HomeMy WebLinkAboutExeter Times, 1898-3-3, Page 2*4..1 42V1) COMAr,ENTIgi,
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Tn the February number ot the For -
sem, ll/Er. F. 0. Penfield, lately United.
States diplomatie ageut at Cairo, des
-
exiles the extent to sybieli •the agried-
titrel resources of the Nile Volley, letve
teen developed by Brittsb, admstra-
tion: His testimony is the more trust-
worthy because he is by rio means one
of thoee who thitik thee England's oc-
eupation of Egypt is defeusible from
0, moral point of view.- At the same
tirae he considers that to discuss the
legel or ethiete right a Great Britten
to control Egypt, is pow, et the end
o eixteen years as superfluous as it
would be for a lawyer to argue that
. the State has no power to arrest hie
:Bent when the later is already a pri-
soner behind the bars. Mr. Penfield
believes that the British Government
intends not oely to retain possession
o Dtmgola, which has been recently
°coupled, but also to recover the whole
ef the eastern Sweden, and. that with
• this territorial extension is connected
• anindustrial programme of great im-
portesieee,
We are remieded that the well-known
exrloier, Sir Samuel Baker, atter des-
cending the Nile from its source to its
mouth, expressed the opinion. that the
river -might be so controlled that the
enormous volume of water which now
• rusbes uselessly into the Mediterran-
ean, might be rade to transform the
Nubign desert into cotton fields that
would render England independent of
America. As a matter of fact, the
Delta of the Nile is already a great cot-
ton field, the cultivation of the plant
having doubled since the British occu-
ration of Egypt began. New irrigation
svorks are being constructed continu-
ally, and as these increase the cultiv-
able area. the soil reclaimed, is planted
with cotton. What gives Egyptian cot-
ton its peculiar value is the length
of its fibre, an inchand. a half. Owing
to this element of superiority, lest
year's erop, which amounted to i100-
000 bales of 500 pounds each, WaS sold
at a price 2 oents per pound. in excess
of quotations for American upland cot-.
ton. The Egyptian fibre has become
a necessity not only in Europe, but
also in the United States, for the latter
country buys 100,000 bales of Nile cot-
ton annually, and. in New England the
consumption of the staple is increas-
ing.
A EIRATFIIII PREAMIER,
XIEV. DR, TALiAGE ON PRESS AND
PR LPIT EL&TI0N$,
TICE GREAT POWER OF TUE PUSS
The Noted lietvine cononteraerates the
e,01.1011t ruelicatten et We *omens itty
Timety Senate' remit a 111[0.4 Valaaa ud
ApaarClatiy PrOXfaetke VOX% The, Text
et ihe Press,
Washington, Feb. 20.—Itey. Dr. Tal-
mage this morning preached from the
text. Nahum ii. 4, "They shell seem like
torches ; they sheet rue like the light -
zings," He wed:
Express, rail traisi and telegraphic
communieation are suggested, if not
foretold, let this, text, and from it I
start to preach a sermea in gratitude
to God and the newseeper press for the
fact that 1 have had. the opportunity
of delivering through the nesvspeper
presa 2,000 sermons or religious addres-
see, so that. I have of many years been
allowed. the privilege of prettelang the
gospel every week to every 'neighbor-
hood in Christendinn and in Many lands
outside of Christendom. Many have
wondered. at the process by which it
has come to pass, and. for the first time
in public place 1 state the three causes.
Melly years ago a young man who has
since become eminent in his professic
was then studying law in a distant city.
•He cane to me and said that for lack
of funds he snuet stop his studying un-
less through stenography I would. give
him sketches of sermons that he might
by the sale of them secure means for
the completion of his education. I
positively declined because it seem-
ed to me an impossibility, but after
some months had pealed. and. I had re-
flected, upon the great sadness for such
a,• brilliant young man to be defeated
in his ambition for the legal profession,
I undertook to serve hem, of course free
of charge. Within three weeks there
came a request for those stenograph-
ic reports from. mealy parts of the con-
tinent. •
Time passed on, and some gentlemen
of my own profession, evidently think-
ing that there was hardly room for
them and. for myself in this continent
began to assail me, and. became so vio-
lent •in their assault, that the chief
newspapers of America, put special cor-
respondents in my church Sabbath by
Not only is the Egyptian cotton sup-
erior to that grown by Southern plant-
ers since the practical abandonment
of the Sea Island staple, but there are
ether advantages on the side of the
fellebeen product. The fertility of the
Nile soil permits the harvesting of a
crop averaging nearly five hundred
weight per acre; there is no dread of
frost; and. the requisite labor may 'be
secured for 15 to 18 cents a day per
man. As it is, Egypt now derives from
cotton, for both staple and. seed, near-
ly e55,000,000 a year, and. this is likely
to be increased by some 40 per cent.,
if Mr. Penfield is justified, in the cam-
petation that the Nile Delta, fire yeers
eerie% will produce a million apd a
ealf bales. The revenue at present ob-
tained. from cotton suffices to pay the
nterest on an enormous debt. and to
carry on the Covernnaent ; 'indeed,
there stewed be a surplus in the Trea-
sury but for the cost of the military
expedition up the Nile.
