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Signs of the Times, Vol. 4, No. 26.

CONDEMNATION OF JESUS
Earlier text: Importance of the Advent Doctrine

Envy.

By W. M. Healey

TEXT: Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy? Prov. 27 : 4.
There are few persons who know the amount of envy in their hearts, or the extent of its evil influence upon the actions of their lives. Wrath is cruel, and the angry person is perfectly outrageous in his course, but envy is worse than all.
It was this feeling on the part of the chief priests, that caused them to reject Christ; and this was so plain that Pilate, the Roman Governor, could easily discern their motives. Mark 15 : 10. Joseph's brethren tried to destroy him out of envy. Gen. 37 : 11 ; Acts 7 : 9. The people rebelled against Moses out of envy. Ps. 106 : 16. The Jews were envious of Paul and Silas, and took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company and set the city in an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people. Acts 17 : 5. Verse 4 tells us why they envied Paul and Silas, because some of them (Jews), and a great multitude of Greeks, and many of the chief women, believed what the apostles were teaching, associated with them and asked them for counsel. And these would-be leaders and instructors, who had been looked up to in the past, became unnoticed. If Paul and Silas had failed to make any converts, they might have gone on preaching without being disturbed. It is quite likely they would have been pitied, and these men would have treated them as some poor deceived fellows who were perhaps a little crazy. But their arguments were unanswerable, and drawn from the very standard of authority which their assailants themselves acknowledged.
Paul reasoned from the Scriptures, and showed their fulfillment in pointing out Jesus as the very Christ. Verses 2 and 3. Now these wicked men get together the very class of persons adapted to their work, lewd fellows, and the baser sort at that, the very worst characters they could find. Ordinarily they would not be found associating with such people, but now their envy is aroused and they forget all else. They pretend they are trying to do good; these men must be corrected; but at heart they were prompted by envy and wounded pride.
The same spirit lurks in the hearts of men to-day. If a man is successful in any pursuit he is sure to arouse the envy of others. How often we hear the tradesman speak lightly of another's work; the salesman of another's goods. The professional man shrugs his shoulders, and in a very confidential manner, gives you a hint that the knowledge and ability of his fellow professor is not as great as is supposed. We may expect such things from men who seek only this life; but it is when we see these feelings among the people of God that our hearts are grieved. The same thing is being acted over to-day that took place in Paul's case. Many refuse truth only because of pride, which makes them envious. This feeling of envy is a wicked one, but more or less common to the natural heart. You may say, That does not apply to me, for I have no feelings of that kind; I obey the words of Paul, and "weep with them that weep." Many persons sympathize with another when in trouble, who do not obey the first part of the injunction, to "rejoice with them that do rejoice." Rom. 12 : 15. When some blessing falls upon another, and we do not receive it, how natural to our depraved hearts is the feeling of envy. How few live, "In honor preferring one another?"
Often a brother or sister is found reproving others for their course; and who seem to be so anxious about them, that one would think they really meant to do them good; but could you examine their hearts, you would find them prompted by the spirit of envy. How seldom we see an erring one reproved in the right spirit. The reprover may be actuated from pride, which perhaps is wounded because of the reproach brought upon the church or cause of which the reprover is a representative.
I call to mind the case of a brother who felt that he must reprove another. He appeared so earnest to do him good that his action seemed to come from a pure motive; but he was so much exercised over that brother's case that he went and told his fault all through the neighborhood. How much did he expect to benefit the erring one by that course? The mother often punishes her child with never a thought for its good; her feelings have been aroused by some disobedient act, and the punishment is only revenge, to gratify her injured pride.
Envy is the spirit that so often affects the church choir and congregational singing, makes unpleasant the family circle, destroys the pleasure of the social gathering, in fact disturbs the entire neighborhood and gets the whole city in an uproar. We may not expect the world to reform upon this, but, my dear brother and sister in Christ, let us overcome, from the aged down to the little child, and be careful that our object be to do others good and not to gratify envy. Further, remember it is this same feeling of pride that often causes us to reject a testimony and reproof.
"Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy." James 4 : 5. How few know their own hearts, but God has promised to give "more grace." Let us strive for it.
W. M. Healey.

Minnesota Camp-Meeting.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

WE have just closed one of the most successful camp-meetings I have ever attended. We enjoyed a very pleasant time in our school. Tuesday and Wednesday the brethren arrived at camp in large numbers, so that most all were present at the commencement of the regular camp-meeting. It was cheering to see them come, load after load, some coming from fifty to two hundred miles. Others came twenty miles with ox teams. Brother Harlow, seventy-six years old, drove his team three hundred miles, from some place in Dakota. This shows a commendable zeal. There were eighty-one tents on the ground, and a count showed that there were nearly eight hundred persons encamped. This was the largest meeting that I have attended outside of Michigan.
Having the business well out of the way, we began our religious meetings early in the week, and kept them well ahead. Friday morning over a hundred came forward to seek the Lord. Sabbath morning was entirely devoted to this work, and one hundred and forty-five made a start in the Christian life. We then enjoyed a very interesting season in hearing them speak. After preaching upon baptism, a large number signified their desire to be baptized. Their names were recorded and their cases examined; then a day having been given in which to present objections, if any existed, one hundred and thirty-three were accepted as candidates for baptism. Sunday afternoon we repaired to the river, a short distance from the camp, where these were baptized by Elders Grant, Dimmick, Curtis, and Ells. A large mill-dam above, a bridge just below, and rising banks on each side afforded the crowd a good view, and they were all well lined with spectators. It was estimated that there were twenty-five hundred people present. Everything passed off in good order. A sister who has been confined to her bed twenty-seven years, a cripple, was taken by the administrators and carried into the water, and baptized. It was a very affecting scene. This was the largest and most affecting baptism I have ever witnessed. In several cases the ministers would lead mother and son, husband and wife, or sometimes husband, wife, and children into the water together. Elder Babcock's twin daughters, about eleven years of age, were baptized together. It was a scene never to be forgotten.
The grasshopper scourge has passed away, and Minnesota crops begin to look up. However, as the Conference had a large list of ministers to pay, we found our systematic benevolence fund short. Evidently the brethren have not been doing their duty in paying their tithes.
An expression made by rising showed that about one-fifth of those present had embraced the truth the past year. With more than one-fourth of the audience this was their first camp-meeting. This Conference now has fifteen ordained ministers, and twenty-two licentiates. Several were licensed for the first time at this meeting. At our last session, three brethren were ordained to the work of the ministry. There are three or four preachers in the Conference who labor among the Scandinavians. A special effort will be made for that people this year.
I was deeply impressed with the fact that this is becoming a very large Conference. When I came to this State six years ago, there was not a minister laboring in the State. There were only about two hundred Sabbath-keepers in the Conference. Now they have about fifty churches, thirty-seven ministers, and twelve or fourteen hundred Sabbath-keepers. And all this has been done by men raised up in their midst. Truly the Lord has blessed Minnesota. It is probably one of the richest fields in the cause. But with prosperity and increasing numbers, I can see a chance for many dangers. It is difficult to educate so rapidly these new converts soundly into the principles of this message. There is great danger that some of them will endeavor to bring in new ideas and ways of their own, which will work evil to the cause. Where there are so many laborers, there is also danger of ambition and rivalry among ministering brethren. This should be promptly discountenanced by every one. It has come to be a great responsibility for the president to oversee the entire work of the Conference. Brother Grant has been very successful in this position in the past. He still needs the hearty co-operation of all his brethren to successfully carry on the work. This we believe he has.
Personally, it was a great pleasure to me to attend this Conference, and see so many of my old brethren. This is the spot where I first began to realize success in Minnesota. We began with a small handful of about twenty-five. From that day to this the church here has steadily grown, till now it has eighty members, and is the largest church in the Conference. Twenty-five from this place were baptized at this meeting. These will be added to the church at its next quarterly meeting.
It was specially gratifying to us to find that the brethren here have the respect and confidence of the community in so large a degree. Everybody was friendly to us, and showed us all the favors possible. The hotel-keeper made a free dinner for a goodly number of our ministers. Our old landlord of former years visited us frequently, bringing food and hearty greeting. The county paper gave us the following unsolicited commendation:—
"Whatever may be thought of some of the peculiar tenets of this denomination of Christians, it is generally admitted that the system makes its followers honest, and wiser and better people."
Sunday it was with great difficulty that I could speak on account of hoarseness. After that I had to give it up entirely. Brother Stone took my place, and rendered valuable assistance. At this date, it is entirely uncertain what we shall do this summer.
D. M. CANRIGHT. Hutchinson, June 26.

