THE CHRISTIAN SUN. RELIGION WITHOUT BIGOTRY; ZEAL WITHOUT FANATICISM; LIBERTY WITHOUT LICENTIOUSNESS. Volume XXX. SUFFOLK, VA„ FRIDAY, MAY 11, 1877. Number lO. THE HEART’S SONG, BY ARTHUR C. COXK, In the silent midnight watches, List—thy bosom-door I How it hnocketh, knocketh, knocketh, Knocketh evermore ! Say not’t is thy pulse’s beating ; 'T is thy heart of sin— 'T is thy Saviour knocks and crieth : Rise, and let me in I Death comes down with reckless footstep To the hall and hut, Think you death will stand n-knocking Where the door is shut? Jigut wai eth, waiteth, waiteth, But thy door is fast! Grieved, away the Saviour goeth : Death breaks in at last. Then ’t is thine to stand entreating Christ to let thee in : At the gate of heaven beating, Wailing for thy sin. Nay, alas ! thou foolish virgin, Hast thou then forgot? Jesus waited long to know' thee,— But he knows thee not! OUR WASHINGTON LETTER. Stagnation of Metropolitan Politics—A. H. Stephens Be fore the Supreme Court—The Extra Session of Congress— Who Will be Speaker t—Cor ruptions in the Navy Affairs etc., etc. [From our Regular Correspondent.! Washington, D. O.jjJay 2d, 1877. Political matters are at an apparent standstill. There is nothing sensa tional ill civil service reductions, changes,—reform, as it is called. Still for those who have an eye for the his toric and histrionic, there is ever oc curring something for comment, (a dignified name for gossip) and reflec tion. Yesterday a little, withered, rheumatic old man was carried into the Supreme Cour^>#m where he ar gued in a remarkably able manner a complicated case involving the ques tion* whether the money of the late Southern Confederacy had any rights under the laws of a State which the Federal government . was bound to protect. A mortgage had been fore closed after payment had been ten dered in Confederate scrip aud re fused. The plaintiff claimed that the tender was legal and that all rights of property accruing under the act of foreclosure should be set aside. The treatment of the case by the plaintiff's attorney was very remarka ble, displaying marvellous faculties of memory. He spoke in a shrill, clear voice arguing the case at length, re ferring constantly to dates, figures* and incidents, without using notes; his language was energetic aud plain recalling the best days of the speaker when, twenty years ago, he was pro minent as a possible President of the United States before he had become Vice President of the Confederate Stales, aud long before he had figured in obituary literature. THE EXTRA SESSION. The-President has not yet issued a call for an extra session of Congress, but, since the cabinet meeting yes terday, it seems to bo pretty well un derstood that the call for an extra session will be made to-morrow, and that the 15th instead of the 4th of June will be the time fixed for the convention of the 45th Congress. There is still some'speculation in re ference to the probable organization of the House, whether it will be Dem ocratic or Republican, and who in either or any case will be the speaker. In the Democratic caucus Mr. Ran dall will doubtless, on first ballot, poll more votes than any one of his competitors. The opposition to him will be divided betweeu Morrison who will have the support of the Northwestern States aud Mo.; Sayler, who will have the support of Ohio aud scattering votes in other States; Cox of New York, who will have a divided Southern support; and Walker of Virginia who will have a few votes heiAad there. Among the Repub li^^Bspirants Garfield has by far tlflHret prospects aud it is thought winsecure the caucus nomination on first or second ballot. The Republi cans are, however, by no means as hopeful of controlling the organization of the House as they were two weeks after the close of the 44th Congress. The general belief is that the Demo crats will have it their own way and that the* speaker will be Randall. There is much difference of opiniou in reference to the duration of the ex t.a session. The President and some members of his cabinet are quoted as «ay}ng that it will not continue longer than the 4th of July; while certain senators and members are of the opinion that it will be an ocsasioti for jobs and special legislation, and ex tend far into the fall. The heat of summer will have something to do with the length of the session, es pecially since “Blue Jeans” has sealed tbo fountains of lemonade. There is much talk about the dis covery of corruption and fraud in the recent administration of the affairs of the Navy, aud the inland marine who now has that Department in charge expresses both by Xrord and deed a determination to make the most thor ough soundings, and if necessary to dive to the bottom of things. The late secretary was too much disposed to favor contractors, and to accumulate naval stores for which we have no immediate or prospective use. There are now in the different Navy Yards wasting for want of proper means of preservation hundreds of thousands of cubic feet of live oak for which the European governments are now send ing agents to this country. Then ex secretary ltobeson was too ingenious in his construction of the bill making appropriation for construction and repair. He was ever disposed to mend an excellent old ship by taking a small piece of it and workiug it into an entirely new vessel, which, when finished, had little that was peculiar to the original ship except its name ; and all this not in the interest of the service but of the contractors. G. THE INDIANS. “Red Cloud” and “Spotted Tail” appear to bo doing a good service in the interests of peace, and as a conse quence tbo best and lasting good of tlieir race, for it is quite clear to all wliite people that the only way left, to save a remnant of the aborigines will bo for them to settle down to habits of civilized life. The adminis tration taking advantage of the acts of the noted chiefs above named, who are doing their best to bring the tribes to surrender, deem the present a fit ting time to break op the wild life of roaming savages and offer them homes for their families. It is to bo hoped as they accept the well meant offers of the Government, that they will bo protected from the rapacity of unprin cipled whites who have robbed them in various ways, but chieily in cheat ing them:f out of the supplies which Congress appropriated for their use. Some years ago I heard a speech from ‘Red Cloud,” in which he explained the shameful treatment by Indian agents in giving them shoddy supplies in place of (he good articles as stipu lated. In that speech Red Cloud said the time was coming when the pro gress of the white men would compel his people to give up their roaming life, but as long as possible they would cling to the hunting grounds of the past of their race, and yield at last when necessity compelled it. It is evi dent that the leaders among the In dians recognize the fact that the time has come to give up and settle down to civilized habits. J. Ji. Brush. THE WAR IN THE EAST. The Eastern war will bo watched and studied by us with deep interest. A. very general sympathy is felt for the success of the Russians who, whatever may be their ambition to obtain con quests, are fighting for Christians against a race of people that are cruel in the extreme to all who will not ac cept the Korau. Russia’s bold ad vance in Asia aud European Turkey renders it probable that the conflict will quickly become a war for the lib eration of the Holy Land in which the spirit of the crusades will be re vived and once more electrify Eu rope. The immediate effect upon our country has been to-advance the price of graiu and all supplies that are re quired by armies. This must help re store our industries which have so se riously languished during these years of depression. So long as our coun try keeps out of the strife, aud we are so far removed from tlp^jgeat of war, our agriculturists and maiiu lecturers can safely calculate that they will be called upon to furnish the supplies. Other interests also Will bo likely to feel the stimula ting effect of an increased demand for ship building, &o. J. E. Brush. Looking over the wide, Paul, with the vision of a prophet, and with a comprehensiveness almost divine, declared that there abide three new graces, Faith, Hope, Charity, and al though eighteen hundred years have passed since t£e award was made, years of unrivalled thought, and infi nite joy and sorrow, there is no baud that would dare touch this sacred group. We add nothing, we take nothing away. These there will “abide” forever, election*?, LOOK UP AND ON. BY LAURA SANFORD. “KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE GREEN GRASS, MATTIE.” ’Twas a bright September after noun—one of those loveliest of days when summer and autumn meet to gether—and our stay in the country was almost ended. Our passage in fact had already been taken, at a city a few miles distant, on the wor row’s night-boat for New York. We were school children then, my cousin Mabel and I; and in tlie dear, old-fashioned farmhouse on hap py “Creekside” had been enjoying our vacation, as she in her jubilant spirit would have told ycu “glorious ly.” We wandered to the water-brink under the great elms on this Sep tember afternoon to say “Good-by” to the scene we had learned to love so dearly; or at least to say my “good by,” for Mabel was not going to the ci ty with me. This was her home, this valley-faim in the midst of the wild and lofty hills—mountains al most—that on every side overlooked it. The creek, as people in its re gion named the broad stream that is on the map a river, ran along at the foot of the bank but a few rods from the front-door of the homestead. Haifa mile farther down the road, a substantial bridge crossed the cur rent; but here the only passage was by a little foot-bridge, so narrow that venturers needed to be. very careful of their steps; and I for one had never attempted it. Beyond, lay a beautiful slope of meadow, hedged by the great hills. The road that bordered this meadow wo could not, from our side of the creek, see; but we did see, on the bright afternoon of which I am speak iug, a loi)ig row of gayly-decked car riages turning from the defile and passing rapidly along the edge of the green level. A number of young friends belon ged to this gay party, which had been improvised for the climbing of “Sun set Kook,” and for a picnic supper in the forest. As soon as they descried us, they called to us to come over the water and join them. “Plen ty of room for you,” they cried, aud two of the wagous waited. Mabel, quick and light as a bird, had already flown halfway across the Creek. The narrow foot bridge was a familiar path to her; and she had readied the other side before she turned to know how closely I had fol lowed her. I was then about midway, aud the security which I felt at first over the shallow water by the shore, was fast vanishing. Here the stream was deep. The water rushed along tu multuously under the slender foot path with aloud confusing sound, and flashed wildly in the light. My head grew dizzy and my limbs trembled. 1 felt a painful sensation of faintness, aud a desire to fling myself into the waves. Just then tbe clear ringing voice of my cousin Mabel readied me across tbe water; and seemed with its inspir ing strength fairly to catch and clasp me: “lveep your eyes on tbe greeu grass, Mattie.” Beyond the puzzling, eddying stream lay tbe long soft pasture where she stood in safety. Happily I had not so far lost my senses, but that I could mind her. I lifted my eyes from tho dazzling water and fix ed them on tbe quiet land. My glance still wavered, and my steps hesitated ; but presently the distrac ted nerves became more calm. “There is the green grass,” 1 kept saying to myself, “I shall reach it very soou if I keep on.” As indeed I did reach it iu a few moments. Mabel overwhelmed me with ex pressions of congratulation and affec tion. We joined the merry party, supped at “Sunset ltock,” and bad a delightful time. It was not until we were home again at night that my cousin told me how seriously I had been iu dan ger. Kot many mouths before, a woman crossing the “upper bridge,” a similar construction nearer the ra pids, bad become dizzy midway and fallen into the stream. She had a baby in her arms; and woman and child were both drowned. And then Mabel embraced me agaiu with tbe greatest affection. She was thinking, I suppose, bow nearly she had lost me. Dear, bright, loving Cousin Mabel! How little I thought then of losing her. Yet we were at that moment vary near our parting, and this was the last summer we ever spent to gether. When next I visited Creek side Mabel was sleeping under the green grass and the waters were singing along by her grave. But those words of hers were never forgotten. More than once I have seemed to hear them since in the same clear, ringing tones in which that summer afternoon they were; wafted over the water. After we had parted, and I had re turned to New York with my mother and my brother, there came to my j life many sad changes. My father died suddenly, and his estate was so involved that we wefe obliged to give tip our home. My brother a year later, went to India, and my mother’s health failed. It was then that my duty lay clear ly before me—to shelter and solace my mother. An opportunity was of- j fered by which we could enjoy a qui- j et home together, and the steady em- j ployment of my time would make us ! both comfortable. Just as f bad de-j eided upon this course there came aj dazzling eounterplau, a very shining j path opened to me. Perfect it would have been had it included, as it cor-; tainly did not, the happiness of my mother. I must confess that I wavered, and that I almost yielded to the tempta tion. In the midst of my indecision, while I stood dazzled and trembling as once upon the narrow footbridge crossing the dangerous current, I heard the voice of my cousin Mabel, “Keep your eyes on the green grass, Mattie.” I did lift my eyes then, and fixed them away from temptation upon du- ; ty; and years afterward I learned from what hitter misery that brief act saved me. Last night I heard the haunting little sentence once again. I was sit ting by the bedside of a dying friend; one so gently good, so always kind even to enemies, it seemed that her last hours should have known no sad reproaches. But instead of peace all was dark and troubled. Her mista ken ways, her neglected duties, all the puzzling possibilities of bei~i*te giided before her distracted vision, and the promises she had trustediu vanished altogether. How could 1 help her in this hour of mortal trem bling ? ^ I brought to her bedside that little Book which one might almost wisjj'! to carry into the grave, it is so [ire' cions, and read the verse, “Come un to me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest;” read that one verse over and over again, until she fixed the fading eyes of her faith upon it and became calm. For—hut this I did not tell her—I had seemed to see again a midsum mer scene, vanished years ago, and to hear the clear, ringing voice of my cousin Mabel reaching me Iron “green pastures” beyond the fleetiug river: “Keep your eyes on the green grass, Mattie!”—Illustrated Christian Weekly. A THRILLING SCENE. The London Standard recently pub- j lished the following beautiful and j thrilling incident: “The following incident occurred} during a general review of the A us- i trian cavalry a few months ago. Not far from 30,000 cavalry were in line. A little child, a girl of not more than four years, standing in the front line of spectators, either from fright or some other cause, rushed out into the open held just as a squadron of hussars came sweeping around from the main body. They made the detour for the purpose of saluting the empress, whose carriage was drawn up in that part of the parade ground. Down came the flying squadron charging at a mad gallop, down directly on the child. The mother was paralyzed, as were others, for there could be no rescue fiom the line of spectators, j The empress uttered a cry of horror, ( for the child’s destruction seem iuev-} itable, and such terrible destruction! j the trampling to death by a thousand iron hoofs. Directly under the feet of the horses was the little one. Another instant must seal its doom, wheu a stalwart hussar, who w as in the front line,without slackening speed or loos ening his hold, threw himself over by the side of the horse’s neck, seized and lifted the child and placed it in safety upon His saddle-bow, and this he did without changing bis pace or breaking the correct alignment of the squadron. Ten thousand voices hailed with rapturous applause the gallant deed, and other thousands praises whenthey knew. Two women there were who could only sob forth their gratitude in broken acceuts—the mother and the empress. And a proud and happy moment it must have beeu for the hussar when his em peror, taking from bis own breast the richly enameled cross of the Order of Maria Theresa,hung it upon the breast of his brave and gallant trooper.” Christian workers, who are laboring to snatch the little children from the iron hoof's of sin and temptation, remember you are working under the eye of the Master; that the smallest deed of kindness done to one of these littleones Clnist reckons as done to himself, and those who are instrumental in saving them shall be honored at last, not by the cross of Maria Theresa or of the Legion of Honor, bestowed by the hands of an earthly monarch, but bp the King im mortal, who shall deck the brows of his faithful servants with a crown of; glory that fadeth not away. MAY I DANCE? Do you mean a round dance or a square dance? If you mean a round dance, stop and think a while first. 1. Is the round dance consistent with the refined delicacy of a true woman or a true man ! Is there not | involved in it an undue degree of free dom and familiarity? If any gentle man should offer, to take the same liberties with a lad* while sitting in the parlor, that he (toes take in danc ing, it would be regarded as an of fence. This undue freedom becomes the more objedtionalilh because it is used at a time when the excitement of the music am] of the, occasion tempts one to forget the bounds of decorum. 2. The etiquette of the ball-room or the dancing assemblage contains one very objectionable feature. Suppose that Miss A. be introduced in such a company, to Messrs, lb, C. and D. Suppose that B. and C. are perfect gentlemen, and that D. is a man with whom it were prudent for her merely to exchange civilities and avoid inti- j inacy. If he asks her to dance and die refuses, he becomes offended. Therefore the etiquette of the room jompels her to treat with the intirna-' jy of the dance, a man who is not worthy of her confidence. As the lady has probably had no control of the -invitations issued, if she attend she is forced into intimate relations with unworthy rneu. 3. The high excitement and over ratigiftjSf this amusement does very >fteiifS®flfo the health. 4* have many times had testimony iftom those who formerly danced, that ihey had found it decidedly injurious to them. And we have no right as Christians to lead fellow-men into temptation. If you mean the square dances, then let us think awhile. Is it best for me to engage in them ? 1. I may engage in this kind and not go to the excess of the other kiud. But in so doing I may start ray broth er, who has little self-control, on a downhill track, and he may go into the excesses described above. For liis sake I will refrain. 2. Daucing has a bad name. For the sake of the honor of Christ, I will avoid associating the name of a dis 3ipfe with that which the world does not consider worthy of a Christian. 3. Dancing does lead to dissipation, especially to the dissipation of seri ous thought about our own soul. It is fascinating, and I fear it may make me (or my brother) cold and formal in religions duties. These considerations may fail to carrry weight with some sincere inqui rers. The fascination of the amuse ment may have given a little uncon scious bias to their minds. Many men will say that it was once so with them. What then f The grand test of duty in all cases, is to carry the question to God. Car ry this question, “Shall I dance or not V’ upon your knees to the Sav iour. Ask Him whether it will add to his honor, or promote his kingdom, whether he would rather you should go or stay. Stay upon your knees, and keep on asking him till you feel his answer in your heart; then with a good conscience follow that answer. And what thou doest, whether thou eat or drink, do with thy might, as unto the Lord.—Jeffersonian liqrubli eu it, * There is only oue thing that makes it worth while to live—it is love. Kot the wild passion that pla gues us iu our youth, but the tran quil happiness, the solid peace to which that is but the tumultuous prelude—the joy of living with peo ple whose mere presence rests, cheer,s improves and satisfies ns. Ilo who achieves that uecds no catechism to tell him what is the chief end of mau. Men’s lives should be like the days, more beautiful iu the evening; or like the spring, aglow with promises; and like the autuuiu, rich with golden sheaves, where good works and deeds have ripened on the field. GREAT THINGS AND LITTLE THINGS. Little and great are to the human mind merely relative. Of magnitude, quality, or size, absolutely, we know nothing. Of numbers, used in com puting magnitudes, onr conception is clear and absolute, but our faculties are too limited to comprehend any very hyrge number. What conception has any man of a million ? A single hundred, unit by unit, we can get into our heads with tolerable distinctness, but a million has ten thousand sepa rate hundreds apd no bead was ever large enough to hold all these hun dreds, side by side, in plain view. Frof. Croll, in his treatise on “Cli mate and Time” lelt the need even in addressing scientific men, of arti ficial aid to enable them to realize how enormous a period of time was included in a single million of years. This much preliminary to an at tempt to gather into one view a few things great and small. We speak of the vast ocean, of boundless deserts, of mountains grand and sublime, of our stupendous globe. If the sun were a hollow sphere and the earth placed at its center, the moon, at its present distance, could revolve with 200,000 miles of space to spare, and our “stupendous globe,1’ with its mountains and seas, becomes insignificant. The earth is distant from the sun more than ninety millions of miles. Proceeding outwards from planet to planet, at thirty times this distance we reach Neptune on the verge of our system—a distance so great, that at a railroad speed of thirty miles an hour, the journey could not be made in ten thousand years. Beyond Nep tune, astronomers tell us thetas is a “vast vacant space.” How vast? We have had this word before—the ocean was vast. From our outward plauet to the next resting place there is more than twenty millions of mil lions of miles of blank space. At the ?nd of this line is the nearest fixed star. We know these figures are cor rect, and yet what meaning do they have to faculties that utterly break town on the first million ? Ot two incomprehensible quantities we oniy know that one is enormously greater than the other. Nevertheless, by the ase of some diminutive scale to ac iommodate our feeble powers, we can jet the relative differences of these listauces clearly in mind. With a kind of stupid wonder we have been looking up to the sun as a huge affair vastly too big to get inside the moon’s orbit; but as we shall <0011 seejiow really insignificant the sun is, lot us reduce him at once to the size of a pea, and place a millet seed live feet distant to represeut the earth. This scale will bring Neptune within one hundred and fifty feet, and we have the entire solar system on ' a two acre lot. Our nearest star is nowr two hundred and fifteen miles away. as one fiuuiired ami htty jeet is to Neptune’s distance, so is two hundred and tifteeu wiles to that of Alpha Ceu tanri from the sun. If from this flying journey to the stars we return to our millet seed with an oppressive feeling of humility, there are considerations sufficient to restore our mental and spiritual equi poise. There is an infinite range in the other direction—there is an infi nity of the descending scale. The disparity of measurements and magni tudes is as great on the earth, as in the infinite space beyond. Au ocean cable and ocean steam ship are standing wonders of human handiwork, but uot more so than the feat of marking sixteen millions of exact squares on one inch Of surface, or writing distinctly with a diamond point on glass the Lord’s Prayer, in letters so minute, that every word in the Bible could be incribed twenry two times on one square inch. This inch of glass to the eye or touch would be perfectly smooth—under a microscope of great power every word and letter would be plain and legible. Let us instance a few things in the organic world comparatively great and little. At St. Helena there was discovered in the ooze at the sea bottom, the re-v mains of a fish, so small that the bodies of 50,000 of them would be held in one cubic inch of space—the unassisted eye could scarcely per ceive that this was a fish. Near Charleston, S. C., there is a stratum of phosphate rocks composed of ani mal remains containing, with numer ous other specimens, a great number of teeth of sharks that exceeded a hundred feet in length. The bulk ot the body of such a shark, would be at least 0,000 cubic feet. Here are two organic beings of the same class and order (vertebrates), and it hardly means anything to the tiuito jnimJ tc [ say that one is more than Are hun dred thousand million times larger than the other. Imagine the scene when the huge, hungry shark, de manding for its breakfast half a hun dred fish as large as the human body, chases its prey through the foaming waters; and imagine, if yon can, the scene Where the little fellow, ravenous for his megj, is foraging the water with a multitude of living creatures fleeing from the pursuit of the devour ing monster. There are fossil- anionite shells, and, I believe, shells of existing spe cies of mollusks, as large as cart wheels. The stratum of rocks form ing the basin in which the city of Paris stands is almost entirely com posed of nnmulite shells, a large por tion of which are less than mustard seeds. A large extent of country around the cities of Richmond aud Petersburg, in Virginia, has a forma tion averaging twenty feet in thick ness, of marl consisting exclusively of almost silicious or flinty shells ranging from one hundredth to one thousandth of an inch in diamter-of course visible only under the microscope. Each of theseshells has been the house or shield of an animal. One species has a saucer like shape, and, under a magnifying power of several hundred diameters, is richly ornamented with markings much like the geometric eftrves on watch eases, each curve not a simple line, but a row of hexagonal indenta tions. It is as impossible to conceive the minuteness of shells that were the abodes of living beings as it is to comprehend the distances of the stars. A lady’s thimble will hold hun dreds of thousands of millions of in dividual shells or shields that can be examined only by experts who have trained their eyes to the use of pow erful magnifiers. Of such remains a large portion of the crust of the globe is made. Mountain ranges, as the Amies, and strata, as chalk, that cov er or. underlie whole countries, are masses of fossil animalcules. Of living infusoria, a drop of water will have iifgnbers equal to the popu lation of'v and a glass of water more than the entire human popula tion of the earth. When we consid er that the waters of all oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, and rivulets are filled with these invisible beings, each grade of which are monsters to lower ones, and that when we get to the limit of microscopic vision, we have uo reason to suppose we are at the end of the descending series, we are overwhelmed in wonder, aud bank rupt, a thousand times over, in imag ination, as we were in the immensity of space.—Ch. Standard. WHAT IT IS COSTING US. According to the census and the internal revenue reports, the evil re sults of drinking intoxicating liquors may be summed up as follows: It is costing our people a yearly ex penditure of ovor *1,500,000,000, all of which might be spent-for far more useful purposes. It is making yearly 130,000 confirm ed drunkards, It is sending yearly about 150,000 persons to drunkards’ graves, and re ducing to want and beggary 200,000 children. It is sending yearly to prisons 100, 000 persons, and is causing a large proportion of the loss of life on land and sea. It is converting millions upon mill ions of bushels of grain, which God has given as food to preserve life, into vile stuff that destroys life. It is endangering the fair and rich inheritance left ns by our fatherland fixing a foul blot on the fair name of America. The above sum of money would pay r; off our National debt in two years, or it would furnish to the starving poor 220,001',(KM) barrels of flour at $7 a barrel. It would build 50,000 miles of rail road at §,30,000 per mile. It would send a Bible to every in habitant of the globe. It would build 150,000 dwelling Ilduses or "chinches at §10,000 each. It would furnish 150,000,000 suits of clothing at §10 each. There are 110,000 saloons in the ; country, against 128,000 schools and 54,000 churches. Manufacturers and sellers of strong drinks. 560,000— twelve times the number of clergy men, four times that of teachers, nearly double all the lawyers, physi cians, teachers and ministers com bined. Iu a word, if intoxicating liquors ; were abolished entirely from our laud, crimes, poverty and misery of ! all kiuds would be greatly reduced, aud our people sober, industrious and economical, would soon become the most happy, wealthy and intelligent 1 of auy iu the world.