COLDENROD. Spring Is the morning of the year, And Summer is the noontide bright ; The Autumn is the evening clear That comes before the Winter's night. And in the evening, everywhere Along the roadside, up and down, I see the golden torches flare Like lighted street-lamps in the town. I think the butterfly and bee, From distant meadows coming buck, Are quite contented when they see These lamps along the homeward track. But those who stay too late get lost ; For when the darkness falls about, Down every lighted street the Frost Will go and put the torches out! —Frank Dempster Sherman. SR 4 OCHE, THE CHICKASAW. NE The colonel was in command. and it was our business to obey orders. His mouth was straight and firm, and his small,gray eyes were set unusually close together. His chin was clean shaven, and on either cheek he wore a thin and formal whisker. Perhaps it was to this severe exterior that Colonel Bailey owed his appointment as deputy sheriff of Guthrie district; but be this as it may, everybody knew him to be capable and fearless, and 80 when an elusive young Chickasaw bandit was seen in the vicinity of Le- high it was the colonel who was chosen to run him down. Colonel Bailey selected me as one of his associates. For the other he picked out an unsociable fellow, known in the community as ‘‘Frozen Pete.” I suspect that he had no great confidence in our ability to catch the thief. For when we reached Le- high and found the outlaw under lock and key, he seemed very well satisfied. It merely remained for us to bring the prisoner safely to Guthrie and lodge him in the county jail. After a short delay, we started on our return journey, and so it happened that one breezy autumn evening we four encamped in a hollow of the Washita Hills, Okla: homa, with more than half our ride behind us. Our prisoner's name was Oche—a Chickasaw word meaning ‘‘all right.” Never was name less appropriate. Ex- cept in his youth, his vigor and the marvellous quickness of his motions, Oche was anything but ‘‘all right.” Though he stood five feet ten in his moccasins, his extraordinary leanness left his weight scarcely a hundred pounds. He spoke little English and was wholly without education, but his high reputation for cunning had been thoroughly earned. © A pair of frayed buckskin trousersand a dingy blanket made up- his simple costume. He looked a typical Indian outlaw, but his face was kind, and there were men who said his gratitude for a favor was keen and lasting. As a professional dad small ¢'aim upon the kindness of honest mén, and He must have ex- pected the severest justice at official hands. But at the outset, the Indian had reason to be surprised, for con- trary to his appearance Colonel Bailey was generous to a fault, and his kind consideration for a prisoner was in- variable. Frozen Pete anil I followed his example. We had no wish to be discourteous, and it seemed only nat- ural and right to offer Oche such little attentions as were within our power to bestow. I remember in particular that last night when the Indian was shivering beneath his scanty blanket how the colone] drew off his heavy weather-coat and spread it carefully over him. Oche merely raised hig head and stared hard into the rugged face of the sheriff. The hollow in which we had halted was a natgral basin, situated on the west bank of a branch of the Washita river. Eastward between us and the stream a very narrow wall of shaly “earth rose precipitously to the height of full 30 feet. To the north and west the low hills were almost perpen- dicular. Thus on three sides the basin was entirely shut in by cliffs. On the fourth alone to the southwest the view wa8 open, and through the gap we could see stretches of the il- limitable prairie. The tall prairie grass grew abnan- dantly on the floor of our camping- ground, and here and there along the hard, dry walls clung an occasional patch of stubbly buffalo grass or a sickly cluster of yellow cacti. Cer- tainly it was not a pretty spot, but the tall banks were a rampart against the chill breezes of the northwest, “and the basin had long since been a favor- ite halting-ground for travelers. On this night, however, the wind had veered round until it swept unre- sisted through the mouth of our three- walled flat. All night long its vio- lence steadily increased, and when the colonel wakened us by loud shouts of ‘‘Rouse! Rouse!” it was blowing a gale. I started up and began to draw on my heavy boots. The colonel was al- ready making coffee over a glowing heap of brush sticks. By chance my eyes wandered to the opposite side of the basin, where we had picketed our four broncos. They were gone. In blank amazement I pointed to the spot. The colonel followed the direetion of my gaze and understood. Then by a common impulse we ran to where his overcoat lay. He snatched it from the ground. Beneath were a blanket, a piece of heavy rope and a pair, of locked handcuffs. Oche had gone, too. : Had the blow been less severe, the colonel might have given expressive vent to his feelings, but as it was, he merely dropped upon the blanket and began to examine the discarded man- acles. “There are times,” he muttered, weakly, ‘‘when a man who calls him- self a man insists upon being a mule. This is one of the times, and I’m the man.” : “How was it done?” I asked, kneel- ing oprosite him on Oche’s blanket. ““T’one,” he replied; ‘‘there wasn’t anything to be done about it. All he horse-thief Oche | [ boy,” cried the WOT had to do was to getup and walk. You know how slim he was? Well, he’s turned out to be one of those fel- lows whose hands aren’t a broader than their wrists. What do you suppose they care about things | like these?’ he added, handcuffs viciously. ‘‘While we were sleeping here, like the gentle lambs we are, he slipped his hands out, un- tied the rope from his ankles and left, taking the broncos along as mementos of a pleasant trip with fools.” “Then let’s follow him!” I exclaimed, leaping up; but the sheriff gripped me by the trousers. " “I'm thankful,” he said, earnestly, “that I’m not the only idiot in this camp. Why, you dummy, you comprehend the difference be- tween people on horses and people on foot, and don’t 2 Frozen Pete had been quietly but rapidly pulling on his boots, button- ing his jacket and tightening his belt. His manner was generally so deliber- ate that now we both stared at him in surprise. My view embraced the wouth of our camping-ground, and between the black walls I saw, with horror, a long, unbroken line of leap- ing flame. Extending the entire width of the bottom, its dancing vel- low crest was just visible as it rose over a long knoll lying in its path. rattling the How the fire started I do not know to ! ' has passed a bend in the this day. Perhaps campers on the prairie had set it going accidentally. It could not have been burning long, for else we should have noticed the glare in the night sky. Complete- ly hidden by our walls until within the last few moments, the terrible danger had crept upon us unobserved. _ The fire was already within 300 yards of us, and the rough wind was sweeping it nearer with frightful ra- pidity. sides of us blocked our retreat. A death of torture was rushing straight at us. Pete and I stared at Colonel Bailey, while in that awful moment the sheriff g:ood, with beat head, thinking how to save us. “This way, boys,” he cried,sudden- toward the creek. We followed and quickly reached the narrow bluff op- posite. : The along its base. He had seen such formations before and hoped to find a hole through the wall. I was by his side when we reached a spot where the tall grass had worn down. He stopped, dropped on one knee and then pulled me bodily to the ground. To my astonishment I found myself burrow, perhaps 1S inches in diam- eter. At its other end, scarcely 15 feet away, I could see light. Some enterprising coyote had dug a passage through the narrow wall to the creek beyond. “See if it’s wide enough for you, colonel; ¢¢ maybe not. If can get through, we can’t ——"’ I lost the rest of the sentence as | size ofp ay and shoulders | into the opening, and digging my toes | the ground I shoved | | physically. with both arms extended in front me I thrust my head violently into myself forward almost my There I stuck fast. With no room bend my arms or use my knees, I was helpless. ~ Writhe and squirm as 1 would, I could make no progress. In despair I° struggled back into the basiu. . “I feared it,” said the sheriff, husk- ily. “If we could use our elbows we could make it, but as it is, God help us, length. For some seconds we stood motion- less. The fire had advanced full 50 vards,and the infernal roar was buzz- ing in my ears when Pete suddenly thrust out his hand toward the west. Opposite us, on the verg of the bluff, was the raseally bandit, Oche. We could see him distinctly in the in- creasing light. There he sat astride the colonel’s pony, stolidly watching us and apparently finding a ferocious joy in our approaching destruction, We had hardly time for thought, however, before Oche dropped to the ground. Holding the lariat coiled in his hand, he cut it from the bronco’s neck and sprang to the edge of the bluff at a point where the wall was slightly less steep. Instantly he squatted down, lurched his weight for- ward and slid down the bank into the basin below. The descent was almost as rapid as a fall, but Oche reached the bottom unharmed, and springing to his feet he came bounding toward us, his lank, wiry body shooting far through the air at every leap. The act of the bandit in dropping from safety to apparent death utterly bewildered us. In the nature of things it would not be to attack us. The roaring of the flames grew louder, we could hear the crackling of the tall, crisp grass, yet we could only stand and stare. The Indian presently reached us. “Throw away guns — hats!” cried. “Do it, Dboys,” he commanded the colonel, and as Frozen Pete threw down his belt, pistol and sombrero Oche pushed him prostrate to the earth. Pete fell just iu front of the burrow, and Oche sliding past hin, strung the lasso on the grass. Pete i he stood on { the creek. particle ! i against our faces. | chivalrous deference. | rope. | side, and our united strength dragged i Colonel Bailey rapidly through the can’t. | ! emerged from under There was no time to start a | counter fire. The sheer walls on three ! been | looking into a wolf- | maybe we | to | understood and grasped the rope near its centre, while Oche, dropping full length upon the ground, wriggled his naked body into the burrow. Thanks to his extreme slenderness and to his Indian blood he crawled through the tunnel with all the dexterity of an animal. Holding one end of the lariat at his back he drew the slack rapidly after him, and in less than a minute the narrow strip beside Pete crawled into the tunnel as far as his own exertions would permit, and now the Indian, drawing the rope taut, pulled him along with all the strength of Lis lithe body. Twisting and turning, the cowboy scraped safely , throuzh. The.colonel grabbed the end of the rope which had almost disappeared in the burrow, and running back with it 15 feet he ordered me to go before him. The fire was within 50 yards of us. The wind drove sparks and smoke It was no time for Dropping to the earth I grasped the lariat as Pete had done and was trying to compress my bulk just a little | when I felt myself jerked forward with i a vigor which told me that Oche and Pete were hauling together at the In half a minute I was by their tunnel. But just as the sheriff’s head the bluff Oche sprang from us and running along the | bank of the stream stopped some five rods away. It was that neither Pete hardly strange nor I thought of | him as a prisoner. Colonel Bailey got on his feet and took a step toward Oche. The out- law stood motionless, The sheriff made another step. The Indian shook his -head, then turned and walked slowly away, conscious of his perfect security. He had seen us throw down our holster pistols on the other side of the hole, and as an Indian he did not fear our pursuit on foot. The sheriff watched Oche until he ridge, then turned and walked toward us in si- lence. Halting at the wolf-burrow he bent down and peeped through it. As he did so his trousers were drawn tight across his hips, and I perceived the outline of a hard object in his rear . pocket. It was the butt of a derringer man to criti- Tilford, in pistol; but I am not the cise the colonel. -— Til Youth’s Companion. QUAINT AND CURIOUS, A map of Jerusalem in Mosaic, over 1500 years old, has been found in Pal- estine. A night-blooming leguminous plant of Trinidad is pollinated by the agency "of bats. ly, and ran straight across the canon | There are houses still standing in Nuremberg, Bavaria, that were built | in 1080. sheriff glanced rapidly | A pen carrying a small electric lamp to prevent shadows when writing has been patented in Ger.nany. Prisoners when arrested in Morocco are required to pay the policeman for his trouble in taking them to jail. The Roman bride, when being dressed for the wedding, invariably had her hair parted with the point of a spear, A pedestrian succeeded the other day in setting foot, in the course of { five hours and forty minutes, in seven German states. Simla, India, is built on the side of a steep hill, and the roof of one house is often”on a level with the founda- tion of one in the next tier. Grasshoppers attain their greatest in South America, where they grow to a length of five inches, and their wings spread out ten inches. The Japanese are curiously alike Recent measurements taken of an infantry regiment showed no vaviation except two inches in height or 20 pounds in weight. An early Anglo-Saxon custom, strictly followed by newly married couples, was that of drinking diluted honey for thirty days after marriage. From this custom comes the word honey- moon, or honeymonth. Safety for Miners. A recently invented device for miners will no doubt result in lessen- ing the loss of life. It is designed to render the miners immune from the deadly effects of carbonic oxide in the after damp which follows gas ex- plosions in mines. It is a helmet which will enable the wearer to live for at least half an hour after such an explosion takes place. It is worn over the head and face, and is constructed of a special asbestos tanned leather, or cloth, rendering it proof against fire, heat, steam, boiling water and all poisonous fluids. It comes down close over the shoulders, and is held firmly in place by means of two straps pass- ing under the arms. At the back of the helmet is a metal reservoir, from which the wearer is supplied with fresh air at the natural air pressure and twenty degrees cooler than the outside atmosphere. The tank has a capacity of 100 pounds’ pressure of compressed air, and is always ready for service, the same pressure of pure air being retained for months. The amount of air in store can be-seen on the gauge attached to the reservoir, which can be quickly changed by an air pump. A lever on the top of the reservoir forces the air through the supply tubes to a point inside and di- recty in front of the mouth and nos- trils., The supply can be adjusted to the comfort of the wegrer. The neck gear has an outlet for the foul air,and the two lookouts arc constructed of double plates of clear mica, with re- volving cleaners and protected by four cross wires. The side or ear plated have special diaphragms, or sounding discs, which give perfectly- distinct hearing. —Philadelphia Record. REY. THLNAGE'S SUNDAY SERMON. Subject: “People of Many Troubles —A Certain Amount of Persecution and Tribulation Arouses the Best That is ina Man—Woman in a Crisis. TexTt: “There was a sharp rock on the one side. and a sharp rock on the other.” I Sam. xiv., 4. Tha cruel army of the Philistines must be taken and scattered. There is just one man, accompanied by his bodvguard, to do that thing. Jonathan is the hero of the scene. I know that David cracked the skull of the giant with a few pebbles well slung, and that three hundred Gideonites scattered ten thousand Amalekites by the crash of broken crockery: but here is a more wonderful conflict. Yonder are the Philistines on the rocks. Here is Jonathan with his bodyguard in the valley. On the one sideisarock called Bozez; on the other side is a rock called Senelh. These two were as famous in olden times as in modern times are Plymonth Rock and Gibraltar. They were precinitous, unscalable and sharp. Between these two rocks Jonathan must make his ascent. The day comes for the scaling of the height. Jonathan, on hia hands and feet,” begins the ascent. With strain and slip and bruise, ‘I suppose, but still on and up, first goes Jonathan, and then goes his bodyguard. Bozez on one side, Seneh on the other. After a sharp tug. and push. and clinging, I see the head of Jonathan above the hole in the moun- tain, and there is a challenge and a fight, and a supernatural consternation. These two men. Jonathan and his bodveguard, drive back and drive down the Philistines over therocks, and open a campaign which demolishes the enemies of Israel. I sun- pose that the overhanging and overshad- owing rocks on either side did not balk or dishearten Jonathan or his bodvguard, but only roused and fllled them with enthusi- asm as they went un. “There was a sharp rock on the one side, and a sharp rock on the other side.” My friends vou have been, or are now. some of you, in this crisis of the text, Ifa man meeta one trouble he can go through with it. He gathers all his energies. con- centrates them on one point, and in the strength of God, or by his own natural de- termination. goes throughit. Rut the man who has trouble to the right of him, and trouble to the left of him, is to be pitied. Did either trouble come alone, he mighs endure it, but two troubles, two disasters, two overshadowing misfortunes, are Bozez and Seneh. God pity him! ‘“There is a sharp rock on the one side, and a sharp rock on the other side.” In this crisis of the text is that man whose fortune and health fail him at the same time. Nine-tenths of all our mer- chants capgize in business before they come to forty-five years of age. There is some collision in commercial circles, and they stop payment. It seems as if every man must put his name on the back of a note before he learns what a fool a man is who risks all his own property on the prospect that some man will tell the truth. It seems ag if a man must have a larze amount of unsalable goods on his own shelf before he learns how much easier it is to buy than to sell. It seems as if every man must be com- pletely burned out before he learns the im- portance of always keeping fully insured. It seems as if every man must be wrecked in financial tempest before he learns to keep things snug in case of a sudden euro- clydon. ‘When the calamity does come, it is awful. The man goes home in despair, and he tells his family, ‘“We’ll have to go to the poor-house.” Heo takes a dolorous view of everything. It seems as if he never could rise. But a little time passes, and he says, “Why, I am not -so badly off after all; I have my family left.” Before the Lord turned Adam out of Paradise, Hs gave him Eve, so that when he lost Paradise he could stand it. Per- mit one who has never read but a few novels in all his life, and who has not a great deal of romance in his composition, to say, that if, when a man’s fortunes fail, he has a good wife—a good Christian wife —he ought not to be despondent. “Oh,” you say, ‘that only increases the embur- rassment, since you have her also to take care of.” = You are an ingrate, for the woman as often supports the man as the man supports the woman. The man may bring all the dollars, but the woman gen- erally brings the courage and the faith in God. Well, this man of whom I am speaking looks around, and he finds his family is left, and he rallies, and the light comes to his eyes, and the smile to his face, and the courage to his heart. In {wo years he is quite over it. He makes his financial calamity the first chapter in a new era of prosperity. He met that one trouble —con- quered it. He sat down for a little while under the grim shadow of the rock DBozez; yet he soon rose, and began, like Jonathan, to climb. But how often is it that physical ailment comes with financial embarrassment! When the fortune failed it broke the man’s spirit. His nerves were shattered. His brain was stunned. [ can show you hundreds of men in our cities whose fortune and health failed at the same time, They came prematurely to the staff. Their hand trembled with incipient paralysis. They never saw a well day since the hour when they called their creditors together for a compromise. If such men are impatient, and peculiar, and irritabie, excuse them. They had two troubles; either one of which they could have met successtully. If, when the health went, the fortune had been re- tained, it would not have been so bad. The man could have bought the very best medical adviee, and he could have had the very best attendance, and long lines of carriages would have stopped at the front door to inquire as to his weltare. Bat poverty on one side and sickness on the other are Bozez and Seneh, and they inter- lock their shadows, and drop them upon the poor man’s way. (od help him! ‘There is a sharp rock on the one side, and a sharp rock on the other side.” Now, what is such a man to do? In the name of Almighty God, I will tell him what to do. Do as Jonathan did—climb; climb up into the sunlight of God's favor and consolation. I can gothrough the churches, and show you men who lost fortune and health at the sam2 time, and yet who sing all day and dream of Heaven all night. If you have any idea that sbund digestion, and steady nerves, and clear eyesight, and goad hearing, and plenty of friends, are necessary to make a man happy, you have miscalculated. It is a difficult thing for a man to feel his dependence upon God when he has ten thousand dolinrs in the bank, and fifty thousand dollars in Government securities, and a block of stores and three ships. “Well,” the man says to himself, *‘it is silly for me to pray, ‘Give me this day my daily bread,’ when my pantry is full, and the canals from the West are crowded with breadstuffs destined for my storehouses.” Oh, my friends, if the combined misfor- tunes and disasters of life have made you climb up into the arms of a sympathetic and compassionate God, through all eter- nity you will bless Him that in this world ‘““there was a sharp rock on the one side, and a sharp rock on the other side.” Again, that man is in the crisis of the text who has home troubles and outside perse- cution at the same time. The world treats a man well just as long as it pays to treat him well. As long as it can manufacture success out of his bone and brain and muscle, it favors him. The world fattens the horse it wants to drive. But let a man see it is his duty to cross the track of the world, then every bush is full of horns and tusks thrust at him. They will belittle him. They will earicature him. They will call his generosity self-aggrandizement and his piety sanctimoniousness. The very worst persecution will sometimes come upon him from those who profess to be Chiis- tians. ’ 1 lore hers are cut down. John Miiton—great and good John Mil. ton—s0 far forgot himself as to pray. in so many words, that his enemies might be eternally thrown down into the darkest and deepest gulf of Hell, and be the undermost and most dejected, and tho lowest down vassals of perdition! And Martin Luther ro far forgot himself as to say, in regard to his theological opponents: “Put them in whatever sauce you please, roasted, or fried, or baked, or stewed, or boiled, or hashed, they are nothing but asses!” Ah, my friends, if John Milton or Martin Luther could come down to such securrility, what may you not expect from less elevated op- ponents? Now, a certain amount of persecution rouses a man’s deflance, stirs his blood for magnificent battle, and makes him fifty times more a man than he would have been without the persecution. So it was with the great Reformer when he said, “I will not be put down, I will be heard.” And so it was wita Millard, the preacher. in the time of Louis XI. When Louis XI. sent word to him that unless he stopped preach- ing in that style he would throw him into the river, he replied, “Tell the king that I will reach Heaven sooner by water than he will reach it by fast horses.” A certain amount of persecution is a tonic and in- aspiration, but too much of it, and too long continued, becomes the rock Bozez throw- ing a dark shadow over a man’s life. What is he to do then? Go home, you say. Good advice that. That is just the place for a man to go when the world abuses him. There are many homes in which there is no sympathy, and no happiness, and no good cheer. The clamor of the battle mav not have been heard outside; but God knows, notwithstanding all the playing of the “Wedding March,” and all the odor of the orange blossoms, and the benediction of the officiating pas- tor, there has been no marriage. So sometimes men have awakened to find on ona side of them the rock of persecution, and on the other side of them the rock of domestic infelicity. What shall such a one do? Doas Jonathan did—climb. Get up the heights of God’s consolation,” from which you may look downin triumph upon outside persecution and home trouble. While good and great John Wesley was be- ing silenced by the magistrates, and hav- ing his name written on the board fences of London, in doggerel at that very time his wife was making him as mis- erable as she could—acting as though she were possessed by the Devil, as IT suppose she was: never doing him a Kindness until the dav she ran awav, so that he wrote in his diary these words: “I did not forsake ner; I have not dismissed her; I will not re- call her.” Planting one foot upon outside persecution, and the other foot on home trouble, John Weslev climbed up into the heights of Christian joy, and after preach- ing forty thousand sermons. and traveling two hundred and seventy thousand miles, reached the heights of Heaven, though in this world he had it hard enough—-‘a sharp rock on the one side, and a sharp rock on the other.” Again, that woman stands in the crisis of the text who has bereavement and a strug- gle for a livelihood at the same time. With- out mentioning names, I speak from obser- vation. Ah, it is a hard thing for a woman to make an honest living, even when her heart 18 not troubled, and she has a fair cheek, and the magnetism of an exquisite presence. But now the husband, or the father, is dead. The expenses of the obse- quies have absorbed all that was left in the savings bank; and, wan and wasted with weeping and watching, she goes forth—a grave, a hearse, a coffin behind her—to contend for her existence and the existence of her children, When I see such a battle as that open, I shudder at the ghastliness of the spectacle. Men sit with embroidered slippers and write heartless essays about women's wages; but that question is made up of tears and blood, and there is more blood than tears. Oh, give woman free ac- cess to all the realms where she oan get a livelihood, from the telegraph office to the pulpit! Let men’s wages he cut down be- Men have iron in their souls, and can stand it. Make the way free to her of the broken heart. May God put into my hand the cold, bitter cup of privation, and give me nothing but a | windowless hut for shelter for many years, rather than that after I am dead there should go out from my home into the piti- less world a woman’s arm to fight the Get- tysburg, the Austerlitz, the Waterloo of life for bread! And yet, how many women there are seated between the rock of be- reavement on the one side and the rock of destitution on the other! Bozez and Seneh interlocking their shadows and dropping them upon their miserable way. ‘‘There is a sharp rock on the one side, and a sharp rock on tha other side.” What are such to do? Somehow, let them climb up into the heights of the glorious promise: ‘Leave the fatherless children, I will preserve them alive, and let thy widows trust in Me.” Or get up into the heights of that other glorious promise: “The Tord preserveth the stranger, and relieveth the widow and the fatherless.” Oh, ye sewing women, on starving wages! Oh, ye widows, turned out from the once beautiful home! Oh, female teachers, kept onniggardly stipend! Oh, ye despairing womon, seeking in vain for work, wandering along the docks, and thinking to throw yourselves into the river last night! Oh, ye women of weak nerves, and aching sides, and short breath, and broken heart, you need something more than human sympathy; you need the sym- pathy of God. Climb up into His arms. Ie knows it all, and He loves you more lian father, or mother, or husband ever could or ever did; and, instead of sitting down, wringing your hands in despair, you had better begin to climb. There are heizhts of consolation for you, though now “there is a sharp rock on the one side, and a sharp rock on the other side.” Oh, then, accept the wholesale invitation which I make this day to all the people! Come up trom between your invalidism and financial embarrassments. Come up from between your bereavements ard your des- titution. Come up from between a wasted lite and an unillumined eternity. Like Jonathan, elimb up with all your might, instead of sitting down to wring your hands in the shadow and in the darkness—‘‘a sharp rock on the one side, and a sharp rock on the other side.” A NEW CONFEDERACY. Central American States Organize *’The United States of Central America.” Delegates to the convention to form a constitution for the States of Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua, at Managua, Nicaragua, have discussed the first eleven of the articles, numbering about fifty-five, in the printed form of a constitution, and have decided on the following principal fentures: First—The organization is to be a confed- eracy instead of a central union of the three States, Second—The name of the confederation is to be “The United States of Central America.” Third- -There is to be a Federal district, composed of the civil departments of Chin- andega, in Nicaragua; Choluteca, in Hon- duras, and La Union, in Salvador, all bor- dering on the Gult of Fonseca. Fourth--The organizing capital is to be Amapala, on Tiger Island, in the Depart- ment of Choluteca, Honduras. The perma- nent capital is to be determinea by the first Congress, and will be located at either Amapala, Choluteea or Chinandega. Fifth— There is to be one President, in- stead of a triple-headed tribune, as at first proposed. Itis thought probable that either Presi- dent Bonilla, of Honduras. or President Zelaya. of Nicaragua, will be chosen asthe tirst President of the proposed confederacy. Emperor William’s Invitation. Emperor William of Germany has ex- tended an invitation to representatives of Evangelical churches in the United States to attend the ceremony of dedicating the Church of the Redeemer, at Jerusalem, on October 31. THE SUBBATH:SCHOOL LESSOR INTERNATIONAL LESSON COMMENTS FOR AUGUST 28. Lesson Text: “Elisha at Dothan,” II Kings vi., 8-18-—Golden Text: Psalms xxxlv,, T=Commentary on the Lesson by the Rev. D. M, Stearns. 8. “Then the king of Syria warred against Israel and took counsels with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp.” From the story of Cain and Abel onward all the characters in the Bible are for God or are against Him and are seen either leaning upon His wisdom or upon their own. But the bor- rowed ax at the bottom of the river tells the condition of all men apart from God. All are lost and helpless to recover them- selves, and how can such think to do aught for or effectually against God? The stick that caused the iron to swim and be recovered is. like the tree cast into the waters of Mara, suggestive of Him who is the Tree of Life, who only can recover lost souls or make bitter waters sweet. : 9. ‘“And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place, for thither the Syr- ians are come down.’”’ Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants, the prophets (Amos iii.,; 7). As He told Samuel about Saul whom He would send to him to be anointed king, and also told him what would happen to him the day he left him, adding, “Do as occasion servethee, for God is with thee,”’ so He sees the end from the beginning of every day for each of us, and if we leave our way with Him He will bring it'to pass and order our steps to His glory and to our highest good. 10. ““And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of and saved himself there, not once nor twice.” Thus {illustrating II Chron. xx., 20, “Believe in the Lord, your God, so shall ye be established; believe His prophets, so shall ye prosper.” There is nothing on earth so sure as the Word of God, for it is forever settled in heaven (Ps. cxix., 89), and, though all else may fade and fail, the Word or our God shall stand forever (Isa. xl., 8). 11. “Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing, and he called his servants and said unto them, Will ye not shew me which of us is for the king of Israel?’’ For unless there was a traitor among his men, how else could his pians be made known to his enemy? Thus ‘reasoned the king of Syria, for he knew raught but human wisdom, and yet he .asw that the incurable disease of leprosy had been healed in Israel, and was it not possible that one who had connection with such power might also be able to reveal secrets? 12, ‘‘And one of his servants said, None. my lord, O king, but Elisha, the prophet, that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speaketh in thy bed- chamber.” Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? said the Lord (Jer. xxili., 24). Thou compassest my path and my lying down aad art acquainted with all my ways, for there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord Thou knowest it altogether, Yea, the dark- ness hideth not from Thee, but the night shineth as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to Thee (Ps. exxxix., 3, 4, 12). It was one of the servants whe told the king about Elisha, and it was the servants who persuaded Naaman to wash | and be clean. 13. ‘Aud he said, Go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him. Aud it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan.” How blind and stupid people are who know not God! Even the devil himself seems at times to act like a perfect fool. Might not the king ol Syria have said, “Well, if this man somehow knows my secret plans and tells his king. there is no use inmy trying to get him, for he will know that I am coming and can hide him- self from me.” But he is blinded by his master, the devil; and goes heedliessly on, bent on his own purposes. 14. “Therefore sent he thither horses and chariots and a great host, and they came by night and compassed the city about.” He must have felt that Elisha was more than an ordinary man or he would not have thought it necessary to send sucha host to take one man. So he does the best he knows how to get his man, and to be more sure of taking him he does it secretly by night, so that no human eyes can see what he is doing, for he knows nothing of Him to whom the darkness and the light are alika, 15. ‘‘And when the servant of the man of God was risen early and gone forth, behold, an host compassed theeity, both with horses and chariots. And his int said unto him, Alas, my master, how il we do?” In two cases we have seen seryants wiser than their masters, but this servant does not seem to have profited as he mightby having such a master. Evenonr Lord had to say to one of His disciples, “Have I h:en so long time with you and yet hast thou not known me, Philip?” (John xiv., 9). 16. *‘‘And he answered, [Fear not, for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.” Here is faith seeing the unseen. Moses endured asse2eing Him who is invisible, The things seen are temporal, but the things unseen are eternal. Happy are those who have learned to see the things that are invisible to ordinary eyes, who, like Stephen, look up steadfastly into heaven and the glory of God and Jesus and tind comfort in His words, “Because I live, ye shall live also’? (John xiv., 19). God would’ have His people without fear, and a prayerful study of the ‘fear nots’ from the first one in Gan. xv., onward would eatly tend to this happy state of mind which would be very much to God's glory. 17. ‘*‘And Elisha prayed and said, Lord, I pray Thee, open his eyes that he may And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and, behold. the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.” We read in lev.. vi, 11, that the angels are -10,000 times 10,000 and thousands of thousands, and a few of these would be sufficient to take care of Elisha. Our Lord said that His Father wouald give Him twelve legions of them if He asked ‘for them, and we are told that they are ministering spirits, ministering unto the heirs of salvation (Heb, i., 14). 18. ‘“‘And when they came dowa to him, Elisha prayed unto the Lord and said, Smite this people, I pray Thee, with blind- ness. And He smote them wita blindness, according to the word of Elisha.’ Notice also Elisha’s third prayer and answer in this incident in verse 20, and if you earn- estly covet such intimate fellowship with God, make John xiv., 13, 14 a very prayer- ful study, understanding that *‘in His Name’ means at least “on His business,” and asking such things as He Himsell would ask. We must not imagine Elisha speaking anything but truth in verse 19, for the man whom the king of Syria wanted was really the king of Israel. —Les- son Helper. . Xow They Do Il in Tianitoba. “They have a very effective way of put- ting the brakes on inebriates up in Mani- toba,” writes a correspondent. “When a man has been convicted twice or thrice of drut kenuness in the local police courts, he is sentenced to wear a brass collar, which is a plain tip to saloon-keepers that he is a person to whom itis forbidden to sell any intoxicating beverages. No man with this badge of disgrace can get a drink any- where, forthe law is strictly respected. The resuit is that in many eases au entire cure is effected in the individual. Whenever the authorities think that the collar penalty has been endured long enough the coliar comes off, and the citizen is at liberty to get a drink.”’— Scottish Reformer. |e Ree, The Queen of Greece is the only wo- man Admiral in the world. :
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers