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Columns of the Observer" j&ight easity %e ^filled with the various opinions ^••:;.;v-%hich have been formed concerning %-ater, both in ancient and in modern #mes. ThePersmnslfeM that it was J '** the principle o^'iff* W&dfes," While tther Nations maintain eifthat " water ras the fir»* principle in all created things." A doctrine somewhat similar jfe taught in the Koran; " Do not unbe­ lievers know ttoat the heavens and the iBarth were solid, and we clave the same in sunder, and made everything out of Water.'" HI otdet* times water was said to be a simple substance, and could not toe decomposed. In our times we af- .-,41 rm it i» not a simple substance, but a Compound one, for fish can decompose Water and live upon its hydrogen. It • Ipay also be decomposed by vegetables J" 4>f some kinds, and by electricity. Ex-, jperiments without number have been jpade to ascertain whether water could liot be condensed, preserved or burnt. •3Sa*"" ^ Some sludeuts at Florence," says <*ne, " having procured a holloa globe -of gold, filloFit with water and" sub-! jaoitted it to the action of a very power-. - fill press, but they were not able to produce any condensation of the fluid whatever, though the press Was' suffi­ ciently powerful to occasion thfe water to ex 'da through the pores of the ves-, jsel in which it was inclosed," Men in all ages have noticed the difference in florae waters. We are told that Hip­ pocrates, the most famous of the Greek physicians, wrote about these differ­ ences more than 2,000 years ago. - A letter is said to be in existence, ftom Synesius, a Christian Bishop of •ttie fifth century, asking one Hypatia, a fcmale philosopher, to have constructed for him a "hydroscopiufci," described as a " cylindrical tube of the size of a reed or pipe, with lines drawn upon it to point out the weight of water."" It is surmised tJjat the good Bishop, being sick, was ordered to drink only very- pure water, and the instrument re­ quired was something like pur hydro­ meter. Pliny said: *• Good water ought to have neither taste nOr odor at all. Some there fee who judge of their w hole- so men ess by the balance, and they keep weighing and poising the waters one against "another.11 "Specific gravity might often determine the question of ^jgood or bad water, as that which is un- nt ior cooking purposes id usually heavier than distilled or rain water. Water is not only the most useful fluid /$rhieh we possess, but the most com- r mon; it comes in every, shower and is ^ combined with the air we breathe. It is found in four separate states or forms, as ice, water, vapor and in combina­ tion with other substances. To one : body it gives hardness, to another trans­ parency and to others heat. As a ilile, all bodies, whether solid or fluid, contract in cooling, but wa­ ter is an exception to the rule, lor it increases in bulk and becomes lighter as it gets cooler. If this wise arrangement "wad not in force, all our . jrivers in winter would be a mass of eblid ice. Water; in freezing, becomes intensely cold, but cold water and cold sulphuric acid, mixed in certain pro- - portions, become intensely hot Water 1$ heavier than the air, and yet, mixed .-:..#ith the air in the form of vapor, it occupies a space fourteen hundred ..."j.'.rwmes greater than it did in its ordi- %ary liquid state. A cubic inch of *|^.s%ater will make nearly a.cubic foot of dtam. Water in the shape of steam at low pressure will scald the hand and ' . llister, but at high pressure, and with double heat, will not scald or blister. Water, under certain cireumstancos, g T^iil chafage its condition without any '*.apparent cause. Ships leaving the Fort cf London take their supply of water .• from the Thames. This water is said "$o have some peculiar properties which tenders it fy; for long sea voyages. After a few weeks or less it turns pu­ trid and offensive; then it changes its ^character altogether, land becomes "t>ure and palatable, and better than any Other water for sea stock. Water from fhe Rhone, if allowed to settle and Jlien put into earthen vessels, will not jmtrify by heat, though it soon becomes •y» 4U;4'-2 put iuto vrcadin ones. * 3 in imperial Rome there was gt>od ^ yater, ;ui4>a£o.oii supply, ^ateonuxi- -tl*ed • : £uIow«^4t^e -K I\>OL>XLT 3UJJ- ^ •'« ^cr m ii«i/ o£ It ow loik ^ * 'feniouiUSs U) alioutti^live gallons per in New York will contain a tenth of a grain, and water which passes through §00 feet of lead pipe will give distinct traces of lead." Till leaden pipes and cisterns are replaced by iron ones, which keep the water sweet, the safest plan is to let the water run away which has remained all night in the pipes, and for domestic purposes use a fresh supply.--Edwin Batlley, |»n N. T.",W server. Jl -sticod pel* Jay. How mueh is wasted •fre are not told. According to Prof. ^Chaudler, Croton-vvater is remarkably Tree from impurities, as it contains rather less than five gtaifas of Organic •and Inorganic matter per gallon. The water at Philadelphia contains less than four. In some parte qf t^ie King­ dom of Portugal thft Waters of the springs are so hard that for m^ny .purposes they are quite useless; bvl the waters of the wells in Edinburgh «.re so soft that soap may be dissolved Xand the water remain transparent. f':" The deeper the well the harder the •Svater" will, in the majority of cases, 'Iholdgood. Iron in water will give a bleacher of cloth no end of trouble. Dr. Home mentions the case of a wom- •an in SuoUapd who , bleached fyer own .household linen. After watering some t -webs in a spring near her house, to j.her great surprise she found they be- . came redder and redder every day. .4 She attributed it to witchcraft, blamed li the person she hated most, and sold the *j •cloth for a trifle. The water was after- fl ward found to contain a large amount of iron. In locating works for bleach' ^ ing or dying, care should be taken to have the Water analyzed before a pur- chfee of land is made. , , , , a Cases of lead poisoning often occur ti ^hen water is retained in leaden pipes L -" 1 cisterns, although some affirm that lead is not soluble in water. This may • he true, and yet it is not all the truth.. . H a piece of sheet lead be Immersed in £v\ '€ water, and kept irom the air for some v. days, it will not dissolve. But when | „ k the lead is exposed to the au- (as in a I cistern) the carbonic aeid of the air will attack-thte lead, and water, acting upon it in that state, makes the lead soluble in water. The purer the water the more violent will be its action on lead. Water conveyed in leaden pipes to a fish pond will kill the fish. Prof. Chandler, on this subject, says: "Water is liable to be contaminated by lead, and the purer the water the greater the danger from lead contamination. Water wliilhill^ept in lead pipes overnight How a Confidence ttame Was Spoiled. THURSDAY afternoon, Ned H. Knight, while riding in the cars on his return home from a business trip to the inte­ rior of the State, observed a well- dressed man enter the car and sit down two scats away from him, while be­ tween himself and the stranger were comfortably ensceaped an old man and his wife. The stranger alpost imme­ diately entered into conversation with the old gentlefh&n, iind the stranger was such a smooth talker and presented such an attractive appearance that Mr. Knight could not well avoid listening. During the conversation Mr. Knight hoard the old gentleman say that he was from, Decatur, III., and was on his way to Kingston, Caiv* where he had two sons m business. The genteel stranger immediately answered that he, too, was going to Kingston) Can., where he was in the business of manu­ facturing agricultural implements, and that he was well acquainted with the sons whom the old gentleman was going to visit. Mr. Knight thought the coincidence too marked, and recollect­ ing similar stories in which confidence operators figured largely, resolted keep an eye on his companions. Next he heard the slick stranger say that he was going to Detroit to attend to passing a consignment of goods through the Custom-House, and in the course of -an hour heard him talk large­ ly of his wealth and of the magnificent­ ly-large business which he had succeed­ ed in building up. He also saw him exhibit, with studied carelessness, sev­ eral checks for»money, and quite a number of notes of hand, drafts, etc. The old gentleman from Decatur, and his wife, were evidently carried away with their entertaining new friend, and, with many thanks, "offered to place themselves tinder his protection, and congratulated themselves upon being so fortunate as to meet a man who knew their sons and was going to the same place toward which they were travel­ ing- By this time Ned was morally certain that he was listening to the smooth de­ vices of an accomplished confidence- man, and a few minutes latter he heard him remark that "possibly be might meet his goods at the Junction, and that if he did it wouM be exceedingly unfortunate, as he would probably have a freight-bill of about $130 to pay, and, having only about $10 cash, he would be obliged' to lose a dav's time, at least, in order to Stop at Detroit and get his cheek cashed." The old folks agreed with him that such an event would be unfortunate, and expressed regrpt that it would be the means of depriving them of his company to Kingston. By this time the train was slacking up at the Junction, when a man en­ tered the car, and, going'to the' Stylish stranger, presented a freight bill, ex­ plaining that he was in a hurry. The s old gentleman's new-made friend was in a dilemma, offered a check for $500 as security for the freight bill--$140-- but without success. As usual the '•collector" suggested that "possibly1 your friend (the old gentleman from Decatur) will advance the money on your check." As though a sunburst of light had suddenly broken in upon him the Decaturite remarked: " Cer­ tainly, of course, why didn't I think of that before?" and began feeling in his pocket for his pocket-book. Ned had been sitting, figuratively speaking, on a dozen electric batteries, his excitement was so intense, and when the climax came and he was cer­ tain that he saw a pure confidence scheme, he arose from his seat and, tapping the old man on the shoulder, said: " My friend, hadn't yon better go a little sldw! Thefee men are swindlers; confidgucc-iiiun and that chCCK is Worth­ less." .•? Before :N-ad flip "stylish ^ent?wir»-»n ?nd the Very-much htirried frei^hf bill OiV their t&wsM 'Whit- of' the cat •<m« the next instrmt vanished from sight.- While £Ie-r? made'all basic after them hoping to again get sight of them and pause their arrest, the.old gentle­ man and lady from Dec&tur were fairly shedding tears of jov over their escape from the confiuwuee-ruen. Mr. Knight failed to get even a glimpse of the, fugitives, and whpp he returned to his seat in the car the ^ingstpp bound traveler sj^d: "Pve read of these confidence-men scores of times, but I hbnestlv believe, had it not been for your timely interference, I would have been j^t.big enpugh fool to havp giv^tk tbftt rascal $140 for his bogup check," . . . " Of course you would,'1 echoed fill bettieit half. --Detroit Frte jhUM. ;>s*ih ";V. ';V! '•fy ' ^ • ' J'i » j" J Saagiitjr Pap* i yesterday a pojti^, <$4- nified gentletnan chanced "to meet his daughter, ' a handsome, : stylish Mttle miss, -wearing a jaunty velvet hat, and With her hair rolled up a&,the back of iw head in the shape of a Vienna oun, sauntering down Vine street under the escort of a young man dressed with ex­ cruciating scrupulousness and exceed­ ing taste. The old gentleman stopped his daughter, and without noticing the confusion their meeting threw her into, commenced talking about the weather, her shopping, etc. 8he listened duti­ fully a moment or two, and then re- htarked, referringtn> her escort, " Papa this is Mr. ----.'V I'lipi, however, paid no attention to the young man, but kept on talking. Again she said, " Pa­ pa, you didn't hear me; this is Mr. Yea, ves, my girt, I heard yon, said the old gentlemau. with an impa­ tient wave of the Jhand. " I, heard you, and I don't care to know Mr. --." The immediate departure of that young man in a very shrunken-up con dition was one of tne funniest sights of the day. (Jlevelantl HtraAeu --An honest instrument: 'J&n iipright piano. Street IT is scarcely PONMBLE a foreign correspondent) to imagine, without having witnessed it,' the scene Itfiich 4he commercial streets of Pekin exhibit every day. The busy, bustling crowd, the horses, mules, carriages, hand-bar­ rows and sedan-chairs, all mixed in in­ extricable confusion, and among them the itinerant dealers, some with ham­ pers, containing the stock-in-trade suspended round their necks, others standing before portable stoves on which they cook the viands they vend. These and many others are to be seen in the streets, not silently offering their wares, but endeavoring to attract the attention, of possible buyers by shrill ear-'jiwlo"1 o.rfe< and Iniidtv trsiiinf.fW the tow price and shperfdr vitality of the commodities. ~ ; * in « The barker with his little bell sum­ mons all who have not performed their toilets to ; be shaved in the open air. He motions his customers to a low seat; with one turn of the hand lathers his head, Mid dexterously performs with hi® triangular razor: he then paints his eye-brows, and adjusts his queue, brushy his garments, and, re­ ceiving a small fee, sends hi in away satisfied. s " *^-: ; s Often a, crowd teollects to listen to a story-teller, or a singer, to watch the tricks of a conjuror, or to hear of the marvelous properties possessed by cer­ tain drugs and remedies sold b.y a lo­ quacious quack, but suddenly there is a stir among the tissemblage, which hurriedly disperses or draws to one side, leaving room for the passage of some grandee, who» seated in Jus chair, and surrounded by a numerous cortege, expects all inferiors to make way at his presence. Guards-of soldiers are stationed day and night in the principal thorough­ fares, with strict orders to lay their whips upon all, without distinction, who are disorderly, or betray the slightest inclination to quarrel; beside this, every street is divided into sec­ tions of ten houses, which are e;.ch un­ der the surveillance of one of the in­ habitants, deputed by the authorities to fill the office of tithing-man. As soon as night falls, each house­ holder, be he rich or poor, Mandarin or mechanic, must light the lantern which stands at his door. At both ends of each street there is a wooden barrier, which is closed at dark, and sentries posted at these- barriers will permit of neither ingress nor egress, unless the applicant carries a lantern and can show good cause for his absence from home. Watchmen patrol the streets during the whole night, who, instead of crying the hour, show their vigilance by striking a tube of bamboo every few minutels, causing a dull, hollow sound, which it takes Europeans some time to become , <accuatomed to and ^leep through. , " ! , The Secret of Prosperity. ' T^JBRE is no royal road to wealth ih -this' country for the boy of poOr pa­ rents. His opportunities are only bet­ ter than those of the youth of his class in, Europe because wages are larger. He can save where they cannot. And this saving is the secret of all advance­ ment out of poverty into prosperity. The country has use for the energies of its poor boys. Those of a dozen years ago are to-day filling the places of the rich. Go to any city and get the history of the men who are con­ ducting its large enterprise^, and in four cases out of five it will be found that they came from the country in early life. It is a natural and inevita­ ble process, this infusing into the city, with every succeeding generation, the fresh blood of the country. The boys of rich men do not succeed to their fathers1 ̂ places. They either take their inherited wealth and live in elegant leisure upor it, or waste it in dissipa­ tion and go down to squalid misery and death. For every place now occupied by some prosperous merchant, manu­ facturer, mechanic or professional man, there will be a vacancy for some­ body, who fa-aow -a poor boy in the country. . How are;these places to be acquired? Simply by forming right habits at the outset. These habits are to be ac- quiiod the country Jiome, and fas- .as- -iWilrh hooks of stcol, before Ike juuug iitvujD j4uQ8 vut to face the teuipt»tio4S of the city. Then, when he k'ets a position, his employer will be able to mark his honesty, his faithful­ ness, his frugality, and give him his confidence accordingly. Thus he will go-up step by step, until a partnership or some position of high responsibility, with corresponding compensation, opens to his delighted vision. The first and most important habit to be acquired is that of saving. This will ultimately assure success, whether high positions offer or not. It will be useful though he who practices it nev­ er goes to tne city at all. As the great and good Horace Greeley would un­ doubtedly have said, if consulted on the matter* " the way to begin, is to begin." It requires no great financial ability to lav aside a part of one's sal­ ary. It rather requires courage, per­ severance .t«ad self-denial. The man who gets a dollar a day will prosper if he saves from that, ten or twenty cents, as certainly,as he who earns five dollars and saves one. In fact, we would stake our judgment on the greater success of the former, for the mere reason that he would not have money enough to cultivate expensive tastes until the good habit of saving was firmly established. And this habit once formed is not like­ ly to be departed from. The sight of the little pile of hard-earned wealth, growing slowly day by day, just as the vine creeps steadily, though impercep tibly, over the trellis, is a greater pleasure than any expensive enjoyment that money can buy. In a little while it becomes capital; and if at interest it helps the process of accumulation, and the money mounts up in a sort of geo­ metrical ratio. John Jacob Astor, the first man in New York to become millionaire, declared that his first thousand dollars cost him more labor and self-denial than all of his subse­ quent acquisitions. The same is true to-day. The first thousand dollars is the " rub;" and the young man who saves that sum from his earnings has done that whicn assures his success. He may lose it all in some unfortunate • 'T«Htnre» bat tbe lesson learned while lie was gathering it cannot be lost, and Will be worth many thousands to him, for the very reason that he knows how fu •• t.alrn hr»lH" and becin life sifnin -- M; to "tafeshold" and begin Mp agmjL,j- Woonsoeket (R. I.) Patriot. 1 W7rT" , , , The Ltke Dwell#!. : IK reviewing a translation of Ferdi-. nand Keller's work on "The Lake Dwellers, of Switzerland," the London Spectator says: One thing is abundantly clear, that the tribes who built and inhabited these lake dwellings were not the rude sav­ ages they are sometimes said to be. The earliest settlers appear to have been not only fishermen and hunters, they were also shepherds and agricul­ turists. No doubt the idea ef ci:ch buildings arose ont of the necessity of securing the lives and properties of the; people from the attacks of enemies. The large number of skeletons of fish, and especially the skulls of very large pike, which have been found buried among the piles prove that they were expert and skillful fishermen; the bones, which lie about in the lake dwellings in astonishing numbers, of stags, foes, wild boars, beavers, otters, squirrels and other animals, are an evidence of the abuatfance of game, and of the ability of the settlers to bring down even the higher description of wild animals. They, however, did not de­ pend on the precarious and uncertain Sroduce of hunting and of fishing. [any of the animals which are still this companions of man, such as cows,"1 sheep, goats and pigs, had already been domesticated by them; and the keeping of cattle necessitates an amount of fore­ thought and of provident care for the future which raises those who are capa­ ble of it above the level of the savage* A great variety of seeds and plants were also cultivated, for their own use and for the use of their cattle. They possessed and cultivated flax of excel­ lent quality, and the state of the in­ dustrial arts among them showed con­ siderable proficiency and skill, and proves that even their society was so far advanced and settled as to demand a division of labor and fixed lines of oc­ cupation. They were in the habit of housing their cattle and swine in the winter time, of laying up stores of acorns, beechnuts and fodder for their use. Virchow has declared that as regards man himself, the skulls of the lake dwellers might pass muster with the average skulls of the present genera­ tion. A question full of interest to science is, Who were the ancient peo­ ples? Of what race were they? Were they one people through the successive ages of stone, bronze and of iron, or was each age heralded by a new inva­ sion? The evidence goes to prove that it was one race who successively ad­ vanced from one stage of civilization to another, who, when by accident their houses were burnt down, again rebuilt them on a higher level. Were they Celtic, or were they of the non-Aryan race, said to be represented by the small, dar# Basques, the swarthy Ibe­ rian? Other questions also arise which cannot yet receive a positive answer. By what means were the weapons and implements of bronze substituted for those of stone, and how did iron super­ sede bronze? Did the superior imple­ ments supersede the inferior by the slow results of trade, or were they dis­ covered by the lake dwellers them­ selves? Tiptop Lawyers' Fees. AN illustration of the wide difference between the bottom and the top of a profession is made by a statement of the incomes of lawyers in San Francis­ co. It is stated that the heaviest legal incomes range from $50,000 to $60,000 per annum, and these are the proceeds of current professional work. In view of these magnificent round numbers it is pleasant to contemplate the senti­ ment that no matter how crpwded a profession may be, there is always plenty of room at the top. The life- struggle is to get there, and though few make the ascent, the way is always open and the placcs are always waiting to be filled by nawcomers. Those who make the effort and fail also know the failure- Idlid-'llicir•• own fhnlt. Th«v wohld have frta-de the trip if'thoyv h?$ possessed the strength »nd endurance to ?icale thev-hesghts. If .anyone seems to be in the wav of a career it is because that one has the superior power to be there and stay there, and the weaker career pauses before the natural ob­ structions which are too great for it to surmount.--The top reached, there is fame and fortune, all differences of the way are settled, and there is nothing to do but to stay there and enjoy these $50,000 yearly incomes. At the bottom there are crowds of lawyers in San Francisco who do not make $80 per month the year round--less than a dol­ lar a day--common laborers' wages. And these constitute the bulk of the profession, and all are waiting to take their first step toward the topi The high figures reached by the few are the prizes constantly in view. Some of the big lawyers will not touch a case or oven hear a statement of it before they receive $1,000 in hand. Fees in big criminal cases are $2,500 and upward, according to the respectability and availability and all other ability of the criminal. A law firm got $40,000 for defeating the Local-Option law before the Supreme Court. They worked on the case very leisurely for two weeks, and their fee was $300 an hour for the time actually spent in the case. Fees as high as $250,000 for one case have been raked in by one lawyer--and $10,000 was pocketed by the same lawyei for an agreement not to appear in a cer­ tain case. Some California corpora­ tions pay as high as $2,000 per month to have their law business attended to --suits or no suits. Those California lawyers must be pretty near the top.-- Missouri Republican. JEteligious. --A cat in- St. Louis, having observed that all of her kittens but two were drowned, has become an advocate of natural selection, and now selects the two of her progeny that please her best and kills the rest herself.--N. Y. World. FAITH. 0 WORLD unknown! O wtarld na»f a.{ * In which my spirit soon will be. Could I bat pierce the veil between Thife slowly fading world aad thee! Could I but catch, though faint nad dim. One giimme of thine immortal nhiore-- One note of that celestial hymn That n-ngelx sing forever more! Could but one voice the silence brMk That doth encompass thee around; And in the breathless atillnem wa' The faintest echo of a sound! If in the darkness I might face < . Bright with a glory born of thee, * The sbadowy outline of a face. , • Or a dear hand Btretched out to mi ! Catch but one whisper, one pale gl&iaaT"' Of light eteraal, j ust a touch Of some one gone before 't would seem To my poor toiil BO rawch, so much! But Faith alone, with brow serene, Stands by ray side and points the my. And all tbe drifted clouds between Grow bright and luminous as day. Her voice through all the spaces riogd A triumph o'er death's awful calm,. , And my glad soul responsive sings AU answer to her joyful psalm. Her strong arm lifts? me far above ;- •- . litto a realm of purer aix; „ f 1 reel a sweet, sustaining love That will go with me everywhere (if' O Heavenly Faith, with me abide I > ' • Forsake me not, thou truest friend!, Do thou but lead, O fearless guide J And I wili follow to the end. For thou hast wide the portals thrown, And through tby blessed eyes 1 see • The glory of that world unknown Where my freed spirit Boon will be!.. --Mui y E. I~oisom, in Springfield (Jfa#?.) Re- publican. , Sanday-Scbool lessens, ' THIBD QVABTEBti Aui. to-The Widow of Nam.. ..Lmke 5*1-17. Aug. 25--The Fritnd of 8innera-- Luke 7:4O-60. Bept. 1--Return of the Seventy•• .Lake 10:17-24. Sept. 8--The Good Samaritan Luke 10:80 37. Sept. 15-- Importunity in Prayer.. .Luke 11: 5-13 Sept. 22- -Covetouaneas Luke 12:13-23 Sept 29--Review of the Lessons for the Quarter --"-Take back the heart that thou gavest," as the gambler said to his pal, who had passed himun der the table the wrong card to till the flush.--Puck. THE YALUE OF A GOOD LIFE. [Extract from a recent sermon by Bev. Pr. , Thomas, of the Centenary M. E. Church, of Chicago.] ANOTHER benefit arising from a good life was found in its harmony of life- conditions. "He shall be like a tree filanted by the rivers of water, whose eaf also shall not wither.1*' The figure there was that of the life of a tree in a dry land, standing by the river's edge, where its roots were perpetually re­ freshed by the flowing waters. The general fact was, the presence of the best conditions for the tree's life; and, by analogy, to show that there must be a harmony or the presence of suitable conditions for man's life. And by man's life was meailt more than his mere bodily existence. Man's life meant the life of the mind and the life of the heart. Now, when they studied all those, they were, indeed, in the presence of a great fact--of a deep mystery. They knew, in a general way, how the body lived from the fruits of the earth, and from breathing the air. But there was that deeper life of the mind and of the heart. What were their conditions of life? On what food did they subsist? And when they asked such questions as those they began to see hoW that beautiful figure carried them over from material tilings where the roots of the trees were fed by the rivers of water, and placed them in that finer spiritual realm where mina, where thought, where heart, where goodness must have their conditions of life--must live by the rivers of truth and goodness, whose waters bore to them" great facts and principles--facts and principles of life, and love, and God, and Heaven, on which minds an<i souls could live. Jesus Christ stood by the growing vine and uttered the same truth and carried over the appli­ cation to the soul's life in God when he said, " I am the vine, and ye are the branches, and My Father is the hus­ bandman;" and when he said, further, that " He that abideth in Me, the same bringetb forth much fruit." And in saying that He announced the great spiritual law of the soul's life. It could not liv§ apart from its conditions any more than cquld the tree, or the body of man.. And there they might S G a little of the reason why there Was so JtnVi'.'&'-'tUvss' pill "npdu ipu'linal c'>n-- ditioiis in the Bible. Standing by that great fact or law, nian,-was warned and entys^lpd to be -uprooted frenj false­ hood and sin because they were the barren soil of death, and was urged to be sown, to be planted, to be engrafted, to be born into the new, the true, the only real conditions of soul-life. , Out of truth the mind dwarfed; out of ighteousness the heart dwarfed. With­ out truth, without God, the soul tended to death. With those there was union with the conditions of continued, of abounding life. " He bringeth forth his fruit in his season." "He that abideth in Me the same bringeth forth much fruit." When one was thus in God, and had in him the mind of Christ, he was in the very nature, the very law, the very life of righteousness, and he brought forth his fruit in his season. He showed the fruits of the spirit, which are seen in all patience, and love, and gentleness, And usefulness in the world. And among the many possible results of a persistence in evil, a being rooted in wrong, the thought was daily gaining ground that continued life was only in goodness, and, not reaching that, souls would at last sink back to non-existence --the branches not in the vine should be burned, The doctrine of "condi­ tional immortality"--conditioned ^ in goodness--was, he- said, gaining ground. It had not fotand acceptance and lodgment in his own thought, and yet he saw much in it that did not seem unreasonable. As one of the possible results of a bad life its remotest possi­ bility should serve as a warning to all who longeU to have the years of their existence reach on through the count­ less ages of the future. This much certainly was true--and was held by every Church in the world to-day--that evil, if it led not to the annihilation of the soul, was certainly a condition of suffering, and that eternal life could be found only in eternal goodness. Eter­ nal life was a quality as well as a quantity, or a duration; and when the soul came into the Divine harmony-- was a tree by the rivers of water, a branch in the true vine--it entered into and took hold of the life of truth, the life of love, the life of principles that were themselves deathless; and in union with those was itself immortal--had Hot only continued being, but life in the j«ense of conscious, blissful existence. Another valuable result of a good life was found in the peaoe or serenity of mind and freart that flowed from be­ ing m harmony with one's sett, and all the environments of one's being. Har- Wiony with one's self implied harmony between all the parts of one's own be­ ing or nature. The body had its place and its uses, and so had the mind and Ik?, A ?ood ^ forbade the abuse or the neglect of any part of one's being. Religion made body, mind and heart sacred. But there was not only harmony with one's eelf; there Zl uaimouy with one's environments; f'n^mChny ® and purposes of i£mony Vth all.the relations of Jife in labor, and suffering, and duty to Others; harmony in the lome, in V «iety, and m all the surrounding con­ ditions of being. Now, outside of this Jarmony there could be no full, settled, laswtig peace. The life of the wicked was like the troubled sea thu* casts up jnire and dirt. No rest within. A Ceaseless war with conscience, and rea~ ion, and right. No rest without, A war with God, and man, and the whole order of things. A good life gave in- Ward Serenity. It came from inward harmony from the rule of conscience #nd the rest of faith and the peace of God. A good life placed one in har­ monious relations to his fellows, to so­ ciety, to labor, to hardship, and even to sickness and death. Oh! how blessed to live in the peace and approval of conscience, the peace of God; to eat the bread of honesty, ti» look into the face of all mankind with the sweet feeling that one has wronged nooe, that one was the friend of all, and, as far as might be, the helper of all. A good life gave vision of spiritual and Divine things. When one was in harmony with one­ self and one's environments ' and rela- tions, the lines of truth stretched out like paths of light before one. It wns like standing by the axioms of mathe­ matics, or the principles of music, or the structure of a language, and seeibg ' the princigles unfold in re&son, or song, or literature. When one took a stand by the side of truth, by the side of love, by the side of righteousness, by the side of God, the whole world' of moral beauty began to open before one like the dawning of a new day. Our Savior took up this word " blessed" and carried it further than could the Psalmist. David said the man was blessed who avoided evil, and that he should find delight in *• meditating upon the law of the Lord," and should be " like a tree by rivers of water." Je­ sus Christ said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit j blessed are they that mourn; bless­ ed are the meek; blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness; blessed are the merciful; blessedarejthe pure in heart; blessed are the peacemak­ ers." The poor had the Kingdom. The mourning were comforted. The meek inherited the earth. The hungry were filled. The merciful obtained mercy. The peacemakers were the children ot God. The pure in heart saw God. Placed by a good life in the midst of all that Kingdom of blessings they rose up in visions of beauty, that reached on to God! Like pure fountains they filled and overflowed the soul. Oh, the bless­ edness of trust, of prayer, of hope, of communion with things Divine! The value of a good life was seen again in its closing scenes--its sunset views. It was only as we rneared the close of life that we could form a true idea of the things that were then most to be desired, the things' of enduring wbrth. In the survey of the past, many of the events that we once esteemed of great moment--changes from one place to another, loss or gain in property-- would have lost most of their interest. When the sun should be low and the shadows long, of all the busy scenes through which we should have passed the many would be forgotten, the few remembered. " There I buried Rachel; there I met God," was the patriarch's review of life. There we met. There we loved. There we parted. There God met us; and there we became His in a holy covenant. These were the tacts thftt. -stand the mind in theHjyijjg hour. Whether the way 'htiil . bucn rough smooth, whtfhor.v,:e l&'ve been puoi" ior rich, will matter little then. But, oh, of what priceless value, in that hour, would be the memories of a good life, and the peace of God and approval of conscience! Not only these, but " Christ in us the hope of glory." Hope came from being one with gbodness--one with God. " Mark the perfect man and behold the up­ right, for the end of that man is peace." It must be so. "1 have fought the good fight, I have kept the faith, I have finished ray course," sajd Paul, " and henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord shall give me at that day." Beyond the sunset view of this life was the dawn of the new dav of eternity, and there, more than here, shall the re­ sults of a good life appear. Oh, how should those rejoice who haw entered upon the path of life! Were it not for the sin and sorrow that bow others down his whole life would be. a song of gladness. Surely everyohe should be persuaded to turn from the wrong, to find life, and vision, and rest in God. For it was not so with the wicked. They are like the chaff which the wind driveth away--they shall not stand in the judgment nor sinners in the con­ gregation of the righteous. • • . i t " ™ * * " 1 -- -- ; M* dear old fellow, how are you? Haven't seen you since we were at col­ lege together, What ails you? You seem sad." " My friend, I am thirty- five; I have arrived at that fatal age when a novelist would speak of ine as * a man still young.' " --A newly-married man, who evi­ dently needs discipline, thus discourses: "A woman is a handy thing to have aoout the house. She does not cost any more to keep than you'll give her, and she'll take a great interest in yon.Mi"'1 ' »• "l: ,*r". »f: i * --. ,, .--An old Grecian philosopher ad­ vises all men to know themselves. That's suggesting to a good many to form disreputable si