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Exeter Times, 1898-9-8, Page 2RS AND COMMENZ:S. It obvioas that India 4,e0a6 Optioually eteong „man at her head Jaat 'now. In foreign porky, finanee and tbeteenea government, the last two years have shown abundant proofs of adininistra,tive weakness. The Vice- roy of India Le either a king or the enairmau of a comtaittee, If he knows his own mied, and is not afraid te fel- low it, there is little he cannot olo, bat if he lacks the firmness and reser, lotion 'wbioh, belonged to men like Dal- housie and Ca,uning, he becomes the plaything of permanent secretaries and astitiaorY councils and sinits into serai- regal insignificance. What the In - dean servIcee have been clamoring for as a man who can govern, a man who will not shrink from. playing despot at a, pinch. , The difficulties before the new Vice- roy are int suoh as own be met half way. They will have to be encount- ered face to face and wept out of ex- isten.ce or allowed to remain as they are, The most pressing of them all is the Forward Polley. If. Mr. Cure zon has the ,mind to return to the old poll/ay of restriotina the British out- posts to the hither side of the north- west frontier he may win much corn- Mendation. The Forward Policy has pushed. British garrisons beyond the mountainous barrier that is Inelia's natural border line and. quartered theca in a barren country hundreds of iniles from their proper base among tribes who will fight to the death to maintain their inameraorial independence. For this departure from tlie old system of thrashing the tribes when they re- quired it, and then retiring froratheir territory and leaving them to look af- ter their own affairs, the military group at Simla is responsible; and, until the influence of that faction is. considerably lessened, another up- rising like that of last year may be looked. for a,t any time. In the Indian Government each de- partment has practically two hea,ds, its own pernaanent seeretary and. the member of the Viceroy's Council who Ls unofficially in, charge .of it... The result. le enotantafriation and a waste —or administrative energy, and Mr. Curzon will have to grapple with he plans for a change. The financial con- dition of the country after eighteen months of war, plague, and famine, is about as bad as it could, be. A Parlia- mentary committee is inquiring into the "silver question." The task of the neve Indian Viceroy is not simple. DAUGHTER L ITIES 110 E REV, DR, TA14111A0E PREACHES AN INSTRUCTIVE SERMON, 844 Wage la the Cue- of aerlelao—Au la - lading Army Marches on the atiy— Maio emcee Her twine anabete Brea there mid swigs -The searlet Mee Sias saved linactreets or ThousanAls, mad Tit Von Save Von. A despateh from Washington says; Dr, Talmage preached atom. the fol- lowing text: "And she boural the scare let line ia the window."`e-Joshua ii. 21. If you have any idea, that I bave chosen this text because it is odd, you do not know me uor the errand on whieh I come. Sternity is too near, and life too. allera for nsan to take texts merely because they ar even - liar. I taloa this boause it is full of the old Gospel. There is a very siek aud sad house in the city of Jericho. Whet ie. the matter 1' Ls it poverty ? No. Worse than that. IS is leprosy ? No, Worse then that. Is it death? No. Worse than. that. A daughter has forsaken her honte. By what infernal plot she Was induced to leave k.now not; but they look in vain for her return. S.ome- times they hear a footstep very much like hers, and they start up, and say: "She comes!" but only to sink back again into disappointment. Alas 1 Alas! The father sits by the hour, with his face in his hands, saying not one word. The mother's hair is be- coming gray too fast, and she b6gina to stoop so that those who saw her only a little while ago in the street knew.her not noty as she passes. The brothers clench their fists, swear- ing vengeance against the despoiler of the lime. Alas! will the poor soul never corae back? There is a long, deep shadow over all the household. Added to this there is an invading array six miles away, just over the river, coming on to destroy the city and what with the loss of their child,, and the coming -on of that destructive axnay, I think the old. people wished that they tould die. That is the first scene in this drama of the Bible. In a house on the wall of that eity is the daughter. That is her home now. Two spies have come from the invading army to look around through Jericho, and see how best it may be ken. Yonder is the lost child, in at dwelling on the wail of the city - he police hear of it, end soon there the shuffling of feet all around about e door, and the city government de - ands the surrender of those two ies.