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2 ©nr pulpit THE GREAT PROCLAMATION BY REV. ALEXANDER MACLAREN, D D. “Ho. every one that thirsteth. come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ve, buy and eat; yea come, buy wine and milk without money and without price."- lea 55:1. The meaning of the word preach is “ proclaim like a herald;" or, what is perhaps more familiar to moat of ns, like a towncrier; with a loud voice, clearly and plainly delivering the mea wage Now, there are other notiona of a aer mon than that, and there ia other work which ministers have to do. of an edu cational kind Bnt my buaineaa to night is to preach We have ventured to ask others than the members of our own congregation to come and join ua this evening. and 1 should be ashamed of myself, and have good reasons to be so, if I had asked you to come to hear me talk, or to entertain yon with more or less eloquent and thoughtful dis courses There is a time for every thing; and what thia ia the time for >s to ring ont like a bellman the meaaage which I believe God has given me for yon It cannot but suffer in passing through human lips, but I pray that my poor words thia evening may not be all unworthy of ita stringency, ami of the greatness of its blessing My text is God s proclamation, and all that the best fns can do is but to reiterate that, more feebly alas, but still earnestly. Suppose there was an advertisement in t morrow morning's Manchester pa p< rs that anybody that liked to go to a certain place might get a fortune for going, what a '/nrwof waiting auppli ants there would be at the door ' Here is God's greatest gift going a begging and there are people in thia chapel this evening who listen to my text with only the thought “ Oh. the old threadbare story is what we have been asked to come and hear ' Brethren, have yon taken the offer ? If not. it needs to be pressed upon you once more S > my purpose thia evening is a very simple one 1 wish, as a brother to a brother, to put before you these three things to whom the offer ia made; what it consists of. and how it may be ours, NO ONE LEFT <»UT. 1 To whom this offer is made. It is to every one thirsty and penniless That is a melancholy combination to be needing something infinitely, and to have not a farthing to get it with But that is the condition m which we all atand, in regard of the highest and beat things For this invitation of my text is as universal as if it had stopped with its third word. “Ho, every one " would have been no broader than is the offer as it stands. For the character istics named are those which belong, necessarily and universally, to human experience If my text had said. " Ho. every one that breathes human breath," it w mid not have more completely cov ered the whole race, and enfolded thee and me and all our brethren in the am plitude of its promise, than it does when it sets up as the sole qualifications thirst and penury that we infinitely need and that we are absolutely unable to acquire the blessings that it offers. Every one that thirsteth. ” That means desire Yes; but it means need also And what is every’ man but a great bundle of yearnings and necessi ties'; None of in carry within our selves that which - suffices for ourselves We are all dependent upon external things for being and for well being There are thirsts which infallibly point to their true objects. If a man is hungry he knows that it is food that he wants. And just as the necessities of the animal lite are incapable of being misunderstood, and the object which will satisfy them incapable of being confused or mistaken, so there are other noble thirsts, which, in like manner, work automatically, and point to the thing that they need. We have social instincts; we need love, we need friend ship, we need somebody to lean upon; we thirst for some heart to rest our heads upon, for hands to clasp ours; and we know where the creatures and the objects are that will satisfy these desires. And there are the higher thirsts of the spirit, that “follows knowledge like a sinking star, beyond the furthest bounds of human thought;" and a man knows where and how to gratify the impulse that drives him to seek after some form of knowledge and wisdom. But besides all these, besides sense, besides affection, besides emotions, be sides the intellectual spur of which we are all more or less conscious, there come in a whole set of other thirsts that do not in themselves carry the in timation of the place where they can be slaked And so you get men restless, as some of yon are; always dissatisfied, as some of you are; feeling that there is something wanting, yet not knowing what, as srnie of you are. You remem ber the old story in the Arabian Nights, of the man who had a grand palace, and lived in it quite contentedly, until somebody told him that it needed a roc s egg hanging from the roof to make it complete, and he did not know where to get that and was miserable accord ingly. We build onr houses, we fancy that we are satisfied, and then there comes the stinging thought that it is not all complete yet.and we go groping, groping in the dark, to find out what it is Sh pwrecked sailors sometimes, in their desperation, drink salt water, and that makes them thirstier than ever, and brings on madness and death. Some publicans drug the vile liquors that they sell, so