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HomeMy WebLinkAboutExeter Times, 1896-9-17, Page 35 .10 NOTRS. An article on the position 'of England in the event of an European confitet, published recently by a German news- paper, Ints excited considerable discus- sion, in the belief that if not directly inspired by, it at leaet expresses the views of, Prince Bismarck. These are, in effeet, that England has two pow- erful enemies, France and Russia, the former of whom wants Egypt, the tat, ter India, and that as England strenu- ously opposes the designs of each, their alliance would be inevita,ble, even were they not drawn together by the exigencies of the European situation, Indeed, the existence of sta.= an alli- once is made certain by the recent at- titusle of Russia toward the Egyptian question; and as England will not yield on the Nile, and is doubtful of her ab - )lily to cope successfully with both her opponents in tbe contest which is ap- paroaching, she must, perforo, look about for an ally. It is assumed that Germany and Austria. will remain neu- tral, and that their neutrelily will as- sure that of Italy, esti= cannot belp England with ber fleet without sub- jecting herself to a land attack by France, and that England will thus be isolated and left to fight ber battles alone. In that event, the power or pow - ors able to command the British chan- nel will be victorious; anO. as England will heve ber distant colonies and ber conamerce to protect, her enemies by rearalibalug their fleets in the cliannel, can put an end to her superiority in the waters control of winch is vital to her safety. Even if they cannot, they may effeet n, landing in the United Kingdom, and ea convert the sea, war bat° a land war, an undertaking assum- ed by the article, and. pronounced by an officer of the Prussian General Staff, to bo not ixnpossible. Once landed, the invaders, it is held, coul(1 not be success- fully resisted, the terms of peace would be dictated in London, and Germany, with strength undiminished, would be in position to demand her sbare of the 'fruits of victory from the exhausted combatants. Such a view of tbe present and future position of England is, perhaps, a not unnatural one to be taken by a German newspaper, and if really that of Prisms Bismarek, warrants consideration, though affording proof that years heve not diminished his political im- aginations For should France and Ruseia, seriously menace England, and Go.rittany attempt to hold aloof in or- der to gob the liorns share itt the re- arrazgement, England probably has it in her power to detach Italy from the Triple Alliance, or to induce her to com- pel such extenaion of the terms of the agreement as to cover all Italy's Med- tArro.neau interests identical with those of Britain, so forcing Germany to fight the latter's battles. She could do so by offering Italy greater security from France than is afforded by the Alliance; and as in the event of her withdrawal, the enmity of Prance toward England would be dimielsked by the blow given by tho latter to Germany, and Germany and Auetria would be distinctly weak- ened, France and Russia might prefer to attack them rather than England. Both hate Germany even more than they do England, would be irresistibly tempted to attack by any sign of weakness, and would thhik that with England angered by Germany's refusal to aid her, they could do so without fear of interference4 It is Germany, not England which occupies the posi- tion of danger, for she is sandwiched between two great enemies, one the richest of nations, the other with the greatest resources in men, and both eage er to strike when opportunity presents. The astonishing growth of European cities in the last twenty years is but part of a m.ovement in population which is general throughout civilized countries. It 'is certainly unprece- dented in history. In the United States the tnereese of from 50,000,000 to 70,- 000,000 in less than two decades is par- alleled by Germany, which has increas- ed from 30,000,000 to 52,000,000 since the Franco-Prassian war. England shbws a like increase, confined chiefly to the cities. WhUe•Irelaund, Italy and Spain are not so responsive to the ;movement, it is for causes too well understood to make their eases seem exceptions to the es \rule that the great scientific and me- :tan:deal improvements of the century are making it possible for the world to produce and support a larger pop - elation than was dreamed of even by • the most pronounced opponents of Mal- thu,sianiem in their oontroversies with the ignorant theorists who believed that the, limit of population had been or was about to be reached. According to Mulhall the total pop- ulation of the earth in the time of Au- gastus Caesar did net exceed 54,000,000. According to the same authority the population of Europe was only 50,000- 000 in the fifteenth century, while now it is estimated at over 357,000,000 peo- • ple, whose average of living is far high- • er than that of the age of Augustus or than that of the fifteenth century. It is becoming more and more a self- evident proposition that the increase of civilization is not only accompanied by but is dependent on an increase of pop- ulation. And no fact in econoraic his- tory le of more far-reaching import - AN AMATEUR. Your husband painted the house him- self tete spring, didn't he? asked one • of hex neighbors. Well, yes; was the wife's answer; I suppose he got some of the paint on the house, bet you wouldn't think