p. 170 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 19, No. 11. (1/16/1893)

Earlier text: STUDY OF THE BIBLE—ITS IMPORTANCE AND BENEFITS. NO. 3.

POWER FROM ON HIGH.

By Elder S. N. Haskell

BY ELDER S. N. HASKELL.

THE disciples had been with Christ three and a half years. In him was all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. They had received “power and authority” from him over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sicknesses, and all manner of diseases, and “over all the power of the enemy,” so that nothing could by any means hurt them. They were told to rejoice that their names were written in heaven. More than this, forty days before his ascension he had appeared to them as they sat at meat, and said, “Peace be unto you,” and he had breathed on them, and said, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” And even more, he had said to them, “As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.” Even before his crucifixion he had left with them as a legacy his peace and joy, that their joy might be full. But notwithstanding all these experiences that they had had in being associated with Christ and receiving from him special blessings, they were unprepared to take up his work, to go to the ends of the earth with the gospel, until they were endued with power from on high.

They were taught to look forward and expect to receive from heaven a special fitting up before they would be prepared to go forth to the ends of the earth with the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was a blessing that could not be received by the world, neither could they have received it if the Saviour had not left them personally. He said: “Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.” John 16:7. They received it in harmony with the prayer of Christ, because they had accepted him, and had an experimental knowledge of his love. Said the Saviour: “I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter, that he may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him; but ye know him, for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” John 14:16, 17.

This Holy Spirit was to take the place of his personal presence. By it he would come to them. “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words; and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” John 14:23. This would reveal to the disciples many things that he could not tell them, because they could not bear them. “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth; for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak; and he will show you things to come.” John 16:12, 13. By revealing

these truths to them, it would glorify Christ, for it would take the things of his and show them unto them. He assured them that “all things that the Father hath are mine; therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you.” Verse 15.

Christ offered special prayer for the disciples, because they had known surely that he came out from God, and that God did send him. “I pray for them; I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are mine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.” John 17:9, 10. The Spirit, then, was not only to represent Christ to them, but it was to manifest itself in as great power and glory as the personal Christ, and they were to receive as great blessings from its influence as though Christ himself were personally with them. It was better for them to have the Holy Spirit than his personal presence; for his personal presence could be in but one place at a time, but by his Spirit he would be with them individually, wherever they would be, with the same power that he personally possessed.

Oh, what a treasure there was in the promise he made them! No language can overestimate the value of the Spirit of God. The blessings contained in it, and by it, and through it cannot be exaggerated. It cannot be extolled too highly. In Christ was every spiritual blessing. “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” Rom. 8:32.

Thirty-three years God was revealed to man in the flesh, so that it could be said, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life (for the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us).” 1 John 1:1, 2. They had known Christ after the flesh, and henceforth none were to know him any more in that way; but every blessing that was in Jesus Christ, every promise that entered in him, all the power that was invested in him, all the light and glory that he bore to this earth, which is all the light and power and glory of heaven, is represented in the Holy Spirit that he promised should come upon the disciples.

What a promise! Who can measure or comprehend the fullest nature of the words, “Tarry ye in Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high.” The whole world, with all its joys and pleasures, sinks into insignificance when compared with the blessings of the Spirit that was promised should fall upon them by tarrying at Jerusalem. No wonder that, under the direct influence of these words, they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God.

The disciples had taken greater interest in understanding the time that the kingdom would be restored than they had taken in the reception of this promised blessing; so to them the Saviour said: “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you [margin]; and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Acts 1:7, 8. How important, then, that they receive this promise! They would be scattered, and go from nation to nation and from kingdom to kingdom to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. They were to go to the most unhealthful climes; they were to visit the most dangerous localities, where poisonous reptiles would be found upon every hand; they were to visit nations of other languages, the impassable barrier that God had erected two thousand years before to divide up nations; but none of these obstacles would stand in the way. The Saviour anticipated all these things; therefore he assured them, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” He assured them in what manner he could be with them—by his Holy Spirit. They were to go forth in his name and cast out devils; they were to speak with new tongues; if they took up serpents, or if they drank any deadly thing, it would not harm them; they were to lay hands on the sick, and the sick would recover. All these blessings were contained in the Holy Spirit. What a favored class his disciples were! How anxiously they must have waited; how earnestly they must have prayed; how carefully they must have examined their hearts, that they might be in a condition for the reception of this promised treasure!

THE WORSHIP OF AN INSTITUTION—IDOLATRY AND HYPOCRISY.

By G. D. Ballou

BY G. D. BALLOU.

THE fourth commandment was given to perpetuate the worship of the true God,—to keep ever before the minds of men the Maker of the heavens and earth, and the mighty power, wisdom, and infinite greatness of him who is the Father of all. This reason is found in these words, following the command proper: "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it."

This command does not forbid worshiping God at other times, but it does specify a particular time when all heaven expects man to worship. God has made this time holy, and man is to keep it holy by abstaining from his own work and worshiping the true God.

Now if we take God and his worship out of the Sabbath, it becomes only a day of idleness and mental and moral dissipation, a curse instead of a blessing to man. The shell is left, but the kernel is gone. The outward appearance of reverence for him who made the Sabbath and all else remains, but this is hypocrisy. The Sabbath is revered before the world, but God is forgotten. Thus the institution is worshiped instead of God; and what is this but idolatry?

Now for the application. The would-be moral reformers of these days disclaim all idea of enforcing the worship of God, because this claim would be too flagrant and bold to receive the least toleration. It would be too much like the work of the papal hierarchy during the midnight of history. They dare not boldly attempt such a thing. But instead they set up an institution in the place of God's appointed day of worship, and they call this institution the "civil sabbath," so as to leave God out; the "American sabbath," to appeal to the patriotism of the people; the "Christian sabbath," to enlist the religious fervor of professing Christians and not lose the idea of worship, and thus in the sheerest subterfuges they lay their foundation. Then a loud clamoring is raised everywhere for "civil sabbath" laws, both State and national. When they carry this point, what will they have?—Simply laws to enforce a day of idleness without any worship of God in it to the godless citizen more than it had before the law was made; laws to preserve an artificial shell without a kernel. The institution is everything in the law. The day must be honored by every citizen, whether he ever thinks of God or not, and the Sunday-law advocate glories that he is doing God service by enforcing what he calls one of his institutions.

Mark it, the open demand is for the preservation of the "Christian sabbath," or the "American sabbath," as the occasion may call for, and not for the worship of God. In fact, worship of God cannot be enforced. And when the criminal is arraigned before the courts for doing common labor on Sunday, the question is not, Have you failed to worship God, but, Have you broken the legal sanctity of the Sunday sabbath? Thus the institution is made the object of reverence and worship, and God and the principles of his truth are forgotten.

When the national Sunday law is passed, this will be true in the cases of 30,000,000 of godless citizens of the United States of America. The day will be scrupulously observed in outward legality, with never a thought of God. And how much better is this than heathen idolatry? By such a law Sunday becomes the legal idol of the United States. And its advocates and abettors are pleased that the nation has the outward semblance of piety, when they know God is not in all the thoughts of many of its millions. What is this but glorying in hypocrisy? Will God be deceived by this sham worship of a sham sabbath? I leave it to you, reader.

Grant's Pass, Oregon.

IS SUNDAY IN THE NEW COVENANT?

By George B. Thompson

BY ELDER GEO. B. THOMPSON.

The observers of Sunday, when asked to assign a reason why they sabbatize upon that day, sometimes reply that they are living under the new covenant, and under this covenant the first day of the week should be kept to commemorate redemption.

We would like some of our Sunday-keeping friends to tell us how Sunday became a part of the new covenant. They will confer an everlasting favor upon us by citing us to the chapter and verse which will substantiate this assertion, and show when and by whom the thing was done. We are familiar with the scriptures (Jer. 31:31-34; Heb. 8:8-12) which declare that God will place his law in the hearts of men under the new covenant, but have never found the place as yet where it is written that he will write Sunday in the heart of anybody.

We fail to utterly comprehend how Sunday became a part of this covenant. Nowhere in all the ministry of Christ is there any mention that he ever kept the day, or took its name upon his lips. How, then, did it become a part of this covenant? Oh, say they, it was at the resurrection! Let us see.

The covenant called the "new covenant" is the same one that was made with Abraham. That was an everlasting covenant and contained

blessing for the whole human family. Gen. 17:6-8; 22:15-18; Gal. 3:16, 29. The blood of Christ, which confirmed and ratified this covenant, was shed on the cross. Luke 22:18-20. The blood of this covenant being shed after the blood of the old covenant is why this covenant is called the "new." When the Saviour's blood was shed upon the cross, this covenant was sealed up and made forever sure.

Now listen to what Paul says in Gal. 3:15: "Brethren, I speak after the manner of men: Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto."

Every man knows this to be true. When a man makes a will, while rational, and then dies, there is no power on earth that can legally change this "last will and testament." It is of no force while the testator lives, but takes effect immediately after his death (Heb. 9:17), and nothing can be added to it. Now we ask how could Sunday, in commemoration of the resurrection, become part of the new covenant after the death of its testator? If no changes or additions can be made in the last will of a man after his death, how can there be any changes or additions to the last testament of the Son of God, after his death?

We leave the advocates of Sunday sacredness to grapple with the problem, and when they have solved it to give us the answer. It has never been solved, and we augur that it never will be. If Sunday could be traced back to its resurrection, it would even then find itself too late. But, unfortunately for its adherents, it can find no Bible sanction for even this.

Viewed from every possible standpoint, Sunday, as a sacred day, is shown to be a base counterfeit, and the sooner we exchange it for the genuine Sabbath which God made, the sooner we will possess the blessing which is on that day. Isa. 56:1, 2.

TO WHOM DOES THE CHILD BELONG?

By Mary Wood Allen, M. D.

BY MARY WOOD ALLEN, M. D.

II.—TO GOD.

BEFORE parents can claim any right in their child they must first recognize his right to himself, and then God's right to him. First individuality; then religion. It is true that these two cannot be actually placed the one before the other and separate from the other. They are inextricably intermingled, and when we say the child's first right is to himself, we mean that in all things he has a right to claim that his individuality be considered. Even in acknowledging his obligation to his Creator he must be allowed to worship according to his individuality. One may worship with serious earnestness, and his prayers be anxious longings; another may find a joy and gladness in service, and his prayers be anthems of praise and rejoicing. And this violates no moral law. Everybody walks, but each one expresses himself in his gait and carriage; so in service the soul should not be bound by fetters of ceremonials. Reverence for God and obedience to him is a duty. By nature the human being is reverent. The savage has his god and his religion. The infant sees in his parents the highest and best that he knows. They stand to him for God. But early in life he may be made to feel that they themselves obey a power still greater and stronger than themselves; that this power governs not only their deeds but their thoughts, and he begins to feel that he too must yield a loving obedience to this great Being. He begins to feel that he belongs to God. If rightly taught, this feeling will not be one of fear but love, and this strengthens his character. The service of fear is slavery; the service of love is freedom by means of control of self. This self-control should extend to the domain of physical as well as spiritual things.

Very early in life the child can understand God's claim upon him in the care of the body. He can understand that God has a claim upon him by creation and preservation; he can understand that God works with him daily in the keeping of the body in repair. If he eats proper food, it is the divine power that makes of it the tissues and keeps them in health. He learns that in this, as elsewhere, God works by laws which the individual has the power to obey or ignore; but in violating those laws it is always himself who suffers. Children can as readily be taught a bodily religion as a spiritual religion. They can be taught regularity in eating, the avoidance of injurious articles, the keeping of regular hours of sleep, the value of exercise—in short, the obedience of physical law as a duty they owe themselves and their Creator, and to be rendered joyfully. Why should not the child be taught to rejoice in the thought that he belongs to God, and also that God belongs to him?

Thus taught, he will perceive the beauty of the Sabbath as a day different from all others, sacred to the God whom he loves, and will gladly make it a day of rest and worship. Thus taught, he will ever be ready to refer all conduct to the approval of this supreme Judge of right and wrong. He will be anxious to keep his body pure in deed, his mind pure in thought, and his heart pure in its emotions, because the God to whom he belongs is a God of purity.

There may be danger in trying to teach faith in God that the child may obtain the idea that God will make a special interference in his behalf, and overturn natural law, but the instances of absolute faith in the Heavenly Father are often very interesting. A little girl had been taught to pray with perfect faith. She had been naughty, and her mother was taking her away to punish her. As they climbed the stairs, the little one earnestly said, "O Lord, if you ever wanted to help a little girl in your life, now's your chance." It is wiser to teach the child that all human beings belong to God, and he has their best interest at heart, and if we love him and try to obey him, all will be ordered for our good, and sometimes it would not be kind to allow us to escape merited punishment. The absolute trust that accepts the trials of life, as well as its joys, as part of the disciplinary process of life, is the trust that best fits one to bear the part of a noble, patient, undiscouraged scholar in earth's great polytechnic.

What a parent desires a child to be in relation to God, that must the parent be. He must manifest absolute trust, not only in word but in a cheerful, serene acceptance of all the circumstances of life. He must show that he belongs to God every day in the week. Sabbath prayers and week-day bad tempers are not lessons in piety. It is not wise to endeavor to arouse piety through the emotional nature of the child, not through fear, nor even by too constant appeals to the conscience, which may become morbid under such training; but a life of consistent recognition of God's claims and a persistent effort at patterning after the Christ as the only Saviour of mankind, is the true religious training. And, as Jacob Abbott says:—

We must not look for the development of the moral and religious sentiments too soon, nor be too much troubled if in the first two or three years of life the animal sentiments seem to overpower the higher sentiments and principles. No one can possibly know at how early an age that great change which consists in the first faint kindlings of the divine life in the soul may take place, nor with what faults, failings, and yieldings to the influence of the mere animal passions of childhood it may coexist.

Therefore we, as parents, must be patient, sympathetic, loving, gentle, tender-hearted, forgiving, "even as God for Christ's sake" has

forgiven us, believing that it is better to win our children to God through love than to frighten them to him through fear.—The Advance.

STRENGTH FOR TEMPTATION.

By W. N. Glenn

BY W. N. GLENN.

It is quite common for brethren to think their peculiar temptations are more difficult to overcome than those of others. "No one knows the trials I have to endure," is an everyday expression in church circles. But the Scriptures contain an offset to all such murmurings. "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience." James 1:2, 3. "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you; but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy." 1 Peter 4:12, 13. "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." 1 Cor. 10:13. "For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted." Heb. 2:18. "For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Chapter 4:15, 16.

FAMILY PRAYER.

By J. P. Henderson

BY ELDER J. P. HENDERSON.

FATHER from his daily duties, Mother from domestic care, Children from their playthings, gathered, Morning, evening, family prayer.

Hush the household's busy rattle; Hush the noise of bustle there; Hush! they're kneeling at the threshold; 'Tis the hour of family prayer.

Sweet the words of Bible reading, All the words of Jesus share; Sweet the voice, parental pleading— Time of worship, family prayer—

Pleading for the wife and children, Pleading heaven's protecting care, Mother's lips, too, interceding, Voiced in sweetest family prayer.

Little ones in love tones lisping, Taught to speak to Jesus there, Never lose the precious influence, Borne to them in family prayer.

The family altar's heaven's threshold; Angels surely come to share, But they weep in shame and sadness Where there is no family prayer.

Heaven's blessings daily sharing, Heaven's needed everywhere; How can you neglect, my brother, Holding daily family prayer?

In harvest and in summer labor, When beset with anxious care, Time is never lost, my brother, When engaged in family prayer.

—Iowa Bulletin.

MADAME LOYSON ON COOKING.

By Ellinor Allison

QUITE lately I was privileged to hear an informal address given by Madame Loyson, Père Hyacinth’s devoted wife, to an audience of women. Though a New England woman, after a long residence in Paris, she says to her countrywomen: “I must attribute many of the evils existing in America to-day to American cooking. In France I rarely find a dyspeptic; in America I seldom meet a man or woman free from some form of indigestion. The American bread maker uses flour from which the nutriment has been refined, and then bakes it too fast. Bread should be baked slowly and well.

“Sweets, rich and heavy, are served for dessert. Ripe, health-giving fruit is smothered in sugar. Candy is served at dinner, eaten between meals, and given to children frequently. Salt, pepper, and the various spices are freely used daily. The consumers of the heating, thirst-producing food must drink. They do drink. Perhaps the draughts are ice water or supposedly pure water from the cistern or well. Perhaps the son, brother, or husband allays his thirst with beer, wine, or stronger liquor. Perhaps the highly-seasoned favorite breakfast dish prepared by a careful hand for the man of the house led him directly to the saloon.”

That Madame Loyson earnestly believes in her gospel of simple living, she lately proved, while being entertained in this city by appreciative friends who desired to give her a dinner, when she declined courteously the kindly intended compliment, stating a preference for mush and milk with fruit.

We women have read many encomiums regarding French cookery and French economy. Many dishes particularly esteemed by the French people are not suited to the American palate. We are not all vegetarians and do confess to a liking for something good in the culinary line prepared by a good American cook, but when a consecrated woman, a reformer, a Madame Loyson, who is herself a plain, frugal woman, in love admonishes her sister women that appetizing, thirst-producing food paves the way to drunkenness and morbid appetites, a threadbare subject is invested with a new interest.

The oversalted and peppered breakfast potato balls and broiled ham that we ate one morning last week were relished. A highly seasoned slice of roast, a cup of rich, sweet sauce, and a slice of rich pie were reserved for the lunch pails.

Our highly-seasoned breakfast occasioned repeated visits to the water pail during the morning. A highly-seasoned lunch eaten at noon again resulted in a desire to drink the well dry.

Is it well that we should burn with an unnatural thirst? When mere babies are troubled with indigestion, is it not well that those who love the little sufferers begin a vigorous search for the cause?

Some years since a prominent society woman narrowly escaped dying, the sudden and almost fatal illness being occasioned by eating at a banquet salted almonds.

Sweets, spices, condiments enter largely into our cookery. If a too lavish use of these articles creates morbid cravings and unnatural tastes, is it not duty to remember we are our “brother’s keeper,” and that “life is more than meat.”

In many humble homes the helpful literature desired by the inmates is not obtainable. The grocery bills leave nothing each month for “luxuries.” Madame Loyson states that she has never spent during her busy life one penny for candy. That this famous and gifted woman thoroughly understands the science of true economy, which means the cutting off the hurtful and useless extras in the food prepared for the hungry, the thoughtful woman who is privileged to number one in a Loyson audience will readily believe.—Ellinor Allison, in (Minneapolis) Housekeeper.

CRUEL FASHION.

By Our Animal Friends

THE destruction of birds for millinery use has been happily on the decline during the last few years, though still waged to an extent almost beyond belief to one who has never seriously considered the matter. The “dead-bird wearing craze” appears to have reached its height, at least in this immediate vicinity, about 1885. For some years just prior to that date, and closely following it, the extent of the slaughter of birds for the millinery trade reached an appalling magnitude, running into the millions of victims annually in this country alone, and at one time became almost indiscriminate, the plainest birds being utilized as well as the more showy, although preference was of course given the latter. A few years of this wholesale destruction resulted in an obvious decrease of our smaller song birds, and in the almost complete annihilation of some of the species most prized for decorative purposes.

No sooner, however, had the attention of intelligent women been called to an evil they had thoughtlessly abetted, than they threw the weight of their influence against the barbarous fashion of wearing birds for personal decoration, and in some quarters, particularly among the more cultivated classes, the practice was quickly considered as not only in “bad form,” but a disgrace. It is lamentable to note, however, that the custom of wearing native birds is not wholly obsolete, and that the number of foreign birds thus utilized in various fanciful combinations of heterogeneous fragments, still demands an enormous slaughter in other countries. There is still enough demand for certain of our birds to give employment to little bands of “plume hunters” and “hat bird” men, but they are forced to pursue their disgraceful calling stealthily, and for the most part in out-of-the-way places where stringently enforced laws of any kind are the exception rather than the rule.—Our Animal Friends.

A PLACE WHERE THE HOG IS A BLESSING.

THE following, which we take from the Phrenological Journal, presents a field in which the hog may pursue his legitimate calling, that of scavenger:—

United States Consul Bedloe, writing to the Practitioner from Amoy, China, says that city bears the unenviable reputation of being the dirtiest city on the globe—a reputation thoroughly deserved.

The city is built on the edge of a mountainous island, and is exceedingly old. Inscriptions on ancient tombs run back as far as the beginning of the Christian era, and coins found in accidentally discovered graves date to dynasties from 500 to 1000 B.C. During all this period the hillsides of the city have been used as burying grounds. As the population increased, the houses encroached upon the cemetery land, until finally the two became hopelessly intermixed.

The United States Consulate is surrounded by over a hundred tombs, and a score of the large blocks of granite used in and about it are old tombstones. On the hill immediately behind the residence of F. Malcampo, Esq., the graves touch one another at every point and form a solid white surface of rock, brick, porcelain, and cement, covering more than a million square feet. Near the Lam paw-do Joss house 30,000 bodies are said to have been buried vertically to save space. They lie, or stand, in a plot of land of as many square feet. Amoy proper and its suburbs have a living population of about one million, and a dead one of four and a half times as many. The wells are shallow, and are sunk on the edges of the graveyards and even among the tombs themselves.

The city is walled the same as it was in the time of Confucius. It has no sewers whatever. The streets vary from two to six feet in width; no wheeled vehicles can use them. An equestrian would experience great difficulty in turning a corner. Here and there is an open space or plaza, dug out so as to be a huge open cesspool. Into it the streets discharge their filth and the house servants the refuse of their houses. Nothing goes to waste in China. The decomposing ooze, no one

knows how deep, is used for growing onions, water cress, water lilies, and other edible plants. Under a hot tropical sun their growth is marvelous. All garbage and offal is thrown into the yard for the pigs. What these omnivorous quadrupeds refuse is thrown into the streets and lies there until washed away by the rain or carried onward by the feet of the traveling multitude. The amount of street dirt found in this way is very great, and its nature very offensive and foul smelling. It accumulates in angles and no-thoroughfares. Where it settles it is always being rooted up by pigs and scratched over and into by pariah dogs. It should be said in justice to these two animals that they are excellent scavengers and devour almost everything. The pigs are simply invaluable, consuming even human fecal matter and urine. Without them the population would be swept away in thirty days.

THEY AGREED THEN AND AFTER.

A BAPTIST minister took charge of a parish near Boston where he knew that one man was decidedly opposed to his pastorate. Soon after his arrival the Rev. Mr. X. called upon Mr. A.

“Brother,” said he, “I hear that you think I am the wrong man to be the pastor of this church.”

“Well, to be frank,” replied Mr. A., “I do think that another would have filled the place better.”

“Now that is just what I think,” said the pastor. “But as long as we hold this opinion in opposition to the majority of the parishioners, let’s try to be unselfish and make the best of it.”

After that Mr. X. never had a firmer friend nor more faithful champion than Mr. A.—Selected.

THINK BEFORE YOU STRIKE.

WHEN I was a boy, I worked for a farmer, and was given a span of horses to plow with, one of which was a four-year-old colt. The colt, after walking a few steps, would lie down in the furrow. The farmer was provoked, and told me to sit on the colt’s head to keep him from rising while he whipped him, “to break him of that notion,” as he said. But just then a neighbor came by. He said, “There is something wrong here; let him get up and let us examine.” He patted the colt, looked at the harness, and then said, “Look at this collar; it is so long and narrow, and carries the harness so high, that when he begins to pull it slips back and chokes him so he can’t breathe.” And so it was; and, but for that neighbor, we would have whipped as kind a creature as we had on the farm, because he lay down when he couldn’t breathe.—Selected.

MILD WORDS.

“LET peace through all your actions run, and all your words be mild.” This little schoolday homily is applicable to all classes and conditions of men in life. It applies in the seedtime, and alike in the harvest time, under burning suns or chilling rains. It applies in mid ocean, when the stormy elements threaten destruction to crew as well as vessel. It applies in the great commercial competitions, where brother’s hand and brain are striving to overthrow his brother. As the Father pitieth all, so should man his brother.—Selected.

STARTLING STATISTICS FROM A SCHOOL.

By Lucy A. Wiggin

"I hurt my finger this morning," said Carrie, a child of seven years, in a primary school to-day, holding up her little hands for the teacher's sympathy.

"How did it happen?" asked the teacher.

"I went to the saloon for beer, and the screen door swung back and pinched my fingers. I cried hard it hurt so," said the child.

"Why did you go there for beer?"

"My mamma sent me."

"Oh," said the teacher, "little girls should not go to the saloon! They see men drink and play cards and hear them curse. It isn't a nice place for children. Tell your mother the teacher said please do not send you there again. We must be little ladies here, and ladies do not go to such places."

"I go there, too," said another child.

Then the question was carefully asked, How many children in this room sometimes go to the saloon for beer? Forty-eight of the fifty present raised their hands.

It seemed incredible that so many children should become acquainted at an early age with the interior of a saloon. The average age of these children is about eight years, or less. They do not belong to the lowest stratum of society, by any means, but are children of well-to-do work people, living in one or two rooms, wearing quite good clothes; some of the mothers go out to work.

Many pitiful incidents occur to show the general demoralizing influences of the saloon on any neighborhood. One dear little girl, Bessie, had been absent from school some days. The children said she could not come for she had no shoes. Teachers more often supply these, and other much needed articles, than is generally known, so Bessie's shoes were furnished.

One day the teacher went in search of her in the dirty back street where the family kept a cheap boarding house. The little maid was seen coming down the street with an old shawl over her head and shoulders, and with something on her arm, but her bare little feet, red and cold, on the frosty sidewalk.

"Where are you going?" questioned the teacher.

"To the butcher's shop," said Bessie readily.

As she tucked the ragged old shawl around the child, she discovered a tin pail instead of a basket on her arm.

"You are going for beer, aren't you, dear?" asked the teacher.

"My father sent me," said the child, trembling with fear.

Later the teacher made an earnest effort to induce the parents to allow her to place Bessie where she would be well cared for and taught; but no, they needed her to run errands. A startling murder occurred in this miserable family the following Sunday, and Bessie was released from the cruel father forever. In a drunken fight with the mother the father struck her with a chair; a boarder tried to defend her, but was in danger of losing his own life, when he seized a heavy iron poker and struck the striker dead.

The convenient saloon is almost wholly responsible for this and other terrible tragedies. Familiarity with such scenes is demoralizing to the children of a whole neighborhood. Tender hearts are hardened and the way paved to a downward career.

God speed any wise measure to free the land from this terrible blight upon childhood and curse upon manhood.—Lucy A. Wiggin, in Union Signal.

BATHING.

BATHING is essential to health and happiness. A man rises in the scale of respectability after a bath. He feels grander and greater; and I am not sure but what the same might be said of a nation. Would it be too much to say that Rome owed her greatness to her public baths? Undoubtedly they had their influence in stimulating the nerve centers of the exquisite patrician, till he felt himself almost a god when compared to the neighboring barbarian. Had Rome been as attentive to her morals as she was to personal charms, the nineteenth century would have seen that great empire still intact.—New Remedies.

THE EFFECTS OF TOBACCO ON THE SYSTEM.

By Editor

According to Science, in an experimental observation of thirty-eight boys of all classes of society and of average health, who had been using tobacco for periods ranging from two months to two years, twenty-seven showed severe injury to the constitution and insufficient growth; thirty-two showed the existence of irregularities in the heart's action, disordered stomach, cough, and a craving for alcohol; thirteen had intermittency of the pulse, and one had consumption.

This is what the Medical Brief says of tobacco users: "All persistent tobacco users, whether smokers or chewers, should be advised by their physician to use Cactina pellets—one pellet four times a day—to overcome the evil effects of tobacco upon the heart." The question which it seems to us would occur to every sensible man is this: Would it not be better not to use the tobacco? In total abstinence both health and money would be saved.

Why the Church Is Necessary

“THE church is necessary because men are sinners. If they were perfect, the church would be needless. A church made up of perfect members is of no value; it would be like a hospital in which all the inmates are perfectly well. A good church is made up of a membership who know they are not what they ought to be, and want to be better.”

Foreign Capital and American Breweries

NINETY-ONE million dollars of foreign capital (mostly British), already invested in American breweries, take out of this country about five million dollars every year in the way of profits. For what—developing the country?—No; for making drunkards, orphans, and widows, and leaving them on our hands to take care of.

Buffalo Crusade Against Sunday Saloons

THE citizens of Buffalo, N. Y., have entered on a vigorous crusade to close the saloons on Sunday. Taking warning by past failures, they do not depend on hired help to secure evidence, but do it themselves by purchasing liquor in parties of two to six and by taking photographs of the interior of saloons.—Union Signal.

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