Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 29, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 July 1896 — Page 3

BRYAN’S BURNING WORDS.

His Eloquent Plea for Free Silver Before the Chicago Convention. STIRS AN AUDIENCE OF MANY THOUSANDS. He Arouses the Assembled Multitude to the Highest Pitch of Enthusiasm and Creates a Scene Rarely Witnessed. ONE OF THE GREATEST OF CONVENTION SPEECHES. Discusses in a Masterly Way Economic Conditions and Shows Why the Silver Cause Will Triumph Next November.

The speech made before the Chicago convention by ex-Congressman Bryan of Nebraska was by all odds the most eloquent and stirring of all the oratorical efforts made before that great gathering. ■, He wasted no time in invective or in making attacks upon individuals, but in a straightforward way set forth the reasons for his position and clearly defined the principles of the cause of which he is the acknowledged champion. The demonstration which followed his remarks was clearly a tribute to the man and. a hearty indorsement of the sentiments he so eloqunetly uttered. It is idle to say that it had been a rranged beforehand. The orator, master of his art, and speaking with an honesty and sincerity' of purpose not to be misunderstood, so played upon his hearers that he aroused them to a perfect frenzy of enthusiasm. His speech will long be remembered as one of the greatest oratorical efforts ever made before a national political gathering in this country. Mr. Bryan, after the applause which greeted his appearance on the platform had subsided, said: Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of This Convention; I would be presumptuous indeed to present myself a'gainst the distinguished gentlemen to whom yon have listened if this were but a measuring of ability, but this is not a contest among persons. The humblest citizen in all the land when clad in the armor of a righteous cause is stronger than all the whole hosts of error that they can bring. I come to speak to you In defense of a cause as holy as the cause of liberty, the cause of humanity. I Loud applause.) When this debate Is concluded a motion wiil be made to lay upon the. table the resolution offered in commendation of the administration. I shall object to bringing this question down to a level of persons. The individual is but an atom; he is l>orn, lie acts, he dies, but principles are eternal, and this has been a contest of principle. Never before in the history of this country has there been witnessed such a contest as that through which we have passed. Never before in the history of American politics has a great issue been fought out as this issue has been by the voters themselves. Retrospective Glance. On the 4th of March, 1895, a few Democrats, most of them members of Congress, issued an address to the Democrats of the nation asserting that the money question was the paramount Issue of the hour; asserting also the right of a majority of the Democratic party to control the position of the party on this paramount issue; concluding with the request that all believers in free coinage of silver in the Democratic party should organize and take charge of and control the policy of the Democratic party. Three mouths later, at Memphis, an organization was perfected and the silver Democrats went forth openly and boldly and courageously proclaiming their belief, and declaring that if successful they would crystallize in a platform the declaration which they had made: and then began the conflict with a zeal, approaching the zeal which inspired the crusaders who followed Peter the ilermit. Our silver Democrats

went forth from victory unto victory until they are assembled now, not to ■discuss, not to debate, but to enter upon the judgment rendered by the plain people of this country. (Applause.) In this Contest, brother has been arrayed against brother, and father against father. The warmest ties of love and acquaintance and association have been disregarded. Old leaders have been cast aside when they refused to give expression to the sentiments of those whom they would lead, and new leaders have sprung up to give direction to this cause of truth. (Cheers.) Thus has the contest been waged, and we have assembled here under as binding and solemn instructions as were ever fastened upon, the representatives of a people. We do not come as individuals. Why? .As individuals we might have been glad to compliment the gentleman from New York <Senator Hill), but we knew that the people for whom we speak would never be willing to put him in a position where he could thwart the will of the Democratic party. (Loudapplause, with cheers.) Fight Forced Upon Them. I say it is not a question of persons— It is a question of. principle—and it is not- with'gladness,* my'frieflds, that we find, ourselves brought into a conflict’ 'With-those Who are now.arrayed on the ■other side. - The gentleman .who just .preceded rhe (GOv. Russell) spoke ofthe old State, of. Massachusetts. Let me assure him that not one person in all this convention entertains the least hostility to the people of the State of Massachusetts. (Applause.) But we stand here representing people who are the equals before the law of the greatest qitizens In the State of Massachusetts. (Applause.) When you come before us and tell us that we shall disturb your business Interests, we reply that you have disturbed our business interests by your course. (Great applause and cheering.) We say to you thit-you have made too limited in Its application the definition

