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• DR. TALMAGES SERMON.
CONGREGATIONAL SINGING.
r *xt: “It f-nm; evnn to pis*, ns t’.o trum-
T t-rs anrj singers were a, on*-, t . make qae
*-uml to bo heard in pra-lug avt thaukfng
te Lor<l. ” —II. Chron. v. j:,
Th“ Tempi.- was .lone It wa? th? very
V l ' rus tt'l majinifi' cnee and pomp. Hr.! n
, r crowded against snlen i< r 1: was th
• lamon.l neeklac of th- eirth. Fromtne
nuge pillars .Towia-d with )*av.-s r.f flowers
ao l rows of jsimegronat • wrought out in
*>nrlushed metal, down even to the tongs as <1
MiiiUVrs made out if pure gold, everything
•ns as complete a-, the <lod-dii ■t. and
architect could mate it. It steni.d
a- ,fa vision from haven had
a I Rated on the mounta ns. The day for
d' di fi'i n came. Tradition says thru th-re
were m and i fitin I about the temple on that
• lav A Q,OUO silver trumpets, 40,099 harps,
■*9,090 timbrel? and 2-<i,090 siug.-rs; so that all
ni>:d'.;ni demonsu'utioufi at i lies M or
Hoston si - ::i nothing con.pared with that.
Vs t.iis great *o.nnl surg ■ 1 up amid
the precious stone, of the Temple, it must
haves, ease 1 like the river of life dashing
mams! tin- an ethy.t of ti e wall of H. aven.
The sound an.-.- and GoJ. as it to show that
Ho was well p'eased vv.tli th; music which
His children make n allag.s, dropp -d into
the midst of the Temple a clou 1 of glory so
overp -w.-ring that tint officiatin'.; prie-t? w.-ro
oblige Ito st.p in the midst of the services.
1 1. ere hns been inuchdis-mssion as to where
music was born. J think that at the begin
ning, "h *u the morning stars sang together
n t ail the suns r Hod shouted for joy, that
the earth heard the e ho. the cloud on
whi.-h the nnzel st ml to celebrate the erra
tum was the i irthpla.se of song. The stars
that glitter at night are only so many keys
of celestial pearl on which (rod’s fingers play
the music of the spheres. Inanimate nature
I. full off Jo. Is stringed and wind instrument!).
Hilenco itself—perfect silence—is only a musi
cal rest in (rod s great anthem of worship.
W ind among the leaves, insect humming in
the summer air, the rti-h of billow upon
Ixneli, the ocean far out sounding its ever
lasting psalm, the li .lxilink on the edgeof tho
forest, tlie quail whistling uu from the grass,
are music. While visiting Blackwell’s Island
I heard coming from tic window of the
lunatic asylum, a very siveet song. It was
sung by one who had lost her rca-on; and I
have come to believe that even the deranged
and disordered elements of nature would
make music to ours ear, if we only had
acuteness enough to listen. I suppose that
even the sounds in nature that are discordant
and repulsive make harmony in God's ear.
You know that you may come so near to an
orchestra that the sounds are painful instead of
pleasurable: and I think tiiat we stand so near
devastating storm and frightful whirlwind
wo cannot hoar that which makes to God’s
ear and the ear of the spirits above us a
niude as complete as it is tremendous.
The I>ay of Judgment, which will be a day
of uprear and tumult, 1 suppose will bring
no dissonance to the ears of those who can
calmly listen; although it will be as when
some great performer is exec xtiug a boister
ous piece of music, lie sometimes breaks
down the instrument on which he pxays; so it
may hr- on that last day that the grand inarch
of God, played by the fingers of thunder and
earthquake and conflagration may break
down the world upon which the music is
executed. Not only is inanimate nature full
of music but God has wonderfully organized
the human voice, so that in tne plainest
throat and lungs there are fourteen
direct mus das which can make over sixteen
inuusand different sounds! Now, there ar
thirty indirect muscles which can make, it
lias been estimated, more than one hundred
and seventy three millions of sounds. Now,
1 say, when God has so constructed the human
voice and when he has filled tho whole earth
witli harmony, and whence recognized it in
the ancient Temple, I have a right to come to
the conclusion that God loves music.
I propose this morning to speak about sacred
muse-, first showing you its importance and
then stating some of the obstacles to its ad
vancement.
I draw the first argument for the impor
tance of sacred music from the fact that God
commanded it. Through haul He tells us to
admonish one another in psalms and hymns
and spiritual songs; through David He cries
out; “thug yo to God all ye kingdoms of the
earth " And there are hundreds of other pas
sages I might name, proving that it is as
lmien a man’s duty to stug as it is his duty to
pray- Indeed I think there are more com
mands in the Bible to sing than there are to
pray. God not only asks for the human voice
but for the instruments of music. He asks for
the cymbal and tho harp and the trumpet.
And 1 suppose that, in the last days of the
church, the harp, the lute, the trumpet, and
all the instruments of music that have given
their chief aid to the theatre and bacchanal,
will be brought by their masters and laid
down at the feet of Christ, and then sounded
in tho church’s triumph on her way from
suffering into glory. “Praise ye the Lord!”
