I CHRISTIAN VIEW OF DEATH Rev. Dr. Talmage Sayi About 1870 Easter Mornings Have Wakened the Earth. Tb Cbirji t tht Black Oliat Root at , the King ol Terrors. f WAsmnOTOif, D. C. The Christian iew of death a the entrance to a fuller life is presented in this Easter discourse ty Dr. Talmage from the text I Cor. xv, 04, "Death is swallowed up in rietory." About 1870 Easter mornings hare wakened the earth. In France for three centuries the almanacs made the year begin at East er until Charles IX. made the year begin at January 1. In the Tower of London there is a royal pay roll of Edward I., on which there is an entry of eighteen pence far 400 colored and pictured eggs, with which the people sported. In Russia slaves were fed ana alms were distributed on Easter. Ecclesiastical councils met in Pontus, in Oaul, in Rome, in Achaia, to decide the particular day and after a con Jtrovenjf more animated than gracious de cided it, and now through all Christen dom in some way the first Sunday after the full moon which happens upon or next fter March 21 is tilled with Easter rejoic ing. i The royal court of the Sabbaths is made tip of fifty-two. Fifty-one are princes in (the royal household, but Easter is queen, (she wears richer diadem, she sways a more jeweled scepter, and m her smile na tions are irradiated. How welcome she is jwhen, after a harsh winter and late spring, she teems to step out of the snowbank rather than the conservatory, to come out of the north instead of the south, out of the arctio rather than the tropics, dis mounting from the icy equinox, but wel come this queenly day, holding high in her right hand the wrenched off bolt of Christ's sepulchcr, and holding high in her left band the key to all the cemeteries in Chris tendom. I -My text is an ejaculation. It is spun out bf halleluiahs. Paul wrote right on in his argument about the resurrection, and ob served all the laws of logic, but when ho 'came to writo the words of the text his fingers and his pen and the parchment on which he wrote took fire, ana he cried out, "Death is swallowed up in victory!" It is an exciting thing to see an army routed end flying. They run each other down. They scatter everything valuable in the track. Unwheeled artillery; hoof of horse on breast of wounded and dying man. lYou have read of the French falling back from Sedan, of Napoleon's track of 90,000 corpses in the snowbanks of Russia, of the retreat of our armies from Manassas or of the five kings tumbling over the rocks of Beth horan with their armies while the hailstorms of heaven and the swords of Joshua's host struck them with their fury. I In my text is a worse discomfiture. It eems that a black giant proposed to con quer the earth. He gathered for his host all the aches and pains and malarias and cancers and distempers and epidemics of the ages. He marched them down, drill ing them in the northwest wind and amid .the slush of tempests. He threw up barri cades of grave mound. He pitched tent of charnal house. Some of the troops marched with slow tread commanded by I consumptions, some in double quick com manded by pueumonias. Some he took by long besiegement of evil habit and some .by one stroke of the battleaxe of casualty. IfWith bony hand he pounded at the back door of hospitals and sickrooms and won all the victories in all the great battlefields of all the five continents. Forward, march! ordered the conqueror of conquer ors, and all the generals and commanders-in-chief and all presidents and kings and sultans and czars dropped under the feet of his war charger. But one Christmas night his antagonist was born. I f As most of the plagues and sicknesses and despotisms come out of the east, it .was appropriate that the new conqueror should come out of the same quarter. Power is given Him to awaken all the fallen of all the centuries and of all lands and marshal them against the black giant. (Fields have already been won, but the lost day of the world's existence will see the 'decisive battle. When Christ shall lead forth His two brigades,, the brigade of the risen dead and the brigade of the celestial ,2ioBt, the black giant will fall back, and ,the brigade from the riven sepulchers will jtake him from beneath, and the brigade of descending immortals will take him from above, and death shall be swallowed up in .victory". The old braggart that threatened the Conquest and demolition of the planet has iost his throne, has lost his scepter, has lost his palace, has lost his prestige, and ,the one word written over all the gates of mausoleum and catacomb and necropolis, on cenotaph and sarcophagus, on the lone ly khan of the arctic explorer and on the catafalque of great cathedral, written in capitals of azaha and calla lilly, written in musical cadence, written in doxology of great assemblages, written on the sculp tured door of the family vault, is "Vic tory." Coronal word, embannered word, apocalyptic word, chief word of triumphal arch under which conquerors return. Victory! Word Bhouted at Cullodcn and Balaklava and Blenheim, at Megiddo and Solferino, at Marathon, where the Athen ians drove back the Medes; at Poitiers, where Charles Martel broke the ranks of the Saracens; at Salamis, where Themis tocles in the great sea fight confounded the Persians, and at the door of the eastern cavern of chiseled rock, where Christ came out through a recess and throttled the king of terrors and put him back in the niche from which the celestial Conqueror had just emerged. Aha! When the jaws of the eastern mausoleum took down the black giant "death was swallowed up m .victory." I proclaim the abolition of death. ' The old antagonist is driven back into mythology with all the lore about Stygian ferry and Charon with oar and boat. Mel rose abbey and Kenilworth castle are no more in ruins than is the senulcher. We shall have no more to do with death than .we have with the cloakroom at a govern or s or a president's levee. We stop at such cloakroom and leave in clmrge of a servant our overcoat, our overshoes, oui outward apparel, that we may not be im peded in the brilliant round of the draw ing room. Well, my friends, when we go out of this world we are going to a King' banquet and to a reception of momirchs, and at the