The Huron News-Record, 1892-06-22, Page 7PORTRAIT
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Wedaesttay, Jane lt;ntl, 189?
THE SONG OF SONGS.
No other book in the Bible has
been so constantly placed under the
bin as the Song of Songs. It is
almost never read as a lesson iu the
public services, texts aro rarely
taken from it, for family abet d'e •
notional services 'it -is- probably
never used at alt, and the popular
•conceptiou of it itt thst it has' no
practical use whatever. Euniueut
connnentators, such as Dr. Clark,
frankly confess heir inability to
.see its religious uses, and advise
ministers tievor to touch it. It
:stands the least read book of the
'Bible, and many pious souls do not
care to have its characters discussed.
It has been alleged that the book is
iudeceut, and many who admit its
place in the canon would not thiuk
of using its lauguage in a mixed
audience. it will never be put in
the lists of the iutornational Sun-
day•schoul' lessons; and probably
little good would be accomplished
if it were admitted. Yet what
• should we do with this book 7' It
stands in our Bible and we must
either defend it or vote, for its re-
moval. Are we simply to dodge
the question and carefully pass it
by 4 What shall we do with this
book's Nothing at alit Hardly.
A recent publication by Dr,
•.Strong, of the institute at Madison,
N. J., entitled "Sacred Idyls,"
puts such a delightful meaning into
this strange book that one can not
'refrain from giving the substance
-of the interpretation.
Before considering the book in
detail for the lessons it contains, it
may be of interest to state the stand-
ing objections urged against it.
A''hd, first, as to the impurity of its,
language. We shall see before we
have finished this exatnination, un-
der the guidance of Dr. Strong,
that this charge is simply and cleat-
ly false. It arises from a most
miserable translation of the original
language. The failure is that of
King James' translators, who failed
to understand either the setting of
the book, which is peculiarly orient-
al, or its dramatic character, which
is unique in Hebrew literature.
Then it has been urged, too, that at
least the book is unedifying and
lea,. sl'ould never be used in public:
But this again is due, not to any
fault in the book, but wholly to the
incomprehensible way in which it
is given us in the English Bible.
THE norm AS A DRAMA.
The book is a drama in six acts,
In it are solos, duets, trios, and re-
toponsive choruses, and a dance.
The interchange of the dramatis
.fersorzrn• is often rapid, and the
scenes shift easily. Yet all these
things are obscured in our English
translation. Though the wPrk was
never played upon the stage, it, is
written with true & matio elfeot
and could leo so mod. It is a real
play, however our Puritan feelings
may reject the mule and dramatic
Dr. Strong says that this dlrama an.
ticipatea the Greek dralua by lout
hundred years, while the uuoiuut
E;gytain literature does not show
trace of the dramatic element, ant
in the Bible there is nothing else
like this. "So that this book con•
tains the sols scenic effort of the
sacred tolume, the single blossom
on a tree which in other soil nuts
later years has yielded a copious
fruitage for the worlds•iustructiun
and delight." Now suppose that
some one stiuuld publish the drawee
of Shakespeare and obliterate
all distinctions in the cdru»zuti,
1rersane, or •ouppose one should try
to read Shakespeare and not indi
mate the change of epeakers—road
right along—how much sense would
he get out of it 7—Yet, this is ex-
actly what has been done with this
"Song of Songs." Dr. Strong
eve with force, "A writer or a. pub-
lisher who nowadays would . put
forth a version of,any of the cele-
brated dramas of antiquity with
ouch en absolute jumble of the dif
ferent speakers' parts together,
would justly be hooted from literary
society," Tirie is very strung
language, but this Strong proceeds
with even greater strength to say
that if King Janice translators were
not competent to put the po•:ni into
clear and consistent form, they
ought cut to have had the presuulp
tiou to understand it ; and, if on
the other hand they wore'able to do
it, they have committed a crime
hardly less than sacrilege in placing
such a stumbling Wool': in the way
of plain readers. "It becomes, too,
a serious question," it is Dr. Strong
who speaks, -"Whether godly men
and religious establishments are
doing right ill disseminating aid
perpetuating so gross a scandal in
this nineteenth century."
CONFUSION OF PERSONS:
To show you how the whole
beauty of this poen) is spoiled by
thus confusing the speakers, let• ua
here quote from the fifth chapter,
beginuing with the eecontl verse,
and concluding'with the third verse
of the sixth chapter. One has only
to take the received text end com-
pare it with tine as he reads, to Ree
the immense advantage to Dr.
Strong's free translation.
"I slept, but busy (ancy was awake !
vIethunuht I heard the sound of that
dear voice ;
He seemed to kuock upon the outer door,
And say, "sly consort sweet, my purest
dove,
r5 hire t -fee- iochere I stand
Until my heir is moistened wt h he
dew,"•' ?j.='fc s,S--Seri. a_hidden sense to the
I thought I answere 1 drowsily, "51y tri)t•ds of scripture. It al ways fici•It
clothes, behind the words, which, when
Are laid aside ; 1 sctrce can rise and used by uuinipirerl men, mean what
d rete,
My feet are warm in bed, 't will soil them they, say, a bidden meaning when
too !" found in the Bible. The• simple
I heard hini"feeting for the bolt within ; fact is that under t his allegorical in-
tty heart relented and I quickly rose, terpretation of scripture, the Bible
My fingere dripping with the perfumed
oil has been made to import almost
Of last night's bath, and so the bolt anything men wanted supported.
camped There is certainly a germ of troth
My clumsy grasp 1 At length 1 opened ; in allegory, and no doubt some per•
but
My love had turned, meanwhile, and 't5ons of the scriptures are to be
•
gone 1 My sread as
ail allegory, but the theory has
Sank at the sound of hie retreating voice. been pressed to the absurdest ex -
1 rushed to see hits ; but I found him not. treme, and has dond tnuch to ob-
i called aloud, but not a word replied 1 some the real 'meaning of ecripture,
The w tiitsmts treeteund me roving through Indeed, this allegorizing of this,
They struck me, hurt me, snatched my poem has often boon amusing in
shawl spite of the grave character of the
As wanton ; yes, those keepers of the end sou�htt Hero, for instance,
watts ! some have found in this poem an
I met a band of oily matdena, hQtia ,
I charged, •"I1 nnyYheioveSl°" alt, '' w'f� pit
tgewarda
Then tett him. Teti`hrm wha£?' said the Hebrews in bringing them out
they. "Oh, say of Egypt. Others have found in it
That I atn si:k with love 1" "But what
ie thy
Beloved, fa'rsst though tboa be 1" said
they,
"What more to ue• than any other man,
That we should thus be charged 1" I
quick replied,
"But my beloved you will know at once;
DESCRIPTION OF, THE BELOVED.
ttO4 to be had of the wholes What
is it after all t Soma ha:vo. taken
it to be simply a love song of Salo
min's -.-a purely ensue' and earth-
ly, perhaps ut►holy love at that,
THIS I1R,OT10 TIISORY. •
Two 18 Ituown as the erotic theory.
Others have seen in this poem only
t setting forth of the relation which
:hrist sustains to bis church ; and
o have read underneath these
words, and between these lines an,.
other, that is a spiritual meaning.
This is known es the allegorical
theory. These are two broad theor-
les heid of this little poem, and yet
these two are eubdivided almost
endlessly by iuodifioatiuu. 'Pilose
who regard the poets as erotic, that
is a love story, a story of human
love, are divided in belief as to
whether Solomon is the lover or
not. One view is that Solomon is
trying to gain the love of a rustic
maiden for his harem ; that this
maiden is, however, in love with a
peasant, and so refuses to be led
astray by the King. She prefers
the presence of her lover to all the
blendislitnen'a of the Ring and the
glory of his maguiiicent palace.
This whole interpretation throws
Solomon ilii a very bad light, and
conceives of him as playiug a very
ignoble part. When at last he is
unable to induce the maiden' to
join him, he abandons the suit, end
leaves the happy lovers roving uttw•
their native hills. This is known
as the Shepherd theory.
An ,ther conception of the poem
is that the King is himself the lover,
while the maiden may have been n
daughter of Pharotth. This is per-
haps the traditional view of the
book. Moth of these are subdivis-
ions of the erotic theory first men-
tioned, eomet.inles also known as the
literal theory. Of the other great
theory, namely the allegorical, it is
due to say that it has exercised the
;,greater intim-nee over the church
Oftentimes the two aro combined,
as they are in Dr. Strong's inter-
pretation, and RR we shall have oc-
casion to note. Iiut in its extreme
form the allegorical theory dismisses
at the start the idea that there is
here any reference to a purely hu-
man love. It stake the whole to
refer directly to Christ as the bride-
groom and the church itt his bride.
TIIE i0OK PROPHETIC.
This snakes the hook entirely pro•
phetic. This view of the book,
which in spite, of any desire on the
part of the leader, forces itself as n
strained effort, is a part of that allo•
gorical interpretation of the scrip-
tures leo common at a former time,
and still prevalent with many good
people. , It presupposes a state of
mind tvhielt-iR-e4-t the.: 11m.eon. the
ruddy, clear complexion, and his
height
Conspicuous among a myriad !
His head bedecked with cap of brightest
gold,
O'er early locks and black as raven's
wing ;
His eyes are mild as doves', with languid
sheen ;
The whites like milk ; the pupils full of
gems ;
His cheeks outvie boquete of tufted balm;
His lips the scarlet lily, breathed with
myrrh ;
Elis hands a -e ringed with jewels, and his
vest
Like ivory inlaid with sapphires glows ;
Hie elippered leggings stem like marble
shafts
On golden bases. His imposing look
Is fine as that of cedared Lebanon ;
His speech most graoioue ; he le lovely all.
Suoh is my consort love, fair Zion's
maids."
Methonght with interest warmed the
then rejoined
"Where man thy lover be, thou fairest
one?
What way turned he ? We 11 gladly
search with thee."
I said : "He must have gone adown the
vale
To view his garden, smell its sweets, en-
s
Ire fruits, and pluck its lilies." So I
woke
Now one sees how utterly confus-
ing the common version is. If one
can get any understanding out of
that fifth chapter from the English
Bible, it can only be by the aid of
a lively imagination. Yet how full
of poetic beauty this version of Dr.
Strong's. And what is true of this
dream of the bride is true of every
other part of the poem.
The interpretatton of this song of
songs involves the general concep-
the summary of the whole history
of the church. Luther found a
description of the political relations
existing between Solomon and his
people. Others nee in it the cele
bration of the loves of'Solomon and
Wisdom personified. Alchemists
have ventured to believe that Solo:
tnon was here engaged in a passion-
ate search in their arts. Still others
have seen here Lite incarnation of
Jesus Christ, or his marriage to hu-
man nature to accomplish redemp-
tion. Others still have found in
it au allegorical poem ou theglories
of Jesus and the Virgin Mary,
while one German, Puffenr'orf, saw
here a reference to the grave of
Christ—unlit in desperation Dr.
Clark, the Methodiet commentator,
declares that "nothing but a direct
revelation from God can show us
which of these opinions is the cor-
rect one, or whether any of them
are correct."
ITS SCRIPTURAL LESSON.
Let us then give attention to the
contents of this unique book and
seek those spiritual and other les-
sons which it is intended to convoy
to mankind. The Song of Songs
is an operetta in six acts setting
forth the pure love of a lover for
his betrothed. The bride is a for
eign princess, the only daughter of
her mother, who is now apparent-
ly widowed. The bride has two
brothers, who, for reasons only
guessed, set her in her youth to
watch the vineyard, by which under
the tropical sun she became brown-
ed ; hence her reference in disparag-
ing language to her dark color.
She has, however, a vineyard of her
own of considerable value, which
has a bearing of the question of
dower to be mentis ned in the end.
In person the bride is tall and well
developed, in the first bloom of
•wontenhoodt with ebe;rmitt faa l: ree
t;nd gt'ti4efut h firer. .She la modest,
warwshearted,,qu.iokswitt,ed, getter..
Oils, confiding, but wellptttted nihil
alluedanitly able to take care of-t►Mr•
detf.
The bridegroom is pie' tired as be,
ing a model of manly beauty, of
more than ordinary height, with
black hair, clear complexion, full
eyelet ieh voi'oe, and noble bearing.
In manner he is polite and gentle,
yet ardent and decided.
The two seem to have met itt the
mother's house and the bride is pic-
turod"as being conveyed to. Jeru,
talent in accordance with oriental
fashion. The wedding festivities
haat for a week. Every day is oc-
cupied with two. interviews. The
highest charm of the piece lies in
the iuintitable naturalness with
which the innocent yet earnest euto-
tions of the taro lovers are exp)ese•
ed.
The poem opens with the arrival
of •the Princess iu covered liter.