—First, Rahab—for that was the arae of the lost child—first, Rehab cretes the two spies, and gets their ursuers off the track; but after sylaile she says to them: "I will make bargain with you. I will save your e if you will save my life, and the life eat, father and mother, and my others and my sisters, when the vie - bus army comes upon the city." 0, e had not forgotten he e home yet, u see. The wanderer never forgets nae. Tier heart breaks now as she inksof how she hesmaltreated her rents, and she svishes she were back ith them again, and she wishes she uld get away frorn her sinful en- rolment; and sometimes she looks up the face of the midnight, bursting •'At the recent meeting of the British Medical Association, held in Edin- burgh, the subject of hypnotism was a principal topic of discussion, and many interesting statements were made by physicians and other scientific inves- tigators concerning it. That it has been usefully employed in curing some persons of the m.orphine habi and of the drink habit seemed to b established, but as to its general valu ra as a therapeutic agent there was no difference of opinion, and no conclusion was reached. An interesting poin that wasleft misettled was, "Does th hypnotizer infuse power in the mind of the patient or merely evoke it ?" Instances were given of oases where there was actual transmission of power from the hypnotizer to the hyp- notized, but in the large majority of cams no such transmission occurred. th is th. sp11 se a lit of br to sh e I yo ho e th Pa h w 1 CO t 1 th a ••••••••••••• Naturally the "criminal suggestion" feature of the subject was most de- ited, and Dr. Bramwell, an eminent London physician, stated that he had not daring his nine years' experience with hypnotism ever seen an instance where a patient had received the least suggestion of an act that would be re- pugnant to him in his hormat state. To a question by one of the members', "Whether the hypnotized patient could be got to sign a. cheek for 4500 under the statement that it was only 45," Dr. Bramwell replied "abso- lutely and certainly not. A hypno- tized =Wed did not lose one single power which he had in the normal state ; on the contrary, he gained others." This is quite interesting, and goes far to disprove the sensational stories that have appeared in the newspapers from time to time concern- ing hypnotism as a defense in crim- inal cages. Novelists have also been active in diseeminating the belief that persons can be influenced by hypnotic suggestion to perform acts they would not perform when in a normal con- dition. Dr. liramtvell and other scien- tific investigators have now quite ef- feettially exploded this delusion. RISOONSIDEILE'D. His Wife—There is ray dressmaker's bill, Please draw a check for it, The Judge, absent-miededly-1 Wiil take the papers and reserve ray &lei- sion. Hai Wife—You ? The Judge—Motion granted—with ends, Alma< MM. Fee Mired my husband's i omnia. Hove did you do it? Pretended wee sidle and the doctor left medieirie tvhieb Henry' was to give , every half taut- en night long. Leto agonizing tears. No sooner have these two spies proinised to save her life, and the life of her father and mother, and brothers, and sisters, than Rehab takes a scarlet cord and ties it !around the body of one of the spies, brings him to the window, and as he clambers out—nervous lest she have not strength to hold him—with muscular arms such as woman seldom has, she let .him down, band over hand, in safe- ty to the ground. Not being ex- hausted, she ties the cord around the other spy, brings him to the window, and just as successfully lets him down to the ground. No sooner have these men untied the scarlet cord from their bodies then they look up and they say: You had better get all your friend in this housem —your father, your ath er, your brothers, and your sisters; yo had better get them in this house. An then, after you have thein. here, tak this red card which you have put aroun our bodies, and tie it across the win dow; when our victorious army come up, and see that scarlet. thread in thwindow they will spare this house an all who are in it. Shall it be so?" erie the spies. "Aye, aye," said Ralrel from the window, "it shall be so That is the second scene in this Bib] drama,. There is a knosk at the door of th old man. He looks up, and says: "Com in," and lo I there, is ,Rahaft, the los child; but she has no time to talk. The gather in excitement around her, an she says to, them; "Get ready quickly and go with me to my house. The arrn is coming ! The trumpet 1 Make haste Fly 1 The enemy !" That is the thir scene in this Bible drama - The hosts of Israel are all aroma about the doomed city of Jericho Crash. goes the great metropolis, heaps on heaps. The. air suffocating with the duet, and horrible with the serearas of a dying city. All the homes flat down. All the people dead. Ala, no, no. On a crag of the wall—the only piece of the wall left standing—there is a house which we must enter. There is a family there that have been epar- ed. Who are they? Let, us go in and see. Raheb, her anther, her mother, her brothers, her sisters, all safe, and the only house left standing in all the eity. What saved them? Was the house more firmly built ? 0 no it was built in the most perilous place—on the wall; and ths, wail was the first, thing that fell. Was it because her elserac- ter was ary better than any of the oth- er population of th s city ? 0 no. Why then was she spared, and all her houses hold? Can you tell me why t 0, it was the scarlet line in tbe, window. That is the fourth scerie in this Bible draine. When the destroying angel went through Egypt, it wthe blood Of the lamb on the dooseposts tbet saved the Isreelites; and now Diet veuereenee has on upon jerielio ie the tisane color that aasures the safety a Rabat) :tad oat her household. illy friends, there are foes condug upon us, more deadly and more tremendous'to overthrow our immortal interests, They will trample us down and crush us out for ever, unless there, be some skilful mode ot rescue open, The police o death al- ready begin to clamour for our or - render bat, blessed, be God, there is a way out. It Le through tile •window, and by a rope so satutated with the blood of tb,e cross tint it is cat red as UM wirh whieb, the spi s were lowered; and if once our souls shell be delivered, then, the scarlet (tool stretabed across the window of oUr escape, we may defy all bombardment, earthly and satarilo. In the first place, carrying out the idea of ray text, we inust stretch this scarlet cord across the window of our resoue. There opines a time when a mazi is surrounded. What is that. in Om front door of his son]? It Is the threateeings of the future. What is that le the back door of his soul ? It is the sins of the past. He cannot get out of either of those door ways. If lie attempts it he will be cut to pieoes Whet shall he do? Escape through the window of God's merey. That sun- shine has been pouring- in or many a day. God's- inviting merely. God's par- doning mercy. God's all -conquering mercy. God's everlastine mercy. But you say, the window is so high. Ah, there is a, rope, the very oue with W] ich the cross end its victim were lifted. That was strong enough to hold Christ, and it is strong enough to hold you. Beer all your weight up- on it, all your hopee for this life, all your hopes for the life that is to come. recaps noty through the window. "But, you say, " that cord is too small to save the'; that salvation will never do at all for such a sinner as I have been." I suppose that the rope with wbich Rehab let the two spies to the ground was not thick enough; but they took that or nothing. And, my t dear brother, that is your alternative. There is only one scarlet line that can save you, There have been hundreds and thousands who have been borne away in safety by that scarlet line, and it will bear you away in safety. Do you notice whet a very narrow escape a those spies had? I suppose they came a With fl.u.sterecl cheek. and with excited i heart. They had a very narrow escape. 1 They went in the broad door of sin ; t but how did they come out ? They came out of the window. They went up by t the etairs of stone ; they came 1 down on a slender thread. And a se, my friends, we go easily a an d unabashedly into sin, and y all the doors are open; but if we get o out at all it will be by being lot down T over precipices, wriggling and helpless, s the strong grip above keepnig us from p being dashed on the rooks beneath. It t is easy to get into sin, young man. h ie not so easy to get oat of it. v TER TINES that cannot proteet your hotteeheld tbere a scarlet line in the tvind Ilave your children hem), °moor to Christ Hien you bean. washe the blood. of atonement ? In what r do you have family praaera? Show e where it is evare accustomed kneel. The sky is black with the o ing deluge. is your familY side or outside of be a It is a sad. thing for a men to re Christ; but to lie down in the nigh aoross the path to beaven, so Mt his Meetly come up and 'trip ever n into einfinity of borrors—that is longest, the deepest, the mightiest is a sad thing for a mother to re Christ; but to leather her family aro her, and thee take them by the h and lead them out into paths of wo Ross, away from God and heaven it will take all the dirges of ea aid hell to weep out that agony. suppose there are in this church night familiee repnesented where th thereaor asnollbetrn 3a,enarsandTtlgeorepimmyaeyr gex-aniura and cedes in the wind and upholstery hovering o'Ver it, childish faces looking out of it thore is no scarlet thread strete across it, Although thet house ns seem to be on the finest street in the city, it is really COI the edge a marsh across otich sweep most po mous malctrias, and it has a san foundation, and its splexiaor will co down, and great) will be the fall oh A home without God 1 A prayerl father! An. (=devout mother I Awf awful! Is that you? Will you ke on, my brother, on the wrong road, a take your loved ones with' you. -tea God arrest you before you compl the ruin of those whom you ought save. You see I talk plainly to y ju.st as I would have you talk pia ly to nee. Time is so short that cannot waste any of it on apologi or indirections, or circumlocutio You owe to your children, 0 fathe 0 mother, more than food, more th clothing, more than shelter—you co ,hein the !example of a prayerful, co sainted, pronounod, out -and -o Christian life. You cannot afford keep it away from them. Now, as I atand here, you do not Nee any hands outstretched towards ro, and yet there axe hands on my brow net hands on both ray shoulders. They re hands of parental b'enediction. It s quite a good many years ago since ye folded those hands as they began Ire last sleep on the banks of the Raritan, in th'e °village cemetery; but Imets hands are stretched out to - yards rae to -night, and they are just is waren and they are just as gentle s when I sat at their knee at five ears onage. And 1 sball never shake ff those hands, I do not want to. hey have helped. me so much a thou - and times already, and I do not ex- ect to have a trouble or a trial be - ween this and my grave when those ends will not help me. It was not a ery splendid hons,e, as the world. calls t; but we had a family Bible there, yell worn by tender perusal; and there was a. family altar there, where we knelt morning and night; and there was a holy Sabbath there; and stretch- ed in estraight line or hung in loons or festoons, there was a scarlet line in the windoev. 0, the tender, precious' blessed. memory of a Christian home! Is that the impression you are mak- ing upon your children? When you are dead --and it will not be long before you are—wthen you are deadewill your eland. say: "If there ever was a good Christian father, mine was one. If there ever wa,s a good Christian moth- er, mine was one?" Will they say that after you are need? Standing some Sabbath night in church preaching the glorious Gospel, as I am trying to do, will they tell the people in that day how there are hands of benediction on their brow and hands of parental bene- diction on both their shoulders? Still further; we want this scarlet line of the test dratvp aoross the win- dow of our prospects. I see Rahals, and her father, and her mother, and her brothers, and sisters looking out over Jericho, the city of palm -trees, and across the river, and over at the army invading, and then up to the mountains and sky. Mind you, this house was on the wall, and I suppose the pros- pect from the window must have been very wide. Besides that, I do mot think that the scarlet line. at all in- terfered with the view of the land. - sopa The assurance it gave of safe- ty must have added to the beauty the country. • To -night, ray friends, we stand or sit in the window of earth- ly prospects, and. we look off towards the hills of heaven and the landscape of eternal beauty. God has opened the window for us, and we look out; but how if we do not get there? If we never get there, better never to have had even this faint glimpse of it. We now only get cadim outline of the inhabitants. We now only here ganuidsitteliehraerincoantych. a note of the ex - Is ow? ated d in Porn rae to orn- in- rk ? jecit' ti hat him the • It tea mid and rid- -0, rth to - ere 0! - be ow, and but hed ay all of is- dy me it. ess ull ep nd ay ete to ou, in - we eca r, an ve, ut to A Yoking man, to -night, goes to the marble counter of the bar -room of the Fifth Avenue Rotel. He asks for a brandy smash—oalled so, I suppose, be- muse it smashes the man that takes it. There is no intoxication in it. As the young man receives it he does not Beene to be at all excited. It does not give any glossiness to the eye. He walks home' in beautiful apparel, and.all his prospects are brilliant. That drink is not going to destroy him, but it is the first step on a bad road. Years have passed on, and I see that young man after he has gone the whole length of dissipetion. It is midnight, and he is is a hotel—perhaps the very one where he took the first drank. He is in the fourth story, and the delirium is on him. He rises from the bed. and comes to the window, and it is easily lifted; so he lifts it. Then he pushes back the blinds and puts his foot on the window sill. Then he gives one spring, and the watchman finds his disfigured body unrecognizable, on the pavement. 0, if he had only' waited a little—if he had come down on the scarlet ladder that Jesus holds from the wall for him, and tor you, and. for me; but no, he .made one junap, and was gone. A min- ister of Christ was tot long ago dis- missed from his diocese for intoxica- tion, and in a publio meeting at the West he gave this amount of his sor- row. He said: "I had a beautiful home once; but strong drink shattered it. I had beautiful children; but this fiend of ruin took their dimpled hands in his and led them .to the grave. I had a wife—to know her was to love her; but she sits in wretchedness to- night,while I wander over the earth. had a mother, and the pride of her life was me; but thc thunderbolt struck her. I now have scarcely a friend in the world. Taste of the bitter cup I aye tasted, and then answer me as whether I have any hatred for the gency of my ruin. Hate it I hate he whole damning traffic. I would o God tonight that every distillery as in flames, for then in the glow - g sky X -would write in the sraoke of e ruin, " Woe to him that putteth e bottle to his neighbour's lips 1" hat minister of the Gospel went in rongh the broad door of temptation; e came out of the window. And hen I see the temptations that are iout us, and when know the pro- ivity to sin in every man's heart, see that if any of as escape it will a very narrow owe. 0, if we ave, my friends, got off from our sin t us tie the scarlet thread by which e have been saved across' the win - w. Let us do it in praise of Him hose blood dyed it that colour. Let be in announcement of the fact that e shall no more be fatally assault- ed. 'There is now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus." Then let all the forces of this world corae up in cavalry charge, and .let spirits of darkness come on an infernal storm- ing party attempting to take out soui, this rope twisted from these Worde, "The blood of ,Tesus Christ eleanseth from all sin," will hurl them back defeated for ever, 85 - to e a d t e t d w e in s th e th d, T d th h fl w e al el e e he t h y le d w , do Y w, it d 'w f3till further; we mast take this red cord of the text and stretch It across the window of our households. Wheri the Israel:testi army came up against Jericho, they said: What is that in the window?" Some One said: "That is a scarlet line," " said some one else, " that must be the house that was to be Spared. Don't tomb it." That Un e was thick enough, and long en- ough, and oonspicamis enough, to save Rehab, her father, her mother, her brothers, and her sisters --the entire Have oar households as good proteetion? You have bolts on the front doorand on the bolo, end fast- eseings to t'Ini window, and perhaps bur- glar elorms, and perhaps an eepeeial watchman blowing his whistle at; mid- night before your dwelling; buttacili Mut blessed be God for this scarlet line in the window., That tells me that the blood of Christ bought that home for my Soul, and I shall go there when. my work is done here. And. as I put my band on that scarlet line, everything in the future brightens. My eyesight gets better, ,and. the robes of the victors are more lustrous, and our loved, ones who went away some time ago—they do not stand any more with their backs to as, but their faces are this way and their voice drops through this Sabbath air, saying with all tenderness and sweetness "Come! Coyne! Cornea" .And the chila that you think of as only buried—why, there she is, and it is May-dety in heaven; and they gather the amaranth, and. they eltick the lillies, and they twilst them into a garland for her brow, and she is one of the May !queens of hea.- von. 0 So you think they could see our wavering to-nightIt is quite a pleasant night outdoors, pretty clear, not many clouds in the sky, quite; star- light. I wonder if they can see us from that good land? I think they' can. If from this window of earthly pros- pect e we cat altaost see them, thee from their towers of light 1 think they can fully see us. And so 1eveve them the glory, and I wave them the joy, ana I say; "ilave you through with all your tremble?"' and ! got their voices answer: "God bath Wiaed away all tors from cent eyes." I say, ea. e it as grand up there as you thought it would be ?" and the voices answer: Eye hath not seen not or heard, hither bath it entered into the heart of tacos, the things which Gcl eite: "Do yott have any more hath prepared for those that Ion struggle for bread?" and they aaswer: "We hunger no more, we thirst no thore„" And I say: "Have you been oat to the eisinetera of the golden oity?" atal they answer: "There is ne decith liere." And I loolo out through the high heavens, and I fag: "Anaere de) you get your light from, and what do you, burn ia the templet?" and they answer: "There is no night here, and we have no need of eandle or of star." And 1 say: "What book do you sing out of?" and taey answer; "The 'Han lelajah Chorus." And I sae 'In the splendour and magnificence of the eity, don't you ever gat lost?" and they a.newer; "The Lamb which is in the midst of the throoe leadeth irs to living fountains of waters." 0 how near it seems to -night. Tbeir wings— do yotz feel them? Their tarps — do you not hear them? And all that through the window of our eartaly proepects, across which streloheth the scarlet line. . Be that my choice colour for ever. Is it too glaring for you? Do you like the blue bemuse it reminds you of the sky, or the green becanse llamakes ,you think of the foliage, or the ,black because it has in it the shadows of the night? I take the scarlet because it shall make me think of the Price that was paid for ray soul, 0 the blood! the blood! the "stood of the Lamb that ta,keth away the sin of the 'world, Through it we escape sin. Tarough it we math heaven. Will you let it atone for you Believe in it and you will live. Refuse it and you die. Will you accept id or will you pull over oxi you the eternal calamity of raject- ting it! I see where you are. You are at the cross roads to -night. The next step decides everything. Pause be - for you take it; but do not aause too long ,lest the wind of God's justice slem shut the door that has been standing open so long, I bear the thunder of God's artillery. I hear the blast of the trumpet that wakes the dead. Look oat! Look outl For in that day, and in our closing moment on earth, better than any other de- fence or barricade, however high ox broad or stupendous, will be one little, thin, sea.rlet thread in the window. CHRONIC DISCONTENT. It is trite to say that we miss half of the goed of life by discontent with our surroundings. !But, although trite, we pay so little attention to the truth of the statement that we still go on -making the same error, and 'nook be- fore and after