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THE MOST PERFECT BOOK. Dr. Talmag3'a Beautiful anl Eloquent Tribute to the Bible. "A Living Dog is Bettsr Than a Dead Lion"—Small Facnlties Actively Usod ara of Hors Use Than Groat Faculties Unem ployed. _ Last Sunday morning Hev. T. Dewitt Talinage preached at the Academy of Music, taking for his text, Eudes. i):4— '•A Live Dog is better than a Dead Lion." The eminent divine said: The Uiblcis the strangest, the loveliest, the mightyest, the weirdest, the best of books. Written by Moses the lawyer, Joshua the soldier, Samuel the judge, Ezra tho builder, Job the poet, David the Shep herd, Daniel the prime-minis tor, Amos the herdsman, Mathew tho custom-house officer, Luke the doctor, Paul the scholar, John the exile; and yet a complete harmo ny from tho middle verso of the Bible, which is the eight verse of the one hun dred and seventeenth Psalm, both ways to the upper and lower lids, and the shortest passage, which is tho thirty-fifth verso of the eleventh chapter of John, to the longest verse, which Is the ninth versa of the eighth chapter of Esther, und yot not an imperfection in all tho 773,G'J3 words which it isjeomposed of. It not only retches over the past, but over the future; has in it a ferry boat, as in second Samuel; and a tele graphic wire, as in Job; and a railroad train, as in Nahum; and introduces us to a foundryman by the name of Tubal Cain, and a ship-builder by tho namo of Noah, and an architect by the namo of Aholiab, and tells us how many stables Solomon bad to take care of his horses und how ho paid for those horses. But few things in this versatile and comprehensive hook interests me so much ns its upothegms, those short, terse, sententious, epigram matic sayings, of which my text is ono—''A living dog is better than a dead lion " Hero the lion stands for nobility, and the dog for meanness. You must know that the dog mentioned in the text is not one of our American or European or Scottishdogs that, in our mind, is a synonym for the beautiful, the graceful, the affectionato, tho sagacious and the true. The St. Bernard dog is u hero, and if you doubt it, ask the snows of tho Alps, out of which tie picked the exhausted traveler. The snophord dog is a poem, and if you doubt it, ask the Highlands of Scotland. Tho Arctic dog is tho rescue of exiilorors mid If ycu doubt it, ask Dr. Kane's expedition. The watch, dog is a living protection, and if you doubt it, usk ten thousand homesteads over whoso safety he watched last night. But Solomon, the author of my text, lived in Jerusalem, and the dog he speaks of in the text was a dog in Jerusalem. Last December I passed days and nights within a stono's-throw of where Solomon wrote his text, and from what Isaw of the canines of Jerusalem by day, and heard of them oy night, I can un derstand tne slight appreciation my text puts upou the dog of Palestine. It is lean and snarly and disgusting,and afflicted with parasites, and takes revenge on the human race by filling the nights with clamor. All up and down the Bible, tho most of which was written In Palestine or Syria, or contiguous lands, the dog is used in contemptuous compar ison. Hazael said, "Is thy servant a dog that be should do this thing!" In self-ab negation the Syro-Phœniclaa woman said, "Even the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from the Master's table." Paul says, in Phlltppians, "Beware of dogs;" and St. John, apeaklng of heaven, says, "Without arodogs." On the other hand the lion is healthy, strong, and loud-voiced, and at its roar the forests echo and the mountains tremble. It is marvellous for strength, and when its bide is removed the muscular compactness is something wonderful, and the knife of the dissector bounds back from the tendons. By the clearing off of the forests of Pales tine and the use of fire-arms, of which the lion is particularly afraid, they have disap peared from places where once they ranged, but they were very bold In olden limes They attacked an army of Xerxes while inarching through Macedonia. They were so numerous that one thousand lions were slain in forty years in the amphitheatre of Romo. The Barbary lion, tho Cape lion, tbe Senegal lion, tho Assyrian lion, make up a most absorbing and excit ing chapter in natural history. As most of tbe Bible was written in regions lion haunted, this creature appears in almost all parts of tho Bible as a simile. David understood Its habits of night prowling and day alumbering, as Is seen irom his description : "The young lions roar after their prey and seek their meat from God. The sun arlscth, they gather themselves together, aud lay them dowu in their dens." Aud again he cries out, "My soul is among lions." Moses knew thorn and said, "Judah is couched like a lion." Samson knew them, for he took honey from the carcass of a slain lion. Solomon know them and says, "The king's wrath is as ths roar of a lion." and again, "The slothful man says, Thoroisalion in the way." Isaiah knew them, and says, in the millennium, "The lion shall eat straw liko au ox." Ezekiel knew them, and says, "The third was as the face of a lion." Paul knew them, and says: "I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion." Peter knew them and says, "Tho devil as a roaring lion walketh about." St. John knew them, and says of Christ, "Behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah!" Now, what does my text mean when It puts a living dog and a dead lion side by aide, and says the former is better than the latter! H means that small faculties actively usod »re of more value than great faculties unemployed. How often you see it! Some man with limited capacity vastly useful. Ho takes that which God has given him and says: "My mental endowment is not large and the world would not rate me high for my intelligence, and my vocabulary is limited, and my educa tion was defective, but here goes what I have for God and salvation, aud the mak ing of the world good and happy." He puts in a word here and a word there, en courages a faint hearted man, gives a Scripture passage iu consolatiou to some bereft woman, picks up a child fallen in the street and helps him brush off the dust and puts a five-ceut piece in his hand, telling him not- to cry, so that tho boy is Binging beforo ho gets around the corner; waiting on everybody that has a letter to curry or a message to delivor; comes into a rail-train, or stage-coach, or depot, or shop, with a smiling face that sets every body to thinking, "If that man can, with what appears small equipment in Ufa be happy, why cannot L possessing far more than he has, be equally happy I" One day of that kind of doing things may not amount to much, but forty years of that— no one but Go^tiimself can appreciate its immensity. There art tens of thousands of such people. Their circle of acquaintance is small. The man U known over at the algsA He Is clerk or weigher or drayman, ASdhels known among those who sit near toi® einer Beck in the church under the ffsHmOg, and at the ferry gates where he come* in knocking the snow from ids shoes, and threshing his arms around his body to revive circulation, on some January morn ing. But if be should die to-morrow there would not be a hundred people who would know about Ik He will never have his name in tho newspapers but once, and that will bs the announcement of his death, if some one will pay for the insertion, so much a lino for tho two lines. But he will come up gloriously on tho other side, and tho God who has watch ed him ail through will givo him a higher seat and n better man sion and a grander eternity than many a man who hud on earth, beforo bis name, tho word Honorable, and after his name LL. D. and F. U. S. Christ said in Luke, tho sixth chapter, that in heaven some who hud it lull'd hero would laugh there. And I think a laugh of delight and congratula tion will run around the heavenly circles when this liumblo one of whom I spoke sliidl go up and take tho precedence of many Christians who in this world felt themselves to ha of ninety-nine per cent, moro importance. The whisper will tro round the galleries of tho upper temple: "Can it bo possible that that was tho weigher in our store!" "Can it bo possible thul that was the car-driver on our streetl" '•Can it be possible that was tho sexton of our church)" "Can it be possible that is the man that heaved coal into our cellar!" "I never could have thought it. What a reversal of things! Wo w'ero clear ahead of him on earth, but he is clear uheud of us in hoaven. Why, we had ten times more brains than ho had, we hud a thousand times more money than ho had, we had social position a mile higher than he had, wo had innumer able opportunities more than he nod, but it seems now that ho accomplished more with his one talent than we did with our ten;" while Solomon, standing among the thrones, overhears the whis|>er, and sees the wonderment, and will, with benignant and all suggestive smile, say, "Yes, it is as I told the world many centuries ago— better is small faculty active used than great tulent unemployed, 'bettor a living dog than a dead lion.' " Tho simplo fact is that the world has been, and tho world is now, full of doad lions. They are peoplo of great capacity and large opportunity, doing nothing for the improvement of society, nothing for the overthrow of evil, nothing for th : sal vation of souls. Some of them are mone tary lions. They have accumulated so many hundreds of thousands of dollars that you can feel tholr tread when they walk through any street or come into any circle. They can by one financial movo upset the money market. Instead of ttie ten percent, of their income which tho Biblo lays down as tho proper proportion ot their contribution to the causo of Ood, they do not givo five per cent, or throe per cent, or two i>er cent, or ono per cent, or a half per cent, or a quarter per cont That they are lions, no one doubts. W hen they roar, Wall street, State street, Lombard streot, and the Bourso tremble. In a few years they will lie down and die. They will havo a great funeral, and a long row of fine carriages, and mightiest requiems will roll from tho organ, and polish»! shaft of Aberdeen granite will indicate where their dust lies, but for all use to tbe world that man might as well have never lived. As an experiment as to how much he can carry with him, put a ten-cent piece In tho palm of his dead hand, and five years after open the tomb, ana you will find that he has dropped even the ten cent pleco. A lion! Yes, but a dead lion! He loft all his treasures on earth,and has no treasures in heaven. W hat shall tbe stone cutter put upon tbe obelisk over him! I suggest, let It be the man's name, then the date of his birth,then the date or his death, then the appropriate Scripture passage, "Hotter Is a living dog than a dead loin." But I thank God that we are having just now an outburst of splendid beneficence that Is to increase until the earth is girdled with it. It is spreading with the speed of an epidemic, but with just tbe opposite ef fect of an epidemic. Do you not notice bow wealthy men are opening free libra ries, and building churches in their native village! Have you not seen how men of large means, instead of leaving groat phil anthropies in their wills for disappointed heirs to quarrel about, and the orphan courts to swamp, are becoming their own executors and administra tors! After putting aside enough for their families (for "he that providoth not for his own, and especially those of his own household Is worse than an infidel"), they are saying: "What can 1 do, not after I am dead, but while living, and in full possession of my faculties, to properly di rect the building of the churches, or the hospitals, or the colleges, or the libraries that I design for the public welfare, and while yet I have full capacity to enjoy the satisfaction of seeing the good accom plished i There are bad fashions and good fashions, and, whether good or bad, fashions are mighty. Ono of the good fashions now starting will sweep the earth—tho fashion for wealthy men to distribute, while yet alive, their surplus accumulation. It is being helped by the fact that so many large estates have, im mediately after the leslutor's death, gono Into litigation. Attorneys with large fees are employed on both sides, and tho caso goes on month after moath, and year after year, and after one court decides, it as cends to another court and is decided in tho opposito direction, and then new evidence is found, and the trials are all repeated. The children, who at tho father's funeral seemed to have an uncontrollable grief, after the will is read go into elaborate process to prove that the father was crazy, and there fore incom|ielent to make a will; and there are men on the jury who think that the fact that the testator gave so much of his money to the Bible Society, and the mis sionary society, or the opening of a free library is proof positive that he was in sane, and that he knew not what he was signing when he subscribed to the words: "In tbe name of God, amen. 1, being of sound mind, do make this my last will and testament." The torn wills, the fraudulent wills, the broken wills have recently been mado such a spectacle to angels and to men that all over the land successful men are calling iu architects and saying to them: "How much would it cost for m3 to build a pic turo-gallery for our town!" or, ''What plans can you draw mo out for a concert hall!" or, "I am especially interested in 'the incurables,' and how large a building would accommodate three hundred of such patients!" or, "The Church of God has been a groat help to me all my life, and I want you to draw me a plan for a church, commodious, beautiful, well ventilated,ami with plenty of windows to let In the light; 1 want you to get right at work in making out plans of such a building, for, though I am well now, life is uncertain, and before I leave the world I want to see something done that will be an appropriate acknowl edgment of the goodness of God to me and mine; now when can I bear from you!" In our city we have many examples of this. What a grandeur of beneficence has our fellow-citizen. Mr. 1'ratt, demonstrated, building educational institutions which will put their hands on the nineteenth century, and the twentieth century, and all tho centu ries ! All honor to such a man ! Do not say so when he is dead, say it now. It would be a good thing if some of the eulogies we chisel on tombstones were written on piper in time for the philanthropists to read them while yet they are alive. Less post-mor tem praise, and more ante mortem. My text also means that an opportunity of the living preseut is better than a great opportunity passed. Wo spend much of our timo In saying: "If I only had." We can all look back and seo some occasion where we might have done a great deed, or might have effected an important rescue, or we might havo dealt a stroke that would havo accomplished a vast result. Through stupidity or lack «f appreciation of the crisis, or through procrastination, we let the chance go by. How much timo we have wastod in thinking of what we might havo said or might have done! We spend hours aud days and yoars in walking around that dead lion. We cannot ro suscitato it. it will never opon its eyes again. There will never be another spring in its paw. Dead as any fclino ter ror of South Africa, through whoso heart thirty years ago Gordon Cuiuming sent the slug. Don't lot us givo any more • time to tho deploring of the dead past There are other opportunities remaining. They may not be as great but they are worth our attention. Small opportunities ail around, opportunities for the saying of kind words und tho doings of kind deeds. Helplessness to bo helped. Disheartened ones to bo encouraged. Lost ones to be found. Though the present may be insignifi cant us compared with the past "Better is a living dog than a dead lion." The most useless and painful feeling Is ths one of regret Repent of lost opportu nities we must, and get pardon we may, but regrets weaken, dishearten, and cripple for future work, if a sea-captain who once had charge of a White star steamer across the Atlantic ocean, one foggy night runs on a rock off Newfoundland, and the passen gers and ship perislqshall he refuse to take command of a small boat up tho North River and say, "I never will go on the water again unless 1 can run one of the White Star line!" Shall the engineer of a lightning express, who at a station mis read the telegram of a train dispatcher and wont into collision, and for that has been put down to the work of engineering a freight train, suy, "I never will again mount an engine unless 1 can run a vestibule ex press"! Take whul you havo of opportu nity left Do your best of what remains. Your shortest winter day is worth more to you than can be the longest day of a pre vious summer. Your opportunity now, as compared with previous opportunities, may bo small as a rat-terrier compared with tho lion which at Matubosa, fatally wounded by tbe gun of David Livingstone, in its death agony leaped upon tho mission ary explorer, und with its jaws crushed the bone of his arm to splinters, and then rolled over and expired, but, "Better is u living dog than a dead lion." My text also moans that the condition of the most wretched man alive is better than that of the most favored sinners depart ed. The chance of those last is gone. Where they oro they cannot make any earthly assets available. After Cnarle magno was dead he was set in an orna mented sepulchro on a golden throne, and a crown was put on bis cold brow, and a sceptre in his stiff hand, but that gave him no dominion in the next world. One of the most intensely interesting things I saw last winter in Egypt was Pharoah of olden times the very Phuroah who oppressed the Isra elites. The inscriptions on his sarcopha gus, and the writing on his mummy banda ges, prove beyond controversy that he was the Pharoah of Bible times. All the Egypt ologists and the explorations agree that it is the old scoundrel himself. Visible aro the very teeth with which he gnashed against tho Israelitish brick-makers. Thera are the sockets of the merciless eyes with which he looked upon the overburdened people of God. There is the hair that floated in the breeze off the Red Sea. There are the very lips with which he commanded them to make bricks without straw. Thousands of years afterward, when the wrappings ot the mummy were unrolled, old Pharaoh lifted up his arm as it lu imploration, but his skiuny bones cannot again clutch his shattered sceptre. He is a dead lion. And Is not any man now living, in tho fact that be has opportunity of repentance and sal vation, better off than any of those depart ed ones who, by authority or possessions or influence, were positively leonino, and yet wicked. What a thing to congratulate you on is your life ! vv uy, it is worth more than all tho gems of the universe kindled into one precious stouo. I am alive I W hat does that mean! Why, it means that I still have all opportunity of being saved myself, and helping others to be saved. To be alive! Uhy, it means that I have yet another chance to correct my past mistakes, aud make sure work for heaven. Alive, are we! Come, let us celebrate it by new resolutions, new self-examination, new consecrat.on, and u new career. The smallest and most insignificant to-day is worth to us moro than five hundred yes terdays. Taking advantage of the prosent, let us get pardon for all the past, and se curity for all tho future. Where oro our forgiven sins! I don't know. God don't know, either. He says "your sins and in iquities will I remember no more." What encouragement in the text for all Christian workers! Despair of no one's salvation. V» hile there is lire there is hope. V\ hen in England a young lady asked for a class in a Sunday-school, tho superinten dent said, "Better go out on the street and get your own class." She brought in a ragged und filthy boy. Thu superintendent gave him good apparel. In a few Sundays he absented himself. Inquiry discov ered that in a street fight he had his decent apparel torn off. Ho was brought in and a second time respectably clad. After a few Sundays ho again disappeared, and it was found that he was again ragged and wretched. "Then," said tho teacher, "we cun do nothing with him." But the superintendent fitted him up again and started him again. After a while the gospel took hold of him und his heart changed. He started for the ministry and became a foreign missionary and on heath en grounds lived, and translated the Scrip tures, and preached, until among the most illustrious names of the Church on eartn and in heaven is the name of glorious Robert Morrison. Go forth and save tho lost, and remember however depraved, however ragged, and however filthy and undono a chile is, or a man is, or a womun is, they ara worth an effort. 1 would rather have their oppor tunity than any that will ever be given to those who lived in magnificent sin and splendid unrighteousness and then wrapped their gorgeous tapestry around them and without a prayer expired. "Better is a living dog than a dead lion." Id the groat day it will be found that tho last shall bo first. There are in the grog shops and in the haunts of iniquity to-d iy those who will yet be models of holiness and preach Christ to the |>eople. In yonder group of young men who came here with no useful purpose, there is ono who will yet live for Christ and perhaps die for Him. In a pulpit stood a stranger, preach ing, and he s iid : "The last time 1 was; in church was fifteen years ago, and the cir cumstances were peculiar. Three youDg men had come, expecting to disturb tho service, and tbev had stones in their pockets ivUich they expected to burl at the preacher. One of the young men referred to refused to take part in the assault, and the others in dis gust at his cowardice, left the building. One of tho three was hanged for forgery. Another is in prison, condemned to death for murder. I was the third, but the grace of God saved me." My hearer, give no one up. The ease may seem desperate, but the grace of God likes to undertake a dead lift I proclaim it this day to all the people—Free Grace! Living and dying, be that my theme—Freo Grace! Sound it across the continent, sound it across the seas—Free Grace! Spell out those words in flowers, lift them in arches, build them in thrones, roil them in orato rios—Free Grace! That will yet Kdenize the earth and people heaven with nations redeemed. Free (iraco l CORVUS AMERICAN US ! VARIOUS CRO»' tJUKSTlOXS IX SO LU TIOX. The Crow In Scientific I>eep Water—Shall He he Exterminated ? — Crow IHct — Their Great Itoosts—Where They Came Prom. ISpectal Washington Letter., V ' HE English sparrow having I wen disposed of scientifically, no , , bird now excites so much interest at M adrift Washington, with the exception of the American eagle, as the common crow— poor corvus Ameri canus ! It is being made the subject of a methodical scien tific investigation by the Department of Agriculture, and Uncle Jerry Rusk and his secretary, Mr. La Dow, are understoo J to be deeply interested spectators. Professor Walter B. Barrows is con ducting the investigation, and in good time will furnish Ins conclusions for a bulletin, to be issued by the department. There is much more to be learned about tbe crow than appears at a casual glance. It is only since the establishment of the division of "economic ornithology" in the Department of Agriculture, that birds have been properly looked after, and their real value or detriment to the agriculturist ascertained. They are now weighed in the scientific balance, and if the beam kicks in their favor, so much the better for their future enjoyment of life and pursuit of happiness. Among the important points regarding the crow, which need to be settled, are the follow ing : Will crows eat com if they can find nothing they like better ? Is it worth while for farmers to try and kill crows by soaking the com in poison ? Can a crow swallow seed-corn if it is first rolled in tar and ashes ? Will spraying com with a Riley nozzle with an emulsion of soap and kerosene kill the corn or the crow ? Is it too late in the nineteenth century to resort to the use of scare crows ? In other words, will crows scare worth a cent at this late day of universal pro gress aud enlightenment? Can more he said in favor of the crow than against it ? Is it better for the agricultural inter ests of the country to exterminate the crow ? And if the crow is to be exterminated, how shall the extermination be accomp lished? Is the crow rapacious, graminivorous, insectivorous, young-and-tender-chicken ivorous, and omnifarious all at once aud the same time? If so, why so? Does the crow ever say "rats" or eat mice? At the season of midification will the crow destroy the eggs and young of other birds? Does the crow drop the seeds of rhus toxicodendron, or poison ivy, broadcast over the land ? What about the crows' roosting places? Where are they situated? Will it be worth while for the Census Bureau to procure a list of the roosts and the num ber of roosters ? How about the national conventions they are said to hold ? Is there anything of a sensational nature in their proceed ings? Is it true that crows are so wicked as to indulge in prize fights ? Do crows, in some parts of the world, drill after the manner of our State mi litia ? If they do, why do they ? How far will a crow fly to get its breakfast ? Is sand to be recommended as an aid to digestion in view of the fact that a crow always gulps down a mouthful of clear sand just before going to lied ? How many horse-power is the crow's digestive apparatus ? in sciEXTinc d*ep wateb. Is it a fact that a crow can digi'st mince pie, liash, caramels, lobster salad, hot biscuits, tough beef steaks, strong coffee, ice cream, chalk and slate js-n cils, pickles and olives, without detri ment to its health ? Is the crow a wise and sagacious bird ? Can a crow ho taught to speak En glish, or poradventure, German? There are many more interesting ques tions which can lx- asked about the crow, any one of which it will lx» difficult to answer in our present state of knowledge. It is too much to expect that the Depart ment of Agriculture will dis|»oso of all of these queries to the satisfaction of everylxxly, for there are some quidnuncs who indulge in quiddities. It will he seen at a glance, however, that there is work enough to last a long wliile and make quite a respectable volume when it is completed. I learn that it is probably a fact that in some parts of the country crows do pull up corn. Numerous observations to that effect from intelligent farmers and boys have been received in Washington. It seems that a crow seldom eats hard corn ; it is sensible enough to prefer the soft corn which lias remained in the ground until the first one or two tender blades have appeared. Fanners should be careful, therefore, and always plant hard corn which lias not been soaked. After the I4aile appears it will be a good plan, also, to watch the corn fields for a week or two with a shot-gun in hand. It is known that the dreadful detonation of exploding powder has a demoralizing ef to fect upon a whole army of crov-s. Even an empty gun in the liands of a woman has held a score at bay. Try it. It appears to lie a well-»*stabl<shed fact that crows eat mice, as well as cats, hares, clams, eggs, chickens, young birds, frogs, beetles, and all manner of insects. The mice disposed of by a well-trained crow would doubtless destroy more corn, if permitted to live, than the crows them selves. This is ono score mark in favor of the crow. Crows seem to take a iancy to bright tilings. Beetles with wings of blue, gold, and scarlet are'favorite arti cles of diet. The stomach of a crow re cently examined at the Department of Agriculture in Washington contained the tough and horny heads of fifteen of these beetles. Another stomach had the lower tooth of a cat, the bones of lizards and frogs, a p ari, the bones of a rabbit, and enough sand to make a small stained-glass window. It is quite appalling when one contem plates the probabilities and possibilities regarding the crow family. There is an enormous roost of tlii'se black fowls near Washington, on the Government reserva tion surrounding Arlington and the Na tional cemetery. It is safe to say that from three to five hundred thousand crows occupy this roost—twice the imp utation of Wushington City with its 60,fKX) black folks. Professor C. Hart Merriam says this roost is one of the three largest in the land. It is a littled odd that it lias been established within sight of the Con gress of the United States, as if for the purpose of observation. The crow is a sinister bird. Thousands of these crows n. v m enow hoost in am.inoton cemetery. fly over the city of Washington every morning due east, to the shores of the Chesapeake, where they feast all day on the molluscan wash of the sea and return at night to rest in the funeral shades of Arlington. They start at early sunrise. It is no wonder, therefore, that they have escaped the notice of the professional "Washington correspondent." A flight of thirty or forty miles a day is nothing for a crow. Cold wave or hot, blizzard or fog, rain or shine, the journey to and fro is made as regular as clockwork. There is also a large roost near Baltimore, occupied by hundreds of thousands of crows, which have been studied by a pro fessor in Johns Hopkins University, who lias published his observations in the transactions of that institution. Great crow roosts are numerous all over the country. They may be found on the islands in the Susquehanna in Pennsyl vania, in central Kentucky, in Dakota, and Nebraska, and on an island in the Mississippi near St. Louis. Crows do not always roost on trees. Sometimes they pass the night on the sand, camping out, and again they seek tali marsh grass. It is said they roost in large flocks for the purpose of self-pro tection. Not long since those at Wash ington roosted outside of the Govern ment reservation. There they were mo lested at night by black men with guns. Now they liave moved inside the reser vation where gunning is not permitted. So they are really wards of the Govern ment at present. They have less fear of dead men in the National cemetery, than they have of predaceous Africans armed with blunderbusses. Crows have the happy faculty of eating anything which fancy dictates, without harm. The seed of the poison ivy is a favorite with them. After the outside of tho berry which con tains the seed has been digested and as similated, the seeds themselves are cast from the mouth in the shape of a pellet. The same is true of the fur of mice, etc. It is this remarkable peculiarity on the part of the crow which spreads or plants the ivy-vine all over the land. The late Rev. E. P. Roe called ivy the "vine bewitched," because it seems to sprout up everywhere without cause. He little suspected that the crow was the planter. Many other seeds are dropped in the same way by the crow. I hear that in the South he is a great destroyer of pecan nuts. Thus far lie does not ap pear to have discovered peanuts. What is the origin of the crow ? Did he emigrate from Europe at the time or before the era of Christopher Columbus ? There is little real information upon this jioint as yet. The crow is not even men tioned by Magillivray in his work on the " Rapacious Birds of Great Britain. " Evi dently Magillivray, who was a friend of Audubon, did not regard the crow as ra pacious in Great Britain. Gilbert White, in his charming work, the "Natural His tory of Selhoume, " does not mention the crow. The truth is the crow was never seen at Selbourne. It is not an inhabi tant of Great Britain. In that country the bird which most resembles the Amer ican crow is called a rook. And the rook is a religious bird in England, always hovering about cathedral towers, as I have seen it at Lincoln and York, and calling out, "Hurry up your prayers! Bishop, Bishop, vespers ! " etc. Fuller-Walks. Lord Randolph Churchill has stirred up the British Tories with a sharp stick in consequence of the government's treat ment of Parnell, and he evidently fore sees the downfall of the Tory power. Senator Blair threatens to leave the Re publican party if it fails to adopt his ed ucation bill. Curiously, the number of Republican opponents of the hill is con stantly increasing. The monument to Henry W. Grady, to be erected at Atlanta, Ga., will be de signed by Alexander Doyle, the sculptor, of New York city. It will he bronze, nine and one-half feet in height. Keep Books. The advice which Daniel Websttr cave to a neighbor of his, in the loi lowing anecdote, might be followed with advantage by many people Indeed the reader will be likely tô think that it might have been l'oli 0ff . fed to very good advantage by ,\j r Webster himself. On one occasion a man presented Mr. Webster a bill for payment. "Why. Mr. N-said the states. man, "it seems to me that 1 ] ;ave paid that bill." Mr. N-protested that it had not been paid, und Mr. Webster told him to call in a few days and be would attend to the matter. Alter the nni a bad gone Mr. Webster asked his clm-jj to look over a quantity of bills t ,nd see if lie could find a receipt for tho amount. To his surprise two re. ceipts were found, indicating that the bill had been paid twice. la due time Mr. N-called, just at the dinner hour, us it chanced and Mr. Webster invited him in to dine. After the meal was over they proceeded to tho business in hand. Mr. N-, do you keep boohs?" Mr. Webster inquired. "No," wns the reply. "I thought so," suid Mr. Webster. Now 1 advise you to keep books. If you had kept books you would have known that I had receipted this bill," —showing him one. Mr. N-was greatly surprised and mortified and apologized us best ha could for his mistake. "Yes, it is always a good plan to keep books," continued Mr. Webster, showing him a second receipt. Then, knowing Mr. N-to he an honest man, nnd not wishing to an noy him. he suggested that perhaps receipted bills had been presented, but really left unpaid, and insisted that Mr. N-should take the mon ey.—Youth's Companion. A School Ctrl's FiRht, In order to keep pace with the pro gressive spirit of the times, the two higher classes of the Women's iledi. cal college recently indulged in a reg ular college fight. The disputenro.se over the ownership of a beautiful green cushion. A young lady entered the lecture room with the cushion. She threw it upon the bench, nnd, sitting upon it, said to her companion: "Oh, my, but that is comfortable." Soon after Bhe missed the seat, and, followed by her comrades, walked up to a senior, who by this time was enjoying the soft seat, and demanded her property. On receiving«negative answer to her re quest the plucky junior grabbed hold of the cushion and pulled it from un der the senior. In an instant there was a regular tug of war. The mem bers of each class came to the assist ance ol their comrades. Each divi sion held on to the cushion, pulling and wrestling, and finally both came to blows. The wildest excitement prevailed, when the professor, accompanied by some gentlemen, entered the lecture room. The professorshouted for or der, but without avail. He then took a hand in the fight nnd captured the cushion, which lie bore off in triumph to his desk. When quiet had been completely restored the owner of the cushion quietly stepped down to the desk.of the professor and returned to lier place with tho prize which she, not figuratively, but literally, sat upon. —Philadelphia Times. Why Barons Become Waiters. The titled foreigner who lias lost all his money is in most cases n Ger man or a Frenchman. They drift to this couhtry. They have no trade, or if they do they will not work at it, nnd as tho position of waiter is a comparatively easy one it possesses for them many attractions. First, on working in a hotel or club they ifsunlly obtain about the same food as the persons they serve. Then they are, in a great many instances, en abled to sleep where they work. In most first class hotels they come in contact with congenial people. When a man dines he is usually in good hu mor, aud when he finds his waiter an intelligent man he generally conde scends to talk to him. Some of the representative families of Europe haveconuections who hold positions as waiters in this country. They are frightfully incompetent, not knowing the first thing about serving guests.—Philadelphia Times. ATROOPER'S LIFE. rhen mount and awn;. Lot tbe coward de light ro be lazy all day and safe nil night. Dur joy in a charger Hashed with foam, And theearth is our bed and ths saddle our home. We have gathered again the red laurel of war; We bnve followed the traitors fast and far. Out some whs rose gayly this morn with the sun Lie bleeding and pale on the field they have won. But whether we fight, or whether we foil By «alter strokeor rifle ball, The hearts o! the free will remember yet, And our country—our country will never for get. R. W. Raymond. A Reasonable Request. "I have only one last request to nake,"said the dying man, as he pain ully raised his head from the pillow ind surveyed the weeping group Around lus bedside. "What is it, iny good friend?" nslc Ml the clergyman. "Anything you Ask will be done." "Thou see that the newspapers Ion'll refer to me os 'another old landmark gone.' Lippincott's j