of business-man. The man who is employed for wages is as much a busi-ness-man as his employer. (Continued cheering.) The attorney in a country town is as much a business-man as the corporation counsel in a groat metropolis. The merchant at the cross-roads stbre is as much a business-man as the merchant of New York. The farmer who goes forth in the morning and toils all day, begins in the spring and toils all summer, and by the application of brain and muscle to the natural resources of this country creating wealth, is as much a business-man as the man who goes upon the Board of Trade and bets upon the price of grain. Sentiments Cheered to the Echo. The speaker was cheered again and again and at this point the galleries seemed to be a mass of white because of the hankefchiefs waving. The cheers were renewed again and again, and it was some minutes before Mr. Bryan could be heard. He proceeded as follows: The minors who go a thousand feet into the earth or climb two thousand feet upon the cliffs and bring forth from their hiding-places the precious metals to be poured into the channels of trade are as much business-men as the few financial*magnates who in a back room corner the money of the world. The free silver delegates at this point broke forth in tremendous cheers, standing on chairs and waving their hats and banners frantically, with 20,000 people in the audience joining in the grand acclaim to the sentiments uttered by the speaker. Order was finally restored, and Mr. Bryan continued: We come to speak for this broader class of business men. Ah, my friends, we say not one word against those who live upon the Atlantic coast; but those, hardy pioneers who braved all the dangers of the wilderness, who have made the desert to blossom as the rose —those pioneers away out here, rearing their children near to nature’s heart, where they can mingle their voices with the voices of the birds—out here where they have erected school-houses for the education of their young and churches where they praise their Creator. and cemeteries where sleep the ashes of their dead—are as deserving of the consideration of this party as any people in this country. (Great applause.) It is for these that we speak. We do not come as aggressors. Our war is not a war of conquest. We are fighting in the defense of our homes, our families, and posterity. (Loud applause.) No Recourse but to Fijrht. We have petitioned and our petitions have been scorned. We have entreated and our entreaties have been disregarded. We have begged and they have mocked, and our calamity came. We bog no longer; we entreat no more; we petition no more. We defy them! (Great applause, confusion in the silver delegations and rapturous applause from the audience.) The gentleman from Wisconsin has said that he fears a Robespierre. My friend, in this land of the free you need fear no tyrant who will spring up from among the people. What we need is an Andrew Jackson, to stand as Jackson stood, against the encroachments of aggrandized wealth. (Great applause.) They toll us that this platform was made to catch votes. We reply to them that changing conditions make uew issues; that the principles upon which rest Democracy are' as .everlasting as the hills, but that they must be applied to new conditions as they arise. Conditions have arisen and tve are attempting to meet those conditions. They tell us that the income tax ought not to be brought in here, that it is a new Idea.

They criticise us for our criticisms of the Supreme Court of the United States. My friends, we have not criticised. We have simply called, attention to what you know. If you want criticism, read the dissenting opinion of the court, That will give you criticisms. (Applause.) They say we passed ah unconstitutional law. I deny it. The income tax was not unconstitutional when It was passed. It was not unconstitutional When it went before the Supreme Court for the first time. It. did not become unconstitutional, until one Judge changed his. mind, and we' cannot be expected to know when'a Judge will change his mind.' (Applause, and a voice, “Hit ’em again.” ) Income Tax Wan Justified! 1 The income tax is a just law. It simply intends to put the burdens of government justly upon the backs of (the people. I am in favor of an Income tax. (Applause.) ~ When I find a man who is not willing to pay his share of the burden'of the government which protects him I find a man who is unworthy to enjoy the blessings of a government like ours. (Applause.) He says that we are opposing the national bank currency. It is true. If you will read what Thomas Benton said you will find that he said that In searching histoay he could find but one

parallel to Andrew Jackson. That was Cicero, who destroyed the conspiracy, of Cataline and saved Rome. He did for Rome what Jackson did when he destroyed the bonk conspiracy ami saved America. (Applause.) We say in our platform that we believe that the right to coin money is a function of government. We believe it. We believe it 1s a part of sovereignty, and cap no more with safety l>e delegated to private individuals than we could afford to delegate to’private individuals the power to make penal statutes or levy laws for taxation. .(Applause.) Mr. Jefferson, who was once regarded as good Democratic authority, s<wns to have a different opinion from the* gentleman who has addressed us pu the part of the minority. Those who are-opposed to this proposition tell us that the issue of paper money is a function of the bank, and that the government ought to go out of the banking business. I stand with Jefferson rather than with them, and tell them, as he did, that the issue of money is a function of the Government, and that the banks ought to go out of the Government business. They complain about that plank which declares against the life tenure in office. They have tried to strain it to mean that which it does not mean. What we oppose in that plunk is the life tenure that is being built up at Washington, which excludes from participation in the benefits the humbler members of our society. I cannot dwell longer in my limited time. (Cries of “Go on; go on.’’) Let me call attention to two or three great things. The gentleman from New York says that he will propose an amendment, providing that this change in our law shall not affect contracts already made. Let me remind him that there is no intention of affecting thos' 1 contracts which, according to the present laws, are made payable in gold. But if he means to say that we cannot change our monetary system without protecting those who have loaned money before the change was made I want to ask him where, in law or in morals, he can find authority for not protecting the debtors when the act of 1873 was passed, but now insist that wo must protect the creditor. He says be also wants to amend this law and provide that if we fail to maintain a parity within a year that we will then suspend the coinage of silver. We reply, that when we advocate a thing which we believe will be successful we are not compelled to raise a doubt as to our own sincerity by trying to show what we will do if we can. I ask him, if he will apply his logic to us, why he does not apply it to himself. Ho says that he wants this country to try to secure an international agreement. Why doesn’t he tell us what he is going to do if they fail to secure an international agreement? (Loud applause.)

