Could any power make those shoulders whole ? Surely he may grow taller but that stoop ! Yet what line sport! He has found a bar rel-hoop. And with oflittle stiek he makes it roll. 'Tis true it quickly passes from control, but then he plants his crutch with forward droop. Pushing his way and bent into a loop, j The Sheriff Who Shirked. 3 Went Down to Defeat at the Polls 4 Because He Didn't Do His Plain Duty. "It isn't always ail easy matter for a public official to perform his duty," said the man of experience. "By 'duty' I mean what is required of him under the law, which is sometimes widely at variauce with the prompt iugs of heart and conscience. I have iti mind now the difficult task im posed upon Charley Tatman when he was sheriff of Clermont county. Tat inan had been a good friend of mine for many years. When he was elected to the office of sheriff ho asked me to net as deputy. During the first year of Tatman's term nothing of impor tance happened. But along in the second year of our service, just at the time when Tatman began to lay his plans for re-election, we struck a snag. "The farmers in the southern part of the county gave the alarm. For some time, so they complained, they had been suffering from the depreda tions of some petty robber or band of robbers. Most of the thefts were small, but they were continuous and systematic. The luckless farmers had landed themselves together for the detection of the culprit and the pro tection of their meat and potatoes, but they made no progress in running down the thief. ()nce or twice,indeed, ; after a light fall of snow they had ; succeeded in tracing footsteps from ! three or four houses whose cellars had been looted to a place about a quarter of a mile distaut from the scene of plunder, but at that distance the footsteps suddenly disappeared. "The farmers' suspicions were strongly aroused against a family named Leach. The Leaches had al ways been considered the most worth less white trash in the neighborhood. They were lazy, they were uncleanly, and they were ignorant. It was a well known fact that Hiram Leach had not done a day's work in two years. Yet in spite of this protracted leisure the Leaches continued to shift along in their usual haphazard maimer instead of being packed off to the poorhouse, bag and baggage, as would have been the fate of any other family in similar circumstances. Finally the farmers appealed to Tatman to help fix the guilt, and in response to this entreaty Tatman sent me down into the south ern townships to see if I couhl find the thieving rascals. Already the hirelings who stir up poditical gossip, had caused it to be bruited about qwer the connty that Tatman was ' totally incompetent and that he difVi not earn the salary of a good dog catcher,much less the fat sum paidn the sheriff of Clermont county. . Judging by these reports it was c -quite plain that if Tat pian did cot . soon redeem himself in the eyes of the voters he might as well w rap up his political hopes for the future and save the money he would necessarily have to spend in the coming campaign. "I, too, was baffled when trying to discover the purloiner of hams and similar food. Three robberies were committed in as many weeks after I took the case in hand. At last I de termined to get out a warrant and search Leach's house. Before taking action I went tip to Batavia and con sulted Tatman. " 'I suppose,' he said, doubtfully, 'that it is the only thing we can do. I've got to do something to make a record for myself or I'll be as bad off as they say this Leach is. I guess I'll go with you. My presence will, perhaps, make the maneuver more ef fective aud serve as political timber next fall.' "It was a cold, snowy day in March when Tatman aud I left Batavia to make our raid oil Leach's house. It was 20 miles from our town to the river country. The roads were rough and in some places well-nigh im passable, and although we set out early in the morning it was late in the afternoon when we turned into the narrow lane that led from the high way back to Leach's. This lane was long and winding, and the intricacies were hnrd to master, but after having passed through a baruyard, which was entered at no less than a dozen differ ent places by as many sets of bars, we found ourselves on tho crest of a steep hill at the foot of which, according to the testimony of the boy who was feed ing the shivering animals in the sheep shed, we should find Leach's house. Tatman and I got out of the buggy aud walked down the hill. We kept peering round us sharply as we went, but not until we caine almost to the base of the hill did we see any signs of a habitation. Then suddenly a lit tle puff of blue wood smoke was seen curling up through the denuded branches of the trees to our right. We weut on a few steps farther, and the house itself was in sight. It was such a little house of frame and logs, and its color was so very drab and dis couraging, that had we not had the boy's word for it that Leach lived there, we should have been in doubt as to whether Leach's house were really a house or a stable, notwith standing the evidence of the chimney and the smoke. "We liitched our horse to a cherry tree aud went into the yard, ih'e THE LITTLE CRIPPLE. And hitches on, and rolls again, his soul All In his small, square face. What glow ing, rare, And eager joy it is! Upon his high Poor ridge of shoulder—work of eiwlless care— Hangs a lace collar, in nbundnnt fall, Adjusted by some piteous, loving eye That would not see the shoulders stooped at all. —Hannah Parker Kimball. sound of hoofs and wheels had aroused the inmates of the house, and before we reached the door a small colony of children and dogs came trooping round to the northern corner of the building and stood looking at us wou deringlv. The children were clad scantily. They were about the ugli est children I ever snw in my life. They had straight light hair and dirty faxses and pale blue eyes. They were of various ages aud sizes, in which respect they were like unto the dogs which also represented a wide latitude of years and growth. Tatman stepped up and addressed the tallest boy. 'Where's your father?' he asked. "The boy pushed back the tow colored mnno through which he had been staring and nodded toward the rear of the house. Tbe sharp whack of a descending axe striking against hard wood emphasized the boy's nod. It was now apparent that the sound of the chopping which had been break ing on the still, heavy air at inter vals since we began to des.end tlio hill originated on Leach's premises. In response to the boy's silent request to follow him, Tatman and I fell in with the group of boys and girls and dogs and weut around to the bask yard. Once in sight of this dreary spot, we came to a dead stop. The j chopper was an old woman. Her fore head was a network of wrinkles. Her ! hair was a yellowish gray. There was only a wisp of it. This was ! twisted into a tight little knob at the i top of her head, all excej»t a few thin strings which had escaped the tlirall dom of the comb and straggled down around her bony neck, Ihe woman's cheeks were thin and creased,and her eyes were sunken, her thin, calico gown displayed every angle of her gaunt, ungainly figure. Taken all in all, she was a very homely, uncoutn woman, but somehow there was some thing about her that made me feel timid. Tatman saw my trepidation and took the initiative. He stepped forward and stood directly befoie the chopper. She held the axe po-'iaecl iu the air for a moment, til*""' *et it sink down easily op f "><ue hickory chunk. She rested l)'«r hands on tbe handlo and bent ."her tall body slightly for ward. " '"vVell,' she said,'what you want?' "Her steady look disconcerted Tat man, too, for a minute, but he braced up and caine to the point without any useless preliminaries. " 'Does Hiram Leach live here?' he asked. " 'Yes,' she said, stiffly. " 'ls he at home?' continued Tat man. " 'Yes,' she repeated. " 'I should like to see him,' said Tatman. "The woman grasped the axe handle tighter then aud leaned over a little farther. 'What you want of him?' she asked. "Tatman looked at her significantly. 'l'm the sheriff,' he said, bluntly and cruelly. 'Perhaps you can guess the rest.' "The axe dropped to the ground at that, and the woman pressed her coase red bauds to her cheeks, over which snow flakes were drifting like half-frozen tears. She made no audi ble reply to Tatman's communication, but the children who had gathered close about us took alarm at the dread word 'sheriff,' and broke out into a concerted wail of affright, as though they had heard the crack of doom. " 'Are you Leach's wife?' said Tat man. " 'No, his sister. His wife's dead. Died when this'n was a baby,' she said, laying her hand on the head of the smallest child which had essayed to take refuge in the folds of her scant skirt. 'My name is Marthy Leach,' she added, is an afterthought. 'l've stayed here ever since the children's mother went and sort o' looked after 'em.' "Again Tatman hesitated. " 'JTou understand my errand here, I'm quite sure, Miss Leach,' he said. 'You have undoubtedly heard the ru mors that have been current for weeks past concerning your brother. I have a duty to perform. I • must search your house.' "The woman's thin, liatchet-like face grew more peaked and haggard. For a moment a look of defiance glowed in her eves. When that died away she lifted the smallest child into her arms aud started toward the house. " 'Come on,' she said. 'He's in here.' "Tatman and I followed her into a long, low room, and the children and dogs crowded in at our heels. The room was almost dark. T e greater part of what poor light there was was derived from a fitful flame that leaped up from the logs in the open fireplace, for the windows, which were too small to admit much light eveu in their prime condition, were rendered almost opaquo by the rags which were substi tuted for the broken panes and the swirls of snow that covered the few remaining ones. A man sat at one corner of the fireplace. He was cough ing violently when we entered, and I ' i noticed that the band he beld np to his lips was almost trauspaseut in its thinness. The woman s'.ood silently before him until the paroxysm of coughing bad ended. Then she spoke: " 'Hi,' she said, 'here's two men come to see yon.' "The man raised bis hollow dark eyes and shook back his thick dark hair. Tatmnn looked at me appenl ingly.but I could give him no eucour- I ugemeut. " 'They bave a duty to perform," | the woman went on, bitterly. 'l\ is ! man,' and she pointed to Tatman, 'is j the sheriff. lie is going to arrest you ! for stealing a sack of potatoes, a bag | of com and a slice of pickle-pork from Peter Fagin night before last. The whole thing weighed a hundred pounds, mebbe. Peter Fagin lives three miles from here. There was an awful heavy rain all that night, and the mud was knee-deep, but for any body well an' strong like you are, Hi, rain an' mud don't count.' "There was a sneer in the woman's voice that contrasted painfully with her shrunken, withered face and fig ure. The man laid his face in the hollow of his skeleton-like hands and groaned. The wi.man turned toward Tatman and me. " 'I s'pose,' she said, grimly,'you'd like t.) search the house.' "Tatman's face was flushed, and his whole figure seemed to cry out an apology for our being there. " 'I believe 1" shall have to,' he said. 'The law requires it, you know.' "The woman straightened np stiff as a rocj. " 'Well,' she said, 'I won't put yon to much trouble. It ain't worth while for you togo pokin' around into un necessary corners. Here's what there is left of the last haul. The potatoes is—' She stepped to the cupboard iu the corner and threw back the door. " 'Martha!' the niau called out, sharply. " 'That's all right, Hi,' she said. 'I knew it'd have to come sooner or later, an' it's 110 use to beat about the bush now that the officers is here. There's the potatoes,' she repeated, 'down there in t hat box. The mi al is in that jar on the second shelf. The meat is wrapped up in that towel. The stuff is almost gone already, for we've got a good many mouths to feed here, countin' iu the dog*. It's a good thing you come when you did, for like as not there'd have been another haul tonight or the night after.' "lhe woman sat down on a stqol opposite her brother, and motioned Tatman and me to ohairs in front of the fireplace. I took the seat, but Tatman remained standing. " 'l'm very sorry to lind things as they are,' he said. 'I came,of coarse, to arrest Mr. Leach,should I find him guilty. He i9 evidently a very sick "nau. J do not see how I can take him into uj l: , gi-'ii.., as you say—' "The woman sprang to her feet like a wounded animal. " 'Who said he was guilty?' she broke in. 'I said we got the stuff' from Peter Fagin's, but I didn't say Hi took it Ho didn't. Why, man, where are your eves and 1 your common sense? Can't you .-ee? Can't you understand? Don't you know that those; \\ eak arms ; couldn't carry half that load a bundie.l i yards, let alone three miles? No, if you are goin' to arrest anybody,you'll have to arrest me. I did the stealiu', I've been doin' it all along. ]—' "There was a catih in her voice then. The woman sank back 011 the stool again and gathered the young est child into her arms and began to lock her body to and fro nervously. Tatman took the vacant chair be j side me and mopped his strea ning I forehead. " 'You wouldn't thiuk I'd be able to do it, either, would you?' she re sume 1, pitching her voice in its high keyed monotone once more. 'l'm 72 years old, but I've still got heaps of strength. I've always been strong as an ox. I've had need to be, too, for I've had to work like one most of my life. I've had all my brothers to do for. There was six of them. Some how, their wives all died when the children was little tots, and I've brought 'em all up the best I kuowed how. Hi's is the last I'll have to do for. I liked Hi's wife better than any of the rest of the women folks, and I like her children best. If she'd been my own sister I couldn't have thought more of her, and if the children was my own I couldn't think more of them. At least, it seems that way. Anyhow, I wouldn't have stole for anybody but them. I promised their mother when she wan drawing her very last breath that they shouldn't want for anything if I could help it, an' I guess tbey never have, so far. " 'Hi ne\er did have the knack of gettin' on very well,' she said. 'lt was this little fellow that set me goin' —this one here in my arms. He was hungry for two days an' nights. He cried and cried till I couldn't- stund it any longer and then I—well, I hustled. I took from Peter Fagin the first night. ou'l) say, of course, I ought to have asked for help. Well, mebbe I had, but I don't know as it would have done any good. Folks was all down on us. Somehow, they don't seem to understand that Hi's sick an' has beeu ailin' for months. They still think he's sutl'erin' from lack of ability to get on. But it ain't that now. If I'd begged, the best they could have done would be to send us to the poorhouse,aud there is so much red tape to be unwound before a body can get in even there, that the chances are we'd have starved to death before the business could be settled. That's the way it was with the Dolau family.' "Tatmau remembered the Dolau episode and nodded au acquiescence. " 'You may thiuk it strange ttoat a woman as old as lam could eet around as lively as I've been doin' this win ter. It is funny. I can't understand it myself, but somehow when I was out—stealing—l was spry as a cricket and as still as a mouse. I never felt afraid, cither. I guess that's the reason I never got caught. But now that you've got me, I suppose I'll bave to give iu. Do you want to take me along with you now? It won't take me long to get ready. Clotho-i don't cut much of a figure with us. All I wish is thut you'd kind of look after Hi and the children whan I'm pone.' "The man in the corner sobbed aloud. Tatman arose and sialked over to the small window and stood lookiug at the snow-dimmed gluss. By and by he came 1 ack 10 the fireplace. He reached out. and grabbed old Mar tha's hand, and when he spoke I saw that his hand and voi e were both un steady. " 'I think,' he said, '.hat yon can take better care of these children than I can. I don't want you today. My warrant is made out for Hiram Leach. I can't change it to Martha. It is my duty to do so, I suppose, but—l can't do ay duty. Here is something to kee"you going for a while. Don't spend any of it till Peter Fagin's meat and meal and potatoes are all gone. You might get me into trouble if yon did." "The woman leaned her gray head against the child's unkempt locks. She said nothing, but sho pressed Tat man's lingers, and I guess he under stood." The man of experience stopped abruptly. The young man, who was smoking, cleared his throat. "Well," be asked, at length, "what became of Tatman? What did they do to him in the next campaign?" "Knocked him higher than a kite," said the man of experience. "They said he was no good because he couldn't find that robber. But I guess Tatman didn't care."—New York Sun. QUAINT AND CURIOUS. All apple orchard in Jefferson county, Ind., is on the side of a perpendicu lar hill over half a mile iu height. The trees grow straight out from the hillside, and when an Bpple drops from a tree it falls nearly half a mile before it alights on the ground. A French journal tells a story about a doc which belonged to an English dentist. The dog was scarcely able to support life oA'ing tt> the loss of its teeth. The dentist made au artificial set, including four canine teeth and j four molars mounted on a plate in the ordinary way. The dog now eats ; meat and even gnaws bones without ■ difficulty and he has gained consider- ; ably in weight. The most curious street pavement in the world is that which has recently been put down iu Lyons, France. It is of glass, the blocks being about injjt inches square, eai-h made up of sixtfcii smaller blocks. The blocks IIK.SO tightly fitted togetV" er that water auiot pass betwfcow^ t '>-uem. As a pavement fc iS s is saittf to have greater resistance tb«». st< Jne. It is a poor conductor of cold, and ice will not form upon