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THE WEEKLY CONSTITUTION. ATLANTA. GA..~ TUESDAY MAY 12 1885.
7
TALMAGE’S SERMON-
FromtheTexts •'Wherefore OoUe WIe^s4I*l»^P ,
-TheLocg Buffering Patience of God-Wicked-
oeu to Come Down Into a Crash of BVor-
luting Kuln-Botae Illustrations,
Bsooklyx, H. Y., May 10.—[Special.] —Six
thousand people u usual thronged the pom,
the aisle#, the corridors and the adjoined par
lors of the immense audience room of the
Brooklyn tabernacle this morning. Dr. Tsl-
mege read passages of scripture in which good
and had character were set off in rivid con
trast and gave out the hymn:
“Arm of the Lord, awake, awake!
rut on thystrengtb, the nations shake!"
Tho subject discussed was: “Why does God
permit Satan and sm to exist when with one
blow Ho might annihilate them?" Tho text
wosJobxxi, 7: "Wherefore do the wicked
live?” Following is the sermon:
Foor Jobl with tusks, with stings, with
horns, with hoofs all the misfortunes of life
came on him at once. Bankruptcy, bereave-
monte, scandalixation, eruptive disease so irri
tating that he bad to reinforce his ten Anger
nails by a pieco of earthenware to scratch
himself withal. His wife took tho diagnosia
of his complaints and prescribed for him pro
fanity. Sno thought ho would foel better if
between the paroxysms of pain and grief
he would swear a little. Fur
each' boil a plaster of objurgation.
Frobably no man was over more tempted to
take this bad advice than Job when at last
his three exasperating friends, Eliphax, Bil-
dad and Zophar, came to comfort him, saying
in substance: "You old sinner, this serves
yen right. All this is because you are a hyp.
ocrito. What a sight you are I God has chas
tised you for your wickednoss.” Tho disfig
ured invalid lifts his swollen eyelids and puts
down the piece of brokon saucer with which
he had been rubbing his arms and tells his
garrulous croup of friends that it is often the
wicked who have the best health and the
most prosperity, and in this connection hurls
the question which ovory man and
woman that ever existed has
at somo conjuncture of events
asked, "why do tho wicked live?"
They build up fortunes that overshadow tho
earth and confound all the life insurance
tables on the subject of longevity, some of
them dying octogenarians or perhaps nonogo-
narians or possibly centenarians. Ahab in
the palace and Naboth in tho cabin. Unclean
llcrod on the throne and Paul, tho consecra
ted, twisting ropes for tent-making, Mauas-
seb, the worst of all the kings of Jude, lived
the longest. While the general rule is that
the wicked do not livo out half their days there
are instances where they live to great age in
paradises of beauty and luxury and die with
a wbolo college of physicians expending its
skill in the attempt for inrther prolongation
and then have a funeral with casket under
mountains of calls lily and a procession with
all the finest equipage of the city flashing and
jingling Into line, taking the poor angle-worm
of tho dust out to its holo in the ground with a
pomp that might mako tho passing spirit from
some other world think that the Archangel
Michael was dead. Go up among the great
residences of our cities and . read tho
door plates and seo how many ot thorn hold
the names of men mighty for commercial or
social Inequity. Vampires ol tho nineteenth
century! Gorgons ot tho ages! Every wheel
of their corrlsgo is a Juggernaut wet with the
blood of thoso sacrificed'to their avarico and
evil design. Men who are like Caligula, who
wished that all people wero In one nock that
he might cut it off at one blow. Oh, the
slain! the slain! What a procession of liber
tines, of usurers, of infamous quacks, of legal
charlatans, of world-grabbing monsters!
What apostles of dcshortattonl
What demons Incarnate I Thousands of men
who havo concentrated all their energies of
pocket. He winked and officials went down.
He lifted hts little finger and ignoramuses
took high place. Ho whispored and at Al
bany and Washington people said it thun
dered. Higher up and higher up, until Pan
demonium seemed about to adjourn to this
world, and thoro was some prospect that in
the Satanic realm thero would bo a change ot
administration, and that Apollyon, after hold
ing dominion so long, would have an earthly
competitor. To bring all to a climax, a wed
ding came in tho house of that man.
Diamonds as large as hickory nuts. A pin of
sixty diamonds,representingshoavesof wheat.
Musicians in a semi-circle, half hidden by a
S reat harp of flowers. Shins of flowers,
orty silver sets, one of them'with two hun
dred and forty-five pieces. One wedding
dress that cost five thousand dollars. A fa
mous libertine who owned several Dong Island
Sound steamboats, and not long bofore he was
shot for his crimes, sent as a wedding present
to that house a frosted silver iceburg with
representations of arctic bears walking on
icicle handles and ascending tho spoons.
Never such a convocation of bronzes, of pic
tures, of shawls. Tho highest ware of Now
York splendor rolled in upon tho scene and
recoiled, never ' again to rise
so high. But at the moment when all
observation of earth and hell was concentered
upon tho scene, eternal justice impersonated
in that wonder of the American bar, Charles
O’Conor, got on the track of the
offender, First arrest, then indictment,
then sentence of twelve years im
prisonment on twolro indictments, then
penitentiary on Blackwoll’s island; then suit
against him for six million dollars: then Lud
low street jail; then escape and flight in for
eign country; then return under tight grip of
the constabulary, and death firom a broken
heart in a prison cell. Allowed to go .on until
all the world learned as nover boforo that tho
way of the transgressor is hard, that dishon
esty does not pay a permanent dividend, that
a man bad better be an industrious chair
maker on day’s wages than a fraudulent com
missioner of publio works with all his pockets
crammed with plunder.