Comes to the Paramount T««tic. There is more reason for him to do that than for us to fail to maintain the parity. They have tried for thirty years —for thirty* years—to secure an international agreement, and those claiming to be waiting for it most patiently don’t want it at all. (Cheering, laughter, long continued.) The Chairman rapped for order, and. a pause of considerable length ensued before the speaker could proceed. Mr. Bryan, (continuing)—My. friends, let me come to the great paramount issue.- If they ask us here why it is that we say more on the money question than we say upon the tariff question I reply that if protection has slain its thousands the gold standard has slain its tens of thousands. If they ask us why we did not embody all these things in our platform which we believe, we reply to them that when we have restored the money of the Constitution all other necessary reforms will be possible, and that until that is done there is no reform thptcan bo accomplished. (Cheering.) Why is it that within three months such a change has come over the sentiments of this country? Three months ago, when it was confidently assorted that those who believed in the gold standard would frame our platform and nominate our candidate, even the advocates of the gold standard did not think that we could elect a President; but they had good reason for the suspicion, because there is scarcely a State here today asking for the gold standard that is not within the absolute control of the Republican party. (Loud cheering.) But note the change. Mr. McKinley was nominated at St. Louis upon a platform that declared for the maintenance of the gold standard until it should be changed into bimetallism by an international agreement. Mr. McKinley was the most popular man among the Republicans and everybody three months ago in the Republican party prophesied his election. How is it to-day? Why. that man who used to boast that he looked like Napoleon (laughter and cheers.) —that man shudders to-day when he thinks that he was nominated on the anniversary of the 1 battle of Waterloo.

Makes the Silver Men Yell. At the suggestion of a coincidence between McKinley’s nomination and the fate of Napoleon at Waterloo the silver men showed their appreciation of the point by a yell and ah-pproar r which for twenty or thirty seconds prevented the speaker from proceeding. At length, when things calmed down a trifle; be resumed as follows! Not only that,, but as he listens he can hear with ever-increasing distinctness the sound of the waves as they beat upon the lonely shores of St. Helena. (Cheers.) Why this change? Ah, my friends, is not the change evident to any one who will lopk at. the matter? It is no private character, however pure, no personal popularity, however great, that can protect from the avenging wrath of an Indignant the man who will either declare that he Is in favor of fastening the gold standard upon this people, or who is willing to surrender the right of selfgovernment and place legislative control in the hands of foreign potentates and powers. (Long continued cheers.) My friends, the prospect (the continued cheering made it impossible for the speaker to proceed; it was renewed as the chairman vainly and repeatedly rapped for order; finally Mr. Byran, rasing his hand, obtained silence long enough to say that he had only ten minutes left, and he asked the audience to let him occupy tfiat time.) He then resumed:

Conti lent of Victory. We go forth confident that we shall | win. Why? Because upon the para-’ ! mount issue in. this campaign there is I not a spot of ground upon which the I enemy wtii dare, to challenge battle, i Why? If they tell us that the gold I standard is a good thing, we point to their platform and tell tijem that their I platform pledges the party to get rid I of a gold standard and substitute bimetallism. (Applause.) If the gold standard is a good thitig. why j;ry to get rid of it? (Laughter {ml continued applause.) ff the gold standard, and f might call your attention to the fact-ilKrt some of the very people who are in this convention today and who’Vell yoff that we ought to declare in favor of International bimetallism and thereby declare that the gold standard IS wrong, and that the bimetallism is bettet/these very people four months ago were open and avowed advocates of the gold standard, ami tefiigg us that we could not legislate two metals together, even with all the world. (Renewed applause and cheers.) I want to suggest this truth. That if the gold standard is a good thing we ought to declare In favor of its retention and not in favor of abandoning it; and if the gold standard is a bad thing, why should we wait until some other nations are willing to help us to let go? (Long continued applause aud cheering.) Here is the line of battle. Indifferent a« to Which Issue. We care not upon which issue they force the fight. We are prepared to meet them ou either issue or both. If they tell us that the gold standard is the standard of civilization, we reply to them that this, the most enlightened ofalltlio nations of the earth, has never declared for a gold standard, and both the parties this year are declaring against It. (Applause.) If the gold standard is the standard of civilization, why, my friends, should we not have it? So if they come to meet us on that we can present the history of our nation. More than that. We can tell them tliis. that they will search the pages of history in vain to find a single instance in which the common people-of any land have ever declared in favor of a gold standard. (Applafftdb'.) They can find where the holders of fixed investments have. Mr. Carlisle said in 1878 that this was a struggle between the idle holders of idle capital and the struggling masses who produce the wealth and pay the taxQfi of.the country, and, my friends, it is simply a question that we shall decide, upon which side shall the Democratic party fight? Upon the side of the idle holders of idle capital or upon the side of the struggling masses? That is the question that the party must answer first, and their it must be answered by each individual hereafter. The sympathies of the Democratic party, as described by the platform, are on the side of the struggling masses, who have ever been the foundation of the Democratic party. (Applause.)

Two Ideas of Government. There are two ideas of government. There are those who believe that if you just legislate to make the well-to-do prosperous, that their prosperity will leak through on those below. The Democratic idea has been that if yen legislate to make the masses prosperous their prosperity will find Its way up and through every class and rest upon It. (Applause.) You come to us and toll us that the great cities are in favor of the gold standard. I tell you that the groat cities rest upon these broad and fertile prairies. Burn dovtn your cities and leave our farms and your cities will spring up again as if by magic. But destroy our farms and the grass will grow in the streets of every city in this country. (Loud applause.) My friends, wo shall declare that this nation is able to legislate for iis own people on every question without waiting for the aid or consent of any other nation on earth (applause), and upon that issue we expect to carry every single State in this Union. (Applause.) Seventy-six Over Azain. It is the issue of 177 G over again. Our ancestors, when only three millions, had the courage to declare their political independence of every other nation upon earth. Shall we, their descendants, when we have grown to 70.000,000, declare that we are less independent than our forefathers? No, my friends, it will never be the judgment of this people. Therefore, we care not upon what lines the battle Is fought If they say bimetallism is good, but we cannot have it till some nation helps us, we reply that instead of having a gold standard because England has, we shall restore bimetallism, and then let England have bimetallism because the United States has it. (Applause.) If they dare to come out and in the open defend the gold standard as a good thing we shall fight them to the uttermost, having behind us the producing masses of this nation and the world. Having behind us the commercial interests and the laboring interests anct' all the toiling masses, we shall answer their ddtnands for a gold standard by saying to them you shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns. You shall not crucify mankind on a cross of gold. 4 * ! Tremendous Outburst of Enthusiasm. MrZ Bryan had finished his isppcch and it was the signal for a tremendous outburst of enthusiasm. The standards of thirty-one States were carried from their places and gathered around the Nebraska delegation. Among them New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts were conspicuous for their absence.

Apparently three-fourths of the delegates stood upon their chairs and waved handkerchiefs, hats, umbrellas and canes. Several red bandana handkerchiefs made their appearance and were frantically waved by their owners. The half wild delegates formed a procession and carried a number of the State standards around the aisles. The band over the platform played the “Skidmore Guards,” which apparently excited another band out in the audience, which started to play another tune, but the noise was so grdat that it was impossible to tell what they were playing. The enthusiasm subsided to some extent and was then renewed with great vigor. After the demonstration had lasted fifteen minutes the chairman succeeded in restoring a semblance of order and the business of the convention was proceeded with.

TALMAGE’S SERMON.

HANNAH WAS AN OLD FASH. lONED CHRISTIAN MOTHER. TetDr. Talmago Saga Hen! Indnatrx, Her Intellisencd and Her Christian Devotion Beflned Her for Heaven— A 'Plea for Our Mothers. An Ordinary Woman. Thia radical diaeourae will no doubt have its practical result hi many homesteads throughout •Xlhristendom. The text was I. Samuel 11., II), "Moreover his mother made h’ittW httie cdat and brought It to hint from year to year when she came up with het husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.” The stories of Deborah and Abigail are very apt to discourage a woman*# soul. She says within herself, "It is impossible that I ever achieve any such grandeur of character, and ! don't mean to try," as though a child ohouid refuse to play the eight notes because he cannot execute a "William Tell." This Hannah of the text differs from thj persons I just named. She was gn ordinniy woman, with ordinary Intellectual capacity, placed in ordinary circumstances, and yet by extraordinary piety standing out before all the nges to come the mods. Christian mother. Hannah was the wi’e of Elkanah, who was a person very much like herself—unromantic and plain, never having fought a battle or been the subject ot a marvelous escape. Neither of then, would have been called a genius. » Just a hat you and 1 might be, that was Elk,.nah and Hannah. The brightest time in ah the history of that family was th ■> birth of Samuel. Although no star ran niuqg the heavens pointing down to his birthplace, I think the angels of God stooped at the coming of so wonderful a prophet. As Samuel had been given in answer to prayer. Elkapah and all his family, save Hannah, started up to; Shiloh to offe- sacrifices of thanksgiving. The cradle when- the child sigpt was altar enough for Hinnnh’s grateful heart..but •when the boy was old enough she. took him to Shiloh ana took three bullocks and an ephah of flour and a bottle of wine nnd made offering of sacrifice unto the Lord, nnd there, according to a previous vow. she left him. foi flicre he was to stay all the days of hii life and minister in the sanctuary.

1 Years rolled on, and every year Hannah made with hcr'qwji hand a gnrniewti'for Samuel nnd toos it over to him. The lad would have go’ along well without that garment, for 1 suppose lie,was well clad by the ministry of the temple, but Hannah could not be contented unless she was all the time do'.ng something for her darling boy. "Moreover his mother nthde' him a little coat nnd brought it Vo him from year to year when she cams up with her husband to otter the yearly sacrifice." Hannah'* Industry. Hannah stands lx,'fore you, then, to-day,' in the first place, as an industrious moth er. There was no need that she work. Elkanah, her husband, was far from poof. He belonged to a distinguished family, for the Bible tells us that he was the son of .Teroham, the son of EUhu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zupjt. /‘Who were they?" you say. 1 do not know, but they wore distinguished people, no doubt, or their-nnmes would not have boon mentioned. Hannah might have seated herself in her fnm.ly, nnd, with folded arms and disheveled hair, read novels, from ycfir'tb year, there had been any to read. But when I sec her making that garment and taking it over to Samuel, I know she is industrious from principle ns well ns front pleasure. God would not hnvo a mother become n drudge or a slave; he would have’ her employ all the helps possible in this Jay in the retiring Of her children. But Hannah ought never to be nshamed io be found making a Coat for Samuel. Most mothers need no counsel in thi., direction. The wrinkles on their brow, the pallor on their cheek, the thimble ntnrk on their finger, attest that they are faithful in their maternal duties. The bloom and the brightness nnd the vivac’ty of girlhood have given place to the gr .ncler dignity pnd'upcftilindustry of motherhood. But there is a. heathenish idea getting .abroad in some of the families of Americans. There nre mTilers who banish themselves from th' home circle. For threefourths of tm ir maternal duties they prove themselves incompetent. They are ignorant of what their children wear, and whnt their children eat, nnd what their children read. They intrust to irresponsible persons these young immortals and nllow them to lie under Jpflueppes which mny cr pplc their bodies, or taint" their purity, or spoil their manners, or destroy their souls. From the awkward cut of Samuel’s cont you know his mother .Hannah did not make it.

Out from under flaming chandeliers', and off from imported carpets, and down the granite stairs there is coming a great crowd of children in this day untrained, saucy, incompetent for all the practical duties of life, nndyito be caught in the first whirl of erme and sensuality. Indolent and unfaithful mothers will make indolent and unfaithful children. You cannot expect neatness and order in any house where the daughters see nothing but slatternlim es and upside downntiveness in their parents. Let Hannah be idle, and most certainly Samuel will grow up idle.- - Who arc the industrious mon in all our occupat'.ms and professions? Who are they building the walls, tinning the roofs, weaving the carpets, making the laws, governing the nations, making the earth to qttnko and heave and roar and rattle with thr tread of gigantic enterprises? Who are they? For the, most part - they descended from ..industrious mothers, who in the old homestead, used to spin their own yarn nnd weave their own carpets and plait their own doormats and sing their, own chairs nnd do their owtj work. The stalwart men and.the influential women of this day, 99'out ; of 100 of them, came from such an illustrious ancestry of hard knuckles and.jiomesnun. And who are these people in sbciefy-rrlight as froth, blown every whither Of, tflinptfttlon and fashion—the peddleM of filthy stories, the dancing jacks of political'parties, the scum of society, the tavern lounging, store infesting, the men of low wink and tilth/ chuckle and brass breastpin and rotten associations? - For the mprit part they came from ipptherk' idle' 'nnd disgusting,, the scandal tpongefs.of*tocirty, going from house to htrafe attefichtijf' to everybody’s business but thbfr oWn, believing in witches and ghosts, atfd 'hpMeshoes to keep the devil oiit of the and by a godless life setting their'Children on the very ■ verge of hell. The iiothers of Samuel Johnson, and of Alfred the Great, and of Isaac Newton 1 ; and of St. Augustine, and of Richard CeCil, and of Presid.‘njt.Edvyn- r d g , Rmst part were industrious, hardworking mothers. Now, whi'c 1 tia.h mothers upon the w&jlth atid'- ihe niodefn science which may afford them rfll kfhds of help, let me say that eyerhn mother ought to be observant of her Andren’s walk, her children's behavior, ]itfrchildren’s food, her children’s books, lujt’children’s companionships. How/vir much help Hannah may have, I think she ought every 1 year at least make one gar"ment for Samiicl. The Lord have mercyon the man -who is so Unfortunate a's to have had a lazy mother!

Hannah’s Intelligence. A&TTR, imjint ttands before you to-day as an intejitgent mother. From the way in which she talked-ln this chapter and from th* w ihg managed this boy you know she was intelligent- There are no persona in a community who need to tie so wise. and v ell informed as mothers. Oh, this work ot culturing children /or this- world ana the nextl Thia child is timid, a ad it muat be roused up and pushed out into activities. Thia child is forward, and be uniat be held back and tamed down into modesty and politeness. Rewards for-One, punishments for anotherThat which will maka George will ruin John. The rod is necessary in one case, while a frown of displeasure is more than enough in another. Whipping and a dark closet do not exhaust all the rounds of domestic discipline. There have been children 'Who have grown up and gone to glory without ever having had their ears boxed. Oh, how much can? and intelligence nre necessary in the rearing of children! But in this day, when there are so many books on this subject, no parent is excusable in being Ignorant of the best mode of bribing up n child. If parents know more of dietetics, there would not bi' so many dyspeptic stomachs and weak nerves and inactive livers among children. If parents knew more of physiology. there would not be so many curved spines and cramped chests and inflamed throats and diseased lungs as there nre among children. If parents knew more of art, and Were in sympathy with all that is beautiful, there would not 1* so many children coming out in the world with boorish proclivities. If pareuts knew more of Christ and practiced more of his religion, there would not be so many little feet already starting on the wrong road, and all around us voices of riot and blasphemy would not come up with such ecstasy of infernal triumph. The eaglets in the eyrie have no advantage over the eaglels of 1,000 years ngo; the kids have no superior way,of climbing up the rocks than the old goats taught them hundreds of years ago; the whelps know.,no more now than did the whelps of agqs ago—they are taught no more by the lions of the desert, but it is a shame that in this dayy.whon mere are so many opportunities of improving ourselves In the best manner of culturing children, that so often there is no more advancement in this respect than there has been among the kids and the eaglets and the wlielps.

Hannah’s Piety. Again, Hannah stands before you todny ns a Chr.'stian mother. From her prayers, nnd fibm the way she consecrated her boy to God, 1 know she was good. A mother may hnvo the finest culture, the most brilliant surrounding*, but she is hot fit for her duties unless she lie a Christian mother. There may be well read libraries m the house, and exquisite music in the parlor, and the ennvua of the Vest artists adorning the walls, nnd the wardrobe lie crowded with tasteful nppnrel, nnd, the children lie wonderful for their attainments and make the house ring with laughter and innocent mirth, but ,|her‘e is something woefully lacking in that house if it be not also the residence of a Christian mpther. I olcas G<xl thnt there are not'many prayerless mothers. The weight of responsibility is so great that they feel the need of a divine hand to help, nnd n divine voice to comfort, and n divine heart to sympathize.. Thousands of mot,hers have been led into the kingdom of God by the hands of their little children. There are hundreds of mothersotonlay who would not have been Chris>tiuns liiul It not been for the prattle of their little one*. Standing some day in thiy nursery, they bethought themselves: t'Tli/is elulilGod has given me to raise for eternity. Whnt is my influence upon it? Not being a. Christian myself, how can I ever expect him to become n Christian? laird; help me!" Oh, are there anxious mothers who know nothing of the infinite help of religion? Then 1 commend to you Ihi niMih, the ni< us mot her of Haninel. Do not think it is absolutely Impossildc thnt your children come up iniquitous. Out of just such fair brows nnd bright eyes nnd soft hands and 'unooant hearts crime gets its victims—-extirpating purity from the heart,’and ruobing out the smoothness • from the brow upd quenching the luster of the eye, ami shriveling up ami poisoning and putrefying and scathing nnd scalding nnd nlastlng nnd burning with alia mid and woe.

