®he Crufw gmcrr.it BELLEF ON T E, PA. Ths Largest,Chsapest and Bast Paper PUBLISH Kit lit CKNTKK COUNT*. Prom tbs Nw York Ol>*ri>r. INTERNATIONAL LESSONS. Fourth Quarter. ■T SB*. HEXBT M. OBOI'T, D. B. DKCEMIIKK 11. Losaon 11. Tho Last Days of Mosoa. DBCTBSOJiost 32 Mt—fii Ooutss TtxrSo t*ch tu to uumtwr our ilajrc, ht we nujf apply our ht-sru tint# —PttJim* 00 :12. Central Truth : —The severity and goodness of God. The Israelites are still on the cast side of Jordon, where the children of Reuben and Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh have now already been as signed their portion of the promised inheritance. The rest are soon to pass over to the good land beyond. Aud a good land it was. Toward it their eves had often turned with long ing ami hope. It is easy to believe that now there was exulting in many breasts. And yet tin ir joy had ii*ud mixture of sorrow. One of their num ber was to be left behind. Their ac tual entrance upon the promised land was to be preceded by the death of their leader. On one memorable occa sion Moses had sinned u sin, the pen alty of which was that, though he might be permitted to see the land, he could never enter it. To them he must now bid farewell. The end of any wise and good man might be a profitable as well as iutcr estingstudy. It will certainly do us good to tract; some of the last things in the earthly life of such a mail as Moses. 1. We here get a glimpse of his last work. It is not an uncommon thing to find one's ruling pa-dun strong in death. I'ride, avarice and unibition do not relax their grasp as worldly and selfish men grow old and approach the end. The life of Moses hud been one of disinterested devotion to the welfare of God's people. For their sakes he surrendered the richis of Egypt, endured the hardships of the wilderness wanderings, nmi gave up every merely personal interest. It i said he "was very meek;" but the word so rendered rather signifies "much-en during," or "disinterested." This was his spirit, aud this was his work. And he was deep in this work to the very last. He is teaching and admonish ing the people ; not planning and do ing for himself. Who would not pre fer to be fouud by the Messenger of Death in the midst of such work ? Our Saviour said : "Blessed is that servant whom his lord, when he Mu,- eth, shall find so doing." * 2. We have here the record of his la*t counsel. A man's last words are ! likely to be sober and sincere. He may be trusted in the face of death to speak j his deepest thought. Moses had seen more than have most men of any age of every side of life. He iiad lived in a palace and in the desert. He had known what it was to enjoy luxury and wealth. He xvas learned in the best human wisdom. He kuew every side of this world ; lie understood the human heart; he had studied the ways of providence; he had great acquain tance with God. Just now he has been rehearsing to them the laws of God; and has added to words of religi ous instruction and admonition a "great prophetic hymn," setting forth the perfections nnd luithfulue.-s* of God. And what is bis very last coun sel? It is that the people should "set their hearts" upon these things, that is should give them serious and habitual attention. Moreover they are to "com mend their children to observe them," accounting this to be the very best lega cy one can leave behind to those he loves. And they are to do all this a a matter of the most serious conse quence —a matter of death and life, of earthly profit as well as divine favor: "It is not a vain thing; it is your life!" It is well worth noiiug that this is the final and soberest judgment of a wise and great and good man. 3. Further on we learn something of his Uut ejrpcrienrr with tin. The testimony to the obedience and faith fulness of Moses, in both the Old Tes tament and the New, is very remark able. He is "the man of God." "There arose not a prophet in Israel like unto Moses whom the Lord kunn face to face." "Moses verily wax faith ful." But he was no exception to the saying that "Ail have sinned." Just what his sin was is not made entirely clear in the record of it. It was a sin of mingled pride, unbelief and tiosuh mission (Numbers 20:10-12.) It was confessed, and no doubt forgiven. Many years had elapsed since it was committed. But now the noteworthy thing is that it meets him again ou his dying day. He has not yet done with iU effects. It keeps him out of tho promised land, lie has prayed that God will so far forget it as to suffer him to accompany the people he loves to the place of their final victories and rest: "I pray thee, let me go over and see the good land that is beyond Jor dan, that goodly mountain and Leba non," But God does not bear the re quett. Tber • L something touching in all this. Mose* was great in prayer; his intensions often prevailed lor oth erenter, hi# wheel wright, hi# bricklayer; in short, all of the great field of labor wa# fillet! by the slave, which at the North gives employment and profit to your labor ing classes. The overseer class, and the other men of Virginia who had not the wealth of the planter, but who had their familes of sons to provide for, were at this further disadvantage, that they could not provide the necessary education to make lawyer#, doctors, and preacher# even of a part of them, so all had to leave the Btate. But, gentlemen, all is now changed. We have a Btate abounding in all of the resources which capital and labor united most develope into enormous wealth. You and many other citizen# of the North and West bring your ca pital here, and invite our voung men men to stay at home, and they will stay, because they see employment be fore them, and have something to look forward to in the profits of their indus try. In the name not only of - Rich mond, but in the name of Virginia, and especially on behalf of the labor ing classes of this Btate, I extend you a cordial welcome. It is as sincere as our declaration made in 1861, when you came with arm# in your hand#, and we promised you hospitable graves. I appeal to the efforts made in the war to make good that declaration as a guarantee of the earnestness and hon esty with which we now oiler yon our hands and a place in our hearts. TRACKKBT's house in Kensington Palace Gardens, London, has just been sold. This fine mansion possesses more than the interest which ordinarily at taches to the dwelling places of distin guished men, for it was not only lived in, but built, by Thackery. It is of red brick, and, as befitted the limner of Queen Anne manners, is built in the style which has been so generously na med after that monarch. The house is leasehold under ihe crown, and the ground rent amounts to £125 per an num. Until recently it was occupied by Mr. Joseph Bravo, the father of the victim of the Balhara tragedy. THK key that winds up many a man's business is whiskey. A HIUNIFICANT ADMISSION. A rRZB RELIGIONIST AfIANOONB lII# PREACH ING. MR. rROTHINGUAM ON CURIBTIANITV. S. y. Indepoiidfut. The Rev. (). 11. Frothinghatn wo# for a long while the leading represen tative in thi# country of free religiou# thought and for year# the president of the Free Religiou# Association. Two year# ago he resigned hi# pastorate in this city and weut to Europe. .Since hi# return he has been residing in Bos ton, engaged in literary work and does not intend to go hack to the pulpit. The Evening I'out publishes a remar kable interview with him, which show# that he recognize# the growing strength of Christian faith in the world, and i# himself retreating from hi# radical ground. We give briefly an abstract of Mr. Frothinghain'# views. After speaking of the personal kindness he met from several evengelica) preachers, he says that hi# work here as a preacher was full of discouragements, lie could see that he was doing good to a large con gregation of intelligent men, in show ing thein how a man could do without some of the beliefs often held essential to righ living ; hut he could not see that any successors were rising to take his place. Mr. Chad wick might he mentioned, hut hi# apjx-ar# to be a neg ative faith, with which he has no sym pathy. Then he found that, a# a radi cal lecturer, he wa* brought into re lations with radicals whose nonsense he despised. The free-thought lea ders wero destroyers, not builders. They were running iuto a dead mate rialism which he abhorred, aud there was no limit to their destructive mania. At the same time, "Evangelical relig ion was stronger, the churches were better filled, there was more of the re ligious spirit abroad," than when be began his work, twenty year# before. Here we quote an important para graph, which perfectly accords with our own observation : "As to the fact that revealed relig ion, as we called it, is stronger to-day than it was twenty years ago I have no doubt. It i# stronger here and in Europe, notwithstanding the much talked-of German materialism; and ! the religion of to-day is all the strong ior than that of twenty years ago, in that it is throwing of the Mere | lions of ignorance nnd present* : fewer feature* incompatible with go<#l < sense and charity, Looking back | over the last tweoty years, no careful | student of such matters can deny thi* i healthful prow*#, and 1, who have I stood aloof from all revealed religion ; during that time, cauoot but acknowl edge that its opponent* have made no headway whatever." There has been thi# amelioration in Orthodoxy, let who will deny it; and with it we have been in the fullest sympathy, holding in constant view the end of making revealed religion the stronger by the operation. But Mr. Frothingbam goes on to speak of hit own personal convictions, lie says that he could not now consei. entiously take up the work he laid down. He confesses that he is becom ing more conservative in faith or, at U-ast, less assured to his radicalism. He say#: "1 am unsettled in my own mind concerning matters about which 1 wn not in doubt ten or even five years ago, hut I doubt more. And yet Ido not know that I regret my past work here, for there is much that needs to be re formed about all systems of revealed religion, even admitting the founda tion to be sound. Poisonous vims and parasites need to be torn away from the trunk of truth. Neither would I say 'stop' to the scientist bent on prob ing religion to the core. Truth cau do no harm. But looking back over the the history of the last ceutu ry, with the conviction that no head way whatever has been made, with the convictiou that unbridled free thought only leads tea dreary negation, called materialism, there has been a growing suspirion in me that there might be somethitig behind or below what we call revealed religion of which the scientific thinkers of our time are be ginning vaguely to distinguish as an influence that caonot be accounted for at present, but which, nevertheless, exists. I said a moment ago let sci entific investigation go on, by all means. Not only it can do no harm, but I am sure that the further it goes the more clearly will scientific men re cognise a power not yet defined, but distinctly felt by some of the ablest of them. This question has presented itself to me many times in the last few years. What is the power behind these ignorant men who find dignity and comfort in religion t Last sum mer, when in Rome, I was much in terested in observing the behavior of the Roman clergy. Not the men high in power and steeped in diplomacy and intrigue, hut the working men of the church —the pariah priests, who went about among the people as spiritual helpers and almoner*. I talked with many of these men, and found them to be ignorant, unambitious, and su perstitions; and yet there was a pow er behind them which must mystify philosophers. What is this power ? 1 cannot undertake to my; but it is there, and it may be that thorn person# who deny the essential truths of revealed religion are all wrong. At any rate, I, for one, do not care to go on deny ing the existence of such a force. "To my old friends and followers, who may feel grieved at such an ad miassion on my part, I would say that ' I am no more a bolicver&in revealed religion to >ns the litte ones asked about their departed mother, Thcv were told that she was laid in the ground ; that she had gone to hea ven. One morning Henry was found with great zeal iu the earth un der his sister Catharine's window. What are you doing ? he wa asked. "Wy, I'm going to heaven to find ma," said he, thinking that the way mother weut was through the earth in which she had been laid. In due time a second mother was brought into the parsonage in the per son ot Miss Harriet Porter, a cousin of the first one. Mrs. Stone says; "1 was about six years obi, and slept in the nursery with two younger brothers. We kuew that father had gone somewhere on a journey, and therefore the sound of a bustle or dis turbance in the house more easily awoke us. We heard father's voice iu the entry and started up in our lit tle beds, crying out as be entered our room, 'Why here's pa!' A cheerful voice called out from behind him, 'And here's ma !' A beautiful lady, very fair, with bright blue eyes, and soft auburn hair, hound round with a black velvet bandeau, came into the room, smiliug, eager, and happv, look ing, and coming to our beds, kissed us and told us that she loved little chil dren, and that she would be our moth er. Never did mother-in-law make a happier or sweeter impression. She seemed to us so fair, so delicate, so ele gant that we were almost afraid to go near her. We must have lieen rough, red cheeked, country children, honest, obedient and bashful. I remember I used to feel breezy, rough, and rude in her presence." The new mother entered her new home with mingled feelings of pleasure and solicitude. Bho had never seen so inaov rosv r.beeks and laughing eves. The little ones were in great glee, save the oldest, Catharine, who was moved to tears. They soon learn ed to love hrr tenderly. The Litch field people were all on tiptoe to see the minister's new wife. When she came to church the following Sunday, •he says: "I felt some agitation on entering the door to see every body seated, and had I known all, Idon't know but I should have fallen down in the way. for William says the people all turned rouod, and the scholars and ail In the galleries rose up." You can't cut yonr corns with a bi cycle.