The East Huron Gazette, 1892-03-24, Page 4=
URGENT PRIVATE AFFAIRS.
CHAPTER EEL
°MANG IRE Dna w7u4G-Room O GARwoon
HOUSE.
"Dream or fact?—dream or fact—dream or
fact?" thought Nellie Morton, as she lay on
the bed of her own room after Mrs Bathurst
had left her. Had -she heard this man say
he was hopelessly ruined? Had she dream-
ed that the old woman indicated that she,
Ellen Morton, could save him? If she had
not dreamed, what could the words and
gestures of Mrs Bathurst mean? Only one
thing—only that this monstrous creature
should come by whatever money her
father had saved. How was that to be
done? Only in one way—by this awful,
this monstrous man marrying her!
What a horrible, what an intolerable
position was hers! Colonel Pickering had
hidden her good-bye, and she had no ad-
dress for him between the leave-taking and
Gibraltar. In all the world she did not
know a soul on whom she could rely for
help or advice. She thought of her old
school, but that was in Yorkshire Most
of her acquaintances in Leighton were con-
nected with the regiment, and on the move
with the ColoneL She had never gone a
journey by herself, and she felt like a lost
wanderer in a desert, or the sole human be-
ing on an island where beasts of prey lurked
in every shelter.
She was alone in Garwood, alone in Lon-
don, alone in England, alone in Europe!
There was no one to whom she could appeal.
She was imprisoned within the high v-alls
of these lonely grounds. She was certain
it would he worse than useless to ask assis-
tance of any servant in the house. The old
woman who had opened the lodge -gate
would, she knew, refuse to let her out. Sven
if she succeeded in gaining the public road,
what conld she do there? She could not wan-
der about day and night. She had only a lit-
tle money in her pocket, and even if she had
ten times as much, what could she do with
it? She never in all her life had bought food
or been across the threshold of an hoteL
But what was the use of thinking about
liberty? From the grounds of Garwood
House she could no more escape than flee to
her father in remote Brazil.
Mrs Bathurst had chilled her, had sent
the blood back into her heart, until she felt
suffocating, until she awoke to shadowy
terrors threatening her in the distances and
silences and spaces of that oppressive house.
In any other house the nooks and corners
had been no more full of fears than an
esplanade or terrace or country lane. Here
nooks and corners were the hiding -places
from which ghosts fled on one's approach
Here the vast spaces over the stairways
were the haunts of shrouded mystery and
and boding echo.
Mrs Bathurst had chilled her :
William Bathurst had made her
blood freeze with terror. The hideous-
ness of his appearance stunned her,
and at sound of his monstrous voice and
sight of his revolting capers, she had swoon-
ed. And then to think—if she could trust
her- numbed senses—this old woman had
indieated that this hideous man waa to be
her suitor! She who had never heard word
of love from man was by a vile conspiracy
to be forced inti the arms of this loathsome
creature, in order that his ruined fortunes
might be made whole with her father's
money ! Surely no one in _England could to-
day contemplate so odious a crime! She
- would die, ay, die a thousand deaths of
agony before yielding to so hateful a fate.
Could it bethatshe gathered thereat im-
port of what had, gone on while she sat half
conscious?
There was no room for doubt. Had not
the old woman begun with a reeeption chil-
lier than December? Had she not told her
this William Bathurst would never marry?
And then, after learning that her son had ei
- lost his money, had she not spoken in terms th
of affection, nay, of endearment, to the girl, us
whose presence seemed a burden and an in- hi
jury an hour before? What more confirma-
tion was needed ?
She was the centre of a vile plot, eneom-
paszed inviolate walls, alone, helpless, ce
=dress! OM would not merciful death th
.
cometodeliver her!
she had diSeountenanced. " Once you go
south of the equator I abandon you," she
had said to him long ago when he first broke
loose from her e,ounseL "You're not to men-
tion to me -any of your affairs in that region
of thieves and revolutions. All I will ever
hear of South America is that Christopher
Merton's money comes safely out of it, and
does not go back there to be lost."
She knew that by this time the amount of
Christopher Mortoo's investments must be
thirty or forty thousand pounds. This was
not a large fortune, but it ought to be
enough to give her son time to recover him-
self; and she was quite sere William would
never again disregard her aovice, and that,
with the aid of this girl's fortune and her
advice, her son would once mere be able to
hold up his head as a member of the Stock
Exchange. s -
She knew that in the will lodged with
Christopher Morton's lawyer the dead
engineer had left all his money to his daugh-
ter, and appointed her son and Colonel
Pickering guardians and trustee& The
father now was dead ; and the other guard-
ian and trustee would be out of England be-
fore morning,.and would not be back again
until this girl was of age—until she was
married.
Mrs. Bathurst rang the drawing -room
bell, which had not sounded for no one
knew how long.
"Let this room be thoroughly done out
to -morrow," she said to the servant • "and
for the future, when the sun is off this side
of the house, let the blinds be pulled up."
While Mrs. Bathurst was taking a first
step in arrangements for her son's future,
that son was hastening back to London to
stop disaster in the present. Having once
made up his mind to use Cristopher Mor-
ton's money for his extrication, there was
no difficulty in the way, though there was
possible danger of the direst kind.
Christopher Morton being dead, and
Colonel Pickering as good as out of the
country, it was necessary only to produce
the signature ot a dead man on a certain
document, so as to enable William Bathurst
to raiee money that very evening. There was
no need to tell any one in the City that
Christopher Morton was dead. In fact, it
would cause fatal delay it the news in the
telegram from Brazil got abroad. The mes-
sage had been forwarded from his office un-
opened, so he was safe from premature dis-
closure.
Bathurst had no moral scruple about
creating the document he required. It was
dangerous work his fabricating of signatinns,
even of a dead man; and dangerous this
concealing of the dead man's death, and
dealing with his property as though the
signature were genuine and the supposed
signatory alive. Bathurst did not in his
mind use the word fraud or felony, but he
was not blind to the gravity of the act he
contemplated.
Morton was dead, the girl was under his
roof, the other trustee on his way to India;
months of undisturbed possession of the
money could be counted on—even if the girl
did not become his wife—and in months all
could be pat right, Even the girl ,did not
know of her father's death, and was not to
know of it until there had been time for it
letter to come from BratziL
Truly, as his mother said, fate had
played into his hands ! If he had been
allowed to design the situation, noth-
ing could have been better ordered.
Luck ! Yes; he believed in luck. He
had always been lucky until he touched
South America, and the very moment South
America proved a ravenous quicksand ander
his feet, from that self -same South America
a hand of succour was stretched forth to
him!
A band of succour stretched forth to him ?
—or was he stretching forth his hand to
fie the tomb of a friend? Bali! Such
oughts were childish, and could not be of
e to a keen man in the City this day of
deous disaster!
He had told his clerks in Langley Court,
enchnrch Street, 'that he was going to
Garwood. He had not said anything about
ming back. They did not know whether
ey should see him again that day or not.
en he walked in at five o'clock they
ere not surprised. That day no one was
urprised by anything done in the City.
William Bathurst went straight into his
ivate office and locked the door. In a
quarter ot an hour he emerged, pale and
ions, and harried out. That day the
nks shut their doors at four as usual, but
rate offices forgot custom and were open
ng after closing -time.
In less than half an hour, Bathurst was -
k, had saved his house, had borrowed
neyon a signature which.was not genuine
Inviolate wall? The grounds were not
closed all hl by walls—atthe foot
of the grounds flowed the river!
Nellie rose from the bed. She was dead -
pr
ly pale. She caught up the hat worn that
day in the grotmds, and stole out of the anx
room, out of the house, and following the ba
- dip of the land, took her way towards the pet
nenB th
lo
e the
rise at the bidding of his mother, the old bac
wonan rang the bell and ordered the lunch- mo
eon things` to be taken away. She then
mimed the great hall into the large gloomy
drawing -room. At ordinary times, months
_ went by without a visit from either herself
or her son to this great chamber. The
blinds were always kept down, and in spite
of -the blazing unclouded June sun, only a
dim twilight filled the place.
She drew tip the blinds. That was ber
first act towards changing the aspect of the
house, as an -indication that all within had
changed. Up to this day she had her mind
made up her son would never marry. This
day she made-up her mind William should
take a wife. She raised the blinds as the
firist act -of preparing the house for her son's
an
ho
op
ing
th
the
awa
refl
on the faith that Christoptier Morton
as alive.
Once more he turned - his face towards
me. In the hurry and excitement of his
erations in the City the necessity for do -
speedily what he was about prevented
inking. In the cab which took him to
train and in the train that carried him
y from town he hull plenty of time for
ection.
'Saved !" he thought, as he jumped into
"Saved ! e thought again as he
flung himself into the cushioned corner o
the railway carriage. Saved from imminent
and complete ruin ! How easy it had been
What a trifling effort it cost him to place a
seeure barrier between his house and des-
was at that_ moment a felon-! Monstrous ;
His mother know he was a felon! 'Fria
mother approye--uay, suggest thathe should
commit a crime ! commit two crimemt In
tolerably monstrous! Masculine as her mind
was, still first of all she was his mother,
and no man ever yet could believe that his
own mother would urge him to crime !
Ugh ! he would think no more of this ghast-
ly side of the affair. He would dwell alto-
gether on the fact that he had been threat-
ened with destruction and had saved him-
self.
He reached the door of Garwood in pro-
found cogitation. He had resolved to take
his attention away from unpleasant aspects
of the affair, and yet no sooner did he for a
moment forget this resolution, than, like a
spring at the release, his mind flew back to
othe question: Did his mother know what
following her advice involved, a crime on
his part ?
" Where is Mrs -Bathurst ?" he asked of
the servant who opened the door.
"In the drawing -room, sir."