and long for what is not." • Says Charles tBand.elaire: "This life is a hospital where every patient is possessed with the desire to eliange his bed.. This one would prefee to suffer before the stove, and that other thinks he would. recover by the window." The probabilities axe that the malady of discontent would follow the so-call- ed. patient wherever lee might be situ- ated. He, like the heroine of MTS. Whitney's Hitherto, is "always hold- ing uP his soul with a thorn in it."Or, it the prick is nit in his soul, it is in his lot in life, a,ncl he makes himself and. his friends miserable by expatia- tion upon it. Such a person is the most wearing companion in tb,e world, for he makes a constant drain upon our sympathies. And the amusing part of it all is that when this present time over which he makes so much moan shall have become the past, he will then eall it the "happy, past," and heave a sigh at the thought that it can- not return. Thus he darkens tell his .pathway through life with foolish discontent, while "the beautiful around him lying" is unnoticed. An excellent ore for this disease of discontent is for a masa severely and mercilessly to examine himself and. ask why he should. be partioularly blessed above others, what especial virtue he posses- ses that should call down upon his head showers of blessings. If he is frank he will acknowledge that so deep-seated is his complaint that he would find some cause for grievance against such show- ers. For the person who recognizes his failing and. is anxious to cure him- self of it, a good. practice is that of attempting to count the negative mere, ies—the immunities from pan, sorrow, illness and bereavement, He will be speedily overwhelmed, first, with a realization of his blessings, and next, if he be good for anything, with shame that he could. ever have been discon- tented. Morbid unhappiness is a habit, and a wicked one, and all tendencies towardl it should be !rigorously checked froze infamy to old age. Once let it take root, and it grows with fungus- like rapidity. . CARE OF A WATCH. A watch should be wound op every day at the same hour. Avoid putting Id on a, marble slab or near anything excessively cold, as the sudden change of temperature, contratting the met - ah may sometimes cause the main- spring to break, The cold coagulates the oil, and the pivots and wheels, working. less freely, affects the regu- larity of the timekeeper. In laying aside a watch be sure that it rests on Its case. If suspended, the action of the balance may cause oscillation, svhioh will interfere with its going. To keep your watch clean take care that the ease fits closely and see that the watch pocket is free from fluff, which is so often given off by lining:a BISMARECIt'S PIG BRAIN. Prince Bismaack's brain, acoording to the flattering estimate of the anthro- pologist, Otto Ammon, was probably the heaviest known to anatomical sets mice. Herr Ammon, in consultation with Prof. Schafer, the sculptorcon- eluded trona, the raeassureraeate 'taken from Sthafer's bust that the brain of the old statesman weighed 1,861 grammes, and onsenuently excee s in ril weight that of any known te nius, Cuvier's braih weighed 1,830 gra mes, 13yron's 1,801, Xa,ot's 1,050, achillen, 1,- 030, and Dante's 1,420. The eve:rage weight of the bra= of an intelligent European is only 1,380 gratamee, MADE A HIT. Graygreen is selling hie pietares like emoke. Yea; he has quit painting to please the artists and is painting to pleasse the public, !Hie , SUNDAY SCHOOL. .INTgligAvoNAL ligS$0$* SEPT. ii, "Moo indulgence." Amuse. I.e. «siden Ment le given bY iMPlicatten in the self-indulgenee. The "woe" or puoish- succeeding verse. "In Zion" makes tbe ease in Zion, The sin and folly of PRA5tCexTtiCIeh 2N807,TES. Vero 1. Woe to theta that are at which these are guilty is though less rehake ioclude the kingdom of Judah also, which shared in the sins of Israel. But juelab, was at this time n very small priocipality compared with the imperial power of Israel or Samaria, and the rest of the prophecy refers chiefly to Samaria. Trust in the moun- tain of Samaria. "To theta that are secure in the mountain of Samaria." Really the central part of the kingdom of Samaria, and its capital were not so high as the mountain land of Judah, hut the reference here is figurative to tlse exaltation of the nation. Which are named chief of the nations. "The notable men of the 'chief of nations." The kingdoin of Israel, bemuse of its special dignity as the nation ot God's choice, was the most exalted of the nations of the ,earth, and its princes were the most exalted in it. To whom the house of Israel came. "Come." That is, the glories of Israel, the law of Moses and the ritual of the Aaronic priesthood, tha revelation of Jehovah and the favors which he bestowed on his chosen people—all these come by an inheritance to the noblemen of tlse chief of the nations. There are some who believe that the word might well be translated "re- sort of the house of Israel ;" the com- monplace people of Hebraic blood and vdtaseetrrein. e naturally turned to the no- blemen as their exemplars and ad - 2. Peas ye. The greatness of Tsrael and of