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THE SEMI-WEEKLY SUMTER REPUBLICAN. ESTABLISHED IN 1854, By CHAS. W. HANCOCK. ( VOL. 18. The Sumter Republican. Shui-Weekly, One Year - - - 54 00 Weely, One Year - - - - - 2.00 137“ Payable in Advance.® All advertisements eminating from public dices will be charged for in accordance with an act passed by the late General Assembly of Georgia—7s 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. Ailvertising Bates. One Square first insertion, - - - - SI.OO Each subsequent insertion, - - - - 50 E37"Ten Lines of Minion, type solid con stitute a square. All advertisements not contracted for will be charged above rates. Advertisements not specifying the length of time for which they are to be inserted will be continued until ordered out and charged for accordingly. Advertisementstooccupy fixed places will be charged 25 per cent, above regular rates Notices in local column inserted for ten cent per line each insertion. Charles F. Crisp, Attorney at Law , AMERICUS, GA. declGtf B. P. HOLLIS, Attorney at Law* AMERICUS, GA. Office, Forsyth Street, in National Bank building. dec2otf E. G SIMMONS^ Attorney at Law , AMERICUS GA., Office in Hawkins’ building, south side of Lamar Street, in the old office of Fort & S.mmons. jan6tf .1. A. ANBLEY, ATTORNEY AT LAW AND SOLICITOR IN EQUITY, Office on Public Square, Over Gyles’ Clothing Store, Americus, 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 involving titles of 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 lor their patronage. Fees moderate. novlltf DW. BACLEY’S INDIAN VEGETABLE LIVER AND KIDNEY PILLS. For sale by all Druggists in Americus. Price 25 cents per box. jan2owly I otter my professional services again to the good people of Americus. After thirty years’ of medical service, I have found It difficult to withdraw entirely. Office next door to Dr. Eldridge’s drugstore, onthe Square janl7tf R. C. BLACK, M. D. Dr. J. A. FOKPT Physician and Surgeon. Offers his professional services to the of Americus and vicinity. Office at Idridge’s Drug Store. At niuht can be found at residence on Furlow’s lawn. Calls will receive prompt attention, may26-tf Dr. D. P. HOLLOWAY, DentisT, Americas. ... Georgia Treatssuccessfully all diseases of the Den tal organs. Fills teeth by the improved method, and inserts artificial teeth on the best material known to the profession. EiyOFFICE over Davenport and Son’s Drug Store. marllt J. B. C. Smith & Sons, CONTRACTORS All BIRD, Americus, Ca. We are propa)md to do any kind of work in the carpenter line at short notice and on reasonable terms. Having had years of ex perience in the business, we feel competent to give satisfaction. All orders for con tracts for building will receive prompt at tention. Jobbing promptly attended to. mav26-3m i Commercial Bar. This well-established house will be kept in the same first-class style that lias always characterized it. The Choicest Liquor and Cigars, Milwaukee, Budweiser and Aurora Beer, constantly on hand, and all the best brands sf fine Brandies, Wines, &c. Good Billiard Tables for the accommodation of customers. mayfitf JOHN W. COTNKY, Clerk. Commercial Hotel, O. M HAY, Proprietor. Tills popular House is quite new and handsomely furnished with new furniture, bedding and alt other articles. It is in the centre of the business portion of the city, convenient to depot, the banks, warehouses, &c., and enjoys a fine reputation, second to none, among its permanent and transient guests, on account of the excellence of its cuisine. Table Boarders Accommodated on Reasonable Terms. mayD-tf G. M. HAY", Proprietor. gj GEORGE ANDREWS, %jm MB WE MAKER, At his shop in the rear of J. Waxelbaum & Co.’s store, adjoining tlie livery stables, on Lamar St., Invites the public to give him their work. He can make and repair all work at short notice. Is sober and always on band to await on customers. Work guaranteed to be honest and good, aprli-tf AYER’S Sarsaparilla cures Kheuiiiplism, Neuralgia, Rheuma tic Gout, General Debility, Catarrh, and all disorders caused by a thin and impover ished, or corrupted, condition of the blood; expelling the blood-poisons from the system, enriohiug and renewing the blood, and re storing its vitalizing power. During a long period of unparalleled use fulness, Ayru’s Sausapakilia has proven its perfect adaptation to the curoTif all dis eases originating in poor blood and weakened vitality. It is a highly concentrated ex tract of Sarsaparilla and other blood pmifying roots, combined with lodide of Potassium and Iron, and is the safest, most reliable, and most economical bloodr purifier and blood-food that can be used. Inflammatory Rheumatism Cured. “An'kk's SAksatakilLa has .cured me of the Inflammatory Rheumatism, with uhicli I have sullered for many years. ... *. • r , •W. H. Moore." Durham, la., March 2, 1882. Eight years ago I had -an attack of Rheumatism so severe that I could not move from the bed, or dress, without help. I tried. several remedies without much if any relief, until I took AVer’s Sarsapa rilla, by the use of two bottles of which I was completely cured. I have not been troubled with the Rheumatism since. Jlavo sold large quantities of your Sarsaparilla, and it still retains its wonderful popularity. The many notable cures it has effected in this vicinity con vince me that it is the best blood medicine ever ottered to the public. E. F. Harris.” lUver .st., Buckland, .Mass., May 13,1882. “ Last March I was so weak from gener al debility that 1 could not walk without help. Following the advice of a friend 1 commenced taking Aveii’s Sarsaparilla. ami before I had used three bottles f felt as well as 1 ever did in my life. I have been at work now for two months, and think your Sarsaparilla the greatest blood medicine in the world. „ r James Maynard.” 520 \\ est 12d St., New York, July 19, 1882. Ayer’s Sarsaparilla cures Scrofula and all Scrofulous Complaints, Krysjp elas, Eczema, Ringworm, Rlotchcs, Sores, Boils, Tumors, and Eruptions of the Skin, it clears the blood of all impuri ties, aids digestion, stimulates the action of the bowels, and thus restores vitality and strengthens the whole system. prepared by Dr. J.C. Ayer&Co.,Lowell, Mass. Sold by all Druggists; price sl, six bottles, ®5. KOSTHTEIft Bfek _ STOMACH _ BITTEf s No time should be lost if the stomach, liver and bowels aro affected, to adopt the sure remedy, Hostetter’s Stomach Bitters. Diseases of the organs named beget others far more serious, and a delay is therefore hazardous. Dyspepsia, liver complaint, chills and fever, early rheumatic twinges, kidney weakness, bring serious bodily trouble if trifled with. Lose no time in using effective and safe medicine. For sale by ail Druggists and Dealers generally. AYER’S Ague Cure IS WAKRANTED to cure all cases of ma larial disease, such as Fever and Ague, Inter mittent or Chill Fever, Remittent Fever, Dumb Ague, Bilious Fever, and Liver Com plaint. In case.of failure, after due trial dealers are authorized, by our circular ot July Ist, 1882, to refund tlie money. Dr. J. C. Ayer&Co., Lowell, Mass. Sold by all Druggists. FOIJTZ’S HOUSE AND CATTLE POWDERS 4? F “- routes J owders will cure junl n reven t Hog Phot *■ t* ms a DKr'!^ 8wr ® ?r prevent almost every D Foutf ’sVnu-nr Hnd tattle nr(! subject, sjki cicrywnore QIVE DAVIB-*. T-OUTZ. Pron-ietor, BALTIMORE, MD. ELAM JOHNSON, JOHN W. M’PHEMSOJ I STEVE R. JOHNSON, JAMES B. WILBANKs! EIAM JOHNSON, SON & CO., WHOLESALE ■EMiiwnniTs —DEALERS m TOBACCO AND CIGARS. FOREIGN and DOMESTIC FUUITS Vcg etables and Melons in Season. BUT- T c{J;^i ; .I? I(JKENB and KGGS, SWEEi and IRISH Potatoes. Consignments and rderK Solicited. 12 Decatur and 13 Line Sts., P. o. Box 515 Atlanta, Georgia! mayStf DIVORCES— No publicity; residents ti Desertion, Non-Support. Advice and applications for stamps. W. 11. LEE At fv 230 B way, N. Y. ■ ADVERTISERS By addressing oeo. *. kowull & it*., 10 Spruce St., New York, can learn tbe-ex- i ay Prop o ?*! line of ADVER TISING in American Newspapers. HTIOO page Pamphlet, 2Se. fhlyl' INDEPENDENT IN POLITICS, AND DEVOTED TO NEWS, LITERATURE, SCIENCE AND GENERAL PROGRESS, AMERICUS, GEORGIA, SATURDAY, JULY 14, 1888. Y’OY/YWY. __ The Wile’s Prayer and the Drunk, aril’, lte.olve. BY BYRON H. LONG. Hush, mj dear! The winds are moaning Through the ragged window pane, And the- rotten roof is groaning, ’Neath the torrent-falling rain; Close thine eyes, and let them slumber, Through the darkness of this night, And hear not tlio awful thunder That will roll before the light. Hark! seems now I hear a footfall. Ah! 'twas but that hinglessgate Dashed again by storm’s king fury, Dealing out its due of fate. Sleep, my child! the lightning flashes May hut calm thy sweet repose; But thy mother’s tired lashes— When they’ll rest but Heaven knows. Ah! upon my eyesight painted, Holy scenes of long ago, With the sparks of radiance tainted Sweet as the clearest sunset’s glow, When, within the harvest garnered, 1 a blushing bride was seen, With a youth whose brow was tarnished Not with Sin’s dark loathsome screen. But the change! Oh, tearful wailing! My poor l.eartcan scarce contain All the woe that lies there railing In its bitter sad retrain; When the tempter, rile and sudden, Tore the splender from that brow— Swept tlie lustre from his eyeballs— Darkened oibs of misery now. Y'es, he comes! I hear him stumble; Oh, my God, bear me up! ’Mid tlie thunder's pealing rumble, Help me dreg this bitter cup; Help me still the wail of anguish That seems bursting from my breast; Blessed Jesus, waft me heavenward — Let me on thy bosom rest! All! the door behind him closts; Seems he walks with firmer tread, And those eyes seems not as burning As when tinged witli Satan’s red; As before the grate he’s standing, in the firelight’s fading glow, Seems 1 see a manly picture, One I’d seen in years ago. “Wife!” He turns, and o’er his features Gleamings of angelic light Seems to float in waves of splendor, Driving out the horrid night; Lifting from my careworn bosom All the loads ot sorrow there, Filling up that hour with gladness, Banishing all thoughts of care. “Ere to-night you hushed the sobbings Of our boy in yonder bed; Ere you brushed tin- golden ringlets That are shrouding his young head; While you were with tears bemoaning That this home should be his fate; When thou said’st tlie winds are roaring, And the night is dark and late, “I beneath the eave was listening, Listening to thy offereil prayer; Hoard you sobbing over our offspring, Heard and trembled standing there; As I heard the cold rain pattering; On the roof above my head, 1 resolved to shun the tempter Ere another tear was shed. “There I kneeled beneath the window Gazing toward tlie clouded heavens, Asking God, if e’er his aid Unto mortal man was given, That he’d let it strengthen me Through this scene, my hour of need; Heip me to save my labor’s worth, The mouths of wife and child to feed. “And he heard me, wife; I’ve conquered, 1 no more will touch the cup That with hell’s dark doom is mantled, That has burnt my earnings up! I no more on earth will cause thee In thy loneliness to shed Tears of anguish o’er our offspring. That now lies in yonder bed. But while Heaven is all agiowing, And ail earth’s a bounteous store I will try to be more grateful, Than I’ve ever been before; I will try to heal the rupture That has torn tby heart in twain; I will try to soothe thy sorrow, And receive tby smile again. HOW TO PROSPER. Kno.v your business thoroughly. Do it faithfully. Avoid disputes and strifes. Keep your own secrets. Mind your own affairs, and let others mind theirs. Be courteous to all. Confide in few. Do right at all hazards. Think more of what man is than of what he has Never try to outrun God’s prov idence. Do not waste strength in fret ting at unavoidable evils. When you are annoyed do not make a fuss about it. Keep a cheerful heart and a calm countenance. Be temperate in all things. Give what God requires, and do not be coaxed to do more because others are going to. Listen to advis ers, but let God be your first and last counselor. Do not be hurried; and do not allow others to hurry you. Take time to think. Guard against people who always justify your course. Seek honest judgment rather than flattering sympathy. Never fear to own a fault. Do right by others whether they will do right by you or not. Keep the Lord always before your face, and death, judgment and immmortal glory all in full view. Watch and piay, lest ye enter into temptation. Make this life but the beginning of a life that shall be endless as eternity, and glo rious as the stars in heaven.— Zion's TVatchman. Home Items. “All your own fault If you remain sick when you can Get hup bitters that never— Fail. The weakest woman, smallest child, and sickest invalid can use hop bitters with I safety and great good. ! —Old men tottering around from Rheu matism, kidney trouble or any weakness will bo alinostnew by using hop bitters. —My wife and daughter wore made healthy by the use of hop bitters and 1 rec lommend them to my people.—Methodist Clergyman. Ask any good doctor if hop Bitters are not the best family medicine On earth. —Malarial fever, Ague and Biliousness, will leave every neighborhood as soon as hop bitters arrive. Mv mother drove the paralysis and neuralgia-all out of her system with hop bitters.’’—Fd. Oswego Sun. —Keep the kidneys healthy with hop bit , ters and you need net fear sieknesa. —lce water is rendered harmless and more refreshing'and reviving with hop bit ters in each draught. —The vigor of youth for the aged and in firm In hop bitters. chl7Jni > TABERNACLE SERMONS. BY REV. T. DeWITT TA LINAGE The Sermons of Dr. Talmage aro publish ed in pamphlet form by Geo. A. Sparks, 48 Bible House, New York. A number containing 28 Sermons is issued every three months. Price 30 cents, per an num], JOSHUA’S VICTORY. “Then ye shall rise up from tlie ambusfi and seize upon the city.’’—Joshua viii., 7. One Sabbath evening, with my fam ily around me, we were talking over the scene of tho text. In the ' wide open eyes and the quick interrogations and the blanched cheeks, I realized what a thrilling drama it was. There is the old city, shorter by name than any other city in the ages, spelled with two letters—A, I—Ai. Joshua and his men went to take it. How to do it is the question. On a former occa sion, in a straight-forward face to face fight, they had been defeated; but now they are going to takoit by ambus cade. General Joshua has two divis ions in his army—the one division the battle-worn commander will lead him self, the other division he sends off to encamp in an ambush on the west side of the city of Ai. No torches, no lan terns, no sound of heavy battalions, but 30,000 swarthy warriors moving in silence, speaking only in a whisper, no clicking of swords against the shields, lest the watchmen of Ai discover it and the stratagem be a failure. If a roys tering soldier in the Israclitish array forgets himself, all along the line the word is, “Hush!” Joshua takes the other division, the one with which he is to march, and puts it on the north side of Ai, and then spends the night in reconnoitering in the valley. There he is, thinking over the fortunes of the coming day, with something of the feelings of Wellington the night before Waterloo, or of Meade and Lee the night before Gettysburg. There he stands in the night, and says to him self: “Yonder is the division in am bush on the west bide of Ai. Here is the division I have under my especial command on the north side of Ai. Theie is the old city, slumbering in its sins. To-morroiv will be the bat tle. Look, the morning already begins to tip the hills.” THE MILITARY OFFICERS of Ai look out in the morning very early, and, while they do not see the division in ambush, they behold the other division of Joshua, and the cry “To arms! to arms!” rings through all the streets of the old town, and every sword, whether hacked and bent o> newly welded, is brought out, and all the inhabitants of the city of Ai pour through the gates, an infuriate torrent, and their cry is: “Come, we’ll make quick work with Joshua and his troops.” No sooner had these people of Ai come out against the troops of Joshua than Joshua gave such a com mand as he seldom gave—“ Fall back!” Why they conld not believe their own ears. Is Joshua’6 courage failing him ? “Fall back!” the retreat is beaten and the Israelites are flying, throwing blan kets and canteens on every side under this worse than Ball Run defeat. And you ought to hear the soldiers of Ai cheer and cheer. But they huzza too soon. The men lying in ambush are straining their vision to get some sig nal from Joshua that they may know what time to drop upon the city. Josh ua takes his burnished spear, glittering in the sun like a shaft of doom, and points it toward the city, and when the men up yonder in the ambush see it, with haw-like swoop they drop upon Ai, and without stroke of sword or stab of spear take the city and PUT IT TO THE TORCH. Bo much for the division that was in ambush. How about the division more especially under Joshua’s com mand? No sooner does Joshua stop in the flight than all his men stop with him, and as he wheels they wheel, for in a voice of thunder that shook the earth he cried, halt! One strong arm damming back a torrent of flying troops. And then as he points his spear through the golden light toward that fatal city, his troops know that they are to start for it. What a scene it was when the division in ambush which had taken the city marched down against the men of Ai on the one side and the troops of Joshua doubled up their enemies from the other side, and the troops of Ai were caught be tween these two hunicanes of Israeli tish courage, thrust before and behind, stabbed in breast and back, ground be tween the upper and the nether mill stones of God’s indignation. Woe to the city of Ai. Cheer for the triumphs of Israel. Lesson the first: There is such a thing as victorious retreat. Joshua’s falling was the first chapter in his suc cessful besiegement. And there are times in your life when the best thing you can do is to run. You were once ihe victim of strong drink. The dem ijohn and the decanter were your fierce foes. They came down upon you with greater fury than the men of Ai upon the men of Joshua. Your only safety is to get away from them. Your dissi pating companions will come around you lor your overthrow. Run for your life! Fall back! Fall back from the drinking saloon. Fall back from 'the wine party. Your flight is your ad vance. Your retreat is your victory. There is a saloon down here on the next street that has almost been the min of yonr soul. Then why do you go along that street? Why do you, not pass through some other streot rather than by the place ofyourcalani ity? A spoonful of brandy, taken for medicinal purposes by a man who twen ty years before had been reformed from drunkenness, hurled into inebriety and tho grave one of the best friends I ever bad. Y our retreat is your victory. HEBE IS A CONVERTED INFIDEL. He is so strong now in his faith in the gospel he says he can read anything. What are you reading? Bolin broke? Theodore Pailter? Andrew Jackson Da vis’ tracts? Swedenborg’s dreams? Tyndall’s Glasgow University address? Drop them and run. Von will bean infidel before yon die, unless you quit that. These men of Ai will be too much for you. Turn your back on the rank and file of unbelief. Fly before they cut you with their swords and transfix you with their javelins. There are people who have been wellnigh mined because they risked a foolhardy expedition in the presence of mighty and overwhelming temptations, and the men of Ai made a morning meal of them. So, also, there is such a tiling as victorious defeat for the church. Thousands of times the king dom of Christ has seemed to fall back, when the blood of the Scotch covenan ters gave a deeper dye to the heather of the Highlands; when the Vaudois of France chose extermination rather than make an unchristian surrender; when on St. Bartholomew’s day mounted as sassins rode through the streets of Paris crying: "Kill! Blood-letting is good in August! Kill! Death to the Hu guenots! Kill;” when Lady Jane Grey’s head rolled from the execution er’s block; when Calvin was impris oned in the castle; when John Knox died for the truth; when John Banyan lay rotting in Bedford jail say ing: “If God will help me, and my physical health continues, I will stay here until the moss grows on my eye brows rather than give up my faith.” The days of retreat for the church were days of victory. The pilgrim fathers fell back from the other side of the sea to Plymouth Rock, but now are marshaling a conti nent for the CHRISTIANIZATION OF THE WORLD. The church of Christ falling back from Piedmont, falling back from the rue St. Jicqnes, falling back from St. Denis, falling back from Wnrtemburg castle, falling back from the Brussels market place, yet ail the time triumph ing. Notwithstanding all the shock ing reverses which the church of Christ suffers, what do we sec to-day? Three thousand missionaries of the cross on heathen ground; sixty thousand minis ters of Jesus Christ in this land; at least twenty five millions ot Christians on the earth. Ali nations to-day kind ling in the blaze of revival. Falling back, yet advancing, until tlie old Wes leyan hymn will prove true: “The lion of Judah shall break the chain And give us tlie victory again and again.” But there is a more marked illustra tion of victorious retreat in the life of our Joshua, the Jesus of the ages. First falling back from an appaling height to an appaling depth, falling from celestial hills to terrestial valleys, from throne to manger; yet that did not seem to suffice him as a retreat. Falling back still further from Bethle hem to Nazareth, from Nazareth to Je rusalam, back from Jerusalem to Gol gotha, back from Golgotha to the mausoleum in the rock, back down over the precipice of perdition until be walked amid the caverns of the eternal captives and drank of the wine of the wrath of Almighty God amid the Ahabs and the Jezebels and the Bel shazzars. Oh, men of the pulpit and men of the pew, Christ’s descent from heaven to earth does not measure half the distance. It was from glory to perdition. He descended into hell. All the records of earthly retreat are as nothing compared with this falling back. Santa Anna with the fragments of his army flying over the plateaux of Mexico, and Napoleon and his army retreating from Moscow into the awful snows of Russia, are not worthy to be mentioned with this retreat when all the powers of darkness seem to be pur suing Christ as he fell back, until the body of Him who came to do such won derful things I.AY PULSELESS AND STRIPPED. Methinks that the city of Ai was not so emptied of its inhabitants when they went to pursue Joshua as perdi tion was emptied of devils when they started tor the pursuit of Christ, and He fell back and back, down lower, down lower, chasm below chasm, pit below pit, until He seemed to strike the bottom of obligation and scorn and torture. Oh, the long, loud, jubilant shout of bell at the defeat of the Lord Almighty God! But let not powers of darkness rejoice so soon. Do you hear that disturbance in the tomb of Aram athea? 1 hear the sheet rending? What means that stone hurled down the side of the hill? Who is this com ing out? Push him back! The dead must not stalk in this open sunlight. Oh! it is our Joshua. Let him come out. He comes forth and starts for the city. He takes the spear of the Roman guard and points that way. Church militant marches up on one side and church triumphant marches down on the other side. And the powers of darkness being caught between these ranks of celestial and terrestrial valor, nothing is left of them save just enough to illustrate the direful overthrow of hell and Joshua’s eternal victory. On his head be all the ciowns. In liis hand be all tbe scepters. At liis feet be all the human hearts; and here, Lord, is one of them. Lesson the Second—The triumph of the wicked is short. Did you ever see an army in a panic? There is nothing so uncontrolable. If you had stood at Long bridge, Washington, during the opening of our unfortunate war, you would know ivhat it is to seo an army run. And those men of Ai looked out and saw those men of Joshua in a stampede; they expected easy work They would scatter them as the equi nox the leaves. Oh! the gleeful and jubilant descent of the men of Ai upon the men of Joshua! But their exhilar ation was brief, for the tide of battle turned, and these quondam conquerors left Sieir miserable carcasses in the wilderness of Bcthaven. So it always is. The triumph of the wicked is short. You made $20,000 AT THE GAMING TABLE. Do you expect to keep it? You will die in the poor-house. You made a fortune by iniquitous traffic. Do you expect to keep it? Your money will scatter, or it will stay long enough ti curse your children after you are dead Call over the roll of bad men who prospered, and see how short was theii prosperity. For a while, like the nen oi Ai, they went from conquest to con quest. but after a while disaster rolled back upon them, and they were divid ed into three parts; misfortune took their prosperity, the grave took theii bodies, and the lost world took their souls. lam always interested in the building of theaters and the building of dissipating saloons. 1 like to have them built of granite, to have the rooms made large, and to have the pillars made very firm. God is going to con quer them, and they will be turned into churches. These stores in which fraud ulent men do business, these splendid banking institutions where the Presi dent and Cashier put all their money in their wives’ hands and then fail for $200,0(10 — all these institutions are to become the places where honest, Chris tian men do business. How long will it takeyotir boys to get through your ill gotten gains? The wicked do not live out half their days. For awhile they swagger and strut and make a great splash in the newspaper, but after awhile it all dwindles down into a brief paragraph: “Died suddenly, July 8, 1883, at thirty-ii ve years of age. Rel atives and friends of the family are in vited io attend the funeral on Wednes day at 2 o’clock, from his late residence on Madison Square. Interment at Greenwood.” Some of them jumpeo oft the docks; some of them took prus sic acid; sonii of them lell under t’m snap of a Derringer pistol; some o' them spent theii last days in a lunatic asylum. Where is Oakes Ames, the despoiler of public men, of Credit Mobilier infamy? Where a Ketchani and Swartwout, absconding swindlers? WHERE IS .JAMES FISK, the libertine? Where is John Wilkes Booth, the assassin, and all the other misdemeanants? The wicked do not live out halt their days. Disembogue, O world of darkness. Come up, your locks dripping with eternal fire, Hilde brand and Ilenry 11. and Robespierre, and with blistering and blasphemy and ashen lips hiss out. “The triumph oi the wicked is short.” Alas for the men of Ai, when Joshua stretches out his spear toward the city. Lesson the Third—How much may be accomplished by lying in ambush lor opportunities? Are you hypercrit ical of Joshua’s manoeuver? Do you say that it was cheating for him to take that city by ambuscade? Was it wrong for Washington to kindle camp fires on New Jersey heights, giving the impression to the opposing force that a great army was encamped there when there was none at all? I answer, il the war was right then Joshua was right in his stratagem. He violated no flag of truce. He broke no treaty, but by a lawful ambuscade captured tlie city of Ai. Oh, that we all knew how to lie in ambush for opportunities to serve God. The best opportunities do not lie on the surface, but are secreted; by tact, by stratagem, by Christian ambuscade you may take almost any castle of sin for Christ. Come up to ward men with a regular besiegement of argument and you will be defeated; but just wait until the door of theii hearts is set ajar or they are off theii guard or their severe caution is away from home and then drops in on them from a Christian ambuscade. There has been many a man up to his chin in scientific portfolios which proved there was no Christ and no divine revelation, his pen a scimetar flung into the heart of theological opponents, who neverthe less, had been discomfited and captur ed for God by some little three-year old child who lias got up and put her snowy arms around his sinewy neck and said: “Papa, why don’t yon love Jesus?” OH, MAKE A FLANK MOVEMENT; steal a march on the devil; cheat that man into heaven. A five-dollar trea tise that will stand all the laws ol homiletics may fail to do that which a penny tract of Christian entreaty may accomplish. Oh, for more Christians in ambuscade, not lying in idleness, hut waiting foi a quick spring, waiting until just the right time comes. Do not talk to a man about the vanity of this world on the day when he has bought something at “12” and is going to sell it at “15.” But talk to him about the vanity of the world on the day when he has bought something at “15” and is compelled to sell it at “12.” Do not rub a man’s disposition the wrong way. Do not take the im peritivemood when the subjective mood will do just as well. Do not talk in perfervid style to a phlegmatic, nor try to tickle a torrid temperament with an icicle. You can take any man for | FOUR DOLLARS PER ANNUM. NO. 84. Christ if you know how to get at him. Do not send word to him that to-mor row at 10 o’clock you pro Dose to open your batteries upon him, but come on him by a skillful, persevering, God directed ambuscade. Lesson tho Fourth—The importance of taking good aim. There is Joshua. But how are those people in ambush up yonder to know when they are to drop on the city, and how are these men around Joshua to know when they are to stop ther flight and advance? There must be some signal—a signal to stop the one division and to stait the other. Joshua, with a spear on which were ordinarily hung the colors of bat tle, points towaid the city. He stands in such a conspicuous position, and there is so much of the morning light dripping from that spear tip that all around the hoi izon they see it. It was as much as to say: “There is the city. Take it. Take it now. Roll down Irom the west side. Surge up from the north side. It is ours, the city of Ai.” God knows and we know that a great deal ot Christian attack amounts to nothing simply because we do not take good aim. Nobody knows, and we do not know ourselves, which point we want to take, when we ought to make up our minds what Got will have us to do and point our spear in that direc tion, and then hurl our body, mind, soul, time and eternity at that one tar get. IN OUR PULPITS, and pews, and Sunday-schools, and prayer meetings we want to get a repu tation for saying pretty things, and so we point our spear toward the flowers, or we want a reputation for saying sub lime things and we point our spear to ward the stars, or we want to get a reputation for historical knowledge and we point our spear toward the past; or we want to get a reputation for great liberality, so we swing our spear all around and it strikes all points of the horizon, and you can make out of it whatever you please; while there is the old world, proud, rebelious and armed against all righteousness; and instead of running any further away from its pursuit we ought to turn around, plant oui foot in the strength of the eternal God, lilt the old cross and point it in the direction of the world’s conquest till the redeemed of earth marching up from one side, and the glorified of heav en marching down from the other side, the last battlement of sin is compelled to swing out the streamers of Emanuel. Oh, Church of God, take aim and con quer. 1 have heard it said, “Look out for a man who has only one idea; he is irrisistible.” I say look out for the Church of Christ which has one idea, and that a dertermiuation for soul saving. I believe God would strike me dead if I dared to point the spear in any other direction. Oh, for some of the courage and enthusiasm of Joshua! He flung two armies from the tip of that spear. It is sinful for us to rest unless it is to get stronger muscle and fresher brain and purer heart for God’s wotk. I feel on my head the hands of Christ in anew ordination. Do you not feel the same omnipotent pressure? There is work for all our churches. Oh that we might stand up side by side and [roint the spear toward the city! It ought to be taken; it will be taken. Our cities are drifting off toward loose religion, on what is called “liberal Christianity,” which is so liberal that it gives up all the cardinal doctrines of the bible; so liberal that it surren ders the rectitude of the throne of the Almighty; that is liberality with a vengeance. Let us decide upon the work which we, as Christian churches have to do, and in the strength of God. OO TO WORK AND DO IT. I believe the next twelve months will be the most stupendous year that heaven ever saw. The nations are quaking now with the coming of God. It will be a year of successes for the men of Joshua, but of doom for the men of Ai. You put your ear to the rail-track, and yon can hear the train coming miles away. So I put my ear to the ground, and I hear the thunder ing of the lightning train of God’s mercies and judgments. The mercy of God is first to be tried upon this na- It will be preached in the pulpits, in theaters, on the streets, everywhere. People will be invited to accept the mercy of the Gospel, and the story, and the song, and the prayer will be “mer cy.” But suppose they do not aocept the offer of mercy—what then? Then God will come with his judgments, and 'he grasshoppers will eat the crops,and the freshets will devastate tbe valleys, and the defalcations will swallow the money markets, and the fires will burn cities into ashes, and the earth will quake from pole to pole. Year ot mer cies and judgments. Year of invita tions and of warning. Year of jubilee and of woe. Which side are you go ing to be on? With the men of Ai, or the men of Joshua? Passover, this Sabbatli, into the ranks of Israel. I would clap my bands at the joy of your coming. You can not stand what is to come upon you and upon the world, unless you have the pardon, and the comfort , and the help of Christ. Come over. On this side is your happipess and safety; on the other side disquie tude and despair. Eternal defeat to the men of Ai! Eternal victory to the men of Joshua! To most children the bare sugges tion of a dose o. castor oil iB nausea ting. Why not, theD, when physic is necessary for the little ones* use Ayer’s Cathartic Pills they combine every essential and valuable princi ple of a cathartic medicine, and* be ing sugar coated are easily taken.