CHRIST said: “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63); and, “By every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God,” shall man live. And when he sends forth men to preach, the commission is, “Go ye, . . . and teach all nations. . . . Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the123world.”
It is true, that if the word of God be preached faithfully there will be many points wherein the people will be found to be doing wrong; many things will be found held contrary to the word of God; and things even which our fathers did not do, shall we have to do, as it happened at the time of which this lesson tells. It will be found that the coming of the Lord is near, and that we must prepare to meet him while living. It will be found that future life depends on the resurrection of the dead, and not on the immortality of the soul. It will be found that future life is obtained through the Son of God alone; that he that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. It will be found that the seventh day, and not the first day of the week, is the Sabbath of the Lord, and that we must keep it so, or our action will not be Sabbath-keeping at all. And when we find out these things, and many others in which we have thought and done wrong, we must be like this people of old, honest enough with God and ourselves to turn from our ways and thoughts and conform to those of the word of God. See Neh. 8:13-17. Then it will be with us as was said to them, “The joy of the Lord is your strength.”
A. T. J
From South America.
It will be remembered that mention was made last fall of the fact that a company of Sabbath-keepers had been formed in British Guiana, as the result of reading the Signs of the Times. The following letter, which was published in the Review, from a brother in British Guiana, will be read with interest:—
"Believing that the readers of the Review, especially those who were at the last General Conference and met one from this country, Brother R. L. Jeffrey, now at Battle Creek College, as well as others who were not privileged to be at that meeting, will be interested to hear of the progress of the truth in these parts, I write these lines.
"It is now two years last September, since I became acquainted with the faith of Seventh-day Adventists. The providence of God brought me to form an acquaintance with a colporter of the International Tract and Missionary Society. After much hesitation I accepted the truth, and, as was natural, endeavored to spread it by the distribution of all the reading matter that came within my reach, which I obtained from the colporter and Elder Loughborough, who was then in England. My distribution of tracts and papers caused an inquiry among those with whom I was in fellowship—a branch of the Plymouth brethren of England. As they found that I was decided on present truth, and that I would not give up having anything to do with the papers, as they advised me, I was disfellowshipped in May, 1884.
"As a result of distributing reading matter and writing missionary letters, a small company is raised up in—, and another on the eastern coast. I formed a tract and missionary society Dec. 4. A room is rented for a reading room and meetings. Regular Sabbath meetings are held, and also Bible-readings and prayer and missionary meetings. I visited the company on the eastern coast, Nov. 27. Held meetings with them and started a tract and missionary society; and on Sabbath, Nov. 28, I spoke to them from Isa. 61: 1-7. We are of good courage in the Lord, and solicit your prayers."
Preach the Word
Such was the preaching on the occasion of which we write; for says the scripture: "So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading." This is the only kind of preaching that is strictly genuine. The Bible is God's word to the people. The minister is to take that word, and, by the aid of the Spirit of God, to put it into the minds and hearts of the people, and it can be done only by reading in the book in the law of God distinctly, and giving the sense, and causing them to understand the reading. It cannot be done by taking a single verse, or sentence, or perhaps a single word, from the Bible, and then talking about something else for thirty or forty minutes. In other words, it cannot be done as D. L. Moody says that some men do: Take the text from the Bible, and go all over Christendom for the sermon. Under the solemn charge "before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick [living] and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom," the command of God is, "Preach the word." 2 Tim. 4:1, 2. Again: "The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord. Is not my word like as a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?" Jer. 23:28, 29. The word of man is chaff; the word of God is wheat. Give the people the word of God—the wheat—and they will have bread; they will have that upon which they can feed. Give them the words of man, and they have chaff indeed.
Amen in Worship
"AND Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood which they had made for the purpose. . . . And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people (for he was above all the people); and when he opened it, all the people stood up; and Ezra blessed the Lord the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands; and they bowed their heads, and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground." It is right for all the people to have part in the worship. It is for the people to listen attentively to the reading of the word; it is right for them to join in thought in the prayer of the one who leads; and it is right for them to respond to the words of the prayer by saying Amen. This is the rule of the New Testament as well as of the Old. Paul prohibits speaking in the church in an unknown tongue without an interpreter, because the unlearned could not say Amen to what was said, seeing he could not understand what was said. Therefore if he who speaks or prays is to do it in language that can be understood, so that those who hear can say Amen to it, why do not those who hear say Amen to it? If it be the speaker's part to speak in language to be understood so that the hearers may say Amen, it is equally the part of the hearers to say Amen when they do understand. But there is so much coldness, formality, listlessness, and inattention, in the services of the church that this duty is almost entirely neglected. This ought not so to be.
THE SANCTUARY, ITS SERVICE, ETC.
The Date of the 2300 Days.
(Lesson 9—Sabbath, March 6.)
INTO what portions does the angel divide the seventy weeks?
"Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince, shall be seven weeks and threescore and two weeks; . . . and he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week." Dan. 9: 25, 27. The three subdivisions, seven weeks, threescore and two weeks, and one week, make up the seventy weeks (490 years) which were allotted to the Jewish people.
What was to mark the beginning of this period of 490 years?
The twenty-fifth verse, just quoted, says that the years were to begin with the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem. To know, then, when the years begin, and consequently when they ended, we have only to ascertain the date of the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem.
What means had Daniel of knowing that such a commandment was to be given?
In the second verse of this chapter, Daniel says: "I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet [Jer. 25: 11, 12; 29: 10], that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem." The prophecy of Jeremiah expressly foretold the punishment of Babylon and the restoration of the Jews to their own land. "For thus saith the Lord, that after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place." Jer. 29: 10.
When did this captivity (of the Jews) begin?
"In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand." Dan. 1: 1, 2. There is no question among historians but that this took place in B. C. 606. Cyclopedias, commentaries, and Bible dictionaries will confirm the date. By deducting seventy, the number of years of captivity, from 606, the date of its beginning, we find that the captivity would end in B. C. 536. The first year of Darius, which was the year in which the events recorded in Daniel 9 occurred (see verse 1), was B. C. 538; consequently when the angel Gabriel came to Daniel to complete the interpretation of the vision, it lacked but two years till the close of the captivity.
What seems to have been the burden of Daniel's prayer?
Concerning the promise of God to restore Jerusalem, the place of the sanctuary. Said Daniel in his prayer: "Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate for the Lord's sake. O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name; for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies." Dan. 9: 17, 18. From the whole prayer it would seem that Daniel feared that the sins of his people would hinder the fulfilment of the promise, and therefore he especially pleads the mercy of God.
The prophecy which the angel proceeded to unfold is one of the most interesting and comprehensive prophecies of the Bible. It foretold not only the complete restoration of the Jews to their own land, and the re-building of Jerusalem, but it fixed the exact date when the Messiah should begin his earthly ministry, and how long it should continue; when he would be offered for the sins of the people, and when he would enter upon the closing portion of the grand work for the salvation of sinners. The starting-point for all these dates is the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem. This decree will therefore claim our attention for a brief space.
THE DECREE CONCERNING JERUSALEM.
Two years after the prayer recorded in Daniel 9, the seventy years of the Jewish captivity ceased. Darius the Mede reigned only two years, till B. C. 536, and then Cyrus took the throne in person. One of the first acts of his reign is thus recorded by the sacred historian:—
"Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of Heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem. And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, besides the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem." Ezra 1: 1-4.
From Ezra 2: 1-65 we learn that nearly fifty thousand Jews took advantage of this generous offer, and returned to their own land. This decree ended the captivity; for although many thousands of Jews still remained in the land of their captivity, all were free to go. But it will be noticed that the decree of Cyrus only contemplated the rebuilding of the temple, with, of course, such other building as would be necessary for the comfort of those who should engage in the work. The date of this decree, therefore, cannot be taken as the date for the beginning of the great prophetic period, for that was to begin only with the decree to restore and to build Jerusalem. We must therefore look further.
THE third chapter of Ezra records the laying of the foundation of the temple. In the fourth chapter, we are told that when the adversaries of the children of Judah and Benjamin heard of the progress of the work, they "troubled them in building, and hired counselors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia even until the reign of Darius king of Persia." Ezra 4: 4, 5.
The Darius here mentioned was Darius Hystaspes, who began to reign in B. C. 521. Before his reign, however, there were two other kings on the throne of Persia. Cambyses, the son of Cyrus, reigned from B. C. 529 to 522, and Smerdis, the impostor, reigned about seven months in the year 522. In Ezra 4: 6 Cambyses is called Ahasuerus, and Smerdis is the one who in the following verses is called Artaxerxes. From this account it appears that although the enemies "weakened the hands of the people of Judah," they did not succeed in stopping the work while Cambyses lived. But Smerdis was one of the Magi, and opposed to the Jewish religion. When complaint was made to him, he wrote the letter found in Ezra 4: 17-22, in consequence of which the enemies of Israel "made them to cease by force and power." "So it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius [Hystaspes] king of Persia." Ezra 4: 23, 24.
In the second year of the reign of Darius (B. C. 520), the prophets Haggai and Zechariah induced the Jews to again proceed to build the temple. As soon as the work was resumed, the enemies of the Jews resumed their old tactics. Ezra 5 records the letter which was written to Darius, asking him if the Jews had any authority for what they were doing. On receipt of this letter, Darius made search, and found the original decree of Cyrus, which he confirmed. See Ezra 6: 1-12. It will be noticed that this decree of Darius added nothing to the decree of Cyrus, but only confirmed it, giving the Jews liberty to proceed with the building of the temple. Therefore this decree cannot, any more than can that made by Cyrus, be made the starting-point for the prophetic period of Daniel 9.
We now come to the seventh chapter of Ezra, and there we find a decree made by Artaxerxes Longimanus, which covers every specification required by the prophecy. Read Ezra 7: 11-26. Here we find (1) That all Jews had full liberty to go up to Jerusalem with Ezra; (2) That Ezra was to take the freewill offerings of the people; (3) That they were to build the altar of the house of the Lord; (4) That whatever further means might be required should be furnished from the king's treasury; (5) That whatever was commanded by the God of Heaven should be performed; (6) That no tribute should be imposed on any one connected with the service of the sanctuary; (7) That Ezra was empowered to appoint judges to teach the laws to the people; and (8) That full power was given to Ezra and the judges to execute their laws, "whether it be unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment." See especially verses 25, 26.
Here, then, we have the full decree for the complete restoration of the Jewish polity. Before the time of Artaxerxes Longimanus, decrees had been made; but not until this decree could it be said that the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem had gone forth.
We have now only to ascertain when this decree went forth, and we have the key to the prophecy in Dan. 9: 25. Artaxerxes Longimanus began to reign in B. C. 464. His famous decree was given in the seventh year of his reign, Ezra 7: 7, which would be B. C. 457. In the year 457, therefore, or 456 years and a fraction before the Christian era, the seventy weeks or 490 years of Dan. 9: 24, 25, began. As the seventy weeks were cut off from the 2300 days of Dan. 8: 14, of course this latter period began at the same time.
Remember and Forget
A good old deacon used often to say in his prayers, “Lord, help us to remember what we ought not to forget, and to forget what we ought not to remember.”
The Art and Mystery of Scolding.
By Ambrose Clay
I TAKE it for granted that all who practice the art and mystery of scolding do so with high aims and lofty ambitions. To scold upon impulse and without method is the fashion of a barbarous age. It is as much a blunder as to write poems without meter, or to build houses without proportion. The true scold is as much an artist as the painter. Talent varies, it is true, but the great principles remain the same. Even Titian must handle a brush, and the most gifted scold must not neglect the rules of his profession.
It is well to remember, also, that, while talent is hereditary, its development in our children depends upon the example which we set before them. For we learn to scold, as we learn to speak, by hearing those about us. Therefore we ought to strive for consummate success, knowing that, even if we fail, we shall have insured a triumph for those who shall come after us. The rules of art are few, but they are inexorable. Eight lamps there are which light the way of the elegant and thorough-going scold.
First, never scold when you are angry. Anger is hard to reconcile with elegance. If you neglect this rule, you are likely to win the character of a common, or vulgar scold, which will injure your chances in the higher walks of the profession. Before all other things, self-control is needed to make you a master in your art. If an occasion arises for its exercise, study well your part. Never act hastily.
It is an admirable plan to retire, and, taking pen and paper, to commit the words you are about to use to writing. Thus they can be filed away, and will always be ready in case you wish to publish. The play of your fancy may greatly embellish them. Yet too frequent quotations from the poets cannot be recommended. It is always best to commit the very words to memory. Ladies should never fail to take a parting look in the mirror before going out to the exercise of their art. A marble brow is indispensable, and crumpled hair or an unpinned collar will mar the finest effort. I once knew a man who entirely lost the affection of his children by neglect of this first rule. He suffered himself to scold when he was angry; and, unfortunately, he was angry so often that his boys and girls mistook his art for earnest.
Second, never scold upon an empty stomach. It is undignified. Before dinner little things seem great. The stomach and the eyes are intimately connected. Do not waste your sweetness on the hungry air. Save your tragic scowl for great occasions.
Third, never scold if the matter can be mended. The man who leaves his baby in the fire while he scolds the nurse for dropping him in, is a bungler and a Philistine. There is neither sweetness nor light about him. He should pull the child out first, and then withdraw to act as recommended under the first rule. You cannot too often repeat to yourself that entire self-control is indispensable to the success of the consummate scold.
Fourth, never scold if the matter cannot be mended. Do not be led astray by the fallacious cry of, "Art for art's sake." You might as well carve the east wind in stone, or build a fire of pebbles, as to scold or cry over spilled milk. A family once started for a picnic, and Johnny was charged to put the lunch basket under the seat. While he was looking for his fish-hooks, his father called him, and he left the basket on the kitchen table. No one thought to ask about it until they were ten miles on their way. Now here was a chance for the father to show his training. If he had been a really elegant scold, knowing that the matter could not be mended he would have held his tongue and gone to the hotel for dinner. Poor Johnny was sorry enough, seeing his mother's look and the faces of his sisters. In imagination he saw the cookies and the pie, lonely and forsaken on the kitchen table, and he saw them with an empty stomach.
I regret to state that his father was a bungler. In open defiance of this rule, he sent Johnny to the country store for crackers and cheese, and scolded him until he made up his mind to run away from home and be a cowboy. If we can ever get a general convention of free and accepted scolds, we will read that father out of the organization.
Fifth, always scold the right person. I knew a man who used to get angry with his wife, and go out to the stable and scold and whip his horse. It is quite common, I am sorry to say, for men to visit the discomforts of their business on their wives. Ministers sometimes get the blues for want of exercise or want of faith, and then go to church and scold their congregations. I have even known a woman to scold her son in public, when she really meant it for her husband. Now all this is highly inartistic, and should be avoided by every accomplished scold.
Sixth, never scold those whom you love. It is waste of good material. You can influence them more easily in other ways. It is characteristic of all good art that it never uses an unnecessary stroke, nor seeks display for its own sake. Its work is done in the most direct and simple way. Remember that scolding is not the only art of which you are to be master. You will do well to reserve it for those occasions when it stands unrivaled. Above all, you ought to love children. Never waste your skill on them. They cannot appreciate the finer touches of your art, any more than they would understand Homer, or enjoy the frieze of the Parthenon. Keep a pocket full of sugar-plums for them; they are better suited to their capacity.
Seventh, always scold at the right time. I have known men to scold a minister just as he was going into the pulpit, to the utter ruin of his discourse. I have known mothers to scold children just as they started for school—to make them love the street better than the home, I suppose—and to whip them just as they went to bed—to bring them pleasant dreams. I have even heard of ministers who scolded their Lord's people at the communion table, though I confess this seems incredible. I know of men who are mean enough to scold their overworked and ailing wives, which does not surprise me, since I know that wife-beating is a common crime. All these things are lamentably inartistic. A really cultivated taste is annoyed by them, and the offender loses caste among his fellow-scolds.
Lastly, when you are through, stop! It is a vulgar ambition which impels you to go on forever. Quality is to be studied before quantity. A famous artist once said to me that his difficulty was to know when a picture is finished. "There is a point," he said, "beyond which you cannot go with advantage; for when that is reached, every additional stroke mars the whole effect." Find this point of ideal beauty in your scolding, and when you have reached it, stop! A continual dropping may remind your hearers of hard words which were written long ago in an old-fashioned book.
If further directions are needed for complete success in this lovely and delightful art, you will find them drawn out at some length in the third chapter of the epistle of James.—Ambrose Clay, in Congregationalist.
The Home Circle.
By Helen Hunt Jackson
NOT AS I WILL.
BLINDFOLDED and alone I stand
With unknown thresholds on each hand;
The darkness deepens as I grope,
Afraid to fear, afraid to hope;
Yet this one thing I learn to know
Each day more surely as I go,
That doors are opened, ways are made,
Burdens are lifted or are laid,
By some great law unseen, and still
Unfathomed purpose to fulfill,
"Not as I will."
Blindfolded and alone I wait;
Loss seems too bitter, gain too late;
Too heavy burdens in the load,
And too few helpers on the road;
And joy is weak and grief is strong,
And years and days so long, so long;
Yet this one thing I learn to know
Each day more surely as I go,
That I am glad the good and ill
By changeless law are ordered still,
"Not as I will."
"Not as I will!" the sound grows sweet
Each time my lips the words repeat.
"Not as I will," the darkness feels
More safe than light when this thought steals
Like whispered voice to calm and bless
All unrest and loneliness.
"Not as I will," because the One
Who loved us first and best has gone
Before us on the road, and still
For us must all his love fulfill—
"Not as we will."
—Helen Hunt Jackson.
Her Career.
THIRTY years ago two young girls were classmates in the academy of a New England town. One, whom we shall call Sarah, was the daughter of a poor farmer; the other, Anna, was the only child of a man of great wealth and influence in a neighboring city.
Anna was an eager advocate for the opening of new careers for women; and she talked so incessantly of her desire to help the world, to lift humanity to higher levels, that her friends prophesied for her a brilliant, useful future.
Sarah had no exalted theories or ambitions, though probably in her secret heart she hoped to become some day a wife and mother. However, she never married. She was a healthy, cheerful woman, with large motherly tenderness. There was much sickness in her family and in the neighborhood, and she fell into the habit, when she could be spared at home, of going about to help nurse those who needed her.
She saved the money she earned in the dairy, and went to Philadelphia to enter a Quaker training-school for nurses, established forty years ago. "If I would really help the sick, I must know how to help them," she said.
When she returned, she became the helper of the whole county, giving skilled service in every kind of disease, but never taking a penny for payment. So able and efficient a manager was she, that ten years ago she was persuaded to take charge of an orphan asylum in which a contagious disease was raging, and later, when her work there was finished, offered her services as nurse when a virulent fever broke out in one of the mining towns of Pennsylvania. It is impossible to compute the number of lives saved at that time by her coolness, intelligence, and skill.
The teacher of both girls called on Anna lately, and found her a nervous, discontented woman. "There is no high career open for our sex!" she complained. "I tried lecturing, but could not catch the public ear. I have written two or three books; they did not sell, and my publishers cheated me. I studied law, and for years tried in vain to fight my way into the courts. I am making no effort now. I was born a century too soon. The world is not yet ripe for women of my kind."
Our work is always near to us; it lies under our hands.—Youth's Companion.
Practice What You Preach
WHEN you preach politeness and propriety to your children, remember to practice these virtues yourself.
An Unused Conscience
"A CONSCIENCE unused is a conscience dethroned."
Boxwood and Its Uses.
The boxwood of commerce is a tree of considerable size, attaining a height of 80 feet. It is a native of the islands of the Mediterranean, and grows in Turkey, Asia Minor, and around the shores of the Black Sea. The wood possesses a delicate yellow color, is very dense in structure, and has a fine uniform grain, which gives it unique value for the purposes of the wood-engraver. In addition to the ever-increasing demand for the wood by engravers, a very large amount is used in the manufacture of measuring-rules and various mathematical instruments, as well as for turning into many minor articles, and for inlaying, and it is a favorite wood for small carving. The use of boxwood for turnery and musical instruments is mentioned by Pliny, Virgil, and Ovid. The quantity of the wood which passes out from Constantinople yearly is estimated at from 5,000 to 7,000 tons, with about 1,500 tons more of inferior and small pieces. While the consumption is continually increasing, the present sources of supply are rapidly becoming exhausted, the forests near the sea are denuded of their best trees, and access to the wood growing in the interior of the country around the Black Sea is difficult, owing to the want of means of internal communication. The consequent increase of the cost of boxwood has led to frequent attempts to discover other woods for the purpose of the wood-engraver; but none of the numerous substitutes proposed have hitherto been found to possess all the necessary properties.
The Happy Home.
By John Hall
I HAVE peeped into quiet "parlors," where the carpet is clean and not old, and the furniture polished and bright; into "rooms" where chairs are neat and the floor carpetless; into "kitchens" where the family live and the meals are cooked and eaten, and the boys and girls are as blithe as the sparrows in the thatch overhead; and I see that it is not so much wealth and learning, nor clothing, nor servants, nor toil, nor idleness, nor town, nor country, nor station, as tone and temper, that render homes happy or wretched. And I see, too, that in town or country, good sense and God’s grace make life what no teachers or accomplishments, no means or society, can make it,—the opening stave of an everlasting psalm; the fair beginning of an endless existence; the goodly, modest, well-proportioned vestibule to a temple of God’s building that shall never decay, wax old, or vanish away.—Dr. John Hall.
Health and Temperance.
By C. H. Thayer
THE CHARM OF OATMEAL.
A VISITOR who seemed to be
Enjoying most exceedingly
The fare at morn, declared, "I ne'er
Such oatmeal tasted; tell me where
You get it, then I'll surely go
And order twenty pounds or so."
"My friend," I said, with earnest look,
"'Tis not the grocer, 'tis the cook
Deserves your praise." "Indeed," she cried;
"O, will you not at once confide
The secret of the wondrous charm
That here is found? Indeed, the palm
Your cook may take, and ode or sonnet
You might, in truth, expend upon it."
"The charm," I said, "is simply this,—
Which epicure should never miss,—
Boil e'en from morning until night,
The day before you use it. Bright
And early you may rise, and then
Put on your meal to boil again.
Don't let it scorch or burn, to spoil
The flavor; only boil—and boil—and boil!"
—C. H. Thayer, in Good Housekeeping.
The Smoking Nuisance.
IN commenting upon an order recently issued forbidding smoking in the corridors and vestibules of the White House, the Pittsburg, Pa., Commercial Gazette makes the following sensible remarks:—
“All who wish to enjoy their cigars or pipes are, by common consent, permitted the use of the street for that purpose; but what is a great enjoyment to them is a very serious annoyance to many, and an intolerable nuisance to not a few. A decent regard for the comfort of those who do not smoke should prompt all well-bred persons to do their puffing somewhere else than on the public thoroughfares.
“If it be scarcely permissible, then, by the rules of good-breeding, to smoke in the streets of a crowded city, is smoking at railway stations, in public buildings, and at other places at which persons of all ages and both sexes are compelled to visit, to be tolerated as a privilege which must not be interfered with? Are the approaches to our post-offices, our court-houses, our places of amusement, and even our temples of worship, to be crowded with men and boys belching forth clouds of tobacco smoke, and yet no protest be heard from those to whom the fumes of the weed are disgusting and poisonous? When it comes down to a question of right, the person who puffs tobacco smoke in the face of either man or woman, is a trespasser, as well as a boor.
“There is a good deal of democratic toleration in this country, especially as regards conduct in and around public places; but among persons of culture and refinement, there is a well-recognized boundary which should not be overstepped. There is a moral as well as a conventional side to this question; and those who claim the right to smoke, should be careful to exercise that right in such a manner as not to interfere with the right or comfort of others. If this rule were more rigidly adhered to, smoking in public would be much rarer than it is.”
An Odorless Disinfectant.
A VERY effective, but highly poisonous disinfectant may be made by dissolving corrosive sublimate and permanganate of potash in soft water in the proportion of two drams of each salt to the gallon. The cost is a little over two cents a gallon, the corrosive sublimate costing sixty or seventy cents a pound, and the permanganate about the same. It must be remembered that this solution is highly poisonous. It is proper, also, to call attention to the fact that it will injure lead pipes if passed through them in considerable quantities.—Sel.
Hints on Exercise.
By Dudley A. Sargent
WE have often heard it said that any physical exercise to be of benefit must be interesting and enjoyable. But many persons are greatly improved by exercises that are by no means either attractive or pleasurable, such as the manipulation of dumb-bells or the lifting of heavy weights. In fact, our daily life is made up of exercises that are dull, monotonous, and uninteresting in themselves; and yet what man is prepared to say that these exercises do not contribute to the welfare of both mind and body?
What, then, is the meaning of this assertion which has furnished the drones and sluggards of the world an excuse for idleness and inactivity? Do you see that man walking leisurely along, with his eyes fixed upon the ground, and his hands glued to his pockets? His feet are scarcely raised, his steps are unequal, and he stumbles about like a person intoxicated. Contrast this man’s walk with that of the man opposite. There the head is erect, the shoulders thrown back, the arms swinging like piston rods, and the feet moving with regularity and exactness.
I happen to know that neither of these persons enjoys walking. Both of them are walking for exercise. The former, who is an inventor by profession, is thinking over some intricate problem and is simply lost in it. He has not the slightest idea where he is this moment, or what he is doing. The latter is a man of business; he has finished his work for the day, and he has left his office with its trials and annoyances behind him. For the time being he is giving himself up to walking as a means of physical exercise and development.
In one case the muscles are contracting feebly for want of nerve stimulus, the blood is circulating slowly, the lungs are taking but a trifle more air than they would if the person were in a sitting posture, and the whole machinery of the system is slowed down to support the activity of the brain.
In the other case the muscles are under the immediate control of the brain as well as the central nervous system. The function of the heart and the lungs is greatly increased, and the blood is coursing rapidly through its channels, carrying life and animation with it. Here an exercise which is largely local in its effects becomes general through the energy and vigor given to it by the mind.
Remember that there can be no muscular action without nervous stimulus. Paralyze the nerves, and you incapacitate the muscles. Stimulate the nerves, and you increase the strength of the muscles accordingly. The mind furnishes the natural stimulus for the muscles.
The object in view, the result to be obtained, the good to be reached, furnish most of us a motive for action. No matter how disagreeable the exercise may be in itself, if you have sufficient force of character to give it your attention it will do you good. If you have not, exercise will accomplish but little for you, though it be made ever so interesting and attractive.
If you are suffering from nervous prostration, and need relaxation or mental rest, that is another thing. But if you are in search of physical vigor and muscular strength, do not make yourself ill pining for a horse, a boat, a bicycle, or a gymnasium, because you think that nothing else will interest you. Make the best of the opportunities you have. Get thoroughly interested in your physical welfare, and put your mind into your muscles in whatever you have to do. Elevate yourself above your circumstances, and make play of work—not work of play. Try this for a while, and you will be astonished to see how much lifting boxes, rolling barrels, handling iron, climbing stairs, running errands, and other disagreeable duties, can contribute to your physical strength and development.—Prof. D. A. Sargent, M. D., in Congregationalist.
Material for Bibles.
OLD sail-cloths are used extensively for making the paper for Oxford Bibles. "There are huge piles of this old material," says the Leisure Hour, "gathered in here, after battling with breezes in all the seas under heaven. They come in here to be torn into shreds, and beaten into pulp, and bleached, drawn out into beautiful white sheets, to be presently printed on, wafted off again to all the ends of the earth—certainly rather a quaint and curious metamorphosis."
Four Kinds of Men
The following is an Arab proverb: “Men are four: He who knows not, and knows not he knows not. He is a fool; shun him. He who knows not, and knows he knows not. He is simple; teach him. He who knows, and knows not he knows. He is asleep; waken him. He who knows, and knows he knows. He is wise; follow him.”
Family Government Remedy
The revival of family government by parents is the best remedy for a number of social disorders which present equally novel and startling aspects in our day.—Christian Advocate.