THE UNITED STATES HAVE ARISEN IN THE EXACT MANNER IN WHICH JOHN SAW THE TWO-HORNED BEAST COMING UP.
(Continued.)
ANOTHER permanent English settlement was made at Jamestown, Va., in 1607. In process of time other settlements were made, and colonies organized, which were all subject to the English government till the declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776.
The population of these colonies, according to the U. S. Magazine of August, 1855, amounted in 1701, to 262,000; in 1749, to 1,046,000; in 1775, to 2,803,000. Then commenced the struggle of the American colonies against the oppression of the mother country. In 1776, they declared themselves as, in justice and right, an independent nation. In 1777, delegates from the thirteen original States, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, in Congress assembled, adopted articles of confederation. In 1783, the war of the Revolution closed by a treaty of peace with Great Britain, whereby our independence was acknowledged, and territory ceded to the extent of 815,615 square miles. In 1787, the Constitution was framed, and ratified by the foregoing thirteen States, and on the 1st of March, 1789, went into operation. Then the American ship of State was fairly launched, with less than one million square miles of territory, and about three millions of souls.
Thus we are brought to the time when, in our interpretation of Revelation 13, this government is introduced into the prophecy as "coming up." Our territorial growth since then has been as follows: Louisiana, acquired from France in 1803, comprising 930,928 square miles of territory; Florida, from Spain in 1821, with 59,268 square miles; Texas, admitted to the Union in 1845, with 237,504 square miles Oregon, as settled by treaty in 1846, with 380,425 square miles; California, as conquered from Mexico in 1847, with 649,762 square miles; Arizona (New Mexico), as acquired from Mexico by treaty in 1854, with 27,500 square miles; Alaska as acquired by purchase from Russia in 1867, with 577,390 square miles. This gives a grand total of three million, five hundred and seventy-eight thousand, three hundred and ninety-two (3,578,392) square miles of territory, which is about four-ninths of all North America, and more than one-fifteenth of the whole land surface of the globe.
And while this expansion has been thus rapidly going forward here, how has it been with the other leading nations of the globe? Macmillan & Co., the London publishers, in announcing their "Statesman's Year Book" for 1867, make an interesting statement of the changes that took place in Europe during the half century between the years 1817 and 1867. They say:—
"The half century has extinguished three kingdoms, one grand duchy, eight duchies, four principalities, one electorate, and four republics. Three new kingdoms have arisen, and one kingdom has been transformed into an empire. There are now forty-one States in Europe against fifty-nine which existed in 1817. Not less remarkable is the territorial extension of the superior States of the world. Russia has annexed 567,364 square miles; the United States, 1,968,009; France, 4,620; Prussia, 23,781; Sardinia, expanding into Italy, has increased by 83,041; the Indian Empire has been augmented by 431,616. The principal States that have lost territory are Turkey, Mexico, Austria, Denmark, and the Netherlands."
We ask the especial attention of the reader to these particulars. During the last half century, twenty-one governments have disappeared altogether; and only three new ones have arisen. Five have lost instead of gained in territory. Only five, besides our own, have added to their domain. And the one which has done the most in this direction has added only a little over half a million of square miles, while we have added nearly two millions. Thus the United States government has added over fourteen hundred thousand square miles of territory more than any other single nation, and and over eight hundred thousand more than have been added by all the other nations of the earth put together! In view of these facts, can any one doubt, looking the whole world over, which government it is that has been, during this time, emphatically "coming up"?
In point of population, our increase since 1798, according to the census of the several decades, has been as follows: In 1800, the total number of inhabitants in the United States was 5,305,925; in 1810, 7,239,814; in 1820, 9,638,191; in 1830, 12,866,020; in 1840, 17,069,453; in 1850, 23,191,876; in 1860, 31,445,089; in 1870, 38,555,983. These figures are almost too large for the mind to readily grasp. Perhaps a better idea can be formed of the rapid increase of population by looking at a few representative cities. Boston, in 1792, had 18,000 inhabitants; now, 250,000. New York, in 1792, 30,000; now, nearly 1,000,000. Chicago, about thirty years ago, was a little trading post, with a few huts; but yet it contained at the time of the great conflagration in October, 1871, nearly 350,000 souls. San Francisco, twenty years ago, was a barren waste, but contains to-day 170,000 inhabitants. [1876.]
Our industrial growth has been equally remarkable. In 1792, the United States had no cotton mill; in 1850, there were 1074, employing 100,000 hands. Only forty-three years ago the first section of the first railroad in this country, the Baltimore and Ohio, was opened to a distance of twenty-three miles. We have now 52,000 miles in operation. It was only thirty-six years ago that the magnetic telegraph was invented. Now the estimated length of telegraph wire in operation is over 100,000 miles. In 1833, the first reaper and mower was constructed, and in 1846, the first sewing machine was completed. Think of the hundreds of thousands of both of these classes of machines now in use. And there are now more lines of telegraph and railroad projected and in process of construction than ever before, and greater facilities and larger plans for manufactories of all kinds than at any previous point of time. And should these industries increase in the same geometrical ratio, and time continue ten years, the figures we now chronicle would then read about as the records of a century ago now read to us.
(To be Continued.)
Missionary Work on the Pacific Coast.
By Stephen Nelson Haskell
THE season of the year has arrived when publishers and printers make a special effort to collect bills and get their reading matter before the public. The long winter evenings, which many improve in reading, have already commenced; harvest is over, and money is more plentiful than at other seasons of the year. The people of God should use as much wisdom in the spread of the truth, as the worldly man in accomplishing his purposes.
The Saviour, referring to the subject of a wise improvement of our means and efforts, says: “The children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light,” and then adds, “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much; and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much,” making our future happiness depend upon our faithfulness in the use of the talents God has committed to us.
WHAT CAN I DO
This present season should be the inquiry of each individual professing faith in the near coming of our Lord. The time is short; and never since the fall of man was there a period of more importance than the present; and never could efforts be put forth when they would count more in behalf of the cause of Christ than now. God is marshalling his host for the final conflict with the powers of darkness. There are men and women all around us who can be reached by the truth, and we are responsible for their salvation. Selfish interests should be laid one side; sacrifices must be made, and greater efforts to help sustain and carry forward this work must now be put forth than ever before.
A system of labor has been arranged in the providence of God, whereby each individual can perform some part in the cause of Christ, and help spread the truths of the third angel's message. None can say in the day of judgment, I had no opportunity to labor, and use my talent in the service of my Master; for there is a place for each to fill, and a part that each may act.
OUR V. M. SOCIETIES
Should urge their work a little harder than ever before. Each company of Seventh-day Adventists should have a club of the SIGNS to re-mail to individuals in different parts of this country and the world. Regular weekly meetings should be held in each church by the V. M. society. If there is a lack of interest either for want of proper instructions how to conduct them, or in any other respect, secure at once a constitution of the tract society, in which are all the particulars how to conduct the V. M. meetings, obtain addresses of individuals with whom to correspond, how to canvass, etc., with an appeal from Sr. White. It can be had at the SIGNS Office, Review and Herald, or from the secretaries of the various tract societies. The price is only five cents in paper covers, and ten cents in flexible cloth.
A THOROUGH CANVASS
Should be immediately set on foot by each director and district secretary, and each church member should be induced to become a member of the Tract Society. The director should visit each church in his district, and find those who will canvass and also see that all enterprises which are connected with the missionary work are carried out. This can be done by calling meetings and visiting and presenting the matter before all. It will require much time and patient labor to do this, but it can be accomplished; and while this work is going on the brethren should be encouraged to subscribe for the Review, Good Health, and Youth's Instructor. This work should be entered upon immediately; and to each member of this conference who reads these lines, we wish to ask: “Are you a member of the California Tract and Missionary Society?” If not, will you not join at once? It will cost you but one dollar, and this dollar goes to purchase tracts for you to distribute.
Each librarian connected with the churches will take your name; it should be reported to your district secretary and thus to your State secretary. Each librarian and tract officer should immediately interest themselves to accomplish this.
CANVASSING
For periodicals should also be made a specialty. There should be a score of men and women who will devote their time to canvassing for the Good Health, with the premium Household Manual. The per cent. allowed the canvassers will amply support them if they are diligent. In each church there should be those who will canvass, and a small quantity of premiums; Way of Life, Child's Poems, and Household Manuals should be in the hands of each librarian. A large supply should be deposited with the district secretary.
For particulars as to per cent. allowed on periodicals, premiums, and canvassers’ outfit, correspond with the Assistant State Secretary, Miss Barbara C. Stickney, Oakland, Cal., Care PACIFIC PRESS. S. N. HASKELL.
Sanctification.
By Editor
LAST week we published the substance of remarks made by Sister White at the Indiana camp-meeting, on the subject of fanatical ideas of sanctification. Eld. Lane gives the following cheering account of the effect of her remarks on the meeting, and on those who had gone astray on this subject :—
“It is well known by the readers of the Review that some two years ago Eld. A. W. Bartlett took extreme views on the subject of sanctification, and that he and several others ran into fanaticism on the subject. This caused the Conference much perplexity, as some sympathized with him and were gradually losing sight of the message, and drawing off from the body. Sister White bore a very plain testimony to Eld. Bartlett and his sympathizers, and to the Conference in general, in regard to the subject of sanctification as held by Eld. B., showing that it was the work of Satan to distract and draw away precious souls from the truth, and lead them into darkness where they would be blinded to their own danger.
“Eld. Bartlett was deeply affected by the straight testimony, and publicly confessed it all to be true, stating that he had often deplored the fruits of the move. He expressed a willingness to surrender his position on the subject of sanctification, and to labor to build up that which his course had torn down.
“The Lord gave victory, and Bro. Bartlett’s heart seems to be again united with the cause of God.”
To the Lone Pilgrims
By Rufus F. Cottrell
To the Lone Pilgrims.
THE Jubilee is coming. The year of release to the oppressed is at hand. The conflict with the powers of darkness will soon be ended; and then, if faithful, the victor's crown of glory will be yours. What though the way grows rougher, and the conflict severer, did we not expect it? Did we not count the cost? Are we not looking for trouble and affliction and persecution? The way to be prepared for the fiery trial which is to try us, is to bear with patience and cheerfulness our present trials. They will do us good if properly endured and improved. Though we are in the midst of perils—though iniquity abounds and the love of many grows cold, yet, the blessed promise is, He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. There is something to endure, but the Lord loves us and is willing to save us.
"O thou afflicted" inhabitant of Zion, "tossed with tempest and not comforted!" thou son or daughter of Jerusalem above! the Lord loves you, and you may triumph over the powers of darkness. Thou lone pilgrim, bound down with oppression, and feeling as if there were none to sympathize with, and pray for you; look up, and press forward; for neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate you from the love of God, which is in Jesus Christ our Lord. Those iron bands of oppression shall be broken. The time is not far distant when, if faithful, "thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear; and from terror; for it shall not come near thee." See Isa. 54:11–14. No one can deprive the weakest saint of salvation. Thank the Lord! salvation is free. It is within our reach. The poorest and most oppressed may be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that God has promised to them that love him.
God hears thy sighs, and sees thy tears. We have a God that seeth in secret, and he will reward us openly. He knows all our grief. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame, he remembereth that we are dust. We have also an High Priest that can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. Angels are interested in our behalf, and the saints of God are praying for us. What cause then to fear? Friends and companions may turn against us, fathers and mothers may forsake us, but then the Lord will take us up.
Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Let patience have its perfect work. These fires are intended to take away our dross; and though the furnace wax hot, let us lie passive in the crucible, till the refiner and purifier of silver can see his own image in us.
