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f I 1 HE High street of Moxford wan
I interested in this June day in the
fui eral of old Carmel Battersby,
a hose picturesque hobble and long gray
locks would never again enliven the
' street
He had kept the curiosity shop for
' about fifty years. The old spinning
' wheel, sparrow-legged chairs, carved
oak bureau. chins of all aorta, war
medals, watches, point, etc.. would oo
doabt now go to the hammer. Mox
ford would miss the attractive window
of No. 5i almost aa much a the quaint
form of Ita late owner.
Peter Battersby and Mra. Peter wera
early on the scene. In decent black.
They had extremely comfortable ex
pectation. To be aure, for the last tec
years they had not Interchanged many
worda with the late Cannel. who waa
Feter'a only brother; but a Mra. Peter
remarked when the newa of her brother-in-law's
death arrived, "he couldn't
for shame leave bis money to any one
else."
Young Walter Battersby, Mr. and
Mrs. Peter's only son, did not conceal
hla Joy in big uncle'g demise. He told
hi boon companions at. the Hen and
Chickens that be waa in for a good
thing.
"Blood, you know, as the snylug is, is
thicker thau water," be said as he
drained his fourth pint on the evenloc
of hla avuncular bereavement
.Nor were the three daughters of Mr.
aud Mrs. Peter without discreet maid
enly elation. Their uncle, while be liv
ed, waa such a figure that they never
cared to look at him. Besides, be hadn't
a very civil tongue; liked to In- caustic
about their blgb-beclcd shoes ami ex
tenaive bonnets aud hats, and to be
very rude with bis Inquiries why three
Mr. Rights did not press for the honor
of their small gloved hands.
' It seemed unlikely, indeed,' that a
single tear would be shed for the old
.curiosity man.
Of course there was hw little servant
girl. Joan Smith. But she was only "a
workhouse busy," to borrow Mra. Pe
ter's elegant expression
With his usual eccentricity, old Car
mel had taken a girl from the Moxford
Union after the death of bis elderly
housekeeper, Mrs. Roberts. Joan was
that servant, and she had served him
truly for the last s'x years, being now
but '22. A quiet, shrinking, dark-eyed
little creature, who had revered her
dead master quite unaccountably, and
devoted herself to him heart and band
and soui. Save for Setb Perry, who
worked for the Moxford Tin Plate Com
pany, she had had no one else to care
for.
Mr. and Mrs. Peter found No. 59
nicely prepared for the funeral. There
was aUo a rather clumsy wreath of
wild hyacinths and buttercups on the
1 coffin.
" "The idea of such a thing as that!"
exclaimed Mrs. Peter, touching the
wreath with the tip of her parasol.
Joan was near at the t'me. She burst
Into tears at these words.
"Please, ma'am," she said. "I should
so like it to go with him. I picked them
all myself."
"It shall do nothing of the kind, then:
and your place is in the kitchen, not in
tbe parlor." retorted Mrs. Peter.
Joan retired, crying bitterly: and Mrs.
Peter Sung tbe wreath into a corner.
"The wench ought not to be allowed
to leave this house. Peter." she said se
verely, "without being searched. The
Idea of her being with all these vally
bies all alone, too."
But Peter waa not as cruel as bis
wife.
"Cameron says she is entirely to be
-trusted,' he replied, "and it's for him
to act as he pleases, he says."
Mr. Cameron was tbe Moxford law
yer who had charge of the old curiosity
man's affairs.
Two or three others now arrived. In
cluding the lawyer, Mr. HurstT the
Methodist New Connection miniate,
and old Craven, tbe silversmith.
Then High -street enjoyed Its lit
tle sensation as tbe hearse and three
coaches solemnly passed' along to' the
cemetery on the hill.
Joan viewed the start from the back
entry with tearfnl eye. She was peri
odically convulsed with sobs. She
watched the procession as long as ever
she could. The void in her life waa Im
mense. ',.
Bo much so. Indeed, that even the
soothing voiee of Setb Perry, who had
come upon her unawares, bad no effect
on ber at first.
;"Never mind, lass," said Seth.
"thlngs'll all come out right." ,
flbe answered him with tears.
"He's boun to he' left you summa,
Joan, oiy lass, to remember him by;
and. whether or no. you've only io
speak the word, and thecr'a one as '!
be pt oml to hn ve you."
"Heth. I can't talk with you now,"
be said, showing him ber damp face
aud bright eyes.
"Nor come home mad take your din
ner with my mother. Joan r
"So. no. I mustn't go yet. They'll
turn me out soon. I know; but I must
tar (HI than."
"Well, lata," aM sVth. "you know
beat; out I'm fatr nrRrf for you, and
tM Bight aa la TH fetch yon to home."
' C toot bar la ah) arms In tbe pos
tage. wbiek m mm$f satin ne articles
topi treveJea dsrttg t he last half ceti
Mo Waned bar wet cheeks.
13
"And now I mnn get back to work,"
be said.
It waa a hot day even for June, and
when the funeral party re-entered tbe
house Mrs. Peter's face was extremely
red.
Here they were met by Walter Bat
tersby and the three girls.
Thla was Mrs. Peter's arrangement.
"The more witnesses there are tb?
safer it'll be," she said, alluding, of
course, to the reading of her bmtber-in-law's
will. "Besides,1 she added, "they
may hear something nice for them
selves." A far as he waa concerned, how
ever, young Walter had fully intended
to 1 present, even If his father and
mother objected.
Joan had procured cake and sherry,
at tbe instigation of Mr. Cameron. But
she had not helped herself, to a glass of
wine, even in spite of the kindly law
yers suggestion; nor yet to a crumb of
tbe cake.
She continued alone In the kitchen.
The tramp of strange feet in the room
over her did but make fresh tears well
up from the bountiful source Inside ber.
And so the funeral party and the
others gat around old Camel's table
and waited for Mr. Cameron to begin.
The lawyer did not keep them waiting.
He smiled rather dryly, took a glass of
sherry and drew forth the paper from
its official blue envelope.
THEN MRS. PETER SEARCHED JOAN'S ATTIC FROM WALL 10 WALL.
Never was there.' In Mr. Peter Bat
tersby's opinion, a more horrid and dis
graceful last will and testament.
Certainly ber husband was to receive
a fourth part of the proceeds' of the
sale of the deceased's goods, but what
was a mere fourth?
The other three-fourths were left of
all things to the Moford Union, "to
help them to train up more girls like
Joan Smith." Those were the very
words.
To the three girls of Mr. and Mrs.
Peter the three largeet mirrors in the
establishment of No. M were bequeath
ed, without comment. Walter Batters
by was not even mentioned, nor was
Mrs. Peter.
Mr. Cameron received 100 and so did
the deceased's old friend, Mr. Craven.
Lastly, Joan was mentioned. She
was to have a year's wages, all tbe
furniture of her own bedroom and tbe
large seraplxxjk for which she had so
often plied scissors and paste, and
which contained curious Items of news
paper Intelligence during the last twen
ty years.
"There, gentlemen and ladles, that Is
all." said Mr. Cameron, "and now you
must excuse me. I leave you with my
cotrustee, Mr. Craven."
"One moment, sir," intenosed Mr.
Peter, to whom bis wife had whispered
mnch. "What became of all bis money
In the bank? He must have had thou
sands." "The balance to his credit on May 31,"
answered Mr. Cameron, referring to a
note, "was f45 S lOd. After the fun
eral expenses are paid "
"What's he done with It?" cried Mrs.
Peter, reddtfr of face than ever.
"Iwrannof tell you, madam. Good
morning." said the lawyer, who then
wisely left them to tight tbe matter out
among themselves. Rut before be went
he, with his own hands, carried to Jonn
in ber kitchen the unwieldy old scrap
book, and told ber that It was ber prop
erty, as well as tbe furniture of ber
room.
"Come, cheer up. my girl," be said at
parting. "Your master waa fond of
you, and he would rather see you bright
than downcast. And remember that I
am your friend, If you should ever bap
pen to want one."
