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Exeter Times, 1898-6-2, Page 2NOTES .42VD• CON111tENTS, aasfore deseaseina the question as te what dispoeition the United Stat. ee ehali Melte of the PhiliPPine Is- ialias he tale event a their per- UtaineOt nenUirement it would be well to first form some aecurata 0011" ceptio:o of the megnitade at the prize. It 14` ,SaIe tri Say that very few peo- ple Jaave aa adequate notion a the corn- raercial importance of these newly ace tedred possessionse which the United Stetee haye taken by a brilliant naval ncounter to say nothing' of the problem, involved in the control or disposition a 0.000,900 aliena who heve slight, if aelY, adaptability to their ideas of go eenment. There is al small resident Spanish popaIetion and a large number a Chinese, but the na,tive intabitants are mostly of the Malayan rece, with oome tribes, of Negritos. enseet It is the cenzaerciel aspeot of the acquisition, however, which, will have aetermining weight in arriving at a final conches-icrn as to the permanent reteetiou of the islands. The British in- terests in the exports and imports of the Philippines exceed those of any oth- er country. On an average 34 per mat. of the import value is from the ;Mated Kingdom, 21 per cent. from Hong Kong ana Amoy, la per cent. from Spain and. 10 taer cent. from Sin- gapore and British India. The total Imports in 1894 were vehtea at $28,- 580,000, and. the exports at $33,250,000. TI e estimated revenue of the islauds for 1895 was 'X2,715,980, or over 413, - ammo. In maculating the eommercial value of the islands it is well to bear in mind that more than half the popula- tion of the world. lives in countries facing the Pacific% and, Indian oceans, and that the foreign commerce of the countries bordering on these oceans, excluding North America, is more than two and a half billions a year. The American, trade with the east last year was about $35,000,000. It is be- lievecl that the east offers the larg- est and most inviting field for fa - tare American commercial conquest. American trade with China and aspen, particularly in breadstuffabas increas- ed at a remarkable rate in the last few years, bet it is a mere bagatelle to what it might become if they made the Pailippiues a basis for the development of their commerce with the Orient. It is the value a the Philippines for this purpose rather than the richness and productiveness of the islands them- selves that will have greatest weight in considering the question of their final disposition provided America es- tablishes • her claim to them as a re - mat of conquest. THE IAN IN THE TRUNK. A New Way or Getting a Retreat. int the Rouse. Two well dressed men from Peri drove ap to the best hotel in a, coun try town in the Department of the Ear recently, and. engaged a double bedde room. They deposited 11 very heave' trunk in 11 corner, and then went to se the town telling the landlady, a wid ow, that they would return at night But night came and. the two men di not come back at the time specitied 'Me landlady waited, much surprised and. kept her establishraent open afte the usual hour for closing. This wa soon observed by the local gendarme on duty, who entered the hotel, and re • minded the proprietess of the place that the curfew, or les modern substi- tute, had. tailed the knell of departing ditty, and. that it was full time to ex- • tinguesh lights in all inns and. cafes The widow said no was waiting for two men who had left 11 big trunk b e- 0 • hind them. This oeused the gendarmes to reflect a. little. One of them. well versed, in criminal annals suddettly re- raembered the Gouffe case. He also thought of the young stamp collector who was murdered in Paris a few years since, and whose body was thrust into a trunk. (Anxious to seoure aal. the credit of a discovery which might lead to promotion and glory, the gendarme learned in criminal lore asked the wid- ow to let him see the trunk, and told las companion to wait for him at the bar or buyette of the hotel. 'The land- lady accordingly led the man to the room, and. he began to gauge the -.weight of the big box when sud.denly the lid flew open a.nd out jumpe,d a wiry lit- tle man who brandished a big revolv- er in his right hand,. The widow screamed, and. the gendarme was tena, porerily thrown off his guard, but he soon pulled himself together and grapple& with the person who had been anting jaek-in-the-box. The other gen- darme, hearing the landlady's shrieks and the scuffling overhead was seem on the scene of motion, and helped his tol- leagues to menecle the mysterious per-, soil who had. jumped out of the trunk and to take bat to the look -up. There the fellow refuaed to give hie name, or to eay anything about his eompani- ons, wbo are supposed to have reeuramd to Paris, leaving hita te plunder the inn when its owner and her servants were asieep, INVENTIVE GENIUS OF ROMANS, ltirgiIoectisionally is in he mot et the expense of his friend, Maec- enas. He mede at one time a pilgrim- ge to the oracle at Delphi, ante on his retare said to latiectues, I was awfully bored while f Was aWay. So ? said Mao- certaS, arid what was it thet bored You, tetanus mous? The etigure, of course W115 Yawn's quick response. This in- cident goes far to prove tile invent/vs *matte of the Greeks end eMane, since tweet at that early date leagues ana gimlets hea dome late Use., THE RUSHIN OF TEARS DR. TALIIIAGg AND THE suatoN TO THE ISRAELITES. christ Appears in the Form of au Angel— Renewa toe a Good Deal of Roottoline:— Danger of Negierting Great itekoonsibilittx rareitto Washington despatch days :—The Rev-. Dr. Talmage preathed from the words: "And they ea•lled the name Of that place Bociam."