A PERSON in Iowa takes us severely to task for some expressions in the article, "Scarcely Answered," which noticed the reply of the Advance to a Catholic. He quotes these words from us: "The denomination to which President Garfield belongs is quite numerous and claims to be evangelical." On this he remarks:—
"Wrong here: It is denied that they are evangelical, and have been denied admittance into and with all the alliances. Not so much as admitting them into the Young Men's Christian Association," etc.
This person, who appears to belong to that denomination, has mistaken the drift altogether. We said it "claims to be evangelical." Does it or does it not? We did not affirm that it is so; in fact, we have very strong doubts on that subject. We may have spoken too strongly when we said it is generally fraternized by others. We know it has been on occasions which have come under our notice. This has been generally in the northern States. We are aware that in the South, where they are the most numerous, the Baptists have waged an uncompromising warfare against them; or they against the Baptists, we are not sure which it is. As neighbors they do not seem to have a peaceful time.
THE BAPTIST CONVENTION.
THIS Convention met in Dixon, May 11. It had been expected that there would be a division, as several churches were anxious to follow in the wake of the Stockton church, which had refused to entertain the Convention because Kalloch was fellowshipped. A discussion over the powers of the Convention sprang up, when Dr. Abbott of Oakland, editor of the Herald of Truth, asked if the Convention could not refuse admittance to a church, unsound in faith and whose practice was contrary to that of the Baptists; to which Dr. Kalloch replied that it had no authority to do so, and it would not be consistent (as Baptist) if it did. A division followed, and those who were opposed to Dr. Kalloch withdrew to the Presbyterian house, and organized as a Convention.
A secular paper of this State, speaking of this action, said :—
“Outside all this is the broader question which this schism in the Baptist church suggests. ‘What influence will it have upon the world?’ Is it calculated to create respect for church assemblies in the minds of sensible people, or is it not rather calculated to bring them into contempt? We suspect the latter will be the main result. There is not overmuch reverence for sacred things among our population at the best of times, and this event will weaken what little there may be left.”
But we think not so. When soundness of faith and practice cease to be requisites to fellowship in a professed Christian body, then the sooner a “schism” follows the better; especially where the phrase, “faith and practice,” includes all that it does in this case. We have the confidence in the good sense of those who are called “worldlings” to believe that respect for “church assemblies” will be increased by such action. If we may judge from the tone of the papers, both secular and religious, both east and west, the Baptists of California have been in great danger of losing the respect of almost everybody. We cannot imagine why any church or church delegates should object to the closest application of the principles of faith and practice as held by their own churches, unless they feared the test of the application to themselves. And we believe that this will be the judgment of the people at large, whether in or out of church relations.
TRIALS WILL COME.
By R. F. Cottrell
BY ELD. R. F. COTTRELL.
"It must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh." Matt. 18:7. "For there must be also heresies [margin, sects] among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you." 1 Cor. 11:19.
We may expect that trials, offenses, and apostasies, will come. These should not discourage us, "as though some strange thing" had happened to us. The primitive church was not free from these things, and we should not expect to be. There was a Judas among the chosen twelve; and when Jesus was betrayed and apprehended, the disciples present forsook him and fled; and Peter went so far as to deny, with cursing and swearing, that he knew him. But, thanks to our merciful Saviour, he was converted and restored to favor.
Terrible sins were discovered in the church, as in the case of Ananias and Sapphira and the person mentioned by Paul in 1 Cor. 5. The Corinthian church also got divided up into factions or sects, into Paulites, Apollosites, Cephasites, etc. And besides this, the church had become so disorderly that they could not come together to eat the Lord's supper and do it in a decent and proper manner. See chap. 11:17-34. Such abuses the apostle was constrained to rebuke sharply, as he afterwards directed Titus to do in such cases, in order that they might be sound in the faith.
Paul knew what it was to stand in defense of the truth, when none stood with him, but all forsook him. 2 Tim. 4:14-17. Behold the apostle standing alone, forsaken of his brethren who should have stood by him. But the Lord was with him and strengthened him; and in behalf of his brethren that deserted him, he had grace to pray that it might not be laid to their charge. He had confidence in the truth, while some were laboring to overthrow the faith. He knew that the foundation of God stood sure—that the Lord knew his faithful servants and would approve their course. 2 Tim. 2:17-19. Large numbers of those for whom the apostle had labored, bringing them into the truth, turned away from the aged prisoner of the Lord, so that he could say, "All they which are in Asia be turned away from me." Chap. 1:15. Perhaps they were ashamed to recognize him in his bonds; and they may have thought the condition he was in was evidence that the Lord had removed him from the work. But Onesiphorus oft refreshed his spirit, not being ashamed of him, though he was bound with a chain. Verse 16.
The venerable apostle John, beloved of the Lord, had experience also of a similar kind. 3 John 9, 10. Diotrephes, who loved to have the pre-eminence in the church, would not receive the advice of the aged apostle, who leaned on Jesus' breast at the last supper, but prated against him, with malicious words, nor would he receive the brethren who were laboring in harmony with the apostle, and those that were in favor of receiving them he cast out of the church.
If such were the trials of the primitive church, should like things, occurring amid the perils of the last days, weaken our faith in regard to the work of God? Not in the least. But if all things went smoothly, we might have reason to doubt. It is enough for the servant to be as his Lord. Many of Jesus' disciples went back and walked no more with him, at one time. "Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?" The reply of Simon Peter was sensible: "To whom shall we go?" Before he left, he wished to be sure of something better which would be gained by an exchange. And if any now are tempted to leave this cause, it will be wise for them to inquire beforehand where they are going. Is there something better to choose?
The foundation of God stands sure. This message is the truth. It is sent of God. In it are the words of eternal life. Whatever trials may come, whoever goes away, here will we abide. There is no place of safety to which we may retreat. Our only safety is in moving forward with the work of the Lord.
The Faithful Minister
By Christian Secretary
A FAITHFUL minister is the most precious visible gift that Christ has to offer to his people.—Christian Secretary.
THE SABBATH, AGAIN.
By Editor
A FEW weeks ago we copied a good answer which the Christian at Work gave to the Advance (of Chicago) on the modification of the fourth commandment. The Advance tried to justify itself by the customary dodge of an indefinite seventh day, to which the C. at W. replies as follows:—
“The Advance: ‘The Christian Sabbath is as truly the seventh day as the Jewish Sabbath.’ Oh no;—perhaps if you had been an Israelite in the time of Moses or Joshua, and had worked on Saturday, and made your ‘seventh day’ to be Sunday, you would have found out the difference. The Jews, if the Advance please, had a chronology of their own, and the seventh day meant the seventh day and not the first. Is Chicago the place where folk drop a day and take up another? It seems to be?”
That is true; “the seventh day meant the seventh day and not the first,” and so it does still. And nothing but prejudice can prevent any one seeing it.
And now we would like to know if the Christian at Work thinks the fourth commandment is modified? And if so, by what action, and by whom? What is its principle of Sunday observance?
THE RIVER JORDAN.
By Eld. S. N. Haskell
BY ELD. S. N. HASKELL.
In some respects this is the most remarkable river in the world. It is unlike all others in many particulars. No other river is so wonderful in its historical memories; no other has so many hallowed and sacred associations. It is THE RIVER of the holy land. Nearly all of the great events of scripture history from the patriarchs to the apostles, have been more or less connected with it. Its banks have been the scene of the most stupendous miracles the world has ever witnessed, evincing the love and power of God and also his judgments. As the priests dipped their feet in its angry, rushing waters, which at that time overflowed all of its several banks, they parted before the ark of God and all Israel passed over upon dry land. Twice did the waters divide when touched by Elijah's mantle. Once, at the bidding of the prophet, the iron axe rose from its bed and floated on its surface. In obedience to his directions, the healing virtues of its waters proved to the proud Syrian the fallacy of his sneering exclamation, "Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?" But the event which surpassed all others in importance was the baptism of the Son of God, when, in answer to his prayer, which ascended from its banks, the Holy Spirit descended upon him, and a voice came from the Father giving his sanction to the Son and his mission to this earth, in these words, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." All these things make the memory of this stream sacred to the child of God.
The lake of this river also is associated with many of the noted events and miracles of our Saviour's life. There did the storm-tossed billows hear and obey the voice of their creator. It was there that our Saviour walked upon the face of the deep. Obedient to his will, the fishes filled the net of the disciples after they had toiled all night and caught nothing. Along these shores the lame walked, the deaf heard, the sick were healed, the lepers were cleansed, and the dead were raised to life again. Surely every spot along the banks of this river and lake is holy ground, and their names are not only emblazoned on the pages of history, but enshrined in every Christian's heart.
The principal fountain or source of the Jordan is at the base of the everlasting snow-capped Hermon which is on a level with the ocean. It descends rapidly through its whole course about one hundred miles, winding back and forth in its irregular and crooked course until it empties itself into the Dead Sea, which has a depression of thirteen hundred and twelve feet. The whole valley of the Jordan is therefore a huge rent or fissure in the earth's crust. At the southern extremity of this mysterious lake the climate and productions are those of the tropics, while the mountains at the source of the Jordan are covered with perpetual snow. The waters of the Dead Sea flow over the spot where once stood the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The lime-rock upon which the sea flows causes an evaporation of its waters sufficient to dispose of the immense quantity emptied into it by the Jordan and other smaller streams.
Monopoly in California
The Boston Herald concludes an editorial review of California thus: “The spirit of business enterprise there has never been favorable to individual development. Every movement has been controlled by rings. Men have not sought for new undertakings on account of the legitimate profits to be made therefrom, but for the purpose of establishing a monopoly which will allow them to tax the rest of the community. There has been monopoly in land, grain, meat, and in fact of about everything into which monopoly could enter. The salvation of the State has been its prodigious wheat harvests, but even in these the gain has been much less than it might have been if shipments could have been made from San Francisco, with the small port charges that obtain in this city, for example. As it is, San Francisco is the most expensive port in the world to ship-owners, and in consequence of this same tendency toward monopoly. How this thing will end it is hard to say. With greater natural advantages than any other part of our country, California is not now making the progress that many other States are. Its opportunities have been wasted, and considered as a whole, its people are poor and dissatisfied, when they should have been well-to-do and contented. That under these circumstances it is a tempting field for investment of Eastern capital, is an assertion open to grave doubts.”
THE CAUSE IN ENGLAND.
By J. N. Loughborough
THE quarterly meeting of the National Tract and Missionary Society of Great Britain is just passed. The report of labor for this quarter is as follows:—
No. of members……………………………………27
No. that reported…………………………………16
No. of families visited…………………………1,389
No. of letters sent out…………………………4,275
No. of letters received…………………………222
No. of new subscribers obtained………………28
No. of pp. of tracts and pamphlets loaned…18,925
No. of pp. of tracts given away ………………14,883
No. of pp. of tracts sold ………………………8,181
Total………………………………………………41,989
No. of periodicals sent by post………………8,903
No. otherwise distributed……………………1,218
No. sold …………………………………………581
Total………………………………………………10,702
Amount of money received from book sales…$34.50
By donation to society…………………………2.05
Total………………………………………………$36.55
No. of ships visited……………………………108
In the number of papers and letters posted, and in letters and subscribers received, this report is an improvement over that of last quarter. We hope to do still better during the quarter on which we have just entered. The few who have reported have been quite busy, and as the weather becomes more favorable, we hope to see more engaged in this work. If this is the case, we look for improvement in other branches of the missionary work.
Since my last report we have received many interesting letters from those to whom we have sent copies of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES. I can quote only from a few of the many.
One person writing from Kent, who has been reading the SIGNS a few weeks says, “I beg to express my satisfaction with the contents of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES.”
Another from near Canterbury, who has been reading for a year, writes, “How thankful I am that you are so kind as to send me the SIGNS. I have read the Bible all my days, but I have learned more of it through reading the SIGNS than ever I knew before in all the fourscore years I have lived. The Bible is so nicely explained in the SIGNS. I continue to make one paper do for two or three families by changing them about, and then I mail them to my friends living round about in the towns. I give them your address, so if they wish, they can subscribe for the paper. Please inform me the price per year. I do not expect, at my age, to be in this world much longer. I want to do what good I can.”
One writing from Northamptonshire says, “I am very much pleased, indeed, with the SIGNS OF THE TIMES, but there is one little fault only, so it seems to me, and that is that they contain rather old news when they arrive here, but I suppose that it is to be accounted for by the distance they have to come.”
Another writing from Essex says, “It gives me much pleasure to read the papers, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, so kindly sent me, and to show my appreciation of the same, I inclose stamps for subscription in order to have the continued pleasure of perusing your paper.”
One from Berkshire inclosing a year's subscription says, “I am much pleased with your paper, and will do all I can for you by circulating it among my friends.”
Another, inclosing pay for the paper, says, “I find the SIGNS very profitable reading. There is a high Christian tone about the articles that pleases me much. I have not yet been able to consider the subject that you have taken up, namely, the “Personality of the Devil,” but I hope to do so, with a desire to get clear and truthful views on a subject I have found difficult to understand.”
We have only room to quote one more this time. It is from one who writes to renew his subscription; he says; “I have read your letters respecting Mr. R. Robert's lectures with considerable interest. I am very glad you have so ably confuted those erroneous ideas which cannot but proceed from his too vivid imagination. I wish everybody could read them; for I am led to believe that, though he may do it ignorantly, he has been the means of driving a great many believers over to Mr. Bradlaugh's views.”
We give these letters only as a sample of the words of good cheer that come in to encourage us in this branch of our work.
On the 12th of April, we had the pleasure of one-half hour's conversation with Bro. Matteson on the steamer Necker, which made a halt in Southampton Waters, on its way to Bremen from New York. We were indeed glad to see his face once more, but should have been much better pleased could he have spent a week or more with us. We were also pleased to meet sister Bertha Stein, from Oakland, California, who left the steamer and accompanied us to our house where she tarried one day. She was on her way to Germany to visit her native home, and induce, if possible, her friends to become interested in the views she holds so dear.
J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH.
AN INCIDENT WITH A MORAL.
A PREACHER in a Western State, being called upon by Bishop Morris to report his missionary collection in open Conference, made this statement:—
“At the last Conference I was sent to a church that had never done much for missions. All they permitted was a plate collection once a year. When I went there the church needed repairing, and the parsonage must be rebuilt; and having to raise so much money for themselves, they resolved that they must withhold their usual missionary contribution, for that year at least, and the pastor accordingly was requested not to present the cause. As they presented the case to me, it seemed almost a case of necessity. I fell into the trap, and we agreed to take no missionary collection.
“The very next Sunday, as was my custom, I invited persons to come forward. Among those who presented themselves was a young girl who had been away to school, but whose mother was very sick, and had called her home to attend to her. As she handed me her certificate of membership, she asked me if we had appointed our missionary collectors for the year, saying that she had been one of the collectors in the church where she had attended school—that she loved the work, and would be glad to continue in it. I stated to her the action of the official board, and that we would not raise any missionary money this year. Her countenance fell. She was sad, and returned to her pew. Early the next morning she called on me for a collector’s book. I told her I had none—indeed, there had never been one in that church. Whereupon she wrote to her former pastor, requesting him to send her a missionary collector’s book. In due course of mail it came, and she presented it to me that I should certify to her good character, and that she was authorized to receive money for the support of missions.
“The whole affair soon passed out of my mind. We repaired the church, we rebuilt the parsonage, and the bills were paid. Yesterday morning, when starting for Conference, I saw that young girl coming through the gate and up the walk to my house. As she came in she said, ‘I understand you are going to Conference.’ ‘Yes,’ was the reply. ‘Here,’ she said, ‘is a little missionary money which I have gathered during the year,’ and the faithful girl counted out seventy-six dollars which she had quietly collected in a church and community where they had never given more than twenty-five dollars under the most stirring appeals of the pastor, and when they had resolved to withhold even this amount for that year! Bishop, my missionary collection is seventy-six dollars.”
This incident, adds Bishop Harris, is full of instruction and encouragement. If all our people are trained to love the cause of missions, and act for it, as was this young Christian, there is no power on earth or in hell, that can overthrow the missionary enterprise, or at all embarrass it.—225Methodist Recorder.
DANGERS.
The sailor finds his special dangers near the end of his voyage, at the coast landing. That is the place for shipwrecks. According to the prophetic scriptures, the last part of the Christian voyage on the old ship Zion, will be particularly perilous. Says the apostle: "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come." That we are now living in perilous times, no one can doubt, who is a careful observer of the signs of the times. Satan is making special efforts, in various ways, to destroy the church of Christ. Pride, covetousness, envy, jealousy, ambition, love of the world, pleasure parties, fun, frolic, fashion, vanity, hatred, variance, and other evils are brought to bear upon Christian pilgrims with great force in these last days. Every artifice that demons can use to conquer the soldier of the cross, is being employed by the powers of darkness. He who steps aside from the narrow path will find himself at once beset by strong foes, bent on his ruin; but he who keeps continually in Christ, has nothing to fear. He who attempts to meet the enemies of the cross in his own strength is sure to be defeated.
The perils of these last days seem peculiar. One of them, as foretold by Paul, is this: "Despisers of those that are good." He speaks of them as "having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof." "Godliness" is God-likeness, or being like God. "The power of godliness" is vested in the Holy Spirit. Hence, those who have "the form of godliness," without the power, must be those who are opposed to holiness, and hold the truth in unrighteousness. Such will be "despisers of those that are good." Being "despisers" of course they will manifest that spite by unchristian treatment of those whom they despise. Their spite arises from natural enmity of the human heart against holiness. So long as the heart is impure, so long it is hostile to what is good. When a root of bitterness takes possession, a grudge, hatred, or variance, towards one that is good, it often becomes very bitter, and will spare no pains to ruin the innocent.
In these last days, Satan is exceedingly busy in this direction, consequently, there is special "danger" of being caught in this snare. His chief object seems to be to pull down the "good." To accomplish this result, every possible means will be employed. One of his most successful modes of attack is by misrepresentation, slander, lying, and making false charges against the "good." This he did towards Jesus and the martyrs. But so long as this cruel treatment is borne patiently, Satan is defeated in his efforts. When Jesus was reviled, he "reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to Him that judgeth righteously." We are taught to arm ourselves with the mind that was in Christ. Again, the Scriptures say: "What glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God." The great danger to the good consists in his liability to get out of patience with the one who misrepresents and abuses him. There is also special danger that his friends get out of patience, on account of their sympathy for the abused person. They often say, we would not mind it, if it had been spoken against us; but we will not see our innocent brother or sister in Christ abused. No doubt Peter had some of that feeling when he cut off the man's ear, who was arresting Jesus. He who would be a true Christian must decide to bear patiently all kinds of abuse that can be heaped upon him by those who despise the good, otherwise, Satan will get the advantage. No matter what is said or done to injure him, the good man must bear it all in a kind spirit, praying for his enemies.—Sel.
Guard Your Thoughts
THERE is much in the expression of the poet: "Guard well your thoughts; your thoughts are heard in heaven." Our musings and meditations, all our fitting emotions and thoughts, of which men know nothing,—these are fully understood in the world above. How careful should we be to think only that which is good, and that of which we will be willing to give an account.
No Accidents in History
THERE are no accidents; all history is but the fulfilling of prophecy, and all events are the results of what has preceded.—Golden Censer.
Never Trouble Another
NEVER trouble another for what you can do yourself.
GLEANINGS FROM THE FIELD.
MAINE, Milton.—Bro. S. J. Hersum writes, April 25, that he has held twenty meetings in Milton, and six have commenced to serve the Lord.
WISCONSIN, Sturgeon Bay.—April 20, Bro. A. R. Johnson writes: I have been laboring in this vicinity about five weeks. Six have decided to obey God, and others respect the Lord's day by not working on it. Three subscribers have been obtained for the Instructor, two for the SIGNS, one for the Review, six for the Advent Tidende, one for the Svensk Harolden, and one for the German paper.
MICHIGAN, Geneva.—Bro. R. C. Horton reports that he gave thirteen discourses there, and though he met with opposition, five persons, all heads of families, have taken their stand upon the side of the truth.
KANSAS, Alta.—Eld. G. H. Rogers reports, April 18, having organized a Missionary Society, and taken subscribers for periodicals as follows: for the SIGNS, 15; Instructor, 10; and one for Good Health. Nearly all have signed the "teetotal pledge."
Big Timber.—April 18, Brn. Cook and Enoch, report holding meetings there April 5-14. Six started, for the first time, to serve the Lord, and eight were baptized, and the church much strengthened and encouraged.
Moline and Grenola.—Eld. Smith Sharp writes that eight were baptized in Moline, Kansas, April 17. Also, he held five meetings in Grenola, and five were there baptized.
MISSOURI.—April 22, Bro. J. G. Wood reports labors in North-eastern Missouri. At Green Top labored ten days; two were baptized, and a Tract Society formed. In Macon county, four persons, heads of families, were baptized, in one place, and one in another place near Macon City.
The reports from all parts of the field, are generally encouraging.
GUERNEVILLE, SONOMA CO., CAL.
By W. C. Grainger; Isaac Morrison
We closed our meetings in Guerneville, Sunday, May 1. Five have decided to keep the commandments of God. They have a Sabbath-school of eleven members. W. C. GRAINGER. ISAAC MORRISON.
NEW CASTLE, CAL.
By E. A. Briggs
I REACHED Fairfield the 28th, where I remained four days. Two embraced the Sabbath who had never heard our people preach before. Have been here ten days encouraging the fifteen brothers and sisters of this place, who have covenanted together to keep the commandments of God. Last Sabbath I baptized seven, at which time the Spirit of God seemed especially near, as also during the celebration of the ordinances. A T. and M. Society of nine members has been organized.
May 13, 1881.
E. A. BRIGGS.
A RIGHTEOUS SENTENCE.
A CORRESPONDENT sends us the following extract from a sentence pronounced by Judge Reading, of Chicago, upon the liquor dealers who had violated the law by selling rum to minors. The terrible sarcasm it contains is a powerful sermon on the whole business of rum-selling :—
"By the law you may sell it to men and women if they will buy. You have given your bond and paid your license to sell to them, and no one has a right to molest you in your legal business. No matter what the consequences may be, no matter what poverty and destitution are produced by your selling according to law, you have paid your money for this privilege, and you are licensed to pursue your calling. No matter what families are distracted and rendered miserable; no matter what wives are treated with violence; what children starve or mourn over the degradation of a parent—your business is legalized, and no one may interfere with you for it. No matter what mother may agonize over the loss of a son, or sister blush at the shame of a brother, you have a right to disregard them all, and pursue your legal calling—you are licensed. You may fit up your lawful place of business in the most enticing and captivating form; you may furnish it with the most costly and elegant equipment for your own lawful trade; you may fill it with the allurements of amusement; you may skillfully arrange and expose to view your choicest wines and captivating beverages; you may induce thirst by all contrivances to produce a raging appetite for drink, and then you may supply that appetite to the full; because it is lawful; you have paid for it—you have a license. You may allow boys and children to frequent your saloon; they may witness the apparent satisfaction with which their seniors quaff the sparkling glass; you may be schooling and training them for the period of twenty-one, when they, too, can participate—for all this is lawful. You may hold the cup to their lips; but you must not let them drink—that is unlawful. For, while you have all these privileges for the money you pay, this privilege of selling to children is denied you. Here parents have the right to say, 'leave my son to me until the law gives you a right to destroy him. Do not anticipate that terrible moment when I can assert for him no further rights of protection. That will be soon enough for me, for his sister, for his mother, for his friends, for the community, to see him take the road to death. Give him to us in his childhood at least. Let us have a few hours of his youth, in which we can enjoy his innocence, to repay us in some degree for the care and love we have lavished upon him.'
"This is something which you, who now stand prisoners at the bar, have not paid for; this is not embraced in your license. For this offense, the Court sentences you to ten days' imprisonment in the county jail, and that you pay a fine of seventy-five dollars and costs, and that you stand committed until the fine and costs of this prosecution are paid."
CONCERNING BEDROOMS.
By Sophy Winthrop
A PHYSICIAN was lately called to prescribe for a young lady who lives in one of the most charming villages in Learnedville.
"Nothing the matter with her," she declared, "nothing but terrible headaches." Every morning she waked with a headache and it lasted nearly half the day. It had been going on for months—ever since they moved into their new house. The old doctor tried all the old remedies and they all failed. Riding and archery were faithfully tested, study and practice were cheerfully given up. Nothing did any good.
"Will you let me see your bedroom?" asked the doctor one day, and he was shown up into the prettiest little nest imaginable.
Nothing wrong about the ventilation. The windows were high and broad and left open every night, the patient said. The bed stood in one corner against the wall.
"How do you sleep?" says the doctor.
"On my right side at the back of the bed, with my face to the wall. Lou likes the front best."
"The dickens she does!" says the doctor. "So do I. Will you do me the favor to wheel the bed into the middle of the room and sleep so for a week? Then let me know about the headaches."
Doctors are so absurd! The middle of the room indeed! And there were the windows on one side, and the two doors on the other two sides, and the mantel with its Macrame lambrequin on the fourth side. There was no place for the bed but just where it stood, in the corner.
"Never mind! Sacrifice your lambrequin," urged the doctor—"just for a week, you know."
The lambrequin was sacrificed, the bed moved where it had free air on both sides, and the headaches disappeared.
It may be only an exceptionally delicate system that would be induced to actual headache by breathing all night the reflected air from a wall. Yet possibly some of the morning dullness we know of may be traceable to a like cause. At any rate, plenty of breathing space around a bed can only be an advantage to everybody.
In visiting three or four newly-built and beautiful houses, recently, the lack of a good place for the bed was the most striking feature of the bedrooms. Some of these rooms were finished in shining mahogany, ebony, or walnut. Some were hung with rich modern tapestry. All were elegant and a few were airy. But in the most of the best of them, where was the bed to stand? A bay-window, perhaps, would occupy the middle of one side, another window another, a door another, a mantlepiece another.
A TOUCHING INCIDENT.
GOVERNOR ST. JOHN, the temperance governor of Kansas, in a speech in an Eastern city, recently related the following touching story:—
"A heart-broken woman came into his office with a babe in her arms to beg the pardon of her husband, who was under sentence of ten years' imprisonment in the penitentiary for homicide. She showed papers recommending the pardon from the judge who tried the man, the prosecuting attorney, and other prominent men. After closely examining the papers he said, 'If I were to consult my personal feelings, I should gladly let your husband go, but I am bound by my official duty, and that forbids it.' The woman fell at his feet in a paroxysm of weeping. 'Then hear me,' she cried, 'till I tell you how he came to be where he is. We were married seven years ago; we were married seven years ago; we went to a town (mentioning the place), and there in our little village we were happy. My husband was sober, industrious, and thrifty. By great exertion and self-denial we finally got our home paid for. But in an evil day the State licensed a saloon, and let it plant itself right between my husband's shop and our house. He was prospering so well that he could leave his business in other hands and lose an hour or two without feeling it. He was solicited to enter this saloon, and weakly yielded. Hour after hour he spent there, playing cards. One day he became embroiled in a drunken quarrel, and, fired by drink, struck a man and killed him. He was tried and sent to the penitentiary for ten years. I had nothing to live on. By and by the sheriff turned us out of our comfortable home into a rough shanty, neither lathed nor plastered. The cold wind came in through the walls and ceiling. My oldest boy took sick and died. Then little Tommy, my next, fell sick and died. Now this babe in my arms is sick, and I have nowhere to take it. The State licensed that saloon; the State murdered my children; and now in God's name I want you to set my husband free.' I said I would—and I did."
Papa Bailey Refuses to Bless Liquor
REV. G. A. BAILEY of Los Angeles related his experience, as Methodist preachers sometimes do—Paul did so in his day. In Los Angeles the people to whom "Papa Bailey" ministered were all in the habit of drinking moderately. They did not think it wrong. He labored faithfully to change their habits. On a certain occasion he was invited to be present at a birthday party. A young man had reached his majority. A splendid dinner was prepared. All the friends were present. The guests were taken to the table and "Papa Bailey" was requested to ask a blessing. Casting his eye over the dishes he saw several bottles of whisky and wine. He turned to his hostess and said: "I cannot ask God's blessing on the food till all liquor is taken away." The madam apologized, but did not take away the bottles. Again he was requested to "say grace." His answer was, "I cannot do it!" And turning to his daughter he said, "Come, Eliza—let us go home. This is no place for us!" And so he left them to engage in their revelry.
Of course he gave offense and made the work hard for himself. But he was true, and God's blessing will rest on such testimony in favor of sobriety.
A Verdict Against the Liquor Seller
ANOTHER suit under the civil damage act has ended in a verdict adverse to the liquor seller. A saloon-keeper appeared at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., court-house last week as defendant in a suit brought by the wife of a drunkard. The woman saw her husband go to the saloon on a Sunday morning last fall, and she followed him and begged of the proprietor not to sell him any more rum. He refused her entreaties, and her husband got drunk and went back to his home, where, maddened by liquor, he beat and kicked the poor woman in a most shameful manner, planting the heavy heels of his coarse boots in her side repeatedly. She suffered serious injuries, and she sued the saloon-keeper for damages, bringing her husband as a witness. The judge charged the jury that the fact of the illegal selling being admitted, and also that it occurred on Sunday, the statute gave the plaintiff a legal right of action. After a short absence the jury returned with a verdict for plaintiff of $525. A few more verdicts of this character will, it may be hoped, render the venders of the poison more attentive to the entreaties of distressed wives.
A PERMANENT INJURY.
THERE are constantly crowding into our insane asylums persons fifty to eighty years of age, who in early life were addicted to the use of alcoholic liquors, but who have reformed, and for ten, twenty, or thirty years, have never touched a drop. The injury which the liquor did to their bodies seemed to have all disappeared, being triumphed over by the full vigor of their manhood, but when their natural force began to decrease, then the concealed mischief showed itself in insanity, clearly demonstrating that the injury to their bodies was of a permanent character.