Exeter Times, 1899-8-10, Page 2Or 4'4' AND COMM,RNTS,
eitel statistios o Ong
land ter
tees yeate *now that the birth.
r•Stn 37kan deolinesi Materially in the
twenty-two years. between 1875 and
3,398. The eauees aesigned for the re-
taedationl ot the growtb of population
e.re deferred marriage, the decreaeed
number 'of marriagee and diminished
fertility Of marriage. These depopu-
iating influences are less entive in the
tanning than in the neenufecturing
aad industrial eounties ; Met the tend-
ency nf population is to leave the
rural districts and 'move into the
reanufaeturing centres, and this tend-
ency, therefore, may be added to the,
oe.u,ses for tele deorease in the birth
rate. • in the past two yeas England
has e'njoYed unusual prosperity, and
the result is seen in a slightly in-
oreaeed marriage rate. These facts
supplemeet, and confirm, as far as
Extgland, is concerned, the striking in-
formation reoently tabulated by Mr.
Bodio, the eraieent pireetor of the
Statistical Buireau in Italy. He has
ehown that in nearly all the eountries
o Europe the birth rate is diminish-
ing. In other words, while the popa-
lation in all the countries is still in-
eireitsing, the rate of increase is dimin-
ishing, and this diminution is a little
more rapid in England and. Scotland
than in any other country of Europe
publishing vital statistics.
Based upon the statistics of a long
series a years, Mr. Bodio gives the
mean annual rate of decrease in Eng-
land and Wales as nearly a third of
one per cent., or 0.396 per cent.; in Scot-
land, 0.267; in The Netherlands and
Germany, each 0,244; in Belgium, 0.239;
ia France, 0,t79, and on account of the
IOW rate of births the population of
Fraece increases naore slowly than that
of most civilized countries; in. Russia,
0.158; in Sweden, 0.147; in, Switzerland,
0.128; in Denmark, 6,078; in Austria,
0.076; in Roumania, 0.033, and in Hun-
gary, 0,024. ln several countries the
rate of growth of population is in-
creasing, the mean annual inerease in.
the birth rate in Portugal being 0.475,
or nearly half of one per cent.; in
Italy, 0.083; in Spain, 0.040, and in
Norway, 0.012.
Except where emigration or im-
migration prevails on a large scale,
the main factor in the depopula-
tion OT overpopulation a a country is
the birth rate. There is nothing
alarming in a decreased birth rate in
,densely peopled regions unless, as is
usually the case, the decrease is due to
causes that diminish the colaafort and
well-being of the inhabitants. For one
cause or another there is reason to be-
lieve that the standard of living, in all
its phases, has been retrograding in-
stead of improving in some of the
countries of Europe. The condition of
the rural population in parts of Ger-
many has recently been described in no
flattering colors, and. yet no one has
inferred that an improved condition of
the people would result from; the pre-
sent tendency to desert the country
and flock into the towns. Herr Bebel
was accused of misrepresenteag the
facts a while ago when he described
the hovels in which the agricultural
laborers of Rag Prussia live, but this
statement seems to be confirmed by
the Emperor himself, if the story be
true that when Wilhelm II., recently*
visited his new estate at Cadinen he re-
marked: "Changes must be made here.
This cow house is a palace compared
with the work people's houses. It
rau-se be seen to that the pigsties are
not more habitable than the laborers'
cottages."
BUTTER AND HONEY
Two or The Deitetou., Donates or The Na-
tive ortentat meat
"In a small upper room furnished
iu Oriental style/' says Dr. W. S. Nel-
son, writing from Tripoli, Syria, "we
sat on the floor with our legs crossed
under as. It was nearly noon, and as
I looked out of the door I slaw the black
smoke coming out of the mouth of the
oven, and I could see my host's wife
preparing the sweet bread for our mid-
day meal. After awhile the daughter
brought a large tray znade of woven
straw and laid it on the floor between
her fath.er and me. The fresh loaves
of bread lay upon the edge of the tray,
and the dish of food in the middle.
After a word. of prayer we each took
a sheet, loaf, of this thin bread,. and
breaking off a piece, dipped it ha the
central dish and proceededle make out
a good meal. After a few moments
ray host ealled out;
'Oh, Gazeliel
"'What, father?'
"'Gazelle, bring ti plate of butter and
honey.*
"'tires, father.
"Soou she ca.= to the room, bring-
ing a plate a strained honey, in the
center of wilieh was a large lunap of
delicious native butter, "Dippiog
piece of the fresh bread into this butter
and honey made a most dainty, morsel.
It w.ae the first time I had ever seen
this way cai serving horiee, and 1 ase,
derstood as never before the meaning
of the Words found in Isaiah Vila 15.'
NOT THE SPACE WRITER'S OPIN-
ION,
johilnY--.Pa, what is meent by "de-
scriptive writing?"
tea—Deeteriptive• Writing, my son, In
that 1Jzed: Of a book winch IS 4gener-
ail, 4
AliATIIENEA 113.11AN-ATIIA,
REY. DR. TALMAGE EXPLAINS THE
MEANING OP THESE WORDS.