that they increase thirst We may make no mistake about how to satisfy the desires of sense or of earthly affections We may lie quite certain that money answereth all things and that it is good to get on in business in Manchester; or may have found a pure and enduring satisfaction in study and in book —yet there are thirsts that some of us know not where to satisfy and so we have parched lips and swollen tongues, and raging desire that earth can give nothing to till THE ONE GREAT NEED. My brother, do you know what it is that you want? It is God' Nothing else, nothing less. “My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God The man that knows what it is of which he is in such sore need, is blessed The man who only feels dimly that he needs something, and does not know that it is God whom he does need, is condemn ed to wander in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is, and w’here his heart gapes, parched and cracked like the soil upbn which he trades. Understand your thirst. Interpret your desires aright Open your eyes to your need; and be -ure of this, that mountains of money and the clearest insight into in tellectual problems and fame, and love, and wives, and children, and happy homes, and abundance of all things that you can desire, will leave a central aching emptiness that nothing and no person but God can ever fill Oh, that we all knew what these yearnings of our hearts mean' Aye' but there are dormant thirsts too- It is no proof of superiority that a savage has fewer wants than yon and I have, for the want is the open mouth into which supply comes. And it is no proof that yon have not, deep in yonr nature, desires which, unle-s they are awakened and settled, you will never lie blessed, that these desires are all un conscious to yourselves. The business of us preachers ia. very largely, to get the people who will listen to us, to rec ognize the fact that they do want things which they do not wish; and that, for the perfection of their natures, the cherishing of noble longings and thirsting* is needful, and that to be without this sense of need ia to lie with out one of the loftiest prerogatives of humanity. Some of you do not want forgiveness Many of yon would much rather not have holiness You do not want God The promises of the gospel go clean over your heads, and areas impotent to in fluence you as the wind whistling through a keyhole, because yon have never been aware of the wants to which these promises correspond, and do not understand what it is that you truly re quire And yet there are no desires that is to say, consciousness of necessities—so dormant but that their being ungrati tied makes a man restless. You do not want forgiveness, but you will never be happy till you get it. You do not want to be good and true and holy men, but you will never be blessed till you are. You do not want God. some of you. but you will be restless till yon find him You fancy you want heaven when you are dead; you do not want it when yon are living But until your earthly life is like the life of.Jesus'Christ, though in an inferior sense, in heaven whilst it is on earth, you will never be at rest You are thirsty enough after these things to be ill at ease without them, when yon bethink yourselves and pass out of the region of mere mechanical and habitual existence, but until yon get these things that yon do not desire, be sure of this: you will be tortured with vain unrest, and will find that the satisfactions which you do seek turn to ashes in your mouth “Bread of deceit," says the Book, “is sweet to a man " The writer meant by that that there were people to whom it was pleasant to tell profit able lies But we might widen the meaning, and say that all these lower satisfactions, apart from the loftier ones of forgiveness, acceptance, recon ciliation with God. the conscious p >s session of him, a well grounded hope of immortality, the power to live a noble life and to look forward to a glorious heaven, are “deceitful bread," which promises nourishment and does not give it. but breaks the teeth that try to masticate it; “it turneth to gravel "Ho, every one that thirsteth.” That designation includes in all ' And he that hath no money.” Who has any? Notice that the persons rep resented in our text as penniless are, in the next verse remonstrated with for spending “money." So then the penni less had some pence away in some cor ner of his pc cket which he could spend. He had tiie money that would buy shams, “that which is not bread" but a stone, though it looks like a loaf, but he Iml no money for the true thing. Which, being translated out of parable into fact, is simply this, that our efforts may win, and do win, for us the lower satisfaction which meets the transitory and superficial necessities, but that no effort of ours can secure for us the loft ier blessings which slake the diviner thirsts of immortal souls. A man lands in a farcountry with English shill ngs in his pocket, but he finds that no coins go there but thalers, or francs, or dol lain. or the like; and his money is only current in his own land, and he has got to get it changed before he can make his purchase So, with a pocketful of it he may as well lie penniless. And, in like fashion, you and I. with all our strenuous efforts, which we are bound to make, and which there is joy in mak ing, after these lower things that corre spond to onr efforts, find that we have no coinage that will buy the good things of the Kingdom of Heaven, without which we faint and die Our efforts are useless Can a man by his penitence, by hie tears, by his amend ment, make it possible for the come quences of his past to be obliterated, or all changed in their character into fath erly chastisement? No! a thousand times, .no! The superficial notions of Christianity, which are only too com mon amongst the -educated and nnedu cated. vulgar and unspiritual, may say to a war, “ion need no divine inter vention. if only you will get up from your dust, and do your best to keep up when you are up.” But those who real ize more deeply what the significance of sin is, and what the eternal operation of its consequences upon the soul is, and what the awful majesty of a divine righteousness is. learn that the man who has sinned can. by nothing he can do. obliterate that awful fact, or reduce it to insignificance, in regard of the divine relations to him It is only God that can do that We have no money. So thirsty and penniless we stand—a desperate condition! Aye! brother, it is desperate, and it is the condition of every one >of us I wish I could turn the generalities of my text into the in dividuality of a personal address. I wish 1 could bring its wide flowing be neficence to a sharp point that might touch your conscience, heart, and will. I cannot do that; you must do it for yourself. “Ho. every one that thirsteth.” Will yon pause for a moment, and say to yourself. “That is me”? “And he that hath no money"—that is me. “Come ye to the waters' —that is me. The pro clamation is for thine ear and for thy heart, and the gift is for thy hand and thy lips. WHAT IS OFFERED. 11. In what it consists. They tell an old story about the re joicings at the coronation of some great King, when there was set up in the market place a triple fountain, from each of whose three lips flowed a differ ent kind of rare liquor which any man who chose to bring a pitcher might fill from at his choice. Notice my text; “Come veto the tenters' . . . . “buy’ trine and milk ” The great fountain is set up in the market place of the world, and every man may come; and which ever of this glorious trinity of effluents he needs most, there his lip may glue itself and there he may drink be it “water" that refreshes, or “wine" that gladdens, or “milk" that nourishes. They are all contained in this one groat gift that flows out from the deep heart of God to the thirsty lips of parched humanity And what does that mean? Well, we may say salvation; or we may use many other words to define the nature of the gifts. I venture to take a shorter one. and say it means Christ. He, and not merely some truth about him and his work: he himself, in the fullness of his being, in the all-sufficiency of his love, in the reality of his presence, in the power of his sacrifice, in the daily deri vation. int > the heart that waits upon him. of his life and his Spirit.he is theall sufticient supply of every thirst of every human soul Do we want happiness? Christ gives us his joy. remaining and full, and not as the world gives. Do we want love? He gathers us to his heart, in which “there is no variableness, neither shadow cast by turning," and THE CHRISTIAN INDEX: THURSDAY, JULY 9 1896. binds us to himself by bonds that death, the separator, vainly attempts to untie, and which no unworthiness, ingrati tude coldness of ours can ever provoke to change themselves Do we want wisdom? He will dwell with us as onr light Do our hearts yearn for com panionship? With him we shall never be solitary Do we long for a bright hope which shall flight up the dark future, and spread a rainbow span over the great gorge and gulf of death? Jesus Christ spans the void, and gives us unfailing and undeceiving hope. For everything that yon and I need here or yonder, in heart, in will, in practical life, Jesus Christ himself is the all sufficient supply. “My life in death, my all in all." What is offered in him may lie de scribed by all the glorious and blessed names which men have invented to designate the varions aspects of the good These are the goodly pearls that men seek but there is one of great price which is worth them all, and gathers into itself all their clouded and fragmentary splendors Christ is all, and 'he soul that has him shall never thirst. HOW TO BE OBTAINED. 111. Lastly, how do we get the gifts? The paradox of my text needs little explanation. ' buy without money and without price ” The contradiction on the surface is but intended to make emphatic this blessed truth, which I pray may reach your memories and hearts, that the only conditions are a sense of need, and a willingness to take —nothing else, and nothing more. We must recognize our penury, and must abandon self, and put away all ideas of having a finger in our own salvation, and be willing which, strangely and sadly enough, many of us are not— willing to be obliged to God's unhelped and undeserved love for all Cheap things are seldom valued. Ask a big price and people think that the commodity is precious. A man goes into a fair for a wager, and he carries with him a tray full of gold watches and offers to sell them for a farthing apiece, and nobody will buy them. It does not, I hope, degrade the subject, if I say Jesus Christ comes into the marketplace of the world with his hands full of the gifts which the pierced hands have bought, that he may give them away. He says, “Will you take them?" And you, and you, and yon, pass by on the other side, and go away to another merchant and buy dearly, things that are not worth the having. ‘ My fattier, my father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldst thou not havedone it? ” Would you not? Swung at the end of a pole with hooks in your back; measure all the way from Cape Comorin to the Himalayas, lying down on your face and rising at each length; do a hundred things which heathens and Roman Catholics and unspiritual Protestants think are the way to get salvation; deny yourselves things that you would like to do; do things that you do not want to do: give money that you would like to keep; avoid habits that are very sweet; go to church and chapel when you have no heart for worship; and so try to balance the account. “If the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, thou wouldst have done it How much rather when he says, Wash and be clean.” “Nothing in my hand I bring." You do not bring anything. “Simply to thy cross I cling ' Do you ? Diyou? Jesus Christ catches up the “comes” of my text, and he says. “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." "If any man thirst, let him come unto me and live." Brethren, 1 lay it on yoWr lu-o consciences to answer him — about me—to answer him: “Sir. give me this water that I thirst not ." Intemperance BY MARY JOE WEST. Much has been said against the in temperance of whiskey and wine drink ing, and 1 would not have it otherwise; for indeed too much cannot be said against so great an evil; but of other forms of intemperance I wish chiefly to speak. All forms of intemperance grow out of lack of self control How many of us condemn the drunkard, day after day. and in many cases have no sympa thy for him. and even say: “He should not make such a hog of himself," when we are more intemperate than he. and never think of lecturing ourselves It is true of every form of intemperance that we often hasten down the abyss of destruction when we think of naught but safety. “Any excess in the use of a good tiling is intemperance, therefore evil, and should be avoided." Reason is good, but too hard pressed with labor it ruins the mind and wrecks the temple in which both mind and soul are al lowed to dwell for a short while. Health of body is just as essential to proper reasoning and activity of the mind as water is to the thirsty flower. What we most need is knowledge of the human body and the laws by which it is governed, that we may. first of all. know how to take care of ourselves But. alas! Where are we to gain this in formation? It is a lamentable fact that but little such knowledge can be ob tained from our parents I think the leading educators of our day are much to blame for not having compelled the study of physiology in our schools before now But if we felt the need of this information as we should, we would bend every energy of mind and body to obtain it. The greatest trouble is. we don't do as well as we know to do. If we would learn more of nature and less of arti fieial life we would be prettier, health ier and more useful. For there is a beauty in nature not seen in all the artificials of life. What is more wonder ful than the human body, with its different members, each performing a different office and affording countless pleasures not obtainable from any other member? Should not every one wish to retain the glow of health and elastic step to adorn, brighten and cheer old age? Then let us be temperate and take warning from our own uncomfortable nes».as well as the observation of others , for how often we do something or eat something that we know we should not. and justly suffer for our folly. More people die from overeating and im proper eating, than ever die for lack of food. Friends, let us wake up to our duty on this subject and be charitable, remembering our own imperfections, striving to correct them and aid others to nobler life. Cedartown. Ga. A Verse for Fault-finders. Some one with a pretty thorough ap preciation of the evils and vexations that arise from fault finding, has em bodied in this versea little moral which those who are apt to be captious and exacting should remember: What are another's faults to me? I’ve not a vulture's bill To pick at every flaw I see, And make it wider still. It is enough for me to know I ve follies of my own. And on myself that care bestow And let my friends alone Our Home Talk o. c. P. “I believed and, therefore, have I spoken,” will never cease to be the true watch-word for Christian workers. The great trouble with many preachers is that in their inmost souls they have not experienced the truths they utter. The gospel they preach is very largely a mean ingless fable. A man must him self have been in the deep, horri ble pit of repentance for sin and experienced the joy of pardon beiore he can tell to others the awful consequences of sin and the sweetness of being forgiven. I often think how true was the remark made by the great actor, Garrick, to a Christian minister, “Tell me, Mr. Garrick, ’ said the minister, “why it is that you, while uttering mere fancies, have such large audiences, while I, in uttering tremendous realities, speak to so few.” “Ah!” said Mr. Garrick, “that is easy to ex plain. I utter mere fancies as if they were tremendous realities, while you utter tremendous real ities as if they were mere fan cies.” There is a basis of fact for this comparison We do not realize the full meaning of the words we utter. How hard it is, as we stand before the peo pie, to rise above the mere ex ternals and speak boldly, earn estly and as a dying man to dy ing men. But, right here lies the truest success in soul-win ning. The Christian worker who sees the awful doom overhanging all who are out of Christ must speak in words that burn them selves into men’s hearts. Such is the secret of the soul winning power of Spurgeon, Moody, Pierson, Wharton, Nelson, and Quisenberry. With a clear, spiritual eye they see that the wrath of God is resting upon their unbelieving hearers and, in self-forgetful zeal, they speak out. Oh! that we all more realized what sin is, and that a fearful retribution is to fall on all the impenitent, that without holiness no man shall see the Lord, that sin will not be* forgiven unless it is repented of and forsaken, that the doom which falls on the sin ner is just and, yet, that God, in tender mercy, is freely offering salvation to all who repent and believe. lam not surprised that men, who see somewhat the real ity, do weep in agony over the awful condition of the erring and lost. Would that all of us could weep we tell men of their sins and them to the Savior o f Wnjiia’a w i t h C... f .4. oi-l -CM '■ un the lowest de gree developed, can contemplate the present condition of countless millions of the living, viewed in the light of the plainest teaching of God s Word, and not weep, is more than lean understand. We walk the streets and jostle against those upon whom a fear ful condemnation rests. We as sociate in business with the lost. There are many of our dearest loved ones out of Christ and, therefore, resting now under con demnation. How, oh ! how can we be so indifferent ? May God stir our own souls that, as we go here and there seeking to save others, we may be ourselves par takers of the blessings of saving grace. He who would reach forth the hand of rescue to the drowning man must himself be on the rock. We cannot lead others to the open fountain for sin and uncleanness until we are ourselves washed. Let us believe God's Word ourselves be fore we go to tell it to others. Then, in the Sunday-school, the prayer meeting, in the pulpit, and everywhere, our words will be potent for good because we have tasted and seen that the Lord is good. Wartrace, Tenn. Be Drawn Up.—Take the low est seat and work your way up. Let a man be called up always. Do your woi k wherever you are, and do it faithfully and so con tentedly that they will want you still higher. The more you do your work well, the more they will want you still higher, and higher, and higher. Be drawn up. Do not force yourself up. That leads to chicanery, to pre tense, to mistakes, and even to temptations and crimes.— Henry Hard Beecher. Sins grow, like grapes, close, but in clusters. We usually say, he that will swear, will lie; and he that will lie, will steal; and he that will do all these, will do anything. Satan is a serpent; if the head be once in, his whole •body will not be long behind.— Bishop Henshaw Gold Pens Repaired. There are hundreds of Gold Pens lying idle which could be put in writing order and do many years of service. If you have one send it to C. P. Barnes & Bro., Gold Pen makers. Louis ville, Ky.,with fifty cents inclosed in money or stamps, and they will repair it and return it to you. Boys, remember that you grow older every day. and if you have bad habits, they grow older, too, and the older both get. the harder they are to separate. the godje. Any publication mentioned in this de partment may be obtained of the American Baptist Publication So ciety. 93 Whitehall St., Atlanta, Ga When prices are named they include postage. The Editors of the Christian Index desire to make this column of service to their readers They will gladly answer, or have answered, any quee tions regarding books. If you desire books for certain lines of reading, or desire to find ont the worth or pub lisher of any book, write to them. The Social Meanings of Religious Experiences By George D. Her ron. Thoe. L. Crowell & Co., New York Price 75 cte. Dr. Herron has gained a reputation as an intense and self sacrificing advo cate of what is known as the kingdom of God. He believes in the social regener ation of society and finds many gospel truths therein realized. This book is a most unusual one. Its very title is sug gestive and the treatment is not less in teresting. In every case Scripture is taken as the text Here are some of the subjects : “The Affections as Social Energies, The Leadership of Social Faith; Repentance unto Service The exegesis of certain passages is unique and impressive, but at last reaches a climax in some strained application to Dr Herron's theories This is one of the defects of the book. t One is thor oughly persuaded that Dr * Herron's gen eral demands are right, but they go just a little beyond substantial truth before he gets through. If any one has learned to read discriminately for sug gestions among views he cannot en tirelv subscribe to, we recommend this book. Dr. Herron has lofty aspirations and a noble spirit. A Series of Poems in Booklet form. Thos. Whittaker, New Y’ork. Price, 20 cts. each. In a neat little booklet we have, each in a separate volume, the following poems Not Changed but Glorified: Resignation (Longfellow): Compensa tion (Havergal); Not Knowing, Cross ing the Bar (Tennyson). In this last is included Henry Alford's “The Pilot, which we think surpasses Tennyson’s Crossing the Bar, and has few equals as a beautiful religious sentiment. Books like these are useful for gifts and to send to friends. The printing is ex cellent and in good taste Prayer and the Healing of Dis ease. Rev W S. P. Bryan. DD. Fleming H Revell Co . New York and Chicago Price 25 cts A neatly printed pamphlet on the subject indicated by its title It is a practical, sensible refutation of modern faith cures. Hezekiah is emphasized as a Bible cure and his case is not a pleasant one for the theorists. This book will do good. It is moderate and free from any flippancy. The Biblical World. July. U niver sity of Chicago. $2 00 a year. This is given up this month to a series of short historical sketches tending to show the period of Israelite history down to the division of the kingdom. Egypt. Babylon, Assyria, in the same period, are each separately the subject of an article. Canaanitish history down to the year 1000 B. C is of unusual interest. Early Palestine and Early Cities of Palestine give the geographical aspects. The period of Jewish history mentioned above is treated fully and then articles follow on the chief liter ary productions of the period, and characteristic of Israelitish political life. The whole is a very complete view of this period of history. Gnly one of the articles is radical iu its conclusions, and that is the weakest in the list every way. The Ladies' Home Journal. July. Curtis Publishing Co.. Philadelphia Pa. 10 cts or SI.OO a year. The usual feast of good things. The departments specially for women are as excellent and suggestive as possible. Timeliness is a feature of this publics tion. Ex President Harrison continues his studies of our government, dealing with the State Department in this issue. There are several excellent stories. “The Other Side of Robert Burns. " by Warren, treats of Burns better nature “Feeding a City like New Y’ork will be read with interest. Dr. Parkhurst deals with “A Young Man's Religions Life." One never goes amiss when in vesting in this periodical. The Outlook. Illustrated number. July. The Outlook Co., New York. $4.00 a year. The Outlook is omitted at times from being mentioned, as it comes under the category of religious exchangee It never fails to be read, however. From an editorial standpoint it has no supe rior. We call attention here specially to the Magazine number Thisappears once a month and is illustrated. A sketch of Miss Frances Willard and of the city of Buffalo are the chief fea tures. Scribners' Magazine, July. Chas. Scribners' Sons , New York. Price 25 cts., $3 00 a year. This number is of the usual value. An illustrated article on Cone}’ Island. “A 1000 Mile Journey Through the Alps" is charming. The fiction is of fine quality and interesting. “ Sen timental Tommy." by Barrie, grows in interest. The August number of the Scribners’ will be a fiction number. St Nicholas, July. The Century Co . New York, seems to be unusually full “Maurice and his Father" is a romance of the Revolution, while “A Story of Admiral Farragut" brings us nearer our own time. “Sinbad Smith & Co." and “The Sword maker's Son ' and “The Story of Marco Polo" are continued. ' Toby Hinkle, Patriot." is a Fourth of July story. “Gun powder" and “A School for Firemen ” introduce us to two very practical things in this day’s life. The usual stories, poems, etc., for little folks are in place. The Missionary Review of the World for July. Funk & Wagnalls Co.. New York, is as full as usual of good -missionary material. Dr. Pierson opens with an account of the Missionary Bands at Cambridge and Oxford. Work iu Australia, the Philippine Islands and among the Eskimo, is t reated in separate articles. "The Pres ent Outlook for Missions in Turkey " presents a live theme. The “ West African Gin Traffic ” “ Niue Centuries of Buddhism ’’ is con tinned in paper No 4 The other de partments are up to their usual standard. Literary News and Notes. Mr. Charles A. Hanna, of Lincoln, Nebraska, is preparing a History of the Early Settlement of the Scotch-Irish in Pennsylvania He desires names of such settlers and facts connected with them. If yon ate so fortunate as to have this blood in you, write to him. After the manner of Mr. Bryce, a Russian, A P. Tverskoy, ha* published a ter es of sketches of American life A translation will be published by Macmil lan & Co. All will regret the failure of the old firm of A D. F. Randolph & Co , in New York. They have been long and honorably in the book trade. The American Baptist Publication Society have purchased the retail department. In the South American forests is found a vegetable growth which may well illustrate the power of evil habits The seeds of the clusia, or wild fig vine, are carried by the birds to the branches of trees, where they frequently germinate At first a delicate stem soft and flexible, frail and easily broken, makes its appearance. Next, long aerial rootlets reach the ground and draw nourishment from it. and little soft tendrils wrap the trunk round and round, pushing themselves in and out among the branches, enfolding the helpless tree, sucking out the life juices, and ever growing harder and more rigid In the course of tiipe. the natural growth within the tree makes an effort toward an increase in girth, and finds what at first was only thread-like, is now as an iron band. Like an athlete, the’tree tries to burst the fetters.bnt the deadly enemy has the advantage, and the doomed tree withers and dies, a victim to what at first teemed only a harmless little vine Here and there through the forests, rise columns, full of vigorous life out wardly. but within is a cavity where only dust remains of what was once a massive tree that nurtured an evil seed. “ The law of harvest is to reap more than you sow. Sow an act, you reap a habit; sow a habit, }ou reap a character; sow a character, you reap a destiny." This persistence and growth of a power whose methods are an absolute negation of all our mod ern ideas seems so little short of a miracle that the jubilant reli gious feeling of the coronation ceremonies commands our re spect What if providence has some great use for this vast an achronism, this oriental despe tism sitting astride of Europe and Asia at the end of the nineteenth cen tury? Any essayist can prove that Russia must fall to pieces— must modernize her instiiutior s But he could have proved the same propositions in any yeir of this century; and yetneitherdis solution nor republicanization has overtaken Russia. Some great change may come and Rus sia may cease to spread out to ward all seas. But the best rea son to be given for this hope is: “It is the unexpected that hap- THE CURE OF PARALYSIS The Case of a Veteran Cited Whose Paralysis Came from Ex posure in the Army. The Equally Interesting Method of His Cure, and His Enthusiastic Endorsement. From the Oteego Farmer, Cooperetown, h”. Y. In the town of Oneonta, in Otsego County, New York, for a great many years there has lived a man whose life has been overshad owed by that terrible disease, paralysis. Recently it was rumored that a miracle had been performed—that this man had been re stored to his normal health and strength and to ascertain the truth or falsity of such a rumor your correspondent visited Oneonta to-day and being directed to the man sought an interview with him, which was readily and cheerfully granted. The man told his own story as follows: “My name is Edward Haswell. You would not think from my appearance, but I was born 77 years ago, in New Scotland, Albany County. I was reared on a farm and blessed by Nature with a strong con stitution and good health. Early in life I removed to Albany, thence to Schenevus, in this county, and finally settled down in On eonta, where I have lived a great many years. “ When the war broke out I was strong and active, being nearly six feet tall and weighing 225 pounds. I enlisted in the Third New York Cavalry and served three years. Os the long, weary marches, especi ally in North Carolina of the days find nights of exposure I will not speak, for it was in the barracks at Washington that my misery began. While there heavy rains fell and not having sufficient protection ofttimes we awoke in the morning drenched with the rain. At this time I contracted a cold and along with it came that dread disease, rheu matism. I rapidly grew worse and was re moved to the hospital where I was attended by Dr. Leonard, now of Worcester in this county. lie made me as comfortable as any man could, but I could not shake off the disease. It was in ray system and after my return home with impaired health anil strength reduced, my nerves gave out and additional suffering ensued. I could move around and was able to do some work—at length I went to work in the car shops here, inside work wholly—but the least exposure would bring on terrible pains and life was made miserable for me. After a few years my strength gave out and I was unable to fight against my pains. In addition t<s the rheumatism extreme nervousness took pos session of me—then heart disease set in; I could not lie down to sleep and was brought very low by this complication of diseases. My wrists and ankles became swollen, my legs distorted and my hips sunken, now you can feel the cavities, also thrust your hand into my back—such were the ravages of rheumatism. “ But this was not all. About six years i ago I had a stroke of paralysis which affected my left side—but by extra care I recovered somewhat from this. Three years ago I had a second stroke which rendered me entirely helpless. My left side was wholly useless and I could not feel it when a pin was thrust full length into my leg or arm. Before ftaralysis set in I thought I was nigh to death, >ut now came the horror of a living death. On account of my heart trouble which was aggravated by this new disease, I could not sleep and could l>e placed only in one posi tion—bolstered up in a chair reclining styhtly on my right side. Now the paraly sis affected my head and I would remain in that position asleep in the chair for weeks at a time without awakening. Words cannot express the misery I was in and the suffer ing I endured. All this time I consulted doctors and tried all kinds of patent medi- j cines without receiving any benefit. I was doomed to a lingering death and was in despair. One day a paper was handed me to read. In the paper I saw an account of Naked Pills are fit only, for naked sav ages. Clothes are the marks of civilization—in pills as well as people. A good coat does not make a good pill, any more than good clothes make a good man. But as sure as you’d look on a clothesle* man as a mad one, you may look on a coatless pill as a bad one. After fifty years of test no pills stand higher than AYER’S Cathartic Pills SUGAR COATED. pens.”—Editor's Outlook, in The Chautauquan for July. After the death of “the Et trick Shepherd,” in 1*35, the lau reateship might be said to be “in commission" for some years. Tannahill was gone, and Mother; well was gone, who might have claimed it had they lived. There were many poets, but none of them pre-eminent in the eyes of their countrymen. In those years, I can remember, in my father's house the question was oft oiscussed, “What poet has Scotland now?” And the verdict always was that she had none now, in succession to Burns and Scott and Hogg. And the little Scotch boy who heard this unwel come conclusion would creepsad hearted to his bed, grieving that Scotland had fallen upon such evil days and wondering if he himself could not do something to repair the loss.—William Wye Smith, in The Chautauquan for July. It is said that James Lafitte Smith, a clerk in the Washing ton posti ftice, is the postotfice clerk who sold the first postage stamp and the first stamped en velope ever issued by this gov ernment, and who registered the first letters that were presented for registry when that system of mail protection was introduced in the United States. He entered the postotfice as a clerk in 1847, and is now seventy-nine years old. ; the healing of a paralytic who used Dr. Wil liams’ Pink Pills for Pale People. 1 had no faith in patent medicines, 1 had spent over $200.(«) in them, all to no purpose. Unable to work I had no income save a pension of SB.OO per month. But some way I was im pressed with what Pink Pills had done and determined to give them a fair trial. I did not stop with one box but used three boxes before I noticed any effect. After taking three boxes I felt a change coming over me. I kept on taking Pink Pills and kept on feel ing bitter. Gradually my pain left me, I be j g>n to feel new life course through my body I and to my surprise and delight, feeling be ■ gan to come into my side and life and ' strength into my leg and arm. After taking fourteen boxes 1 had recovered full use of my limbs, my rheumatism was gone and my heart trouble relieved. During my sickness my weight had decreased from 225 Bounds to 144 pounds, but to-day I weigh 170 pounds, am strong and active and you would not take me to be 77 years old.” M hile speaking. Mr. Haswell showed con siderable emotion and when questioned he added : “ I cannot say too much in praise of Dr. Williams’Pink Pillsand I cannot ex- I press my gratitude to the Dr. Williams’ Medicine Company they saved my life and tjavo me back heal in I had not enjoyed for over 30 years.” 5V hen told that people might not believe such a Story in print, he said : “lam will ifo go before a Justice of Peace and swear to its truth, if you wish, and I shall be only too glad to answer inquiries anyone may wish to make.” Dr. Williams’ Pink Pills for Pale People are an unfailing remedy for all diseases aris ing from a poor and watery condition of the blood, such as pale and sallow complexion cenural muscular weakness, loss of appetite depression of spirits, lack of ambition, ana> niia, chlorosis or greensickness, palpitation of the heart, shortness of breath on slight exertion coldness of hands or feet, swelling ot the feet and limbs, pain in the back, nervous headache, dizziness, loss of memory feebleness of will, ringing in the ears, early decay, all forms of female weakness, leucor rhoea, tardy or irregular periods, suppression Os menses, hysteria, paralysis, locomotor ataxia rheumatism, sciatica, all diseases depending on vitiated humors in the blood causing scrofula, swelled glands, fever sores', nekets, hip-joint diseases, hunchback, ac quired deformities, decayed bones, chronic erysipelas, catarrh, consumption of the bow els and lungs, and also for invigorating the blood and system when broken down by overwork, worry, diseases, excesses and indiscretions of living, recovery from acute diseases, such as fevers, etc. loss of vital powers >, spermatorrhoea, early ’decay, prema ture old age. These pills are not a purga tive medicine. They contain nothing that >ould injure the most delicate svsteni. They act directly on the blood, supplying to the bl.ssl its life-giving qualities by assisting it or^? r r? Xyg f n ’ J 1 ? 31 great supporter of all 'h„ u e ’ >“ th J S i way the bloo<1 ’ Becom ing built up and being supplied with its lacking constituents, becomes rich and red lIX . v ? rio “ s or «ns, stimulating fnnnt? actlvl *y the performance of their functions, and thus to eliminate diseases from the system. w T, l ?f' se P’lls are manufactured by the Dr. tadv 1! N S v Med , ieine f’on.'Pany, Schenee th ‘ are so * n bearinff the firm s trade mark and wrapper at 53 cents a box or six Irnxes for $2.50, and are never sold tn bulk. They may be had of Wil Ham” V F <l,re ? by mail froni Dr - B illtams Medicine Company. The price at which these pills are sold makes a course otherremS eXPeU3iVe M cora P ared