door of the tomb we leave the cloak of flesh and the wrappings with which we meet the storms of this world. At the close of an earthly reception, under the brus.'i and broom of the portc-, the coat or hat may be handed to vi better than when we resigned it, and the cloak of humanity will finally be ret-rned to ui improved and brightened and purified and glorified. You and I do not want our bodies re turned as they are now. We want to get rid of all their weaknesses and all their susceptibilities to fatigue and all their slowness of locomotion. We want them put through a chemistry of soil and heat and cold and changing seasons, out of which God will reconstruct them as much bettor than they are now as the body of the rosiest and healthiest child that bounds over the lawn in Central I'ark is better than the sickest patient in Bullevue hospi tal. But as to our soul, we will cross right over, not waiting for obsequies, independ ent of obituary, into a state in every way better, with wider room and velocities be yond computation, the dullest of us into companionship with the very beet spirits in their very best mood, in the vory parlor of the universe, the four walls burnished and paneled and pictured and glorified with all the splendors that the infinite God in all the ages has been a'u'.o to inv.u. Vic tory ! This view, of course, makes it of but little importance whether we ore cre mated or sepultured.- If the latter is dust to dust, the former is ashes to ashes. If any preler incineration, let them have it without cavil or protest. The world may become so crowded that cremation may be universally adopted by law as well as by general consent. Many of the mightiest und best BpiriU have gone through this process. Thousands and tens of thousands of God's children have been cremated P. 1. Bliss and wile, the evangelistic singers, cremated by accident at Ashtabula bridge; John Itodgers, cremated by persecution; Laiimer and Kidlcy, cremated at Oxford; l'othinus and Blandina, u slave, and Alex eJer. o physiciun. and their comrades 6rematcd at trie order of Marcus Aure: lius; at lesst a hundred thousand of Christ's disciples cremated, snd there can be no doubt about the resurrection of their bodies. 1 If the world lasts as much longer as it has thus far, there perhaps may be no room for the large acreage set apart for resting places, but there is plenty of room yet, and the race need not pass that bridgo of fire until it comes to it. The most of us prefer the old way. But whether out of natural disintegration or cremation we shall get that luminous, buoyant, glsdsome, transcendent, magnificent, inexplicable structure called the resurrection body. You will have it; I will have it. Ever and anon there are instances of men tnd women entranced. A trance is death followed by resurrection after a few days; total suspension of mental power and vol antary action. Rev. William Tennent, a treat evangelist of the last generation, of whom Dr. Archibald Alexander, a man '!ar from being sentimental, wrote in most tulogistio terms Rev. William Tenncnt teemed to die. His spirit apparently left the body. People came-in dav after day nd said, "He is dead, he is dead." But ',he soul that fled returned, snd Will Ten sent lived to write what he had seen while it soul was gone. It may be found some time that what is tailed suspended animation or comatose itate is brief death, giving the soul an ex wrsion into the next world, from which t comes back, a furlough of a few hours ranted from the conflict of life to which ,t must return. Do not this waking up of ncn from trance and this waking up of in tects from winter lifclessnrss, and this making up of grains buried 2000 years ago nake it easier for you to believe that your ody and mine after the vacation of the jrave shall rouse and rally, though there )e 3000 years between our'last breath and :he sounding of the arehangelic reveille? Physiologists tell us that while tho most )f our bodies are built with such wonder ill economy that we can spare nothing, nu the loss of a finger is a hinderment, .nd the injury of a toe joint makes us lame, itill that we have two or three useless hysical apparatuses, and no anatomist or ihysiologist has ever been able to tell what ;hey are good for. They may be tho oundation of the resurrection body, worth lothing to us in this state to be indispen lably valuable in the next state. The Jewish rabbis and the scientists of our lay have found out that there are two or ;hree superfluities of body that are some thing gloriously suggestive of another state. I called at my friend's house one sum mer day. I found the yard all piled up frith the rubbish of carpenter's and ma ion's work. The door was off. The plumbers had torn up tho floor. The roof was being lifted in cupola. All the pic tures were gone, and the paper hangers were doing their work. All the modern Improvements wcro being introduced into 'hat dwelling. There was not a room in the house lit to live in at that time, al though a month before when I visited that house everything was so beautiful 1 :ould not have suggested an improvement. My friend had gone with his family to the Holy Land, expecting to come back at the nd of six months, when the building was to be done. And, oh, what was his joy when at the end of six months he returned ind found the old house had been en larged and improved and glorified. That ti your body. It looks well now all the rooms filled with health, and we could hardly make a " suggestion. But after iwhihc your soul will go to the Holy Land, nd while you are gone the old house of (our tabernacle will be entirely recon ducted from cellar to attic, and every nerve, muscle and bone and tissue and ar tery must be hauled over, and tho old itructure will be burnished and adorned iml raised and cupolacd and enlarged, and ill the improvements of heaven intro duced, and you will move into it on resur rection day. "For we know that if our iarthly house of this tabernacle were dia lolved we have a building of God, a house lot made with hands, eternal in the hcav ins." Oh, what a day when body and soul meet sgainl They are very fond of each other. Did your body ever have a pain and your loul not pity it, or your body have a joy snd your