J.
A fSONO OP LOVE,
I was m roor a tho poorest, dear, n 1 the
world It passed ma by i
Cut not thst day whim you rim tnjr way,
with the love-light la your eye.
Ant not thst dny when ttio f rue rant May
bent over the world bcr sky I
t was as loon as the loneliest, lore, with
never a droaro of bliss j
Out not that day when you passed my way
and leaned to my thankful kl!
Kay! not Uiat day, while my Hp cs.ns.iyi
"There was never a Joy like tbls 1
Dear, It Is something to know this love lot
the shlea be black or bluo i
It Is something to know that yon lorn ma
so the tender, the sweet, the true I
And my heart will boat (or that love, my
sweet, till Idroainlnthedust wilhyou.
F. V. Stanton, In A'.lnnta Constitution.
AN ECCENTRIC LADY.
lit ntl.KN FollltK.ST Of. AVE).
ESSIE SPAHKLE
J. : i lm.l seen better
days. It was not
until her eyes be
gan to fiiil her with
such ominous ran-
TM s- 1 i'litv that the doc
l' is ,"r(l ,m,, hvT k'ftT0
yV7iZ' ,A typewriter and
4wV ftonoKrajdier and
H. X tie Vote herself to
something else,
thnt hho realized
how ooriniH was her potation.
What, tlirn, tdiould that "aotne-luiti;.-
!)?
"I'm not yoim,," meditated Miss
HpurkU1. "Ami I'm not particularly
attractive. And I don't know any
thing but tonography--nnd I have no
money laid itp. L'udi-r these circum
atance, -that is sometliini' elae? I
wonder if I did a wise thin?, ten years
Ago, whou I refuse I to be Ilitlter Mel
leu's wife, because I preferred tlio ex
citt lumit of a city life to settling down
-on h farm? Huber wh u nice fellow,
and I do believe he liked Inc. What a
pity it is we can't live our lives twice
over! Well, he's married to Caudaco
Meriuin now, and 1 hope they're both
very happy."'
And Jlfithio would have idied a few
tears if tdie had not remembered just
in timo that the eye-doctor lud Mtriot
ly proliibited the luxury of crying.
Instead of thnt, ahe fitted ou u pair
of very unbecoming spectacles and bo
(?an to scan She "Waut.i" column of
the newspaper.
It was, however, through Mrs. Mon
tagu, the district vittitor of u neigh
boring "Ladies' Deuevolent Associa
tion," that Mia Sparkle Hnally heard
of a aituution which alio thought might
possibly "auit. "
Mrs. Montagu had come to nsk for a
monthly donation which the little
typewriter had always given of her
email in "" '-ward the wanU of those
- retill ! man '' -if,
x'eRnle iorot k.i auu- "eye-doc-'tor
when she aaw the U. lr,it visitor,
oud burnt into tears. jA
"l'vonomore money for jl u, Mrs.
or jf,jt, an
'In tV. b.
Montagu," said she.
don't know whether I'm not a fit subject
for charity myself."
Mrs. Montagu heard the story. Sho
amileiL
"Don't fret, Miss Sparkle," said
ahe. "I kLow of the very place you
need. Companion to nn reevntric
lady in tho country. It's been ou my
books for hx months, but I could get
no ono to tako it, because of the soli
tude of the pi ice. It's Uhtouir-hiug
how desperately city people hate to go
out of tho city. You dou't mind '''
"I'd go to Mars, to get a Mttiu
ion," said Bessie.
Mrs. Montagu nodded encouraging
ly, and consulted her tubk-1 ou the
pot.
"Mrs. Edgecumbe," said Kbe, read
ing out the data in a monotonous man
ner. "White Rocks, New Jersey.
Companion. Twenty dollars a month
nnd found. One month's vacutiou,
salary to go on. No Sundays. No
extras."
"What does that menu?" gasped
Bessie.
"Simply," explained Mrs. Montagu,
"that hhn is a very eccentric lady.
But she's substantia!. I used to know
her years ago, and I think I'm tpiite
Burti---that wheu you become used to
her oddities, you'll like her. Well,
what do you say?"
"I suy yes," iii'ssio answered.
Eur, tven while Mrs. Montagu had
been speaking, her miud hud revolved
the pros and cons, and he had decid
ed to risk everything.
'(iood!" said thy district visitor.
"Central Railroad of New Jersey to
Barley Station. White Rocks is "live
miles beyond. I'll Udegraph. to-day,
mid Home one will bo there to meet
you. Pack your bag. Co at once."
So Bessie Sparkle packed her bag,
nn I went.
At Barley Station there was uo oue
to meet her.
"What am I to do?" she asked, a
little iliscolilpiiM'd.
" Tain't fur across the Uelds," said
the tic'.;ct agent, shrugging his shoul
ders. "Kdgoeumbe's folks never doea
anything like any one else."
, "Rut they were telegraphed to.'
J'elegraft don't make no differ
ence to Edgecumbe's folks," said the
Hgent, guiltily slipping a time-table
over the yellow envelope that lay un
delivered on his desk, an I saying to
himself :
"I swan to goodness, I forgot ail
about it !"
And Bessio Sparkle, carrying her
hand bag, leaving her lttllo trunks to
bo aent for, walked valoroiisly across
tho fields und through a rocky gorge
or gleu, through which brawled a lit
tle stream, until she camo to a pictur
esque old stoue house, which seemud
to tie balancing itself ou the edgo of u
gray precipice, its chimney crim
wnuued with the lout light of the dying
day, its foundations burned in fa
nereal ivy and masses of blue-gray
hemlocks.
She ram? and she knocked, and she
knocked and ahe rang, until ahe was
almost inclined to go away again in
despair, when at last a shuffling foot
fall was heard in the hall, and a tall,
gaunt female in bine spectacles, and
carrying a lamp in one hand, came to
the door.
"Who are yon?" said the female,
whose large featnrei and awkward
mien nearly set poor little Bessio off
into a hysterical giggle.
"I am Miss Sparkle, the new com
panion," said she. "Recommened by
Sirs. Montagu, of St. (Jristoforos
Church."
"I don't want a companion," said
the bluo speetaclod personage, aiter
a brief interval of silence.
"Yes, you do," said Lesaie, remem
bering v.lint the diatrict visitor had
told her as to the eccentricity of this
Mrs. Edgeoumbe. "Let mo come in,
please. I'm tired and hungry."
Tho blue spectacled woman seemed
to brighten up at this allusion.
"Can you cook?" said she.
"A little," Boaaie answered.
"Why?"
"Ik-cause tho servant is gone," said
this very vecontric lady, "audi haven't
had my supper."
"Hut," stammered Bessie, "I didn't
cngago ns cook."
"No, I know that," calmly assented
the eccentric lady ; "but I thought on
a pinch You see, Ton'tknow how
to cook."
And she withdrew into a aide room
hung with blaek-a-vised family por
traits and folds of beautiful old tapes
try, and sat down, with the lamp on a
table beside her.
"Show mo to my room, please,"
said Bessie. "And when I have re
moved a little of the dust of travel,
I'll see what I can do."
Mrs. Edgecumbe jumped np again,
seized the lam, and conducted her to
a pretty room furnished in pink-and-white
chintz, with a view over tho tops
of the homlocks toward the river.
"Think you'll liko this room?" suid
she, insinuatingly.
"Oh, it's delightful !" cried Bessio.
But whoa the lamp ha I gone bob
bing down ihe stairs again, her Ueart
sauk within her.
"I don't think Mrs. Montagu could
havo known it," pondered ahe, "but
that woman is certainly touched in her
mind. I never saw such a coarse face
in my life, aud ahe wears a wig, and
an ill-fitting one at that. Aud she ac
tually behaves as if ahe were afraid of
me me, Beaaie Sparkle 1 Aud I won
der if this no-servaut business is only
an emergency or a permanent arrange
ment?" But sho washed away the dust,
brushed out her brown hair where a
streak of gray was bogiuniug to oh
atrtide itself here nad there, pinned on
a clean collar and onfTs, and boldly de
manded the way t- the kitchen.
There she cooked a dainty little
supper with tbi) material ahe found on
hand.
"That'jhp Va. said Mrs. Edge
cnmbniC(i xuo at aud drank like a
vicy I.agry person.
"I wish she wouldn't drink her tea
so noisily out of the saucer aud put
her knife so far into her mouth,"
thought Mrs. Sparkle.
"I say," proclaimed Mrs. Edgo
cumbc, as she pushed her chair back,
"1 ve got a headache !
"Have you? I'm very sorry," said
Bessie.
"And I think I'll go to bod."
"Wou't you have some of my amell
ing suits?" timidly asked Bessie.
"I can always Bleep 'em oft' best,"
said her employer. "Aud if any ouo
comes, tell 'em I can't bo disturbed."
So saying, Mrs. E lgeeumbe, accom
panied by her lamp, vanished from
tho scene.
Bessie followed her vith grave,
ijuestioning eyes.
"It's very atrauge!" observed she
to herself. "Such a supper as bhe ate,
too! Mrs. Montagu said she was a
very eccentric lady."
And she busied herself clearing
away tho table in expressive silenco.
It was nearly nine o'clock, und she
was just going to her own little piuk-and-white
nook, wluu there came u
terrillc knocking at tho door.
Sho lighted a lamp, during which
time the knocking weut on in a nerve
racking mauuer, and hurried down
stairs.
"Please, who's there?" said she.
"Because tho key is goue, and I cau't
open the door."
"Is Mrs. Edgocumbo at home?" do
maiidod a voice.
"Yes but she has gone to bod with
a headache, aud can't bo disturbed,"
Bessio answered, with au air of com
mand.
"Who is it that is spoakiu??" the
voice still questioned, iu a puzzled
tone.
"It is I, Miss Sparkle tho new
companion."
A brief silenco followed.
"Will you ask hsr," the voieo once
more resutuoed, "if any ono looking
like a tramp has passed this way since
noon?"
"I'll ask," said Miss Sparkle; and
she slowly toiled upstairs again.
"I dou't know which , room Mrs.
Edgocumbo's is," sho thought; "but
1 can knock at all the doors until I
Ihul out, I suppose."
She knoi'ked"-nt oue and at ail
but with uo respouse.
Next she ventured to open all tho
doors, revealing half a dozen hand
some, solidly furnished rooms, but all
were empty as the apartments iu an
euchautod palace, and Bjssie shrank
from tho ska lows, that seems I t
reacn at Uer with their blao ungors
from tho distant corners.
Presently sho came back ajain, very
much discomllted.
"I I can't liud her," faltered sho;
"bnt I know alio ht a hoadache."
"I mutt sea Mrs. Edesumbs her
self," aaid the roice, growing mora
and mora imperious in iU accents.
"Open the door, please."
"I can't," said Bessie, In despcra
tion. 'The key ia gone, I tell yon.
"Then open a window. At once,
please. Matters aro becoming a little
suspicions," ahe heard the nnknown
claimant say to some one outside.
"I won't," said Bessie, valiantly.
"My orders are to "
"Will you be ao good as to stand
aside?" interrupted the voice. "I am
the constable I"
There was a sudden aound of break
ing glass and spliutering wood J the
big stained glass window in the hall
was shivered to atoms, and two men
sprang in.
"Beg your pardon, I'm anre," said
the foremost of the pair ; "but we're
in search of an escaped convict a
burglar who is concealed somewhere
in this neighborhood, and it is our
duty to leave no atone nntnrnod to
capture him. Yon, at least," with a
smile, "are no villain in disgnise."
Mihs Sparkle gave a gasp.
"What is Mrs. Edgecumbe like?"
said she.
"Short and stout, with light bine
eyes ami very whito hair," was the
surprised 'answer. "Where' i she?
Have yon called her?"
"nhe isn't here at nil," said Bessie.
"And aud I'm almost certain that
the burglar is up stairs, in woman's
clothes. Oh, dear ! oh, dear I I wonder
I'm cot murdered! Uo and look in
all tho rooms. I looked, bnt it was ao
gloomy, and Oh, please hurry !"
But their search revealed only a
heap of women's clothing and a pair
of spectacles lying closo to the base
ment door. A draught of evening air
was floating through nn open cellar
window, and the imitation Mrs. Edge
cumbe was gone.
"But," said Uessie, growing hysteri
cal again, "what is to beoome of moi"
The constable eyed her rather
dubiously. Uo had not yet heard that
the burglar had any accomplices, but
circumstances were beginning to look
very strange.
"Here," said a quiet voice, clot.,
to them, at that moment, "what is
my house all open for at this timo of
night? And what are you doing here,
Sam Wiggins?"
"It's Mrs. Edgecumbe;" shouted
the constable.
"Why, who should it be?" demando 1
the newcomer. "I got a letter this
morning, begging mo to go up to my
sister's, at leephaven, with my house
keeper, and when I got thero, it
sectaod that it was a false summons.
I returned at on :e, and And a lot of
people in possession. Now what does
all this mean?"
Betweeu tho corstahle and the con
stable's deputy aud Miss Sparkle, the
ruestiou was soon elucidated.
The telegram had been sheepishly
handed Mrs. Edgecumbe as she drove
pait tho railroad station, and she was
prepared to seo the Now York vuitor.
But the bnrglar had made his escape.
"With mr .best . silver., .iork. and.
spoons the scoundrel I" cried Mrs.
Edgecumbe, at she opened her safe.
"The insolence of the wretch trying
to pass himsolf off as me !"
"And such a good supper ns I cooked
him!" said Bessie, ringing her hands.
"We'll capture him yet, never fear,"
sail Sam Wiggins, encouragingly.
"Ho can't havo got much of a start."
And he went sway with his snbordi
j mite, leaving Miss Sparkle and Mrs.
E lgecumbo to cultivate each other's
acquaintance ut their leisure.
At about noon tho next day the con
; stabulary wagon drove by, with the
burglar comfortably seated on tho
baert seat, decorated with haudcuiTs.
I "Your forks and spoons aro all right,
; Mrs. Edgecuinbdl" called out Sam
Wiggins.
! The burglar looked up and met Bes
sie Sparkle's horrified gaze.
Was it only her imagination, or did
! ho actually wink at her?
J "Well," sho cried, hurriodly with
drawing her hea I from the open win
dow, "that was really an adventuro!
If I had kuowu who ho was."
Mrs. E lgecumbo laughed. Sho and
Bessie had become excellout friends
by that time.
"Yes," said she, "you must have
thought I was a very eeeeutrio lady,
indeed. " Saturday Night.
Milk anl Cheese Brain Food.
Is skim milk or choesj brain food'
A paper by M. Bocamp, which M.
Freidel has just read to tho Parii
Academy, gives an ntlirmative answer.
M. Beoamp has for some timo boon
devoting himself to tho study of
caseiuo. Ho has found that it
chemically differs from all othor
albuminoids with which he is ac
quainted. One of its properties is,
when burno I pure, to make no aslie.
He experimented on burno loasoiuo,
not with tho view ot coming to tho
conclusion he now uuuuuiates, but to
an opposite oue, namely, that there is
no phosphorus iuenseino. In a num
ber ot experiments he found that
absolutely puro casoino ooutains 701
parts out of 10i)J of organic phosphorus.
Ho has also domoustratod luo prosonoo
in case in o of silohiir, and, therefore,
thnt this substauoe is ma lo up of car
bon, hydrogen, uitrogeu, pUoiphorus,
sulphur and oiygon. Milk audoheeso
aro accordingly bruiu restorer.. Now
York World.'
Oldest A r morel Klilji.
Tho London AVer Id aya that tho
Wirrior, tho oldest armor-ola I ahip i:
tho world, built entirely o' iron, is
about t ba renovato.l and prepared
for nervioo abroad as a guard ship nt
cmo of tho ooaliug stations. Hho was
lauuehod by tho Thames Irou Works
Company, ut Black wall, England, De
cember 2'J, 1803, and commissioned
for the first time iu August, lStli, by
Captain A. A. Conraue, for sarvioo iu
tho channel. Sho is to have naw boil
era, oertaiuly, and a new secondary
battery of quiek-tlriog guns.
WORDS OF WIIt)X.
Love is a creature of circumstances.
A woman despises a bad man of her
own making.
What a trne gontleman is, be was in
the beginning.
A woman's sincerity is susceptible
of modification.
Judgment ia the fence between im
pulse and action.
Age and enthusiasm alwaya travel in
cppoiite directions.
A man never knows how to be a son
until he has become a father.
Irregular honesty ia harder to
handle than regular dishonesty.
The people pay too much attention
to what they hear over the back fence.
nope deferred maketh the heart
hustle around in aome other locality.
A woman is not ao much conoerned
in what man loves her, as how he lores
her.
The wicked flee when no man pnr
metb, bnt the officeseeker abideth
with us forever.
Marriage consists of five minutes at
the head of the procession, and a life
time in the ranks.
Tho people who boast of their an
cestors, its a rule have nothing in their
present condition to boast of.
Rejoice not when thine enemy fall
cth and let not thine heart be glal
when he slippnth on a banana peel.
Work keeps 4 man from doing mean
things, but there can't be enough of
it to keep him from thinking them.
The girl with one beau to hor string
lands a better chanoe of not boingan
old maid than the girl with a dozen.
Confidence in an unfaithful man in
time of campaign excitement ia like a
broken tooth and a foot out of joint.
Lovers love to toll each other what
they think of each other. So do mar
ried people, sometimes aud they do
it, too.
Be not a witness against thy neigh
bor in a contention over a line fence.
Say not "1 will do him op as he hatb
done to me."
Th$ Uulcjcle. '
For some years inventors hare boen
cudgeling their brains to increase
speed and lessen labor on self-propelled
rohioles. Most of ns remember
tho clumsy velocipede, then came the
high wheel, which has been supplanted
by tho modern, easy-going safety,
with its ball-baorings and pueumatio
wheels. This safety now has a reoord
surpassing the fastest horse in fact,
rocontly iu this oity, one man beat
threo horses. It looks now as if th
safety must go to the rear. The comiug
scorcher appears to be the noicycle,
which, as its name implies, has only
one wheel. This wheel is about six
feet in diameter, and the rider aits
easily inside. Aftor once started, at
in a safety bicycle, and oontinued for
aJew. rjwmAata. .until. tfw loner
wheels sot the outer or ' traveling
wheel spinning, when its own momen
tum, aided by a alight forward inclina
tion ot the rider's body. This nnioy
cle has no steering gear, as the in
clination of tho rider's body to the
right or left causes it to roll easily
around any course orcornor or iu any
desired direction. The law of gravi
tation controls its movements, and it
is said to bo easily stopped by simply
loauing backward. The inventor
claims that ho will roduce the weight
of theunicyclo to fifty pounds, which,
while not ns low a that of a racing
safety, yet he proposes to reduce its
present speed ot' a mile in two minutos
to just halt that time, or about the
same as our best locomotives and lest
than half of the best time record ol
our fastost horses. Tho rider being
protected by his traveling wheel. th
unicyclo appears to combine safety and
tho greatest speed with tho least labor.
-Atlanta Constitution.
Too Many Cats lor Comfort,
A Brooklyn statistician figures tint
thero aro lUO.ODt) cats in tho ci:y ol
churches and that one-tenth of the
million or ao population are kept
awake nightly by tho feline concerts,
This is at tho rate of one case of in
somnia for each cat, and tho Modiea)
Record calculates from this that there
aro iu the United States 0,000, 000 cat
and 0,000,000 cases of insomuia.
Plainly this is a factor in human
health which tho doctors cannot af
ford to ignore It is folly to treat a
patient for insomnia thought to have
been induood by overwork or worrj
or general ill-health, when the reu,'
trouble is cats. Doubtless in nine out
of ten cases of the dreaded ailment th
prescription should be leaden pills for
tho cats instead of sugar coa'od pel
lets for tho patient. Physicians can
profitably pass a portion of their va
cations investigating this branch ol
medical practice. New Orleans Pica
yune.
Standard Coal Measurements.
Tho following standard for the
measurement ot free burning coal in
doraestio sizes has been determined
by us, after the most thorough aud
carefully conducted tests, says Her
bert's Facts and Figures. Net toin
('2000 pounds) of tho various sizes oc
cupy cubic foet as follows: Broken
coal, 3d cnbio feet; egg coal, 33. 6
cubic feet; stove coal, 84.2 cubic
foet ', nut coal, 35 cubio feet ; l'ooa
hontas coal, 34 cubio feet. Gross tons
('2240 pounds) ot the same sizes, re
quire ! Broken coal, 37 cubic feet ;
egg coal, 37.0 cubio feet: stove coal,
38.2 cubio feet ; nut coal, 33.2 cubic
feet; PooakonUa, 40.2 cnbio feet.
Positirists are followers of August
Comte, who in 1867 organized a
church in England, which, instead a!
worshipping CJod, rereronos eminent
benefactor of the human race.
ESCAPING DEATH ETERNAL.
OBVIOUS TRUTHS PRESENTED
By Dr. Talmare In a Forcible Manner
Cat ration to Be Had for the Asking.
Tuxt. l am eipj with th skin of mr
teuih," Johxlx., 20.
Job had ft hard. What with hnll and hy
reavemnnls ami tvinkruptcr an I a 'onl of a
wlff) ho wlh-! h was dnacl, nn I I do n.-l
ttlamn him. His flnsh was Ron, anil hll
hones w-re dry. Ills tenth wastn.l nwsy nn
Ml nothlne hut thn enimol -wnl lrt. lis
crlrs out, ''I am os?artl with tho skin of mf
teeth."
Thorn has boon som dlTMrenne of opinion
alKnt this pwiB. Hr, J-rome and HohuU
fens anl l)r. Ooot and Pool and Rarni
have all tried their forceps on Job's t-Mh.
Vnu dour my Inturprolation and say. "What
did Job know ahont thensrnnlofttiethV"
Ha knew evnrythln? ntmnt It. Dental
surirery Is almost as old ns th earth. The
mnmmles of F.irypt. thousand of years old.
am found to-lay with jrold filling In thnlr
teeth. Ovid and Horace and Hnlomon nn 1
Moea wrote ahont the-, Important fsitor
of lhbody. To other provoking complaints
Job, I think, has added nn ex tvperatlni
toothache, nnd putt In- li l hand aitalnst tho
Inflsmnd face ho siys, "I am escaped with
the skin ot my teeth."'
A v.M-y narrow es mpe, you say, for JoVs
body and soii, but thnw art thons in Is of
men wlio make Just us narrow iMpn for
their soul. Thera wis a time when th p ir
tltlon Ixrtwm-n them aa 1 rulu w.n no thinker
Ih.tu a tooth's Hnamul . but, as Job (In illy
wipe I. so bavatucy. Thank Uo 1 1 THau'c
Uo I
Paul expresses tho sime Idea by a differ
ent IlKHrw when ha s-iy that so-n poople ar j
'saved as by fire." A vomel nt aa is In
Bum s, You go to the stern of the vewel.
Th bo ils have shoved off. The flames ad
vance. Vou cnu endure tho lie.it no loniror
on your fai. You lldt down on thn side of
the v.s-l and hold on with your lingers un
til the forked tomrua of the lire burins to
lick tho back of your hand, and you fl that
you tnii-t fall, when ono of iho lifeboats
cornea back, and Ilia passnnirers say they
think thoy havo room lor one more. Ths
boat swintr under you j you drop Into It
you ara saved. Ho some nien are pursued by
temptntlou until they am partially con
sumed, but niter all K'-t off "saved as by
fire." Ilut I like the figuro ot Job a little
better than that of Paul, txK-auso tho pulpit
has not worn it out, and I want to show you,
it (lod will help, mat to mo men make nar
row Meapo lor their souls und aro saved as
"-nib (be skiu ot their teeth."
It Is as eiwy for some people to look to tho
cross as for you to look to tula pulpit. Mild,
Keutle, irai'table, loving, you expect tbem
to bocume C'urUiiau, You go over to the
store aud any, "Urandon joined the church
yesterday." Your business comrades say
"Taut l jmt wuat might havo been expect
ed.' lie alw:iy wa ol that turn ot uilud.
la youth tins pcrsou whom I describe was
uiways good. He uevur broke tilings, lie
nevor laughed when It wa improper to
laugh. At seven heeouldsit nn houriuciiurch,
pttnectiy qulel, looking ucltuer to tne right
uhuU uor to lue ielt, out straight luto too
eyes of the uiiubucr, aa ihougu no under
stood the whole iIiscumiuu about the eterual
decree, lie never upset things nor lost
them. He floated into lue kiugdo.n ol Uoi
so gradually that it is uncertuiu Just wjou
the m.ittcr was decided.
Hero Is another one, who started in life
witn au uuuoutrollabiu spirit. He kept the
nursery Iu au uproar. Ilia mother fouud blm
walkiug ou lue edge ol tue house roo( to so
It he could ouluuco tiliusell. 1'nerewaauo
horse be darod uot ride, uo tree ne could uot
climb. Hut boynoou was a long scrum ot pre
Olcameuis j Uls mauhood was reckless ins
inldllie very wayward. Jim now no 1 con
verted, aua you go o, r to the store aud say,
"Aritwrlgbt JoiuoU lue uburcU yesterday."
Your inuuds say ; "It is not possible 1 You
must be Joking. ' You suy i -So , 1 tell you
the truiU,- Uo Joluod iii Cua:" 'lllOl
tUey reply, "X'uere is nopo for any ot us ll
old Amwright bus become a Unristlau."
Iu oiuor words, we all admit tuac it Is
more Uiincult lor some tuuu lo uocupt the
gospel toau lor otuurs.
I uiny be ad.ircatslng some who have cut
loose iroui churches aud itinlee aud Sundays
an l wuo uuve at preseut uo luleulion Ol be
vouiiug Clirisliaus tueuweives, but just to
see wuat is guiug on. Aud yet you may 11 ud
yuurscli escaping ueiore you Uwtr lue oud,
as "aritu luesKiu ol jounejtu." 1 Uo not
expect lo waste tuis uour. 1 uuvesueu boats
go oil Iroui Cape Jtlay or Long Uruuou and
urop tlieir uols uud uilcrawune come ashore
pumug iu lueir ueis without uaviug eaugut
a sin iu il.ii. li was not a goo a any, or tuey
bad uot lue rigut Kiud ut u uet. ttui we ex
pect uo suou excursion to-day. lue wuier
is mil oi llsu ; tue wiud Is iu tuo rigut uirec
Uou i thu gospel uut is struug. O luuu tvuo
Uiust uulp oiuiou uud Anuria tu UsU, suutv
us lu-jajr uow lo cast tue uot on lue rigui
side ol lue suip I
oouio ol you, iu coming to UoJ, will havo
to ruu ag.nust skeptical uolious. it is use
less lor puopm iu saysuurpuuauuttiug miugs
to tuo-u wuo reject lue urisUuu leiigiou.
1 cauuot say aucu tuluga. Uy wuat process
Ol leuiptaiiuu ur trial ur betrayal )uu uuve
voiue to your prusuut slute i tww uot,
lucre are two gules to your uature lue guie
oi tue Ueud aua lue guie ol tue ueurt. 1'uo
gate ot your uuaa to looked wuo uolts uud
iMtrs turn ou uruuuugei could uot breus, iuc
tue gum ol your Ueart swiugs easily oa us
bulges, II 4 assaulted your uo ly wua wea
pons you woula meet uie witu Weapous, uud
u would be sword St roue lor swotd suoae,
una wound Uu- wouud and blood hx uiooa.
vi if I eome nnd knoel; at the door of your
bouse you op.ni It and give me the bnst seat
In your pirlor. If I should como nt you to
day w.tli an nrirtimnnt, you would answer
me with .iu nriMment ; if with streasm. you
ensw.-r me with s.irasm. blow for blow,
stroke for stroke, but when I eome and
knock at the door of your heart you open it
and any, "(Joins In, ny brother, nnd tll mo
all you know about Christ and heaven."
I,ist.n to two or three questions : Aryvt
as happy nsyou used to hi when you bnHv t
in thn truth of the Christian religion Would
you likn to liavn your ohtldren travel on In
the road In whleh you ar.i now trav.din??
You had a relative who preferred to bo a
Christian and wis thoroughly consistent,
living anil dyinir In the faith of the gospel.
Would vou not liko to liv-i the same quiet
life and file tho same pnicaful death? Ire
eeive In lultnr sent ins hv ono who has r
jorted thn I'hrUtl.in rnliir'on. It siys. "I
nm old enoutrh to know that tho Joyf and
pleasure, of lifearo evanescent and to realize
the fa"t that it must he eomfortnblo In old
airs to believe In something relative to thn
future nnd to have a faith In somo system
that propones to save. I am free to oonfns
that I would be happier It I could exerela
the simple and henutl'ul fnlth that Is
poftoftssn 1 by many whom I know. I nm not
wilHuglv out of the nhunh or out of the
faith. My state of uncertainty Is one of nn
rt. Ro'iietlmns I doubt my Immortality
nn I look upon the detthbnd as the cirwlng
swne. nftT which there Is nothing. What
shall I do th'tt I hav not don. Ah, skepti
cism Is a d irk nnd doleful land ! Let me
suy that this lllble is either truo or falsa, If
It be false, we are ns well off ns you , If It be
true, then which of us Is S'tfer?
Lt mo also ask whether your trouble has
not been th'it you confounded Cbrinllnnity
with thn Ineonslstnnt eharaoter ot soma who
irotena It. You aro a lawyer. In your pro
fession there are mean nnddishonet men. Is
that anything against tho law? You nre a
do lor. Tlmro nre unskilled an I aontemptl
bio men In your prolewiiou. U that anything
nirainst medlclun You are a merchant.
Thero are thieves an l deirau ler In your
business. Is that anything against merahan
disiW Ibihold, then, the uutulrnnasot ohnrg
Ing upon Christianity the wioksdnoss of Its
disniplns.
We admit soma of the ehargos against
those who profess religion. Soma of Ihe most
gigantic swindles o( tho presuut day have
been earned on by members of Inschnreh. :
There are men In thn churches who would
not be trastnd for 5 without goo I collateral,
security. They leave their buslnees dishon
entls In thn vestibule of the church ns they
go ia and sit at the com mun Inn. Having con
cluded the sterament, they get op. wlpsths
wine from their lips, go out an 1 take up
their sins where they let oft. Tj serva the
devil Is thnlr regular work j to serve Oo I, a
sort of play spell. With a Sunday sponge
they expect to wipe off from their business
slate all the post week's fnoonslstenote. You
have no mora right to tako snob a mno's Ufa
as a specimen of religion thnn you have to
take the twisted Irons and split timbers that
lie on ths beaoh at Coney Inland as a spool
men of an Amerloan ship. It is time that we
drew a linn between religion and the frail-'
ties of those who profess It.
Again, there may be some of vou who, In
the attempt alter a Christian life, will have
to run against powerful passions and ap
petites. Perhaps It Is a disposition to anger
that you have to contend against, and par.
haps, while In a very serious mood, yoa
hear of something that makes you feel that
you must swear or die. I know of a Chris
tian man who was once so exasperate! that
be said to a mean customer, "I cannot swear
at you myself, tor 1 am a member of the
church, but If you will go down stairs my
partner In business will swear at you." All
your good resolutions heretofore have been i
torn to tatters by explosions of temper.
Now, there Is no barm in getting mad If you,
only get mad at sin. You need to bridle
and saddle these hot breathed passions, and
with them ride down Injustice nul wrong.
Thero are a thousand tinnns In thn sronU'
that wo ought to be mad nt. There Is no
barm In getting red hot if you only bring to
tho forge that which needs hnmmnring. A
man wuo has no power of righteous Indig
nation la au Imbecile. Hut be sure it Is a
righteous Indignation and not a petulsu -y
thnt blurs and unravels aud depletes the
soul.
There Is a large class of persons la midlife
who have still in them appetites that were
nroused in early mauhood, nt a time whec
tuny prided themselves on being a "tilth
last,'' "high livers." "iree and oaey." "ball
fellows well met.'' They are now ( tying In
compouud Interest lor troubles they collect
ed tweuly yeurs ago. Home of you are try
ing to escape, nu l yoa will, yet very nar
rowly, ".u wila the asiu oi your teetn."
liod uud your own soul only know what the
struggle is. Omnipotent grace lia pulled
uut many a uul mat was deeper in the
mire llisi roil nr. T'aev line inc. i n-ch ol
he.-iven. the nut'tit'tln whom Oo I 1ms re
etin.1 from the thrall of suicidal habit. If
you this day turn your hack on the wrong
and start nnew, flo I will help vou. Oh, the
I wn knees of liu-nnn help: Men wdl sym-
I pathlsie for a whlln nnd then turn you off.
i If you ask tor thnlr pardon, lhy will give
It nnd say thv will try yo-i airs I 'it but. fall
ing away again un ier tne power oi iniotn
tion. they east vo-i off fonver. Uut Col
forgives scvi-ntv llme eyn yen. seven
hundred times vs. thouih this be the ten
thousandth time Ho Is morn enrnest. more
sympathetic, more Imlnful this lust timo than
when you look your lint misstep.
I', v th ad the lnfliinccn favorable for a
rleht llfn, men mnke so mnuv mlstukos, how
much hardr It Is when, for Instance, soma
appetite thrusts its Iron grapple Into tho
roots of Iho tongue mi I pulls a man down
with han Is of destruction ' If on ltr such
circumstances ho break away, then will bo
ao sport In the nndertnklng. no holiday en
Joymonf, bnt a stnigglo In which tho wres
tlers move from side to side nnd bn I and
twist and witch for an opportunity to ?et iu
n beavlr stroke until, with one final nftort.
In which the muscles nro distended, nnd tho
voins start out, and thn blood starts, the
swarthy habit falls under the knee of thn
vli-tor ssoapod at Inst ns with tho skin of bis
teeth.
In tho Inst dny it will be found that Hugh
Latimer and John Knox nnd Huss and Itld
ley were not the greatest msrtvr. but ChrVs. '
thin men who went up Incorrupt froot; the
contaminations nnd perplexities of Wnll
street. Water street. Pnarl street 'Broa I
street, State street. Thirl street, Lombard
Street ""A the boitrse, . Ou earth thw were
oalled brokers or stock jobbnrs or retuiJots 9?
Importers, but In heaven Christian heroes.
No fairots were heaped about their fix, no
inquisition demanded from them rucintn,
tlon, no soldier aimed a spike nt their heart,
but they had mnntal tortures, compared
with which all physical .consuming Is as tho
brnnth of a spring morning
I find In the community n lnrge elnss of
men who have boen ao chanted, so lied about,
so outrageously wronged that thy have list
faith in everytlilnir. In a world wfmreevery
thing seems so topsy tnrvy thn- do not seo
how thero can be any (Jod. They nro con
founded nnd frenzied nnd miaanthroplc.
Elaborate argument to provi to then tho
truth of Christianity or t hot rut h of anything
else touches tlmm nowhere. H i.ir me, nil
such men I preach to you no rouud.vt
periods, no ornamental discourse, but I put
my hnnd on your shoulder nu l invito you
into the pence of tho gospel. Here is u roclc
on which you may stand firm, though tho
Waves dash against it harder than the At
lan'lc, pitching its surf clear above Kldy
stone lighthouse. Uo not charge upon Ood
all those troubles of I ho world. As long as
thn world stuck to Ood, Ood stuck to tho
world, but the earth acceded trom His gov
ernment, and hence nil those outri'-es and
all thohe woes, liod is good. For many
hundreds of years Ho bus been coaxing tho
world to come back to Hun. but the more Ho
has cotxud tho more violent have men been
in their resistance, and they havo stepped
back and stepped back uutil they have
diopped Into ruin.
Try this Ood, ye who hnvo had tho blood
houuds after you, and who tmvu thought
that Ood had forgotten, yon. Try Him and
see If He will uot help. Try illm au I see if
He will not pardou. Try Him and see If Ha
will not save. The flowers of spring have
no bloom so sweet as the (lowering of Christ's
ulTectlons. The sun hath no warmth com
pared with the glow ot His heart. Tho
waters have no refreshment like the foun- .
lam that will slake the thirst of thy soul. At
the moment the reindeer stauds with his lip
aud noetril thrust Into the cool mountain tor
rent the hunter may be coming through the
thicket. Without crackling a slick under
his foot be come close by the stag, alms his
gun, ornws the trigger, an 1 the poor tbini A
rears In Its death agony uud falls backward,
its antlers crashing ou tho rocks, but tho
pnuliug heart that drinks from tho water
i, rook of Ood's promise shall nevdr bo fa
tally wounded aud shall never die.
The only I'liraso tie Knew.
Mr Andrew Agnow, the last of tho
hereditary sheriffs of Oiilloway. tiud
a Rtronif prejudice against the 1' rench,
and though often thrown into tho
society ot Frenchmen, plumed him
elf on his Ignorance or their lan
guage. Once, whde jouroeylnw to
tdinburuh, Sir Andrew halted over
t-unday at bl d.iutfhtoi V house, and
attended the parish chun h.
The minister, havlni glvon out h's
text from tho Old Testament, dis
puted the correctness of the author
ized translation. In enforcing hlj
opinion bo quoted the text in ths
llcbicw original, and tho words
Hounded to Mr Andrew's car as the
French salutation, ".oiniiicQt vous
portez-vous?"
Tho sheriff writhed In hU seat and
It was with tho u'eatest dm.culty
that his daughter kept h.iu from
speaking out his feelings. Uut as
soon us tho benediction bad been p o
nounccJ, Mr Andrew's wrath ex
pl ded. To tho umusement ol tbej
congregation ho roared out: '
"The scoundrel! Yet 1 might ha'
forgi'en hint bad he not used the oalj ,
French words 1 ever know!" . ...