DR. TALMAGE’S SERMON: Trouble on Both Sides. “There was a sharp rock on the one side, and a sharp rock on the other side.” —1 Sam, 14: 4 ‘Tne cruel army of the Philistines maust be taken and scattered. There is fast one man, accompanied by his body- guard, to do that thing. Jonathan is the hero of the scene, I know that Pavid cracked the skull of the giant with a few pebbles well slung, and that three hundred Gideonites scattered ten thousand Amalekites by the crash of Broken crockery; but here is a more wonderful conflict. Yonder are the Philistines on the rocks, Here is Jon- athan with his bodygard in the valley. ©n the one side is a rock called Bozez; an the other side is a rock called Seneb. These two were as famous in olden Simes, as in modern timesare Plymouth Rock and Gibraltar. They were pre- eipitous, unscalable, and sharp. Be- ween these two rocks Jonathan must make his ascent. The day comes for THE SCALING OF THE HEIGHT. Jonathan, on his hands and feet, be- gins the ascent. With strain and slip and bruise, I suppose, but still on and ap, first goes Jonathan, and then goes his bodyguard, Bozez on one side, Seneh on the other. After a sharp tug, and push, and clinging, 1 see the head of Jonathan above the hole in the mountain; and there is a challenge, and a fight, and a supernatural consterna- gion. These two men, Jonathan and his bodyguard, drive back and drive down the Philistines over the rocks, and open a campaign which demolishes the enemies of Israel. I suppose that the overhanging and overshadowing rocks on either side did not balk or dis- hearten Jonathan or his bodyguard, but only roused and filled them with enthusiasm as they went up. ‘There was a sharp rock on the one side, aud a sharp rock on the other side.” My friends, you have been, or are mow, some of you, in this crisis of the text. If a man meets one trouble he can go through with it. He gathers all his energies, concentrates them upon one point, and in the strength of God, or by his own natural determination, goes through it. But the man who has trouble to the right of him, and trouble to the left of him, is to be pitied. Did either trouble come along, he might endure it, but two troubles, two dis- asters, two overshadowing misfortunes, are Bozez and Seneh. God pity himl ““There Is a sharp rock on the one side, and a sharp rock on the other side,” In this crisis of the text is that man whose FORTUNE AND HEALTH FAIL him at the same time. Nine-tenths of all our merchants capsize in business before they come to forty-five years of e. There is some collision in com- anercial circles, and they stop payment. It seems a if every man must put his ‘name on the back of a note before he Jearns what a fool a man is who risks all his own property on the prospect that some man will tell the truth. It seems as if a man must have a large amount of unsalable goods on his own shelf before he learns how much easler it is to buy than to sell. It seems as if gvery man must be completely burned out before he learns tie importance of always keeping fully insured. It seems a8 if every man must be wrecked in a financial tempest befors he learns to keep things snug in case of a sudden suroclydon. When the calamity does come, itis awful. The man goes home in despair, and he tells his family “We'll have to go to the poor-house.” He takes a dolorous view of everything. It seems as if he never could rise. Buta little time passes, and he says: “Why, I am aot so badly off after a’l; 1 have my family left.” Before the Lord turned Adam out of Paradise, he gave him Eve, so that when he lost Paradise he could stand it. Permit one who has never read but a few novels in all his life, pot a great deal of romance in his com- position, to say, that if, when a man’s fortunes fail, he has a good wife— A GOOD CHRISTIAN WIFE— he gught not to be despondent. ou say, ‘that only increases the em- ssment, since you have her also to take care of.” You are an ingrate, for the woman as often supports the man as the man supports the woman. The man may bring all the dollars, but the woman generally brings the courage snd the faith in God. Well, this man of whom I am speak- ing, looks around, and he finds his fam- fly is left, and ha rallies, and the ligat gomes to his eyes, and the smile to 118 face, and the courage % his heart. In two years be is quite over iL. He makes his financial calamity the first chapier in a new era of prosperity. He t that one trouble —conquered it. e sat duwn for a little while under the of the rock Bozez; yet he soon rose. and began, like Jonathan, to climb. But how often it is that physi- cal ailment comes with financial em- parragsment. When the fortune failed it broke the man’s spirit, His nerves were shattered, His brain was stun- ped. 1 can show you hundreds of men in New York whose furtune and health at the same time, They came staff. Their g ' EEFst i i £ fi £5 g Ble, : hat is through the churches, and show you men who lost fortune and health at the same ‘time, and yet who sing all day and dream of heaven all night. If you bave any idea that sound digestion, and steady nerves, and clear eyesight, and good hearing, and plenty of friends, are necessafy to make a man happy, you have miscalculated. I suppose that these overhanging rocks only made Jonathan scramble the harder and the faster to get up and out into the sun- light; and this combined shadow of ine validlsm and financial embarrassment has often sent a man up the quicker in- to the sunlight of God's favor and the noonday of His Rlorious promises. It is a difficult thing for a man to feel his dependence upon God when he has ten thousand dollars m the bank, and fifty thousand dollars in Govern- ment securities, and a block of stores and three ships. Well,” the man says to himself, **it is silly for me to pray, ‘Give me this day my daily bread,’ when my pantry is full, and the canals from the west are crowded with bread, stuffs destined for my storehouses,” Oh, my friends, if the combined mis- fortunes and disasters of life have made you climb up into the arms of a sympa- thetio.and compassionate God, through all eternity you will bless Him that in this world *‘there was a sharp rock on the one side, and a sharp rock on the other side. ”’ TROUBLE AT HOME AND ABROAD, Again, that man is in the crisis of the text who has home troubles and outside persecution at the same time. The world treats a man well just as long as it pays best to treat him well. As long as it can manufacture success out of hig bone and brain and muscle, it favors him. The world fattens the horse it wants to drive. But let a man see it his duty to cross the track of the world, then every bush is full of horns and tusks thrust at him. They will be- little him. They will caricature him. They will call his generosity self-ag- grandizement, and his piety sanctimoni- ousness. The very worst persecution will some time come upon him from those who profess to be Christians, John Milton—great and good John Milton—so forgot himself as to pray, in so many words, that his enemies might ernally thrown down into the darkest and deepest gulf of hell, and be the undermost and most deject- ed, and the lowest down vassals of per- dition! And Martin Luther so far for- got himself as to say, in regard to his theological opponents: *“‘Put them in whatever sauce you please, roasted, or fried. or baked, or stewed, or bolled, or hashed, they are nothing but asses!" Ah, my friends, if John Milton or Mar- tin Luther could come down to such scurrility, what may you not expect from less elevated opponents? Now, sometimes THE WORLD TAKES AFTER THEM; the newspapers take after them; public opinion takes after them; and the un- fortunate man is lied about until all the dictionary of Billingsgate is ex- hausted on him. You often see a man whom you know to be good and pure and honest, set upon by the world, and mauled by whole communities, while vicious men take on a supercilious air in condemnation of him; as though Lord Jeffreys should write an essay on gentleness, or Henry VII, talk about purity, or Herod take to blessing little | children, Now. a certain amount of persecu- tion rouses a wan's defiance, stirs his blood for magnificent battle, and makes him fifty times more a man than he would have been without the persecu- tion. So it was with the great reform- we © er when he said: “I will not be put down: I will be heard.” And so it was with Millard, the preacher, in the time of louis XI. When Louis XI sent word to him that unless he stop- ped preaching in that style, he would throw him into the river, he replied: “Tell the king that I will reach heaven | sooner by water than he will reach it | by fast horses.’’ A certain amount of | PERSECUTION 18 A TONIC and inspiration, but too much of it, What is he to do Go home, you say. Good ad- | That is just the place for a | man to go when the world abuses him. i Go home, Blessed be God for our quiet and sympathetic homes, But there is many a man who bas the reputation of having a home when he has none. Through unthinkingness or precipita tion, there are many matches made that ought never to have been wade, An officiating priest cannot alone unite a couple. The Lord Almighty must proclaim banns. There 18 many a home in which there is no sympathy, amd no happ , and no good cheer. The clamor of the battle may not have been heard outside, but God knows, not- withstanding all he Diaging of the “Wedding March,” all the odor of the orange-blossoms, and the benedic- tion of the officiating pastor, there has been no marriage. Sometimes men have awakened to find on one side of them the rock of persecution, and on the other side THE ROCK OF DOMESTIC INFELICITY, What shall such an one do? Do as Jonathan did —climb. Get up the heights of God's consolation, from we may look down in triumph persecution and home great John z i ei i Hi same time, Without mentioning names, I speak from observation. Ah, itis a hard thing for a woman to make an honest living, even when her heart is not troubled, and she has a fair cheek, and the magnetism of an exquisite pres- ence. But now the husband, or the father, is dead. The expenses of the obsequies have absorbed all that was left in the saving bank; and wan and wasted with weeping and watching, she goes forth--a grave, a hearse, a coffin behind her—to contend for her existence and the existence of her children. When I see such a battle as that open, I shut my eyes on the ghast~ liness of the spectacle. Men sit with embroidered slippers and write heartless essays about women’s wages; but that question is made up of tears and blood, and there i8 more blood than tears. Ob, give women free access to all the realms where she can get a livelihood, from the telegraph office to the pulpit. Let men’s wages be cut down before hers are cut down. Men have iron in their souls, and can stand it, MAKE THE WAY FREE TO HER of the broken heart. May God putinto my hand the cold, bitter cup of priva- tion, and give me nothing buta widow- less hut for shelter for many years, rather than that after I am dead there should go out from my home into the pitiless world a woman's arm to fight the Gettysburg, the Austerlitz, tbe Waterloo of life, for bread. And yet, how many women there are seated be- tween the rock of bereavement on the one side, and the rock of destitution on the other! Bozez and Seneh Iinterlock- ing their shadow and dropping them upon her miserable way. “There is a sharp rock on the one side, and a sharp rock on the other side.’ W hat are such to do? Somehow, let them climb up into the heights of the glorious promise: ‘‘Leave thy father- less children; I will preserve them alive, and let thy widows trust in Me.” Or get up into the heights of that other glorious promise: ‘“The Lord preserveth the stranger and relieveth the widow and the fatherless.” Ohl ye sewing women, on starving wages. Oh, ye widows, turned out from the once beautiful home. Oh! ye female teach- ers, kept on niggardly stipend. Oh! ye despairing women, seeking in vain for work, wandering along the docks, and thinking to throw yourself into the river last pight. Oh! ye women of weak fierves, and aching sides, and short breath, and broken heart, you peed something more than human sy mpathy: you need the sympathy of God. Climb up into his arms. He knows it all, and He loves you more than father or mother, or husband ever could or ever ter begin to climb. of consolation for you, though now RUIN IN LIFE AND ETERNITY, Again, that man is in the crisis of the text who has a wasted life on the one side, and an unilluminated eternity on the other, Though a man may all self-poise, all his self-possession 18 gone, There are all the wrong thoughts of his ex. istence, all the wrong deads, all the wrong words-—strata above strata, gran~ itic, ponderous, overshadowing. The rock 1 call Bozez. On the other side are all the retributions of the future, the thrones of judgment, the eternal ages, angry with his long defiance. 1 call Sench, Lord Byron perished, and Alciblades perished, and Herod perished, and ten ished. Oh, man lmmortal, man redesmed, shadows. Climb up by the way of the Cross, Have your wasted life forgiven; This morning just take one look to the, past, and see what it has been, and take one look to the future and see what it threatens to be, You can afford to lose property, you can afford to lose your reputation; but you cannot afford to lose your soul. The bright, gleaming, glor- fous, precious, eternal possession you must carry aloft in the day when the earth burns up and the heavens burst, “You see from my subject that when a man goes into the safety and peace of the Gospel, he does not demean himself. There is nothing in religion that leads pal of Jesus Christ only asks you to climb as Jonathan did-- CLIMB TOWARD GOD, climb toward heaven, chimb into the sunshine of God's favor. To become a Christian is not to go meanly down; it is to come gloriously up—up into the communion of saints; up into the peace that all understanding; up into the companionship of angels, He lives up; he dies up, Oh, then, accept the wholesale Invita- tion which I make this morning to all the le! Come up between your in. and financial embarrassments. Come up from between your bereave- ments and your destitution. Come up from between a wasted life and an un- illumined eternity. Like Jonathan climb with ail your might, instead of to yg your hands in and in darkness ¥ IT REQUIRES NERVE. ———————————————— * A Thrilling Incident Related by a» London Dealer in Wild Beasts, Many a youth makes queer resolu. tions as to what he would like to be and to do, from reading “‘flash’ litera- ture, or from listening to rose-colored descriptions from those who know as little as himself, because they have im- bibed their knowledge from the same sources, Then, again, there are many people who, in telling their adventures, forget the real and draw on their im- agination. A touch - of reality often dissipates these glowing visions in a young fellow’s mind very quickly, as it did once in an incident related by Mr. Cross, the London dealer in wild beasts. 1 received from a young Frenchman of good family several letters in which he requested leave to enter the lion’s den at my receiving house in Early street, He assured me that his voca- tion was that of a lios-tamer. And one fine day he paid me a visit, in com- pany with three of his compatriots, whom he had brought with him in or- der that they might be witnesses of his intrepidity. He asked me if I could give him a situation, and pointing to a cage in which there were three fine African llons, he entreated me to allow him to put them through a perform- ance, I had just time to tell him that be might enter at his ewn risk when I was called into the office. After the lapse of a quarter of an hour a man rushed up to the desk where I was writ- ing and exclaimed, excitedly, “Mr, Cross, one of the lions is out!” Where?’ 1 asked, te which he re- plied, * Loose in the building!” On hurrying to the spot I found the door of the den open, and the French- man inside with his back against the wooden partition, and two of the lions caped lion had made for the end of the narrow passage, where it was meditat- ing mischief to the other Frenchmen, who had taken refuge on ihe top ofa pile of boxes, their faces as white as a sheet. The first thing I did was to close the door leading to the yard, and the next to get the amateur lion-tamer out of the den. It was well for him that one of the lions had got out of the cage, because the other two were 80 amazed at the fact that they remained for a minute or two perfectly still, We had great difficulty in making the third lion re-enter the den, but at last we succeeded, not, however, without some danger. After this had been done 1 myself went into the cage with no weapon, and simply smoking a cigar My entrance was the signal for tre mendous bounding backward and for- ward on the part of the beasts, which were evidently not a little terrified at As I stood calmly within the den with my eves fixed on the excited aul- wals, 1said: “You see there is no art in lion-taming, but it requires nerve,” { think the result of that afternoon’s adventure quite cured the young Frenchmah of his mania for being a | Lion-tamer. ——-— . The Vegetable Berfsieak. This fungus, which resembles a great | red tongue protruding from tree stems, | other species. When | yellowish red as it grows. It generally | is not uncomnon on the beech, and it | has been observed on the chestnut wale Although | ing from four lo mx pounds, its growth | is very rapid, soon appearing and again | disappearing, on ancient trunks in the autumn. When cut, broken or bruised | it distils a copious red juice like beef | gravy. “When grilled,” says Dr. Bad- | ham, “it is scarcely to be distinguished from broiled meat; and Berkeley de- | soribes it as “one of the best things he i ever ate, when prepared by a skilifal | cook. There is a very slight acid flavor | in the fungus when cooked, which adds | considerable piquancy to the dish; it is | extremely tender, succulent and juicy, and resembles tender steak or tongue | in a remarkable manner, the juice it distils being in taste and appearance like gravy from an excellent broiled steak. Of course it should be gathered at once prepared for the table in the following manner: Wash and dry, cut into inch slices half-inch wide, soak in scalding water for five minutes and stew with butter and herbs; yolk of egg may then be added, and serve hot, or simply stew with a good steak, add- ing a scallion and parsiey, salt and pepper. Faith, It is not well to be credulous; neither is it well to be skeptical. But if we must choose between the two, it is better to believe too much than todoubt too often. The darkest creed in all the world is that of the man who says be will never believe what he cannot prove. Suppose a child were to start out with this theory, refusing to love his parents as his parents until he could prove they were his parents! that a man of any age were to SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON. SUNDAY, Berredeen 9, 1553, The Unbelief of the People. LESSON TEXT. (Num. 14: 1-10, Memory verses, 2-4) LESSON PLAN. Toric or THE QUARTER: Covenant Relations with Israel, God's GorLpeN TEXT FOR THE QUARTER: Only be strong and very courageous, 0 observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest have good suc- cess whither socver thou goest—Josh. 1 : 7. Lesson Toric: culty. Counseled in Diffi- Lesson / Discouragement, va. 1-4 Cutline: \ L Jounsel, va, 5-9, Heip, v. 10, GOLDEN TEXT : Bo we sec that they could not enter in because of unbe- lief. —Heb, 3 : 19. Dany Home READINGS: M.—Num, 14 : 1-10, in difficulty. T.—~Num, 14 : 11.25, pardon, W.—Num, 14 : 26-45, murmuring. T.—~Heb. belief. F.—Heb, buked. Counseled Prayer and Penalty of + 1-190. Israel’s un- “ ed 4 : 1-16. Unbelief re- Our better op- portunities, 8.—Psa. 100 praised, : 1-22. God's mercy —————— — LESSON ANALYSIS 1. DISCOURAGEMENT. L Weeping : The people wept that night (1). Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh? (Num. 11 : 4). Ye have wept in the ears of the Lord {Num. 11 : 18). Ye returned and wept before the Lord (Deut, 1 :45). The sorrow of the world worketh death {2 Cor. 7 : 10). Il. Murmuring : All the children of Israel murmured against Moses (2). And the people murmured Moses (Exod. 15 : 24). The whole congregation... murmured against Moses (Exod. 16 : 2). They. ... murmured in their tents { Psa. 106 : 24, 25). against murmured (1 Cor, 10 : 10), Lil. Sarrendering: And they said,. into Egypt (4). Lest. ...the people repent... and they return to Egypt (Exod. 13 : 17). .cause the people to re- turn to Egypt (Deut, 17 : 16). Let us....return bondage (Neh, 9:17). Our fathers....turned back in hearts unto Egypt (Acts 7 : 39). 1. **And the people wept that night.” (1) The universality of iheir weep- (2) The grounds of their weep- The culpability of their ing: ing; weeping. a “Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt!” (1) Discontent with the present; (2) Longing for the past; (3) Muormuriog against Cond, 2 «Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.” (1) God's ap- pointees repudiated; (2) Personal selection proposed; (3) God's land despised; (4) Egypt's bondage pre- ferred. {3} II. COUNSEL. The land land (7). A good land and a large (Exod. 3 : 8). ..is an exceeding good {Exod. 33 : 3). Surely it floweth with milk and honey (Num. 13 : 27). It isagood land which the Lord.... giveth unto us (Deut. 1: 25). If the Lord delight in us, then he will The Lord had a delight in thy fathers to love them (Deut, 10 : 15). If 1 shall find favour,....he will bring me again {2 Sam, 15 : 25). in me (2 Sam, 22 : 20). The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him (Psa. 147 : 11). 111. Concerning Themselves: Only rebel not, . . . . neither fear (9). Ye have been rebellious against the Lord {Deut. 9 : 7). Then ye rebelled against the command- ment (Deut. 9 : 23). Fear not, nor tremble, neither be ye affrighted (Deut. 20 : 3). Fear not, little flock {Luke 12 : 32), 1. “Moses and Aaron fell on their faces.” (1) Godly men; (2) Strong emotion: (3) Abject humiliation. © “Joshua....and Caleb....rent their clothes.” (1) A national em- ergency, (2) An intense concern; (HA double mediation, 3. “If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land.” (1) A condition; (2) A consequence; (3) A connection, IL. HELP, moment: bade stone them 2 17 : 4). David was greatly distressed; A the 10 spake of stentug him (1 Sam. They took up stones therefore to cast at again to stone * The Jews took up stones him (Joh 10:81). 11 An Opportune Movement: And the g of the Lord appeared in the tent (1 Th : The came between the camp ves dsrasl (Exod. 14: {IL An Impressive Spectacle: Appeared, ,..unto aH the children of Israel (10). The pillar. . . . departed not from before the people (Exod, 13 : 22), Behold, the glory of the Lord in the cloud (Exod, 16 : 10), Like devouring fire....in the eyes of .... Israel (Exod, 24 : 17). And they shall see his face (Rev. 22 : 4). 1. “Stone them with stones.” (1) The brutal demand; (2) the ready executioners; (3) The noble victims. 2, ““The glory of the Lord appeared.’ (1) Its visible form; (2) Its impres- sive significance; (3)21ts multiform helpfulness, “Unto all the children of Israel.” (1) A favored people. (2) A favoring God. appeared 3 LESSON BIBLE READING. EXAMPLES OF UNBELIEY. Eve (Gen, 3 : 40). Moses and Aaron (Num, 20 : 12). Naaman (2 Kings 5 : 12). Lord of Samaria (2 Kings 7 Zacharias (Luke 1 : 20). Chief priests (Luke 22 : 67). The Jews (John 5 : 38). Saul of Tarsue (1 Tim. 1 : 13). The kindred of Jesus (John 7 Christ's own disciples (Matt, Luke 24 : 11, 25) : 2). + 5). ¥7 : 17 ; LESSON SURROUNDINGS, The present lesson follows immediate- ly the last one; nothing is recorded as intervening. The place was Kadesh; the time was in the second year of the wanderings in the wilderness, probably early in Pep- tember (comp. Num. 13 : 20, 25). Vacation for Working Girls. It has been jestingly sakd that vaca- tion presents a trying problem to work- ingwomnen, If they spend enough money on clothes to dress suitably when away from bome, they may not have enough ieft for the expenses of the journey. On the other hand, if they renounce fine feathers in favor of rail- road fares and board bills, they are like- ly to suffer mortification from the shab- biness of their personal appearance, Perhaps, however, this kmet which refuses to be untied may be summarily cut by the decision that it is possible to be shabby and happy at the same time. Summer should properly be the period of care-free leisure, wherein mind and | body store up strength for the coming | year: not a season for advertising toa | more prosperous world the fact that even working girls can queen it on hotel piazzas and at seaside hops. | Two saleswoinen were recently heard | discussing a common friend in a lull of | business, “She's got a white nun’s veiling and {a Jovely summer sik,” said one. | “They're to wear in the evening; and | then she’s got a white embroidered | muslin for sitting on the hotel piazza { in the morning.” “W here's the money coming from to | pay for *em?”’ inquired the other, some- what skeptically. “Oh, she saves up all through the | year for her vacation. 11's the only | time she can appear like other folks, | she says, and so she just looks forward | to making a great spread, She tnes to | go to some place where nobody ll know | ber, and pretends she doesn’t work for | a living. She’s made lois of acyuaint- | ances that dropped her afterward, when | they found out she was a saleslady.” | Shades of our honest forefathers! | Has our petty pride come to such a | pass that we are ashamed of earning | our bread, or of the manner of occupa- | tion that feeds us? Even if that be so, | it must be a soul of unusual smaliness which can find compensation for a lack | of social pleasures throughout the year | in a sort of cheap masquerade during { the summer. i “Go where you please for your vaca- | tion,”” one would like to say to all working girls, but choose a place where you can be honest as well as gay. It is not only foolish to ape the dress and manners of wealth. It is dangerous, implying, as such a course does, a pro- gramine of daily deceit.” AAI sas To Guess the Speed of Trains ——————— There is not one person in 100 of the millions who travel on railroads in the course of a year who has any idea of the speed of a train. A large per cent. of even the regular trainmen of the country cannot tell with any degree of accura~ how fast a train is running. Frequently engineers are dispatched on a trip over a line of railroad with in- structions to run at a speed of a certain pumber of miles an hour. The engi- neers do not carry a speed indicator, but have amed by various methods to gauge their engines 50 as to make only the slightest variation from their orders, The majority of engineers use their driving wheel as a gauge. They know its circumference, and by counting its revolutions within a certain time can tell very accurately the speed at which Another method is five wires are used, are they are thirty to the mile. If only a single wire is ured they are from twenty-five to twenty-eight to a mile. The most accurate method, and the most in use by e railroad is to count the number of rail over in twenty all oases
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