it. A newly married couple in New Brunswick, N. J., circumvented their mischievous friends by starting 011 their wedding journey by way of the roof. The friends, well supplied with rice and old slippers, stood at the foot |of the stairs. The pair ascended to j the roof, walked to the adjoining house, j then down and through the rear door ] to a back street, where they entered I a waiting carriage and were driven to I the railway station. Birds are furnished with a peculiar ! membrane, which in a state of repose lies iu the inner augle of the eye, but is movable by two distinct muscles, which draw it over the corner. It is, to a ceitain extent, transpurent, for, according to Cuvier, birds can look through it, as the eagle does when looking at the sun. This membrane is called the third eyelid. One of the most comical and grotesque auimals is the "spectacled bear" which de rives its chief attraction from the light-colored rings around its eyes. These—the greater part of the face being, like the body, black—have ex actly the appearance of a pair of com mon "goggles," through which the beast seems to look with an air of mingled wisdom and imbecility. The spectacled bear is only found In the mountainous regions of Chili, South America. Colonel Atkinson'* W'.r. One of the judges of the Wayne circuit court tells of au incident in the bar practice of the late Colonel John Atkinson that illustrates his quickness to hurl a Parthian shaft and the biting i sarcasm of his irony. He was opposed iu the case on trial i by all the power and resources of ! .fames H. Pound,and they were fight | ing like giants for every point ef ad j vantage. Pound had won a majority j of the jousts, the colonel was nettled, and was lying low for a chance to de ] liver a swinging blow. "Itoame," says the judge, "when ; I decided a point against Pound. It j had been fierce y argued by both at I torneys, and in deciding it as I did 1 I stated my reasons at length, giving j authorities. I saw Pound shake his j head at one of my conclusions,his lips I moved, and I supposed he had made : some comment, so when I concluded j my decision, I asked: "What did you say, Mr. Pound?" "Quick as a shot and in his most ! cutting tones of intense sarcasm the | colonel replied: j " 'Mr. Pound did not speak, your I honor. He merely t-book his head. | There is nothing in it-' " —Detroit 1 Tribune. DR. TALMAGUS SERMON. SUNDAY'S DISCOURSE Br THE NOTED DIVINE. Subject: Guard Y..ur Temper— \ Sweet Disposition Adds Much to tlie Joy of Living—Don't Wnnte Health ltehears ing Wrong* and Scheming Itevense. [Copyright, Lo.\is Klopsch. 18W.1 WASHINGTON, I). C.—ln tills discourse Dr. Talmage placates the world's revenges nnd recommends more of the saccharine and lesb of the sour In buman dispositions; text, Epheslans lv., 28, "Let not the sun go down upon your wrath." Wlmt a pillow, embroidered of all colors, hath the dying day! The cradle of clouds from which the sun rises Is beautiful enough, but It is surpassed by tiio many oolored niausoloutn iu which at eveulug It Is burled. Sunset among the mountains! It almost takes one's breath away to recall the scene. The long shadows stretching over the plain make the glory of the departing light on the tiptop crags and struck aslant through the foliage the more conspicuous. Saffron and gold, purple and orlmson coin mingled. All the castles of cloud in con flagration. Burning Moscows on the sky. Hanging gardens of roses at their deepest blush. Banners of vapor, red as If from carnage, in the battle of the elements. The hunter among the Adirondacks and tho Swiss villager among the Alps know what Is a sunset ninong tho mountains. After a storm at sea the rolling grandeur Into which the sun goes down to bathe at night fall is something to make weird ami splen did dreams out of for a lifetime. Alexan der Smith, in his poem, compares the sun set to"the barren beach of hell," but thi-i wonderful spectacle of nature makes mo think of the burnished wall of beuven. Paul in prison, writing my text, remembers some of tho gorgeoas sunsets among the mountains of Asia Minor and how lie liad often seen the towers of Damascus bluze iu the close of tho oriental days, and he flashes out that memory In the text when he says, "Let not the sun go down upon your wrath." Sublime all suggestive duty for people tben and people now ! Forgiveness before sundown! He who never feels the throb of indignation Is lmbeolle. He who can walk among tho injustices of the world In flicted upon himself and others without flush of cheek or flash of eye or agitation of nature Is either In sympathy with wrong or soinl-idiotic. Whon Ananias, the hlgli priest, ordered the constables of the court room to smite Paul on the mouth, Paul flred up and said, "God shall smite thee, tbou whltod wall." In the sentence Imme diately before my text Paul commands the Epheslans, "Be ye angry and sin not." It nil depends on what you are mad at and how long the feeling lasts whether anger is right or wrong. Life is full of exaspera tions. Saul after David, Snccoth after Gideon, Korah after Moses, the Pnsquitis after Augustus, the Pharisees after Christ, and every one has had his pursuers, aaa we are swindled or belied or misrepresent ed or persHcnted or In some way wronged, and the danger Is that healthful Indigna tion shall become baleful spite, and that our feelings settle down into a prolonged outpouring of temper displeasing to God and ruinous to ourselves, and hence the Important injunction of the text, "Let not the sun go down npon your wrath." Why that limitation to one's anger? Why that period of flaming vapor set ty' punctuate a flaming disposition? has the suns«t got to do with one's r-- 986 " 1 " lul emotions? Was it a haphazJ""" senti ment written by Paul special significance? No, no. I thf'hk of five reasons why we should not if. ®t the sun set before our temper. ' First, because twelve nours is long enough to be ctoss ab<" Jo ' any wrong in flioted unf' »•.- l* so exhausting to ni<"/sical health or mental faculty as a pv«otracted indulgence of ill humor. It fraoks the nervous system. It hurts the digestion. It heats the blood in brain and heart until the whole body is first over heated and then depressed. Besides that, it sours the disposition, turns one aside from his legitimate work, expends energies i that ought to be better employed und | does us more harm than it does our antagonist. Paul gives us a good, wide i allowance of time for legitimate denunclu -1 tlon, from 6 o'clock to 0 o'clock, but says, j "Stop there!" Watch the descending orb ; of <}ay, and when It reaches the horizon j take a reef in your disposition. Unloose ! your collar anil cool off. Change the sub , ject to something delightfully pleasant. Unroll your tight fist und shake hands j with some one. Bank up tho fires at the I curfew bell. Drive the growltng dog of j enmity back to its kennel. The hours of I this morning will pass by, and the after- J noon will urrlvc, and the sun will begin to j set, nnd, I beg you, on its blazing hearth throW all your feuds, invectives and J satires. 1 Agnin, we ought, not to let the sun go j down on our wrath, because wo will sleep better If we are at peace with everybody, i Insomnia Is getting to be one of the most : prevalent of disorders. How few people I retire at 10 o'clock at night and sleep clear i through to 6 in the morning! To relievo I this disorder all narcotics and sedatives and morphine and chloral und bromide of potassium und cocaine and intoxicants are used, but nothing is more important thau a quiet spirit If we would win somnolence. How Is a man going to Sleep when he Is in mind pursuing an enemy? With what ner vous twttcb he will start out of a droam! That new plan of cornering his foe win keep him wide awake while tho clock strikes IX, 12, 1, 2. I give you an nnfaillng prescription for wakefulness: Spend the evening hours rehearsing your wrongs and the best way of avenging them. Hold a oonvention of friends on this subject iu your parlor or oflloo at 8 or 9 o'clock. Close the evening by writing u titter letter expressing your sentiments. Take from the desk or pigeonhole tho papers in the oaso to rofresh your mind with your en emy's meanness. Then lie down and wait for the coming of the day, and it will come before sleep comes or your sleop will be worried quiescence and, if you take the precaution to lie Sat on your buck, a frightful nightmare. Why not put a bound to your animosity? Why let your foes come into the sanctities of your dormitory? Why lot those sland erers who have alrendy torn your reputa tion to pieces or injured your business bend over your midnight pillow nnd drive from you one of the greatest blesslugs that God can offer—swee,t, refreshing, all In vigorating sleep? Why not fence out your enemies by the golden bars of the sunset? Why not stand behind the barricade of evening cloud nnd say to them, "Thus far nnd no farther." Mnny a man and many a woman Is having the health of body us well as the health of soul eaten awny by a malevolent spirit. I baveintime of relig ions awakening had persous night after night come Into the inquiry room and get no peaoe of soul. Alter a while I have bluntly asked them, "Is there not somo one I against whom you have a hatred that you are not willing to give up?" Aftor a little confusion thev havo slightly whispered. "Yes." Then I have said, "You will never And peace with God as long as you retain thnt virulence." The rabbins recount how thnt Nebuchad nezzar's son had such a spite against his father that after he was dead he had Ida father burned to ashes and then put tho ashes into four sacks and tied tliern to four eagles' necks which flow away iu opposite directions. And there are now domestic antipathies that seem forever to have scat tered all parental memorios to tho four wluds of heaven. How far the eagles fly with those saored ashes! The hour of sun down makes to that family no practical suggestion. Thomas Carlyle, In his biog raphy of Frederick the Great, says the old king wnß told by the con lessor he must be at peace with bU enemies if 110 wnnted to enter heaven. Then he said to his wife, the queen, "Write to your brother alter I nm dead tliat I forgivo hfm." Roloff, the confessor, said, "Her majesty had better write him Immediately." "No," said the king, "litter I am dead; that will be safer." So lie let the sun of his earthly existence go down upon his wrath. Again, wo ought not to allow the sun to set before forgiveness takes place, because we might not live to see another day. Ant! What if we shou'd be ushered into the presence of our Maker with a grudge upon our s<>ul? The majority of people depart this life in the night. Between IX o'clock p. in.and 3 o'clock a. m. thero is some thing in the atmosphere which reluxes the grip which tho body has on the soul, and most people enter tho next world through tho shadows of this world. Perhaps God may have arranged it in that way so as tc make the contrast tho more glorious. J have seen sunshiny days in tills world t'lm) must nnve been almost like the radiance oi heuven. Bat as uiojt people leave th« earth between sundown and sunrise they quit this world at Its darkest, and Leaver always bright, will be the brighter for thai contrast. Out of darkness into irradia tion. "But," says some woman, "there is i horrid areature that bus so injured m< that raiher than make up with her ) would die flrst." Well, sister, you maj tuke your choice, lor one or the other I' will be—your complete pardon of her 01 Hod's eternal banisument of you. "But," says some man, "that fellow who cheatec me out of those goods, or damaged mi business credit, or started that lie abom mo in tho newspapers, or by his porfldi broke up my domestic happiness, forgivt him I cannot, forgive him I will not!' Well, brother, take your choice. You wil.' never be at peace with Go I till you are a' peace with man. Feeling as you now do you would not get so near the har.'jor ol heavon us to soothe lightship. Bettei leave that man with the God wlr> said; "Vengeance is Mine. I will repay." Yo« may say: "I will make him sweat for that yet. X will make him squirm. X mean tc pursue him to the death." But you are damaging yourself more than you damage him, und you are mnklng heavon for your own soul an impossibility. If he will not be reconciled to you, be reconciled to him. In live or six hours it will be sundown Tho dahlias will bloom against tho west ern sky. Somewhere between this that take a snovel and bury * quarrel at least six feet doep the sun go dowu upon your wri Again, we ought "not to alio' of the sunset hour before thi ail our affronts, because we 1 the sublimest actiou of tho subllmest spectacle in nature delightsome thing to have ••xperlences allied with cert There Is a tree or river bn llrst answered your prayer, pass that place or think oft out thinking of the glorloi There was some gate or sor garden wall whore you wer • 'ii companion who has jo in life. You uever sp-- ..it with a smile. Soul :'Y aut memories c'onnect e d with t.u 4 .star, or tho iWoou in " 3 " rs ' quart-, oi with tho sunrise, you saw it just as you were urr/lvlng harbor after a tem pestuous voy/iige-.- Forever and forever X admit it 'jc? the most difficult of all graces to pro A -' t,oe ' a °d ut the start you may make a ' u " ure . but keep on in the atte^ J1 l > ' 10 I )rft ctlce it. Shakespeare wrote t«-* n Ptoyu before he reached "Ham let >■ and seventeen plnys before he reached • lyHerchant of Venice," and twontv-eight plays Lefore he reached "Macbeth." And gradually you will come from the ensiei Kruces to the most difficult. Besides that. It is not it matter of personal determination so much as the laying hold of the al mighty arm of God. who will holp us to do anything we ought to do. Remember thut in all persoual controversies the one least to blame will have to take the first step at pacillcatlon if It is ever effected. The con test between jE-ichlues nud Arlstippus re sounds tlirougu history, but Arlstippus, who WHS least to blame, went to jEschine* aud said, "Shall we not agree to be friends bcloro we make ourselves tho laughing stock of tho whole country?" And /Eachlnes said, "Thou art a far better man than I for 1 began the quarrel, but thou has been tho llrst in bealiug the breach." And they wort always friends afterwards. So let tho one of you that is least to blame take the first step toward reconciliation. The one most in the wrong will never take it. Oh. it inakei one feel splendid to bo able by God's help to practice unlimited for giveness. It improves ono's body and soul. My brother, it will make you measure three or four more Inches arouud the chest and improve your respiration so that you can take ii deeper and longer breath. It im proves tho couatenancej by scattering the gloom and makes you somewmit like God lilmseir. He is omnipotent, and wo cannot copy that. He is independent of uii the uuiverse, and we cannot copy that. He is creative, and we cannot copy that. He is omnipresent, and wo cannot copy that. But Ho forgives with a broad sweep ull faults, and all neglects, and all Insults, and all wrongdoings, and in that we may copy Him With mighty success. Go harnoss that sub lime notion of your soul to the suuset—the hour when the gate of heaven opens to let tlie day pass lata eternities and sorno oi the glories escape this way through the brief opeuing. We talk about the Italian sunsets, and sunset amid the Apennines, and sunset amid tho Cordilleras, but 1 will tell you how you may see a grander sunset than any more lover of nature ever beheld —that is, by flinging into it all your hatreds and animosities, and let the horses of lire trample them, and the chariots of fre roll over them, and tho spem-men of flr» stab i them, and the boaoh of fire consume them, ! and the billows of lire overwhelm them. Again, we should not letthe sun godown on our wrath, bocause It is of little im- . portance what the world says of you or does to you when you have the affluent i God of tho suuset as your provider and defender. People tall: as though it were a tlxed spectacle of nature and always the same. Bui no one ever saw two sunsets alike, aud if the world has existed 6000 years thero have been about 2.190,000 sun sots, each of them as distiuct from nil the other pictures in the gallery of the sky as Titian's "Last Supper," llubens' "Descent Kroin the Cross," Raphael's "Transfigura tion" aud Michael Augelo's "Last Judg ment" uro distinct from each other. If that God of such infinite resources that He can put on tho wall of the sky each evening more than the Louvre aud Luxem bourg galleries all in one is my God and your God, our provider and protector, what is the use of our worrying about any human antagonism? If we are misinter preted, the God of the many colored sun se' can put the right color on our action. If all the garniture of tho western heavens at eventide Is but tho upholstery of one of the windows of our future home, what small business for us to be chasing en emies! I.et not this Sabbath sue go down upon your wrath. Aud I wish for all of you a beautiful sun • sot to your earthly existence. With somo of you it lias been a long day of trouble, and with others of you U wili ho far from cam. When the sun rose at 6 o'clock, it wis the morning of youth, and a fair day v» as prophesied, but by the time tho noon day cr middle life bad come and the clock oi your earthly existence hud struck twelve cloud racks gathered and tempost bellowed In the traek of tempest. But as tho even ing of old age approaches I pray God the sides may lirlghteu and the clouds be piled up into pillars as of celestial temples to which ycu go or move as with mounted conortseome to take you home. And as you sink out of sigut below tho horizon may there he a radiance of Christian ex ample lingering long after you are gone, and On the heavens bo written in letters of sapphire, and on the waters in letters of opal, and on tho hills In letters of emerald, "Thy suu shall uo more go.down, neither v shall thy moon withdraw itself, for the I.ord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended." So shall the sunset of earth become the sunrise of heaven.
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