soul not re-ocho it, or, changing the question, did your soul ever have any trouble and your body not sympa thize with it, growing wan and weak un der the depressing influence? Or did your soul ever have a gladness but your body celebrated it with kindled eye and cheek nd elastic step? Surely God never intend ed two such good friends to be very long separated. And so when the world's Inst Easter morning shall come the soul will descend, crying, "Where is my body?" And the body will ascend, saying, -Where is my soul? And the Lord of the resurrection will bring them together, and it will be a perfect soul in a perfect body, introduced by a perfect Christ into a perfect heaven. Victory! Do you wonder that on Easter day we swathe our churches with garlands? Do you wonder we celebrate it with the most consecrated voice of song that we can in vite, with the deftest fingers on organ end cornet and with doxologies that beat theso arches with the billows of sound as the Bea smites the basalt at Giant's Causeway? Only the bad disapprove of the resurrec tion. A cruel heathen warrior heard Mr. Mof fatt, the missionary, preach about the resurrection, and he said to the mission ary, "Will my father rise in the last day?' "Yes," said the missionary. "Will all the dead in battle rise?" said the cruel chieftain. "Vcs," said the missionary. Then said the warrior: "Let nie hear no more ubout tho resurrection. There can be no resurrection; there shall be no res urrection. I havo slain thousands in bat tle. Will they rise?" Ah, there will be more to rise on that day than those whose crimes have never been repented of will want to see! But for all others who al lowed Christ to be their pardon and their life und their resurrection it will be a day of victory. The thunders of the last day will be the salvo that greets you into harbor. The lightnings will be only the torches of tri umphal procession marching down to es cort you home. The burning worlds flash ing through immensity will be the rockets celebrating your coronation on thrones where you will reign forever and forever and forever. Where is denth? What have wo to do with death? As your reunited body and soul swing off from this planet on that luHt day you will see deep gashes all up and down the hills, deep gashes all through the valleys, and they will be the emptied graves, they will be the aban doned sepulchers, with rough ground tossed on each side of them, and slabs will lie uneven on the rent hillocks, and there .vill be fallen monuments and cenotaphs, and then for the first time you will appre ciate the full exhilaration of the text, "Death is swallowed up in victory," Copyright, Wu, L. Klopich. 1 Mew Use for An Ice-breaker. "The attempt to reach the north pole with a Russian lce-broaklng vessel has been abandoned," remarked Tenter I hook. , "I didn't know that such an attempt ; bad been made," said Hammersmith. "That's because you don't keep up. This happened some time ago." "Then that's the reason. I knew of It at the time, doubtless, but dismissed It from my mind. You see, Tenter hook," Hammersmith went on, "my mind Is not like yours, a receptacle tor all sorts of unimportant information It's you who don't keep up, not I. For got a few things." "Much obliged, I'm sure, for your kind words. But It seems a ylty that a vessel of great crunching power should fall to do tha work expected of It." 'Oh, that's all right. The ship will ellll be of use." "How?" "In winter It can keep the Ico In ons of tho Russian harbors pounded up, and In summr It can be used to break off tho final jagged syllable of Russian proper names." THE SABBATH SCHOOL International Lesson April f. Comments Tor Subject: Saul ( Tarsus Converted, Acts Ix., 1-20 Ooldea Text: Acts II!.. 19 Mem. ory Verses, 3-5 Commentary oa the Day's Lessor 1. "And." "But."-R. V. The "but" marks the contrast between the mission ary teal of Philip, and the persecuting teal of Saul. One is inflamed by hatred, the other inspired by love. "Saul." The tamo as mcn.ioned in the story of Stephen. His name in Hebrew was Saul, his Roman name was Paul. "Yet." Up to this mo ment his blind, persecuting rage against the disciples of the Lord burned as fiercely as ever. "Breathing out threatening. '' Persisted in persecuting the disciples with increasing violence, as if he could not breathe without uttering threatenings against them, or would, if able, have slain them with the breath of his lips. "Unto the high priest." "Being a zealous volun teer in the service he devised plans for fully exterminating the religion of Jesus, and was ready to carry tham into execu tion to the utmost of his ability." 2. "Damascus." This is the oldest city in the world, situated ubout one hundred and forty miles northeast of Jerusalem. 3. "Suddenly." About noon (chap. 22: C); nt midday (chap. 2C: I'M. when the sun was shining so there could be no de ception. "Light." It was "above the brightness of the sun." Chap. 20: 13. It was in tho midst of this glory that Christ was seen by Saul (1 Cor. 13: 8), so that he could enumerate himself nmong those who had beheld the Lord after Ilia resur rection. 4. "Fell to the earth." The whole com pany fell to the earth. Chap. 28: 14. "Heard a voice." In the Hebrew tongue. The voice was clear and distinct to Saul, but to those with him it was only a mys terious sound. (Seo on v. 7.). "Why per secutest thou Me?" Canst thou give any good reason for it? Must I afresh bo cru cified by thee? Those who persecute the saints persecute Christ Himself, and He takes what is done against them as done unto Himself. C. "Who art Thou?" Jesus knew Saul before Saul knew Jesus. "Lord." Used to denote respect for some unknown august person. "1 am Jesus." He takes the name which was the object of Jewish hate. Thy enmity is against Me and My religion. He whom you persecute is the Lord of lifo and glory, not simply poor, fugitive disci ples. "It is hard, etc. This clause and the first part of v. 0 are omitted from the Revised Version, but they belong to the account for Paul himself utters them in chap. 20: 14. "Kick against the pricks." Or goads; ns stubborn oxen did, thus wounding themselves the more deeply. 6. "Trembling," etc. A true description of a sinner who neon the wickedness of his heart. "What wilt Thou." etc. Convinced that he had persecuted Christ, and that his religious views and character were wrong, he submits himself to the will of Him who had arrested him in his blind career, with the consent that he would be obedient to all His directions, j, "Arise." Until now he had continued prostrate on the ground. "Go." Into Damascus, to be instructed by one whom he was on his way to destroy. 7. "Hearing a voice." In chap. 22: 0 we are told that thoso with Paul "heard not the words." What is meant is clearly that they did not hear the words ns words could attach no meaning to the sound. We say that a voice is not heard, or that we do not hear him, when, though we hear his voice, he speaks so low or indistinctly that we do not understand him. 8. "Saw no man." "Saw nothing." R. V. The dazzling brightness of the light had made him totally blind. This blind ness was, no doubt, mercifully intended by Providence to give hira an opportunity to attend to the great matter of his soul's salvation. 9. "Neither did eat," etc. The Mental anguith for a time overpowered the natural craving for food. 10. "Ananias." We know nothing of this man except what we find in. this lesson and in chap. 22: 12. He was a devout man, in good report among the Jews, was in communication with the brethren at Jerusalem, and was trusted by them. "In t vision." Saul was prepared for the visit by a vision, and by a vision Ananias is to'd to go to him. 11. "Straight." Main thoroughfare of Damascus; so-called from its running in a direct line from the eastern to the western gate. It was a mile long, a hundred feet Vide, and divided by Corinthian columns Into three avenues. "He prayeth." 'Breathing out" no longer "threatenings frd slaughter," but struggling desires after It, ' and light in the persecuted One. 13. "Have heard," etc. This hesitancy n the part of Ananias to visit Saul does not prove that he was either fearful or in clined to disobedience. He was merely ex ercising due care; he desired to be sure about the matter. "Thy saints." Tho Christian converts were probably called "saints," that is, "holy persons," at a very early period after the death of Chrisc because of the marvelous outpourings of the Spirit upon the first converts. IS. "Go." This brief, expressive word of tho Lord (1) demands implicit obedi ence. (2) puts the doubts of a weak fnith to shame. (3) contains a promise of the Lord's aid and blessing. A chosen ves sel." One. whom in view of his fitness as a man. Jesus had chosen for a great mis sion. This, however, implies neither any impossibility that ho would disobey His call, nor any eternal predestination to sal' vation. God chose and appointed Saul be cause Saul chose the Lord. 10. 'Ho must suffer." Compare Paul's own words in chap. 20: 23. See also chap. 14: 10; 2 Cor. 11: 23-28. 17. "Ananias went." How beautifully childlike is the obedience of Ananias to the heavenly vision. "Brother Saul." Knowing that the Lord hadj chosen Saul tj a sacred office. Ananias felt a great ro sncct for him and an interest in his salva tion. 18. "As it had been scales." There is a difference of opinion as to whether literal scales fell from his eye. There is no ques tion, however, but that the restoration of his sight was supernatural. The nature of the injury we cannot determine, but it is certain that the recovery was instanta neous and complete. "Arose baptized." Prom this we see that he was immediately baptized before he hail received meat. IB. "Meat." Food. "Certain days." TIow long is not known. It might havo been for some months, as he did not go to Jerualsem until three years from this time. He remained some time at Damas cus, then went to Arabia and returned again to Damascus, and then went to Je rusalem. 20. "Straightway." Immediately. "Preached Christ." He proclaimed that Jeaus was the Christ. .V. 22. Tales ot Lord Rustell. ' The story ot the late bishop of Lon don's time-saving greeting to the sup pliant clergy who came to him, "Good morning; what do you want? No!" has its follow In a formula, the late lord chief Justice of England used to a junior: "Stand up, speak up, shut up." Dut Lord Russell of Klllowen was: not always so brutally frank. He ' tem pered the wind to the shorn lamb. Justice Walton, who was associated with him, says he cunnot remember ever to have received from bis leader a reproach expressed In violent lan guage. When once or twice he was caught napping, by Lord Russell the worst he had to hear was, "Oh, I thought you were taking a note," or "Oh, I see, you have something else to do." And that was quite enough. Kollgluu (Services Are Short. The Prussian prayer book enjoins that the whole of the servlco, includ ing the sermon, shall not last above one hour. CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR TOPICS. April 6 "drowlnf la Qrsce" 2 Peter III 17. IS; I Peter It I, 2; Eph. Iv. 12-15. Scrlirture Verses. John xll. 24; xv. t, 6; 2 Cor. Ix. 8-11; xll. 7-10; Eph. vl. 11; Col. ill. 10; 1 Tim. Iv. 15; 2 Tim. 111. 1C, 17; Heb. II. 1, 2; Iv. 10; xll. 11. Lesson Thoughts. Fruits and flowers thrive only un der the proper conditions of soil and mositure and sunshine; men grow physically strong only by observing correct hygonic rules of exercise and diet; and we cannot expect to grow In grace except as we feed upon the Word and dally oxerctso the grace we have. We are always krowlng. either "unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." or In the like ness of sin. These growths are In opposite directions, and each advance In the one takes us so much farther from the other. Which way are you growing? Selections. 'Faith, If It have not works. Is dead in itself." The believer lives and grows In power by exercise. Wo are not If we do not. "His servants ye ore whom ye obey." Spiritual power is cumulative. The engineer does not wait for the gauge to Indi cate a head beforo taking hla engine out on the road. He knows the steam will rise ns the locomotive speeds with Its train along tho sing ing rails. The pleasure of human friendship does not roach Its height the moment one has made the acquaintance of the friend; the same Is true of fellow ship with Christ nnd his followers. The Bible may have given knowl edge of sin and of the promise of forgiveness and help; but that has not exhausted Its depth. There aro virtues to be cultivated, weak points to be strengthened, victories to - be won over besetting sin. Tho Chris tian life Is a constant addition. Suggested Hymns. Blessed Savior, ever nearer. Nothing but leaves. Nearer, my God, to thee. More love to thee, O Chrlat. More of Jesus. As lives the flower within the seed. EPW0RTH LEAGUE MEETINO TOPICS April 6 "Growing In Grace" 2 Pet. III. 17, 18; I Pet. II. I, 2; Eph. Iv. 12-15. Nothing but llfo can grow. Tho iccret Is with the Almighty. He Is ;he goal of all growth. Mere expan- Jlon Is not growth. To grow we must live. And to live we must continue to ?row. if we cease to grow we shall begin to die. Growth is God's method of developing life. Like life Itself, It Is mysterious. It Is not an open secret to the superficial observer. Getting Into position to grow may require ef fort. Hut the growing itself Is spon taneous. It Is the involuntary out blossoming of the Inner forces of life. Life does not happen to enlarge It sslf. Given certain precedent condi tions, and growth Is a necessity. There Is a law of growth for the soul. Mere Inflation is abnormal. All real growth 19 normal. It follows the path of law. Proper Nutriment Is Essential to Orowth. Truth Is soul-food. It must bo got from far. The word of God is the food of the soul. Jesus declared that "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that pro ceedeth out of the mouth ot God." Peter tells us In our lesson that we are to have a longing desire for the word. He likens the word to "milk." That Is the natural food for the body. Dy that he tells us that the word is the natural food for the soul. On the sea of life the Christian who does not know bis Bible Js sure to "run aground" and suffer shipwreck. The Christian must be informed. Otherwise he will be handicapped In his work. He will suffer Irreparable Iom. The word of God Is profitable for instruction. There Is no other book so Inspiriting as the Bible. It shows the silver lining of every cloud of human trouble In the darkest hour its music strikes the high notes of hope. No maMer how fierce the con flict, It never loses sight of the great Leader and Conqueror. No matter how dark the night of sorow, it holds aloft the torch of eternal truth. . We need to grow in the grace of mercy. It is the tenderest exerciso of love. Mercy, of all qualities, Is 11k est God. It Is heaven's breath of balm on this bruised and buffeted world. Ministry like unto Christ's ought to be ours. In his eagerness to house others rrom the pelting storms of misery he went about homeless, and with no place to pillow his head. Let that spirit take possession of human so ciety, and the millennium will break In X till bloom over the world ere long. RAM'S HORN BLASTS. HE happy home finds Its echo in heaven. It takes a great man to lead a small army. God's presence makes the great church. When a man really is religious he never gets over it. Our weakness is the secret of our strength with htm. If Christ is the power ot life He will also be its product. Information does not make an edu cation without Inspiration. God does not give an explanation with every demonstration. The greatest University is the home where the youth sits and learns at the feet of Jesus.: Saints are not fattened on grain from the devil's fields. Our credit In religion depends on our debits to God. He who parleys with principle Is pre paring for perdition. Conviction of sin leads to the con sciousness of the Savior. Stolen thunder never brings down showers of blessings. Better to be God's little child than the world's greatest man. The place Is prepared for the roan who Is prepared for the place. Tho wealth of tho world depends on the value of the man and not on his possessions. It Is a good Idea to have some every day virtues In your possession before you pretend to have any uncom mon ones. The true Holy ot Holies Is the Christ-ln-dwelt heart. When God Is In our clouds they be come, our protectors. GOD'S MESSAGE TO MAN PREGNANT THOUCHTS FROM THE WORLD'S CREATEST PROPHETS. Peeim A Beiuitlfnl Hope The Drifting ItabltIt firings In Its Train Unrest or Mind. Irresnonslveness to Duty nnd f rids of Opinion. Every dsy is a fresh beginning ftvery morn IS tne woria maue new. Vou who are weary of sorrow and sinning, Here is a beautiful hope for you, A , , J L .. A bope for ms and a hope for yo Susan Co loolidge. Don't Drift. Fifty rears nan n small schooner was launched at Gloucester, Mass., which for forty summers did good service as a nulling smack off the Atlantic coast. Latterly t ie craft was used in the coasting trade, me other day the schooner, says the Sun. was drifting along in a flat calm in renooscoi Buy, when "suddenly almost every seam and butt appeared to open, and tne an cient little craft "went down so quickly that her crew had barely time to escape in their roat." According to the skipper the craft "dissolved." It was a case of a nauti cal one-lions shay. The interest of this incident, however, lies largely in the fact that it was this schooner the Amy Knight, which figured in Kipling's "Captain Courageous.'' as a craft that was always breaking adrift an erratic and undcpendablc member of the fishing fleet. In the loss of the Amy Knight disappears tho last of sonic twenty historic little vessels mentioned in Kip ling's story. The fisher folk of Maine, it is true claim that Kipling was wrong in his estimate of the qualities of this boat. Nevertheless, the whole story suggests a moral. There are people who may lie likened to boats always breaking adntt. lliey never slay out ipng. They never tie un to unything, and one cannot tic up to them. This tendency to drift is observable in the peaceful affairs of life, and is also illus trated in the realm of theories and beliofs. Certain people never can be depended upon to do any ono thing long. They shirk re sponsibilities, civil, social or religious, or it they assume them Boon tire of the work and prove unfaithful to the trust. There nro men of whom it will never do to make trustees of anything under the sun, for, however much of confidence is reposed in them, they will surely sooner or later de sert their first charge in "favor of some newer attraction. Many of the accidents or losses which are reported in tho papers are attributable to the lack of fiduciary in stinct and interest on the part of individ uals who have never learned the important lesson of remaining at the post of duty un til relieved by higher authority. There is also not a little drifting to be observed in the sphere of theory and, be lief. Many people do not know what they believe two hours running. Their theories, like the divine mercies, are new everv morning and fresh every evening. To such a settled creed is like a black buoy some thing from which to steer away. This tendency to drift, when persisted in for awhile, readily becomes an almost un controllable habit. That was the trouble, according to Kipling, with the Amy Knight she would break away from her moorings. Unrest of mind, impatience of control, irrc sponsiveness to duty, eagerness for novelty, pride ot opinion, all these trames ana lev-, ers, if allowed to run their course will in evitably wreck tho usefulness of the most promising life. Nothing is ever gained by drifting over the tossing waters of life's mysterious sea. The soul of man cannot afford to be a mere derelict upon the ocean. There nre voyages to be sailed and ports to be made, under prescribed laws of navigation. If chart ana compass pro vided by God's Word and Spirit are dis regarded, dire disaster will result. The soul that allows the spirit of unrest so to possess it as to wrest it from all safe moor ings and to sweep it rudderless out to sea, will end at last as did the Gloucester craft in sudden and irretrievable ruin. Beware of the first tendency to drift. Cultivate the habit not of nervous Bcurrying atter novelty, but of careful and constant at tention to truth, and to the practical re' sponsibilitics which spring from its accept' ance. In order that your lifo may be sue cessful, steady it. New York Observer. The Line of Power. It takes a great deal of courage simply to be yoflrseli, and yet to be yourself is ths line of power. Ve are all the time thinking that if we act and speak or feel as others do we shall be right, but once in a while, in a moment of illumination, it conies over us that we are not just like any one else, and that we have to act and think and feel according to our own na ture. The grace of God is not designed to make all Christians alike. It is designed to liberate and purify the personality, not to adjust it to a mold that some good u' has set. The Only Choice. We have the choice before us day by day, of doing as God would have us do, or of failing or refusing to do as God would have us do. The choice is ours, in tha plan of God, and wo cannot avoid or evade the choice, however wo may desire to do so. As to this lifo of ours, with its impera tive necessity of choice, Henry Ward Bcecher said: "God asks no man whether he will accept life. You must take it; the only choice is how." Sunday-School Times. The 1)1. 1 no Mystery. When the light of the Christ comes to men, even there is mystery, and that mys tery is the very joy of lifo. It is fashion able to ask for the doing away of mystery in religion and in God's revelation, but to the end of the world there will be a my tery, growing and deepening, of how Jesus Christ lifts me from death to life, from darkness to light. Kev. Dr. N. K. Wood, President Newton Theological Institute, Newton, Mass., Baptist. The Old, Old Hook. If asked what a man should chiefly look to as the power that is to sustain him un der trials, nnd enable him to confront his inevitable ufllietious, I must point him to something which in a well-known hymn is called "the old, old story," told in an old, old book, and taught with an old, old teaching, which is the greatest and het gift ever given to mankind. W. K. Clad tone. Wherein Wlnloin Lies, Half of the wisdom is in settiug a limit upon our desires. Half of the wisdom lie in the spirit and temper of the old stoics, and nil of the wisdom lies in believing that if a man lives in such a way as to increase his own happiness and nt 'the same time the happiness of the greatest manlier of his fellow beings he has fulfilled the highest end of life. Kev. Dr. J. K. KaLeits, Kan sas City. Kiieplng Silence. Do you know what I.uther said? "Suf fer and be still and tell no man thy sor row; trust in God His help will not fail thee." This is what scripture culls keep ing silence before God. To talk much of one's sorrow makes one weak, but to tell one's sorrows to Him who hesreth in se cret makes one strong and calm. Tho luck. Forijet Itvarets, Break away from morbid regret. Seize the present opportunity. Life is an eternal opportunity. Kev. William S. Jones, Ran dolph, Muss. No man Is so apt to fall as he who Is ovcr-anxlous to rise. To keep Christ In the heart Is to keep in the heart of Christ. It's poor policy to take your gun to pieces In the face of the enemy. The great man may be sometimes mean but the mean man can never be great. The difference between Judaism and Christianity is that between law and life. He does little to promote the King dom who Is always anxious about his wn promotion. DEATH Of A ROYAL ANT. for Fourteen Tears Sue Was Cared For by Sir John Lnbboek. Sir John Lubbock, the distinguished aaturallst, succeeded In preserving two int queens of Formica Fusca to a great age, one of these having reached the vast antiquity of over fourteen years. Her longevity was due to the careful protection extended by Sir John nnd lis attendants; for it Is true of emmet terds, as well as domestic animals, that they thrive under human protection. As I greeted Sir John one morning. In response to an Invitation to breakfast with him and some ot his friends, I In quired ot once about the health of his ancient queen, writes Dr. II. C. Mo Cook. "Alas! doctor." he replied, "I have sad news. My old queen Is dead." "Deadr" I exclaimed; "that is sad news. Indeed. When did she die?" "Only last night," was the response, "and I have not yet told even my wife nbout It, for I dure sny she will feel as badly over the loss as I do." Perhaps this may seem trivial to the ordinary lay mind; but to Sir John nnd to the writer It was a nintter of some moment, for it ended one of the most interesting experiments