TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 9278, 2 December 1895, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

The volume of perSpurgeon's, sonal reminiscences of Wit and Wisdom, the late Charles Spurgeon, which has jnsb been published by an intimate friend of the great preacher, is full of the homely wit and wisdom which characterises "John Ploughman," and ahowa clearly the bright and cheerful disposition of the nun. Bpurgeon, as all know who ever heard him speak or have read his works, was, very far from being » narrow ascetic, and he is said to hare attributed a considerable portion of the power and influence which he exercised to this fact. The remark of a writer who said that the world would never be converted until Christiana cried less and laughed and sang more met with his heartiest concurrence. This feeling showed itaelf in hie own dissatisfaction at the untidy condition of the churchyards connected with Evangelical churches compared with those of Ritualists, and he had a firm belief that the Ritualistic or Evangelical leanings of an incumbent could be discovered by a glance at bis church and ohurchyard. It was in his talks to his students fcbatSpurgeon gave utterance to many of the beat of his obiter dicii. " Put plenty into your sermons, gentlemen," he onoe said to them. " After hearing some discourses I have been reminded of the request of the farmer's boy-—* Missus, I wish yon would let that chicken run through this* broth once more." - On another occasion he said " Long prayers injure prayer meetings ; fancy a man praying for twenty, minutes and then asking God to forgive his shortcomings." Hβ urged them to avoid

inappropriate texte. " One brother preached on the loss of a ship with all hands on board from ' So he bringeth them to thsir deeired haven,' and another returning from his marriage holiday ' The troubles of my heart are enlarged. Oh ! bring mc out of my dis. trewee." . When they used illustration!, he reminded them, they must take care that they were apt. It would never do, he remarked, to describe Noah, as did one student, sitting outeide the ark reading his Bible. " Mind your figures of epoech are nob cracked. Don't talk like th« brother who said 'I fly from etar to star, from chorrybeam to cherry-beam.' Got amongst your people, or somebody may be saying of you as one old lady said of her minister, that he was invisible all the week and incomprehensible on Sundays. Shun all Affectations in the pulpit, and mind you never get into the goody-goody style. One of this sort said, * I wae reading this morning in dew Hebrews.' Mind the theme of your sermon suits yourself. A beardless boy should not preach from * I have be6n young and now am old. ' Be careful of your emphasis. One read, 'He said unto his sons saddle mc the ass ;so they saddled him." He explained his dislike of dancing by saying, "It Was through a dance that the first Baptiat minister lost his head, and I may well.be afraid of it." The compiler of these reminiscences attributes to Spurgson a story which has been told of a famous Church preacher, showing the necessity of speaking so that the dull-headed of a congregation may understand. A olergyman discoursed on the text, *' The fool hath said in his heart there is no God," but his style was so involved that an old farmer, who had given the eermon as attentive and intelligent a hearing as be was capable of, went up- to him afterwards and eaid, " I believe there is a God after ail, though your sermon was very clever. ,. We learn from the book that John Ruakin, while he lived at Dulwicb, was one of Spur* geon's most constant hearers, and occasion* ally visited at his house, giving him on one occasiou a splendid first edition of his works. Two such men, whose characters differed so widely, were bound to see differently in many things, and a remark of Ruskiu'a that Spurgeon was fitted for something far better than " preaching to that herd at Newington " greatly angered the preacher. Few teachers of religion have had a wider circle of disciples than had Charles Spurgeon, and the volume under notice will be welcomed alike by those who knew him "in his habit as he lived," and chose whose acquaintance with him only extended to hie writings.

Tub great soheme hitherto The known ac the " Periar ProPer ia r jeot," which is now an Projeot. assured fact, is one of the

greatest marvels of modern engineering in all India, where engineering works are often carried out on a colossal plan. Shortly put, its object was to make a great river which used to flow down to the western coast of India change its course, and come out on the eastern coast, and the work* which were to bring this about were opened in the middle of October by the Governor of Madras. A correspondent who was present on. this occasion supplies some interesting particulars of the great under* taking. The Feriar River, having been compelled to alter its course through Travancore into the Arabian Sea, has now - to flow through the Maduta district into the .Bay of Bengal. The value of this' '- will be understood when it is stated that the Madura district has but a small rainfall, which in India always means poor crops, and sometime; .famines. These will be prevented in the future by the irri-

gation works which form the essential port of the scheme. To cerry out this work : M huge dam had to be thrown across the river, and it is said to be impossible to overstate the difficulty of its construction. " Not only was there the difficulty of work* ing on, and dealing with, & big river, which is never for more than three weeks at a time free from flood, but the climate at the apot was bo unhealthy that, besides the large , death-roll and ever-present sickness among the labourers, for three months at least every year all progress was impossible. Then the difficulties of transport were very . great, the site of the dam being some eighty , miles from the nearest railway station, and about twenty from the nearest; village, in ~ the midst of an uninhabited jungle, un* ", known even to the natives of the district. All food had to be brought from distance! of between fifty and a hundred miles, while everything connected with the works (save stone and timber), even down to cement, to . say nothing of the necessary machinery, came from a distance of many hundreds

of miles." The dam is built in a gorge formed by a spur on each side -of the river, and is about 1,200 ft long at the top, with a thickness of 12fb at the top and 140fb at the bottom.

The height ia 178 ft, this being builfc on * . foundation between the two hills, of some. 200 ft. The effect of closing the natural" course of the river is to form a huge lake or reservoir." The new course of the river i>. along an old river bed, and the irrigation works in connection with it Are calculated to supply some 80,000 acres of country with an abundance of water, so that where agriculture was impossible crops will, soon . be growD. The idea of such, an under*, caking is said to be centuries old, and it is certain that it was practically considered in 1805. Aotual operations were commenced in 1888, since when half a million sterling has been spent upon them, upon which sain a return of 6£ pec-c ent, is expected. The success of the undertaking is due in great measure to one man, Colonel Pennycuick, who Iβ said to have lived for nothing for thirty-five years: