———
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THE SUNSHINE OF RELIGION
rele.
REV.DR. TALMAGE’'S SERMON
— ip
Radiantly the Child of the Most High
: Sheds Glory Into Human Hearts,Drives
Away and Makes a Glad Pathway.
Text: “Her ways are ways of pleasant.)
ness.” —Proverbs iii., 17.
You have all heard of God's only begotten
Sop. Have you heard of God's daughter?
She was born in heaven. She came down
over the hills of our world. She had queenly
step. Oa her brow was celeszial radiance.
Her voice was music. Her name is Religion.
My text introduces her. “Jer ways are
ways of pleasantness, and all ber paths are
ace.
But what is religion? The fact is that
theological study has had a different effect
upon me from the eff:ct sometimes pro-
duced. Every vear I tear out another leaf
irom my theology until I have only three or
four leaves left—in other words, a very brief
and plain statement of Christain belief.
An aged Christian minister said: “When
I was a young man, I knew everything;
when I got to be thirty-five years of age, in
my ministry [ had only a hundred doctrines
of religion; when I got to be forty years of
ace, I had only fifty doctrines of religion;
when I got be sixty years of age, I had
only ten doctrines ot rolizion, aninow [ am
dying at seventy-five years of age,and there
is only one thing I know, and that is that
Christ Jesus came into the world to save
sinners.” And so I have noticed in the study
of God's word and in my contemplation of
ihe characier of God and of the eternal
world that it is necessary for me to drop this
part of my beliet and that part of my belief
as beinz nonessential, while I cling to the
one great doctrine that man is a sinuer, and
Christ 1s bis Almighty and Divine Saviour.
Now | take these three or four leaves of
my theology, and I find that, in the first
placa, an i dominant above all otuers, is the
sunshine of re igion. When Igo intoa room
1 have a passion for throwing open all the
shutters. ‘that is waat [ want to do this
morning. We are apt to throw so much of
the sepuichral into our reliz.on and to close
the shutters ani to pull dowa the blinds
that it is only through hers and there a cre-
vice that the lignt streams. The religion ot
the Lord J.sus Christ 1s a religion of joy in-
desciibabie aud unutterable. Wherever 1
can find a bell I mean to ring it.
1f there are uny in this house this morn-
ing who are disposed to hold on to their
melancholy and gloom, let them now depar's
this service sefore the tairast and the brigaé-
est and the most raliant bainz of all the
universe comes in. God's Son has lett our
world, but God’s dauzher is here. Give her
room. Hail, princess of heaven! Hail,
daughter of tne Lord Go 1Almigaty! Come
in and make this hous thy throneroom.
In sefring forth this idea the dominani
theory of religion is one of sunshine.
hardly know where to bezin, for there are
£0 many thoughts that rusa upon my soul.
A mother saw ner little coild seated oa the
floor in the sunshine and with a spocnin her
hand. Sae said, ‘My darling, what are
you doing there?” “Oh ” rephed the child,
“J; getting a spooniul of this sunshine.”
‘Would Goi that to-iay I might present you
with a gleaming chalice of this glorious,
everlasting Gospel sunshine!
First of all, I find a great aeal of sunshine
in Christian society.
1 go not know of anything more doleful
{han the companionsalp of the mere fun-
makers of the worlc—ihe Thomas Hoods,
the Charles Lambs, the Charles Matthews
ot the worldc—the men whose entire business
it is to make sport. They make otners
laugh, but if you will examine their autobi-
ograpny or biography you wil find that
down in their soul there was a terrific dis-
quietude, Laughter is no siga of happiness.
"I'he manaic laughs. The hyena laugas. The
Joon among the Adirondacks lauga. ‘L'ne
drunkard, dashing his decanter against vae
wal, lauzhs.
"There is a terrible reaction from all sinful
amusement and sinful merriment. Suca
men are cross the nexc day. ‘'hey snap at
you on excaange, or they pass you, not
recogn.zing you. Long ago L quit mere
worldly society tor tae reasou it was so aull,
so inane and so stupid. My nature is
voracious of joy. 1 must have it.
1 always walk on the sunny side of the
street, and for that reason 1 Bbave crossed
yver into Christian society. I like their mode
of repartee better] 1 like their style of
amusement better, They live longer.
Cristian people, 1 sometimes notice, live on
when by all natural law they sugat to nave
died. I have known persons who have con-
tinusd in their existence when the doctor
said they ouzht to have been dead ten years.
Every day of their existence was a defiance
of the laws of anatomy ani physiolozy, buc
they had this supernatural vivacity oft the
Gospel in" their ‘zoul, and that kept them
alive,
Put ten or twelve Christian people ina
room for Christian conversation, ani you
witl from 8 to 10 o'clock hear more reso und-
ing glee, see more bright strokes ot wit. and
find more thought and profound satisfac-
tion than in any merely Wworidly party.
Now, when [ say a “worldly arcy’’ 1 mean
that to which you are invited, because un-
der all the circumstances of the case it is
the best for you to be invited, and to which
you go because under all c'rcumstancss of
the case it is better that you go, and leaving
the shawls on the second floor you go to tha
parlor to give formal salutation to the host
and the hostess, and then move around
spending the whole evening in the discus-
sion Of the weather, andin apology for
treading on long trails, and in effort to keep
the corners of the mouth up to the sign
of pleasure, anc going around with an
idiotic he-he about nothing, natil the colla-
tion is served, and then aiter the collation
is served going back again into the parlor
to resume the weather, and then at the close
going at a very late hour to the host and
hostess and assuring them that vou have
had a most delightful evening, an 1 thea pass
ing down off the front steps, the slam of the
donr the only satisfaction of the evening.
Ob, young man, come from the country
to spend your days in city life, where are
you going to spend your evenings? Let me
tell you, while there are many places of in—-
nocent worldly amusement, it 1s most wise
for you to throw your bo ly, mind aud soul
iato Christian society. Come to me at the
close of five years and tell me what has bean
“he result of this advice. Bring with you
the young man who refused to take the ad-
vice and who went into sinful amusement.
He will come dissipated, shabby in apparel,
ind sposed to look any ons in the eyes, moral
character eighty-five per cent. off. You will
come with principle settled, countenauce
rank, habits good, soul saved and all the
inhabitants of heaven, from the lowest angel
up to tae archangel and clear past him to
the Lord God Almighty, your coadjutors.
This is not the advice of a misanthrope.
There is no man in the house to whom the
world is brighter than if is to me. It is not
the advice of a CGyspeptic—uly digestion is
erect; it is not the advice of a man who
cannot understand a joke or who prefers a
tuneral: it is not the advice of a wornout
man, but the advice of a man who can see
this world in all its brightness, and, consid-
ering myself competent in judging what is
pood cheer, I tell the multitudes of young
men in this house this morning that there is
nothing in worldly associations so grand
and so beautitul and so exhilarant as in
Christian society.
I know there is a great deal of talk about
the self denials of the Christian. I have to
tell you that where tue Christian has one
«olf denial the man of the world has a thou -
cand self denials, The Christian is not com-
manded to surrender anything that is worth
keeping. But what does a man deny him-
colt who denies himself the religion of
Christ, He denies himself pardon of sin;
he denies himself peace of conscience; he de-
nies himself the joy of the Holy Ghost: he
denies himself a comfortable death pillow;
he denies himself the glories of heaven. Do
not talk to me about the salt denials of the
Christian life! Woere there is on? in the
Christian life there are a thousand in the
life of the worl l
pleasantness.”
Again, [ tind a great deal of religious sun-
shine in Christian and divine explanation.
To a great many people lifeis an inexplica-
ble tangle. Things turn out differently from
what was supposed. There is a usaless wo-
man in perfect health. There isan indus-
trious and consecrated woman a complete
invalid. Explain that. Thereisa bad man
with $30,000 of income. There isa good man
with $800 of income. Why is that? There is
a foe of society who lives on, doing all the
the damage he can, to seventy-five years of
age, and here is a Christian father, faithful
in every department of life, at thirty-five
ears taken away by death, his family left
elpless. Explain that. Ob, there is no
sentence that oftener drops from your lips
than this: “I cannot understand it. Ican-
not uaderstand it.”
Well, pow, religion comes in just at that
point its illumination and its explana-
tion. There isa business man who has lost
his ent re fortune, The week before he lost
his fortune there were twenty carriages that
stopped at the door of his maosion. The
wesk after he lost his fortune all the car-
riages you count on one finger. The week
before finaneial trouble began p:ople all took
off their hats to him as he passed down the
street. The week his financial prospects
were under discussion people just touched
their hats without anywise bending the rim.
The week that he was pronouncad insovlent
people just jolted their heads as they passed,
not tipping their hats at all, and the week
the sheriff sold him out all his friends were
looking in the store windows as they went
down past him.
Now, while the world goss away from a
man when he is in financial distress, the re-
Jizion of Christ comes to him and savs:
“You are sick and your sickness is to be
moral purification; you are bereaved; God
wanted in some way to take your family to
heaven, and He must begin somewhere, ani
so He took the one that was most beautiful
and was most ready to go.” I do not say
that retigion explains everything in this life,
bus I do say it lays down certain principles
which are grandly consolatory. You know
business men often telegraph ia cipioers.
The merchant in San Francisco telegraphs
to the mercuant in New York certain infor-
mation in eipners wanich no other man in
that line of business can understand, but
the merchant in San Francisco has the key,
to the cipher, and the merchant in New ‘York
has tae kev to the cipher, and on that in-
formation transmitted thera are enterprises
involving hundrads of thousands of dollars.
Now the providencas ot life sometimes
seem to be a Sensaless rig narole, a mysteri -
ous cipher, but God has a key t> that cipher,
an 1 the Christian a key to that cipaer, an d,
though he may hardly be able tospall out the
meaning, he gets enon zh of the meaning to
understand that itis tor tas best. Now is
there not sunsaine in that? {s thera na
pieasure in oat? Far b2yond lauzhter, 1b
is nearer tae fountain ot tears than noiseer-
ans demonstration. Have you never cried
for joy? Tnere are tars whica are eternal
rapture in distillation.
There ars hundreds of people in this hous
who are walking day by day in the sublime
satisfaction that all is for the best, all things
working together for good for their soul.
How a man can get alonz through this life
without the explanation is tome a mystery.
“Her ways ara ways of
What! is that child gone forever? Ara you
never to get it back? Ls your property gone
forever? ls your soul to ba bruiseil and to
be tried forever? Have you no explanation,
no Christian explanation, and yet not a
maniac? But when youhave the religion of
Jesus Curist in your soul, it explains every-
thing so far as it is best for you to under-
stand. You look off in lite, and your soul
1s full of thanksgiving to God tiat you are
so much better off than you might be.
A man passed down the street without
any snoes and said: »[ have no shoes. Isn't
it a hardship that I have no shoes? Other peo-
ple have shoes; no shoes, no shoes,” untit he
saw a man who had no feet. I'nen he
learned a lesson. You ought to thank God
jor wnat He does, instead of grumbling for
what He dces not. God arranges all the
weather in this world—toe spiritual
weather, the moral weather as well as the
natural weather. “What kind of weather
will 16 be to-day?’ said some one to a farmer.
I'he tarmer replied, *‘1t will be such weather
as I like,” ‘What do joa mean by that,”
asked the other. “Wel,” said the 1armer,
wip will be such weather as pleases the Lord,
and woat pleases the Lord pleases me.”
Ob, the sunshine! the sunshine of Chris-
tian explanation! Here is soms one beaulng
ove. the grave of the dead. What is going
to be the consolation? fhe flowers you
stew upon tne tomb? Oa, no! Tae ser-
vicss read at the grave? On, no. “Tae
chief consolation on that grave is wnat falls
from the throne of God. Sunshine, glori-
oussunshine. Resurrection sunshine.
Again, I find a great deal of the sunshine
of this Bible and of our religion in tne
climacteric joys that are to cowie. A man
who gets uy and goes out from a con-
cert right after the openuny voluntary
has been played, and before the prima
donna sings, or before tne orchestra
begins, has a better idea of that concert
than that man has who supposes that the
chief joys of religion are in tots world, We
here have only the first note of the eternal
orchestra. We shall in that world have the
joy ot discovery. We will in five minutes
cateh up with the astronomers, the geolo-
gists, the scientists, the pailosophers of all
ages, wno so far surpassed us in this world.
We can afforl to adjourn astronomy and
geology and many of tne sciences to the next
world, becauss we shall there bave better ap-
paratus and betver opportunity.
I must study these sciencss so far as to
help me in my work, but beyond that
must give myself to saving my own soul
and saving the souls of others, knowing that
in one flasia of eternity we wiil caten 1t all.
Oh, what an observatory in which to study
astronomy heaven will be, not by power ot
telescope, but by supernatural vision: and
if there be something doubtfal 10,000,000
miles away, by one stroke of the wing you
are there, by another stroze of the wing
you are back again, and all in less time than
1 tell you, catching it all 1 0a flasn of
eternity.
And geology! What a plac? that will be
to study geology, when the world is being
picked to pieces as easily as a schoolgirl in
botanical lessons pulls the leaf from the
corolla! What a place to study architecture,
amid the thrones and tne palaces and the
cathedrals—st. Mark’s and St. Paul's rook-
eries in comparison.
Sometimes you wish you could make the
tour of the whole earth, going around as
others have gone, but you have not the time;
you have not the means. You will make
that tour yet during one musical pause in
the eternal anthem. I say these things for
tho comfort of those people who are abridged
in their opportunities—those people to
whom life is a humdrum, who toil and work,
and toil and work, and aspire after knowl-
edge, but have no time to get it, and say:
«If | had the opportunities which other peo-
ple have, how I would fill my mind and soul
with grand thoughts!” Benot discouraged,
my friends. You are going to tae universily
vet. Death will only matriculate you into
the royal college of the umiverse.
hat a sublime thing it was that Dr.
Thornwell, of South Carolina, uttered in his
last dying moments! As he looked up he
said, ‘It opens; it expands; it expands.”
Or as Mr. Toplady, the author of “Rock of
Ages,” in his last moment,or during his last
hours, looked up and said, as though he saw
| something supernatural, *Light!” and then
as he came on nearer the dying moment,
his countenance more luminous, he cried,
“Light! and at the very moment of his de-
parturs lifted both hands, something super-
natural in his countenance as he cried,
“Light?’ Only another name for sunshine.
Besides that we shall have all the pleasures
of association, We will go right up in the
front of God without any fright. All our
sins gone, there will be nothing to be fright-
enoj about. There our old Christian friends
will troop around "us. Just as now one of
your sick friends goes away to Florida, the
land of flowers, or to the south of Francs,
and you do not see him for a long while, and
after a while you meat mim, and the kotlows
| under the eyes are ali filled, and the appetite
has coma baci, and the crutca has been
thrown away, ani he isso changed you hard-
ly know him. ou sav, "Why, I neversaw
you look so well » He says: “I couldn't
help but be well. [have been sailing these
rivers and climbing these mountains, and
that's how [ got this elasticity. I never was
so well.
Oa, my friends, your departed loved ones
are only away for their health ina better
climate, and whea you meeu tham thay will
be so changed you will hardly know them —
they will be so very much changed, and
aftr awhile, when you are assured that
they are your friends, your departed friends,
you will say: ‘Why, where is that cough?
Where is toat paralysis? Whoere is that
pneumonia? - Where is that consumption?’
And be wili say: “Oh, Iam entiraly well!
There are no sick ones in gals country.
have been ranging these ills, ani hence
this elasticity. I have been hers now twenty
years, and not one sick one have { seen—we
are all well in this climate.”
Ani then I stand at the gate of the celes-
tial city to see the procession come out, and
I see a long procession of little children
with their arms full of flowers, and then I
see a procession of kings ani priests meviag
in celestial pageantry—a long procession,
but no black tasseled vehicle, no mourning
roup, and 1 say: *‘How strange it is.
Whers is your Greenwodd? where is your
Laurel Hiil? where is your Westminster
Abbey? And they shall cry, “here ara
no graves here.”
And then listen for tha tolling of the old
pelfries of heaven, tae old belfries of
eternity. I listen to hear then toll for tha
dead, but they toll not for tha dead. They
only strike up a silvery chime, tower to
tower, east gate to west gate, as they ring
out, “They shall hungar no more, neither
thirst any more, neithar shall the sun light
on them, nor any heat, for the Lamb whica
is in the midst of the thrones saall lead them
to living fountains of water, ani God shall
wipe away ail tears from their eyes.”
On, unglove your hand and give it to me
in congratulation on that siana! I feelasit
1 would shout. L will shout halleluiah!
Dear Lord, forgive me teat [ ever com:
plained about anything. Lf all this ®is be.
tore us, who cares for anything bus God and
heaven and eternal brotherhood? Take the
crape off the doorbell. Your loved ones are
only away for their healtn in a land am-
brosial. Come, Loweil Mason; coms, Isaac
Watts, and give us your best hymn about
joy celestial.
W hat is the n3sa of postponing our heavan
any longer? Liat it begin now, ani waoso-
ever hata a harp let her tarun it, and who-
soaver hath a trumpet let him blow it, and
whosoever hath an organ let him give us a
full diapason. They crowd down the arr,
spirits blessed, moviug in cavalcade of tri-
umph. Thew cbariot wheels whirl in tha
Sabbath sualight. ‘hey coma. Halt, ar-
miss of God!” Halt until we ara ready to
join the battalion of pleasuras thas never
die.
Oh, my friends, it would take a sermon as
long as eternity to tell the jovs toat are
coming to us. { just sev open the suashiny
door. Come in, all ye disciples of the
world wiao have found the world a mockery.
Come in, all ye disciples of the daucs, and
see the bounding feet of this heavenly glad-
ness. Come in, ye disciples of worldly
amusement, and ses the stage where kings
are the actors, and burning worlds the foot-
lights, and thrones the spectacular.
Arise, ye dead in sin, for this is the morn-
ing of resurrection. The joys of heaven
submerge our soul. [pull out the trumpet
stop. Inthy presenca there is a fullness of
joy; at thy rigat hand tnere are pleasures
forevermore.
Blessed ara th» saints belovgd of God;
Washed are their robes in J8sus's blood;
Brighter than angels, lo! they saine,
"Their glories splenaid and sublime.
My soal anticipates the day,
Would stretch her wing and 30ar away
To aid the song, the palm to bear,
And bow the chief of sinners there.
Oh, the sunshine, the glorious sunshine,
the everlasting sunshine!
eet
Trades That Effect the Teeth.
Quicksilver miners follow the mos3i
unhealthy trade in the world. The fume:
of the mercury produce constant saliva.
tion and the system becomes permeated
with the metal, the teeth of the unfortu-
nate men drop out, they lose their appe-
tite, become emaciated, and, as a rule,
seldom live longer than two years.
Chloride of lime, employed by bleachers
frequently destroys ithe enamel and den
tine of the teeth. But phosphorus, usec
so largely in the manufacture of lucifer
matches, affects a very large number of
persons, women, girls and childrer
greatly preponderatiog. People whe
work in soda factories are affected by
the teeth becoming soft and translucent;
they break off close to the gums. Doctcx
Hesse, of Leipsic, states that bakers are
likely to suffer from carious teeth on ac-
count of the flour entering the mouth
during work, collecting on and around
the teeth, where it decomposes and gen.
erates an acid destructive to the dentine,
—Yankee Blade.
——— I ——————
Had a Long Beard and Hated Doctors.
Matthew Robinson (Lord Rokeby), a
prominent but eccentric Englishman of
the last century, became famous for his
long beard and his pronounced hatred ol
medical practitioners. In regard to the
former it is said that upon one occasion
when going to an election he stopped al
an inn where the country people, who had
assembled from miles around, took him
for a Turk, and through this wmistaken
idea almost worried *‘me Lord” to death.
His dislike for physicians was carried
to such an extreme that he left a codicil
to his will which was to the effect thai
a favorite nephew was to be disinherited
should he (the nephew) in the last illness
of the lord let his sympathies cause him
to send for a doctor. This baving beer
made known to the nephew when his
uncle, the lord, was in good health, it is
needless to add he allowed that person’s
spirit to take its flight without calling ir
any of the surgical {raternity.—St. Loui
Republic.
———— I ———
The Peculiar Death of a Workman.
James Bordley, of Chester, lost his
life in a strange manner at the Wellman
Iron and Steel Works. The company
has an appliance tor loading coal into
cars through chutes. Bordley was on
top of a 400-ton pile of coal, and when
the chute was opened he was sucked into
the chute and seventy tons of coal cov-
ered him over. Twenty men worked for
an hour to move the coal pile, but when
Bordley’s body was. recovered lite was
extinct.— Philadelphia Times.
ener
The Age of Turtles.
The age of turtles, like the age ol
come excellent women, will never be
known. In many parts of the country
boys cut their initials on the shell of the
tortoise, with the date, and then watch
for them in later years. At Hatboro, in
Pennsylvania, one was found with L.
W., 1833, cut on the shell, Mr. Lew
Walton, who cut the lettering, is still
living, but the slow going turtle will
probably outdo him in the race of life.
—Meehans’s Monthly.
FASHIONS LATEST EBIGTS.
HOW TO DQ THE HAIR,
New Styles of Dressing That are Coming
Into Vogue. Illustrations Which
Point the Moral +E
FTER all the talk about
fillets, coronets and
Greek ‘parts,’ and so
’
on is over, it will still
7is and always will be,
assnealways has been,
a very pretty kind of
girl. ~ Incidentally. she
is apt to look badly in
% . Greek part. She is
R bright enough to keow
9 ir, and smart enough—
i the bang-style of girl is
always smart—to point-
edly stick to her
\ bang, and let those who
can do it, or who have notthe sense to see
that they can't, wear their Grecian effects.
She stays pretty in her own particular way,
retaining her own dear bang. So, here a
word about bangs.
The horrid frizzte is, let us hope, gone for-
ever. You may have as much or as little
hair in the bang as you please and as you
can, but there must beonly a little curl and
no side bang at all. We who wear bangs
may congratulate ourselves that the present
bangs are each and ail examples of the sur-
vival of the fittest. 1f your hair is very thick
at the forehead, you may make just a little
fringe. Curve it down in the center, for now
no bang is ever cut concave. let it be a
genuine fringe that shows the clear color of
the skin where it lies over the forehead.
J)
1)
Zn J
This fringe is not curled at all, though of
course, it is not exactly straight. It has a
turn in it. Lf it has it nataraliy, you need
not bother about What sort it is, but if you
are to **do’’ it, don’t risk mare than one
half turn of the irons. The hair at the sides
and top of the head back of the bang may
be waved, and for two reasons. Forone it is
2
more dressy and besides, if you have put
back of a previous bang in favor of the
present fringe, you will find the hair very
rebellious unless it is waved. Then, too,
maybe your hair is not very thick at the
forehead, in which case the waving makes
it seem so.
This fringe is as becoming to-day to young
girls, or to older faces, that have the girlish
look, as it ever was, and if yours is a face to
which the style is becoming don’t let the
talk about new hair adjustments bother you.
The girl with the bang has been much talk-
ed down. She is readily imagined as either
a school girl of the “what-der-yer-soy’’ type.
or a most frivolous and artificial creature.
But that need not worry you. Your bang is
not that kind. A thoughtful, gir ish face of
delicate oval wears the fringe charmingly.
Such a head dress as I have just described
goes with downcast lids and wistful mouth
very sweetly. Kven the very prim girl suits
her style of bang and looks the more quaint-
ly prim and sweet for it. She may not wish
to adopt a Greek headdressand a Greek part.
Perhaps her hair will. net part, some hair
doesn't, you know, and maybe she looks
like the mischief with her hair parted. Be-
sides, being just a quaint, prim girl, she
does not want to wi her hair straight back
and look lik: an uncompromising blue-
stocking. The bang is a happy compromise,
so she cuts a tiny bitof fringe, then another
_welcome cr spness of effect.
above its end just covering the part of the
tirst_and perhaps another still. above. Each
“relief” to the line <7 the brow, the contour
of profi'e is softened, and the banzin no
way takes from the charm of the precisely
poised head, and the demure coil at the back.
This sort of girl is always daintily attrac-
tive. She has a bright, clear complexion, a
good figure. well rounded neck and should-
ers, which she is n.ost prudent about dis-
playing, and all with an air from the top of
er moderate bang to the sole of her moder-
ate shoes of not bothering or caring desper-
ately about her dresses or get up, anyhow,
Now, how would that typeof girl be im-
proved by a change of her headdress,
There,t00, is the pretty girl whois a bit
frivo'ous. She is naturally and unconcious-
ly frivolous as a butterfly is light-hearted.
Would vou spoil her pretty face by putting
classic touches to her head, and parting her
hair; or wonld you abolish her bang and
leave Ler with straight black hair? Such a
girl will cut a bang away back to the crown
of her head. thereby getting rid of a lot of
hair and making tne coil at the back small-
er and less calculated toin‘erfere with the
graceful outline of her head. The first two
or three rows of the bang are ; tiny short
lengths, and those further back are longer,
so they will not stand up and spoil the out-
line, “The first fringes are slightly burned
with the iron,and those nearer the top of the
head are almost straight, that they lie more
closely to the head. She is thus sweet and
delicately pretty as she can be, and a Greek
coiffure would not suit her half so well.
{ might go on and quote any number of
types that should stick to the bang. Some
women may dignify their faces by parting
the hair at the forehead. but for most of you,
don’t do 1t! Fashions are not made to adapt
yourself to; they are not made to rule, bu
to serve,rnd if it suits your beauty you may
consider them. If not, make up a fashion
for yourself. or take one from some other
period, or stick to an old one, like the bang,
and continne looking well in your own way.
The women with long, heavy hair had
better cut the lengths off. Shoulder length
isthe most convenient. It knots on the top
easily and is easy to keep curled and clean.
Then, too. you are much more apt to have
nice heavy hair when you get old, and need
a few charms to help you to live. Above all,
you will be more in the present mode. Very
heaty and long hair is more of a nuisance
than anything else. There is no way of do-
ing it up, and yon can’t always be pretend-
ing Ophelia and Judith and let it hane.
What has een written concerning the
coiffures of the fa hionable women is illus-
trated in the accosmpanying pictures.
A HANDSOME EVENING DRESS.
THE NEWEST SKIRTS HAVF RUFFLES LINED WITH
CRINOLINE.
The newest skirts are having their ruffles
lined with erinoline, and there is certainly a
If only we
could be sure the fad will go no further than
just crispness. But fashions never stop at
their first pretty effect;they go on and on till
the hideous exaggeration is upon us. Then
we are slaves to the 1ashion and everyone
forgets the start of the thing and groans un-
der what seems an nnreasonable tyrafny.
The exaggeration of the crispness is, of
course. the awful hoop skirt'and - the yards
and yards of stuff in skirts. Let me cling to
the limpire, or perhaps it is better fo say, let
the Empire cling to us. Of conrse short
waists are no guarantee against hoops, for,
SUNDAY SCHOOL
i opr nes
LESSON FOR SUNDAY, FEB. 12
i ee
‘Nehemiah’s Prayer.” Neh. 1.,1-11-Gold.
en Text: Psalm xxx. 10. Com-
mentary.
1. “The words of Nenemiah, the son of
Hachaliab.”
vab) was coe of the Jewish captives selected
by Artaxerxes, the Persian monarch, to fiil
the office of cupbearer. He arrived at Jeru-
salem about thirteen years after Ezra was
governor of Judea, remaining about twelve
years, and then returning to Artaxerxes,
trom whom he recaived a new commission.
He went azain to Jeru:alem and ruled thers
for another twenty-two years, B. C. 445-428,
He was one of. ‘the greatest men of the
Hebrew Nation, renowned for his zaal,
patriotism, courage, humanity and earnest
devotedness to Gol and to His service
(**Searching the Scripbures” by Dr. Ander-
son). One of the most interesting things in
the book is ths edict to rebuild the city
(chapter ii., 5, 8), from which bagins Daniels
seveniv weeks. : are :
2. “I asked them concerning the Jews that
bad escaped, which wera left of tha captiv-
ity. and concerning Jerusalsm.” The church
of to-day seems not to appreciate the fact.
that Jerusaiem was and is and shall yet bs a
eity very dear to Jehovah, and more dear
than we can understand to every loyal Jew.
*‘The Lord hath chosen Zion, le hath de-
sired it for Ris habitation.” *‘The Lord
shall yet comfort Zion, and shall ye! choosa
Jerusalem.” *“At that time they shall call
Jerusalem the throne of the Lord” (Ps
exxxii., 12; Zeeh. i., 17; Jer. iii. 19).
5. ‘*And they said unto Me, The remnant?
that are left ot the captivity there in the
provinea are in great affl ction anil re-
proach.” By comparing verse 1 and chap-
ter 1i., 1, with Ez. vii., 6, 7, we find that this
deso.ation was the conaition of things at
the Holy City thirteen years atter the great
raiormation wrouzat throuzh Ezra, and we
feel inciined to ask why it was so. With
the tempie finished, the worship restored
end such puriiyinz as Ezra had accom-
plished, why was there not more zeal for
Goda? If one question can help to answer
ancther we would asg, Why, with all the
open doors of this generation to carry the
Cospel to every creature and the vast
amount of money in the hands of Christians,
are there somany hundreds of millions still
without the Gospsl?
4, “And it cams to pass, when I heard
these words, that I sat down and wept, and’
mourned certain days, ‘and fasted andi
prayed before the God of heaven.” Hereis
a man away off in Babylon so interested in
the welfare of Jerusalem and in the honor
of the God of Israel that for several
ways he gives
mourning and fasting’ ani prayiag.
Compare Daniel fasting and praying, for
three full weeks that be might know the
mind of God (Dan. x., 2, 3): See Paul thres
years at Eohesus, warning the people nigat
and day with tears (Acts xx., 31), and. re-
member that God isa rewarder of them that
diligently seek Him (deb. xi., 6).
5. **And said, I beseech Thee, O Lord God
of beaven, the great and terribie God, thav
in fact, hoops are bound to come. They
came as a reaction the last time fashion took
to clinging gowns for a time. So, if your
mother has given you any old dresses, pause
in your mad career and don’t cut up the
wide skirts. Keep them a few months long-
er and you can wear them just as they are.
At the sight of the first models you wili have
to admit a charm of graciousness in the
fashion and the suggestion of bandboxiness
that is very alluring after our close-clinging,
damp-looking notions of late.
A shabby silk petticoat can be made really
swell again by running its ruffles with nar-
row ribbon is rainbow combinations. Not
only will the rows of ribbon give fresh col-
or, but they will lend a crispness to theskirt
and to the dress over it.
—_———————————
NATIONAL DEBT STATEMENT.
eigen
Amount of Gold in the Treasury Less
Than For Many Years.
The net gold in the national treasuryJan-
uary 31, as shown by the debt statement is-
sued at Washington, was’ $108,181,713, the
lowest figure reached in many years. This
amount includes the $100,006,000. gold re-
serve. In the month of January there was
a net increase of the public debt of $3,105,
800. The non-interest bearing debt was de-
creased $722,299, the interest bearing debt
showed an increase of $580, while the net
cash was $3,827,520 less than at the close of
the year 1892. The interest-bearing debt
outstanding Januaay 31 was $585,033,6€0;
and the debt on which interest has ceased
since maturity, $2,357,755, the non-interest
bearing debt was $376,411,518, making a
total of $963,803,033,
Certificates and treasury notes offset by
equal amount of cash in treasury, $607,498,-
582; aggregate of debt, including certificates
and treasury notes, $1,571,301,.615. The bal-
nce in the treasury, including the $100,000,-
Boo gold reserve, was $125,265,063.
The statement of receipts and disburse-
ments for the month show that the pays
ments made by the treasury exceeded its ii
come by over $4,000,000.
Pullman’s Gift to Chieago.
George M. Pullman will build and endow
a home and school for destitute children on
the site of the Old Hyde Park Hotel at
Chicago. It isto be a model institution and
bear the name of its founder.
—GREAT BriTAIN leads in the number of
foreign vessels arriving at New York for the
month of January, with a total of 180.
America comes next, with 78, and Germany
third, with 34.
—TRuv. T. E. Irving, a Niagara Falls evan,
gelist, was expelled from the Baker street
Methodist mission. Baltimore, for denounc:
ing church fairs.
peth covepant and mércy for them that
lave Him and observe His commandments.”
From bere to the end of the lesson we hava
his prayer, and it is a prayer that was heard
in heaven and answered. Observe that in
! chapter ii., 4, he one day prayel without
uttering a word with his lips, for at the same
moment he prayed to God anid spake to the
king. Compare this verse with chapter ix.,
82, and Ex. xxxiv., 6, 7, and see in Jer.
xxxii., 17, the comrort to be obtained from
the God of heaven.
6. *'I pray before Thee mow day and
night for the children of Israel, Thy ser-
vants, and confess the sins of the children
of Israel.” Identitying hims21f with ths
nation, be confesses their sins. He excuses
DOHIng, palliates nothing, but includes
Himsel , saying, **Both I and my Father's
house have sinned.” “He that covereth his
sins shall not prosper, but whoso confessath
and forsaketh them shall obtaia mercy”
(Prov. xxviii, 13). If we confess our sins
He is faithful and just to forgive usour sins
and to cleanse us irom all unrighteousness
(I John 1, 9). 4
7. “We have dealt very corruptly against
Thee, and have not kept the command-
ments.” The curses had coms just as God
had said in Deut. xxviii, 15, 45, and they
bad brought it all upon themselves (Isa.
lix,, 2). Nehemiah does well to make full
confession; but, oh, think of Him who took
all these sins upon Hinuelf, who allowed all
sin to be heaped upon Him, making it His
own that He might give unto us His right-
eousness! This He does now for every in-
dividual believer (II Cor. v., 21, Acts xiii,
38, 29), and this He will yet do for Israel
(Isa. Ix, 21).
8. “Remember, I beseech Thee, the word
that Thou commandest Thy servant Moses.”
He reminds God of the curse which He by
Moses had said should come, and which had
come, He did not question the authorship
- of Moses, por did he doubt that Moses spoke
the words of God. He believed Grod, con-
demned himself and his people &nd justified
God.
+ 9, “Butif ye turn unto Me, and keep My
commandments, and do them.” Heis quot-
ing now in his prayer irom Deut. xxx., 1-5,
where Jehovah promised, on condition of
true repentance and obedience, to restore.
them to their land and bless them and give
them a heart tolove Him supremely; but
the condition was, *Ii thou turn unto the
Lord thy Go 1 with all thine keart and with
all thy soul” (Deut. xxx.. 10). As He chose
Jerusalem to put His name there and mag-
nify Himself from thence, so He chooses us
to bear His name and magnify Him in these
mortal bodies (Acts ix.. 15, 16; Phil, i., 20).
10. **Now these are Thy servants and Thy
people whom Thou hast redeemed by Thy
great power and by Thy strong hand.” Bo
pleaded Moses, reminding Gol that not-
withstanding all their sin still they were
His people and His inheritancs which He
brouzht out of Ezypt (Deut. ix., 26, 20). So
pleaded Daniel also as he identified himself
with the sinful nation anil asked mercy in
these words, *‘O Lord, forzive for Thine own
sake, O my God, for Thy city and Thy
people are called by Thy name’ Is ix;
15,19). See what He will yet do for them
for His name’s s3ke in Ezz. xxxvi., 22-32.
© 11, “Prosper, 1 pray Thea, Thy servant,
this day, and grant him mercy in the sight
of this man.” Having poured out his soul
on behalf of his people, he now asks a special
favor on his own behalf, and yet for their
sakes as their benefactor. Every such inter-
cessor, whether he be Abraham or Moses or
Daniel or Nehemiah, sugzests to us the great
intercessor, our Lord Jesus Christ, who died
for us, lives for us and will in due time come
again to us. He, for His name's sake, for-
gives our sins (I John ii., 12; Isa. x liii., 25)
and tells us that whatsoever wa sha 1l ask in
His name, that the Father may be glorified
in the Son, He will do it (John xiv., 13, 14).
~ Lzsson Helper. Tp
Amber Is Scarce, and Nobody Cares.
Genuine amber is becoming scarcer
every year, and it will not be long be=
fore a real amber cigar-holder or pi 0
stem will be a rarity and a luxury LE A
true amber is a fossil gum, which vas
produced in large quantities by trees
having a resinous sap, which flowed
down the trunks and gathered in mag
at the roots. Itis found in the gro Soe
of marshes and other places Es a
gsts flourished in former times IS
s1so secured by dredging. The B Iti
and Black Seas and the German Oo :
formerly produced it in consider blo
quantities. but their supplies are Dio
pretty much exhausted. There re Dov
tlo satisfaction, however, in kn 2 li
that the imitation amber is just 3 owing
as the real. 3% 88 good
Nehemiah (comforted cf Jeho- .
himself up to
neem HES gH HR ET orm
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