The Day of the Lord.

By Roswell F. Cottrell

THE day of the Lord is near. The world and many professors of the Christian faith do not believe it, or, if they do, will not acknowledge it. Faith in the Bible is so weak that the mass would be ashamed to avow their faith in things which are still so clearly revealed. It is saddening to think that that day is coming upon such multitudes as a destruction from the Almighty. "Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty." Isa. 13:6. "The day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night; for when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape." 1 Thess. 5:23. That great and most tremendous day is before us. Who will be prepared to meet it? Who of us, my brethren, are living and laboring as if we believed it? Many will be sadly disappointed in that day. Now is the time to inquire, "Lord, is it I?" Many will ask too late, "Who shall be able to stand?" because then it will be that "the great day of his wrath is come." Rev. 6:17. Now, by earnest, prayerful, laborious, and persevering effort, we may escape that terrible fate. Who will prepare for that day by coming to Christ for pardon, keeping the commandments of God, and laboring self-sacrificingly for the salvation of others? "Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, meekness; it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger." R. F. C.

Texas.

By Robert M. Kilgore

THE debate with Elder Caskey upon the Sabbath question closed grandly for us. Seven more took a firm stand, upon the truth, from the debate. Elder C. knew very little about the Bible and less about our positions. He confesses himself beaten on four questions, but thinks by following us up and becoming better posted he can revenge. He used three texts to support Sunday; viz., Acts 20:7; 1Cor. 16:2, and Heb. 4 : 9. We leave about fifty firm Sabbath-keepers, among them some good workers.
There are calls for labor everywhere.
Terrell, June 26. R. M. KILGORE.

A Rift in the Cloud.

ANDREW LEE came home at evening from the shop where he had worked all day, tired and out of spirits; came home to his wife, who was also tired, and dispirited.
"A smiling wife, and a cheerful home—what a paradise it would be!" said Andrew to himself as he turned his eyes from the clouded face of Mrs. Lee, and sat down with knitted brow, and a moody aspect.
Not a word was spoken by either. Mrs. Lee was getting supper, and she moved about with a weary step.
"Come," she said at last, with a side glance at her husband.
There was invitation in the word only, none in the voice of Mrs. Lee.
Andrew arose and went to the table. He was tempted to speak an angry word, but controlled himself, and kept silence. He could find no fault with the chop, nor the sweet homemade bread, and fresh butter. They would have cheered his inward man, if there had only been a gleam of sunshine on the face of his wife. He noticed that she did not eat. "Are you not well Mary?" The words were on his lips, but he did not utter them, for the face of his wife looked so repellant, that he feared an irritating reply. And so in moody silence, the twain sat together until Andrew had finished his supper. As he pushed his chair back, his wife arose, and commenced clearing off the table.
"This is purgatory!" said Lee to himself, as he commenced walking the floor of their little breakfast-room, with his hands clasped behind him, and his chin almost touching his breast.
After removing all the dishes and taking them into the kitchen, Mrs. Lee spread a green cover on the table, and placing a fresh trimmed lamp thereon, went out and shut the door, leaving her husband alone with his unpleasant feelings. He took a long, deep breath as she did so, paused in his walk, stood still for some moments, and then drawing a paper from his pocket, sat down by the table, opened the sheet and commenced reading. Singularly enough the words upon which his eyes rested were, "Praise your wife." They rather tended to increase the disturbance of mind from which he was suffering.
"I should like to find some occasion for praising mine." How quickly his thoughts expressed that ill-natured sentiment. But his eyes were on the page before him, and he read on.
"Praise your wife, man, for pity's sake, give her a little encouragement; it wont hurt her."
Andrew Lee raised his eyes from the paper and muttered, "Oh, yes. That's all very well. Praise is cheap enough. But praise her for what? For being sullen, and making your home the most disagreeable place in the world?" His eyes fell again to the paper.
"She has made your home comfortable, your hearth bright and shining, your food agreeable; for pity's sake, tell her you thank her, if nothing more. She don't expect it; it will make her eyes open wider than they have for ten years; but it will do her good for all that, and you, too."
It seemed to Andrew as if these sentences were written just for him, and just for the occasion. It was the complete answer to his question, "Praise her for what?" and he felt it also as a rebuke. He read no farther, for thought came too busy, and in a new direction. Memory was convicting him of injustice toward his wife. She had always made his home as comfortable for him as hands could make it, and had he offered the light return of praise or commendation? Had he ever told her of the satisfaction he had known, or the comfort experienced? He was not able to recall the time or the occasion. As he thought thus, Mrs. Lee came in from the kitchen, and taking her work-basket from a closet, placed it on the table, and sitting down without speaking, began to sew. Mr. Lee glanced almost stealthily at the work in her hands, and saw it was the bosom of a shirt, which she was stitching neatly. He knew that it was for him that she was at work.
"Praise your wife." The words were before the eyes of his mind, and he could not look away from them. But he was not ready for this yet. He still felt moody and unforgiving. The expression of his wife's face he interpreted to mean ill-nature, and with ill-nature he had no patience. His eyes fell on the newspaper that lay spread out before him, and he read the sentence:—
"A kind cheerful word, spoken in a gloomy home, is like the rift in a cloud that lets the sunshine through."
Lee struggled with himself a while longer. His own ill-nature had to be conquered first; his moody, accusing spirit had to be subdued. But he was coming right, and at last got right, as to will. Next came the question as to how he should begin. He thought of many things to say, yet feared to say them, lest his wife should meet his advances with a cold rebuff. At last, leaning towards her, and taking hold of the linen bosom upon which she was at work, he said, in a voice carefully modulated with kindness:—
"You are doing the work very beautifully, Mary."
Mrs. Lee made no reply. But her husband did not fail to observe that she lost, almost instantly, that rigid erectness with which she had been sitting, nor that the motion of her needle hand ceased.
"My shirts are better made, and whiter than those of any other man in our shop," said Lee, encouraged to go on.
"Are they?" Mrs. Lee's voice was low, and had in it a slight huskiness. She did not turn her face, but her husband saw that she leaned a little toward him. He had broken through the ice of reserve, and all was easy now. His hand was among the clouds, and a few feeble rays were already struggling through the rift it had made.
"Yes, Mary," he answered softly, "and I've heard it said more than once, what a good wife Andrew Lee must have."
Mrs. Lee turned her face toward her husband. There was light in it, and light in her eye. But there was something in the expression of the countenance that puzzled him a little.
"Do you think so?" she asked quite soberly.
"What a question!" ejaculated Andrew Lee, starting up and going round to the side of the table where his wife was sitting.—"What a question, Mary!" he repeated, as he stood before her.
"Do you?" It was all she said.
"Yes, darling," was the warmly-spoken answer, and he stooped down and kissed her—"How strange that you should ask me such a question!"
"If you would only tell me so now and then, Andrew, it would do me good." And Mrs. Lee arose, and leaning against the manly breast of her husband, stood and wept.
What a strong light broke in upon the mind of Andrew Lee. He had never given to his faithful wife even the small reward of praise for all the loving interest she had manifested daily, until doubt of his love had entered her soul, and made the light thick darkness. No wonder that her face grew clouded, nor that what he considered moodiness and ill-nature took possession of her spirit.
"You are good and true, Mary. My own dear wife. I am proud of you—I love you—and my first desire is for your happiness. Oh, if I could always see your face in sunshine, my home would be the dearest place on earth."
"How precious to me are your words of love and praise, Andrew," said Mrs. Lee, smiling through her tears into his face.
"With them in my ears, my heart can never lie in shadow."
How easy had been the work for Andrew Lee. He had swept his hand across the cloudy horizon of his home, and now the bright sunshine was streaming down, and flooding that home with joy and beauty.—Home Magazine.

Upward to Thee.

By Mrs. C. L. G. M.

DARK clouds had gathered o'er my way, And unknown paths before me lay, While tangled briers flourished where Sweet flowers once bloomed in beauty rare.
Misfortunes crowded in my track; Joys vanished I could not call back; Snares waited for my weary feet, And dangers loom'd I dared not meet.
My friends forsook in time of need; No kindly hand to aid or lead; Weary, tempted, and despairing, None I thought for me was caring.
The night came on, the fearful night! Lost! lost! no help, no guide, no light! Lost in sorrow's night of darkness; Lost in temptation's wilderness.
A voice then whispered, "God is here;" Strange I'd forgotten, in my fear, One who is ever near to aid; Then eagerly I knelt and prayed—
"Father, let not thy sinful child Now perish in the fearful wild; Reach down, I pray, thy hand to me, And lead me safely up to thee."
A heavenly light around me shone, I felt a strong arm round me thrown, And far away, O, blessed sight! Arose to view a city bright.
The tempter vanished when I knelt; No longer fear or pain I felt; The vision of the shining goal New hope breathed in my fainting soul.
Upheld by that Almighty Arm, No earthly ills can do me harm; Where erst so dark, now sunlight gleams, And all the way with beauty beams.
A song of praise my glad heart sings, And faith gives eyes and hope gives wings; So ever upward mounts my soul Toward heaven, its final blissful goal. —Mrs. C. L. G. M.

Use of Sorrow.

The other day I was feeling very sad and gloomy over my infirmities, errors, and sins, and what I was suffering in consequence of them. My heart almost murmured at it. Why must I suffer thus? Why has God allowed such trials and sorrows to come upon me? What good can it possibly accomplish for myself or for any one else?
With these reflections in my mind, my eye rested upon the following scripture: "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." 2 Cor. 1:3, 4.
Here was a new thought. We are here to help each other. All around us on every side, there are aching hearts, sorrowing hearts, desolate hearts, disappointed plans, blasted hopes, men and women encompassed with infirmities, with weaknesses, and with errors, repenting, halting, doubting, fearing and hoping. Oh! my soul, who can help all these persons. Certainly not that person who has never experienced any of these things. How could such an one sympathize with these poor souls? It would be impossible. No, I see now that adversity and trouble are necessary to prepare us, to soften our hearts, to ripen us up, and make us able to comfort others. This is what Paul seems to mean—"God" says he "comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble." All of us, but especially the ministers and those who labor with him, need just this preparation. Paul cries out, "I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart." Rom. 9:2. My case can be no worse than that. How many thousands of sorrowing hearts have found sweet consolation in the Psalms. These Psalms were poured forth from a heart filled with anguish. The flower must be crushed to yield its sweetest fragrance.
Dear friend, are you suffering and grieving over it? Do you question God's providence? If you will but patiently trust him, you will yet see that God only meant it for good, to fit you for the work he has for you. The language of my heart is, "O my soul hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him." —Sel.

R. F. COTTRELL

By Roswell F. Cottrell

From Heaven or of Men.

TWENTY-SEVEN years ago, when I investigated the claims of this movement concerning the second coming of Christ at hand, as a fulfillment of prophecy, the question resolved itself into the form of that which Jesus asked the Jews, namely, "The baptism of John, was it from Heaven or of men?" It was claimed that the advent movement was a fulfillment of the promised warnings of the three symbolic angels of Rev. 14:6-12, and that the third of the three messages was already being announced to the world. If this claim was true, then the advent movement was certainly from Heaven—it was Heaven sent, like the mission of John the Baptist, who came in fulfillment of the "Voice of one crying in the wilderness," as foretold by the prophet Isaiah. (Chap. 40.) But if it was not true, it was of men, and would certainly come to nothing.
Small as was the number of those who claimed to be proclaiming the message of the third angel, God enabled me to believe that he had sent this his last warning to mankind to prepare a people for the second coming of Christ, when he shall come to reap the harvest of the earth, a people who shall be found keeping "the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus."
In God's providence I have lived to see this message spread abroad in almost all the enlightened portions of the earth. The people that keep the commandments, the Sabbath of the fourth as well as the other nine, and are looking for the coming of Jesus according to his promise, are to be found throughout these United States, the countries of Europe, in different points in Africa, and in the Islands of the sea. As I see this, do you think my faith is waning? At this stage of the work, why cannot all Christians believe it?
It is not claimed that the spread of this message alone proves it to be of divine origin. Spiritualism has spread over the world during the same time, and has been received by thousands while this message has only found its hundreds, or even its tens, of believers. But when we consider that Bible truth in its purity has never been popular in the world, and that the reception of this message involves the greatest crosses, even to the Christian world, the fact that it has stood against the popular current, and has made its way to the nations of the earth, or has sprung up spontaneously in different countries, ought to be taken as evidence that the hand of God is in the work. It is truly marvelous that it has lived and prospered to the present time, under all its difficulties.
And though it is unpopular with the Christian world, and requires cross-bearing to receive it, yet it certainly is founded in Bible truth. It is a real reform. It only teaches a return to truths clearly revealed in the Bible. The "commandments of God," which are carried in front, are precisely those found in the Bible, as they were written by the finger of God. And the faith taught is the faith of Jesus Christ. Our doctrines are read from the Bible itself, and not inferred merely from its teachings. These are some of the evidences which show this message to be from Heaven. Its light is spreading, and we thank God for it and take courage. Its results will be glorious. My prayer is, Let me share in the work, and then in the triumph.

R. F. COTTRELL

The Precious Privilege of Prayer

WHAT a precious privilege is prayer. Come to the mercy-seat—that seat where love and justice, holiness and pardon, divinely sit; whence great streams fall on the sin-sick soul. Let no hour pass without a visit to the throne of grace. It is but a thought-step, "an upward glancing of the eye," a leap of the soul from earth duties, and you are there. While putting that needle through the cloth, or driving that nail, you can go to the mercy-seat. Thread every fiber of life with these pearls. Leaven every lump with this sacred life.

Proper Diet for Man.

OBJECTIONS TO THE USE OF ANIMAL FOOD.

ONE of the greatest objections to animal food is the fact that in partaking of it a person is in constant danger of unwittingly taking into his system the germs of some foul, perhaps fatal, disease. He knows not but the animal whose flesh he is eating was upon the very verge of dissolution when killed and brought to market. And we are well aware that our domestic animals, and indeed wild ones also, are subject to diseases of various kinds, just as are human beings. The cattle plague, hog cholera, measly pork, trichinosis, epizootic diseases, etc., are familiar names to all. Many a poor sufferer has been obliged to lead a life of wretchedness and misery as the result of diseases of a scrofulous character contracted by eating the flesh of animals affected with those diseases.
Only a few years ago, at the great cattle show in England, a large number of cattle were suddenly seized with violent symptoms of disease. In order to avoid pecuniary loss, their owners killed them, and sold their diseased carcasses for food, an occurrence which is by no means infrequent. Even at the time of this writing quite a number of individuals in various sections of the country are dying the most horrible of deaths as the result of eating pork infested with trichinæ. This disease has occurred frequently within the last few years, and is liable to break out in any locality at any moment, thus placing in imminent peril the lives of all who allow themselves to partake of the flesh of hogs, no matter how infrequently.
The animals which are slaughtered and eaten in cities are in most instances previously confined for some time in close stalls, breathing again and again the putrid emanations from their own excretions, thus becoming totally unfit to be used as food. So frightfully detrimental to health is such a course that a rat, even when constantly supplied with fresh air to breathe, will die in a short time if confined in its own exhalations. We might describe at length the horrible condition in which animals are often received and slaughtered at the slaughter-houses of our cities; but doubtless it is unnecessary, as all are familiar with the facts which have so often been made public.
The process of fattening is itself one of disease, since it is occasioned by obstruction of the various excretory organs of the body, so that the broken-down, diseased, and worn-out material of the body cannot be carried out of the system, and so accumulates. Indeed, fat, in such cases, is but another name for diseased matter.
An animal apparently in perfect health may still be full of disease, resulting from derangement of some internal organ. A well-known and reliable butcher of this place recently remarked that not one in ten of the livers of slaughtered animals was in a condition of health. The Jews are very careful to take every possible precaution to avoid contamination by disease from animals. They carefully examine all of the internal organs of the slaughtered animals, and if any evidence of disease is found, none of the flesh is considered fit to be eaten by them.
But even though the animals killed may be in the best condition possible in regard to health, there is still abundant reason for serious objection. In every animal, even when in perfect health, there is a constant breaking down or decomposition of the tissues. The products of this action are termed debris or effete matters. They are the ashes of the tissues, and are among the most virulent poisons known. The quantity of this matter in the body may be estimated by the well-received fact that decomposition of tissues goes on more rapidly during life than after death. Were it not for the incessant action of the various depurating organs, these poisonous products would quickly accumulate in such quantities as to cause immediate death. It is for this reason that death occurs so quickly from suffocation or drowning, the action of those great excretory organs, the lungs, being suspended.
These matters are principally contained in the veins of the body, and it is owing to their presence that blood so quickly becomes putrescent when taken from the body. When an animal is killed, only the arterial blood is removed, which is comparatively pure while the dark, impure venous blood remains in the flesh. This is what gives it its red color. By continued washing, this poisonous blood may be removed, and the flesh will then appear nearly white in color. If all flesh food were prepared in this way, it would be comparatively harmless. Few would be willing to eat it, however, as, in removing the poisonous blood, it has been almost entirely deprived of its savory and stimulating qualities.
The Jews were commanded not to eat the blood of animals, and in obedience to this command, they use great care to remove the blood from all flesh which they use as food. Before cooking, it is placed in salt water for a few hours, by which means the blood is almost wholly removed.
Again, meat is almost always allowed to reach a certain stage of putrefaction before it is considered fit to be eaten. This is thought necessary to render it tender. Especially is this the case in England, where meat is never considered good until it becomes tainted. It is no uncommon thing for butchers to cut from a piece of meat the decayed exterior and send the remainder to their customers.

SECULAR NEWS.

—An unknown Philadelphia friend has given Andover Seminary $25,000.
—It costs the Czar some $1,000,000 every day to keep up his present military establishment.
—The British army in India is composed of 146,000 infantry, 23,000 cavalry, 3600 engineers, 13,000 artillery and 400 field pieces.
—It is figured that 4,000 acres of wheat in San Bernardino county will be lost from rust, representing 120,000 bushels, or, at current prices, $140,000.
—Russia preserves eight crowns of provinces conquered at various times and joined to the empire—Siberia, the Crimea, Kiew, Astrakan, Kasan, Finland, Poland, Krussinia.
—The decline in rents at New York, this year, makes a difference of $1,000 a day in the income of the Astor property and of about $100,000 a year on the Stewart property.
—The total expense of the deportation, salvage and erection of Cleopatra's Needle on the Thames embankment will be about $80,000, all of which is defrayed by Dr. Erasmus Wilson. The removal of the obelisk of Luxor from Thebes to France, and its erection in the Place de la Concorde, Paris, cost the French Government $400,000.
—According to the new Directory there are 1,507 saloons in Cincinnati, 400 more than there are groceries.
—The railroad station at Lomo, near Marysville, Cal., was entirely destroyed by fire on Thursday, July 4.
—The works of a plow company on Passaic river, New Jersey, have been burned, throwing many men out of employment; loss $100,000.
—A large steam sawmill at Hood River, on the Columbia, Oregon, was destroyed by fire. Several adjoining houses were also destroyed. Total loss, $20,000; no insurance.
—It is ascertained that 2,748,000 sheep perished in New South Wales last year from want of food and water, caused by the protracted drouths, involving a loss of £2,250,000.
—Four large boilers in the mills of the Chesapeake Nail Works, at Harrisburg, Pa., exploded on June 25 with tremendous force, killing one man, wounding badly four others and tearing the mills to pieces.
—Some one estimates that 20,000 Americans will visit Europe this summer; and, supposing that they spend an average of $1,000 each, the tidy little sum of $20,000,000 of American money will be diverted to the enrichment of the "effete despotisms."
—The telephone is now firmly established in England. A company of capitalists, whose fortunes aggregate $10,000,000, have bought the right of manufacture and sale. In Germany it is even more popular than in America, and it is thought that in less than five years it will be in universal use.
—The earth's population according to statistics is as follows: Total population of the earth, 1,396,752,000; under Christian governments, 685,559,411; under non-Christian, 711,383,589; total area of the earth's square miles, 52,062,470; area of Christian governments, 32,419,915; area of non-Christian lands, 19,642,555.
—There are 79,000 miles of telegraph wire in the United States, and 5,880 offices, or one mile of line to every thirty-six square miles of area. England has 75,000 miles of line and 5,500 offices, or one mile of line to every one and a half miles of area. Russia has 31,500 miles of land and 900 offices, or one mile of line to every 330 square miles of area.
—A Norwegian, according to the Moniteur Industrial Belge, has just invented an ice breaker, to be used in northern harbors to keep them open during the winter months. It resembles a huge plow-share and is driven by two engines. Two streams thrown backward by means of centrifugal pumps, force the broken ice back into the channel formed. The machine may be converted into a dredge for summer use.
—The largest bell in the world is in the temple of Clars, in Kioto, Japan. Unlike the great bells in Pekin and Moscow, it is whole, and its tone is as perfect and as sweet as when first suspended. Where and by whom it was cast is not known. Chinese and Sanscrit characters completely cover it; but they are not translated by Japanese scholars. It is twenty-four feet high and sixteen inches thick at the rim. It has no clapper, but is struck by a sort of wooden battering-ram on the outside.
—It is officially stated that the bonanza mines produced up to July 4, one hundred millions of dollars. A few people have made a good deal of money out of these mines, and a few hundred men have been kept in employment in Virginia city. The thousands who have been ruined by speculation in these stocks, the many who have found a suicide's grave or a maniac's cell through the influence of stock speculation—what of them? The fortunate few are ever heralded to the skies, the many who fail are left to reflect upon their ruined hopes.—Oakland Daily Times.
—The whole number of immigrants, from all countries, arriving in the United States during 1877, was 130,503. Of these, not quite one-half, 66,281 landed at New York; and 10,098 at San Francisco, these being Chinese. Of the whole number only 13,791 came from Ireland; 18,122 from England; and 3,641 from Scotland and Wales. Germany and Austria sent by far the largest contingents—Germany sending 35,554 and Austria 27,417. The Catholic Review estimates the Catholic immigrants in the above numbers at 74,000, the pagans at 10,379, and the non-Catholic and nominal Christians at 46,124. It is quite sure that its estimate of Catholic immigrants is not exaggerated, and adds, "The future of the Republic is certainly in our hands."

Give Them Cold Water

GIVE THEM COLD WATER.—It is very doubtful if there is a single possible disease in which the patient should not have cold water ad libitum. Oh, how the babes often suffer for cold water. A nursing babe is given, no matter how thirsty, nothing but milk. The little lips are dry and cracked, and the little tongue so parched it can scarcely nurse, and yet it has nothing but milk to assuage its craving thirst. Try it yourself, mother, when you have a fever, and we are sure that ever after, when your darling is dying with thirst, the teaspoon and tumbler of cold water will be in constant use.
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