Exeter Times, 1896-7-9, Page 3ax
CURRENT NOTES,
It is evident that in dealing
the insurrection of the uitlanders
ident Kruger has been strenuous
posed by some of his colleagues.
parently, his policy has been to r
the whole movement as a politica
to be promptly suppressed, but as
sufficient moment to warrant
ment by executions or the impos
of heavy sentences. The latter
gene, e
A LIFE OF PAIfI,
with
THE ACTIONS OF WISE MEN DOM -
Pres -I INATED BY THE LARGER TRUST.
ly op-
Ap- Recognition or the Divine Plan in ;nature
e;ard the Most Comforting ideal mankind
nae—Limit of Action Determined by
1 one, mate's own Character.
not of Washington, Duna 28.—A most up-
punish- lifting truth is presented in Dr. Tal-
ition gage's discourse of to -day. His text
was. Matthew x., 29: "Are not two spar -
would rows sold for a farthing? And one of
of- them shall not fall on the ground with -
on of out your Father."
while You see the Bible will not be limited
the in the choice of symbols. There is
civf- hardly a beast or bird or insect which
clear has not been called to illustrate some
from divine truth—the ox's patience, the ant's
r the industry, the spider's skill, the hind's
this surefootedness, the eagle's speed, the
some dove's gentleness, and even the spar-
naral rows meanness and insignificance. In
Mr- oriental countries none but the poorest
well people buy the sparrow and eat it —•
o re- so very little meat is there on the bones
on to and so very poor is it what there is of
and it. The comfortable population would
n the not think of touching it any more than
alone you would think of eating a bat or a
but lamprey. Now, sags Jesus, if God takes
I and such good care of a poor bird that is
Lilt" . not worth a cent, will He not care for
o far you, an immortal?
Lesion 1 ie associate God with revolutions.
con" We call see a divine purpose in the die
pay- covery of America, in the invention of
p:elm".
om the art of printing, in the exposure of
rence the gunpowder plot, in the contrivance
rtu- of the needle gun, in the ruin of an
to to Austrian or Napoleonic despotism, but
sing how bard it is to see God in the minute
vernd personal affairs of our lives! We think.
feel- of God as making a record of the starry
host, but cannot' realize the Bible truth
Af- that He knows stow many hairs are on
F'er- our head. It seems a grand thing that
oris a God provides for .hundreds of thou-
"' sands of Israelites in the desert, but we
c + as cannot appreciate the truth that when a
"'ay sparrow is hungry God stoops down and
by opens its mouth and puts the seed in.
a,'tse i� e are struck with the idea that God
and fills the universe with His presence,
y but cannot understand how 13e' eticanips
ch in the crystal palaoe of a dewdrop or
y finds room to stand between the ala-
baster pillars of the pond lily. We tun
see God in the clouds. Can we see God
in the flowers at our feet ?
We are apt to place God on some
,great stage, or try to do it, expecting
Him there to act out His stupendous
project, but we forget that the life of
a Cromwell, an Alexander or a Wash-
ington or an archangel is not mere
under divine inspection than your life
or mine. Pompey thought there must
be a mist over the eyes of God because
he so much favored Caesar. But there
V e say nal
spat his in the gr(at wa-
ters. True. enough, but no more cer-
tainly than Ile is in the water, in the
glass on the. table. We say God guides
the stars in their courses. Magnificent
truth! But no more certain than that
He decides which road or street line shall take in coming to church. Line
derstand that God does not sit upon an
indifferent but that Ile or
clown uesidetyou. to -day
o i
and stands beside me to -day, and no af-
fair of our lives is so insignificant but
that it is of importance to God.
/In the first place God chooses our
occupation for us. I am amazed to
see how many people there bre dissat-
isfied with the work they have to do.
I think three-fourtbs wish they were
in some other occupation, and thee^
spend a :great deal of time in regret-
ting that they got in the wrong trade
Gor d put into op ration all helinfluethat es
which led you to that particular choice,
Many of you are not m the business
that you expected to be in. You start-
ed for the ministry and learned mer-
chandise. You started for the law,
and you are a physician. You preferred
agriculture, and you become a mechanic.
ou thought one way, God thought
another. But you ought not tat
sit down and mourn over the.
past. You are to remember that God
arranged all these circumstances by
which you were made what you are.
Hugh Miller says, "I will be a stone-
mason." God. says, "You will be a geol-
ogist.", David goes out to attend his
father's sheep. Saul goes,out to hunt
,hie father's asses, and before he gets
back finds the crown of regal dominion.
How much happier we would be if we
were content with the places God gave
us'! God saw your temperament and all have
the circuanstances bywhich you were le
surrounded, and I believe nine -tenths erof :
fitted you
eI in
a great work you
inbestmy an
and the
watch, and I find that the hands and and
the wheels and the springs are getting A
out of their places. I send it down to go
the jeweler's and say, "Overhaul that inv
watc and teach the wheels and the says
springs and the hands to mind their. leas,
own business." You know a man hav- hap
ing a large estate. He gathers his and
working Bands in the morning and says will
to one, "You. go trim that vine," to awvh
another, "You go.and weed those flow-
ers," to another, "You plow that tough pee/
glebe," and each one goes to his par- says
titular work. The owner of the estate of t
points the man to what he knows he ly surrendered
can do best, and so it is with the Lord. side
I remark further that God has ar- not
ranged the place of our dwelling. What bust
particular city or town, street or house en i
you shall live in seeihs to bee a mere
matter of accident. You go out to we
hunt fol' a house, an;d you happen to n
d
see a :sign and you select that house.
Wa,s it all happening %, Oh, no. God nd I
guided you in every step. He foresaw
the future. He knew alt your circum- di tat
stances, and He selected just that one with
house ais better for you than any of has
the 10,000 habitations in the city. Our
house, however humble - the roof, and maki
however lowly the portals, is as near fdgur
God's heart as an Alhambra or a Brent- and
lin, Prove it, you say. Proverbs iii, ' i it
33, '`He blessetb' the habitations of the of dt,
Just." gi.n a
I remark further that God arranges Our
all our friendships. 'You were driven tang'
to the wall. You found a man ust at and
that crisis who sympathized with you Visa
and helped you. You say, "Ilow: luckyy t
I was 1" :There was no luck about it, so la
God sent that friend just as certainly ins a
a.s He "sent the angel to strengthen' what
Christ. Your domestic friends, your pie st
business friends, your Christian friends, but I
God sent' them to bless you, and if any encu?•
of them has proved traitorous it is anly man,
to bring out the value of those, who calls
yemain. If soin,e die, it is only that .The d
a rich'
only provoke sympathy with the
fenders, and lower the civilizati
he Boers in popular estimation,
a volley of clemency would place
Transvaal on a level with highly
lize.d states, and leave the way
for a demand for heavy indemnity
the S ith Africa company and fo
deposition of Mr. Rhodes. But
wise policy has been opposed by
of his colleagues, notably by Ge
Joubert, the vice-president, and
Leyds, the secretary of, state, as
es by his rural constituents, wh
gard with disfavor any concessi
the English. who hate Mr. Rhodes
fear the Chartered couapany. 1
struggle, which has involved not
the pardoning of the prisoners
the whole question of the politica
social reforms demanded by the
Landers, ].'resident Kruger has s
triumphed as to secure the rem
of the sentence of all the minor
spirators, and the ringie�aders, on
went of fines of £25.000 each and
ise to abstain from further interfe
in the politics of the state. 1.'nfa
nattily, the amnesty coaxes too la
have its full effect either in impre
world with the broad policy
high civilization of the Boer go
anent, or in soothing the fritter
ing between the English and the
rikanders. The latter failure is
baps the worse, bemuse the maj
of the South Africans, English
Boers, regard the relent conspira y
a phase of civil war, and the only
to close the breaches of such a war
prompt and full leniiy. 1n the
amnesty has been so long delayed,
evidently so reluctantly conceded
y the radical Boer party, as to lose mu
of its effect in removing the hostili
between the two races,
A prompt exercise of clemency, and
such treatment of the whole question
as would .lid's convinced the English
that the Boer government was not
vindicated and determined to main-
tain its ascendancy as against them,
would have done much to bring the
race together. As they must live to-
n gether in the end, opposition to Presi-
dent Kriel/gees policy has only retard-
ed their unidn and the erection of the
„ i outb African Federation, certain to
coine in the end, the permanent main-
tenance of independence by the Trans-
mit being :imply impossible. In fact,
too, that it has encouraged the Ger-
man colonial party to regard the dif-
ference between the English and At -
attendees in South Africa as perman-
ent and ineradicable, and that Germany
may thus profit by acting as protector
of the Boers, has worked great harm.
l"or if anything is certain, it is that
F England will not submit to German in-
terference in that quarter, and the
fae:t that it is threatened, and that in-
trigues are in progress to that end, ex-
cites a suspicion and resentment among
the English in South Africa and at
home which greatly retards the recon-
ciliation of the races. The policy of
the radical Boers seems thus wrong not
only morally, but politically, and in
this phase of the struggle the sympa-
t' thy of the world must be with President
Kruger who, so far as appears, really
wants to make the Transvaal a free re-
public, not a Boer oligarchy, The Trans-
?vaal cannot be independent of South
- Africa, nor the Boers remain a race
apart, and the sooner they realize this
fact, and reoast their social and civil
system in line with general progress,
the better it will be for their own in-
terests.
It is amazing to observe what an
amount of utter twaddle multitudes of
gullible people are at the present day
reckoning divinely reasonable and
sweet. There seems to be no end to the
crazes that seize successively on poor
illogical litnelanity. Of all such nonsens-
ical creations of wandering wits none is
more twaddling than the "Christian
science" stupidity. If one were to deem
this folly worthy of serious refutation,
it • would he enough to repeat the fam-
iliar observation that two strong ob-
Jections lie again Christian science;
first, that it is not Christian, and see-
;ond, that it is not science. The first
objection, of course, would have little
y= force with those conceited thinkers who
a imagine that they have already out-
thought and outlived Christianity, but
' dtbe fact of the unscientific charaoter
of these haphazard rhapsodies, appar-
ent to any individual of logical mind
and ordinary common sense, would be
enough to condemn it, one would think,
in the estimation of those whose god
with a small "g" is Science with a big
"S." But there is no accounting for
tastes, in absurdities as well as in vi-
ands and dress.
COMMON SENSE SCIENCE.
In many agricultural communities
there is a disposition to helplessness in
the face of adverses, meteorological or
otherwise. Recognizing this, M. ivleline,
ibe Preach Minister of _Agt•ioulture,
Lias directed the professors of agricul-
ture to'suspend heir lectures and to
so through the rural districts in or-
sier to advise the farmers to meet the
Fail ire of the hay crop by sewing. vet -
nes, maize and other fodder, as also by
aitUxzing oil met, straw, bran and corn,
aennet
THE EXETER TIMES.
they may stand at the outpost of
heaven to greet you at your coaling.
Yon. will always have friends, ,warm
hearted friends, magnanimous friends,
and when sickness comes to,yourdwell-
ing there will be watchers; when trou-
ble comes to your heart there will be
sympathizers; when death comes there
will be gentle fingers to close the eyes
and fold the hands and gentle lips to
tell of a resurrection. Oh, we are eum-
passed by a bodyguard of friends!
Every man, if he lane behaved Lituself
well, is surrounded by three circles of
friends those, of the outer circle wish-
ing hit. well^,• tixn:e in the next circle
willing to help him, while close to bis
heart are a few who would die for him.
Clod pity the wretch who 'bee not any
friends.
1 remark again that God puts down
the limit to our temporal prosperity.
The world of finance ;acme to have no
God in it, You eannot tell where a
man will laud. The affluent fail, the
poor rise. The ingenious fail, the ig-
norant succeed. An enterprise opening
grandly shuts in bankruptcy, while. out
of the peat dug up from. some New
England marxh the millicnaire builds
his fortune. The Ivor man thinks it
is chance that keeps him (town; the
rich man thinks it is 'liana+ which
hoists hint, and they are both wrong.
It is so hard to realize that God rules
the money market and bus a hook in
the nose of the stock gambler, and
that all the commercial revolutions of
the world :hall result in the very
best for God's dear children.
My brethren, do not kick against
the divine allotments, Clod knows ,lust
how much money it is beat. for you to
lose. You never gain unless it is best
for you to ,gaits. 1 uu go uii when
best for you to go up, and go d
when it is hast for sou to go dc.
Prove it, you Fay. 1 will—Rom
man is only the difieeence in
iii, things work together
gc.od to them that love God." Yo.
into a factory and you see 20 0
wheels, and they are going in diffe
directions. This Noel is rolling
this way, and another band allot
way, ops down and another up.
say, "What confusion in a factor
Oh, no. All these{ different bands
only different parts of the machin.
So 1 go into Tour life and see sera
things, Here is one providence put
you one way and another in anct.
way. But these are different pa
of one machinery by which He
advance your everlasting and prey
well being.
Now you know that a second en
gage and a third and fourth mortg
are often worth nothing. It is the f
mortgage that is a good intiv'.tm,
1 have to tell you that every Christ
man has a first mortgage on ev
trial, and on every disaster, and
must make a payment of eternal
y Ni
rimer s it would age to his take cut of yourw he
if you believed that fully. You
goods and hope the price will go
but you are in a fret and a frown
fear the price will go down. You
not l,uy the goods, using your best
cretion in the matter, and then st
"Ob, Lard, I have done the gest
could. I commit this whole transact
into Thy hands." That is what,
ligion is good for, or it is good
nothing.
There are two things, says an old
proverb, you ought not to fret abo
First, things that you can help, a
second, things which you cannot he
If you can help them. why do you not
apply the remedy? If you cannot h,
them, you might as ;well surreni
first as last. My dear brethren, do
sit any longer moping about your le
er. Da not sit looking so despondent
on your stock of unsalable goods.
you think that God is going to all
you, a. Christian man, to do busing
alone? God is the controlling parte
in every firm, and although your de
ors may abscond, although Tour
curities may fail, although yo
store may burn, God will, out
an infinity of results choose for you t
very ,.est results.
ind and loving and the best of Fath
regulation in these things? Tel
t to the men who believe in no Go
no Bible. Tell it not to me.
man of large business concludes to
out of his store, leaving much of his
estments in the business, and he
to his sons: "Now, I am going to
e t is business in your hands, Per-
s Imay come back in a little while
perhaps not. •While Tam gone you
please tolook after affairs." After
ile the father comes back and finds
.ything at Those ends, and the whole
ness seems to be going wrong. He
: "X am going to take possession
his business --you know Inever fun
e yourselvee subordinates." Is he
right in do ng it? He saves the
ness. The Lord seems to let us ge
n life, guide by our own skilleand
make miserable work of it. God
es down to o r shop or our store,
says: "Things are going wrong. I
to take char ana ;master.
know what is est and I proclaim
es. .It is like boy at sebool
a long sem that he cannot do. He
been working a it for hours,
ng figures here and rubbing out
es there, and it is all mixed up,
the teacher looking over the boy's
der, knows that he cannot get out
and eleaning the sla e says, "Be -
gain.", Just so God oes to us.
affairs get into an inextricable en-
ement, and he rubs everything out
says, "Begin again." s He not
and loving in so cioina ?
hink the trouble is that there is
nd the leumart estimate as to
is enough.' I have heard of peo-
riving for that which .is enough,
never heard ef any one who had
h.; What Gott calls enough for
man calls too littlei What man
enough, God says is too natch.
0 IS
for
f au
rent
off
her
You
are
ege
bng
rts
will '
banks.' The rich man puts his money
in the Washington Bank, or the Ceo-
tral Bank or the Metropolitan Bank or
sorae other bank of that character,
while the poor man conies and makeis
his investuaents in the bank a Him
wbo Tuns all the quarries, all the
minee, all the gold, all the earth, all
heaven.; Do you think a man can fail
when he is backed up like that ?
You may have seee rnap on which
ake deseribed with red ink the travels
of the childreo of Israel threagh the
desert to tbe promised lande You se.e
bow they took thie and that direetion,
croseed the river and went through tbe
seee .Do you know God has made a•
man of your life with paths leading up
to this Magness and that success.
roue thee river and across that
Rut, blessed be God, the path alw
comes out at the promised land. Ma
that 1 Matt that
I remark agatu that all the.se things
that seem to be hut aceidents in oar
life are under the divine supervision.
We sometimes seem to be gelatin helm -
less and anclaorless. You say, "If I had
some other trade; if I had not gone
there this summer; if I had lived in
some other house." You have no right
to say that. Every tear you wept,
every step you haw taken, every. bur-
n you hole carried, is under chen
inspect leo, and that event -whiehetar
ed evur whole household with borr
God met with eierfect placiditY,
e.auee He }mew Wa$ for your go
It was part of a great plan projeet
long ago.0 In eternity, wh'n you. cot
to reckon up your mereiee, you w
point to that affliction as one of yo
greet est bleesings.
&oil hes a strange way with us. .7,
eilla found him way to the prime mi
ietern ehair by being pushed into
pit, and to many a Cbristien clown
quarry must be blasted; :In diarao
=et he greand; the Christian mu
be afflicted, and that sinele eye/
which you supposed stool entire
alone, was a connecting link 'bet we
two great chabee one chain reaehi
through all etervity past and theoth
chain reaching t/arough all eternity f
ure—so small an event famening 'to
et emit les toget her.
A missionary corning freni
the UnitedStates stopped at Stilele
while the V6:FSei WWI takirat water. 1
hod his little cbild with hina The
walked along' by an embankment. ar
a rock at that moment lename heap
etnand fatting instantly knit d the dill
age• to God ? Had Ile allowed His eerva,nt,
'nit after a life of teinsecration, to awn, to
int There are no aceidents in tile divine
ere" mind, thoug-h -they seem so 10 us,
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
INTERNATIONAL LESSON, JULY 11
" OaVillt Ring Over All Israel." t Sion,
The darkest hour in Israel's history
wa,s the hem- when Saul fell on Mount
Gilboa. The land. lay at the mercy of
its foee; its forteesses were beld by
enemies; its wa.rriora were slain; the
tribes were dissevered and disunited.;
Eplaraim andJudab. were jealous of each
ether, and two rival capitels, Hebron
ea? and Mahan:um, contained two hostile
vs icings, David and lebbosheth. Phiiistia
rk
might well remain at rest while the
tribes of Israel were spending their
strength iu civil war. Seven years a
weelfuess and division pass, but gradu-
ally a change comes agoss the scene.
Like the limbs of an awaking giant, the
twelve tribes rouse faun theie lethargr-
tigir national unity ; they mile as one
mati to Hebron, aud anoint as king over
tl- ail lefael the gifted son of Jeetie. At
loci of glory dawne upun the chosen
eii; people. A true king of men now bolds
lir
ill rnents of leadership, 'who cao inseire
loyal fellowino, and can lift the fallen.
eidare of tee etate. David's first work
Wa6 eubdue bis own meal, for the,
in commie -a of Canaan, began by Joshua,
he font tentuties befere., :LS not yet fin-
st lar eutlieeneni and at the aseediblage
nte heights of Jelins, on the herder ofJud-
en his arm.) at ono: againet tin- rocky
leiry: 0.: via-'onoi tore at LIS evaluation lie leads
u- d &natal -du. Above. the venter
ea rave a precipice goalie:I with a. wall,
taa 13.1 atteUsptS at captuxte But, led be,
le the teed ovate tbe etorwing early taboo
el at a 6trtokV 'WILL the strongeet fortress
e. in the land. One uy one tne garrisons
el. of the Iliiiistines and the Auturites (tw-
ang, and lereet, trona Lebanon oi the
iortegn yoke and its poseeeemo of the
growing, povinr is borne among the eur-
rounimig .ande. 'Tyre lust to greet
the new Itingilout and to welcome Israel
eine the sisterimod. at states, whiie
natiene around, some. in fear and *th-
ere in friendainese, follow her example.
Soon the away height of the Jetta -
:Ong becomes the seat of a new cap-
ital, above whoee .roole tower the pale
a•ce of David and the castle, of Zion.
it
ad -
art
for
do
ion
re -
for
nd.
ler
not
dge
up -
Do
er
bt-
tce-
ur
of
id
as
nd
ny
so
as
at
to
st
11
t.
God is good, and by every eingle inel-
(lent of our life, whether it be adverse
or otherwise, before earth and heaven
God will demonstrate His mem'.
I hear a man eay: "That idea belit-
tles God. You brino Hint down to sueb
little things." Oh. I have a more thor-
ough appreciation of God in little
things than I have in great things. The
mother does not wait until t he child
hae cruehed its feet or brckon its arm
before elm administers sympathy. The
child MUNI; i21 with the Igoe, bruen
and the another kieeee it. God dee
pot wale for come tremendous crisi
in our life, but conee down •to tee in
our most insignifieant Wale and
throws over US the arms of His mercy.
Going up the White Mountains some
years ago I though of that passage
I looked at those great mountable,
thought, can it be poesible that Go
can put thee() great knountains i
seale0 It was an idea too great fci
me graep, but ween I saw a blue
down by the mulen fent on my wa
stond the kindness and goodness of
God. It ie not 60 MUC/1 of God in great
things I eon understand, but of God in
little thinge.
There is ti man who says. " That doc-
trine cannot be t rue, beetwee things do
go so very wrcieg." I reply it is no in-
consistency on the part of God, but a
lack of understanding- on our part. I
hear that rain are making very fine
shawls in some factory. I go in on the
first hoar and see only the raw meter -
I have heard about ?" " No," :Rays. the
manufaeraren " go up to the next
floor." And I go up. and there I begin
to see the design. But the man says:
"Do not etop bere•. Go up to the top
floor of the factory and you! will eke
the. idea fully carried out." I do so,
and, having come tei the tep, see the
complete pattern of an exquisite shawl.
So, in our life, standing. down on a low
level of Christian experience we -do not
understand God's dealings. He tolls us
to go up higher and higher until we
hegm to understand the divine mean-
ing ith ,respect to us, and. we advance
until we stand et the very gate of
heaven, and there ene God's idea all
wroaght out—a perfect idea. of mercy,
of love, of kireinees. And we say, "Just
and true are all Thy ways." It is all
right at the top. Remember there is
no inconsistency on the part of God,
but it is only our mental amd epiritual
Some of you may be disappointed this
sumaner—va,cations are apt to be ("Lisa-
pointments—but -whatever e -our per-
plexities and worriments know that
naan's heart deviseth his way, but the
Lord directeth his eteps." Ask these
aged men in this church if it is not
go. It bas been ao in my own life. One
summer I started for the Adixontlacks,
but nay . plans were so ebanged that I
la,nded in Liverpool. I studied law,
and I got into the ministry. I resolved
to go as a miesionary to China, and
staid in the 'United States. I thought
I would like to be in the ea,st, and I
went to the west—all the circumstances
of life, all my work, different from that
viseth his way, but the Lord directeth
his steps."
So, my dear friends, this day take
benne this subject. Be content vvith
such things as you have. From every
grass blade under your feet learn the
lesson of divine care, and never let the
smallest bird flit across your path with-
out thinking of the truth that two
sparrows -are sold for a farthiug, and
one of them shall not fall ma the ground
without your Father. Blessed be His
glorious name forever. Amen.
PRACTICAL NOTES.
Veree 1. Then. While Ishlentheth
lived Abner, who nad seated him. on
t rune of aorthern Israel turned.
away to David. king of Judah, with
eaetern Israel under lee rule. But Isla-
hoshetn was murdered. by two at Iris
soaliere, and Abner wae killed by Joan
"Then " there was no xeceignizeu ruler,
and to insure order naneteang must be
ttiee verse From 1 Chinn. La. 22-40.
el we learn that ly thee delegation three
e" hundred tied thirty-nine thousand eix
" hundred marriors acre turned. over tu
I; 'King David. What proportion ot
L then% were actually ineeent we can only
ne lo imviti unto Hebron.
Hetirou was the valeta -1 of the eouthern
monarchy, over which .Uavid tactually
ruled wbilc he claimed the right to gov-
ern all lerael. Seven years he had
reigned here, during %%inch time every-
thing he hail attempted had prospered,
while ineeeshethe xingdom bad grad-
ually ertuneled. We are thy bune and
thy flesh. The kiegclum of Ju.dah had
been regarded by the statesmen . of
northern Israel, almost as a foreign
mai. But UONV they recognized that
there was a radical (inference between
their southern ueighbon King David,
and the monarchs of Philistia, Ammon.
; and Illoan Ali the descendants of
; Jacob were "one bone and flesh."
In time past. Literally "yesterday
I and the day before." Even when Saul
was king David was the real bero of
Ithe. nation. Leddest out and broughtest
in Israel. Aroueed military heroism. and
guided it te a successful issue. Thou
shalt feed, eta A prophecy which in
these words we do not fand in any oth-
yr part of the Bible. For "feed" read
"sliepherd"—"Thou shalt she h d."
This promise becomes more beautiful
when we recall that David's early em-
ployment was that of a sleepherd. The
reasons given by these men for David's
election to the throne of united Israel
are three—kinship, military ability, and
God's prophecy.
3. All the elders of Israel. This is a
repetition of the statement of the first
verse. In other words, the tribes were
represented by their elders. King. Dav-
id made a league with them. The words
are really that he made a covenant
with them; be entered. into a solemn
compact. From I Sam. 10. 25, and I
Kings 12, 3, it is very evident that for
northern Israel at least tbere existed
a sort of national constitution which no
ruler was sufficiently absolute or des-
potic to ignore. Before the Lord. The
service was a religious one, made,
doubtless, in the- presence) of tbe priests.
They anointed David king over Ierael.
This wee the third anointing, or "coron-
ation," as we naig-ht call it, that David
had received; first, a quiet one in the
privacy of his home (I Sam. 16. 13e; sec-
ond, a public one. by the men of Judah
the elders of all Israel.
4. Thirty years old. In the very prime
of yourig manhood. Forty years. 'Ihese
figares count David's rule over Judah
apart from Israel. He wa.s tlairty-seven
years of age, or thereabouts, when the
"anointing." of the last verse took place..
5. Hebron was too provinoial a town
to be the capital of the new kingdom,
but Jerusalem was well fitted to be the
capitaL It was on the borders of • JU-
GERMAN ENGINEER'S INVENTION.
To lessen if not to abolish altogether
the noise of a train -wheaa crossing a
bridge, a German engineer has devis-
ed a sc,heme which has proved surpris-
ingly sticcessful. He puts a deoking of
planks between the cross girders, and
on the plenks a double layer of felt is
placed. In this way any noise is pre-
vented.
A BEGINNING.
Say, I've had an offer to go to work
for a wholesale house. What would
you do if you were in my shoes?
I would blaek 'era.
Affliction is a. sebool of virtue; it:
coreects levity,. aria interrupts the con-
fidence sinnieg.---Atterbary.
longed to both kingdoms, and it was
not more than thirty miles from every
center of interest and power in and
about the Holy Land. lt was a for-
tress of remarkable natural strength,
There are distinct statments in several
parts of the Bible °Dent 12. 5-21 ; 1
Kluge 11. 36) that the selection of Jere. -
seism by David was made under divine
direction. Not long after he estab-
lished his court there he 'broaght the
sanctuary there also, so that an every
sense it became the capital of Israel.
6. In this verse NVO age told bow Doe
vid won tbat capital, His men may
very likely have included some of the
warriors mentioned in our note of verse
1. Jerusalem. See note on this narne
in the pveceding verse. It was now
controlled by those hardy naotentaineere
through all the centuries in the very
heart of the Ieraelite people. The Jet
busitee were he early inhanitants of
the land, who bad threatened the Atria -
lekites arid routed the Philistines and
had downed tbe descendants of Saul,
Was UT make himself really master of
his leingnomo it was fitting tbat, he
sbould signalize his coronation by the
capture ot bac foreign citadel. Spake un-
to David. it is very heed to explain
just wbat they said to David, for the
text is confused.; the margin of the Re-
vised Version has probably the right
meaning—the fortress was so high and
strong that even blind and lame sol-
diers could suocessfully defend it.
7. Nevertheless. All the triumphs of
war, nublie and personal, leave been ace
complished "neverthelees,"_ in spite of
events neat seemed to forbid them.
How Zion WaS captured we are to learn
from the next verse. It was in these
earlet days an isolated cliff with sheer
preemicee on three sides. The same is
the city of David. Its oonquest was
such an important incident in the early
life of the doughty warrior and king
that, it readily took tlae name of fie con-
queror, and when David came to die he
was buried ha Zion.
8. Whosoever getteth up to the gut -
or spring, high up in tbe rock oe winch
the fortress of Zton stood, or, perhaps,
smile steep gully up whiela the climbers
'were to go to take the citadel. David
said this tc: inspire his men to deeds of
valor. That ure hated of David's soul
Means. probably, "that hate David's
soul ;" in other words, that seek David'e
life. With thie meaning the verse inl-
sitions as a tolom of contempt for
slators Inserted in this verse to make
it tally with 1 Chron. 11.6. Joab was
he first to reaeh the top of I he ram-
part, aud accordingly becanae command-
er in elder of the army. Wherefore
they aaid. Thee means that as a result
of the Jeliusite defiance and David's
reeponse fagiiliar proverb of later He-
brews was comed. The meaning of the
proverb has been variously defined. It
11155 mean, 'Have no fellowship with
to the nation and hateful to the righ-
teous." It may seem. simply, "We
won't liave may disagreeable ..people in
our house." It may mean, ironic -ally.
that those who tbink their poeition ina-
qpru:grretihbelem.would better look out, for
enmeleely will surely find a way to con -
9. David dwell in the fort. He made
the Jebusite fortification his headquar-
ters end place, and called it the city of
David. Not onlv ZiOU was thus called.
but all Jerusalem. David did many
things in his life, any one of whicla
would bave given biro a permanent
place in history. He founded a great
empire, he wrote noble byinns, as etates-
inert a.nil warrior he proved himself a
genius; but few of bis achievements
bave had more influence on t,he Ronne
raents and destinies of mankind than h
conquest of Zion and his, selectiOn
.Even aside from the life and death
Jesue no city in the world has bee
more *influential on politics and war
and even wben, in our hours of devotion,
we tura away from the fleeting glories
of earth and think of our eternal home,
.ettr son s and our holy fancies soar to
t round about rota Millo and in -
of whieh David's ca ital iVa6 the type. Dee
ward. We. do not know enough about
the local geography of ancient Jeru-
sa en. to tell precisely what Da-
vid did, hut evidently his plan e(,),,
was to rompleti. the fortification t "
of the rity. 'especially len its exposed ro
side. The "Millo" was probably a ram-
part of unusual strength.
10. David went on, and grew great.
Literally, "David went going axad grow-
ing." The Lord God of hoste. Jehovah,
the God of armies. AB the, forces of
nature were looked upon us the armies „,
ea
of God. Was with him. The statement • sent
of verse 10 is the secret of all David's e.a."
success. It is the secret of all true sue- °it'
cess in the world. elf God be for us, gla
par
who can lie against us?"
at
11. Hiram king of Tyre. .Either this ,„„
king lived a very long time, or it was Wee
hie eon and suecessor of the same oame „en
who became Solomon's friend. If Jose- ,n"-
phus is correct this latter opinion is B
right. Ezekiel (ca.hpters 23-28) givesa, the
very full des.-ription of Tyre. Sent mes- hey
eengers to Daiod. Hiram was a. states-
xnan as well ae a king, and saw that
the people on his southeastern border,
who had for eenturies been in.signifi-
cant, were suddenly rising into nation-
al eminence, so he sought their friend.-
dom raw acaterial of great value; Tyre
could return to Palestine its choicely
manufaxtured goods, aa well as impor-
tations from distant lands. Cedar
trees. Lebanon, where cedars ggew. Car-
penters and Enemas. Israel's industrial
classes were agriculturists; the indus-
trial °lasses of Tyre evere manufactur-
ers and merchants. David perceived that
the Lord had established bim. Here
was the secret of hie greatness. Most
men would have claimed, to have achiev-
ed success themselves. Exalted his king-
dom for his people Israel's sake. Da-
vid recognized the theocracy; that
there was really no king for Xsrael ex-
cept J'ehovah. It was this that made
in'spite of his blunders, One of the
best rulers this world has seen. It was
this that kept him, in spite ot his sins,
relatively at least, "a man .after God's
own heart."
END OF -LIFE ON EARN,
SOMETHING AROUT THE PROCESS
BY WHICH NAN WILL PERISH.
An Ancient Proitneues solution.—Scienei
Bennie to Postpone the A japroach
or the Ravine End Ter Mawr Ages.
What. will he the end of the world!
Thousands of scientiets have tried to
anewer that question, and each, one ban
failed to give a satisfactory solution Of
the problem, writes Prof. Hubert
Denison- According' to the Biblicel
legend, our globe will be destroyed by
fire. Astronomers go further. They.
claim that our planet will beoonee cold,
and that we will all freeze to death.
Many have been the theories offered.
but when we come to analyze theM
we find that they are alloyed with ro-
Inane*, and fantastic idea% void of logic).
The theory which I offer la not annere
idle fancy, bat is founded upon ,Aleep
study and research.
A SCIENTIFIC PROPHECY.
The carbon that is exhaled from Ina -
roan beiegs is absorbed, by tte lehneto
to nourish them, wbile the planta,
turn, give out oxygen for us to tee
hale; eo you ;see that all things in na-
ture are equally balanoed.
Now, what will be the fate of the
tnsheerpulopoularetbioonusesof
will be built, and great cities stand
where to -day there are open fields. Of
eourse thousands of years may elapse
before this shall have taken place; cane
sequently the carbon that is exhaled
will have no place to go, eud it will
sorb the carbon and give out oxygen
to animal life. and tbe air—not hay-
ing a sufficient .quantity of oxygen In
it—will cause animal life to become ex.
The air currents that whirl around,
the globe carry with tbein tbe impure
air Irora large cities. taking it to
open fields, where it is absorbed by
plant life. while the good air is brought
to cities from the country by tbe tur
currents,
SYMPTOMS OF THE CRISIS.
Oxygen has long been recognized ae
the meal aire arid without it life cant
not be sustamed. Insufficient oxygn
in the air will cause lassitune, head-
ache. stupor, and finally death.
is . Persons will grow to an abnormal
of nee on aceoun.t of the small quantity
e. of oxygen contained in the corapound,
I, and human life will become shorter.
ee In cold climates people live longer,
n owing to the large qaantity of oxygen
; contained in the air.
lbe mare hydrogen, nitrogen and
carbon that are in the atmosphere the
better It will promote thought by dis-
turbing the brain centres; then, as
-we IS 'OBS oxygen m the air every
ntury our people in consequence will
ante more 'earned.
SCIENCE AS A SAFEGUARD,
One would naturally reason that bee
fore such a crisis as I have described
aid take plaee human life. in all prob.
lity, would have, ceased to exist
m other causes thau the one I
1 will endeavor to prove that this
idea is absolutely erroneous, as this
matter is of supreme importance and
should be censidered carefully.
For instance, one could suggest the
use of probable starvation—by an in-
ficient supply of animal and vege-
le food, as the advanced state of
ilization attained would make ape
be a small amount of reason will
once make it obvious that in a
Id without open fields no vegeta-
could grow, no araimals could live,
longer could the cow graze in the
eadow.
tit, far all this, will not science—
great eivilizer of the universe—.
e come to our aid in that wonderful
and progressive age? Sciernsts, those
tireless solvers of enigmas, the seekers
of pragical truths. well again come to
our salvation, as they have done mealy
times before.
SCIENCE TO THE RESCUE.
The tirae is not far distant when a
man will be made to partake of a nutri-
tious meal condensed into small lozen-
ges or capsules, deriving as much nour-
ishment from them a:s he does trona a
meal of the present day.
naerniets will understand so thor-
oughly by the chemical composition of
our food, laoth meat and vegetable, that
they will be able to manuxacture sub-
stances which will have upon the lm-•
man system all the beneficial effects
of nutritious food. So, you see, the race
will not cense to exist for lack of ani-
mal and vegetable, food.
HOW TO ALIGHT.
Miss Highstone (whispering to friend
in street-car)—That dreesmaker we are
going to eee lives on 13rickrove street.
Sha.11 I wbisper to the conductor to let
us off there ?
Miss leighup—No, not fox the world!
He'd call it out, and beckon to us when
we came to it, and the whole street is
full of cheap families, Let me see.
Why, Brickrow street is Indy three
square,s from Fasbion avenue, if I re-
member arig-ht.
Miss Hightone (at the top of her
voice)---Conduotor I Let us off at Fash-
ion avenue I
PHOTOGRAPHING THE EYE.
At a recent meeting of the Paris
Aca,demy of Medicine M. Guinkofl stat-
ed that he had successfully photograph-
ed the interior of the ene. The advant-
ages of this method are important, eince
it enables ac•tual picture.% el the dis-
ease cif the retina to be secured and
compared frona time to time to deter-
mine whether disease processes of' the
pre progress or not 'The picture is made
in two seconds. The apparatus can thus
serve a,s an ophthalmoscope, and any
number of persons ean thus observe the
results.
A PENNY SOLD FOB. 41,000.
A penny eva,s recently eold at auction
in England for $1,000. It was of gold,
ivarth twenty pence (40 centen and wa;s
eoined in 1257 by order of Remy HT.
But two other epee -linens are known '
to be in existenc,e. They axe to the
DESTROYING FRICTION.
After calling attention to the tacit
that man was content with the use of
oil to keep machinery in running or-
der uotil be began to ride the bicycle,
when he demanded some better labor -
saver and invented ball -bearings, the
Scientific American proceeds to illus-
trate and deseribe some recent applie
cations of such bearings. They are 'em-
ployed for wagon and cieriage wheels,
for the carrier -wheels of cableeroads,
and for the shafts of swifterunning ma.-
chinery, They practically dispense
with the use of the oilecan and greate
ly reduce the amount of friction to be
overcome, tbus adding to the effective
Power of all inathines in which there'
are used, The singular fact is noted
that Professor 13oys, of London, showe
eel experimentally that ball -bearings,
when properly eonstructed, are practic-
ally proof a,gainst wear. He demon-
strated this fact by weiglabag the balls
of a bicycle -bearing when they were
new, and again after they bad been
subjected to long service., They show-
ed rio loss of weight.
Willy—Were you embawwassed. when
yea met 'is Ighness?
Clarence -1 was; but tin good felle,h
ravetended not to notice it—tvvied to ap-
peah as if he didn't notice pleb et all,
yeli now.
A CANAL'S DISAPPEARANCE.
A gueer accident happened near Wal-
sall, in England, lately, where a canel
fell into a coat pit, the underground
supports of which ;gave way, letting
down the ground above, draining the
canal of -iyater, a,nd putting a stop to
all traffic.
Mese Urban Afrom the cley)-e0h;