"In the drawing -room !" cried he awak-
_
ing out of his reveyie. "Did you say in
the drawing -room ?" he asked in astonished
incredulity. During all their years in this
house she had never awaited him in the
drawing -room before.
" Yes sir; the mistress ordered dinner to
be put hack, and said that when you came
you were to'be good enough to go to the
drawing -room, where she is alone."
He hastend acress the hall, and entered
the room which he had not seen for—months
—years. His mother was sitting in thearm
of an old-fashioned sofa at one of the win-
dows. She motioned him to shat the door
and come/near her.
" Yon are snrprised to find me here. I
have drawn up the blinds in honour of Miss
Morton --in honour of your future wife.
Sit down here." She pointed to the other
end of the sofa. " How did you get on in
the City ? Did you arrange everything sat-
isfactorily?"
"Yes. There was no hitch." He sat
down at the other end of the sofa.
" I am glad. of that. I am greatly pleased
you acted so promptly. You have taken all
means to ensure safety ? "
"Oh yes, all the means."
" And there is no going back upon what
you have done ? Even suppose you thought
of changing your mind aow, yon could not
go back?
"No. I have drawn Morton's money,
and the proceeds have been paid way against
my undischarged liabilities of to -day."
What could she mean by asking could he
go back? It seemed clear from this that
his most horrible suspicion was true. It
was now plain she must know he could not
have extricated himself withoutcrime. This
was terrible.
"1 am glad to hear you cannot go back,
that you are now obliged to go on towards
prosperity once more. Something has oc-
curred since which made me for a moment
fear you might be able to go back upon
what we this morning resolved to do."
"And you think if I could I would ?
What is it that has happened ?" The cold
sweat broke oat on his forehead. That
morning he had been distracMd, driven
frantic, made half mad by the things that
had occurred in the City. Never in his life
had he felt fear until now. He felt cold
with fear, clammy with fear, sick with fear.
"An -unexpected event has occurred here
since you left. '
" What is it?" He was not sure that his
voice uttered the question. -
"Colonel Pickering came back."
" Why ?"
" He found a telegram for him announc-
ing Morton's death, when he got to town,
We never thought of that. We never
thought Morton would have said that Colo-
nel Pickering, also, must be telegraphed to
if he died."
" No ; we never thought of that. Tele-
grams from Brazil are so dear, I fancied one
would be enough."
" Yes ; we never could have been prepar-
ed for this. Does it make much differ-
ence ?"
"Perhaps. I do not know; I cannot say
yet. What has taken place here ?" He
groaned and wiped the cold sweat from his
forehead.
"He came not thinking we had word of
Morton's death. I did not tell him we had
a telegram ---
" Thank Heaven for that !"
"He said he got the cable, and ran out
to break the news to Miss Morton. I sent
a servant for her. She was not in her room
The servant supposed she had gone into the
grounds, as her hat had disappeared. Col-
onel Pickering said he would go out loch
for her." She pointed to the window. "He
had only just left, me whet! you knocked.
Does it make much difference ?"
" I thought this man was leaving -London
to. -d‘ Haye?s"ays if he can get away by a train
near eleven to-nig'st he can catch he ship. —
asked you, does it make much difference,
anti you have not answered me. I ask you
again, Does it make much difference ?"
"It may." Again he groaned and wiped
is forehead.
" It may." He loosed his collar at the
eek anti stared. His feu was ghastly, his
a w dropped.
For a min ate silence was unbroken ; each
sat ref:Yarding t e other In that oriet Th t f 13
ih
e ca h
f
1
theShe had been insp. ire` r of her husband'straction! To -morrow, the names of ail the
=Ian
spe °nem the City, and he left all he
- died worth_to h.e.r. This was not the house
where heehesband died. He bought it a
short time before his death, but had never
in it.
The widow let it until her son
began to be troubled with those alarming
„tptericalseizares : then, it being quiet, re-
-4E4;4 surrounded by high walls and large
-
gtOundif, out of the way, an t7 well qualified
houses sucked down in the whirlpool would
be known in the City, would be known
throughout all commercial world ; as d
but for the thing he had just done, the
house of William Bathurst would be in, that
black list !
Favoured by circumstances, and aided by
his mother's advice andliis own bold vigor -
ons action, he had been able to save him -1
eit self,---tarting her smi with her. I &defaulter—he posted! who had for years
When mother and son moved into Gar- :held Ids head so high, and being reearded
wood use, - the place was'furnished as a rock of good sense, as a slow -going,
for ordinary family use. Mrs. Bathurst money -making speculator ! He had kept
tmireep trseeret,„ she vrent to live in it her- self from bankruptcy—from being posted as
th should his dealings in South America to himself.
. .
never'marry. But as years went on, No one need now know that he had burnt
•--;:eete-e-,='; -*of retitement deepened around the !. his fingers, to say 'nothing of escaping an-
ethati-solation of its himates, became nihflation in -the fire.
merentrict, until:from year's end to year's t Tine, he had been obliged to run risks ;
'd no.stranger enterectits gates. I but were the risks worth taking into count
¶Pl..r.iiihig of the drawing -room windr,wi Supposing -the worst, were the risks very
Unds 46sdayWam toilet in the dawn of a great? No._ For, even if Colonel Picker-
_ *aitarclWilliam- had lost all his money, ling -were - not going abroad, he would be
daU her -Moneyaswell. in those villainous ; friendly and allow his fellow -trustee to do
SouthAnierieanspecnlations. Buttie very pretty much as lie liked ; for the Colonel;
iawe tray thetnewe ef thedliaater reached I no- doubt, knew that the -dead man had
London, this Ellen- Morton, strayed placed unlimited faith in 'William Bathurst.
— Witioefortime large enough t When his mother suggested his using this
Nat, -more, the finge.r- of money, she did not takeintocount the risk
idubitably to the match r for, he would run. No doubt she -had no suspi-
_Ainerlinw.which'hact "0101- Bions there was any risk beyond that of f
fusing another man's money without his
and the authority or knowledge. the hurry and
nught-ruin, to the City confusion, her notion Most likely was that
:COM get- Mortoiainoney as readily as
he ma*dl, standing to ids own credit in his
Int bank. --n_ere=1,0.41d he no need to un-
ecetti-tiet. inAtiiiitit-might be hat
e knew exactly WhitChallad been obliged
_
'hat! She, hie nnitheri--;_lieeig-thist he
w
THE TEACHING 07 BALM
BY GEORGE Houdin&
one reads the Bible. Some parts of _the
It makes a great deal of differenee howth
thate
Bible are so familiar that.onawpone knus.o.w
words by heart. The conseg
they make little impresser nenee IsOthr
parts of the Bible are so, difficult.thai t we
cannot understand them. The Bible, ac-
cordingly, is to many people, one of the
dullest books in the world. Leave a man
in a room alone with two books, one ofthem
a Bible and the other any stupid book you
please,, and see if he will not take the other
book. The Bible is really the most inter-
esting, the most uplifting the most wonder-
tafulbbeooreadk that the
se right
72yitte. n. But it has
I talked once with atEentucky farmer
who lived five miles froth the Mammoth
Cave. He was aware that there was such
a cave in the neighborhood, and that people
came from long distances to see it, and that
wonderful things were said about it. But
he had never explored it. He informed me,
me, however, that he had ventured a con-
siderable distance into a number of other
caves! Somehow, we too know a great deal
about a number of lesser books, while we
lack interest in the supreme book.
Let me make some suggestions about read-
ing the Bible. If you know French or Ger-
man, let me advise you for a time to read
the Bible in those unfamiliar words. You
will be surprised at the new meanings that
will be discovered in it. If yon do not
know French or German, let me offer another
counseL Read these four books, which fol-
low along the lines of the Bible: Stanley's
"History of the Jewish Church," Eder-
sheim's "Life and Times of Jesus, the Mes-
siah," Conybeare and Howson's "Life of St.
Pant," and Farrar's "Early Days of Christ-
ianity." Yon will find that you will pre-
sently be reading the Bible in spite of your-
self. lf, however, instead of accepting
either of these suggestions, you desire to read
the English Bible in the King James' Ver-
sion, you will find great help in a good com-
mentary. The little Cambridge "Bible for
Schools, ' in quite a number of inexpenkive
volumes, is the beat general commentary I
know of.
I want to sti dy to -day, the first five chap-
ters of the book of Isaiah. The first of these
five chapters can be set under four headings;
(1) the charge, (2) the defense, (3) the prom-
ise. (4) the punishment.
God makes the charges, and the 'defend-
ants are the people of Judah and Jerusalem -
The charge is that they are rebellions chiL
dren. That sums it all out. God is their
Father ; He has brought them up, and cared
for them, and loved them, and the have
turned away from Him.
And what is the people's defense? Why,
that the services in the temple are more
elaborate and beautiful than they have ever
been before that secrifices are daily offered,
prayer is hourly uttered, and all the holy
seasons reverently kept. To which God
answers that ritual without righteousness is
abominable in His sight, that no magnifi-
cence of ecclesiastical architectare, no beauty
of ornate service, no costliness of sacrifice,
can be of any value apart from genuine
obedience to his moral laws. "Wash you,
make you clean, put away the evil of your
doings from before Mine eyes. Cease to do
evil, learn to do well." Thus alone can
man expect to win the approbation of the
righteous God. Do justices to the fatherless,
protect the widow, help the poor.
That was more than 2,500 years ago!
And Jesus of Nazareth has lived in the
world since the words were ppoken, and
brought all the emphasis of his divine life
into the cause of true religion. And yet
even to day we need two,starmons every
Sunday on this same old text. Even to -day
we understand but dimly that the theology
and sociology go together that Christ him-
self put them together into two command-
ments which he pronounced alike in their
essential value. And Lowell's poem, which,
if it had been written in Hebrew might
have fitly set here among the sermons of
Isaiah, needs t, be read to day.
with gates of silver and bars of gold
Ye hove fenced my sheep from their
father's fold:
I have heard the dropping of their tears
In heaven t ir2se eighteen hundred years.
"0 Lord and Master, not ours the guilt
We build but as our fathers built;
Behold thine images, how they stand
Sovereign and so'..e, through all our land."
Then Christ sought out an artisan,
A low-browed, stunted, haggard man,
And a motherless girl. whose fingers thin
Pushed from her faintly want and sin.
These set he in the midst of them,
And as they drew back their garment -hem
For fear of defilement, "Lo, here,'' said He
"The images ye have made of me !"
Nevertheless, there is a promise. Who-
ever turns- back to God and seeks to do Him
service, offering to Him the acceptable sac-
rifice of a just; and upright, and helpfullife,
trying to serve God, not only in the temple,
but out of it, also, at home, and in the street,
and through the hours of business, God will
receive and forgive. Yet God knows that
the promise of pardon will not be heeded.
The chapter closes with the prophecy of pun-
ishment. And yet not a universal nog a
final punishment. Same will turn and be
saved: and after punishment there will be
righteousness.
the sate are alikein peril. For their slim
the lofty towers of the great city shall be
laid low.
-The sermon which is contained in these
four chapters falls into three divisions :
(1) The ideal of the kingdom of God, (2) the
hindrances to its fulfillment, and (3) the
sure punisnment that awaits the hinderers.
The ideal of the kingdom is the absolute
reign over it of the God of Sion. It is the
God of Sion, of the holy city. of the temple,
God the father of MS people; not the
God of Sinai, of the bleak desert, of t
law, the terror of the netion; who is to rul
oyer the ideal kingdom. All religion
progressive. God changes not but o
ideal of God grows wider and higher are
truer, as we grow. Isaiah knew more of
God than Moses. We know more of God,
ought to know more of God, than Isaiah.
LATE FOREI&
A submarine cable to connect Cubs and
some point in Yucatan is to be laid soon.
There are ninety licensed teehlic gambling
houses in Caracas the capital of Venezuela,
all doing a prosperous business.
A French company is now building a
street car line in Tashken,the capital of Rus-
sian Turkestan, where, not very many years
he ago, any white 'man who Lied visited the
e place would have lost his head.
is A new series of postage stamps has been
tirs issued by the republic of San Salvador. All
a stamps previous to 1892 have been called in,
and only the new stamps are the accepted in
payment of postage hereafter.
The population of Bogota, the capital o!
the United States of Colombia, decreased
854 during 1891. There were 2,305 births
and 3,159 deaths in the city daring the year.
Emigration and immigration are not factors
in the city's economy.
A viaduct over the River Lea, in Bolivia,
for the Antofogasta Railroad, is described
as the highest viaduct in the world. It is
9,833 feet above the sea level, and the height
of the viaduct above the river is 4,008 leen
It is 10,497 feet long, the highest pillar le
3,736 feet, and the weight of the structure
is 9,115 tons.
A terrible catastrophe is reported from
the village of Koaba, in the neighbourhood
of Algiers. Seven Arabs had taken shelter
for the night in a grotto, when the roof fell
in, killing them all on the spot. The bodies
were recovered two days later.
A stretch of track across the pampa.s on
the new Argentina Pacific Railroad from
Buenos Ayres to the foot of the Andes Is
211 miles long, without a curve, a single
bridge, an opening larger than an ordinary
drain, a cut greater than'one metre in depth,
or an embankment more than one metre in
height.
The recent civil war -in Chili cost the
victors, the Congressional party $15,000,000
according to a rec*nnestima.te made by the
Chilian newspapers. Of that amount 8885,-
000 was contributed by Senora Dona Juana
Edwards, the mother of Don Augustin Ed-
wards, Minister of Finance, from her pri-
vate fortune. The cost of the war to the
Balmaceda partisans has not been figured
out, perhaps because they lost everything.
and it is a big thing to estimate on.
It is related that at the marriage of M r.
and Mrs. Sumner Soule of Freeport, Me.,
recently, the minister, in the course of a
long prayer, said: "0, Lord, give grace to
some soul to -day." As the groom was
known familiarity as " Sum" Soule, and at
his bride's first name was Grace, the prayer
was answered satisfactorily, although the
clergyman was unconscious of having said
anything so well fitting the occasion.
A remarkable piece of engineering work
is the tunnel ot the Parana Oroya Railroad
through an Andean mountain peak at
Galera, Peru. It is at an elevation of 6000
feet above the perpetual snow line, and is
to be 3,817 feet long. It is the highest rail-
road tunnel in the world and is located in
the highest inhabited region in the world.
The town of Galera is 2.5,636 feet above the
sea level, nearly 1,500 feet higer than the
hotel on the top of Pike's Peak.
