Dimanche ought not to be used in the French Bible in translating Rev. 1:10.
AN Italian correspondent calls our attention to Rev. 1:10, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day," or as most French translations read, "I was in the Spirit on dimanche." As the word dimanche is the proper name in the French language for the first day of the week, our correspondent thinks this passage a conclusive proof that the first day of the week is a sacred day. But this argument is not valid as we will now show.
John said only this: "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day," but he did not define which day of the week this is. The Lausanne Bible translates this literally: "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day." This is a just translation for it exactly expresses the original, without adding anything to it or taking anything from it. But most other French translations say that John was in the Spirit on dimanche, by which they make John assert that he was in the Spirit on the first day of the week.
But it may be asked, Does not the word dimanche signify Lord's day? and if so is it not a proper word to be used in the translation of Rev. 1:10? We answer that dimanche probably signifies Lord's day, though some eminent authorities assert that the word is derived from the Latin dies magnus and signifies simply great day. But dimanche is the name which the French language assigns to the first day of the week and as this name is generally understood to signify Lord's day, we will raise no question that such is its proper meaning.
But though the first day of the week has borne the name of Lord's day during many centuries, it did not bear that name in the time when John had his vision, nor did it receive this name so far as can be shown from history until nearly the close of the second century. Therefore it is in the highest degree unjust to translate the term Lord's day, used by John, by the word dimanche, which is the definite name for the first day of the week. It is the same as making John say, "I was in the Spirit on the day which is the first day of the week."
II.
The first day of the week did not bear the name of Lord's day when John had his vision.
But it is said that by the term Lord's day, John must have meant the first day of the week, because that day was familiarly known in his time by that name. But this statement is absolutely false as we will now show. There are eight instances in the New Testament in which the first day of the week is mentioned, and in not one of these is the day called Lord's day, nor is it called by any other sacred name. There are also numerous instances in the fathers in which the first day of the week is mentioned before the year 200, but in none of these is it called Lord's day. If these statements are true they effectually disprove the assertion so often made, that the first day of the week was familiarly known in John's time by the name of Lord's day, and that for this reason he used the term Lord's day without telling what day he meant.
We come now to the testimony. It is asserted that the first day of the week received the name of Lord's day from the apostles, because Christ rose from the dead on that day. No one can know this to be a fact except from the testimony of the New Testament. We will therefore quote the different instances in which the first day of the week is mentioned, giving them in their chronological order.
Matthew wrote his gospel A.D. 41, about ten years after the resurrection of Christ. If the first day of the week was the Lord's day, Matthew must have known it. He mentions the day in connection with the resurrection of Christ; but, though this event is supposed to have given the day the title of Lord's day, he calls it only by the name of "first day of the week." Matt. 28:1.
Twenty-six years after the resurrection of Christ, Paul wrote his first epistle to the Corinthians. If the first day of the week possessed a sacred title, Paul must have known it, and it was very important that he should recognize the day by that title. But he also calls the day simply "first day of the week." 1 Cor. 16:2.
Luke wrote his gospel A.D. 60, about 29 years after the resurrection of Christ, when the title of Lord's day, if it belonged to the first day of the week, certainly needed to be placed on record in the New Testament. But Luke mentions the day in connection with the event which is supposed to have made it the Lord's day, and yet like Matthew and Paul, he calls it simply the "first day of the week." Luke 24:1.
Three years after writing his gospel, or thirty-two years after the resurrection of Christ, Luke wrote the book of Acts in which he once mentions the first day of the week. Acts 20:7. Many assert that on this occasion Luke mentioned the day in order to establish its sacred character. If he had the strongest possible reason to give to the first day of the week, the title of Lord's day, if that title belonged to that day. But he called the day simply the "first day of the week."
The next year after Luke wrote the book of Acts, Mark wrote his gospel. This was A.D. 64, about thirty-three years after the resurrection of Christ. As the other sacred writers had neglected to call the first day of the week by the name of Lord's day, it was certainly very important that Mark should not forget to give this title to the day if the title belonged to it. But he twice mentions the day, giving it no sacred title, but calling it simply "first day of the week." Mark 16:2, 9.
These are all the instances in which the day is mentioned in the New Testament, before John was banished to the isle of Patmos; for the gospel of John according to the general testimony of the ancient writers, was written after his return from that island. It is certain therefore that the day was not known by the name of Lord's day previous to the vision of John at Patmos.
III.
The name of Lord's day was not revealed to John in his vision as the title of the first day of the week.
But it may be said that the name was revealed to John as the proper title of the first day of the week in his vision at Patmos, and that John conferred this sacred title upon a day which as late as the year 96 had been known only as the first day of the week. But if it be true that John was instructed by revelation on that island to call the first day of the week the Lord's day, he would have said, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day which is the first day of the week." Instead of this, he says, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day," and leaves us to learn from the Bible what day the Lord claims as his day.
But we are not yet done with the testimony of John. A few months after his vision on the isle of Patmos he returned from his banishment and wrote his gospel. In that gospel he twice mentions the first day of the week. If he received instruction at Patmos to confer the title of Lord's day upon the first day of the week, we shall certainly discover that when he mentions the day in his gospel. But though he speaks of the day twice in his account of the resurrection of Christ, he follows the example of the other sacred writers and calls it simply the "first day of the week" and nothing else. John 20:1, 19.
We have thus given the eight instances in which the first day of the week is mentioned in the New Testament, and they furnish the most conclusive proof that the day was not by the title of Lord's day in the time of the apostles. Two things are established by this examination of the New Testament. First, that no sacred writer called the first day of the week the Lord's day. Second, that John could not have been instructed to confer the title of Lord's day upon the first day of the week, for if that had been the case when he used the term Lord's day in Rev. 1:10, he would have defined it to mean the first day of the week; or when he wrote his gospel a few months later and in that gospel twice mentioned the first day of the week, he would have connected with that name the sacred title of Lord's day.
(To be Continued.)
Evading the Truth.
By R. F. Cottrell
BY ELD. R. F. COTTRELL.
STRANGE as it seems, men who profess to believe in God—"that he is, and that he is a rewarder" of all according to their works—will still trifle with his laws, and fancy they can shirk their responsibility and escape the scrutiny of his all-seeing eye, because they cannot see things as they are plainly expressed in the word of God. They dare not trifle with human laws and expect to escape punishment on a plea of ignorance; but in respect to the divine law, they think it makes no difference if it is not obeyed with exactness. But for fear that they may be compelled by the force of convincing arguments to see the glaring falsity of their position, they will not hear or read.
But what will it avail them in the Judgment, that, when they might have learned the truth, they shut their eyes and said they could not see? Their flimsy covering of a falsehood cannot hide them from the piercing view of the Almighty. They must be aware of this, if they do believe in God. Hence we must conclude that, notwithstanding they profess it, yet they have no living faith at all.
This is the great difficulty—it is want of true faith. The Jews rejected Christ in his first advent for want of faith in the Scriptures they professed to believe. While professing faith, they were infidels. Just so it is now. Thousands are in a similar condition—professing faith, yet closing their eyes and their hearts against the truth, the present truth, the only truth which can sanctify and save them. "Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" Luke 18:8, Campbell's version says, "And will not God avenge his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he linger in their cause? I assure you, he will suddenly avenge them. Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find this belief upon the earth?" This belief. that is, the faith that Christ is suddenly coming to avenge his elect—to slay their persecuting enemies, and save them.
Oh, that professed Christians had faith in Christ!—that they believed his promise that he will come again, and that he will appear to the generation that have witnessed the promised signs. If men had living faith they would obey the word and keep his commandments. But for want of faith they evade the law of God, and hide behind their own ignorance.
"Though ample views of truth they once have got,
They shut their eyes and say they see it not."
But all is naked and plain to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. We shall be judged according to our opportunities. If we have improved them, well; but if we have been "willingly ignorant," there is no excuse.
Behold!
By H.
I RECENTLY heard a Wesleyan Methodist minister preach from the passage, “Behold I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” He remarked that when the word “Behold” is used in this way, we may be sure that something of peculiar importance and demanding special attention, is about to follow.