Praise Him with your voices. Praise Him
with stringed instruments and with organs.
1 draw another argument for the import
ance of this exercise from the impressiveness
of the’exercise. You know something of
what secular music has achieved. You know
it has made it-s impression upon governments,
upon laws, upon literature, upon whole gene
rations. One inspiriting national air is worth
thirty thousand men ns a standing army.
There come? a time in the battle when one
bugle is worth a thousand muskets. In the
earlier part of oureivil war government pro
posed toeconomize in bands of music and many
of them were sent home: but the generals
in tile army sent word to Washington: “You
are mnkiug a very great mistake. We are
falliug back and falling hack. We have not
enough music.” Then the government
-changed its mind: more bands of music
were sent to the field and the day of shame
ful defeat terminated. 1 have to tell you
that, no nation or church can afford to
severely econ miize in music.
Why should we rob the programmes of
•worldly gayety when we have so many ap
propriate songs and tunes composed in our
own day, as well as that magnificent inheri
tance of church psalmody which has come
down fragrant with the devotions of other
generations —tune; no more worn out than
when our great grandfathers climbed
up on them from the church
pew to glory? Dear old souls, how
they user! to siug! When they were cheerful
our grandfathers and grandmothers used to
siug “Gel Chester.” When they were very
meditative, t hen the meeting house rang with
“South Street 'and “St. Edmonds.” Were
they struck through with great tenderness,
they sang “Woodstock.’’ Were they wrapped
in visions of the glory of the church, they
sang “Zion.” Were they overborne with the
love and glory of Christ, they sang “Ariel.”
Auil in those days there were certain tunes
married to certain hymns, and they have
lived in peace a great while, these two old
people, and we have no right to divorce
them. “What God hath joiued together let
no man put asunder.” Born as we have been
amid this great wealth of church music, aug
mented by the compositions of artists in our
dav, wo ought- not to be tempted out of the
sph >re of Christ iau harmony and try to seek
nnoonse rated sounds. It is absurd for a
millionaire to steal.
Many of you are illustrations of what
sacred song can do. Through it you were
brought into the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
You stood out against the warning and the
argument of the pulpit.but when in the sweet
words of Charles Wesley or John Newton or
Tophidy the love of Jesus was sung to your
soul, then you surrendered, a.- armed castle
that could not be taken by a host, lifts its
window to listen to a harp’s trill.
There was a .Scotch soldier dying in New
Orleans and a Scotch minister came in to
give him the consolations of the Gospel. The
mau turned over on his pillow an 1 sad:
“Don't talk to me about religion." Then the
Scotch minister began to siug a familiar
hymn of Scotland that was composed by
David Dickenson, beginning with tlie words:
“Oh mother, dear Jerusalem,
When shall I come to thee?"
He sung it to the tune of Dundee, and
everybody in Scotland knows thet; and as he
began to sing the dying soldier turned over
<”? hi* pillow and said to the minister:
•' hero dal you learn that!” “Why,” re
plied tie minster, “my mother taugtit me
that. ’ “So did mine,” said the dv'inglScotch
so.dier: and the very foundation of his
heart was upturned, and then and there
he yielded him-elf to Christ Oh. it
has an inevitable power! Lutdcr’s semens
have been forgotten but his “Judgment
Hjmn sings on through the ages and will
keep on singing until the l,last of the arch
‘nce ‘ t 1 ™™' °! simJ! bring about that verv
dav which the hymn celebrates. I would to
( .0.1 that those who bear me to-dav would
take these songs of salvation as messages from
heaven; for. just as certainly as the birds
brought food to Eliiah by the brook Cherith
so these winged harmonies, God-sent, are
flying to your soul with the bread of life.
Ofx-n your mouth and take it, O hungry Eli
iah!
I have also noticed the power of sacred
song to soothe perturbation. You mav have
come in here with a great many worriments
and anxieti.-.-, yet perhaps in the -ringing of
th- first hvmn you lost all those worriments
and anxieties. You have read in the Bible
of Saul, ai.d how he was sad and angrv. and
ho.v the bov David came in and plave.l the
evil spirit out of min. Ahq aru-n lorrr was
melan-boly. T.ie windows were all closed.
He sat in tho dark i -ss. Noth ng
c mid bring him forth until Fra
nc! ■ came and discoursed music for
three or four davs to him. On th * fourth
'lav lie looked up and wept and rejoiced, and
the wind ws were thrown open, and that
which all the splendors of the court could
n t do. th • pow.*-of song ancomplisheL If
you have anxieties an l worriments try tiiis
heavenly charm upon them. Do not sit down
on the i an): of the livrn l, but plunge in. that
the <1 -vii of .-are mav lx; brought out of you.
It also arouse*: to a -tion. Do vo i not know
that a -in ving t hurch is always a triumphant
e ur *li? If a congregation is silent during the
exercise, or partially si'en\ it is the silence of
death. If when the hymn is given out vou
h- ar the faint hum of here and th *re a father
and mother in Israel while the vast majority
nr- silent, that min : ster of Christ who is t rc
solingneo Ist .haveaverystrongconstit ition
if he and es not get the chills. H- ne *<ls not only
the gra-e of G<<l but nerves like whalebon - *. It
is ama iug how some people with voice
enough to dis harge all their duties in 1 lie
world, xi h n they come into the home of God
have no voice to discharge this duty. I
r-ailv believe that if tlie church of Chri-t
could rise up and sing as it ought to sing,
that where we have a hundred souls brought
into the kingdom of Christ there would be a
thousand. How was it in olden time?
Cajetan said: “Luther conquered us by his
songs.”
But I must now speak of some of the ob
sta des in the way of the advancement of this
sacred music: and the first is. that it has
been impressed into the service of suj ersti
tion. lam far from believing that music
ought always to be positively religious. Re
fill and art hai opened place-, where music has
Item secularized and lawfully so. The draw
i ing-room, the musical club, the orchestra, the
concert, by the gratification of pure taste
and the produ tion of harmless amusement
; and the improvement of talent, have become
very forces in the advancement of our civili
zation. Music Las as much right to laugh in
Surrey Gardens as it hastopray in St. Paul’s.
In the kingdom of nature we have the glad
fifing of the winds as well as the long metre
p-alm of the thunder. But while all this
is so, every observer has noticed that
this art, which God intended for the im
provement of the ear and the voice and the
head and the heart, has often been impressed
i into the service of error. Tartini, the musi
cal composer, dreamed one night that Satan
| snatched from his hand an instrument and
played upon it something very sweet —a
dream that has often been fulfilled in our
day, the voice and tho instruments that
ought to have been devoted to Christ, cap
tured from the church aud applied to pur
poses of sin.
Another obstacle has been an inordinate
fear of criticism. The vast majority of peo
ple singing in church never want anybody
else to hear them sing. Everybody is wait
ing for somebody else to do liis duty, I' we
: all sing then the iuaeeura ies that are evident
i when only a few sing would be drowned out.
Gcd asks you to do as well as you can, and
then, if you get th* wrong pitch or keep
wrong time, he will forgive any deficiency
! of the ear and imperfections of the voice.
' Angels will not laugh if you should
lose your place in the musical scale, or come
in at the close a bar behind. There are three
schools of singing, lam told—the German
j school, the Italian school and the French
I school of singing. Now, I would like to add
| a fourth school, and that is the school of
| Christ. Th * voice of a contrite,broken heart,
although it may not be able to stand human
criticism, makes better music to God’s ear
than the most artistic performance when
[ the heart is wanting. I know it is
j easier to preach on this than it is
; to practice; but I sing for two reasons—
j first, because I like it and next because I
want to encourage those who do not know
! how. I have but very little faculty in that
direction and no culture at all, yet I am re
solved to sing though every note should go
off like a Chinese gong. God has commanded
1 it and I dare not be silent. He calls on the
I beasts, on the cattle, on the dragons to
praise him, and we ought not to be behind
j the cattle and the dragons.
Another obstacle that lias been in the way
| of the advancement of this holy art has been
so much angry discussion on the subject of
music. There are those who would have this
exercise conducted by musical instruments.
In the same church there are those who do
| noii like musical instruments, and so it is or
gan and no organ, and there is a fight. In
| another church it is a question whether the
music shall be conducted by a precentor
lor by a drilled choir. Some want a
drilled choir and some want a pre
centor, and there is a fight. Then there
are those who would like in the church to
have the organ played in a dull, lifeless,
; droning way, while there are others who
; would have' it wreathed into fantastics,
' branching out into jets and spangles of
sound, rolling and tossing in marvellous con
volutions, as xv hen in pyrotochnic di'.play
j you think a piece is exhausted it breaks out
in wheels, rockets, blue lights and serpentine
j demonstrations. Some would have the organ
’ played in almost inaudible sweetness, and
i others would have it full of staccato
| passages that make the audience jump,
with great eves and hair on end,as though by
a vision of the Witch of Endor; and he who
I tries to please all will succeed in nothing,
j Nevertheless you are to admit the fact that
this contest which is going on in hundreds
! of the churches of the United States to-day,
is a mightv hindrance to the advancement of
this art. In this way scores and scores of
churches are entirely crippled as to all influ
ence and the music is a damage rather than
1 a nralse.
Another obstacle in the advancement of
this art, has been the erroneous notion tha’.
this part of the service could be conducted
by a delegation. Churches have said: “Oh.
what an easy time we shall have. The minis
ter will do the preaching and the choir xvill
do the singing and xve will have nothing to
do ” And you know as xvell as I that there
are a gi\ at mult-itr.de of church: s all through
this land xvhere the people are not expected
to sing. The whole work is done by delega
-1 tions of four or six or ten persons and tlie
! audience is silent. In such a church in
j Syracuse, an old elder persisted in
singing.ami so the choir appointed a commit
tee to go aud ask the squire if he would not
stop. You know that in a great multitude
of churches the choir are ext ected and do all
the singing and the great masses of people
are expected to be silent, and if you utter
your voice you are interfering. There they
stain, the four, xvith opera-glasses dangling
at their side, singing. “Rock of Ages, cleft
for me,” with the same spirit that the night
before, on the stage, they took their part in
th * “Grand Duchess” or “Don Giovanni.”
