^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,