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THE SEMI-WEEKLY SUMTER REPUBLICAN.
ESTABLISHED IN 1834,
By CHAS. w. HANCOCK.
VOL. 18.
The Sumter Republican.
Semi-Weekly, One Year - - -$4 00
VVeely, One Year - - - - - 2.00
HTPayable in Advance.®
All advertisements emulating from public
offices will be charged for in accordance with
an act passed by the late General Assembly
of Georgia—73 cents per hundred words for
each of the first four insertions, and 35 cents
for each subsequent insertion. Fractional
parts of one hundred are considered one
hundred words; each figure and initial, with
date and signature,-is counted as a word.
The cash must accompany the copy of each
advertisement, unless different arrange
ments have been made.
Advertising Kates.
One Square first insertion, - - - - §I.OO
Each subsequent insertion, - - - - 50
Ten Lines of Minion, type solid con
stitute a square.
Ail advertisements not contracted for will
be charged above rates.
Advertisements not specifying the length
of time for which they are to be inserte
will be continued until ordered out and
charged for accordingly.
Advertisements to occupy fixed places wil
be charged 25 per cent, above regular rates
Notices in local column inserted for ten
cent per line each insertion.
Charles F. Crisp,
•i Hornet/ m Law,
AMERICUS, GA.
deciCtf
B. P HOLLIS
•Ittornei/ at Law,
AMERICUS, GA.
Office, Forsyth Street, in National Bank
building. dec2otf
E7G SIMMONS,
•I tt or new at Law*
AMERICUS GA.,
Office in Hawkins’ building, south side of
Lamar Street, in the old office of Fort &
Simmons. janfitf
> U HOLLOWAY,
DewtisT,
Anaeriflus - - Georgia
Treatssuccessfully all diseases of the Den
tal organs. Fills teetli by the improved
method, and inserts artificial teetli on the
best material known to the profession.'
SSF"OFFICE over Davenport and Son’s
Drug Store. marllt
J. A. A.NBI KY,
ATTORNEY AT LAW
*Nl> SOLICITOR IX EQTITY.
Office on Public Square, 0-*ek Gyles’
Clothing Stoke, Ameiucus, Ga.
After a brief respite I return again to the
practice of law. As in the past it will be
my earnest purpose to represent my clients
faithfully and look to their interests. The
commercial practice will receive close atten
tion and remittances promptly made. The
Equity practice, and cases involvingtitlesof
land and real estate are my favorites.. Will
practice in the Courts of Southwest Georgia,
the Supreme Court and the United States
Courts. Thankful to my friends for their
patronage. Fees moderate. novlltf
Change of Firm.
THE FORMER FIRM OF
CROCKER & TULLIS,
ON COTTON AVENUE,
has heen dissolved by the purchase of Mr.
C. E. CROCKER’S interest by Mr. 15. H.
JOSSEY, and the new firm of
TULLIS & JOSSEY,
will assume the responsibilities of the for
mer firm, and will be pleased to have their
friends call and examine their new and low
priced stock of goods.
TULLIS & JOSSEY,
declotf Americus, Ga.
THE OELIBRATED
EX TUPLE
SPRING BED.
To breathe, eat and sleep well is the first
requirement of physical organization.
S. FLEIS. MAN’S
SEXTUPLE BED SPRING.
[Patented Aug. 22, 1882.1
Is the first and foremost to accomplish this
end, as it facilitates the first, accelerates
the second, and perfects the last of these
grand purposes. It is a “thing of beauty and
a foy forever.” Last with life, perfect in
its adaptation for cointort, being disconnect
ed In the center prevents sagging. Made by
S. M- LESTER, who will put them on, and
is from long experience able to guarantee
satisfaction.
AGENTS WANTED
to sell these Springs. Territory and Spring
outfit furnished and large commissions paid.
S. FLEISCHMAN,
Patentee and Manufacturer,
octll-6m Cotton Ave., Amoricus.Ga.
PapeivEnvelopes, Box Paper, Bl’k
Books, Pens, Inks, Pencils, etc., at
W. T. Davenport & Son’s.
DARBYS
PROPHYLACTIC
FLUID.
A Household Article for Universal
Family Use.
IMBNBBBHHHHHH For Scarlet and
Eradicates B Typhold * ev ® rß
.Eiracucaies g Diphtheria, Sali-
MALARIA. i vation ’ Ulcarated
*n*m*i*M**i. | Sore :Throatf small
Fox, Measles, and
all Contagious Diseases. Persons waiting on
the Sick should use it freely. Scarlet Fever lias
never been known to spread where the Fluid was
used. Yellow Fever has been cured with it after
black vomit had taken place. The worst
cases of Diphtheria yield to it.
Fevered and Sick Per-1 SMLLLL-FOX
sons refreshed and j and
Bed Sores prevent- i PITTING of Small
ed -by bathing with Pox PREVENTED
Darbys Fluid. . , e r
Impure Air made A member of my fam
harrmlcss and purified. i! y ta £ en
For Sore Throat it is a Small-por I used the
sure cure. Fluid ; the patient was
Contagion destroyed. IK:t delirious, was noc
For Frosted Fiet, and r a Y a £° ut
Chilblains, Flies, ‘he house again in three
Chafing*, etc. j and ° th '
Rheumatism cured. : lad ’ I- ' d ,' Park-
Soft White Complex- MNSONjPhdadclphia.
ions secured by its use. ffifcftWThi iWIffWBHWIM
Ship Fever prevented. H
i Diphtheria
it can’t be surpassed. H ** , - I
Catarrh relieved and B 3VSHtSCL B
cured.
Erysipelas cured. BHBBBHB
?“™ Srcli " e ? i ? stant, 5 r - The physicians here
Dy a cured. j
Wounds healed rapidly. I ““ofDiphtheria
Scurvy cured. A. Stollbnwerck.
An Antidote for Animal Greensboro, Ala.
or Vegetable Foisons,
Stings, etc. Tetter dried up.
I used the Fluid during Cholera prevented,
our present affliction with Ulcers purified and
Scarlet Fever with de- healed,
citied advantage. It is jln cases of Death it
indispensable to the sick- ! should be used about
room. —Wrt. F. Sand-! the corpse —it will
roitD, Eyrie Ala. J unpleas*
s' ~ tTWrifrfannm j em | nen t ; pi l y..
I Scarlet Fever I SBS'i’KfSSI
H Bj I York, says: “I am
■ Cured I ' conv i nce d Prof. Darbys
B ’ B j Prophylactic Fluid is a
Bgggßgyggggggg I valuable disinfectant."
JPanderbiit University, Nashville, Tenn.
I testify to the most excellent qualities of Prof.
Darbys Prophylactic Fluid. Asa disinfectant and
detergent it is both theoretically and practically
superior to any preparation with which I am ac
quainted.—N. T. Lupton, Prof. Chemistry.
Darbys Fluid is Recommended by
Hon. Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia •%
Rev. Chas. F. Deems, D.D., Church of the
Strangers, N. Y.;
ios. LeConte,Columbia, Prof.,University S C
Lev. A. J. Battle, Prof., Mercer University:
Key. Geo. F. Pierce, Bishop M. E. Church.
INDISPENSABLE TO EVERY HOME.
Perfectly harmless. Used internally or
externally for Man or Beast.
The Fluid has been thoroughly tested, and we
have abundant evidence that it has done everything
here claimed. For fuller information get of your
Druggist a pamphlet or send to the proprietors,
J. H. ZEIEIN & CO..
Manufacturing Chemists, PHILADELPHIA.
fUTT’S
EXPEGTOIIHT
Is composed of Herbal and Mucilaginous prod
ucts, which permeate tlic substance of the
Lungs, expectorates the acrid matter
that collects in the Biouchinl Tubes, nnd forms a.
soothing.coaling, .tali relieves tb.fe- ,
citation that causes the cough. It cleanses
the lungs of all impurities, strengthens
them when enfeebled by disease, invigor
ates the circulation of the blood, and Unices the
nervous system. Slight colds often end in
consumption. It is dangerovsto neglect
-heirs. Apply the remedy promptly. A
test of twenty years warrants tho assert ior that
no remedy hasever been found that Is as
prompt, in its effects as TUTT’S EXPECTORANT.
A single dose raises the phlegm, subdues
infl iramation.a.id its use speedily cures the most
obstinate cough. A pleasant cordial, chil
dren take it readily. For Croup it is
invaluable nod should bo in every family.