--Judges IL 5. Jesus preacaed at least one sermon to the ancient Israelites in the wilder- ness. Ile appeared not with the look that Leonardo de Vinci aseribes to Hien in the Milan fresoo, nor that which Ti- berius gives Han in the emerell intag- lio, nor as Paul de la Rohe and Alb- eit% nor as Paul de in Roche and Alb - emelt Durex sketeh Etian., but in the shape of an angel. Thera was a great Ewald:tee iza tee open air. The sur- rounding galleries of the mOuntains were filled with the people. Christ, in the form of an angel, preaches to these Israelites abou.t how He had. brought them out from Egypt into Canaan; and while he is preaching, they can hear again the snapping of their elides, and see the oryetelliza•tiore of the Red Sea into towers of triumph for them, and intd11 saroophagu.s of death far their pursuers. And again they saw quails all around. about when they wanted mea.t; and again the rook seeras to breekiuta water as they wanteddrink; and. again they see, the cloudy iflar that beekoned them when they wanted 11 supernatural conamenderan-chief; and they think of how Canaan put clusters iri their lee andsong in their mouth, and. the trees dropped with honey. and. the fulluddered cattle, com- ing up froni the pastures, yielding de- lieious supply. Oh, whet a change be- tween the dusty brick -kilns of Egypt, where they ha,d tailed under a task- master and this land of Cauaan, full of music and mirth, and gardens, and sunshine, But Jesus, be the form of an angel, goes on, and. in the second head of His disoourse He tells them how they had. wickedly made an alli- ance with the Canaanite, and as He displays the height and. depth of their ingratitude, they haug their heads, and one deep sigh after another is beard. Here, an aged. man, overwhelmed with memories, groans aloud; end. yonder, a. young man responds to it in like exclama,tion. Soon the tears start in all the eyes of that ,great audience— teers of sorrow, tears oi contrition, tears of peril --and the whole ocingrega- tion breaks down into sobbing -and a,nd wring their hands, 'and make outcry that pierces the heavens. Alas, elzat a spectacle! Hundreds of thousands of people in lamentation. "And they called the name of that place Bochine" or the place of weeping. If this hour we could realize God's goodness -toward us, and our conduct tweed Him, a great grief would. seize upon this audience, and on these aisles repentance would meet remorse, and re- morse eoald meet ingratitude, and me- mories of the past would jostle the fears of the future, and the silence of this occasion would be brokeu by sobs, and groans, and shrieks, and the place would be called a Bochim.. Oh, nate God's Omnipotent Spirit now shake this audience with arouse" and conviction, as though it were the heart of one man. Amen! So let it be, Lord Jesus. I have, in the first plape to rean.ark, that many of these Christian people have reason for a good deal of mourn-: ing. What have you been doing these ten, twenty, thirty, forty years? Did not God lead. you out of Egypt? Did He not pert for you the Red Seea of trou- ble, and has He not rained mannn all teround about your camp'? Did. teee not divide the .Torda,n of death for your loved ones, until they went through dry -shod., not wetting even the soles of their feet/ Has He not put dusters of blessings u.pon your table, and fed you with the finest of the wheat? Mercies above you. Mercies beneath you. Mercies an the right hand, and meroie.s on the left hand. Mereles before you. Mercies behind Jou. Mercies within you. And yet, • re must cenfess, we have, like the Isra- elites, made a league with the world. Three-fourths of oar Christian life has been wasted. •Opportunities for useful- ness gene for ever. Golden sickles plac- eci in aue hand. vet ao harvest reaped, Silken nets of Cite Gospel at our dis- posal, yet no fish oeught. Going along toward heaven, while there are thousand niflhioxjs of the race un - warned, unblessed, unease& Our path toe ard heaven a zig-zag path, now on the Lard's side, now on the world's side ---"hale fellows well met" with men who despise God. The beach strewn evitla vessels breaking on the rockts, and we too cowardly to wade down waist deep, or even ankle deep, and/ give a handto those who are struggling in theasurf lying germs the path toward heaven, until 'men have come up to where we are, and staxablea over: us, end fallen, dever to riee. Has not this been the history at -many • here? The robes of oar talarieezars enerfesseon soaittered with the blood of lad seals ; God holding us revonsible for ,serrows that we did not appee, and tor ruin that we did not avert.: Oh, that (.4.od limr,ld to- night break bar hearts with the fact of oter inconsistencies as professors ef religion, arid rouse us up to sele-scree tiny, and an imploration, and * larnera- aim, that 1,voald. Make this place a actelam, a. place of weeping. 