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Glay County Reformer S. H. WEAVER, Editor. VOLUME I. THE RAILROADS. GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP NO NEW IDEA AND ENTIRELY PRACTICAL. Kxtrnrt from n of W. N. Morgan at Medical Springs, Arkansas, in Ile fainn of tlio Omaha Platform. 'J he People’s party is in favor of government ownership of railways. As there wero no great corporate rail¬ way systems in Jefferson's day, we can only surmise what stand he would have taken if he hud lived in a rail¬ way age. On this question our plat¬ form dec! a res as follows: We believe that the time has come when the railroad corporations will either own the people or the people must own Ihe railroads; and should the government enter upon the work of owning and managing any or all railroads, wo should favor an amend¬ ment to the constitution by which all (ter&ons engaged in I lie government service shall be placed under a civil service regulation of the most rigid character, so as to prevent the in¬ crease of the power of tho national administration by the use of such ad¬ ditional government employes. Transportation being a means of ex¬ change, uud a public necessity, the government should own and operate ♦ he railroads in the interest of the people. We are aware that in the treatment of this subject we are treading on grounds that are hotly contested. We have no hesitation in approaching it. We have never yet met any one who opposed it that had ever made any in¬ vestigation of the subject. Many peo¬ ple are foolish enough to believe that government ownership is a new fantastical idea that originated within tho chimerical brain of some crazy Populist The idea of government ownership is as old as the invention of railroads. Among the governments now owning and operating their own lines, together with the number of miles they are operating, are the fol¬ lowing: No. of Miles. Germany......... .28.283 Austria Hungary 7,800 Belgium.......... 8,000 Italy............. 8,110 Portugal......... (MX) Denmark......... WM Norway.......... 7(H) Ronntesia........ 1,000 Russia............ British India..... .. 8,4211 Japan.... • • • .. 710 Egypt.... .. 1 , 2(0 The Cnpe Colony. .. 1,074 Port Natal........ .. 800 New (South Wales Ot Victoria*......... 01 Tasmania......... 1 .lb 0 New Zealand..... 824 Booth Australia.. 752 Queensland....... J* West Australia... 41)0 Chili.............. 682 Argentine........ 1.817 Brazil............ 1,200 The above figures are taken from the statistical reports ranging from the year 1988 to 1892. In addition to these the Dominion of Canada owns ami operates four railways, the cost of which up to Juno 30, 1890, was ¥.V2,- 800,OOA Besides this the government exercises the strictest control over the roads owned by corporations. In South America most of the gov¬ ernments own and operate a portion of all of their railroads. The republic of Ecuador, iu 1889, owned and oper¬ ated most of her railroads. The total number of miles operated in Chili, in 1887, was 1,674, of which 082 were owned by the state. The Argentine Republic, in 1887, owned and operated 1,148 miles of railroad; Buenos Ayres, 572, and the province of Santa Fe, 102 miles. Brazil owns nnd operates 1,200 miles of railroad, which yields a net income of 3 pet cent on the capital in¬ vested. Germany, perhaps, owns and operates more miles of railroad than any other nation. The total number of miles in operation in that country, in 1891, was 43,000 kilometers, or nearly 27,000 milea Of these roads the government owned and operated 38,250 kilometers, or more than 23,000 milea The Annual of 1889 contains the statement that the roads had turned into the public treasury 1 006.- 262,000 marks, or about 5230,000.000, with which about 4,000 miles of new roads had been constructed, with quite a good sum left unexpended. Kx-Gov. William Larrabee in his ex¬ cellent work, “The Railroad Ques¬ tion.” from which we have quoted largely, says: No one can contradict the follow¬ ing facts, viz.: That the average cost of European roads is much greater than that of American roads; that the number of railroad employes per mile Is much greater than here; that much •’•os are expended for repair¬ ing and improving the roads, and that, therefore, the lives of passengers are much safer in Europe than in America, and that the average speed and corresponding accommodations of European trains, and especially those of England, France and Austro-Hun gmry, compare quite favorably with the average speed and corresoondiug accommodations of our roads It is, under the circumstances, absurd to claim that the higher prices charged by American roads are due to the greater cost of service. Gov. Larrabee quotes from Arthur T. Hadley, “Railroad Transportation. Its History and Its Law*,'.’ this stubs* *' ■ meat The importance of the zone system in Austria and Hungary lies in the fact that its adoption was accom¬ panied by a greater reduction in rates. The unit rate for s ow third-class trains, which have previously been nearly 1 x 4 cents per mile, was re duced to less than 1 cent Speaking of the effect of this reduc¬ tion of rates, Mr. Larrabee says: The zone system recently adopted in Hungary reduced both the passen¬ ger and freight rates of the govern¬ ment roads at least one-third, and this reduction has, contrary to expecta tion, greatly increased their net reve¬ nues. In summarizing the results of government ownership in European countries, Mr. Larrabee says: For the past fifteen years there has been a decided drift on the European continent toward state ownership of railroads. The principle upon which the de¬ mand for government ownership rests, s that railroads are public highways, necessary to the public welfare and convenience, the same as our public roads and water ways, and as forming too important a factor in the com merce and exchange of the country to be left to the whims and caprices of individuals. HUY ISO TUK KAII.UO ADS. It is amusing to see our friends, the enemy, construct straw houses, and then proceed to demoli' , h them. It is inore like the action of school boys madly charging the mullen stock Ilian anything else, except the mullen stock is a more tangible object Ilian our opponents usually conjure up in tlieir imagination. These elegant gentlemen, the squir rel-tailed politicians, who are so de voted to the dear people’s interests as to be willing to make tho great sacn iicc of accepting an office at salaries ranging from ¥500 to 5¥,000 a year, take peculiar delight in supposing. In their fertile imaginations they supposo a plan, charge it up to the l’opulists, and then jump onto it and demolish it. Of course they take great care to suppose a plan that is weak enough in its structure for them to demolish. iSotne of these conjurations are as silly as the supposition that we are in favor of shoeing the horses’ tails. The People's party declares in favor of government ownership of railroads and telegraph lines. But nowhere in its platform does it indicate a plan to secure this end. If our opponents are disposed to act fair why not concede that we favor some practical plan for carrying out our declaration? Why charge that we are in favor of pur¬ chasing all the railroads at once at their capitalized value, including the watered stock, and issuing bonds for the amount and taxing the people to pay the bonds? No Populist has ever proposed any such thing, There is no necessity for doing any such tiling. The rail roads could be bought and paid for within twenty years out of their net earning and savings with¬ out taxing the people one cent, or iu creasing the present rates of freight and passenger tariff. But the people are already taxed on every dollar of capital represented by railroad bonds and stocks to the extent of ¥10,000, 000,000. They, are taxed in tho freight nnd passenger rates which they have to paj’ the railroad companies. What the People’s party desires is that the money which now goes to pay divi¬ dends on stock and interest on bonds, shall go toward purchasing the rail¬ roads and eventually owning and operating them at greatly reduced rates. In an able and well written article in the Arena, Mr. Q Wood Davis, a practical railroad man and | reliable statistician, figures the actual savings by government ownership of railroads as follows: Savings from consolidations of depots nnd staffs.............. $ 20.0Cki.000 Savings from exclusive use of shortest routes................ 25,000.000 : .Savings iu attorney's salaries aud legal expenses............ 12.000.000 Savings from abrogation of the pass evil...................... 80,000,000 Savings from abrogation of com¬ mission system................ 20 . 000.000 Savings from dispensing with high-priced officers and staffs. 4,000,000 Savings by disbanding traffic associations................... 4.000,000 Savings by dispensing with presidents, etc................ 25,600,000 Savings by abolishing jail but local) officers, solicitors, etc... 15,000,000 Total 51f4).000.000 In addition to this there would be saved: The annual political corruption fund ...5 »),000.000 Secret rebates to directors, etc.. who compose various trusts and combinations...;......... 50.000.000 All dividends and surplus....... 134,000.000 Total ............. $214,000,000 Add Mr. Davis’ figures 160.000.000 Total $874,000,000 Suppose that the government should purchase the railroads at their actual cost and issue bonds bearing 2 per cent interest per annum. The best authorities concede that at least one half of the present capitalization of the roads is water. But.we will allow them to be valued at $6,-too, 000,00a The annual interest charge on this sum for the first year would be $120, 000,00a We have already figured the net savings and dividends from the roads at $374,000.000. Deduct the in¬ terest on bonds from this amount aud it leaves $2.34,000,000 to go into a sink¬ ing fund to pay the bonded indebted* ness. The iaterfwt would frow less “The Voice of the is the Voice of God. * FORT GAINES, GA • * FRIDAY OCTOBER 12 1S1>4. m coo oiouAo . ■* ^ F—-= =$ c •nj illilnH A i——— a 7 (lAK £ 7 - a 7m m . • j *1 m l 1 > I* \ * *■ •h / 'l a K k u w ■ 5f .j N GROVER^ nrii 1 \ 1 ici .c m -JPkttj: t i;ir- c 0 a n Of AI Hr Wm ' A yr/f' /Af I rL&ffini A s&. mi V* : v •*< «,1 M ^sss H t Mt mb h /fti v IP • \,\A *"» / it I ■ V#M. n , t »• itt / h. f'l.VAA 9 1 V’t c -Jj,. n s / CONSTITUTION ^■V'T’v.v ' ,yu I? aV> , Sf ne National Rotorm Press Associatioe (AAA, GROVER AND HIS FRIENDS. each year as the principal was being paid and within twenty years the en tire debt will have been discharged and not a dollar of paper money issued for the purpose, and not a cent m taxes collected from the people, other than that which they now pay and which sgoes into the pockets of rich railroad magnates. The question is not whether the people will assume the burden of debt—it is already on them—but whether they will make provisions to get from un¬ der it, and in the future lower the rates of transportation to less than half what they are now. AS MEANS OF CORRUPTION. It is claimed that if the government was to assume the ownership and operation of the railroads that it would constitute such an army of men dependent on political patronage and the caprices of whatever party that might be in power, that it would constitute a menacing .dange” io our liberties and a fruitful source of political corruption. Under our present defective sj'stem of civil service, where the principle laid dow n is “to the victor belongs the spoils,” and it is a wild rush for the hog trough to see who will get the most swill, I admit the weight of this olA jection. But the People's party has provided for this It recommends in its platform an amendment to the constitution by which all persons en¬ gaged in the public service shall be placed under civil service regulations of the most rigid character. It might be well to adopt the regulations em¬ ployed in the regular army, permit¬ ting no one to vote or to be a dele¬ gate in a political convention while thus in the employ of the govern¬ ment So far as corruption is con¬ cerned no sane man believes there would be one-fourth as much as now’. It is an open secret that railroad cor¬ porations control courts, conventions and national and state legislatures. Well might Senator l’feffer make use of the following language: “The railroad interest is a powerful one. It extends throughout the en¬ tire country. There is hardly a county in the Union that has not one or more railway lines running through it, and there is not a mile of that vast sys¬ tem that is not represented locally’ by at least cne of the best lawyers to be found in the region, “If all the lawyers who are in the employ or retained in the interest of the one great railway system in the country were marshaled together they would form an army as large as Gen. Jackson had at New Orleans, larger than Gen. Scott had at Lundy’s Lane. you put together the different armies made up of lawyers repi-esent i D g. ^j le different great railway sys¬ tems of the country you will find that the influence of the railway system reaches but into every county in the United States” In a recent investigation of the af¬ fairs of the Santa Fe railroad, it was found that $7,000,000 was charged as having been paid back in rebates to unsatisfactorily accounted for that it was no doubt stolen by the officers of the road. It seems to have become a well-settled fact that the railroad companies violate the laws with im¬ punity, and their influence has be come so powerful that they are be yond control through the ordinary course of law. That they have been tlie m< >st fruitful source of political corruption let the history of the land grants, subsidies of bonds, control of courts and legislatures testify. In deed this is one of the very best rea sons why the government should own and operate the ro%ls as it does the postal system The railroad corporations seem de¬ termined that their employes shall “keep off the political grass.” It was all right as long as it was in either of the old parties, but when they began to join the Populists, oh dear! The sea of harmony on which the democratic party thought it had em¬ barked is becoming very boisterou*,. All the honest democrats are not dead yet; neither do they all want offic bad enough to stf$} and lif for it MR, MORELAND RECEIVES A LETTER FROM HIS SON IN KANSAS. Wheat Crop Good, Hut l’riees Very Had— Faring Bankruptcy. Dkak Father:— Your welcome let ter received, and I am glad to know you are all in health. I am hearty and strong and so are my family, a blessing from God to us. 1 shudder when I think what would become of my wife and children if I should be called away. It is true they have loving relatives who would share life’s last crust with th m, and that I also carry a sm ill insurance on my life in the Alliance Aid, but that would soon bo exhausted. If our price was paid for it would help awhile, but as times are I look upon it as only a question of time when the big fish will eat us all up and reduce us to utter dependency upon very meager wages for the commonest liv ing. I am sorry to feel so. I used to look on the bright side of life and was full of hope and energy. How happy 1 was and lion full of hope when I left your roof sixteen years ago to acquire a home in th s rich country, having your and mother’s blessing upon me and my bride Dear mother! I shall never see her face in life. Our wheat crop is excellent I think I shall get twenty if not twenty five bushels per acre, and I have sixty acres in wheat, but prices are very low, wheat only 45 cents and 1 am afraid it. will go lower, but whatever tt brings, after the expense of harvesting is paid, the balance is ours. I have no bills to pay, having “traded and trafficked” around so as to pay all my expen-es, and Tomy, my son, now in bis fourteenth year, has been a great help to me. Child as he is, lie appreciates the situation, and we are determined to pay our in deebtedness off and be free, so we can meet the struggle before us under a roof free from debt. Little as our debt is compared with the value or what was the value of the place when there was sale for land, w’e would hav>> lost it had it not been for your timely help. I have forty acres in corn and it is good, 15 acres in grass and five acres in sorghum and other crops, 120 in all. I have seventeen head of good nogs, so I think I shall be able to pay you and have enough for another winter, for which I am thankful to my Crea¬ tor, Dear father, I have told you more than I ever thought to tell. It relieves me of a burden to unbosom myself to you, who from my earliest recollections, always rejoiced with me in my pleasure, and sympathized with me in my sorrows. Now, with all which we a few years ago would have called good prospects, I feel like I was facing bankruptcy, Indeed Ido. My children must beedn cated. “Sarah and I do all that we can. De take magazines and five papers, and interest them in good reading; but we are overworked, and Tommy and Grace have too many cares for children. My home must be en¬ larged and repaired, and much of my fences will have to be looked after, Our clothing is like Joseph’s coat, and while goods are cheaper than ever known, the money to buy with is also harder to get, and the certainty that we can get no relief under Cleveland, and may be not from the next, makes me feel like you, “panickv.” The railroad management is our worst enemy, because they are the great backbone of the money system. All the railroads have some particular bank to deposit in of which the roads’ chief officials are the owners or large stockholders. They are always frem one to three months behind with the pay, and the immense earnings of the roads give the bank or banks ample capital to loan to the public. For ex¬ ample, take a road that earns $1,000, 000 a month; they pay this month the expanses of last month- None of • • *■ i > * *. . Jr * them do better than that. This gives them ¥1,000,000 always to use that really belongs to their employes. Then if they are short they pass that month until next, and perhaps pay two months together. Now* this ¥1, 000,000 a month at 10 per cent is ¥100,000 a year; and if they run it two months behind it is §200, 000 per y ear > that the railroad officials can, and usually do get, that in jus¬ tice should go to the employes. Re¬ member that all roads, telegraphs and other semi-p iblic utilities do this, and when we see that the railroad earn¬ ings are ¥1,220,000,000 at 6.per cent, it is ¥73,200,000 per year, Is it any won¬ der that our railroad officials soon get to be millionaires. I am of the opinion that it would be best to build new roads, on certain lines, or to select certain routes, have fair estimates made and offer the roads that amount in greenback money, and no piece of money over ¥100 in value. Make the rates so as to pay at least 20 per cent, this wou d allow a reduction of at least two-fi fths to oue-haH of pru.ent ratw Keep < n buxldingf and bttying- until the public system is complete. In this way the expenditure j-i of f not more than $1,000,- „ 000,000 of original outlay would, in twenty years or les 11 . provide the United States with 150,000 to 200,00 miles of railroads. Your mention of vi. belt toads „„ , , .s . good v and should , , be the ,, first constructed. The present proposition to take the Pacific roads is a steal, for the roads could be con structed for half what the govern ment would have to pay on the first mortgage bonds, which our ever memo: able , , ,, n Credit Mobilier” .... ., congress granted. The loan is a total loss. Why try to deceive the people any longer? If they would condemn the roads for national use and pay what it would cost to build them now and let the bondholders do what they please with the money, that would be the correct thing to do. It is really all that can be done, unless they would act on Gov. Pattison’s report and recommendation, take them for what they now owe. This would be right. I am so glad the Populists have you approval, and I expect it is well that you, as we say here, saw wood and vote as you think best. As you would be called crazy, and it would cause more or less prejudice against you to openly espouse our cause. It is al¬ ways so in the country and small to vns, and yet the country is where our strength is Uncle Henry is well fixed and living in the city, they chide him good naturedly, and it is all right, but when they get to throwing rotten eggs at our speakers it shows they have no argument to meet us with, and like the Chinese, resort to “stink pots,” and really for the time being it | is a knock-out argument. We must have government railroads and government greenback money, or { we are lost The usury of transnor tation money and land has eaten up millions of homes and will certainly get our children if we should escape Best love to yourself and brothers and sisters, your son | J. IL Moreland. IVhat Gov. Seymour Did. In this day of railroad strikes it will he of interest to read the manner id which Gov. Seymour of New York settled a railroad strike in that state. Tlieafollowing tells the story: “When Horatio Seymour was gov ernor of New York state, a striae oc¬ curred od the New York Central rail¬ way. The road was tied up and business was suffering Seymour was equal to the emergency. He sent for the officials and said to them: ‘Gentle¬ men, this road was chartered to do the brsiness of a common carrier for the benefit of the people of the state. I will give you just twenty hours to settle this strike and resume busi¬ ness, or I shall seize the road and operate it in the interest of the state. In less than the stated time the of ficials had made terms with the strikers and business was resumed ’’—Spirit of Reform, Belmont, N. Y, " ONE DOLLAR PER YEAR. REV. DR. TALMAGE. rHH BBOOKLYN DIYmK»S ___ SUN DAY 8KRMOY. Subject: “Hitdasssali.*' _ Text And he brought up ifadaSSah,” Esther if., 7. A beautiful child was born In the canifn ofTersin. She was an orphan and frnmth«^ a canHve her par-nfs having been s(o’en Israelitish home and carried to qhnahun had die >. leaving their daughter poor and in a strange land. Rut an Israelite who had been carried into the same captivity was at irnoted by the ense of the orphan. H« edu ented her in his holy religion, and under the roof of that good man this adopted child be gan to develop a sweetness and excellency of character, if ever equaled, certainly never surpassed. Beautiful Hadnssah' ' Could that adopted father ever spare her trom his household? Her nrtlessness, her girlish sports, her innocence, her orphanage, had wound themselves thoroughly around Ills heart, just as around each parent’s heart iv,rmg us there are tendrils climbing and fastening and blossoming and growing stronger. I expect he was like others who have loved ones at home—wondering sometimes if sickness will come and death and bereave ment. Alas, worse than anything that the '’ x P 0<, ts happens 1° his adoptod child? , pr !“ tfl< e0 D'’ [utrest scoundrelI, demands \ one in all the U ?! wife. Worse thnn ‘A. was marriage i losuch a monster of in f - * How great the change when this woman leffthc home where God was . tped nnd religion honored to enter a i; ; U V ,, rr 0tP r°J > r ,,lf :- kkdatrynndsonsu ) As a lamb to the slaughter!” . ' T„?J' ? : ‘ SUf ' r At l ’r., the n T instigation ’ lot t,mt of his the wifo infamous was a ' ‘ prime minister . the king decreed that all the 10 an< * s hould be slain. Hadnssah cause of her people, breaking . r ugh the rules of the court nnd present mg herself in tho very face of death, crying, I perish I perish:” Oh. it was a sad tune among that enslaved peoplo ! They had a n hoard the decree concerning their death, . rrow, gaunt and ghastlv, sat in thousands tiBxi in" ‘ in>l 1)111 pen9h " in the •™l .Ith^sh for tho he could nifrcUohr,?;: crce slaying ol tho .Tows he sent forth an for°dpfensp*^ On''l-nraoK 1 ' 1 L. arm °? thoai9e,veH mUC if’*K U dromedaries li'.nrint S ,,< 1 throug.i 1 , the 1 'in(1 J dispatches, v and a shout of iov went i.!Tr.A fr m tllnt ea9 J av ® < J Dconle nMhe r 0f f 9 : ,C Ce8S 1 doub not ot muni n u - a rusty nw h blade . was taken , down :, and sharpened. Unbearded youths grew stout as giants at the thought of defending mothers ! ^ sp< w ati o n strun k U P *'ownrd3 isav^sjjassajsa; into herons f impatient for them to strike the blow in be¬ half of household and country. The day of execution dawned. Govern jbra taftmufe shout oTtlie*oppre^ed people.' : The cry of defeat rang back to the palaces, 1 j the triumph of tho delivered .Tows, and their i < npPlus ' as ,m was as when the highlanders i came to tho relief of Lucknow, and the Eng j ]ish army, which stood iu tho very jaws of j death, at tho sudden hope of assistance and rescue lifted tho shout above belching can¬ non and tho death groan of hosts, crying . “We are saved ! We are saved !’’ I My subject affords me opportunity of il . lust rating what Christian character maybe j under the greatest disadvantage. There is 1 no Christian now exactly what he wants to ^ our standard is much higher than any¬ thing you have attained unto. If there be any man so puffed up as to bo thoroughly ! satisfied with the amount of excellency he has already attained, I have nothing to say to such a one, but to those who are dissatis ■ fled with past attainments, who are toiling j u Q,p3r disadvantages which are keeping them , from being what they ought to be, I | ' ha labor ve a under message difficulties. from God. Thero You is each something of you in your temperament, in your worldly cir¬ cumstances, in your calling, tiiat acts pow¬ erfully against you. Admitting all this, I introduce to you Hadassah of the text, a noble Christian notwithstanding the most gigantic difficulties. She whom j’ou might have expected to be one of the worst of wo men is one of the best. In the first place, our subject is an illus¬ tration of wliat Christian character maybe under orphanage This Bible line tells a Jong story anout Hadassah. “She had neither father nor mother.” A nobleman become her guardian, but there is no one who can take the place of a parent. Who so able at night to hear a child’s prayer, or at twilight to chide youthful wanderings, or to soothe youthful sorrows? An individual will go through life bearing the marks of orphan¬ age. It will require more strength, more persistence, more grace to make such a one the right kind of a Chhris'.inn. He who at forty years loses a parent must real under the blow. Even down to old age men are accustomed to rely upon the counsel or bo powerfully influenced by the advice of parents, if they are still alive. But how much greater the bereavement when it comes in early lilt*, before the character is self re unui, aim nunu uaiuinnj' iu« nttttri IS unso¬ phisticated and easily tempted ! And yet behold what a nobility of disposi¬ tion Hadassah exhibited! Though father mother were gone, grace had triumphed over all disadvantages. Her willingness to sol' sacrifice, her control over tho king, her her humility, her iaitbful worship oLGod. show to have been one of the be3t onhe world ’3 Christians. There are those who did not enjoy re¬ markable beautiful early privileges. Perhaps, like the captive of the text, you were an orphan. You had huge sorrows in your lit¬ tle heart. You sometimes wept in the night when you knew not what was the matter. You felt sad sometimes even on the play¬ ground. Your father or mother did not stand in the door to welcome you when you came home from a long journey. You still feel the effect of early disadvantages, and you have sometimes offered them as a reason for your not being «b thoroughly religious as you would like to be. But these excuses are not sufficient. God’s grace will triumph if you seek if. He knows what obstacles you have fought against, and the more trial the more help. After all, there are no orphans in the world, lor the great God istho Father of us all. Again, our subject is an illustration of what religion maj’ be under tne pressure of poverty. The captivity aud crushed condi¬ tion of this orphan girl and of the kind man who adopted her suggest a condition of poverty. poverty, Yet from the very first acquaint¬ ance we had with Hadnssah we find her the same happy an t contented Chri-ti3n. It was only bj' compulsion she was afterward taken into a sphere ol honor aud affluence. In the humble home of Mor.iecai. her adopted father, she was a light that il¬ lumined every privaticn. In some period in almost every man’s life there comes a season of straitened circumstances, when the severest calculation and most scraping subsist economy are necessary in order to ence and respectability, At the commence ment of business, at the entrance upon a profession, when iriends are .ew and the world is afraid ot you b-cause there is a possibility of failure, many of the noblest hearts have stiuggted against poverty and ar<- now struggling. of good To such I bear a message oaeer. You sav ir is a hard thina; for you to lie a Christian. This con-fanc auxiety. this un resting calculation, wear out the baoy.mcy of 3 ’tnir spirit, and altbour.i you have told perhaps no on* jibpui it cannot I tell Dial NUMBER 20 tM3 is the very trouble which keeps you from being what you ought to bo? You have j no time to think about laying up treasures in heaven when it is a matter of great doubt ' whether you will bo enabled to pay your next quarter’s rent. You cannot think of striving after a robe of righteousness until you can get means enough to buy an overcoat to keep out the cold. Yon want the bread of life, but Y°h-think you must get along without that until you can buy another barrel of flour for your wire and children. Sometime* you sit dead. j° w , a discouraged and almost wish you wero Again, our subject illustrates what religion mft Y hH under the temptation or personal at ,ra< d ,ve . ™ fle - TIl « inspire! record says of l he nP mv “She was fair and * ,wuitiru '. Her very name signified .“a myrtle - Yct lh * admiration and praise and o f the world did not blight her lm The simplicity of her manners and ,,,,l ' nvior equaled her extraordinary attrac tions - rt is the same divine goodness whioli l >u, sthe lingo on the rose’s cheek, and the w kitenaM . int0 the lily, nnd the glean on the waw< nn d that puis color in the check nnd p P ar ' <,wl utheoye,andrnaje8tyinthoforc anfl symmetry into the form, nnd k racef ulness into the gait, but many, through the very obarm of their personal appearance, have been destroyed. What simperings ineu, nnd affectations and import - ’es have often been the result oP that which God hn» sent ns a h’e«sing! .Taponicas, anomones and hel i of rope- never swagger at the beauty which God planted in their very leaf, sepal, !l *h nnd stamen. There are many flowers that bow down so modestlv vou cannot see the color in their cheek until you lift up tlieir head, putting your hand under their round chin. Indeed any kind of porsonal attractions, whether they bo those of the body, the mind or the heart, arbitrariness may become temptations to pride nnd and foolish assumption. The mythological story of a man who, seeing himself mirrorod in a stream, became so enamored of his nppear nnce that he died of the effects illustrates the fatalities under which thousands of both sexes hnvo fallen by tho view of (heir own superiority. Extraordinary capacities cause extraordinary temptations. Men who have good moral health down in the valley on the top of the mountain are seized of consump* tion, Monimia, the wife of Mithrldates, was strangled with her own diadem. White the most or us will not have tho same kind of temptation that Hadnssah must have felt sssss'ssii’sr.'s 11 oar- bo utility and earnestness of disposition to the SL^thSr viole” ‘ Tuev^l«rS.°“ r“t U a Again, ; our subject exhibits what religion ma > 1)0 under bad domestic influences. Hadnssah was snatched from the godly homo into which she had been adopted and introduced into the abominable associations of which Wicked Abasuems was the center, what Vnd a whirl centiousnSs! of hlnsnhomv and drunken ness “ 1 No aUar cap“?ve?iri no n , r no RabbaUi no God ! If this can be a Christian there, then it is possiblo * *»» Th «™« many of the best people of the worl I who are obliged to contend with the most adverse domestic influences, children who have grown up into the love of God under the frown of parents, and under the discourage¬ ment of bad example. Some sister of the familv subject having professed unbounded the faith of Jesus is the of satire inflicted by brothers and sis'ers. Yea, Hadassah wiis not tho only Christian who had a queer husband ! It is no easy matter to maintnin corroet Christian principles whon there is a companion disposed to scoff at them and to ascribe every imperfection of character to hypocrisy. Wliat a hard thing for one mem¬ ber of the family to rightly keep tho .Sabbath revelry, whoa others are inculcate disposed to make It a day-of or to children propriety of speech in the minds of when there are others to offset tho instructions by loose or profane utterances, or to be regularly In at¬ tendance upon church when there is more household work demanded for the Lord’s day than for any secular day. Do I speak to any laboring under these blighting disad¬ vantages? My subject is full of encourage¬ ment. Vast responsibilities rest upon you. Be faithful, though you stand as much alone ns did Lot in Sodom, or Jeremiah in Jerusalem, or Jonah in Nineveh, or Hadas¬ sah in the court of Ahosuerus. There are trees which grow the best when their roots clutch among the jagged rocks, and you ver¬ ily have but poor soil in which to develop, but grnce is a thorough husbandmnu and can raise a crop anywhere. Glassware is molded over the Are, and in the same way you are to be fitted as a vessel of mercy. The best timber must have on it saw and gouge and beetle. The foundation stone of yours and every other house eame out only under crowbar and blast. Files and wrenches and hammers belong to the church. The Chris¬ tian victory will be bright just in proportion as the battle is hot. Never despair being a thorough Christian in any Household which is not worse tliun the court of Ahasuerus. Finally our subject illustrates what re¬ ligion may be in high worldly position. The last we see in the Bible of Hadassah is that she has become the queen of Persia. Prepare now to see the departure of her humility and seif-sacriflce and religious principle. As she goes up you may expect grace to go down. It is easier to be humble in the obscure bouse of her adopted father than on a throne of dominion. But you misjudge this noble woman. What she was before she is now-~the myrtle. Applauded for her beauty and her crown, she forgets not the cause of her suffering peoplo, and with all simplicity of heart still remains a of the God of heaven ! Noble example lollowed only by a very few. I address some who, throughtho good¬ ness of God, have risen to positions of in¬ fluence in the community where j’ou live in law, In merchandise, in medicine, in me¬ chanics and in other useful occupations and professions. You hold an influence for good or for evil. Let us see whether, like Hadas sah, you can stand elevation. Have you as much simplicity of character as once you evidenced? Do you feel as much depend¬ ence upon God, as much your own weak¬ ness, as much your accountability for talents intrusted, or are you proud and overde mauding and ungrateful and unsympa¬ thetic and worldly and sensual and dev¬ ilish? Then you have been spoiled by your success, and you shall not sit on this throne with the heroine of my text. In the day when Hadassah saall come to the grander coronation, in the presence of Christ and the bannered hosts or the re¬ deemed, you will be poor indeed. Oh,there are thousands of men who can easily endure to be knocked down of misfortune who are utterly destroj-ed If lifted up of success. Satan tak^ them to the top of the uinuaole of the temple and shoves them off. Their head begins to 'whirl, and they lose their balance and down they go. While last autumn ail through the forests there were luxuriant trees, with moderate out branch and moderate height pretending but little, there were loliage shattsthat shot far up, looking down with contempt on the whole iorest. clapping their hand* in the breeze and shorn ing, “Aha, do you not wish you were as high up as we are?” But last w*-ek a blast let loose Iron the north cam* rushing along, and grappling the boasting oaks burled them to the ground, aud as they weut down an old tree tnat had been singing psalms with the thun¬ der a hundred summers cr.t I out. “Pride goeth be,ore distinction and a haugaty spirit be ore a fal 1 .” And humble hickory an.i pine aud chestnut that had never sail their yrav*-rs nctore l owed their be.ida ss much as to vty. ••Amen!' proud, My rieaue. -Goo I resist**» tue lut givetn grace to humble.” Take trom my subject -ucoti.-g^meat. Attempt the stjv.ceu v od w -atever your di-a lv intage?, auj wmtuwr our .«A kt seek to u grave w inch oiiUiiitie «J| t tie ^lettiiufs o. the px’. ncr> o gnush.n.. -hcbESE*®-. -me