THE following morning, the royal treasurer, the governor of the north gate of the palace, who was in the future our steady friend, and another nobleman, attended by forty or fifty followers, came to take possession of all we had. I treated them civilly, gave them chairs to sit on, tea and sweetmeats for their refreshment; and justice obliges me to say that they conducted the business of confiscation with more regard to my feelings than I should have thought it possible for Burmese officers to exhibit. The three officers, with one of the royal secretaries, alone entered the house; their attendants were ordered to remain outside. They saw I was deeply affected, and apologized for what they were about to do by saying that it was painful for them to take possession of property not their own, but they were compelled thus to do by order of the king. "Where are your silver, gold, and jewels?" said the royal treasurer. "I have no gold or jewels; but here is the key of a trunk which contains the silver; do with it as you please." The trunk was produced, and the silver weighed. "This money," said I, "was collected in America, by the disciples of Christ, and sent here for the purpose of building a kyoung [the name of a priest's dwelling], and for our support while teaching the religion of Christ. Is it suitable that you should take it?" The Burmans are averse to taking what is offered in a religious point of view, which was the cause of my making the inquiry. "We will state this circumstance to the king," said one of them, "and perhaps he will restore it. But is this all the silver you have?" I could not tell a falsehood. "The house is in your possession," I replied; "search for yourselves." "Have you not deposited silver with some person of your acquaintance?" "My acquaintances are all in prison; with whom should I deposit silver?" They next ordered my trunk and drawers to be examined. The secretary only was allowed to accompany me in this search. Everything nice or curious which met his view was presented to the officers, for their decision whether it should be taken or retained. I begged they would not take our wearing apparel, as it would be disgraceful to take clothes partly worn into the possession of his majesty, and to us they were of unspeakable value. They assented, and took a list only, and did the same with the books,74medicines, etc. My little work table and rocking chair, presents from my beloved brother, I rescued from their grasp, partly by artifice and partly through their ignorance. They left, also, many articles which were of inestimable value during our long imprisonment.
As soon as they had finished their search and departed, I hastened to the queen's brother, to hear what had been the fate of my petition, when, alas! all my hopes were dashed by his wife's coolly saying, "I stated your case to the queen, but her majesty replied, 'The teachers will not die; let them remain as they are.'" My expectations had been so much excited that this sentence was like a thunderclap to my feelings. For the truth at one glance assured me that if the queen refused assistance, who would dare to intercede for me? With a heavy heart I departed, and on my way home attempted to enter the prison gate, to communicate the sad tidings to your brother, but was harshly refused admittance; and for the ten days following, notwithstanding my daily efforts, I was not allowed to enter. We attempted to communicate by writing, and after being successful for a few days, it was discovered; the poor fellow who carried the communications was beaten and put in the stocks, and the circumstance cost me about ten dollars, besides two or three days of agony for fear of the consequence.
The officers who had taken possession of our property presented it to his majesty, saying, "Judson is a true teacher; we found nothing in his house but what belongs to priests. In addition to this money, there is an immense number of books, medicines, trunks of wearing apparel, etc., of which we have only taken a list. Shall we take them, or let them remain?" "Let them remain," said the king, "and put this property by itself; for it shall be restored to him again if he is found innocent." This was an allusion to the idea of his being a spy.
For two or three months following, I was subject to continual harassments, partly through my ignorance of police management, and partly through the insatiable desire of every petty officer to enrich himself through our misfortunes. When the officers came to our house to confiscate our property, they insisted on knowing how much I had given the governor and prison officers to release the teachers from the inner prison. I honestly told them, and they demanded the sum from the governor, which threw him into a dreadful rage, and he threatened to put all the prisoners back into their original place. I went to him the next morning, and the first words with which he accosted me were, "You are very bad; why did you tell the royal treasurer that you had given me so much money?" "The treasurer inquired; what could I say?" I replied, "Say that you had given nothing," said he, "and I would have made the teachers comfortable in prison; but now I know not what will be their fate." "But I cannot tell a falsehood," I replied; "my religion differs from yours; it forbids prevarication; and had you stood by me with your knife raised, I could not have said what you suggest." His wife, who sat by his side, and who always, from this time, continued my firm friend, instantly said, "Very true; what else could she have done? I like such straightforward conduct; you must not," turning to the governor, "be angry with her." I then presented the governor with a beautiful opera glass I had just received from England, and begged his anger at me would not influence him to treat the prisoners with unkindness, and I would endeavor, from time to time, to make him such presents as would compensate for his loss. "You may intercede for your husband only; for your sake he shall remain where he is; but let the other prisoners take care of themselves." I pleaded hard for Dr. Price; but he would not listen, and, the same day, had him returned to the inner prison, where he remained ten days. He was then taken out, in consequence of the doctor's promising a piece of broadcloth, and my sending two pieces of handkerchiefs.
About this period, I was one day summoned to the Lut-d'hau, in an official way. What new evil was before me I knew not, but was obliged to go. When arrived, I was allowed to stand at the bottom of the stairs, as no female is permitted to ascend the steps, or even to stand, but sit on the ground. Hundreds were collected around. The officer who presided, in an authoritative voice, began: "Speak the truth in answer to the questions I shall ask. If you speak true, no evil will follow; but if not, your life will not be spared. It is reported that you have committed to the care of a Burmese officer a string of pearls, a pair of diamond earrings, and a silver teapot. Is it true?" "It is not," I replied; "and if you or any other person can produce these articles, I refuse not to die." The officer again urged the necessity of "speaking true." I told him I had nothing more to say on the subject, but begged he would use his influence to obtain the release of Mr. Judson from prison.
I returned to the house with a heart much lighter than I went, though conscious of my perpetual exposure to such harassments. Notwithstanding the repulse I had met in my application to the queen, I could not remain without making continual effort for your brother's release, while there was the least probability of success. Time after time, my visits to the queen's sister-in-law were repeated, till she refused to answer a question, and told me by her looks I had better keep out of her presence. For the seven following months, hardly a day passed that I did not visit some one of the members of Government or branches of the royal family, in order to gain their influence in our behalf; but the only benefit resulting was, their encouraging promises preserved us from despair, and induced a hope of the speedy termination of our difficulties, which enabled us to bear our distresses better than we otherwise should have done. I ought, however, to mention that, by my repeated visits to the different members of the Government, I gained several friends, who were ready to assist me with articles of food, though in a private manner, and who used their influence in the palace to destroy the impression of our being in any way engaged in the present war. But no one dared to speak a word to the king or queen in favor of a foreigner, while there were such continual reports of the success of the English arms.
During these seven months, the continual extortions and oppressions to which your brother and the other white prisoners were subject are indescribable. Sometimes sums of money were demanded, sometimes pieces of cloth, and handkerchiefs; at other times an order would be issued that the white foreigners should not speak to each other, or have any communication with their friends without. Then, again, the servants were forbidden to carry in their food without an extra fee. Sometimes, for days and days together, I could not go into the prison till after dark, when I had two miles to walk in returning to the house. O, how many, many, times have I returned from that dreary prison at nine o'clock at night, solitary, and worn out with fatigue and anxiety, and thrown myself down in that same rocking chair which you and Deacon L. provided for me in Boston, and endeavored to invent some new scheme for the release of the prisoners. Sometimes, for a moment or two, my thoughts would glance towards America, and my beloved friends there; but for nearly a year and a half, so entirely engrossed was every thought with present scenes and sufferings, that I seldom reflected on a single occurrence of my former life, or recollected that I had a friend in existence out of Ava.—Lives of the Judsons.
Belshazzar Takes Command of Babylon
Nabonadius sometime, we know not just how long, before the ruin of the kingdom, had associated his son, Belshazzar, with himself in the rule of the kingdom. In the year 539 B. c. Cyrus, at the head of a heavy army of Medes and Persians, left Ecbatana in an expedition75against Babylon. In the spring of 538 B. c. he crossed the Tigris, and came within sight of Babylon itself before he met any opposition. Nabonadius had drawn out an army to meet the invader a short distance from the city. The Babylonian forces were defeated, and King Nabonadius took refuge in Borsippa about six miles from Babylon. Cyrus shut him up there, left enough soldiers to hold him, and he with the main army laid siege to the glorious capital. The defeat of Nabonadius, and his flight to Borsippa, left to the young Belshazzar the sole direction of affairs in Babylon.
