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About The Sioux County journal. (Harrison, Nebraska) 1888-1899 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 10, 1896)
i m x i i i r it ii. i r ii "THOSE OTHER PEOPLE." WE hart quarreled. I don't know what about; neither quite knew, I think. One of those unexplained quarrels when we thought mean things of each other without any cause, and then justified the other's condemnation by meaner actfoos. We were polite to stupidity, and our conversation was Interlarded with the poorest satire, in which we exulted as displaying the sharpness of out wit and the indifference of our fed tags: We ruthlessly stabled. and wou sred. "very time at the other's cruelty wltlfc renewed sense of surprise, whilst pondering on a return t'.irust likely to prove more hurtful. Kvery day we seemed to be growing fart'ior from the possibility of a reooiK Illation, till at last we became quite friendly in or enmltr. We ceased to be personal, and only discussed qui f ide matters. Our hearts bad solidly frozen we, who naf loved each other so much there wan no longer warmt.i enough even for satire. We ate our meals silently to ftthcr in the great hall of the juer old Pmn of Montcuero, which was built bifch up on the rocks alnvc th swift river coiling about their has? -tn feet below, an Impregnable stronghold In the old times of the border wars, and now but fcoatelry for iriv-elere crossing the wild forest lands that stretched for miles to the horizon. 1 had come to meet the Count, my father, ou his way aowth, but he had been detained, and Cgo had declared he would not I si ve me In the desolate old castle till a safer protector than my female attendant should arrive. I aequiesced bow will ingly then, when my heart leat at the ound of his footsteps, and the gloomy feaCU seemed so mysteriously delight fill whilst he was there! Things had Indeed: changed! Now I protested im patiently at the waiting. Would not my father soon arive? Yet surely I dreaded his advent, which would mean our parting without ever a reconcilia tion. He offered to ride to his encounter. 1 murmured. "He might if he wished," ud turned away with my heart sink Ins '"to ttr Xoea. did not go, bow rer, and in this I found further cause for a display of ill-humor. He success fully retaliated, till I despised blm with all my soul, and wondered how I ever could have thought him aught but a bear. One day. as I strode angrily along the corridor, I encountered one of the guests I had not before noticed, though later I remembered that she had been bout the inn for pome days. She was a little person, not so much in height -he might have been as tall as myself as la general effect; she looked little, mi had the meanest countenance I had ever beheld. I took such a sudden dis like to the creature that I Involuntarily drew my skirts aside as she passed.. Later on In the day we both oliscrved aer at a table in the company of a man. He was taller than she. jet had the same appearance of puuy meanness. An impotent pugnacity marked the whole of his Irascible physiagnomy, the features of which were white and form less. The two openly wrangled during the whole course of the meal, so that we could not help laughing at the ridicu lousness of their behavier. They feandiod words on every conceivable ubject. "Tray don't eat your soup as If you were fond of It," said she; '" I ate to see people eat their soup In that way." "You hate every one but your self," said he. "Terhaps I do, when very one has diminished to a you," she eplled. How brutal they are!" murmured Vgo. I laughed. Well, we were well-bred In car quarrels, at any rate. Whatever we thought we took care to conceal In la borate politeness worthy, certainly, f better feelings. 1 think he under stood what was passing through my mind, for he flushed a little angrily. . Sorely I did not mean to compare our awlrrs to these low creatures, whose de flsnned bodies seemed the Index to their crooked souls. Whether I did or not, I succeeded In hiding further expression sf my thoughts. During the following days we became wtter friends; the discussion of these dJtties made us forget something of sw own rancor. We were pleased to OTtfdeinn them, snd philosophize on the atf nines of sticb beings on earth, their Wdeonsne and evident discontent wttk Ofe. f Whenever we came across them snr loathltig Increased. It hnp penM one afternoon n we were seated MtbepuraiH't of the tower overlooking to dense stretch of wooded country to westward, and the silver serpent Itst. whose color deepened) with the WttfM of the sun, till the whole ne mm a winding line of molten crimson at nr feet, that n strantp er.'tl"n. , MOWKl b' the won;!. oil seeue. stiiTcl us both. We turned to look at one an other, when the sight of their vile fig ures Intercepted our glanee. ami their querulous voices echoed In the great silence petty, stupid, un-an. "I wonder that they can even think of such things," 1 said a little hotly, whereat an odd look crept into I'go's eyes, which made me feel suddenly In dignant. No doubt he wns c-omimring me to them. How small of him to do that! How I disliked the way he dan gled his feet against the parapet, his sword 1st ween his knees! I rose up and went in. He could listen and en Joy the company of those horrible peo ple if he liked, since he could not see any difference between them and me. I went disconsolately to my room and watched from my window, and the tears crept into my eyes as 1 thought that surely I'go and 1 would never lw the same to one another again. Whilst I sat and dreamily pondered, the Idea entered my head that this strange pair had come tetween w. that they had cast the evil eye on us the evil eye! I shudder as a sense of the reality of the superstition assailed me. 1 recollect ed that they had appeared at the inn on the day of our quarrel. For seven days t'go and I had leeii as strangers to one another, and they, they would sever us for all time. I leaned out of my win dow, gazing down on the pant pet te neath me. on which I'go still sat. The horrible woman was looking at him even as I was, and the man mumbling to himself. T could have laughed out loud from very rage, for I'go seemed to be mesmerized to the sisrt, bathed In the crimson light from the setting sun, with a look In his eyes that was not his, a look of one enthralled by evil. Kar below, the river seemd a way of blood, and the forest tree black and Immutable. The idea of blood entered my soul, and with it a terrible thought. I shivered and dosed the casement, then hastened away to escape from the grewsome notion that seemed to pursue uie and take possession of my will. I had done it. The awful Idea had returned to me. In the late evening I stole through the dark corridor to her room, and all the way I laughed to myself, for the strange niadncmi so possessed me that I had neither four nor horror. Then 1 crept away down the stairs and out Into the open by the flowing river. There, as the cool air fanned my fever ish face. 1 thought I had done right; she was an evil, horrible thing who would harm us. Hut. I'go! Why will he think? Still. I said aloud, I a. Jud. I am glad. "Why are you glad''" I turned round with a little cry as T'go came out of the darkness and joined me. "I could not rest," he went on quite naturally, "so I caine out here. I did not expect to find you," he continued, with no warmth In his tone, adding, "Those people got on my mind. I felt an Irresistible desire to go and smother that brute kill him. I wish I had; but somehow I hadn't the courage." "I'go!" "What Is it'" he said. "1 have done it." "What?" "I have killed her." "You are mad!" "I have killed her," I repeated. He remained silent, pale to the lips, then said, hurriedly: "No one can pos sibly know you did it?" "No unless " "Unless ?" "He he should divine." "Hut he must die, too!" He sprang away from my side, bitten by my mad ness. "Don't you see," he said, looking oddly, "such people must not exist; they are horrible, venomous worms; they are not human, they have the evil eye, they poison the earth." I followed slowly, possessed by a strange calm. Of course It was quite r'ght. The world must lx rid of such extraneous beings. We cleansed our houses of all rile accumulations, we swept our streets, and burned every useless thing, killed nauseous Insects a' treacherous animals, exterminating all that was loathsome. Why did we stop at human vermin, and not purify the world, too, of such defilement? Then suddenly I stood still. I'go, a few yards before me. was rooted to the ground, and, she! I had failed, then. My. stabs meant nothing. Hhe could not be killed. t'go, too, had failed! The blood in my veins turned cold with horror, and, like him, I could not move from where I stood. At Inst he mine np to me as one In a dream, snd said, "We cannot kill them! Look! They are some evil spirits. Little one," he murmured, tenderly, "come away, come sway from ; here; It Is a poisonous place. They tuny live forever, but they shall not seiarate lis. We were in their thralldom." Was it dream? I'go's arms were round me. "I love you, I love you!" he said. "I have been afraid to tell you, and thej, they came tietw een 'it; but we do not care do we? Yr.a were so brave, braver than I, for you did not hesitate; but it was no une. we could not kill them." Our arms were tightly entwined, nothing In the world could come be tween us now. Those grewsome people were but pigmies. What cared we? And we turned with a laugh towards them. Then we saw what was indeed stranger than anything that bad yet happened at the old cajttle, for there under our very eyes they changed, and she became even as I was, tall and fair, and he as I'go. brave and leautiful, till at last It seemed that they were we and we were they; then as the pale moon gleamed from out the clouds and threw a flood of light across our path, we found that we were alone. "It is not trueT I murmured. "I may have leeu like that, but not you." He colored to his eyebrows. "The portrait of me was doubtless excellent," said he; "the other, of course, was a pre posterous calumny." Hut I don't think either of us eared very much, for me knew that as long as our hearts ts-at near one another's those other jxwiple could not find a way to come Itetwcen us And, In very truth, they were seen no more at Mou teuero. Westminster Klldget. SHEEP SHEARING. Kl rcrtne of Irofeionii I hbt-arPri in New South S ales. Most of our reader would probably think that to shear, say. twenty or thirty sheep, would Im as much as the most skillful and Industrious shearer could do in a long day's work. They may, then, says Chambers:' Journal, be Interested to know what vastly greater numbers are expected to pass through the deft hands of a capable craftsman in the pastoral regions of t'-o great sheep-keeping colony of New South Wales. (Mir notes have been collected on the spot. The number of sheep a man can shear in a day of eight and a half hours is governed by several circumstances over and above the shearer's expert uess. depending mainly on the class of sheep and the nature of the country over which the sheep have pastured. Of all the breeds of sheep merimos are the most diflictilt to shear. In the first place, they are very "throaty" -that Is. the skin covering the neck lies In large, loose folds, so that manip ulation with the shears Is at lest tedi ous and troublesome. Then, again, they KiseKs what Is technically known as the "points" of the breed they are wooled to the tip of toe nose and down the legs to the Insifs; It Is these so called "points" that lake up time. Sheep grazing over pastures where burs, grass seeds, twigs, etc., are nu merous, or over coarse, sandy coun try, pick up in their fleece quantities of foreign matter that blunt (he shears during the process of shearing. It will at once be seen that this especially ap plies to short-legged sheep, heavily fleeced as the merinos are to the ex tremities of their limbs. The time taken up sharpening his shears Is a serious consideration to the shearer. Had or careless shearers. In order to give the sheep the appearance of being properly shorn, may either "'shingle" or "feather" (he fleeces they cut off. Hy "shingling" is meant mak ing a second cut over the same part of the body of the sheep, the first sev ering the staple toward the center. and the second d the whole fleece the damage may closelv examined. me (o the skin; yet holds together and not be detected til! On the contrary, "feathering" Is plainly seen as soon as the fleece Is shaken out; here the clip has been uneven, leaving patches of longer wool to be severed by a sec ond cut. This leaves a quantity of short wool in the Inside (he fleece, which readily separate when the fleece Is unrolled. "Shingling" Is the worst fault, as It quite ruins the sta ple for combing purposes. In the mountain districts west of the table-land (he average number of sheep a fairly good man will shear In a day of eight and a half hours varies from seventy to 120. On the northern plains near the Queensland bonier the average Is 120 to 17; and It Is on rec ord that the champion shearer of Queensland clipped .'527 sheep In nine hours. Such a man. In the language of "the seed," Is termed a "ringer." In the central plains on the Lachlan Hiver the average Is eighty to 120. With machines the numbers are, of course, considerably more. The men are paid 1 per 1") sheep; and out of this they have to provide rations, shears, shnrjienliig-stone, oil, etc. A Neat Swindling Trick. The latest swindling game was prac ticed successfully the other day at Benton, I "a. Two men, who appear ed to le strong sliver and gold advo cates, were In the central depot and became Involved In a heated discus sion. The gold man offered to bet a gold double eagle that If he hammered the coin Into a shapeless mass It would still be worth $20. He was ostensibly taken np by the silver advocate, but when It came to selling the lump to Jeweler Koth the Btore was closed. James Hagerty, a strong sound money advocate, who stood by and who had Implicit faith In the value of gold, gave the man $20 for the battered coin. The two enthusiasts disappeared shortly after, and then It was discovered that the metal left by them was spurious. A Terrible Warning. A Bangor, Me., man was struck and killed by lightning while he was bug gins 1I bt girl. In the eyes of a young woman, a nian cannot exaggerate the Importance of his f to a month posit loo. A CALL TO YOUNG 31 EN THEIR OPPORTUNITY, SAFETY. DEFENSE AND DESTINY. Rct, Dr. Talmace Bars a Good Home la a Mighty lcfena and Bo Are In daatrioua Habita, hat He lnaiete that kelfsion la the Strongest of All. Oar Washington Pulpit. A resounding csll goes out in this ser mon of Dr. Talmage. If heeded, it would be revolutionary for good. His subject ia "Young Men Challenged to Nobility," and the text II. Kings, vi. 17, "And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man." One morning in Dothau a young theo logical student was scared hy finding him self and Kliba the prophet, upon whom he wailed, surrounded by a whole army of enemies. Hut venerable Kliha was not scared at all becauite he saw the moun tain! full of defense for him iu chariot made of tire, drawn by horse of fire a supernatural ap-arauce that could not be seen with the natural eye. So the old minister prayed that the young minister might see them also, and the prayer was answered, and the lord nKMied the eye of the young man, anil he also saw the fiery pns-cssiou, looting somewhat, I sup lK.se, like the Adirondack or the AbV giianie iu autumnal resplcrideui-e. Many young men, standing among the most tremendous realities, have their eye half shut or entirely closed. May (iod grsnt that my sermon may open wide your eye to your safety, your opportunity and your dettiny! The Charm of Home. A mighty defenxe for a young man is good home. Some of my hearers hxik back with tender satisfaction to their early home. It may have been rude and rustic, hidden among the hills, and archi tect or upholsterer never planned or adorned It. Hut nil the fresco on princely wall never hsiked so enticing to you i thow rough hewn rafters. You can think of no park or arbor of trees planted on fashionable country sent so attractive a the plain brook that run in front of the olii farmhouse and sang under the weep ing willow. No bnrred gateway adorned with statue of bron.e and swung open by obsequious porter in full dress ha half the glory of the old nwiug gste. Many of you have a second dwelling place your adopted home that also I acred forever. There you built the first family altar. There your children were born. All those tree you planted. That room is solemn because once In it, over the hot pillow, flapped the wing of death. 1'nder that roof you expect when your work i doue to lie ilovi u snd d. You try Willi many wort! lo te.l liic excellency of the place, but you fail. There i only one word iu the language that can de-x-rilM- your meaning. It is home. Now, I declare it, that young man Is comparatively safe who goes out into the world with a charm like this tiMn him. The memory of parental solicitude, WRti-hitig, planning and praying will he to him a shield and a shelter. I nevpr knew a man faithful buh to hi early snd adopted home who at the same time was given over to any gro form of dis sipation or wickedness. He who seeks his enjoyment chiefly from niiuide associa tion rather than from the more quiet Htnl imprest! in in g pleasures of which I have spoken may be nsjHc!ed to be on the hrotid road to ruin. Absalom despised hi father's house, and you know his history uf Kin anil his death of shume. If you seem unnecessarily isolated from your kindred and former associates, is there not some room that you can call your own; Into it gather books and pictures and harp. Have a portrait over the mantel. Make uugislty mirth stand hack from the threshold. Consecrate some spot with the knee of prayer. Hy the memory of I other days, a father' counsel, and a mother's love, ami a sister' confidence, ' cull it home. j Another defense for a young man 1 in dustrious li.iliils. Many young men in starting ihui life in this Hge exect ti make their wny through the world by th j use of their wits rather tlmn the toil of ' their hands. A boy now goes to the city j and fails twice Ix forc he is as old as ln father was when he first saw the spires of the great town. Sitting in some ollice, I rent iil at H.lKsl a year, lie is waiting for the bank u d lure its dhidcud, or goes Into the market expecting In fore niylit to I be made rich hy he rushing up of the stocks. Hut link seenitsl m dull he re ' solved ou some other lack. I'erhaps lie i borrowed from his employer's money J drawer and forget to put It hack, or for merely "the puqstse of improving his pen manship uutkes a copy of a merchant' signature. Never mind. All is right in trade. In some dark night there may come in his dreams a vision of the peni- ; teiitiary, but it soon vanishes. In a short time be will lie ready to retire from the busy world, and amid hi (lock and herdu ( cultivate the domestic virtue. Then j those young men who once were his schoolman- and knew no lietter than to engage in honest work will come with (heir ox team to draw him logs and with their hard hand to help heave up his castle. Thi i no fancy picture. It i everyday life. I should not wonder if there were some rotten beams in that beautiful palace. I should not wonder if dire sicklies should unite through the young man, or if (Jod should pour Into hi cup of life a draft that would thrill him with unbearable sgony; if hi chil-' dren should become to him a living curse, making his home s pet and a disgrace. I should not wonder if he goc to a miser able grave and beyond it Into the gnash ing of teeth. The way of the ungodly shall perish. A (irent Untile. My young friends, there I no wny to genuine uccen except through toil either of head or hand. At the battle of Creey in l.'M5 the Prince of Wale, finding him self heavily pressed by the enemy, sent word to hi father for help, The father, watching the battle from a windmill, and seeing his son wa not wounded and could gain the day if he would. ent word: "No. 1 will not come. I-et the boy win hi spurn, for, if Ood will, I desire that this day be hi with all it honors." Young man, fight your own battle all through and you shall hsv the victory. Oh, it i a battle worth fighting! Two monarch of old fought a duel, Charles V. snd Francis, and the stakes were kingdom, Milan and Burgundy. You fight with sin and the stake Is heaven or hell. Do nof get the fatal Idea (hat you are a genius, snd that, therefore, there Is no need of close application. It I here where ma'tit'idc fall. The cure of thl flge I llie gt'iiin" men with enormous e!f fcwnit snd egotism and nothing else. I hid rather he so ox than an eagle; plain sad plodding ud useful rather than high flying and fxxi for nothing but to pick out the eye of rarca -. Extraordinary rapacity without work is extraordinary failure. There ia do hope for that person who begin life re d red to live by hi wit, for the probability is that he ha not any. It wa not safe for Ad ms, even ia hi u n fa lien state, to have nothing to do. and Iheri-fore (iod commanded him to be a farmer and horticulturist. He wa to dress the gardeu and keep it, and had he and hi wife obeyed the divine Injuni-tiou and leeu at work they would not have been sauntering under the trees and han kering after that fruit which destroyed them and their posterity a proof positive for all age to come that those who do not attend to their buine are ure to get into mischief. I do not know that the prodigal in Scripture would ever have been reclaimed had he not given up hi Idle habit and gone to feeding swine for living. The devil doe not so often attack the man who is busy with the pen, and the book, and the trowel, and the w, and the ham mer. He i afraid of those weapons. But woe to the man whom thi roaring lion meet with hi hand in hi picket. Io not demand that your toil alway Inelegant and cleanly and refined. There is a certain amount of drudgery through which we must all pass whatever he our o-mpatiiin. You know how men are sen-teui-ed a certain nuuilier of years to pris on, and after they have suffered and worked out the time, then they are al lowed to go free. So it is with all of us. (Soil passed on 11 the sentence, "By tie' sweat of thy brow shall tho'u eat bread." We must endure our time of drudgery, and then, after awhile, we will be allowed to go into comparative liberty. We must be willing to endure the sentence. We all know w hat drudgery i connected with the beginning of any trade or profession, but this doe not continue all our live, if it tc the student's, or the merchant's, or the mechanic's life. I know you have st the beginning many a hard time, but after awhile those thing will becomes-. You will Iw your own master. (SimI sentence will Im satisfied. You will be discharged from prison. Hless (Sod that you have s brain to think and lisnd to work and feet to walk with, for iu your constant activity, O young man. i one of your strongest de fenses. I'uf your trut in (Sod and do your bet. That child had it right when the horse ran away with the load -of wood and he sat on it. When asked if he wa frightened, he said. "No, I prayed to (rod and bung on hke a beaver." A Recreative Ira jr. Itespect for the Sabbath will be to the young man another preservative against evil. (Jod has thmat into the foil anl fatigue of life a recreative day when the soul i esiiecially to be fed. It 1 no new fuugled notion of a wild brained reformer, but sn institution etablihed at the be ginning. iod ha made natural aud moral law harmonious that the body a well a the wml demand this institu tion. Our bodies are seven day clock that must be wound op a often a that or they will run down. Failure must come sooner or later to the man who break the Sabbath. Inspiration has called it the Iird' day, and he who devotes it to the world is guilty of robbery. !od will not let the in go unpunished either in thi world or the world to come. Thi i the statement of a man who ha broken thi divine enactment: "I was en gaged in manufacturing on the I-high liiver. On the Sabbath I used to rest, but never regardisl Hod in it. One beau tiful Sabbath when the noise wa all hushed, and the day wa all that loveli ness tnld make it, 1 sat down on my piazza and went to work inventing a new shuttle. I neither stopis-d to eat nor drink till the sun went down. Hy that time I had the invention completed. The next morning I exhibited it and boasted of my day' work, and was applauded. The shuttle wns tried and worked well, but that Sabbath day's work cost me $.' i.i N . We branched out and enlarged, and the curse of heaven wa upon me from that day onward." While the divine frown must ret uion him who tramples " upon thi statute, tiisl' special favor will lie upon that young man who scrupulously observes it. This day. properly observed, will throw a hallowed influence over all the week. The song and sermon and sanctu ary will hold buck from presumptuous sins. That young man who begins th" diitii-s of life with either secret or open disrespect to the holy day, 1 venture to prophesy, will nn-et with no pemiuiient successes, (Sod's curse will fall tism hi ship, his store, his ollice, his studio, his body and his soul. The way of the wicked he turneth upside down. In one of the old fahliK it was said that a won derful chilil was born in Bagdad, ami a iiiHgicinii could hear his footsteps C.iksI miles sway. But I can hear in the foot stop of that young man on hi way to the house of worship to-dny the stop not only of a lifetime of usefulness, but the oncom ing step of eternal ages of happiness yet million of year away. An Infallible Irrfense. A noble ideal and confident cxioctalioii of approximating to it are an Infallible de fense. The artist completes in his mind the great thought that he wishes to trans fer to the canvas or the marble before he takes up the crayon or the chisel. The architect plan out the entire structun before he orders the workmen to begin, and, though there may for a long whili seem to lie nothing hut blundering and rudeness, he has iu hi mind every Cor inthian wreath and (Sothic arch and Byzantine capital. The ioet arrange! the entire plot before he begins to chime the firt canto of tingling rhythm. And yet, strange to say, there are men who attempt to build their character without knowing whether iu the end It shall he a rude Tartar tent or a St. Mark's of Venice men who liegin to write the in tricate poem of their live without know ing whether It shall be a Homer's "Odys ey" or a rhymster' Isitch. Nine hundred snd ninety-nine men out of a thousand are living without any great life plot. Hooted and spurred and plumed, and urging their swift courser in the hottest haste, I ask: "Ilello, maii! Whither wa,v? Hi response 1, "No where. iiusn into me imsy shop or store of many s one and Inking Ihe plane out of the man s lisnd or laying down tlx1 yardstick, say, "What, mini, I all thi RlMiitt ssi much stir and sweat?" The rifily w ill stumble and break dow n between teeth and Hp. Kvery day' duty ought only to he the filling tip of tin; main plan of existence. Isit men Is con sistent. If they prefer misdeed lo cor rect course of action, then let them draw out the design of knavery and cruelty an. I plunder. Let every dny' falsehood ami wrongdoing lie added as coloring to the pi.-fnre. I-et bloody deed red stripe th picture, and Ihe cloud of a wrathful S.d hang dowu heavily over the canvas, ready to break out in clamorou tempest, let the water be chafed and froth tan gled and green with Immeasurable depths. Then take a torch of burning pitch and scorch into the frame the right name for it the soul's suicide. If one catering ii)h.q sinful direction would only in hi miud or on pajs-r draw out in awful real ity this dreadful future, be would recoil from it and say. "Am I s Dante that by my own life 1 should write another "In ferno? " But if yoo are resolved to live a life urb a (Sod and gissl men will approve, do not let it Is? s vague .lream, au Indefinite determination, but in your mind or ujsin paper sketch it iu all its minutiae. You cannot know the change to which you may be subject, but you may know what alway will be right sod alway will be wrong. It gentleness and charity and veracity snd faith tsnl iu the heart of the sketch. On some still brook' bank make a lamb and lion lie down together. Draw two or three of the tree of life, not frost-stnek- eu, nor ice-glazed, nor wiud-stripped, but with thick verdure waving like the palm of heaven. Ou the darket cloud place the rainbow, that pillow of the dying storm. You need not print the title on the frame. The dullest will catch the design at a g'.am-e and ay, "That : the road to heaven." Ah. me! On thi sea of life what imiuiuernhle ships, heavily laden and well riggisl, yet seem hound for no port! Swept every whither of wind snd wave, thev go up by the mountain, they go down by the valley and are at their wit' end. They sail by no chart, they watch no star, they long for no harbor. I beg every young man so-day to draw out a sketch of what, by the grai'e of lod he mean to be. Think no excellence so high that you cannot reach it. He who start out in life with a high ideal of character and faith in Its attainment will find himself incased from a thousand temptalioiis. There are magnificent pos sibilities before each of you, young turn of the stout heart, and the buoyant tep. ami the bounding spirit. I would marshal you for grand achievement. (S'si now provide for you the field and the armor ami the fortification. Who is on the Iird' ide? A captain In ancient time. to enmurage hi men agalnit the im mense odds ou the side of their enemies, said: "Come, my men, look thee fellow in the face. They are (i,(; you are ;ii. Surely the match i even." That spi-ech gave them the victory. Be not, my hearers, dismayed at any time by what seems an immense odds against you. I fortune, is want of education, are men. are devil ugniiiHt you, though the mul titudes of earth and hell confront yon. stand up to the charge. With 1,(NH).IKS) against you. the mtch i Jut even nay, you have a decided advantage. If (Sod be for us, w ho can be against us? Thu proti-cted, j-ou need not pend much titn in answering your assailant. ( line to the Cms. You may now have enough strength of harseter to repel the various tempta tion to gross ' wickedness which assail you, but I do not know in what strait you may be thrust at some future time. Noth ing short of the grace of the cross, may then be able to deliver you from th lion You are not meeker than Moses, nor holier than David, nor more patient tha'i lob, and you ought not to consider your self invulnerable. You may hove some weak oiut of character that you have never discovered, and in some hour when you are unsuspecting the Philistines will be upon ths, Samson. Trust not in your good habits, or your early trainiug, or your pride of character-ruothlng short of the ann of Almighty (Sod will be sufiVieut to uphold you. You look forward to the world sometime with a chilling despon dency. Cheer nil. i will tell you how you may make a fortune. "Seek first the kingdom of (Sod and hi righteousness, uud all other things shall be added nut" you." 1 know you do not want to be mean in thi matter. (Jive (Sod the fresh ness of your life. You will not have th heart to drink down the brimming cup of life and then ponr the dregs on (Sod's altar. To a Savior so Infinitely generous you have not the heart to act like thai. That i not brave. That U not honora ble. That is not nuiiily, Y'our greatest want in all the world is.s new heart. In (Sod's name I tell you that. And the Blessed Spirit presses through the solemnities and privileges of this holy hour. I "ut the cup of life etcni il to your thirsty lips. Thrust it not back Mercy offers it btwding mercy, long suffering mercy. Itcjis-t all other friendships, be ungrateful for all other kindle-, prove recreant to all other bargains, but to despise (Sod's love for your immortal soul -do not do that. I would like to see some of you this hour Jinn out of the rank of the world and lay your conquered spirit at the feel of Jesus. Thi hour la no wandering agaliond staggering over the earth; tt is a winged messenger of the skies whis pering mercy to (hy soul. Life is smooth now, hut after awhile it may be rough, wild and precipitate. There conic a crisis Iu the history of every man. We seldom understand that turning point until it is far past. The road of life is forked, ami I read on two signboard: "This I the way to happiness" and "Thi Is the way fo ruin." How apt we are to puss the fork of the road without think lug whether It coini-s out at the door of bliss or the gate of darkness. Many year ago I stood on the anniver sary platform with a minister of Christ who made thi remarkable statement: "Thirty year ago two young men Marl ed out in the evening to attend the l'ark Theater. New York, where a play wa to be acted iu w hich the cause of religion wa to be placed in a ridiculous and hypo critical light. They came to the steps. The conscience of both smote them. One started to go home, but returned again to the door, and yet had not cour age to enter, and finally departed. But the other young man entered the pit of I b theuter. It wa the turning point in the history of these two young men. The man who entered wa caught In the whirl of temimlion. He sank deeper and deeper in infamy. He wa Inst. That other young man wa avcd, and he now sluiiiU before you fo hie (Soil that for twenty year he hit been permitted bl preach the gospel." "KcJolce, o young man, in thy youth and let thy heart cheer thee In the day of thy youth; hut know thou that for oil these thing (Sod will bring thee into judgment." Kvery man tins some icullnr train of thought which he falls back upon when lie Is alotie. This, to a great degree, mould the man. Dugnld Stewart, fioo-1 Is (Sod, mid long la eternity.