1 eelieve that, there are souls in hell 'het would. not have been there if yoir and 1 had done our ditty. Oh weep for our dere-- lictio.ns I weep foe our wendertnes weep for Oar lost opportunities that wilt never return There is greet reatha for sadness on the pert of. some of these parents when they look over their families. You, know thee there mud be a 'eighty change in year 'mediae -1 before you eaa all Dye together in eternity. A few years at the most, and the separation must take piece. 'Your eoregion some teaohoks yonthat, if there bo tvvo pethe arid they diverge, and atter the twine TFIE EXETER TIMEs of divergence they keep on in a etrateht line, tiley go farther and, far- ther off from ettch other ; and, as by inexorable mathematical law, as well as by moral Lew, if one goes to the eight in t religioele sextets, and tlx oth- er to the Left, they ceueot come to- Reither. Can youi sit to -night 'dada, alatioa j/Iltdfr000lzuiteaMapylitotfe irtottaretelor‘ceadl soeniensr,- Things are looking that way, T/eeir 0PPoreities of salvation less end lees, You.o oppertunitiee of plying teem with, religious motives less and less. The prospeet that Goa's lavitetioa will c,ontiwee to them, less and less, The day of their merey almost goue, yet they have not put up one earnest Prey - en or repented of one sin, and not giv • en one bopetta sign and death conaug to snap the conjugel bond, end break up the fraterutel and filial tie. Oh, sister. canal, then bear to think of being for eternity away from thy brother? Oh, wife, for unending ages away from thy leuelemel. t IC)hriatian mother, is youx daughtea• on the wrong side ? Christian father, will you, be on the right hand of the judge at last, and nee your son on the left hand., far away, ehained and captive trodging off e Are you ready for such a farewell word.? Is there anything that eau pay youl for it? The comforts of your present home, your domestic, reunion? NO, no. There is nothing oa earth that tan pay far that, I announce what I believe will be the history of some families represented in this house to -night; part of the fandly• will spend eternity in heaven, and part of the family will spend an eternity in hell 1 .011, if that thought could come vith, ita overwhelming power u.pon you., as it ought, there would be a shudder through this audience, and nee, would; sweat as though 11 were great drops of blood. Parents would ry out to Caod, and cry out ,to the eagle : "Save my children 1" The wife would, erg out: "Save my husband 1" The sister would cry out: "ave my rethee la -lead this eiaclieince, would. be struck with &wild terapest of agony nd this place would be a Bochim, for veeping. Oh, there has been a very reat change in some of the families n my Church d.uring the last two or hese weeks. Some of them have come nto the kingdom., but left others out- ide. There have been oases where the usbanct has chosen Christ, and the dfe has resisted Divine mercy. Lash Sabbath night, in the adjoining room, n aged woman came in. I said: "Are out seeking: the salvation of your out ?" She said: "No, I have sought nd found. I came in to ask your rapers tor my sons. They are on the rong road." 0 Lord Jesus are we to e parted. from any we have loved Vill some .of us be saved, and some of its be lost ? Which one will it •be issing, missing, missing for eternity? h, bow your heacl in silent prayer, and sk God for the redemption of all the ovea ones of the household. Lay hold f God. in an im.portunate petition now. eels I Let, it be a moment of silent rayer all threugh. the audience. I say farther; there are impenitent oats. here who ought to be sad from he feet that there are sins they have omenitted that cannot be corrected ither in this world or the world to orne. I am not speaking of the un- erdonable sin; but I will illustrate -hat I mean. Suppose there is a an in this audience to -night, at fifty ears of age, becomes a Christian, but e bits been all his life on the other de. He is o, father. He comes to t brist to -night, bet can he newest the act that for twenty or thirty years, t ver his children, he was wielding a ong influence, and. they have started the wrong • direction? euppose a neliene of shipowners started a. sea. P aptain with an imperfect chart and 1 th an unseaworthy vessel, and, after b e vessel has been gone five days they e el sorry about it, and wish they.had t ot let the vessel goout in that way. j oes that make any difference to those ho have gone out? No1 In the first orm the captain and the crew go f wn. And if you come to God in the tter part of your life, when you have la ven your children an impulse in the E rang direction, those,. • ten, or fif- c en, or twenty years of extimple in P e wrong direction will be mightier MI the few words you can utter now t the right direction. So it is with P e influ.ence you have had anywhere w' community. • If you have all these 0 ars given countenance to those who ce• e neglecting religion, can you cor- et that? Your common sense says in . Here is an. engineer 011 I000311.0" e; He is taking a long train of t rs loaded with paseerigers. He comes an.d sees a red flag. He