Vereentie Appearence or Our f+avilette-ifis
Lovetattess or unitomation —Ile Tooie
OreilhodY's Trouble -Cruet for a Ban
ere* te Love Jesus --The Dt.. Pletures
tile Coming or (Christ,
A despatch from Washington sale;
—Rev. Dr. Talmage preaohed from the
following text:—" I mey man love not
the Lord. jesu.s Christ, let hine be Ana-
thema Maraafeatba,."-1, Cor- xvie 22.
The sinalle,st Jae in the house knows
the meaning of all those words except
the two last, Anathema, Maran-atha,
Anathema, to cut off. Alaran-atha, at
His coming. So the whols passage
might read: "If any man. love uot
tb.e Lord Jesus Christ, let him be °tit
off at His coming," Well, how could
the tender-hearted Paul say that? We
have seen him with tears discoursing
about human, want, and flushed with
excitement about human sorrow; and
now he throws those red-hot words in-
to this letter to he Corinthians. Had
he lost his patience? 0, no. Had he
resigned his considenoe in the Chris-
tian religion? 0, no. Had the world
treated hint so badly that he had be-
come its sworn enemy? 0, no. It
needs some explanation, I confess, and
I shall proceed to show by what pro-
cess Pant came to the vehement ut-
terance of my text. Before I elose,if
God shall give His Spirit, you shall
cease to be surprised at the exclama-
tion of the Apostle, and, you, yourselves
will employ the same emphasis, de-
claring; "If any man love not the
Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathe-
ma Maran-atha."
If the photographic art had been dis-
covered early enough, we should have
the facial proportions of .Christ,—the
front face, the side face, Jesus sitting,
Jesus standing --provided He hall sub-
mitted to that art; but eine() the sun
did not become a portrait -painter un-
til eighteen centuries after Christ, your
idea about the Saviour's personal ap-
pearance is all guess -work. Still, tra-
dition tells as that He was the most
infinitely beautiful being that ever
walked. our small earth, If His fea-
tures had been rugged, and His suit
had beeu ungainly, that would not
have hindered Him from being attrac-
tive. Many then you have known and
loved have had iew cnarm,s of physieg-
noray. Wiberforce was not attractive
in face. Socrates was repulsive. Su-
vvarrow, the great Russian hero, look-
ed almost an imbecile. And. some whom
you have known, and honored, and lov-
ed, have not had very' great attractive-
ness of personal appearance.
VTR SHAPE OF THE MOUTH,
and the nese, and the eyebrow, did not
hinder the soul from shining through
the cuticle of the face in all-powerful
irradiation. But to a lovely exterior
Christ joined all loveliness of disposi-
tion. Run trough the galleries of
heaven, and find out that He is a non-
such. The sunshine of His love ming-
ling with the shadows a His sorrows,
crossed by the crystalline stream of
His 'tears and the crimson flowing
forth of His blood, make a picture wor-
thy of being called the masterpiece of
the eternities. Hung on the wall of
heaven, the celestial population would
be enchanted but for the fact that they
have the grand and magnificent ori-
ginal, and they want no picture. But
Christ having gone away from earth,
we are dependent upon four indistinct
pictures. Matthew; took one, Mark an-
other, Lu.ke another, and John anoth-
er. I care not which picture you take
it is lovely. Lovely? He was altogeth-
er lovely. He had a way of taking up
a dropsical limb without hurting it, and
of removing the cataract from the eye
without the knife, and of etarting the
circulation through the shrunken ar-
teries without the shock of the electric
battery, and of putting intelligence in-
to the dull stare of lunacy, and of re-
stringing the auditory nerve of the
deaf ear, and of striking articulation
into the stiff tongue, and of making
the stark-naked madman dress him-
self and exchange tombstone for otto-
man, and of unlocking from the skele-
ton grip of death the daughter of Jair-
us to ernbosom her in her glad father's
arms. 0, He was lovely—sitting, stand-
ing, kneeling, lying down—always love-
ly. Lovely in His sacrifice. Why, He
gave up everything for us. Home, cel-
estial companionship, music of sera-
phic harpe, balmy breath of eternal
summer, all joy, all light, all music,
and heard the gates slam shut behind
Him as He came out to fight for our
freedom, a-nd with bare feet plunged
on the sharp javelins of human and
satanic hate, until His blood spurted
into the faces of those who
slew Him. You want the soft,
low, minor key of sweetest music
to describe the pathos; but it needs an
orchestra, under swing of archangel's
baton, reaohing from throne to man-
ger, to drum and trumpet the doxolo-
gies of His praise. He took every-
body's trouble—the leper's sickness,
the widow's dead boy, the harlot's
Shame, the Galilean fisherman's poor
luck, the invalidism of Simon's moth-
er-in-law, the Sting of Matches's am-
putated ear. He took everybody's
tro u.b le . Some people cry very easily,
i
and for some it s very difficult to cry.