Joan thanked VI r. Cameron and then,
having reverently kissed the old book,
put it on one side.
Mrs. Peter, : before she parted,
thought well to trespass in the kitchen
and say some cruel things to Joan. But
somehow tbe girl did not mind taem
yry woch bow."
Then Seth leaked la again, and aald
she was to coma op to bis mother's that
erasfasg. If she dMn't he abMM feteb
her. And to make snr of having bet
be carried off the scrapboolt
Mrs. John Battersby did something
else before she left No. M).
Together with her disappointed son
and darling Walter she climbed the
stairs to Joan's little attic and took a
hammer with ber.
"It's the very kind of spiteful thing
he'd be likely to do," she staid, "but I'll
not stand It robldog. hla own fiesu and
blood for a workhouse brat."
Mr. Peter left ber to her own devices.
He. Mr. Craven and the three vexed
(Indeed, insulted) girls went away to
gether. Then Mrs. Peter studiously searched
Joan's attic from wall to walL She
turned out the girl's one tin box, looked
Into the drawer of tbe washstand, rip
ped up the palliasse outrageously and
threw the straw all about and treated
the bolster with equal brutality.
There was also a handsome old oak
wardrobe that would have graced even
a royal bedchamber. This was for
Joan's three or four poor frocks.
It was quite laughable to see how
mother and son tapped and probed thla
antique pie-e of furniture. They even
knocked off tbe bead of the lion In re
lief at the top of it to see if there was
any secret cavity behind the bead.
But the wardrobe taught them no
more than tbe palliasse ant1 tbe bolster.
"Well. I'm off to the Hen aud Chick
ens." said Walter Battersby at length.
"I've had enough of this."
Soj too, bad Mrs. Peter, for there was
not an article In the room that she had
not thoroughly tested.
The sun was still well above the cem
etery bill when Setb called at No. 5S) iu
bis workaday grime and his workaday
grease.
"Art ready, lnwi?" he Inquired of
Joan.
The girl lx-gan to make excuses.
"It's not right, Seth, to leave the
house with no one In It. He wouldn't
have liked It," she aid.
"It's not right, Joan, to make a prom
ise and not keep It." retorted Seth.
"Come, now, I'm not going to leave you
to moe your eyes out. Do you mean
to make me carry you?"
She was persuaded with difficulty.
Tiw... i, ,.. . , .
Then U was a revela ion of character (
io wt now nuv locaeu one uoor auer
another and pocketed the different
keys.
"Anybody 'ml think tbe things were
all yourn," said Seth, admiringly.
"It's the same to me as If they were."
she answered, with the tone of fresh
tears.
But Seth hurried her off before she
could break down again, and soon had j
her in tbe little uric cottage be shared
with bis mother.
Old Mrs. Perry had In her younger
days been a servant herself. She had
a true woman's sympathy for Joan, and
discernment; euougti to Know that her(Triutnim of Faith" six I "Christ Dying
son might do far worse than marry gucb , and Drawing Sinner to Himself," and.
a girl. above all, his 215 unparalleled letters
It was as comfortable a meal as anr
in Moxford. with the cat purring on the
hearth all the time.
Afterward the talk turned solidly
tiMin old Cannel and his singular b
questa to Joan.
"Tbe money and the furnlture'll be
useful enough to you, child," said old
Mrs. Perry, "but the Idea of leaving you
a thing like that r' pointing to the scrap-
iMMlk.
'i used to be so fond of it," stam
mered Joan. "Tbe times we've sat to
gether, him and me, cutting what he'd
marked !"
She rose and lifted the big book on
the table, untied Its string and opened
It.
"Why, what's this?" exclaimed Seth,
as a bank note for 100 appeared.
Joan turned pale as she took It up.
It was Indorsed on tbe back, "Pay to
Joan Smith and no one else."
. Kre they bad finished looking through
the book they found twenty-one other
notes of exactly tbe samp kind.