says: "What care for the red flag?" He p-ush- s oia th,e train, and, comes to another e d flag. • He says: "I don't care for e e red flag." After a while he sees at the bridge is down: bat he ie by of marsh, and. he leaps arel is not dam- ho ed. Does that stop the train? Nol b goes on ora,e1i1 crash! crash! That o the history of some men who haye w en converted to -night. I congratue oi e tbein, hut I cannot: hide the fact eh at they started a train of influences in the wrong 'direction; and though in M afternoon of their life, they may w p off the train, the train goes on. It man said. to me during the week): jo am fifty-three years of age, and las e made up my mind that it is time ca me to become a, Christian." I de graiulated him in coming; but, of est say to aa thane who come in the -W ernoon. of life yowl have let yoar he L chances go—there is no hiding fa t—yoar best talents gone, your best th ortunities of usefulnees gone. You an not hide the fact that. you at ve only on ,e life to live on earth,. w d you. have thrown the raost of it w ay. It is enotgb to make one weep no at bitter tears; it is enough to he Ire this house a very Declaim. la it Bo will sweep upon your sotilS. Pe from above nutt petits front belie Mete you to the abyss. Out of ei not; one moment's etifety, lATithata G withoet hore, Oh, m hat an orphana whet an exile, what a detiolation a\ will go your eat"? Who will lelp .e-n.u• immortal spirit? ,lereail moa tor thy lost estate. Freee you not; mid cizance for h ven?, "Alt," you say "that is worst of it, Thee; ,ia weet makes weep." l'eas ,yoier father bad? year mother wicked.? "No," you. s "Say nothing .against my mother. there twes ever ee goad woman, s was oue; and I remember how, in old days, end when bent with yea and. in her plain frock, she knelt del anel. prayed for ley seal, and With ki aprorz wipea away tee tears. c never forget it, She IS gone now, i gave her no intimation that. I wou ever meet her again. Oh, ha trampled on ter broken hea an a wretch undone. Who w prey for me? I am se sick. of sin. -eau 80 weary of the world!" No wo geeter nYaTionweoefpiltie"‘lasttbedagy'reaa'itlelsthoc(f) those Mee had pious parents and w resisted their admadtion. Oh I to throu,gh loat eternity earrying remembrance of family altar which you were taught to kneel, an the "Now 1 lay me down to sleep," th YOU were taught to pray, and t death -bed of father and mother whe with their last words they importun YOU to do your duty! Oh 1 that me ory will be heavier than the chain that. will be hotter than the- fire. Ma God Almighty keep SA from the ove weebning woe that comes dow- u.posa that man's head that trampi an a, father's counsel and on an ol mother's peewee. But %stet is a sadderthought is, that some of these people not only stay out of the kingd.om a God themselves, but they will not let their children come in. I have to charge some par- ents who are here with the feet that they hindertheir loved ones frees. COM- ing into. the kingdom. If you wo,uld only give themone encouraging word, if y.ou. would only get out .of the vvay with you.r worldly example, they would have some chance. But no; you stay back team Christ and the Church, yourselves, and you keep them back. Ohl father, mother, It you are determined to go down to death, d.o not take your children with you. If you will not stand. back,' say: "1 am go- ing to take the plunge, but don't you do it." Ton sound no alarm.. They are in the eame boat with you. You are rowing on: towards an eternal Ni- agara. Yon. aave almost mune to the plunge, and yet you drop not the oars you. clutch not the eide of the boat. You cry not out to the shore for help. You trip them up. Yon know it is. an easy thing to trip one up, -especially if he comes at a. bounding .gait; and yOU see your loved ones coming on to- wa,rds heaven, and yea put out yoar foot and 'they fall over it into a sinful life here, and aftex twenty, thirty, forty years have passed will fall deeper down, and it will be ,known :for ever that yeue'tripped them up. Oh! by the solemn birth -hour when your life was spared and another given, by the inemories of the family hearth, by the account wiiich you must give at the last day for your performance of your duty in regard to those children, I im- plore you. not to hinder them. "But," you say, "I do not binder them." You do. Your children feel it. Christians eel it. Angels of God. feel it, The Lord Jesus Christ feels it. That fa- he,r and mother who stay away from Christ themselves are bringing on all controlling and potential influence to keep their children back. •There are arents here, all wrapped. up in world-, iness and fashion, who are actually locking up the way to Iteeseen for the ntire family. They think more of he trimmings on their hats 'and. the etvels an their 'fingers tha,n of the ouls of the immortals for which they mast answer when. the world is on ire. Oh, that the prophet's red would trike the rock to -night and. make it eep, and that this place might be a othira—parents praying for thei•r bildren; children praying for their arents, tb.e husband praying for the vies, the wife praying for the husband, he pester praying for the people, the eople praying for the pastor, this hole audience iv-heti:nett with one wave f penitence and pardon! - Oh. parent! ming up at the last day, how will au stand it if these children grow up to lives of sin, living to old. age in mpenitence, and then meeting you in he judgment, deliberately charge you ith the ruin et their souls, saying: You. never invited me to Christ. You toed in my way. You gave a wrong aderaraypleso. soul 1" ther., mother, you ruin - But I remember thee there are tears joy as well as tears of sorrow, and w the foundations of the deepwould reek u.p to -night if one hundred or ne thou.sand souls in this audience mad march. up and take the kingdom heaven! This place has been a Be- im. It was last Sabbath, here and the adjoining, town. It' wes last onday. WaS last Wednesday. It 5.5 last Friday. It was this morning. is new Bochim for weeping for y. Right, here, on this very seat, t Sabbath night, there sat, a sea- ethin. He seemed very restless un - r the serna.on. thought he was fended, and would go • out. hen the service wrte closed came into the adjoining room, his ce shining, with joy, and he told us at on that night, He had found Chriet it then he tola hove, during the gale sea, he voweel to be a Christian, but hen the sea went down and the stoern as past he forgot his, vow. t keep the dory to himself. He was says, "I start for heaven." He could 'ling thoee who were aronnd. about 'Ira in the rooin what a .joyful thing was„to follow Christ. Ohl it was a ohim all" around about where the. II stead, acid ileaseicl as he passed out Of the door: "Pray for roe. 1 sail to-nnorrocv for Sari Domingo," The same night; there came a child., het face rad- iant with gladness,' fielding her fath- ese-by the Mind. She tied found the Sav- iour the week before. Now else was bringing her 'tither. He ale° totted aesue. Then the marl who said he was " past feeling " asked. us to pray for him And then there were aged ones who came in the eleventh hour and got Diviee paeclon; and there were aa tars eel; in families where there had ,never beet any prayer; azicl. lips that had. never epoken the tante of Jesus tare lijaeehenty, hive been all this - week Singing " Theree nOne like .reenS, B011elni8,11 V' AWL the place has been. a Bechim. , hut theke ate some vvito have not rils nth lst oci, go, 'bo out n I ocx the 1110 'as ay, if les her z•e, vn 8r an .nd ve rt. n- 0 - or bo go he at at he re ed a r- es • So, elso, there is occasion for sad- ness in the peril tla,17 surrounds every unforgiVen soul, "Oh," you say; "it is a starlight night, The wind is blow- itg from the west. All is fair, Tilde teeeporel, het Of spiritual danger. You stay: "I don't •see any spirituia dang- er. ' Teen 1 remembet that summer eefore foe on :shipboard, at evening time, we were romping, up and down the decks with laughter, and shout, and song. We were a Very dierry party at eeentirne; but tix e few hours there Were between Seven hundred end eight bundred people groaning and crying and ehrickine at what seemed the thundering of the ship, Sena all gene. Betnee lost. leife-boets ertishea to kind- ling -wood on the side ca the vessel. Oe the „blenchad cheeks of the teptaie, crew end passengers, bile word writ- teri "Salpwreck !" And 80 yet wee go en pfaciden stebeflay, gaily for tswhi1 in your sin, bat the hurricane wale. elbey will not come. They 3011 net repent. Tbey will not pray. They will uot ase any one else to prey for theme Their h)earts are too proud. 'With a steel grip they adze the door 01 thei(e4°,sd'6eeistu, '"ircKeyanlady sh1011(tl, Olft'tbs ri01118)81; Of the boa, so thob they may strike the death -knell of their own einem-- tal spriL. "The harved is pest, lhe summer la ended., and they are not saved." Floating out feather and far - tiler into the derk.ness, 4 wave them one lad farewell, and. I feel helplese when I ,stancl before tame • 1 think of eo other argument drawn from death, judgment or eternity, or the moss of 'the San of Gad, and I feel very much as the people did on Long 'Island (meth some years ago when a vessel wee driving on the rooks. The people on shore could do nothing. Taey saw the danger and knew the ehipwreek was coming, and ran up and down the beach wringing their hands. So to -night T see these vessels emning for the theirs, r cannot help them, 1 Tun up and to do ntollegosod. hors erYinge "Stand off. Put back! Stop, stop.P But it seems I rejoice that therewill be whole families to -night tbat will come to Yes - ma In Georgia, some years ago, there were two men who had broken their mother's heart by lives of dissipation. They went lionee to see her. It Cape the time foe them to go back, and they cued: "New, mother, we go back to- night at nine o'clock." "Well,' she said, "boys," however old they ma.y get they are never anything but boys to a moth- er, she said: "Boys, go to church; they're going to have religious service there." Her heart was aching for their salvation, but she did not want to tell them. "Oh 1" they said, "we're- going off at nine o'clock." " Well,' see said, "you will hear tee stage -horn blow and. you can then go out and take the stage." So they went; but before the stage -horn blew ,they begird a dif- ferent sound. 1.1 was that which peal- ed forth froni the silver trumpet of the Gospel, and their souls quaked under the sound. They dia not go away that night, and, on the _following night, when, at tee °lase of the service, the minister of Christ asked. that all those who were. eeeking tbeir sours salva- tion should come up and kneel at, the altar, the first that started were these two men; and they knelt there ask- ing for salvation; and while they were kneeling there, there was an aged. wo- man who arose in the midst of the audience, her face- all saturated with tears, and the people said: "Who is She? Vcr110 is she? Why does she stand up and disturb the assembly? All the rest are sitting." Oh, she had a right to stand up. She was the Christian mother of these two young men. She had prayed for their salvation so long, she had a right to stand and look as they knelt down at the foot of Divine mercy. She had sown hi tears—she ha,d a right to reap in tearful joy. And to -night, if the prodigals would only mane and kneel dawn at the foot of the cross, there would be others stand- ing up to watch. The world might stand up and scoff, but- there would be oth- ers standing up with differeut mo- tives—parents standing up to watch as the prodigals came. They would be glad with an infinite glad- ness, if their children were saved. And there would be companions in life who would rejoice as their conapanion came. They would say: "Now, we are one for ever. Married on earth to be married in heaven." •The angels of God would stand, harp in hand, twitching, and ready to strike the symphony. The 'Lord. Jesus Christ Himself would stand watching—Hine of the crushed foot, andthe mingled brow, and the deft heart, saying: "My soul is satisfied. have loved thee with an everlasting lave." There would be tears of joy mingling with tears of sorrow, and it would be told in the ages to come that on this Sabbath night, between these walls, because of the weeping -over sin, and the weeping over pardon, the piece was a &china. , • AGE OF THE EARTH, Noted scientists Do Not Agree as to the Time of Life on the earth. - Pleuras, it must appear to merty thinkers, lose their substantial mean- ing after they pass the million stage, the fact that we can say seven: or tea or a hundred million does not mean that we can grasp what these millions, have power to effect or that we can follow them out into the beginningless tract of • time and space. However, to such people as may think they are able to follow battalions of figures it may be of interest to give the latest opinions on the work of the geological ages. Lord Kelvin estimates the age of the earth, since it was sufficiently cooled tci become the abode of plants and ani- mals, to be aboat 20,000,000 years, with- in limits of ertor perhaps ranging be- tween 15,000,000 anct 30,000,000 years. This estimate, nearly agreeing with another by Clarence King, from simi- lar physical date, has gerierally been regarded) by geologists, says Warren' Upham in the American Geologist for October, 1897, as too short for the Pro- cessee ot sedinientabion and eresion, Lund for the evoaution of floras and faunas, of which the earth's strata bear reoord. More probably, as ratios and oonaputations by 'Dana, Welcott, andother geologists somewhat har- moniously inaioate, the duration of. time since the beginning of life on the aorta has hews three to five times longer than Kelvin's estimate, or from 60,000000 to 100,000,000years i , The larger figures imply from the dawn at life to the develepneent of tare Cturibrient and (aitterian felines probably 50,000,000 years ; thence to the end of Paleozoic time perhaps 30,000,000 years onvvetd through lifeeozoic time aboutA5,000,600 years, and through the Tertiary era. about 5,000,000 years. The comparatively very short Queternary era, having in its organic evolution, as .shown by the marine nollasea, no higher ratio to Teetiary time then 1.50, may therefore "ews occupied only about 100,000 years. • FINE RECRUITS. Are you interested in ,this "clon't Worry" movement? Yes; I wish 1 could, get all nVy cred- itore into it. A VEIL IP 011 AVAIL.• Ta• endeavor to look well on a windy day is without avail, if you are foolish enotigh to go out—evahcitit a Veil. ME SUNDAY SCHOOL. INTERNATIONAL. LESSON, JUNE 5, "Jesus Conatenuethe matt, ez. re.ee. Golden 'rest, 11 Wini. 1. la. PRAOTIOA.L NOTES. Verse 11, Jasus *stood • before the governor. Pontius Pilate had been goy- erner of Judea about six -ears; lis was unpepular, for he govereed, with arb- itrary videnee. About four years aft- er the trial of Jesus ae was dismissed from his offiee, and, is said to have de- stroyed himself while in • banishment. Tee offietel residence of the Roman, governor wa,s at Caesarea, hut his pres- ence at Jerusalem was eustomary clar- et ce eh r- ar te ar 2; of h jeve re 0- z- ut ing the national testivals, in the "jed:ganent hall," a stated pia fox the esra.mination of p,risoners, whi Jewish councilore AVOUld, 1101; enter Ou ing the lately passover season for fe of ceremony defilement. So Pile went out "into the court" to he their c ample int John 18, 28=3 Luke 23, • 2, It was the dawn FrNs idaiThea . Art trzk iforra,imly hutieKing sarcasm, and insult, shows the natu of the formal charge, wile& is state more fully in Luke 23. 