Earlier text: NOTES ON THE INTERNATIONAL LESSONThe Missionary.
By Stephen N. Haskell
The Establishment of the First Christian Church.
THE manner of establishing the church at the first advent of Christ is important and full of interest; for it shows us his method of introducing the gospel to the world. When Jesus entered upon his ministry, he did not commence labor in the synagogue or in any other public place; but he commenced with personal, private labor for those who were athirst for knowledge. "John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me; for he was before me. And I knew him not; but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from Heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. And I knew him not; but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God. Again the next day after, John stood, and two of his disciples; and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye?" The disciples confessed that they were seeking Jesus; they desired to become acquainted with him, and to be instructed by him at his home. Jesus thus commenced his ministry by personal instruction at the place where he abode. The two disciples were charmed by his intensely practical lessons. Their hearts had never been so moved before. The missionary spirit at once took hold of Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He was interested for his friends and relatives, and was anxious that they should see Jesus, and hear his precious lessons for themselves. He at once went in search of his brother Simon, and claimed, with the greatest assurance, that he had found the Christ, the Saviour of the world. "And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jonas; thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, a stone." The next day Jesus selected another disciple, Philip, and said unto him, "Follow me." Philip fully believed that Jesus was the Christ, and he immediately began to search for others whom he might bring to his Lord. He soon found Nathanael, "and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile." Nathanael's wavering faith was strengthened, and he too became one of Christ's disciples. It was thus that the church was founded by the personal labor of Christ. He taught men in the public highway, in private houses, in the synagogue, on the lake shore, and at the marriage feast. He spent much time in the solitude of the mountains, engaged in earnest prayer; and he came forth from these seasons fresh for the conflict with the powers of evil, strengthened for active toil among men in real life. He would relieve the poor, and teach the ignorant and those bound by the chains of error. And his labors were confined to no one class. He accepted invitations to dine with the learned and the noble as well as with the poor and the afflicted; and the rich and honorable shared his instructions. We would not have it understood that we believe in talking in a loud and boisterous manner, by the roadside and in public places here and there, until people will hope never to meet us again. This was not Christ's method of working. "Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit upon him; he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench; he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth; and the isles shall wait for his law." The voice of Christ was not heard in the street in noisy contention with those who opposed his doctrines; neither was it heard in joy and mirth. It was not raised to exalt himself and gain applause and flattery; nor was it heard in prayer, that he might be observed of men. When engaged in teaching his disciples, he often withdrew with them from the noise and confusion of the busy city to some retired place more in harmony with the lessons of humility, virtue, and piety, which he would impress on their minds. The same spirit which characterized the Redeemer of mankind should characterize each one that professes faith in him. Are we actively engaged in the missionary work? If not, why not? Is it because no one has hired us,—because no one has set us to work, and told us just what to do and how to do it? If so, we are making a great mistake. We are to let our light shine where we are, and under the circumstances in which we individually are placed. If the servant of Christ finds himself where he cannot let his light shine to the benefit of others, then he is either where he has no business to be, or his life has so obscured his light as to destroy its influence for good. In either case, for his soul's sake and for the sake of others, he should at once change his situation, and, what is more important, his life. Wherever there are souls to be saved, there is something to be done. The world is full of men and women who have never heard the evidence of the soon coming of the Son of man. It is to be warned, and there remains but a short time in which to do this work. As long as probation lasts, there will be something for God's people to do for the salvation of those who are out of the ark of safety. It is personal labor that is needed, at the home, at the fireside, in the street, in the cars, on the steamboat. Wherever we are, we should watch for opportunities to say a word for Him who died for us. It may be but a word, and yet that word may be the means of saving a soul that is trembling in the balance, deciding for eternity. We know that "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? and how shall they preach, except they be sent?" And after they have been sent, how shall they successfully reach the people without special instruction from Christ? "For without me," he says, "ye can do nothing." To his disciples Jesus said, "Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes." This was designed to make an impression on their minds; for he had previously said to the same disciples, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." The importance of the work of saving souls should be so realized that none will wait for circumstances to clear the way, or make it easy to work for God. We have but little reason to have confidence in the work of those who cannot be free to labor unless the circumstances are in accordance with their minds. The great apostle wrote to Timothy, his son in the gospel, "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine." We are to labor in public and in private, by the fireside and in the desk, wherever and whenever we come in contact with souls. He that cannot do this is not fit to labor for God. But there are some who can preach well, but they are strangers to personal labor; such do not comprehend the nature of the work of the gospel. It has ever been the work of true believers to plant a knowledge of the truth and of the cross of Christ in new regions. When men have not this spirit, they have not the spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ. To settle in one place, and to confine our labors and means to any one locality, is not now, and never has been, the plan of God. Christ came to a lost world, not to save the Jews only, but whosoever should believe on his name. His labors showed that he was no respecter of persons; but that in every nation he that fears God, and works righteousness, is accepted with him. Jesus manifested as much interest in the woman of Samaria as in the chosen people, the Jews. The disciples marveled greatly that he should talk with this woman; but he informed them that he had meat to eat that they knew not of. In this circumstance he instructed them that the work of saving souls is not confined to any one class of people, or to any one nation or locality. "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." This is the broad commission which our Saviour gave to his disciples as he ascended up to Heaven. It reaches to the close of time; for he also said, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." The spirit of personal labor and of true devotion should characterize all missionary effort; and Christ will ever be with those who thus labor. It was in this spirit that the gospel was first introduced and established in Europe. Concerning the founding of the first church we read: "And on the Sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither." It was the same in Asia. Paul was with the disciples at all seasons. He taught publicly and from house to house. It is in this manner that the gospel work will wind up. Bible readings and colporter work will be resorted to, and every other means that can be devised to reach the people. Preaching is necessary and has its place; but that alone will not accomplish the work which God designs to have done. When laborers follow the example of Christ and the great apostle to the Gentiles, God will, for his own name's sake, honor his word, and clothe it with power. And in the end the triumphs of651the cross of Christ will be sounded by persons from every rank and station, and from every people, nation, and tongue on the face of the earth. This time is just before us; and the feeblest efforts, put forth in faith, and with the love of Christ in the heart, prepare the way, and hasten its coming. Our Office at Basel, and the Swiss Conference.
By W. C. White
We reached Basel Thursday morning, September 3, and were met at the train by Brother Whitney and Brother Charles Andrews. In a few moments we were at the new publishing house. It is a noble building, 46x76 feet in size, with four stories and basement. It was built so as to accommodate not only the present and future wants of our publishing work, but it also contains a large meeting hall which will seat a congregation of three hundred, while in the upper stories are convenient lodgings for several families. The whole building is planned so that with the growth of the publishing work partitions can be removed to make large, convenient rooms for the various branches of the book-making business. At first it was intended to build it but three stories high; but it was found that adding another story would increase the cost but little, and that this room could be rented to families so as to pay the interest on twice the amount of the additional expense. At present there are thirty-eight residing in the building, and during the Conference and council there were over one hundred sheltered under its roof. The laws of Switzerland are very peculiar with reference to the construction of buildings. Each city has a building department, from which you must obtain permission to build. And this department dictates with reference to the thickness of walls, the depth of foundation and of basement rooms, the construction of stairways and doors, and the length of time that newly-constructed walls must stand before the building is occupied, and many other things that seem to be of less importance. Then a tax is levied for insurance, and the building is insured by the State without the option of the owner. In this new building we find added to the strength and durability of the Swiss architecture many American conveniences, such as windows hung upon weights, and the pneumatic elevator running from basement to attic, which unite to make it the most substantial and convenient of any of our public buildings. The Swiss Conference, which was held from September 11-14, was attended by about one hundred and twenty-five persons from the churches in Switzerland, Germany, and France. These, with the fifty residing in Basel, composed our congregation. This is named the Swiss Conference for convenience. It is composed of all the organized churches in the Central European Mission. Most of the services were conducted in three languages. Sometimes the first song was in French, the prayer in English, and the second song in German. Then, if the sermon was given in English, those who could understand only the German and the French would group themselves together, and some one would translate for them. When the sermon was in French, it would be translated into German and English. There was a large number who understood two or three languages. The social meetings were conducted in much the same way. Testimonies were given in German, French, Italian, and English, and translated so that all could understand. While this occasioned some delay, it also tended to brevity of speech, and gave the hearers time to meditate upon what was being said. The characteristics which are found in companies of people who have had the courage to accept unpopular truth, were noticeable in a marked degree here; earnestness and intelligence and moral courage could be read on every countenance. The Swiss Conference has had an encouraging growth since its last meeting, and the tithes and donations have more than doubled during the past year. The most marked feature of the entire meeting was the earnest seeking after God. The early morning prayer-meetings were seasons of rich blessing. Under the influence of the practical discourses, of which there was at least one each day, there was developed an intense desire for a deeper spiritual life, and that the great truths of the message might sanctify the heart, bearing the fruit of a consistent and exemplary daily life. The sermon on Sabbath afternoon was followed by a social meeting, in which sixty-six took part, and in a similar meeting on Sunday afternoon one hundred and fifteen took part. The Conference gave credentials to three ministers, and license to four colporters. It was recommended that Brother Albert Vuilleumier be ordained to the work of the ministry and he was ordained during the missionary council, which followed the Conference. The Sabbath-school was an interesting feature of the meeting. Twenty classes took part, reciting the lesson in three languages. On Monday afternoon, fourteen persons were baptized, and then our friends returned to their homes, determined that for the year to come their lives and example shall honor the solemn truths that they have espoused. W. C. WHITE. It is hard to suffer for well-doing and for right feeling. Yet it is better to suffer thus than for the opposite. Paul suffered thus, being bound with a chain for the hope of Israel. And it is a very common thing to be sufferers because of our best intentions, or from being misunderstood by those whom we love. Every parent suffers thus when his child counts him harsh and unkind in denying him unlimited gratification, or resents his wise severity of discipline. How often we find ourselves under censure by a friend because of an act or purpose of sincerest friendship! And every pastor, or teacher, or Christian worker in any sphere, is quite as liable to make enemies, or provoke opposition, from fidelity to the right as from evil speaking or doing. Acting for the highest welfare of those about us, we must not expect to be always free from their misconception and censure. For a time we may be bound with a chain for that which is their hope and desire as well as ours.—Sel. North Pacific Conference.
By Charles L. Boyd
VANCOUVER, W. T.—Efforts have been made by Brother Starr and the writer, during the past two weeks, to bring the fruits of the labors at Vancouver and surrounding country, into a Scriptural organization. Two prosperous Sabbath-schools had been previously organized by Brother Starr and his co-laborers. During the past ten years, considerable missionary work has been done at Vancouver and throughout Clarke County. One brother of the East Portland church has been sowing SIGNS and tracts all over the county. The SIGNS has been doing its share of the work. Last spring the city was canvassed for the SIGNS and "Sunshine at Home," and colporter work has been done in the county. This summer Brethren Starr, Ward, and Cole held a series of meetings with the tent. We have now organized a church of twenty-seven members. Twenty-three of these were baptized into the faith, the most of them by Brother Starr before the organization. Arrangements are being made to build a house of worship. Regular Sabbath meetings will be maintained, both in the country seven miles distant, and in the city, where the church is to be built. It is hoped that soon a good working missionary society will be organized here, which will be instrumental in the hands of the Master in setting the light which shines upon their pathway, before many who are now sitting in darkness. October 21, 1885. CHAS. L. BOYD. To Every Man His Work.
By Theodore Monod
REMEMBER, God gives a special mission to one and to another special work, and each is serving him. One he sends to active service abroad, another to evangelize at home, another he sends into his study to prepare works for the church. Think of the man who compiled the concordance of the Bible. Many thought, I suppose, that he spent too much time in writing, and yet how useful a work he was engaged in for the whole church. A man may not be working in our line, but he is all right if he is following Christ, who gives every man his work. Now don't let us be turning about to see what this man and that man is to do, and to find fault with them; but let us look to the Lord, to receive our orders from him, and from him only—'Follow thou me.' Then let us remember, he addresses the words to each of us, he addresses you, he addresses me; and, after all, each one will be called before God personally and individually. Not the church, not the nation, will appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, but you will. You will have to be judged as to your work by yourself. If you wait for others to do their duty before you do yours, you will wait forever. Fancy an army, when the commander would say, 'Forward, march!' and each of the soldiers was looking to the right and to the left, to see if all the others marched before he did himself.—Theodore Monod. Repairing the Broken Altar
"AND Elijah . . . repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down." A revival in God's cause commonly begins by repairing the damages of the declension which make the revival a necessity. If there is coldness in a church, its best cure is not through looking up new converts, but through stirring up old members. A dead-and-alive prayer-meeting calls rather for more praying by the "saints," than for more "sinners" asking to be prayed for. If a Sunday-school lacks life, it is more likely to get it through fresh attention to the teachers' meeting, than through an influx of new scholars. As a rule, there would be a larger gain to any local church by the revival of ten of its members to do their full duty in zeal and faith, than by the addition of one hundred members of the average standard of practical efficiency. If any one of us would do the work of Elijah in our Israel, let him take hold, to begin with, and repair the altar of the Lord that is crumbling from neglect before the eyes of God's people. STRONGER than any steel safe is the human memory. Whatever we commit into its keeping is secure. We could not destroy its contents if we would. Our thoughts and deeds, though they seem transient as the morning clouds which are always moving and assuming new forms and colors, are more enduring than the stars. Memory holds them in its firm and unyielding grasp, and though many of them seem to escape and pass away, yet are they safe. They enter, moreover, into the structure of the character and life, and become inseparable parts of our very being and history. They are daily deposits, which, like the coral reefs, rise into indestructible forms, standing forever, though beaten by seas and storms. They take hold on destiny, and lead us on in paths which they have marked out for us. Let us take heed what we give into the keeping of this mysterious power.—Sel. How Bank-Notes Are Redeemed.
"WHAT becomes of old bank-notes?" is a question asked and answered in graphic detail by a correspondent of the Evening Post:— "When the national bank-notes have tramped about the country until they have become ragged and vagabond, and have reached the lowest depths of degradation, they are bundled up and sent to the Treasury Department for redemption. Many millions of these vagrants are received at the Department each year. They have to pass in review through the National Bank Redemption Agency, where those that are utterly depraved and good for nothing are sentenced to be chewed up, and those that have got in through the force of association, but are still not so far gone that some good may not be got out of them, are sent back into the service. In the place of those that are condemned, nice new notes, crisp and clean, are sent out. The experience of these notes is varied, and in some cases very novel and interesting; but their tale is told only by their ragged and dirty appearance when they get back to the Department. The average length of time that a new note can keep up a respectable appearance is about three years. Some have been found at the end of twenty years to be as crisp as on the day of their issue; but these are exceptional cases, where they have fallen into the hands of people who made pets of them, and carefully guarded them from rough usage. The wandering note soon becomes a tramp. It rapidly goes to pieces if it starts out for the West, stopping along at the cross-road inns, or if it frequents drinking saloons and falls in with low company. Bad habits tell on a bank-note very quickly. It is hard luck when it falls in with a bloody-fingered butcher. Some have been known to become good for nothing under such circumstances in a few weeks. They are subject, too, to all sorts of misfortunes by fire and water. "Many thousands get burned up. Then their charred and blackened remains are sent to the Treasury for redemption. One lady in the comptroller's office, in this case, has charge of them, and they are sent to her for identification before they can be redeemed. Her name is Fitzgerald, and she is said to be very expert, seldom failing to identify a note, giving its proper name, date, and classification, no matter how badly burnt it is. Sometimes packages of several hundred, done up to be expressed, are sent in all stuck together and burnt clear through to a black, crispy mass. She then separates them one by one with a very thin-bladed knife, and places the charred remains of each one separately upon a glass slab, and examines it very carefully with a magnifying glass. She is familiar with all peculiarities of the issues of the various banks, and a note must be reduced almost to ashes to be beyond her recognition, though to an inexperienced eye it might not be distinguished from a piece of grocer's paper which had gone through the fire. "The force of fifty-seven, all except two or three of whom are ladies, can handle just half a million notes each day. This is very expert counting. The notes when they come to be judged have first to be 'counted in.' This requires the 'counter-in' to go over them twice, and she must make no mistake and pass no counterfeit, or the loss thus caused will be deducted from her salary. She is given from 6,000 to 10,000 notes, for which she gives a receipt; then she counts them in; then she counts them back, and if the two counts agree she is given credit for them when she settles up in the evening, turning in the money, bound, and labeled with her name and the amount on each package. If the packages, or any of them, are found short, she has to make good the deficiency. Next, the notes have to be assorted, those in good condition from those in bad condition; then they have to be grouped as to denomination; then distributed into banks of issue, and then into denomination, under the heads of banks. Then they are 'counted out.' The 'counter-in' has to handle them twice and the 'counter-out' thrice, but the former has the most responsibility, and must be more expert. The 'counter-in' handles from 6,000 to 10,000 notes twice, or counts 12,000 to 20,000 per day, while the 'counter-out' handles from 5,000 to 7,000 three times, or counts from 15,000 to 21,000 per day. This is provided they make no mistake, which makes a recount necessary, and doubles the work." The Home Circle.
By Ada Carleton
BENEATH a shady elm tree
Two little brown-haired boys
Were complaining to each other
That they couldn't make a noise.
"And it's all that horrid baby,"
Cried Johnny, looking glum;
"She makes an awful bother;
I 'most wish she hadn't come. "If a boy runs through the kitchen,
Still as any mouse can creep,
Nora says: 'Now do be aisy,
For the baby's gone to sleep!'
And when, just now, I asked mamma
To fix my new straw cap,
She said she really couldn't
Till the baby took her nap!" "I've been thinking we might sell her"—
Fred thrust back his curly hair;
"Mamma calls her 'Little Trouble,'
So I don't believe she'd care.
We will take her down to Johnson's:
He keeps candy at his store;
And I wouldn't wonder, truly,
If she'd bring a pound or more; "For he asked me if I'd sell her
When she first came; but, you see,
Then I didn't know she'd bother,
So I told him, 'No, sir-ree!'
He may have her now, and welcome;
I don't want her any more.
Get the carriage 'round here, Johnny,
And I'll fetch her to the door." To the cool, green-curtained bedroom
Freddy stole, with noiseless feet,
Where mamma had left her baby
Fast asleep, serene and sweet.
Soft he bore her to the carriage,
All unknowing, little bird!
While of these two young kidnappers
Not a sound had mamma heard. Down the street the carriage trundled;
Soundly still the baby slept;
Over two sun-browned boy-faces
Little sober shadows crept.
They began to love the wee one.
"Say," said Johnny, "don't you think
He will give, for such a baby,
Twenty pounds as quick as wink?" "I'd say fifty," Fred responded,
With his brown eyes downward cast.
"Here's the store; it doesn't seem's though
We had come so awful fast!"
Through the door they pushed the carriage:
"Mister Johnson, we thought maybe
You would—wouldn't—would you—would you—
Would you like to buy a baby?" Merchant Johnson's eyes were twinkling;
"Well, I would; just set your price.
Will you take your pay in candy?
I have some that's very nice.
But, before we bind the bargain,
I would like to see the child!"
Johnny lifted up the afghan;
Baby woke, and cooed, and smiled. "It's a trade!" cried Merchant Johnson.
"How much candy for the prize?"
Fred and Johnny looked at baby,
Then into each other's eyes.
All forgotten was the bother
In the light of baby's smile;
And they wondered if mamma had
Missed her daughter all the while. "Candy's sweet, but baby's sweeter,"
Spoke up sturdy little Fred;
"'Cause she is our own and onliest
Darling sister," Johnny said,
"So I guess we'd better keep her,
But if we should ask Him—maybe
When He knows you'd like to have one,
God will send you down a baby!" Merchant Johnson laughed, and kindly
Ran their small hands o'er with sweet,
Ere they wheeled the baby homeward,
Back along the quiet street;
And mamma (who had not missed them)
Smiled to hear the little tale,
How they went to sell the baby,
How they didn't make the sale.
—Ada Carleton. Why Rhode Island Has Two Capitals.
By Editor
WE received, recently, a very pleasant call from a little miss, a scholar of public school No. 3, carrying a note from Miss Armstrong, teacher. She was likewise the bearer of a huge letter, on which was the coat-of-arms of the State of Rhode Island, directed to "Miss Iola M. Tator, Hudson, N. Y." A few days since, Iola's teacher wrote on the blackboard for her scholars the question, "Why has Rhode Island two capitals?" leaving the class to find out. Iola, without consulting her teacher or school-mates, wrote to the governor of Rhode Island, and received in answer the following letter:— STATE OF RHODE ISLAND,
EXECUTIVE CHAMBER,
PROVIDENCE, Feb. 5, 1885.
"MISS IOLA M. TATOR, Hudson, N. Y.: I have received your letter asking me why Rhode Island has two capitals. If I can be of any assistance to you in your lessons, I will gladly write you the reason. In the very early history of this State there were two States or Colonies comprising what is now Rhode Island. The island of Rhode Island was one, and the other was Providence Plantation. After a while both were united into one colony under the name of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and that is still the full proper name of the State, though it is commonly, for convenience, called Rhode Island. In the colonial times, and also down to within a comparatively few years, the State Legislature used to meet at several towns in the State,—Providence, Newport, Bristol, Kingston, and East Greenwich,—probably because the people of the various sections thought the Legislature ought to favor them as much as Providence and Newport. But for the past thirty years the Legislature has met only at Newport and Providence, thus perpetuating the remembrance of the time when they were two Governments. The Legislature meets at Newport the last Tuesday in May, and remains there generally only a few days. Then it adjourns to meet in Providence in January, where nearly all the business of the State is transacted. If I have not written so you can understand the reason, let me know and I will write you again. Very truly yours,
"AUGUSTUS O. BOURN." —Hudson, N. Y., Register. It is strange that people nearly always fail to be natural when they are in company. They put on a Sunday voice, a good deal like the preacher in the pulpit, and their most intimate friends can hardly recognize them. The most curious part of the affair is that they do not deceive even the people they are trying to impress with their importance. Every one recognizes an affectation, and deep down in the bottom of the heart every one despises it. Note a group on the piazza at a fashionable watering-place, and you will say with Puck, "What fools these mortals be."—Boston Budget. The Standard of Greatness
By John Ruskin
He who comes up to his own idea of greatness, must always have had a very low standard of it in his mind.—Ruskin. Deadly Effects of Tobacco.
It is admitted by the most competent authorities on medicine that tobacco contains a strong, very strong poison; much stronger than many people suppose, or have any idea of. The Quarterly Journal of Science instructs us that "nicotine, the essential principle of tobacco, is so deadly an alkaloid that what is contained in one cigar, if extracted and administered in a pure state, would cause a person's speedy death. Tobacco belongs to the narcotic and exciting substances which have no food value. Its stimulating adds no vital force, but abstracts or takes it away. It involves the narcotic paralysis of a portion of the functions whose activity is essential to healthy life. Let it be clearly understood that the temporary stimulus and soothing power of tobacco are gained by destroying vital force; and that the drug contains nothing of use to the tissues of a healthy life. Nor is the poison easily expelled from the system; it remains sometimes years after persons have ceased to use the weed. Indeed, nicotine has been detected in the tissues of the lungs and liver after death." The following are some of the experiments made by Fontana: 1. "I made," says he, "a small incision in a pigeon's leg, and applied to it the oil of tobacco. In two minutes it lost the use of its foot. 2. I repeated this experiment on another pigeon, and the event was exactly the same. 3. I made a small wound in the pectoral muscles of a pigeon, and applied the oil to it. In three minutes the animal could no longer support itself on the left foot. 4. This experiment, repeated on another pigeon, resulted in the same way. 5. I introduced into the pectoral muscles of a pigeon a small bit of wood covered with this oil. The pigeon in a few seconds fell insensible. 6. Two other pigeons, to whose muscles I applied this oil, vomited several times. 7. Two others with empty stomachs, treated in the same mode, made every effort to vomit." Put a victim of this habit into a hot bath; let full and free perspiration arise; then drop a fly into that water—and it dies at the instant of contact. Cannibals will not eat human flesh which contains the flavor of tobacco. Even the turkey-buzzards of Mexico refused the flesh of soldiers addicted to this indulgence! Kæmpfer ranks it with the strong vegetable poisons. A thread dipped into the oil of tobacco, and drawn through a wound made by a needle in an animal, killed it in the space of seven minutes. Rees' Cyclopedia says a drop or two of the oil placed on the tongue of a cat produces convulsions and death in the space of a minute. One drop suspended in an ounce and a half of mucilage, and thrown into the rectum of a dog, produced violent symptoms, and a repetition of the experiment killed him. A college of physicians has said that not less than twenty thousand in our own land annually die by the use of this poison. A German periodical says that of twenty deaths of men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five, one-half originate in the waste of the constitution by smoking. The same periodical says, "Tobacco burns out the blood, the teeth, the eyes, the brains." Dr. Shaw names some eighty diseases, and says they may be attributed to tobacco. Governor Sullivan says, "My brother, General Sullivan, used snuff, and his snuff lodged him prematurely in his grave." The French poet Santeuil was killed by a little snuff being thrown into his wine-glass, at the prince of Conde's table. Bocarme, of Belgium, was murdered in two minutes and a half, by a little nicotine, or alkali of tobacco. A very moderate quantity introduced into the system—even applying the moistened leaves over the stomach—has been known very suddenly to extinguish life. Dr. Twitchell believed that sudden deaths and tobacco, among men, were usually found together, and he sustained this opinion by an array of facts altogether conclusive. Says the Rev. George Trask, of the United States, "I can give the names of scores of men, who were found dead in their beds, or fell dead in the streets or elsewhere, who had been the victims of this poison." Such is the rankness of the poison of tobacco that even to sleep with an inveterate smoker is very dangerous. The above-quoted authority gives a striking case in proof of this. "The young wife of a great smoker grew pale, lost her appetite, became affected with palpitations of the heart, trembling of the limbs, and a death-like sinking at the pit of the stomach; her sleep was often interrupted with darting pains and frightful dreams; she became nervous with symptoms of hysteria. At first her physician was unable to account for this medley of distressing pains, but at length it occurred to him that they resembled the effects of tobacco; he communicated his suspicions to the husband, who immediately cast away the cigar, and had the satisfaction of seeing his wife recover in a short time without the use of medicine." If such are the properties of tobacco, it is no wonder that it has destroyed many thousands of lives, and permanently injured the constitutions of an almost incredible number of smokers and chewers. To give an elaborate description of all the manifold injuries the use of tobacco does to health, would be impossible in a work of this size, but we append the following, which is the result of a long and careful investigation of medical statements on the subject in question:— 1. Partial paralysis of the nerves distributed to the heart; from this proceeds hurried and enfeebled action of that organ. This induces palpitations, and is frequently a chief cause of those organic derangements ending in fatal heart disease. That thousands of tobacco smokers have brought on a very serious state of nervousness by the use of the weed, themselves, with others, will frankly admit. How many of them we see scarcely able to put the pipe into their mouths without trembling like a leaf! That shaking of the hands shows too plainly what the much-loved narcotic has done for them. In how many cases have sudden death resulted from the heart having been diseased by the pernicious habit. We give the following account of tobacco poisoning in New York, as communicated by a gentleman to a public journal:— "The victim was exactly of my own years, and a companion from early boyhood. For thirty years at least he had been a daily smoker of the choicest cigars, but in all his other habits temperate and regular, and of excellent constitution—one who of all men would have laughed at the suggestion that tobacco was killing him. A week ago last Sunday night he was stricken with the progressive paralysis characteristic of nicotine, and on Sunday night he died. His death was most pitiful. First, sight was lost, then speech, then motion of the neck, then motion of the arms, and so on throughout the body, and he lay for a week unable to move or make a sign, save a pitiful, tongueless, inarticulate sound, which sometimes rose to almost frantic effort, all in vain to make known what he wished to say to the family and friends; for his consciousness and mental faculties were left unimpaired until two hours of the last, to aggravate to the utmost the horror of his situation,—a living soul in a dead body,—the sense of hearing was left unimpaired, so that he was conscious of all around him, while as incapable of communication with them as if dead, save by"