ONE would expect liberty of conscience to be discussed almost anywhere else rather than in Russia; but even that conservative empire does move, or at least there are indications of such a tendency. A missionary conference was held in Central Russia last December, and M. Stakhovitch, marshal of the nobility of the government of Orel, “proposed to the congress to recognize the absolute liberty of conscience, including not only the freedom of belief, but also the right to withdraw from the orthodox church and to make converts to another religion in disagreement with it.”
A prominent newspaper, in discussing the subject, thus summarized:—
M. Stakhovitch accused the civil power of the state for having, in an unbecoming manner, assumed jurisdiction of a foreign territory—that of the intellect and conscience. We have, he said, with a criminal hand chained the church of God to the feet of a vain and profane earthly power. By this means the church was not protected, but in its spiritual entireness destroyed. Inasmuch as she takes her refuge in unspiritual means, in coarse, material force, she ceases to be the church, and comes to be an institution of the state, a kingdom of this world,—undoubtedly holding that the domain of conscience and faith was exclusively the domain of the church.
An orthodox (Russian Church) clergyman was led to take up the same subject, and the following is from his address, as quoted in part in a St. Petersburg paper:—
Is it not depressing for our entire country, and for345our orthodoxy, that we who enjoy the immense conquests of science, participate in the cultured life of the entire world, and form one family with the nations of Europe, up to the present time can not desist from the custom of persecuting those people who do not think, believe, and confess their faith as we do? “Man is a free, rational being, created after the image of God.” Thus the first declaration reads in any of our catechisms of elementary instruction in the orthodox doctrine. But if this be so, if man is indeed a free, intellectual being, then give him the possibility to choose his belief.
The principles expressed are good and right. But all this is the beginning of discussion; and even tho it is conjectured that M. Stakhovitch may have been “inspired from St. Petersburg to make his declaration by way of trying the temper of the orthodox church,” there is a long, dreary interval between the region of discussion and the realm of law. But God's hand is in the movements of nations. His closing work in the earth is soon to go with mighty power, and who knows but that it may have, if not an unobstructed course, at least a much less difficult one than it now has, even in the despotic empire of the White Czar?
“A NEEDED REVIVAL.”
UNDER the above heading an article appeared in the Christian Advocate not long since which clearly points out an existing evil, and makes earnest appeal for a change on the part of parents, pastors, and teachers. The writer says:—
Surely there is no necessary friction or war between the spirit that saves a child and that which rescues a chronic sinner. Surely any true church should be broad enough in its aims to do both. Surely the church which is derelict regarding the spiritual tutelage and care of its own children is unfit to be the foster mother of adult babes in Christ. I have wondered sometimes if the devil could have devised a better trick on the church than to delude it into general neglect of its own children by turning such exclusive attention to adult conversion. It is the open shame of some evangelists and preachers that they glory in reporting a revival of adults, not including children. With proper care pledged, they might with greater safety count the children, and throw the really converted adults in.
If the same strength which is spent in public preaching and general revival efforts was intelligently spent upon the children, the results would be tenfold what they are in both quantity and quality. Intelligent effort in this direction means much. It implies the instruction and co-operation of the parents regarding their solemn duty. It implies getting the church in condition to nurture child disciples. It involves the consecration and co-operation of Sunday-school teachers and junior workers. It necessitates, more than all, that the pastor be awakened to a sense of his duty and danger. It would not involve much new machinery, only the spiritual, practical, and well-defined use of what we have.
Can the church hope for a general revival which shall result in stirring our dead communities and in the conversion of unregenerate men while she so generally and chronically neglects her own little ones? We believe the answer must be an easy negative to the Christian of comprehensive and consistent thought. We are behind the Jew of 2,000 years before Christ in this work. How much longer shall we neglect it? How many more generations must be permitted to drift away into church neglect and spiritual indifference before we learn our duty? How much longer shall we try to recruit the school of Christ chiefly from the streets rather than from Christian cradles? How much longer shall we seek to extend the vineyard of the Lord by transplanting gnarled oaks rather than tender twigs? How much longer shall we permit the wicked Herods of our time to hunt down and murder the Christ children in our cradles, without a protest even unto tears and blood, if need be? Our heart is hot with this theme. All that has ever been said or written on the subject has not done it justice. Burning words must be sounded through some megaphone from sea to sea before we awaken manifestly from our slumbers. Lord, in mercy stay Thy coming, and hasten to arouse us to the rescue of the innocents!
But it may be really questioned whether that labor for souls which would leave children out is what it ought to be or is wholly directed by the great Head. Labor for sinners, even the very worst, ought to be continued, but labor for children as never before ought to be begun, not merely in public, but in the home above everywhere else, and then in church and school.
The writer believes that while but few are awake to the matter, “there is more latent and slumbering conviction than we are aware of.” And we believe there is much conviction on the part of parents, but O, we want consecration, action, determined, persistent, continued, and this is lacking. The great majority of parents, upon whom God has placed the responsibility, are too willing to shift it to others, or put it off till too late.
The article asks to have a week set apart to consider the matter. That is good as far as it goes, but the work, to be effectual, demands the lifetime of parents. All this neglect comes because we have departed from the Bible.
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES
CORONATION NUMBER
Ready June 5, 1902 Order Early
ATTITUDE TOWARD SPIRITISM.
The fifty-fourth anniversary of “Modern Spiritualism” is in the recent past. Among the addresses was one by Dr. George H. Brooks, a noted Spiritist of Milwaukee, who referred to the increased tolerance now shown toward Spiritualists by the churches. Upon this the Christian Advocate truly remarks:—
If the churches are showing any indulgence to Spiritualism, it is a religious thermometer which exhibits with two tubes, one of which shows the indulgence toward Spiritualism by a rising in the tube, and the other the decline of faith in Christianity, which sinks in this tube exactly in proportion to the rise in the other.
And the reason for the manifest tolerance and inclination toward Spiritism is the anti-scriptural doctrine held by the churches concerning the nature of man. If the churches stood in the light, if the Satanic doctrine (Gen. 3:3, 4) of the immortality of the soul were repudiated, if it could see that the only hope for those who sleep in death is the resurrection, there would be no hook for Satan to hang his false theory upon. But the great mass seem more willing to retain the error and let in its whole brood of soul-destroying falsehoods, than to accept of the humiliating truth, to the carnal man, that he is mortal, and can live forever only by embracing the righteousness and life of Christ.
Devastation on Martinique and St. Vincent
The latest reports from the stricken islands of Martinique and St. Vincent show that the extent of the terrible calamity which overtook the inhabitants of those islands was not overdrawn in the earlier reports. The number of dead on the island of Martinique still stands at 30,000 according to the latest estimate. The latest reports from St. Vincent state that 1,600 dead have been found and buried, and it is probable that the earlier estimate of 2,000 dead is none too high. The Martinique volcano continues its activity, and a new volcano has broken out on the north side of the mountain. At times Mount Pelee has threatened to duplicate the tragedy of May 8. On May 17 searchers and burial parties were compelled to flee from the island and embark on vessels in the vicinity. These searchers report that the volcano is in a most vicious mood, and that hot mud and ashes were again raining down upon the site of the stricken city. All the northern portion of this island is covered with volcanic mud and ashes from a depth of a few inches to two or more feet. Six thousand refugees are now at Fort de France, and 3,000 are at Kingston. Even Fort de France, fifteen miles from St. Pierre, is not considered out of danger. Careful inspection shows that a rushing cloud of heavy gas came down upon the city, and suffocated the greater part of the inhabitants. This was immediately followed by a cloud of fire, and a rain of fiery matter which consumed many of the bodies of those stricken down by the deadly gas.
The work of relief on both islands is being carried on in a systematic manner, and it seems quite likely that not all the money appropriated for these sufferers will be used or needed.
The volcano on St. Vincent, after several days of activity, has quieted down; but the area devastated by its eruption is greater than that on Martinique. It was not so thickly populated, however, in the vicinity of the volcano, and therefore fewer lives were lost. Many of the natives have lost houses and lands and everything they possessed, and the government has a difficult question to solve in the way of providing for them.
Prof. K. Bierkland, of Norway, has invented an electro-magnetic cannon, and given a demonstration of its power before military officers. The results of this demonstration were so convincing that a firm of artillery manufacturers has offered to buy the invention for immediate exploitation. By electricity the projectile is forced from the gun at a tremendous speed. Theoretically the cannon will throw a projectile weighing two tons a distance of ninety miles. How far it will actually throw such a projectile, however, remains to be seen. Some of the technical observers state that it means a greater revolution in fighting material than that brought about by the use of gunpowder.
On May 15 the delegates of the anthracite mine-workers in convention at Hazleton, Pa., decided to continue the strike of 145,000 men for increased wages. The coal companies refuse to yield to the demand, are bringing up their mules from the mines and turning them out to pasture, and making other preparations for a long struggle. Company stores are refusing to trust the miners for supplies. Cash must be paid or no supplies of any kind can be obtained. Altogether, it looks as if there were hard times ahead for the workmen of that region. As a result of this strike, the price of anthracite in New York has already been raised $1.00 on the ton.
On May 18 earthquakes were reported from the south of Portugal, believed to have some connection with the recent upheavals in the West Indies. Volcanic activities are reported from many parts of the earth, since this outbreak occurred. Seven days after the eruption on Martinique, the famous hot springs at Teplitz-Schoenau, Austria, suddenly began to send forth water of a deep red color. It was found that the water was filled with ochre, and the reservoirs had to be emptied and thoroughly cleansed. A similar phenomenon was observed a few hours after the great earthquake which destroyed a portion of Lisbon, in 1755.
Advices from Ecuador state that General Alfaro, a former president, is planning a revolutionary move against the present government of that republic.
On May 17, Alfonso XIII. took the oath as king of Spain, having passed his sixteenth birthday. The crowning of the young king was attended with much display and ceremony, but the reports indicate that there was little enthusiasm on the part of the people. An insane man who attempted to present a letter to the young king created much excitement, as it was thought he had attempted the assassination of the king. A number of anarchists were arrested who are believed to have been plotting the king’s death.
The government is making preparations for the resurvey of the floor of the Caribbean Sea and adjacent waters. Reports from the islands indicate that there have been great changes in the bed of the sea there, due to the recent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions in that vicinity. In some places the depth of the water has increased from 400 fathoms to 1200 fathoms, and it is presumed that there have been corresponding rises in the sea-floor in other places, which will be a menace to navigation.
A disastrous cyclone swept over a portion of Texas on May 18, and visited portions of three other States, finishing its course in Kentucky. The greatest havoc was wrought in Texas, and the little town of Goliad suffered most severely. In that town 98 deaths are reported and more than a hundred were seriously injured. Three churches were in the path of the storm and were utterly demolished, with fully a hundred other buildings.
The largest photograph supply houses in the United States have entered into a combination under the direction of the Eastman Kodak Company. This trust will control the entire output of dry plates in the United States, and will have absolute control of both prices and agents. The amount of capital represented by this combination is stated to be between $35,000,000 and $40,000,000.
Advices received from the Baltic provinces of Russia state that drought and frosts have practically destroyed the crops, and great crowds of starving peasants are flocking to Moscow from the central provinces in search of means of subsistence. The peasants are reported to be feeding their stock rotten straw from the thatched roofs of their dwellings.
The Chinese Government on May 13 announced that after two days’ fighting, the rebels in the southern part of the province of Chi-li have been completely defeated and their leaders captured. It is stated that 200 of the rebels were killed. The end of the engagement savored of a massacre, all the wounded being killed.
Eight men were killed and a number injured in a conflict between officers and negroes at Atlanta, Ga., on May 17. The negroes had barricaded themselves in a building and refused to surrender. When the officers closed in on the building, the battle began. Four of the men who lost their lives were white and four colored.
The prison commissioners of Scotland, in their report for the year 1901, again call attention to the serious increase in crime in Scotland. The increase has been steady since 1845. In the year 1900 there were imprisoned 60,503, and in 1901, 66,769. There is an increase in both minor offenses and more serious crimes.
The Congress of Salvador is energetically protesting against the large award granted to the American company against the Salvadoran Government for taking away certain concessions which it had granted that company. It is probable that the government will refuse to pay the award.
The new Sheridan yard of the Panhandle Railroad was the scene of a terrible explosion on May 12. Five cars of naphtha which were being run onto a switch in the yards exploded, killing 22 persons and more or less seriously burning or otherwise injuring 300 others.
Advices from Portugal state that grave fears are entertained there of an active revolution. Considerable apprehension is felt as to the attitude of the Portuguese troops. One regiment has been disarmed and disbanded for fear they would join the rioters.
On May 12 Congress voted $200,000 toward the relief of the survivors of the stricken islands of Martinique and St. Vincent. The President approved the bill, tho he had recommended that $500,000 be appropriated for that purpose.
Prof. Willis L. Moore, of the Washington Weather Bureau Office, has invented a device which he claims will keep any room cool in the hottest days of summer. The apparatus is said to be simple and comparatively inexpensive.
The President has given instructions to the attorney-general to investigate the operations of the anthracite coal trust and break up the combination in case it is found to be violating the interstate commerce law.
The new naval appropriation bill which was taken up by Congress on May 13 carries an appropriation of $77,650,000. This is for the maintenance of the existing navy and the construction of six new vessels.
The government of Hayti has been overturned, and a provisional government installed in its place, a former president having been chosen chief magistrate.
Scientific parties from different parts of the world have gone or are going to the West Indies to study the results of the volcanic disturbances there.
Taxation of the Poor
The Italian national debt in 1901 was $2,580,000,000. The revenue the same year was $285,000,000. Of this $35,000 was raised on tobacco; $13,800,000 was raised from a tax on salt, a monopoly which the government controls. It cost the government, all told, $1,200,000. The amount of $6,500,000 comes from a degrading national lottery, which takes from the people about $15,000,000 a year, mostly from the poor. Land is taxed from twenty cents to $1.20 an acre. Imported grain paid a tax of nearly $15,000,000; petroleum (not produced in Italy) of $20,000,000. And everything must be stamped from match boxes to mortgages. Incomes are taxed direct, not on a person's sworn statement, but on results of government investigation. Fuel must be imported, and wood and coal cost Italy about $20,000,000. Mr. Wolcott Calkins says in the Forum of May, from which article we gather the above facts: “I venture to enumerate a few articles with the percentage of increase over their normal cost. Salt, 1,300 per cent; sugar, 350 per cent; petroleum, 337 per cent; wine, 120 per cent; coffee, 75 per cent; wheat flour 62 per cent; meat, 10 per cent.” Agriculture is far below par. No wonder that there is discontent. The tobacco used, the wine and coffee drunk, are worse than the taxes, but think of those on the necessities of life. Moreover, it is safe to say that the priest-ridden church is a greater burden than the State. What wonder that anarchists and revolutionists are bred there?
A CORRECTOR IN ERROR.
Forests and Floods.
In a recent paper in the Bulletin of the Geographical Society, Professor Gannett of the United States geological survey treats of “popular errors,” among which is that pertaining to forests and floods. Public Opinion quotes him as follows:—
Another persistent error is the belief that floods in our rivers are more frequent than formerly because of the cutting down of forests in their draining basins. Where the forests are cut away, the ground is seldom left bare; it is cultivated or quickly becomes covered with bushes, which hold the water quite as effectively as forests. The main fact is, however, that the floods in our rivers are no greater or more frequent now than in the past.
Now what Professor Gannett pronounces a “persistent error” is a demonstrated fact in many cases. Take, for instance, those sections of Pennsylvania which are feeders to the basin of the Alleghany River and its tributaries, or the Adirondac region of northern New York. These mountainous sections were formerly almost wholly covered by heavy forests of oak, pine, maple, spruce, hemlock, cedar, etc. Upon these mountains and high hills the snowfall was heavy, and the deep forests, oftentimes largely composed of evergreens, kept out sun and south wind, and held that body of forest snow in their cool embrace long after the great mass of it had departed from open fields. We have seen snow in the Adirondac region of New York, in the deep shades of its forests, frequently as late as June, and in some specially-sheltered nook as late as July. When the warm spring weather came, the snow melted first in the lowlands and cleared lands, and later and more gradually in the forests. There was high water in the rivers, but not so high nor was the rise so sudden as now. Since the ruthless hand of commercialism denuded the land of forests, the increasing sunlight and warm winds have melted the snow much more rapidly, in fact all over the cleared country at the same time, resulting in overflowing streams and sudden destructive floods.
Neither do the small bushes that may grow up greatly affect the rapid melting of the snow, as the bushes intercept neither sun nor wind. Cultivation greatly accelerates the rapid drainage of lowlands and swamps. Many springs which in the days of “the forest primeval” were strong and constant are now only wet-season or “dry springs,” or have disappeared altogether. It may be remarked that it is reasonable to believe that the cool, damp forests would act as condensers to the moisture-laden clouds much better than the open, warmer, drier fields. The lesson is, retain the forests if possible, or plant more in their place.
THE ORIGINAL FOOD OF MAN.
WHAT liberal provision God has made for man. What more could or ought we to ask? The luscious fruits from loaded trees and vines,—what variety, and how easily obtained. And what more appetizing than our garden and field berries? Any poor man's family can gather them from the pasture fields, and from the berry bushes that grow wild; or the plants may easily be propagated. And besides the fruits from our own fields, gardens, and orchards, we have the fruits from every clime, and all in unstinted measure.
Then the vegetable kingdom! How could we wish greater variety or more nutritious fare? Well cooked, these are good enough for the greatest epicure. We have all these for the noon-day meal, and for breakfast and supper, the cereals with the nutritious meal from the golden American maize, and the delicious buckwheat, whose flowers tempt the industrious bee to store up for us the sweetest nectar for the cakes made from the grain. We sing of the love of our dear Heavenly Father, “O, it is wonderful! wonderful! very, very wonderful!” When we think of His provision for us (aside from the sacrifice of His precious Son) we are almost overwhelmed with “wonder, love, and praise.”
To continue the enumeration of our blessings, there are our nut-bearing trees, the outer covering of which nature opens with the frost as perfectly as man could do it with any blade, allowing the nuts to drop into the lap, or at the feet, of childhood. We think the dear Father must have thought of the children when He planted the trees,—the hickory-nut, chestnut, butternut, beechnut, and the hazelnut,—often by the road-side, where the smallest child can fill his pockets going to and from school. How well we remember them! But alas! what thankless children are we all of larger growth. We eat to satiety, and like the animals under the trees, look not up to see whence come the blessings.
The German must have his beer (fresh, for what cares he for the Sabbath) to wash down this heaven-sent repast, and on many tables must appear the “swine's flesh and broth of abominable things,” which are spoken of in Holy Writ in no mistakable terms. As for ourselves, the forbidden flesh comes on the table and goes off untouched. If it was not fit for God's children in olden times, we can not think it is now, with its trichina and microbes. A meat diet seems to produce corpulence and an abnormal size, to create lethargy and flabbiness, to dull the perceptions, and to cause diseases from which we shrink with horror and dread. It is asserted that cancer is rarely known among the Jews. If this statement is true, it is a convincing argument against the use of pork. But it is sufficient for the Christian that God forbade the use of swine's flesh among His people of old, and condemned those who persisted in eating “swine's flesh and broth of abominable things.”
Elmira, N. Y.
DIET AND THE LIQUOR HABIT.
By David Paulson
The first epoch in the history of a drunkard’s career, if truthfully written, would have to deal largely with several points on the diet question. When we create a necessity for an evil, we certainly should not be surprised if it is in some way supplied; and so, just as long as children are continually taught to eat mustard plasters in the form of condiments and highly seasoned foods, thus physiologically creating a thirst within them that the town pump knows not how to quench, we can not hope for any decrease in the number of inebriates. Such blistering substances are in no sense real foods, and are a source of irritation as long as they remain in the human system.
Many persons naturally possess such a latent craving for drink that all that is necessary to start them in the direction of a saloon is an acute attack of indigestion. Therefore, pastry, and the so-called “rich foods,” which are virtually poor foods even for a healthy person, should be absolutely excluded from the dietary intended to assist in the prevention or cure of intemperance. Great care should also be taken to make proper combinations of foods. Fruit and vegetables should not be eaten at the same meal, or even milk and vegetables. Neither should milk be eaten with fruit.
Another cause of indigestion, and, consequently, an ally to the saloon, is the free use of sweetmeats. Thousands of blue-eyed children, many of them the offspring of drunkards, can daily be seen on the streets, nibbling away at chemically colored substances manufactured from the cheapest of cheap sugar. These children are simply cultivating a perverted taste, which will in many instances sooner or later prove their downfall. Not every child that eats candy will become a drunkard, but the child who does not partake of such substances is less likely to fall a victim to hereditary and other tendencies to the liquor habit.
How liberally the prevailing custom of partaking of the flesh of animals contributes to the condition of drunkenness is well emphasized by Dr. Haig, the eminent English medical authority, in the following: “Like morphine, cocaine, and alcohol, of which we have been speaking, meat itself is a stimulant, and this is the real cause of the difficulty which so many experience in giving it up. . . . I have been told by a patient of mine whose daughter, among other good works, has a home for inebriate women, that her own experience has taught her that flesh diet is the very worst for them, and she does what she can to tempt them away from meat, but she says, ‘You can really see joy in their faces if a large joint of meat is brought in,’ just, I remark, as you would see joy in their faces if a keg of whisky were placed on the table. I also hear from the same source that if the craving for alcohol is overcome, that for meat goes also. . . . We can now see clearly why a non-meat diet is one of the best means of overcoming a craving for drink; but for an excess of meat it would probably never have originated at all.”—Dr. Haig’s “Uric Acid,” pp. 256, 257.
A proper adjustment of the diet is almost an absolute necessity in the curing of intemperance; for the saloon, instead of being the first step in a drunkard’s career, is often the devil’s hospital where he sends those who already have a thirst created within them.
Some may say, “The Gospel ought to take the thirst out of a man.” To such, we can only reply in the words of our Saviour, “If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.” God can rescue a man from the curse of the drink habit regardless of dietetic errors; but He expects him to use good judgment and to utilize the truth He has given him on this subject as well as on all others. An individual who reasons as above is just as presumptuous and unreasonable as if he were to eat a teaspoonful of salt and then expect God to prevent the resulting thirst. One of the most emphatic statements in all the Scripture is: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Gal. 6:7.
“Eat . . . for strength, and not for drunkenness!” Eccl. 10:17. If the tables of modern society could be cleared of a host of things that create a thirst for liquor, there would be more vacant places at the bar table; for the fact is that thousands of drunkards are staggering about the streets to-day for no other reason than that their tables were spread with such food that they were compelled to eat for “drunkenness” if they ate at all.
What the poor, struggling victim of the drink habit needs is pure, wholesome, nourishing, but non-stimulating food, obtained from the natural products of the earth, and prepared in a palatable manner. Fruit should be partaken of in abundance. In fact, our experience has taught us that four meals per day, consisting exclusively of various fruits, strictly adhered to for a couple of days, has often been the means in the hands of God of removing the shackles of drink from many a poor inebriate, even when his hopes were practically crushed by his long record of previous failures to be emancipated.
Fruit juices, buttermilk, non-alcoholic koumiss, cereal coffee, and cold water should be the only beverages allowed. All starchy foods should be subjected to oven heat until they are thoroughly browned. By this process the starch is dextrinized and is thereby rendered much more digestible, and can be readily absorbed before the germs have an opportunity to produce fermentative products which irritate the already over-irritated nerves.
Dr. Brunton has well said that cookery ranks above all the fine arts; for, while the beautiful picture, which stimulates the nerves of sight, remains on the wall; and the piano, which stimulates the nerves of hearing, does not have to be swallowed; the food which is prepared by the ignorant cook who knows nothing of human physiology, nothing of the science of dietetics,—this food, which stimulates the nerves of taste, actually has to be taken inside the body. Therefore it is far more important that the cooking should be correct, than that the music should be exquisite or the painting artistic. Just so long as dough balls can be made from the bread which we eat, and ordinary grains are only cooked sufficiently to convert them into paste that will successfully resist the action of almost all the digestive juices,—so long we may expect that cooks will make business for the liquor dealer, the drug-store, and the undertaker.
DAVID PAULSON, M. D.
Chicago Branch Sanitarium.
DON'T GET THE CANDY HABIT.
[Ada C. Sweet, in the April Woman's Home Companion.]
A GIRL of fifteen ought to be the living picture and reality of health. It is a duty, this matter of good health. Exercise in the open air, temperance in eating, and occupation—these are the secrets of good health. The girl who lies in bed late, never walks a mile, and eats candy morning, noon, and night, can never feel well, and has no right to feel well. An occasional treat of pure candy11is good, but nothing could be worse than the continuous eating of sweet stuff which goes on among girls almost universally in this country. Beauty of complexion, good nature, and healthful enjoyment of life all vanish when the train of ills brought on by over-indulgence in sweets begins to submerge vitality.
There is much to be learned by girls and women on this subject of diet. Every girl should find out what is best for her, and then stick to it; for without health life is a failure to nine people out of ten. Occasionally some one has been great enough to make something out of a life handicapped by chronic sickness, but for one who has succeeded a thousand have failed.
BLOSSOM FOR GOD.
By M. D.
On the lone hill, neath the pine-tree’s shade,
On the plain where the wild deer roam,
In the quiet depths of the forest glade,
Where the wood-bird finds a home,
Without our thought, without our care,
Wild flowers are blossoming everywhere.
What do they do in their beauty here,
Where foot of men ne’er trod,
No human eye or heart to cheer?—
They are blossoming for God.
He hath fashioned each with artist-care:
Think you not that He loves those flow’rets fair?
The valley-lily’s silver bells,
The wild rose fresh with dew,
The violet hid in mossy dells,
The gentian’s azure hue,
From the sunny morn to the twilight dim,
Yield up their tribute of praise to Him.
O child of earth, is thy pathway lone?
Like the flower on the mountain height,
To the busy, bustling world unknown,
Unfold for the Master’s sight.
Blossom for God—be the lesson ours,
So sweetly taught by wildwood flowers.
Cherish with care each noble thought,
High aim, and gentle grace;
A life with beauty and sweetness fraught
May gladden thy lowly place.
Thou hast shared with the flowers His sun and dew:
Yield up thy tribute of fragrance too.
M. D.
OPEN YOUR WINDOWS.
By Alice M. Temple
[Alice M. Temple, in World’s Crisis.]
NEARLY every one recognizes the importance of supplying the lungs with sufficient oxygen, tho sometimes we become careless. It is well for us to begin the day with some simple exercise. The following one helps many: “Step into the fresh air or to an open window, stand erect, be sure that the shoulders are back and down, chest well lifted and hips back (children sometimes like to imagine a rope attached to their breast-bone and some one pulling it up). Then cast your eyes upward, for all strength comes from above. Inhale three of the deepest, slowest, fullest draughts of power that you can imagine. Think that you are breathing in fresh vitality, and breathing out the exhausted force. Think Power! Power! POWER! and think it slowly and emphatically.
If it is important for us to open our windows to receive fresh physical vitality, how very important it must be for us to open our windows toward heaven each morn, and leave them open until we feel fresh vigor coursing through our veins. These morning exercises will greatly increase our physical and spiritual strength for the day.
But we can no more take in spiritual vitality to last us a day or a week, than we can take in breath enough to last for that time. When things begin to trouble us, or to look green or blue, we may know that our power is low. The instant you recognize this, close your eyes, and with your mental eyes look up into the face of Him who is ever caring for you, and ask for just what you need. If you have the faith of Peter, together with his simple prayer, “Lord, help!” I am sure that very instant you will feel strength sufficient to carry you safely onward.
Do not let your eyes get turned in-ward instead of up-ward for help. Turn to the Source and do not fear exhausting the supply. “My strength is sufficient.” Open your windows toward heaven, and God will “pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”
THE BABY'S NURSE.
By Pansy
“Yes,” said Mr. Hillier, as he carefully dug around my pansy bed, “O, yes'm, I've seen elephants in India many a time. I was stationed at one point, with the English army, you know, where I saw one who used to take care of the children.”
“Take care of the children! How could it be? What do you mean?”
“Well, he did, ma'am. It was wonderful what that elephant knew. The first time I made his acquaintance he gave me a blow that I had reason to remember. I was on duty in the yard, and the colonel's little child was playing about, and she kept running too near, I thought, to the elephant's feet. I was afraid he would put his great clumsy feet on her by mistake, so I made up my mind to carry her to a safer place. I stooped to pick her up, and the next thing I knew I had had a knock which sent me flat on the ground. That elephant had hit me with his trunk. One of the servants came along just then and helped me up, and when I told him about it, said he, ‘I wonder the old fellow didn't kill you. It isn't safe for anybody to interfere with that baby when he has it in his charge. I have you to know that he is that baby's nurse.’”
“Well, I thought he was just saying it for sport, but sure enough, after a while the nurse came out with the child fast asleep in her arms, and what did she do but lay it in the elephant's trunk as tho it had been a cradle! And the great fellow stood there for more than an hour watching that baby and rocking it gently now and then!”
“He was real good to the other children, too. It used to be his business to take the family out riding. The colonel's lady would come out and mount to her cushioned seat on his back, and then one by one the three children would be given to the elephant, and he would hand them up to the mother nicer than any nurse or servant could, you know, because he could reach, and knew how to do it. O, an elephant is an uncommonly handy nurse when he is trained to the business, and faithful, I tell you. You can trust him every time.”—Pansy.