She is met at the gates by the Jew,
ish maids appointed to be her at,
tendantt. The bride is imagining
what sort of a receptiou the groom
will give her, and she soliloquizes
with all the and
characteristic
of Egyptain ladies. Will he come
in person to her 7 Or as king will
he he more formal ? The waidena
interrupt her musings by drawing
near and scenting the rich fragrance
of her foreign perfnutea, express de-
light in these.
THE BRIDE AT TIIE PALACE.
The bride et last enters the pal,
ace, and alighting from the liter,
anticipates the impression made
upon the maidens by her dark face.
They, however, cnwpliutant her
beauty. Then she looks about Iter,
tikes in the exceeding glory of her
surroundings, and asks for hor be.
throthed.
The evening scene of the first day
consists of a formal introduetiott of
the wedding feed vides in an apart-
ment of the palace, with maids and
groomsmen in attendance. and all in
full drees.
The morning of the second day
represents a serenade. Thi, groom,
accoutered for hunting, approaches
the apartments of the bride, with
his companions, and sings a pastoral.
The evening scene of the Pecond
day is taken up with the recital by
the pride of a dream which she has
hall repsectius the absence of her
lover, who for some reason had not
returned from the chase.
The third clay begins with a re
view of the hunting party. which
had Leen detained its the fieldsealt
night._ The bride is permitted to
review the procession in the early
morning as the hunters return
with tha spoil. The evening of the
third day gives us another reeeption
party in the drawing room of the
palace.
The morning of the fourth day
brings another alarm which the
bride has dreamed—it that selection
given from the fifth chapter. The
evening scene is again a reception,
with the customary adulations to
the fair bride.
The morning of the fifth day is
taken with a description of the
bride's toilet, while She is trying on
her 'trousseau. The evening of the
fifth day is an interview between
the lovers in which the final avowal
itt made.
The morning scene of the sixth
and last day it an engagement party
held in the palace and grounds stir -
rounding where the guests are gath-
ered.
THE LAST DAY.
The evening scene at the last day
portrays in Eastern style the settles
ment of dower. It is arranged be-
tween the nearest relatives of the
contracting parties, the two brothers
appearing for the bride. These
brothers would appear to he mercen-
ary, and invidiously depreciate the
charms of the bride, regarding her
as a mere child, and unworthy of
such a marriage. The bridegroom
grown inpatient of these mercenary
dahlia, and calling to the bride, the
latter responds by singing a pastoral,
when the poem abruptly closes with
the two lovers roving the hills to•
gether. The final marriage is there-
fore not consunrated.
Thus we see what the book is. It
is a love poem, abounding with the
daintist expressions of the tender
.passion, yet not containing a single
impure or indecent suggestion.
Now what shall be done with this
love story found in the Bible 7 It
is here, and more than that it is in
all our lives), or ought to be. I
call attention to that. The Bible
does recognize the pure love of a
bethrothal. It seems impossible
for some to reconcile this with the
character of Scripture, though most
of us have read eonte thing of this
kind out of the Scriptures. Isere
we are inclined to turn away from
anything of the kind as a silly Rens
tinient, and yet modern fictions
would not be read a single day if it
were not full of it. But it is in
life too. Whose heart has not felt
the refreshing impulse of love,
ardent love 7 And it is not to be
the subject of coarse jest, much less
to be banished as beneath the notice
of matured minds. It is to be re -
;cognized as divine in intent, and Is
to bo etudiedraeitli dignity anti vent,
dijr. That flame which i.a so t'teanti
fully tart iortlt iq tthvxcd, and kitrHew
all the interest of dnlltestic'joy. .If
you are tooted on any otle•r ennfii•
tion than this, then you are not
joined together as God wine. •
'rni PASSION OP bevel.
Moreover the Bible again and
again makes tae of ,this paaeion of
love to illustrate the meet sacred re-
lati' u t of Ohriet to his elicit h. .In-
deed J eeus hiutself is the most cons
apicuoua in Itis use of this analogy.
Love is the one constant emotion to
which appeal may be made in all
times with the certainty of being
understood. Dresa your doctrine in
the language of, love and the world
will graep it. And he who do-
nouncee thin language of love as un
becoming the "'tiered volunte is guilty
of throwing one book out of the
canon on the in emit setti intent, and
without a shadow of a• reason.
More than that, he does outrage to
human nature, laughs et what his
own heart cherishes, and mocks that
which forms the foundation of earth•
ly bliss. And be who does this,
either never has loved, or else has
erased to love. That flame which
awakeua the ardor of youth, and
then cements hearts together in the
bonds of wedlock, is either dead or
lying in that elan who has gone
beyond the appreciation of the lan-
guage whicltwould express it 1
But this Wee is the interpretation
of another love. It is qutetiotable
whether it would be possible to
Know anything about the divine
love but ny cleans of human love.
Attd this discloses the mora iistinc.t•
ively religious uses of this book.
Is it prophetic? 1)id ire who wrote
this book have in mind the coming
of Christ, and did he write this to
portray Christ's love for hisehurcb 7
I think not. The writer of this
poent may never have once thought
of such a thing. There is not the
slightest indication in the poem
itself t hat Solomon represents Christ,
or that the Stiulautite represents
the church. All these things are
found in the several headings to the
chapters, and — nowhere else
There is not a single reference to tine
Song of Songs in the New Testa-
ment. If it were intended to repre-
sent Christ's lova for the church it ie
inconceivable that mach a reference
in the New Testament Should be
wanting.
SYMBOLISM OF 'i'HE SONO.
But now, though the book was
not written primarily with reference
to Christ, it certainly did symbolize
to the Israelites the love of Jehovah
to his people. Under this theo-
cratic form of goverentent, implied
as extistinglunder in this poem, the
king stood to the people as. 'Goll:
They did not worship their king,
yet the king officially was the viceg-
erent of Jehovah. This royal love
song. sunk at the time of Solomon's
greatest purity, indeed, it may be
preserving to us a narrative of the
only pure, chute, that glorious king
ever had, was therefore, to thelst•ael.
ites a symbol of Jehovah's love to
them they so regarded it. The
Targum makes that clear.
By inference, therefore, the poetn
hecotnes ours also,and we who have
Peen the bridegroom in the historic
person of Jesus Christ, can even
more certainly than the ancient Is-
raelites, Make this poem the Iang.
uage of our hearts, and the express
ion of our religious experiences. It
is an appeal on the broadest possible
-basis. Every heart can understand
this language. Love is as wide as
hutnanity. It will o'er leap the
barriers of language. It needs not
tongues to convey its meaning. It
ie a sentiment common to every
I eart, at least possible to every
heart and every hand toughed
by this sentiment may see in it and
through it manifested • the greater
love of God: That song, ,then,
stands to tie for God's love to his
people. So does he court his
church, awakening ner love—be the
bridegroom, she the bride. As
illustrating this use of' the hook,
and showing how admirably its lan-
guage it adapted to the expression
of religious experience, take this ex-
quisite avowal on the part of the.
bride. Slie says :
"Forever bear me as a eigntt ring
Upon my heart. Such love as mine is
strong
As death, but like the grave no rival
brooks,
It's flame is lirhtening's 8eree and
gaenohlese fire,
It scorns all purchase save its own re-
turn 1"
Or this as symbolizing the saint's
bliss in their first conscions com-
munion with their Lord. Tho
bride as usual has been disparaging
her charms, saying,
"I am but amid flower f the vale."
The bridegroom quickly turns
her self depreciation into praise, ex-
claiming,
"A lily, rather; grown among the
theme."
Then the bride turns to het Lord
royal spouse with this rapturous ex-
pression of her new found joy ;
"A fruit tree in the wild wood is my
lova,
Compared with others, 'neath whose
shade I sit,
Delighted, and its mellow sweetness
taste,
He brings me to his banquet room where
waves
Hie banner o'er me, all inscribed with,
"Love 1'' a,.-$. B.
THE EGG,.
A Yonng'Man Sli'ea the 7ltoet9r t'ofntsrti
4s flam lowers.
"The eggto," rern*Narktriuetl the doctor in A lig,,
;titled and erudite manner, "iia the rostl
nati'Itfoua and digestible of alt foods when
eaten raw:",
"That's what I alwaya said," corroborat•
edr the young elan in a blue necktie.
"Are you an expert in dietetics?" inquir-
ed the doctor stiffly.
"I guess not," acid the young man at a
venture, "but I'in solid on facts, and I've
got evidence to prove what I say."
"What facts?" enquired the doctor, quiz.
zically.
"Wall, I've seen what eggs can do, and
I can show you or any Hutu here if he
wants to come over to my place in the come
try."
"State the facts," commanded the doc-
tor.