My Christian friends, have we a right to
delegate to c thers the discharge of this duty
which Gcd demands of us? Suppose that
b ur xvood thrushes propose to do all the sing
ing some bright day when the woods are
ringing xvith bird voices. It is decided that
four xvood thrushes shall do all the singing
<> the forest. Let all other voi*es keep
silent. How beautifully the four warbled!
It is really fine music. But how long xviil
you keep the forest still? Whx- Chrst would
come into that forest and look up as he looked
through the olives, and he would raise his
hand and say: ‘Tret everything that hath
breath praise the Lord;” aud keeping time
with the stroke of innumerable xvmgs there
xv nild be five thousand bird voie.s leaping
into tii* h inuenv. Suppose this delegation
of musi *al performers were trie l in heaven;
s ipp is ■ that four choi e sir t; should try to
do the siugiag of the upper temple.
Hush nr,v. thrones an l dominions and
principalities. David, be still, though you
xxe re the “s-veet singer of I-ra-L”
Paul, ke *p quiet, though you hax-e
co .e to that crown of rejoicing. Richard
Baxter, k> *p still, though this is t.e “Saints’
Everlasting Ret" Four spirits now do all
the singing. But how 1- ng xv n and heaven be
quiet? How long? "Ha leiuj w " xvould cry
some glorified Metliodbt fromuader the altar.
“P; ai-e the Ixml!' xxouid sing the martyrs
Tom among the thrones. “ Thanks be uuto
God who giveth us the victory 1” a
great multitude of redeemed spirits
would cry —my rials of voices com
ing into' the harmony and the one
hand re 1 and forty an i four thousand break
;ng forth into one acclamation. Stop that
loud singing! Stop! Oh. no; they cannot
hear me. Yon might as xvell try to drown
the than ler of the sky or beat back the roar
of the sea. for every soul in heaven has re
solved to do its own singing. Alas, that we
should have tried on earth that which they
cannot do in heaven, and instead of joining
all our voices in the praise of the Most High
God, delegating perhaps to uneoiiseerated
men and women this most solemn and most
delightful service.
Now, in thischurch, we have resolved upon
the plan of conducting the music by a pre
centor. We no it tortw.-. reasons: l ine is tnai
by throwing the whole responsibility upon
the mass of the peop’e. making the great
multitude th- choir, we might rouse more
heartiness. The great congregation rein
ing on the Sabbath day feel that
they cannot delegate this parr. < f the
great s?rx‘ ce to any one else, and
so tb=*v th-mselx-es assume it. R e
have glorious congregational singing here.
People have come manv miles to hear it.
Thev are not sure about the preaching, but
they can alwavs depend on the singing. We
have heard the soun 1 coming up like “the
voice of many waters.” bu* it xvill be done at
a irettec rare a f ter a while, when xve shall
rca’ire th-> lie'ebt and the depth, aud the im
mensity of this p* ivileg9.
Another rea-on xvhv xve adopted this plan:
We do not xvant ayv choir quarrels. You
know verx - xvell that in scores of t K e -Lurches
there has b—n perpetual contention in that
direction. Th* onbv chur-h fight that ever
o cur red mid-r mv ministry was over a
m-I >deon in my first settlement. Have you
never be- n in ehnrch on the Sabbath day
and heard the choir sing and you sail: “That
is splendid musi *?” The next Sabbath you
were in the chur-h and there xvns no clio'r at
n’l? Whv? Th- Pa ler was mad or his assist
ants were, or thev were all mad together.
Some of the choirs are male up of our
be-t Christian people! Some of the warmest
friends I have ever bad have stood up in
them. Sabbath after Sabbath, eonsc’entiously
and successfully leading the praises of God.
But the majority of the choirs throughout
tho land are not made up of Christian jien
p'e, anil three-fourths of the church fights
originate in the organ loft. I take thatba-k,
.an l sav nine-tenths. Many of our churches
are dying of choirs.
Let us as n church give still more atten
tion to the music. If a man xvith voice
enough to sing keeps silent during th s exer
cise, he commits .a crime against G3d and
insults tho Almighty.
_ Music ought to rush from the audience like
the water from a rock—clear, blight, spark
ling. If all the other part of the church ser
vice is dull do not ha\*e the music dull.
With so many thrilling tilings to smg about,
axx-ay xvith all drawling and stupidity!
There is nothing that makes me so
nervous as to sit in a pulnit .and
look off on an audience xvith their
eves three-fourths closed and their lips
almost shut, mumbling the praises of
Gcd. During my recent absence I preached
to a large audience and all the music they
made together did not equal one skylark!
People do not sleep at a coronation Do not
let us sleep when we come to a Saviour’s
croxxaiing. In order to a proper discharge of
this duty let us stand up, save as age or
weakness or fatigue excuse us. Seat si in an
easy pexv we cannot do this duty half so well
as xvhen, upright, we throw our xx hole body
into it, Tret our song be like an acclamation
of x-ictory. You have a right to sing. Do
not surrender your prerogative.
We xx-ant to rouse all our families upon
this subject. We want ea-h family of our
1 congregation to be a singing school. Child-
I ish petulance, obduracy and intractability
would be soo'hed if xxe had more singing in
tho household, and then our little ones would
be prepared for the great congregation on
Sabbath dav, th-ir xmioes uniting xx r ith our
voices in the praises of the Lord. After a
shower there are scores of streams
that come down the mountain side xvith
voices rippling and silx'erv, pouring into
one rix-er, and then rolling in united
strength to the sea. So I xvould have all the
families in my church send fo-th the voice
of prayer and praise.pouring it into the great
tide of public worship that rolls on and on to
empty into the great, wide heart of God.
Never can we have our church sing as it
ouvht until our families sing ns they ought.
There xvill be a great revolution on this sub
ject in all our churches God will come doxvn
by his spirit and ro ise up the old hymns and
tunes that have not been more than half
! awake since the time of our grandfathers.
The silent pews in the cliur h xvill break
forth into music, and when the conductor
takes his place on the Sabbath day,
there will be a great host of voices
rushing into the harmony. My Christian
friends, if we have no taste for this
serx-ice on earth, xvhat will we do in Heaven
where they all sing and sing forever? Let
me prophesy in regard to any one here who
has no delight in the xvorshin of Heax’en—if
you do not sing the praises of God on <arth 1
do not believe you will ever sing them in
glory. I would that our singing to-dav
might be like the Saturday night rehearsal
for the Sabbath morning in the skies, and
might begin now by tho strength and by the
help of God, to discharge a duty which n:* _c
of u', have fully performed.
“Let those refuse to sing
Who never knew our God;
But children of the Heavenly king
Should speak their joys abroad.
“The hill of Zion yields
A thousand sa-red sweets.
Before xve reach the heavenly fields.
Or xvalk the golden streets.
“Th-ii let our songs aboun 1,
And every tear be dry;
We’re marching through Emanuil’s
ground
To fairer xvorlds on high.”
Come now, clear your throats and get
ready for this duty or you will nex'er hear the
end of this. I never shall forget hearing a
Frenchman sTm T~ the TTr.r: x’liai--c *Tymu on
the Champ Elysees, Paris, just before Che
battle of Sedan. I nex’er saxv such enthusi
asm before or since, as he sang that national
air. Oh, hoxv the Frenchmen shouted! Have
you ever in anEnglish assemblage h ard a band
play “God Sax'e the Quean?” If you hax*e
you know something about the enthusiasm
of a national air. Now. I tell you that thase
s: ngs xve sing Sabbath by Sabbath are the
national airs of Jesus Christ and of tlie king
dom of heax r eu. When Cromwell’s army
went into battle, he stood at the h’ad of them
one day and gax-e out the long metre doxol
ogy to the tune of “Old Hundred,” and
that great host, compauv bv company, regi
ment by regiment, battalion by battalion,
joined in the doxology:
“ Praise God from whom all blessing flow,
Praise him all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heax'enly host.
Pra ; si Father, Son and Holy Ghost.”
And while they sang the}' marched, and
.while they marched they fought, and while
thev fought they got the victory. O, men
and women of Jesus Christ, let us go into all
our conflicts singing the praises of God, and
then, instead of falling back as xve often do,
from defeat to defeat, we will be marching
on from victory to victory.
Not All Right.
A reporter called upon a prominent
citizen and said: “I would like to inter
view you with regard to strikes.”
The prominent citizen frowned, re
flected a moment and replied:
“Xo, sir, no. It is a rule of my life
never to be interviewed, but. I don’t
mind telling you privately what I think.”
“All right.”
“But mind, now. you must promise
not to print a xvord I say nor an ide.t I
advance.”
“I promise.”
The prominent citizen freely expressed
himself. And the reporter after again
promising that he would make no note
of the conversation, departed. Early the
next morning the prominent citizen
seized the paper and eagerly looked for
the interviexv.
“What are you looking for?” his wife
asked.
“Nothing,” he replied as he threw
down the paper. “You can’t place any
confidence in those confounded report
ers.”
“Has he printed what vou said ?”
“No.”
“Then it’s all right.”
“No. it’s not all right. Do you reckon
I want to talk two hours and then be
treated with contempt? He ought to
have said I refused to be interviewed
and then to have stated what I said.
A reporter is a nuisance."— Arkansan
Traaler.
I have been accused of being “down
n society.” I am not. In fact I am
■r it when it is used as a means of good
fellowship, to promote ideas and mod
stv ; but when resorted to only as a
convenience for peacock parade, to dis
play nature in brief dress, talk baby and
a smattering of French, lam “down on
-oeiety” with both heels and 145 pounds
. avoirdupois.
BIRD SLvmiTKK.
MILLION'S OF SONGSTERS SAC-
It! I- ICKI> TO FASHION.
Birds in Museums and on Radios’
Hats—Girds Most Sought, and
Where Collected— The Met h
ods of the Dealers.
Th ■ destruction of brill- in the United
States is awakening new and serious in- 1
ter st among ornithologists. A commit- j
tec has been appointed by the American
Ornithologists' Union to gather informa
tion bearing on the destruction and pro
tection of North American birds.
A Herald reporter called on Air. .1. A.
Allen, one of the active members, of the
committee, in relation to the matter. The
gentleman xvas found at the Museum of
Natural Hi tory. in Central Park.
“We have protective laws,” said Mr.
Allen, “and if they were properly
amended and enforced our birds xvould
be fairly protected. As it is. their slaugh
ter continues to increase from year to
year,and unless it is immediately stopped
incalculable injury to the country xvill
follow and many of the species become
extinct. There are those* who xvould make
bird collectors for museums in a measure
responsible lor the rat id decrease of birds
in this country. The charge is un
founded. 1 have taken pains to gainer
data, and after carefully examining the
records of the museums of the United
States I find that they contain the skins
of less than txvo hundred thousand birds.
This number is not a twentieth of the
birds killed in a single season anil sold
to the hat trade. These 20;).000 birds
belonging to American science represent
the collections of many years, while the
vast numbers destroyed and sold to the
milliners are the result of a single sea
son's slaughter. This wholesale destruc
tion of American song birds began with
the present fashion of wearing birds on
ladies' hats and raiment. It is true that
many of the birds sold in the trade are
imported, but they are fully balanced by
those we send abroad. The number of
birds annually s’auglitered in this coun
try for the sake of fashion amounts to
many millions, as we have found by
making careful estimates based on manu
facturers’ figures of birds bought and
sold. The more beautiful the bird, the
more eagerly it is sought, and the more
money it xvill bring.”
“What birds are most used by the New
York bird dealers?”
“Our sweetest singers and most in
dustrious worm catchers! Among them
are the orioles, redbirds, cedar birds,
goldfinches, bluebirds, redstarts, vireos,
cherry bird-, blue-jay, red winged black
birds, meadow larks, swallows, bobo
links, sand pipers, golden winged xvood
peckers, robins, shore larks, thrushes,
insect killing nightbaxvks, whip-poor
wills, wh'te herons, egrets, much sought
for on account of their long, graceful
plumes, and terns, or sea swallows.
“The destruction of these birds has
become a regular and systematic busi
ness. An experienced man, with two or
three taxidermists, will go along the
coast in the season and employ the natives
to kill birds. It is surprising how many
birds one of these Nexv York agents,
with a few good taxidermists, can get in
a few months. The islands along the
Atlantic coast are favorite breeding
grounds for birds. This the natives well
know. An inducement of ten cents
apiece for all birds delivered soon de
populate? the islands of their feathered
inhabitants. The bird which costs ten
cents in the country sells for fifty cents
to a dollar in the <Hly. The cost is trilling
compared with the large profits and vast
extent of the business. Herons and
egrets, which were so plentiful in Florida
a few years ago, have almost disappeared.
“An ordinary dealer in the country
will sell 10,000 birds to his city custom
ers in a single season. Many of the
larger jobbers handle from 30,000 to
40,000 birds a year each. On Long Is
land and in N>w Jersey an immense
number of birds are killed every season.
A single neighborhood on Long Island
will send from 300 to 500 birds to
market a week. A single village in the
back country ships from 50.000 to 80,000
birds during a summer. When the sea
son is at its height from 5,000 to 10,000
birds are daily received by the New-
York taxidermists. A woman agent
doxvn in the quiet State of Maryland has
been known to collect 50,000 birds (many
of them the sweet singing Baltimore
orioles) and ship them to Paris in a sea
son. The islands along the seaeoast
between Philadelphia and Fortress Mon
roe are systematically robbed of their
birds for the benefit of thoughtless, fash
ionable women. Wings of handsome
birds are quoted in the Baltimore papers
at from thirty cents to one dollar apiece,
and birds’ eggs at from five to eight
cent? each. In Washington the daily
papers contain half c* >lumn advertise
ment? uivinir particulars of beautifully
colored birds’ wings and breasts, which
are offered for sale by the dozen or gross.
“We are going through the same ex
periences that have long been complained
of in England, xvhere active measures
are now taken to rave birds. Over there
an auction room advertises for sale 0,228
birds of paradise, 4,974 pheasants, 40,-
440 Brazil birds and 356,389 birds from
the East Indies. It is a noticeable fact
that the greater the slaughter and sale of
song birds the less is the demand for
ostrich feathers.
“All birds are beneficial.” continued
Air. Allen. “They destroy inse-t,
worms and noxious larvae. To the far
mers and gardeners their services are in
valuable. The country would be over
run and the crops destroyed but for the
birds of America. In considerin'? the
causes of their destruction legitimate
sportsmen and bird collectors for muse
ums are of no particular account com
pared w ith the demands of the fashiona
ble milliner and dressmaker, which are a
hundred fold greater than all others. It
is true that State laws are supposed to
prohibit this shameful and indiscrimi
nate slaughter of birds, but their pro
visions are violated with impunity by
men who, under the cloak of a taxider
mist’s permit, become legalized agents
for cltv millinery establishments, and do
not hesitate to shoot birds in all places
and seasons. Of course this xvanton
abuse of a lawful privilege is not prac
ticed by all alleged seientifi ■ collectors,
but enc-urh of Item are vio'at'.ng their
permits to xvork great destruction among
the bi ds.
.“There is another serious evil. It is
the egcr collector. In many localities on
the Atlantic coarf the inhabitants make
a business of robbing nests. The v; lue
of birds' eg"' for food is tri ral bpside
the value of birds to farmers in destroy
ing worm-and insects. In many places
there are great colonies of sea birds.
There the natives collect their eggs by
boat load and sell them in their villages
by th*’ barff-l. This is done on Cape
Cod. Long Island, in New Jer3cy, Flor
ida. Texas and other States on the ccast.
—New York Herald.
The colleges of this country contain
18,000 feroa’e students.
WORDS OF WISDOM.
Of all our infirmities, vanity is the
dearest to us: a man will starve his other
vices to keep that alive.
One* of the saddest things about human
nature is. that a man may "uide others in
the path of life without walking in it
himself: that he may be a pilot and yet
a castaway.
Whenever you commend,add your rea
sons for doing so: it is this which dis
tinguishes the approbation of a man of
sense from the flattery of sycophants,aud
admiration of fools.
One breach of faith will always he re
membered. no matter how loyal your sub
sequent life may be. People may imagine
that they trust you, yet all the time they
have an eye on the former break.
An old man who has lived in the exer
cise of virtue, looking back without a
blush on his past days and pointing to
that better stifle where alone he can be
perfectly rewarded, is a figure the most
venerable that can xvell he imagined.
Don't think that one part of your life
is important and another unimportant;
that one part of your life must be well
done, xvhile another part is slighted.
Every moment, at xvork, at play,demands
the best there is in you. Live full, true,
honest lives.
Hoxv little is known of what is in the
bosom of those around us! We might
explain many a coldness could xve look
into the heart concealed from us; we
should often pity where xve curl the lip
xvith scorn and indignation. To judge
without reserve of any human action is a
culpable temerity—of all our sins the
most unfeeing and frequent.
Few people knoxv hoxv to look or how
to listen. The eye and ear need training
to distinguish what may be seen and
to appreciate what may be heard. The
attention needs to be aroused and fixed,
the power of concentration needs to be
exercised, the flagging interest needs to
be stimulated, in order that' even tolera
bly correct impressions should b_* made
upon the brain.
How Rachel came to Marry Jacob.
This true story comes from an old sea
board town in Alaine:
Jacob loved Rachel, but Rachel
wouldn’t have him. Jacob labored on,
pressing his suit at intervals, and after
each rebuff telling her he xvas bound to
xvin her yet, and convince every one she
cared for him as much as he believed in
his heart she did.
“Very xvell,” cried the indignant Ra
chel. xvith a toss of her head, “keep right
on till you make folks believe that, and
xvhen you do I’ll marry you!”
Jacob did persevere, but xvith small
success, and at last began to lose cour
age. About this time another suitor of
Rachel’s arrived home from sea, bringing
with him, among other exotics, a parrot
of gorgeous hue which he presented to
Rachel, who forthwith had the bird sus
pended from the sitting room window,
whence she lo ked out afternoons when
her work was done. For a day or two
after his elevation to this dignity the
parrot remained marvelously quiet, only
casting an eye about as if taking in his
new situation. On the third morning,
however, no sooner did the neighbors
begin to stir than he electrified each
passer-by xvith the announcement:
“Rachel’s gone on Jacob; no chance
for John!”
Of course, the more laughter this
raised the more vociferously the bird
proclaimed the news. It spread like
wildfire, and the parrot’s audience stead
ily increased. Rachel, meanwhile, went
into hysterics, but however much this
incommoded the family it made no im
pression on the parrot, who, although
threatened and hepten and relegated to
darkness, waxed more and more furious
with desire to spread his knowledge.
Jacob kept out of the waj l for a while,
1 but there was no lack of couriers to
bring him information of the other fel
low’s discomfiture and the parrot’s he
roic defence of his cause. At last Rach
el’s father appeared, wearing on his
weather-beaten face an odd mixture of
frown aud grin.
“Look a-here,” he said, “between
that bird’s screechin’ an’ folks a cacklin’,
that gal’s a’most out o’ her head. There’s
nothin’ for you to do but go over there
and try to fix up thing? as well's ye can.
I guess most likely she ll see ye —I do’
no, folks can’t always tell.”
The upshot was Rachel married Jacob
who sticks to it that it was the penetre
trative wisdom of his rival's parrot that
did the business, and denies to this day
all knoxvledge of the way the parrot
came by his speech. —Bouton Record
Interesting Autographs.
“Carp” makes up a reliable letter from
Washington to the Cleveland Leader by
devoting it largely to extracts from the
autograph album of Airs. Ogle Tayloe,
for years one of the mod n fled society
ladies at the capital and the confidant
and friend of more than one generation
of great men. Here are the productions
of some famous people:
BY GEN. SCOTT.
A distinguished fair, with prudential care,
To xvrest a friend from ruthless Time,
Has assigned a place his poor hand to trace
In heaxw prose or trifling rhyme.
Thus, tho’ the record of his sheathed sword
Soon should jierish or be forgot,
This protective page shall outlive the age.
And sax-e the name of Winfield Scott.
January, 1829.
BY FITZ-GREEN HALLECK, THE POET.
Let names of xvarriors and of sages
On history’s leaf eternal he:
A fexv brief years on b. auty's pages
Are worth their immortality.
This x-olunie of the heart permit? me
To brax'e oblivion’s withering power,
Till she, whose name it bears, forgets me—
And what were fame beyond that hour?
Fitz-Greene Halleck.
New York, Nov*. 24,1828.
BY PRESIDENT JACKSON.
Let wisdom all my actions guide,
And let my God with me reside,
No wicked thing shall dwell with me,
Which may provoke thy jealcusy.
June, 1830. Andrew Jackson.
BY CHIEF JUSTICE MARSHALL.
Dear Madaxi—l am too much flattered by
your request, aud feel too strongly the im
pression male xvhile I had the pleasure to be
received as a friend of Colonel Tayloe not to
comply xvith it.
Whatever cause may restrin me from at
tempting to furnish anything worthy of a
place in your alb m,nothing can prevent my
assuring you that I am, w ith great and re
spectful regard and esteem, your obedident
servant, J. Marshall.
February, 1829.
BY WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT, THE HISTORIAN.
To take the pen when there is naught to tell—
No deeds of human gloiy—
Would prove me recreant to the muse I serve,
The muse of history.
Yet if I venture with a han-i so rash
To stain the page of beauty,
’Tis thou commandest, and I thus obey—
To obey is but my duty.
William H. Prescott.
Washington, April 4, 1840.
BY DANIEL WEBSTER.
My Dear Madame:—l comply xvith your
request and return your volume with a name
which. I cannot hax'e the vanity to believe,
will ill ih .- slightest degree enhance its value.
I am. xvith regaid, your most obedient ser
vant. Daniel Webster.
Mrs. J. M. D. Tayloe
THK
GEM DRUG STORE
Desires to inform the public that it is still keeping a large, nicely assorted stock or
Drugs, Perfumery, Patent Medicines, Soap, Hair Brushes, Combs,,
Face Powders,
and everything else usually kept iu a well arranged DRUG STORK Also
the most complete line of
STATIONERY AND VISITING CARDS
both plain and fancy, combining the latest styles in the city,
OUR PRESCRIPTION DEPARTMENT
is as heretofore under the charge of
JVUR,. C 3-. JVC. ROCKWELL,
Which is sufiicientguaranteo of neatness and care being exercised in that lin*.
Call and see them.
THURMAN & MURPHEY, Proprietors,
Open Sunday from 8 to 10 a. in.
WE HAVE ON HAND
For Sale, at Popular Prices, Ready to Ship!
2 New 12 H, P. Return Tubular Boilers
1 “ 20 “ “ “
1 “ 25 “ “ “
1 “ 50 “ “ “
1 2J-liand 15 H. P. “ “ “
I “ 10 “ Upright Engine.
1 0 “
1 << 4 “ “ “
ALSO
A Full Line of Engine Trimmings, Wrought Iron Pipe, Pipe Fittings, Bras#
Valves, Lubricators, Saws, Belting, Emery Wheels, etc., etc.
ALL KINDS CASTINGS AND MACHINERY MANUFACTURED.
And special attention paid to REPAIRS OF MACHINERY. “Hancock’s In
spirators and North American Injectors” are the best Boiler Feeders on the market.
We are General Agents for their sale.
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fHE FARMER’S KEY TO SUCCESS
Farmers say it is just xvhat they ha\ - e been looking for ex’er since the war.
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It will make good corn meal when you can’t do any better. By its use the farms*
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SEND FOR CIRCULARS, giving full particulars; also state if you xvonld lik#-
rirculars of the DeLoach WATER WHEEL, Portable Mills, etc. 4Ve sell Portable
Mills as low as $80; guaranteed to make good meal.
A. A. DeLOACH & BRO.,
In writing mention this paper. ATLANTA, GEORGIA.
Engines, Saw Mills, Cotton Gins, etc., at loxv prices, especiallly Engine**
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OF
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The Strongest and Most Reliable in the World!/
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INCREASE OF SURPLUS IN 1885 3,378,022.03
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This company issues Polices upon all the various Plans with Tontines 10, 15 and
vears including the Unrestricted Tontine, upon the best terms of any first class company*]
H. HORNE,
Agent at Macon, Georgia.
CHAS. J. WILLIAMSON,
feblG Soliciting Agent, Proctor House, Forsyth, Ga.
—■l———■.
Empire
Drop
Wheel
Planter.
E. M. DREWPcY, Griffin, Ga.
Opposite D. W. Patterson.
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M. L. MUNGER, '
DEALER IN
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ft WBciisiio Piano ai Orp ins ii lb SMt
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A large and complete stock of Instruments of all styles constantly on hand, at very
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It is folly to pay high prices for Inferior Instruments when you can get the VERY
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Correspondence solicited.
Cail at Masonic Temple, I*6 Mulberry street, or address
M. L. MUNGER, Macon, Ga.
1 60 H. P. Automatic Engine.
112 “ “ “ on Loco
motive Boiler.
112 “ Center Crank on Loco. Boiler
112 “ Stationary Engine.
120 “
2 0 Portable “ on wheels
16 “2d hand Portable