so et you could see his clothes. , . "enseeetees .ute ;44, ot. POWER. OF KINDNESS. KIND WORDS AS A /WEANS OF DE. FENCE AND USEFULNESS. Talmage Deories. Acerbity aud Sikree%nl and Acrimony, and Recommends. to All "The Soft Tongue That tereiticeth the Bone:, Washington, Sept. 6. -In these days when satire and retort and bitterness fill the air, the, gospel carol of tlais ser- mon will do good to all who read and practice it, The tent is Proverbs xxv., 15, "A, soft tongue breaketh the bone." Wizen Solomon said this, he drove a whole volume into one phrase. You, of course, will not be so silly as to take the words of the text in a literal sense. They simply mean to set forth the fact that tbere isa tremendous power in a kind ward, Although it may seem to be very insignificant, its force is in- deseribable and Uneatable. Pungeut and all conquering utterance, "A soft tongae breaketh the bone." If I had time, I would show you kindness as a, mewls of defeuce, as a Means of usefulness, kiudness as a means of domestic) narinony, kindness as best employed by governments for the taming and. curing a criminals and kindness as best adapted for the set- tling and. adjusting ot international quarrel, but I shall call your attentiou only to twe of these thoughts:, And, first, I speak to you of kindness as a means of defence, AlMost every man, in the, course of his life, is set upon and assaulted. The first inmulee of the natural heart says: "Strike back. Give as much as he sent. Trip him into the ditch wilich he dug for your feet. Gash him with as severe tt. wetted as that which he inflictea on your steal. Shot for shot. Sarcasta for samisen. Aix eye for 11,41 Ve. A tooth for a tooth." Bat tlet Letter slave in the mau's soul rises up and. says, "You ouglit to vouskler that ' matter." You look up into the face of Clorist ancj ease "My Maeter, how ought Ito aot under these difficult cir- cumstances?" And. Christ instantly answers, "Bless them that curse you, and. pray for them which despitefully use you." Then the old nature rises up again and says: "You had letter not forgive. bira until first you have chas- tised him. You will never get him in so tight a corner again. You. will never have such an opportunity of inflicting the right kind of punishment upon him again. 'First ellastise him and then let him go." "No," says the bet- ter nature, "hush, thou foul heart. Try the ,soft tongue that breaketh the hone." Have you. ever in all your life known acerbity and acrimonious dis- pute to settle a quarrel ? Did. they not always make inatters worse ani worse and worse? About 55 years ago there wasa great quarrel in the kareebyterion fatally. Ministers of Christ were thought orthodox in proportion as they had measured lancewith other clergy- men of the same denomination. The most outrageous personalities were abroad. As, in the autumn, a, hunter comes home with a. string of game, partridges and wild ducks, slang over his shoulder, so there were many min- isters who came back from the eccles- iastical eourte with long strings of doc- tors of divinity whom they had shot with their own rifle. The diviaion be- came wider, the aninaosity greater, until after awhile some good men re- solved upon another tack They be- gan to -explain away the difficulties, •they began to forgive each other's faults, and, lol the. greet church quar- rel was settled, and the new school Presbyterian chureh and the old sehool Presbyterian church became one. T18. different_ parts of the Presbyterian order, wlded by a hammer, a little hanamer, a Christian hammer, that the Seriptuxe calls "a soft tongue." You. have a dispute with your neigh.bor. You say to him, "I despise you." He replie.s, "I can't bear the sight of you." You. say to him, "Never enter my house again." He says, "If you come on my door sill, I'll kick you off." You say to him, put you dawn." He says to you. "You. are mistaken. I'll put you down." And so the contest rages, end year atter year you act the unehristian part, and he acts the michristian part. After awhile the better spirit seizes you, and one day you .go over to the neighbor and say: 'Give me your hand. We have fought long enough. Time is to short, and eternity is so near,. that we cannot afford any long- er to quarrel. I feel you have wrong- ed me very much, but let us settle all now in one good head shaking and be good friends for all the rest of our lives." You have risen to a higher platforrn than that. on which before you stood. You win his a.clmiration, and you get hin apology. But if you have not oanquered hire in that way at any rate you. have 'won the 'applause of your own conscience, the high esti- mation of good men end the honor of your Lord who, died for his' armed enemies. you say, "what are we to do when slanders assault us, and there come acrimonious sayings all around about us, and eve are abused and spit upon ?' My rep -1y is: "Do not go heel attempt to chase down the slanders. Lies are politic, anti. while you are killing one,fifty are born. , A.11 your demonstrations of iadienation only ex- haust yourself. You might as well on some su.mmer night, when the swarms of toots are coming up from the raeadawe and disturbmgyou and dis- turbing your family,. bring up some great 'swamp angel," like that which thundered over Charleston, and try to shoot them down. The game . is too small for the gum. But what, then are you to do With the a,buse,s that come upon you in life? You are to live them down! Lsaw a farmer go out to get back a. swarm of bees that had wandered off from the hive. As he moved amid them they buzzed around his head and buzzed' around his hands and buzzed around his feet. If 'he had killed one of them, they -would have tung .hita to death But he moved in their midst in perfect placidity until he had captured the swarm of wan- dering boo. • •And so I have seen men umoving amid the auniloyances, and the vexa- terns, and thea.ssaults of life in such calm, Christian deliberation that all tb.e buzzing around about their soul amounted to nothing. They conquered them, and abeve all,' they conquered themselves. "Ola," you say, "that's- a very "good theory to plea= on a hist day, but it won't work. It will work. It hae worked, I believe it is the last Christian grace we win. Youknow there are fruits Nance we gather itt THE EXETER, June, and otherin July, and othens ia Auguet, and others in September, and. still others in October, =di have to admit that this grace et ,Christian forgiveness is about the last feuit of the Christian, soul. -We hear a great deal about the bittr tongue, and the sarcastic tongues...end the quick ton- gue, and the eeingings tongue, but we know very:•little about, "the eoft ton- gue that breaketh then hones" We read iluclibrae and Sterne and Dean Swift, and. the other apostles of acri- mony, but give little time to etudying the example of Hien who was reviled, and _yet _reviled not again. Oh, that the Lord, by His Spirit, would endow us all with. "the soft tougue that breaketh the hope," . I paw now to the other thought that desixe to present, and thal is kind- ness as a means of usefulness. In all communities you find skeptical men. Through early education, or through the maltreatment of professed Chris- tian people, or through, prying ourio- sity about the futdre world, there are a great many.people who become skee- tical in religious things. elow shall you capture them for God? Sharp ar- gument and sarcastic retort over won a. single soul from skeptioisra to the Chrinian religion. While power- ful Looks on the evidences of Oboes- tianity have their mission in confirm- ing Christian people in the faith they have already etiolated, I have noticed, that when skeptieal people are brought into the kingdom of Christ it is tbrough the charm of scene genial soul, and not by argunaent at all, Alen are not wo- ve through the head ; they are eased through the heart. A etorra comes out of its hiding phtee. 11 says "Now we'll just rouse up all this sea," and it makes e great blaster, but it does not suceeed, Part of the sea, is roused up -per - naps one -Ii -tie of it or one-fourth of it. let autifu look,, Atter awhile the cane moon, placid and le.,glas rune euthes up to high down, and the ocean water mark. It embraces tite great headlands. It submerges the beach of all the vontinents. B. is the beart throb of one word against the heart tbrob of another world. And 1 have to tell you. Om while all your :norms of ridicule and etories cif sereaetu may rouets up the passion 01 an immortal nature, melting less titan the attrase tiro Power of Chrietieu kiminess can ever Vai:, k the deathless spirit to hap- piness eau to (het. I have .utore faith in the prayer of a valid Seears old itt tha way of bringing an infidel back to Mies aul to he wee then I have in all the Lie:sing thunderbolts of ec- eleeiastical controversy. ).ou cannot wale:nue men with religious argu- mentation. If you come at a skeptieal :tem with an argument on behalf tif this Christian religion, yea put (the men on his mettle. Lie says; "I see that man bus a carbine. Pil USE1 my earbine. 111 answer his argument with my argtnnent." But if you COITIO to that man, persuading him that you desire his happiness on earth and his eternal welfare in the world to come, he cannot answer it. What I have said is just as true in tee reclamation of the openly vicious, Did you ever know a drunkard to be weed through the caricature of a drunkard? lour mimicry of the stag- gering step, and the thick tongue and. the disgusting hiccough, only worse maddens bis brain. Bat if you come to him in kindness and synmethy, if you show him that you appreciate the atvful grip of it depraved appetite, if you persuade him of the fact that tnott- sands who had the gtappling hooks of evil inclination clutched in their soul as firmly as they now are in his have been rescued, then it ray of light will flash across 1118 vision, and it will seem as if a supernatural band were steady- ing his staggering gait. A good many years ago there lay in the streets of Richmond a man dead drunk, his face expased to the blistering noonday sun. A Christian woman passed along, look- ed at Jaina and said, "Poor felloty I" She took her handkerchief and spread it over his face ana passed on. The man roused himself 'up from his de- bauch and. began to look at the hand- kercheif, a.nd, lo! on it was the name of a highly respectable Christian wo- man of the. city of ' Richmond. He went to her, he thanked her for her kindness, and teat one little deed sev- ed him for this life, and saved hira for the life that is to come. He was after- ward attorney -general of the 'United States; but, .higher than all, he be- came the consecrated disciple of Jesus Christ. Kind words are so cheap it is a wonder we do not use them oftener. There are tens of thousands of peo- ple in these cities who are, dying for the lack of one kind word. There is a business ma.n who has fought against trouble until he is perfectly ex- hausted. He has been thinking about forgery, about robbery, about euioide. Go to that business man. Tell him that better times are comingsand tell Um that you, yourself were In a tight business paw, and the Lord deliver- ed you.. Tell him to put his truet in God. Telnew that Jesus Christ mends beside every business man in ,his per- plexities. Tell him of the sweet prom- ises of God's comforting grace. That men is dying for the lack of just one kind word. Go to -morrow and utter that one, saving, omnipotent, kind word. Here is a soul that has been swamped in sin., He wants to find the light of the gospel. He feels like a shipwrecked mariner looking out over the beach, watching for a sail against the sky. Oh, bear down on himl Tell him that the Lord waits to be gracious to him; that, though he has been a great sinner there is a great Saviour provided. Tell him that though his sins are as scarlet they shall be as snow; though they are red like crim- 'son, they shall be as wool. That, ma,n is dying' forever for the lack of one khan word. There used to be sung at a great many of the pianos all through the country a song that has almost died out. .1 'wish somebody would start it again in our social circles. There may not have been very exquisite art in the music, but there was a grand and glorious sentiment, Kind words never die, never die, Cherished and blessed. Oh,that we might in our families i and n our. =males try the force of kindness!' You can never drive men, women or children into the kingdom of God. A March northeaster will bring out more honeysuckles , than fretfulness and scolding will ever bring out Christian grace. I wish that in all our religious work we might be satu- rated with the spirit of kindness. Mis- sing that, we miss a great deal of use- • fulness. There is no need of coining out before men andthundering to them the law unless at the same time you preach to them the gospel: The world is dying for lack of' kmdness. These young people wane it just as much as the old., The old peeple some- times seem to think they have a monopoly of the rheumatisms, and the neuradgias, and the headaches, and the physical disorders of the world; but tell you there are he worse heart. aches than are felt by some of these young people. Do you know that much of the work is done by the young 1 Ra.P.hael died 37, Richelieu at 31, Gustavus Adolphus died at 38, In- nocent III. came to his naightiest in- „ TIMES 4k. flnetine at 37, Cortes Cencbie4a ot -39,` 'INse John won ^Lepanto at 2,5, Grotins was attorney -general at 24, and.'" have noticed amid all classes of map. that some of the ,severest battles and the tougbest work came before 80. Therefore we must have our ser- mons and our exhortations in prayer meeting all sympathetio with the young- 404 so with these people fur- thet on itt life, What* do these doctors end lawyers and merchants and men' (tonics• wen aleset the abstractions of religtoe? What they taunt is help to bear the whimsicalities of pafiente, the browbeating of legal opponents, the =tallnessof customers, who have plenty of fault fiuding for every im- perfection of handiwOrk,but no praise dor 20 . excellencies. Wbat does that brain racked, hand blistered man care for Zwingli's "Dootrine a Original or Augustin's "Aeathropologyr You might as well go to a maxi who has the pleurisy and put on his side a plaster made out of Dr.Parr's "Trea- tise on Nedie,a1 jurisprudence." In all our sermons -there must be help. for everyone sonsewbere. You go ant° an apothecary store. We see others being waited on. We do not complaia because we do not initnediete- ly get the medicine. We know our turn will come after awhile.. And so while all parts of a sexmon may not be appropriate to our ease, if we wait prayerftilly before the sermon is through we shall lia,ve the divine preseription. I say to these young men who ere going to preach the gospel, these theologital students, 1 say to them: We want in our :sermons not more metaphysics, nor more imagina- tion, nor more logic, nor more profun- dity. Whet we want in our sermons aed Christian exhortations is more snlat- Patho. When Father Taylor preached in the Sallow' Bethel, at Boston, the ;lack tars felt" they had help for their duties among the entities and the fore- easties, When Richard Weaver preach- ed to the operatives in Oldham, Eng- land, all the workingmen felt they had more grace for the spindles. When Dr. South preached to kings and Princes and princesses, all the mighty men and w oraen who heard him felt preparation for their high station. Do YOU. not Itnow that this story of a Saviour's itintIness is to re- deem all nations? The herd heart of the world's ulelenney is to be brok- en before that story. There is in Ant - wort?, Belgium, tow of the most re - mumble pictures 1 ever saw. It is "The Descent of Christ from the Cross," It is one of Itubens' picture';. No man can stand and look at that "Descent From the Cross," as Rub- ens pictured it witbout his eye flood- ing witn tears, if he leave any eensi- bility at all. It is an overmastering picture -one that stuns you and stag- gers you and haunts your dreams. One afternoon a xnan stood in that cathe- dral looking at. Rubens' 'Descent From the Cross." Ile was all absorbed in that scene of a Saviour's sufferings. when the janitor Mlle in and said: "It is time to close up the cathedral for the night. I wish you would. de- part." The pilgrim, looking at that "Desceut From tbe Cross," tarried around to the janitor and said: "No; no: not yet. Wait until they get him down." Oh; it is the story of a Saviour's suffering kindness that is to capture the world. When the bones of that great behemoth of iniquity which bas trampled all nations shall be broken and. shattered, it will be found out that the woritwa.s not done he hammer of the iconoclast, or by sword of the conqueror, or by the torch of persecution, but by the plain, simple, overwhelming force of "the soft tongue that breaketb the bone." Kindness 1 We all need mare of it in. our .hearts, our words and our be- havior. The chief characteristic of our Lord was kindness. A gentleman in England died leaving his•tertune by will to two sons. The soli that staid at home destroyed the father's will and. pretended that the brother tvho was absent was dead and burled. The absent brother after awhile returned and clairaed his part of 'the property. Judges and jurors were to be bribed to say that the returned brother and son was no son at all, but only an nn - poster. The trial came on, Sir Mat- thew Hate, the pride of the English courtroom and for 20 years the pride of jurisprudence, heard that that in- justice -was about to be practiced. He somehow got impaneled as one of the jurors. The bribes came around, and the man gave ten pieces of gold to the other jurors, but as this was only a poor miller the briber gave him only five pieces of gold. A. verdict was bcrought ixt reiecting the right of this returned brother. He was to have no share in the inheritance. "Hold my lard 1" said the miller. "Hold!We are not all agreed on this verdict. These other men have received ten pieces of gold in bribery, and I have received only five. "Who are vote? Where do yoIl come from?" saia the judge on the bench. The response was: "1 am from 'Westminster hall. My name is Matthew Hale, lord chief justice of the king's beneh. Off of that place, thou. villien!" And so the injustice was balked, and so the young man got his inheritance. uo It was. all four anothler that Sir Mat- thew Hale took off his robe and put on the garb of a miller. And so Christ took: off His robe of royalty and pate on the attire of our humanity, and ua that disguise he won our eternal por- tion. Now are we the sons of God - joint heirs. We went off from home sure enough, but we got back in tixae to receive oar eternal inheritance. And if Christ was so kind to use surely we oan afford to be kind to each' other. • THE TURF. . Lord Beaconsfield said once: "The turf is a gigantic engine of national de, moralization." If these words were ever true (which, we shall not discuss here), they must be so, to -day, for bet- ting on the turf was never more wide- spread in England than it is nowi One of the large Birminghaan bookmakers who is not given to boasting admitted the other day that his business had a "turb-over" of a250,000 a year, and this must be small in comparison with the sums which are handled by some of the "leviathans" who have their headquar- ters in tbe metropolie.t The most, not- able point about these figures is that they ere composed of an Infinitely large number of small ems: ELECTRICAL SOAP. Au batte,ry has been patented consist- ing of a, source of electancal energy placed. Inside 4 cake of toilet soap. The device is reputed to be intended for curative applications of electricity - to the human body.The inventor says that his invention is based on the fact that the ohernical decomposition pf soap is such that when dissolvelin wa- ter it produ.ces a liquid having an ex- citing effect upon certain metallic elec- trode' placed ra proximity to form tin elect= battery. In other -words, .you can soap yourself and. get an electrie ehock. 'There are probably people' who will buy Gee "electrical eoep." LHE SUNDAY SCHOOL. INTERNATIONAt LESSON, SEPT. 20. "Isestruetive Vices." Peov, 16, Stualun • u coulee Text, Prov. ae.en GENERAL STATEMENT. . ellse Lesson committee bas again give en as a section from the Book of Pro- verbs, the most ancient of all literary ethinebo“dpirenoveets,o,fwweirsedoesn.rigintlaiowsamybaingy4 ooff King Solomon we have no means of knowing. The book ie evidently it corn - piled= from several Cources, one part consisting of proverbs thee were ar- ranged and written out under Xing Hezekiah, and two or teree portions be- ing credited directly to other authors. That Solontoe produced the major part of the book is probable; and some sohel- ars able to discern subtle indications of style, think that they can select certain portions as having came from his pen, lt, matters not to us who, under Gtad, was the originator of the profound sayings wbich we to -day are to study. Just why our lessen should be headed "Destructive Vices" is not quite clear, as Dr. Hose has said, "nor it deals with both vices and virtues . The separate verses are so distinct from one anuther Weft each one must be considered by itself, There is no trace of continuous thought running through the lesson 2tfrh7:1:totkia;e0gizirasnit12,8:together more closely to end, though verses PRACTICAL NOTES. Verse 22. Understanding is a well- spring of life. The value of a spring in a desert is beyond. computation. Lerge strettles of our great national domain are waiting to be made fer- tile by the introdactione of processes of irrigation, that will turn them frosts dusty deserts to luxurious gardeus. So valuable is it sound understanding to its owner -good judgment, common sense, moral prudence, etteular aouteen. Oa the other hand the instruction of fools is folly. Correction or discipline would. be a better word thau "instruc- tion." This clause may mean either that when foals undertake to teach they teach folly (or, as our Saviour would say, The blind leading the blind, and both falling into the ditch), or it may mean that it is folly for anyone to un- dertake to teach them (or as our Saviour would say, to cast pearls before swine.) 23, The heart a the wise teachetb his mouth. The wurce of true wisdom is, after all, the heart quit* as much as the inind. Intellectual wisdora unguid- ed. by moral power and force will do great harm. It is the heart of the wise that is his best guide: Addeth learning to his lips. :Slakes his utter- ance more instructive. Quatrain does the author of Eccesiasticus say, "The heart of fools is in their mouth, but the mouth of the wise in ha their heart.'' 24. In this verse bones stands for the whole physical system, and honey- comb for medicine. In Palestine honey is not only it staple article of food, but a medicinal remedy else, It is at once delicious and nourishing: Like this are kind words. "God knows how deep they lie stored 1.n the breast." 25. This is a repetition of Prov. 14. 12, "A way strettheth straight before a man, but. death's ways end it." "We alt keow how easy it, is to persuade ourselves that the thing we desire to , do is the thing that ought to be done. ;Perhaps ehe idea, is distinctly convey- ' ed by this proverb that the evil way, continuously traveled, branches out in- to many ways, all leading to death, or, as the Septuagint has it, the ends of it lead to the depths of hell." -Hunter. 26. This verse has been interpreted thus, "The appetite of the laborer labors for him. A ti good appetite spurs amen to work.". Desire cart be so harnessed as to bring things to pass. Itt every fielci of activity -physical, mental, and spiritual -blessed are they that hung- er and thirst. But the opposite mea.n- iung is given by some, "The appetite of the laboring man is itself toil and trouble." In other words, strong bod- ily desires are urgent and burdensome. Both interpretations are true. It is the month that urges the laboring man on. 27. An ungodly man. A son of Be- lial, good for nothing, vicimisi Dig- geth up evil. He works hard and spares no pains to bring evil to the light. Even his words are flames of fire which blast the reputations of his fellow -men. So James says, "The tongue a fire, a world ot iniquity." 28. A froward man. A perverter. Soweth strife. Scatters • quarrels through the neighborhood like seeds over it field. A whisperer. A grumb- ling gossip, a complainer, a tale -bearer. The ungodly man of verse 27 is the dev- il's miner, who not content with the innumerable evils that lie thickly about him, diligently digs tip all hidden bad- ness. The whisperer is the devil's farm- er, who sows seeds of pain and quarrel everywhere, and separateth chief rr 29. A violent man eaaticeth bus neigh- bor. Persuadeth hine Leadeth Driveth him. That is to say, the law- less man uses all his influence hi fav- or of lawbreaking. Those with whom he is on -friendly terms he entices; those over Whom he has not the same sort of influence he drives; but all that are guided by. him find themselves in the way that is not good. 30. Eves's, part of the nature of the bad meal is enlisted in the services of evil. As in chapter 6. 13, "He wink- eth with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers."•.The first clause in the sentence means that he becomes absolutely absorbed in his efforts to devise froward things. The second clause means that if you watch his movements you will see that every little gesture and tone has been enlist- ed in the cause of evil. 31. As this verse stands In our ver- sion it is quoted as frequently, perhaps, es any other proverb:. Thus taken, it seems to teach that old age is honorable when, and onlywhen, • it has followed 'upon a life of righteousness. "No one would think of speaking, of the gray hairs of the aged drunkard OT clebauchee or gambler as a crown of glory. But there is nc• conditional pattiele in the original. The literai translation would be "The hoary head is a crosyn of glory; it is founcein the way of righteousness. ' That 'es te spy, ,to walk. In the way Of riguhteonseew will swum a .goon, old sarb5.e0Thi, eol;le'.ovePoiryftoniniel, krshao.wgoe,e,toraol.orirtu,atinh ElintHmo itatione .and medificatioheee-De, E',, 23. This is one of the most bettutifial of proverbs, and it is it compliment to hu,mesi =tyre that it seems te haye originated andependeetly in =my dif- ferent nations, Selfecontrol is one of ) the noblest- efforts of moral life. The , ooramen sense of mankind recognizes that "he that ruleth Ins spirit" is bet- ter "than he tlaat taketh the city." 33. The let is cast into tbe lap; bu.t the 'whole disposing t/lereof is of the Lord, This proverb. might be modern- ized as follows. "Men do the best they can to wale to accurate deeisions, but their decisions, when they are came to, ,are but like so mudh putty in the hands ofeGod. In the =meet East witen men were in doubt as to their proper eourse they took three little stones or blacks,, on two of which they had merle a meek, one mark atoning yes; one nte the therd t-ouisso-hasociroSoti tleervedthlein,uaosnaperacositeutts,oty at sort of pouch made by tucking up their long loose garments, and then after prayer, tb.ey took out one. If either of tbe stones which contained an inseription was drawia, God's direction was reeogs nized, and the man was bound to do according to what he now regarded as a divine owninande but if the uninscrib- ed one was. drawn, God had =Me no answer. The mysterious Ur= and Theunmim whieh are so often menttoxi- e118 atteeent. d were isresimPlY is. g eau a sur- vival of this. Our word calculate (cal- culi among the Latins being the word for the little stone which was thus used) entities from this custom. the whole disposing thereof is of the ord. God controls everything, even the moods of btnoennd.s.The hearts of all men are lax his MYSTERY OF A RUBY. 11111=1•111 Story of a Gem Sold to a Jeweller In Jut Mateo by it cootie woman. Toward the close of the year 1883 it coolie woman who had recently disem- barked from an Indian emigrant ship entered a jeweller's shop in the seaport town of Montego Bay, in Jamaica, and offered a large peculiar -looking stone far sale. She was evidently ueoevare that any peculiar value attaohed to it except as a, curiosity, and. readily part- ed with it for a einali sum. The jeweller himself scarcely realized the importance of the transaction un- til after the application of severe tests, he found himself the poseessor of. what appeared to be a ruby of extraordin- ary size and great value, His good. fortune • ehimet overwhelmed him, but ne was a shrew and cautious man, German, and kept his secret. His busi- ness, already a prosperous one, having increased, he removed to Kingston, the chief town, and, taking his brother into partnership, established himself there. One fine morning a few mouths later he took a steamer to New York, osten- sibly on a business trip. The jewel went with him. Meiling there, he ob- tained reports from experts on his treasure. All assured him that the gem was genuine and of M MENSE VALUE, He then cautiously opeued negotiations with the dealers. The result was al- most beyond his hopes, but not entire' ly to his satisfaction; the laighest sum offered for his ruby was enormous, but not equal to what he considered to be its actual value. He sailed for London, had reports from other ex- perts, and obtained other offers, but still remaining unsatisfied, he returned to Jamaica. He was now keenly alive te the value of bis possession, and was by no means inclined to part with it for a sum below its actual worth, In the meantime his business affairs in jamaka Lad become complicated, and the branch bank in Jamaica of the Colonial Bank of London was threaten- ing him with bankruptcy proceedings on accouat of overdue bills of exchange. Once more he sailed for London with the ruby, and, in order to stay the bankruptcy proceedings until he eould find a purchaser, and as security for his debt, he deposited the stone with the bank. It is stated that, 'prior to the bank's taking over the ruby as se- curity, the stone was once more *cub- mitted to an expert, and his report was satisfactory. This, however, Ls de- nied by the bank officials, and in the lighimt important. quent events the denial is TJnable to find a purchaser to give his price, the Jeweller applied for farther advances on the security of the stone. The bank agreed, but prior to handing over the money de- cided to have another test made. The stone was submitted to a famous jew- eller of London, and the result was sur- prising. He pronounced the jewel to be, merely paste and ABSOLUTELY WORTHLESS. On this report the bank returned the ruby to the owner, refused the advance, and cabled instructions to the Jemmies., branch to press the. bankruptcy pro- ceedings. This was done, and tbe jew- eller was declared bankrupt and forced to leave the country. At the present day he is living in one of the American States, merely it workman, and prac- tically a ruined man. The jewel returned by the bank was undoubtedly a,n imitation, and but a clumsy imitation at that, but here the mystery of this case arises. The stone bought by the jeweller was undbubt- edly genuine. Experts of the highest repute declared it to be so, and deal- ers emphasized the opinion by offers of hard cash. But the stone as finally tested was merely, as the expert stat- ed, colored paste. That the original stone was stolen and an imitation sub- stitutecl appears the only solution. How or Sey whom the substitution was ef- fected' has never been discovered. The bank officials were able to exonerate themselves from all responsibility in the matter, and the. Scotland Yard au- thorities deolared that the theft could not have occurred while the stone was in the possession of the bank. If stolen, the ruby has never reappeared on the market, and its mystery seems as far from solution as ever. Aledy ire Nebraska edvertised for gposi. • job ottrinting office and -can set erijoying the monopoly' of hueband, and announe.o.:, own a ed milk at five shillings per operation. a report that sina,llpox was on its way selling liquors within the precincts of was a surgeon and vaectnated the whole When last hea.rd of he was a wealthy community with his needlue and condone - the Johannesburg etc* exchange. type* through the country, gave out that he burg in the early days af the mining boom milk end a needle: Hs spread, boom with no assets save a tin of eon - A certain man arrived at Johannes - A BUSINESS OPEN UP GOLD DISTRi RAILWAYS ARE MOOS WANTE BRITISII OOLUTADIA, Possibility et' -using strewth noltuatiab Coati-ithat the te P. It. says About Iftt. Whatever be the auriferaus wealt of *British Columbia, it is certain that until proper rail:Way faellitiee be pro, vlded much a it will remain =tomb., ed T/ae chief complaint of time wbco• have made inveetnaents be mining pros. perties, is that they are unable to de- ,u velop them awing to the absence of railways, while those who have rcuede aaCdylminutauengee"ealare"setrioduessipyiteetteedvice"PYPeddbis; the excessive rates which must be pa.14 inuTrily,evimerpyleembveTitscd, met7.,ebnaericdisesse'aurxay alh- er= tete proper prosecution of the work. It is not doubted even by tube most cautious that there is a great fixture Lor British Columbia, when easy come mumica,tions have been established. 