Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The Loup City northwestern. (Loup City, Neb.) 189?-1917 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 4, 1896)
^Talmage’s Sermon. £ Washington, D. C„ Nov. 29, 1896.— Considering the time and place of IU delivery, this sermon of Dr. Talmage la of absorbing and startling Inter est. It Is not only national, but interna tional In Its significance. His subject was “The Dying Century,” and the text, 2. Kings 20:1: “Thus salth the Eord, Set thine house in order; for thou sb t die, and not live.” No alarm bell do I ring In the ut terance of this text, for In the healthy glow of your countenances I find cause only for cheerful prophecy; but I shall apply the text as spoken In the ear of Hezeklah, down with a bad carbuncle, to the nlneteeth century, now closing, It will take only four more long breaths, each year a breath, and the century will expire. My theme Is The Dying Century. Eternity Is too big a subject for us ! to understand. Some one has said it I is a great clock, that says “Tick” In one century, and “Tack" In another. But we can better understand Old j Time, who has many children, and they are the centuries, and mauy grand- , children, and they are the years. With the dying Nineteenth Century we shall this morning have a plain talk, telling him some of the good things he has ; done, and then telling him aome of the j things he ought to adjust before ho j quits this sphere and pauses out to j Join the eternities. We generally wait j until people are dead before we say ! much In praise of them. Funeral eu loglum Is generally very pathetic and j eloquent with things that ought to ! have been said years before. We put on cold tombstones what we ought to have put in the warm ears of the liv ing. We curse Charles Sumner while lie is living, and cudgel him Into spinal meningitis, and wait until, In the rooms where I have been living the last year, he puts bis band on bis heart and cries "Oh!” and is gone, and then we make long procession In his honor, Doctor Sunderland, chaplain of the American senate, accompanying; stopping long enough to ullow the dead senator to lie in state in Independence Hal), Philadelphia, and halting at Bos ton State House, where not long be fore, damnatory resolutions bad been passed In regard to him, and then move on, amid the tollin': bells and the boom of minute-guns, until we tury him at Mount Auburn and cover him with flowers five feet deep. What a pity he could not have been awake at his own funeral, to hear the grati tude of the nation! What a pity that one green leaf could not have been ' taken from each one of the mortuary garlands and put upon hie table while be was yet alive at the Arlington! What a pity that out of the great choirs 1 who chanted at his obsequies one littlo girl, dressed in while, might not have sung to his living ear a complimentary solo! The post-mortem expression con tradicted the ante-mortem. The nation could not have spoken the truth both times about Charles Sumner. Was It before or after Ills decease It lied? No such injustice stall be inflicted upon this venerable Nineteenth Century. Be fore he goes we recite In his hearing some of the good things he has ac complished. What an addition to the world's intelligence he has made! Hook at the old school-house, with the snow sifting through the roof and the filthy tin cup hanging over the water-pall j in the corner, and the little victims on the long benches without backs, and the illiterate schoolmaster with his hickory gad, and then look at our modern palaces of free schools, under men and women cultured and refined to the highest excellence, so that, whereas In our childhood wo had to be tl'hili ,1.1 t A (f/l 1 or-h/uvl /iJli'lllsi.H flutu cry wncn they cannot go. Thank you, Venerable Century, while at the tunic time we thunk Clod. What an addi tion to the world’s inventions' Within our century the cotton gin. The agri cultural machines, for planting, reap ing and threshing. The telegraph. The phonograph, capable of preserving a human voice from generation to gen eration. The typewriter, that rt cue* the world from worse and wore! ; n maush'p. And stenography, capturing from the lips of the swtfust up.; more than two hundred words a min ute. Never wtu l so am axed at the faeilitit* cf our time as when a few days ago, 1 telegraphed from W.t titng* ton to New York a long and elaborate manuscript, and a few intnut«a alter, to show Its accuracy. It was r» 1 to me through the long-distance tele phone and it was exact down to the last semicolon and comma. What hath tied \ light' Oil, I am so glad I vv * rot hot u i i’« r. For Ih tn'.low can die the electric fight. For the wrtth tng of tin* st’ry. -on'a table (ksl nicest atteeaihrto and the whole physical organi-- ; i explored by ahaipvst iivttiu men;, and giving not so much pain as the taking of a splinter frn.u under a >hllil . ringer nail For the lumber ing the limited express - train Vnd there I* ih- «i«ctnia->>pe of Ffs.mt.ofcr, by which our wislitx •rbstlit fteU the pulse of other » trlda ih vxWi'iij* with light Jsitu«i x an by ttiw«liii«n ef one of th< world a worst ptaeu-s, iMur k <»l.>r'a onx» t| pa' tofits | a# hr let y. Intimation that th* t iro* of mad?*it*«| i xn’ti» xml can cer, and ewasumptioa are yet tg be balked by atagaiK-enl wntNi treat t»> itt The sycitigbl ef the doctor aharpeoeu until be can iwk through > thick flc»n a id fled the hi Hug plate •f the butkl it ktt gdveat *'•*>. t in !• •!»<> or the ggtaeh ».o of th. to ■on Utu- . h- tnistry. or the oattwhlem *f the aisi«M«t» as lot m* or the *« • • vhtam of the stars at*%-lre.»g< gr the •glexhtstu of the llghtakas* What ad VWMUunsut la wmW At the tugtautag gt this centsuy cvaAgtne ilattf. at fat M the great «*f the pa .‘pie u*re •oucerucd to a fee airs dtawa oot on lexordwn •( u - .*d - a • > t««h be** viol; now cnehantingly dropping from thousands of fingers In Handel’s Con certo In U flat, or Gullmant’s Sonata In D minor. Thanks to you, O Century! before you die, for the asylums of mer cy that you have founded- the blind seeing with their fingers, the deaf hear ing by the motion of your lips, the born Imbecile by skillful object-lesson lifted to tolerate Intelligence. Thanks to tbla century for the Improved oondltlon of most nations. The reason that Na poleon made such a successful sweep across Europe at the beginning of the century was that most of the thrones of Europe were occupied either by Im beciles or profligates. Uut the most of the thrones of Europe are to-day occupied by kings and queens compe tent France a republic, Switzerland a republic, and about fifty free consti tutions, I am told, In Europe. Twenty million serfs of Russia manumitted. On this western continent I can call the roll of many republics. Mexico, Gua temala, Son Salvador,Costa Rica, Para guay, Uruguay, Honduras, New Gran ada, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Chill, Argentine Republic, Brazil. The once straggling village of Washington to which the United States government moved, its entlro baggage and equip ment packed up in seven boxes which got lost In the woods near this place, now the architectural glory of the continent, and admiration of the world. The money power, so much (lenounc cd und often Justly criticised, has cov ered this continent with universities, and free libraries, and asylums of mer cy, The newspaper press which, at the beginning of the century was an Ink roller, by hand moved over one sheet of paper at a time, has become the miraculous manufacturer of four or five, or six hundred thousand sheets tor one dally newspaper's Issue. With in your memory, O Hying Century! has j been the genesis of nearly all the great I Institutions evangelistic. At London j Tavern, March 7, 1802, British and , Foreign Bible Society was born. in '■ 1810 American Bible Society wan born. !n 1824 American Sunday School Union was born. In 1810 American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, which has put Its saving hand on every nation of the round earth, was born it a haystack In Massachusetts. The National Temperance Society. The Woman's Temperance Society, and all he other temperance movements horn n this century. Africa, hidden