The natives who killed Crampel and disper
sed lais expedition in Central Africa last sum
mer captured 80 improved rifles, 30,000 car
tridges, a number of muzzle loaders, and a
good supply of gunpowder and revolvers, alf
of which has now passed into the hands of
the Arabs. De Brazza's lieutenant, who
ascertained the facts, says that Arabs are
now so well armed that they can interpose
great difficulties in the way of any subse-
quent expeditions north of the Sloban4
River.
A Sonth African mining journal says tin;
surfaces of numerous boulders have bees
polished by the constant rubbing of count(
less herds of large game such as the wilde.
beest. These examples of the attrition of
rocks by animals are found in a good many
parts of the TransvaaL The parts of the
boniders which offer convenient rubbing
,place for the animals have been put to se
much use that they present highly polished
surfaces, which are very unlike anything
resulting from glacial or aqueous detrition.
A remarkable invention is said to have
been patented by a Japanese gen tleman. It is
a little instrument which enables the pos-
sessor to send "a 'cloud of blinding dust'
into the eyes of a foe at a dista.nce of if
feet.- It is said that the poor " foe " 18
thereby absolutely deprived of sight, and
therefore, ofcourse, at the mercy of his as-
sailant. The claims of humanity, however,
are not entirely overlooked, for it is stated
that the blindness only lasts for about 20
minutes, after which the sufferer's eye -sight
is as good as ever.
The God of Sion is to rule some day over
all the nations of the earth. Isaiah looked
forward to that day ; Jesus looked forward
to that day, and taught us to pray for it.
We are looking toward it still. John Fiske,
speaking as the prophet of oar most modern
philosophy closes the pages of his paper on
" The Destiny of Man with a look into
the future such as Isaiah dimly had in the
old time. It is this old chapter translated
over again, with all the wisdom of the ages
brought into it,
" It shall come to pass in the last
days," says Isaiah, " that the mountain of
the Lord's house shall be established in the
top of the mountains and shall be exalted
above the hills ; and alt nations shall flow
into it. And many people shall go and
say, come ye and let us go up to the mount-
ain of the Lord, to the house of the God of
Jacob ; and he will teach us of his ways,
and we will walk in his path; for out of
Sion shall go forth the law, and the word of
the Lord from Jerusalem. And He shall
judge among the nations, and shall rebuke
many people; and they shall beat their
spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not
lift up sword against nation, neither shall
they learn war any more."
" The future," says Fiske, " is lighted for
us with the radiant colors of hope. Strife
and sorrow shall disappear. Peace and love
shall reign supreme. The dream of poets,
the lesson of priest and prophet, the inspira-
tion of the great musiean, is confirmed in
the light of modern knowledge ; and as we
yield ourselves up to the ,work of life, we
may look forward to the time when in the
truest sense the kingdoms of the world shall
become the kingdom of Christ, and He shall
reign forever and ever, king of kings, and
lord of lords."
The realization of the Fatherhood of God,
as Isaiah faintly saw it, as Christ plainly
saw it, will be the supreme characteristic of
the ideal kingdom. God is our Father, the
Father of the meanest, the obscurest the
poorest, even the most depraved of human
kind, and all we are brethren. Even now
we are but beginning to realize the blessed-
ness, the desirability, the supreme necessity
of that old ideal.
Isaiah says that that day of the Lord will
come not by force, by conquest, by the
sword, not by insistence upon nniformity
nor by persecutions for heresy. not by
strikes nor by lockouts ; no, by instruction,
by teaching, by the persuasiveness of the
simple truth.
Isaiah says that when the day of the Lord
comes all rtnbrotherliness will slink away
out of its glorious light. And he singles
out for illustration that most nnbrotherly
of all our institutions—war. All disputes
will then be settled, he says, by arbitration.
God will be the Judge ; that is, all troubles
will be adjusted by reference to the eterna
laws of God. The military establishments
which exist in the nations of Europe will
be exchanged for industrial conditions ;
swords will be converted into ploughshares.
Nor will there ever be any further instruc-
tions given in the art of war.
The two chief characteristics of the ideal
kingdom, then, are truth and love; truth in
doctrine, for God will be the teacher ; and
love in conduct, for God will be the judge.
Now, in Isaiah's time, what hindered the
coming of this ideal kingdom? The preach-
er, in his sermon, gives an abundance of
plain answers. In the second chapter, he
says that the hindrances are the soothsayers
and the worshipers of idols, and the posses-
sors of inordinate riches. In the third
chapter he says that the hindrances are the
elders and the princes who oppress the poor,
and the aristocratic ladies who think only
of -their fine apparel. In the fifth chapter
he describes the hindrances under the head
lugs of six woes; woe to the great landlords
woe to the luxurious livers, woe to open
sinners and saerificing unbelievers, woe to
the teachers of- a false morality, who per-
suade people that stealing and lying are all
right when they are carried on upon a large
scale in business, and that murder is coin -
=lendable when it is done by a large army in
war, woe to the sElf-conceited politicians
who oppose reform, woe to the unjust judges
who oppress the poor.
ex-
tinct,
is, the root of all real hindrance to
love of money, which even yeti is not ex -
the coming of the ideal kingdom was the
Then follows the declaration of ptmish-
meat. Isaiah says two things about this
absolutely certain punishment. It is a con-
sequence. Real! We unish ourselves
r e in-
terval he knew she must know all. In that
brief interval he knew snore than associat-
ing with her a lifetime had taught him. In
that brief interval he knew she valued as
dross the wealth he had believed she wor-
shipped for itself; and that for her heart,he
and he alone, the ugly duakliag, the Croco-
dile, was the only gold she saw or worship-
ped. In that brief interval he knew she
had devoted all her life ta him, because
she had come to the einclt.sion no
tuber woman would ever !eve hire. In that
brief interval he fathomed her plan of con-
centrating all his mind on getting tummy in
order that he nrigat have a pursnis which
woaM not stale with time—a pursuit that
would grow in interest aiel 'become more
ardent and aleorbing with time—a pursuit
which successfully followed would make him
powerful and respected in spite of his grot-
esque figure and his odious face. In that,
brief interval the son saw throug,h the mystic
robe of the sibyl deep in the bosom of the
woman, the heart of the woman blazing
with theintolerable gloryof its unselfish love.
Blindedand awed, like Moses by the fiery
bash, he was mute.
"If it is too much," she said, "you will
try to remember I am a mother, and all I
did I did for love, and it is hard for a mother
%.o help loving too much."
'lie held out his hand to her, but could
neSbhaPeake cau.ght hie hand, and sinking upon
her knees, raised it to her lips Use transport
ofgratitude, crying to herself : "Ke will
curve me! 'lle forgives me even now!'
At that tnoment Bathurst saw a man run-
ning towards the house with something_in
his hand. He raised his mother hastily and
flung open the door inter the grounds.
The man shouted : "I cannot find Miss
Morton. She is notin thegrounds. I found
this, her hat, on thehank. - The batis torn,
and there are signs that some one hamfalleia
into the _ -
A. •
diteetie
herfor,_
-erao&a affairs
The nes our chapters belong together. We set in motion the great inevitable laws
They were probably preached at the close which visit our transgressions on our own
of the reign of Jotham, or at the beginning heads. Sin is a cause which always has
of the reign of Ahaz. These chapters are punishment for a consequence. There is no
all one sermon. And they are different
escape from punishmitutAnd panisinnent
from most other sermons in the Bible in is remedial -God has .
s set this consequence
with this -cause, not in anger, but in mercy,
for our good. All punishment in this world,
and in the world to come must be remediaL
Or else, God is not as good as we are.
Finally, it is worth noticing that in all
these utteranhes oi Isaiah, he addresses not
the individual -hut the nition. We need a
great increase of national religion.We-
need a great increase of national religion.
We need to bring the Creed, the Lord's
Prayer, and the Ten Commandments into
that whatever is wrong for an individual is
owruronnagaLsotionalpolities.foranatn. We need to learn
that they begin with a text The text
which was also used bylsaiall's contemp-ar-
ary, 3tlin; is at the beginning of the second
chapter. Nobody knows who wrote it ;
probably some older prophet than Isaiah or
el icah, DOW forgotten. it sets forth alt
ideal of the kingdom of God.
One day in Jerusalem the man who had
that all from God of which I spoke last
week stood up to preach. He Was not au
e.eclesiastic. He was not a professional in-
structor in religion. He was only a layman,
a young man belonging to one of the pro-
minent families of the city.
That is worth remembering. That the
greatest preacher of the Old Testament was
not a clergyman at all. The idea that all
the preaching ought to be left to the par-
sons, is one of the moat mistaken ideas -in
the world, Every layman, according to
his ability, ought to ..speak every chance he
has for the cause of righteousness. The
two religious societies which have made the
most remarkable progress in the course of
recent history are the Methodist Church
and the Salvation Army, and in both of
these emphasis is laid on the importance of
lay preaching. _
This young layman stood up somewhere
in the city, in a court of the temple, in the
market, or on the curbstone of some erctwd-
ed street and recited his text. And at once,,
as he uttered the words, his eyes fell upoii
the pe-ople who were hindering the fulfill-
mentofriod's ideal for his people. Some
were soothsayers, dealers in magic, devotees
of false and degrading religions ; some were
rich people, riding by in handsome car-
riages, decked out with gold and silver and
all manner of luxurious adornment. At
once the preacher flames out against -thein,,
Quin:count of such as these the church and
JkOnrious Danger-
Theicron clipper ship Winifred reported
on hersarrival at Melbourne from London
that when in lat. 44 S. and long. 14 E, she
beeamesurrounded by icebergs, which rang-
ed from- 356ft;
to 450ft. high, one of the
largest ieeber,gs showed signs of disintegra-
tion. Subsequently immense portions be-
came detached, slipping iuto the sea like an
afeatavalaytnchAiTt,hewahitinehosenph
icte.h
nreanage in each instance causing an entire
berg that the ship -was three times threaten-
alteratitini of the outline, appearance, and
;41 .133' some -bergs in a similar manner, the
eorebswascurefilid tedhewi
altitude. Only by constant watch and at,
in ---•
'.414145 i_ L !4:18, and other mountains of ice.
