The Crimean war was one of the greatest of the wars of the last century. It was waged solely upon the part of England and France for the purpose of preventing Russia from driving the Ottoman power out of Constantinople. As previously stated, it resulted in the complete humiliation of the Russian arms. Alma, Sebastopol, and Inkerman all brought dire defeat for the Tartars. Naturally one would have expected them to win, as they were fighting on their own soil, while the allies (England and France) were many miles overseas from their base of supplies. But an unseen hand was against Russia, and all her efforts were futile.
The mighty Word of God had said that the passing of Turkey would mark the advent of a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time. Dan. 11:45; 12:1. Providence decreed that that time was not yet to be. But the humiliation of Russia was not alone that of her arms on the Crimean peninsula. Greater humiliation was yet to come in that most famous of treaties which brought the struggle to a conclusion.
It was the treaty of Paris, dated March 30, 1856, which sheathed the sword in the Crimea, laid that troubler, the Eastern question, to rest for twenty years, and brought peace to weary Europe. It was, par excellence, an international treaty. Its provisions affected all Europe; consequently it was signed by all the powers,—Austria, France, England, Russia, Prussia, Turkey, and Sardinia.
England was the head and front of this treaty. She dictated it; and if ever one nation dictated a treaty in the interests of another, England dictated this one in the interests of Turkey.
It is impossible to record all its provisions here: reference can be made only to those of first importance:—
1. The Sublime Porte was admitted to participate in all the advantages of the public law and system of Europe.
2. The article of the treaty which refers to the Black Sea is of especial importance; namely: “The Black Sea is neutralized; its waters and ports, thrown open to the mercantile marine of every nation, are formally and in perpetuity interdicted to the flag of war, either of the powers possessing its coasts or of any other power, with the exceptions mentioned in articles fourteen and nineteen.”
3. A convention respecting the Dardanelles and the Bosporus was made by all the powers. By this convention the sultan maintained the ancient rule prohibiting ships of war of foreign powers from entering the straits, so long as the Porte is at peace. During time of peace the sultan engaged to admit no foreign ships of war into the Bosporus or the Dardanelles.”
4. The abrogation of all existing treaties between Turkey and Russia.
5. A stipulation that Russia should have no arsenal in the Euxine.
6. A stipulation that Russia should have no war fleet in the Black Sea.
7. A stipulation that England should become sponsor for the good behavior of Turkey.
There still lives one man who was a member of the famous Palmerston Cabinet of Great Britain, which was in power when this notable treaty was made. I refer to the venerable duke of Argyll, from whose book, issued a few years ago, I desire to quote a few paragraphs to show how the British Cabinet and people viewed the struggle which they had undergone in behalf of Turkey. I do not know how words could be found which would more thoroughly exemplify and prove the truthfulness of the Scripture idea that somebody would help Turkey. The book bears the significant title, “Our Responsibilities for Turkey.” Here are his words; let them speak for themselves:—
“Let us never forget that it was we—the British government and people—who rescued Turkey from this immediate danger and this otherwise inevitable fate. I have a vivid recollection how patiently, and yet how energetically, we strove to rally the other powers in our support; how, at moments, we feared lest France would fail us; and how at last we succeeded in securing the loyal co-operation of the French emperor. Without his army we never could have accomplished what was accomplished. But, on the other hand, France would never have undertaken it but for us. In a military point of view she took a leading part; but, politically speaking, we did the whole. Ours was the naval base of operation; the direction of attack was chosen which was most accessible to us—most exhausting to Russia. Above all, ours was the policy which dictated the terms of peace. The whole aim of that peace was not only to record and confirm the defeat of Russia for the time, but to put it out of her power to play the same game against Turkey again—at least for some indefinite time to come.
“The treaty of Paris, which terminated the war in 1856, was a concentrated expression of the whole policy on which the war had been undertaken. It made us foremost as a nation in a joint responsibility—by irrevocable deeds and by definite transactions—for the very existence of the Turkish government as a power even pretending to independence. Not only did we save Turkey for the moment from entangling engagements with Russia, which would have left her in the position of vassalage and practical subjection, but we determined,7largely and effectually, to disarm her hereditary foe in the whole region of Turkish territory most open to Russian attack. We had exhausted the resources of Russia by a long and bloody campaign, carried on at one extremity of her empire. We had destroyed her fleet. We had ruined her one great arsenal in the Euxine. But not content with this, we imposed on her a treaty stipulating that this arsenal should not be restored, and that no Russian Black Sea fleet was to be formed again, so that Turkey might dwell in peace.”
“This, however, was not all we did for Turkey. We did a great deal more. As Russia was deprived of these means of aggression, so also was she to be deprived of her old and long-standing excuses and opportunities for attack. All the treaties which were the record of her dearly bought victories for more than a hundred years were to be absolutely given up and abandoned.”
“Turkey was to be freed from all of them, so that she might live and rule without embarrassing engagements of any kind to Russia in respect to her Christian subjects, such as had been imposed upon her. But even this does not exhaust all our work for Turkey. She had not been admitted in 1815 within the circle of European states whose rights and territories were settled and acknowledged by the treaties of that memorable epoch. In her last great assault on Turkey in 1828, Russia had warned Turkey of this fact, and had boasted of her own freedom, so far as European engagements were concerned, to deal with the Ottoman dominions as the fortune of war might determine. In the treaty of 1856 we thought it necessary to remedy this defect. The very first important article in our new treaty was to declare Turkey to be a power ‘admitted to participate in the advantages of the public law of Europe.’ That is to say, that Turkey was now, for the first time, to be brought within the European system in the meaning of the treaties of 1814-15; or, in other words, that she was to be regarded as having a recognized place in the balance of power, and, consequently, that her fate was to be acknowledged as a matter of common interest and concern.”
“Such were the immense advantages which we conferred upon Turkey forty years ago, by our active intervention, both in war and in diplomacy. They were advantages which not only gave her a new lease of life, but which conferred on that life a charter of independence, of which, by reason of her weakness, she had been long deprived. In return for these great services, all that we asked from Turkey was an engagement that she would afford to her own people some tolerable government corresponding to her new position—some administrative system recognizing the fundamental principles of European civilization, and extending to all classes of her subjects some security for life, religion, property, and honor. And even this obligation it was our aim—and our only too great care—to impose on Turkey in the form most consistent with respect for that independence which we were for the first time establishing. We therefore made the obligation take the form least obnoxious to the pride, and least offensive to the dignity, of the Porte. Accordingly, it was provided that the edict securing such privileges to all classes of her subject populations was to emanate from the sultan. It was, however, to be recorded in, and annexed to, the treaty. Moreover, Turkey was entrusted with the fulfilment of her own promises. They were not to be, and, indeed, could hardly be, fulfilled by any direct action of the guaranteeing powers on Turkish administration.”—“Our Responsibilities for Turkey,” pages 12-17.
And now I ask, in all seriousness, after the recitation of this lucid summing up of England’s case in behalf of Turkey: Has there ever been in the history of all the world such an example of one nation’s helping another?
As previously stated, the Scriptures have foretold that Turkey shall come to his end, and none shall help him. And this very word of Sacred Writ clearly indicates that the only thing which will have prevented his coming to his end long before he does, is because some one does help him. There is not, of all prophecy, a more remarkable fulfilment than this.
Madison, Tenn.
Having a Mind to Work
By George H. Scott
GEORGE H. SCOTT
WHEN we are doing the will of God, all Heaven is willing to help us. We read from the pen of God’s servant that “angels will go before the faithful, God-fearing canvasser, to prepare the hearts of the people to receive the book he has.” Surely it is not because God is weak that we fail. Why, then, is it that so many undertake the work who in a short time give it up?—Because they are like the men sent to spy out the land of Canaan. They look only at the difficulties in the way, and in a short time give up.
We lack confidence in God; we forget his promises, and fail to trust ourselves wholly in his hands. All who have read of the rebuilding of Jerusalem under Nehemiah know something of the difficulties under which this great work was accomplished. In the record we read: “So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work.” Neh. 4:6. The first part of the verse says, “So built we the wall;” and the last part tells how they were able to accomplish this great undertaking: “For the people had a mind to work.” O, that these words could be impressed on the heart of every worker, causing each one to determine that, no matter how great the difficulties or discouragements, he would let nothing come between him and the accomplishing of his work!
Often in my own experience I have felt discouraged, thinking it almost impossible for work to be done in certain places; but after making up my mind to go ahead, faithfully doing my part and trusting God for the rest, I have always had a rich experience.
When beginning work in a new town, I once went to the secretary of the Y. M. C. A. After telling him that I was, wished to get a room with some good family, he asked my business, and upon being informed, he said: “Well, I am sorry for you. The people of this place are entirely dependent upon the lumber industry, and the mills have been shut down all summer.” This was not very encouraging. However, I made up my mind that I would visit every house in the place, and with God’s help faithfully improve the time he had given me. I did well, far better than I had hoped.
It is always best, on going to a strange place, to close the eyes and ears to all the discouraging things seen and heard. Determine to work faithfully in the territory. The harder the field, the greater happiness you will have in knowing that you have faithfully worked it. Many times, if you look at the dark pictures presented before you, you will become discouraged; while if you remain, and faithfully improve the time, you may do better than ever before.
Once I went quite a distance to a city to work, and had a heavy expense in getting there. The week of my arrival was stormy and dismal, people were not very cordial, and it seemed that little could be done. I was much cast down. One cloudy, rainy morning, while eating my breakfast, and glancing over one of our papers, I read the following stanza:—
“God has not promised skies ever blue,
Flower-strewn pathways always to you;
God has not promised sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow, peace without pain;
But God has promised strength from above,
Unfailing sympathy, undying love.”
This message was for me. I had been feeling that everything was against me, but after reading these words, I remembered that God is ever ready to hear us, and resolved that, with his help, I would work that place faithfully. Then I started out, going from one house to another, and repeating the words of the stanza quoted above to myself as I went. The next week the sun came out, my spirits rose, and I did better in this place than I had ever done before.
It pays to have a mind to work. O, that more of our young people had this mind! Then would the work soon be finished, and our Saviour come in the clouds of heaven. In that glad day how sweet will sound the words of our Saviour: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord”!
Autointoxication, or Self-Poisoning
By Alfred B. Olsen
ALFRED B. OLSEN, M. D.
Among various forms of autointoxication, we shall here briefly discuss that which is due to the absorption of poisons formed in the intestinal canal through the action of germs. Although this is perhaps one of the most common forms of self-poisoning, little attention is paid to it. Many persons suffer from headaches, backaches, and various other aches and pains, from drowsiness, from a feeling of languor, amounting sometimes even to stupor, from general inactivity, and a want of fitness, all of which symptoms can be ascribed to autointoxication.
When food is taken into the alimentary canal under normal conditions, it begins to undergo digestion at once. But if the digestive processes are slow and uncertain for any reason, the germs already in the intestinal canal, or those which accompany food, begin their activities. The result is an abnormal process called fermentation, which is due to the action of germs. Instead of being digested, and prepared to nourish the body, the food is decomposed by the germs, and various processes of decay take the place of ordinary digestion.
Fermentation Products
This means the production of certain fermentation products, all of which are more or less poisonous to the human system. The action of germs upon food, and particularly upon nitrogenous food, such as animal flesh, is a putrefactive one, and the stomach and intestines become the seat of putrefaction instead of digestion. Some of the putrid bodies which are formed are exceedingly poisonous, cause intense irritation in the stomach and bowels, and may lead to violent vomiting and purging. But although most of them are far less violent in their action, they often result in much physical discomfort and annoyance, the causes of which are little understood by the average person.
If, in addition to these fermentation processes which are going on in the intestinal canal, the bowels are also constipated, the harmful effects are proportionately increased; for this means that there is every inducement possible for the absorption of the poisonous products. A daily evacuation of the bowels is essential to good health, and would aid much in mitigating the evils of fermentation.
Flatulence
In the putrefactive processes mentioned above, there is often a production of more or less offensive gases, which cause the well-known symptom called flatulence, and sometimes lead to the belching of wind. The presence of these gases in the stomach and bowels may cause a good deal of disturbance and also considerable pain. But let no one think that the absence of flatulence means also the absence of fermentation and putrefaction; this is by no means the case. Some of the worst forms of putrefaction in the alimentary canal are not accompanied by any perceptible formation of gas.
Preventive Measures
Aside from the accidental use of spoiled food, the two chief causes of intestinal putrefaction are, first, overindulgence in flesh foods; and, second, overeating, especially of proteids. Professor Chittenden, of Yale University, has made a special study of the quantity of nitrogenous food required by the average man or woman. His conclusion is that the amount ordinarily taken by most persons is altogether out of proportion to the requirements of the body, and that the surplus makes for ill-health and disease. According to Chittenden, ten per cent of the food which the body requires, should consist of proteids, such as the albumen of egg, the gluten of wheat, the legumin of beans, etc.
The truth is that persons who indulge in flesh food to any extent are almost certain to take more nitrogenous food than they require. Practically speaking, lean beef consists of proteid only, aside from the water it contains. Ordinary bread, and especially whole-meal or brown bread, contains about the proper proportion of nitrogenous and non-nitrogenous material. Both eggs and milk are rich in proteid, and the same is true of beans, lentils, and dried peas. All nuts, except Italian chestnuts, contain a large percentage of proteid. On the other hand, fruits, and most vegetables as well, contain but a trifling amount of nitrogen. Rice is a distinctly farinaceous food, and so are potatoes.
Benefits of Exercise and Bathing
Besides regulating the diet, and omitting flesh foods, physical exercise is necessary for good digestion. Such exercise means a large increase in the intake of oxygen, and this brings about a corresponding increase of oxidation, so that many of the poisons which are assimilated into the system are readily burned, or oxidized. The presence of an abundance of oxygen in the tissues means a more complete oxidation of the food material used by the body. Consequently there will be less of these poisons formed in the tissues themselves as a product of incomplete metabolism. Furthermore, the digestive processes will be more active, and there will be less opportunity for the putrefactive germs to do harm.
Tepid, cool, or cold baths and cold sponging are also useful in increasing the oxidation processes of the body. They serve to stimulate both respiration and circulation, and their general influence is to vitalize the tissues and strengthen the resistive forces of the body. Warm and hot baths, on the other hand, such as electric light, Turkish, and vapor baths, improve the eliminative processes of the body, and help to get rid of waste matter that may have been absorbed from the alimentary canal, or may result from imperfect metabolism. A good sweat assists very materially in purifying the blood.
Caterham, England.
Look for the Mother
By J. L. Harbour
A COMPANY of men and women at a dinner-party were discussing the achievements of an unusually brilliant and successful man in the city, and at last one of the men said, “He must have had a wise and devoted mother.”
“Necessarily?” asked one of the men.
“I think so. One must usually look for the mother in the achievements of the successful men of the world. I have proved this to be true in many instances.”
Others will find it to be true if they care to “look for the mother” in the early lives of the most successful men of the world. Uneducated and unskilled in many of the accomplishments of life the mother may have been, but her own shortcomings in this respect made her all the more ambitious for her son, and it9was her wise training and self-sacrifice that helped to form the boy character and cultivate the boy mind. Some one of clear insight has written: “The mother who reads and studies with her son all through childhood and boyhood has literally formed the mind that was given her, and made of herself a memory, a standard, and a power for all of her son’s future development. That mother who satisfies herself with feeding, dressing, and sheltering a child, does no more than an animal; and whatever relation rests upon an animal basis is quickly perishable. Clothes and cleanliness are necessary and excellent; but any worthy book read aloud with your son, and accompanied by exchange of comment and thought, is worth a hundred sets of clothes.”
One looks for the mother in vain when the mother has done nothing in the mental, moral, and spiritual development of the man, when she has been nothing but the household drudge that too many mothers allow themselves to become. One must “look to the father” for much that is excellent in the physical development of the boy, and the father should share with the mother in the mental and spiritual and intellectual development of the boy. It is ideal when one can say, “Look to the father and the mother,” in the children who have gone out into the world to make names for themselves, and do the work that only strong men and women can do.
— J. L. Harbour, in American Motherhood.
The Victor’s Crown
By George E. Tack
GEORGE E. TACK
To-DAY I view the victor’s prize
My Captain brave doth ever hold,
Whose jewels glow like dauntless eyes,
That gleamed in veiled truth of old,—
The starry, shining, golden crown,
That waits me at my journey’s end,
When shield and buckler are laid down,
And blood-washed souls in chorus blend.
Then shall I drink life’s deathless cup,
When past earth’s vexing chains and bars,
And go with my Redeemer up
The silver stairway of the stars.
The song of triumph on life’s sea,
The crowns of loved ones gleaming bright,
The words of him who loveth me,
Will be as dawn beyond the night.
O loved of God! my love so cold
Doth feel the warmth of thy great love,
And faith, when tried, shall gleam like gold,
And lead me to the prize above.
Baltimore, Md.
Be Ye Faithful
An Eastern king was once in need of a faithful servant and friend. He gave out notice that he wanted a man to do a day's work, and two men came and asked to be employed. He engaged them both for certain fixed wages, and set them to work to fill a basket with water from a neighboring well, saying he would come in the evening and see their work. He then left them to themselves, and went away.
After putting in one or two bucketfuls, one of the men said: “What is the good of doing this useless work? As soon as you put the water in on one side, it runs out on the other.”
The other man answered: “But we have our day's wages, haven't we? The use of the work is the master's business, not ours.”
“I am not going to do such fool's work,” replied the other, and, throwing down his bucket, went away.
The other man continued his work, till about sunset he exhausted the well. Looking down into it, he saw something shining at the bottom. He let down his bucket once more, and drew up a precious diamond.
“Now I see the use of pouring water into a basket,” he exclaimed to himself. “If the bucket had brought up the ring before the well was dry, it would have been found in the basket. The labor was not useless after all.”
But he had yet to learn why the king had ordered this apparently useless task. It was to test their capacity for perfect obedience, without which no servant is reliable.
At this moment the king came up to him, and, as he bade the man keep the diamond, he said: “Thou hast been faithful in a little thing; now I see I can trust thee in great things. Henceforth thou shalt stand at my right hand.”
The moral is obvious. Always work more willingly, however useless your toil may seem.—Selected.
The Four Plants
AN old teacher was once taking a walk through a forest with a student by his side. The old man suddenly stopped, and pointed to four plants close at hand. The first was just beginning to peep above the ground, and the second had rooted itself pretty well into the earth, the third was a small shrub, while the fourth and last was a full-sized tree. The tutor said to his young companion:—
“Pull up the first.”
The boy easily pulled it up with his fingers.
“Now pull up the second.”
The youth obeyed, but not so easily.
“And now the third.”
The boy had to put forth all his strength and use both arms before he succeeded in uprooting it.
“And now,” said the master, “try your hand upon the full-grown tree.”
But lo! the trunk of the tall tree, grasped in the arms of the youth, hardly shook its leaves.
“This, my son, is just what happens with our bad habits. When they are young, we can cast them out readily, but only divine power can uproot them when they are old.” — Young People’s Paper.
Have Confidence in Boys
THERE is something wrong in the home training when a boy goes entirely outside his own family for counsel. A mother need not compel him to come to her with all his little affairs, because if she is always ready to listen to and sympathize with him, he will do this of his own accord.
A very common cause of the withholding of a child’s confidence is the desire on the part of the parent to dictate in matters that are of no importance except to the child himself.
All children, boys especially, like to plan their own affairs; and where there is no question of right or wrong involved, they should be allowed and encouraged to do so.
With children who have strong will power, the constant directing of all their little plans and ideas is exasperating; and opposition, with ill-humor, is often the result. With children of a sensitive nature, or with weak will power, the child’s own individuality is perhaps crushed out of him, or else he retires within himself, and shuts his lips tightly against the confidence which every parent craves from a child.
Let a boy feel that you are always interested in his plans, no matter how absurd they may be; the time is coming when you can no longer command him, and this will be the strongest hold you can have upon him.
Take him into your counsels, ask his advice about family matters. His self-respect and judgment will grow.— Selected.
The Kind of Boys Needed
“What kind of boys does a business man want?” repeated a practical man of many concerns the other day.
“Well, I will tell you. In the first place, he wants a boy who doesn’t know too much; business men generally like to run their own business, and prefer one who will listen to their way rather than try to teach them new kinds; secondly, they want a prompt boy—one who understands seven o’clock as seven, not ten minutes past; third, an industrious boy who is not afraid to put in a little extra work in case of need; fourth, an honest boy—honest in his service as well as in dollars and cents; fifth, a good-natured boy, who will keep his temper, even if his employer loses his own now and then.”
“But you haven’t said a word about his being smart,” was suggested.
“Well, to tell the truth,” was the rather hesitating answer, “that’s about the last thing we worry over. The fact is, if a boy is modest, pleasant, prompt, industrious, and honest, he’s quite as smart as we care about.” — Biblical Recorder.
Health Is a Harvest
“HEALTH is a harvest. It must be worked for. The seeds must be sown and carefully tended. There must be persistence in the tilling, and patience in the waiting, and vigor in the gathering.”
Doing Your Best
“I did the best I knew,” protested the dressmaker’s apprentice, when she was reprimanded for a piece of poor work, that ruined a beautiful dress and vexed a valuable customer. “I don’t see what she’s blaming me for.”
“I’m not blaming you for doing the best you know how,” said the employer; “I’m blaming you for not knowing any better. You mean well, but good intentions aren’t enough to carry on the dress-making business.”
They aren’t enough in any business. It is an old proverb that good intentions pave a place of very disreputable character. “He meant well,” is about the poorest thing one can say of a person, short of actual detraction, unless we except that other phrase of mild apology: “He did the best he knew how.” Whenever you hear either of these, you know at once that it is a case of failure on somebody’s part to do the right thing at the right moment; and usually, if you look closely enough, there was fault behind the failure. To do the best we know is not enough when we might know better.— Selected.
Death of Sister T. M. French
In a personal letter, Brother T. M. French relates the experiences connected with the death of his wife at Axim, Gold Coast, West Africa. He writes:—
“Mrs. French arrived at Axim two weeks ago. She had a bad cold and fever. She immediately took treatment for her cold, and was soon relieved. We broke her fever the second day she was here. She seemed very well until Sabbath, while I was at Kickam, holding quarterly meeting, when she again had a little fever. She took some quinin, and seemed better until Tuesday morning. That morning I went down town for a little while; and on returning I found her with a stubborn attack of the blackwater fever. I did everything I could to check the hemorrhage, and finding I made no headway, called the physician. He came and gave me directions to follow during the night. I worked with her through the night, and called the doctor in the morning. He and his wife came and did everything that could be done, it seems to me; but about ten o’clock, having lost quarts of blood through the kidneys, her heart failed, and she died instantly.”
“And thus a life wholly consecrated to God and ever spent in service to others, immediately was cut off. I know not why, but the Lord knows. Possibly the reason may be expressed in one of the texts chosen to be read at the cemetery as we laid her to rest: ‘And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them.’ Again, it may be a seed that has fallen into the ground and died, that a harvest of souls may be reaped. And how can I complain, when ‘God so loved the world, that he gave [voluntarily] his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have, everlasting life’?”
MRS. T. M. FRENCH'S GRAVE AT AXIM, WEST AFRICA
“In my loneliness, the Lord touched hearts here to do all they could to relieve me. Dr. Rupe, the government physician, and his wife, showed themselves friends in my need. The district commissioner attended the funeral services, and to show the respect of the government officials, sent the union flag to drape the coffin. About forty of the brethren and sisters of Axim and Kickam came in a body ten miles to attend the funeral. This expression of their sympathy was greatly appreciated.
“As I turn to the future, things look very dark to me. I hardly know whether it would be best for me to undertake the hard work that is before me without a rest or change. In this matter I know my brethren will be able to advise me.
“In Mrs. French’s last Sabbath-school report, I find these words: ‘As the lessons on the life of Christ are fast drawing to a close, we should put forth extra effort in learning them, and making them a part of our lives individually; for it is by beholding that we become changed.’
“Christlikeness seemed to be the one controlling purpose of her whole life.”