to >ther centuries, by exploration In this lentury has been put at the feet of dvlllzatlon, to be occupied by com merce und Christianity. The Chinese wall, once an Impassible barrier, now s a useless pile of stone and brick. Jur American nation at the opening of his century only a slice of land along he Atlantic coast, now the whole con form In possession of our s' hoola and ihurches and missionary stations. Ser mons and religious Intelligence which n other times, if noticed at all by the lewspaper press, were allowed only a jar a graph of three or four lines, now lnd the columns of the secular press n all the cities, thrown wide open, and 'very week for twenty-six years wfth >ut the omission of a single week, I lave been permitted to preach one cn ,ire Gospel sermon through the news taper prees. I thank God for this great tpportunlty. Glorious Old Century! You shall not be entombed until we aave, face to face, extolled you. You were rocked In a rough cradle, and he Inheritance you received was for the most part poverty, and struggle, ind hardship, and poorly covered i graves of heroes and heroines of w hom j Lhe world had not been worthy, and ! atheism, and. military despotism, and the wreck of the French revolution, j Yon inherited the Influences that re- : suited in Aaron Burr's treason, and -... » atw1 Until/. if Lake Erie, and Indian savagery, and Lundy’s I*mc, and Dartmoor massa- j ere, and dissension, bitter ami wild Iji yond measurement, and African slavery, which was yet to cost a na tional homorrha -e of four awful ye-.-s and a million precious lives. Yes. dear Old Century, you had an uwfu start, and you have done more than well, considering your parentage and your tally environment, tt Is a won dr • you did not turn out to be the vagabond century of all time. You hud a bad mother and a bad grandmother, dome of the preceding centuries were not tit to live in their morals were so bad, their fashion* w rc so outn.grtmn, their Ignorancr we.a so dense, their In humanity ho terrific. O Lctny; Nine leetuh Century! before you go we tak<* this opportunity of telling you that you are the best am! mightiest of all the i-nturies of the Christian Era, ex .. pi the first, which save us the Christ, and you rival that century in the fact that you, tic re than all the other cen turies put tog- (tier are giving the Christ to nil the wort I due hundred and twelve thousand dollars at on# m< oil tig a few d»y» ago i«iUiribU<rd for the world s evaeaellMtlon. Link at what you have done, u toon abused and 4t tin iat*«4 C« > luty' All the l'k> IDk isles, barred and bolted against the tli ep«| when yen tsuin ta r«Ifti, now nil open, and uitti" of then none Ckr Hiiantrcd ihan AiiiifI-* No more as ones written over the church doors in Ctkpe Colony, “lam* and II ulUbttfii not admitted * the late Ur Itorwln ». ntflhUllMg twenty five dollars to the .' •Olh* ru VIi ,i, ary Kt . My Count i>, ttsin drum ofl the lure of the earth. • e e e e Tv*J ws O Nineteenth Century* be fore you go. in a (nk* of sentences, mwm of the thing* * -u have h*ar<l end • t -» The veteran turn# up*«u w and mu "I taw Yb*xuos Jeffsreoa rt liug ta unattended ft,-to vt nu «'lo eeiy n tew etepe from inhere you stand, -IliMevsl from hta horse and hitch the hr idle to a pet. and on »e«*t«r loti t*he the oath of the g»euid*aUal «•*»• * I ana niudev capital a hi am atth oar s incendiarism I an* the pug of the grst steam eagle* la later lea I h«ard the thunder* of Wdvtlet, of he bastopol, and Sedan, and Gettysburg I was present at all the coronations ol the kings and queens, and emperor* and empresses now in the world's pal aces. I have seen two billows roll across this continent and from ocean to ocean; a billow of revival Joy lr 1857, and a billow of blood In 1884. havfle seen four generations of the hu man race march across this world anc disappear. I saw their cradles rocked and their graves dug. I have heard thi wedding bells and the death bells of near a hundred years. 1 have clapped my bands for millions of Joys and wrung them In millions of agonies. 