Every child is a bundle of tremendous possibilities,‘nml whether that child shall come forth in li f e, its heart attuned to the eternal harmonies, and after n life of usefulness on earth go to a life of joy in heaven, or whether across it shall jar eternal discords, nnd after a life of wrongdoing on earth it shall go to a home of impenetrable darkness and an abyss of immeasurable plunge, is being decided by nursery song and Sab'iath lesson nnd evening prayer nnd iVftlk nad ride nnd look and frown and smile. Oh, how many children in glory, crowding nil the battlements nnd lifting n million voiced hosanna—brought to God through Christian parentage! One hundred and twenty clergymen were together, nnd they were telling their experience and their anctstry, and of the 120 clergymen, how many of them do you suppose assigned ns tie means of their conversion the Influence of a Christian mother? One hundred out of the hundred and twenty! Philip 'Doddridge was brought to God by the Scripture lesson on the Dutch tile of the chimney fireplace. The mother thinks she is only rocking a child, blit nt the same time she may be rocking the destiny of empires, rocking the fate of nations, rocking the glories of heaven. The same maternal power that may lift rt chlld up rtisy' press a child down. A daughter camo to a worldly mother and said she was anxious about her sins and she bad been pr-iying all night. The mother said: “Oh, stop praying! I don’t believe in praying. Get over all those religious notions and 1 give you a dress that will cost |tsoo, nnd you may wear It next week to that party.” The daughter took the dress, and sue. moved in the gay circle, the gayest of all the gay that night, and 1 , sure enough, all religious impressions were gone and she stopped praying, A few tnonths-after she crime to die, and in» her closing moments said, “Mother, 1 wish you would bring me that dress that ebst ?500.” The mother thought it wq» a very strange requ’est.'btit she bronghf it to please the dying child. “Now,” said the -daughter, ' mother, hang that dress on the foot of my bed.” And the dress was hung the>e on the foot of the bed. Then the dying girl got up.pn one-elbow and looked at her mother and pointed to the -dress and sriid, "Mother, that dress is the price of my soul!-' Ob, what a momentous thing it-is to be a mother! ■> Again and liibtlyl'HatihahstlStids before ■'ybn td-day the rewarded mother. For. oil tilo coats she m;;de 'for Samuel, for all theprriyers she offered for him, fof'fhd discipline she exerted over him, she got abundant compensation in the piety and the usefulness and the popularity of her son Samuel, and that is true in all nges. Every mother gets full pay for all the prayers and tears in behalf of her children. That man useful in commercial iifie, that man prominent in the profession, that master mechanic—why, every step he flakes in life line an echo of gladness in >ribv« old heart that long ago taught him to !hr Christian and heroic and earnest. The story of what yoiybave done or what you hasho written, of the influence you have 'riketted; has gone back to the old homcstend, for there Is some one always ready to carry good tidings, nnd that story makes ths needle Ju the old mother’s trem-

along hand fly quicker and the flail !■ tW father’s hand tome down upon the barm floor with a mire vigorous thump. Parents love to hear good news from their children. Do yen send them good news always? lx>ok out for the young maa who speaks of his 'artier as the “governor,** the “squire” or the "old- chap.” Look out for the young woman who call* ha* inoihec her ."maternal ancestor* or the "old woman." “The eye .that mocketh At hi* father and rrfnseth to obey Ma toother the rovens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it." God grant that all these parents may hnvc the great satisfaction of seeing their children, grow up Christians. But. oh. the pang of that mother who, after a life of street gadding and gossip retailing, hanging cn her children the fripperies and follies of this world, sees thoas children tossed out on the sea of life like foam on the wave of nonentities in a world where only brawny and stalwart character can stand the shock! But bleaaed lie the mother who looks upon her children as sons and daughters of the Ixird Almighty. Oh, the satisfaction of Hannah in sce.ng Samuel serving at th* altar, of Molner Eunice in sceiag her Timothy learned in the Scriptures! That is the mother's recompense—to see children coming up useful in the world, reclaiming the lost, healing the sick, pitying the ignorant, earnest and useful in every sphere. That throws a new light back on the old family Bible whenever ah* reads it, and that will be ointment to soothe the aching limbs of decrepitude and light up the closing hours of life’s day with the glories of an autumnal sunset! There she sits, the old Christian mother, ripe for heaven Her eyesight is almost gone, but the splendors of the celestial city kindle up her vision. The gray light of heaven’s morn has struck through the gray lock* wli'ch are folded back over the wrinkled temple*. She stoops very much now under the burden of care she used to carry tor her children. She sits at home to-day too old to find her way to the houae of God, but while she ait* there all the past comes back, and the children that forty years ago trooped around her armchair with their little grief* and joys and sorrows, those children are all gone now—some caught up into a better realm, where they shall never die, and others out in the broad world attesting the excellency of a Christian mother's discipline. Her laat days are full of peace, and calmer and sweeter will her spirit become until the gates ot life slrall lift nnd let the worn out pilgrim into eternal springtide and youth, where the limbs never ache, and the eyes never grow dim, and the staff ot the exhaiwtsd and decrepit pilgrim shall because the palm of the immortal athlete.