It at once occurred to my mind that if the principle thus laid down was allowed to have its perfect work, there would be no danger of the doctrines of the Second Advent and the Restitution being cast into the shade, or lost sight of; for in the Apocalypse, from which the text was taken, the following passages are found: “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him; and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, amen.” “Behold, I come quickly; hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.” “Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.” “Behold, I come quickly; blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.” “Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth. . . . and I heard a great voice from heaven saying, Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And he shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.” .
If the minister was correct in the rule of exegesis which he announced, then the coming again of Christ and the new creation are “of peculiar importance, and demanding special attention;” and it is not surprising that John Wesley should publish a sermon on the words, “Behold, I make all thing new.”—H., in Millennial News.
Czar Rejects Jewish Expulsion Plan
THE Czar has refused to confirm the recommendation of the Commission on the Jewish question, in favor of compelling the Jews to quit the rural districts, on the ground that such expulsion would almost ruin agriculture, and that the recommendations are generally conceived in a vindictive spirit.
The Way to Work.
By Stephen N. Haskell
The formation of such habits as will mold the character and make it acceptable to God, is the essential part of the Christian religion. The redeemed will finally be saved because they have formed righteous characters. As the physical system partakes of the nature of the food which sustains it, so our characters are affected by what our minds feed upon. If a person dwells upon unbelief, darkness, doubt, and wickedness, his conscience will become defiled, his imagination impure, and his whole character will bear the impress of these evil principles. Those who will be translated when Christ comes in the clouds of Heaven, will be those whose whole souls desire Heaven and heavenly things. Honesty, moral integrity, and uprightness, will be the themes of their meditation and their delight.
Our publishing interests are the right arm of our power. To engage in the dissemination of the knowledge of present truth is to directly co-operate with angels and with the Spirit of God. Let the mind become absorbed in this work, and it will elevate the soul. That which is impure, unlovely, evil reports, and the like, will fade from the mind; an anxiety to benefit others will take their place, and thus the character will become Christ-like.
In view of these facts, the work of the colporter and the canvasser becomes closely allied to that of the ministry; for the canvasser who is successful in the sale of our publications must come in close contact with other minds, and learn how successfully to reach the people. He would have very poor success, could he not gain the confidence of the persons whose patronage he solicits. If he be unable to avoid giving offense either by words or department, he should conclude that he has mistaken his calling, for he will inevitably meet with a failure. He must be pleasing in his address, meeting incivility and insult with a kind and courteous spirit.
Whatever the character of the work offered for sale by the canvasser, he becomes inspired with the subject it contains. If it treats upon some worldly topic, he partakes of the same spirit. It is his theme by day and by night. Not a few canvassers have embraced the Sabbath, but, like many ministers who have come into our ranks from other denominations, their former experience, instead of fitting them to engage in this work, has given them a wrong mold of character. When the Illinois Conference voted to give a brother in that State a license he said, "If you want a Presbyterian sermon, I can give one; but I am too old to change my habits so as ever to preach present truth and interest the people." "Putting new wine into old bottles" works no better in the nineteenth century than in our Saviour's time.
There are scores of young men and women in every Conference who might gain a valuable experience by canvassing for some useful work. It would be a stepping-stone to some greater field of usefulness. The introduction of the truth by lawful means into any family, is a work worthy of the aspirations of any Christian. All cannot preach, but there are many who would become successful preachers by having an experience in dealing with minds, and in awakening an interest in the truth sufficient to create a sale for books and periodicals treating upon it. In fact, there are many ministers whose usefulness would have been far greater had their social faculties been cultivated by canvassing. However, the benefit derived depends very much upon the nature of the book for which they canvass.
To become imbued with the spirit of that which would lead the mind away from God, would wholly unfit the person for usefulness in his service. There are works not denominational, but yet useful, which would give the right mold to the experience thus gained.
The health reform sustains the same relation to the cause of present truth that the right hand does to the body. Publications upon this subject can be canvassed for, and in this way a missionary spirit encouraged; also there is no better work for this purpose than "Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation." We have a special work to do, a specific object before us, and we hope that none will be turned aside from those paths which will make them useful in the cause of our divine Lord.
—S. N. Haskell, in Review and Herald.
Ship Missionary Work.
By Editor
[The following is the letter to which reference was made in a note in last week's SIGNS. Let our workers read and take courage.—ED.]
SHIP MORAYSHIRE, SOUTH VALLEJO, March 12, 1882.
MR. AND MRS. PALMER—Beloved in the Lord: With gladness I embrace the opportunity of fulfilling your request and my promise to write to you from this place. How my soul doth magnify the Lord in that, through his special providence and abounding grace, we were led to meet each other. His ways are mysterious to us. He leadeth the blind "by a way that they know not" to his light and liberty. My beloved brother, the steward, is indeed a sharer with me in being thus privileged to magnify the Lord. Before we called—effectually by obedience—he answered; while our minds were willing to obey, he heard, and gave us the favor mentioned: our meeting with you.
Dear brother, you told us that evening on which we last met at your residence, that your household was also gladdened. But had you seen us two last night before the Lord, acknowledging his holy Sabbath day—whilst we did indeed mourn our long protracted neglect of that day in the past, though we were seeking to be guided into the truth as to the fulfilling of the whole law—had you been present with us, I say, your joy would have been full.
As I write in all sincerity, I am persuaded that it will be a means of comfort to you to hear of it. Since I last parted with you I had a long interview with the Captain, during which he asked what I thought of the doctrines advanced in the papers, etc., which you brought. I replied: They are all strictly in accordance with divine revelation; the almost universal neglect to observe the Sabbath day according to the Scriptures, and the substitution of another day in its stead, whether by pope, priest, or minister, is anti-Christian, and a grievous sin against a holy God; and is willful disobedience on the part of those who neglect or refuse to hear the faithful warnings of those who, at great sacrifice, are standing out against the wrongs perpetrated in the Christian church. He said he was sorry that he was ill when you called. The steward was present, and we both felt assured that the Lord has begun to direct his heart in union with our own, in will and desire to obey the fourth commandment. With such a disposition, his position and privileges will providentially be a help to us. We are grateful to our kind and loving Father, knowing he is able to subdue any remaining opposition, and lead our employer to fully see his privilege and responsibility. The Lord is indeed good unto all that call upon him in truth.
How clear is the account by J. W. Morton, in reference to the divine appointment of the seventh day; also, his own convictions and experience. How the prevailing ideas concerning the immortality of man and the sleep of the dead are overturned. The steward had a severe struggle on that point this morning, but when he came to me, on stating that our life is hid with Christ in God, the light came at once. He is perusing the "Ministration of Angels." The origin of Satan, etc., is now, to my mind, made as clear as the sun, while previously I had been in a state of confusion in reference to the power of the opposing forces of evil, or rather, the power of the prince of darkness. How needful that we should know with whom we fight in order to get the equipment necessary to resist his power. How essential it is for us to know and to submit to the will of Him who provides for us the whole armor of God, teaches us how to use it, invites us to put it on, so that we may be able to withstand Satan's wiles.
Dear brother, I have long felt that the Lord had called me by his grace to battle with the principalities and powers of darkness, and it is now clear to my mind that he has led me by special providence. Surely I shall never again think anything by way of chastisement grievous.
I have no word from home yet. Do pray that all may get right in that direction.
With thanks for past favors, we remain,
Yours in the Lord,
DAVID YOUNG,
GEORGE GOULD,
STEWART DAILEY.
WHEN THE HARVEST IS WON.
Our field is the world: whether sowing or reaping,
Or gleaning the handfuls that others have passed,
Or waiting the growth of the seed that with weeping
On rocky and desolate plains we have cast;
Yet each for his toiling and each for his mourning,
Shall some time rejoice when the harvest is won,
And know, in the flush of eternity's morning,
That the toil, the reward, and the glory are one.
-Selected.
Northern Europe.
By John Gottlieb Matteson
We are busy at the printing office trying to get copy ahead for the paper and to replenish tracts that are sold out. I intended to return to Moss first, as some people there are favorably affected by the truth, but circumstances seem to demand some labor in Sweden, and I have decided to go there first. Next week, the Lord willing, I shall start in company with Bro. Rosqvist.
Bro. R. has had a taste of the severity which a church clothed with the power of the State can exercise. He has been punished as a heretic by those would-be orthodox churches that pretend to explain the meaning of the Bible, and wield the sword of the law against offenders. And the end is not yet. Bro. R. has again been summoned to appear before the court in Grythyttehed on the second day of March, this year. The law on this point is now arranged so that he can be accused and punished every time he preaches where he has once been forbidden to do so. *
Another priest stated that he would rather have a diocese full of habitual drunkards than to have to deal with those miserable temperance folks. He feared the people would be self-righteous when they abstained, and it is a sad fact that this idea is quite common. What a blessed work to snatch souls like burning brands out of such a fire!
In Denmark, Bro. Brorson is laboring patiently from place to place. He is still in Sjelland. There are many open doors, and a few souls have been gained. Bro. K. Kristensen has also labored with some success in the northern part of Julland this winter. Bro. Berg is doing a good work in the vicinity of Drammen and Holmestrand, Norway, scattering our publications, and Bro. Ström is laboring acceptably in this place. Dear brethren, pray for the work in Northern Europe.
Christiana, February 4. J. G. MATTESON.
Georgia.
By Wm. F. Killen
We held a two days' meeting in Brooks Co., Ga., on the first Sabbath and Sunday in February. The meeting was appointed for the purpose of organizing a Seventh-day Adventist church, but after talking the matter over, it was thought best to put it off a little longer. Under all the circumstances, we could not at that time enter into an organization. I preached six discourses and visited from house to house, instructing the people all I could. I am convinced that much good was done; and I hope soon to organize a church there with from twelve to fifteen members.
Perry, Houston Co., March 3. Wm. F. Killen.
Farmington, W. T.
By Alonzo Trévier Jones
HAVING to discontinue meetings in Farmington on account of small-pox, I went six miles out to Dutch Flat school-house and held a short series of meetings. As a result eight are keeping the Lord's Sabbath. These are near enough to Farmington to belong to that church. There are now forty-two names on the covenant, and some are observing the Lord's day who have not signed the covenant. The Methodist minister gave two opposition discourses on March 5th which helped us much. The no-law pamphlet of S. C. Adams, of Historical Chart fame, has been distributed lately, which has also helped us. I had reviewed its positions before it was circulated. May the word of the Lord mightily grow and prevail.
A. T. JONES.
Sunday Schools and Saloons
INDIANAPOLIS has 150 Sunday-schools and 300 saloons. As a result in ten years she has had 6,000 conversions to Christ, and 50,000 arrests before the mayor's court for drunkenness. She has had 400 graduates in the public schools, and 750 graduates out of the grog-shops into the penitentiary.—Signal.
Training Hand and Eye
Training the hand and the eye to do work well leads individuals to form correct habits in other respects.
Pat Flanigan's Logic.
"Patrick Flanigan," said the district attorney, one day in court, "stand up and plead guilty or not guilty to the charge the commonwealth has preferred against you."
When Pat had complied with the polite request thus made by the officer of the law, the attorney proceeded to read from a paper in his hand a very graphic description of a certain transaction in which Pat had been engaged a few days before.
"What say you? Are you guilty or not guilty?" asked the attorney.
"I'm not guilty of half thim things you've read to me," said Pat looking at the Court; "but I did have a bit of a row last Saturday was a week. An' I dunno just what I did; for ye see I was stavin' dhrunk on the manest corn whisky yer honor iver tasted."
"But, Patrick, we never tasted it," said the judge, while a smile lurked in ambush behind the grave, judicial countenance.
"Sure, now, don't ye, though?" said Pat, with a look of mingled surprise and incredulity. "Well, thin, ye ought, jist once, to know how it acts, an' to know how to pity a poor fellow that does. Sure, yer honor grants license; an' how do ye know the mischief yer doin' to honest men like meself unless ye take a dhrink now and thin, jist to see how it makes a man behave hisself?"
"Who gave you the liquor, Patrick?" asked the Court, on a voyage of discovery.
"Well, I dunno wat's his name," said Pat, too honest to turn informer, while a gleam of true native humor twinkled in his eye. "But I know I seed a license hangin' behind the bar. Ye see, judge, I was wroughtin' for the city, in the streets, jist close by, an' I was droughty; an' it was so handy I wint in an' took a dhrink that ortent to have hurt a baby, an' in tin seconds I was crazy dhrunk, an' that's all I remember till nixt mornin' whin I was boardin' at Sheriff Ryan's hotel."
"But," said the Court, "you are charged with perpetrating an aggravated assault and battery on Mr. S., the hotel-keeper."
"Well, your honor," said Pat, "if I did, I only gin him back jist wat's in his own whisky. An' if yer honor hadn't give a license I wouldn't 've bin dhrunk; an' if I hadn't been dhrunk I wouldn't 've got into the fight; an' if I hadn't got into the fight I wouldn't 've bin here this mornin', onyhow."
This was a process of reasoning new to the Court. It was a self-evident truth dressed in plain clothes; and while the law was with the Court, Pat evidently had all the logic, and here summed up the mischief of the license system in a few sentences.—Sel.
Lead Poisoning by Cosmetics.
The death of a young lady in New York, from lead poisoning by the excessive use of cosmetics, has called out from Dr. Hammond the statement that the case was not an uncommon one.
"Lead poisoning," he said, "occurs more frequently than is generally thought. The public rarely hear of such cases. It is only once in a while that cases like that of Miss Blanchard attract the attention of the public outside of the medical profession. The use of any kind of cosmetics, even if not habitually indulged in, is attended with danger. There are very few, if any, that do not contain white lead. This poison is used in the manufacture of face powders, face washes, and hair dyes. Minute particles enter the skin, and are taken up by the blood and communicated to the system. It produces various effects. Paralysis, colic, prostration of the nervous system, and insanity are among the frequent results of its introduction into the system. A very distressing case came under my notice a few days ago, in the wife of the Governor of one of the Western States. She had been in the habit of using a certain hair dye—I forget the name at the present moment—which contained white lead in a large proportion. She became hopelessly insane, and death ensued finally. Another case was that of a young lady who used a so-called 'bloom of youth.' In this case paralysis preceded death."—Christian Advocate.
He Could not Reach the Brake.
By Christian at Work
THERE is an old story of a California stage-driver who dreamed of a journey down the mountain side under perilous conditions. In his dream he started from the top of the mountain, with a crack of his whip and a shout to his horses, and the stage rolled grandly along the gently declining road. Soon the descent became steeper, and the horses were dashing along on the full gallop, but the driver, confident of his power to check them when the necessity should come, still cracked his whip and urged them onward. The stage was now going at a fearful rate, and the passengers became affrighted; but the driver only grasped his lines more firmly, and pulled steadily upon them. At length he could no longer disregard the danger from the headlong speed at which he was driving, and he reached forward to place his foot upon the brake, when he found that it was beyond his reach! To loosen his hold upon the lines would be to give up all control over his frightened horses, and he made another and a more determined effort to reach the brake, but the brake was still beyond his reach. Faster and faster went the stage down the steep road, and more and more frantic became the efforts of the driver to stop it; but the brake was beyond his reach! Just below there was a sudden turn in the narrow road. Upon one side was the solid wall of the mountain height; upon the other a fearful precipice. To pass that at the speed at which he was going, would be to court instant death. Once more the driver gathered all his energies together for one last frenzied effort to check the speed of the flying stage, but alas! it was of no use! He could not reach the brake!
Who has not known men who were on the down grade of intemperance, and who could not reach the brake?—whose destinies were freighted with the lives of near and dear friends, whom they were bearing down to lives of misery and disgrace, but who could not reach the brake!—who saw wealth, honor, love, happiness, being left behind them in their flying descent, but who could not reach the brake!—who saw before them the yawning abyss of eternal death for themselves and their children, but still they could not reach the brake!
Don't Smoke.
DON'T smoke any more, my friend; you can always hire a Chinaman to do all that kind of dirty work, and he can do it better than you, and stay out with the pigs, and you can go in the house among clean people.
There are tobacco-using men by the hundred in California who are daily committing cruel outrages upon their own and other people's children. When the little innocents are sleeping, these ignorant men are filling the room with their noxious smoke, poisoning every breath they inhale, implanting seeds of disease and death, which are murderous in their tendency and inflict curses upon them which last through life. When the children are up and awake they are subject to the same cruelties; and when one after another of the helpless little ones half murdered in this way falls a victim to some disease that would not endanger the life of a healthy child, and is carried out to its little grave, its parents wonder why the Lord "has seen fit to deal so hardly with them," and they go on and kill another the same way. There are parents who sin in ignorance and recklessness in this way, who would commit a less cruelty if they killed their children at once with a dose of laudanum.—The Rescue.
All very good except the slur upon the poor Chinaman, who is not so addicted to smoking and drinking as his more highly civilized neighbor. John is a bad opium smoker, but that habit might have been eradicated from China if her Christian neighbors had not compelled the introduction of opium into the flowery kingdom. In the Great Assize which is coming we fear the "Melican man," will not so far outweigh "the heathen Chinee" as he now thinks.
Weak Ankles and Awkward Gaits.
TAKE the most recent fashion of shoes. The heel of the human being projects outward, or rather backward, and gives steadiness to "the sure and certain step of man." But fashion has decided that the heel of the boot or shoe shall get as near the center of the instep as possible. Instead of the weight of the body resting upon an arch, in the modern fine lady it rests upon pegs, with the toes in front which have to prevent the body from toppling over.
Then the heel is so high that the foot rests upon the peg and the toes; the gait is about as elegant as if the lady were practicing walking upon stilts. In order to poise the body on these two points a bend forward is necessitated, which is regarded as the correct attitude of the "form divine." It is needless to say that there are few ankles which can stand this strain without yielding, and it is quite common to see young ladies walking along with their ankles twisting all ways, or perhaps with the sole of their shoe or boot escaping from under the foot and the side of the heel in contact with the ground.
With such modern improvements on sandals (which allow the feet perfect freedom and play), the present mademoiselle, when she attempts to run, is a spectacle at which the gods—well not quite that, but at which her mother might well weep.—Good Words.
Increase of Beer-Drinking.
"The consumption of malt liquor in this country has increased over 100 per cent. in ten years. 'During 1880,' says the Retailer, the organ of the brewers, 'taxes were paid on 13,374,000 barrels, or 414,000,000 gallons.' This is equivalent to about 150 mugs for every man, woman, and child in the country. Leaving out the females and children, this vast quantity represents 600 glasses a year for each male over twenty-one years old in the United States. At five cents a glass this beer manufacture of 1880 brought $375,000,000, or about $7.50 per capita for every man, woman, and child. This is a quarter more than the total expense of running the United States Government."
Saloon-Keepers Barred from Brotherhood
The Missouri Grand Lodge of United Workmen, recently in session in St. Louis, passed a resolution of great significance. It came up in the form of a question upon the admission of saloon-keepers and bartenders into the organization. It was claimed that these men were in constant danger of losing their lives at the hands of the very characters who patronize them, and, according to the Supreme Medical Examiner's report, the saloon-keepers were largely in the lead on the list of deceased members, many of the class being taken off by consumption. The debate was spirited, and when the vote was taken the resolution that no saloon-keeper or bartender be admitted to the brotherhood, was carried by a large majority.
Kansas Liquor Traffic Reimbursement
By Censer
A PROPOSITION was made by some interested or tender-hearted persons in Kansas to reimburse the liquor sellers for the damage sustained by them in the passage of the prohibition amendment. Governor St. John was accordingly waited on by a committee and asked if he would sign a bill making such provisions for a committee to investigate and report the sums that should be paid. He replied that he would do so if the bill also contained the provision that the same committee should also investigate how many paupers, orphans, and maniacs, had been made, how many homes ruined, how many waifs, and tramps, are cast upon the world by the traffic in Kansas. "If," he said, "in balancing the account, you find that the State owes the traffic anything, it shall be paid to the last cent." Nothing further was done with the reimbursement measure—Censer.
Four Lives for a Thousand Dollars
THE following is from a friend at Waukesha, Wis., and explains itself:—
I heard a leading citizen of Waukesha say last night, in the presence of a multitude, that “the city had received $1000 this year for whisky or saloon license.
“As one of the results, I have held four inquests on the bodies of four men, who were all citizens of this place, and all died from the effects of liquor bought on the authority of these licenses! Two committed suicide, and two, father and son, lay down on the railroad track and were crushed by the incoming train. Four men, soul and body, for $1000!” When will our people awake to the enormity of the sin they are committing in licensing people to sell rum?—Lever.
Courage as Medicine
He who can plant courage in the human soul is the best physician.