1 saw Macready and Edwin Forrest act, and Edward Payson pray. I heard the first chimo of Longfellow's rhythms, and before anyone else saw them 1 read the first line of Hancroft’s His tory, and the first verse of Uryant's ‘Thanatopsls,’ and the first word of Victor Hugo's almost supernatural ro mance. I heard the music of all the grand marches and the lament of all j the requiems that for nigh ten decade* j made the cathedral windows shake. 1^ have seen more moral and spiritual 1 victories thaD all of *ny predecessors put together. For all vou who hear or lead this valedictory I have kindled all the domestic firesides by which you ever sat, and roused all the halloos and roundelays and merriments you have ever heard, and unrolled all the pictured sunsets and sturry banners of the midnight heavens that you have ever gazed at. But ere J go, take this admonition and benediction of a Hying Century. The longest life, like mine \ must close: Opportunities gone never j come back, as 1 could prove from nigh j a hundred years of observation; The ! eternity that will soon take me will j soon take you: The wicked live not out | half their days, as I have seen in ten , thousand Instances: The only Influ ence for making the world happy 1* an Influence that I, the Nineteenth j uemury, inneriu’u nom me nrsi cen tury of the Christian era~tbo Christ of all the centuries. He not deceived by the fact that I have lived so long, for a century Is a large wheel that turns a hundred smaller wheels, which are the years and each one of those years turns three hundred and sixty flve smaller wheels, which are the days: and each one of the three hun dred an«l slxty-flve days turns twenty* four smaller wheels, which are the hours; and each one of those twenty-four hours turns sixty smaller wheels, which are the minutes; and those sixty minutes turn still smaller wheels, which are the seconds. And all of this vast machinery Is in per petual motion, and pushes us on and on toward the great eternity whose j doors will, at 12 o'clock of the winter night between the year nineteen hun dred, and the year nineteen hundred and one, open before me, the Dying Century. I quote from the three in scriptions over the three doors of the Cathedral of Milan. Over one door, amid a wreath of sculptured roses, 1 read: ‘All that which pleases us is but for a moment,' Over another door, | around a sculptured cross, I read: ‘All that which troubles us Is but for a moment.’ But over the central door 1 read: "That only Is important which Is eternal.’ O eternity! eternity! eternity!” My hearers, as the Nineteenth Cen tnry was horn while the face of this nation was yet wet with tears because of the fatal horseback ride that Wash ington took, out here at Mt. Vernon, through a December snowstorm, I wish the next century might be born at a time when the face of this nation shall bo wet with the tears of the literal or spiritual arrival of the great deliverer of nations, of whom St. Joiiu wrote with apocalyptic pen; "And I saw, ' and behold a white horse; and he that sat on him bad a bow; and a crown was given unto him; and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.” A Turkey** ’I'os*uui. A resident of Friendship, Mu., owns a turkey hen that not only keeps his family well supplied with young turkeys, but •ouietim surprises the family by tho presentation of a mixed brood. On the la. occasion, after Hcttlng oil twelve c'g'. for her usual term of incubation -die was found the other morning hovering over ten young turkeys and one young oppos* sum, it having re (uiiv t two turkey eggs to pr »du- > one 'p i,-tun T’ho young 'possum in question was about the size of a half-grown rat, mi l was | nestling under tho turkey' as content- ; •vlly as any one of the legitimate I brood femat Win.*. tin* of the -urs is -i >*rdil i.is , which hits come down from tun mil die ages is mat wine grown in , o i* t years," or years %vh‘- h were sigua'i/s'd by the in -a-in of coni-ts | of unusual *hf, p > , *>e l a tu »r.» ' iplisite t* iu>|iiet I latt wine* ol other ■ ys-ars. There is n > g > ►! n-i >u that i (tie idea has a ut >re »ui*-i itti »i baos than popular *n t ti si h it it l* j ast liu that tiie U.i.ef i* • uil ieutly point 1st i a due u ' the market Tilts a dim of tail, t * .el ,i i, tsi'i, |% s, tout an l lMl, which w ,«re all anil t years, are mM t*, a turnip 'It-al a'l- ’ thorn 1st rum ii si I a htgosr un t than th*» vintage of other > « ss.*. skin* M Oh list* stoat a sa*i, ll tan the INsru-gn - ttrat e'• |il tr,-,t It, a*ii. they Matte ffvsl tun of the tut 11 r*s* sif that Csiual rs, Is * a a», they 1 host tw their a!|*. i a i*.si a * f, r, or I, * |t*o,pJ», the lota l^rs ileihiot nlthoul • f* by, of tvy ailhwl faith, Ian o« hi*# Th* ,Vt*u*«ahs. again, have a* i ta«ain atul tuawl it wa* almaisi ahei the wisahuMtetea trust to ba h thaw I* prwttouw a p aw l tm f---- w ho *«!«> they, 'Van vp-'ah aith ,hi* wath •hut * Jt>ha tie* i •« ht* «rltt*a a life *»f ‘ fart at fur the ivmf. itlllM "Th. «• , t’hllsffvn el Maltha.' ■ II I IIII1W III1IM ■ III - - W.. ww» wwu - A BARTERED. LIFE. MARION HARLANP.‘aSBBi8i> INTERNATIONAL PRESS ASSOCIATION CHAPTER V. DON’T understand how you happened to cross that rough mountain in your route from the de pot,” said the elder brother, when the family assembled that evening for what Miss Field al ways denominated a “sociable, old fashioned tea,” which, In the country, was served at the town dinner hour. "Could you obtain no conveyance at the station?” “None unless I chose to wait sev eral hours. Surmising at once that niy letter had not arrived In season to no tify you of my coming, I left my hag gage In charge of the station master and set out on foot. 1 pleased myself when I was here two years ago with surveying an air line between your house and the nearest point of the rail road. If ono docs not mind some pretty steep hills, he can save at least two miles by availing himself of my topo graphical skill. It was a pleasant va riety to me, after six hours in a narrow car seat, to stretch my limbs over the rocky pass and breathe the fresh air of the wildwoods Instead of smoke and cinders.” “The mystery to me Is how and where you met Mrs. Withers!” chirped vivacious Harriet. "Do explain! I was never so astonished In my life as when I saw you two walking up the avenue talking together like old friends." “As we arc*,” smiled Edward at his sister-in-law. “8bo was sitting at (he f/wit nt a rutlur r mv nmiwf Cfl r 0(1(1. enjoying the prospect beneath her. I recognized her from her resemblance to the photograph you sent me while 1 was abroad, Elnathan; walked up to her, like the Impertinent, fellow some people think 1 am; Introduced myself, and offered to escort her home." "You should have taken a servant with you, Constance,” eai<J her husband, magisterially. "It Is not safe or proper for a lady to ramble alone In this thin ly-settled neighborhood." "There are charcoal burners in the mountains!” MIbs Harriet interjected, • shudderlngly. "The most ferocious looking creatures, with long beards and black faces, I saw one once when we were driving out. And there used to be bears, when the country was first settled-" "And wolves, and catamounts, i;nd red Indians with no beards at all,” fin ished the younger Withers warningly. "Mrs. Withers, let me advise you to take me along whenever you stir be yond the garden fence, I saw a Hocky Mountain savage once, and last year was one of a party that v/ent out on a bear hunt in Norway. We saw nothing of Bruin, It Is true, but my Instructions how to act In case he crossed my path were so minute that I am confident I should prove a valiant protector in time of need." The Invitation thus playfully given was renewed In earnest on the follow ing day. The brother and sister-in-law were excellent friends from the mo ment of their meeting. The traveled member of the eminent banking firm of Withers Bros, was about 3b years of age, and attractive In person, rather from a certain grace and elegance of bearing, and a frank. Intelligent ex pression than from regularity of fea ture. He had read much and seen many lands, and knew ho v to use the knowle lge thus gained for the enter talnmcnt or his companions. A passion ate lover of music, he was not slow In discovering Constance’s kindred tastes. His eomlng gave a different complexion to life In the secluded country house. There were horseback rides before breakfast, and diligent practice with voice and Instruments piano, flute and violin, besides a couple of hours’ read ing In the forenoon; then came the after-dinner walk, seldom ending un til sunset. In the evening filnath-tn Withers dosed In hla stuffed chair while he tried to licut time to the duet going on at the other end of the room, and Harriet, bolt upright In the middle of u sofa, did wondrous things with a spool of cotton or silk and a erocnot needle—and took observations with her bendy eyes. Hhe was discreet as to the result of these, for aught that could be anther t from her words or conduct she ap proved entirely of the growing tutf. ! many between the married lady and j the agr* • able bachelor. Kluuihuu was not a man of fine feelings and strong affect ions, lie h id made up hi* mind to marry bo-atmo a stylish wife would add to hts individual con»ci|Uviice and adorn his already primely establish ment, Constance Homalne p leaned hi* i critical eye. and captivated what vei of fancy dwelt in hi* practical nature Yet, having wedded, he trusted he J I* he off ended hint sometime*. He often , wicked that she were lal ipeuetrat* -! j With something *f Harr el's revered-' fur himself, that *he would put fur-u 1 More effort to antictpisk* hla wishes, and conform herself in nil respect* to hts bleu* of Illness In ilvmcnsr sad I c cm verw.il ton He Was never hare it In his treat hi at at lh< u deft* each hot hla pertlaacteu* schooling his rurhtng and die wring, the portentous shnh-1 of hts head and *0*tMM vurvaiur* of Ihs brows irrtiaiesl her lo the *vdents at forlamriMMe ffdwatd hnd net been twelve hour* In the hot*** k* tore he petcelV* f Ibis endeavor on hts brother s tide to utoW n mature woman into the ith«aee* of hla prtm Mv#l <mi4 i|i« • ttittfM j fc>9 It. tt* hn4 tHur«i<d it m the rssio | of his Initial tnurvie* with hts broth I er's wife upon the mountain. He never told her that, attracted by her singing, he had stealthily neared the spot where she sat, and, unseen by her, been a witness of the tearful struggle between her real self and Fate, He had pitied her heartily then, while comparatively Ignorant of the reason for her seditious emotion. His com passion was more profound as he bet ter understood the relations between the Ill-matched pair. Had his personal liking for his new sister been less de cided he would have pronounced her unhappiness to be the righteous punish ment of her crime and folly In having linked her destiny with that of a man whom she did not love. He had known dozens of other women who did the name at the bidding of similar motives, and his sympathies had Iain dormant. Hut this one had heart and Intellect, and both were furnishing. I have said that Mr. Withers’ sensi bilities were not lively, nor his love in tense. Hut of all people living this. Ids inly brother, had most hold upon his heart, most Influence upon his Judg ment. lie made much of him after Ms rormal style; listened wild obvious To pped and secret, pride to his opinions, and conceived the notion that his w ife was highly honored when Kdward sin gled her out as the object of his marked attentions, and did not dis guise the pleasure he, the lion of many brilliant circles, took In her society. I’hls fullness of confidence in th''m both, and his unselfish regard for his nearest living relative, might have be gotten softer and kindlier sentiments toward him In Constance’s breast but for the palpable fad that lie encour mo asstn-ianon, iiox uccause ll nought her enjoyment, but as a means if prolonging Edward's stay with them. “You seem to amuse my brother," ho *aid to his wife one morning, as she was arraying herself for her ride. "His admiration for you Is highly compli mentary. I trust you will leave no means untried to induce him to remain with us some weeks longer. It gratifies me to see how amicably you get on to gether, and the friendship is especially creditable to Edward, inasmuch as he was universally regarded its my heir prior to my marriage,” "In that ran - he deserves all the cour tesy I can show him,” mused Con dance, going thoughtfully down to her steed and cavalier. “I do not know nany men who would be so complainant to a stumbling block in the path to worldly advancement." The* conversation would have thrown tier off her guard had she ever consid ;red it prudent to be wary In an asso ciation at once wo natural and inno cent. She had always liked Edward, and was growing to like him better “very hour. They were near the same tge, and, being of harmonious tempera ments, they usually enjoyed the same things. He was good, kind and spright ly; amused and Interested as much as Mr, Withers and Harriet wearied her. Dlls was the reason w hy the sun shone more brightly, the breeze was more adorous, her favorite exercise more Inspiriting on that early midsummer morn than these had ever been before. "I can hardly believe that I enter to 1ay upon the third week of my sojourn In this region,” said Edward, when the ste< ply-rising ground compelled them to slacken their speed. “Is it possible?” The exclamation was not a polite and meaningless for mula, as Constance brought her startled eyes around to his. “It seems a very little while ago that you came to us. You do not think of leaving us soon, I VtAnn O*1 "I cannot say positively how long I shall stay. Tills visit is a welcome ex change for my long wanderings. This my brother's borne in the only one I have in America. Vet 1 was dissatis fied with It last year. Klnathan was often absent you know best upon what bmdneea"—smiling meaningly, ■'and. to be candid with you, our cousin Harriet la not the person whom I should voluntarily select ns tuy only companion In a desert. lint for my gun and fishing rod 1 should have commit ted suicide or run away and left her to ttie t|nder mercies of tin* Hibernian dcmeltbs and tin* bears. I would not bn so communicative touching her to any but a member of Hie family, (tut she It one of my be tea nolres, I never liked dier," "Ncr I!" answered t'oiisfunee, i uer getic iftly. "Tiff'ii, my little sister, you and I I »n«i' mu fiu l>i ■ i. i i. ■ I tlbio®**i.itt Is, |ti some feat*erta, rlngu ! vvullelcs* Ifi l.,dli\is iii. , iim'. i I' v .<.u» ri mi.i f 'I I*, lit to, ■ I \ nt lor hiliiK'I' Wt know ben. , "*"» %•» : * i" •• loir* j ling* »> t>11*4 * ihe bu ll ,|.Ki to hi,n * i ■ •..* I io-i,i t» • i > u; • ii i r, i \ ,«rh-» *•>>« I r». dir.t tint th 'i 1 err It* ule and gi bis dr. a «ua [«»• iMt \i' * !• 1 i ll U fi.M \ I UNMTANCM it t«.« | *•* siwswi Inm kit »l«t by b*r »ii ft US... |tef fr' '"in UM l«» and M IU It gi turn at bstmtsi vbnrliy tut tk« *«, •atled |WtiMll, of •» *‘IU Iwoiii l • *n>«- lun.i* r«il r»mluis**b%* ftb* tn • m4H ■IHMI W»ir>»»tMU II I null—————» and poor!” she said. “A woman, too, whom society forbids, upon penalty of banishment from the circle in which she was born and bred, to seek a live lihood by manual labor. It Is easy for men to talk of freedom of thought and action. The world is before them. To them the bread of charity and depend ence mean one and the same thing. The latter is the only nourishment of rnoet women from the cradle to the tomb. I wish the passage between the two was shorter—for their sake." “I never looked at the subject in that light before,” was Edward’s remorseful reply. "Poor old Harriet! I see now how much more she merits pity than contempt.” "She is no worse ofT than thousands of her sisters,” said Constance, In harsher Judgment, “Content yourself with giving thanks that you were born a man!” She had spoken out of the pain of a wrung spirit, with no thought of plead ing her own cause. She was too proud to murmur, least of all to her hus band's brother. But the conversation was a key that unlocked for her in his heart recesses of interest and sympathy which must else have remained forever barred against a woman who, whntever were her virtues and fascinations, had deliberately bartered her charms end perjured herself in order to secure an eligible settlement. “And, to do her Justice, shi is supe rior to the practice of theartx that make Harriet acceptable to my brother and odious to everybody else,” he meditat ed. ".She offers no profession of devd tlon to the man she has married, while she accord*) to him the respectful duty of a wife, Blnathun seems satisfied. Perhaps he craves nothing warmer. Pray heaven he may never gu s of how much fate has defrauded him in with holding from him the free, glad affec tions of a true woman!" If there were any changes in his tier hiivfor in (ViriKfftru-f* fin it to be discerned In a gentler address, In unobtrusive regard for her wishes, ex pressed or surmised, and a prolonga tion of his stay In a house that held so few attractions for her. That this ar rangement was highly satisfactory to his brother was not without effect in shaping his conduct. That Harriet plied him with solicitations to remain before his decision was announced, and was loudly voluble in her protestations of delight when the question was settled, had not a straw’s weight with him. She annoyed him less than formerly, however, either, as be explained it to himself, because he had learned charity from Constance’s defense of t'ae lonely spinster’s policy, or because she kept herself more in the background than was her wont. She seem'd amiably disposed toward Constance, too, and he strove to credit her with kind Inten tions with regard to one whom mrst people in her situation would have hated as a usurper. She abetted what ever project of outdoor excursion or domestic recreation was proposed by him for Constance's diversion, offering herself as the wife’s substitute in the sober phaeton dMve on breezy after noons, that Constance and Edward might act as outriders, and never failed to call the husband’s notice to her graceful horsemanship and the brighter bloom planted in her cheeks by the exercise. Mr. Withers never tired of chess, and the Indefatigable toad-eater apparently shared his zeal on this point. The board was produced nightly as the days became shorter and the evenings cooler, and music, reading or conversation upon art and litera ture was carried on for hours by the remaining two of the quart' ■ : ■ without interruption from the automata bent over the checkered surface. l'or Harriet could be tacltur > when need was—a very lay figure in dumb ness as In starch. Whether she ever ceased to be watchful was dm *h. r mat* ter. <TO BR roSTJNL'ED. * ConatablMi' Rtavei In tl»«- Pant The home secretary, Sir Matthew White Ridley, has just seemed frou, Northampton two relics of the past that arc peculiarly associated with the de partment of the state, of which he is minister. These are two staves, at once the badges and instruments of office of the village constables of long ago, when men's lives were consider ed of less account than they tire now. The staff of those days, probably 200 years ago, was a formidable, not to say bloodthlrstry. Instrument of offense. 1 have been able to obtain one of the same sort. Mine was formerly the property of the parish constable of Mrinrton, Hi r. I J: , rx. t parts truncheon, or bundle, lathe turned, ten Inches long, mi l u sphere, three Inches In Its longest and two and a quarter In Its shortest diameter, ltoth handle and ball are ef boxwood. They are united by a Hiring double thong of white leather, fastened by Iran pegs into apertures butted tutu both handle and ball. The ball has two Inches o' play on the bather, to tl.at from end to end the instrument is fifteen luihe* tong, As the ball (mug* loosely about tbe straight han* die some degree of force Is required to bring It Into action; but when this Is done the execution the weapon Is >1 lathi* of M Mattel nltlg drWUtlful A moderate blow cannot be smirk h> Ui with trery tilth* ittHlsu nit thn pall of the hat by a man's head, leg or •lent would he very easily broken No •lunbt some net powerful weapon was required In lh« g el *14 Urn* *,'*-• Nurtbsioptau Mn <uy Mis t sfs for It. j ** n >■ i * ini in r< t ,ui*' I ** w from Your husband by it)lag fur |i, • hut duns hw Jut* "||* g*u*r»tl| buy* me a dossci handkerchiefs, fii*g,n4* Hlastiwr, Tom True Kdilh ' viache« are mud* In h*o'su, l,iate * llcti nit tank u* makn M§M of I hem." Voih World,