r k V' Si "THE EVER PRESENT GOD" K Strong Sunday Sermon By lbs Rtv. Dr. Lyman Abbott. fee deal Toward Which the Transition at Theology Should Lead Hi. Bnooki.yx, N. V. The Key. Dr. T.y.nan Abbott occupied the pulpit in the Church of the Pilgrims Sund.iv morning in tlie ab sence of the pastor, the llev. T)r. 11. 1'. Pewey. Dr. Lyman Abbott's subject was, ''The Kvcr Present God," and he took fur his text, Itnmans, x:8-78: "Hut the right eousness which in of faith speaketh on this wise: sav not in thy heart who shall as tend into heaven (tliat is, to bring Christ down from above) or, who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ aaain from the dead), but what saitli it? The word is nigh thee, it is in thy mnutli nd in thy heart; that is, the Word of faith which we preach." He said: The "word" in the New Testament means, God speaking. A friend sits by your side in absent-minded meditation, and speech reveals the soul of man. 80 the word of Cod reveals the unknown Ood to us. We have not to go to the depths to find the manifestation of God it all about us and within us. We are all fa miliar with the statement that we are fassing through a transition in theology, f it were only a transition in theology it would not disturb us much. We could leave the theologians to study the theology of the future for themselves. But it is also a transition in religious experience. I am ure that the older members of this con gregation can trace in their lives, more or less, a change, not simply in their intellect tial opinions of religion, but in their really vital religious experience. We used to think, in our boyhood, of God as King Bitting on the Great White Throne, with the angels gathered about Him and singing to Him. He was far awav. We sent our prayers up to Him by a kind of spiritual wireless telegraphy, asking for things, and ometimes He would give us those tilings and sometimes He would not. But this was our experience of prayer, and that was our notion of the answer to praver: and this faraway God, sitting on the Great White Throne, had revealed Himself to men through the Bible and through the Christ. It was a great historic revelation, and we went back, more or less conscious of that revelation of the faraway Cod in the faraway historic time, and we went to that Bible to find out what it told us re apecting God's law. of what was required of tis, and the things with respect to God's grace, what He would do for us, and with many of us that experience hns not changed. The picture of the great King has grown dim and indistinct, or disap peared altogether, and remains, if it re mains at all, as a recognized picture and not a reality. And that Chrirt, who seems to us a mediator between God and man, a revelation of the faraway God, has also grown faraway. That ia, we have come to recognize that He is a great his toric figure, and we are, more or less, per-, plexed as to what His revelation ia of the faraway God. and what His relation to it is, and our prayers have changed and our. conception of the Bible has changed, and we can no longer take a text out of the) Bible and rest upon it 09 a final and abso-1 lute authority. If we try, perhaps some' suce-ed and some fall. i What I do want this morning ft to point out. not what ha9 taken place, but to' indicate the goal toward which this transi-' tion should lead us; what is the Promised Land toward which we should look; what; is the religious experience we may hopel for in the future to take the place of thin religious experience of the past, that has! grown dim and indistinct and which is only! hali believed. In the first place, I am sure' tha- while we have been undergoing this' change, forces without the church have been bringing to us a larger, if a vaguer,1 conception of God. God does not work only through the church; He does not; apeak only through the preacher. Religion I is not a spiritual conduit through which the water of life is brought down to man. The grace of God does not cone -in par ticular channels of grace alone. The Bible! yya it falls like a gentle rain. It is univer-j 1. and we may look outside the church ' and among the forces that we have con-1 aidered forces for skepticism, for the forces, which are giving us a more indefinite idea of religion and, I think, n nearer view of , God. I am not going to try to Btate the1 reason. I am only stating the fact. Her. bert Spencer hns summed up in a single sentence what he thinks ia the result of scientific investigation and experience. "Amid all the mysteries by which we are surrounded nothing is more certain than that we are ever in the presence of Eternal r.iurey, irom which ail these things pro- 1 reed." What science has taught is this: Y 011 are not to go back to creative days to find God, though in some period God launched the world and put His children 1 here and intervening now and then in spe- I cial necessity; you a - not to think of God I that way; you are to think of God as the eternal energy here. Yes, as ever in the presence of the eternnl energy always I creating, always controlling in the growth ! of every flower and in the perfume, in the j flight of every bird. Science sat that God is not remote. . He is here, and you can go out into the ! j'rospect rark this afternoon and find Hi?n in the brown trees, beneath the ground, and in the hidden life that next spring is to burst forth; for God is life, and there is no explanation for any of the phenomena of life except in the indwelling of the Eternal. If we turn from science to literature we find a much closer and more sacred and truer and diviner interpreta tion of the change that is ooming over the thoughts of men. The poi'ts are all pro phets. They tell us beforehand what is the fate that by and by we shall come to. I.t me read one auch interpretation. It is from Tennyson: "The sun, the moon, the stars, the sea, the hills and the flowers, are not these, O, soul, the vision of Hini who reigns? "Dark is the world to thee; thvself art the reason why. For is He not all but that which has power to feel, I am I? . ''(?.Ior' fbo",t thee w'h'n thee, and thou fulfillest thy doom. "Making Him broken gleams, and a stifled splendor and gloom. "Speak to Him, thou, for He