HomeMy WebLinkAboutExeter Times, 1898-10-5, Page 7e
A STRANGER'S WARNING.
NEV. DR. TALIViatE PEEACRES AN
ELOQUENT SERIIION.
He
Draws Some Pitiful Lessons From the
gonvereton or Fincyele—Precision and
Punctuality or the Divine Arrange-
ment ilteligione Warning may seem
Prenosterous God eaves Every Man a
Fair Chance tor Ens lefe.
A despatoli from Washington seya:—
Br. Talmage preached froxri the follow-
ing text: "Yet forty days, and Nineveh
shall be overthrown."aeronah ill. 4.
On tae banks of the Tigris there is a,
great capital, sixty miles in circuni-
ference • surrounded by a wall
broad enough to allow three chariots
to go abreast ; fifteen .hundred tur-
rets each two hundred feet high, oar -
tying aloft the grandeux of the city.
,There are six hundand thousand inhabi-
tants. The metropolis is not like our
crowded cities; but gardens wreathe
the homes of private citizens •with
tropical blaze of color, wet with the
epray of falling waters, and there are
pasture fields, on which cattle browse,
In the yea7 midst of the city. It is a
delicious climate, even in midsummer
never rising to more then seventy de-
greee. Through the gates of that
city roll the commerce of Eastern and
,Western Asia. On its throne sits
Sudanapalus, his every meal a ban-
quet, his every day a coronation. There
are polished walls of jasper and. chal-
cedony, bewildering with arrow -head
inscriptions and scenes of exciting
chase and victorious battle. There are
mansions adorned with bronze, and
vases, and carved statues of ivory, and
•ceilings with mother-of-pearl, and
mantel enaraellingg and floors with
slabs of alabaster. There are other
walls with :sculptured flowers, and
panelling of Lebanon cedar*, and burn-
ished copper, and doorways guarded by
winged lions. The city roars with
chariot wheels, and clatters with
swift hoofs, and is all a -rush and a-
blaze with pomp, and fashion, and•powe
er. Tbe river Tigris bounds the city
on one side, and moat and turretted
wall bound it on the other sides, and
there it stands defiant of earth and
he.aven. Fraud in her store -houses.
Uncleanness in her dwellings. Obscene
display In her theatres. Iniquity ev-
erywhere. • Nineveh the magnificent
Niiieveh. the vile.
NINEIVEH THE DOOMED.
One day, a plain -looking man conies
through the gate into that city. He is
sunburned as though he had been
under, the browning process of
a see voyage. Indeed, he had been
Wreoked and picked up by such a life-
boat as no other man ever rode in—a
whale's fins and flukes being to him
both- oars and rudder. The man had
been trying to escape his duty of
preaching a disagreeable serm on; but
now, at last, his feet strike the street
of that city. 'No sooner has he passed
under the shadow of the wall and en-
tered it, than clearing his throat, for
loud and distinct utterance, he begins;
and the water carrier sets down his
jug, and the charioteer reins in the
steeds, and the sotcliers on the top of
the wall break ranks to look and lis-
ten, while his voice shivers through
the avenue, and reverberates amid the
dwelling of uotentate and peasant, as
he cries out: "Tat forty clays, and
Nineveb shall be overthrown!" The
people rush out of the market -places
and to the gates to listen to the
strange sound. The king invites the
man to tell the story amid the corri-
dors of the palace. The courtiers
throng in and out amid the statues,
and pictures, and fountains, listening
to the startling message: "Yet forty
days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.'
" What is that fellow about ?" says
some of the people. Is he a madman
eecaped from his keepers? He must be
an alarmist, *he is announcing his
morbid fears. He ought to be arrested
ana put in the prison of the city." But
still the man moves on, and still the
cry goes up: " Yet forty clays, and
Nineveh shall be overthrown." There
is no madness in his eye, there is no
fanaticism in his manner, but only a
Divine .authority, and a terrible earn-
estness which finally seizes the whole
city. People rush from place to place
and say: "I -lave you seen that pro-.
phet ? What does he mean? Is it to be
earthquake, or sterna, or plague, or be-
siegement of foreign enemy V' Sarden-
epalus puts off his jevvelied array and
puts On mourning, and the whole city
goes down on its knees, and street
cries to street, and temple to temple,
and the fifteen hundred turrets join
the dirge: "let forty days, and Nine-
veh shall be overthrown."
A BLACK COVERING
is thrown over the horses and the sheep
and the cattle. Forage and water are
kept from the dumb brutes so that
their distressed bellowings raay make
a deloroue accompaniment to the lam-
entation of eix hundred thousand souls
who wring their hands, and beat their
temples, and tbrow themselves into the
duet, and deplore their sin, crying out:
"'Vet forty clays, and Nineveh shall
be overthrown V'
• God heard that cry. He turned aside
from the affairs of eternal state, and
lietened. He said: "Stop! 1 must go
down and save that city.. It is re-
penting, and cries for help, and they
• elsall have it, and Nineveh shall live."
Then ilis people took down the timt
bade, and loosened the foot of the
dance, and flung new light on the pan-
els of alabaster, and started the sup-
pressed fountains, and the children
clapped their hands; and from Barden-.
apalue on the throne, clear down to
the keeper of the city gets, where
brown -faced Jonah went in with hie,
message, there were song tied
laughter, and eabgeabalation, and fes-
tivity and jubilee. "And God sew
their works, that they turned from
their evil Way ; and, God repented of
tbe evil that Pie heti said He would
de Mite then): and Re did it net,"
I learn, in the first place, from this
subject the precision and punctuality
of tae Divine arrangement, You will
see tacit God decided exactly the day
evaen Ninevah's lease of mercy ehould
wed; It jenah preached that sermon
on the flint day ef the month, then the
doom was to fall upon Nineveh on the
tenth day of the next month. So God
decides what alma be tae amount of
our rebellion. Though there may be
DO sound in the heavens, He has deter-
mined the length of His enclarance of
our sin. It may be forty days, it may
be forty hours, it may be forty minutes,
it may be forty seconds. The fact that
the affairs of God's government are in-
finite and multifarious is no reason
wily He (should not attend to the min-
utiae. God no more certainly decided
that on June 15th, 1215, England should
have her Magna Chute ; nor that for-
ty days after Jonah preached that ser-
mon, NI/myelin 'Mamie for mem should
end unless she repented, than He has
decided the point beyond which you
and I cannot pass and still obtain the
Divine clemeney. What careful walking
this ought to make for those who are
unsaved, lest the hour -glass of their
opportunity be altnost empty. Men
and 'women do not lose their souls
through putting off repentance for
ever, but only by putting it off one
second after the time is up. They pro-
pose to become Christian in mid-life,
but, they die in youth; or they pro-
pose in old age to be Christians, but
they die in mid-life; or on the forty-
first -day they will attend to the mat-
-ter, but on the fortieth
NINEVEH IS OVERTHROWN.
Standing on ship's deck amid a:coil
of chains, sailors roughly tell you to
stand back if you do not want your
Brute broken, or by the chains be
hurled overboard; for they are go -
lel to let out the ancbor, and when
tlie anchor does go the chains make
the deck smoke with their speed. As
swiftly our time rens away from us.
Now it seems coiled all around us in a
pyramid of years, and days, and min-
utes, but they are going, and they will
take us oft with their lightning velo-
city. If I should by some superna-
tural revelation to -night tell you just
how long or how brief will be your
opportunity for repentence and salva-
tion, you would not believe me. You
would say: "I shall have tenfold that
time; I shall have a hundredfold that
tinae." But you will not have More;
you will have less. You have put off
repentance so long that you are going
to be very much crowded in this mat-
ter of ahe soul's salvation. The cor-
ner of time that is left you is so snaall
that you will hardly have room to
turn around in it. You are like an ac-
countant who has to have a certain
nunaber of figures added up by four
o'clock in the afternoon. It is two
full round hours' work, and it is a
smarter past three o'clock, and yet he
has not begun. You are like a naan
in a case of life and death, five miles
from the depot, and the train starts
in thirty minutes, and you have not
harnessed the horse. You are like a
man who comes to the bridge across
a swollen • river in time of a
freshet. The circumstances are such
that he must go across. The bridge
quivers, the abutment begins to give
way; but he stands, and halts, and
waits, until the bridge creeks in twain
and goes down, hoping then that on
the floating timbers he may get over
to the other shore.
God is not looking inertly and un-
concernedly upon the position you oc-
cupy. Just as certainly as there is a
bank to the ebbing river, just so cer-
tainly there is a bank to the river of
year opportunity. The margin is fix-
ed. There will be a limit to God's
forbearance. "Yet forty days, and
Nineveh shall be overthrown.'
Still further; I learn from this sub-
ject; that religious warning may seem
preposterous. So it is now that re-
ligiou:. warning seems to many an
a,sburdity. It is more to them a joke
than anything else. ."Repent? Pre-
pare? Was there ever tat man with
eta onger health than I have? Vision
clear, hearing alert, lungs stout, heart
steady. Insurance companies tell me
I shall have seventy years of life. My
fathei and mother were both long
Bend. Feel the rausole in my arm."
Ale my brother, it is not preposterous
when I oorae out to tell you that you
need to make preparation for the fu-
ture I have noticed that it is
THE INVALIDS 'WHO LIVE ON.
They take more care of their health,
ani so they outlive the robust and
Athlete. I have noticed in my circle
of ric qu a intances, for the last few
years, that five robust and athlete
mrn ge out of life to one invalid.
Death prides himself on the strength
of -the cattle he takes. ''Boast not
thyself of the morrow, for thou know -
est not what a clay may bring forth."
A splinter may be lancet sharp enough
to bleed our life away. Look out! The
slip of a train from the track,the rush
of a runaway horse through the street,
any one of ten thousand perils may be
epee you. "In such a day and hour
as you think not, the Son of Man
cometh." Your opportunity for re-
pentance is almost over. "Yet forty
days and Nineveh shall be over-
thrown."
Still further: I learn from my sub-
ject that God gives every man a fair
chance for his life. The iniquity of
Nineveh was accumuleting. It had
been rolling up and rolling up. There
the city lay—blotched, seething, fest-
ering under the sun. Why did not
God put an end to its iniquity? Why
did not God utsheath some sword of
lightning from the scabbord of a
storra-cloud and slay it? Why did
He not with sorae pry of an earth-
quake throw it into the tomb where
Caxaceas and Lisbon now lay? Why
did He not submerge it with the scorn
of His indignation, as He did Heron/.
ensure and Pompeii It was because
He wanted to give the city It fair
chance. You would have thought
that thirty days would have been
enough to repent in, or twenty days,
or ten days. Aye, you would have
said: "if that city don't quit its gin
In five days, it never will." But see
the wide margin. Listen to the gen-
erosity of time. "Yet forty days!"
Be frank, my brother, and oonfess
to -night diet God is giving you a fair
chance for safety, a better. one than
He gave to Nineveh, They had one
prophet- You have heard the voices
of fifty. They had one warning, You
THEEXETER TIMIOS
ing amid perils, and your hair stood
on end, and you stopped breathing;
you thought your last moment had
come. Or, through protracted illness,
Ile allowedi
, you n many a midnight
to think over this subject—when all
was still (ewe the ticking of the dock
in the hall and the beating of your
own anxious heart Warned that you
were O.A sinner. Warned that you
needed a Divine Saviour. Warped of
coming retribution, Warped of an
eternity crowded with splendour or
catastrophe. Warned by the death of
those with whom you were familiar.
WARNED DAY AFTER DAY,
and month after month, and year aft-
er year—warned, warned, warned,. 01
my dear brother, if your soul is lost,
in the day of judgment you will have
to acknogiedge "no man ever had a
better dance for heaven than I had.
I was preached to, and prayed for, and
Divinely solicited, d was shewn the
right, and fully persuaded of it; but I
did not act, and I did not believe,
and now, in the presence of a burning
earth and a flying heayen. I take the
whole responsibility. Hear me, men
Angels'! Devilsl—I took the life of my
own soul; and I did it so thoroughly
that it is done for ever. And now I
trudge off over the hot desert and
suunideiedre the burning sky—a suicide! A
Yes, I think you have all been
warned; but if up until this very
hour you have happened to escape
such intimation to -night I ring it in
your ears: "Yet forty days and
Nineveh shall be overthrown!"
Still further: I learn from this sub-
ject that when the people repent, the
Lord lets • them off. While yet Nine-
veh was on its knees, and Sardanapal-
us sat in the ashes, and the unfed
cattle were yet moaning in the air,
and' he people yet deploring their sin,
God teversed the judgment, and said:
"Thoe people have repented. Let them
live!" And the news flew. The gar-
dens saved. The palaces saved. Six
hundred thousand people saved. A
belt of sixty miles of city saved. Let
tho news be flung from one wall to
the other; from the east wall, clear
over to the west wall. Let the bells
ring. Let the cymbals clap. Let
flags be flung out from all the fifteen
hundred turrets. Let the king's
lamp -lighters kindle up the throne -
room. "And God saw their works,
that they turned from their evil way;
and God repented of the evil that He
had said that He would do unto them;
arid He did it not." In other words,
when a sinner repents, God repents.
The one gives up his sins; the other
gives up his judgments. The moment
that a man turns to God, the relation
of the whole universe towards him is
changed, and the storms, and
the lightnings, and the thunders,
and the earthquakes, and the gran -
dears of the judgment day. and the
realities of the eternal world, all be-
come his coadjutors. God and the
angels come over on his side. Repent,
give up your sin and turn to God, and
you will be saved. "Ah," says some
one, "that's a tough thing to do." "I
have been drinking," says some one;
or, "I have been unchaste," says some
one; or, "I have been blasphemous,"
says another; or, "I have been a iSeb-
bath breaker," says another; or, "1 have
a hard heart," says another, "and now
you ask me to give up nay sin. I can-
not do it—and I wont do it." Then
you will die. That is settled. But
somebody else says: "I (will give up,any
sin, and I will now take the Lord for
my portion." Yon will live. That is
just as certainly settled. You will
to -night either have to fling away sin
or fling away heaven. The one is a
husk—the other is aw cornet The one
is a groan—the other is an anthem.
The one is a sting—the other is an il-
lumination. Christ's fair complexion,
of which his contemporaries wrote, is
gone, and His face is red, and His
hands as red, and His feet are • red
with the rushing blood of His own
suffering endured to get you out of
sin, and death and hell. Oh, will you
to -night implore Him to let His suf-
fering take the place of your ill
desert; If you will, all is well, and
you may now begin to twist garlands
for your brow, for
YOU ARE ALHEADY A VICTOR.
All heaven comes surging upon your
soul in the announcement: "There is
no condemnation to them which are in
Christ Jesus." Now, will you do it? I
care nothing for a sermon unless it
has an application, and this is the
application: will you do it? "Ah,"
says some one "I believe that is
right. I mean some day to surrender
the entirety of my nature to God,
et is rea•sonable. I mean to be a
Christian, but not now." That is what
thousands of you are saying. I am
afraid if you do mot give your heart to
God to -night, you never will. You
may have heard of the ship Rebecca
Goddard that came near one of our
port, this last winter. They were
all scoured up and ready for the land-
ing, when coming, almost, into the har-
bour, an ice -floe took the ship ahd
pushed it out to sea, and it drifted
about two or three days, end tl e
was great suffering, and one was
frozen dead at his post. Hoye near
they got into the harbour, and yet
they did not get in. How many there
are here to -night who feel they are
almost in the harbour of God's mercy.
Why do you not come ashore, lest
some ice -floe of sin and worldliness
drive you out again to the sea, and
you die in the rigging? I throw you
the'rope to -night. I hurl you this warn-
ing. Make fast to heaven now. This
moment is vanishing, a•ncil with it may
go everything; and so I run tip and
clowu through this audience with the
banner a the cross: Rally, immortal
men, rally!
"But," says some one in the house.
"I wont take your advice. I'll risk
it. I defy God. Here I take my
stand, and I ask no odds either of
earth or heaven." Lot me tell such
that you are in a battle where you
will be worsted. "Yet. forty clays!"
Perhaps thirty days. Perhaps ten
days. ]Perhaps . three days. Perhaps
one day. The hcirses that drag on that
chariot of doom are lathered with the
foam of a, great' speed, and their hoofs
clip fire from the flinty road, and their
nostrilis throb With the hot haste as
they dash on. Get out of the way, or
the wheels will roll over you. You
cannot endure the ire of an incensed
/oil. Threw yourselves clown on your
have had 1.), thousand. They had forty knees now end pelt the heavens with
dein. Some of you have had forty bloodred cries for inerey• The ter -
years. Sometimes the warnings of initial chance is going; the last, the
Goa have come upon your soul soft as lest chance is going, going. 0, wake
the breath of lilies and frankincenee, hp before you wake Up among the lost,
and then again as though aurledfrora May God Almighty, by His Eternal
a catapult of terrific) providence. God Spirit, wake vou
has emeetinies led you to 'see your un- Thein is' a story running Dinning. indistiticit.
saved condition while you were walk-- ly though bay Mind\ of a Maiden/Waite
love was doomed to be put to death
when the curfew bell etruck eine
oelook at night, and she thought that
if she could keep that bell front ring-
ing for a little while her lover and
friend would be spared. And Id)
under the ;shadow of the night she
crept up into the tower and laid hold
of the tongue of the bell. !After while
the 'sexton came up to the tower and
put his hand on the rope, and :waited
for the rigat moment to come; And
then by the light cd his lantern land
his watch he found it was nine o'clock,
and he seized the rope and he pulled,
and the bell turned, but in silence,
and the maiden still held on
to the tongue of the bell
swinging back and forth wildly
through the belfry, and the curfew bell
rang not and so time was gained and
pardon arrived, and a precious life
was saved. 0, it seems to me as if
there were those here doomed to death.
You. have condemned yourselves. It
seems to me as if the death knell of
your immortal soul were about to
strike. The angel of God's justice has
his hand on the rope, Yet I seize the
tongue of that bell, and I hold on, hop-
ing to gain a little time, and I cry out:
"0 God, not yeti not yet I" hoping that
time may be gained and 'pardon may
fly from the throne and youx soul may
live. May the God who saved Nineveh
save you. But some of you have put
it off so long that I fear time is up.
COSTLY CROWNS.
Diadems or Royal. Monarchs What Are
Worth Milton&
It is 210 longer the proper thing for
great monarobs to adorn their heads
on all state ocoasions with glittering
crowns that are heavy as copper ket-
tles, and as valuable as preoious me
tele and rare jewels can make them. It
is said that the only ruler in Europe
to -day who wears a Crown is King Os-
car of Sweden. But while crowns are
not popular, there are a good many
specimens of xoyel extravagance in
this direction still in existence.
John Bull has been the best buyer
hi the crown market ever since Wil-
liam the Conqueror's time. The height
of magnificence in British crowns was
reached in the coronation of Queen
Victoria,. It weighs 39 ounces and six
pennyweights,. Troy, and is made up
almost entirely of rare gems. There
are in it one large ruby, a huge, broad -
spread sapphire, and sixteen other
sapphires, eleven emeralds, over 2,-
500 fine diamonds and over 275 ex-
quisite peaa•ls. Queena Victoria has
other crowns, but her comnation
crown isthe greatest a all. It is lined
with violet velvet, and is said to an an
excellent fit, but she does not wear
it.
The Popes since the time of Pope
Benedict XII., have worn the highest
crown known. It stands. or course, as
a sacred relic. it is a lofty, uncleft
mitre encircled by three, coronets ris-
ing one above the other, and. surmount-
ed by a ball and cross. It is studded
with priceless gems, and there are rib-
bons on each side, similar to those on
the mitre of an Italian bishop.
One of the most interesting crowns in
the world. is that of the royal house
of Italy, known as the iron crown of
the Lombards. It is not an iron crown
at all, except that a thin band of iron
18 placed inside it. This iron, it is sajd,
is a nail that was taken from the oross
on which Cbrist was crucified. Thir-
ty-five of the Lombard kings were it
at their coronations, as did the great
Emperor Charles V. of Germany, and
Spain, Napoleon I. in 1805, and the Aus-
trian EmperieFerdinand in 1838. The
Austrians captured it from the Ital-
ians in 1859, but had to return it in
1866. The clarion is set with precious
stones, but it is not a very fancy crown
as Compared with those of other mon-
wales.
The crown of the Xing of Portugal
is one of 'the most valuable ever worn
by a king. It is said to be worth
more than fives million dollars. It
weighs three pounds five ounces, Troy,
and there is little represented in that
weight except diamonds, rubies, sap-
phires, pearls, emeralds, and solid gold.
Another beauty is the crown of the
Emperor of all the Hussies. It is con-
structed on a rather ecclesiastical- de-
sign. The Sultan of Turkey has for
a crown a turban that is adorned with
jewels enough to purchase all the sla-
ves he will ever need in his palaces.
The German Emperor has a beauty,
but he has never taken the trouble to
put it on his head, it is said. Austria's
crown is simple, shaped like a sol-
dier's helmet, but it blazes with gems.
A LAND OF MANY THIRSTS.
The Egyptian never travels without.
his geolah. He fills it with filtered
water, and in the morning can com-
mand a pint or more of watercooled by
evaporation through the ungla,zed.
clay. This precious fluid he does not
waste on unsatisfied thirst. Taking
off the long white wrap and the piece
Of cloth tbat covers his head during
sleep, the native pours the water over
his head, neck and hands. The Euro-
pean, with all his instinct for clean-
liness, seeks first to relieve his over-
mastering thirst. There are in Egypt
as many thirsts as elegizes, but the
dust thiest ie the worst. Every pore
is sealed; the throat is a lump of dry
clay, and °brigade what it must be to
ha a mummy.
ANIMALS THAT NEVER MUNE.
There are some animals which never
drink; for instance, the llamas of Pata-
gonia, and certain gazelles of the
Far East. A 'number of snaked, liz-
ards and other• reptiles live In places
devoid of water. A bat of Western
American inhabits 'waterless plains. In
parts of Lotere, Prance, tbere are
het& of cows and goats which hardly
ever drink, and yet produce the milk
for Roquefort cheese. '
A HEA80NAI3T,10, DEDUCTION.
Yes, she exclaimed; I dont believe
any lady oould listen to him for five
minutes without being fascinated.
Whet it simpleton the fellow Mast
he, growled.
IRE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
INTERNATIONAL LESSON, OCT. 9.
"JebothaPhars Geed Reign." 2 am", I/.
I-10. Goldea Text. prey. 3.6.
PHACTICA L NOTES.
Verse laStrengthened himself against
Israel. The young king had every
reason to expect attacks from
north, for all his predeoessars had b
forced to resist the aggressions of
kings of Samaria. But Tehoshap
was a statesman as well as a soldi
and we find that his steel -clad' ha
was seen extended in friendship to t
Israelite king. His first action w
wisely, to prepare for war ; his s
ond, still more wisely, was to est
lish peace.
lag service; nearer to tho Sunday
wheel, We may iPiagine, than to the
public worship. Evidently the tioda of
the law of the Lord was exceedingly
ecarce. It as intrusted to them fleet
of all for their owe instruction, and,
second, as a guarantee of their high
miseten• Those who iustruot in God's
law should have it in their bands as
well as in their heads ; for themselves,
at their teachings may flow from
1
tbe God's pure fountain and not from the
een broken cisterns of human thought;
the for their hearers, who will feel the
hat power of the direct reference far More
er, than the mere quotation. Throughout
ncl all the cities. Not merely the lead -
he ing 00.6; the more remote, the great-,
as, er the need. Let us seek out the peo-
ece ple without waiting to be sought by
ab- the people.
10. The feer ,of the Lord fell upon
all the kingdoms that were round
about. The surrounding nations re-
spected the frontier of Jehoshaphat
and dreaded the wrath of his mysteri-
ous deity. The world can see and will
honor those who are in earnest in
God's service.
2. He placed forces in all the fenced
(pities. In Jehoshaplaat's age "stand..
ing armies" aere in their infancy, and
it was the novelty of garrisons in the
great fortifications that led to this
special record. Amid present condi.
tions no ruler would think of erecting
a fortification without a garrison to
occupy it. Set fgarrisone in the land
of Tudahale established military
posts, and it is not improbable that
the standing army of Judah was the
earliest in the world's history. The
cities of Ephraira, which Asa his fa-
ther had taken. What ` these cities
were and when they were taken we
do not know. It will be wise for the
te,aeller to read carefully the rest of
tallphisat.s
chapter and
.and the next three also,
so as to get a complete view of Jehoshe
8. The Lord was with Jehoshaphat,
Simply because jehoshaphat was with
the Lord, The reason given by the
chronicler is not exactly plain to us
because of a slight question concern-
ing the text: Because he walked in
the first ways of bis father David.
Many commentators believe the first
ways" to mean the former ways, and
to contrast the relative purity and
holy ideals of the youthful king Da-
vid with the selfishness and sordid
characteristics which made him fall in-
to sin in his later years. But there are
reasons for supposing tbat the word
"David " has been put here accident-
ally. It does not stand in the Vatican
text of the Septuagint, which is the
most valuable of all ancient versions
of the Old Testament- and if it be
emitted, and we read, "he walked ha
the first ways of his father," the refer-
ence is to Asa. Additional probability
gathers around this reading when we
get to the next verse, and find that
the word "father" there refers to
Asa, and when we read in the paral-
lel passage, 1 Kings 22. 43, "he walk-
ed in all the ways of Asa his father."
.A.sa's early life was conspicuously of
a higher moral tone than were his
later years. Sought not unto Baalim.
Which word here is probably used
generically to include all idolatry.
There were many sorts, ranging from
the worship of the true God with
the help of images, "the sin
of Jeroboam," down to the foulest
orgies that were ever misnamed wor-
ship. It is bard for unspiritual people
to worship without the help of their
senses. FOrMs and ceremonies can-
not be done without till one lute gone
Lar, in faith, and to the veryendof
our earthly life they are to a idegree
needed; but the tendency' of unspiritu-
al people is always to elevate the
form above the spirit. Radius is a
plural word—Baals; while there was
but one Baal, he had in the ancient
mind many personifications. The wor-
ship of the Ehenician god Baal -was
greatly strengthened in Isreal during
Jehoshaphat's reign in Judah by the
aggressive conduct of Queen Jezebel,
who had come from Phenicia
4. Sought to the Lord God of his
father. This, coming 'after verse 3,
seems to carry the meaning that he
not only imitated bis father's policy,
but that he shared his father's deepest
religious convictions and experienc-
els. Walked in his commandments.
The commandments of God. Not
after the doings of Isinal. Even when
Israel was faithful to Jehovah and
worshiped the God of its fathers it did
so irregularly, from the point of view
of this chronicler. The Israelites en
masse did not periodically gather to
Jerusalem to participate in the great
national feasts. Their interests. were
diverted to Bethel and Dan. But they
were not merely lax and aeretical in
form, and probably in belief also; they
had in many oases adopted the abom-
inations of the religion of Baal.
5. Tile Lord established the kingdom
In his hand. 1Vhatever a nation enjoys
nf strength and stability it receives
from the Lord, whose scepter sways
above all human counsels. All Judah
brought to jehoshaphat presents. He
was honored by the loyalty, service,
and affections of his subjects. People
ere apt to respect rulers who try to
do right. In politics there can be no
true abiding success without upright-
ness.
6. His heart was lifted up in the
ways of the Lord. There is an uplift-
ing of the heart in proud self-con-
sciousness, see 2 Chron, 26. 16, which
ends with ruin, and there is are up-
lifting of the heart in the is of the
Lord which brings divine favor. High
places and groves. It was not enough
for him to himself walk Iti the wags
of the Lord. It was his duty to abol-
ish the popular idolatrous worship.
Asa had done this before, but he had
not done it quite so thoroughly, and
the Jews had seeretly made new idols
in the latter part of hie reign.
7, In the third year of his reign.
It probably took two years to so or-
ganize his kingdom as to make possi-
ble this holy work of eeformation.
Early in his reign he thus real-
ized that false religions cOuld
not be extirpeted unless the
people were thoroughly instructed in
the truth. One generetiou thoroughiy
taught in the Bible, at home and en
the Sabbath School, will give the World
10 Chris(, Sent to hie„princee, He sent
out the obles in the realm to teach
his people. Note the iefluence of bigh
social position inextending reform in
religion. The claeses of Mail were
employed in this remarkable itinerant
ministry: 1. The prbaces; 2. The
Levites; , The prieets.
8. Levites. it wee a great 3tible
soiled, an assenebly held all through
the kingdom to indoctrinate the nam-
es hi Soriptiire truth- We do not won-
der that under such training the lend
rose to a position scereely hafetior to
the gehlet age of Solomon.
O. They . . . had the bdok Of the
laW of the Lord with them. Theirs
was it teaching rather than a preach -
Flowers for Flirting
Flirting with flowers is not only new
but it's English. It appears to have
been introduced by some of the smart
young set in Englandai aristocratic
and titled society. Its code is now
vvell known to many pretty girls and
howling .swells at Brighton and Bourne-
mouth, as well as across the Channel,
for English flirts have carried it to
Homburg, to Cannes and Itrouville.
For instance, take the red, .red rose,
ordinarily accepted as the pledge of
true love. In the language of the flow-
er flirt it conveys the idea of secre-
tiveness. So it is that a red rose held
to the lips of a pretty girl means
"Can you keep a secret ?" or "Will
you tell?" A white rose similarly held
says, "I trust you implicitly."
The girl with a bunca of carnations
next her heart cannot have the same
thoughts and ideas as she who hides
her laughing lips and pearly teeth in
egoluster of sweet peas. Ille former
pours forth the passion of her heart
and, soul; the latter is free from a
suagle serious thought, and says no
more than this, "Why, yes, of course.
I'M a jolly good. fellow."
The jack rose is the real flower of
passion, but it is not a favorite med-
ium of flirtation, save one of the most
desperate character. Such a rose is too
fierce and hard to be popular: Yet
it figures in the code, and when held
lightly in between the lips by its short
stem means, "Don't think yeurself so
awfully smart. It takes two to play
at that game."
But the dainty little rosebud, what
cannot be expressed with it? Where
hives the man who can resist the temp-
tation placed before him by the sweet
faced girl, between whose ruby lips
est
tbluidghttly the fragrant, tiny, mod -
All the glorious wild flowers! What
a flirtation may be carried on where
they grow in abundance They- enable
the giri flirt to appear innocent as the
daisy, as demure as the gladiolus or
as fascinating as the golden rod. Then
there's the lily of the field, the emblem
of purity. With it how she may repel
and command 1
With other flowers the flirt may
laugh and jest and coquet, but when
in her arms is held a stalk of lilies
there is but one thing to be inferred—
the flirtation is at. an end. .
A PATHETIC sroRr.
The pathetic story of the last time
that Beethoven ever touched. a piano -
aorta is not very widely known. He was
traveling from Baden to Vienna, in
response to an urgent call from his
favorite nephew, who was in trouble,
and, to save money, was making the
greater part of ths journey on foot. A
few leagues from Vienna he became
exhausted, and was obliged to ask a
night's shelter at a humble house near.
The family received him kindly, gave
him supper, axle then invited him to
a comfortable seat near the fire. Then
the head a the house opened a small
piano, and the sons each brought an
tooldpimayus.ical instrument, and all began
Per 25 years Beethoven had, been
deaf, and the music was u.nheard by
him, but be could see its deep effect.
Wife and daughter laid their needles
down and listened with tears stealing
down their cheeks, while the musici-
ans played with moist eyes dimming
the notes. 13eethoven watched. their
emotion enviously, and when the play-
ers ceased asked to see the Music that
had. moved them so. The pianist hand-
ed him the "Allegretto in Beethoven's
Symphony in A." Ile flushed wall hap-
piness. "X am Beethoven Come and
let us finish it." Going himself to the
•Piano, he played the remainder of the
evening following the concerted music
with heavenly improvisations. Fax in
to the night he played, while the oth-
ers listened enraptured.
When he went to bed his veins seem-
ed full of fever. He could not sleep
and finally stole out of doors for
fresh air, remaining until he wee thor-
oughly chilled, In the morning he wile
too ill to proceed on his journey, and
his anxious hosts sent for a physician
and summoned his friends in Vienna.
Hummel was almost the only one to
come, and he stood inconsolably be-
side the master's bed, as he lay there
apparently unconscious. At last Beeth-
oven moved and caught Iltimmel's
hands in both of his own, "Ah, Rum-
mel, I must have had scene talent; 1"
,liveorscisai.ci faintly. They were his last
talet OF LONG- STANDING,
Mrs. Fillentlirop—If yoti area suf-
ferer from nervous peostratioh, as you
say you are, why don't you do some -
thaw for it?
Tuffold Ideutt-ed do, 'ma'am, I'm a
takin' wpt they call the rest sure.
IT .1 -EALING POWEE.
Did that stuff revive yout asked the
attending physician of his impatient
1.4,etttlit'v'
11 e me, doe? Good heavens! three
doses of *at medicine would ineasci-
tate the dead languages.
•
seismovik—
$ DP IN A Dll1011,filMi1Y,
A, lady writer in the Loxiden Deily
Chroniele EIVS:. It is given tip come
peratively few to pay visits in Hol-
land, for the Detail aee rather 02817
of opening their doers to foreigners.
With public attention turned to the
litLl eouatry for the eake of its youth-
ful Queen, there may be some who
Would ltke to receive the irapressiou
of an average Englisla giri as to an
average Dutch home.
I used to wake very early in the
Hagne, Not neatly go early, however,
as the busy servants, in their el:port
skirts and tight lace caps. Tbey rise
to clean the atreets iu front of their
mestere' houses, as steeets are surely
never cleaned elsewhere. Springiest;
carts jog over the uneven pebblee of
the Zee.straat, largely freigated with
glittering milk cans ancl tidy old wo-
men. Fruit and vegeteble vendors
shriek the nature of their wares with
a harsh insistence of most sleep -mur-
dering sort So I get up and dress,
and linger at the window. Truth to tell,
the Dutch breakfast is not altogether
tempting. The livind•ows are elosed, and
1Vtirnheer Inta divinely only just put
out his first cigar. Nor are the toilets
of Mevrow and juirow quite complete,
or enhanced by certain popular Eng-
lish hair -curlers. OA tlie other hand,
the tea from Java is delicious, the ham
worthy of York. With the freshest ef
eggs, One need not depend upon eith-
er the inevitable cheese or the
queer sausage. More especially as the
butter is perfection, despite the dam-
aging circumstance that we helped our-
selves with our own knives.
As to the Dutch "little breads,' they
are assuredly the best hi the world.
Before the meal, all pray in a silence
that has a Quaker impressiveness of
its own. Then Mynheer, in a sonorous
voice, and with an indescribable accent,
reacts a chapter from the French test-
ament. This ended, he vanishes, and
the ladies begin the arduous labours
of housekeeping. Mynheer was rich, his
cellar would have won the respect of
an alderman. Nevertheless, every ar-
tide of food, plate, china and linen is
locked up, and weighed out, and talk-
ed over to an excruciating degree. Hon-
est Christie, the Friesland cook, was
radiant on Sundays with dangling ear-
rings of gold filigree, and a skull -can
of pore gold under the fine thread lace
that is an heirloom. But she was never
trusted to take coffee or sugar at dis-
cretion. She had an aged mother whose
Wooden shoes were too often heard
clicking in the back yard. Her ,spotless
kitchen was scrubbed and rubbed at
some unearthly hour. As to the store
closet, crowded with potted vegetables
with dried meats, with potted vanilla
from Paramaribo, and scented spices
from Simatra, that is altogether the •
sacred demean of Mevrow. Lunch came
at one o'clock. it rather resembled
breakfast, save for a hot dish of beef-
steak, and of those round, flowery po-
tatoes that grow incomparably in the
region of sandy Scheveningen. There
was tea, there was milk, there were
wines of all kinds. Mevrow was resplen-
dent in rich silks by this time, the
Jufrow prettily reminiscent of the
English modes she so rn,uola admixed.
For Monday was reception day, and
by two o'clock visitors, chiefly ladies,
dropped in plentifully. Also a newly -
married couple who had previously
been Lauda discussed. The briciegrown
was of ancient family, and—horror of
horrors !—the bride was but bourgeoise
and very shy of the fire of critical
eyes directed towards her, despite her
smart new clothes.
At half past five came dinner and
two guests. Of course, they were cou-
sins, but, for all that, some of the beet • '
wines were brought out. Port and
sherry are served with rich .soup, clar-
et. with the reet of the repast. We
have over -roasted beef, carved after
the abominable Dutch fashion, by which
the carver whittles the meat away in
dhips. We have carrots in an exquis-
ite cream sauce; curry a I'llollandaise,
with the rice in a pulp. Next irrevant-
ly comes a delicious mayonnaise a sal-
mon, and, finally, sugary pudding's
and a handsome dessert of fine fruit.
At this stage the Rhine wines make
their appearance. Mynheer calls toast
after toast in old Audesheim.; nor
does he neglect to press his choice 11 -
guipure. Heads are strong in Holland;
even the ladies sip their tiny glasses
of " Parfait Amour." The best china
was used on this occasion—rare old
Delft valued at twenty and. thirty flor-
ins eacb plate. We did not linger for
coffee, but put on our hate and got
into the big old-fashioned carriage that
teak us to net den Bosch; in other
words, to the very beautiful beech
woods that surround the Hague where
the spacious buildings belonging to
the White Club make an agreeable
rendezvous for the gay world of the
capital. The night was tine andevarra,
and, wonderful to relate, not at all
d,amp. The band of the Grenadiers was
playing the pretty music of the "Dame
Blanche." Very few people listened.
The Dutch are not a musical nation,
though everyone tom, me with pride
that these same Grenadiers had once
wrested the gold medal from the
" Guides" rif Belgie Ti celebrity. We
had. not indeed, much time to attend,
for every Maraca hats 'vverri raised
and greetings exchanged with profound
bows. hdevrew brewed tea of alarming
strength, boiling her vietter on a
quaint stove that was, in feet, a pail
of blazing chareoal. Our circle eolarg-
ed. Every poesible attelltioa was ShONVII
to the solitary foreigter. Dutch gen-
tlemen are prodigal enough of
gabon-
trics wbich do not eautd artist) whis-
pered in Preemie At tee ell was over,
and We went home to more tee, and
frutt, and wine. Iled at last, at about
midnight—a square soft bed with tent -
like eurteins. Had 1 been en orthodox
Detthiseitaan, thee° would have been
elosely cli iWO. AS it was, a gentle aiii
from my open windows lulled tee testicle -
tally to eleep.