TUTT’S
TpTlls
ACT DIRgCTLY ON THE^LSVEff?
Cures Chills and Fever, Dyspepsia,
Sick Headache, Dilious Colic,Constipa
tion, Rheumatism, Files, Palpitation of
the Heart, Dizziness, Torpid Fiver, and
Female Irregularities. If you do not‘‘feel
very well,” a amide pill stimulates the stomach,
restored the nppotitc,impnrts vigor to the system.
A HOTEB DiVHE SAYS:
Dn. Tutt:— Dear Sin l or ten years I have
been a martyr to Dv Constipation and
Tiles. Last Epring your pills wore recommended
tomo; I used them (but with little faith). lam
now a well man, have good appetite, digestion
perfect, regular b'.oois, pihs gone, and I Imre
gained forty pounds solid flesh. They are worth
their weight in gold.
REV. 11. L. SIMPSON, Louisville, Ky.
Office. Murray St., Kcw York.
( . Jut. TUTT’S MANUAL of Vecfuls
' Receipt a TREE on application. J
Hostetler's Stomach Bitters gives steadiness
to the nerves, induces a healthy, natural ffow
of bile, prevents constipation without unduly
purqinK the bowels, gently stimulates tho
circulation, and by promoting a vigorous
condition of the physical system, promotes,
also, that cheerfulness which is the truest
indication of a well-balanced condition of all
the animal powers.
For sale by all Druggists and Dealers
generally.
DAVENPORT’S
Belle of Americus.
Davenport. & Son
Are Sole Agents for BELLE OF AMKRI-.
GUS. It Is made of the best Havanna, long
fillers, is not flavored or doctored and the
only 5c Cigar la the market that is as good
as an Imported oigar. oct6-5m
BRICK. BRICK. BRICK
I have THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY
THOUSAND good new brick, which I will
sell cheap. Apply at once.
decOlm R. E. COBB.
A fine lot of Christmas Goods cheap
for cash, at W. T. Davenport & Son’s.
INDEPENDENT IN POLITICS, AND DEVOTED TO NEWS, LITERATURE, SCIENCE AND GENERAL PROGRESS.
AMERICUS, GEORGIA; SATURDAY J,ANUARY 13, 1883.
VO'E/VRY.
THE LEVEL A-IVD THE SQUARE*
The following well known stanzas by Bro.
Robert Morris, is one of a few so-called
Masonic poems worth reading and preserv
ing:
We meet upon the Level and we part upon
the Square;
What words of precious meaning these
words Masonic are!
Come, let us contemplate them, they are
worthy of a thought;
With the highest, and the lowest, and the
rarest they are fraught.
We meet upon the Level, though from every
station come;
The rich man from ills mansion, and the poor
man from his home!
For the one must leave his wealth and state
outside the Mason’s door,
And the other find his true respect upon the
checkered floor.
We part upon the Square lor the world must
have its due,
Wc mingle with the multitude, a cold, un
friendly erew,
But the influence of our gatherings in mem
ory is green,
And we long upon the Level to renew the
happy scene.
There’s a world where all are equal—we
are hurrying to it fast;
We shall meet upon the Level—there where
the gates of death are past;
We shall stand before the Orient, and our
Master will he there,
To try the blocks we offer, by his own un
erring Square,
Wc shall meet upon the Level there, hut
never thence to part;
There’s a mansion, ’tis all ready for the
trusting, faithful heart;
There’s a mansion and a welcome—and a
multitude is there,
Who have met upon the Level and been
tried upon the Square.
Let us meet upon the Level, then, while
laboring patienthere;
Let us meet and let ns labor, though the
labor be severe;
Already in the Western sky the signs hid us
prepare
To gather up our working tools, and part
upon the Square.
Hands round, ye brother Masons, form the
bright eternal chain.
We part upon the Square, below, to meet in
hea ren again;
Oh, what words of precious meaning, these
words Masonic are—
We meet upon the Level and we part upon
the Square.
SIMPLE REMEDIES.
Hiccough can be immediately reliev
ed by administering a lump of sugar
wet with vinegar.
Hemorrhage of lungs or stomach is
promptly cheeked by small doses of
salt. The patient should be kept as
quiet as possible.