hears, and , spirit with spirit can meet. Closer is He than breathing, and nearer than hands and feet." The universal presence, universal com munion, in the hearts of men, as it was in the heart of Moses; in the hearts of wea ried souls, as in the heart of David when he wrote the Twenty-third Pealm; in the hearts of disconsolate souls, as in the heart of Isaiah; in the hearts of men now as in the hearts of men then a living Eresence. We are not to ascend into the eavens to bring Him down from a great white throne, but to look within. Id thine heart thou shalt find Him. "This is the gospel of faith," says St. Paul, "that we preach unto you." And so with prayer. It comes in our expenence-just this: Spirit with spirit meeting, spirit with spirit talking. Not the going after something, thouwh it may be that, out the receiving something, pre eminent communion, fellowship, compan ionship. It is this conception, into which some of us have come unwillingly; into which some of us have drifted, we do not know how; into which some nave grown gradually and some with a wrench from which we have not recovered this concep tion of the 'universal presence which might perhaps have tt effect of a denial t the personality of God were it not for the message of Christianity and that mes sage we undertake to couth in accurate tksological phraseology. Because we do need a personification ot the Eternal, be cause we must have some image that we can see, some conception that we tan grasp, some humanized thought, that we make Him of stone, we make Him up in our imagination. And after all, whether that image hangs on the wall, or ia pic tured in stone, or is simnly engraved on our bruin, it ia still an idol, a something that stands for reality. God savs, "I am too great, too infinite, eternal for you o define or gram. The agnostic i right in saying, 'You do not know Him:' but in or der that vou may know Him I will corns and dwell among men and fill one human life full nf Mvself. end through .that life you shall interpret Me, You may thus obtain vnur desire for one you can taka by the hand, into whose eves vou can look Bud whom vou can cuninrohep;!." . " We are to see not only wnat God has none In the past, but what TTe-is always doing. Alwavs God was in Hi" work and He alwavs is in it. forgiving, pitying, help ing, feeding, comforting, strengthening. We do not know H. but Tie Is always here In the heart" end li'c of men, doin W He did in the past, still saying. to Nirodr. mint. "You need to be born again; to the Pharisee, "Woe unto you that devour widows houses:" to the weening sisters. "Thy brother Is not dead. There l jo dying"" to the penitent sinner, crushed by the memory of a wasted life. "Go in peace thy sins are forgiven thee." The hfe Christ did not "ton at the rro.. I will not that we lo at the cross ton much, but I will sav tlm1: we linve looked at the resurrection too little. Christ's is a con. tinuous life. That i what He means ir-n He savs. "I am with y-u alwn;. e must realir that T l here and now m the lives of men. My conception of the Bible has nndergone a gre.it chance and J eminot anv longer go to n text and snv, "That settles it." Shall I then jlmt I he Bible tin ond sav it is but a record nl r.n.t life? No. it is the revelation of the eternal life, the Interpretation of God in human experience, not only in the devout but alo In the undevout: not only in the believing, but in the skeptical. The Bible seems to me like a great orchestra of Inn men aj! olnvlng to express the mnsicil life thnf ( In the conductor. It Is God snenlting through the experiences of men. I believe that God is carrying ns through a transi tion time (all times are transition times), nd taking awav the idols upon which we rested, and whi"h we have counted tarred, in order that He may carry ns back to Himself: and that, if we take the exper ience of the past twenty centuries and un derstand the message it sends, its litera ture, history and religious life aright, we hall find it all explains these words of St. Paul: we are not to ascend into heaven to bring God out of the past, nor look to the future, but: we are to I00V about us and understand that H is still directing the destinv of nations and ourselves. We ore to look within us and know that the aspir Itiona, the desires, the dissatifa"tinn in , Mirselves, the longing for something hiohet nd better these are the voices of God. We was alwavs and always will be in His tvorld; and through the church and 'he Tilde and by the reve'ation nf Himself 'n the Christ. God manifest in the flesh. He is bringing us. not to the church, not to the Bih'.e. not to the mediator, but to Himself. He ever lives. He ever Indwells 'closer than breathing, nearer than hands or feet." Perfect snit Not Perfect. A little calm reflection and careful stud )t the Bible would relieve many persons sf needless perplexity in regard to the use f the tern perfection as appliei to the Christian. 1 Every true Christian is perfect in the lense of being a real Christian, and of hav ing all those things which are essential to ;onstitute him a Christian. If any part is lacking he is not a whole a perfect Christian. What these parts are wh;ch ire necessary to constitute one a perfect Christian it is not now my purpose to con lider. It is to the necessity of alt parts being present in order to the being of the real Christian that I call your attention. Take a young horse for an illustration. II :here is a foot missing, nn eye injured ot iny other part damaged or lacking, we !iuinot say it is a perfect horse. But if all ;he necessary parts ore there, although the inimal may be young and untrained, we lay it is perfect. But there is a perfection t has not reached. It is to grow, to learu, io develop and so go on unto perfection, Ct may live to reach a point beyond which It cannot grow or develop. It has reached its perfection. It was a perfect horse when it was young and small. It in a perfect horse, now it has reached its maturity 01 perfection. . The case is somewhat similar with the Christian. When the sinner believed with his heart and received the Holy Ghost he became a Christian. He had all the parts necessary and in this sense was complete or perfect. But he is young, weak, inims turn and needs to go on unto perfection. This perfection is before him in the person of the man Christ Jesus, and he at once commences to seek to be like Christ. All hia life long he may be developing and going n unto this perfection. Indeed, no one will reach a time or a place where he can say "I am so much like the Lord Jesus that there is no further room for me to advance. I have reached perfection." In order to see this matter more plainly it is necessary to remember J am not re ferring to the holiness of the Christiun, Whether he has just begun to be a Chris tian, or has been serving the Lord faith fully for many years and hns made much progress toward perfection, the true Chris tian is "cleansed from all sin," and having the Spirit of Christ, is holy in his character as God is holy. Holiness real personal holiness is an essential attribute of the Christian. Growing out of the above is also another fact which" must be borne in mind, and that is, the true Christian is ready to die at any time, and is just as much entitled, to a home among the redeemed in heaven if he die when just converted as when he may become very advanced. His title ond fitness rest in the fact of his relation to the atonement. "He that believeth hath life." He-read these plain words, kind reader, and see if they are not clear and true. Mav the Lord make them a blessing to you! A. T. Scott. tVlthholtllna- Judgment, . Why should we be harder on our friends than the law is on a suspected prisoner? Are not most of us quick to count a friend guilty until he is proved innocent? It mat ters not that our lifetime knowledgo has proved one's dependableness, and love, and good judgment; if something happens that we do not entirely underiiUiiid, our silent or outspoken condemnation ia likely to be instant, instead of withholding judg ment until all the evidence is in. It is hu miliating, a few hours or a few days later, to learn that, after all the friend was in nocent of the seeming carelessness, or un kindness, or wrong; but this does not pre vent the same qiiick condemnation the next time. He is a rare soul who keeps his poise of trust and love when he cannot understand. But it is fairer, and it makes life sweeter, to do so. Sunday-School I I tines. The Work That Endures. If we work upon marble, it will perish if we work upon brass, time will efface it; if we rear temples, they will crumble into dust, but if we work upon immortal minds, if we imbue them with principles, with the just fear of God and love of our fellow man, we engrave oil those tablets some thing that will brighten all eternity. Dan iel Webster. Tour Itesp'.nslbtlltjr, God holds you rcspu nible for your na ture plus your nurture, ior yourself plus your possibilities. M. 1'. Babcock. Source of Ivory Supply. During a recent visit to the London docks the queen of England was In formed that the stock of ivory then shown represented, on an average, the annual slaughter of some 20,000 African elephants. This statement hae baeu contradlctod. One importer states that at leant 85 per cent of the supply Is "dead Ivory," mainly obtained from hoarded stores of African chiefs, who are shrewd enough to put their com modifies on the market only In drib lets. The most Interesting part of the letter is, however, the statement that the gat bulk of this lmarded Ivory is c'otalned from "elephant cemeteries" spots met with here and there in tho Jungle, where elephants have resorted for ceuturlea to 'die. Much of tho Ivory that comes to the market may, therefore, according to this letter, be several hundred vears old. ' . ' Interesting, File of Almanacs. 1 Among the possessions of William 8. Boothby of Cornish. Me., Is a file o! the old Robert B. Thomas altuauao from 1811 to the preseut year. !TIII$SUNDAY; school. INTERNATIONAL LESSON COMMENTS 'OR JANUARY 15.' Bnl'.lrcti Jesna TVIna Ills First Disciple, John f., ,13-SI Oolilen Text, John I,,' 49 .Memory Verses, 40, 41 Comliieii. tarj an the Dot's Lesson, I. John directs two disciples to Jesus (vs. 35l). 35. "The next day." There were three days of testimony of John to Jesus: 1. To the deputation from the Sanhedrin (vs. lii-at). 2. l'ublicly, to the people (vs. W)?,). 3. Privately, to two disciples (vs. 33-37) . "John stood." "Was standing." . X. "Two of His disciples." AndiCiv (y. 40) and John, the aullior of this book, who modestly avoids using his own nam". 30. "And looking." 1 John fixed his eye upon Him, singling Him out and regarding Hun with special attention. "Behold the Lamb of God." (The It. V. puts a comma after behold; an interjection, not a verb). All the lambs hitherto offered had been furnished by men; this one was provided by God, as the only sullicient sucriliee for the sin of the world, liis words would be to them equivalent to a command to fol low him. How faithful John was in his office as forerunner! He did not think of his own honor or popularity, but, conscious that he must decrease, he is anxious to have his followers become true disciples of Christ. 37. "They followed Jesus." They un derstood John's meaning and immediately did as they were directed. It would be well if all would immediately follow Christ. We should follow Him as our Redeemer, Pattern, Guide and Shepherd. They may not have intended to leave John's leader ship permanently. 38. "Jesus turned." He was ready to give them a hearty wel come, "What seek ye?" What is your desire or request 1 Jesus knew they were seeking Him, for Ho knows all hearts, but He desired some expression from them. "Rabbi." A Jewish title of honor for men of learning, meaning "teacher, "master." Thus they at once recognized His super iority and their ignorance. "Where dwell est Thou?" "Where art Thou staying?'' He had no permanent place of abode in this locality. 39. "Come and ace." A kind invitation to them to go with Him to His place of abode. "The tenth hour." St. John was so impressed with the first interview with Jesus that lie remembered the hour. II. Several other disciples called (vs. 40-40). 