—Boston Bulletin. No; but you can bark your shins and bruise your corn, and that hurts as bad as cut ting it. ' ' *<•> THE nOCXCiXO BlttO*. From Bismarch comes the story that the passengers on a recent train from Yellowstone had an experience exceed* ingly ran-. When about two miles from Hentiiipl Butte, the dividing line between Montana and Dakota, a herd of sixteen buffalo were seen a abort dis tance ahead, within easy rifle range. There were several soldiers ou board with army rifles, and numerous small revolvers were also pointed at the ex cited bison. A |erfect volley of lead was poured into the herd, but to no ef fect. They bounded away over the divide, and were soon out of sight. The passenger* had no sooner begun a dis cussion of what they had seen in years gone by than a danger signal from the locomotive brought every one to the lookout. A herd of twenty or thirty buffaloes were making directly for the train, and, fearing the engine would strike them and te thrown from the track, the air brakes were set aud the train nearly brought to a standstill, while the buffalo crossed the track a few feet ahead. Kvery gun was agaiu leveled. Kueh excitement cannot be described. Bullets flew in every direc tion, some striking the ground a* near as ten feet from the train, others rais ing the dust a mile distant The train moved on slowly, ami the volley of lead continued to |>our from the guua of the excited passenger*. Finally the smoke cleared away, and the buffaloes could be seen about half a mile off, trotting along as unconcerned as though they hail never wen a railroad train. The disgusted travelers drew in their weapons and spent the ret of the day arguing a* to the probable amount of lead a buffalo will carry be fore he will weaken. Pictures of rail road trains pas-ing through herds of buffalo are numerous, hut the actual experience is one of which the passen gers may feel prond. Thev we-e (trie bably hut straggliug bands from the main herd, which is forty or fifty miles north of the track. From Sentinel Butte east to Pb-asaut Valley (Dick inson) at least .>OO antelope were seen, which iiTa daily fccurrcnce. Verily the North Pacific is the sportsman * paradise. Death of Sapercsrro Iturksrl, who liroapht A boat a Historical Huttle. Tina llw Ph.l4.l|4ii ftn. Valentine iinrkart, a veteran of the war of 1812, died on Tuesday week in IMth year of his age, at No. -128 Arch street. His death occurred in the verv same room, and within a few feet of the same s|H>t, where he had been married sixty-six years before. The old soldier was the sole survivor of a company of the Washington Guards commanded by Captain Ilequet, and stationed during the war wtth Great Britain at Chester and New Castle. The deceased was bora in Philadel phia, and after receiving the best edu cational advantages in those days, he wa placed by his parents in the ship ping and commission bouse of Willing A Francis, then a widely known firm among the shipping interests. The young man was quick to leara, meth odical and intelligent, and so fully gained the esteem of his employers that, at the age of twenty-one, he was given the responsible position of su percargo on the ship Slargaret, and sent oo a crusae to Lisbon. On the return passage the Margaret encoun tered the British man-of-war Guer riere, and was boarded by her, much to the surprise of the officers and crew of the Margaret, who were unaware (hat war had been declare*l between the two couutries. Mr. Burkart was always of the opinion that the Guer riere, also, did not know that hostili ties bad been begun, for the Margaret was simply searched for contraband goods, and then permitted to continue her course. She put into Halifax, Nova Scotia, for water, and there learned that war had been declared. The young scapegrace at once made inquiries as to whether there were any American war vessels near, and was overjoyed to find that the famous old Constitution was in port. To her commander, Captain Isaac Hull, he told of the meeting with the Guer riere, and described as closelv as he could her possible location. The Con stitution set sail on the 16th of Aug ust, 1812, and encountered the enemy three days later. The famous hattle and the speedy defeat of the British "terror of the seas" that followed are facta well known to every schoolboy. The passport carried by Mr. Burkart, which entitled him to admission to foreign ports, is still preserved by the family, and is in itself a reminder of noe of Philadelphia's oldest families. It is drawn up in an old-fashioned, clerkly hand, and signed in bold char acters by Clement Biddle, notary pub lie. After the young supercargo return ed to Philadelphia, be gave up his po sition and enlisted in Captain Roquet's company. After peace bad been de clared, be came home to find both of his former employers dead. He ob tained a position in the Farmer*' and Mechanics' bank as runner, and held it for sixty years, resigning a few yeans ago on acount of his age. He was a remarkably healthy man, and never employed a physician during his life time. " He never lost a tooth by de cay. and had a gkwey head of brown hair on the day of bis death. Mr. Burkart had been a communicant at St. John's Lutheran church for aeveo ty-five years, and was largely respected among a large class of business men for his sterling integrity, and contin uous faithfulness to duty.