"They are certainly yours, my girl."
said Mr. Cameron, when Joan called
on blm In the morning, "and I shall
have great pleasure In telling Mrs.
Peter Battersby what bas become of.
tbe money to her brother-in-law's credit
at the bank. --Cassell s Hntufday Jour-
mi."
'A as wared.
"And why," the teacher continued,
"should we bold the aged In respect?"
"'Cans It la' mostly te old men
that baa all the money," Tommy an
swered, and tbe teacher wasn't able
to offer any better r;aon. -Tit BHa. .
TALM AGE'S SERMON.
SALVATION THE THEME OF THE
PREACHEK'S DISCOURSE.
Only One Bring that Ever L.ive4 Waa
Willing: to Give Up Hurts for Per
dition, Kays the Preacher, and That
Waa the LHviae FeaaanC
A Paaaioa for Sou la.
Clear out of the ordinary style of ser
moiuunic is this remarkable diacoume of
Ir. Taliuag-. His text is Romans ix. 3,
"I Could iu that myself were accused
from Chrun for uir brethren, my ktusmeu
according to the fieah
A tonsil paxMjre, indeed, for those who
take Paul kteraily. Wbeo some of the
old thUgians declared that they were
m-illiug to be damned for the glory of God,
they k! what do oue believed. Paol
did nt in the text mean he wis willing to
die f-.ppver to have his relatives. Me owl
hyperbole, and when he declared, "I rouUl
wh that mynejf Here cvurwd from
Chriat for niy brethren, my kiiMinm ac
cording to the flejih." he meant in the most
Vehement of all pomihle ways to declare
hia anxiey for the salvation of his pels
tivns and friendx. It was a passion for
kxiIs. Not more than one Christian out
of thousand of Christians feels it. AH
absorbing dew ire for tbe bKterment of
the physical and meutal condition is very
common. It would take more of a math
ematician than I ever can be to calculate
how many are, up to an anxiety that
Hiietiiucs will not let them sleep nights,
planning for the etlicieiicy of hospital
where the sick and woooded of liody are
treated, tnd for eye and ear inlinuaries.
and for diieiiiuine and retreats where
the poorest may have most skillful sur
gery and helpful treatment. Oh. it is
lieautiful and glorioim this widiwprca 1
ami ever iiitemif ring movement to alle
viate ami cure physical misfortune. May
(od eiiciwrnffe an'' belli the thousand
of splemtid men and women enjinged in
that work! Hut all that is mtnidi- of uiy
subje-t to-day. In behalf of the immor
tality of a man, the inner eye, the inner
ear, the inner cMii"ity for gladness or
dmtreso. how few feel anything like tiw
overwhelming roiicetit ration exon-xed in
my text. Rarer than four-leaved clovnt,
rarer limn century plants, rarer then pri
ma dmtMi, have i-en flume of whom it
may be said, ."They had a jwiion f'r
souls." You eoild count on the fingers
and thumb of your left hand nil the name
of tlxwe yon can recall who in the last
the eighteenth- century were so charac
terized. ked"ni pt ion of Mankind.
All the mum- of tlnxw you could recall
in our time a having this pKion for
houIk you ciiu count on the tinkers and
thuml of your right and left hands.
There are many more micti consecrated
j soiils. but they are scattered so wwh-ly
you do not know them. Thoroughly
I f'timutiufi fuu.i.l.. l.tr etiu hnixlret i.f mill.
ims there are to-day, but bow few p-o-ple
do you know who are utterly oblivious
to everything in this word exu'jit the
redemption of so-uln'f Paul bad it when
he wrote my text, and the time will come
when the majority of Obritin will bsve
It. if this world is ever to lie lifted out of
the slough in which it has been sinking
and tioiimicring for newrly ninetein cen
turies, and the lM-ttiTinent had lietter bo
gin with mynelf and yourself. When s
committee of the Society of Friends called
tqion a memlier to reprimand him for
breaking some small rule of the society,
the miinlier replied: "I had a dream, in
which all the friends had assembled to
plan some way to have wir meeting bouxe
cleaned, for it was very filthy. Miuiy prop
ositions were made, but no conclusion was
reached tinril one of the members rose tip
and said, 'Friends, I think if each one
would take a broom and sweep immerli
atety around his own eU, the me-tlng
house would be clean.' " So let tbe work
of spiritual improvement begin around
our own soul. Some oue whisper up
from the right hand side of the pulpit and
""'ill you please nam some of
the jiersons m our rimes who have this
f((r mmWr oh Dj, TfajU W(mW
he invidious and hnprudent, ami the mere
mentioning of the names of such persons
might cause iu them siritusl pride, and
then the Iord would have no more use
for them.
Some one whispers tip from the left
hand side of rlie pulpit, "WiH you nt,
then, mention among the people of the
wut nouie who bad this fKimtioti for
souls?" Oh, yes! Suuiuel Rutherford,
the Scotchman of .'flO years ago his im
prisonment at Alierdeen for his religions
seal, and the public burning of his hook,
"Lex Rex." in Kdinburgh, and his unjust
arraignment for high treason and iHher
persecutions, purifying and sanctifying
biui so tluit his works, entitled "Trial and
howei that he had the nation for souls:
Richard Baxter, whose "Paraphrase of
tm New Testament ostised liiiu to lie
dragged before Lord Jeffreys, who howled
j at him as "a rascal" and "sniveling Pre-
I. byfertaH" ami imprisoned bim for two
years Baxter, writing 1S8 religious
books, his "Call to the L' neon verted"
bringing uncounted thousands into the
pardon of the gospel, and his "Saints' Ev
erlasting Rest" opening heaven to a host
Innumerable; Richard Cecil; Thomas a
Kenipla, writing his "Imitation of Christ"
for all ages; Harlan Page, Robert Me
Uheync, Nettleton, Finney and more
whom I nilglrt mention, tbe ftianicteristJc
of s-bose lives was an overtowering pas
sion for souls. A. B. Earl, the Bu prist
evangelist, had It I. H. Iuakip, the Meth
odist evangelist, had It Jacob Knapp
bad it. Dr. Bacons, president of
Hamilton College, bad it. And when told
he had only half an honr to live said: "Is
that so? Then take me out of my lied
and place me ujmiu my knee and let me
spend that time in railing on Ood for the
salvation of tbe world." And so he di!
upon his knees. Then there have been
others whose names have been known In
their own family or neighborhood, and
here and there you think of one. What
nnctinn they had In prayer! What power
they had in exhortation! If they walked
Into a home, every membw of it felt a
holy thrill, and if thy walked into
Vrtr meeting th .dull net. and stolidity
""an"' nt- Une of them would
MlUl ,Wf, . .h,.i- -u.
: : "
Bnt the most wonderful one of that
characterisation the world ever saw or
heard or felt was a passant In the far
East, wearing a pieia Woo Ilka an in
verted wheat sack, with three opealngs
ae for tbe neck end the other two for
the arms. . Ills father a wheelwright and
house builder and given to fartoM car-
peutry. His mother at firt under sua
pi'-Hio becauae of tbe circuustm-e of bia
satirity, sod be ebasod by a Henslic
suunit out of bis native bind to liva
awhile under tbe sjudon of the sphinx
and pyramid of Oiaai, aftrrwsrd eon
founding the LL. D.'s of Jerusalem, then
stopping the paroxysm of tempest and of
madman. Ilia path strewn with slain
droies and ca.tsiTwies and ophthalmia.
trnhgured on out mountain, pres. Ling
on another mountain, dying on another
mountain and ascending froui another
mountain die greatest, Die loveliest, the
mightiest, the kindest, the most self-s.-ic-
nheing. most beautiful being whose feej
ever touched the earth. Tell us, ye
dewert who beard oor Savior's prayer;
fell us, ye sea that drenched him with
your surf; tell us, ye multitudes who
beard him preach on deck, on beach, on
hillside; tell us. Golgotha, who beard tbe
stroke of the hammer on the rpikeheads
and the dying- groan in that midnight
that dropped on niidnoon. did any one like
JeotH have this passion for souls?
But breaking right in upon me is the
question. How can e get something of
the I 'mi hue aod Gbristly longing for
saved immortalities? I answer, by bet
ter aipreciatiris- the prolongation of the
soul's cxistiiu-e conMired with everything
physical and material. How I hoe that
surgeon will successfully remove the cat
aract from font man s eve! It is sues a
sail thing to be blind. Iet us pray while
tbe doctor is busy with the dVlsnU! opera
tion. But for how long a time will he be
aide to give liim patient eyesight? Well,
if the parieut I 40 years of age, he will
add to his happiness perhaps 50 years of
eyesight and that will bring the man to
'.XI years, and it is not probable t&at he
will live so long. But what is good eye
sight for 50 years more aa compared with
clear vision for a soul a billion of crai-
turies? I hojie the effort to drive back
the typhoid fever from yonder home will
be snceessful. God help the doctors! We
will wait in great ajixiely until the fires
of that feTer are extinguished, and when
Hie man rixes from his pillow and walks
out, will) what heartiness we will wel-
oine bim into tbe fresh air and the
hurch a-nd btixiucM rirclea! He is
jours of age. and if lie slwill live 110 years
more that will make him 11. But what
srv 00 yewrs more of earthly vigor com
wred with tbe soul's iieallb for a quad
rillion nillliuiuiiis -s milleniiim, as ymi
kturu, a thonaaud years? This work),
siuee fitted up fr man's nwleice, has
existed shoot six tlxruwind rears. How
01111 longer will it exist ? We will sup
(Nixe it slinll bis as much tsnger, which
very doubtful. That will make its ex-
is-tmi'e twelve tlioiisaud yeerM. But what
are or will lie twelve thousand years omi-
mred wilh the eternity preiling tlM'
years and the eternity following tin-in
time, a compared to eieroity, like the
drop of the night dew shaken from the
top of a gra tilsde by the cow's hoof on
its way nfleld Vfiis morning, as compared
w itb Mliterrnean and Arabian ami At
lantic ami I'lu itic watery dominions?
Paul at Corinth.
A stranger desinHl to pun hase a fiinu,
but the owner would not sell it would
only let it TIip stranger tiirwl it by lni.se
for only one crop, but he sowed acorns,
and to mature that crop HO0 yeiirs were
necessary. That was a practiced decep
tion, but I decefive you not when I tell !
you that the crop of the soul take hold
of unending ages.
I m the author of my text seated in
I lie house of Gains, who entertained him
at Curimh, not far from the overlwnging
fortrewi of Aero- Viriuthus, nifl mniitat
ing on the longevity of the soul and get
ting more aud more agitated alioiit ita
value and the awful rink some of his kin
dred were running cmicermmg it, and he
writes this leter cotitiiining tiie text,
which ChrysMtoin admired so much he
had it read to him twice a week, and
among oilier tilings tie says those daring
and startling words of my text "I could
wish that myself were accursed from
Christ for my brethren my kinsmen, ac
cording to the fliwh."
Another way to get somethbig of the
Pauline longing for redeemed luinsirtaj
ities is by examining the vast machinery
srrangl to save this inner and spiritual
nature. That machinery started to re
volve on the edge of the garden of Eden,
just after the cyclone of sin prostrated
its sycamores and tamarisk and willows
add will not cease to revolve until the last
soul of earth shall get rid of its last sin
and enter the heavenly Eden. On that
stupendous maidiinery for soul saving the
patriarch put Iris hand, and prophet his
bund, aud evangelist his hand, and ngos
lle his hand, aud Christ his hand, and al
most every hand that touched it lieeame
a crushed IkiikI. It was the ui.Mt ex
pensive machinery ever eons trim ed. It
timt more to start it and has c..t ami
will cost more to keep it running than all
rhe w Isi'ls that ever m-nle revolution on
this planet. That machinery turned not
by ordinary motive ser, but by fon-e of
tears and blood. To connect Ks bands
of InHtieme made out of human and
Chrisiiy nerves with all part of the
ctirih inillioiis of ginsl men and women
are now at work ami will In. at work un
ril every 'wilderness shstl lieeuine a (,-;)r-deti,
and every fear of grief in I. a
tear of joy. and the sword of divine vic
tory snail give the wound to the old
dragou that shall send him howling to the
pit, tlx- Iron gate clanging ngainst him,
never again to open. All tlmt and Infin
itely more to nave the sotil! Why, it must
be a trcnicislous soul tremendous fr
good or tremendous for evil, tremendous
for happiness or tremendous for Woe.
Put on the left wide of the largest sheet
of pMr that ever came from paier mill
a single anlt, the figure 1, and huw many
cipher would you have to add to rhe
right of that figure to express the soul'
vslue, each oipbiT adding tenfold'? Work
in? into that scheme of the soul's redemp
tion, bow In iniy sugel of Cod, desieml
lug and ascemling! Hon many storms
swooping on Lake Galilee! How many
earrhquskes opening dungeons and strik
ing catal.lj srns through mountains, from
top to Isise! What noonday sun was put
on retreat! What omnqiotence lifted and
what Godbt-ad was pur to torture! All
that for the soul. No wonder that Paul,
though possessing great equipoise of teui-s-rament
when he thought: what his
friends and kindred were risking concern
ing their- souls, flung aside all ordinary
modes of sieech. argument Slid apt simile,
and bold ineiaior, aud learned allusion,
la unfit Ui expn-ss how he felt, and soil
ing upon the appalling hyiK-rlsilism of my
text cries out, "I could wish niyseif ac
cursed" thst is, stnuk of the thunder
bolt of the omnipotent God, sunk Ut un
fsthomed depohs, chained Into servitude
to Absddoti and tlirust Into ( funis!
whose Are shall never burn out-If only
those whom 1 love might now and forever
he saved. Mind you, Paul does not say,
"I do wish." He say, "I could wish."
Kven In tbe agony he felt for other he
did not lose bis balance. "I could wist)
myself accursed." I could, but I 4 t.ot
Ouly w being that ever lived was literal
ly willing to give up beaten for pena
tion, and that was the divine peasant
whom I mentioned s few moment ago
He was not only wllliug to exchange do
minion of bliss for domiuion of arretca
elneas, but be did no, for. that be forsook
heaven, wimei the sloping star and
all those who saw hi miracle of mercy,
aud that be actually entered to
gates of the world of perpetual conflagra
tion the Bible distinctly d-iare. He
did not say, with Paul. "I could." but he
said. "I will, I do," and for tbe souls of
men he "descended into hell."
Piety on Ice.
In this last half of the last decade of
the nineteenth century the temperature
in the churcbe is very low, aud most of
the piety would spoil if it were not kept
on ii-e. And, taking things as they are
ordinary Christians will never reach ths
point here tbe outcry of Paul in tbe text
will not leeui like extravaganta. Ths
proprietu In most of the churches are so
fixed that all a Christian is expected
to do on Suodsy is to get up a little later
in the morning than uual, put on taat
which is next to hi best sttire not th
very best for that has to be reserved for
th levee enter tbe church with stately
step, bow his head, or at any rate shut
his eyes in prayer time, or close them
enough to louk sleepy, turn toward the
pulpit with holy dullness while the
preacher apesks, put a 5 i-cnt piece or if
the times be hard a 1 cent piece on ths
collection platter, kind of shoving it
down under the other coin so that It
might be, for all that the usher knows, a
.) gold piece, and then, after the bene
diction, go quietly home to the biggest
repast of all the week. That is all the
majority of Christians are doing for ths
rectification of this planet, and they will
do that until, at the close of life, the pas
tor opens a black book at the head of their
casket and reads: "Blessed are the dead
who die in the Lord. They rest from
their labor and their works do follow
them." The sense of the ludicrous is s
thoroughly devekiped in me that when I
hear these Scripture words read at the
obsequies of one of the religious do-nothing
iu the churches it Is too much for my
gravity. "Their work do follow them."
What works? And iu what direction do
they follow them up or down? And in
they follow on foot or on the wing? And
how long will they follow before they
catch np? More appropriate funeral text
for all such religious dead beat would be
the word in Matthew xxv., H; "Our
lamps are gone out." One would think
that such Christians would show at leant
under whose banner they are enlisted.
In one of the Napoleonic w ars a woman
Jenunette by name-took her position
with the troop and shouldered a broom
stick. The colonel said, "Jeannette. why
do you take such a useless weapon into
the ranks?" "Well," she said, "I can
show, at least, which side I am on."
Concerning- Missionaries.
Now. the object of this sermon is to tir
nt least one-fourth of you to an ambition
for that which my text presents in blaxing
vocabulary namely, a passion for souls.
To prove that it is possible to have much
of that spirit, 1 bring the consecration of
".if.iil foreign missionaries. It is usually
estimated that there are at least 3,)U0
missionaries. I make a libera! allowance
aud admit there may lie ten bad mission
aries out of the .1.000, but I do not believe
there is one. All English and American
merchants leave Bombay, Calcutta,
A rimy and Peking as soon a they make
their fortune. Why? Because no Eu-rota-an
or American in hla senses would
stay in that climate after monetary in
duceinenta have ceased. Now, the mis
sionaries there are put down on the barest
necessities, and most of them do not lay
up 91 In twenty year. Why, then, do
they stay in those land of intolerable
heat and cobras aud raging fevers, the
thermometer sometimes playing at 130
and HO degrees of oppressiveness, 12,(00
wile from home, because of the un
healthy climate and the prevailing im
moralities of those regions compelled to
send their children to England or Scot
laud or America, probably never to see
them again? O blessed Christ! Can It
lie anything but a passion for souls? It
is eay to understand all this frequent
depreciation of foreign missionaries when
you know that they are all opposed to tbe
opium traffic, and that interferes with
commerce, and then the missionaries ars
moral, and that Is au offense to many of
the merchants not all of them, but many
of them who. absent from all home r(!.
straint, are so Immoral that we can
make only faint allusion to lhe mon
sl rosily of their abominations.'
HI ver of Life,
Who is that young woman on the worst
sireet In Washington, New York or Lon
don, Bible in hand and a little package In
which are small vial of medicines, and
another bundle in which are biscuit?
How dare he risk herself among those
"rough," and where I she going? She
is one of the queen of heaven hunting up
the sick and hungry, and before night he
will have r.'ud Christ' "Iet not your
h.-url be troubled" In eight or ten places,
and counted out from those vials the right
number of drops to ease pain, and iriven
fisid to a family that would otherwise
have had nothing to eat to-day, and taken
the measure of a dead child that she may
prcare for it a shroud ber every ait of
kindlier for the body accompanied with
a benediction for the soul.
Work for Kalvatlon.
But, after ail, the liest way to cultivate
that divine passion for souls is to work
for their salvation. Cnder God save
one, and you will want right away to save
two. Save two, , ,.ou w(o wnnt (0 Mfe
ten. Save leu. and you will want to
save twenty, Save twenty, and you will
want to save a hundred. Save a hundred,
and you will want to save everybody!
And what Is the use of talking about it
when th pla.-e to begin la here and the
time now?
"Who is on the Lord's aider "Quit
yourselves like men." In solemn colamn
march for God and happiness and heav
en. So glad am 1 that J do not have to
"wish myself accursed" and throw away
my heaven that you may win your heav
en, but that we may have a whole con
vention of heaven -heaven added to
heaven, heaven built on heaven. And
while 1 dwell u,k,ii the theme I begin to
rxjierlet.ce in ,y
which I take to be something like a pas
ssm for souls. And now unto God, ths
only wls.. the only good, tbe only meat,
be gloryforevcr! Amen '
Jor seven years tbe 8t. Uwrence
river gradually decreases In depth); then
for aeren years It gradually Increases
In depth, the difference In level being
about Ove feet. Why It doea so, do one
baa yet discovered.