Earlier text: How Socialism Is RecruitedNOTES ON THE INTERNATIONAL LESSON.
IN the lesson for to-day Jesus taught humility, by an example which is to be imitated by his followers. Said he, "I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you." Yet as plain as are the words of the Master, not one in a thousand of those who profess to be his disciples, follow the example given by him. They do not do as he did. In this neglect, or refusal, there is a serious slighting of both the example and the command of the Lord Jesus. This example was given by Jesus to be followed by doing as he did, and not by doing something else,—"that ye should do as I have done to you." That is what the example means, and if it is not followed in the way that he did it, it is not followed at all. THE common explanation of the fact of the washing of feet is, that, as in those days the people wore sandals, it was the part of the host to wash the feet of his guests. But the Bible itself is the best evidence of the customs of Bible times, and the Bible shows that such an explanation is not the truth. When the angels came to Abraham, he said: "Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet." Gen. 18: 1-5. When two of the same ones went on to Sodom, Lot "rose up to meet them." "And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways." Gen. 19: 1, 2. When Abraham's servant went to the city of Nahor to obtain a wife for his master's son, and came to the house of Bethuel, Laban said: "Come in, thou blessed of the Lord; wherefore standest thou without? for I have prepared the house, and room for the camels. And the man came into the house; and he ungirded his camels, and gave straw and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet, and the men's feet that were with him." Gen. 24: 31, 32. When Joseph's brethren went down to Egypt, "The man brought the men into Joseph's house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their asses provender." Gen. 43: 24. In the days of the Judges, a Levite with his servant and concubine, was journeying from Bethlehem-Judah to the side of Mount Ephraim, and came to Gibeah, and the old man whom he met said: "Peace be with thee; howsoever, let all thy wants lie upon me; only lodge not in the street. So he brought him into his house, and gave provender unto the asses; and they washed their feet, and did eat and drink." Judges 19: 20, 21. In the song of Solomon it is said: "I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?" chap. 5: 3. When Jesus sat at meat in the house of Simon the Pharisee, he did not say to Simon, "Thou didst not wash my feet; but he did say, 'Thou gavest me no water for my feet.' Luke 7: 44. While the woman who had many sins had even washed his feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. And the very contrast which Jesus makes in this instance shows that for one person to wash another's feet was entirely out of the usual order. In any case this token of love of the penitent Mary could not be construed as an act of hospitality. See the whole narrative in Luke 7: 36-50. THE truth is, then, that while in all Bible times there are instances of persons giving to others water with which they washed their own feet, there is not in all the Bible a single instance of one person's washing another's feet, except that of Jesus in this lesson, and of those who followed his example as thus given. This conclusion is strengthened by the fact that Peter did not know why the Lord should wash their feet; for Jesus said, "What I do thou knowest not now." If such was the common practice in those days, it is most singular that Peter did not know about it. The fact is, there was no such custom, and that the act of Jesus was entirely out of the known order. We believe that Jesus spoke the truth when he said "What I do thou knowest not now." YET He said "But thou shalt know hereafter." "So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me Master and Lord; and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you." Here, then, is the Lord's own explanation of an act of which they did not know the meaning. And that explanation is, "Ye also ought to wash one another's feet." Why? Because "I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you." NOT AS Mr. Peloubet says in his "Select Notes on the International Lessons:" "He that serves others; he that does the humblest service in order to relieve their wants, or cleanse their souls from sin; he that . . . seeks out the poor, the sick, the obscure, the unpopular, to be their friend and helper,—he does to them as Christ did to the disciples." But did not Christ do that to everybody? Had he not been doing all these things before the eyes of his disciples, and had he not been teaching them all these things for three years and a half? In the temple, in the presence of a multitude, Jesus, in words spoken directly to his disciples, could exalt the poor widow and her two mites above all the rich of Jerusalem; he could go to the house of Zaccheus the publican, and of Simon the leper, and eat meat there; he could lead his disciples away over to the borders of Tyre and Sidon, apparently for the sole purpose of helping the poor woman of Canaan whose daughter was grievously vexed with a devil; he could show his gracious favor to the poor Mary "whose sins were many;" he could feed thousands of the hungry, twice, because "he had compassion on them;" he could cleanse the lepers, cause the lame to walk, the blind to see, the deaf to hear; he could bring from the dead "the only son of his mother, and she a widow," because "he had compassion on her;" he could heal the sick numbering thousands, all day, till he was wearied out, day after day; all these things, and more he could do year in and year out, and could send forth his disciples themselves to do them all; and yet, according to Mr. Peloubet, after all this, the disciples still lacked an example of Jesus, "serving others," and of his seeking out "the poor, the sick, the obscure, the unpopular, to be their friend and helper, and to relieve their wants!" And then when he does give them such an example, lo, he does it by washing their feet! And "he who seeks out the poor, the sick, the obscure, the unpopular, to be their friend and helper,—he does to them as Christ did to his disciples!" He who does these things does as Christ did to all; but to do these things is not to do as Christ did to his disciples, nor to follow his example, when he washed their feet. HERE are the words of Christ: 1. "I have washed your feet." 2. "I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you." 3. "Ye also ought to wash one another's feet." Therefore it is certain that no man follows the example of Christ as he gave it on this occasion, unless he washes the feet of a disciple of Christ. HERE are the words of Christ again: "Ye also ought to wash one another's feet." "Ye should do as I have done to you." "If ye know these things, happy [blessed] are ye if ye do them." Ought is the old English past sense of owe and means "under obligation to pay." Should is the imperative of shall and means "you must, you are bound to." "To owe, to be under obligation to do a thing." "OUGHT, SHOULD—Both words imply obligation, but ought is the stronger." Obligation—"That which constitutes legal or moral duty." See Skeat's Etymological Dictionary, and Webster. Therefore if Christ's words mean anything at all, they mean that the washing of one another's feet is a duty which the disciples of Christ owe to one another and to him. And so long as any of His disciples fail to do this, they fail to do their whole duty as his disciples. Nor will the performance of some other duty meet the obligation to perform this duty. To visit the sick is a duty. To seek out the poor and the obscure, to be their friend and helper,475is a duty, whether they be disciples or not. Christ taught all this all his life as a teacher; but till that night, the last one before his death, he never taught them nor anybody else, that they should wash anybody's feet. But there in the last fast-fleeting hours of his earthly life, just before dark Gethsemane, in his last tender meeting with his disciples, he gave this example of humility, and said to his beloved disciples, 'Ye ought to wash one another's feet,' 'Ye should do it.' Reader, if you are a disciple of Christ, and have not done this, why don't you do it? He says, 'Blessed are ye if ye do.' WE know that this duty is refused, and its obligation bitterly resented, by many and many of those who profess to be his disciples. But we feel fully assured that if there were anywhere any single expression of Christ such as that, Ye ought to keep holy the first day of the week; or, Ye should keep the first day of the week as Sabbath; or, Happy are ye if ye keep the first day of the week as the Lord's day;—we are perfectly certain that were there any single saying such as any one of these, there could not be found in this world a solitary person who keeps Sunday who would not cite it as of sufficient authority to settle all dispute that might arise on that question. And it would be sufficient authority for such service too. Then when all three of these expressions—'Ye ought to;' 'Ye should do;' 'Happy are ye if ye do;'—are used with direct reference to the washing of feet, why is it that there are among those who profess to be his disciples, any at all who will not do this duty so repeatedly laid upon them? But no, a thing which neither Christ nor his apostles ever mentioned or showed by any example—the keeping of the first day of the week—is exalted and clung to as though it were the chiefest token of allegiance to Christ: while this duty, having for its obligation his example and his thrice expressed injunction, is neglected, despised, and condemned, by those for whom the rite was instituted. 'Brethren, these things ought not so to be.' We assure you that whenever we find the words of Christ saying 'ye ought to,' concerning anything, that thing we are going to do. And when his word to his disciples concerning the washing of one another's feet, is, Ye ought to do it, Ye should do it, and Happy are ye if ye do it, we are going to do it. BUT it may be asked is there any further notice of this in the writings of the New Testament? There is. In 1 Tim. 5:3-16, Paul gives directions concerning the duty of the Church toward widows. And of those who are to be taken into the charge of the Church, he says: 'Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old, having been the wife of one man, well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints' feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work.' Verses 9, 10. This shows that the washing of the saints' feet was practiced in the Church as late as A. D. 65; that it was one of the things that a disciple of Christ must do to have the favor of the Church; and that it was to continue in the Church; because it was a part of the directions which Timothy was to follow in setting in order the things in the churches, and it was one of the things which he was to 'commit to faithful men who should be able to teach others also.' 2 Tim. 2:2. And it is not according to the will of Christ that this example should be neglected by his followers to-day. 'Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?' Luke 6:46. It also shows that Mr. Peloubet's teaching before quoted is wrong; for they were to be received, if they had lodged strangers, if they had relieved the afflicted, and if they had washed the saints' feet. Relieving the afflicted covers all of Mr. Peloubet's examples; but that is not to wash the saints' feet, nor is it to do, either in letter or in spirit, as Christ did when he washed the disciples' feet. Upper Columbia T. and M. Society.
By Carrie E. Mills
REPORT FOR QUARTER ENDING JUNE 30, 1886. No. of members. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
“ “ dismissed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
“ “ added. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
“ reports returned. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
“ missionary visits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
“ letters written. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
“ pages of tracts and pamphlets distributed. 30,945
“ periodicals distributed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,816
“ Signs taken in clubs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
“ Sentinels taken in clubs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
“ Gospel Sickle taken in clubs. . . . . . . . . . . 100
“ new subscribers obtained. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
“ Bible-readings held. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
Received on donation and membership. . . . . . $34.95
“ “ Sales. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18.65
“ “ Periodicals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.86
Total receipts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $84.46
CARRIE E. MILLS, Sec'y. (Lesson 18.—Sabbath, August 21.) 1. How many days are there in a week? 2. How are the first six days of the week to be occupied? "Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work." Ex. 20 : 9. "Six days shall work be done; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, a holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings." Lev. 23 : 3. 3. What example have we of such a use of the first six days of the week? "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." Ex. 20 : 11. 4. What is to be done on the seventh day? "But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates." Ex. 20 : 10. "Six days shall work be done; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, a holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings." Lev. 23 : 3. 5. On what day was Jesus crucified? "And that day was the preparation, and the Sabbath drew on." Luke 23 : 54. 6. What day followed the preparation day? 7. How did the women who followed Jesus pass that day? "And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment." Luke 23 : 56. 8. What did they do "when the Sabbath was past"? "And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. And very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulcher at the rising of the sun." Mark 16 : 1, 2. "Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulcher, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them." Luke 24 : 1. 10. Since they rested on the day before the first day of the week, on what day did they rest?—On the seventh day of the week. 11. In so doing, with what did they agree? "And rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment." Luke 23 : 56. 12. Then what day of the week is enjoined in the commandment?—The seventh day of the week. 13. And what is the name of the seventh day of the week? "But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." Ex. 20 : 10. 14. Was it a particular day of the week, or only the Sabbath in a general way, that God blessed and sanctified? "And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it; because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made." Gen. 2 : 3. 15. Is there any doubt as to which day is the seventh day, the true Sabbath?—Bishop E. O. Haven, of the M. E. Church, while president of Michigan University, said: "There is no good reason for denying that the Jewish Sabbath [by this he meant the Sabbath which the Jews keep] is the true seventh day, reckoning from the creation of man, and that the Christian Sunday is the first day of the Hebrew week, or of the genuine week."—Pillars of Truth, p. 89. Webster's Unabridged Dictionary defines Saturday as follows: "The seventh or last day of the week; the day following Friday and preceding Sunday." 16. For whom was the Sabbath made? "And he said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." Mark 2 : 27. 17. On how much of the earth did God design that man should dwell? "God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of Heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is worshiped with men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation." Acts 17 : 24-26. 18. Then did not God design that the Sabbath should be kept in every part of the world?—Most certainly. 19. Since it is evident that God designed that the Sabbath, the seventh day, should be kept in every part of the world, what can you say as to the possibility of doing so?—Simply that it must be possible to do so, for God never commands us to do impossibilities. 20. Upon whom does the Lord pronounce a blessing? "Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil." Isa. 56 : 2. 21. Is this promise extended to any besides the Jewish people? "Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servant, every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant." Isa. 56 : 6. WHY then is it neglected by so many of his professed followers to-day. The answer is easily given: It is Christ's ordinance of humility, but his professed Church has become too proud to practice it. This is shown in his own words: "I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them." The servant has become greater than his lord, and so considers himself free from the example and obligation of his Lord: he that is sent has become greater than He that sent him, and counts himself at liberty to dispense with the ordinance instituted by his Lord. When the churches were despised and persecuted, they were humble enough to not despise Christ's lesson of humility. But now the Church is courted by the world; now she is "rich and increased with goods and hath need of nothing." But she needs the humility of Christ. The "International Lesson" for to-day is entitled "Jesus Teaching Humility": how many will learn the real lesson which he teaches? how many will practice the lesson which he taught, as he taught it? "I have washed your feet." "I have given you an example that ye should do as I have done to you." "Ye also ought to wash one another's feet." "If ye know these things, happy [blessed] are ye if ye do them." "Straightening Out the Furrows."