A GREAT MANY TEARS
on. some elmelta do not mean so raudh
as one tear on another cheek, What
is that see glittering in the mila eye
of Jesus? It was all the •sorrows of
earth, and the woes of hells from which
He had plucked oue souls, accreted in-
to one transparent drop, lingering on
ths lower eyelash until it fell on a
Cheek red with the slap of human
hande—just one salt, bitter, burning
tear of jeans. No wonder that rock,
and sky, and cemetery were in conster-
nation when He died, • No wonder the
universe was convilsed. It Was the
Lord God Almighty bursting into
tearel New suppose that, notwithe
Standing all this, a man cannot have
any affection for Hint. What might
to be done with Well hard behavior
/t iseens to Me as there Ought to be
sone agstieelneut for a rann who will
not love eon a Clarnst. Does it not
utak.° yonr. blood tingle to think of
Seems teeming ovee the tens of thous-
ands of =Hen ',hat sewn to selearaie
God and us, and then, to see 4 man
40stIe Him out, and push, Him back,
and shut the doer itt Hie face, end,
rItUS
,i,oeunaltuptyn,:ootnbanaisbieentotrerai:leeusip? tWo
Usa
towering excitement ot the Apostle in
my,. text, yen MA at any rate some -
whet understand nis eiselinge when he
cried out: "After all. this, 'if a man
love not the Lod. Jeans Christ, let, him
be Anathema Mara.n-atha.' "
•just look at the injustice of net
loving Him. Now, there l nothing
that excites it man. like injustice. You
go along the street, and you see your
liltia ehild buffeted, or a ruftianeomes
and takes it boy's hat and throws it
into the ditch. You say: "What
greet meanness, What in.eustice, that
LS." You. cannot stand taidatice•
remember, in my boyavood days, at-
tending a large meeting in Triplex
Hall, New York. Thousands of PeoPle
were huzzaing, and tile same kind of
audiences were assembled at the same
time in Boston, Edinburgh, and Lon-
don. Why ? Because the Madan
farailY, in Italy, had been robbed of
their Bible. "A little thine you. say,
Ada, •that injustice was enough to
arouse .the indignation of the world.
But while we are so sensitive about
injustice as between man and man,
how little 'sensitive we are about in-
justice between man and God. If
there ever was a fair end square pue-
celinaass:dau.•
fsanytbing, then Christ? PilZ-
•
HE PAID POR, tTS.
not in shekels, not in ancient tains
inscribed with effigies of Hercules, or
Aegina'a tortoise, ,or lyre of Mitylene,
but in two kinds of coin—one red, the
other glittering—blood. a.ncl tars? If
anything is purolmsed and paid, for,
ought not the goods to he delivered?
It you have bouglat a property and
giveri the money, do you not want to
came into possession of it? "Yes,"
you say, "I will have it. I bought
and, paid for it." And you vill go to
law for it, and you will denounce the
men as a defrauder, Aye, if need be,
you will hurl him in,to jail. You will
say: "r am bound to gat that property
I bought it. 1 panl for it." Now,
transpose the case. Suppose Jesus
Christ to be the wronged purchaser on
the one aide, and the impenitent soul
on the other, trying to defraud Ffim
of that which He bought at such an
exorbitant price, and. how do you feel
about that injustice? How do you
feel towards that spiritual fraud, tur-
pitude, and perfidy? A man with an
ardent temperament rises yonder un-
der the gallery, and he says that such
injustice as between man and man is
bad enough, but between man and Ged
it is reprehensible and intolerable, and
he brings his fist down on the " pew,
and he says: "I can stand this injus-
tice n.o longer. After all this pur-
chase 'if any man love not the Lord
Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema
Marannthaa "
I go still further, and show you how
suivida.1 it is for a man, not, to love
Christ. If a man gets in trouble, and
he cannot get out, we have only one
feein.g towards laim—sympatlay and a
desire to help him. If he has
failed for a vast amount of money,
and cannot pay more than ten cents
on a dollar, aye, if he cannot pay any-
thing, though his creditors may come
after him like a pack of hounds, we
sympathize with him, We gd to his
store or house, and we express our
condolence. But suppose the day be-
fore that man failed, William E. Dodge
had come into his store and said: "My
friend, I hear you are in trouble. I
have oome to hells you. If ten thou-
sand dollars will see you through your
perplexity, I have a loan Of that
amount for you. Here is a cheque for
the amount of that loan," Suppose the
man said: "'With that ten thousand
dollars I could get through until next
spring, and then everything, will be
all right; but, Mr. Dodge, I don't want
it; I won't take it; I would rather fail
than take it; I don't even thank you
for offering it." Your sympathy for
that an would cease immediately.
You would say: "He had a fair offer;
he raight have got out; he wants to
fail; he refuses all help now let him
fail." There is no one in all this
boast, who would have any sympathy
for that men. But dd not let us be
too hasty. Christ hears of our spiri-
tual embarrassments. He finds that
we are on the very verge of
ETERNAL DEFALCATION.