"All right, here goes. About three
months ago a tat laying pullet I raised got
fastened up under tun old spring house ep
in the woods where there wasn't a blame
thing to oat but dry dirt and water. About
a month ago 1 happened to be poking
around the place, and hearing a noise
under- the floor, I pulled up a plank and
there I found my lost chicken, " She was
alive and kicking and I couldn't for the
life of me understand why she hadn't
starved to death. I went to the barn to
get alt axe to chop her out, and when 1
etune back she had laid an egg and was
eating it as fast as she could. That kind of
gave me an idea, and instead of taking her
out, I lett her there for a day lunger.
About the sanie`titna next day I went up
again and she tees finishing another egg.
Next day she did the yamo thing, and she
has been doing it right along uuw every day
for thirty days and I'm going to keep her
there and see how long she eau support her-
self, She's getting fat since I gave her a
little snore light, and seams a good deal
better satisfied. You bet, Doe, I'm with
• you when you say there's good living in an
egg
The doctor looked at the young man
seriously.
"Young fellow," he said, getting u "1
guess I'll gu with you and see that hen."
He Was philosophic.
"I am very sorry," remarked the wife
when the waitress brought in a tinge cube
of cornet} beef and placed it on the table,
"that we have no mustard in the house."
"It is really terrible," replied the hus-
hand, "but corn° to think of it, we haven't
any champagne in the cellar, have wt: ?"
"No,' said the wife.
"Anel I don't suppose we hive such a
thing as a bottle ot pickled walnuts be-
tween the roof and the coal bin, have we?''
"No, we have nut."
"AlmI suppose if I were to start at the
present moment on a still hunt • I couldn't
find such a tiling as Sr venison atee. from
one end of the house to the other, wohld I?"
"You would not."
"And now that I think of it, there is no
money in the house, is there?"
"Not a cent."
"Nor it bond nor a share of stock upon
which a dollar could be raised at short
notice?"
"Not one," said the wife impatiently.
"'!'hen let's try to be happy. 1t we can
exist without champagne, pickled walnuts,
stewed venison, money, bonds and stocks.
don't you think we ought to be able to pull
along without mustard ?"
"1 think we ought," said the wife cheer-
fully.
"Then let's try to. I could go all my life
without mustard, couldn't you'"
"Yes."
"Then don'_t.-apolagive ..any.. fn.rther ler _
its absence. Just try to imagine that
klnere i8 i6„iBiIc 5_":y_ y as . tncrstard. in the
world, and thin how much worse it•woulii
be if we had lots ot mustard and no corned
beef."
And then they fell to in philosophic
silenee.
eie Had Scruples.
A Prohibition member of Parliament had
been absent without leave and he was
called on fns• an excuse. Being new in the
business he began his remarks in itis place
at his desk.
"I will state, Mr. Speaker ” he be-
gan.
I rise to a mention of order," inter-'
rupted a member.
"The gentleman from -- will state
it," said the Speaker.
"It is that the gentleman must present
his excuse at the bar of the House," ex-
plained the member.
"The rule requires that the gentleman ,
present his cxcese at the bar of the House,"
announced the Speaker.
The ot}'endieg member turned all the
colors of the rainbow, and finally settled
- down to, a pale white. - --`
"1I -Mr. Speaker," he stammered and
almost wept, "I never was in that restaur-
ant downstairs in my life, nor at ally bar
anywhere. If the people of my distriet
ever heard of my going to such a place, I
couldn't get two votes to the county. I
tell you again, I never was at a -any b -bat'
in my life, a -and I•Il be da -da -darned if I
g•g-go now," amid down he sat with a slosh
and waited until a' colleague explained the
sitnatiou to him.
As in the case of many other interesting
events on the Moor of the House this never
got into Hansard.
Native American Trench.
Mr. Sicovit—I am completely disgusted
with the habit onr society ladies tire getting
into of conversing in French. There should.
be a duty on all foreign languages coming
into this country. '
Mr. Verityred—Oh, that is unnecessary,
I assure you. Their French is not a foreign
article. It is most decidedly a home pro-
duct.—Harper's Bazar.
Different Opinions.
"1 don't think Mr. Bunker is much of a
conversationalist," observed Miss Elder.
"Well, he called on me last night," re-
plied Miss Young, as she carelessly twirled
a new ring on the third finger of her left
hand, "and I found his conversation quite
engaging."—New York Truth.
A Mitigated refusal.
John—Will yon have mo, Sarah?
Sarah—No, John, but you may have me
if you like.—Texas Siftings.