It is not only in respect of cotton
that Egypt's prospective development
may well attraCt attention. Mr. Pen-
field points out that when the prov-
;was of Dongola. and Berber are re-
stored to productiveness, huge tracts
will he opened to the growing of bread -
stuffs, and the Nile Basin will become
once more, as it was from the days of
the Pharaohs dere n to Saracenio times,
, n3 of the granaries of the world. The
iication of those provinces to such
rinses will permit, on the one hand,
whole of Lower Egypt, including
.e Fayoum, to be devoted to cotton
culture, aad on the other hand, the
whole of Middle and Upper Egypt, from
Beni Souef to Assoutte, to be given up
el sugar growing, It appears that in
the last two years, and especially since
the destruction of the Cuban sugar es-
tates, the cultivation of the wager
nine has been rapidly developed in that
part of the Nilo Valley; The Egyptian
sugar is said to be of excellent quittity,
a,nd there was enough of iL in 189(i
axe( 1897 to bring to Egypt as !wish
es $8,000,000 a year. According to Mr.
Penfield, the area alloted to the sugar
• vane will be doubled, if not trebled, in
the (nurse of a short time, so that here-
after statisticians will have to hike the
• Egyptian ercip into aceount. •
Sabbath to take •down :such reply as
I might make. I never made reply, ex-
cept once for about three minutes, but
those correspondents could not waste
their time, ane so they telegraphed. the
sermons to their particular rapers. Af-
ter awhile Dr. Louis Klopsch of New
York systematized. the work into a
syndicate, until through that and oth-
er sy.nrlicates, he has put the discourses
week by week before more than 20,00.0,-
000 people . on both sides of the sea.
There have been so many guesses on.
this subject, meaty of them inaccurate,
that I now tell the true story. I have
not improved the opportunity as I
ought, but I feel the time has came
when as a matter of common justice
to the newspaper press I should make
this statement in a sermon commem-
orative of the two thousandth full pub-
lication of sermons and religious ad-
dresses, saying nothing of fragmen-
tary- reports, whith would run up into
many thousands more.
There was one incident that I might
mention in this connection showing
how an insignificant event might in-
fluence us for a. lifetime. Many years
ago on a Sabbath morning on my way
to church in Brooklyn a representative
of a prominent newspaper met me and
said, "Are you going to give us any
points to -clay?" I said, "What do you
inean by ' roints?' " He replied, "Any-
thing we can remember," I said, to my-
self, 'We ought to be making points"
all the time in our pulpits, and not
deal in platitude and inanities." That
one interrogation put to me that
morning started in Me the ,desire of
making points all the time and. noth-
ing but points.
. And now how can I more appropri-
ately comraemorate the two thousand-
th publication, than by speaking of the
newspaper press as an ally 'of the pul-
pit and mentioning some of the trials
of newsraper men?
The surseoaper is the great educator
of the nineteenth century. There is no
force compared with it. It is book,
pulpit, platform, forum, all in one. Anil
there is not an interest—religious,
literary, commercial, solentific, agri-
cultural or mechanical—that is not
within its grasp. All our churches,
and schools and colleges and asylums
and art galleries feel the quaking of
the printing press.
The institution of newspapers arose
in Italy. In Venice the first newpa-
per was published, and monthly during
the time Venice was warring against
Selyman IT. in Dalmatia, it, MIS print-
ei for the purpose of giving ttalitary
and commertial information to the
Venetians. The first newspaper pub-
lished in Englanci was in 1588 and cull-
ed the English Mercury. Who can es-
timate 1 he political ; scientific, commer-
cial and religious revolutions roused
up in England for many years past
by the press 1'
The first attempt, at this institution
in France was in 1.631, by a pep -Irian,
who Published the Nesse:, for the aalUtat-
inent and health of his patentee The
French nation understood fully bow to
appreriate this power. So early 1114 ifl
1820 there were in Paris 160 joarnale.
But in the United States the newspaper
has reuse to unlimited se a1r. Though
in 1775 there were but 37 in the whole
e.ountry, the number of published jour -
nada is now counted by thousands, and
to-day—we may as well -acknowledge
it es not—the religious and seeu.lar
riewspa,pers are the great; ecluotttor§ of
the country. •
But alas, through what struggle the
newspaper bas come to its present de-
velem:Tient:I just as soon as it began
to demonstrate its power superstition
arid tyranny shackled it, There is.to-
thing that despotism so much fears
and hates as the printing prase. •A
great writer in the south of Europe
deckled that the King of 'Naples had
made it nesefeefor him to write an any
atilbelsot fleet" nattiral history. Austria
ALITMENUM COOKING- UTENSILS,
lt•ecent experiments show that aura -
:own is a safe meta for cooking. uten-
els. Some slight eorrosion, takes phiee
it.it soon ceases, as an insoluble coat -
ng seems to form on the metal which
%rettsete it This is anelogotis to prate°,
;lee deposits on iron boil•er plates and
teal water -pipes, • which are often
•eroduced by water con,tsOning salts. It
's• announced that smarty all the ut,-
- rotes carried by soldiers or the Frencia
:truly ott the marcub'. will be made lusee-
sfi r *r
CrrItTOTTS O�TNCWENOIL
• By a curious coincidence the number
rd Live, Met at sea durieg 1890 tBrie
netrehant mbips is returned as et
-
Idly 1897.
TE TI1VCES
I
could not bear Xessethie joureelistic end stop aa hour. From the editorial
Pen pleading for the. reelemPthon of and reportorial rooms all the follies
Hungary, Napoleon I., wanting • tei and temple a the world are seen day
!wisp iii$ Wren heel, on the neek of na-
awls, said, that the newspaper wee the
regime of /liege and, the Poly safe plisee
to keep an editor was in prison. Bot
the great battle for the freedoro, of the
preae was foaglit in the court -rooms
of England awl the United States be-
fore this century began; when Hamil-
ton made his great sneeeb, in helialf
et the freedom of j. Peter Zenger's
Gazette in Ameresa, and when Esselte%
taade Ms great. speech in behat of the
treedom to publish Paine's "Rights of
Man" in England. Those Wen the
Maxatboa and. the Thermopylae where
the battle was fought whiott deeided
the feeedont of the press in Englaad.
and. America, and all the powers of
earth and hell will never again to able
to put; upon the printing preesi • the
handcuffs and hopples of literary and
political depotiem.
It is remarkable that Thomas Jef-
ferson who wrote the .Declaration of
Tridependenee, also wrote these words,
"If I had to choose between a govern-
ment without newspa,pers awl- news -
Papers without a government,'would
prefer the latter." Sheag by some new
fabrication in print, we come to write
or speak about an "unbridled printing
sneeze' Cur new book ground up in
unjust. criticism, we eome to write or
speak about the "unfair printing
press." Perhaps througli our own in-
dietinetness of utterainee we are re-
ported as eaging just the opposite or
what we did say, an.d there es lineal
riot of semicolons and. hyphens •, and
commas, awl we come to write or talk
about the "blundering printing press,"
or we teire up a newspaper full of soc-
ial scandal and of cases of divoreeand
we write or talk about a "Ciltineiseur-
rilous printing press." But this morn-
ing, I ask you. to consider the immeas-
urable and everleating blessing of a
good newspaper.
I find no difficulty in accountinrs for
the world's advance. What has made
the change? "Books," you, say. No, sir!
The vast majority of citizens do not
read books e Take this audience or any
other promiscuous assemblage, and how
many histories Isteve they read? How
many treatises on constitutional law
or 'political economy or works of sci-
ence? How many elaborate poems or
books of travel? Not many. In the
United States the people would not av-
erage one smolt book a year for each
individail. Whence, then, this interne,
genre, this capacity to talk •about all
themes, secular and. religious, this ac-
quaintance with science and. art, this
power to appreciate the beautiful and
grand? Next to the Bible, the news-
paper, swift winged and everywhere
present, flying over the fence, shoved.
under the door. tossed into the count-
ing house, laid. on the svorkbench,hawk-
ed. through the. cars! All read it —
weites and black, German, Irishman,
Swiss, Spaniard, American, old and
young, good and bad, sick and well, be-
fore breakfast and after tea, Monday.
morning, Saturday night, Sunday and.
weekday. I now declare that I- con-
sider the newspaper to be the grand
agency by which the gospel is to be
preaohed, ignoranee cast out, oppres-
sion dethroned, criine extirpated, the
glorified. In
sad, heaven rejoiced. and. God
In the olanking of the
printing' press as the sheets fly out I
hear the voice of the Lord. Almighty
proclaiming to all tbe, dead, nations of
the earth, 'Lazarus, come forth!" and
to the retreating surges of darkness,
"Let there be light!" In many of our
city newspapers, professing no more
than secular information, there have
appeared during the past 30 years some
of the *grandest appeals in behalf of
religion and some of the most effec-
tive interpretations of God's govern-
ment among the nations.
There are only two kinds of news-
papers—the one good, very good, the
other bad, very bad. A newspaper
may be started with an undecided ehar-
acter, but after it has been going on
for years everyeody finds out just
what it is, end it is very goad or it
as very bad. The one paper is; the eta-
bodimeat of news, the ally of virtue,
the foe of crime*, the delectation of
elevated taste, the mightiest agency on:
earth for making the world better. The
other paper is a brigan:d among moral
foroes; it is a besliener of reputation,
it is the right arra of death an:d hell, it
is the mightiest ageaey in the universe
for making the world worse and bat-
tling againet the cause of God, the one
en: waged of intelligence and mercy,
the other a, fiend. of darkness. Be-
tween this aroh-angel and this fury is
to be fought the great bettle which
is to decide the fate of the world. If
you have any doubt as to which is to
be victor, ask theprophecies, ask God;
the chief batteries with which he
would vindicate the right and thunder
down the wrong are now unlimited.
The great Armageddal of the nations
by day, and tbe teneptatioe is to be-
lieve :neither in God, men, 210),! wortion.
It ts 40 surprise to me that in your
profession: there are Some skeptkeil
men. I only wonder that you believe
anything. Unless an editor or a re-
porter has in his present or in his early
home a model of earnest charaeter, or
lie throw himself' upon: the upholding
grace of God, he may make temporal.
and eternal shipwreok.
Another great trial .of the newspaper
profession is the diseased appetite for
unhealthy intelligenoe. Yon blame the
newspaper press for giving suele Prom-
inenee to murders and scandals. Do you
snPpose that so enemy papers would
give Prominence to these tbingst if the
people did not demand them? If. I go
tate the meat market of a foreign city,
and I find that the butehere hang up
on the most conspieueus hooks meat
that is tainted, svhile the meet tbat is
fresh and savory is put away without
IsPecial care, I oo.ro.e to the conclus-
ion thee the people of that city love
tainted meat. You know very well
that if the great mass et people inthis
country get hold of & ,newspa.per and
there are in it no runaway matches, no
broken up families, leo defamation of
men in high positions, they pronounoe
the paper insipid. They say, "It is shock-
ingly dull to -night." I believe it is one
of the trials of the newspaper press that
the people of this country demand mor-
al slush instead a healthy and intel-
lectual food. Now, you are a respecta-
a.ble man, an intelligent man, and a
paper comes into your hand. You open
it, .aad there are three columns of
splendidly written editorial, recora-
mending some moral sentiment or
evolviag some scientific theory. In the
next column there is a miserable, con-
tein,ptible divorce case. Which do you.
read first? You dip into the editorial
long enough to say, "Well, that's very
ably written,' and you read the divorce
the top to the "nonpareil" type at
the top of the "%nonpareil" type at the
bottom, and then you, ask your wife if
she has read it 1 Oh, it is only a case
of supply and. demand!
Another temptation of the newspaper
profession is the great allurement that
surrounde them. Every occupation and
peofesseen has temptations peoaliar to
and the newspa.per profession is
note an exception. The grea.t demand,
as you know, is on the nervous force,
and. the brain is racked. The blunder-
ering political speech must read -well
for thhe sake of the party, a,n,d. so the
reporter or the editor has to make it
read well, although every sentence were
a catastrophs to th,e English languagn.
l'be reporter must; hear all that ea
inaudible speaker, -sable thinks it is vul-
gar to alleak out, says, and it must
be right the next morning or the next
night in ths papers, though the night
before the whole a.aclience sat with its
hand behind its eer in vain trying to
catch it. This unen must go through
killing night work. %Be must go into
heated assemblages and kite unventil-
ated -andienee rooms that are enough
to take tee life out of Mae He must
visit courtroosns, which are almost al-
ways disgusting with ram an.d tobacco.
The.must expose himself et the flee. He
matte write en fetid alleyways. Adde&
to all that, he must have hasty mastica-
tion and la -regular habits. To bear up
under the tremendous nervous strain
they ere temptecl to artificial stimulus,
eed how many thousa,nds have, gone
down sunder theia• pressure God ,only
knows. They must halve something to
counte,reot the wet, they must have
something to keep olet tbe chiel, and
after a, scant night's sleep they must
hare sormethentg to revive them for the
morn:lag's work. That is whet made
liftnnee Greeley sucli a, stout temper-
ance snatnn I said to him, "Mr. Greeley,
vtley are you more eloquent on the sub-
ject of temperance, than a.ny other
subject ?" He replied, eI have seen so
many of my best friends in jou,rnatlism
go, down. under intemperance!'
Another trial ce this profession is the
fact no one seems to cage for their
souls. They feel bitterly about it.
though they blush. People sometimes
laugh the loudest when they feel the
worst. They are expected to gather up
religious proceedings and. to discuss re-
ligious dcetrines in the editorial col-
umns, but who expects them to be sav-
ed by tbe sernuotne they stenograph or
by the doctrines they discussin the
ediemial columns? The world looks up-
on theca as professional. :Who preaches
to reporters and editors? Some of them
came from religious homes, and when
they left the parental rope, whoever re-
garded or disregarded, they eame off
with a father's beneciletion and. a mo-
ther's prayer. tThey never the* of
those good. old times but tears come
into their eyes, en& they move through
these greet •cities homesick_
Let ene.ask men, cenneeted with
is ma to be fought w th swords, but
the pleat -mg press that they help us
with steel pens; not with bullets, hut
more an,d. more in the effort to make
with type; not with cannon, but with
lightning perfecting preeses, and the. I charge you in the
the world better.
&inters, and tbe Moultries, and the nilMe af G°C11, befu.'re 'whom Yule must
for the tremendous influence
Pulakis, and the Gibraltars (el the a-4°3unit
conflict will be the editorial ..and re- Yot alohl iin title country to conseerate
portorial rooms of our great news, Yourselves to higher endeavor. You
paper establishments. Men of the er,3 the men to fight tack this invasien..
press, God .has put a more stupendims of corrupt literalure, Lilt up your
hand and swear new allegiance
responsibility upon you than upon right
any other class of personsWhCt tothe cause of phiegahropy and. re-
g y
legion. And. militate at /est., standing on
Ienstrides our profession has made
i4 up !tat to"deutbAbliowlbooteideed. rao" eta! ltineee and
And now before I °lose this sernion,
thanitfully couneemmative e of the
'"Tevo, Thotteatulth" pebiloation, I Wish
more fully to eeknowledge the serviees
rendered by the seenlar press in the
matter of evangelization. An the sec-
ular newspapers of t,be day—for I aM
eot speaking this morning of the relig-
loas newspapers—all tbe secular news-
papers of the day disouset all the ques-
tions of God, eternity and the deed,
and all tbe questions of the past, pres-
ent and future. There is not a single
doctrine of theology bat has beendie-
cussed in the last' ten years by the
secular eewspapers of the oountry
they gather np all the, news of all the
earth bearing on religions subjeots,
and then they scatter the news abroad
again. The Christian newspaper will
be the right wing of the Apocalyptic
angel. -mbiB eynxider of the Christian-
ized printing press will be the front
Wheels of the Lord's chariot. I take
the music% of this day, and I do not
mark it diminuendo—I mark it cres-
cendo. A pastor on a Sabbath preacn-
es to a fenv hundred or a, few thousand
people, and on Monday or during the
week the minting press will take ths
same sermon and preach it to million%
of people. God speed the printieg
press I God. save the printiag press 1
God Christianize the printing pressl
When I see the printing press stand-
ing with the eleetrio telegraph on the
MO side gathering u.p material and
the lightning express train on the
other -side 'waiting for the tons of
folded sheets .of newspaper, I ;pron-
ounce it the mightiest force in our
civilizatioe, So I comniend yoto. to
pray for all tlfose• who manage the
newspapers of the land, for all type-
setters, for all editors, for all publishe
erse that, sitting or standing in posit-
ions of each great influence, they.
may give all that influence for God.
and the betterment 'of the human
race. An aged woman making tee
living by knitting unwound the yarn
from the Veal until she found in the
centre of the ball there wee an old,
piece of newspaper. She opened it and
read an advertisement wheel announc-
ed that she had become heiress to a
large property and that fragment of;
newspaper lifted her up from pauper-
ism to affluence. send I do not. know
bat as the thread. of time unrolls and
u:nwinds a little farther through the
silent yet speaking newspaper may
be found the vast inheritance of the
world's redemption.
Jesus shell reign where'er the sun'
Does his successive journeys run.
His kingdom stretch from shore to
shore
Till suns shall rise and set no more.
in influence and power since the
day, whea Peter Sheffer invented cast
metal type, and because two books were
found just alike they were ascribed to
the work of the devil, and books were
.printed on etrips of bamboo, and Rev.
Jesse Glover originated the first Am-
eritan printing prese, and the .com-
mon cow:tell of New York in solemn
resolution, offered $200 to any printer
no would come there and live and
ween the speaker of the House of Par-
liament in Englond announced with in-
dignation that the public prints had
recognized some of their doings, until
in tiles clay, when -we have in this coun-
try :many newspapers sending out cop-
ies by the billion. •
• One of the great trials of thisnews-,
paper profeesionis the fact tbat they
are compelled to see more of the shams
• of the -world than any other profession.
Throagh every newspaper office, day
lsy day, go the weakness of the world,
the • vanities that want to be puffed,
the revenges that want to be wreaked.
ail the moitakes that want to be cor-
roded, all the dull speakers svho want
to be thougtit eloquent, all the mean -
nese that wares to get its wares notic-
ed gratis is the editorial columns in
order to save the tax of the advertising
re -slaws, all the men who warn to be set
right who never were right, all the
crack brained philosophers, with story
as long as their beer, and as gloomy aa the palaee gate; Wee nowt;' The glove
their finger nails, all the Diner:tedious news! That there is; pardon for all
bores Who come Le May Sive minutes guilt and teinfort for al trouble, Set
the plates of judgment, you toek out
uipoin the unnumbered thronge • over
whom you bitve bad influence niay 14
be found that you were among the
migh.tieet enargies tbat left men aeon
th‘e exalted pathway that leads to the
renown of heaven. Better than to have
sat lin editorial eliair, from, which with
the finger a type, you decidea the des-
teeies of empires, but deeirlerd. them
syrong, that you had been, same dung -
wined exile, who, by the light of window
iron grated, on scraps of a New Testa -
!nevi:: leaf. pieked up from the eerth
spelled out the story of him. who tak-
ebb, away the sins of the world. In et-
eraity Deves is the begene. Welt, my
friends, we will all soon get through
writing a.ncl printing auct proof-reading,
and publieherig. What then? Our life
is a book. Our years are the clupters.
Oar months are the pareneaphs. Our
days are bhe sentences. Our doubts are
the interrogation points. • Our ;Anita,-
tilon of others the quotatien ma.rke, Our
attempts at di5pla a daeh. Detetb the
period.• Eternity the peroration. 0
God, where will we spena ht ?
you beard the news, wore startling
than any found in the journals of the
last six 1V.fakS 1 It is the tidings that
man le lost. • Herta you heard the news,
the glederet thnt was ever anrsounced
waning this day from the throne of
God, lightning roureers leaning from
WHAT WAS THE SONG-.
An AntataIng Exantple at the Want at e
Musical Ear
The, musician can scarcely conceive
•how iit iS passible for a, human being
to be so devoid of in,usicaa ear as not
to know one tu,ne from another, but
instances of smile deficiency are ex-
eeedingly common,. Answers Giles an
amusing example.
Two sailors returned from a long voy-
age, strolled into a. public house near
th.e docks. Abeve the rumble of the
traffic in the street could be heard at
intervals th.e lona; unmusicel voice of
a luicksber. After listening intently
for a minute one of the sailors turned
to his companion and. said:
"Eh, Jack, led; it's a. long time since
we heard that song."
"Whet song ?" •
"The one that feleoiw's slinging in the
street—`The Light of Other Days.'"
"Stow it !" ejaculated the other, gruf-
fly. "That fellow ant singing 'The
Light of Other Days' at all, man. I've
been listening to him. He's a -piping
'The Banks of Aldan Water.'"
Each settee was certain he was right,
and with ciharacteristic contempt for
money, a wager was made—a month's
wages depending on th.e resat.
"Here, Tommy I" called oat one of
thenruen. to this little son of the land-
lord., "rein out atnd get to knoi. what
that 'fellow's singing.'
Tommy deperted an his errand., which
did not take many minutes.
"Well," demanded jack, when the
youngster returned, "which of us is
right?"
"Nayther of ye," repkied, Tommy,griate
ning. "The feller's not singing. He's
hawking flypapers I"
No 4...*•••••••
RARE SAPPHIRE.
ITIE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Wawa.
Contains an Opalescent Sear That Change
It Positiono. •
A Ceylon sepphitre, now in that cite,
the property of Major-General 'Robley
is not less remarkable for 1ts size than
for iits transluee.ney end the brilliance
of the optical effects it nen show, The
weigsh.t of the gem. is 688 auras, and it
is of a dark, milky blue color, perfectly
transparent and flawless. Larger step -
pietas have been known; they have usu-
ally, if not al wa.ys. been dull and Muddy
instead. a baying the 'clear, translucent
color of this specimen. But in addition
it possesses a property occastopaly
fundin slightly cloudy or milkyCy-
Ion stippleres--aad sometimes in other
gems, too—which greatly enhances its
value be the eyes of believers in bhe oc-
net powers of prat:Sows stoties to con-
fer health and good fortune on their
wearers. It is tr, star sapphire or ast-
eria. That is, beirng mit en caboeholi,
itt, displays a beautiful opalescent star,
dividing its six rays at the apex, which
changes its position aecording to the
moveinent of elm source of light • by
which et ts VieW.Eal. By. employing two
or three sources of ligh,t, twoor three
of• these stets can be sienulteneously
eeen in t,he gem. • Jey further cutteng,
5,4 es said that the beauty of this stone
could. be still more increased, bttl; of
course, at the expense of its size,
a
INTERNATIONAL, LESSON, 1YIAR, 6.
6.1testis and the Sabbath," natte se. egs,
Golden Text, mitt. Ma.
• PleAreriCAL NOTES,
Verse 1. At that time (Seasou). Luke
gives the time as the "seeond-firet
Sabbath,". whatever that means. 14 is
teen, that the event of our lesson m-
atured between the,' Passover and the
Pentecost, "between the' begiening of
the barley and. the end of the wheat
1.(arvest." 'Went on the Sabbath day.
gogue. Through the corn. Through
hivideritly on his way from. .synee
the wheat, the restriction: .of the word
"corn" to ,:indian corn is an American
idiom; rye, and-witeut, and barley in
England are. called cora, Mark says,
"Began to make a path, pluelting the
ears," whioh bringe, to our no -
ties the leek of both fences and. "made
mauls" in Syria. His disciples . were
ahungered. Pious 'Telma were arcus -
tamed to go to morning prayers at
the synagogue before they had eaten
any food. Began, The use of this word
shows how eager the .Pharisees were
to find fault with Jesus; thee* began
their ormeipra, just as soon as the
disciples began to. eat. To pluck the
ears of corn. Luke says, "Rubbing
them in.tbeir hands," It is not unusu-
al in the East for countryman. to eat
a, little wheat and barley witheat
grinding or welting.
2, When the Pharisees saw it. Pro-
bably these Pharisees were those who
had. been sent down from Jaru.sa,lem to
measure the influence of' the new
Teacher, and report. They were eot
friendly observers. jesus did tbings
that shocked them. He assumed
to forgive 'sins; be ate and drank with
Publicans and sinners ; from their poled
of view he taught men to dishonor Use
Sabbath. No wonder they were alert
with their criticism. Thy di is,
Every rabbi bad his followers Nvho ex-
emplified his teachings; so that the
criticism. on a rabbi's disciples was
really a criticism on himself. That
which is not lawful to do upon the Sab-
bath day. The "law" here referred to
is not to be found in the "1 a"
Looks. It had its origin =Ong the
Pharisees themselves. So intent were
they to avoid transgression. of the Mos -
ale law that they made many minute
and. troublesome regulations clear ov-
er the edge of Moses's commands, and
held. that it was as wicked to disre-
gard these man -uncle regulations as
to break God's law. This led our Lord
on another occasion to charge them
with "making void the law.' The
pluoking of even one ear of c.orn, they
said, was reaping; to rub it with the
hands was to thresh; to catch a
flea. was to hunt; even to cat a
fresh egg on the day after the Sab-
bath was a. doubtful act, because the
hen. Might have laid it en the holy day.
Seth quibbleng shows an. utter lack of
understanding of the loving purpose of
God's law. Notice, however, that there
W9.4 knio objection made to the plucking
of th eears; only to its being dnne
on the Sabbath. According to our
modern. laws, whiela are Homan, pagan,
in their origin. it might be 'counted
an intrusion, even robbery, for a per-
son; to help himself to the product ee
ainother's field, but the Mos aie law
made special previsiom. for the way-
farer. Deut. 23. 24.
3. Have ye not read what DaNrid did?
The story Is told in 1 Sam. 21. 1-17,
which, according to Dr. Farrar's bril-
liant conjecture, for which he gives
some reasons, had .beet read in the
synagogue as the appointed Scripture
that very moroing. Jesus did reot need
any indorsement from Devid, but he
used the Pharisees' weapons against
themselves ; they were worshipers of
the letter of the law-, and he shows
them that the ideal Hebrew of earlier
times on a pivotal occasion of Ms life
broke one of the directest lasvs out-
right. He k:aew the Pharisees dared
aot indorse this act of. Devid's, and
they dared not criticise it. But if 'riot
then why should they oriticise the dis-
ciples af Jesus, Whose act was not di-
rectly illegal 1
4. The house of God. 'Which was the
tabernacle at Nob. Mark, 2,16, *men-
tion,s Ablatlear as the name of . the
high priest; the record ia Samuel calls
ben Abimeleche - The shoe-bren.d.
TI coasisted of twelve .cakes or loaves,
placed in two piles on a golden table
every Sabbath, end on each pile, or
else between the two was laid &golden
cup of frankincense. These stood forth
perpetually ia the presence of the
Lord, as one of the most sacred and
beautiful emblems of the ancient wor-
ship. " Deems," says ler. Morison, "tt
significant and sublime symbolism, de-
noting that Jehovah was the provider
of his people's food." Every week when
the new bread. was put/ upon the tales
the old rakes were reraoved, and the
law forbade any to ent of these but
the priests. By thus instancing Da;v-
• id's breach Of Moses's law our Lord
woula teach that when eiod's collets/mils
seem to enme Mtn collision meth the
real needs of mankind, as they in ust on
rare oCcasions in a world of infirmit-
kg, it is eneres needs that have the
right of way; for God's commands ex-
ist On account of those needs. The Jew-
ish toiler, vrhe, to the peril of many,
refused to touch the helai on the Sae
bath, when a wild storm' was raging,
was . a eerily mistaken morn I hero, if
not, rather, an unsonselous ereninal,
God rioes not need EWAN-bread to NIA;
Oa. does not need a Sahl'a tit to rest ;
Gee does not need the money given
to the 'Church; hut me,n need to rest,
anti men need to give. Every law , like
hthe law of the Sale:tele wee made fey
SPECTA1 let PRE,P e.etieD.
• Young. Wife (on her first marketing
expeciltioe)-1 clOn't knosv, bub it seems
to me that's a. pretty high price for
ramll•mert
• GeorClerk—This • meal is made
from hand-picked corn,
• Young Wife—Vireil, I'll take about
a gallon of
As we advainoe in life we lewd, tile
limit of otter abilities.—Frotele
man.
5. Have you nol read in the law?' See
/Sumo 28, .1. priests tn the temple
profame the Sableth, By doing work
%titian the temple which on general
principles had been forbidden; for in-
stanee they 'removed the show bread,
they lighted the. fires and even slew
the Vietians of ancrifiee. .The Sabi at..b
was their busiest day., But Who would
Warne them? They served Jeliova.h.
6. Thei 1 say unto you. This phrase
,Toeue repeatedly teed., 'nue!. Ineve
jarred. harshly on the'Pha,rieeeei ears;
for they were forever .quotime preced-
ent and authority; what settee dea(1 rab-
bi had seid was of rar ;more importance
to t.ham, 'then any fresh thought, ,. Tri
thie place 15 one greater tha,n, the
temple. nu bterally in this phrase
referred to our Lord himeelf, Our
bodies are temples for the Holy Ghost,
1 Cor. 6. 19, mad surely -the Son of man
„..
91 MS ratli paystran perSoll was a Vat -
feet itemsxle nf Gott, i Bet our Itor
meant more than Merely (het lie hien
self was greater then the Wimple; more
eyen than that the ImIntan 'body of e,
believing Christian is a better teraPle
than any thet can be bait of Marble
and gold. The deeper meaning of ine
(deceit:lent is thee tbs. Principle
lia,now ,declares is a greater 'prin.
eim1e than that for whiteh the temple'
etaod. For the better , treuslatiort .
"Ilere .is som.ething greater than
the temple." .I1, whether we eat, or,
whether we drink, or whatever We do,
we de all to the glory of God, we there-
in perform the highest and holiest ser-
vice ; and Our bodies become fit tem-
ples for the IlbLy Ghost to dwell in.
.7. If ye hact known what this meat,-
eth. If ye bad undersbood Hosea 6.0.
have mercy and not sacrifice:
Thire '4:tweet:ion had been given bellere.
Matt. 9.13, it teaehest in other plara-e-
olozy, the very doctrine. that Jesus ba,d
just taught. " There is something more
binding than the lame a:ea that is th
ptiaciple which underlies the
Carr. "Mercy " is bettee than "sacri-
fice ;" deeds are more important than
ceremonies; love is better than anye
command based on the, duty Of love.
The Pharisees Itabitually inverted the.
proper order of things, anct made the
form of more consequence thanthen
power, Ye would not have condemned
the guiltless..When ,Tesue defends his
own he does lt net by halves; Isere is the
argument of & vigorous debater.
8. The Son of ellen, A phrase which':
probably was understood by our Lord's
hearers as implying that, he was the
Messiah. Lord even of the, sabbath clay.
tke Messialawas governor of all
Sabbath laws the Pharisees, Probably
would admit, bub that Jesus was the
Messiah they denied.
9. When im was departed thence, At
fiest sight this would indicate, and the
natera,tiive of Mark conveys a similar
kupression., that Jesus left the piece
where the pharisees were, and straight-
way went itato a, synagogue with which
those Pharisees were connected; but
Luke states t*hae the heeling we are
about to study came on another Sala 4
bath. It is very likely, however, tha,t
it also took 'Plates 15 Caperneum.
• M. There wee a, main ess-bieh bad. his
band withered. "His right hand."—
Luke. It was peralyzed. An ancient
tradition says he was a mason. walla had
hunt his htund while mattes With
stone. They asked him. They evident-
ly expected that he woad heal the
accuse him of breateli of the law. It. tni,ght
be inferred from. this incident tied the
rabbis generally regerd•ed as sinful all
efferts to heal on t.he Sabbath day.
But this was not the case. In cases
of life anddeath they taught that
physielae should be called; but any „
Uerninnent; disfigurement or pain they
thought shoulci be endured without re-
lief op the Sabbath ; ehronic sufferers
must not take. medicine; nor raigt a
dislocated borie be set. Is. it lawful to
heal on the Sabbath clays/ A formal
question, asked simply tbat they might
aCCUB3 Mtn. of lireaeli of the law, and so
put a stop to his career as a rabbi and
as they supposed) as a candidate for
the crowns .
11. What man shall there be among o
you, etre To 'relieve an animal that had e
ranee into a pit was regarded as law -
fat even by our Lord's crities, but
some of the rabbi's taught that to pull
a sheep out of a pit on the Sabbath day
was a sin, while. to let food down to it
was a good. deed. In Mark and Luke
we have the question in a somewhab
different form, "Is it lawful to do
good. on the Sabbath elay or to do evil?
to save life or to destroy it ?"
Pbani-
seso would answer, "To do nothing at
all tin the next day." But our Lord's
teaching is tbat it is never right. to
leave a good. deed undone. It. has been
well said, "Not to do good when it
lies in our power is praetically to, do .
• 12. How much then is a man better
then a sheep.? The. argument here is
mud; mare ssmple end direct than thet
in Mark and Luke. - Wherefore it is
lawful to do well on the Sabbath days.
That is, to do good on the Sabbath days. re
No truly good deed is out of order
ever.
• 13, Then saith he to the man. Atark
adds, "Looking round about Lira, be-
ing grieved at the hardnees of their
hearts." Stretch forth thine hand.
The man was called upon to do what
he seemeci incapable of doing; just so .
the sinner is called upon to believe his
sin taken away. He stretched it forth;
and it wae restored whole. After all
their questions eel anxieties the cure
WWI performed -without nny labor at
• It is easy to figure moral natures
a,s tha,ving eyes to see, and ears to her.
• and hands to work for God. There are
maay withered hands in our churches;
let theirt repels out in action in obedi-
ence to our Lord's command, andeehey
will find power to work.
•
ALLOON ASCENSIONS.
•
Made liy Aeronauts 031 Horseback -StoP1333
• in tattland by The Palter.
'.Citere are at least five well authentic,-
ated cases of aeronauts having made
LISMISLOUS on horseback. -
In 1828 Green, the aeronant, went up
from, tb.e Eagle Tavern in Oleg Reed,
London, seated on a pony, whien stood
on a platform suspended from the
14011. laL-
Thu pony was not is the lease .
disconcerted, and a ' safe descent :Was
made al. Beckenham. In 1850 Mr. Green
repeated this experiment. Lientene,0
Gale lost his life in the settee year in.
attempt:bug a similar ascent at ilor-
(Leung.. In 1852 llerne..Polteven. who is
credited wit li several' such exploits wee
up from Creme:me Gardens, • and in
1858 she aseended frern. Paris on horee.
back and was very nearly drewned iri
the, sett steer Malaga. :Previously to
this equestrian aecents in Englant had •
hoeii stopped by the po,ece. It nuty
remarked.that the first four -legged 0.11"
mat that went; up in &hello:la was a
sheep; which, 15 connatnywith a ecok.
and n duck amended from Versailles
1783. '
AVIIIEN 1111 BItATN GROWS,
A. prominent educator balking to mo-
.
sayethat wieh alT ehlildren there
are nascent periode--that is, there are
certain times when a ehild can eitrik
to do thilngs cateler and . better than
at'ottiters. The, growth of •the breen iu
nett generally understood. . There • is,
110,33emer an ebb aid flow of tamest,
The chikiren apply theeeselvee asseen
°stay forix. time, then comes arrest, end
c.ducatoes ere stow disputing whether
to urge the Mild tames oe after the ebb
wen for the tartans retirees a, intenat
lit their •work,