Let no lone pilgrim despond, or faint because of the oppressor. The Jubilee is coming—the time of the promise is drawing near. The strong man armed will soon let his prisoners loose homewards; for a stronger than he is coming, and will spoil his goods. The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. The Lord shall laugh at him; for he seeth that his day is coming. The wicked have drawn out the sword, and bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation. The sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken. For the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved forever.
Take courage, fellow pilgrim. Put on the whole armor of God. The conflict, though sharp, cannot be long. The victory can be won, in the strength of our Redeemer. And then the prize—the victor's crown, the harps of God! Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.
Though now deprived of the society of the saints, never despair. With calm resignation wait for the Lord. Lean upon his mighty arm which is able to support you; and soon you will meet with the general assembly and church of the first-born, which are written in Heaven.
'Lone pilgrim, cease that mournful sigh,
Look up! redemption draweth nigh.'
R. F. COTTRELL.
Borrowing Trouble.
By Mrs. H. G. Francis
It was a beautiful twilight; the western sky full of clouds, rosy and golden, piled and arched, with just the faintest somber tinge crowning the whole, enhancing the beauty of the radiant hues. The full moon glimmered through the eastern trees, and sent long waves and curves, tying up huge bouquets of pansies and lilies, and spreading out fan-like where the soft grass waved, and tossed, and bent downward, as if a thing of life, replete with joy at the flooding baptism. All this was in sight of Mrs. Edwards’s open window, where she sat rocking backward and forward, with one hand upon her baby’s crib, swaying it to the same motion, yet unheeding it, or aught except her own gloomy forebodings. For the first time in her married life her husband had been absent from home a week. It had been a trial from the first to have him go; and only his cheerful words, and the promise of daily letters, had won her consent; and now day after day had dragged on, and she had not received one line. Her imagination was very strong, and ruled her day and night; and the harassing picture of seeing him sink helpless before the buffeting waves, or lying stricken with fever among strangers, too delirious to give a clew to his home or friends, or waylaid and murdered, and his poor body hid where no kind hand could smooth the tangled locks and give it a decent burial, had taken from her appetite and rest, till she was weak as a child in reason.
“There, there, Mrs. Edwards, don’t cry any more!” These words came sympathizingly, just as a motherly form came through the back door into the room, and paused with one hand on the weeping woman’s shoulder.
“But Mrs. Douglass, Lewis must be sick or killed. I did not get a word in to-day’s mail, and it is a week.”
“I know, Sarah said so, and I hurried up my work and came over, for I knew just how you would feel. But I do not think there is anything wrong, there are so many causes for retention of letters. You are all worried out, and can only look on the dark side.”
“I felt so sad before he started, and now I know it was almost a presentiment. You don’t know.”
“Yes, I do know; and when I look back over one worry and another that used to rob me of comfort, when it came out right after all, I always think how much happier we should be if we could trust God more, and feel that he rules, and does not willingly afflict his children. If we could only rest with the confidence that we do in our earthly fathers, and they, with the best intentions, often are weak in wisdom.”
“But accident does come, and death sometimes.”
“Yes, we must all die, and ofttimes a quick transition is a blessing. Think of a loved one going by lingering disease, painful days and sleepless nights! But most of our worries are nothing but worries, all needless. We say in our prayers, ‘Father, thou art unerring in wisdom, take us and do with us as thou seest for our good;’ and then we go right away and fret and trouble, as if the care and destiny of our loved ones and ourselves was in our own hands. There is a peace in religion that the world can neither give nor take away, but with too many of us it takes many years of lessons to attain to that perfect peace.”
“But he has come near being hurt so many times, Mrs. Douglass—when the lightning prostrated him, and last Fall when he cut him so near an artery.”
