is silent. Jesus says (Matt. 9. 2), "Son, be of gpoa theer," and adds, "thy sins are forgiven tbee." "Trouble of conscience seems actually to have stood. in the tvay of restoration of the body," says Dr. Van Oosterzee. The man'e sins distress him more than does 118 malady. The soul must be healed first. it is noteworthy that our Lord's words should probably be translated, "thy sins have been forgiven." 21. Began to reason. .in private mur- murs and whispers. Who can forgive sins, but God alone? Words like those of our Lord could not but strike an orthodox Jew as bla,spbemous. • 22, 23. Perceived their tboughts. Recognized their reasonings. They had not uttered their thoughts, but Christ, read thene as he read the inward faith of the paasied man's bearers. (3) He who read their tboughts c,an read ours. Whether is easier. 'Which is easier." To say.. That is, to say with authority, and bring your saying to pass. He hears the, ileurmur as it runs around. the cir- cle and answers the angry words of these men.It is as if he saineWatch me; you think I am pretending to forgive because I cannot cure. Now I will agree to show you that I can forgive." 24-26. Tbe Son of 3118.31. A favorite title by which Christ showed his com- plete oneness with our nature. Amazed. Astonished at the miracle and the high claim which it provea. Pear. Rever- ence and. awe. Strange things. Mir- acles wrought and. suis remitted. mg the principles of the new kingdom, and he was now at the most popular period of his ministry. The Pharisaic party and the priestly order, though looking upon him with suspicion, had not yet openly declared themselves his enemies; and the unthinking masses thronged after him in a blind expecta- tion that he would speedily draw the sword, shake off the' Roman yoke, and establish upon Mount Zion a throne which should compel the homage of the world—an expectation which Jesus well knew was folly, and which, when disap- pointed, would soon turn the hearts of the people to a bit -ter hate. But at present vast multitudes were eagerly listening to his words, while crowds of the sick and the suffering sought his healing power. Just at this period two significant miracles were wrought. By touching with healing hand a man whose whole form was polluted with leprosy, Christ silently proclaimed his independence of the entire mass of cere- monial regulations which bad grown up around the ancient law. And when, in presence of a company of jealous Phar- isees, he said to the paralytic, "Thy sins be forgiven thee," be calmly asserted hiraself to be invested with an author- ity Above priests, or even prophets, as the Son of God. To this last mentioned miracle our attention is called by the present lesson. If we carefully watch the pertinacity of these friendly bear- ers, the anguish of the sufferer, the skepticism of the "doctors," the divine discernment and power of Jesus, the joy of the sick sinner, who wa,s at once converted and cured, and the awful joy of the multitude, we shall find every character turn into a teacher, and every incident to be full of instruttion. 'EXPLANATORY AND PRACTICAL • NOTES. Verse 17. On a certain day. Better, "on one of those days." Verses 12-16 tells the story of the heeling of a leper which may have occurred just before thia, but we have not exact' knowledge of tlae chronology of this part, of Christ's HERE AND THERE A GEM. Alternate rest and, labor long endnee, —Ovid. Every noble work as at first impos- sible,-,Cerlyle. A fresh mind keeps the body fresb.— Bawer. Rashrie,se and haste make all things inse,euxe.—Denham. Reproof should not exhaust its powers on petty failings.—Anon. Weak meri figlat their friends, strong men their enenties.—Grant. You will find poetry nowliere unless yoi bring some with you.—Joubert. The pleasure for whieli we dare not tbank God can not he innocent.—Anon. Evil is wrought by want of thought 38 well as by want of neart.—Hood. Poverty is the test of civility and the tombstone of friend.ship.—Ha,zlitt. All a thetorisisn's rules teae,h nothing but to name hie tools,—Samuel Butler. To have what we want is riches, but to be able to do without is power.—G. Macdonald. Patience is not passive; on the con- trary, it is active; it is concentrated strength.—Anon. It 18 the bright day that brings forth the adder and craves wary walking.— Shakespeare. So shines the setting sun on adverse skies,and paints a rainbow on the skies. —Watts, A Cyelist Lamplighter. Paris possesses a cyclist lamplighter. His route is under the fortifications,and he carnes his long lamplighter's pole ove rhis right shoulder and guides the machine with his left hand. He goes his rounds and lights all his lamps with- out once dismounting. Suspielous Ethel, were you. out sleiglaing• with the armless wonder last evening? Why, papa,what a question I What pat such an idea into your head? saw your escort holding the lines an his teeth. Content is the wealth of nature. --So.. crates. Refinement that carries us away from our fellowmen is not God's refinement. —Beecher. No rock so bard but that a little wave may beat wines:Son in a thousand years. —Tennyson. "One soweth and another reapeth" is a verity that applies to evil as well as good.—George Eliot. I take it to be a. nrineipal rule of life not to be too much addicted to any one thing.—Terence. By taking revenge a, man is but even with his enemy; but inpassing over be 18 superior.—Bacon. We cannot too often think there is a never -sleeping eye, which reads the leant, and registers our thoughts.— Baeon. 18 IT HYPNOTIC RAVER ? .101•10•IN. A YOUNG GIRL SLEEPING FOR AL- MOST A YEAR. Curious Case of Somnolence lteported to the Academy or liedielne—Sbe Continue to Sleep 'Until Her Lover Returns. The Academy of Medicine is in receipt GOOD WAYS P01111 Oldefieldoc_lz, eigesTit.tillit:tiorulatakodr cSokkir auW4 Lek:" ATt Old -120h001 lady living at Engle* METHODS BEFORE THE DAYS 0 sta whlwayuilcioodntl,ointwNhtere.o tionary drawers topped by cupboard • Very Madera Device, the reeliet St" bur. "131TROLAR PROOF" SAFE. Tbo lower drawer,t.ath.ne:x.1 iwoi:n sfe drawer, man ht, ecapal a ell() 11 g; her e;rocl vit resting ewgrt speregdie' bapS two inches above it. She would pull Qui; 03888 tiie pus edsvra,perinteetahinkrIn,efwthibeiDch karlepat ftihlred even if he shoulP:DoffluittitihitnaYgt uhdiwabnuadtrhgtelhari tirae. Equally shrewd was another woman who, whenever she went out, put heX aneneY and jewelry in the coal scuttle covering them up carefully with severs al lams of Nal. This might have prov4 erl a rather risky experiment in the winter months, when the fire had. to he fed, as not even the housemaid knee% what was below the "black dittinonds,""- but their owner felt that no burgle* weveoeuldpeervieertlety Vinleeetleoffieltlooking thee* and A favorite hiding plats for mousse e,specially for bills of large amoral -nay tions, has alwa,y,s been the large FAMILY BIBLE and the unabridged dictionary. This isthedpillracetcYmicerao°111 stieltrilringal inpOinace$ey arttgliim away under a. corner of a carpek, .paV* tieularly under some large pieoe ot ftiurehtocoreraldendt. nur ite.Teis imethod that basat Tea caddies and sugar bowls male excellent teemporary safes. Anothe hiding place is the old-fashioned genie try clock, which is almost historic as 10 spot for tucking away little bundles ot valuables. An old tradition was that the old clock, inatside of its value as a timepiece, was particularly userial as a receptacle for time articles veryraucle needed in the bousehold, quinine, rat poison and money, The, only trouble with the dock was, that too zaanypettg thieves knew about it. But the goo4 hthooTrhtivel thoaft. n the old time neae It is safe to say that the number ol woraen wbo put away jewelry in poca ket-books under a mattress for safe keeping, afterwards carefully smooth» int jage thheeeetteeeldebdcwn, can be numbered by The pocket of an old dress that hemp in an unconcealed way in a closet is rewarded by manywomen asone of the safest places imaginable for spare rings brooches and bracelets, and even for a pocketbook. Old shoes, standing heir proper place directly alongside of new ones, are likewise much esteemed, for a great deal can be shoved clown into their toes without giving the slightest evidence of the value there. in. Just why a, knotted ha,nakerehiet should be considered A SAFER PLACE than an ordinary pocketbook for the rying of money is not apparent, but nevertheless, a, good. many elderly wo- men have made use of this all their liVele A. country woman once received $50 from her husband, and calmly tying the money up in her handkerchief, platt- ed the ba.naerchief under her pillow and slept. the sleep of the just. The next morning she forgot all about it, and it was not until the middle of the day that she recollected it Then, in a fit of wild excitement she hunted higb and low for the handkerchief, and it ivas not until an hour or two after tbat she learned froin her housemaid that found ander her pillow, the handker- chief had gone into the clothes hamper. It was found there with the knot still ID it and the money safe. Nine out of ten women traveling carry their money and their jewels in a little chamois case or wrapped in a bit of linen in their corsets. Instances have been known wbere a tourist about to take a train has been obliged sud- denly to retire into a recess of the wait- ing-roorn to extract her railroad. ticket from its biding place. Stockings, in fact, seem to be a, feta, mite place of concealment, for money and small pieces of jewelry are often stowed away in them when they are packed away in bureau drawers. of reports frora Germany which contain the bistory of a. case of somnolence probably the most eurious on record. The patient is a young girl named Maria Coetskeus. She has slept for 246 days, and, so far as medical observation ca,n ascertain, is in perfect health. Her home in Stevensworth, Germany, is a Mecca, for the. 011.1i011% but so far no one has been able to give an accurate diagnosis of the ailraent which bas caus- ed laer prolonged. slumber. Some of the physicians who have seen the girl say that it is a superlative case of chronic hysteria. Others declare it to be "auto -suggestion." Whatever it may be her countenance has the hue of health, and her temperature and Pulse are regular. There is no decep- tion regarding the time during which the girl hassle,pt. Her parents aremore than, anxious that the girl should wake, but all efforts to restore her to con- sciouness, to rouse her from. her slum- bers, have met with signal failure. Several physicians of considerable note :who visited tbe girl give eredence to A SINGULAR STORY in circulation among the neighbors, which, tbey hold, inag explain the whole affair. This story is that the girl's lover, now and for some time absent from Stevensworth, possesses marked. hypnotic power. He is also of an ex- ceedingly jealous disposition, and Maria has more than onee aroused his ire by carrying on innocent flirtations with young men of the village. The night preceding the day upon which the girl's long slumber be, s_stn the two quarreled. violently over Maria's conduct toward a young farmer who had been present at a party the lovers had attended a night or two before. Late 021 the eight referred. to a young man was passing Maria's bone and heard the loversquarreling. He made his way to the window of the room from whence the sound of voices came. Maria, he says, was seated in a chair, svelte before her stood her lover. The listener heard. the lover say to his sweetheart: "I am going away, and. I shall be absent for months. I have not the faith in you to believe that you will keep your pledge to me, so I shall make you. sleep until I return." The girl's face grew pallid, the listener says, and she seemed unable to look else- where than hi her lover's face. He could not observe that sbe spoke a word after that. In a few moments, how- ever, the lover started. to leave the room and the listener fled. From this statement it is argued that the girl is in A HYPNOTIC SLEEP, from whieh only thgabsent lover can release her. So strong is the belief in this story that efforts have been ma,de to find the missing man and force him to return, but without success. Several professional hypnotists have also been consulted, and one who has visited the sleeping girl declares that the story is more than probable. When asked why, if she was merely' under hypnotic, influ- ence, he could not release her, he replied that the influence of the person who may have brought about 13er present state was so strong with the girl that he was unable to suecessfully combat it. If it is hypnotism, he says, the girl will continue to sleep until her lover rot urns. What lends color to the hypnotic story is that the usual evidences which ac- -company a trance or cataleptic state winch may have been superinduced ly various causes are entirely absent in tbis in,stance. The girl has always been in perfect health, an utter stranger to sickness. She is not what would be termed intellectual, and, in fact, there is no physical reason known, so far as she is concerned, that would be apt to contribute to bring about the present state of affairs. . The case, is rapidly becoming cele- brate,d, and is already a source of fruit- ful distension. in Berlin medical circles. The physicians who are in attendance upon the girl say that, judging from the effect her long sleep has had -upon her thus far, she coulcl continue in the same state at least an equally long period without the slightest danger of dis,sol atom CANADA'S HARDY SONS. What Sort of Soldiers Canadians 3Ia1v. What Others Have to Say of lis. Commenting upon the Venezuelar difficulty The British Army and Nays Gazette, in its last issue, just to hand, says: "We cannot too strongly advocate that the people of Canada lose no time ID memorializing the British Govern- ment to restore their own old cores, the Royal Canadians, which was so loyally raised by them under such bistoric dr- cum.stances and enrolled in our own reg- ular army as the 100th, or Prince of Wales' Canadian Reg:ment. England does not lorget how the flower of Cana- da's sons left their hearths and homes to assist her in the clouded days of 1858." In another column The Gazette tells of the showing made by Canadians dur- ing the war between the North and South in the United States. Major Mal - et, who was an officer in the army ot the Potomac, according to this journal, 4 estimates Canadians as the best soldiers physically the world am \produce. In his company of the 81st New York Vol- unteer Infantry, he had 45 Canadians, whose hardy frames no toil could ex- hausts, and\ Those gay spirits no hard- ship could dampen. While the army was on its mareli in the burning: heat, with the thermometer above 90 in the shade, these lads plodded merrily along, begailing the way with jest and song. These sons of the north were amazed at the wastefulness of their American comrades, who threw away their blank- ets and. other paraphernalia to lighten their burdens andmake the marching eaaier. The tireless Canadians made practice of picking the east away era cies up, carrying them into camp and claiming a reward. The instance Is giv- en of a Canadian walking 'alto camp at.._. tora terrible forced march, bearing 12 blankets besides his own, on his shoul- ders, and obtaining 1 for each, ween the nights got cold and the Ainericaxte needed covermg. Whieh is More Likely. You say you love me hatter thanlite itself. Isn't thiti: rather a workedever idea'? No, dearest but it sa,isr be an over. worked one.