WOMEN TAUGHT TO SPAR. * ! It Improvos Tholr irenltli , and Gives Thorn ix Oracoful Carriage TJio Exercise Becoming Very Popular. TJio croiUt of interesting the fair sex of tliis city in athletic exercises , says The New York Mail and Express , is due , without doubt , to Mr. William Ii. Travers , anil to no one of tlio health- giving sports nro the young ladies of Now York more devoted than that of sparring , Several schools where women arc daily taught the use of the boxing-gloves flourish in this city and vicin ty , and physicians are beginning to recommend the oxcreiso as second only in importance to that of walking. The prejudices against sparring conse quent upon the vulgar and inhuman practice of those who formerly repre sented the sport are gradually boing overcome , and as one en thusiastic teacher of the science remarked , it is tiot at all mil kcly that the instruction of young women in the methods of leading , cross-counter , and upper cuts will in the near future form an import ant part of the curriculum of study pursued at every private and public -school. "I advise every young woman • who seeks my advice nowadays , who • complains of dyspepsia , insomnia , or Xoeling of lassitude to try her hand at • punching tho bag , and. find when they iollow my advice they invariably im prove. " Thswas a well-known phy- I die an's answer to the writer's ques- tionings concerning the matter , and he IB further vouchsafed the information Hj that for women inclined to embonpoint Hj nothing did them more service than a Hjj few minutes' exercise once a day in a Hj bout with the glove. H | Another opinion in support of the ef- Hj ficacy of the exorc.se comes from one Ki of the leading actresses of the day , R who thus speaks of sparring by la- H -dies : "If a lady engaged in theatrical Bi -or operatic work could select but one B of the many accomplishments to which H we as a chiss are devoted , I should re- B commend sparring. The stately car- B riage , without which nono of us can B hope to succeed , is made the more i easy by a knowledge of the principles I of boxing , and it comes , too , without I iiny seeming , effort. Tiie grace of mo ll xion that some believe comes only after IE having spent days and weeks with the H foils or uuder tlio tutelage of a dancing l | master is just as easily acquired by * sparring , and I think in a much less | time. Our most successful actors and K -actresses are tliose that include among Kj their other aecomplislimeuts that of 1 -the principles of self-defense. Lanlry , I Modjeska , Fanny Davenport , Mary An il > derson , and others are all adepts in 1 the art , ami I am glad to know that H the younger members of the profession K are beginning to devote some attention l | Xo the matter. | f Sparring is not a new exercise for H -women , though up to the present lime B it has had but few apostles here. Billy K Edwards , the well known pugilist , has " R for some time instructed Now York so il ciety girls in the art , grown womanly , H of self-defense , and Prof. Findlay and a H JMiss Aatonio have done like service for K young ladies ot Philadelphia , while Hj Jvitty Clark for some time had a large Id lass in Boston. To-day. however , the Iff sport , exercise , or pastime by which- Hjj -ever name one may be pleased to call " Bl | it , is not indulged" by society's fair p { daughters alone , but the shop-girls , Hj women who sit all day at a iypo-writer , B and even by women who are mothers B and have the duties and cares of a B homo upon them. At a well-known B r S00 s Palace in this city tiie room B given up to its female employes for fl ] Jtmchoon purposes is transformed al- B nlniost every day at the noon hour into fl ) a boxing school , where the girls meet Hj in friendly contest or spend : i brief peri- \ B od in pounding a huge football. Such Bj exercise is rendered dillicu 't and to B some extent undesirable by the fact I that the j-oung women are iiot properly B stressed for the sport At the regular B schools , however , a dress something B like a bathing suit is worn , which , to- B gether with canvas shoes with rubber B soles , complete the attire. Tiie gloves B | used are the same as those used by the Bf -sterner sex , and. while some of them H tare miniature feather pillows , others | tire sufficiently hard to bringdown an I injunction from the Law and Order so li eiety's pet ornament from the bench. H Personal encounters are the exception H xather than tho rule , and when indulg- 1 ed in are usually between the teacher J and pupils , ami rarely between two < H pupils. A tightly-blown foot-ball , fast- ; K -tined pendant from a hook in the ceil- j ing by a piece of hemp rope is general- 1 ly the object of attack , and around this ' W the fair young girls dauee like so ! many Comanche Indians , striking out i I ! iirst with the left , catching the leather ' B sphere squarely in the center , then on ; H the recoil sending it spinning again fl with a clever upper-cut or a cross-coun- H ter , each time ducking so as to avod a H blow in the face as it comes back Ic its H original position. Consequent upon gthe little uso to which lad es usually put their left hand , they experience considerable trouble in fl mastering some of the feints , guards , B and leads , but what they lack in this B particular is largely made up in the r B suppleness of limb , and when once the B "obstinate left hand" becomes educat- B ed , the points made by the female I sparrer are more deftC clearer , and B certain than thosje usually made bv men. The reverse guard and retreat , I however , seem to eoimi-uatural to wo- men ; but their greates 'S troublo is in I breathing. One minute's exerc se will I send a young lady to her corner puff- I ing anil blowing as if she had run a I half-mile , and it takes a long time for I them to learn how to breathe. The I double guard is another thing that I comes almost instinctively to women. I but for all that they develop as a rule I into "rushers" and seldom deserve the I - reputation of being cant ous sparrcrs. I On the whole , they are enthusiastic I and jwrsevering and are quick to ac- I quaint themselves w.th ougilst c points. ' I- .UMI best of all are ver , slow to engage I in PiibKc exhibitionThey take to I * the > port for the p'nsical good it does I' - , them ' and for the development of mind El : mj muscle that inuvitiblv follow a i-our ontiou-s ami eapa- If - > iiii'Ier a coiiso ml b'e ' .iistrueSor. * _ SSBBBBHBflBBBBHflflaBI mmsssmmatammmmmmmtmmm Kmmmmmtmmsaesjsi ROMAN ARCHITECTURE. Skill Shown by Masons In tlio Cut- tlnss and PollHliliitf or IMarble. Mr. J. II. Middleton , M. A. , Sladi professorof line art at Cambridge , deliv ercd his second lecture on archilectun at tho Itoyal academy tho other day taking for his subject "Methods o Decoration as Applied to Roman Build ings. " Sir Frederick Leigh ton was ii tho chair. Prof. Middleton began b remarking that since tho early "feu dal" period of Greece there was no ag < of anything like equal splendor in tin decoration of houses until the early year : of tho Roman empire were reached In tho most flourishing period of Grcel art , architectural splendor was devotee to sacred purposes , and the same wai tho case thoughout the republican pe r.od of ancient Rome. Even as late a , the days of Julius Cajsar anything lik < magnificence in a private house wa. viewed with extreme jealousy by the Roman people. But lifty years latei all was chauged. Augustus encour aged the use of marbles and the erec tion of splendid buildings of evcrj kind , and in his reign the house of al most every rich citizen began to be decorated in the most costly and elabo rate way. The lecturer then proceed ed to speak of the skill shown by the Roman masons in cutting and polishing , nol only of slabs and columns , but of deli cate moldings in the very hard red por phyry of Egypt and tho green porphyr " \ of Sparta , which a modern marble - - mason would declare to be unworkable. The skill of the Romans in this worli appeared to have been derived from the Egyptians , by whom the tubular drill set with ruby , corundum , or other hard stones , was in use , as had been showr by Mr. Petrie , as far back as 4,000 B.C. , so that tho diamond rock-boring drills introduced of late years for mining and other operations were by no means s new thing. Marks ot such jeweled drills were to be seen on tho hard gran ites and porphysies used in Rome , and such refractory materials were cut with comparative rapidity by saws set with similar jewels or hard stones into slabs of wonderful thinness and evenness. The Romans had always a strong incli nation to make tho greatest possible display at a given cost , and veneers of porphyry only one-eighth of an inch in thickness were often used by them. Nc known example of a Roman room ex isted with its marblo lining still com plete , but the abundance of broken fragments which were often found , aid ed by the print of the marble lining on its cement backing , helped us to make out the usual scheme of the decoration , which , supposing the marble to have covered the whole wall , seemed to have been veiy much like the design of the wood panelings which were used by Wren and his pupils in the iirst half of the lasl eeutury. There was a dado with mold ed skirtings belowit , the latter being fiom twelve to fourteen inches high , while the capping of the dado was from three to four feet above the floor. At the ceiling line there was a deep cornice , and the intermediate wall- space was divided into panels. Mar bles of various colors were used to strengthen the effect of each line and molding. Having described tin methods adopted for attaching the marble linings to the concrete walls ol the buildings , the lecturer described the design and execution of Roman mosaic work , and then passed on to notice the stucco reliefs which were used for the decoration of walls and ceilings. The best of these reliefs , he said , were bj far the most artistic among the meth ods of decoration used in ancient Rome. Tho finest examples had realh nothing that was Roman in their de sign or treatment , but were really pure Greek work , such as would not hav < ? disgraced the school of Praxiteles oi Scopas. Finally , the lecture treated of tempera , fresco , and encaustic paint ing , as used at Pompeii and elsewhere- . London Times. A New Version. "Mother may I go out and tobog ? " "res , my darling Claire , Ilunt up a heavy bard wood log To hold down your hair. " Whitehall Times. Finished It at Last. "What do you suppose my wife die yesterday ? " asked a Lisbon street man of mysteries. "Don't know , " was the reply ; "perhaps she got up and built the lire. " "No , sir ! But I'll tell yoi what she did do. She finished : patchwork quilt ye sterday that she be gan forty years ago this winter , when she was a little girl of four years. The sewing is in contrast , but not mori than would be expected. What is alsc strange , her mother started her t < making it forty years ago and cut ou the squares for her , and her molhei helped her to draw it in yesterday. " Lcwisl-m ( Me. ) Journal. The Girls in Blue. The young ladies of the high school admiring the " mil tary exercises by the boys , have organ ' zed a battalion of foui companies , and drills have replacec calisthenics exorcises. The uniform i- a navy blue flannel short skirt am blouse , with a felt hat and scarle feather , altnough the headgear is no- fully decided on. The four companies have been thoroughly drilled in th < school of the soldier and go throuirl their facings like veterans. They wil next try battalion movements , anc meanwhile arises the question : Shal the battalion be armed with woodei guns ? Boston Budget. A Cow-Catclier Wearing a Watch. In the case of the mangled remain : recently found on the front of a For Wayne locomotive , a verdict was ren dered of killing on the railroad. Tin man's identity is still undiscovered. . ' watch of the victim of the disaster wa. found on the cow-catcher , still running It had been thrown out of his pocke and the chain had caught and woun * around one of the bars , holding it sc urelrBitlsbiirg Dispatch. . i ii-i-jji i- mnwyw * + mmmm.mMi&GBWl& llij iJ. uM' w s r7 ijEECflER'S ' LAST SEMOI IT WAS DELIVERED AT PLYMOUTH CHURCH SUNDAY EVENING , FEB. 27. He Talked of Resolution and tho Necessity for Firmly Adhering to Certain Fired Frinciples-The Moods that Govern Us Should be Subordinated to Our Better Selves if "Wo "Would Succeed Here and Hereafter. Mr. Beecher's last 6cnnon was delivered In Plymouth Church Sunday night ; Feb. 27. II. \VIman reported It as follows , for The New York World : "Aud he said unto his disciples , There was a certain rich man which had a servant , and the same uas accused unto him. * * * No ser vant can feivc two masters ; for either he will hate the one and love the other , or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Alamniou. " Text. Lulce , xvi. chap. , iv. verse , the first clause : "I am retolvcd what to do" "I read in your heaiirg this narrative , this parable of our Lord. The unjust steward has been accused , and rightfully , oC betraying his trust and wasting that committed to him. His master called him to an account , and he was satisfied that the end had comef and he com muned with himself , and as the result of that , * nd looking over all the circumstances , he said , "I am resolved what to do. " "What he resolved to do was not very hon est , but it was very shrewd. He resolved to moke friends of all the debtors of his lord. He called them up and settled with them in such a way as to Jay them under obligations grati tude to Him. And so , although he and they cheated the master , he made his own nest warm and the master praised him n'ot Jesus , but the man that owned the property is the one. When he heard of it he said to himself : "Well , that is shrewd ; that is cunning ; that is wise , " and the comment on it is : "Children of this world are wiser than the children of light ; that is to say , meu who are acting in worldly reasons , for worldly reasons , are very much wiser than the men becoming good lrom the highest moral considerations. But that that they have selected is simply this : "I am resolv ed what to do. " "What then is the nature of a resolution what is the scope of it , the potency ? . .And what are the drawbacks ] The self-considera tion of these questions may throw light upon the path of ma 115of us. Now , our lonir eilort of making up our miud is equivalent to form ing a purpose. When a man resolves , he means , or he should mean , to do something ; and all resolutions carry , or should carry , not simply the end sought , but also the capable and necessary means by which the end is sought I i'in resolved to cross the river , bj * the bridge , by boat or by swimming. To stand Dn one side and to resolve to be 011 the other , without any intermediate means of doing it , would be folly indeed. I am resolved to-mor row to go to market. All the intermediate and implied steps by which that resolution could be carried out are included in the res olution itself. A resolution is a purpose in so far as simple things , uncompouuded , in- complex , are concerned. A resolution may be executed immediately , without loss of time ; indeed , the greatest number of resolutions are those which like the stroke of the ham mer or the explosion of a gun , are almost with out any appreciable in terlapse of time. 'I am resolve 'd what to do. ' Natural resolutions : At the cry of lite the man instantly looks out to see what to do ; at the call of a man to step to the door and see a stranger or a friend ; he resolves to do it ; although the resolution is latent in such a sense by repetition , he is not conscious of makimr uphis mind. uhregard to a ureat many of the acts of a man's Hie , cerebration that is to say , the action of the brain has become so common that it takes place without any acpreeiable appearance oi taking place. A multitude of . things if one gets in a crowd , and a man would strike him , his defense is not the result of reflection , and yet it was in him as a re- : suit of experience to protect himself ; and , if it be a shadow , it is just the same , for a shadow- seems like a substance , and lie puts himself in a ludicrous attitude of defense ; he smiles , aud goes on. but the action of the mind , the uuconeious cerebration , Is .there. As , for in stance , in things that apply to the now , that are uncompouuded and simple , a man resolves and executes almost at the same momeiir. Tho child calls fiom above , ather' , and in- cidcntly there is no tliomrht whether he shall or not answer , yet the train goes on within him , and he repliesMy son , what ? ' Or the call has come to him J or help , and he in stantly , before the last echo of the sound dies out of his ear , he is on his feet , on his way. But these are very simple things ; they are the primary forms , whicli afterwards becoming more and more complicated , running through longer j > eriods of time , imply a great many intermediate steps. For a man eau resolve that he will go to bed it doesn't take long either he resolves that to-morrow morning he will get up and go 'cruising , ' but to-mor row is dark and stormy , aud the resolution is not half so strong when he wakes up as it was when he went to bed. There are a great many considerations that come. Or the man resolves that to-morrow he will go to market ; neighbors come in ; he waits ; it is noon , and then time is too little to go. 'And come again. ' And he puts it off until next morning. So between the resolution and the night for on6 takes hold upon the other there is a delav and the intermediate history. "Now , as you go on in tin s life , as society itself becomes more complex civilization is growth in complexity as the things that youresolveto doornot to doare largely in their times , and are clustered together by cause and effect , resolutions spreading over so long spaces and so much intermediatism is some what different from the first resolve. "Resolution , then , means a purpose , the will itself ; aud it includes in it , also , all iudis- pensible intermediate steps ; and some resolu tions execute themselves immediately ; some with some delay ; some with long delay ; some , through many subordinate resolutions , that carry out the primary one. And a man may resolve at a critical moment that which will determine the whole character of his life ; yea , he may determine in any one single , final mo ment " that which will take the whole of his life to carry into effett. This is the case ot ten thousand men. When my father was young , a lad ( he was brought up 03 % substan tially , nn uncle ) , he had in him all that was . necessary to make him what he was in his professional life. But he didn't it ; he was careless ; he was heedless ; he was forgetful of things external ; and so Lncle Lot Beiiton one morning , going out , found that being out late with the horses the night before , visiting some young company , the bridle was placed over the water-trough and the saddle was thrown down behind the stable door , and the horses turned in without a halter , and he said , 'Oh , well , Lyman will nevtr make a fanner ; he is not fitted for it' And so talking in the orchard with him one day , he says : "Lyman , how would you like to go to college ! " No answer. They went on working all day. Next day about the same hour , as thev were working together in the orchard , Lvmausavs : 'I would like to go , sir. ' That settled it In that be ginning was a purpose that shaped different ! } ' his whole life ; it never gave out ; it branch ed in every direction ; he made what he was ; that was owing to the parting ; by not , he would have been a miserable farmer : he made a tolably good minister and a tolerably good father. "So , then , a man may form a resolutiou without noise , without parade , but that with infinite sequences in its development It may include in itself a short process and an inter mediate ; it may include in itself a longer pro cess ; it may include in itself the wboie scope of a man's life , and thrice ten thousand reso lutions will be formed successively to carry out the great primary resolution which a man makes. Thus , if a man is to be a lawyer he not going to be a blacksmith , nor a sailor , nor a soldier , so that there is the resolution of ex clusion ; it turns him away from those things inconsistent with the first element. If he is to be a lawyer there must be the question of education , and a professional education , and all the conditions which are prerequisite to the presenting himself to the court and his license to plead and the beginnings of practice. All of tbrac ar wrnnned mi In .the first de- . . . . . . * I1 H 11 ! MP.T.g UMmj.'H lid iill Jl. t .til ! ' i MM BBMBaWUiaiHIIIIII III LIl/IIWWMBBg termination , 'I will ben lawyer ; ' but that de termination don't make him one ; it starts hlra on a long train of events that arc necessary tc makehiiualawvcr. And so in regard toiuornll ty , a young man mav stand on the tlireshhold of life ; he may resolve that lie will see the world ; and the man tiiat means to see everv- thing m the world will probablv see a good deal under the world , bv " and by , that he wont care about seeing. A man who resolves , on the other hand , 'I believe In honestv ; it Is the best principle' ( but it is better than nothing to say ) . That is the best policy ; it is good poli cy ; all good pol.cy Is a principle ; all good principles carry with them a policv. Aud a youug man , he says , 'I am determined to be an honest and upright man ; ' that at once spreads to other men ; he won't associate with certain ones , he will associate with certain others ; he wonjt follow c rtain things ; he will seek other paths ; the resolution sifts life for him out of its discipline , and another resolu tion is a growing , crude thing. Now , there are a good many people who don't seem ever to have a resolution ; they are like sleevs , all their thoughts run through and are wasted ; there is a great difference about them : there are some men uho e thoughts arc like the ratchet wheel , the wneel that has , notch by notch , to hold what it has got ; and there are a great many whose thoughts are like thistle downs that are going everywhere , and don't know that they are going everywhere , and are subject to the mutations of the wind. There is a great deal of difference need to be to win men to fortn resolutions , some times , of a strong nature and of a sterling 6troug purpose ; when once they have resolved never to flinch , they never know in any hour a downslidlng : they mav be less active at one time than ano thcr , but tney don't turn back. Once having put their hand to the plough they dou't look back again. But then there are those that have the same policy resolution , but they arc made of different stuff ; it slides awav ; they forget it ; they are not stiff enough to stand up against the wind , it may be , that shall come upon them. "The general qualities of the resolutions which men make are of ever } ' grade ; even a frail woman , walking in the boisterous March wind , may find that all the sail she carries she cannot make headway against it , and sup ports herself by a fence that is still enough to hold her until the wind lulls. Aud as it is in the community so it is in regard to the in dividuals there are so many persons who , left to themselves , waver ; they do so some times from good reasons , sometimes from those not so good , sometimes the purposes were formed in a moment of excitement and have nothing left of them wheu the excite ment cools. There is instability also arising from disability of organizption ; that is to say , a mau may be susceptible while one class of effects is being produced , aud in that mood he may form a resolution , but to-morrow someotber blessed , beautiful thing mav come up , and he is just as susceptible of that , and secondary state of mind obliterates the first A man is under the unfluence of music , and all his purposes ran under that power or in fluence , hut , by and by , the outbreak of pol itics brings up patriotism , as it is called , aud his moods change , and those early sensations at first are no longer operative upon him ; auother powerful influence causes di gres- sion. There are many men who have such ancillary elements brought to bear upon their wills and upon their temperaments that they arc almost persuaded to be Christians , J aud think they will be , but , going home in .1 hurry , fall in with eompauy , and the day foli lowing business instincts and interests. It is like another scene that dav. So that there is this ehiiugeableness in men. Then the de- crease of the power came from the nature of ' the mind. There is , however , this idea not to ! be neglected the distinction between the ' man's willing and his wishing. A great man v ; people think that a wish is a resolution. Oh" , I it has gone into a proverb , 'If wishes were I horses then beggars might ride. ' A man : wishes he were ik-h. but he is too lazy , and lie ! never will be ; and man wishes that he knew : more ; probably never will ; he is lazy ; a man = wishes that he could have entrance into cer- I tain circles in society , but the steps requsite \ he never will have patience or wisdom to take , i You might just as well carry a candle arouud I the field and think it is agriculture , because ' it is light shining on crops. Thousands of ' people think they wish to be Christians ; they t don't. That is the lnterpret-ition given much I of the instruction of Jesus. Men came to him ' and said : 'Lord , we will follow thee whither- ' • soever thou goest" 'No , you won't ; you 1 don't know that I am destined to suffering , i poverty , cersccutiou , death ; you think that "I jl am going to be a royal personage and shower ' honors and . ' 'Ah. ' 'I will gold. sajs one , fol5 5 low thee , but suffer me first' Ah , there is ' that 'if and 'but' in life. Ten thousand peo- I pie sa'I , would be a Christi .n if , ' aud that 1 settles it 'I want to be a Christian , but' I : yes , and that settles it again. And so Christ 1 was surrounded by swarms of persons , follow- ing him around , wishing ami wishing , with 1 various degrees of excitability In them. and he r put them all oil ; he would have nothing to do i with thcrn. 'Let him take up his cross and c " follow me , whosoever would be my disciples. ' There is something to do , something to prove , - and to wish. There L a great distinction be- : twecn wishing , then , and tfilling : for when a v man wills the purpose carries with it the in- < strument to effect itself. You wish to be a r Christian ; do you will to be one ? Your wishc. ing is tantalization if will be accomplishment t "Now , Christian life is the only reasonable ? one , whether you regard it as a duty or as a J means of the greatest satisfact ou : that is to * ' say , we were made to be Christians , and being ' a Christian is simply putting yourself in those " relations to yourself , to 3our fellow-men and , to your God for which } ou were created. Did I you ever undertake to take apart a watch ? J That is ver- easDid you ever undertake to l put it together againl'Thatis not so easv- . J You don't know which screw goes in which " f hole ; you don't know exactly which wheel goes iu first ; but one thing is perfectcertain , _ and that is that nothing else will fit together " J but that of which the watch was made , aud [ each wheel was distined to one place and to t one avocation , and if you can bring them tof1 gether , according to the intent of the maker.l it will perform , aud otherwise it will not. Now , a man was built with a great deal more care E than ever a watch was. He has definite relaJ" tions to himself. A man was mad& to live k with men , and there is only one way and one Y principle on which men can live together ti kiuduess , love. Justice means love ; justice ' is not something else ; and we may have a test ; C an example , a revelation in Jesus , iu the Old li Testament as well as the New , but in the New 1 ; with clearer emphasis and larger light , seeing h there how we have got to live towards our feln low men , what are the interlacing relations ii and what are the predominant spirit in which 0 them. "Thou shaltlove - C we are to treat tiij- heighbor as thyself. " Self-love is made tobe e the very model " and t3pe of that affection which 1' ' you arc to give to all people. Then we know c : perfectly well that we are affianced to yet s higher beings than man aud to the invisible d cosmos as well as to the visible ; and we cann not live when we are out of joint with auy ot w these relations in ourselves and to our neighy bors and to our God. Now , Isa } it is reasont able that we should endeavor to live after this o type ujion which we were created. This is a reasonable. A great many men can , but , to t the weak , Christianity is nothing but priestt craft , and it is not reasonable for a man to be w damned because he could not believe , aud. es- ' pecially , because he could not gulp , aud swatv low all"the dogmas aud ail the foVms. But t : that is wide of the mark. True Christian - f means living in those relat ons for which we o were created harmonization of ourselves , f harmonization of our relations to our fellow I men , harmonization of our relation to the ino visible future. And I say that is t reasonable ; I samore than that , that it has s ; in it the inherent , the greatest amount of ' happiness. For although , for temporary rcat sons , a man may defer to his passions , taking A the average and the whole life , he loses rather c than he is the loser no\vbut suffers then. A r man may think , because he runs through a b dissipated period aud then reforms , that the 0 dissipation is all over. No , no , no ; the causes a 1 Eiuk uuder and run subterraueousry , as it j ] were ; and there Is many a man that has grumn bled at forty-five years of age from the misa conduct of twenty years. You kuow that t there are the seventeen-year locusts ; they lay r their eggs , and those eggs lie incubating iu v the ground for seventeen j-ears ; then they > hatch and come forth. A man may by evil ii deeds lav the eggs that will hatch twenty g years after that , and as a general truth I K think it Is demonstrable by actual observation E and experience that the true happiuess of a n man liir * hat self-control , In that virtue , in n that integruy , in that love-power , which is \ the substance of religion itself. It is not ii learning vour catechism , it is uot learnInsr t ; onr verses of faltli , It la not going throngt ecclesiastical achievements. "Thou slialt love the Lord thy God and thy neighbor as thy self. " Therefore must lift xourse'f ' , mid he that lifts himself t > howa , not by partialis towards the lower and worst features in him * self , hut towards his whole Bclf the regent understanding , the moral power and clement and spiritual 111 him. Now , when a man ha * this prcM-ntcd to him , and he is urged to enter upon a Cbiistiaii lire as the only honorable one. the only one that has the greatest satis faction in It the only one that carries in it the idea of duty and gratitude towaids God , iiow thoughtlessly men heed that. To-night how many are there of von that sav hi thus looking over the sphere * of life life ' to come : "I am resolved what to do. " Bearing in mind what a resolution means and what ir. Includes , how niaii3 * men can Mi3tonight , "Yes I am resolved what to do. " Theic are very few of you that would sny , "I am resolved not to be a Christian. " That's a very hazardous thing , which very few men care to resolve. Jlen , on the other hand "I may say , hope some time to be a Christian ; I feel as if I would like to be one ; I wish I was one ; just as a lazy man wishes he had the produces of In- du3tr3But how many men are there here to-night that can can sav , • I am roolvcd what to do , " "I am resolved what to do. " • 'Are you then resolved at once to become a Christian } Cau I be a Christian at once ? In one sense , no ; iu another sense , yes. Noboil ) ever learned a trade at a blow , bid he can be gin this day ; no man ever became a scholar by a resolution , but he never can become one without a resolutiou : it is a complex one and a constantly repeating one , ancillary resolu tions upholding the main one. Are you re solved to be a Christian to this extent I n-UI begin to-night ? 'I am resolved as far as I have light and as far as I know my wa3 * . I am de termined , God knows I am determined , to square my life hereafter on Christian principles. I am resolved to be a Christian man. ' Now , this may include churehes. I mav be a Itoman Catholic and resolve it or 11 Protestant and stay out of that church , and stay out of 11113- other church. This resolution doesn't mean I will be a Christian like to this scheme or that schme , according to this church or that church ; it simply means in its simplest form , its primary condition. 'I will regulate my life , both Inside and outaccordingt6 the principles laid down for me by the Lord Jesus Christ. ' Is not that a very simple thiugj But what does it carry with it ? It cairies , in the first place , this : 'I will therefore begin by excluding everything that I kuow will hinder this reso lution ; from a couselou ty wicked wa3' . I will begin as a part of the fulfilment of this reso lution , I will stop. ' That is the meaning or the repentance John began and Christ took up. Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand , that is to s. nI " , will get over even * * known wrong that is inconsistent with this purpose that I have formed ; I am going to live as a Christian man. as a Chr stian woman ; and if there be that which I know to be fundamental ly wrong I shall cany out ny resolution bv repenting or turning away from that. Anil then , in the next place , a resolution to be a Christian applies immediately ; it is not that I will be a Christian next year , or by and 03or long ' time death , but it is going on , beginning ut once to live , as far as I know- how i , righteous. Do 3011 menu , then , to take the I that - ? Are - steps arc necessa you readj- to • begin your attempt to live a Christian Hie bv sa3ingin sincerity , 'God , show me the wav ' ; give ! me thy help ? ' Are 3011 willing ! Not to 5ny i your prayers : there are a great many prayers I said ; a great 1113113too few prayers that ! are felt and not true. Is there sincerity in ' you * I would to God that 3011 have spirit ual refilling and the sustaining power of the whole spirit , that 30a have the ccrtamtv that he was working in me to will and to do his ; ood pleasure. Are 3-ou ready to begin 3-our Christian life then by opening the word of God and reading , not a chapter , nor a verse or two every dav. but to make it the line of " yourcouusel * "When any great combination , scheme , is being formed in New York any syndicate there is aiways the lawyer , and they will never take a single step until they consult him , and he is about all the while ; he is the mau of the counsel ; it is a complicated thing , and a great deal depends upon it , ami they cannot afford to go wrong. Areou willing to take the New Testament as the Hue af 3-our counsel ! See what it sa3-s about lusts , about appetites , what it says about crime iud envy anil jealousy aud ail ill will and 5Vil spcal.iug and -eilishness iu itsgrasping moods. Are you willing to look through the t\ew Tcstamen t lorce what tin * law ot the Loid iNot b3r discusbio.i. . God will take 2i\rc of his own defense and doesn't thank rnu for any help ; nor has lie ainoccasion to thank anybodxAre von wnling to take the Bible just as the shipma.ter takes the chart ? IVheu he leaves the last shore light and take ? iis diicction he never sa3"s , 'Head ne a direction or two of tiie sailing lirections , aud then read me the dranghtings nside again and then again. ' They have no elation at all to hK course , to his actual Mill ing ; but he iciiot go'ng to read so many parts } f his chart and of his saiiiug directions. WhNo ; he 1.13s out his yo. - .ige from the ue- rmiiing and every day he takes observations mil | then lie cheeks down ou the chart just ivhere he is. At noon to-morrow lie takes an other observation : not because there U : u\y leed of reading his chart , in reading any book ) n navigation ; not because he is studying as- Tonomy for the sake of anything that is in istronomy. He has got a de tiuite purpo e in ife ; after which he sells his astronomy , ami ifter which he sells his bookor tliose which a3 * his course. Are you willing to begin a Christian colirsc aud voyage by going to the j \ord of God to ascertain exacth what is ex- lexcted of you , both what you are to reject md what you an ; to adopt ? "That is scnsthle. ' ibat is right resolving , according to a praeti- : al basis and resolution. Or , ou the other land , are you , while you are weighing , that s. \ourself , are you saying to yourself : My other people of "Goi got on the fjest way. There is my father and mother. If there 1 vere ever any Christians they were su > : h. I , Delieve thewere real Christians. ' Nowa 1 nan's mother is infinitely more to him than he Virgin Mary is to any devout Catholic ' "You come into the church because 3-ou find ' • ympathy there and kiudlv help there. Are 1 ou willing to take advantage of ail these : ; indlv helps , so that 3-011 may be able to keep our purpose and yonr will ? Are'on willing ' o begin it uow ? You don't need any mure • mowledge. You ha\e been brought up 111 : 2hristain knowledge from the verv cradle ; you ; lave no bad associations ; you have nccessari- , y none by the average , but what Christian J ife was and Christian duty , is there there is ' lot a man here that needs to have additional 1 nstruction : he knows that he is bound to live - . ibediently to God and iu love with Jesus [ Christ. But cau a man come into a htate of " motion ? Can a man by dimply saying I will , ' " ' eel ? No ; no : but b ? saying l wdl feel he J an take tiie steps to feel. A 1:1:111 rhiverami j : avs.Chills anil fever : .re in.f agreeable : I am „ letermined to get over them. ' Ywll , > 0,1 can " lot get over them bv determining it , but if 3 ou * vill take quinine enough you can. Now. let ; our purpo.e be not simply this. 'I am re-olwl o b.j a Cliri.-tian. ' but • ! .1111 re'olvt-d so ui > . - „ i-tentatitiuslv. I am going to feel majelf for ; ill the help I can and all the Christian iu-ti- utious that are necessary for mv wed. ' Now. : hat is praetie.t ! , and that is common sense as veil as moral sense. Or are vim going to sa\\ Well. I will see about it' 'No.ou won't ; ou know it. Ami t.at thing w : have in our hues , when a loth dLo ! < - , he hasgiven a note or the sake of p.f i.ig a d * ht but for tiie sake f getti.ig rid of paving it they put it off for bur mouth" , aud then they give another note. it is the greenback bu.me sin which thev pay me note by uii i"g another. There are muiti- udes of people that form a resolution for the ake of not fulfilling a dut3and a mau saj-s • Well , I have made up tm ihiud I am going 0 be a Christian as soon as I get read\ ' . ' Yhen are you going to get ready ? It has iloudedoiir conscience and clouded your eason now by promising to do that , by and iy. when the convenient time comes ; and the levil will 6ec to it that it never comes. It is resolution that simply means the feeling of laving done your dut3" . And I think the J nost scandalous meannesses and dishonor- ibleness that can ver3well be imagined , when he parties concerned are regarded , Is that c esolutiou that people form to be a Christian , r vhen thev have wasted themselves in the ser vice of selfishness , aud when they have come r nto old age and lie on their death-bed. I . ihould think nmelf very mean if , in the sum- ' ner time , I should gather a peck of peas and a hell out the i > eas , and send the pods over to t * ny neighbor as a present. That i < = what men nean to do with God ; they mean to live in routl : after their passions ; tliev mean to live n middle age aftertheirambition : they mean * nivii In oil aire after eas. - . and befo-e tl.e.v ! I : dfe they mean to whip-on the right side and get Into heaven "When you cotuu to exatn.nc'v Biich conduct in relations to men , there is not n savagu that would not feel that wa.i infora- ; 011s ti > r.pav protection , divine benedic tion , the ministration of God through ui ! the channels of imturu and the kindness of Go.1 through Jesus Christ for the J iii'iiistnitlon ' of the gospel ; and the mau I deliberately savs , we will seek all tho money * f out of these thitigs and all the rest rj that Is In life , and when we nro no | | longer use to ourselves wo are going w-c win | 0 repent bo ns to get luto heaven. I wo Dutch 121 elders had been warm friends and vet one day If 1 they fell out with each other and the tire grewr If I fiercer until they came positively to hate each fl other , and one Sunday morning the dominie IJj going behind one of the ciders heard him mut- , ? j ter to hlmseir. "Van Alstyne Is a bypocrlt ; | | 1 he will go to hell , he will go to hclL" The Ui old dominie spoke up to him and said : "Oh , _ - k Ki oh , mv brother , he won't go to hell. " "Yes. "T | | 9 he will go to hell. " "Well but my dear fel- I 119 low , he may repent" "No well , he Is just , f | mean enough to do it" But this it Is , can- | | didly the condition In which some of you are. > | | You mean to live hatefully , disobedient ! ) * , ills- . - | ] honorabland yet in the last estate you ' ; * mean to whip up and get Into heaven you 11 arc "just mean enough to do It. " " 11 "Now , ou the other hand , pleased be God , 11 he Is long suffering , and he hi patient , and as f 1 we would pay a debt , by installments , little by II little , showing all the time that we endeavor | | to do It , he respects vour endeavor to live , to Jl repent and to live a "Christian life , by ' natal- , | ments. " fm "Ifon make up vour mind honestly to do . - 11 it , he will bear with vour incompetence and a | vour ignorance and " your endearments ; he j will hear patiently with you , .and help you • 1 from day to day , and from month to month , 1 aud from year " to year , 'growing brighter and ] and br.ghter unto ihe perfect day. ' Is there any man here that can say in regard to the 1 past , I am resolved that I will cut loose from 9 everything that has been a detriment to me , 1 dishonorable to God ? Is there any man that 1 will say in regard to the future , 'I am resolved m what to do ? 1 am resolved to take a higher IHc , the nobler Ideal ; I am determined , by the W help of God , that I will live in such a way that I should live. ' And if there Is , don't wait M until tomorrow morning ; read just your life 9 to-night ; go home and tell God of It ; go home M aud tell your wife of it. That is the very thing you don't dare . to do because when a man has oucc > 9 committed himself he Is ashamed to go back ; M aud If 3ou are ashamed to tell anybody 'I have made up my mind to live like a Christian m man , ' it Is because you have not made up your * mind. When a man has determined that ho / will live a Christian life he will be willine ' m to show to all that are around about hlra , T /JJ am going to trj . I have made up my mind to . m try. ' If you have mind 30U will enter upon M vour journey. 'The time is past in which I iH , have served the will of the flesh , and now , to- night , I have determined that I will begin. M with the help of God , to live a Christian life , ' U Are there any ofou that are willing to make / that resolve ! God help you. For a little , ' chile it will he a troublesome thing , for a v _ , little while , but then easier and easier , with im remuneration and exhilaration and joy and • < fl 2ual victory. " ,9 FINNED TO HIS SEAT. fM Discovering a Itemeily Ajrnlnst Cock- ' S tails Itctivecn the Acts. i'9 It is a very good story which a gen- 'fl ' 'al ' Iriend of ours tells about a young t man of his acquaintance , says The lial- \ fl .imorc American. Tho young man , it f fl seems , is good look ng. of a nice fani- | V ily , and a good deal of a favorite with . ilic Indies. But In ; .s altogether too jfl fond of a little red liquor neatly fl brimmed with lemon and things and- | jl served in cut glass s fond , indeed , ; hat some of the more careful girls' fl nave of late fought shy of his escort -fl m : o places of amusement. One day last- - fl week he invited a young lady to go and fl see " 1 he Harbor Light. " " She wanted : o see the pin ; * , and. tiie truth is , rather < fl .iked Tom we will call the .young i-fl aian Tom for short but she hesitated ; 'fl ibout accepting the invitation. Her j "fl friends adv.sed her to decline , and' 'fl ' warned her that if she accepted Tom S ivould leave her alone a fow minutes ' 9 ifter every act while he was out inter- , .jfl riewing tho nearest barkeeper. rfl "OIi no. lie wouldcn ' t do that , " said jfl ; heoung lady. . fl "Yes , but he would , " I lie advisers 'S ' replied : "He took Em Johnson week . 'fl sefore last , and went out three times , 'fl ' ui'i came in chewing cloves and coffee , 'fl ind Km was so mortified that she says" - 'jfl "But he wouldn 't leave me alone in , he theater , I know , " the v'oung lady > | fl retorted eonlidently ; "and to prove it I /fl will accept his invitation. " iljM On the way to tiie theater Tom was ) fl | ill gallantry , and tiie curtain once up , fl lewas greatly interested in the drama. cm But at the end of the Iirst act he made ( i brief apoiogy to the effect that he iH | wished to speak with a friend whom he 'jl ' jaw standing in the foyer , and rose to w 2-o. But he didn 't go. Something . } 'fl seemed to take hold of his coat-tails i'l | * nd pull him back into his scat Imag- jfl me poor Tom's chagrin and surprise : | ifl when a second's investigation showed w -fl j tiim that his fair companion , who sat ' vffl with such an innocent look in her jfl Drown eye's had pinned his coat to the t'fl upholstering of the seat w.tb a good , 'fl strong safety-pin. Tom's face felt as .fl i it was on a broiler , and a cold wavo i-fl ar two ran up and down his spinal ) fl column , bat he didn't say a word. kfl Kor did he leave his scat until the enr- jfl tain fell ou the happy denouement in -fl the play. The end of the little drama ' 'fl in the dre.is-circle seats was equally fl igreeable , for on their wav out Tom fl smilingly confessed that the joke was * , fl jn him and the reproof a merited one. fl tie alao promised that if again given f he plea = iire of escorting his charming fi : ompanion to the theater no safety-pius I would be needed to keep him 111 his 4 , seat. "I hope he 'll marry that girl , "added I nir genial friend , "because f he does K she'll reform him and make a man out ' i ) f him as sure as guns. " ' ) d A "S' egrro 3Ielody. \ Doan " hurry me ; I nin * ter blame : .1 I has to take my time ; v Onless you tumbles to the gamo An' tips me with a d.me. f ; I treated like it"s mos' a sin " ' Bekaso I's brack ; dat's strange ! \ Still ef I cannot change mv skiu 1 I'll skin vou ob vour change. I Texas Sif lings. p . f The Extreme of Wretchedness. * f At tiie club Upon my soul. Dobson , IJ : ou are the dismalest company I know ; > f since that Brown girl gaveoti the jonge. 1 never saw a fellow take the " ' • riitten so wretchedly. Wetchcd ! Haw ! Wetched isn't a lame faw it You can , aw. fawnoey low wetched I am when I tell vou 1 , iw , don'tcayawa wap how my , awi ' ; jweetches fit me. Town Topics " M'l A subject for a debating societj' * Which Is , . he greater evil , spring elections or house a1 ileaninel Whitehall Times. _ ' [ 1 . ii • ' • 'I A * -