He finds the law knocking at our door
with this dun: "Pay me what thou
owest." We do not know; which way
to turn. Pay? We cannot pay a
farthing of all the millions of obliga-
tion. Well, Christ comes in and says:
"Here is My name; you can use My
name. Your name will be worthless,
but My red handwriting on the back
of this obligation will get you through
anywhere." Now suppose the soul
says: "I know I am in debt; I • can't
meet these obligations either in time
or in eternity; but, 0 Christ, I want
not Thy help; I ask not Thy rescue. Go
away from me." You would say:
"That man, why, he deserves to die. He
had the offer of help; he would not
take it, He is a free agent; he ought
to have what hewants; he ehooses death
rather than life. Ought you not give
him freedom of choice?:' Though a
while ago there was only one ardent
man under the gallery who understood
the Apostle, now there are hundreds
in the house who can say, and do say,
within themselves; "After all this in-
gratitude, and rejection, and obstinacy,
"if any man love not the Lord Jesus
Christ,. let him be Anathema. Marat-
attia,"
I go a step further, and say it is
most cruel for a man not to love
jesus. The meanest thing I could. do
for you would be needlessly to hurt
your feelings. Sharp words sometimes
cut like a dagger. An unkind look
will soznetimes rive like the lightning.
An unkind deed may overmaster a sen-
sitive sairit, and if yote have made up
your mind that you have done wrong
fa any one, it does not take you two
minutes to make up your mind to go
and apologize. • Now Christ is a
butidle of delicacy and. sensitiveness,
0 what rough treatment lie has ree
eeived sometimes from our hands. We
have struck Ilina in the fece, ana on
the swollen shouraer, and an the in'
flamed temple. Every time you re-
jented the Lord Jesus Christ you struCk
aim, flow you have,
SHOCKED IIIS NRVidS
How you have. broken }Ii s heart. Did
you, my brother, evee measure thel Last ThUrsolay, when the horee doWri
meaning Of that one paasagt; "Beheld, by the City Hall dashed off at such
stand at the door and knock?" It
neVer eatne tO me as it did this after-
nO04, Whila 1 wee thinking on this
sabjeet. "Beheld, I etand a,t the door
end )(nook." Some AianuarY dey, the
thermOmeter five degrees below zero,
the wind and the sleet beating reeled-
leesiY against yen, you go up the steps
or a house where .you have a very 134 -
pm -tent err:44. You Imo* with one.
knuokle,Nse answer. You are very
earnest, and you are freezing. Tbe
next lime you knock harder. After a
while, with your fist you beat against
the door, Yoe muet get in, but the
inmate is cereless or stubbOrn, and he
does not want you in, Your errand
is a failure. You go away. Tee Lord
Jesus Christ comes up on, the steps of
yourabeart, and with very sore hand
He knocks hard at the door of your
soul. He is standing in the cold,
blage of humaa suffering. Ile knoeks.
He says: "Let Me in. I have come it
g•recit way. I have oome all the Way
front Nazareth, from Bethlehein, from
Golgotha. Let Me in. I am shivering
and bine with the cold, Let Me in.
My feet are bare but for their covering
of blood. My head is uncovered but
for a turban of brambles. By all
these wounds of foot, and head, and
heart, I beg you to let Me in,
0, 1 chavie been here a great whiIe, end
the night is getting darker. I am
faint with hutger, I am dying to get
in, 01 lift the latch—shove back the
bolt. Wan't you let IVIe in? Won't
you? 'Behold, I stand at the door and
knock,'" But 'after awhile, my broth-
er; the scene will change. It will be
another door, but Christ will be on, the
other side of it. He will be on the
inside, and the rejected sinner will be
on the outside, and the ginner will
cozne up and knock at the door and
say: 'Let me in, let me in. I have
ccnee a great way. Lcame all the way
from earth,
I-)A.NI SICK AND DYING.
Let tue in. The merciless storm beats
may unsheltered head. The wolves of
a great night are ou ray track. Let
me in. With both fists I beat against
this door. 0, let me in. 0, Christ, let
me ha. 0, Holy Ghost, let me in. 0,
God, let me in, 0, my glorified kin-
dred, let me in," No answer save the.
voice of Christ who shall say: "Sin+
ner, when I stood at your door, you
would not let Me in, add now you are
standing at My door, and I eannot
let you in. The day of your grace is
past. Officer of the law, seize him."
.And, while the arrest is going on, all
the myriads of heaven rise on gallery
and throne, end cry with a loud. voice,
that makes the eternal city quake
frora Cap -stone to foundation, saying:
"If any man. love not the Lord Jesus
Christ, let him. be Anathema Maran-
atha."
When a man refuses to love Christ
and rejects Hint, the Apostle intimates
he butchers Jesus, and you cannot get
any other meaning out of that pas-
sage. He "crucifies the,, Lord of
Glory." It is just as if you went to
a timber -yard and got two pieces of
wtood, a long piece and a short piece,
and hammered them together, and
then you went to an a,pothecary"g
store and. got a chemist to mix you
up the bitterest draught. possible, and
than you caught Christ and lifted Ilim
on the one• and. made Him drink the
other: By our sins we have done this.