2. "The R man g-oeernee woulci not take cogni ance of blasphemy, fox' which th octuncil had condemned our Lard, b he coulcl not help attending to charge of rebellion against Caesar."-- Churtan. Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest. , This phrase was customary as an expression of strong assent'. Tt is equivalent to "Assuredly 1 am." Our Lard thus expressly, aecepts the d.esignation of king. Jesus had often before' affirmed his Messiathship. See Matt. 14. 33; 16. 16, 17; Luke 9. 20; John 7. 16, 17; 10. 24, 25. 12. When he was accused of the chief prieats and elders, Their accusations new presented were what we would cellspecificatioins dxann up under ,the charge of claiming royalty, to which Jesus seems to have already in a man- ner, pleaded guilty. He answered no- thing. ' As en his trial before Caia phas, so now our Lord freely admit; what he knows his enemies may in- terpret as a legal ground for condem- nation Jut refuses to reply to false and calumnious charges. aglatisHowmanythee? Their hThetirinagseauestetyrionwsimtnaedees him Gut an infamous character. They include, as we have seen, charges of blasphem.y, aohn 19. 7. 14. He answered, him to never aword. in this sentence accords with a quaint -and. disused oldEnglish custom Our Lord was unruffled under dignity, wane amid others' f uey. No wonder -thee governor narveled greatly. This VMS the majestic silence of innocence, purity and power. Just at this point Pilate leereed that Jesus was a Gali- lean, and, therefore sent him for trial to Herod Algrippa, tetrarch of Galilee, -who waa then in Jexusalean. Pilate's scherae was vein, far Herod, refused to judge the case, and; after mocking ,Tes- as, sent him back, Luke 23. 6-12. 15. At that feast. The feast of pass - over, The governor was wont to re- lease unto the people a prisoner. As- serting the innocence of Jesus, but aux- ileus to please the people, Pilate pro - Poses to chastise Jesus, Luke 23, 16, 22, end release him according to this an cient custom. The great strides that humatity has made in civilization, are seen by the fact that what would now be regarded as an unmitigated injury to public weal was a few centuries ago regarded as a kindness to the eonmeanity at large. 16. A notable prisoner. A rebel, mur- derer and robber. Barabbas. Dr. Plump- tre conjectures that Ba.rabbas had led a tumult 'which had. recently occur- red becanee of Pilate's profane ap- propriation of , the "Corban"-- mon eys consecrated to holy purposes. This supposition wetted explain how Barab- bas came to be a popular hero. 17, 18. When they were gathered to- gether, Pilate said unto them. It was not to the accusers of Jesus this offer was made. Between verse 14 and verse 15, as we 'have seen, comes Luke 23, 4-16. Some time initst hawe elapsed before Jesus was returned in charge of Herod's guards. In the meaircyhile Pilate probably had. made inquiries about him, and, hearing of his gener- eat' vpyoPtilhelarcihtief hperiesc°tVuhdadi dtehliavie-if•eadr ham The idea then occurred to him • that Jesus might be released without offending the Setyleh leaders by ap- /*Ming to the populace, never doubt- ing that they would be delighted to see him let go. Accordingly. Luke tells us that "he called together the chief prfests and the rulers of the peo- ple," which explodes the words "when • they were gethered together ;" that is, after.the return from Herod. The Priests were now ' alarmed lest an uproar should arise amongtbe peo- ple, and in desperation they seized tbeir last chance by trying to persuade the multitude agaiost Jesus, verse 20, no doubt tellieg them that the great coun- cil had feend Jesus guilty of blas- phemy. How well they seceeeded was soon Seen, and Pilete's astonishmeet at the unexpected shouts of "Let him be crucified 1" verse 22, is shown( by his exclamation, "Why, whet evil hath he done?" In these comments we have gone same -whet in advance of the story, but this was necessary . for a full ex- planation of our text. 19, 'Phe- judgment seat was e 'raised platform, in the bedtime the eourt, where the judges sat. This platform was por;taide and was placed on a tes- selated pavement, caged Gabbatha. Pil- ate's wife, whose name was Claudia Procula, according to tradition, al- thettgh a, /Roman had become a Jew in religion, The early Church had a tra- dition that she afterward became a Christian, 20. 'Persuaded. Ey threats and agile. - tions, See Mark 15, 11, See also our note on verses 17, 18. Ask Barebbas,- and destroy Semis. Their spirit would shut up heaven and open the bottom- less pit to all men. , 22. What shall I de then with Jasus, question thee has been asked by agi- tated souls in every clime and in every e,entury since. Which Is tailed Christ t Who is alleged to be, the AlesSittli. 'Let him be ertielfiech eruaifiklon as a punishment was never used among the Xews white their state was free. It was leaded by Roulette on slarce and the worst, ofmalefactors, 'Me bitterness of the eneiniee of Christ is • saon in their special demand tor such a method of death. 23. Whet evil hath be done? S0e Luke 23; II, Pilate admits that he was about to pass an unjust sentence, 24, Pilate saw that he eenld prevail nothing. Still, the third time aceord- ing to Luke 23, 82, maintaining the ila- neeence of jesus, he yields to the mob. He bad reached the climax of imbeeil. ity. Washed his hands befeciie the mut- titude, Thi e was a. mummer/ ceremony in protesting innocence. Witness Deut. 21. 6, 7; and Psalm 26, 26. in PiLate's case it was the act oe a conscience -- smitten, compromising hypocrite, 1 am, innoeent. His saying so id not make him so. 25. ERE blood be on us, His death and. the guilt and penalty of it. Com- pare Dent. 19, 10; J"osh. 2, 19; 1 Kings g, 32; Acts 5. 28. 26. Teen released he Barabbas. Pil- ate yields little by little till be be- comes peenrless. When he had scourgr ed Jesas, A cruel scourging before eruei- fixion was inflieted aocording to the barbarous Roman stom. For other indignities, john 19, 'Ilae weak govern- or hoped by this punishment to satisfy the Jew, tend even yet to open the way of escape for the innocent prison- er, Like 23. 16-22; Ade 3. 13. Eel de- livered. him to be crucified. Our Lord, who was wearied from the fea,rful awooning in Gethsemane, and by the leng hours of base insult front mid- night till dawn, and who had just been mangled. by the scourge, was now de- livered to tJae most lingering and cruel et deaths—for our salee, ALASKAN CAVE DWELLERS, queer S mid mentor Mantes on. tete Same mot Grounto. A race of cave dwellers live on a small island of the Alaskan coast. It is King's Island, in Bering see, due south of Cape Prince of Wales. There is only one village there and this has a populaton of 200, Dr. Sheldon Jackson the Ohited. States agent of education in Alaska, says that it is one of the moat remarkable settlements in Am- erica, yet few- people know of its exist- elring's island is about a mile in ienwhign(hil'riafesci peisrpaenincliacsusla°rilyboausatltofr°Ire, sea to a height of from. 700 to 1,000feet. At the south side this is deft in tteet by a deep ravine, whioh is tilled by a huge permanent snowbanlir. High isp on the west side of the ravine is the! village of Oukivale which consists of about forty awellera, partly hollowed out of the cliff and built up outside with stone walls. Across the top of these wa,Lis axe laid large driftwood poles; ever these are placed hides and ov-er the hides gra-ss and. dirt. The houses are entered by a tunnel which rums along undesneatle, sometimes for disten,. ea- of fifteen feet, and ends un- der a hale—eighteen inches in diameter —in the floor of the room above. This is the front door of the establishment. The tunnel is so low that it is necessary, to stoop, and ofteaa to crawl, the en- tire length of at. In summer these houses generally be- come too (temp to live in. The people then erect another dwelling on top; this is a tent of walrus hide which is stret- ched over a wooden frame and guyed to the rooks by ropes to prevene its being blown off into the se/e. These tents allow of a room. aboui ten or fif- teen feet square, and entered by means of an °yea hole in the hide about two feet above the floor. A narrow plat- form two feet wide runs along outside of the door arta leads back to the hill, These platforms are often fifteen or twenty feet above the winter dwelling below. . At the other side of the deep ravine at the base of the cliff, is a huge cav- ern into which the sea dashes. At the back Of this is a lerge bank of perpetu- al -snow. The cave dwellers use this as a storebouse. They dig rooms in the snow and store their]: provisions, which freeze solid and. keep the year round, for the temperature in the snow never rises above 32 degrees. AGES OF SOLDIERS. Noted enteeterin Leaders Olive Been Over the Regulation ehate. AI native of Holland, an American citizen by adoption, writes to a New York newspeper, that he is 53 years old, but as able to fight as any man of 2.5, and suggesting the formation of a eorps of men from 45 to 55 years old. lee thinks there are many thousands oIl foreigrobern citizens reedy end anxliou_e to take, up arms for their adopted country in case of war with , That old men have sometimes Inert the best and most successful fighters hiseurry neezedantly shows. 71.ocord- ing to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Far- ragut, the great e.dmixel of the eivil -weal was OVer 60 wben he ran his fleet up the 'Mississippi under the guns of the Contecierete forts below New Orleans, and, in spite of warniugs in regard to torpedoes in. Mobile bay, ex- clabneel) :"— tine torpedoes, Go ahem& Robert Anderson was 50 when he de- fended Port Sumter, Don Oates Buell' was 44 when he belped to save Grant from clieaster at Shilob. Soeeph Hooker, orie of the best fight- ers in the "Onion army, was over 50 when he captured Lookout Mountain. David Porter wag 52 when he cote - mended the largest Remands, the world heel evet seen, et the capture of Fort tester. :The heloved, :John Sed,gwick, wee 51 when he Was trilled at the heed cif Ids corps in the Wilderness, George If Tionnes was 48 vvlien he won the battle of Nashville, one of the five most importcanti battles of the war. :Johns A,' Winslow, was 55 when the Hear - dirge sank the Altibithia. althea. E. Early was 40 wheint he canio go near capturing Washington, joseiph E. Johnston was 57 when he W55 holding 8hertnan's army in eheek In' Georgia, end Robert It. Ice was the same age when he made his able dee, fensive campaign, of 1864. 1' e