Hard Times.

What tins caused the "hard times’* through which we are passing? Almost every one has his theory about tt. One man says It Is tho gold standard, another thm.lt/Js the danger of free coinage; one that tt is because tariff duties are too Ugh, another that it la because the duties are so low as t» flood tho'COtiut/y.With foreign goods, and these ‘are only examples of tho wide diversity of opinion flint exists. l’orli|ii>s the strangest theory of all, which nevertheless spurns to, have many adherents, Is that the blcyele has caused it. It is reasoned out thus: Hundreds of thousands of persons hnvo been saving every spare penny to buy a wheel, and have thus killed other business. Mon, women and young people of both sexes wear their old clothing, economize in food ami resbrt to other means of saving, and thus the business of the butcher,' the baker nnd tho candlestick-maker is seriously diminished. «i ii Watches, pianos, jqjvelry, books and other articles not necessary ‘‘lp ‘ the strictest souse of the word used to be the favorite luxuries; now all these things are neglected for tho bicycle. The market for horses was greatly Injured by the substitution of electricity for animal power in moving street-cars. The trade certainly had another serious blow when tho bicycle became tho popular mode of locomotion. In all this then? Is an clement of exaggeration, but It cannot be denied that there Is a measure of truth in tho theory. That is, the demand for bicycles has probably Intensified the bad. times. But neither Jia rd ypjea nor good times an? a result of one cause. It la a mistake to fix upon one peculiarity of the situation and say, remove that and all will be well. Ho far as the bicycle Is held* responsible for the business depression, It Is sufficient to point to the fact that tho wheel-croze is quite as provaletit'Hi Europe as It Is in this country, and j?et business abroad Is In an excellent condition.—Youth’s Companion.

Mosquitoes and Fleas.

L. O. Howard, entomologist of the United States Department of Agriculture, states in a circular of that department that egg-laying by mosquitoes occurs at night and In the form of boatshaped masses on the surface of the water, 200 to 400 eggs In a mass. The round of their existence is so brief that several generations may occur in ft year, or one generation every ten dayfc Among the remedies suggested Is the not altogether novel one of screening windows and beds. The burning of pyrethrum stupeties them until their presence is unobjectionable. Those on the ceilings of bedrooms may be caught in the lid of a blacking box that is wet inside with kerosene.' It is nailed on the end of a stick and placed near tbo insect. ThOy meet their destruction by flying against ft. « ■ , / The more feasible remedies, lie re~ gards, are' the destruction of their breeding places by draining pools, tha introduction of Iflsh where feasible, oven In tanks, and the application of ketiosene to the surface ofbreedfiag ponds. The latter remedy is applied a£ the rate of an ounce of kerosene to each fifteen square feet of-water. This application will answer in periods of over thirty days. They flnd apong breedlne places raltxwater in barrels, hogsheads, etc. If these ate covered at night they prevent egg laying. . . , y The flea 16 not likely to Infest house* whbtfc tfttf bare floors can liefrdqueDtty arid- rtfofrotfglily swept, < but where it does* thee' sprinkllrig"6f > thrum, powder lithe Infested rooms i» the easiest This failing, bftttzlne may be tried, spraying carpets and floors,' 1 keeping all ‘lights away-. These failing, the floor must‘be washed with hot soapsuds.

Advancing Civilisation.

At Coomassie road-making operations 'are being commenced, and before long a magnificent road will be made not merely between the Gold Coast proper and the -Ashantee capital, but also to the famous Mooranza country. AU th* chiefs have sftrreridered to Gov.' Maxwell their instruments of tortur*.