By Harriet A. Cheever
"WELL, I never saw anything like that Captain Crofts round that old lady in all my life. He's dancing attendance from morning till night, and sakes alive! if he isn't tying on her sun-bonnet for her. Well I never! Wonder what 'twould seem like to have my Billy grow up to be as attentive as that?" and the voice, half scornful at first, took on a longing, yearning expression, suggestive of tearful eyes, at the mention of "my Billy." The speaker, Mrs. Bowles, lived in Seaport, usually spoken of as a fishing village, owing to the fact that many fishermen had lived there in years gone by; but the town was an old one, and, possessing great natural attractions, and being a suburban town, many fine residences graced its winding avenue. About two years before, a weather-beaten, sun-burned man, unmistakably a sailor, had bought a tasteful little cottage near the beach. This he had fitted up, beautified and embellished, until Mr. Harris declared it to be a "perfect pink of a place." Over this pretty house, Cap'n Sam, as the boys learned to call the genial man, had installed his white-haired mother as mistress and chief, and a more attentive, loving son, it would appear, had never lived. In a small barn at the rear of the cottage was kept a fine, steady horse, and a low basket carriage, and every fine day the captain and his mother "went abroad," as Mrs. Bowles expressed it, on long, pleasant drives. As we have hinted, Cap'n Sam was a great favorite among the boys of the place. Who else would harness up the sturdy horse into a big wagon, and give them such grand drives upon occasions? Then the great hickory and chestnut trees at the foot of his lot were free for the boys to visit as often as they liked, only they must never damage in any way the fine old branches; but when it came to spinning a yarn, ah, then! who so beguiling, nay, so perfectly bewitching, as the sea-bronzed man? It had long ago become a subject for harmless bantering among the boys, and rather relished than otherwise by the captain, that he was gallant and unceasingly attentive to his "sweetheart." "My fair old sweetheart," he had once in their hearing called his mother, and they, of course, would never forget it. But one day, the boys, quite a little crowd of them, found Cap'n Sam on the rocks at the beach. There were breakers that afternoon, and particularly at such times it was a favorite diversion with the sea-faring man, to sit on the rocky beach and watch his "second love," the sounding sea. It was at times like these the boys delighted in finding their old friend, and coaxing him for one of their "heart's delight," which he well knew meant a story of tempestuous seas or foreign lands. But on this particular afternoon the captain was brooding somberly, a habit he often had when by himself, and this time he couldn't throw off the mood, even at the approach of the merry boys. At length, partly emerging from his brown study, the captain said soberly:— "Boys," he said, "I've been trying every day of my life for the last two years to straighten out furrows,—and I can't do it!" One boy turned his head in surprise towards the captain's neatly kept place. "Oh, I don't mean that kind, lad. I don't mean land furrows," continued the captain, so soberly that the attention of the boys became breathless as he went on:— "When I was a lad, about the age of you boys, I was what they called a 'hard case'; not exactly bad or vicious, but wayward and wild. Well, my dear old mother used to coax, pray, and punish; my father was dead, making it all the harder for her, but she never got impatient. How in the world she bore with all my stubborn, vexing ways so patiently will always be to me one of the mysteries in life. I knew it was troubling her, knew it was changing her pretty face and making it look anxious and old. After a while, tiring of all restraint, I ran away, went off to sea, and a rough time I had of it at first. Still I liked the water, and liked journeying around from place to place. Then I settled down to business in a foreign land and soon became prosperous, and now began sending her something beside empty letters. And such beautiful letters as she always wrote me during those years of cruel absence. At length I noticed how longing they grew, longing for the presence of the son who used to try her so; and it awoke a corresponding longing in my own heart to go back to the dear, waiting soul. "So when I could not stand it any longer, I came back; and such a welcome, and such a surprise! My mother is not a very old lady, but the first thing I noticed was the whiteness of her hair, and the deep furrows on her brow; and I knew I had helped blanch that hair to its snowy whiteness, and had drawn those lines on that smooth forehead. And those are the furrows I've been trying to straighten out. "But last night, while mother was sleeping in her chair, I sat thinking it all over, and looked to see what progress I had made. "Her face was very peaceful, and the expression contented as possible, but the furrows were still there! I hadn't succeeded in straightening them out, and—I—never—shall! never! "When they lay my mother—my fair old sweetheart—in her casket, there will be furrows in her brow; and I think it a wholesome lesson to teach you, that the neglect you offer your parents' counsels now, and the trouble you cause them, will abide, my lads, it will abide!" "But," broke in Freddie Hollis, with great, troubled eyes, "I should think if you're so good and kind now, it needn't matter so much!" "Ah, Freddie, my boy," said the quavery voice of the strong man, "you cannot undo the past. You may do much to atone for it, do much to make the rough path smooth, but you can't straighten out the old furrows, my laddies, remember that!" "Guess I'll chop some wood mother spoke of, I'd most forgotten," said lively Jimmy Hollis, in a strangely quiet tone for him. "Yes, and I've got some errands to do!" suddenly remembered Billy Bowles. "Touched and taken!" said the kindly captain to himself, as the boys tramped off, keeping step in a thoughtful, soldier-like way. And Mrs. Bowles declared a fortnight afterward, that Billy was "really getting to be a comfort instead of a pest; guessed he was a-copying the captain, trying to be good to his ma,—Lord bless the dear, good man!" Then Mrs. Hollis, meeting the captain about that time, remarked that Jimmy always meant to be a good boy, but he was actually being one now-a-days. "Guess your stories they like so much have morals to them now and then," added the gratified mother with a smile. As Mrs. Hollis passed on, Captain Sam, with folded arms and head bent down, said softly to himself:— "Well, I shall be thankful enough if words of mine will help the dear boys to keep the furrows away from their mothers' brows; for once there, it is a difficult task straightening out the furrows!"—Harriet A. Cheever. The Tunnels of the Ancients.
LEAVING Naples by carriage, the road immediately leads through a tunnel three-quarters of a mile long, and cut right through a mountain 800 feet high. This tunnel is driven through a volcanic tufa. This tunnel of Posilippo, as it now exists, was cut through only twenty-seven years before Christ. Augustus Cæsar's great minister of public works, Marcus Agrippa, made the present tunnel, or he may have enlarged it from a smaller one that answered the commercial communications and necessities of the days before the empire. This tunnel is to-day the great highway to the heart of Naples, as it has been for more than 1900 years. The great Appian way ran to Capua, within thirty miles of Puteoli; thence this magnificent Roman high-road, under the name of the Consular Way, was continued to Puteoli, and the then Consular Way pushed on through Neopolis, Herculaneum, Pompeii, Stabia, Nucera, Salernum, Paestum, down to Rheulm. This tunnel of Posilippo was formerly called the grotto or tunnel of Puteoli. The ancients began their perforations at each end, and also from above, in two places equidistant from the termini of the tunnel. The guide-books, both Murray and Baedeker, tell that shafts from above were made by Alfonso I., in the fifteenth century, which is altogether wrong. No less than four tunnels of Roman construction exist in the vicinity of Naples, and they, all of them, even the latest, rediscovered and opened in 1842, have shafts from above. The Romans were great road, tunnel, and bridge builders, and we have never given their engineers half the credit which we should for their great science and skill. Nowhere, not even in the city of Rome or on the Roman Campagna, are there so many evidences of their engineering skill as are to be found in the vicinity of Naples. At a recent meeting of the British Association of Science, held at Aberdeen, Scotland, Mr. B. Baker, an eminent British civil engineer, read a paper recalling certain engineering feats of the ancients. Mr. Baker says: "I have no doubt that as able and enterprising engineers existed prior to the age of steam and steel as exist now, and their work was as beneficial to mankind, though different in direction. In the important matter of water supply to towns, indeed, I doubt whether having reference to facility of execution, even greater works were not done 2000 years ago than now. "Herodotus speaks of a tunnel eight feet square and nearly a mile long, driven through a mountain in order to supply the city of Samos with water; and his statement, though long doubted, was verified in 1882, through the abbot477of a neighboring cloister accidentally unearthing some stone slabs. The German Archæological Society sent out Ernest Fabricius to make a complete survey of the work, and the record reads like that of a modern engineering undertaking. Thus, from a covered reservoir in the hills, proceeded an arched conduit about 1,000 yards long, partly driven as a tunnel and partly executed on the 'cut and cover' system, adopted on the London underground railway. The tunnel proper, more than 1,100 yards in length, was hewn by hammer and chisel through the solid limestone rock. It was driven from the two ends like the great Alpine tunnels, without intermediate shafts, and the engineers of 2400 years ago might well be congratulated for getting only some dozen feet out of level, and little more out of line. From the lower end of the tunnel, branches were constructed to supply the city mains and fountains, and the explorers found ventilating shafts and side entrances, earthenware socket-pipes with cement joints, and other interesting details connected with the water supply of towns." This tunnel of Posilippo is also a fine specimen of ancient engineering. Millions of human beings have each year, for nearly twenty centuries, passed through it. Roman chariots and other ancient vehicles have left their autographs scraped and scratched into the lining stone, and modern wagons and carriages still rub their hubs against it. Strabo wrote about this tunnel. Seneca described his passage through it. Petronius satirized it, and Petrarch, Boccaccio, Cappaccio, and more modern writers have told us their thoughts about it; and it seems good for a thousand years to come. Virgil's tomb is just above its eastern entrance, and his farms (where he wrote part of both the "Georgics" and the "Æneid") are over it.—Scientific American. The Home Circle.
By Leslie's Magazine
If all men had the self-same mind,
And sought the same position,
The world would be, as you'll agree,
Chaotic in condition.
Thus some must sow and some must reap;
And some must plow the mighty deep;
And some must wake, while others sleep—
Each has his given mission. And though they seek quite different paths,
In bright or cloudy weather;
And seem to stray, each his own way,
They really work together.
The one who weaves, the one who knits,
The one who cuts, and he who fits,
Bound by a silken tether. And thus the great world thrives and grows,
And each man helps his brother;
The great and small, the short and tall,
They all help one another.
For some must print and some must fold,
And some must carve, and some must mould;
And some count silver, scrip, and gold;
Each, one pursuit or other. Then banish envy from your hearts,
And keep your souls well lighted;
The world should be, as you'll agree,
At peace and all united.
The water-course will turn the wheel—
The mill will grind the corn to meal—
And God will reign through woe and weal,
And every wrong be righted. ONE of the first duties of the nurse in the sick-room is the preparation of cooling drinks for the patient. Ice water, even if permitted by the physician, is not satisfying nor wholesome, and, since in all kinds of disease of which fever is the usual adjunct there is a constant thirst, it is necessary to have prepared a drink both refreshing and healthful. The knowledge of the best means of concocting several kinds of beverages is essential, since the patient soon tires of one kind, however acceptable it may have been at first. A certain nicety in preparing drinks is also necessary, for no one is so fastidious as a sick person, and care should be taken that the cup is clean and that a dainty napkin should accompany it, so that no escaping liquid should annoy the patient. Acid drinks are usually the most satisfactory, unless the nature of the disease prevents their use. Lemonade, from which all seeds and pieces of peel are carefully extracted, lime-juice water, tamarind water, currant jelly water and raspberry water are enjoyed by most people who crave a cooling beverage. The lessons taught to the nurses of the Massachusetts General Hospital, the City Hospital, and to the physicians in the course at the Boston Cooking School, comprise several excellent recipes for drinks for the sick. Barley water, a well-known nourishing beverage, useful for colds, chest affections and other illness, is made of one teaspoonful of pearl barley, three blocks of sugar, one-half a lemon, and a quart of boiling water. Wash the barley in cold water, add the boiling water, sugar, and lemon; let it stand covered and warm for three hours. Toast Water—Toast very brown one pint of white or brown bread-crusts. Add one pint of cold water and let it stand one hour. Strain and add cream and sugar. Apple Tea—Roast two large, sour apples and cover with boiling water. Cool and strain, pour, and add sugar to taste. Rice Water—Two tablespoonfuls of rice, one quart of cold water, cook one hour or until dissolved, and add salt and sugar to taste. For flaxseed lemonade pour one quart of boiling water over four tablespoonfuls of cold flaxseed, steep three hours, strain, add juice of three lemons, and sweeten to taste.—Boston Journal. Force Exerted by Growing Plants.
THE force exerted by growing plants can be easily measured. Darwin took a spring clothespin, measured the force necessary to open it, and then fastened it upon the growing root. He found that the pressure was of many ounces. President Clarke of Amherst Agricultural College made some interesting experiments with a growing squash, which was harnessed and had levers attached in such a way that the force exerted could be ascertained. It was equal to thousands of pounds, and finally the harness broke. In a grave-yard at Hanover, Germany, a block of stone containing twenty cubic feet has been thrown out of place by a tree growing from a seed which germinated in the crevice of the rock. It has already been lifted over five inches.—Boston Budget. The way they build in Italy is indicated by the following passage from a letter from Naples: “I looked down from the balcony of my hotel and watched some masons at work just across the narrow street. They were laying outside walls three feet thick and walls of two feet between the rooms. The rising structure seemed to be a jail or a bank. I inquired and found it was designed for an elegant private residence.”—Sel. AT a recent sanitary convention at Iowa, Michigan, in reply to a sapient suggestion that ventilation could be successfully accomplished by making a hole in the floor for the foul air to "run out," the assistant secretary made the following remarks:— "The gentleman has overlooked the law of diffusion of gases, in obedience to which law gases in contact for any length of time must become intimately mingled. This would entirely prevent such outward flow of the carbonic acid by its own weight, as the gentleman would have us believe could be brought about by providing an outlet to the open air at or near the floor. He has also overlooked the fact that carbonic acid gas is not the most injurious of the products of respiration. "As stated by the lecturer, the organic matter thrown off from the skin and lungs is the most harmful of respiration. This organic waste matter, when rebreathed, acts as a direct poison upon the animal economy. It is less in quantity than the expired carbonic acid, but occurs along with that, so that when we have established the presence from expiration of an excess of carbonic acid in any room, we have at the same time proved that a more deadly, if not so easily detected, enemy is present. The organic waste matter rises with the warm, expired air to the ceiling, whence, as it cools, it is gradually diffused downward." Those who have carefully examined our poorly ventilated State prisons have repeatedly had demonstrated to them, by the sense of smell, if not otherwise, that the upper layer of air, in a room occupied by large bodies of men, becomes soonest charged with foul emanations. In sleeping wards, where cells rise above each other in from three to five tiers, the impurity of the air, as shown by the sense of smell and general feeling of oppressiveness, increases as one ascends from one gallery to another, until, toward morning, on the uppermost gallery near the ceiling, the stench and oppressiveness of the air becomes almost intolerable; and this, too, in spite of the fact that in the State House of Correction, at Ionia, numerous openings have been provided in the outer walls near the floor for the express purpose of ventilation."—Good House-keeping. RECENTLY, when temperance was being discussed in the Legislature, Mr. Ford, of Queens, referred to a member of one of the families of the province, recently buried as a pauper by means of his being addicted to strong drink, and called it a temperance lecture in a nutshell. Mr. Pugh, the member for Halifax, rose and said that he was a liquor seller, and he considered his business just as legitimate and respectable as a carriage builder's. This struck Mr. Ford, who is a carriage builder, and so he replied briefly, as follows: "I build carriages, and when I turn out a fine wagon, I feel proud of it, and point to it moving along the street and say: 'That is my work.' I would ask the honorable member for Halifax if he is proud of his work, as he sees it reeling along the street?" To this there was no response. —Alliance Journal, Halifax.