We have ripped open the old wounds.
We have flagged Christ with thongs
that -cut to the spinal column. We
have pelted Him with iron hammers.
0, poor soul, stop that. Quit that
massacre of a God! Take your hands
off Him! Decide! Decide! 0, is that
what He gets for coming to save us?
For His kiss of love do we give Him
the blow of rejection? Cruel! Cruel!
When I think of all this, my surprise
at the Apostle ceases, and I have
come at last to the point at which the
Apostle apoke, end I feel as vehement-
ly as he did, and I can join with him
and
THE GREAT MULTITUDE
on gallery arid throne one hundred
and forty and four thousand, saying:
"If, after, all this, a man love not the
Lard Jesus Christ, let him be Ana-
thema Maran-atha."
My text pronounces Anathema Mar-
an-atha upon all those who refuse to
love Chriet. Anathema—cut off. Cut
ofd from light, from hope, from peace,
from heaven. 0 sharp, keen, sword-
like Words! Cut off 1 Everlastingly
cue, off! "Behold therefore the good.-
ness and severity -of God; on
them which fell, severity; but
toward. thee, goodness, if thou
continue in His goodness; otherwise
thou also shalt be cut" off." Nfaran-
athe—that is the other word. "When
He comes" is tile meaning of it. Will
He come? I see no signs of it. I
Looked into the sky to -night as I rode
down to church. I saw no sugns of
the coming. No signal of God's ap-
pearance. The earth' stands solid on its
foundation. No cry of welcome or of
WOO. Will Efe come? Ile will. Mar-
an-aelia I- Hear it, ye mountain, and
prepare to fall. Ye cities, and prepare
to burn. Ye righteous, and prepare to
reign. Ye wicked, and prepare to die.
Maran-atha I Maran-atha 1 He comes
It seems to pme ae if He may be start-
ing now, as though Ete had ordered up
His chariot with fire -shod lightnings
harnessed to it. The retinue mount-
ed in front, mounted behind. I hear
the clank a the sword of judgment.
Open the gates, and they conte out,
and they ride down the steep hills of
heaven, ten thousand Saints His body
guard. I hear the galloping of the
hoofs of the snow-white steeds, near-
er, nearer. Awake, ye dead! Open,
ye books! Come, .ye bl eased I De-
part, ye cursed! IKa,ran-a,thal
an-atha I But 0, my ibrother, I am
not so aroused by that coming as I am
to a previous coming, and that is the
coming of our death -hour, which will
fix everthing for us, 1 cannot exact-
ly say whether it will be in the noon,
or at the sundown when the people
are coming home, or in the morning
When the world is"walting up, or while
STRIIKIN0 TWELVE AT NIGHT,
But " tell yoti what I think, that with
some of yet% it will be before next Sun-
day night.
A minister of the Gespel said in an
andienee:• "Before next Sabbath some
of YOU, will be gone." And a man said
during the week: "I shall watch now,
and if no btie dies in oar eongregation
during this week, I shall go and tell
the Ininistet his falsehood,' A man
standing next to him eaid : ,"Why,
it may be yoUrself." "0, no," he re'
plied: • "I shall live on to be an old
then,* That night he begained his
it fut•lona rate and beoanee nneontrol-
'able, and the man leaped from the
ottrriaife. 611d, his feet wers imuglet in
the lines, and he was dragged it long
distance and picked up stone dead—
what, a Warning that was Jo tnose wno
leoked on If that had been yen in
the carriage, and you had leaped., and
Yonr feet had caught ha the lines, and
you had keen picked up es he was,
where wonld you have been this hour?
Standing befere some who soon. sitaii
be launched into great eternity, what
are your equipments T About to juraP,
.where will yon land? 0, the subject
is overwhelming to me, and when
say, these things to you, I say them
to myself. "Lord, is it I? Is it IV'
Some of us part to -night never to meet
again. It never before, I now bore
commit my soul into tne keeping of
the Lord Jesus Pheist.
• JAPAN'S NEW METHOD.
--
now Celealisols Condellutted to Wont 1"
• That Country Min Be Bxecuted.
The Japanese government is striv-
ing to, discover a new aud more mod-
ern mode for the exeoution of its con-
victed criminate. It 'has laid aside the
idea of execution by electricity as it is
now practised in America and is 'con-
sidering an entlx•ely new and improved
method of execution,
It is quick, painless, quiet and, Peace-
ful. The Japanese consider le even
Lar better than the moat modern mode
that af electricity, inasmuch as it
does not harm the appearance of the
body in, the least, whereas electricity
when not applied,' to exactly the pro-
per degree scorches, burns .and shriv-
els the shin of the victim.
The 'death" or "vacuum" chamber,
as it is to be known, is to be an air-
tight cell built in or adjoining the
prison. It is to be eight feet in height
ten feet wide and ten feet long. The
four sides are to have each an aix-
tight window of three-quarter inch
plateglass, so that the operators,
prison and other officials may have an
opportunity to witness the execution
ancj determine the results.
The cell will be connected with an
air pump which will have a power of
causing the expulsion of the air in the
cell in one minute and forty seconds,
thus acting so quiekly as not to al-
low the victim to become suffocated or
distressed in even the slightest degree,
but, instead, causing almost instant
death. In fact, it was shown when
the experiment6wa.s tried upon a large
Si. Bernard dog that the animal was
dead a minute and a half after the
vacuum, was completed -
The experts before wham the ex-
periment was tried were not only mar-
vellously, pleased and surprised by the
excellent success, but were so positive
while the vacuum continued, from the
peaceful and lifelike appearance of the
dog, that he was still alive, that they
would not, allow the vacuum to be die -
continued for thirty minutes: When
on examining the St. Bernard they
found tliat it was dead one and a half
minutes after the vacuum was com-
pleted they pronounced the method "a
revolutkoms in the mode of execution,"
and declared that it was far better
than electricity, which causes a stif-
fening of. the muscles and a frightful
appearap.ce of the face and eyes.
The raethod to be pursued itt the exe-
cution of criminals by this chamber,
should it be adopted, will be as fol-
lows:—
The condemned will be gripped, so
that the air which might become
lodged itt and between the folds of the
garments will not be able to cause any
'hitch in. the execution. The con-
demaed will be placed in a position on
the flat of the back, at full length,
and with the hands clasped above the
head so as to allow full expansion and
contraction of t'he chest.
This is darte so that when the vacu-
um is forming, the air in the body, be-
ing expelled by the contraction of the
chest, will be instantly drawn out of
the chamber by the air pump, and
then, there being no air in the 'cham-
ber to replace that exhaled. death will
ensue.
RAISING LEECHES.
Ihey Are eltlight OR the Bare Legs er
Fiseviier4 Who-WI/de lu Alter Thema.
The way the leech farmers go about
their bu,siness is very interesting. Hav-
ing fenced. and watered a suitable mea-
dow, they proceed to sow it with leech-
es by scattering theta broadcast on the
laud. from sacks containing 15,000
leeches each. All that is now necese
sary is to provide for the crop ,plenty
of water and plenty of blood. The usual
method of providing the latter was to
drive old horses and cattle into the
inclogures; but SOMetita0S fresh blood
from a slaughter house was supplied.
When required, the leeches are caught
by it*rowing a fresh sheepskin into the
water. When the skin is taken out
hundreds of leeches are found clinging
to it, but a more primitive custom, and
One still ero.peoyed by collectors, is to
wade itt the water and allow the leeches
to fix upon the bare legs.
• Miss Mary kingeley in her "Tray -
a1$ in West Africa," relates that once
passing through a deep swamp, which
reached to their chins, they . all got
horribly infested with leeches, having
a frill of them round their necks like
astrakhan collars when they emerged,
'1"he land leeches of the East are also
very troublesome to both cattle and
men. So abundant are they in some
parts that soldiers and workmen ere
sometimes fatally weakened by the
minute but persistent blood-letting.
It is ealmelated that 30,000,000 were
insect annually in France and England
alone. A eingle company itt Australia
used to export 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 per
year to Europe and America. On Par -
year to FiliTOPIS and, America. One Par-
isian eapitalist affirmed that his leech
crops 'Deb:tined him 15 to I; and it is
recorded that the monopoly of taking
leeches Itt Morocco. Was 0000 sotet for
20,000„ •
THEIR' OWN. HEED,.
The people,,of Brazil have learned to
-
make their own, beer, and native breve-
Ories hbav sttpply nearly all. (lee de-
mand-
1HE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
INTERNATIONAL LESSON, AUG. 13.
"len:niers Greet vieiose" reels. 41. leleo
64/Itlel0 Teen EVARi. 36. 23.
PHACTICAL NOTES.
Verse 1. The hand, of the Lord was
enon, me. A man's, arm bended, With
te mallet en the) hand, is te this daY a
ficTular symbol of strength. Cerreed
eeeme to be it care throuehout EZe-
kiel'S phraseology to indicate that his
me out in the Spix•it of the Lord. There
spirit only was "carried out;" isa vras
ba, an ecstatio state; his body remain-
ed, sveneee it was. , Set me down, in
ehe midst of the valley. Or "plain"
—a level plaee surrounded by hills.
Whioh wee full of bones. The place
may have been familiar to the prophet.
In those days even more than in these
wars devastated large portions of
God's heritage, and modern precautions
were not taken by armies for the bur-
.
tat of the slain. The prime aim of
this vieion was te'exhibit to the exil-
ed Jews their helplessness and the
hope of their restoration. A second-
ary pterpoee was to give the worship-
ers of God in all ,generations a pioture
a the unregenerate • world and the
meas for its salvation; the World is
a valley of dry tones,. for every sinner
is as one dead. Whether or not, in
addition to these two purposes, the
doctrine of the final resurrection was
here intentionally foreshadOwed, it
cannot well be kept out of the mind
of the Christiart who studies thie pas-
sage.
2. Cause en° to pass by them round
about. He was probably, in vision, led
backward and, forward through -the
piles of whitening bones. Behold,
there were very many' in the opeo vet-
,
Icy, There were vast numbers expos-
ed, on the ground. And lo, they were
very dry. There was no hope what-
ever of resuscitation.
3. San of man, can these bones live.
Is it pussible? To the phrase "Son of
Man," o111 Lord afterward gave -a full-
er meaning. 0 Lord God, thou know -
est. Nothing is impossible to God.
4. Prophesy upon these bones. Or,
as the Revised Version says, "over
the bones." The prophet, as has been
well said, was not always a.foreteller,
but always a forthteller, always the
deliverer of a message from, God. And
in, this ease he is not to predict, but
to utter God's raessa.ge. 0 ye dry
bones, hear the word of the Lord. But
how could dry bones hear, without
flesh, mugcles, and nerves? How Call
anything impossible be done? How
could the man with the shriveled arm
stretch it forth? God's word can
reach as far as God's will chooses. We
are to preach salvation to all men, and
count no lost soul within the reach
of our efforts beyond the power of the
Gospel.
5. Thus saith the Lord. God. Ezekiel
is not giving his own opinion merely. I
will cause breath to enter into you,
and, ye shall live. am. causing."
The corupletect miracle he mentions
first, then. afterwards details the pro-
cess. These bones shall again sup-
port the intricate, fleshy struc-
ture of human beings. 'Tile"
and • "breath" are expressed by
the eame word. The prom-
ise is first of • restored national
extstence, then of spiritual life to
those dead ha trespasses and in sin.
6. I will lay sinews upon you, and
will bring.up flesh upon you, and cov-
er you. with skin. Here is the process.
Every missing part of the human body
is to be restored, and, than God will
put breath into them, as he breath-
ed into Adam the breath of life, and
they shall live. Ye shall know. As soon
as these men become again living,
thinking, acting creatures, a great
knowledge springs up in their minds
th.at Jehovah is the God. Those who
have experienced God's grace know his
It:tower.' •
7. So 1 prophesied. Did what he was
told to do ---even though it was to
preach to dry bones. There was a
noise. A thundering, as the bones came
together. And, behold,.a shaking. The
whole valley was covered with bones
and as every one of these bones chang-
ed its position before the prophet's eyes
the effect was like that of an earth-
quake. The bene.s carae together, bone
to his bone. Each bone driven by an in-
telligent force, sought the other parts
of the body to which it had once belong-
ed, and each joint came into its fit-
ting place. Already in Chaldea there
were preliminary'movernents toward a
return to the Holy Land, whieh
might be , comparect to this
movement of • bone to bone.
8, When I beheld. As 'watched. The
sinews and the flesh ,eame upupon
them, and this skin eovered them. God's
promise was kept item by item. But
there was no breath in them. All
that had been done was introductory
to the great miracle. With the out-
ward forms of godliness is need of its
spiritual power,
9. Prophesy unto the wind. Or "the
breath,'" or "the Spirit;' foe the same
word is used for all three, and all
three are referred, to here. The dead
mem of the vishere needed the wind,
whieh becan:ie breath as soon as it was
in theta. But the nation which •was
syinbolieed required the animating
Spirit. Come from the four winds.
The old coneeption•of the universe was
quadrilateral. There were font cor-
ners of the world, four pointe of the
compass, and four winds answering to
the points of the compase. Breathe
upon thee() slain, that they may live. As
of old, the spirit of God brooded on the
on these slain, that they raay live. As
of old, Spirit of G-od broetled Upon the
waters and afterward breathed into
man the breath of life. As on the day
of Pentecost, and thousands of times
SitiSO,, the Spirit .olt God hae. breathed
upon thousande who were dead in tres-
passes and sins, and restored them, to
10. Sol propheffied. • As he was told,
again. They lived, and stood up upon
their feet, an exceeding great
army. Aetivlty follows' olose upon
life. Se the nation of Israel was re-
stored tb numerical strehgth and to
great vigor. The time of Bra, the
• generation Which felloWee the thee of
.1:1A4aelkili"1
la.101119-0145Piritter°114e4
t ae°tiviint4e
y. 13.41611°°'
11. These bones are the wnolo holeee
of Israel. Inelnding both naLiens,
le-
raal and judah hutt been beth dieine
tetilgisreat:rdeaat'nedd saildieestietiduatuotedoedcayarlvaikre,
orrtojane trhaesoaey walistoennehclacibobleosynith, ethwel,seit
in its fury /lad smitten them, all .tbe
forces of nature had attaeked them;
SO the nation of Israel had been slabs
jectect to innumerable iorces tending
toward ruin. 'Were the bones dead? Se
wa.s the holy nation. Were they widee
ly scattered.? So were the Jaw, Our
bones are dried. With imagery similar
to that of Paul they had thought of
themselves as organs of the great na-
tiona.1 body; the head '''of the nation
could not say to the feet, "1 ltaYe no ,
heed of thee ;" the feet could not say
Btoutthothhaatndswa,: Tinhatvia: aooktnededayosf, tewhhee.::
the nation eines instinct with life. Now
each organ is separated from its fel-
lows ; indeed, most of them are utterly
ttecytallee'ocli;huer°s,0flio8re'tehne nbeatioofnainsYdieseinrYeimee-
bared and dead. Our hope is loet. The
most deplorable feature of all. We are
out off for our parts, "For our part ;"
so far as we go. "Clean, out of*'," says
extinct.
