Part 8
I'm the King of all the balls, I'm a Prince in banquet halls. My daddy's rich, they know it well, I'm the swellest of the swell."
NIGHTMARE.
Unhappily for us all, in the world of visions and dreams, there is a dark side to human life. Here have been dreamed out all the crimes which have steeped our race in shame since the expulsion from Eden, and all the wars that have cursed mankind since the birth of history. Alexander the Great was a monster whose sword drank the blood of a conquered world. Julius Cæsar marched his invincible armies, like juggernauts, over the necks of fallen nations. Napoleon Bonaparte rose with the morning of the nineteenth century, and stood, like some frightful comet, on its troubled horizon. Distraught with the dream of conquest and empire, he hovered like a god on the verge of battle. Kings and emperors stood aghast. The sun of Austerlitz was the rising sun of his glory and power, but it went down, veiled in the dark clouds of Waterloo, and Napoleon the Great, uncrowned, unthroned, and stunned by the dreadful shock that annihilated the Grand Army and the Old Guard, "wandered aimlessly about on the lost field," in the gloom that palled a fallen empire, as Hugo describes him, "the somnambulist of a vast, shattered dream."
INFIDELITY.
It is in the desert of evil, where virtue trembles to tread, where hope falters, and where faith is crucified, that the infidel dreams. To him, all there is of heaven is bounded by this little span of life; all there is of pleasure and love is circumscribed by a few fleeting years; all there is of beauty is mortal; all there is of intelligence and wisdom is in the human brain; all there is of mystery and infinity is fathomable by human reason, and all there is of virtue is measured by the relations of man to man. To him, all must end in the "tongueless silence of the dreamless dust," and all that lies beyond the grave is a voiceless shore and a starless sky. To him, there are no prints of deathless feet on its echoless sands, no thrill of immortal music in its joyless air.
He has lost his God, and like some fallen seraph flying in rayless night, he gropes his way on flagging pinions, searching for light where darkness reigns, for life where Death is King.
THE DREAM OF GOD.
[Illustration]
I have wondered a thousand times, if an infidel ever looked through a telescope. The universe is the dream of God, and the heavens declare His glory. There is our mighty sun, robed in the brightness of his eternal fires, and with his planets forever wheeling around him. Yonder is Mercury, and Venus, and there is Mars, the ruddy globe, whose poles are white with snow, and whose other zones seem dotted with seas and continents. Who knows but that his roseate color is only the blush of his flowers? Who knows but that Mars may now be a paradise inhabited by a blessed race, unsullied by sin, untouched by death? There is the giant orb of Jupiter, the champion of the skies, belted and sashed with vapor and clouds; and Saturn, haloed with bands of light and jeweled with eight ruddy moons; and there is Uranus, another stupendous world, speeding on in the prodigious circle of his tireless journey around the sun. And yet another orbit cuts the outer rim of our system; and on its gloomy pathway, the lonely Neptune walks the cold, dim solitudes of space. In the immeasurable depths beyond appear millions of suns, so distant that their light could not reach us in a thousand years. There, spangling the curtains of the black profound, shine the constellations that sparkle like the crown jewels of God. There are double, and triple, and quadruple suns of different colors, commingling their gorgeous hues and flaming like archangels on the frontier of stellar space. If we look beyond the most distant star, the black walls are flecked with innumerable patches of filmy light like the dewy gossamers of the spider's loom that dot our fields at morn. What beautiful forms we trace among those phantoms of light! circles, and elipses, and crowns, and shields, and spiral wreaths of palest silver. And what are they? Did I say phantoms of light? The telescope resolves them into millions of suns, standing out from the oceans of white hot matter that contain the germs of countless systems yet to be. And so far removed from us are these suns, that the light which comes to us from them to-night has been speeding on its way for more than two million years.
What is that white belt we call the milky way, which spans the heavens and sparkles like a Sahara of diamonds? It is a river of stars: it is a gulf stream of suns; and if each of these suns holds in his grasp a mighty system of planets, as ours does, how many multiplied millions of worlds like our own are now circling in that innumerable concourse?
Oh, where are the bounds of this divine conception! Where ends this dream of God? And is there no life and intelligence in all this throng of spheres? Are there no sails on those far away summer seas, no wings to cleave those crystal airs, no forms divine to walk those radiant fields? Are there no eyes to see those floods of light, no hearts to share with ours that love which holds all these mighty orbs in place?
It cannot be, it cannot be! Surely there is a God! If there is not, life is a dream, human experience is a phantom, and the universe is a flaunting lie!
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[Illustration: Syrup of Figs]
ONE ENJOYS
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VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY, DEPARTMENT OF DENTISTRY
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE.
A purely dental school--a training school for dentists--does what it claims to do, as the results show. Regular Session will begin Oct. 5th; ends March 31, 1898. Post-graduate and Practical Courses, also.
FOR INFORMATION, ADDRESS DR. W. H. MORGAN, Dean, 211 N. HIGH ST.
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[Illustration: Balmer's Magnetic Inhaler]
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Catarrh, Asthma, Hay Fever, La Grippe, Sore Throat, etc.
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AGENTS WANTED. Send 50 cents for one Inhaler and ask for wholesale prices to agents. Address
BAPTIST AND REFLECTOR, NASHVILLE, TENN.
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[Illustration]
NEW SOUTHERN HOTEL, CHATTANOOGA, TENN.
Centrally located. Newly furnished. First-class in all respects. Best ventilated and the best fire protection of any house in the city. Prompt and polite service. Rates $2.50 to $3.00. Commercial rates to travelling men. Special rates to excursions of five and upwards.
W. O. PEEPLES, MANAGER.
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THE SOUTH'S LEADING JEWELERS.
STIEF JEWELRY CO. 208 & 210 Union St., Nashville, Tenn.
Direct Importers of Fine DIAMONDS. Dealers in Watches, Jewelry, and Fancy Goods.
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_JAMES B. CARR, Manager._
LARGEST JEWELRY HOUSE IN THE SOUTH.
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HIGHEST AWARD.
STARR PIANOS
WORLD'S FAIR, 1893.
BUY DIRECT AND SAVE MONEY.
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FACTORIES: RICHMOND, IND.
JESSE FRENCH PIANO & ORGAN CO., NASHVILLE, TENN.
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Artistic Home Decorations.
We can show you effects never before thought of, and at moderate prices, too.
Why have your house decorated and painted by inferior workmen, when you can have it done by skilled workmen--by artists--for the same price?
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TAPESTRY PAINTING.
2,000 tapestry painting to choose from. 38 artists employed, including gold medalists of the Paris Salon. Send 25 cents for compendium of 140 studies.
WALL PAPER.
New styles, designed by gold medal artists. From 10 cents per roll up. Will give you large samples if you will pay expressage. A large quantity of last year's paper, $1 and $2 per roll; now 10 c. and 25 c.
DECORATIONS.
Color schemes--designs and estimates submitted free. Artists sent to all parts of the world to do every sort of decorating and painting. We are educating the country in color-harmony. Relief, stained glass, wall paper, carpets, furniture, draperies, etc. Pupils taught.
DECORATIVE ADVICE.
Upon receipt of $1, Mr. Douthitt will answer any question on interior decorations--color-harmony and harmony of form, harmony of wall coverings, carpets, curtains, tiles, furniture, gas fixtures, etc.
* * * * *
JOHN F. DOUTHITT, AMERICAN TAPESTRY DECORATIVE CO. 286 FIFTH AVENUE, near 30th St., NEW YORK.
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Artistic Home Decorations.
* * * * *
MANUAL OF ART DECORATIONS.
The art book of the century. 200 royal quarto pages. 50 superb full-page illustrations (11 colored) of modern home interiors and tapestry studies. Price, $2. If you want to be up in decoration, send $2 for this book. Worth $50.
SCHOOL.
Six 3-hours tapestry painting lessons, in studio, $5. Complete written instruction by mail, $1. Tapestry paintings rented; full-size drawings, paints, brushes, etc., supplied. Nowhere, Paris not excepted, are such advantages offered pupils. New catalogue of 125 studies, 25 cents. Send $1 for complete instruction in tapestry painting and compendium of 140 studies.
TAPESTRY MATERIALS.
We manufacture tapestry materials superior to foreign goods, and half the price. Book of samples, 10 cents. Send $1.50 for 2 yards No. 6, 50-inch goods, just for a trial order; worth $3. All kinds of Drapery to match all sorts of Wall Papers, from 10 c. per yard up. THIS IS OUR GREAT SPECIALTY.
GOBLIN PRINTED BURLAPS.
Over 100 new styles for wall coverings, at 25 cents per yard, 36 inches wide, thus costing the same as wall paper at $1 per roll. 240 kinds of Japanese lida leather paper, at $2 per roll.
GOBLIN ART DRAPERY.
Grecian, Russian, Venetian, Brazilian, Roman, Rococo, Dresden, Festoon, College Stripe, Marie Antoinette, Indian, Calcutta, Bombay, Delft, Soudan.
In order that we may introduce this line of new art goods, we will send one yard of each of 50 different kinds of our most choice patterns for $7.50.
* * * * *
JOHN F. DOUTHITT, AMERICAN TAPESTRY DECORATIVE CO. 286 FIFTH AVENUE, near 30th St., NEW YORK.
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Free tuition. We will give one or more free scholarships in every county in the U. S. Write us.
Positions Guaranteed _Under reasonable conditions_....
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Address J. F. DRAUGHON, Pres't, at either place.
Draughon's Practical Business Colleges,
NASHVILLE, TENN., GALVESTON AND TEXARKANA, TEX.
Bookkeeping, Shorthand, Typewriting, etc. The most thorough, practical and progressive schools of the kind in the world, and the best patronized ones in the South. Indorsed by bankers, merchants, ministers and others. Four weeks in bookkeeping with us are equal to twelve weeks by the old plan. J. F. Draughon, President, is author of Draughon's New System of Bookkeeping, "Double Entry Made Easy."
Home study. We have prepared, for home study, books on bookkeeping, penmanship and shorthand. Write for price list "Home Study."
Extract. "PROF. DRAUGHON--I learned bookkeeping at home from your books, while holding a position as night telegraph operator." C. E. LEFFINGWELL, Bookkeeper for Gerber and Ficks, Wholesale Grocers, South Chicago, Ill.
(_Mention this paper when writing._)
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Young People.
FREE: $20.00 IN GOLD, Bicycle, Gold Watch, Diamond Ring, or a Scholarship in Draughon's Practical Business College, Nashville, Tenn., Galveston or Texarkana, Tex., or a scholarship in most any other reputable business college or literary school in the U. S. can be secured by doing a little work at home for the Youths' Advocate, an illustrated semi-monthly journal. It is elevating in character, moral in tone, and especially interesting and profitable to young people, but read with interest and profit by people of all ages. Stories and other interesting matter well illustrated. Sample copies sent free. Agents wanted. Address Youths' Advocate Pub. Co., Nashville, Tenn.
[Mention this paper.]
End of Project Gutenberg's Gov. Bob. Taylor's Tales, by Robert L. Taylor