We have often been pained to hear expressions like the above. The pupil when urged by his teacher to strive to master his studies, too often fails to heed the good advice, because he feels quite well satisfied; he does not see the need of more effort, but his listlessness troubles his instructor.
How many a young wife has been pained and made sad as she has observed him, who is most dear to her, beginning to frequent the drinking saloon for his morning dram, and when she remonstrates with him, finds he is insensible of danger and only laughs at her fears. He is satisfied; there is no need of alarm in his case. Oh, no! he will never be a drunkard, and in this very feeling of safety lies his greatest danger.
The mother often finds her children associating with those whose moral character she knows is bad, she warns them that if they keep such company, they will surely be ruined; but how frequently she finds they feel satisfied, and so refuse her warnings, and go on blindly pursuing a course that ends in destruction.
And so the faithful watchman on Zion's walls may sound the alarm of danger to a careless church and wicked world, but they only reply, "You need not fear for us, we feel quite well satisfied." We have heard those who profess to be followers of Jesus, when shown that they were not living and hoping according to the word of the Lord, carelessly reply, "Well I am a member of ------ church and I do not care to change, I feel quite well satisfied." Oh, that these slumbering souls would be aroused, and test their faith and works by God's word, and not by their own inclinations! Truly, "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." Prov. 14 : 12.
But says one, "I do not understand the Bible as you do; you understand the seventh day to be the Sabbath; I understand the first day is the day we are to keep. You understand Christ is coming in this generation; I understand that he may come any day, and he may not come for a thousand years; I think likely it will be a thousand years; in short we cannot tell anything about it, I feel quite well satisfied, I do not care to read or hear anything about the matter."
But stop, my friend. What does the Bible say about the Sabbath? "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." Ex. 20 : 10. Does it anywhere say the first day is the Sabbath of the Lord, or does it in any place speak of that day as a sacred, or holy, day? Does not Christ teach us that certain events and signs were to come to mark his appearing? see Matt. 24. Does not Paul when speaking of that appearing which was to be as the coming of a thief tell us, "But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief." 1 Thess. 5 : 4? How could this be if they, like the sleepy world, know nothing about the times and seasons. The reply is, "I do not care to study the matter, I am not able to argue the question, but I feel very well satisfied." Many were in just this condition in Christ's time, and he said of them: "For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them." Matt. 13 : 15.
May God help us, that we awake from our self-satisfied condition and seek for the ways of the God of Israel, that we may walk therein.
W. M. HEALEY.
A Willing Heart
WHERE there is a willing heart, there will be a continual crying to Heaven for help.
The Spirit of Promise.
By Joseph Harvey Waggoner
A MOST important truth is taught in Luke 11. Though the Spirit is to "reprove the world," it does not act as a Comforter and Sanctifier to any unless they voluntarily receive it. "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you."
After giving illustrations of the readiness of parents to give needed things to their children, he continued:—
"If ye, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him."Luke 11 : 9-13.
Therefore we conclude that if we do not believe the Spirit should be prayed for, or if, for any cause, we neglect to ask for it, we cannot expect to receive it.
But an objection is raised against this truth. It is said, There is danger of being deceived; there are "seducing spirits" in the world; 1 Tim. 4 : 1; and men are liable to be led by these, while they think they are led by the Spirit of God; and the danger is very great, as Satan transforms himself to an angel of light.
There is much truth in this objection; not only is there danger of being deceived, but thousands are deceived, and led on, by the deception, to their destruction. And therefore we should be all the more careful in our walk and in our prayers. But let us examine our Saviour's illustrations.
"If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?"Luke 11 : 12.
Now if a son is so blinded, or his senses so benumbed, that he cannot tell the difference between bread and a stone, or a fish and a serpent, or an egg and a scorpion, then is his case, indeed, deplorable. And if he is so far from his father, and so little acquainted with him, that, when he asks for bread, a deceiver steps in, and, pretending to be his father, gives him a stone instead, and he does not know the difference, his case may be regarded as desperate.
But what would one think or say, should he see a son refuse to take bread from the willing hand of a kind father because stones were so numerous in the land? Should such a course be pursued by any one we could only expect that death by starvation would be the result.
The apostle James gives important instruction on this point. If we "ask amiss," either in lack of faith or to gratify our selfishness, we shall not receive. God's will and glory must be kept in view. Self must be denied and crucified. Our consecration to God must be complete. Our submission to his will and pleasure must be perfect, so that we are ready to bear any cross, to accept any truth, or to take any advance step in the work of faith; in short, we must abide in him and have his word abiding in us, and then we may ask what we will and it shall be done. John 15 : 7.
Many fail to receive the gracious influence of the Spirit, or receiving it, abuse it, and so shut up the way of further blessings, by receiving it as the end of Christian effort instead of as a means. When such are blessed of Heaven they consider that the object of religious effort has been accomplished; and they sit down to enjoy themselves, or to congratulate themselves over their gifts and graces. A greater mistake could not be made. So does the gormandizer take his food as the means of self-gratification, and this is the end of his efforts. But the man who realizes the responsibilities of life, and who has a true interest in the faithful discharge of life's duties, accepts his food as a means of gathering strength for future labor and usefulness. The Spirit will be given to all who ask for it as a means of renewing their strength that they may engage more successfully in the Christian warfare, and gain new victories to the glory of the Captain of our salvation.
Paul speaks of "those who, by reason of use, have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." Heb. 5 : 14. It is unfortunate that so many lack this discernment; they have never so used their senses as to have them available to any practical benefit. In gifts of the Spirit they discern only evil. Every object is to them a stone, a serpent or a scorpion. Humility, self-denying, cross-bearing, and earnest prayer would enable them to see unnumbered blessings, great and precious, clustering along their pathway, where all is now dark, dreary, and forbidding.
J. H. WAGGONER.
Texas.
By Robert M. Kilgore
OUR series of lectures closed here with a precious Sabbath meeting. There are about forty reliable Sabbath-keepers and among them a professor and son, graduates, and their assistant teachers of the institute in this place. Another is a public speaker of talent. This is a strong company, well instructed in the truth.
We have visited about sixty families, sold about forty dollars' worth of books, and obtained twenty-three subscribers for our periodicals, besides sending one hundred and seventy-eight names to other states for the SIGNS.
Yesterday, as we were packing up to move, Elder Caskey, from Sherman, came, and demanded that discussion. As the rains prevented us from moving, we arranged, before a large audience, for five questions, six hours each. The discussion on the soul ended this P. M. Elder C.'s friends and the community are disappointed in him, and vote his position untenable. The desire of the people forced him to affirm the sacredness of Sunday. Our tent was packed full. He admitted on Matt. 10:28, that God can destroy the soul; and that eternal and everlasting do not always mean without end. The Lord is giving us strong men, and the work is cheering. Let us labor, pray, and wait.
R. M. KILGORE.
Reports from the Field.
(Condensed from Review and Herald.)
Michigan.
BIRMINGHAM.—Brethren Corliss and Potter report as follows: “Commenced meetings here in the tent, June 8, with a congregation of about one hundred. The interest has steadily increased, and last evening the tent would not accommodate all who came. Fully five hundred were present, and excellent attention was given. The immortality question has now been quite fully canvassed, and our views have been well received.
LABOR AMONG THE CHURCHES.—Elder Littlejohn reports meetings of interest and profit with the church in Otsego. On Sunday the house of worship was well filled with citizens of the place. At Leighton services were held in the school-house Sabbath and Sunday. The social meeting on the Sabbath was characterized by a good spirit, and quite a number of individuals not belonging to our denomination took part freely in the exercises, forgetting, for the time being, the differences in point of doctrine, and remembering only our unity in a common faith in Christ. On Sunday evening, at which time the closing meeting was held, the house was well filled with attentive listeners.
New York.
S. HARRISBURGH.—Elders Wilbur and Bump report: “We are having the best interest at this stage of our lectures that we have ever witnessed. We have a tent full of interested hearers many times through the week, and when it is good weather Sundays the tent will not hold half of the people that come to the beautiful grove where our tent is pitched. Some come from ten to fifteen miles to attend this meeting.
Iowa.
BENTONSPORT.—Elder McCoy closed his labors here June 16. He writes: “As the results of labor here thirty persons of this place and vicinity have covenanted together as Christian commandment-keepers, and have regular Sabbath meetings. We organized a Sabbath-school with thirty-five members. We had a baptism in Des Moines river on Sunday afternoon, when five were buried with their Lord. It was a solemn scene; some three hundred persons were present. We labored here continuously for nearly two months and the interest was good to the close.”
New Hampshire.
FRANCESTOWN.—The interest in the meetings here still continues. The average attendance is about one hundred and fifty. In a report June 18, it is stated that the Sunday previous the Sabbath question was presented. The tent was full in the afternoon and evening, and the subject was the theme of conversation for miles around. Many have acknowledged the claims of the Sabbath. Some have obeyed, others are hesitating, and more are investigating. Bibles are read as never before in this place.
THE HOME CIRCLE.
Mrs. Deacon Gray's Bonnet; and What It Cost.
Poor little Lettie, how tired she was; and yet there was no break in the stream of ladies all the afternoon. Madame La Vert has just returned from the East with a superb stock of millinery; and Lettie was so pretty and obliging, and withal was noted for such excellent taste and skill in combining and blending, that her counter was constantly thronged with ladies, whose pretty, explosive comments over the fresh beauty of each new love of a bonnet, or hat, had grown so tiresome to the tired nerves of the weary little milliner, that she felt desperate enough to rush forth into the bright, free sunshine, and leave the chattering group to help themselves. But a glance at the tired face of her kind mistress gave her new endurance. And so all the bright afternoon she stood upon her tired, aching feet, and talked over and over, to each successive group, the same weary nothings.
But at length the gathering night brought a lull, and she was permitted to run home to her supper.
"Madame, need I come back to-night?"
"Why, yes, to be sure, Lettie; just see that pile of goods; they must all be marked before we sleep, for the rush to-morrow will be much greater than to-day."
Poor Lettie went home with a heavy heart, and the way seemed longer and more dreary as she reflected upon her speedy return, so that not even the nicely prepared lunch or gentle endearments of her kind mother could coax a smile upon the sad face.
"You staid late, Lettie; don't you intend going to church to-night?"
"Oh! mother, I did want to go so badly, but Madame says I must go back to the shop. The new goods have just come to-day, and as usual we all have to work night and day."
"I'm real sorry, daughter; but I hope, dear, you will not lose your serious impressions in the midst of so much talk and fashion."
"I haven't a moment to think, mother; it's just fashion, and flowers, shade and color, laces and ribbons, over and over, until I'm so tired I can hardly stand upon my feet."
Lettie hurried back to the shop, and as she was the only one of the shop girls who was familiar enough with the business to assist in marking, she and the Madame had the room to themselves.
Lettie was a great favorite with Madame, and she ventured in the course of the evening to speak of the meetings that had been in progress during her absence.
"Yes, Mrs. Deacon Gray was speaking of it. She says a great many of our young people have united with the church. I was surprised that such girls as Delia Shaw and Hattie Holcomb were among the converts; they were so fond of dress and society, I didn't think they ever gave a thought to their souls."
"If you had been to the meetings, dear Madame you would wonder how any one could come away without feeling that eternal life is the only thing in this weary world worth striving for."
Madame turned and looked into the earnest face of the young speaker, and then, with a queer little sigh, said, "I see you, too, are thinking about these things, and I'm glad of it. I'm no Christian; but once, when I was about your age, I was deeply impressed with my state as a lost sinner; and looking back now I believe, if I had been permitted to remain under the Christian counsel of my mother a few weeks longer, I should have led a different life. But suddenly placed in a crowded shop, with no companions save the thoughtless, giddy girls, I lost the true path and have ever since been too constantly in this busy whirl to find time to change. Ah, me! I shall have to take time to die, some day, and what then? I wish I had my life to live over again, Lettie."
"Oh, Madame, our pastor said Sunday, that while it was better, safer, and easier, to come to Jesus while we are young, yet that it was infinitely better to come late than never."
A silence fell upon the two, each busy with her own thoughts. Lettie looked up from her work after a while, and asked Madame if she thought she could spare her to-morrow evening to go to the inquiry meeting.
"I hope so, if we can finish marking to-night. There will be a great deal to do to-morrow, but we will crowd pretty close rather than have you miss another night."
Lettie went home feeling more hopeful and less tired than she was at tea-time, and as she listened to her mother's glowing account of the good meeting she thought, To-morrow night, ah, to-morrow night, I, too, may find peace and joy in believing.
Poor Lettie, like too many others, felt that she could make but little progress outside of the meetings. She never dared to pray, "Lord save now; right here may I believe in thee;" but as she would bend busily over her work, her thought would be, "Perhaps God will hear his people pray for me to-night. Perhaps I shall be the next to be blessed. Oh, if it would be; but I'm so wicked."
The next day matters moved on in the old groove at the shop. There was more trimming and showing, but Lettie comforted her tired little self with the soft whisper, "To-night, yes, to-night, the good pastor is going to tell us so plainly just how to go to Jesus. And then, it seems to me, I'll not care for hard work and the many things that worry me so now. I wonder if Christians ever do feel real sad, or if they ever hate folks, or want to do any wrong thing. I guess not; for mother says to be a Christian is to be like Christ." Just here her reverie was broken off by the entrance and hearty greeting of Mrs. Deacon Gray.
"How do, Lettie? Busy as a bee, as usual, but where is the Madame?"
Lettie pointed to the work-room, and Mrs. Gray hurried on. "Oh, Madame La Vert, I've just taken a letter out of the office that has put me in a perfect flurry. You see the folks down at Lee have heard about our good meetings, and Dr. James and wife, and Deacon and Mrs. Stoakes are coming on the evening train to stay over Sunday. You know how stylish those ladies are, and I wouldn't have them see me wear that old spring bonnet I fixed over myself for anything. I was reading in 'Madame Demorest' of the sweetest thing, and I want you to get it up for me."
"But my dear Mrs. Gray, do you know this is Saturday afternoon, and 'opening time,' too? Why, bless me it's quite impossible."
"Now, don't say so, Madame. I know you can crowd it in some way. Now, do pray, oblige me, and you shall lose nothing by it, I assure you."
Madame bent her head over the pattern presented by Mrs. Gray, and took in, item, by item, the pretty, French design for a spring bonnet.
"Sweet isn't it?"
"Yes, very; it will make up elegantly," said the demure little artiste, mentally estimating, the effect such a novel, yet beautiful design would have upon her reputation.
"Mrs. Gray, I'd say we would attempt it, if it were not for one thing. You know Lettie is my only dependence for such work, and I have promised that she may go to the meeting to-night; and I have as much, and I fear more, promised than I can finish by midnight."
"Oh, if that's all that's in the way of my wearing the handsomest bonnet that ever entered Graysville chapel, I'm sure to do it. I can coax Lettie to give up one meeting I know."
"But Mrs. Gray, you know Lettie is among the anxious, and really, I don't feel as if it would be right to place a straw in her way."
"Oh! pshaw; what difference can one meeting make? Why, Madame, any one would think there were to be no more meetings to hear you talk."
"Well, Mrs. Gray, we do not know that there will be, for her, or us."
"Oh dear! you are as gloomy as a tombstone to-day. I'm not expecting to die, and you never looked better. Come, say I may try my powers of persuasion on Lettie."
"Well, perhaps I am foolish; it certainly don't become me to lecture one so long a Christian upon matters of conscience."
"I'll do the fair thing by Lettie, you see now, if she will give me this evening. They're poor, are they not?"
"Yes; Lettie is her mother's only dependence."
"I thought so," and Mrs. Gray hurried over to Lettie, and laid her proposition before her in such an enticing manner, that Lettie from the first did not see how she could refuse. But, when Mrs. Gray added, "If you will do this for my sake, I will show you how well I appreciate your little sacrifice, by allowing you to take your choice from the very best of Madame's new hats," alas for Lettie! Satan had prepared the way for this by causing her to contrast her old hat (which she must still wear) with the fresh, bright ones, borne off so triumphantly by one after another of her young friends. And Sadie Lee had just asked her what kind she had got; and when she replied that she had not got hers yet, Sadie said, "Oh! but you must take time to select one to-night, for we want you to come to church to-morrow;" and now here was the offer of that beauty that she had thought upon first, saying she would be willing to work her fingers to the bone to possess, and here it was, laid at her feet for one evening's work. But the meeting, ah, the blessing in store, was worth all the hats in the universe.
"Come, Lettie, I didn't think you'd be so long about deciding to oblige me," said Mrs. Gray. "You know you'll have all day to-morrow for meetings, and will look as smart as any of the girls in your new hat."
"I guess I'll stay."
"That's a darling," and the stately figure bent to kiss the white brow, then hastily selecting materials for her bonnet, she left with the injunction, "Be sure and send it up to-night, Madame. I wouldn't have it come in the morning for anything."
How busily Lettie's fingers plied in and out of the costly material, and yet it was eleven o'clock when she took the last survey, and then held it up for the inspection of Madame and the girls.
"Why, Lettie Lathrop! you have far excelled the pattern, cried Madame. "You should have been born in Paris; such genius is seldom met here. And now you must go so far out of your way to carry it home. I wish Mrs. Gray was not so particular about Sunday."
"Oh, I'm not afraid, and the walk will do me good, after sitting so long."
Mrs. Gray bestowed as much praise upon the skill of the tired girl as the most exacting could demand.
"I'm afraid it is going to storm by morning; chilly, isn't it? I hope it won't turn cold, and spoil our calculations for to-morrow."
Yes, it was chilly, and very dark. On, and still on pressed the weary little feet, and it seemed twice the distance it ever did before. The little window, with the cheery gleam of welcome, smiled upon her. Her mother met her at the door with many anxious inquiries, all of which Lettie answered in such a cold, constrained manner as to quite alarm her.
"Lettie, you've worked yourself most to death. I did not think Madame La Vert would push you so."
"She didn't, mother;" and then the whole story came out. "Mother, I'm just as bad as Esau. I wish I could have spoken to you about it. Oh, dear, how my head aches thinking of it, and of that other text about 'gaining the whole world and losing your own soul.'"
"My dear Lettie, you are tired now; in the morning you will feel differently."
"Oh! mother, this morning I thought I should go to meeting to-night, and somehow I felt as if I should meet Jesus there for certain, and that to-morrow I could go to church, feeling that I was in my 'Father's house,' and that I would be so happy that I should never grieve again."
Near morning, Mrs. Lathrop was awakened by the loud, wild tone of Lettie's voice. Hastily lighting her lamp, she was terribly alarmed at the change a few hours had wrought. As soon as it was light, she sent a neighbor for the doctor, and when he came and examined the restless, tossing form, he said, "This is a singular case. Your daughter, madame, must have been overtaxed, physically and mentally, to be so completely prostrated so soon."
He was soon informed of all the mother knew concerning her daughter's state, and shook his head gravely as he was told of the mental excitement and over work.
What was Mrs. Gray's surprise, upon seeing her two friends come into her room, prepared to accompany her to church in their last spring bonnets! It spoiled half her delight in hers, to think that all her worry was far worse than a whimsical fancy.
"Oh! What a beauty of a bonnet! Why, it is a perfect little gem!" cried the ladies, with true feminine appreciation of the beautiful.
"You have not ordered yours yet," said Mrs. Gray, surprised to hear no word of apology offered for the old hats.
"Oh! yes," said Mrs. James; "but in the city it is so different from these country places. There, when the season opens, there is such a rush, everybody wants their bonnets and hats, and in consequence, the poor, pale girls are worked day and night. So I told my milliner not to hurry any one for me, as I could wait very well. You see I don't care for these things as I used to," said Mrs. James.
"Nor I," said Mrs. Stoaks, "for myself, although I enjoy seeing them on others; but I try to keep my body under, and to never let worldly matters shut me out from higher and holier duties."199Poor Mrs. Gray! how she wished her bonnet back again upon the quiet page of Madame Demorest, as she thought, "I do wonder if they saw or heard Lettie last night? but no, they went to their rooms full two hours before she came. Poor little thing, how tired she looked! I hope she'll enjoy wearing her new hat better than I do mine."
Many were the admiring glances cast upon the new bonnet. "Why," said little Tillie Wood, at the dinner-table, to her mother and sister, "it was all the beauty of a whole springtime compressed into one little mite of a bonnet."
"Yes, my dear, and I fear more than that. I greatly fear that your little Lettie's life will be the price nature will demand for this love of a bonnet;" and the good doctor told the pitiful story, and how Lettie raved continually about selling her soul for Madame La Vert's nicest pattern hat.
Mrs. Gray was overwhelmed with grief when she heard of Lettie's illness, and strove in every way to atone for her want of thought; and while every word from the blue lips of the sufferer went like a dagger to her heart, she prayed that the blood of the precious soul might not be found upon her skirts. Her prayer was answered.
Out of the soft brown eyes, Lettie's own quiet self looked once more, and the old smile, with an added brightness, lighted up her dying face. "Madame—mother, I am going home. Jesus loves me, and is calling me to come. Don't cry, mother. Just think I'll never sin any more; never, never get tired again. Forgive you, Mrs. Gray? Ah, yes, gladly and freely. You intended no wrong; but, oh! I ask you to watch and help those who are trying to find the way to Jesus. Madame, dear Madame, I love you. You have always been good to me. Oh! be good to yourself. Come to Jesus. Mother, kiss me. I'm going. Don't—don't cry. You'll come soon."
They covered her coffin with pale spring flowers, and laid her away in the quiet churchyard. *
The curious eyes of Graysville were never again gladdened by the finery of Mrs. Deacon Gray. In sober, neat, but plain attire, she went about her Master's work, striving to redeem the time spent in pursuing the fickle goddess Fashion; and if she ever feels a desire after any of life's vanities, she goes to her room, and takes down a bandbox, she opens it, and takes out the soft, fleecy fabric, over which Lettie's white fingers so diligently wrought. Pinned to one of the ties is a paper; and while she reads with streaming eyes, we will look on:—
"This trifling vanity cost a young life, and but for the infinite mercy of God, I should to-day have to answer for a lost soul—a poor trembling, seeking soul, from whom my selfish pride had almost hid the cross."—Selected.
Lived in Vain.
THOUGH we climb fame's proudest hight,
Though we sit on hills afar,
Where the thrones of triumph are;
Though all deepest mysteries be open to our sight,
If we win not by that power
For the world another dower—
If this great Humanity share not in our gain,
We have lived our life in vain.
THOUGH we revel in sweet dreams;
Though with poet's eye we look
Full on Nature's open book,
And our spirits wander, singing with the birds and the streams;
If we let no music in
To the world of grief and sin—
If we draw no spirit heavenward by the strain,
We have lived our life in vain.
THOUGH our lot be calm and bright;
Though upon our brows we wear
Youth, and grace, and beauty rare,
And the hours go swiftly, singing in their flight;
If we let no glory down
Any darkened life to crown—
If our grace and joyance have no ministry for pain,
We have lived our life in vain.
THOUGH for weary years we toil;
Though we gather all the gold
From the mines of wealth untold,
Though from farthest shores of ocean we have brought the spoil;
What at the last is won
If we hear not God's "Well done"?
If the world's want and sorrow be not lessened by our gain;
We have lived our life in vain.
THOUGH we be, in heart and hand,
Mighty with all foes to cope,
Rich in courage and in hope,
Fitted as strong laborers in the world to stand—
If with these we right no wrong
What avails it to be strong?
If we strengthen not the weak, raise not the bowed again,
We have lived our life in vain.
TO the giver shall be given—
If thou wouldst walk in the light
Guide the erring to the right;
They shall deck a starry crown for thee in heaven.
For, in blessing we are blest
And in labor find our rest.
If we bend not to our life work, heart, and hand and brain
We have lived our life in vain.—Sel.
SECULAR NEWS.
—Mercedes, the queen of Spain, is dead.
—The national debt was decreased three million dollars in May.
—Pennsylvania supplies one-fifth of the rye produced in this country, or 3,677,641 bushels out of 16,918,795.
—June 29, a portion of a tunnel fell near Schevelin, Germany, burying twenty-seven persons. Seven bodies were recovered.
—The taxable property of the Chinese of Los Angeles county for 1877 amounted to less than $500. They sent out of the county thousands.
—Grasshoppers by the million are reported to be in Sierra Valley. They have damaged the hay somewhat, but will hurt the grain more.
—The daily motion of the Swiss glacier, the Mer de Glace, is from seven to thirty-six inches, depending upon the season and the point of measurement. The motion of its tributary glaciers is less rapid.
—June 29, a destructive fire broke out at Los Angeles, in the Central Hotel, opposite the passenger depot, and was carried by the winds to the Railroad Hotel, adjoining, consuming both buildings completely. Loss, $7000.
—It is estimated that 20,000,000 sheep are slaughtered in England for mutton annually, or more than half the present stock on hand. Canada and the United States are destined to play an important part in contributing to satiate the English palate, especially susceptible to mutton and beef.
—The school census of Oakland shows the number of school children between 5 and 17 years of age to be 6666—3242 boys and 3424 girls, a gain of 77 over the census of 1877. Last year the Chinese children numbered 181; this year there are 394. In 1877 the children under 5 years of age numbered 3599; this year but 3259 are returned—a falling off of 340.
—A comparison made between two Atlantic steamers, one built in 1840, and one of to-day shows that the modern steamship carries fifteen times as much freight as the old one did, at nearly twice the speed. The consumption of coal per ton of cargo was, in 1840, nearly 11 times as much as at present.
—Prof. Leone Levi, of the University of London, says that the wages of the working classes in Great Britain may be taken at £400,000,000, £300,000,000 of which they finger directly in cash. In this case he holds that they ought to save £15,000,000 a year, and yet he cannot make out that the sum they do hoard exceeds £4,000,000. When asked what becomes of the £11,000,000 of surplus which, according to him the workingmen's private budget annually shows, the lecturer opines that it goes in buying more drink than is necessary or wholesome.
—The Newfoundland sealing steamers are built with iron prows and timbers strong enough to resist an immense pressure. The iron prow acts like a huge wedge driven by steam. Saws are used in making a way through thick ice, especially when an approaching iceberg threatens a catastrophe. The long, sloping stems of these vessels are built of solid oak and covered with inch thick iron plates, forming a ram of immense weight and power. The rest of the hull is sheathed four inches thick with a New Zealand wood almost as hard as metal.
Testimony in Favor of Temperance.
A NUMBER of the Turf, Field, and Farm contains a letter from Edward P. Weston, the famous pedestrian, to Rev. T. L. Cuyler, of Brooklyn, from which we extract the following wholesome lesson:—
“You ask for my ‘experience as to the effect of alcoholic stimulants on those who aim at athletic achievements.’ In reply, I am constrained to say that, so far as my judgment and experience are concerned, the use of intoxicating liquors on the occasion of the performance of any task requiring strength and nerve, is not only unnecessary, but wholly injurious. The moment a man partakes of such stimulants at such a time, he ceases to work upon his own strength of manhood, and is simply using a false power built upon a medicine (for liquor is good for nothing else.) It may help him for the moment, but the effect is of short duration, and then he is worse than before. It not only weakens his body, but his nerve, and takes away his will; and that is not all—it will take away his appetite for food. I know it is a custom prevalent among those who go into a regular course of instruction, or training (as it is called,) for a feat of pedestrianism, to give them crackers soaked in wine at stated intervals. To my mind, this is not only folly and a loss of time, but morally wrong. The man should always be in training (all that is necessary,) have his habits regular, and have a care of that which he eats and when he eats it. If he cannot walk fifty miles a day without taking wine, he certainly will not walk long if he makes that his practice.
“Diet is an important consideration in a walk that places a stronger tax than usual upon the physical system. And if a man desires to excel in feats requiring endurance and strength, he must pay strict attention to a diet based upon the primitive laws of health. What I recommend has been proved valuable by personal experience.”
Wisdom in Life
WISDOM does not show itself so much in precept as in life, in a firmness of mind and a mastery of appetite. It teaches us to do as well as talk, to make words and acts of a color.
Tobacco.
SMOKING tobacco, and the use of tobacco in every form, is a habit better not acquired, and when acquired is better abandoned. It gives a doubtful pleasure for a certain penalty. It induces various nervous changes, some of which pass into organic modifications of fuction. So long as the practice of smoking is continued, the smoker is out of health. When the odor of tobacco hangs long on the breath and other secretions of the smoker, that smoker is in danger. Excessive smoking has proved directly fatal.
Tonics and Stimulants.
The question is constantly being asked by correspondents. How do tonics and stimulants give strength to the system? The answer is, they do not. Stimulants, and those articles commonly called tonics, instead of giving vitality, they always consume it. But if this be true, says one, how does the patient seem stronger after taking these things? Just exactly as the horse seems stronger when lashed by his master's to induce him to draw a heavy load up some steep declivity. When the task is accomplished, the poor animal stands trembling like the aspen, plainly exhibiting a fearful expenditure of vitality.
No one will claim that the whip imparted strength to the animal, even although he might not have otherwise accomplished the work. Nor will any one deny that the task was performed at the expense of vitality. So it is in the use of tonics and stimulants. They do, indeed, produce results which seem to indicate an accession of strength, but this is never really the case.—Sel.
Keep Cheerful.
THE majority of mankind need no caution against overwork. Where work kills one, the want of work kills ten, the fires of passion consumes twenty, sinful indulgence destroys fifty. In cases where work seems to undermine health, it is not so often that the labor is too much, as the faulty way in which it is done, the spirit in which it is performed. Labor, to be permanently endurable, must be healthy; that is, it must be adapted to the mental and physical capacities of the worker, and especially if brain labor, it must be pleasing. It must not be allowed to trench upon sleep, to interfere with the regular and deliberate taking of food, nor prevent a proper amount of recreation and exercise. Those who write upon this subject rarely look beyond the surface of the matter. Dyspepsia is traced to hasty meals and want of exercise; softening of the brain, to excessive thinking, and so on. Why the meals are hasty, or the brain overtaxed, seems to escape notice.
The healthiest men we know are those who do not work the hardest, but do the most work. There is no paradox about this. Every business man sees among his employees examples of men who work hard, yet accomplish but little; others who easily accomplish much. How is this to be explained? Much is attributable to the want of system on the part of the inefficient; more to the want of the proper spirit. Nervous irritability is the great weakness of American character. It is the sharp grit which aggravates friction and cuts out the bearings of the human machine. Nine out of every ten men we meet are in a chronic state of annoyance. The lest untoward things sets them into a state of ferment.
The machinist, when he finds his machinery squeaking, applies the oil; if the bearings have become so hot as to endanger the works, he stops and allows them to cool.
The human machine should be treated in like manner. It should be kept well oiled and cool. Good humor is what will keep digestion perfect and the brain from softening, while it will, at the same time keep the heart from hardening.—Scientific American.