1,2.
Version; We are utterly
separated from old-time conditions of
national glory, Our national spirit is
1,2. evill open your graves, la
,Babylonia the whole nation was prac-
tically dead and buried. A dead man
by his own power might rise from his
grave and„ return to home and bust. -
nese as 'easily as this poor nation
Could reit-lye" itself, min re-establish
LsoolredinGo2cla;14isjisre:B
11 bedone.tnilnetis sa
eki' the
13, Ye shall know that I am the
Lord. Not only know t'hlat the words
of Ezekiel were the words of Jehovah,
but that Jehovah is now the same as
of old—the same God who rained de-
struction upon Sodom, who plagued
Pharaoh, led the children. of Israel -
across the desert, threw dowa the
walls of Jericho, and made the heath-
en flee before them. He was able eo
perform as great wonders in the daye
of Ezekiel as at any previous time, '
14. Shall `put ply spirit itt you, and.
ye shell live. • As the "wind," 'or
"breath, " op spirit or physical life,
Which the Lord Ciod had called from
the four corners ef heaven, had ani-
mated; the (lead, men and turned them
into active, ,aggressive, vigilant sol-
diers, so 'the Spirit of God is to be
breathed -into Israel, and God will
dwell in it, the animating national
force. I shall place you. in your own
land. A promise that some of those
who heard these Words, lived to see
fulfilled. Then shall ye know that
the Lord have spoken it, and perform-
ed it. It is well to recoghize the hand
of God in the accomplishment of our
victories. It is better by strong faith
to be sure of the promise before as aft-
er its perfomrance,
HOW IT ORIGINATED.
LtuaBliter Hod Its Origin in Nothing Buil
• Savit.ze Cruelty. •
;Why we laugh is a question that has
elvvaye puzzled those who are emus-
tomed to think deeply., The laugh,
whip!' is now so closely associated with
good leumor and kindly feeling, express-
ed the exact reverse. It was the crow
of triumph over a fallen foe. Such is
itg nature stilt among savages, and its
unexpected manifestations are Oc-
casionally very startling. Dancing ou.
the body of a prostrate enemy is, in
fact, to thein hilarious fun.
Any new device for torment is a
clever jest. The inflicting of a ghast-
ly wound as some poor wretch runs
the gauntlet makes them yell with. glee.
The things that shook or horrify ,or
disgust the civilized man axe about
the only things worth laughing at
from a savage's -point of View. With
the exception, tJaerefore, of rough tira.c-
tical jokes, which may possibly wrinkle
his stolid features with a momentary
grin, the barbarian has no appreciaLion
of civilized humor. Even the knoeve
ledge that he hitaself is to be the next
victim does not spoil the fun of a cruel
spectacle foa• a barbarian thor-
oughbred. • • -
Some Siamese who had been engaged
in a revolt were captured red-handed
and sentenced to military execution. A.
company of soldiers had, been drawn
up with loaded muskets, before whom
the doomed men were led out in
squads of five or six to be shot, while
those who were waiting their turn
stood by, under guard, looking • on.
When the first volley was fired the
victims, torn by the storna of bullets,
leaped into the air with violent contor-
tions and fell dead. And this to the
poor wretches whose turn it was to
next go through the same experience
seemed so fine a show and so excruel-
atingly funny that they were fairly
convulsed with laughter.
Such is the humor of the uncivilized,
and such doubtless were the beginnings
of mirth the world over. Strange as
it may seem, thine are really tants of
this barbarous origin in the fun of the
most highly civilized. We no longer
laugh at really tragio o.coureences, it
is true, fot other and more humerie
emotions are too strongly exoited: Bat
if we chance to see a, ricliculmee mistier)
which does not quite rise to the dig .
ity cd tragedy --an accident by which
some one is greatly inconverneotted
and annoyed without being seriously
injured—the i-enanant of the savage
breaks loose in us, and we laughssome-
times until the tears coni.
AN ALERT DIPLOMAT.
'limn is it war cloud hovering over
unth8ne:je:mhbpligttelan,e6e:dnieheevcaaelags set:yr:7 ityvahtiOsrlails:alloldsal'ohls,106nd
some tette phrases, .
A. rartn's hand, repeated Li, 'llung
Change arousing himself front his at+
triton doze, Make him Open his bend
and shteW how much money there 10
in it.
TORNADO SNAIP,S,
AofstAinns lo.e°ewnatt.nelnLakesvv
)inAcrile8flort4.tinida.
thuadfies
on the beachitt one place, While IA
anothet, ISa beat% %Set entirely-wash-
(.;csdokatie,Vay, leaving entleirig but bare