40. "One was Andrew." A name of Greek origin signifying "man." He be longed to Bethsnida (v. 44), and was a disciple of John the Baptist. He resided afterward at Capernaum (Mark 1:29). The other was John, the writer of this account. "Peter's brother." And the elder of the two. The bestowment of this designation on Andrew shows that this gospel was written when Peter's name was widely recognized. 41. "He findeth lirst" (U. V.) It is supposed that at the same time Andrew went to find his brother Simon, John also went and found his brother James and brought him to Christ, but An drew found his brother first. This was a true missionary spirit. God's salvation is so good that those who experience His love are always anxious to bring others into the same holy relation. "Found the Mesxias." He speaks exultingiy. Aroused by John's fa ithful testimony concerning tho coming Messiah they were ready to receivo Him when they saw a few true marks of His Mesaiahship. "Being interpreted." Mes siaa is the Hebrew word ond Christ is its Greek interpretation. 42. "Brought him." Andrew thrice brings others to Jesus: 1. Simon. 2. The lad with the loaves (chap. 0:8, 0). 3. Certain Greeks (John 12:20-22). In these three incidents John gives the key to his character. "Beheld him." Jesus at once knew Simon better than Simon knew him self. "Cephas stone." Petros. or Peter, has the same meaning in Greek that Ce phas has in Syriac. The name was given him to describe his character, which was "stiff, hardy and resolute." Thenew name, referring to character, is a promise that lilfulneiM shall be changed to steadfastness. 43. "The day following." This, according to Farrar, was the fourth day after His return from the wilderness. Jesus started on His return to Galilee, and "on the jour ney fell in with another voung fisherman, Philip of Bethsaida." "Follow Me." This command, issued only by our Lord Him self, was addressed to but one outside the circle of the apostles, the rich young maa whom Jesus loved (Mark 10:21). 44. "Bethsaida." "The house of nets," nn called because inhabited by fishermen. There were two places by this name. 45. "Nathonael." Klsewhere called Bartholo mew. He lived at Cans in Galilee, where our Lord performed His first miracle. "Of whom Moaes and the prophets did write." See Gen. 3:15; 22:18; Deut. 18:18; Isa. 4:2; 7:14; Jer. 23:5; Kzek. 31:23; Dan. 9:24; Micah 5:2; Zcch. 6:12; Mai. 3:1. 40. "Good out of Nazareth." The question sprang from mere dread of mistake in a matter so vital. He knew that Bethle hem (Micah 5:2) and not Nazareth was to be the birthplace of the Messiah. It has usually been considered that His answer was proverbial, but it may merely have im plied. "Nazareth, that obscure ond ill-reputed town in its little, untrodden valley can anything good come from thence?" j Nathanael's objections arose from ignor ance. Come and see." The same reply given by Jesus (v. 39). Philip could not solve the difficulty, but be could show Na thanael how to get rid of it. 111. Christ's interview with Nathanael (vs. 47-51). 47. "No guile." The expres sion implies a true heart, a really convert ed man, a genuine son of Abraham by faith, as well as a son according to the flesh. 48. "Under the fig tree." The Jewish writers often speak of the sbada of the fig tree as the place of meditation and prayer. Probably it was in some such spot, secluded from the human eye of Jesus, that Nathanael won his title of Israelite, by prevailing praver with God. 49. "Thou art," etc. These words are the outburst of a heart convinced at once that Jesus waB the Messiah. We can hardly supnose that Nathanael c'.early un derstood the nature of Christ's kingdom at this time, but that he saw that Jesus was tue ennst we cannot doubt. 60. Greater things." Thou shalt sea far greater proofs of My divinity ond Messiah ship. 61. "Verily, verily' The double verily, used twenty-five times in this gospel and nowhere else, introduces truths of great importance. "Heaven open," etc. the ladder which Jacob saw (Gen. 28:12) was a symbol of the intercourse which would be opened between heaven and earth in the new dispensation. Prayers and holy intercession should ascend; blessings and holy communions, revela tions, miracles, powers and gifts of tho Holy Ghost should descend; blessings of which angels are but the messengers and symbols. "Son of Man." This expression is used about eighty time in the four gos pels by Christ of Himself as the MiaaiuU. Longest Pastorate on Record. To the Rev. Laban Alnsworth must In all probability be given credit for holding the longest pastorate, over one church and people that ever was known aeventy-slx and a half years. He was born July 15, 1757, la the little town of Woodstock, Connecticut, says a writer In Every Where. When just "of age," he was graduated al Dartmouth college then the reigning educational institution of America. A year later he was given a license to preach. Ills first charge was at Spencerport, N. Y., and lu 1871 he went to Jaffrey, N. H., where he commenced a pastor ato that for length and continued, steady effort, has uever been parallel ed ia the world. Wood Cut During Coal Strike. Tho Inst of the wood that the city cut several years ago around Wood ward pond and hp'ed loto Keene, N. II., at the Utile of Ue coal strike. Is now being burned at the fre station and at city hull. 1 JANUARY FIFTEENTH. "Am I My Brother's Keeper?" Gen. 4, 8-15. (A Temperance Topic). Scripture Verses. Lev. 19, 14; Jer. 1. 0; Luke 11, 52; 17. 1-2; Rom. 13, 10; 11:111, 21; 1 Cor. 9, 12; 10, 13. Lesson Thought. The Inws of tho state and the laws of simplest morality hold man respon Bible for bodily murder of, or physi cal Injury to his brother. What, then, iiuiKt be our accountability, before the perfect justice of God, for the spirit ual death of anybody? , Our responsibility for others doe? not cease when we have merely re fralned from doing them any positive Injury; It Is our duty also to go after those who have strayed, and actively seek to save those that are lost. Selections. Come, let us work for Jesus Hy fulth and earnest prayer. The wandering ones from Jesus Should claim our constant care. Then let us work for Jesus Before the sun goes down; We've hearts to win for Jesus Ere we can wear a crown. Inquire diligently what blood mort gage there Is on your property In the Interest of missions, how much you owe to the heathen because of what you owe to Chrtat for redeeming you with his precious blood. I warn you that It will go hard with you when your Lord comes to reckon with you If ho finds your health Invested In su perfluous luxuries, or hoarded up in needless accumulations. Instead of be ing sacredly devoted to giving the gospel to the lost. Amid the snares misfortune lays Unseen, beneath the steps of all, Blest Is the love that seeks to raise And stay and strengthen those who fall; Till, taught by Him who for our sake Hore every form of life's distress, With every passing year we make The sun of human sorrows less. The great problem Is not how to save the world, but how to persuade each Christian that it Is his business to be the means of saving some one man In the world. Let us reach Into our bosom For the key to other llve3. And with love toward erring nature, Cherish good that still survives; So that when our disrobed spirits Sour to realms of light above. We may say, "Dear Father, lovo (is, ISVn us we have shown our love." EPWDRTHTEAGUE LESSONS JANUARY FIFTEENTH. Am I My Brother's Keeper? Gen. 4. 8-13. The question of our lesson Is a live one. The hots ot evil In this world are seeking to obscure this Issue. They ask to be let alone. But we can not let them alone and maintain a clear conscience. The vices which prey upon society, the wrongs and In justice which obtain In tho world, must be overthrown, for we are re sponsible for them. As Alpine travel ers are bound together by ropes, so the members 01 society are bound to gether. We cannot escape if we would our share of blame for the evils per tniited. There may be a difference !n worthiness, but we have a relationship to the poor. We must give help when needed. We must remove the causes of poverty. Ya are to Insist upon justice In their treatment. And we are to give them ourselves, better than money or food. Paul taught the duty of Christian self-denlul for others. He would eat no meat if that made his brother stumble. This may be curried to fa natical extremes, hut the principle Is a true one. We ure to help the weak, not-scorn them. This prlnclplo up plied to all questionable things will settle them rightly. Shall I Indulge In Intoxicants? Shall I dance and play cards? Shall I attend the thea ter? Well, are you responsible for In fluence? Are you your brother's keeper? The law of the lesson will lead us to refuse to do many things because It will cause a weak brother to fall. We are here not to hinder. There are so many helpful things we can do. This whole trouble In the Industrial world Is from soma violation of the law of brotherhood. Why almost civ il war In Color -.do? Why strikes und violence In Chicago? Why niutteiings In the mines and factories north, east, south and west? The law of brother-' hood Is violated. "The Man with the Hoe" is oppressed. The tollers are burdened. Wrong on both sides, no doubt, but wrong because It Is the non recognition of this principle, that 1 am my brother's keeper. Every 'Upwoith Leaguer Is a broth er to every lost soul. Are you seek ing to save him? Do you reallzo that you are In some measure responsible for his soul ? Do you know that If you neglect duty his blood may bo on you? This is a season of opportunity. Are you tiHlng them lor the salvation of their souls? Vou are your brother's keeper. You are more. Vou are his brother. You ought lo help hlui and save him. Our duty hi not done when we simply do no harm. Ve are to be punitive factors for good. Look out for your brother. He is in danger. RAM'S HORN BLASTS HERE is no follow lowlng without for saking. Love is the secret ot learning. Prayer gives wluga to our wok. Faultless men are likely to be force less. Workers for God must be waiters on VS V'" God. T No true soul Is content to continue In doubt. The uhlnfluentlal man often has the most influence. No man's back ever breaks under the burdens of others. Songs of triumph are often for the conquered and the slain, A man's power on earth depends on his connection with Heaven! The devil never really hates us until we begin to love our enemies. Thoughtfulnesg doubles the value of a gift and often halves its tost. Christ's yoke Is built for two and so becomes a bond for Ultu and you. THE GREAT DESTROYER SOME STARTLING FACTS ABOUT THE VICE OF INTEMPERANCE. Tretolnllsin ami Longevity Fignret Which Ar nn t'nansweralile Argu ment, lit Favor of Total Ahstlnntice "oi the Hot and Longest I.Ives. We desire to call special attention to the following figures which this letter of Mr. Intlaker's to the editor of the Morning leader so strikingly set forth. They are an unanswerable nrgiiment in favor of to tal abstinence lor the best and longest lives: To the Kdilor of the Morning Leader: Sir- In your isuc of Niturdnv last Dr. f;elle llrnnctt is reported to have said: I challenge the ligures on which Mr. T. I'. Whit laker. 11. I'., base his statement that during the strenuous working period of lite n man's chances of longevity are forty per cent, uettcr if he is a teetotaler than ot licrwise. The ligmes referred to were those of the niortaiily experienced by the life oflice of which I have the honor to be the chairman anil managing director. They cover a pe riod ol Nixtv years, and thev deal with something like HO.iHiO lives, among which there were about 14.000 death. The records and statistic have been most accurately and carefully kept since 1S4I, under the wiipcrvision of some of the most eminent actuaries of their time, and have been circulated and widely discussed among the insurance authorities of Amer ica ami Australia. Dr. Iteiincti may. if ho chooses, chal lenge the conclusions which 1 draw from tluni. but when he challrnsca tlie fimir,. themselves (and he is the lirst man, as far as I am aware, to do so) he challenges iiKiires which are beyond dispute. These figures show the rate of mortality per rent, per annum among the abstainers and the non-abstuincis from the use of in- , toxicating liquors who have been assured in our lite oltice. Commenting on them I said: It will be observed that during the stren uous working years of manhood, from twenty-live to sixty years of age, the an nual mortality ratca among the abstainers were, on the average, forty per cent, lower than among the non-abstainers. That is an enormous difference. The figures upon which that remark was based are as follows: AHSTAINKRS AND N'OX-ABSTAIX-K1!S COMPAKKD. (Kxcluding lirst five yeirs of assurance.) Kxpcricnce lMtMUOl. Abstainers TnkltiT lion-Hut- of mortrlity 11101-tiility an 1 er i-nt. ier annum. In, th ah- Jr..' 2.5-20 K14 35-.H) ixui- sTaitirs' inor-AlistninBj-. AVsrniii rs. UHtvU-.5-!4 .ft:r 5S.2 .4"S 1 .mi fil.7 .47S1 .900 M.7 40-44 Ml 1.042 ,r.j,8 Ml 1.042 .784 1.402 1.004 1.7.i4 40-411 -784 1.402 BJ.9 iSO-M 1.004 1.7.14 U0.7 55-59 1.082 2.42.") H9.4 It will be interesting to know precisely what it is in those figures that Dr. licnnctt challenges. Yours, etc., TflOS. P. WIIITTAKKR. 13 Taviton Street, Gordon Sijuare. W. C. The Alliance News. Moilern Daniel. President Lincoln was one day dining with a party of friends, when one of them offered him some wine, and rather rudely tried to force it upon him. Mr. Lincoln finally replied: "I have lived fifty years without the use of intoxicating liquors, and I do not think it worth while to change my habits now." It is related of General m. Henry Harrison by one who knew him well, that while he was a candidate for the Presidency, at a dinner, a New York gentleman, offering a toast, asked: ''General, will you not favor me by drink ing a glass of wine?'' The General politely .declined. Once again he was urged to drink a glass of wine. This time he rose from the table and said in his grave, dig nified way: "Gentlemen, I have refused twice to partake of the wine cup. That should have been sullicient. Though you press the cup to my lips, not a drop shall pass the portals. I made a resolve when I started in life that 1 would avoid strong drink, and I have never broken it. I am one of a class of seventeen young men who graduated together. The other sixteen (ill 3d drunkards' graves, all through the pernicious habit of wine drinking. I owe all my health, happiness and prosperity to that resolution. Will you urge me now?" Similar courage in refusing wine has been shown by Hayes, Garfield, Colfax. Henry Wilson and General Miles. The latter re cently went around the world, and though daily in banquets where every one else "drank, took not a drop bJiuoelf. That took greater courage than any of his battles. When you are with the ltomans do as the Romans ought to do. "Poison and death the cup contains. Dash to the earth the tempting bowl; Stronger than bars and iron chains This power that captive leads the soul." Are the British Deteriorating? In consequence of startling reports brought to the War Office by recruiting officers that the british us a race arc de teriorating in physique, a committee 'of the Privy Council was recently appointed to investigate. The necessity for the inquiry is empha sized by a paper which was read recently before the society for the study of inebriety by Dr. Hubert Jones, medical superintend ent of the Clavbury asylum. Dr. Jones does not mince matters. lie believes that the deterioration exists and that it is largely due to intemperance. In support of his theory he gave some figures, of which the following are the most striking: Of the 110,000 coses nf insanity at pres ent in asylums probably 11,000 male and 0000 female cases are the direct or indirect outcome of alcoholic excess. Of the 35.910 persons admitted to the London County Council asylums between 1893 and 1902, twenty-one per cent, of the men and eleven per cent, of the women owed their insanity to liquor alone. " Alcohol, Dr. Jones believes to be devital izing not only to the individual, but also to the race. The community loses by its interference with the working power of the skilled craftsman and the artisan, and the presence of the inebriate injures the younger generation directly by neglect and cruelty, and indirectly by evil influence and example. Death's Bargain Counter. "Woodst alcohol with mc?" Punned the barman blithe and free: "I can serve you best old whisky, two for five! This makes suicide quite cheap. For just drink before you sleep. And the Coroner won't know you've been alive! The Analyst, in Tow Topics. The Crusada In Uriel- The outlook for temperance was never more encouragjng. It occupies a larger place in the public eye than at any pre vious day. Herr Ernst Kraus, the German tenor in the corps of the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City, is on record us saying that a beer drinker cannot be a great singer. The Liquor Dealers' League has raised $3,000,000 to place ten picked men as lobby ists in Congress and in every Stuto Legis lature in tho United States to secure the repeal of all restrictive or prohibitory laws and the passage of laws favoring the trade. The beer thut makes the brewer is the beer that makes the bums. A son of a drinking man or woman has less chance of health and active mental faculties than of total utMiiuence parents. Still m tics show alarming facts' in this par ticular. An eminent doci. : r.i New York City found over seventy per cent, of the chil dren of drinking parents airlifted with or ganic or iiervouH du": cs in a large number examined. I In Ohio during the past year there have been ten men (executed for murder, and live more convitits are awaiting the day of their exeuilimi.l This ia a terrible re.rd, and it is. without doubt, i hicHy due to; the demoralizing luiirder-inciting work of 'the milcous, say, Jul Itcligiou Tslescope. j re"6Jd&sl ACCEPTED OFFERINCS. c. L. m.AflvrLM. It was only a flower, a fair w hite flower, I laid at the Master's feet. But others had brought Him their golden store From the waving fields of wheat; And my tiny gift wa so frail and small 1 scarcely thought He would heed it at all. It was only a smile and a loving deed To a needy, suffering one, v And a helpless hand 1 lent to some Who were weary and undone; But I did not know that the Lord was there When another's burden I tried to share. It was only a tear that sadly fell O'er another's woe anil sin. And oh, how I longed of His love to tell, Who had died thai soul to win! Hut I had no words that my thought would frame; I could scarce j'en whixper the Master's nnnie. But the dear Lord smiled on my liny gift, And my deed of love He blest: He bnde me to seek out the wand'ring one, And tell of His own sweet rest. "Thou needcat no message. My child," said He, "But to tell of the love I gave tc thee." Lo nlon Christian, The Making; f a Christian : His Birth. HV AMOS R, WELLS. For seven months we nre to have lessons on "The .Making of a Christian." It w a topic well worth our thoughts. Most Christians are content to be like Topsy. who "just growed." The wise man will plan Ins growth, and see that he is grow ing in the image of Christ. The , first question we have to answer honestly to ourselves is this solemn one: "Have I been born again?" Without the second birth no one can see the kingdom of heaven. Henry Druinmond illustrates it thus: How docs the inanimate kingdom reach the animate kingdom? The soil can not climb up into the corn, but the corn reaches down and takes the soil up into itself. Neither can the plant kingdom reach lip into the animal kingdom, but the ox must reach out and take the corn and make it a part of itself. And by the same process the ox becomes part of a man. In that way the man becomes part of the kingdom of heaven lv a new birth, as a helpless infant, the higher kingdom reaching down and lifting us up into it. That is why Christ came to earth because earth could never come to heaven. That is why Christ alone can tell us hoiv we can enter ihe spiritual life, be born again. It is a double process. Christ says, We are to be born of water, and of the Spirit. What did He mean? "Water'' is the outward token of the new birth. We are not spirits yet, we are in bodies. We cannot wholly be born again without an outward act as well as 1111 inward change. That is why Christ and His ministers insist on baptism, on join ing the church, on the fulfillment in the world of the outward duties of a Christian. To be sure, us Christ said, "the kingdom' of heaven is within," but if it is truly within it will show itself on the outside. No one can truly give himself to the high er life and not be eager to be baptized, to join the church, to manifest his new joy in every outward wav. But the new birth is aIo "of the Spirit." It is mysterious, as mysterious as the night wind that Nicodcmus heard "moaning along the- narrow streets of Jerusalem. But it is certain, as the wind is. No one that is born again will be unconscious of it or doubt it. For it will transform his entire life, aa the wonderful light in Goethe's lovely tale, placed inside the fisherman's hut. gradu ally transformed in logs and boards to ghmming silver and changed all its ugli ness to beauty. Is ours thi transformed life? Has the Spirit of God lifted us up, out of our frets into His peace, out of our weakness into His power, out of our sins into His purity, out of our shame into His glory, or nre we still living "to the flesh?'' ot for an hour longer need we go on in the lower life, for the glad new birth is to be bail for the asking. Sabbath Heading. flod Heard Their Prayers. Miss J. Wilkins tells of a converted Hindu who believed that God would hear the prayer of His children if they prayed in faith. She writes: "I should have liked some of my many intercessors to have heard the story of one of our leaders with regard to the threatened drought of last month. I had suggested that a Monday be observed as a day of fasting and prayer for rain. This old man went back to his country home and started the day going from village to village with a gong, and af ter assembling the inhabitants asked them if they wanted rain to kneel together while he pleaded with the God of heaven to give them their request. The people were all raw heathen, but almost without exception, he told me, they willingly came out and did as he directed. He arrived home taint and weary late in the day, and his housekeeper, an old aunt, had prepared fjruel, but he felt he could not take it lest le should break faith. The next day a hot, dry wind blew and after breakfast ho started in another direction. The unprom ising wind made the people ridicule, but he held on all day. meeting with willing ness to pray in some. On the Wednesday he started another round, but before night he had to return owing to the heavy rain. As he passed each village in the soaking rain and quite wet through, the people all came out callintr out 'God has hcuril vonr prayer He is good the gospel hall people nave much merit.' " Begin With Little Things. It is God's plan to begin with little things, with weak things, and even bad things, and to develo'p out of these things greatness and strength and glory. The world begins in chaos, the oak begins in the acorn, and the river begins in the tiny spring, or rather, in the thin vapor float ing in the upper air. Mentally, morally and spiritually the human race began aa a little child, and every new member of the race has to begiu at the beginning again, as a little child. 1 Character Bull. ling. Character building is like cathedral building a gradual process. No Christian is born full grown, else there would be no sense in divine injunctions to "grow in grace" and to "press toward the goal of the high calling of God in Christ Jusus." Frid C'ausea Worry. The greater half of our worries, certain ly the most irritating half, comes from our pride. Care hath many wives, but I think conceit hath borne him the most children, and these the most greedy and unruly of them all. To humble ourselves is to be rid of many of our heaviest burdens. Mark Guy Pearse. , Pleasant Duties Easy, It is easy to do our duty as long as it pleaaant, but it is the duties which run against our inclinations and thwart our de sires which work out the most good to us when we obey them. Rev, Joseph Vick ery. ' One never secures the essentials without slighting gome non-esseutlals. The golden age Is not coming In by means of the copper collection. When Innocence Is dependent on evi dence It Is Innocence no longer. No power comes of the steam made by pouring cold water on warm zeal. Whatever a man thinks most worth while that l the object of his true wor ship. Some men complain berause they are choked trying to ent the tuble Instead ot the dinner. THE KEYSTONE STATE Latest News of Pennsylvania Told &t Short Order. Predicting that would die at midnight. Miss Agues M. Tolly, aged 22, of Sum mer Hill, summoned the member of her family to her bedside and bad them farewell. They endeavored to cheer her up, but she insisted the end wa nigh. At the stroke of 12 she passed away. Consumption was the cause ot death. Mrs. Kiizabcth Snyder, in court tt Pottsvillc, charged her husband, Frank Snyder, with having attempted to poison her, but the jury acquitted him. Mrs. Snyder charged that her husband de posited a quantity of poison in her cup of coffee on thr. evening of November, 18 Inst whi!p she w:is upstairs, where) she had gone at his request to get hii tobacco. When she same downstairs, she said, she heard the rustle of a paper in his hand and saw bubbles in her coffee cup, which aroused her suspi-j cioiis. Fearing to drink the coffee, she kepi it for examination. Dr. Charles, II. I.awall, of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, testified to having found, in the coffee twenty grains of copper sulphate and fifteen grains of tartar emetic, or antimony. Dr. A. H. Ifal beiitadt, of Pottsvilie, testified that th quantity of poison was sufficient to proTe fatal if retained in the stomach. I. M. Bcu has bevn appointed post master at Rupert. A house belonging to Albert Schneev at Mt. Pleasant Mills, Snyder County,, was destroyed by fire, entailing a loss, of $3000. A derrick fell on Edward Bright, at the Cruse Kemper Company's works. Ambler, and broke both his legs. Ona of the legs was amputated. The Snyder County School Directors" Association, at its annual session elect ed John Y. Shindel pre, dent and P. Scott Kilter secretary. Rev. A. S. Aiken, pastor of the Lower Chanrcford United Presbyterian Church, Airviilc, has completed the thirtieth year Df his pastorate at that church. The York Board of Health will ask the City Council for $12,000 to wipe out Us indebtedness, establish new depart ments, increase salaries and pay its run ning expenses during 1905. The prison inspectors of Northamp ton county passed resolutions calling the attention of the County Commis sioners to the crowded condition of the. prison and asking that the structure be enlarged. Although the freshmen of Susquehan na University worsted the sophomores in the Minual flag scrap, the sophomores turned the tables by stealing away un noticed to their annual banquet, held it? Williamsport. A bitter fight !s being made to otts Prof. P. If. Bridenbaugh, former pres ident of the State Poor Directors' Asso ciation, from the almshouse stcwardhig in Blair county. His opponents are 1L S. Wert;: and Tradctis I.ingcnfcltcr. Thieves entered the Pocono Inn, large stimnuf boarding house estab lished by. members of the Society ol Friends in Philadelphia, and stole a quantity of bed clothing. Recently two other holds in the Poconos were ran sacked. At the funeral of David Fahs, wha was engaged in charity work in York, letter which he wrote on November 4, 1869, was read. In this letter he sail he consecrated his life to the Lord, Upon thj envelope was written: "Thii letter is to be read at my funeral, and ii not to be opened until them." The report of County Auditors R. R Tratiger, K. Monroe Stout and Ezra Michener shows that Bucks county' total expenditure for the past year was $146,659.57, or $r6,M50j in access of the previous year. The balance in th trcasiiry is $5893.10, with an outstand ing indebtedness of $17,000. George A. Dcpue, of Easton, has com menced suit to secure $11,385 damages from Upper Mt. Bethel Township for injuries received and losses sustained on August 2j, 1004, when a bridge in that township collapsed beneath his au tomibile, precipitating him to the bed of the creek, twenty-five feet below. An unidentified Slav employed by It. S. Kerbatigh & Co., railroad contractors, engaged in constructing the Pennsyl vania Railroad Company's grade freight line was shot and killed at Co!e manville, by H. A. Klensing, of Cum berland County, who was in charge ot the firm's commissary department at that point. Klensing, it is asserted, went to the hut occupied by the Slav, who was known only by number, to erect a partition in the building. Aa alteration followed and Klensing pulled a revolver, firing at the foreign er. The bullet struck the man in the head. After the shooting Klensing disappeared. Papers found in the shanty show that the dead man has a wife and six children in Russia. No one in the forcgn colony of the rail road workers can identify the dead maa Professor Benjamin V. l;razier, a member of the faculty of Lehigh Uni versity, died at his home in University Park of paralysis. He became sictc while crossing on a ferry from New York to Jersey City, and soon after boarding the train for South Bethlehem became unconscious, remaining in that condi tion until his death. Prof. Frazicr was born in Philadelphia in 1841 and in 1850 was graduated from the University ol Pennsylvania. He then studied abroad for several years. He was appointed ta the chair of mining and metallurgy at Lehigh University in 1871, since which time he bad been connected continuous ly with that institution. At the time of his death Dr. Frazier was professor of Mineralogy. Frank Grim, 50 years old, an itiner ant photographer, was frozen to death on the street in Hanover. His body was found in the snow.' A Woman who said she had traveled lo Chester from Austria in search of hefr husband, who deserted her some years ago, caused the arrest of Alof Monika, who sbe says is her husband. She says that when she went to the house where Monlki lived and tried to get him to leave with her he refused and struclc her several times. AldemiM Thomas Holt held Monika under $joo bail for court. i Savcris Ghialella and Frank Bruno, employed by the Pennsylvania Rail road Company to clear the tracks of snow drifts in South Harrfsb'urg, were struck by a train. Ghialella was killed and Bruno was so badly injured th(t he may die. Dominico Angonctnio was killed the same way scleral hours later in the West Harrisbtirg yards. The I Cumberland County Commis sioner have reduced the tax rate from., 3 to a'i mills. The. National Association ot Aud.i b'W Societies, for the-nrotm-tiou of wild birds and anmuiti, of New 1 or!; city,: '.vui incurror.ttcl. 1 L
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers