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CONSOLATION OF RELIGION The Encouragement It Affords in the Distressing Lot of Widowhood widow." in^on this 'the poor 'the dying 'the rich ed from the following vii., 12, "And cho was a The rich widow! Who •f such a title lor a serr text? Better call her widow," "the friendles "the hopeless widow," widow"--anything but widow." This funeral procession winding its way out of the Syrian city is one of the most pathetic spectacles of the gospel history. How much heartbreak is contained in those three phrases, "A dead man, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow!" And now a wife without her husband and a mother with only a child body for her 0011 fcr slowly wending her way to the cemetery. She was a wife and a mother only of the grave. "The rich widow?" Nonsense! Change the title. Call it "the poor widow of Starvation peak." A FITTING TITLE. No, my brother, I the title I have chos show how even a wO: ance of her duty and i thy of humanity, i nan so desolate t may find con-' 1 the perform-i the sympa- i of divine power her life may become rich for herself and for others. I have seen too many adjectives hitched to this heroic and conquering nominative. I believe thousands and tens of thousands of mothers who have been bereft of the companion who stood with them at the marriage altar have attained true and abiding wealth. They have been ricl ' that makes life truly happy, great and good; rich in their opporti ties to do a double service in 1 To their children they have become father as well as mother; rich their inspiring examples of duties well done; rich in tho faith with which their trials led them to test the goodness and greatness of God; rich in the heights and depths am' lengths and breadths of their love and, above all, rich in eternal a well as temporal rewards. It is ii order to gather a few "bluebells' from off the graves of the dead hus bands and fathers that I preach thii sermon. I would ring these floral trophies in a great paean of praise that the widows, the numberless widows of the present day, who are facing their strength and go on winning victory after victory for themselves, their little ones and for Christ. MATERNAL OPPORTUNITIES. Oh, the paternal as well as the maternal opportunities which are offered to the consecrated Christian widowhood of the present century! Some time ago a beautiful faced lady was going through one of the great department stores in Colom-bus, O. She saw there a large-eyed, wistful-looking cash boy. who was watching her and her son. "My child," said she, "would you like to go home and be my little boy? There you can have money and playthings and horses and carriages to make your life happy, as my little boy's life is happy?" "I do not know, mum, whether I would like those things or not," he answered. "Has your little boy a papa? If I go with you, will his papa be my papa? I want a papa. Because, mum, before my papa died I had all those things, and now that my papa is dead I have nothing." Ah, yes, there was pathos, unfathomable pathos, in the answer of the little cash boy. But that answer is not true in reference to all fatherless children. When their fathers died they did not all lose everything. Their mothers not only remained their mothers, but they became their fathers also. 0 woman who art a widow, I sympathize with you in your sorrow and your hard lot, but let me congratulate you, too, on the opportunity God has placed within your reach of honorably and heroically performing a double duty. In a paternal as well as in a maternal sense you are accomplishing much for the temporal and the eternal lives of your chil- THE WORLD IS KIND. It is amazing how many kindnesses there are in this world if only one stops to catalogue them. You tan see those kindnesses manifested everywhere. A few years ago a man was caught in the crowd that surged into the cars of the Brooklyn bridge. He was jammed this way and that. His hat was battered and crushed. The more he vehemently denounced tho people as savages the more ho was hustled and pushed along. When he was at last seated and was still complaining a gentleman next to him turned and said: "My friend, I am afraid that you have got into the condition of only looking upon the bad side of human nature. Now, I have schooled myself to look upon the good side, and to help mo in my task of looking upon the bright side every day. I carry a notebook and jot down every good thing I see people do to other people. For instance, to-day on my way to tho bridge my hat blew off. I chased it, but before I could get it three other men whom 1 had never seen before ran after that hat. One of them caught it and brought it back to me. Now, that action was certainly unselfish on his part, and yet you can see the same unselfish act performed on any windy day." THE WIDOW'S RICHES. Tlw sormoa which the Christiam gentleman preached in the cable car of the Brooklyn bridge is certainly true. Everywhere one can see many kindnesses manifested toward those who are in distress, if those people in distress are worthy of human kindness. And so, widow, though you may have had your bumps and knocks, as that indignant passenger had who was trying to get into the train, though you may have had injustices practised upon you--for thieves and murderers from time immemorial have always felt that widows and orphans were their legitimate prey--you have also had many kindnesses shown you and yours. In ol'd English folklore there was supposed to be in Alderley Edge a great cavern. And in this cavern was concealed, said the legend, nine hundred and ninety and nine horsemen, equipped and ready to cone forth and fight for any leader who would blow for them the right bugle call. No sooner did your husband die and the cemetery bell had tolled tho knell when his body was carried to its last resting place than that bell seemed to ,call forth hundreds of helpers to your side from recesses as dark as the caverns of Alderley Edge. Every true and faithful widow always gathers around her true and faithful friends. The consecrated widow is rich i* the heights and depths and intensities of tho love she bears toward those who are dependent upon her. of the inevitable laws of this world that we generally value an article just in proportion to what it is worth to us. If it costs nothing, we care for it but little. If it costs much, we value it much. I enter your home. You show me the results of your travels. You say: "This is a rug I bought in Damascus. Here is a beautiful piece c" ivory I found in India. Here is boomerang of Australia. Yonder i a trinket 1 picked up in Pompeii But this picture is my treasure. I was painted by a Spanish maste and was placed upon the walls of i Mexican cathedral. One night that picture was cut out of its frame carried away. That picture must be worth at least $20,000. I myself paid $10,000 for it. Yes, I value that picture above all my other was the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. HEAVENLY REWARDS. But though in a divine sense the consecrated widow is rich, yet she shall be far richer in the next world. Woman, whom have you loved of all human beings the best on earth ? "Well" you say, "that is a hard question to answer. I loved my mother and father in one way and my children in another way and my sisters and brothers in another way. But, taking it all in all, I loved my husband best, truly best. We were one in thought, one in life and one in everything. My one ambition in life was to please him." Yes, I think your answer is correct. The relations between a husband and a wife are so close that you were one, 1 FOR ™e HOME i « Recipes for the Kitchea. f • Hygiene and Other Notes Z 9 for tho Housekeeper. * ■ APPLES MADE THE MOST OF. The apple is an invaluable source for the cook who knows how to use it. When properly prepared it may be made attractive to every palate. Here are a number of excellent recipes for cooking apples: Iced Apple Pudding--Beat together the yolks of 2 eggs, i lb. sugar and the juice of 1 lemon until well mix-him and to please him. Now, my : ed. Add the whites of the eggs and sister bereft of her husband, when ' beat again for five minutes over a you reach heaven and meet the long hot stove. Continue beating while, separated father of your babies, do you sift in i lb. flour, you not feel he will be pleased to 1" " know how you have worked and slaved for flesh and blood ? When spreacj you reach heaven, will you rich in the knowledge that h ciates all you have done foi children and his ? When one i aunts--a widow--was dying, looked up at those gathered her bedside and said, "Now, I hope your father, Steven, will be satisfied with what I have done: for his child- cy.' SELF SACRIFICE. But though the value of some i tides may be judged by the criteri of silver and gold others are son _ times judged by the higher standard of flesh and blood. If in order to save your child, who had been gripped with the poisonous bite of dangerous serpent, you had placed mouth against the bleeding lips of the wound and sucked that poif into your own system, would you love that child more for wh< were willing to impeiil your 1 than if you had given to her a mi offering of silver and gold ? Y • "1 course you would. The law rsal. The greater the sacri-make for our loved ones the greater becomes our love for them. This premise is granted. Where, then, can you find richer, deepei sacrifices and therefore richer than that exhibited by a mother toward her helpless children ? Tenderly as you an" " love our children, does our love glow ith such fervent heat as does that of the widowed mother who has toiled and contrived and denied hersell r their welfare ? In order tc ise them she has to pay for their iucation and food with the price of blood. Does not that young girl's graduation day address n her mother, who perhaps scrub for it as well as together the white dress in which it ielivered ? So, O widow, by very sacrifices I see with what intensity you love your children ;ause of the self denial and the toil •ou have given them. By the very iacrifices which 5-ou have made for their physical, intellectual and spiritual development I congratulate you upon the heights and depths and intensities of your maternal affections. ' ' one joy to plant a garden with-stono wall inclosurc for your eyes to see. It is a greater and a holier happiness to plant a garden that others may enjoy CERTAINTY OF GOD'S PROMISES The consecrated widow is rich be-xuse she has been able by personal experience to prove the certainty and faithfulness of God's promises. A lifeboat is sometimes used as a pleas-e craft along the shores of Mas-chusetts and Long Island. You n see the fishermen take and rig it a small sail ind go spinning er the waters, while they laugh d joke as they draw in the bluo-h or tho shad. So peoplo some-ncs use the gospel life-boat merely r a pleasure craft. When the sky clear and tho sea smooth they set il for a frolic. But, oh, my friends, the lifeboat is a far different craft when on a stormy night the life saving men launch it into the surf to fight their way out to the ship aground in the offing, where it being shattered to pieces by the ceaseless bombardments of the ighty seas. And the promises of God, out of which the gospel lifeboat is made, mean far more to a widow-lailing the seas of life alone than they do to the young daughter who has always been shield-every storm. And yet, mother,I would ask you a pertinent question, which I know you will an-Though you may have buried your husband many years ago, was there over a time when if you trusted in God his love and protection and care failed you ? Was there s when Christ was not willing to stand by the cradle of *' 'ing child, as in olden times stood by the bier of one who ily be satisfied. You nave uone your task well. It has been a hard journey to travel alone, but at the end of the journey you will be rich in his blessing as well as that of your Saviour, the dear Christ. Thus, widows of Nain and widows of Europe and America and widows wherever you may be, I call you rich. Go ahead bravely and truly, fighting the battles that are before you. Christ shall be your protector in this world. Your rewards for duties well done await you in the next. The truest way for you to be true to your dead husband is for you to be true and noble tasks God has given to you to do here. Remember that Christ knows all about a widow's troubles. He sympathized with the sorrowing widow of Nain. In his great heart there is s;»-mpathy for all who struggle and suffer, and tho divine help and consolation are never more generously bestowed than \ upon those who bear that heaviest ; human bereavement--widowhood. Phis love and all blessings it brings rill make you rich indeed. baking pan with a sheet of butter paper and pour the paste over it; half an inch thick, bake dice-shaped pieces. Mix the pieces with 3 grated apples, butter and sugar 7 small pudding molds, about them equally with the cake and u 'grated apple, then pour over them very gently a custard composed of 2 oggi, 1 pt. milk, a few drops of essence of lemon and a little sugar. Place the molds in a flat pan containing boiling water and put them into a hot oven for 30 minutes to steam. Allow them to get quite cold before placing them in the ice box. Run a sharp knife around each mold when turning them out. The same should consist of 1 pt. well whipped cream, flavored with 1 gal. brandy and left for a few moments in the ice box. Apple Fritters--Pare medium sized sound apples. Cut them into round slices, sprinkle with gar and and pour over them a gill of Burgundy. Leave them in the wine while you prepare the batter. Put into an enameled saucepan 1 oz. fresh butter and $ pt. lukewarm water. When the water is on the point of boiling, remove the butter with as much or as little of the hot water as you require to makes lb. flour into a thick batter. Add pinch of salt and tho beat-of 2 eggs. In the middle NEWS BY MAIL ABOUT JOHN BULL AND HIS PEOPLE. Occurrences in the Land That Reigns Supreme in the Con mercial World. A London firm is selling a tenth of a grain of radium for £dl Birmingham licensing magistrates have refused to renew the permits of several grocers and chemists. Silk hat manufacturers sued 40 persons belonging to the west of London at Westminster County Court in one day. Ann Wells, who has died at Rochester at the age of 96, was at one time servant to the Duchess of Kent, mother of the late Queen Vic- The King has decided that his ronation robes and the magnifn train worn by Queen Alexandria shall be placed in the Tower London. For stealing an apple, the value ' which is estimated at one penny, laborer named Win. Daniels was t Blofield fined 5s. and 14s. costs. A Thames trench has been caught at Windsor by a local angler. The species is very rare, and it is said only three have been caught during the last 20 years. During the examination of a deb->r at the London Bankruptcy Court it was stated that he had lost £400 by betting since August last, ling nine times and losing 103 times. Mr. Jesse Collings states that, the gauges for making the new service will be ready by the end of November, when its manufacture will begin at the Enfield and Birmingham factories. __■. Alfred Lyttleton, Secretary of State for the Colonies, has promised preside at a dinner to be given December 1st by Anglo-Australi-, to Lord Northcote, Governor-G-encral-elect of Australia. The following ambiguous adver-tisement appears in an English ?kly pp.per:-- Rev. John B. Bar-lough wants a place as Under-Nursemaid for a respectable girl, aged 14, just leaving school." •s. S. Lewis has given to the Royal Berkshire Regiment, in memory of her late husband, a sum of £3,000 for the site, erection, and ndowment of three cottage homes jr disabled men of the regiment, rith their families. The proposed Orchid League is ever likely to be a popular body. Orchids are blooming now," said a ovent Oarden florist the other day, but I question whether you could ly out £20 in orchids in London o-day if you wished to." At Dover the customs officials sized a valuable dachshound be-mging to the Duchess of Teck, which had been brought across the channel by the Hon. F. Curzon. Under *»Te Importation (Dogs) Or-the animal will be kept for : weeks in quarantine. a meeting in Newcastle-on-i it was decided to raise a fund of £100,000 for church extension. Subscriptions amounting to about £25,000 have been promised, includ-m anonymous donation of £15,-000, the Duke of Northumber.and £5,000, a thousand guineas by tho Bishop of Newcastle; and a similar sum by Lord Armstrong. of each apple slice put a saltspi ful of raspberry jam. Then dip the slice of apple into the batter a fry immediately. Drain well a sprinkle with powdered sugar. A pies may also be sliced, soaked wine, covered with flour and fried plenty of butter. Pudding--Boil 2 oz. butter in pt. milk. Take it from the fire and drop in i lb. flour. Beat briskly until the mixture is entirely free from lumps, add yolks of 3 eggs, oz. powdered sugar and 1 gill cold milk. Beat tho whites of the eggs to a stiff froth and add them gradually. Butter a mold and put in a IsW ^-vhe batter, then 2 oz.- oi stfewed apples. Continue with the apples and the batter until the mold is full, taking care that the batter is at the top. Steam for an hour and a half. Serve with a sauce made with 1 pt. cold water, ilb. brown sugar, 1 oz. of corn flour, boiled together for three minutes, and 1 gill brandy added at the last. The sauce may also be made by boiling the parings and cores of the apples in water, and straining off the juice, to which the corn flour, sugar and brandy are added. Apple Porcupine--Pare and core 10 large apples, and place on the stove to simmer in 14 pts. cold water, made into a syrup with 1 cup sugar. When they are cooked through, remove them whole from the syrup and put into it 6 apples which have been steamed and mashed. Add the juice and grated rind of a lemon, and mmsr until a smooth marmalade is irmed. When the apples are quite cool, heap them Ip. a mound, placing a little apple jolly between each and stick blanched and halved almonds firmly all over it. Fill up the spaces with apple marmalade, Beat the whites of 4 eggs to a stiff froth and add 1 teacup vanilla flavored icing sugar. Cover the apples lightly with the icing. Cream Ice --Steam 2 lbs. apples un-1 quite soft, then press through a eve with i lb. sugar or less, according as the variety of apple is sweet or sharp. Stir in yolks of 4 eggs, beating until the mixture is stiff, then add the beaten whites of the eggs and 4 teaspoons brandy. Freeze until stiff. If too much su-ir is added, tho mixture will not eeze readily. Apple Ginger--Make a syrup with 4 lbs. sugar and 4 cups water. Chop equal quantity of apples into cubes the size of dice, and when the syrup is boiling fast, drop them in, with the grated rind of 2 lemons and 2 ozs. white or green ginger root. Boil until the apples are clear, but ot broken. Apple Soup--The Germans make an tcellent soup with apples. Eight r 10 apples are pared, cored and boiled for an hour in 3 pts. water, ice of bread, a stick of cin-id the peel of a lemon. The soup is then rubbed through a sieve and three glasses of white wine ad-It may be sweetened if necessary. USEFUL HINTS. A druggist says that to remove a glass stopper from a bottle tip it to ide and hold a lighted match under the neck of the bottle till the bottle, t the stopper, is hot. This expands the bottle so that the stopper may bo removed. Or give the stopper a sharp tap with a knife, holding the finger on the opposite side to modify the jar. The proper way to dry woolens," says a large manufacturer of wool-goods, "is to hang the garments tho line dripping wet without inging <?ut at all. If dried in this way the shrinkage will be so slight 1 to be almost unnoticeable." Camphor, as is well known, is use-il in keeping away moths, but it should never be placed near sealskin, low. Grind horseradish in a meat chopper; it beats the grating iron and there are no sore eyes. Ham soaked in milk over night will be found exceedingly tender and sweet when used for breakfast the next morning. Does any one know the coinfort as well as the quickness with which some kinds of sewing may be done with the use of two needles? Now that shirring is coming into vogue I two rows can be run in almost the rame time as one, and :n sewing a braid flat on the bottom of a skirt, a saving, both of the skirt (which is handled less) and of time, will be accomplished by the use of two needles. A nice method of filling a rose jar is to dry rose leaves, lay in salt with spices such and cassia, and aand jo ouSojoo ooioqo euros xef alcohol. The spices may be left out and other sweet-smelling flowers substituted. If the water, is blued when cleaning windows, they will retain their qrilliancy longer and polish much more quickly. Some one ought to write an article upon how to keep a teakettle clean, so few people ever wash them (on the inside), but keep putting in water with the water that has been standing in the kettle for no one knows how long a time. The kettle should be washed on the inside at least once a day, and fresh water put in every time it is to be used ! • the filled OVER-WATERING PLANTS. It is not easily understood by some that plants can be over-watered. But the fact is, they may be literally drowned--and this often happens. The position of water in the life-workings of a plant is chiefly that of carrier--it is taken up by the roots, carries food to all parts of the plant and mostly passes off into atmosphere through the leaves. This routine is necessary--without it growth cannot be made, while a surfeit of water brings decay of the parts in touch with the excess. The times when over-watering is most possible are when a plant is without leaves, dormant or nearly so, and water cannot be used speedily; when the soil is heavy and does not give up the moisture quickly; when a plant has been recently transplanted and new feeding fibres have not been formed to take up the moisture; and when evergreens are in question, the leaves of which do not pass the water so rapidly. House plants may suffer for lack of regular watering if the atmosphere be warm; or they have too much water if the conditions are as described. Transplanted plants like moisture to give them a start, and usually take a thorough soaking; but that once is all that is needed, and that the plant can well stand. Just a little of forethought and study are needed to make evident a t's needs and its limitations; and there is really but little excuse over-watering, yet strange to say it is a more common than many would suppose. CONCERNING OURSELVES. Each ear as four bones. The human skull contains thirty The sense,of touch is dullest on the The body has about five hundred muscles. Every hair has two oil glands at The lower limbs contain thirty bones each. globe of the eye is moved by six muscles. The cerebral matter is about seven-eighths water. The normal weight of the liver is between three and four pounds. The human skeleton, exclusive of teeth, consists of 208 bones. Hair is very strong. A single hair ill bear a weight of 1,150 grains. The enamel' of the teeth contains ver 95 per cent calcareous matter. The wrist contains eight bones, the aim five; the fingers have fourteen. The roots of the hair penetrate the skin about one-twelfth of an inch. The weight of the averaged sized an is 140 pounds; of a woman 125 pounds. The only involuntary muscle composed of red i)r striped fibres is the Men have been known to lose by perspiration 5,000 to 6,000 grains Straight hairs arc nearly cylindri-rly hairs are elliptical, cr IHES.SJ.ESSON. INTERNATIONAL LESSON, NOV. 22. Text of the Lesson, Frov. xx., 1}' xxiii., 20-21. Golden Text, Prov. xx., 1. Inasmuch as drunkards are amon^ those who cannot inherit the kingdom of God, we cannot be too earnest in our efforts to present the Lord Jesus Christ to them as the One who loves even them and is able and ready to save them and the only One who can do it, but we must not forget that thieves, the covetous revilers, extortioners and all unbelievers are listed with drunkards and murderers as all on their way to tho lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death (1 Cor. vi., 9, 10; Rev. 8), but since some such sinners been washed, sanctified and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus 1 Cor. vi., 11) others may, and it s for those who know the gospel to give it quickly and earnestly to all who have not yet received it. As I write these notes (April 22, 1903), I have before me S. H. Had-ley's invitation to attend his twenty-first anniversary at the old Mc-Auley mission, 316 Water street, Nevt York, in which he says: "I hava proved beyond a doubt that the Lord Jesus Christ, and He alone, n by His own almighty power, thout the aid of drugs or nostrums of any kind, - in a moment and forever kill and cast out from the brain, the blood, the stomach and, above all else, the imagination, the hell-born appetite for whisky or alcohol in any shape whatsoever, and by faith in His atoning blood a soul can be kept free as a little child from its dreadful power." The devil is the great deceiver, mocker, destroyer, ever going about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may de-~ ' v., 8), but the Lamb of o save to the uttermost unto God by Him (Heb, 1 Pet God is able all who comi vii., 26). sxt (xx., 1) and xxiii., simple, clear, strong nd words of warning hich seem to need no comment. The facts are before our eyes always and everywhere, both in the daily papers id in actual life. The fools are thout number who seem deliberately to choose the poverty and rags, the woe and sorrow and contention for the sake of a passing gratification of their carnal appetite. ; of the sad stories of drunken-recorded in Scripture are to be found in Gen. ix., 20-25; I. Sam. II. Sam. xi., 13; L Kings xvi., 8-10, proving that every at his best estate is altogether vanity (Ps. xxxix., 5), which doiibt-apart from the grace oi God. See also Isa. v., 11, 12, 22; Hab. ii., 15, concerning the woes oi the drunkard. The only remedy and deliverance is 3 be found in Him who for our sakes became a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief, was made sin nd bore our sins in His own body on the cross, took our place under wrath that we might take His place in glory. His love is better e (S. of Sol. i; 2, 4), and when we have known and believed th« love that he hath to us He takes up His abode in us, and all is well (I. John iv., 16). Then instead ol beholding vanity, whether in the form of strange women or in any other form, we behold Him and beholding the glory of the Lord, are changed into His from glory to glory, by the of the Lord (II Cor. iii, 18). So desperately wicked is the heart o) l by nature that it refuses to re-e correction, but gives itself up its ow% way regardless of the fact that there is always but a step bo-i us and death and heedless of warning "He that being often ved hardeneth, his neck shall suddenly be destro3ed, and that with-ut remedy" (Jer. xvii, 9; v, 3; Isa. .i, 12; I Sam. xx, 3; Prov. xxix, 1), But there is an end, an "at last" When "he that soweth 1 flesh shall of the flesh reap c ■uly I the the t shall c ; Spi. to the Spiri reap life everlasting tuai. VI, o). How foolish indeed are those who refuse to consider the inevitable reali-of the future and give themselves o a present, transient enjoyment, Esau, who for a despised his birthright, for t (II Coi "ON BUSINESS BENT." When the worst comes to the worst is up ,to us to make the best of it. She : "Am 1 the first woman you er loved ?" He : "Yes. Am I ic first man who ever loved you ?" She (tempestuously) : "You suiting t" "Let Cor. xv, 32.) a foolish; they are 1 of this world, or having refused the iven over to believ i, 4; II Thess. ii, 10-12). lis There may come a time whe i, 24-31, shall be the expeiie many, when because they would not listen to God they shall call, but Ho will not answer, and finally they shall have to hear Him say, "Depart from Me, ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels !" (Matt. xxv. 41.) The God in whose hand our breath is and whose are all our ways (Dan. v, 23) is very gracious. He is slow to anger and not willing that any should perish (II Pet. iii, 9), and inasmuch as life in these mortal bodies is so uncertain, how blinded the sinner must be to continue in sin when God is bei>eeching him to receive freely the redemption provided in Christ Jesus ! (Isa. i, 18; Rom. iii, 24.) q'he heart is the great center from which good or evil proceeds (Matt, xv, 19); hence to live out verses l-7i and 19 of our lesson chapter v\ e must first obey ve'so 20. Although F.zeV Israel and a future fulfillment at their restoration, we may apply much of it to ourselves, and whero. there is the r.ew heart, the peace of God ruling, the spirit ol God control-ling, all will be well and God glori-I fied when Chris*, take* possession.