“And yet escaped uninjured. You make me think of my Willie, who seems to have equal fear of the dark and cows. He came in at dusk the other night, and finding no one at home, he ran into the street crying very loudly. The neighbors finding they could not pacify him, told him the direction I had taken, and when he overtook me his form was quivering, with the sobs that had convulsed him. I tried to reason with him, when he said he was afraid of the dark, and told him that God could take care of him in the dark as well as in the light, and he would not let anything hurt him, and questioned if he did not believe this. His reply was, ‘I don’t know, mother. What makes him let the cows run after me, then?’ ‘But, Willie, he did not let them hurt you,’ was all the reply that I could think of at the moment. I do not suppose that there is hardly a day of our lives that we are not in some danger, more often hid than apparent. Perhaps I was not in any more peril when in the Mississippi river than sitting here. I do not know.”
“And I have lived by you so many years, and you have never told me.”
“Are you sure? I have related it till it seems stale to me. I was a young woman, and had been on a trip with my husband, who was captain of the boat, far into the Indian Territory; and we had returned to St. Louis, and were lying by over night. Almost all the passengers had left for the city the night before, and I was quietly sleeping in my berth, when the wild cry of ‘fire! fire!’ startled me like the shock of an earthquake. I sprang from the berth, and as my husband opened the door the forked flames rushed in and caught the curtains and bed, and shot out lurid flames along the wainscoted ceiling. Mr. Douglass and I rushed to the end of the boat ere he remembered his papers and all the wealth of his profitable trip, and he told me to stay just where I was till he returned, and he disappeared, to find papers, money, and room eaten up by the devouring flames. The roof of the boat had been newly pitched, and the fire ran along it with hissing breath, and shot up into the air; and, quivering in my night clothes, I stood, what seemed hours, for the return of my husband. Two of the crew had unloosed a boat, and waited near by, almost under me, begging and pleading for me, to jump into their arms. I told them that I should fall into the water and be drowned, but they said if I waited I should be burned to death, and they would surely catch me; and with them, the roaring, hissing flames urging me on I gave a spring, and the cold waters closed over my form. As I came up to the surface, under the burning boat, I could hear the frantic cries of my husband urging all to help save his wife, and let everything else perish; and some of the crew crying out, ‘Keep calm, Captain, we will rescue her,’ and the waters closed over me again. The third time that I was sinking I was lifted by my hair out of the water, and I knew no more till I was reclining upon a pile of lead on the shore, and an Indian was bending over me, chafing my arms, under a blanket taken from his own shoulders, and rubbing my face as tenderly as if with a mother’s hand. He had been the first to spring ashore when the flames burst out, and he knew what the others did not, or had forgotten in their excitement, that I had fallen where there was an eddy that would carry me up stream; and while the rest were searching below the boat, he was looking up stream, watching the bubbles that arose above my form, and sprang in as I was sinking the last time, and saved me alive. We would have loaded him with presents, but he would accept nothing but some flame-colored leggins, and a sort of loose gown that was made of bright red material, scrawled over with yellow flowers, which he would wear with the greatest pride when he came up to the Planter’s Hotel to make a daily visit.”
“If the Indian had not been in the boat; if he had not known that the eddy would carry me up stream; if he had missed me, at the last moment, I should have been given, if at all, to my husband’s arms a lifeless corpse; and who ordered all this, Mrs. Edwards?”
“God does not let even a sparrow fall to the ground without his notice, but I forget so often;” and then, abruptly, after holding her breath to listen a moment, “Did you hear the gate open?”
“Yes, a gentleman and lady are coming up the walk. It is Hattie Sinclair, I am sure.”
Miss Hattie was a very unceremonious young woman, and before Mrs. Edwards could rise to her feet to answer the bell, whose loud peal brought baby’s eyes wide open, the door was thrust ajar, and with the exulting words, “Here are your letters, Mrs. Edwards; they were carried by this morning and brought back after mail time by the express train;” two white missives were thrown into her lap. Mrs. Edwards cried and laughed hysterically as she read them to herself, and then exclaimed, “It is the strangest thing! Not a word has he heard from home since he left! He thinks my letters must have been burned in the great fire that destroyed the depot east. He says the trains connected so closely that he had not a moment to post a letter till the second day night; and to think how I have worried!”
“Catch me fretting so over a husband,” said pretty Miss Hattie, as she turned a roguish look upon her attendant, and took his arm to leave; but Mrs. Douglass only said, “Mrs. Edwards, you will never forget this lesson;” and the reply, “No, I trust I shall not,” came softly as the now happy mother kneeled by her sleeping baby, ostensibly to kiss its soft, fair cheek, but really to ask her Heavenly Father to forgive her for the sinful distrust.—Mrs. H. G. Francis.
The Home Circle.
A CLOSE, HARD MAN.
A HARD, close man was Solomon Ray,
Nothing of value he gave away;
He hoarded and saved,
He pinched and slaved,
And the more he had the more he craved.
The hard-earned dollars he toiled to gain
Brought him little but toil and pain;
For little he spent,
And all he lent
He made it bring him twenty per cent.
Such was the life of Solomon Ray,
The years went by and he grew gray;
His cheeks grew thin,
And his soul within
Grew hard as the dollars he worked to win.
But he died one day, as all men must,
For life is fleeting, and men but dust;
The heirs were gay,
That laid him away,
And that was the end of Solomon Ray.
They quarreled now, who had little cared
For Solomon Ray while his life was spared.
His lands were sold,
And his hard-earned gold
All went to the lawyers, I am told.
Yet men will cheat, and pinch, and save,
Nor carry their treasure beyond the grave;
All their gold some day
Will melt away,
Like the selfish savings of Solomon Ray.
—Exchange.
Improve the Evenings.
WITH the return of lengthened, and pleasant, and cool evenings, comes the query to all, how shall we best improve them? There are a thousand pleasant ways of spending a fall or winter evening within the reach of those who have command of their own time; and prominent among these is indulgence in literary pursuits. How few comparatively, of the young people of the present day appreciate, as they should, the inestimable privilege they enjoy! Surrounded, as are the young of large cities, with all the opportunities necessary for the cultivation of a literary taste, not one in a thousand appear to improve these golden chances. Occasionally, it is true, we meet with a young man or a young woman who firmly grasps the idea that "knowledge is power," but these, unfortunately, are the exceptions, not the rule.
Thousands of young men, who have comfortable homes—whose parents are willing to supply them with books and papers—instead of availing themselves of these advantages, spend their long fall and winter evenings either in idle lounging around corners, or in company with frivolous associates, male or female. Thus, winter after winter passes away, each one bringing them nearer to the age of manhood, but not fitting them for the proper discharge of the duties that a full manhood requires. They enter upon the busy stage of life with none of those safeguards which a cultivated intellect throws around its possessor. They start out laboring under a thousand disadvantages and confronted by innumerable obstacles, which disappear like shadows before a well-informed mind. The fact that they do not contemplate adopting a professional career does not in any degree relieve them from the charge of being untrue to themselves, their friends, and their country while thus frittering away the precious hours of their lives in idle indifference, and too frequently in the company of those whose association is contamination. How many of them will resolve to "turn over a new leaf" and improve the long evenings of the fall and winter?
Thinking of His Mother Too Late.
THE repentance (as well as the sentimental piety) of murderers—when they are caught—very naturally excite suspicion and rebuke. Their better feelings are dormant so long as they can sin undetected, and when punishment comes they grow very tender. The Ledger makes these just remarks in a recent case:—"Do not let my mother know of this," was the earnest request of Cox, the murderer of Mrs. Hull, after his arrest and confession. And the daily papers have since published accounts of how the poor old woman, at her home in Richmond, was overwhelmed with anguish when she received intelligence of her son's great crime.
Thus it is that the innocent suffer for the guilty—often with greater poignancy of grief than the guilty themselves experience.
Cox had a letter from his mother on his person, asking him in the most affectionate terms to come and see her; but it had vanished from his memory until he had found himself in a situation which made it impossible ever to visit her again. Then his filial affection revived, and manifested itself in the vain request that she might be kept in ignorance of what he had done.
No man stands alone. The thread of every human life is interwoven with the thread of other lives, and no individual can be helped or hurt without helping or hurting others also.
Sweet Experiences in Affliction
In times of affliction we commonly meet with the sweetest experiences of the love of God.
Correct Speech.
NOTHING bespeaks a true lady and gentleman or well bred child more than the use of correct language, pure, clean speech. Cultivate, my young friends, good English in everyday conversation. Unclean speech is in keeping with a smutty face, begrimed hands, and soiled clothes. Strange how easy and almost unconsciously one slides into a careless slipshod way of talking, even when the rules of Grammar are quite familiar. It is not uncommon to find people learned in all the rules of syntax who apply them to the art of writing, yet habitually talking incorrectly.
Early culture and association with refined persons are quite essential to give purity to speech; but if one has been unfortunately deprived of these he should continually watch his words till he gets in the habit of using decent English, for nothing so unmistakably marks one with vulgarity, no matter how elegant is the outside covering, as shabby low-born speech.
Not long since the folks belonging to several families in a certain neighborhood, who had frequent intercourse with each other, entered into an agreement to pay a small forfeit every time either of them made use of certain vulgarisms in speech that had become a habit with them. Old and young, large and small, soon became interested and entered into the compact. All had fallen into the habit, for false syntax is contagious, and spreads through whole communities when it once breaks out, and one of its worst phases is that people are affected by it without knowing it.—Ex.
Wealth.
EXCESSIVE wealth is neither glory nor happiness. The cold and sordid wretch who thinks only of himself; who draws his head within his shell, and never puts it out, but for the purpose of lucre and ostentation; who looks upon his fellow-creatures, not only without sympathy, but with arrogance and insolence, as if they were made to be his vassals, and he to be their lord; as if they were made for no other purpose than to pamper his avarice, or to contribute to his aggrandizement; such a man may be rich, but trust me, he can never be happy, nor virtuous, nor great. There is in a fortune, a golden mean, which is the appropriate region of virtue and intelligence. Be content with that; and if the horn of plenty overflow, let its droppings fall upon your fellow-men; let them fall like the droppings of honey in the wilderness, to cheer the faint and weary pilgrim.
SORROWS are like thunder-clouds: in the distance they look black, over our heads hardly gray.
Reports from the Field.
By H. A. St. John
Clyde, Ohio.
I ATTENDED the church quarterly meeting at Clyde. We had quite an interesting meeting. They now have a good bell, furnished by the citizens. Three accessions were made to the church, two by baptism. An elder and deacon were chosen. A good degree of union exists in the church, and they solemnly promise to sustain their officers.
Oct. 10. H. A. ST. JOHN.
Dow City, Iowa.
By James Sawyer
I HAVE spent most of the time since my last report in this county, near Dow City. As the way opened, I presented the truth in private families and school-houses. Five have embraced the Bible Sabbath and its kindred truths. Four of these were Scandinavians and heads of families. A Sabbath-school has been organized with an average membership of eleven.
JAMES SAWYER.
Hoopeston, Illinois.
By Daniel T. Bourdeau
Our most interested hearers come to the tent four miles. I have thoroughly canvassed the Sabbath question. Five more kept last Sabbath with us. These additions, with those of our converts who had moved here, make a company of twelve keeping all the commandments.
D. T. Bourdeau.
October 6.
Leesburg, Ohio.
By E. H. Gates; W. S. Boone
WE have finished our work in this place. Only a few have begun to observe the Sabbath, but the brethren here have been greatly strengthened.
Our quarterly meeting last Sabbath was a profitable occasion. Several said it was the best meeting they ever attended. Three were baptized, two of whom were sisters who have just started in the service of the Master. Two or three others will become members of this church soon.
E. H. GATES,
W. S. BOONE.
Oct. 6.
Water for Babies.
