Indianapolis Sentinel, Volume 34, Number 25, Indianapolis, Marion County, 25 January 1885 — Page 9

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TWELVE PAGES. INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, SUNDAY MORNING, JANUARY 25,1885. PAGES 9 TO 12

TALMAGE.

Congratulatory I ttrs From Notable People To the (ireat tirookljn Dlilne on His llirtbday. Tho Sunday Sormon at Brooklyn Tabernacle on Tho LookingQ1&83 of the aoap9l.,, Tho Mirror Reflecting Mankind's Deeds on Earth Whether for Good or for Evil. The Laver in Which I Shadowed the Right aad the Wrong of Motive anil Action The Light of Dlrloe Law. Brook LTir, Jan 18. A few days a?o Dr. Tal mage received, on his fifty-third birth day, a testimonial through the Brooklyn Magazine containing oyer a hundred congratulatory letters from distinguished people, such as Secretary Frelingbuysen, from the Department of State; Dr. Prime, of New York, Dr. Storrs, Henry Ward Beecher, John G. Whtttier, Generals Hancock and W. T. Sherman. 8nators Sherman and Col quitt, Lord Butler, of Dublin; Martin FarqoarTupper, Emma Abbott, and others Dr. Tal mage has asked the press to convey his hearty thanks for their kindness. Philip Phillips says in his letter: ''Arriving at New Zeland, the first literature that met my eyes as I entered a large bookstore in Auck land, was 'Dr. Talmage's Sermons, a penny each.' Even in the nethermost land, Aus tralia, the Southern Cross and other leading papers of the colonies are telling of salvation as delivered in the Brooklyn Tabernacle.' John K. Porter, the great jurist. writes: "No one else can send through an audience like htm the magnetic thrill which penetrates the heart like lightning. He reaches with every sentence the popular In telligence, heart and conscience. Full as I appreciate the more boundless field Dr. Talmage commands in hia own grander pro Zession, I can not refrain from thinking what a mastery he would have over courts and juries, if it had happened to him to belong to oars." An English correipondent In the same collection says: "Seven papers in London here prodace Dr. Talmaeje's aermona each week, and through these alone does he obtsin an audience of more than 800,000 readers, one of these paper alone having a circulation of oyer 220,000. In Scotland three or four papers publlih his serrnot-s regularly, and in Ireland, throughout which country he is universally beloved and respected, even a larger number of periodicals produce his discourses to their readers. It must also be remembered that these periodicals, while they circulate of course more extensively throughout Great Britain, have thousands of regular readers in all the British provinces, such as British Gniana, New Zealand and Australia. At all the bookstores in London, Liverpool and the large cities of Great 1 Sri tain nie aermona are always for sale and Und many purchasers, one publisher in London informing me that he sold more than 30,000 copies of Dr. Talmage's bound ser mons annually. In Ireland his sermons are read more extensively than those of any living preacher, and the journals having the largest circulation are in every case those that give space to the publication of his discourses.' Tni fUBJICT or DR. talmage's sermon to-day was: "The Looking glass of the Gos pel." The opening hymn was: "There Is a fountain filled with blood Drawn from Immanuel' veins." The text was Exodus, xxxviii, 8: And be made the layer of braaa and the foot of It of brana, of tue looking-glasses of the women assembling. We often hear, said Dr. Talniage, about the gospel in John, the gospel in Lake, and the gospel in Matthew, but there is just as surely a gospel of Moses, and a gospel of Jeremiah, and a gospel of Davfd. In other words, Christ is as certainly to be found in the Old Testament as in the New. When the Israelites were marching through the wilderness they carried their church with them. They called it the Tabernacle. It was a pitched tent, very costly, very beautiful. The framework was made of forty eight boards of occacia wood, set In sockets of silver. The curtains of the place were purple and scarlet and blue and fine linen, and were bung with most artistic loops. The candle- stick of that Tabernacle bad shaft and branch aod bowl of soLd gold, and the figures of cherubim that stood there had wings of gold, and there were lamps of gold and snuffers of gold and tongs of gold and rings of gold; so that skepticism has sometimes asked: "Where did all that precious material come from?" It is not my place to furnish the precious stones; It is only to tell that they were there. I wish now, more especially, to speak of the laver that was built in the midst of that ancient tabarnacle. It was a great batin, from which the priests washed their bands and feet. The wa ter came down from the basin in spouts, and passed away after cleansing. This laver or basin was made out of the looking-glasses f the women who had frequented the tabernacle, and who had made these their ontribution to the furniture. These locking glares weie not made of glass, but they were brszen. Tne brass was of a verv superior quality, and polished until it reflected easily he features of those who looked into iL 60 that this laver of looking glatses speken of in my text did double work it not only furnished the water in which the prists washed themselves, but it alo, in its shining, polished surface, pointed out the spots of polntion on the face which needed ablution. Now, my Christian friends, as everything in that ancient taberracle was suggestive of religious troth, and for the most part positively symbolical of truth, I shall täte that laver of looking glasses spoken of ia the text as allsuggestive of the gospel, which first shows ni our sins as in a mirror, and then wah?s them away by divine ablation. Oh, hsppr day. happy day. When Jeans washed my tins away. TBI 05 LT TRI' a MIRROR. ' I have to say that this ia the only lookingglass in which a man can see himself as he ia. There are some mirrors that flatter the f extort? axd make you look better than you er? j.nca were are euer mirrors that dla

tort your features and make you look worse than you are. But I want to tell you that

this looking glas of the gospel shows a man just as he is. When the priests entered the ancient Tabernacle one glance at the burnished side of this laver showed them their need of cleansing; so this Gospel shows the soul its need of divine washing, "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." That ia one showing. "All we, like sheep, have gone astray." That is another showing. "From the crown of the head to the That is another showing. The world calls thee defects, imperfections or eccentricities, or erratic behavior, or "wild oats," or "high living," but the Gospel calls them sin, transgression, filth the abominable thing that God hates It was just one glance at that mirror that made Paul cry out: 'Oh. wretched man that I am; who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" and that made David cry out: "Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean;" and that made Martin Luther cry out, "OU my sins, my ins!" I am not talking about bad habits. You and I do not need any Bible to tell us that bad habits are wrong; that blasphemy and evll-Epeaklng are wrong. But I am talk ing of a sinful nature, the source of all bad thought as well as of all bad actions. Toe Apostle Paul calls their roll in the first chap ter of Romans. They are a regiment of death, encamping around every heart holding it in a tyranny from which nothing but the grace of God can deliver it. Here, for instance, is ingratitude. Who has not been guilty of that sin? If a man hand us a glass of water, we say, '-Than you," but for the ten thousand mercies that we are every day receiving from the hand of God, how little expression of gratitude for thirst slaked, for hunger fed, for shelter and sunshine and sound sleep and clothes to wear how little thanks! I suppose there are men fifty years of age who have never yet been down on their knees in thanksgiving to God for His goodness. Beside that ingratitude of our hearts, there is pride who has not felt it? Pride that will not submit to God; that wants its own way a nature that prefers wrong sometimes instead of right; that prefers to waliow instead of to riee up. 1 do not know what you call that; I am not going to quarrel with any theolo glan or any man who makes pretensions to theology. I do not care whether you call it "total depravity" or something else; I simply make the announcement of God's word, atlirnied and confirmed by the experience of hundreds of people in this house. The imagination of the heart of man is evil from youth. "There is none that doeth good; no not one." We have a bid nature. We were born with it; we got it from our parents; they got It from their parents. Our thoughts are wrong. Our action is wrong. Our whole life is obnoxious to God before converson, and after conver sion not one good thing in us but that which the grace of God has planted and fostered. "Well " vou say. M can't believe that to be so." Ah, my dear brother, that is because you have never looked into this LAVER OF LOOKIXQGLASSES, If you could catch a glimpse of your nat ural heart before und you would cry out In amazement and alarm. The very first thing this gospel does Is to cut down our pride and self-snfliciency. If a man does not feel hia Io3t and rained condition before God he does not want any Gospel. I think the reason that there, are so few conversions in this day is because the tendency of the preaching is to make men believe that they are pretty good any how quite clever, only wanting a little Suing up, a few touches of divine grace and then you will be all right instead of proclaiming the broad, deep truth that Payson and Baxter and Whitfield thundered to a race trembling on the verge of infinite and eternal disaster. "Now," says someone, ' can this really be true? Have we all gone astray? Is there no good in us?" J n Hampton Court I saw a room where the four walls were covered with looking glasses, and it made no difference which way you looked you saw yourself. And so it is in this gospel of Christ. If you once step within its full precincts you will find your whole char acter reflected, every feature of moral deformity, every spot "of moral taint. If I understand the word of God its first announcement is that we are lost. I care not, my brother, how magnificently you have been born, or what may hare been your heritage or ancestry, you are lost by reason of sin. "But," you say, "what is the reason of all this of showing a man's faults when he can't get rid of them?" Nonel What was the use of that burnished surface to this layer of looking-glasses spoken of in the text if it only showed the spots on the countenance and the need of washing and there was nothing to ash with? Glory to God! I find that this laver of looking glasses was filled with fresh water every morning, and tbe priest no sooner looked on its burnished side and saw his need of cleansing than he washed and was clean glorious type of the gcspel of my Lord Jesus, that first ehows a man his sin and then washes it all away I I want you to notice that this laver in which the priest washed the laver of looking-glasseswas tilled with fresh water every morning. The servants of the Taberna cle brought the water in buckets and poured it into this laver. bo it Is with the Gospel of Jesus Christ; it has a fresh salvation everyday. It is not a stagnant pool filled with accumulated corruptions. It is living water which is brought from the eternal rocx to wash away the sins of yesterday of one moment ago. 4 Oh," says some one, "I was a Chnstian twentv years ago!" That does not mean anything to me What are you now7 e are not talking, my brother, about pardon ten years ago, but about par don now A FRESII SALVATION. Suppose a time of war should come, and I coulu show the Government that I bad been loyal to it twelve years ago, would that excise me from taking an oath of allegiance now? Suppose von ask me about mv nhvsical health, and I should eay I was well fifteen vears ago that does not say how 1 am now. The Gospel of Jesus Christ comes and demands present allegiance, present fealty, present moral health; and yet how many Christians there are seeking to live entirely in past experience, who seem to have no experience of present mercy and pardon! Wo en I wa on the sea and there came up a great storm and officers and crew and passecgers all thought we must go down, I began to tnlnkof my life insurance and whether, if 1 were taken away, my family would be cared for; and then I thought, is the prem ium raid up? and I said yes. Then I felt comfortable. Yet there are men who, in re ligions matters, are looking back to past in suranre. The? have let it run out and they have nothing for the present.no hope nor pardon falling back on the old insurance policy of ten. twenty, thirty years ago. It I want to find out how a friend feels toward me do I go to the drawer and find some old yellow letters written to mt ten or twelve years ago? o, I go to tbe letter that was stamped the day before yesterday in the Poatoifice and I find how he feels toward me. It is not in regard to old communications we had with Jesus Christ, it is communica tlons we have now. Are we not in sympa thy with Him to-dsy and is He not in sym patnv with u7 Do not spend so much o your time in hunting in the wardrobe for the old worn-out shoes of Christian profession tome now and take the glittering robe o Christ's righteousness from the Savior' hand. You say you were plunged in the) fountain of the Bavior's mercy a quarter of

a century ago. That is nothing tome. I tell you to wash now in this laver of look

ing-gl asses and have your soul made clean. I notice also, in regard ta this laver of looking-glasses spoken of in the text, that the priests washed both hands and feet. The water came down in spouts, so that, without leaving any lath in the basin, the priests washed both hands and feet. So the Gospel of Jesus Christ must touch tbe very EXTREMITIES OF OUR MORAL 5ATCRE. A man can not fence off a small part of his soul and say: "Now, this is to be a garden in which I will have all the fruits aud flowers of Christian character, while outside it shall be the devil's commons." No, no; it will be all garden or none. 1 sometimes hear people say, "He is a very good man. except in politics." Then he is not a goud man. A religion that will not take a mau through an autumn election will not be worth anything to him in June, July and August. They say he is a useful sort of a man, but he overreaches in a bargain. I deny the statement. If he is a Christian anywhere, he will be one in his business. It is very easy to be good In the prajer-mee;-ing with surroundings kindly and blessed, but not so easy to be a Christian behind tbe counter where by one skillful twitch oi the goods you can hide a flaw in the silk so th at the customer can not eee it. It is very easy to be a Christian with a psalm-book in your hand and a Bible in your lap, but not s i easy when you can go into a shop and fal&n ly tell the merchant you can get those goods at a cheaper rate in another store so that ha will sell them to yon cheaper than he can afford to sell them. The fact is. the religio;! of Christ is all-pervasive. If you rent a house you expect full possession of it. You say: "Where are the keys of these rooms? If I pay for this whole house I want possession of these rooms." And the grace of God when it comes to a soal takes full possession of a man or goes away and takes no possession. It will ransack every room in the heart, every r.om in the life, from cellar to attic, touching the very extremi ties of his nature. The priests washed hands and feet. I remark' further that this laver of look ing-glasses spoken of in the text was a verylarge laver. I always thought, from the tact that so many washed there, and alio from the fact that Solomon afterward, when he copied thai laver in the Temple, built it on a very large scale, mat h was large; and so suggestive of the gospel of Jesus Christ and salvation by Him. VAST IN ITS PROVISIONS The whole world may come and wash in the laver and be clean. I do not row think oi a single passage that says a snail sinner may be saved, but I do think of pastures that say a great sinner may be saved. It there be. sins only faintly hned, just a little tinged, so latntiy c oiored mat you can naruiy see them, there is no special pardon promibed in the Bible for those sins; but if they be glar ing red nice crimson, men they snail be as snow. Now, my brother, I do not state this to put a premium upon great iniquity. I merely say ;his to encourage that man in this house who feels he is so far gone from Ood that there ia no mercy for him. I want to tell him there is a good chance. Why, Paul was a murdeier, he assisted at the execution ot Stephen: and yet Paul was caved. The dying thief was saved. It was a vast laver! Go and tell everj body to come and wash in it. Let them come up from the penitentiaries and wash away their crimes. Let them come up from the alms-houses and wash away their poverty. Let them come up from their graves and wash away their death. If there be anyone so worn out in sin that he can not get up to the laver, you will take hold of his head and put your arms around him, and I will take hold of his feet, and we will plunge him in this glorious Bethesda, the vast laver of God's mercy and salvation. In Solomon's Temple there were ten layers, and one molten sea this great reservoir in tbe midst of the temple filled with water these layers and this molten sea adorned with figures of palm-branch and oxen and lions and cherubim. This fountain of God's mercy is a vaster molten sea than that. It is adorned, not with palm-branches, but with the wood of the cross; not with cheru bim, but wi'h the wings of the Holy Ghost, and around its great rim all the race may come and wash in the rue 1 ten sea. I was reading of Alexander the Great, who, when he was very thirsty and standing at the head of his army, had brought to him a cup of water. He looked off upon his host, and said : "I cau not drink this; my men are all thiisty," and he dashed it to the ground Blessed be God: there is enough water fo all the host enough for Captain and host "Whosoever will may come and take of the water of lire freely" a laver broad as the earth, high as the Heavens and deep as helL But I notice also in regard to this laver of looking-glasses spoken ot in the text, that the washing in it was imperative and not optional. When the priests came into the rabernacle vou will find this in the 30th chapter of Exodus God tells them that they must wash in that laver or die. i he priPtt might have (aid: "Can't I wash thewhere? I washed in the laver at home, and now you want me to wash here." No matter whether or not you have washed before," God says: Wash In this laver or die." "But," says the priest, "there is water just as clean as mis wny won't mat ao" "Wah here," lays God, "or die." So it is with the Gospel of Christ it is imperative. There is only this alternative keep our sins and perish or wash them away and live. "But, "says some one, "whv could not God have made more ways to Heaven than one?" I do not know but He could have made half a dozen. I know He made but one. You say: "Why not have a long line of boats running from here to Heaven?" I can not say, but I simply know that there is ONLY ONE BOAT. You say: "Are there not trees as luxu riant as that on Calvary more luxuriant, for that nad neither buds nor blossoms ; it was stripped and barked?" Yes, yes; there have been taller trees than that and more uxuriant, but the only path to Heaven is under that one tree. Instead ot quarreling because there are not mora w ays. let us be thankful to God there is one one name giyen unto men whereby we ctn be saved one laver in which all the world may wash. So jou see what a radiant gcspel this is 1 prach. 1 do not know how a man can stand stolidly anJ present it, for it is such an exhilerant gt spel. It is not a mere whim or caprice; it is life or death; it is Heaven or helL ou come before your child aid you have a present in your hand. You put your hands behind your back and say: 'Which one will ou taker In one hand there is a treasure, in the other hand there is not The child blinaly chooses. But God, our Father, does not do that way with us. He spreads out both hands and says: "Now. this shall be very plain. In that hand are pardon and peace and life and the treasures of Heaven; in that hand are pun ishment and sorrow and woe. Choose, choose for yourselves!" "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned " O, my dear friends, I wish I could this moment coax you to accept this Gospel. If you could just take one look in this laver of looking-glasses spoken of In the text you would begin now spiritual ablution. You will not feel insulted, will you. when I tell you that you are a lost soul without pardon? Christ oSen all the generosity of His nature generosity

to you to-day. The love of Christ I dare not toward the close of my sermon begin to

tell about it. The love of Cnrut! Do not talk tome about a mountain; it is higher man mat. uo not talk to me about a sea it Is deeper than that. AN ARTIST IN HIS DREAMS saw such a splendid dream of the transfigur ation oi Christ that he awoke and seized his pencil and said: "Let me paint this and die! Oo, I have seen the glories of Christ! I have beheld something of the beauty of that great sacrifice on Calvary, and I have sometimes felt I wonld ba willing togive anything ixt might just ssetcn before you the won ders oi mat sacrince. l would lit to do it wbils I live, and I would like to do it when 1 die. Let me paiut this and die! He comes along weary and worn. His face wet with tears, ani His brow crimson with blood, and He lies dDwn on Calvary for vou. No, I mistake, nothing was as comfortable as that. A stone on Calvary would have made a soft pillow for the dying head of Christ. Nothing 83 comfortable as that. He does not lie down to die: He stinds no to die, His spiked hands outstretched as if to embrace a world. Oh. what a nard end for these feet that have traveled all over Judea on ministries of mercy. What a bard end for these hands that have wiped away tears and bound up broken hearts. Verv hard. O dying Lamb of God! And yet there are those here now who do not love Thee. They say: "What is all that to me? What if He does weep and groan and die! I don't want Him." Lord Jesus Christ they will not help Thee down from the cross. The soldiers will come and they will tear Thee down from the cross and put their arms around Tbee and lower Thee into the tomb. Bat they will not help. They see nothingl to move mem. u dying unrisr, tum on them Thine eyes of affection now, and see if they will not change their minds. And that is all fur you! Oh, can you not love Him? Come around this laver, old and young. It is so burnished you cau see your Bins and so deep you can wash them all away. O, moarner, here bathe your bruised soul, and sick one, here cool your hot temples in this laver! Peace! Do not cry any more, dear soul! Pardon for all thy sins, comfort for all thy atllictions. The black cloud that hung thundering over Sinat has floated above Calvary and burst into the shower of a Savior's tears. I saw in the Kensington Garden, London, a picture of Waterloo a good while after the battle had passed, and the grass had grown all oyer the field. There was a dismounted cannon, and a lamb had come up from the pasture and lay sleepk in the mouth of that cannon. So the artist had represented it a most suggestive thing. Then I thought how the war between God and the soul had ended; and instead of the announcement: "The waes of sin is death," there came the words: "My peace I give unto thee." And amid the batteries of the law that had once quaked with the fiery hail of death, I beheld the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world. Hie Phantom Ship. We to ach lire's shore as twlmmcra from a wreck Who shudder at the cheerless land they reach. And find their comrades gathered on the beach Watching a Jading Bill, a BElSll white BpCCk The phantom ship, upon whose ample duck There seemed a while a homeward pKe for eftch The crowd still wring their hands and st'll beseech. But see it fales, In spite of prayer and beck. Let those who hope far brighter shores no more Not mourn, but turning inland bravely aecK Wnat hidden wealth redeemed the shapeless shore The strong must build stout cabins for the weak; Must plant and stint; must sow and reap and store; For grain takes root though all seems bare and bleak. LITTLK KOLKS. Annt (severely) "Don't you know it's wicaed to make such ugly faces?" Little niece (innocently) "Was God wicked when he made you?1 The following becurred in a West End Sabbath-school on Sunday: Teacher 'On what were given the commandments to Moses?'' Little boy "On two marble-top tables." "If yo u don't keep out of that yard you'll catch it," said a woman to a boy in West Lynn. "All right," answered the gamin. "I wouldn't have come if I'd known you folks had it." "Tommy," eaid a Southside mother to her little boy. ''your uncle will be here to dinner to day, and you must have your face washed." "Yes, ma; but s'posin' he don't come. What then:" "Mother, may Bridget cut the cake now?" asked little Johnny a few evenings ago.right in the presence of some company who had just got seated. "No, child, not now." "Oh, yes; not now. mat a what you ve been sayn' fur a week, and you said you wuz a gom' to cut it as soon as you'd have company." In an hour or so after Johnny got a slice of tbe cake. "Mam ma," asked a little boy. "did God make the sun and moon?" "Yes, dear." "Well. I guess he didn't know much about em." "Why?" asked the astonished mother. "Cause he made the sun for the day time when he ought to have made it for the night time The moon would be bright enough for the day time." The manner in which the youthful mind is impressed is amusingly shown by a recent occurrence. A young matron In the city was an invited guest at one of the numerous entertainments during lat week given in honor ot tne uovernor. ine invitation, a verbal one, was delivered during the lady's absence from her house. The hostess, after making the necesaary explanations to the maid turned to the little three yar old daughter of the house, who had inquisitively rnn to tne door, and said: "Tell your mamma that I want her to dine with the greatest It I WT9 . man in me iana " when me motner returned home the little one rushed up to her with the surprising Information that "dere's a great big man do vn to Mrs. Blank's house what wants to see you eat your dinner!" Plantation Philosophy. lArkansaw Traveler. De r arrer-minded man totes a short string by which he measures de gocd qualities o' de men whut he meets, but his own gocd p'nta he mf aiures wid er cloze line. De insecks is sometimes got more sense den a man. When yer sees er pusson foolin' 'rouu' er ho'Dets ne9t. yer may know dat de puson, 'swal o' de ho Det is makm' er ni'Stake. Hain't byninsotne folks Ur be hones'. Dean' rxaeno difference how much er duck 'sec ates wid ch'ckens. nor no matter how fur she lib frura water, soon tz the fin'a er pudd le she's gwine in dar. Rich folks has er cuis way o' 'bey in de Bible One day er hongry teller weut ter a well-fed rran's house an say, says re, "ncember de po" "Oh, I ain't forgot yer." says oe weii iea man, says ze. "No. iah. I ain't forgot yer. I'll alius recolleck yer bat dat' 'au." '

GOTHAM GOSSIP.

A Discussion of More or Less Infam on Cases or Divorce. How They Are Helped On by PhyMer Law yera Evidence Often Manufactured to Order Ilanlness äonirtlmei Dull. New York letter to Philadelphia Press. A few weeks since the New York Heral puousned lists oi divorce cases pending in Philadelphia, Chicago and New York, show Ing such a multiplicity of infelicitous do mestic existence as made the articles text for comment in every paper from Maine to Georgia, from Cape Cod to San Francisco, It ia popularly believed that the neares and dearest thought in the minds of women in general, and young women in particular, is of marriage. A perusal of court records here and hereabouts, not to mention tho?e urnlahed by the fertile population of the great growing West, would seem to indicate that now an occasional woman turns her hought toward divorce. Possibly, however, as there can be no divorce without marri ll . m . . ii a age, iae precedence oi me noiy ceremony is as normal as it is universal. It would appear hat divorce, like marriage, isn't confined to any special class or age. In this state there is but one cause for which divorce cau be granted, and that is the breaking of the mar riage vow. In other states there are divers causes such as abandonment, cruelty and incompatibility of temper. Strange as it may seem, in spiteot the belief that woman. In her girlhood, regards every marbide riage as the ultimate step this of perfect happiness for is not a proverb which says: "Get there marned and be out of the troublesome world?" a majority of petitions for divorce come rom the fair sex. Men, as a rule, ha vine made a bargain, be it good or bad, think the Dest way is to stand bv the contract, what ever it may be. This is explainable in many ways. A man in business naturally regards his contract as something sacred and bindIne:. Then, too, men, as a rule, are but little at home. Their residence to them is a nlace of rest, where they eat, drink, sleep and pass an occasional nour. They mingle with the world; they have the attraction of society and business, while women nave not only to find their pleasure, but their work at home. Their first doty in the morning are those of housewifery, and everythine hinges upon the house its cleanliness, its proper look ' its comfort. They have the management of the servants and the care of the children, so that, if they don't find what they looked for in the man of their choice, they naturally seek a wav of exit from what is to them un bearable or uncongenial. Whether this philosophy be correct or not. the fact reare first mains that a majority of divorces sought by the wife. HOW TUET MAY BE G RANTED. Althoueh, so far as actual deeds are con cerned, there is but one for which divorce can be granted, according to the revised statutes of this State, the Supreme Court may, by a sentence of nullity, declare void the marriage contract for either of she fol lowing causes existing at the time of the marriage: First, that the parties, or one of them, had not attained the age of leeal con sent; second, that a former partner, husband or wife, is still Jiving, tbe former marriage being in force; third, that one of the parties Is an idiot or lunatic; fourth, that the consent of one of the parties was obtained by force or fraud; and fifth, that one of the parties was physically inca pable of entering into tbe marriage state. Of late years, however, a new idea seems to have entered the matrimonial mind to such an extent that the Legislature has been compelled to take notice of it, and the Supreme Court has been authorized to graat for cause a separation not an absolute divorce from the bed and board forever, or for a limited time, on the complaint of a wife. Oar courts, in their wisdom, having noted that the details attending divoree suits in this city were generally of a prurient and scandalous character, appear to have resolved to send them, in almost every case, to a referee, before whom the case is tried precisely aa it would otherwise be before a jury, and the law expressly provides that when such suit is before a referee no' parties, save the attorneys In the case, shall have access to the papers. There are all sorts of men in the legal pro fession, and some of them are up to tricks and devices in re divorce which the Iu As sociation would hardty dare endorse. "Divorce without publicity" simply means that a well-feed attorney can easily have papers quietly served and the case sent before a convenient referee. That's the whole story in a nutshell, snd rather than have the of fensive details spread before the reading public, the courts very often grant referee applications when a jury trial would be better for all honestly concerned. Jast now there is a dearth of material in this H . - l!l A 9 . X t . nneoi litigation, dui numan nature is "as it was." and ere long the mill will begin to work and the law will fast undo the action of the clergy. THE AGENT AND ADVOCATE. A divorce lawyer devotes himself to this branch of his profession exclusively. He is sometimes an ex-member of the bar who has been disbarred for dishonest practices and can not appear directly in the case himk YV f m a sen. ne nires some snyster lawyer to go through tbe formalities of the courts for him, and sometimes succeeds in inducing a 1 a am . oamster oi gooa standing to act lor mm. His office is usually in the quarter most f re quented by practitioners of standing, and is located in some large building with long halls, so that his clients may come and go without attracting special notice. The outer office is fitted np in regular legal style, with substantial desks and tables, and the walls are lined with cases of law books. The pri vate consultation room is elegantly fur nUhed and is provided with the cosiest arm chairs, in which clients can sit at their ease and pour into the sympathizing ears of me "counselor tneir tales of woe. Let us seat ourselves, unseen, in the pri vate office of a leading divorce firm. They are located at the rear of a superb building on Broadway, aud have elegantly fitted up apartments. Counselor , the head of the firm, conducts the cons 4 nations. He is portly, smoothfaced, oilytongued ruan, possessing ereat powers ot cheek and plausibilityjust the man to lead a hesitating client to take the decisive step. A clerk from the outer office announces a visitor. A richl v dressed, closely veiled lady is shown In, acd the portly counselor, rising courteously, places a chair for her. The seat is taken, the veil thrown back, and the conselor finds himsel face to face with a woman of beauty and refinement, acd evidently of wealth a most desirable client In his blandest tones he invites her to state the nature of her business with him. Then follows a long tale of domestic unhapplness, the sum and sub

stance of which is that she is tired of her husband, and wants a divorce from him.

"Upon what grounds, Madame?" asks the counselor, settling down to business. "Grounds?" is the startled, hesitating reply. "Why I that is I am so unhappy with him." "Is he unfaithful to you?" "I do not know. I hope he is I am afraid not, however. I thought you would ascertain for me." "Certainly, Madame, certainly. Nothing easier in the world. We'll find out all about him. We'll learn the innermost secrets o his heart, and I've no djubt we shall find him grossly unfaithful. Most men are." "On, not all, sir," the lady cries, a little ftartled. "I'm sure that - uooa sense comes to ner aid and sne pauses. She must not tell all, even to her legal adviser. The counsellor smiles, he has seen such cases before. It is only an aflalr oi exchanging an old love for a new. "Has he ever maltreated you struck your ' ne asss. "Ob, no." "Never attempted any violence with you"' "He once seized a paper weight on the library table, very much excited, while I was talking with him." "Indeed! He tried to dash your brains out with a paper-weight, did he? That Is very important evidence, Madame, very im portant. And the counsellor iotaitdown on a mem orandum. "But, sir, I did not say that he" iflw a mm i m . ua, never mind, aiaaame. wives are too ready to forgive their husbands' brutal ity. The fact remains the same, however. lhis infamous attempt upon your life will be sufficient evidence with the Western judge before whom the case will be tried. 1 congratulate you, Madame, upon the pruspeci oi a Bpeeuy release irom sacn a & - ' - . monster." The lady is delighted, pays the retainer. which is a handsome one, agrees upon the amount to be paid when the divorce is granted, and the parties separate, mutually pleased witn each other. WHAT HE DOES NEXT. The counsellor now goes to work in ear nest. Operations are carried on in soma Western State. Witnesses are provided who will swear to anything they are paid for: the divorce is duly obtained, the fee is paid and the madame coolly informs her hus band that tiny are no longer husband and wile. a year or two ago me rew xorx papers contained an account of a man who had gotten one of these patent divorces from his wife. Not caring to part from her just then, but wishing to be able to do so when he pleased, he locked the papers up in his desk and said nothing to her about the matter, and for ten years she lived with him as his mistress, in total ignorance of her true relations to him. At last, becoming tired of her, he produced the decree of divorce ami eft her. All sorts of people seek tbe assistance of the divorce lawyers to free them from their matrimonial ties. Kxtravagant and reckless wives of men who are not able to meet tneir aemanas ior money; aissoiuw creatures, who wish to break up an old alliance n order to form anew one; married dornen. who have become infatuated with some scamp they have met at a theatre matinee. or through the medium of s personal; mar ried men who are tired of their wives and desire to be united to a new partner; lovers of married women, who come to engage fab- . A it , .... . . ncatea testimony ana surreptitious divorce for the frail creatures whose virtue is still too cowardly to dare the more honest sin; all who, with or without protest, seek a release from the marriage bond. For each and all the divorce lawyer has a ready ear and an encouraging word. Nothing is easier than to obtain a divorce, he assures them. If the cause assigned them is insufficient, it can be made strong enough: if evidence is lacking. it can be obtained manufactured, if neces sary, lie receives a retainer from each and all and sends thetn away with the happy consciousness that their matrimonial troubles will soon be over. THE INFAMY OF THE PF.0CEDURI. A divorce costs anywhere from twentyfive dollars to whatever sum the applicant is willing to pay for it, and can be obtained in New York or any other State, according to the wishes of the party and the desire to avoid publicity. Any cause may be assigned; the iawyer guarantees that the evidence to support it shall be forthcoming at the proper time, it is a little more troublesome to obtain a New York divorce, but the machinery of the law is sufficiently loose even there to enable a well managed case to be successful. The divorce lawyer has witnesses upon he can depend, for they are regularly in his pay. They will swear as they are instructed. The proceedings are private, the courts turning the whole matter over to a referee, who is fre quently in collusion with the lawyer conducting the case. Njt a word about the af fair is allowed to get into the newspapers. Adultery Is a favorite ground with the di vorce lawyer, and, strange as it may appear. it is comparatively easy to fasten such a charge upon the aefendant, if that person happens to be the husband. This is how it is done: One of the "agents" of the firm makes the acquaintance of the husband. who is in total ignorance of the plot against him, aud, after becoming somewhat familiar with him, invites him to a quiet little supper at some convenient r. staurant. When the wine has done Its work, a party of ladies drop in, quite by accident, of course, and are pressed by the agent to remain . A dead set is made at the victim, whose wits are generally somewhat confused with tbe wine he has drunk, and the natural con sequences f jllow. The agent coolly looks on, and takes his notes, and the particular beauty who has won over the victim to her charms becomes an important witness in tbe case. There is no difficulty in proving the charge. Where the husband is a jolly, good-na tured man aud loves to take his pleasure. tbe agent's business is greatly simplified. He has bat to shadow his victim, note down his acts, even his words, for the most inno cent deed can be distorted by a shrewd di vorce lawyer into damaging evidence of guilt. The least imprudence is magnified into sin, and, little by little, all the needed evidence is obtained. Sometimes all these arts fail. Then the lawyer has but one resource, to employ paid witnesses to swear to the husband's guilt, where no overt act has been committed. The divorce must be obtained at any cost and the lawyer tnows "no such word as fall." ' SOMETIMES DULL LIKE OTHER BUSINESS. Sometimes business becomes dull. Peo ple appear to be satisfied with their part ners. and applications for patent divorces tall off. The divorce lawyer is equal to the emergency, however, and sets his agents to work to drum up business. They proceed upon a regular system aud seek high game. They operate among persons able to pay large fees, and seek women as their victims in preference to men. A member of the Metropolitan br, conversing with a friend not long since, explained the system pur sued : "ou understand, of course, that society is not happy in ail its honors. All the brown-stone houses have to have new closets put in every year in order to accommodate the skeletons. Still, many a woman and

man, if let alone, would bear his or her connubial burdens meekly rather than face the scandal and publicity of a divorce triaL Our special divorce lawyers know this and so they invade society They transfer the base of operations to the drawing-rooms. How? By using swell members of the fash ionable world to first und out where there is a canker in the rose, and then to deftly set forth in a perfectly MepMstophelian way how divorce is the only cure. Ninetenths of this delicate diplomatic business

is employed in persuading hesitating wives. Husbands could hardly be approached in their own homes witn a proposition to break them np. Take an impressionable woman, already unhappy, who has once been thinking of divorce, and the case is different. She is clay for the moulder. The serpent whisper? of how nice It will be to bank her alimony, tells her liee about the old man, induces her to believe that the firm down town will put in no bill if they don't succeed, and so the affair is ar ranged." For this despicable service the agent re ceives 10 per cent, of the fee paid the divorce lawyer by the wife, which fee, be it remem bered, comes out of the husband s pocket. Oftentimes the agent is called upon to personate the husband, especially in serving the summons or the court upon him. If the case is to be trie d in New York. The lawyer in charge has the case ouietl v put on record in the proper court, and has a summons prepared for service upon the defendant A boy is called in from the street anybody will answer and is paid a trifle to take the summons to the defendant's place of business or residence, and delivers it to him in person. Arrived at his destination, the boy is met by the agent of the divorce lawyer at the door or on thes'eps. The agent sharply demands his busines and is answered by the boy that he wishes to deliver a paper to Mr. X . "I am Mr. X." replies the agent sharply, "give me the paper." The boy, in perfect good faith, for he has neyer seen Mr. X in his life, delivers the summons upon tbe defendant in person. He is then dismissed, and plays no further part in the case. Iiis affidavit is sufficient for this part of the proceeding!, and the shameful mock ery of justice procf eds to another 6tage. lhis is no exaggerated description. The acta of these divorce lawyers are well known n New i ore, and every Ynember of the bar 9 familiar with their mod of proceeding. The "Divorce Ring" is a powerful clique. It will flourish as long as there are foolish people to take advantage of it. The Song or the Sealskin, llcw dear to my heart is the sacqne made o' sealskin, A garment adapted to keep ont the cold I 'Tis not like the Jersey, which flu like an eelrkill, Tis looe, graceful, easy, and fair to behold. How smooth and how glossy! Its beauty enchants me; Wbat garment so lovely when worn by a belle! Both Making and fleering its poetry haunts me; Thesacque made of sealskin thai fits me so well: The Bftcque made of eeaukin, of smooth, glossy seal kin. The beautiful sealskin that fits me io well. rrr-pir tiiocoht. No star in the firmament shines so beautifully as "a good deed in a naughty world," and amid all the congregated scum and vileness of the streets of these great cities there in not, it has been said, a street, however short, but some window therein burni with that light which shines in the darkness, and "tbe darkness comprehendeth it not" Canon Farrar. A man must be right or. though his fel-low-men may not know for a time the evil that is in him, he himself will lose his power of being good, and so encompass his own punishment The eye that persists in seeing only distorted ehapes will be eventually without the power to distinguish between reality and distortion; the taind that accustoms itsels to false ideas of morality, of virtue and goodaess, will become eventually to unbalanced as not to see its own degradation. He who accustoms himself to immortality annihilates himself.-Ker. J.C. Larned. The Church does not possess all the vir tues of an ideal manhood or womanhood. It ia made up of imperfect btdrigs; but he must be the poorest reasoner in the world who can not detect in the Church a rather superiei form of human life. It baa never constituted all the social or moral force of the world. He who claims that all modern good has come from the Gospels must have forgotten what was in the world before the Gospels came; bnt as a vital friend of the human race it has no rivaL It has co-operated with all else, and besides being a great new good it has inspired all the old good with new life. Professor 8wing. It is not possible for man to live alone; the race would perish without the intercourse of man and woman; and from this arises the family and the home; and from, these again arises communities and cittern and states and governments. And so It is that the vast aggregates of society depend one upon the other, and all at last upon the Individuals of whice they are compoeed; and hence no one can either live or die. alone. And It Is only when we study life as thus reated that we can understand either its pow er or its responsibility. Alone man is weak; united, as in business or politics or religion. or as a nation, he may become strong. But tbe aggregates are composed of their units; and hence the average strength or weakness, wisdom or Ignorance, virtue or vice of the many individuals becoming the average oi a community or a country. We are all the men and women in the world as strong and good as the best, society would need no ails, no houes of reformation. Were all as bad as the worst, civilization, law and order and religion would be at an end.Kev. Dr. Thomas. The Religions Instinct In Man. From Dr. Parkhurst's Sermon.J The religious in man is not in any respect different from his other instincts. We have an instinctive appreciation of religious instruction as we have of quantity or mrsic. yet we may never become religious or math ematicians and musicians. One born blind can not argue about light; so it is physioogicaly impossible for ne if he has no reigious sense, to talk much about religion. How difficult it would be to give a child relizious instruction if he had no instinct for it! You could teach him that one thine ia right and another wrong, but you could net implant in him the sense of rght and. wrong. This is already in his mind and lies there waiting the intellectual training, aa the dawn is in the East long before the sun dial can tell the hour. This Instinct is the basis of a minister's work: he does not have to plant it, but to train if. The existenes ot the religious sese make an easy argumen t for the existence of God, We believe that structurally human nature is noi a lie. We trust our eye and ear; then why not trust our religious sense? It is aa early. universal and strong as any other. If it la false, all human nature is false; if it ii true, there is a God with whom we should nava personal relations. The questioa is not "I God knowable?" bat "Is human nature trustworthy ?"' Holiness cornea not from th possession of this religious Instinct, but froo the cultivation of it

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