Israel's aristocracy is now brought forward by a rapid view of the greatest of the governing nations of the earth at that ttme. South of Tared, if we include Judah, in all cen- turies was a great desert, in which no kingdom could well be founded, but east of it on the seacoast prospered Philistia and Phoenicia. North of it had been a succession of powerful em- pires, beginning with the dominance of the Hittites. East of it was also a succession of empires, each founded on the ruins of the other. Assyria was at this time rising in itastrength and after a. little to be conquered by Baby- lonia, which was in turn to he subjug- ated by tbe 1VIedes and Persians. In his eyes—east, north, and west—and Ithleseteei, three directions the prophet turns jif 0 r t ef 0;ot:id:Ye x ai na asks sehei hearerstsidhehkingdoms. eesett.yocaotirinatveleel. A center of splendor in the land of Shi- ner. It is mentioned in Genesis, by Isaiah, Calno, and by Ezekiel, and was famous in later years under the name of Ctesiphon. It is built on a penin- sula, with the Tigris on three sides, and was called an impregnable fortress 171 the ancient days, but recently, eery, +eery recently, not more than ten or fifetneeneaptyuearresd bbeyfotrhee AtheeisyLosphecy this great fortress and metropolis had be and. e its glories stolen to Make more beauti fat their oity of Nineveh. We ar asked to go to Calnels, fifteen years ag .so strong and .magnificent, and "see —look at it new. Froze thence go ye The joeroey ba Amos's day would hav led tbrougb thiek and. prosperous cora munitiee, but now if one went the sam road, it would be over rocks and stone which even the Bedouins avoid becaus of theix sterility and loneliness. Ha math the great. city an the Cron to around whioh a powerful kingdom head gathered. With MIT pree,oncep tions of history, made from the car eers of more recent nations, it is diffi cult to understand how in Syria, Meso potamia, and Asia Minor for centuric kingdom succeeded kingdom, the mas of the people being always of mixed blood, and yet each kingdom, though in. some cases it lasted only for a cen tutY, having m.ore or less of a distinct dialect and , distinct religious habits and more or less racial characteristics The readiest illustration of this for the Bible reader is the 'Kingdom of Sy- ria, which was used by the Lord so re- peatedly as a whip with which to °lies- tise Israel. In the Scripture its capi- tal was always Damascus, and a rapid reader might ,suppose that the na- tion of Syria, with Damascus as its capital, was one conseoative nation, just as :Ragland has been for centu- ries, with London, as its capital, but it was not so. Not only were saccessive dynasties entirely unrelated with each other, but the kin.gdoms themselves had hardly anything in cornmon, except the undying beauty and fertility of the oasis tn wbich Damascus stands, and the circumstances that made a king- dom, there not only possible, but itev- itable. The kingdom of Hernath Was, in a broad sense, also a Syrian, The crowd that listened to Amos, for he probably uttered this prophecy in the kingdom of Israel, while the great con- quering king, Xeroboanati., Was cm the throne, woad welcome an allusinn bo Hama th, been u se their own king had devastated it as thorough- ly as the Assy dans had de- vastated Calneh, and in the city of Samaria, at the very time that Amos was speakieg these words, there were, doubtlees, to he seen. unoounted tto- phies of stone and nictal and drapery which Jeroboam had, in accordance with the customs of his tinis, stolen from, Harnath for the enricbment ot his own nation. Yee, slave men and woraeli, subjugated °Ulnas of Ham- atla may wen have been in'the crowd this e oily was taken trom the la- wAmos spoke. Not very long 8"Etcr th rifelites by the A ssyrions. Gath the Phnitom istines, This city, whieh had in c6re- years boconspicuous for tall- • y strength, had been captured by trzziah, king of Judah, and was the third neighboringgcapital, the devas- tation (4 which was a lonelier feet to the citize,ns of Samaria Be they het ter than these kingdoms? That 18, Than Israel a nd Judah, Or their border greater than aoar horaer ? ; for they have been recently °vet,- th town, and theft border is Larne(' to rags, and. yet once, and only a few yeare ago, they were So much stronger that Israel and Judah trembled becauat of them, Preb- ably the immediate thought of Amos le not that. Israel will soon :there the fate of these °Mee, but rather an eraphesis and xepetitiou 'of what wee etateci in the first verse—lsrael and Judeh til en together are the chief of the netione, the most powerful sovereigeties. Dy- nasties have fallen, but the "herder"' of Israel and judah has been extend - 3. Ye that put far away the evil clay, While Amos tvoald emphasize the strength and preaperity O aueen and Israel, he censures the evils and heedlessness that characterize their noblemen. They regara tbe dati judgment as far off. Just ess itimeni- teot sinners said of Ezekiel. Dzek. It, 37: "The vision that lie oeth is for many days to come, an he pro- phesieth of the times that axe afar off." Men whease sins- ere hastening • on a crisis wish ande. fancy that crisis to be far away. Cause the seat of violence to come near. Violerete enthroned is a figure et tae most awful Wickedness. Now, a king's. throne was said. to move with his con- quests, as, for instance, Nebuchedetez- zer e,stablish'ed his throne at Jerusa- lem when be conquered that city. So these careless sinners, these notable men of the chief of the nations, bring the sovereignty of violence nearer and nearer, Believing the day of judg- ment to be far away, they bring op- pression nearer. Postponement of judg- ment is an incentive to their reckless- eesst. 