A few days ago I was called upon to visit a sick little one in a family residing near my office. The babe I found in apparent good health, but crying and struggling in its mother's arms as though suffering excruciating pain. The mother informed me that the child seemed desirous of nursing continually; and that, to quiet it, she had given it the breast as often as the crying commenced. When this did not soothe the little one, a dose of Mother Somebody's cordial had been administered.
"My good woman," I inquired, "when did you give your child a drink of water?"
"I don't remember," replied the lady; "I seldom let him drink water; does he need it?"
"Need it? Why should he not need it as much as you? This child is suffering from thirst—nothing more."
I called for cold water, gave the infant a few teaspoonfuls, and it was relieved of all its troubles, stopped crying, and sank peacefully to sleep in its mother's arms.
Let this be a reminder to mothers and nurses. Infants who nurse at breast may often suffer as much from want of water as adults who eat more solid food. Often when a child cries it is thirst alone which causes it. Do not, then, dose it with the poisonous soothing sirups or nursing cordials, or press it to the breast, which it will eagerly grasp, thinking to satiate its burning thirst; but, filled to the brim with its natural food, it cries on harder than ever. Use a little discretion. The poor little one cannot tell its wants; if it could it would often cry, "Water! water!"
Orange Peel a Poison.
The habit of chewing orange and lemon peel is a very bad one which is much to be deprecated. The little follicles contained in the rind of the orange and the lemon contain a poisonous acid of a very irritating character, as is evidenced by the sensation produced in the eye when a drop is projected into it by the bursting of one of these follicles. The slight headache which often follows the eating of orange or lemon peel is doubtless due to the effects of this poison.—Good Health.
The Political Power of Beer.
By National Temperance Advocate
ONE of the most striking of the late illustrations of the political strength of beer is furnished by New Jersey. Its last legislature, late in the session, passed an act to prohibit the sale of intoxicating liquors to minors and children. Two Methodist Conferences passed resolutions asking Governor McClellan to sign the bill, or to file it in the office of the Secretary of the State, and thus permit it to become a law. This reasonable request was seconded by presidents of colleges, professors in theological seminaries, temperance and law and order societies, by many clergymen and other distinguished citizens, but all to no purpose. Listening to the voice of the breweries and grog-shops, the governor vetoed the bill. Great indeed is the power of beer!—National Temperance Advocate.
Turkish Cleanliness.
AMERICANS can learn two wholesome lessons from the Turk. First, a Mussulman never drinks whisky; second, he keeps his skin clean. These excellent habits are required by his religion; and there is no reason why they should not be considered an essential part of any man's religion. They really are a part of genuine religion; whether mentioned in the church creed or not. The Bible enjoins both as religious duties. There is a terrible amount of sinning in these two directions in this country; and it may never be known how much crime and misery are due, directly or indirectly, to whisky and dirty skins.
The Turk is required to wash not only his head, face, neck, ears, and feet, but also his teeth, at each of the five daily calls to prayer.
Dress of American Women.
A LADY writer in Zion's Herald says: "There is an impression abroad, as well as here, that our American women think more of their attire than of anything else. At a school at Frankfort-on-the-Main, no American pupils are admitted, the preceptor saying in reply to questions as to this rule, "We do not take American girls, because they dress so extravagantly; they think and talk so much of their clothes, that they disturb the simple, quiet ways of our German girls; and we find that their influence does us more harm than their money does good." In Dresden there is, I believe, but one private school where American girls are admitted, for similar reasons."
Whisky Cheap, Newspapers Dear
By Washington Market Index
A GLASS of whisky sells for a dime and is drunk in a minute. It fires the brain, and deranges and weakens the physical system. On the same table lies a newspaper. It is covered with half a million type; it brings intelligence from the four quarters of the globe. The newspaper costs less than half the glass of grog; but it is none the less true that there is a large number of people who think whisky cheap and newspapers dear.
Sharp Rascals and Virtuous Fools
SHARP and intelligent rascals are more respected by the world than virtuous fools.