How proudly in history sounded the name
of William, the Conqueror. Intimidator of
Franco and Ar.icu aud Brittany, victor at
Hastings, snatching the English crown, driv
ing people from their homes that ho might
have a game forest, making a doomsday book
by which all the land was put under despotio
espionage, to avongc a joke at his obesity pro
claiming war, trampling harvest fields and
vineyards under cavalry hoof until nations
wero horror struck. But at that apex of re.
nown while he was riding ono day his horse
put his fora foot on a hot cinder and plungod,
wounding the rider against the pommel of the
saddlo so that he died, hit son hastening to
England to get tho crown before his father’s
breath ceased. The Imperial corpse, coffinlsss,
carried in a cart and most of the attendants
leaving it in the street at a fire alarm
that they might go and see tho-conflagratlon.
The burial in tho church built by tho conquer,
or Interrupted by somo one who oriel:
"Bishop, the man whom thou hast praised
was a robber; the very ground on which wo
are standing is mine, and is the site where my
father’s heuse stood. He took It from me by
violence to build this church upon it. I re
claim it as my right, and in the name ol God
I forbid you to bury him hero or cover him
with my glebe.” “Go up," said tho ambition
of William the Conqueror, “go up by way oi
a throne, go up by way of criminality, go up
by way or rovenge.’’,"Come down,’’.says God,
"Come down by tho way of a miserable death.
Come down by tho way of ignominious obse
quies. Come down in the sight of all nations.
Como clear down. Come forever down 1"
Eo, all around us, though on smaller scale,
tho wicked are allowed to livo so that their
body, mind and soul into ono prolonged and
ever-intensified and unrelenting effort to sac
rifice and blast and consume the world, I
do not blamo you for asking tho
quivering, throbbing, burning,
sounding, appalling question oi
text: "Why do tho wicked livo?"
First, they livo to demonstrate beyond con
troversy the long-suffering patience of God.
You route up and say, "I will not stand It
any longer, but perhaps you aro compelled
to stand it. God, with ail the batteries of om
nipotence, loaded with thunderbolts, stands it
century alter century. Sometimes I have no
doubt an angel comes up and begs that he
may unlimbor the batteries, crying: “Now is
the time to striko.” “No,” says God, “wait a
year,” “wait twenty years,” “wait a cen
tury," "wait fivo hundred years." What God
does is not so wonderful as what ho does not
do. He has enough reserve corps to sweep
from tho earth Mormonism, Mohammedan
ism, Paganism in ono day. He could take all
tho frauds of New York city on tho west sldo
of Broadway and in an hour pitch them
into tho Hudson, and all the frauds of
New York on tho east tide of
Broadway, and in an hour pitch them into
East river. Ho understands the combination
lock of every dishonest money safe in Christen
dom, and could blow it up quicker than by
any earthly explosive. Written all over the
earth, from east to west and from north to
south and all over history, aro the words Dl-
vino Patience, Divine Forbearance, Divino
Long Suffering. It is a wonder to mo that
God did not burn up tho world two thousand
years ago and scatter the ashes through im
mensity, its icrolites dropping into other
worlds and kept in their museums as speci
mens of a delunct planet. People talk of God as
though He were hasty with hts judgments and
snapped a man up quiek. No. Before the an
cient deluge, tho peoplo wero warned U0 years
to get aboard Noeih's ark. The Anehor line
gives only a month's notice of the sailing of
tho Circassia, the White Star line only a
month’s notice oi tho sailing of tho Britannic,
tho Cunard lino only a month’s notice ot the
sailing of the Oregon, but of the sailing of
that first ship under Noah, the commander,
God, gave one hundred and twenty years of
notice. Patience antediluvian. Patience
poat-dllnvian. Patience in timea Adamic,
Sfosaic, Davidic, Pauline, Lutheran, Whit-
fleldian. Patience with man. Patience with
nations. Patience with barbarisms and civ
ilisations. Six thousand years ol patience.
Over-towering attribute of a God all of whose
attributes are immeasurable.
Why do the tricked live: To make the over
throw of sin more climacteric. They must pile
up their mischief very high so that whole com
munities may tee it, very high to that alt con
tinents mey tee it, very high to that all the
world may tee it. The higher it rises the harder
it will fall and the greater the vindication
of righteousness. Bin is not to be permitted to
sneak out of the world in silence. It it not
merely to resign and quit. It it not a ease to
go by default because no one appears against
it. It is to be arraigned, handcuffed, put in
prisoner's box condemned by tho verdict of all
the good and gibbitted so high that it one foot
of the gibbet stood on Mount Washington and
the other en the nimalayabs it would not bo
any more conspicuous.
About fifteen yean ago we had an illnttri-
cus instance of bow God late a man go oa only
to make hie undoing the more impressive as a
moral lesson. First an honest chair-maker,
then aldermen, then member of eongrest,
then supervisor of the city, then school com
missioner, then state senator, then commis
sioner of the department of public works. On
and up, stealing thousands of dollars bereand
thousand cfdoliars there, swindling on the
largest scale of malfcasanee ever witnessed in
this country, so that the new city court house
of New York is a monument of municipal
crime, having cost mom than the capi
tal at Washington or the parliament house
of London, and running the city debt
from thirty-six millions of dolltxs to ninety-
seven millions. Now he steeds high np in
million airedom—country seats, terraced and
arbored, and parterred to the water’! brink;
horns enough to itock n king'! equerry;
grooms end postillions in fnU rig; wine cel
lars enough to raske whole legiilnioree drunk:
New York politics and finance in hie vest
overthrow may ho tho more impressive, mom-
orablo and climacteric.” And what I say of
sin may be eatd of Satan, ita author, some
times called Abaddon, the dragon, tho ser
pent, Apollyon, tho prince of tho powor of tho
air. That there ia a commandar-in-ohiof of
all evil no one doubts. Tho Persian! called
him Ahriman, tho Hindoos called him Siva.
In medieval times he was represented on
canvaa as mythological combination of Thor,
Cerberus. Fan, Vulcan and other horrible ad
denda. But, whatever you call him, this
monster is abroad, and only for dostrnc-
tlvo purposes. Although Milton
sometimes glorified him by splon.
dor of description, ho Is the concentra
tion of all meanness and despicablllly. ■ My
little child ol soven years asked her mother,
"Why docs not God kill tho devil at onco and
have done with it.” In loss terse phrase we
havo all asked tho samo question. It Is promised
that ho shall be put back Into tho pit nod
chained. Why not leave tho old mteoreant
Into hts den now? It would seom that ho has
doneonoughto clots up tho chapter of Infa
my. Hit work in tho lest halt century would
make an appropriate preroratlos. No; God
la going to let him get to the tip top of all en
deavor, and thca,whilo all tho earth and all tho
solar system and all constellations and gal
axies and the universe are watching, Hurl
him down with n violence and horror enough
to teach fivo hundred eternities that the most
scuto and prolonged and stupendous rebellion
against God and righteousness shall eomo
down into n crash of overlasting rain. God Is
not going to do It by peacemesl. Ho ia not
going to do it in small skirmish. Ho ia wait
ing till all tho lorcea are massed and somo day
when in confident and dafiant mood at tho
head ot hia army this groat Goliath of hell
stalks forth, our champion, tho son ol
David, will alriko him down,
not with smooth stones from
the brook hut with a tiagmont of the Bock of
Ages. Yet this will not bo dono until tbs
grsnt of evil and bis holy antagonist stand
lully within sight of tho two great armies of
heaven and hell. This tregedy only postpon
ed to make the scene more warningly and
tremendously climacteric. That Is tho reason
why God docs not kill the devil. It is not
qnlto time yet to kill him. Be patient. If
God can afford to wait you can afford to wait.
The clock of destiny strikes only onco in a
thousand years.
Sometimes God lets tho wicked live that
they may build that which righteousness may
appropriate for good uses. At tho last moot
ing of onr chnrcb court we were told of n col-
logs started at the far west by infidels. There
waa to bo in It no nonsense of chapel prayers,
and the obsolete Bible was not to bo found
there. The faculty wsa made up of the ene
mies of Christianity. The college buildings
were reared and work begun. But aueh an
institution could not prosper. A minister of
tho Preabytorian church was in n bank one
day on business, and ho overheard in an ad
joining room the college board ol trustees d s-
cussing what thoy had better do with their
college, as they could not mako it go any
longer. Ono of them laid: "Let us bind ft
over to tho Presbyterians,” prefacing the word
“Presbyterians’’ with a profane expletive.
The motion carried, and that college, built as
fortress of skepticism, has become a fortress
.J old-fashioned, orthodox religion. Tho devil
built It—righteousnesa captured it. So there
are in our citiea very expensive club-houses,
tho architecture and the furniture and all the
equipment a beJezrlementof wealth employed
in making gambling and jliilpallon re
spectable.
not. These building
ies of pure art.: Observatories have been putt
up at vast expense by monomaniacs oi athe
ism, and the first you know they are In pos
session ot Christian science. God said ha
would put a hook into the noao of Sennache
rib and turn him, and nil the modern Bon-
-xacteribi of infidelity and sin haven book in
their nose, and are turned this way and that
at the Lord wills it. Great marble halls, now
davoted to sinful amusemsnti, will yet ba
dedicated for religious auembltge. Alfthcie
castles of sin will surrender under tho battle-
cry with which Oliver Cromwell led hia army
on the field of Naseby: “Let God ariso,let His
enemies bo scattered 1’’ After tho great Lon
don fire there was found the ruins of a homo
with nothing atandteg but the areb, showing
the name of the architect who constructed it,
and on these great ruins
of humanity that astounded the world are
marked the name of the God who built them
and the blackening sins that consumed them.
Boat ct tho wont men God has harnessed for
special mission. Witness, Cyrus and Nebu
chadnezzar. 'With the bayonets of a bad man
tbo bastilo was pried open. Somo of tho most
iclfish ahd wicked merchants havo by their
talent opened now fields for lawful commorco.
God sometimes Iota tho wicked live that they
may be monuments of His mercy. It was so
with John Newton; it was so with John Bun-
yan; it was so with Augustin. Porhapa it
wee so with you and mo. Thoso ohieis or sin-
nera became chiefs ol grace. Paul tho apostle
mado out of Saul tho persecutor. Baxter, tbo
evangelist, made out of Baxter, tho blaspho
mcr. Wholo squadrons with streamer
of Emanuel flying from tho mast
head, though they wore launches
from tho dockyard! of diabolism. Ho lots
them live because ho Is going to mako jowols
out of thorn for coronets, tongues of fire out of
them for pchtecosts, warriors out of them for
Armageddon, conquerors out of them to rido
at tho head of tho While Horso Guards in tho
great review of tho last day.
God lota tho wicked livo that all may un
derstaud that there mult bo another world for
adjustments. So many of tho bad up and so
.many of the good down. Thoro must bo a
place where brilliant scoundrclism shall bo
arraigned and innoccnco arise from under tho
heel of oppression. Common fairness as well
as eternal justice demands it. To tho grand
assize wo must adjourn tho stupendous lujus-
tice of this flic. They aro not rightod hero,
there must be some place where they
will bo rightod. God cannot
afford to omit tho judg
ment day or reconstruction ol
conditions. You cannotmako mo beliovo that
that man, stuffed with abominations, having
devoured widows’ houses and digested them
and looked with basilisk or tigerish eyes on
his follows, liking no music so woll as tho
sound of breaking hearts, is going at death to
get out of his landau at tho front door of the
sepulchre and pass right through to tho back
door of tho sepulchre, and there got into a
celestial turnout, already hitched up te drivo
tandem up tho primresed hills, ono glory
riding as iaquey ahead, and another glory
riding as postillion behind, while that poor
womon who supported her invalid husband
and hslploia children by taking in washing
and ironing, often pulling her hand to her
sido where a cancerous trouble had already
begun its work, and falling dead late ono
night while trying to got one of tho children’s
garments ready for tho Sabbath day, and
going afoot into tho front door of the sepul
chre, is to cross to its back door and findir ~
notbing watting, no ono to say:
am glad you havo come,” and no ono to show
her tho way to tho king’s gate. It cannot
be. Solomon bemoaned the princes afoot and
tho beggars a-horseback and there must be a
timo when the right foot shall get into tho
stirrup.- To demonstrate to all tho world that
thero must bo another elate for rearranging
these inequalities, God lets tho wicked livo.