4. Lie upon bed,s of ivory. Reolina upon ivory divans. Samaria far more than Jerusalem was a center of trade; the luxuries of Hind,ustati *area:eat across Pereia enriched the horaes of its aristocrats; especially was ivory valued. and the student will remember that Ahab .had a palace so ornamented as to he °ailed "the ivory palace." Stretch themselves upon their ' couches. A pioture of luxurious sensuality. Eat the lambs out of the flock, and the °elves out Of the midst of the stall. The simple meaning is they feed. on the choicest of lamb and veal, both of which were regarded as dainties. The phrase "out or, means "taken out of,' for lambs and calves were regarded as too delicate to be left with the older animals end in the general flock. EVOLl to this .day there is a place railed off in oriental folds for their safety. 5. That chant to the sound of thee.' viol. "Sing idle songs to the sound of r the viol." The ruargin of our Author- ized Version ha,s "quiver." neve is an allusion to the peculiar melodies of the Orient, andan indication that "the singers thought more of the sound than the sense. Listlessness and effeminacy are indicated thaoughout." —Gandell. Invent to thlemselves in- struments of musie, like David. The word. translated "instruments of mu- sic" ma.y mean melodies, but the point is that while David used his musical talent for the glory of God, thalra kept time witb their selfish indulgen- ces. 0. That drink wins in bosvls. "BY waterpotfuls." Anoint themselves with the chief ointments. This must be taken in close connection with the next verse. They are not grieved for the affliction of J'aseph. The cuetora of anointing was usually suspe-adedin time of mourning but now, whenatallete is abundant cause for akiauriann big these, so far froraa grief- ing, use the most costly ungu- ents. What was the cause for mourn- ing? Not so much What is revealed in , the cording verees, the -approaching ' captivity of the nation, as the present sufferings of the poor. These high- strung men draw their huge incomes from the strained resources of , (he poor, and. pamper themsleyes Whenese they should be et& at heart because tsa of the misery of the mass oft their na- tion. 7. NOW shall they go captive with the first that go captive. That La, they shall not lose their prominence; usy they .sliall be foremost in misery. The banquet of them that stretch themselves shall be removed. The best explanation of this is the Reviaed Ver- sion: "The revelry of thane that stretch themselves shall pass away." It refers to verses 4, 5, and (;. The loungers on the beds of ivory, the feasters on delicate viands, the drink- ers of wine in bowls, the singers fend dancers, shall find their pleasure sud- denly at an end. 8. The Lord God hath sworn by him- self. "Because he could stvea,r by no greater." The Lord the God of hosts. The first phrase, "Lord," is a title; this, as usual in the, Old Testament, 118 the hame of jebovale I abhor the ex- cellency of Jacob. "1 loath that M which the nation has its pride. Royal crown, priestly robe, ritual practices tempie, and all, they are emblems of wtat I love, but they are co corrup ed I bold them in abomination." Hate blot palaces. -Because of the evick.ede ness of the people who dwell in /chem. Read Psalm 87. 2 and, 48.3, 14, and. think how much there must have been offensive to God before he could so change in regard for judah and Tsrael. Therefore will I deliver up the city. with all that is therein. Width city, Samaria or Zion? Both, for both have sinned; and the wealth and populatffin of both haviug been used as means to evil ends, mast 'he given over to judgMent. WHAT OF TI -TE FUTT.111.E. British facieesmee who dread the aw- ful struggle whieh would be irivolved in bringing on a war with Russia, rath- er than yield a little, here and there, must wonder what the chances can letat for thwarting Russian designs fifty years hence, when the Rusela,ri em- pire, even 'within its present limits is likely to have fully 250,000,000 inhabi- tant, much bette,r off, as a fele, than the Pll3SiktOS of togi . The most portentous Sect in the interna- tional politics of Europe and Asia, if not of the whole world, is the enormous and overshadosving growth of the Sia - power whicii stretehes aoross two eon tin en ta. PAYING. VIP FIDDLER. Mrs. Newitered—it was , jllOt s18 MODMIS ago to -day, love, you asked me la be your.wife—but, ifoteneen,why ,de you grew pale a,na tremble? . Mf. Newlywed, gasping feebly—Arlhy that 000 -blasted six months' note gage for tbe eiata‘gement rieg Will be doe day after in -morrow, then 1 I'd forgotten all aboua It!