Return, O Lord
"RETURN, O Lord, deliver my soul; oh save me for thy mercies' sake." Ps. 6: 4.
AGAIN the scene of our lesson is laid in Babylon, "the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency." Still she sits, the "lady of kingdoms," comforting herself with the thought, "I shall be a lady forever;" "I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children." But just then it was that she should no more be called the lady of kingdoms, and just then it was that there should come upon her that which had been spoken of her: "These two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood; they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments. . . . Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it off; and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt know." See Isa. 47:1-15.
Belshazzar and the Fall of Babylon
THE events noted in this lesson occurred about forty-four years after those of the lesson for last week. The great king Nebuchadnezzar had been dead about twenty-three years, and with him had departed the greatness and the real glory of the kingdom. Nebuchadnezzar himself had finally been brought to a full acknowledgment of the true God, and had published a decree to that effect to all the nations of his dominion (see Daniel 4); but it seems to have had no discernible impression on any that followed him in the kingdom, and iniquity culminated in his grandson, Belshazzar, the subject of the present lesson. Nebuchadnezzar was succeeded by his son, Evil-merodach; but "his lusts, and other wickedness made him so intolerable, that at length even his own relations conspired against him and put him to death," after his having reigned two years, and Neriglissar, his brother-in-law, reigned in his stead. Neriglissar reigned nearly four years, and was succeeded, but merely in name, by Laborosoarchod, "a mere boy," who was suffered to remain only a few months when Nabonadius, the father of Belshazzar, took the throne, B. C. 555, and held it till the end of the empire, B. C. 538.
The Fall of Babylon
By Alonzo T. Jones
“MEANWHILE, outside the city, in silence and darkness, the Persians watched at the two points where the Euphrates entered and left the walls. Anxiously they noted the gradual sinking of the water in the river-bed; still more anxiously they watched to see if those within the walls would observe the suspicious circumstance, and sound an alarm through the city. Should such an alarm be given, all their labors would be lost. . . . But as they watched, no sounds of alarm reached them—only a confused noise of revel and riot, which showed that the unhappy townsmen were quite unconscious of the approach of danger. At last shadowy forms began to emerge from the obscurity of the deep river-bed, and on the landing-places opposite the river-gates clusters of men grew into solid columns. The undefended gateways were seized; a war-shout was raised; the alarm was spread; and swift runners started off to show the king of Babylon that his city was taken at one end. In the darkness and confusion of the night a terrible massacre ensued. The drunken revelers could make no resistance. The king, paralyzed with fear at the awful handwriting upon the wall, which too late had warned him of his peril, could do nothing even to check the progress of the assailants, who carried all before them everywhere. Bursting into the palace, a band of Persians made their way to the presence of the monarch, and slew him on the scene of his impious revelry.”
“In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.”
1. WERE sins actually removed by the ceremonies and offerings connected with the earthly sanctuary?
“But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made every year; for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.” Heb. 10: 3, 4.
2. What does Paul say of the service of the earthly priests?
“Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount.” Heb. 8: 5.
3. What does he call the earthly sanctuary?
“The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing; which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience.” Heb. 9: 8, 9.
4. Of what was it a figure, or pattern?
“It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the Heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.” Verse 23.
5. Then is there a real sanctuary in Heaven?
“Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the Heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.” Heb. 8: 1, 2.
6. Does the heavenly sanctuary have two holy places?
“For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true, but into Heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.” Heb. 9: 24.
7. Who is the high priest of this sanctuary?
“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest, that is passed into the Heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.” Heb. 4: 14.
8. Did he minister there while the first or earthly tabernacle was standing?
“The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing.” Heb. 9: 8.
9. What position did our High Priest take when he left this earth?
“But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God.” Heb. 10: 12. (See also 8: 1.)
10. What office does he there fill?
“A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.” Heb. 8: 2.
11. In what part of the earthly sanctuary were the altar of incense and the golden candlestick placed? Heb. 9: 2; Ex. 40: 24-26.
12. Where was the throne of God seen by John?
“And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices; and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.” “And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.” Rev. 4: 5; 8: 3.
13. Then in which apartment did our Lord begin his priestly work?
14. What did the second apartment of the sanctuary contain?
15. What did John behold in the heavenly temple?
“And the temple of God was opened in Heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament; and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.” Rev. 11: 19.
A Protest.
By Editor
A RECENT reference in an editorial note of the Sunday School Times on the evil of too much talking by the superintendent, has called out the following vigorous protest from a veteran superintendent in Connecticut:—
“You say: ‘Talking to a school is poor business for a superintendent.’ ‘Talking is not teaching.’ ‘As a rule, it is no improvement on preaching, and preaching is not the superintendent’s mission.’ I was superintendent for more than twenty years, and used often to think of such criticisms as this; but I thought, of course, that my opinion might be correct, and so did not allow myself to be influenced by them, excepting to be brief in what I did say. There may be many superintendents who want to drop in a few seeds each Sabbath, but who hold back because they see such expressions, and think their teachers may have the same views because they have read them in a book or paper, and so refrain from saying anything for fear their teachers will consider them talking superintendents. The regular sessions of the school are about the only times when the superintendent meets his scholars as a whole; and it seems to me that a few loving words, a few earnest thoughts, may bring his mind and heart in contact with theirs, and tend to warm and quicken their hearts. It does not seem to me that teaching is everything. I have been to prayer-meetings many times when I have not added to my knowledge so far as one or two particular brethren were concerned; but their remarks and prayers revealed a warm heart, and that had its effect upon me. So I think it may be with the superintendent who may look upon the members of his school in a fatherly way and be anxious to counsel and encourage them; and even if he says but little, that little may, in the course of years, have considerable to do in shaping the characters of the children and youth who are under his care in the Sabbath-school.”
Cyrus Captures Babylon
Cyrus carried on the siege for some time with no prospect of success against its “mountain-high” walls, and its brazen, iron-barred gates, protected by an impassable moat. But midsummer coming on, and with it the grand Babylonian festival in honor of the god Tammuz, Cyrus determined on a stratagem. Knowing of the boundless license in which it was the wont of the Babylonians to indulge in that celebration, Cyrus went up the Euphrates a considerable distance, and dug channels by which to turn its waters from their course. As the Euphrates flowed through the city under the great walls, Cyrus's plan was to draw the water down so shallow that men could wade without difficulty, and have them march into the city by the river-bed. But even that would have been of no avail, had not the Babylonians given themselves up to utter heedlessness in their wild orgies. For on each bank of the river, within the city, stood walls about a hundred and fifty feet high, with double gates of solid brass; and if only these gates had been shut or even watched, the Persians in the bed of the river would have been certainly caught in a trap.
Belshazzar’s Feast and the Writing
However, no such precaution was thought of in the proud, wicked city. “Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.” Then he called for the sacred vessels of Jehovah, which his grandfather had brought from the house of God in Jerusalem; “and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines drank in them.” “In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. Then the king’s countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another. The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. And the king spake, and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and show me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.”
Daniel Interprets the Writing
But none of all these could tell him a word. Then his mother came in, and told him of Daniel's ability to interpret secrets. Daniel was immediately sent for; and he came, and told the king the writing and the meaning of it. "God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it." "Thou art weighed in the balances and art found wanting." "Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians." The drunkenness and lascivious carousals in the palace were copied to perfection in all parts of the city. Drunkenness was everywhere, and men and women mingled together in the awful obscenity of that heathen revelry which was the most acceptable worship of Venus and Adonis.
In Haste.
It was when postage stamps were three cents apiece, and eggs twelve and a half cents a dozen, that Mr. Huggins, the proprietor of the little country store at Elkton, sat at his high desk, one dreary afternoon, with his head studiously bent over his book, making out an account of sales.
"Please, sir," suddenly interrupted a thin, small voice proceeding from the space in front of the desk, "will you give me a stamp for these three eggs, and you needn't mind the change."
Mr. Huggins slowly lifted his eyes from the big book, to look for the small speaker below it.
It was a mite of a girl, not more than six years old, who held a letter in one hand, and with the other tightly grasped her apron, gathered together for the safe keeping of three eggs lying within.
Mr. Huggins's senses had been so absorbed in the difficulties of his long sum in addition, that it was several moments before he could recall them, and bring them down to a level with the little head lifting itself eagerly up to him; but reaching out his hand mechanically, he took the letter, and supposing he would immediately take the eggs also, the little girl incautiously opened her apron, when, alas, with a pip! pip! pip! as though they were kissing each other a hasty good-by, out rolled the eggs, and with a smash! smash! smash! lay on the floor, a medley of gold and silver, and ivory shells!
For one moment the poor little messenger stood silent with dismay, and then, lifting her distressed face to that of Mr. Huggins, she burst into a wail so pitiful that the heart of the store-keeper was touched with compassion.
"Why, what on earth did you open your apron for, little gal?" said he, by way of soothing her.
"To—let—you—get—the—eggs," sobbed the child. "I thought you were going to take them."
"And so I was," he answered; "but you ought not to have let go your grip till I had hold of them. Well, well, they won't hatch now, that's certain," he continued, with a touch of philosophy in his tone; "but there's no more use crying over smashed eggs than over spilt milk. You ought to be glad there were so few of them; and what were you asking me to do with them?"
"To give me a stamp, please, sir. But oh, what will mother do now! Her letter can't go; and she said it was to start at once, and go in haste!"
The sobs grew louder as the little girl seemed to realize more and more the extent of the disaster.
"To go in haste," repeated Mr. Huggins, with a smile of superior knowledge. "Yes; I see, she has written on it 'in haste, in haste.' Well, that might have done some good, perhaps, fifty years ago, when letters were carried about the country on horse-back; I doubt if it will hurry up the steam cars very much. But for mercy's sake, little gal, do stop crying!" he ejaculated suddenly, as the deepening sobs smote his heart anew, and brought him back to the business on hand. "Didn't I tell you there's no use crying over smashed eggs? So, look up now, and tell me what is the great haste about this particular letter?"
"Oh, I don't know 'zactly, sir," answered the child tearfully; "but I know it is something very particular indeed, and it will break mother's heart almost to know it hasn't gone. You see, she had been over to Miss Riley's; and she came back with the tears all running down her cheeks, and she hunted round till she found this paper and a pencil, and wrote the letter with her hand all in a tremble. But after it was all done up, she just remembered that she hadn't a stamp, and I ran as fast as I could to Miss Riley's; but she hadn't one, nor any money either, and mother just sunk down and cried as if her heart would break. And then, sir—wasn't it lucky—I knew a stamp cost three cents, and I just thought of my old hen, Buff, that was laying eggs that I wanted so to hatch, and there were just three in the nest; but I couldn't see mother cry so, and I ran out and brought them in to her, and she was so glad—well, I wish you could have seen her—and she said, 'Thank God for the eggs, Jess, and run as fast as you can; for this letter must go in haste,—in haste, that's just what she said—but oh, the eggs are all broken now, and what will mother do!"
The long story came to an abrupt end with a fresh wail of grief.
"Well, don't take it so to heart, child," said Mr. Huggins, with his gruff kindliness. "There's no great harm done; the letter can't go till to-morrow anyhow, for the mail has been gone these three hours."
"To-morrow!" repeated the little girl, in dismay. "Oh, sir, mother won't sleep a wink to-night if she knows that; she said a day might make it too late, and that if you would read it, you would know it must go in haste."
"But that's all nonsense, child," said Mr. Huggins, beginning to lose patience. "There's no such thing in these days; letters now all go one way and in one time, and that's a deal quicker than they once did. But you run home now, and if you like you needn't tell your mother anything about the waiting, nor the eggs either. I'll put a stamp on for you, and send it as soon as I can."
The little eyes beamed like stars through the falling tears. "Oh, sir, if you would!" she cried; "and when my hen lays three more eggs, I will be sure to bring them to you."
She turned quickly to the door, but pausing there, as if with an unconquerable impulse, she looked back, saying, "And if you please, sir, do make it go fast; for that's what she said—in haste."
"That child has got more heart than head," thought Mr. Huggins to himself, as he silently watched her depart without making further efforts to explain the mail regulations. He knew the little customer quite well as the child of widow Carson, who had come to the neighborhood just after the first of those terrible floods that had sent so many homeless ones back from the banks of the treacherous Ohio.
It was said that her husband had perished in the waves after placing his wife and child in safety. And here she had lived ever since in a little log cabin not far from the store, where with her small patch of corn and potatoes she supported, as best she could, herself and Jess and the little yellow dog. But only a few days previous to this, Mr. Huggins had felt compelled to refuse her any further credit, till the bill, slowly lengthening on his big book, was paid up, and it was doubtless because of this that she had not sent to him at once to ask the advance of a stamp for this all-important letter.
Meditatively he looked at the envelope, with the address scrawled in so tremulous and unpracticed a hand that he doubted much whether it would ever reach its destination, and the words of Jessie returned to his mind. "She said if you would read it, you would know it must go in haste."
It seemed a sufficient permission to the kind thought in his heart, and opening the awkwardly sealed covering, Mr. Huggins with difficulty made out the words written evidently by a hand tremulous with emotion:—
"I have just heard you were seen in Rockport yesterday, looking for Jess and me. It seems too good and wonderful to be true; but I write at once to say that we are here, and God grant my letter may reach you in time. I will write 'in haste' on it, and I will pray day and night that He will make it go quickly; for Jess and I are in such need that unless you come to us soon, I do not know what will become of us. We have mourned for you so long as dead, that I can scarcely write now for the beating of my heart at the thought of seeing you again."
Though Mr. Huggins was often called a rough, cold man, yet there was certainly a strange moisture in his eyes as he closed the letter. In a moment he had taken in the whole situation. Jessie's father, then, was not dead, as supposed, but had been separated from his wife and child on that terrible night, and had lost sight of them. The sorrowing woman had just heard that he had been seen seeking those who mourned him; but it was evident that he was not long to remain at Rockport. What if this chance of reunion should be lost? These words, "I will pray day and night that God will make my letter go quickly," and the wan, anxious face of little Jess, rose together before Mr. Huggins's mind, and with a sudden movement he rose abruptly, saying half aloud: "And my name is not Huggins if it don't go quick, quicker even than she thought!"
Striding from the store and locking the door behind him, Mr. Huggins was seen a little later riding rapidly to the nearest railroad station.
"I want this telegram sent at once," he said, handing a slip of paper to the clerk, on which was written:—
"To John Carson, Boatman's Tavern, Rockport:
"Jess and I are here; come at once, and inquire at the Elkton store for the house.
"MARY CARSON."
Rockport was only a hundred miles away, and Mr. Huggins cast many an expectant glance next day along the road leading from the station. And sure enough, about half an hour after the three o'clock train had whistled, a sun-burnt stranger, with eager, anxious face, came down that road, and hurriedly entered the store.
"Can any one tell me where Mary Carson lives?" he asked nervously of Mr. Huggins.
"Yes, my friend, and I will lead you a part of the way myself," answered the proprietor, promptly, and without losing a moment the two were soon in sight of the little log cabin.
"That's the house," said Mr. Huggins, "you can easily find the rest of the way alone," and with these words he turned, leaving the stranger to hasten onward.77
He heard the little dog give its quick, yelping bark, and a backward glance showed him Jessie already at the gate, and the mother standing with clasped hands motionless in the door-way; but this was all, and you and Mr. Huggins both will have to imagine the rest of the story.—New York Observer.
The Home Circle.
By Margaret F. Sangster
PATIENT WITH THE LIVING.
SWEET friend, when thou and I are gone
Beyond earth's weary labor,
When small shall be our need of grace
From comrade or from neighbor,
Passed all the strife, the toil, the care,
And done with all the sighing,
What tender ruth shall we have gained,
Alas, by simply dying!
Then lips too chary of their praise
Will tell our merits over,
And eyes too swift our faults to see
Shall no defect discover;
Then hands that would not lift a stone,
Where stones were thick to cumber
Our steep hill-path, will scatter flowers
Above our pillowed slumber.
Sweet friend, perchance both thou and I,
Ere love is past forgiving,
Should take the earnest lesson home—
Be patient with the living.
To-day's repressed rebuke may save
Our blinding tears to-morrow;
Then patience—e'en when keenest edge
May whet a nameless sorrow.
'Tis easy to be gentle when
Death's silence shames our clamor,
And easy to discern the best
Through memory's mystic glamour;
But wise it were for thee and me,
Ere love is past forgiving,
To take the tender lesson home—
Be patient with the living.
—Margaret F. Sangster.
Tobacco and Scholarship.
By Christian Union
ONE of the professors of the Polytechnic School of Paris inquired into the habits of the one hundred and sixty students there, and then made a comparison between their devotion to study and to smoke. He found that one hundred and two were smokers, and fifty-eight never used, or said they never used, the noxious weed. He then found that in each grade of the school the students who did not smoke out-ranked those who did smoke, and that the scholarship of the smokers steadily deteriorated as the smoking continued.
On account of several trustworthy reports of such a nature, the minister of public instruction in France issued a circular to the directors of colleges and schools forbidding tobacco to students, as injurious to physical and intellectual development. The Catholic Guardian is authority for the statement that the youth of Catholic colleges are not allowed to use tobacco in any way; and to this fact is attributed much of their proficiency in mathematics and also the other branches which wear more particularly on the intellect than some others.
A Story of a Tree-Frog.
ONE sultry night, in Indiana, I sat busily writing upstairs close to an open window. My lamp, placed upon my desk, attracted countless numbers of the insect world that come out to see their friends only after dark; there was a constant buzz around the lamp, and many a scorched victim, falling on its back, vainly kicked its little legs in air.
Suddenly a clear, low whistle sounded from the window—a whistle somewhat like the sound made when a boy blows into the orifice of a trunk-key. Startled for a moment, I turned my chair and beheld on the window-sill a little tree-frog gravely looking at me. His skin—of an exquisite pale apple-green color—shone in the lamp-light. Fearful that I might frighten him away, I sat motionless in the chair, watching him intently. Presently he gave another little whistle, as clear and sharp as a bird-note. He was evidently making up his mind that I was to be trusted (a confidence not misplaced), and soon he gave an easy spring and was on the desk before me. I hardly dared to breathe, lest he should be alarmed. He looked at me carefully for a few minutes; and then, hopping under the lamp, he began a slaughter of the insect creation, such as I had never before witnessed. He captured in a flash any careless fly or moth that came near him, declining to touch the dead ones that had cremated themselves.
After half an hour's enjoyment of this kind, my apple-green friend hopped rather lazily across the desk, repeated the whistle with which he had entered,—as if to say good night,—and went out into the dark. I proceeded with my work, and soon forgot my visitor. But judge of my surprise when on the next night he again appeared, again signaled his coming with his musical cry, and again took up his position under my lamp.
For nearly three weeks did my small friend visit my room nightly, and he and I became great friends. House-flies were his special delicacy. Stealthily crawling up the painted wall, clinging to the smooth surface with the little disks, or suckers, on his feet, he would draw close up to his body first one leg and then the other, and when within proper distance, he would dart forward, and, snatching the fly, would swing head downward, his hind feet firmly glued to the wall! Then, attaching his forefeet, he would move on in quest of another.
He never missed his aim, and he would quietly and calmly zigzag up and down the side wall after every fly he saw there. He became quite accustomed to me, and would hop on my hand, and sit there looking at me, with a grave composure ludicrous to behold.—St. Nicholas.
A Laughing-Plant
A LAUGHING-PLANT, that is, not a plant that laughs, but one that creates laughter, is described in Vick's Floral Magazine: "Its seeds produce effects like those produced by laughing-gas. The flowers are of a bright yellow, and the seed pods are soft and woolly, while the seeds resemble small black beans, and only two or three grow in a pod. The natives dry and pulverize them, and the powder, if taken in small doses, makes the soberest person behave like a circus clown or a madman; for he will dance, sing, and laugh most boisterously, and cut the most fantastic capers, and be in an uproariously ridiculous condition for about an hour. When the excitement ceases, the exhausted exhibitor of these antics falls asleep, and when he awakes he has not the slightest remembrance of his frisky doings."—Sel.