God lets tho wicked live for tho reison that
Ho has let us live—to give us timo for happi
ness. What would you and I have been it
God had followed sin with immediate catas
trophe? What a mercy that God has, accord
ing to tho canticles the fleet foot of tho roe
buck when He goes to save. IIo moves as
though grappled by great languor and infinite
lothargiea when lie cornea to punish. I cele
brate God’s adjournment and God’s post-
S onemrnts and God’a puttings off of rotribu-
on. Tho slower tho rail train moves the
better if the drawbridgo is off. Let our im
patient criticism of rrovldonee, because that
man by watering stock makes a million by
one swoop and koepa it, and these other mon
roll on in bloated arroganco all their days, be
exchanged for gratitude everlasting that G.vl
did let us live when wo desorved nothing but
capsizes tnd demolition. How long have you
lived unpardoned? Fifteen year*? Twonty
y ears ? Forty year* ? Sixty years ? You have liv
ed through greet religious awkoninga, through
domestic calamities, through business disaster,
through alarming illness, through provi
dences that startled nations and living yet
strangers to.God andjduty and with nojaopo for
a luturo into which any momont you may bo
precipitated. Through Jesus Christ, get
your nature revolutionized and transfigured,
lor God sometimes changee his gait an-1 in
stead of the deliberate step ho becomes a swift
witness and people in your stato may be sud
denly destroyed and without remody. Glvo
~ your war against God and havo Him you
irnal ally. When King Philip oi Franco
led hie army with bows andasrrows to fighl
King Edward III of England, at tbo
most critical time in tho battle a ahorrer of
rain so dissolved tho bowstrings that thoy
wero ol no effect and Philip’s army was
worsted. And, my hearers, ail your weaponry
will be at nothing when uod rains upon you
discomfiture out of tho heavens. But safe are
all those who havo God for frlond instead of
foe. The chariota of God are twenty thousand.
Chango allegiance I Tsko down the old flag
and run up the now ono I Tho American con
gress during tho timo of the American rovo*
ution wero for long days In anxioty
to know whether too army of
Washington or tho army of Cornwallis would
conquer, and when tho news finally arrived at
the aeor of congress that Cornwallis had sur
rendered und tho war was over, tho door-
kee par-dropped dead from joyful excitement.
Oh, if this moment the long conflict botween
your soul and God could terminate in your
•urrender, the glad tidings would soon roach
heaven tnd nothing but tho supernatural
health of your glorified lovod ones could keep
them from prostration from overjoy at tho
close of tbo spiritual hostilities.
TOPICS OF THE WEEK.
As a visit from tho Asiatic cholera Is expected
this summer, tho deadly epidemic now raging at
Plymouth, Fa., may well be regarded as a warning,
Tho pcstllenco at Plymouth has been carrying off
as many u seven victims a day, a fearful rate of
mortality for a village. In preparing for thoap*
proach of cholera wo mako a mistake in confining
sanitary precautions to largo cities. SmaU villa
ges aro Utftte to becomo cholera
breeders as well as tho largo
ters of population. In many villages tho wells
receive tho foul and poisonous drainage of
pools, stables, and pig pens. Every well should
be located where It will receive no baddrainago
and should bo cleaned at least onco a year. Every
cellar should be cleansed and whitewashed at least
once a Ecason, and aired freely every day. No
ponds oi stagnent waste water should bo allowed
to stand. The peoplo of Plymouth relied so
strongly upon tho well-known healthfulnem of
their town that they grew careless. As sson as
typhoid fever obtained a foothold it was too Into
to prevent Us spread. It ran through tho town
like wildfire and spread to the neighboring villa
ges. What has happened to ^Plymouth may be
fall any other community in the land where tho
same conditions prevail. One thing In addition
to general cleanliness is an absolute necessity In
tho country as well as In tho towns, and that Is
pure water, now to get and keep pure water is
the great sanitary problem ot the age.
Mgr. Capel. tho Catholio evangelist, who fluds
his work among cultured people, and who has had
extraordinary success In this field, has made samo
remarks In Nashville that havo stirred tho wrath
of the friends of Rev. Sam Jonea. It is even said
that Mgr. Capel has challenged Mr. Jonos to a
publio discussion, and that Mr. Jones witl accept.
The theological war between these distinguished
men will attract wide attention,
Olive Logan, who, by the way, makes the best
of correspondents, becauso shots more of a woman
than anything else, caught a glimpse, tho other
day, of a white-haired, crooked, dried up little
woman, In widow's weeds, sitting In a London
dry goods store. That ono glimpso was enough to
recall to the correspondent’* mind the time when,
not more than filtccn years ago, that
ugly old woman was the fairest, proud
est empress in Europe. In tho meridian
splendor of her charms, and in tho plenitude ot
her power Eugenie shone the bright particular
star in the galaxy ol the world’s Imperial sover
eignties. Her beauty and grace have been Immor
talized by poets, painters and sculptors. Out all
that was In tho dead past. The correspondent
could see no trace ol beauty or Imperial grandour
in the old woman who sat shopping la the Loudon
dry goods store. Tho ex-ompress was clad ia
rich mourning, ot oouite, but she looked like au
ordinary widow. She comes and goes In Loudon
without attracting soy unusual degree of atten- I
tlon. Her day Is over. Sbo has lost all that in her
eyes mado life worth living. First tho dazzling
empire crumbled away. Then Louis Napoleon
died In exile; and, as a final crushing blow, tho
young prince Imperial fell a victim to a Zulu
spear. Eugenio stands alono In her desolation. To
her there is no longer a ray of annshino in tho
world; nothing but clouds and approaching dark-
Tin Springfield Republican remarks: “Here's
our toast: Atlanta, may she be worthy of the Kim
ball hotel.’’ Thanks, sweet contemporary. Wo
arc sll doing our best to live up to our beautiful
caravanscry.
A mu. is pending In the New York legtilaturo to
abolish imprisonment for debt. It has nover struck
the averago New York mind until qttlto recently
that there was at y thing wrong in hnstllog a man
to prison simply because he was so unfortunate as
to be unable to pay hts creditors, hut of lato thero
has been a decided chango In sentimont. Several
reputable New York papers boldly tako tho posi
tion . that debt is not ft crimo and tho doblor
should not bo confined like a felon.
Georgia abolished Imprisonment
debt so many years ago that the present genera
tion cannot recollect much about the hardships of
the old law. It Is gratifying to seo New York
wheeling into lino with Georgia and other states,
although .••he is twenty yrars behind any oilier
sisters in this reform. How tho barbarism of Im
prlsonment for debt has managed to rctaiu a foot
hold on American soil so long Is a mystery.
In somo parts of tho country It la understood
that tho patient who pays a physician for a pro
scription owns it, but tho supremo courts of Now
York and Hairachusctts havo recently decided
that the prescription docs not bolong either to tho
patient or tho physician hut to tho druggist who
fills it, These courts hold that the druggist can
do what he pleases with the prescription and Is
neither bound to give a copy nor to keep the orlgl<
nal.
To lHy Husband*
From tho Philadelphia Times.
A moro pathetic and amusing tombstone Iias
not loomed into the public mlml for a goo-1 while
tban that which a famous Kentucky beauty has
fust erected to her three or four departed bus-
bunds, and If the dead gentlemen w«-re at all true
in their conjugal attachments they ought to feci
highly honored by this last trioutc of wifely re*
Women with heart enough to lovo five or six
husbands in succession, and with energy enough
to kill them ofl one after tbo other, aro often of
•n obcie temperament and aro Inclined to forget
the old love In the enjoyment of tho new, and let
the dead fellows alone. There to none of this
meanness In tho Kentucky beauty. She blends
her pleasures of the present with tho memories of
the pest and proceeds as of old.
Husbands whose health and youth are falllug
while their wives are still buoyant and youthful
may take some courage from tnis monument ~
a declining state may remember the generous
Horning Her Letters.
God burns his worlds, when they grow aad and
Bo . When Bin's black tear
Has stained through the leaves of those star flow
er* of gold
That blo*som*In blue space, the end is near.
They fade, they darken, then God’a besom sweeps
Ita comet-flame athwart their brightness I»!
They are not And their Guardian Angel weeps,
Gathering the ashes, once all light and glow.
I’ve seen that palld angel—in my dreams,
With drooped wings, standing, watching from
afar.
The burning pyre of her hopes, the dying gleams
And scattered ashes ot he r cherished star.
I am minded of that 'dream to see you stand
To-night, and watch this flame, thlsaihcn heap,
Clwpreg your throbbing temples with your hand,
Gazing with eyes that are too cad to weep
The flames about your beautiful, lost dream.
Ah! well, there's nothing lasting In this It/e;
We, who inhabit this wild whirling ball,
What do we know but constant change and strife?
Fate la forever spreading some new pelL
What will life be, you ask. now Love has gone
That made its stony pstn so flower-sweet ?
Ah f me, bow many lips have breathed that moan,
How many walked that path with shrinking fee
And you—life sure has other hopes for you,
When roaes go, then bloom the golden rods,
Fate may have spilled love's cup of balm and rue
That you may pour the nectar of the gods.
For In your dark eyes, Genius lies asleep
And Sorrow’s tear mar wake him like a kits,
Ar.<l bid him, panoplied in power, out leap
And win for yon some fairer world than this#
Who riud* lore; of r IL
Tie wcman’s all—her one, her only world.
i's life't a thing apart,
her only world.
-Mart £. Far AN
One of John Wilkes Booth's old friends has
written au Article containing somo Interesting
statements not heretofore published relating to
Booth and his talk the day beforo lio asssalnatod
Mr. Lincoln. In a conversation with his friend In
front of tho National hotel tho night before the
assassination Booth Eald ho was not n praying
tnan, bnt ho had prayed that “Old Abo" might
not die, os that “dirty traitor" from Tennessee
would then become president. Ho mentioned the
fact that Vfco President Johnson had mado a very
bitter speech ogainat tho southern peoplo atWil
lard's, tho day tho news camo of General Leo’s
surrender, and ho said ho would havo shot him
If lie had Ucn pre-K-nt. This talk ma-Io
no Impression at tho timo upon
man who heard it, but he thought of
it the next night when ho heard that Mr, Lincoln
had been assassinated. Ho kept tbo matter a se
cret, however, as tho times were dangerous and he
was afraid of getting into tronblo. Now, after all
these years, ho makes It public, but it is difficult
to sco what light, If any, It throws upon Booth's
designs. _
ColonilElizabeth Cady Stanton has an art!-
< lu it! the Norlh American Review, In whirh >!.t-
claims that Christianity has not bcncflttcd women.
Tho colonel evidently believes that a Comanche
squaw is better oflfthana New England factory
gfrl.
Well meaning temperance advocates aroowis-
tonally led into extravagant statements. Ono
would suppose from tbeir statistics that Intemper
ance is increasing In this country, but such Is not
tho case. More liquor, In the shape ol whisky and
spirits, was consumed in the United States la I860
than by nearly double tho population in 188). In
I860 tho total amount of spirituoui liquors pro
duced fn the United States was 83,001,2M gallons,
and tho amount imported for consumption was
6,061,393 gallons. From this must be deducted ex
ports of spirits amounting to 3,601,087 gallons,
leaving 86,364,874 gallons for domestic consump
tion. In 1864 the total production of spirits in the
United States was 78.479,815gallons,and the am oun t
Imported was 1611,680 gallons. Tho exports ol
spirit* lest yeer amounted to 8,137,944, which left
73,990,817 for consumption at homo. Making duo
allowance for the derangement of tho trade grow
ing out of taxation, these figures show that 77,000,-
COO people fn the United BUtea In 1881 consumed
less spirits tban 31,000,000 people consumed In 1860.
If the consumption of list bad been at tbt rate of
I860 ft would have amounted to nearly 160,000,000
gallons. But It has fallen te ton than half that
amount. It must be considered, too, that much
morespfriti are consumed In the arts and m sou -
factures now than wers consumed twenty-fire
yesraago. With the decrease In the consump
tion of spirits. It must be admitted that
there has been an Increase In the
consumption of beer and ale. This change In tho
drinking habits of our people Is due not only to
the spreading temperance sentiment, but to the
effect of high license. There can be no doubt that
the high license system makes saloons fewer fn
number, and by raising the price of liquor causes
multitudes of men to either abstain entirely or
lndnlge moderately.
'He his read everything," is a remark fre
quently made when a scholarly man la under dia-
cuMieo. Mow abawrd sack a ala teas eat Is will *p»
pear when the fact is mentioned that in the con-
grcsiional library at Washington there aro over
6C0.CC0 volumes. If they were placed sido by side
they would fill a shelf fifty miles long. If a min
stinted to read this collection at tho rate
of one volume a day, it wrald
take him 1,C50 jeers to get through, Atid While
the man would bo at work on this vast library the
printers would bo turning out moro than 15,003
new books a year. From theso figures it will be
seen that it Is Idle to think of read
tog every thing, or even to read
all the beat books. Tho greatest readers among
our distinguished men havo had their favorite
books, which they read and reread. Certain books
in our language aro called classics. They are
models of style and full of Ideas and illustrations.
Modem writers go to theso o
thors and get lumps of solid
gold which they proceed to beat out very thin.
Why should we take the gold leaf article when we
can go to tho original mines and get solid nuggets?
The old novels aro tho beat, Tho old poets havo
not been equaled. Too many of onr now books
aro written hastily to soli. Thoy are
of an Inferior intellectual quality and cannot
profit us In anyway. A man, therefore, need not
bo ashamed to say that ho has not read tho last
new book. When forty new books appear every
day it it Impossible to read them all.
Secretary Bayabd announces that he doesn't
read tho newspapers. This perhaps accounts for
his bad health. A man who doesn’t road tho news
papers misses lots of fun.
When an American settles in Mexico he should
bo prepared to pay cash for everything, and If he
knows what Is good for him ho will always take a
receipted bill when ho pays out money. If ho
omits theso precautions ho may wake up some
fine morning In debt. In Mexloo, to be In debt Is
the wont thing that can happen to a man. Un
der tho Mexican law the creditor can have tho
debtor arrested on tho day when tho debt falls
due. Tho prisoner in such cases is chained to a
post fivo days, guarded by an officer. At tho end
of the time, If tho monoy is not forthcoming, tho
man’s labor is sold to tho govommont for forty
ccpts a day for as many days as will bo necowary
discharge the obligation. Tho
miserable debtor a scut to tho
silver mines, whero ho Is chained to a gang of
felons and compelled to labor underground. lie
sleeps underground, and nevor sees daylight again
until ho Is restored to freedom. Not only do lguo
rantMexicans fall victims to this cruel system ot
slavery, but foreigners residing in tho country oc
casionally get caught In a tight place, anfl their
creditors send them to the mines where the major
ity of them dlo.
A Boston creditor played a mighty sharp trick n
few days ago when ho got a constable to levy on
ono of tho forms of tho Saturday Evening Gazette
Tho Gazctto went to press at two o'oloek Sunday
morning, and tho officer was Initruoted to lovy at
forty-five minutes past eleven Saturday night Tho
levy was made, and it was Sunday morning bofore
arrangements could bo made to satisfy tho claim.
Then the constable declined to re
ceive tho money, becauso ho could
not transact business on Sunday. Under tho cir
cumstances, the paper had to como out as a half
sheet. When tho matter was shown up la tho
courts the Judgo removed tho cute const&bto from
office, and tho Gazette peoplo sued tho sharp cred
itor for $25,000 damages. L
It is well understood that our public sohools aro
not to blame for anything. If boys odme out of
tho public schools demoralized, physically broken
down and backward In tho simplest studies, tho
fault rcata not with tho schools, but somewhere
else. When Richard Grant Whlto poured hot shot
into tho public school system ho was abused from
ono cud of tho land to the other, no said that
pupils camo out of our public schools flippant
ami saucy, impudent aud without recoct for
their elders, besides having nothing but a super
ficial and largely useless If not positively Injurious
education. It will bo recollected that Mr. Wlilt-
was howled down. Every demagogue, every ward
politician Joined inlthopcreocutlon.'of this ablo and
honest writer until he was compelled to hold his
peace. Still tho vexed question will not down. Ills
continually coming up. Tho other day thirty-
four well-grown boys wero examined in New
York os candidates for two cadotsbips la tho gift
of Congressman Hewitt. Only]twclvejpasiod tho
physical teat. Of tho twclvo only five wore found
proficient in |thcir studies. Thoso rojocted were
deficient in branches of tho practical
kind,Arithmetic, gramuinr and geography. Mr.
Hewitt was bo disappointed that
he said there must bo something radically wrong
in tho system under which tho boys were oducat
cd. Oi couno such a showing is mortifying to
tho New York schools. Tho objection is mado that
children aro now stuffed with fancy things In tho
educational lino and aro not given a thorough
couno in arithmetic, grammar, history and geo
graphy. To this objection tho reply Li mado that
tbo school system is not to blamo; tuo fault Is al
together in the boys. How long this dofenio will
be held satisfactory remains to bo scon.
stylo of getting drunk and painting the town red
is very provoking to the Mexicans. The latter,
when they tako too much, make no noise and go
to sleep, but the American con
tinues wldo awako and is ready for
mischief. Some Of OUr people who behave them-
selves at hofno act disgracefully as soon a* they
frost tho Bto Grande, Lost winter a large excur
sion party from Ban Francisco wont down Into
Mexico. Tho young men and young women of
this party chipped oir pieces of churches, shook
hands with a figure of tho Virgin Mary, walked
Into houses uninvited, and felt of people’s clothes
to seo the quality of tho fabrics. They met Mex
ican ladies and gentlemen superior to them la
education, refinement and wealth and stared at
them as If they had been wild atiimals. All this
was patiently endured, and the tourists returned
home to ridicule the Mexicans and their ways. It
is tho testimony of impartial travellers that
respectable, Well-behaved Americans aro as Well
treated In Mexico as in any country.
The rumor comes from Washington that Pres-
dent Cleveland desires to signalize bis administra
tion by the acquisition 61 Cuba. 11 Is thought that
the island will naturally como tolho United States
without costing as a dollar. Even now it is said
that a secret agent of tho Bpanish government Is
fn this country charged with tho business of
ascertaining the prerident’s views with refcrcnco
to Cuba. Spain desires If posalblo to sell Cuba. If
she cannot sell, she desires to transfer the Island
to tho United States, upon the guaranty that aho
will not be required to indemnify Americans for
estates confiscated in Cuba soveral years ago, over
Which there has been to much controversy. Within
the past few weeks our newspapers havo printed
numerous letters and articles concerning Cuba,
and it Is possible that there Is t nothing in tho
air.
The race Instinct, which can .tho reparation
of the blacks and whites every nuere, oxccpt per
haps under conditions of a peculiar character,
such as misdirected plillanthrophy and fanatl-
Clnm, seems to bo a positive social element pos
sessing infinite variety. In tho West Indies, for
Instance, tho'pure blacks, mulattocs, quadroons
aud octoroans will navo notbing to do with each
other. Tho samo prejudice exists In this couutry,
and occasionally It breaks out unexpected
ly. The most recent manifestation occurred In
Charlotte, N. ('. In one of the colored churches
of.that City there is a movement on foot for a di
vision of tho membership on tho color line. For
come timo past in this church tho pure blacks
have boon in favor of having a congregation com-
pcsed of themselves, and tho mulattces have ex
pressed a similar desire on their own part. At a
recent meeting tho proposed division was agreed
to, but tho terms could not bo settled. Tho
ministers being black, tho black skins nat
urally claimed him,and also tho ohurch aud furni
ture. Homo of tbo black-aklnncd men have
mulatto wlvoc, and somo of tho black-skinned
women havo mulatto husbands. How to apportion
these In tho dlvlnlon -ids fair to glvo mo to con
siderable troublo. Tho difficulties seem insur
mountable, but both side* aro determined to havo
division, and a board of arbitration is suggested
to settle tho term*.
The Pittsburgh CnroDlole-Telegraph wonders
that American novelists have overlooked the Mi
norcans of BL Augustine, Florida. Tho descend
ants of the colony established by Dr. Turn'>nD Itte
a picturesque people. Thoy havo special festitl
tics, special dishes, peculiar superstitions add
marked moral and intellectual characteristics.
They recollect with bitterness tho oppres
sion o! their forefathers under Turnbull,
and prefer to represent themselves as being of
Spanish descent. They aro sensitive, bright, hos-
pliable and brave. No artist over visits si. Augui-
tino without being attracted by the Mlnorcaus,
and it is strango that thoy Iiavo escaped tbo novel
ist. Wo lmvo novels filled with typical crcolos,
yankcca, Georgians,Virginians and wostern people;
but tho Minorcans aro left out. Hero Is a virgin
field for somo aspiring ficllonlst.
ATTarntan, Mexico, a few days ago a gang of
ruffians kidnapped a seven ycar-ohl sou of a
wealthy citizen named Lopez. A note was sent to
tho father Informing him that tho child would bo
killed if I75.0C0 ransom was not paid within two
days. The father did not receive tho noto In timo
and on tbo appointed day found his child's muti
lated remains lying in his dooryard. Tho
horriblo sight mado Lopez a raving
maniac, and a sister of tho mur<
dcred child dropped dead. Josthow human laws
can adequately punish tho guilty parties In such
a case Is a puzzling question* Occasionally when
such fiendish crimes startle us wo resllzo tho rea
sonableness and usefulness of a hell. Tho wicked
ness of somo men is beyond human punlshmont.
Nothing short of hell can torture them as they
deserve. _
Thf. fashions In hair and beards since tbo begin
ning oi tbe world would mako an Interest
ing chapter in history. It is laid that Dyonlstus,
the tyrant, alngcd his beard oil'with hot walnut
i.i r Ilf. The prejudice against beards has some-
times raged with great bitterness. Archbishop
Talt forbade ono of the clergy to officiate because
he wore a moustache. Lord Justice Knight Bruce
refused to hear a barrister because he wore a beard.
Mr. Cleveland la tbe first president who has ever
worn only a moustache. Lank hair, among tho
indents, was a sign of cowardice; auburn hair, or
light brown, evidenced great susceptibility to tho
tender passion, as well as rare intelligence. Indus
try and a peaceful disposition; black hair was not
highly esteemed,the possessors of it being thought
Jealous and quarrelsome; red hair, fn general, was
an [aversion, a mark of reprobation, even beforo
tbe time of Judas. "As wicked as s red an" was
freely applied to any one having bright red hair,
and was ft popular and opprobrious saying, and,to
make that sentiment [more binding, one of that
patient tribe of quadrupeds was mado to atono for
it every year by being thrown from a high wall.
The Rorasni never adopted long hair, considering
it cCemJnate. Kings and nobles among tho Franki
were distinguished by long hair. Red hair be
came popular under the reign of Queen Elizabeth,
tnd has continued more or less so ever since. False
hair waa worn ages ago. It was preached against
by the father* of the church, bnt to no purpose.
AJtnriBALD Forres, who, ia hts capacity of war
correspondent, had excellent opportunities of
Judging military men, gives It as his opinion that
tbe past thirty yean have seen only two "heaven
torn soldiers," Stonewall Jackson and Bkobclefl.
He put* down as exceptionally able soMIcra
Lee, Grant, Sherman and Gourko. He
assigns a slightly lower rank to
Moltke. Wolseley he considers a man who docs
everything well, but tho hcavenboin soldier Is one
who achieve* startling successes with Inadequate
meins. Tried by this test, Jackson and Skobeiefl
loom up beyond any ol their contemporaries.
In Mexloo the peoplecomplain, and not without
reason, that the American visitors aud settlers are
supercilious, arrogant and rude. The Mexicans
like a gentleman, no natter where he is from, and
they tolerate a stranger ruffian with more patience
than we would exhibit The American’s peculiar
Tiikrji/s no accounting for tnstof, but a dis
tinguished Philadelphia physician goes a
littlo ahead of auything yot seen
In this country. For aomotlmo pint
ho has been wearing shoes so peculiarly lus
trous In their blackness that his friends wondered
If ho used somo magical blacking or utilized tho
mottles of somo extraordinary bootblack. An
acquaintance recently asked the physician how it
wes Umt Ills shoes retained such a strange lustre
In all sort of weather. Tbo reply was startling.
Tho shoes were mado Of human
leather, tho skin of n colored man.
Tho physician stated that he had worn this pair of
shoes suYcn months. Tho leather was soft and
pliable and more enduring than calf skin. Far
ther questioning elicited tho informntiou that
human skins aro tanned In Large quautitles In
Pennsylvania and mado Into shoes, match safe*,
cigar cases, and ensrs for surgical Instruments.
Thor kins are obtained from tho bodies ol tho sub
jects dissected In tho medical colleges.
Many attempts havo been mado to defend tho
t oihIiii I of ■ New i'lighitulers In hanging tho
witches. A • rent writer points out that the laws
In England r. . inst which craft continued in force
until 1786, si ut forty years later than the Salem
a flit I r. The Now England people not only had
there laws to guido them, but the Mosaic mandate,
"Thou shnlt not suffer a witch to live." Ills a
singular fact, however, that tho victims of tho
witchcraft delusion wero uiualiyold and friend-
las men and women, tho sgod and tho helpless
When witchcraft | began to seek victim*
among tho attractive-, the well-to-do and tho in
Hut min! tho folly of tho delusion wai soon ad
mitted and exposed. This view of the matter-
makes tho witoheraft persecution doubly horrible,
It Is r< voltlng to think that people Of our blood
end uco wero ever selfish and cruel enough to
murder men and women simply becdtuic they
were old, infirm, poor and without friends.
A distinguished physician Mjs that he is
disposed to cxclndo vegetables, with the
exception of cereals and a little fruit,
entirely from tho dietary of nervons
pcrsocs. Animal food la more nutritious to tbe
nervous system and to tho body generally than a
vegetable dtet. It hat all the elements for the for
mation of tho tissues of. tho body, and is easily
digested. Man can exist on it In any climate. Of
meats, beef Is by far tho best. Pork It good for
nervous persons, but la not easily digested.
Wild game Is excellent. Fish is good
food for nervous people. Eggs boiled Just
enough to harden tho white are easily di
gested. It is a mistake about people
eating too much. The majority do not evt enough.
Nervous dyrpcpsia comes from working too hard
and not eating enough. When a m&u begin* to
suffer from overwork, he should cat plenty of good
bread and butter, drink two quarts of milk a day
and eat plenty of good meat. When such a person
resorts to a vegetable diet, he grows weaker and
loirs bis nerve power. Man was made to cat meat
and he never will flourish on a vegetable diet.
The Bprfngficld Republican lays that Tenny
son's epitaph on Gordon wax mitten at the re-
Qunt of Whittier. What does Mr. Whittier mean
by this? Why did he overlook tho sweet singer
of Michigan? By applying to her he would not
only have secured a better piece of poetry, bat
wculd have been patronizing home Industry.
The famous Bartholdi .Statue of Liberty is now
being loaded one Frenc h transport for shipment
to this country, When It Is pronounced the larg
est statue in tbo world, a very Indefinite Me* to
given of its vast size. Forty persons c«n stand
within Its bead. A six foot man standing on the
level of Its lips only reaches Its eyebrows. It
weighs 440,COO pound*. When placed In positlou
It will !o*/m up 3"7 feet above tide water.
The great French sculptor, Bartholdi
devoted eight years of his life to
crk. Of bis own free will he pretented it to
tied and lkdloo’* Island, New York
harbor, waa selected by General Sherman m the
best place for ita location. The p«d*sul fund has
dragging slowly aloof, but the New York
World baa already raised about 340.000 of tto
money, sod the remainder will be raised In wsio
w*y.