31r, interview, stated that the great steed would tap the chief engineer •of the Canadian Pecifio Railway, in a recent pt iace4oneo osrtaroiwu Crow's regionl oNnes to f f Fr oats:r nwwiliniieueohYb the miners could obtain that which is absolutely essential-ooke, for the pur- pose of smelting the ore. At present, States, while in more than one instaneni eocoaklhasto ebasbeb:obteined from the United . , • itt g ea pe lz.N.IPtoRexTEDnsels.ROM ENGLAND, The question of rallwa.y coraraunica- tion has not been lost siglat of either by the Local or Federal Government. The former has had the matter under consideration while the latter, that is to say, the late goverameet, had gone tile length of considering a defua' ite proposal. The late ministry, immede lately before the elections, were cone a sidering the scheme of baring the money to the Canadian Pacifie Bellway, or, if that company did not wish to un- der take the construction itself, to any other company winch the Canadian Paeilie Railway would guarantee. The money was to no loaned, say, at three percent. for twenty years. This proposal of the government did not indicate any indifference On the part of the Canadian Pacific ,on, itself to the project. On the eontrary, this is a matter which has long en- gaged the attention of the raanagement. Thts only thing which prevented the company undertaking the work itself, with., doubtless, a certain amount of government assistance, was the un- propitious character of the times de- pression du_ring the past few yea,rs, .having been general m business. Mine owners, however, had complained and, tbere was each it demand for it railway that the late government was disposed to make the proposal indicated. It did not, however, reach the COMIX14158; parliament was dLssolvid; a new gov- ernment, came into power, and the sub- ject, up to the present, has -been left in abeyance. Mr. Shaughnessy, the able vice-pre- sident of the Canadian_ Paeifie Rail- way, was seen in relation to the mat- ter, which is laecornieg more pressing as interest increases in the POSSIBILITY OF THE NINES, and investments are being made from England, Canada and the United States. ""nhe company has not been indif- ferent to this matter," he said, "which has engaged. its attention for some time past, and which is still engaging its attention. We understand the ne- cessity for the road, but a.t the same time we cannot be indifferent to the difficulty and expense attendant upon its construction. For some time past the times have not been favorable to the investment of a large sum of money in fresh constructions. This bas been the cause of the delay. We appeeeiate the need; the question is still engaging the attention of the management. Just whether any active ete.ps can be taken in the near future, it is impossi- ble to say. The matter will require careful consideration. The work as of an important character. There is ito doubt that if the line was built it would be of vast advantage, opening up communications and encouregin those who hare invested their raoney. The company has not been indifferent, to the development of the gold mining industry of Britieh Columbia, but be- fore putting our hands to such a work, we need to see our way clearly." TO BE EXPECTED. There was recently a public sale of the effeets of a diseased artist, who though he never had any money and. was always at the end of his resources, managed to accumulate a considerable amount of bric-a-brac, chiefly for use in his trade. All these things were sold for the( benefits of his needy widow. Among tbe items on the published catalogue was the following eloquent one: One money -box, decorated, quite un- used. A SCARECROW FOR MOSQUITOES. Prof. Pheltehue states with the sol- emnity of firin conviction that artosqul- toes are extremely frightened by dra- gon Dia; and will not come within yards of them. He says that one or two dried dragon flies suspended eren fine silk under the roof of an open pooh in- fested by mosquitoes will scare all of the little pests away, and the.y will not come back while the dragon flies are there. This, he says, be has tried with surprising results. It is a well- known feet that dragon flies are pre-. datory and. voracious insects, and that they subsist largely on gnats, midges, - and mosquitoes, and is but xiaturel that the mosquito, who is a wine insect, should regard the ''spindle," "daoing needle," or dragon fly as the small bird regards the ha.wk. GIRL LABOR PREFERRE,D. • Throughout •Germany and Rolland whenever girls can be employed to ad- vantage' they are taken in preference to young men. At Munich the clerks 'aline bookkeepers inbanks axe nearly all young girls. At the railway stations! many who attend the windoivs for the sale of tickets are girls, and the Cashiers in, all the cafes and restaurants are of the same sex. They are gezierally very. expert at figures and raentat arithanett London papers state that the French, ex -Premier ltibatest visit to the United,. States hesi a political eigelineatien, 4.At1,e, Tri"