Ifby Dicar
©1? S°Hn Tinle?.
1
* And now, O kneeling One, to Thee I^*
This crimson-crowned twig of thorn, 1
Hurting, through )*aii»ion-week I've worn, 1
_ ——l give it {or a -sowiy) ——— ■ j
For crucifix its rose, deep-red,
For beads its thorns—the prayers I've said,
Out of the fierceness of the stride,
Out of the bitterness of life,
Out of the groping in the night, (
Out of the struggle for the light.
• ••••••
Bind thou this cross upon thy breast.
"• My old transgressions, new confessed,
Shall he forgiven through thy grace
Who pure in heart dost see His f*ce;
Tell thou these poignant beads again, v (
Press thou these thorns of penance pain,
And, learning all my prayers, pray I
Their answer on this Easter Day.
—From Collier*!.
iVti M
Re.\S Dr. Madi/on C Peter;,
"Consider the lities, how they
grow." This divine injunction meaas
that we are not simply to look at
them admiringly, but to look Into
them, expend thought upon them and
explore their spiritual meanings.
The lily in Its beginning is a very
onpromlsing plant. It starts from an
ugly bulb, In size and shape like an
onion. Treasured in Its bulbs is a re
serve of nutriment. Its root Is In it
self.
It can grow In hard places. So the
beat people, who have the real stuff i
and stamina in them, will bloom on In
the world thoilgh not set in an Eden
K&rdeu.
The lilies of the field are not idle;
they grow and grow In trustful grace.
They trustfully lay hold of the sun
and air. The nourishment of the soil
spreads about their roots and the
gentle night mist brought upon the
wings of God's winds wrap them with
coolness and refreshment.
These lilies trustfully lay hold of
these things and grow and so fulfill
the meaning of their lives. The Mas
ter's argument Is this: What does
not belong to the lilies belongs to us.
The lily's mission is to stand still and
(trow. To us It is given to fill our
lives with industry. There is no com
fort for Idleness here.
Babies, sick and Infirm persons
may live as the lilies do and bo cared
for as they are, but hearty people,
with active brains and strong hands,
will be poorly cared for if they live
the lily's wfy.
The lilies are satisfied with the
place In which God has put them.
""Tfiougn"tliere are flowers out in ttfYT'
middle of the garden, the lilies do
not fret at their lot. Though lomo
are larger,
being a little plant that can grow In
the shade and, though the rosea have
their marvelous red, the Illy Is sntls
fled with the pure white. And so we
have another lesson the lily teaches—
Don't worry.
Me was a wise traveler, who. when
his horse died, said: "Well, I must
walk now," and trudged on cheer- I
fully. Yet a great many people would !
have sat down beside the dead horse
and spent days in bemoaning their
loss. Sadness unfits us for duty.
Regret never restores what has 1 eon
taken away. James Whitcomb Riley
•sweetly sings:
■Oil heart of mine, we shouldn't
, Worry so.
"'hat we vc missed of calm we couldn't
, Have, you know.
we ve met of stormy pain, -
And of sorrow'* driving rain, ■ t ~"
We can better meet again,
If it blow.
We have erred in that dark hour
We have known;
When our tears fell with the shower.
All alone.
Here not shine and shadow blent
A» the gracious Master meant?
djet us temper our content
With His own.
Our worst misfortunes never bt'fail
•xis. They exist only in a diseased im
agination. It is easy to see through
pane of glass, but through ten
•pltces placed ona on the other wo
•cannot see. This does not prove that
one Is not transparent, nor ate
we called upon to look through lmre
than one at a time.
The lilies love to grow in retired
places* they stay In the background.
You will find them-all alone in the sc
xlusion of their shady retreat.
When the lily grow,* it hangs Jttr
"head is .though it to hide it
•elf, and whon its beautiful flowers
hare reached their full growth they
lung their heads as if ashamed of
their beauty, and felt as though they
fcad nothing to be proud of as
*though God had meant the form apd
«ttitude of this flower to teach us hu
mility—that low, sweet root from
which all heavenly virtues shoot.
The lilies of the field grow casting
~'feenlgnant shadow; tie create around
them, by the shadow of their leaves
*nd blossoms and by the moisture
. which they attract, conditions iult
••ble for the growth of other plants
I 9mm richly endowed.
Where the lilies grow In Palestine
the herbage Is luxurious. Those spots
are the favorite feeding places of
flocks and birds, and where the lilies
grow sweet and tender grass Is sure
to be found.
We are to be like the lilies In this
respect. We are to cast benignant
shadows.
In the bitter winter a boy was sell
lng papers. One stopped to buy. As
he bought, smiling pleasantly on the
child, he asked: "Are you cold?" „ "1
was until you passed by," was his
sweet answer.
Roland Mill once said, "I would
give nothing for that man's religion
whose very dog and cat are not the
better for It."
Whlttler sings truly:
"A little word in kindness spoken,
A motion or 11 tear,
Has often healed the heart that's broken
And made a friend sincere.
A word, a look hns crushed to earth,
Full muny a budding flower,
Which had a smile, but owned its birth,
Would bless life's darkest hour.
Then deem it not an idle thing
A plouwnnt word to speak;
The face you wear, the thought you bring,
A heart tnayheal or'break."
The lilies of the field grow through
a dual life. Th«s root life of the Illy
must mine down In the soil, that It
may gather nutriment for the lily's
growth. So we In this life must take
hold of the things about us.
* We are to conquer the world, not
by withdrawing from the world, as if
religion were a harsh and gloomy
thing, and shut us out from the ordl T
nary business and enjoyments of life.
The lily's stem, the leaf and the
bloom reach up toward and take hold
of the shining sun. While we are in
this world we must in a certain Bense
be of It, but the higher and truer life
must be kept in vigor by a steady
grasping of the Sun of Righteousness.
The lily is white. Whueness de
notes holiness. Holiness denotes
wholeness—a well built, all arotfud
symmetrically developed fife. A holy
man like the lily is harmonious in all
his parts.
He is not a jumble of Inconsisten
cies, to-day fluent In prayer and to
morrow fluent in falsehood. He does
not keep the fourth commandment
on Sunday and break the eighth com
mandment by cunning frauds on Mon
day.
The lily grows into a beautiful
rounded flower; It has no sharp edges
or corners. Many people are more
like chestnuts than lilies—the nuts
may be good enough, but they are en
closed In prickly burrs.
The lily's fragrance perfumes the
air and before you see tho lily yon
know of Iti pretence. There la no
need of argument to prove that there
la a lily about
The great want of to-day la not so
much argument sustaining Christian
ity, aa living Christians Illustrating
It. Not what men aay, but what men
do weighs In the minds of the world.
What the world wants to-day Is up
right and down square honest deal
ing and after dark virtue.
One day of good living la worth
more than a whole ton of tall talk.
Easter Salad.
Cook the tough stalks of celery in
one quart of clear soup stock and
when tender remove them; add to
the liquor two tablespoonfuls tarra-
I gon vinegar, one-half teaspoonful
piquant sauce and two tablespoonfuls
of gelatine, Boftened in cold water;
stir slowly until the gelatine Is dis
solved; then turn into a border mold
and set on Ice to become firm, aays
the Housekeeper. In the meantime
boll six eggs for twenty minutes; let
i them become cold and then cut them
In two crosswise; remove the yolks,
mash them fine and allow one sweet
red pepper for every six egga; these
peppers can be purchased In cans.
Add six atoned olives, and run all
through the meat-mincer; add enough
mayonnaise to moisten; then refill the
cavities In the whites; presa two to
gether and set, small end up. Inside
the ring of Jelly, which haa been
slipped out of Its mold after dipping
an Instant In hot water. Wreathe
with crisp lettuce or celery foliage.
When serving, place a spoonful of the
Jelly and an egg on the garnlah for
each guest.
Cell* Lily Popular.
A revival of the calla lily popular
ity ia among the Incidents of the
Easter season worth mentioning.
There was a time, Borae years ago,
when this flower grew and blossomed
In every florist's shop and In every
dwelling house where the raising of
plants was undertaken. Then It
passed from favor. Now it returns
to find so many admirers that it Is
said there will hardly be enough calla
lilies to meet the demand. Florlstß
have not cultivated the calla into
strange shapes. It has Just the same
serene, stately, pure and unbending
presence that always characterized
It, and for this alone It receives a re
newed admiration. Boston Tran
script.
Curious >ood Friday Observances
In the Isle of Man ft Is reckoned
unlucky to put Iron in the Are on
Good Friday, and, instead of tongs
and poker, one has to use a stick cut
from a rowan tree.
In Croatia and Slavonla the people
take whips to church with them, and
after service they beat each other
"fresh and They may have
some notion that the beating drives
out the demons of disease, or else it
Is done In memory of the
of Christ.
In many places Judas Iscariot it
flogged or burnt in effigy. The Por
tuguese and South American ships In
the port of London usually have a
celebration of this sort. At daybreak
a wooden figure, rudely carved to rep
resent Judas and clothed in ordinary
sailor's clothes and red worsted cap,
Is hoisted by a rope around its neck
to tho forerigglng. The crews of the
various vessels then go to chapel.
On their return the figure is lowered
and ducked in the dock three times.
Raised aboard again, it is dragged
around the deck and lashed till its
garments are in shreds. The ship's
keep ringing meanwhile and the
captain distributes grog. The crews
work themselves up into paroxysms
of fury, Judas is cursed and de
nounced, and finally the image is set
on fire and consumed afold cheers.
Hot Cross Onn Passing.
Only 5,000,000 ' : hot cross buns"
were consumed In London on last!
Good Friday, Indicating the dying out
of the custom. The cross bun is the
modern equivalent of the cakes eaten
In honor of the Saxon goddess Eostre,
from whose name the word Easter
comes. Her worshipers became Chris
tians, but, unwilling to give up the
buns, compromised by making them
with a cross.
Out of every 1,000,000 letters that
pasa through the postofflce It la cal
culated that only on* goes astray.
PASSION WEEK.
L
AT TEX CHUBOH OATS.
My neighbor passes with unseeing
Like twilight waters of a pool. Her face
Gleams with the pale flame of her ecstaor.
She walks our street aa though twere holy
rliH-t
Hers is the rapture of that sacred pain
Ordained of God, through God transfused
. again
Into the world'# salavation. She can know
None sweeter than the rapture of that woe.
n.
AT THE ALTAR.
Not by Thy will, O God, but through our
acorn,
Our blindness, was He set between two
thieves,
The Friend to all mankind. Stung by that
thorn,
Pierced by- that pitiless' spear, the world
still grieves,
Facing in penance the journey of the Cross.
Ours was the sacrifice, the bitterer loss!
Teach us to render love for love, to praise
And save our saviours unto earthly days!
AMBIT.
—Lucy Heald.
•'.> * -
Good Friday Customs.
All through Christendom there pre
vail many curious customs and be
liefs In regard to Good Friday. In
Florida it is thought that If three
loaves of bread baked on that day
be placed in the corncrlb mice will be
prevented from nibbling the corn, nor
will the crib be Invaded by rati,
weasles or worms.
In many European countries on
Good Friday there are eaten cakea
marked* with a cross. In England
they consist of a sort of spice cake,
with a sugared top, and are called
Hot Cross Buns.
Many charities take place on the
day. One of the most curious Is held
at the Churc.h of St. Bartholomew
the Groat, Smlthfleld. After sermon
the rector places on a gravestone
twenty-one sixpences, which are to be
picked up by a.i many poor widows,
who have heard the sermon. The
custom originated in the will of a cer
tain lady, who loft funds to pay for
the sermon and provide the sixpences.
If any of the widows have fingers too
stiff to pick up the money, they for
feit it. At the Church of All Hallows,
London, buns are distributed to the
children of the Sunday-school and the
ward school. In the Church of Glen
tham, Lincolnshire, there used to
take place an odd performance known
as "Washing Molly Grimes." The
church contains an old stone Image,
popularly spoken of as Molly Grimes,
and every Good Friday the figure
wan washed by seven old maids of
Glentham, who were paid a shilling
apiece for thoir trouble. This came
to an end about 1832, when some
property which was charged with the
payment was sold without the custom
being mentlonod in the deed.
Symbols of the Resurrection.
All the spring flowers are, fitly,
symbols of the Resurrection, the re
newal of life after the killing frdkts,
and commerce has made the Bermuda
lily a spring flower. There are
sweeter flowers and lovelier. The
lately developed Easter lily resembles
somewhat the blossom of the despised
Jlmson weed, though it seems not
nearly BO beautiful to the artist's eye.
—New York Times.
Sjf
"ALL FOR CHRIST."
"For God so loved tho world,
that He gave His only begotten
Son, that whosoever belleveth in
Him should not perish, but have
everlasting life." (John 6:16.)
*
-Up to the year 1864 the newspa-j
pers of England labored nnder the;
handicap of a special government tax.
Tn SbofdM At looey Out—Hoi Stall IM Out Mjsdlf"
~ W. A. Rogers, In the New York^
Prisons Everywhere Are Overcrowded
More Criminals and Paupers Are NoW Confined in State and County
Institutions Than EVer Before—Hard Times and
Undesirable Aliens Are CKieflvj Blamed.
New York City.—Never before In
the history of the State of New York
have there been BO many criminals
behind prison bars as there are at
present. The State prisons are over
crowded, the penitentiaries filled to
overflowing and the workhouses BO
congested that the Inmates are In
each other's way.
Prison officials and criminologists
assign two reasons for the crowded
condition bf the penal Institutions—
the hard times prevalent for the last
two years and the influx of undesira
ble aliens to the big cities of the
State. Unable to obtain work these
men drift to crime and eventually
land In prison. v „
Sins Sine Overcrowded.
There axe more than 2000 convicts
In Slug Sing Prison, originally built
to house but 1500; the prisoners are
doubted up in ceils, lodged in out
houses and the chapels anil some are
said to sleep in the main office of the
prison. In order to accommodate
the horde of convicted men recently
sent from this city—and they have
boen going in weekly batches of a
scoro or more—Warden Frost has
been compelled to place cots in the
beautifully decorated Protestant and
Catholic chapels.
A batch of sixty-five was trans
ferred to Clinton Prison against the
protest of the officials of that institu
tion, who say they have no room to
spare. Numbers of Sing Sing con
victs—short term men—in oi'der to
make room for the new arrivals, are
sent daily to the site of the new
prison now being constructed on the
west bank of the Hudson, near lona
'.sland, and kept there in shacks un
/ler the watch of keepers. These men
are omploj-ed in the building of the
new structure.
The same condition is reported by
the warden of the penitentiary on
Blackwell's Island. The census there
recently showed 1119 men and eigh
ty-three women In cells. This is far
above the average census, and the
rate at which the courts are sending
prisoners there has alarmed the peni
tentiary officials. They are in a
quandary where to confine the prison
ers. As in Sing Sing, the problem of
employing all the convicts is putting
the officials of the penitentiary, and
steps are being taken to put a number
of them at work erecting new build
ings on the virions Islands owned by
the city and used for city purposes.
Reports from the Klmlra Reforma
tory state that that institution Is
overcrowded, transfers are being
made dally to the up-State penal In
stitutions In order to relieve the over
crowding.
Moat of the Blmlra recruits come
from this city, and with the six
Courts of General Sessions working
dally the'number of youths committed
to the reformatory weekly from this
county averages twenty-five. An av
erage of ten a week are committed
there from the Brooklyn criminal
courts. A batch of seventeen was
transferred from the Tombs recently
to Elmira, making a 1 total of 110 sen
tenced from this county during the
month of March.
Workhouses Are Congested.
It is In the Workhotses on Bltek
wells. Hart's and Randall's Islands
that the increase of poverty Is ap
parent. Hundreds of prisoners—men
and women—are housed In these in
stitutions, all committed from the po
lice courts of this city and Brooklyn,
**•>» own volition. The cen-
Keatacky Mobs Resist Collector
and Governor Will Use Mt^tia.
Frankfort, Ky. On receipt of
word from Tax Collector J. W. Peck
that he has been prevented by mobs,
and organisations frqm collecting
railroad taxes in the counties of Car
ter, Boyd and Elliott, Governor Will
son announced that be would use the
State militia to assist the official.
The railroad taxes, which a number
of the counties in the State owe, are
heavy, and have been unpaid for
many years. Trouble is anticipated
when tho tM«n» (fee mountains
BUS recently showed that In the work
house on Bl&ckwell's Island there
wero 1025 men and 579 women serv
ing terms ranging from five days to
six months, all for trifling offenses.
In the Hart's Island Institution
there were 653 men and thirty-seven
women, and at Riker's Island 262
males were housed. Besides, there
are scores of prisoners committed to
the workhouse who have been trans
ferred to the different detention
prisons scattered throughout the
greater city to do the cleaning. Ac
cording to the figures of the Commis
sioner of Correction obtained recent
ly, there was a grand total of 3014
prisoners at present regularly com
mitted to the workhouse.
From all over the State the same
reports are received—crowded pris
ons, thickly tenanted workhouses and
an ever Increasing demand tor admis
sion to almshouses.
The overcrowded condition of peni
tentiaries and prisons in New York
State is not peculiar to this State.
Special dispatches subjoined indicate
that similar conditions prevail in
many other States. New York prison
officials attributed It to two circum
stances—the hard times and the In
flux of undesirable aliens.
Courts Ix-ss Lenient.
Boston,-"-Jfcaaßachueetts County and
State reformatory and prison institu
tions are crowded at the present time
as they have not been for years. The
authorities attribute this condition to
the establishment of Juvenile courts,
leading to the arrest and conviction
of many petty lawbreakers who here
tofore have escaped with a repri
mand. Besides, they say, the courta
of late have in very many instances
imposed sentences where previously
they have put the accused on proba
tion. The probation plan has not
worked out as satisfactorily as It waa
hoped. ,
Hard Times Blamed.
Philadelphia. For the last five
years the penal institutions of Penn
sylvania, both Btate and county, have
been inadequate. The crowded con
ditions in the Eastern Penitentiary,
in this city, were relieved somewhat
a flfw days ago when a acore of Fed
eral prisoners were removed to the
new Government prison at Atlanta.
The hard times have been the cause
for an Increase In petty crime, but It
Is not believed that there is any
greater proportion of alien criminal*
than formerly.
•Maryland Like New York.
Baltimore, Md.—All th« pent! In
stitutions of the State and city are
more crowded than ever before with
minor offenders. It la attributed by
the officials largely to hard times and
the presence of foreign undesirables.
In a report to the Governor recently
It was stated that while there are
fewer cases due to the enforcement of
the anti-cocaine law, there is a large
Increase in police court cases. The
State penitentiary now has more la
mates than It has had at any time
within live years. One of the city po
lice magistrates last week let off a
number of'petty offenders, saying he
dM not want to add just now to the
number of prisoners who are crowd
ing the city lan. The House of Cor
rection is filled to overflowing with
offenders committed from all parts of
the State. Bay View Asylum, the city
almshouse, is so- packed with paupers,
sane and insane, that rigorous pro
tests are being made against the con
ditions Dre vailing there.
African Explorer Sees Tame
Hunting Ahead of Roosevelt,
New York fcity.—"Mr. Roosevelt.
In my opinion, will find hunting in
Africa uke shooting cows in the back
yard," said Dkna Bstes, publisher and
traveler, from Boston, who arrived
here after eight months spent on the _
other aide of the world. "Of course,
lions, tigers and other savage beasts
will be met, bat most of the other
species appear to be comparatively
tame," he added.
Daring his trip abroad he covered
the gronnd Roosevelt will visit.