More.„.Luelqwendle-nuantity of drift ice were
'1Rev AuF-4,1--, ,:l'ut,-;two, with nasty weather
t,,62,.1414'wan the safety of the ship secured
and
1.. ... I r I /.1‘
- ' '-. "C"' fans of snow, but the ship
•
We
weather. esonthward of Kerguelen
wait':
ti
ations for several days,
,r1
n/47 gotinto more favourable
•
't'fttef:!\
Death in Ohnrch.
An English medical journal, the Rospital,
says that there are hundreds of persons kill-
ed in London every winter by bronchitis
and inflammation of the tangs who contract
those fatal diseases while sitting in churches
and chapels. This may be considered a bold
statement to make, says the Hospital, but
it is not more bold than true. There are
hundreds of clergymen and ministers who
are the victims of chronic sore throat, bron-
chial catarrh, asthma, and cardiac irritabil-
ity who owe those distressing and life -short-
ening affections entirely to the insanitary
condition of the buildings in which they
conduct their religious worship. Many
persons make it a rule to abstain from at-
tendance at a church from the beginning of
October to the end of March, except on
those rare occasions whea the weather nap -
pens to be both mikland dry. Nobody need
wonder at the hoarsegess of the clergyman,
the continued soughing of the congregation,
and the general discomfort of the Sunday
morning servi.ine in our town churches. We
hageta climate which in Winter is the dainti-
est of the damp, and more changeable even
than a fiekle woman. To manage the at-
mosphere which sneh a climate supplies us
with inside a public building requires train-
ed skill and unwearying attention. Bat
whatltindlof person do we ordinarily em-
ploy to cleanse, warm, . and ventilate our
churches? Is it not the Setae that the sexton
or church officer is very frequently a man
whot having failed at_half a score ordinary
occupations, is foisted into his -offic.:e by
some sympathetic patronbecause every
other resource has been exhausted except
the parish? A man of this Blass would be
just as likely to make a successful Prime
Minister as a successful sexton. So far is it
from being the ease that the workman who
has failed at every occupation is likely to
make a good enongli sexton, that only the
very best and most intelligent workmen are
in may sense fit for such an office.
A- few nights agoit.lniild Of. masked men
broke into a house m Minim, Austria., occu-
pied by a young widow. They found their
way into her bedroom, bound iter securely
to the bed, saturated her clothes with pet-
roleum and set her on #re, and repiii;sieit,
unmoved by the victims agonies„- U1Itil the
body was- a charred masa-
,
artiteri-L
• -
ententi
. -
non
h
Beta
or
" Bene
lifted ban
rety rou
child lisp
SLT) US Sll
10 nomin
" Amen,'
and a;:. tin
distu rban
ne: in a
hundred
The fat
themse:ve
and rattle
earthen
fer the cu
ed close a
The el.a.m
half- gro w
Henri, an
to the ciii
the old -fa
A gland
book pro
quietly r
and brav
gentleman
even floor
down ea
of its care
aren, not
the matte
girls wcr
vanity, a
pride.
The chit
iron spoo
knives be
so, like t.
thesselve,
Marie -Au
Bois•brida
served on
the pale -f
faded gre
other end.
IC de 13
ignan-Sal
the Milite
man's fai
against-th.
in France,
some thou
Richelieu
posing pri
justice. 1
sich an in
tecting for
censitaites
selves, an
adequate
estate, wail
erty ; toed
poor." 11
to make at
fortune.
his duties
more in ke
of the day
-
officer of t
was of goo,
saw to hi
position as
tame in li
.itis part.
book- learn
)ver his T
1,ently off
what went
hat he h
!amily whe
soliciting
son who
;he Baron
Lrt, of war,
;he family
Madame
)ther gent
ti
ending an
which life
nanded.
laained in
return, a
is her fell
ids grant fi
matentedl:
mreless in
tempt to gl
and rapidl
woman, lo
of her dui
ed, sometit
The chii
uneducate
dered whe
for any at]
tural deve
A loud
silenced be
quieted th
a niornent,
" rher
" You'd li
asks you,
- But Bei
ins warnie
fable choi
fowl left j
his own 01
Ci enti
tured youl
proach at
ma.de mac
tight-fitt'
worn outs
his waist
oniamen
a abort f
ped with
His fat
book, Ian
expectan
He gla
his gun i
table an
Henri.
instant h
around t
clutch at
him over
sprawlin
A shout
'4iscotufiez
any -Oh
force at
with ease
dt*nveuien
But noa
ordering
plate an
what remi
same uncc
When
over to a
the side
beer, fro
staring m
challenge
"Nothi
torted, se
The c
steady, t
mother to
formed