Hoarseness and tickling in the throat
are best relieved by the gargle of the
white of an egg, beaten to a froth, in
half a glass of warm, sweetened water.
If persons suffering from a severe
headache would tie a handkerchief
Tightly arrtniul tho temples, they woui'd
find relief by so doing in a very short
time.
A teaspoonful of charcoal in half a
glass of warm water often relieves a
sick headache. It absorbs the gases
and relieves the distended stomach,
pressing against the nerves that extend
from the stomach to the head.
A simple and harmless remedy and
preventative for persons suffering from
car sickness, is a sheet of writing pa
per worn next to the person and direct
ly over the chest. It is highly recom
mened and seldom fails!
When one has bad cold and the nose
is closed up so that he cannot breathe
through it, relief may be found instantly
by putting a little camphor and water
in the center of the hand and snuffing
it up the nose. It is a great releif.
A good remedy warts an corns:
Drop a little vinegar on the wart or
corn, cover it immediately with cook
ing soda or saleratus, and let it remain
ten minutes. Repeat several times a
day for three days, and the warts and
corns will be gone.
Charcoal forms an unrivaled poultice
for wounds and old sores. It is also
invaluable for what is called proud
flesh. It is a great disinfectant. It
sweetens the air if placed in shallow
dishes around the apartment, and foul
water is also purified by its use.
Beautiful Answers.
A Persian pupil of the Abbe Sicord
gave thp following extraordinary an
swers.
“What is gratitude?”
“Gratitude is the memory of the
heart.”
“What is hopfi?”
“Hope is the blossom of happiness ”
“What is the difference between hope
and desire?”
“Desire is a tree in leaf; hope is a
tree in flower, and enjoyment is a tree
in fruit.”
“What is eternity?”
“A day without yesterday or to mor
row; a line that has no end.’’
“What is time?”
“A line that has two ends; a path
which begins in the cradle and ends in
the tomb.”
“What is God?”
“The necessary Being, the Sun of
eternity, the Merchant of nature, the
Eye of Justice, the Watchmaker of the
universe, the Soul of the world.”
On Thirty Day’s Trial.
The Voltaic Belt Cos., Marshall, Mich,
will send Dr. Dye’s CElehuatkd Electro-
Voltaic Belts and Electric Appliances
on trial for thirty days to men (young or old)
who are afflicted with Nervous Debility,
Lost Vitality and Manhood, and kindred
troubles, guaranteeing speedy and complete
restoration of health and manly vigor. Ad
dress as above. N. B.— No risk is incurred,
as thirt y days’ trial is allowed. dee2l-ly
Teethina (Teething Powders) is
fast taking the place of all other rem
edies for the irritations of Teething
Children.
TABERMCLE SERMONS.
BV REV. T. DeWITT TALMAGE
BLESSINGS OF SHORT LIFE.
“The righteous is taken away from the evil
to come.”—lsaiah, Ivii, 1.
Wo all spend much time in panegy
rics of longevity. We consider it a
great thing io live to be an an octoge
narian. If anyone dies in youth we
say, “What a pity!” Dr Muhlenberg,
in old age, said that the hymn written
in early life by his own hand uo more
expressed his sentiment wheu ii said,
“I would not live ahvay.”
If one he pleasantly eiicuiiisruueed
he never wants to go. William Onllen
Bryant, the great poet, at 82 years ol
age, standing in my house, in a festal
group, reading Thanatopsis wit boat
spectacles, was just as anxious to live
as when at 18 years ot age he wrote
that immortal threnody. Cato feared
at 80 years of age that he would not
live to learn Greek. Monahlesco, at
115 years, writing the history of his
time, feared a collapse. Theophrastus,
writing a book at 90 years of age, was
anxious to live to complete it. Thttr
low Weed at about 86 years of age
found life as great a desirability as
when he snuffed out his first politician.
Albert Barnes, so well prepared for the
next world at 70, said he would rather
stay here. So it is all the way down.
I suppose that the last time that
Methuselah was out of doors in a storm
he was afraid of getting his feet wet
lest it shorten his days. Indeed, some
time ago I preached a sermon on the
blessings of longevity, but on this, the
last day of 1882, and when many are
filled with sadness at the thought that
another chapter of their life is closing,
and that they have 3G5 days less to
live, I propose to preach to yon about
the blessings of an abbreviated earthly
existence. If I were an agnostic I
would say a man is blessed in propor
tion to the number f years he can stay
on terra firma, because after that he
falls off the docks, and if he is ever
picked out ot the depths it is only to
he set up in some morgue of the uni
verse to see if anybody will claim him.
If I thought God made man only to
last forty, or fifty, or one hundred
years, and then he was to go into anni
hilation, I would say his chief business
ought to be to keep alive, and even in
good weather to he very cautious, and
to carry an umbrella, and take over
shoes and life preservers, and bronze
armor and weapons of defence, lest he
fall off into nothingness and oblitera
tion. But, <my friend, you are not
agnostics. You believe in immortality
and the eternal residence of the right
eous in heaven, aud therefore I first re
mark that an abbreviated earthly exis
tence is a blessing, because it makes
one’s life work very compact, home
men go to business at 7 o’clock in the
morning, and return at 7 in the even
ing. Olliers go at 8 o’clock and return
at 12. Others go at 10 and return at 4.
I have friends who are ten hours a day
in business; others who are five hours;
others who are one horn. They all do
their work well. They do their entire
work, and then they return. Which
portion do you think the more desira
ble? You say, other things being equal,
the man who is the shortest time de
tained in business and who can return
home the quickest is the most blessed.
Now, my lrieud, why not carry that
good sense into the subject of transfere
nce from this world? It a person die in
childhood, he gets through his work
at 9 o’clock in the morning. If he die
at 45 years of age, he gets through his
work at 12 o’clock noon. If he die at
70 years of age, he ge s through his
work at 5 o’clock in the afternoon. If
he die at 90, he has to toil all the way
on up to 11 o’clock at night. The soon
er we get through our work the better.
The harvest all in barrack or barn, the
farmer does not sit down in the stubble
field, hut shouldering his sythe and
taking his pitcher from tinder the tree
he makes a straight line for the old
homestead. All we want to be anx
ious about is to get our work done,
and well done, aud the quicker the bet
ter.
Again There is a blessing in an ab
breviated earthly existence in the fact
that moral disaster might come upon
the man if he tarried longer. Last
week a man who had been prominent
in churches and who had been admired
for his generosity and kindness every
where, for forgery was sent to State
prison for fifteen years. Twenty years
ago there was no more probability of
that man’s committing a commercial
dishonesty than that you will commit
commercial dishonesty. The number
oi men who tall into ruin between fifty
and seventy years of age is simply ap
paling. If they had died thirty years
before it would have been better for
them and better for their families. The
shorter the voyage tho less chance for
a cyclone. There is a wrong theory
abroad that, if one’s youth is right his
old age will be right. You might as
\tell say there is nothing wanting for
a ship’s saftey except to get it fully
launched on the Atlantic ocean. I
have sometimes asked those who were
schoolmates or college mates of some
great defaulter, “What kind of a boy
was he? what kind of a man was ho?”
aqd they said, “Why, he was a splen
did fehow; 1 had no idea he could ever
go into such an outrage.” The fact is
the great temptation of life sometimes
comes far on in mid-life or in old age.
The first time I crossed the Atlantic
ocean it was as smooth as a mill pond,
and I thought the sea captains and the
voyagers had slandered the old ocean,
aud I wrote home an essay for a maga
zine, on “1 ho Smile of the Sea,” but
I never afterward could have written
that thing, for before we got home we
got a terrible shaking up. The first voy
age of life may be very smooth; the last
may be a euroclydou. Many whostart
life in great prosperity do not end in
prosperity. The great pressure of
temptation comes sometimes in this di
rection: At about 45 years of age a
mai’s nervous system changes, and
someone tells him he must take stimu
lants to keep himself up, aud he takes
stimulants to keep himself up until the
.stimulants keep him down. Ora man
nas been going along for thirty or forty
years in unsuccessful and
here is an opening where by one dis.
honorable action he can lift himself
and lift his latnily -from all financial
embarrassment. He attempts to leap
ihe chasm and he lulls into it. Then
it is in after life that the great tempta
tion of success comes. It a man make
a fortune before 30 years of age, he
generally loses it before 40. The solid
and the permanent fortunes for the
most part do not come to their climax
until iu mid-life or old age. The most
of the hank presidents have white hair.
Many of those who have been largely
successful have been flung of arrogance,
or world li ness, or dissipation in old
age. They may not have lost their in
tegrity, but they have become so world
ly aud so selfish under the influence o!
large success that it is evident to every
body that their success has been a tem
poral calamity and an eternal damage.
Concerning many people it may be
said it seems as if it would have been
better if they could have embarked
from this life at 20 or 30 years of age.
Do you know tho reason why the ma
jority of people die before 30? It is be
cause they have not the moral endur
ance for that which is beyond the 30
years, and a merciful God will not al
low them to be put to the fearful strain.
Again there is a blessing in an ab
breviated earthly existence in the fact
that one is the sooner taken off of the
defensive. As soon as one is old enough
to take care of himself he is put on
his guard, bolts on the door to keep
out the robbeis, fire-proof safe to keep
off the flames, life insurance and fire
insurance against accident, receipts lest
you have to pay a debt twice. Life
boat against shipwreck, and Westing
house air break against railroad collis
sion, and hundreds of hands ready to
overreach you and take all you have.
Defence against cold, defence against
heat, defence against sickness, defence
against the world’s abuse, defence all
the ivaf down to the grave, and even
a tombstone is not a sufficient barri
cade. If a soldier who has been on
guard, shivering and stung with the
cold, pacing up and down the parapet
with shouldered musket, is glad when
someone comes to relieve guard and
he can go inside the fortress, ought not
that man shout for joy who can put
down his weapon of earthly defence
and go into the. King’s castle? Who
is the more fortunate, the soldier who
has to stand guard twelve hours, or
the man who has to stand guard six
hours? We have common sense about
everything but religion; common sense
about everything but transference from
this world
Again: There is a blessing in an ab
breviated earthly existence iu the fact
that one escapes so many bereavements.
The longer we live tho more attach
ments and the more kindred, the more
chords to be wounded or rasped or sun
dered. If a man live on to 70 or 80
years of age, how many graves are cleft
at his feet! In that long reach of time
father and mother go, brothers and sis
ter go, children go, grandchildren go,
persons outside, personal friends outside
the family circle whom they had loved
with a love like that of David aud
Jonathan. Beside that, some men have
a natural trepidation about dissolution,
aud ever and anon duting 40 or 50 or
GO years this horror of their dissolution
shudders through soul and body. Now,
suppose the lad goes at 10 years of age?
He escapes fifty funerals, fifty caskets,
fifty obsequies, fifty awful wrenchings
of the heart. It-is hard enough for us
to bear their departure, but is it not
easier for us to bear their departure
than for them to stay and bear fifty de
partures? Shall we not by the grace of
God rouse ourselves into a generosity
of bereavement which will practically
say, “It is hard enough for me to go
through this bereavement, but how
glad 1 am that he will never have to
go through it.” So I reason with my
self, and so you will find it helpful to
reason with yourselves. David lost
his son. Though David was king, he
lay on the earth moaning and inconsol
able for some time. At this distance
of time which do you really think was
the one to bo congratulated, the short
lived child or the long-lived father?
Had David died as early as that child
died he would, in the first place, have
escaped that particular bereavement,
and the worse bereavement of Absalom,
his recreant son, and the pursuit of the
Philistines, ami tho fatigues of his mil
itary campaign, and the jealousy of
Saul, and the perfidy of Ahithophel,
and the qurse of Shimei, and the de
struction of his family at Ziklag, and
abovo all he would have escaped the
two great calamities of his life, the great
sins of nneleanness and murder. David
lived to be of vast use to the church
and the world, but so far as his oivn
happiness was concerned, does it not
seem to yon that it would have been
better for him to have gone early?
Now this, my friends, explains some
things that to you have been inexplic
able. This shows you why, when God
takes little children from a household.
He is very apt to take the brightest,
tho most genial, the most sympathetic,
the most talented. Why? It is because
that kind of nature suffers the most
when it does suffer, aud is most liable
to temptation. God saw the tempest
sweeping up from the Caribbean, and
He put the delicate craft into the first
harbor. “Taken away from the evil
to come.”
Again, my friends, there is a bless
ing iu an abbreviated earthly existence,
in the fact that it puts one sooner in
the centre of things. All astronomers,
infidel as well as Christian, agree iu
believing that the universe swings
around some great centie. Any one
who has studied the earth and studied
the heavens knows that Clod’s favorite
figure in ‘geometry is a circle. When
God put forth His hand to create the
universe, He did not strike that, hand
at right angles, but Ho waved it in a
circle and kept on waving it in a circle
until systems and constellations aud
galaxies and all worlds took that mo
tion. Our planet swinging around the
sun. other planets swinging around
other suns, but somewhere a great hub
around which the great wheel of the
universe turns. Now, the centre is
heaven. That is the capitol of the uni
verse. That is the great metropolis of
immensity. Does not our common
sense teach us that in matters of study
it is better for us to move out from tiie
centre toward the circumference, rather
than to be on the circumference, where
our world now is? We are like those
who study the American continent
while standing on the Atlantic beach.
The way to study the continent is to
cross it, or go to tho heart of it. Our
■standpoint in this world is defective.
We are at the wrong end ot the tele
scope. The best way to study a piece
of machinery is not to stand on the
doorstep and try to look in, but to go
in with the engineeer and take our ulaee
right amid the saws and the cylinders.
We wear our eyer out and fret from the
fact that we are studying under such
great disadvantages. Millions of dol
lars for observatories to study things
about the moon, about the sun, about
the rings of Saturn, about transits.and
occupations, and eclipses, simply be
cause our studio, our observatory is
poorly situated. We are down in.the
cellar trying to study the palace of the
universe, while our departed Christian
friends have gone upstairs amid the
skylights to study. Now, when one
can sooner get to the centre of things is
he not to be congratulated? Who
wants to he always in the freshman
class? We study God in this world
by the Biblical photograph of Him;
but we all know we can in live minutes
of interview with a friend get more ac
curate idea of him than we can by
studying him fifty years through pic
tures or words. The little child that
died at six months of age, and at whose
funeral I officiated last Thursday, to
day knows more of God than all An
dover, and all Princeton, and all Ne v
Brunswick, and ali Edinburgh, and all
tho theological institutions in Christen
dom. Is it not better to go up to the
very headquarters of knowledge? Does
not our common sense teach us that it
is better to be at the centre than to *be
clear out on the rim of the wheel, hold
ing nervously fast to the tire lest we be
suddenly hurled into light and eternal
felicity? Through all kinds of optical
instruments trying to peer in through
the cracks and the keyholes ot heaven
—afraid that both doors of the celestial
mansion will be swung open before our
entranced vision—rushing about among
the apothecary shops of this world,
wondering if this is good for rheuma
tism, and that is good for neuralgia,
and something else is good for a bad
cough, lest we suddenly he ushered into
a land oi everlasting health where the
inhabitant never says, “I jtn sick.”
What fools we all are to prefer the cir
cumference to the centre. What a
dreadful thing it would be if we should
be suddenly ushered from this wintry
world into the May time orchards of
heaven, and if our pauperism of sin
and sorrow should he suddenlj hroken
up by a presentation of an emperor’s
castle surrounded by parks with spring
ing fountains, and paths up and down
which angels of God walk two and two.
Wc are like persons standing on the
cold steps of the national picture gal
lery in London, under umbrella in the
rain, afraid to go iu amid the Turners
aud ghe Titans and the Raphaels. I
come to them and say, “Why don’t
you go inside the gallery?” “O!” they
say, “we don’t know whether we can
got in.” I say “Don’t yon see the
door is open?” “Yes,” they say; “hut
we have been so long on these cold
steps, we are so attached to them, we
don’t like to leave.’ “But,” I say, ‘‘it
is so much brighter and more beautiful
in the gallery, you had better go in.”
“No,” they say, “we know exactly
how it is out here, but we don’t know
exactly how it is inside.” So wo stick
to this world as* though we preferred
cold drizzle to warm habitation, dis
cord to cantatta, sackcloth to royal
purdle—as though we preferred a piano
with four or five of the keys out of tune
to an instrument fully attuned—as
though earth and heaven had exchang
ed apparel, and earth had taken on
bripal array, and heaven had gone into
deep mourning, all its waters stagnant,
all its harps broken, all its chalices
cracked at the dry wells, all the lawns
sloping to the river ploughed with
graves, with dead angels under the
furrow. O! I want to break up my
| FOUR DOLLARS PER ANNUM.
m. 32.
own infatuation, and I want to break
up your infatuation with this world. I
tell you if we are ready, and if our work
is done, the sooner we go the better,
and if there are blessings in longevity,
I want you to know right well that
there are also blessings in an abbreviat
ed earthly existence. If the spirit of
this sermon is true, how consoled yon
ought to feel about members of your
family that went early. “Taken from
the evil to come,” this book says.
What a fortunate escape they had!
How glad we ought to feel that they
will never have to go through the strug
gles which wo have had to go through.
They had just time enough to get out
of the etadle and run up on the spring
time hills of this world and see how it
looked, and then they started for a bet
tor stopping place. They were like ships
that put in at St. Helena, staying there
long enough to let passengers go up and
see the barracks of Napoleon’s captiv
ity, and then hoist sail for the port of
their own native land. They only took
this world in transitu. It is hard for
us, but it is blessed for them. And if
the spirit of this sermon is true, then
we ought not to go around sighing and
groaning because another year has gone,
but we ought to go down on one knee
by the milestone and see the letters,
thanking God that we are 3G5 miles
nearer home. We ought not to go
around with morbid feelings about our
health or about anticipated demise.
We ought to be living, not according
to that old maxim which I used to hear
iu my boy ho -d that you must live as
though every day were the last; you
must live as though you were to live
forever—for you will. Do not be nerv
ous lost you have to move out of a
shanty into an alhambra. You remem
ber that last Monday was Christmas
Day, and I witnessed something very
thrilling. We had just distributed the
family presents that morning when I
heard a cry of distress in the hallway.
A child from a neighbor’s house came
in to say her father was dead. He was
only three doors off, and I think in two
minutes we were there. There lay the
old Christian sea captain, his face up
turned toward the window as though he
had suddenly seen the headlands, and
with an illuminated face as though he
were just going into harbor. The fact
was, he had already got through the
“Narrows.” In the adjoining room
were the Christmas presents waiting
for his distribution. Long ago, one
night when he had narrowly escaped
with his ship from being run down by
a great ocean steamer, he had made
his peace with God, and a kinder neigh
bor or a better man than Capt. Pen
dleton you would not find this side of
heaven. Without a moment’s warning
the pilot of the heavenly harbor had
met him just off the lightship. He
had often talked to me of the goodness
of God, and especially of a time when
he was just about to go into New Y’ork
harbor with his ship from Liverpool,
aud lie was suddenly impressed that he
ought to put back to sea. Under the
protest of the crew and under their every
threat he put back to sea, fearing at
the same time he was losing his mind,
for it did seem so unreasonable that
when they could get into harbor that
night they should put back to sea. But
they put hack to sea; and Capt. Pen
dleton said to his mate: “You call me
at 10 o’clock at night.” At 12 o’clock
at night the captain was aroused .and
said, “What does this mean? I thought
1 told you to call me at 10 o’clock, and
here it is 12.” “Why,” said the mate,
“I did call you at 10 o’clock, and you
got up, looked around and told me to
keep right on this same course for two
hours and then to call you at 12
o’clock.” Said the captain, “Is it pos
sible? I have no remembrance of that.”
At 12 o’clock the captain went on deck
and through the rift of the cloud the
moonlight fell upon, the sea and showed
him a shipwreck with one hundred strug
gling passengers. lie helped them all
off. Had he been earlier or any later at
that point of the sea he would have
been of no service to those drowning
people. On board the captain’s vessel
they began to bind together as to what
they should pay for the rescue, and
what they should pay for the provisions.
“Ah!” says the captain, “my lads., yon
can’t pay anything; all I have on board
is yours; I feel too greatly honored of
God in having saved you to take any
pay.” Just like him. He never got
any pay except that, of his own applaud
ing conscience. O! that the old sea
captain’s God might be my God and
yours. Amid the stormy seas of this
life may we have always someone as
tenderly to take care of us as the cap
tain took care of the drowning crew and
the passengers. And may we come into
the harbor with as little physical pain
and with as bright a hope as he had;
and if it should happen to he a Christ
mas morning, when the present fare be
ing distributed and we are celebrating
the birth of Him who came to save our
shipwrecked world, all tho better—-for
what grander, brighter Christmas pres
ent could we have than heaven?
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