ns to the pro longed life of Invertebrate creatures Hint the world has ever kuown. "May I see the queen?" I asked. "Yes; she Is Just here In the adjoin ing room." Turning aside from the waiting com- pnny of eminent persons who were to sit with us nt breakfast, we went to see the deud queen. She was In olio of the chambers or open spaces exca vated by the workers within oue of tho artificial formicaries which Sir John had provided. She lay on her back, with her six legs turned upward, nnd bent In the rigor of death. A crowd f workers surrounded her. Some were licking her, as though In loving care of her toilet. One would nip nu antenna, another a leg, und thus by various so licitations they sought to mouse her. It was curious, nnd touching as well, to watch their methods of expressing their manifest emotion. "They have not yet accepted the fact," said Sir John, "that their queen Is really dead. Indeed, I doubt If they are fully persuaded thereof. They have been surrounding her, nnd trying to get some response from her ever since she died." And thus It wns still when we left tho royal death room. New York Independent. rerlshable Cariosities." In Mexico the billing of railroad freight requires n knowledge nnd pre cision which can only be attained by yenrs of practice. This is due to the peculiar classification of vnrious ar ticles and tho different rates of cus toms duties. A case recently occurred which severely taxed the Ingenuity of the statton-ngent, although lie final ly succeeded in meeting nil require ments. The town was overrun with tramps, and the couucll determined that steps must be, taken to rid the city of them. It was finally decided to round them up and ship them out of the country. It would be too expensive to purebnso tickets, so they concluded to hire stock' cars and ship their tramps as freight. The cars were procured and by the aid of the police the tramps were gnth ered; but then the question nrose as to how the shipment should be designated on the bill of lading. The terra "persons" could not tie used, as It -would conflict with the State law relative to proper accommo datious for the traveling public, and It would also be In violation of the com nany's rules governing the rates of passenger traffic. "Marketable com modifies" would not do, ns that would subject the carload to a heavy duty upon crossing the tariff zone. Again they would have to be classified as "perishable," or the despatcher might order the" cars side-tracked along tho line. But fortunately there Is a customs law which exempts certain kinds of curiosities from duty, nnd so, after much consideration, the tramps were billed nnd forwarded as so many hun dredweight of "perishable curiosities unfit to ent." ; A Hplnnlns; Ghost. , On the post-road In southern New Hampshire stands on old house which was once famous for Its ghost. It had been a tavern, owned and mnnnged by two brothers and two sisters named Mason. Tho youngest of the fnmlly, Hnnnnh, hod been Jilted in her youth. After her desertion she never entered any door snve that of her own home, but gave nil her strength to hard work. She would bntchel flnx for weeks, spin unceasingly nnd weave on a band-loom, without apparently n thought of rest. She died after u short illness, nnd still travelers said that their slumbers were disturbed by the whir of the wheel. Soou It wns whispered about that the Muson house was haunted. Strange sounds were heard from the garret, where Iliuintih hud always worked, and plainest of all was the hum of the great wool wheel. The brothers heard the story, nnd ot once set out to solve the mystery. Joseph went to the garret nnd watched. After a time the wheel be gun to revolve, lie struck a light. Ou the rim of the whet was n great rut, running around. Freiiuent visits to the garret ren dered this rat so tame tlmt be would come out on the npluulug-vheel by dny light, and several others were occa sloualiy seen to take a spin In the wheel, as If it were a pleasant recrea tlon. Youth's Conipauiou. A Giant Uaobab. There Is a baobab-tree near Dakar, In Lower Senegal, whose trunk mens tires seventy-five feet in clroumfer once. This species of tree grows ubund nutly there, and Its fruit Is UBed tot many purposes. The natives curdle milk with It, and use It us a specific for certain diseases. Decoctions of tiie dried leaves aro also used ns a medi cine. Strontr cords are made of the bork, und the gum that exude from the tree Is used as a salve. The natives sometimes eat the roots or tha young tree. AH of which furnishes nnothet Illustration of the provision that na turo has made for man, and of tho cer tainty with which man discovers it souoer or later. TP GREAT DESTROYER ABOUT tniKV STARTLING rsm W H S kl THE VICE Or INTEWirtWAnvE. Chaplain Monro, of ihnTnnis, ZLZ - we City, Tells How the - Devil's Torn-The Bond to Bala Promising Yoangj Vollof) Mmm. I l - A.rmA more than ones how" snv man who is familiar with tb u- II n V fl nwuuvav . . . . , .1.. In thia eitv can say one worn M . L aalnn tlMllillStion. SHS0O) aeieneo vi """y" ; T it has become a. weii nnown gin mills make the criminals. JJ" the tirst yesr oi m .i . ..A tr, have been 223 canon tnU i Hw. Nine-tenths oi UUHMViuv i" .." " ; . . . ., . . I can be charged, directly ra ismnnir, w strong drink; not to speak of several ' thrwi sand coses of felonious aseanii, Tg hnrl.n irranrt larcenv ana WKmwm v other crimes that can be laid at tho aoor .1 .v.. . m mill, it is niao n ikm that often under the same roof tho "Uoose,, fosters the brothel, the gsmonng neu, tmm dive and the poolroom. J I cite here only s tew cases irom mj www nersonal experience showing the nvacosl tf tha u nnn rtiinnff tne nui lew puiuuv. ltnt !, am nnlv a tithe oi I no caara a tnnt in mv work anions: criminate. They;! show that all classes ot tne community an, affected more or less by this monstrouej system. I A snort time ago s young man, a pol lute of one of the leading JSew r.ngiams colleges, was found on the street helpkanljr. drunk. An ammiiance was canea ana vim case diagnosed by the doctor as alroholisml His fond parents had given this yontit; man a classical and legal training. It cost: thein a mnnll fortune to do so. During tha ix years which he spent within the wailat of a Connecticut university he, unknown to them, lived a dissipated life. It wan sv, .!,.. ...'.niinfi. tlwiv mnrln II TI fl tnnm' DMl,llHt niniu.i ii iiiij . ently, it was too late to apply any remedy.! He had formed drinking habits at eoHepr with chums who were wild young men bkejj himself, un tne uay oi nis Krauuaiion n was a full Hedged confirmed arunaam: He promised his people that ne wouia farm, hut this is alwavs easier said tl ,i His nromises were made only to broken. They found a position for him a large law farm in this city. Mere ne dissipated, irreligiom, companions like nlf Ho drank tv-itA them to exceso. his noaition and soon became a homeless nrnififfnl Ha tried to secure emDloymenl elsewhere, but nobody would have bimU The last few months of his downward enj reer he played rag music on an old pianos nightly in a Tenderloin gin mill and nanee hall for "drinks" and ten cents for lodging; ticket. After his arrest he was sent to jai for a brief time and then to the city fcospiW tal for treatment. He was a physical, men tal and moral wreck. Strong drink hat ruined him. All that was left of him warn a wasted life and a ruined character. The only prospect he had for eternity wns it drunkard's hell. J Do you ask how he became a drunlcardK I will tell you. I He began drinking cider In his father!, cellar. His father and mother eoanten anced this in the old homestesd. Thejt saw nothing wrong in it. After a whiles the boy began to drink cider like hie) father. Many a pitcher of cider he etolei out of the cellar and drank with tho hiredt man. He formed a love for strong drink, anil during his college years his appetite ivW creased beyond his control till be became! a drunkard. How potent is the example of a parcaV for good or evil. There is a young man in Sing Sing prison) at the present time serving a twelvo-yoasi sentence for a awful crime committett while in a state of beastly intoxications How did he become a drunkard? 1 That boy's father was a drunkard, aodf many a time he came home to his wife andf children in a helpless condition. Whoa) the boy was eighteen years of age ho wast a drunkard also. He followed in his fathJ er's footsteps. He thought if his fathet could get drunk he had the same .right, and he did so. Chaplain Munro, of tho) Tombs Prison, New ork City. Plain Talk to British Worknae ' Few men would dare to talk to i meeting of workingmen as John Burns i himself a workingman talked to (ma inl London recently. His speech ia being tm printed all around the Knglish-speakinaj world, and -seems to condense in a font forceful sentences more just criticism and sound advice than have been given to tb British "working classes" in a long time. "Think more and drink leas," was hi advice to the tenants of the densely packed! East End district. "Drinking, betting mndt gambling have got to be put down?' ho told them, or the British working people) would never rise above their present con ditions. "Is slavery still in your blood? he asked. "If not, why, with an once whelming majority of votes in your hands, did you send only tea members to too House of Commons?" "Three out of five in this room," eaidf Burns, "will, before they die, land in the) workhouse or some kindred institution,' His hearers murmured at this, but ha i minded them that it was only "tho colt statistical fact." "Faithful," indeed, "are the wounds of a frieud. Kew York World. Worst Kind of Idloeyt It is becoming fashionable these days fat speak of the bright side of the modern sa. loon, where the toiler can refresh himself, get a cheap lunch with a glass of beer OB use the lavatory if he wishes. We havo had occasion several times on tours of m- vestigation to visit saloons and found Out atmosphere to be putrid with profanity, sour beer and rude jokes. To call the gin null a workingman s club is the worst kind of idiocy, the proper name for such place is hell-hole. It is proper to call tho saloons workingmen'e clubs if you qualify your language. They are clubs UBed to beat out the brains of those who patronias them. They are the toilers' deadliest foes and always have been. Do you for a moment doubt this? VisiE our police courts on Sunday morning, or indeed any morning, and see the scores of men and women with broken and bruiaedf heads, the result of a few hours spent in . city gin mill the so-called "workingman.' club! Cluse the Saloons. ' One of the first acts of Mavor ninch clitie, of I'aterson, on the breaking out of the disastrous tire that laid a large portion of that city in ashes, was to issue an order to the police to close the saloons, and that, order was promptly olicyed, and be it re membered that Mayor Hiuehcliffe is at brewer. If the saloon is the "poor man'a club," why order it closed at such a time,, when hundreds of poor men are rendered? homeless by the destruction of their houses? Over 200 dwellings were burned. -Temperance Banner. . ' The Growing- llrlnk Trade ot Keg-land. The revenue from drink has increase J from $175,000,000 in 18W) to $215,000,000 in 11X11, while during lute years there has been a marked consolidation of breweries. In. IK.S'2 there were 13,741 breweries and iat 1901 but 6110. Continuous Performance In Hate, The liquor traffic is America's moC deadly foe, aays a New York prison chap lain. I hate the trafhc from the crown of my head to the sole of my feet. 1 halo it when I get up in the morning; 1 hat is when I go to bed at night; 1 hate it oat Sundays und despise it on Mondays. ' Captured by Whisky. A German paper tells the story of a tier man olticer, who, in command of tuns Boers, managed to surprise a Britwh train. ut some small wsysiue station. There waa some excellent whisky on board, an the Boers soon sampled it. with the n suit that the good British spirit did itn duty by laying them out fast asleep on ther pialloim. Here tliey were found and ean tured by some Knglish troops, who, in their turn, took a little from a hulf-eutnLv rank- J with the result that acting on hslt-stsrvett : moo, me wnisxy sent mem to s.eep in their turn. When the Uoer woke up thy recaptured thoir uupturers, and thus in c few hour ther was one Kritisu victor and two Boer victories added to the reeoj.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers