[A]“Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas.” Georgicon II, 490.[B]The grammar, it is to be said, is far more like that of the Greek than like that of the Latin language.[C]There is a language, the Lithuanian, spoken by a Leth-Slavonic people, northwest of the Baltic, near Poland, which has preserved in a remarkable and unique manner forms of the old Aryan speech which are extinct in other European tongues. But it is the language of a small, rude, unimportant people, without a literature, and indeed was not written until the sixteenth century. It is of great interest to the student of comparative philology, but of none to us at present.[D]The Scandinavians, and all the peoples who are loosely called German tribes, High-German, Low-German, and what-not, are generally regarded as branches of a great Aryan stem, which is called the Teutonic race; and some of my philological readers, should any such honor these unpretending papers with their attention, may be surprised, and even offended, at my omission of any mention of the great Teutonic family. As to this, my only defense, or rather my only excuse, is that I have been unable to convince myself of the existence of any such branch as the Teutonic, antecedent to the Gothic, of which the Mæso-Goths were an early offshoot. I can not see that the Teutones of the Roman historians represent an elder, dominant, or parent branch of the Aryan race of which the Goths were a younger and minor. As to the word German, and its use in “German tribes,” “German dialects,” every scholar knows that it is not an indigenous name, but that it was imposed from without, by strangers, upon the people who bear it, who call themselves Deutch; and that this name was in effect territorial, meaning all the people, of whatever race, who lived within or beyond certain boundaries. As to the identity of origin inDeu-tchand Teu-ton, that seems to me to be by no means clearly made out. For Teutonic race I would substitute Gothic. The question from the present point of view is happily not of serious or intrinsic importance.
[A]“Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas.” Georgicon II, 490.
[A]“Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas.” Georgicon II, 490.
[B]The grammar, it is to be said, is far more like that of the Greek than like that of the Latin language.
[B]The grammar, it is to be said, is far more like that of the Greek than like that of the Latin language.
[C]There is a language, the Lithuanian, spoken by a Leth-Slavonic people, northwest of the Baltic, near Poland, which has preserved in a remarkable and unique manner forms of the old Aryan speech which are extinct in other European tongues. But it is the language of a small, rude, unimportant people, without a literature, and indeed was not written until the sixteenth century. It is of great interest to the student of comparative philology, but of none to us at present.
[C]There is a language, the Lithuanian, spoken by a Leth-Slavonic people, northwest of the Baltic, near Poland, which has preserved in a remarkable and unique manner forms of the old Aryan speech which are extinct in other European tongues. But it is the language of a small, rude, unimportant people, without a literature, and indeed was not written until the sixteenth century. It is of great interest to the student of comparative philology, but of none to us at present.
[D]The Scandinavians, and all the peoples who are loosely called German tribes, High-German, Low-German, and what-not, are generally regarded as branches of a great Aryan stem, which is called the Teutonic race; and some of my philological readers, should any such honor these unpretending papers with their attention, may be surprised, and even offended, at my omission of any mention of the great Teutonic family. As to this, my only defense, or rather my only excuse, is that I have been unable to convince myself of the existence of any such branch as the Teutonic, antecedent to the Gothic, of which the Mæso-Goths were an early offshoot. I can not see that the Teutones of the Roman historians represent an elder, dominant, or parent branch of the Aryan race of which the Goths were a younger and minor. As to the word German, and its use in “German tribes,” “German dialects,” every scholar knows that it is not an indigenous name, but that it was imposed from without, by strangers, upon the people who bear it, who call themselves Deutch; and that this name was in effect territorial, meaning all the people, of whatever race, who lived within or beyond certain boundaries. As to the identity of origin inDeu-tchand Teu-ton, that seems to me to be by no means clearly made out. For Teutonic race I would substitute Gothic. The question from the present point of view is happily not of serious or intrinsic importance.
[D]The Scandinavians, and all the peoples who are loosely called German tribes, High-German, Low-German, and what-not, are generally regarded as branches of a great Aryan stem, which is called the Teutonic race; and some of my philological readers, should any such honor these unpretending papers with their attention, may be surprised, and even offended, at my omission of any mention of the great Teutonic family. As to this, my only defense, or rather my only excuse, is that I have been unable to convince myself of the existence of any such branch as the Teutonic, antecedent to the Gothic, of which the Mæso-Goths were an early offshoot. I can not see that the Teutones of the Roman historians represent an elder, dominant, or parent branch of the Aryan race of which the Goths were a younger and minor. As to the word German, and its use in “German tribes,” “German dialects,” every scholar knows that it is not an indigenous name, but that it was imposed from without, by strangers, upon the people who bear it, who call themselves Deutch; and that this name was in effect territorial, meaning all the people, of whatever race, who lived within or beyond certain boundaries. As to the identity of origin inDeu-tchand Teu-ton, that seems to me to be by no means clearly made out. For Teutonic race I would substitute Gothic. The question from the present point of view is happily not of serious or intrinsic importance.
BY PROF. J. T. EDWARDS, D.D.Director of the Chautauqua School of Experimental Science.
In our day science invades the kitchen. Knowledge knocks at the sitting room door. Literature and art visit the parlor of even our humble homes. To do anything in furtherance of popular education is a delight. Mine be the task of making the laboratory and the home better acquainted.
The limitations of an article forThe Chautauquancause the first embarrassment. One must at once become an eclectic, and select wisely thebestfrom a wide field. The next difficulty is to give coherency and classification to the truths selected. Upon what golden cord shall we arrange the shining truths?
Let us use an ancient, though incorrect classification of elements: Water, air, earth, fire, adding another, organisms. Indeed, this is about the division of matter which the common people make to-day, although chemists tell us that neither of these is an element, and that the simple, indivisible substances in nature are sixty-six in number. As chemistry and physics are so closely related, we shall consider each of these topics from the standpoint of both these sciences. This will call for ten articles, on the following subjects: Chemistry of Water; Physics of Water; Chemistry of Air; Physics of Air; Chemistry of Fire; Physics of Fire; Chemistry of Earth; Physics of Earth; Chemistry of Organisms; Physics of Organisms.
FORMS OF WATER CRYSTALLIZED.
FORMS OF WATER CRYSTALLIZED.
Do not be disturbed by these cabalistic symbols; they are simply the chemist’s name for water; a most expressive name, too, as we shall presently discover. Some names are misnomers. Abel Blackman may be both weak and a white man. Our letters can not mislead. They abbreviate, show the class of each substance, the elements that form it, and their proportions. Berzelius devised this mode of naming. (Who was Berzelius?)
On the table stands a glass of water. How beautiful it is! Even diamonds, costliest of gems, are valued in proportion as they possess its marvelous clearness, those of the “first water” being most highly prized. We are now to speak of some of thechemicalproperties of water; hereafter we shall consider the physical characteristics.
See! I have dipped my pencil into the goblet, and brought up a drop of water. What force binds together the pencil and the drop? What holds the drop to other drops? Why is not this ice instead of water? If I shake the pencil in what direction does the drop fall? If the drop were larger than the world, which way would the world go? What other force is there in it which, according to Faraday, is equal to that in a flash of lightning? Here are, then, five great forces in a drop of water, yet none of them changes its nature. It is still H₂O.
Let us place this drop of water in the upright tube of an atomizer. Apply air. See, the drop has broken into thousands of particles. Now, suppose we could take one of these and place it in a flask. Apply heat, and we should separate the little particle into thousands of particles of steam, but each of these, and any lesser division of these, would still be H₂O. The minutest division of the waterpossiblewould be called amolecule, yet it would still be water, and composed of two parts of hydrogen and one of oxygen. The old ocean itself contains the same. The Cracow beds of salt are made of chlorine and sodium, and the minutest dust from one of its crystals would be found to contain the same elements, and in the same proportion, both by weight and measure. Molecules, then, combined, make onlymassesof the same nature. But molecules are composed of atoms, and whenever atoms of two or more different substances are combined they always form something different from either of these. The force that unites them is called chemical affinity, or sometimes the chemical force. For example, tenacious iron unites with a gas and forms a brittle, red substance, rust. Chlorine is a poisonous gas, and sodium will burn on water, both deadly; united they give us salt; absolutely essential to life. Hydrogen is the best substance in the world to burn, and oxygen the best supporter of combustion. When united they form water, which is universally employed to extinguish fire. Blue vitriol is blue, as the name implies, yet it is composed of four elements, two of which, H and O, are colorless, copper, which is red, and sulphur, which is yellow. Sulphur has little or no odor, and hydrogen has none, but when united they form a gas which has the odor of spoiled eggs. White sugar is nothing but black charcoal and water. It will thus be seen that here is a source ofnewthings in nature. Whatever chemical affinity touches is changed.
And so we have found another force in our drop of water taken from the goblet, more wonderful than any yet named, a mighty, transforming energy which has but one worthy rival in the work of creating new things, the vital principle, and even that must yield at last to this all conquering power. If our goblet was large, and held a pound of water, (about a pint,) we should find that to pull the molecules apart, that is, make it into steam, would require a force which would raise four tons to the height of one hundred feet. But more wonderful still, to separate the pound of water into two chemical constituents would require, according to Prof. Cooke, an energy which would raise 5,314,200 pounds one foot. Our pint of water would then occupy 1800 times its present volume.
Let us now give a striking and beautiful illustration of chemical affinity. We will throw into this tumbler a piece of potassium (symbol K) half as large as a pea. This interesting metal was discovered by Davy in 1807. Its affinity for O is very great. As soon as it falls upon the water it abstracts oxygen and forms potassium oxide (potash), while the hydrogen and a small amount of volatilized K escape and are burned with a brilliant violet flame, on account of the heat evolved by the energetic chemical action.
POTASSIUM BURNING BY COMBINING WITH THE OXYGEN OF WATER.
POTASSIUM BURNING BY COMBINING WITH THE OXYGEN OF WATER.
The composition of water was discovered about one hundred years ago. Cavendish found hydrogen in 1776, and Priestly discovered oxygen in 1774, August 1st, a date which some one says “may almost be accepted as the birthday of modern chemistry.”
Is it not remarkable that four of the brightest “red letter days” in the history of this science should be embraced within two decades, from 1754 to 1774? In 1754 Joseph Black discovered carbonic acid gas; in 1766 Dr. Cavendish found hydrogen; in 1772 Dr. Rutherford discovered nitrogen, and in 1774 Dr. Priestly found the King of the Elements, oxygen. Until then mankind were ignorant of the existence of a substance which composes in the aggregate one half the earth.
Returning to our glass, let us suppose that the bottom has been so perforated that two little strips of platinum wire can be inserted side by side, at the distance of half an inch from each other, and so as to leave the tumbler water-tight. Now attach the lower ends of these wires to wires connected with the poles of an ordinary galvanic battery. Small bubbles will be seen to rise immediately around the wires in the water. Fill two glass tubes (closed at one end) with water, and having placed a little piece of paper over the top, hold the finger on the paper, and quickly invert the tubes over the wires. The escaping gases will thus be secured. The electric current is counteracting the affinity of the two elements that form water, and they are collecting in the tubes. You will soon find that the H gathers more rapidly than the O, and upon measuring them there will be twice as much of the former as of the latter. Weigh them, and the O outweighs the former eight times. If, then, one atom of O weighs eight times as much as two atoms of H (H₂O is the symbol for water, remember,) then one atom of O weighs sixteen times as much as one atom of H; or, in other words, H is sixteen times lighter than O, and is the lightest substance known.
Place the O and H in a eudiometer over mercury, and send an electric spark through them; the gases will disappear, with a loud explosion, and there, resting on the quicksilver, will be seen the original drops of water which we decomposed. We have now shown the composition of water, both by analysis and synthesis.
An atom of H is the chemist’s unit. This is a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas, fourteen times lighter than air. When burned it produces a more intense heat than any other substance. Iron burns in its flame like paper. When united with O, and a piece of lime is inserted in the flame, the latter becomes exceedingly brilliant, forming the Drummond light, which has been seen at the distance of one hundred miles in the daytime. So diffusive is H that if a sheet of paper or gold-leaf be placed over an escaping jet of the gas, it will pass directly through the paper, and may be lighted on the upper side. H is easily prepared, and many interesting experiments may be performed with it, some of which it may be well to mention. Take up on a pointed wire or needle or with tweezers, a piece of the metal sodium, quickly insert it under a tube filled with water and invert in a glass of water; the sodium will at once take the O and leave the H to displace the water in the tube. Remove the tube, still holding it with opening downward; apply lighted match and a slight explosion will follow. What two properties of H have you shown by your experiment?
COLLECTING HYDROGEN EVOLVED FROM WATER BY SODIUM.
COLLECTING HYDROGEN EVOLVED FROM WATER BY SODIUM.
Take a bottle holding one or two pints, fit a cork to it, through which pass a glass or metallic tube, the end of which is drawn out so as to leave a small aperture at the top. Place in the bottle a few pieces of zinc, and some sulphuric acid, diluted with water, in the proportions of one part of acid to six of water, then insert the cork. You will immediately see bubbles of H rising. The explanation of this is as follows: The zinc takes O from the water, thus liberating H; the O forms an oxide on the surface of the metal, which would prevent further action, did not the acid dissolve the oxide, thus leaving a fresh surface to take the O, and continue liberating H until the metal disappears. After the H has been forming for two or three minutes, hold over the tube an inverted tumbler for a moment, remove the tumbler and then apply a match to the contents of tumbler. When the bottle has becomefilledwith H you can light the gas at the top of the tube, and thus have a steady flame. Be careful not to attempt to ignite the gas until all of the air has been forced out of the bottle, as air mixed with H produces an explosive mixture. In the intense heat of the faint flame you can melt metals or glass. By placing a larger glass tube, open at both ends, over the flame, you may be able to produce the celebrated acoustic tones, varying in pitch and intensity with the size and length of the tube used. A hydrogen gun can easily be made by taking a tin tube five or six inches long (closed at one end), from one half inch to an inch in diameter; make a small aperture near the closed end; then invert the tube for a moment over the escaping H, keeping the small hole closed with the finger, place a cork in the open end, and apply a match to the hole. The cork will be forced out with a loud explosion. What compound is always produced when H is burned? Let us see. Invert a cold, dry tumbler over a burning jet, and you will always observe moisture gathering on its surface. Another pretty experiment may be performed with H by inserting the stem of a common clay pipe in a piece of rubber tubing, slip the other end of the tubing over the gas jet, prepare some strong soap suds, and with a little care you can blow beautiful soap bubbles with your pipe, which, by a skillful movement may be detached, and they will rise in the air like miniature balloons; by placing a burning match under them they will explode. Strike a bell in a large jar filled with H, and it has a squeaky sound. Our whole art and science of music would be changed if H should be mixed with the air to any great extent.
Nicely balance a flask or jar containing air; fill the same flask with H, and the beam will at once be seen to rise.
Let us find the antipodes of weight. Iridium, hammered to increase its density, is twenty-three times heavier than water; water is about eight hundred times heavier than air, and air is fourteen times heavier than H: 23×800×14=257,600; that is, one quart of Ir would balance 257,600 quarts of H.
There are four kings among chemical substances: Oxygen, king of all the elements; gold, king of the metals; oil of vitriol, king of the acids, and potash, king of the bases.
PREPARATION OF OXYGEN FROM MERCURIC OXIDE—MATERIALS USED BY DR. PRIESTLY.
PREPARATION OF OXYGEN FROM MERCURIC OXIDE—MATERIALS USED BY DR. PRIESTLY.
This term of distinction is given to oxygen because of its marvellous activity and range of powers; it unites with all elements save one, fluorine. Its grasping disposition is often resisted by man; he keeps it from destroying his house by painting it; from gnawing at the quivering nerves of his teeth by filling them; from devouring his fruits by canning them; and Monsieur Goffart has now taught us to save green food for our cattle, from its ravages by excluding O from our silos. In spite of its destroying power we can not live without it. The light and warmth in our homes are produced by its rapid union with fuel. Every moment we breathe we are absorbing it into our bodies, where it unites with waste matter, producing heat and energy, and removing that which would clog and poison the system. There is nothing in nature more beautiful than the plan by which the animal and vegetable kingdoms mutually sustain each other by the interchange of O. Look at this little aquarium; here are two or three shiners, some goldfish, and a few water plants. In this little world we may see exactly what goes on in the great world. That goldfish is inhaling O, which is conveyed into the capillaries, unites there with the carbon, forming CO₂, which is exhaled, seized upon by the plant, and in the wonderful laboratory of its cells, the C is separated from the poisonous gas, and retained, while the O is thrown off, again to be used by the fish. Upon the nice adjustment of the plants to the animals, and vice versa, depends the life of both. While upon this subject we might note another interesting evidence of beneficent design in the provision made for both fish and plants.
Water absorbs gases with great readiness—some of them it takes more readily than others; for example, a pint of water will absorb seven hundred pints of ammonia gas. It will take but its own volume of carbonic anhydride under one pressure of the atmosphere.
The descending rain drops absorb these two gases and convey them to the rootlets of the plant, for food. More wonderful still, the Almighty has arranged that water should remove O from the air more readily than it does nitrogen; consequently the rain carries down the O to the fish in river, lake and ocean, adding its life-giving principle to the air, which is always contained in water. It is a pretty sight to watch the breathing of a fish as he sends the rapid currents of water through his gills in the act of aërating the blood, which, as it passes through, gives them a crimson color.
It may easily be proved that plants throw off O, by submerging any vigorous growing plant in a jar of water; in a short time little bubbles will be seen clinging to the leaves; now fill a bottle with water, invert, and touch the little globules gently, when they will detach themselves and pass up into the bottle, displacing the water, and may afterward be used in experimentation. Perhaps some of you, while drinking at the brook, have noted these bubbles of O on the leaves of the graceful water plants below. This is the only place in nature where you can see O free, and indeed you do not see it here, for O is a colorless, tasteless, odorless substance; what you do see is the thin sphere of water which contains it.
O is held by many substances so tenaciously that we can not liberate it; this gives us “terra firma.” Sand, and many rocks consist of O and silicon, but the greatest heat and heaviest blows can not separate them. There are materials, however, which readily yield their O. Dr. Priestly first found it by heating with a burning glass a compound known now as red oxide of mercury. The O went off, leaving the shining quicksilver.
You may repeat this historic experiment by placing the material in a test tube and heating it over an alcohol lamp.
Another substance used for this purpose is black oxide of manganese (MnO₂), but that which is now generally employed is a white salt, kept by every druggist, and usually called chlorate of potash (HClO₃).
PREPARATION OF OXYGEN FROM A MIXTURE OF POTASSIC CHLORATE (CHLORATE OF POTASH) AND MANGANESE DI-OXIDE.
PREPARATION OF OXYGEN FROM A MIXTURE OF POTASSIC CHLORATE (CHLORATE OF POTASH) AND MANGANESE DI-OXIDE.
Place a small amount of this, mixed with an equal quantity of the manganese, in a test tube, or flask, and heat over a flame. The O will be liberated, and may be bottled for use. A strange thing about this operation is that the MnO₂ yields none of the O, but comes out of the flask just as it went in. Such action, by mere presence, is called catalysis. We can not explain it, but have some such phenomena in social life, perhaps, when two people with an affinity for each other are having a delightful, confidential chat, and a third person joins the group, immediately producing silence—a plain case of catalysis! Having secured several jars of O we are now ready to test some of its interesting properties. Extinguish a candle and suddenly plunge it into a jar of O. It is relighted. A better way is to make a taper of waxed thread. This will keep the live coal better, and may be relighted many times. Attach to a wire a piece of charcoal bark. Ignite and place in another jar. Beautiful scintillations fill the jar, star like in form. Take a watch spring, heat one end and bend. Split a match and attach to the spring, light and place in the jar. It burns with great brilliancy.
Whittle out a little cup of chalk, or crayon, and place phosphorus in it. Touch the P with a hot wire and lower the cup, with a wire, into a jar of O. A beautiful combustion follows. In like manner sulphur may be burned, and produces a bright blue light.
A TAPER OR CANDLE BURNING IN OXYGEN.
A TAPER OR CANDLE BURNING IN OXYGEN.
A little ingenuity will supply all apparatus needed for these and other experiments with H and O. For example, a common pail with a wooden shelf in it two or three inches from the top makes an excellent pneumatic trough for transferring or gathering gases, and if the shelf can not be procured, two or three bricks in the pail will serve the purpose.
Before dismissing our glass of water we must remark that no matter where it may be found, in the depths of the sea or on the mountain; as a dew drop, or sparkling as spray; in lake Nyanza, or lake Chautauqua, the chemical constituents of water are just the same. Almighty care and wisdom weighs the atoms, even as “he weighs the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance.” Theapparentcharacter of water, as to color, form, hardness, saltness, and so on, is often varied bymixingwith it other substances, but the changes produced are not chemical, and belong more properly to the domain of physics.
Note.—The illustrations in this article are from “The Young Chemist” of Prof. John Howard Appleton. We can heartily recommend to the members of the C. L. S. C., all of Prof. Appleton’s admirable works on Chemistry.
Note.—The illustrations in this article are from “The Young Chemist” of Prof. John Howard Appleton. We can heartily recommend to the members of the C. L. S. C., all of Prof. Appleton’s admirable works on Chemistry.
BY BYRON D. HALSTED.
The potato is undoubtedly the leading addition which the New World has made to the list of garden vegetables. Its importance as a food plant may be judged from the fact that during the year 1880 over one hundred and sixty-nine million bushels of potatoes were raised in the United States. If we could obtain the total yield in all countries for a single year, the figures would express only the simple fact of vastness. It only need be said that potatoes furnish the larger part of the food for many millions of people. Think of Ireland, for example, deprived of her annual crop of potatoes; it means famine and all its attendant ills.
The common, or Irish potato, as distinguished from the sweet potato, bears the botanical name ofSolanum Tuberosum, and belongs to the natural order Solanaceæ. This group or family of plants is characterized by rank scented herbage, often abounding in narcotic poison. The flowers are regular, parts usually in fives, and the ovaries mostly two-celled and many-seeded. Among the more important members of the family are the tomato, egg-plant, cayenne pepper, and tobacco. Belladonna, hyoscyamus, and stramonium are better examples of the poisonous and medicinal properties of the plants in the order, which gives us so wholesome a food as the potato, and so vile a weed as tobacco. The herbage of the potato plant is not unlike that of its first and second cousins, but by means of these narcotic leaves and stems the plant is enabled to transform crude materials into starch and other valuable substances which are afterwards stored up in a suitable form for the use of man. The potato itself, which nearly all persons relish when well prepared for the table, is not a thick root, as many have supposed, but an enlarged underground stem, called a tuber. These thickened subterranean stems bear small leaves, reduced to mere scales, under which are buds, better known as eyes. A potato is as much a stem as the tender and delicious shoots of early spring asparagus. The potato plant has three kinds of stems: those bearing the foliage, those bearing the flowers and the underground stems which may be styled starch-bearing.
The early history of the potato is very obscure. It is doubtless a native of South America, where it has been frequently found in the wild state. The Spaniards are given the credit of first introducing the potato into Europe in the early part of the sixteenth century. It passed from Spain into France, and from there on into Germany and other countries of Europe. The first potatoes to reach England were those carried by Sir Walter Raleigh on his return from Virginia in 1584. “In the time of James the First they were so rare as to cost two shillings (sterling) a pound, and are mentioned in 1619 among the articles provided for the royal household.” The culture of the potato was encouraged by the Royal Agricultural Society. Since 1760 it has become an established garden and field crop, and one it would be a calamity to lose.
The chemical composition of the potato tuber varies greatly according to the conditions under which it has been grown, namely: soil, weather, manure, etc. It contains about seventy-five per cent. of water. The composition of the twenty-five per cent. of dry substance is as follows: protein, 2 per cent.; fat, .03; starch and other carb-hydrates, 20.7; fibre, 1.1; ash, .09. By protein is understood the various compounds containing nitrogen, like the gluten of wheat, white of egg, etc. This is considered the flesh-forming part of a food. Lean flesh is made up largely of protein compounds, or albuminoids, as they are sometimes called. The carb-hydrates contain no nitrogen, and are compounds of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Among the most familiar of this class are starch, sugar, and gums. The carb-hydrates, in contrast with the flesh-forming protein compounds are frequently called heat producing substances. This classification aids in giving a general idea of the part the two groups play in the animal economy. Both classes of foods are required, the amount of each depending upon the wear and tear of the body and the conditions of temperature, etc., under which the animal lives. A man who is working hard needs more of the protein compounds to build up the muscles than the person of leisure. When exposed to severe cold, an increase of the starchy substance is demanded to make good the losses caused by the excess of animal heat produced. From the average of many chemical analyses given above, it is seen that the potato is a heat-producing food, and not a muscle-forming food. The fat in foods—of which there is very little in the potato—is used both as fuel and to build up the fatty substance of the body. The proteins or albuminoids are the most expensive portions of any food; the fats come next, and the carb-hydrates last. (In this way a chemist is able to compute the nutritive value of a food from the per cent. of the classes of constituents found present by analysis.) Wheat contains about eleven per cent. of protein, and seventy per cent. of carb-hydrates. There is far lesswater, but more than that, it has a higher ratio of protein. It is a richer food. Corn has the same per cent. of starchy matter, but only nine per cent. of the albuminoids. It is not so rich a food as wheat. Beans and peas have about fifty per cent. of oil and starch and twenty-five per cent. of the flesh-formers. This is a very high protein ratio, and those grains approach closely to the composition of meats, and may replace them to a large extent. This is all to show that both chemistry and culinary experience do not rank the potato as a rich food. It serves the animal economy best when eaten with some other substance far richer in protein. Thus we have meat and potatoes as a wholesome and complete food.
The potato thrives in an open, warm, deep, mellow and rich soil. If the soil is not naturally fertile it needs to be supplied with well rotted manure; or if this is not available in sufficient quantities, supplement with some good commercial fertilizer. Thorough tillage, that is, frequent plowing and harrowing, will supply two other essentials, namely: depth and mellowness. Drainage may be necessary to remove the excess of water, the presence of which shuts out the air, and renders the soil cold and unfit for growing plants. A soil that will grow a good crop of corn will usually yield a paying crop of potatoes. Both corn and potatoes grow for only a short season, and have no time to wait for plant food. The roots need to have all the plant food they can absorb close within reach. As a rule, land can not be made too rich for potatoes.
There is a wide difference of opinion as to the size and manner of cutting the “seed” potatoes. If we will remember that a potato is a stem it will be seen that planting potatoes is virtually setting out cuttings; as much so as when portions of a grape vine or a currant cane are placed in the ground. The potato to serve as “seed” should be well matured and carefully kept through the winter. It is poor economy to plant small and half matured tubers. As much care should be taken with the “seed” potatoes as in the selection of scions, with which to engraft a tree. This leads to another very important point in potato growing. Be sure and plant good varieties. The list of names of the varieties of potatoes would fill a volume. The Early Rose has been for several years the type of excellence. The Beauty of Hebron takes a front rank for quality and productiveness. The Peach Blow has long been a favorite, though now less grown. The White Elephant, Snow Flake, and Burbank are three of the better sorts. The point of growth in a potato is the bud or “eye,” and the substance of the tuber around this eye furnishes it with nourishment for its initial growth. The results of experiments uphold the deductions of science that it is best to cut large potatoes to single “eyes,” guiding the knife so that each bud shall have an abundance of surrounding substance. The cut pieces may be planted in hills two and one-half feet each way, or in drills. A rapid and satisfactory method is to drop the pieces fifteen inches apart in the furrows made by a light plow. If placed in every third furrow, the rows will be wide enough for horse cultivation. In this way the plow prepares the place for the “seed,” and afterward covers it. When the potato plants are just coming through the ground, the surface may be stirred with the back of an ordinary harrow. This loosens up the soil and kills the young weeds. The further culture consists in frequently passing the cultivator between the rows to keep the surface soil open and free from weeds. The soil may be thrown toward the vines after they have attained considerable size.
The potato has met with some serious enemies. The worst pest of late years is the Colorado beetle. This is now so wide spread and well known that a description is unnecessary. The remedies are numerous, but Paris green and London purple are the most effective. These arsenical compounds are applied in both the dry state and mixed with water. The latter is generally considered the better method. A teaspoonful of either the “green” or “purple” is stirred in a watering-pot and applied to the infested foliage through a fine nozzle. This voracious beetle has a natural enemy in the shape of a mite that sometimes occurs so abundantly as to completely cover the victim. Other insect enemies are the stalk borer and the large potato worm. Burn the vines infested with the former, and pinch off and crush the latter.
The wet rot, so destructive some seasons, is caused by a minute parasitic fungus which grows within the substance of the potato leaves and stems, and afterward descends to the tubers and causes them to decay. Wet and hot weather are particularly favorable for the development of this mould. Nothing has been successfully used to stay its ravages. This rot has swept over Europe, Great Britain and Ireland, at different times, bringing great distress to all the inhabitants, but especially to the lower classes, whose daily food is made up largely of the potato. The tubers should be dug so soon as the fungus is found to have “struck” the foliage. In this way they may be removed before the rot has invaded them. Store the potatoes in a dry and uniformly cool place. As the rot does not come until midsummer, it is best to plant quick maturing varieties, and plant these early. In this way some of the insect enemies may also be avoided. Take it altogether, the potato is an easy and profitable crop to raise.
BY MRS. EMMA P. EWING.
There are only seven distinct methods of cooking potatoes, namely: roasting, baking, boiling, steaming, stewing, frying, and broiling. But the culinary possibilities of this simple esculent are so illimitable it can be served in about as many different ways as there are days in the year, and be acceptable in all of them, if properly done; for no member of the vegetable kingdom returns a richer reward for the care bestowed upon it than the potato.
Roasted Potatoes.—The primitive method of roasting potatoes under, or among the ashes of a wood fire, is an excellent one. Bury the potatoes in hot ashes to the depth of two or three inches, cover with live coals, and leave undisturbed for half an hour, or until thoroughly roasted. As soon as done, which can be ascertained by taking one of them from its bed and testing it, remove, brush clean, break tenderly, place in a dish, and serve. The starch in a potato will absorb moisture when the starch cells are broken by heat, and unless roasted or baked potatoes are cracked as soon as cooked, and the steam allowed to escape, they will become sodden, dark colored, and rank in flavor. After being broken they can be kept for a considerable length of time, without much deterioration.
Baked Potatoes.—Potatoes can be baked by placing them in the oven of a stove or range, either in a pan or on the grate. To bake a potato just right, it should be washed clean, wiped dry, put in an oven at a moderate temperature, and subjected to a gradually increasing heat until the skin assumes a light brown color, and becomes firm. The white flesh inside will then be well cooked and mealy, and will possess the exquisite aroma and delicious flavor of a perfectly roasted potato. If the oven is at the proper temperature, potatoes will bake in from forty to sixty minutes, according to size, and like those roasted under the ashes, should, as soon as done, be removed and broken.
If the flesh is scooped out of partly baked potatoes, mashed, mixed with sausage meat, seasoned, replaced in the scooped-out shells, and re-baked, they are called German potatoes;if it is mixed with grated cheese, bread crumbs and other ingredients, and similarly treated, they are called stuffed potatoes.
Potatoes are nice when pared and baked with fowl or meat of any kind. Wash, pare, parboil, and place them in the pan containing the fowl, or meat. Turn over when partly cooked, that they may brown evenly. They can be baked in drippings, without meat, and also without being parboiled.
Kentucky potatoes are potatoes pared, sliced, put in layers in a baking dish, moistened with milk, seasoned with salt, pepper, etc., and baked in a quick oven. If they are moistened with broth or other liquid, and the seasoning varied somewhat, each variation will produce a slightly different dish, and each can, without impropriety, be named after one of the different States of the Union.
Boiled Potatoes.—Very few people know how to boil a potato so it will be dry, mealy and fine flavored. To prepare potatoes for boiling unpared, or in their jackets, wash well in lukewarm water with a brush, and rinse in cold water. To prepare for boiling without their jackets, wash, pare, remove all the eyes and dark spots, and soak well in cold water. To boil either pared or unpared, put the potatoes, when prepared, in a liberal allowance of slightly salted boiling water, let them boil gently until tender enough to be easily pierced with a fork, then drain, cover with a folded towel, and set back on the range, or near the fire, to dry off. If treated in this manner, they will, when served, be tender and mealy—perfect powdery snow balls in appearance—and will be apt to tempt even the most fastidious.
Scooped potatoes are made by scooping balls of the required size from pared potatoes, with a vegetable scoop, boiling them, and serving with a sauce or gravy of some kind. Old potatoes treated in this manner are quite frequently mistaken for new ones, even by professed epicures.
Steamed Potatoes.—Prepare as for boiling, and cook in a steamer over a pot or kettle of boiling water. When only a few potatoes are wanted, a small sized steamer should be used, but by placing a folded towel or cloth over the potatoes to prevent the escape of steam, even two or three can be nicely cooked, without inconvenience, in almost any sized steamer. This is an excellent mode of cooking potatoes, and should be more generally adopted.
Stewed Potatoes.—Cut pared potatoes in slices about an eighth of an inch in thickness, put in salted boiling water, cook gently until moderately tender, then drain off the water, add milk, and season with salt and pepper.
Use cream and butter, instead of milk, in its preparation, and plain stewed potato is converted into potatoà la crème. A little minced parsley, if liked, can be added in either case.
Fried Potatoes.—Slice raw pared potatoes very thin, soak well in cold water, drain the slices in a colander or sieve, dry them on towels by rolling and tumbling from one towel to another, separate them, and drop into a kettle of boiling grease. As soon as they assume a light brown color, lift with a skimmer, drain on a sieve, sprinkle with salt, and serve. The browning will be facilitated if the slices, when partly cooked, are taken from the kettle, exposed to the air a few seconds, and then returned to the boiling grease. These are the famous Saratoga potatoes, or Saratoga chips.
If a crimped knife, instead of a plain one, is used for slicing the potatoes, they will, when fried, be Julienne potatoes. If, instead of being sliced, the potatoes are cut in balls with a vegetable spoon or scoop, they will, when fried, beParisiennepotatoes, etc., etc.
Potatoes cut in thin slices in long strips, in globular, angular, rhomboidal, and other irregular shapes, and fried in a kettle with a quantity of grease, are served as Saratoga, Julienne, Parisienne, and so on, while those fried in a spider or skillet in a smaller quantity of grease are served as potatoà la Français, potatoà la Provençale, potatoà la Barigoule, etc., etc. But however varied the styles and however fanciful the names under which potatoes cooked in grease are made to do duty, they are all simplyfried potatoes; and the important feature of their preparation is to have the grease in which they are to be fried—whether lard, butter, oil, or drippings—boiling hot when they are put into it, and to keep it so during the entire process of cooking. It is generally supposed that fried potatoes to be at all eatable must be served the moment they are taken from the fire; but if kept moderately warm, and at an even temperature, any of the above varieties—although not so delicious as when freshly cooked and hot—will remain in quite nice condition a considerable length of time.
Broiled Potatoes.—Parboil potatoes, cut in slices about half an inch in thickness, place in a wire gridiron, and broil over a slow fire until well browned on both sides, then season with salt and pepper, and serve hot, with a little melted butter poured over them. Cold boiled potatoes are very nice broiled in the same manner.
Mashed Potato.—Special attention should be given to the preparation of such a universally favorite dish as mashed potato. Boil or steam pared potatoes till well cooked, drain, dry off, mash till fine and free from lumps, in a warm kettle or pan, stir in a little warm milk—unless the potato is preferred dry—add a small lump of butter, season with salt and pepper, and beat until light, with a wooden spoon or potato masher. The secret of making nice mashed potato consists in mashing the potato until very smooth before, and beating it until very light after, it has been seasoned.
Cream potato is made by stirring cream into nicely mashed potato until of the desired consistency—snow potato by rubbing the potato through a colander or sieve, and allowing it to pile up in the dish in a snowy mass, and curly potato by rubbing it through a colander, letting it fall in long, white curls, in a pyramidal form, on the dish in which it is to be served, and then putting it in a hot oven till the surface is crisped.
Potato croquettes are made by enriching mashed potato with beaten egg yolk, seasoning with salt, pepper, nutmeg or other condiments, forming into little balls or rolls, dipping in egg and bread crumbs, and frying in boiling grease.
Duchesse potato is made by adding beaten egg to mashed potato, squeezing it through a pastry bag, or cutting in narrow strips two or three inches in length, and browning in the oven.
Rewarmed Potatoes.—Cold potato should never be thrown away. It should all be saved and utilized. There are numerous ways in which cold potato can be rewarmed, and in many of them it is almost as good as when first cooked. Much of the potato served up at leading hotels in fanciful styles and with foreign names, is merely rewarmed potato, and can be prepared readily and inexpensively in any private kitchen.
To stew cold potato.—Slice cold boiled potatoes, put in a stew pan with cold gravy of any kind, season with salt and pepper, stew gently for ten minutes, or until thoroughly heated, and then serve.
Dust potato, heated in this style, with bread crumbs, grated cheese, etc., and brown in the oven, and it becomes potatoau gratin.
Stir together in a sauce pan over the fire, a little butter and flour, add some milk, stew cold sliced potato in it, and the product, when seasoned with salt, pepper, lemon juice and chopped parsley, will bemaitre d’hotelpotato. Omit the seasoning from potato thus warmed, and pour caper sauce over it, and it will be transformed into potatopolonaise.
To fry cold potato.—Cut cold boiled potatoes in slices, dredge lightly with flour, and fry brown in butter, lard or drippings—or, fry without dredging—or, hash fine, season with salt and pepper and fry.
Cut cold boiled potatoes in little balls, fry, with an onion, in oil, butter, lard or drippings, and it will be potatoà la Provençale. Cut them in the shape of olives, fry in olive oil, with a spoonful of chopped herbs, and it will be potatoà la Barigoule.
Potato Hash.—Melt some butter or drippings in a spider orskillet, pour in a little sweet milk, season with salt and pepper, add cold boiled potato hashed, cover closely, and set where it will simmer slowly until the potato is thoroughly heated.
Potato and Meat Hash.—Mix well, in about equal proportions, finely minced cold meat of any kind, and cold potato, moisten with milk, gravy, or soup stock, season with salt and pepper, make into a roll, or shape into cakes, put in a greased pan and bake in the oven.
Potato Fish Balls.—Mix two parts of mashed potato with one part of finely picked up fish of any kind, season to taste, form into balls or cakes, and fry brown. The grease in which fish balls are to be fried should be boiling hot before they are put into it. Freshly cooked potato is considered best for making fish balls, but cold answers very nicely.
Potato Soup.—Mix together over the fire an ounce each of butter and flour until the mixture begins to bubble, then add gradually a quart of boiling milk, season with salt and pepper, and stir in half a pint of mashed potato that has been rubbed through a sieve. The quantity of potato can be varied to suit the taste, and, if liked, a little minced may be added. This is sometimes called potatopurée, and sometimespotage Parmentier—after the man who introduced the potato into France.
Potato Cakes.—Mash cold potato to a smooth paste with a little milk, season to taste, form into cakes half an inch in thickness, and either fry or bake.
Potato Biscuit.—Add a cup of milk to a quart of mashed potato, stir in sufficient flour to make it the proper consistency, mold into biscuit half an inch thick, and bake on a griddle or floured pan.
Potato Soufflé.—Put a quart of mashed potato in a saucepan over the fire, add an ounce of butter, season to taste, pour in gradually half a pint of milk, stir till the mixture begins to thicken, then turn into a baking dish, smooth the surface with a knife, put in a quick oven and brown lightly.
Potato Pie.—Cover the bottom of a baking dish with cold roast meat of any kind cut in small pieces, add a layer of cold sliced potatoes, then meat and potatoes in alternate layers till the dish is full. Add a little gravy or soup stock, or a lump of butter, season with salt and pepper, cover with a crust and bake.
Potato Fritters.—To a pint of milk add the yolks of three eggs, half a dozen medium sized cold, boiled potatoes grated, or finely mashed, and flour enough to make a batter the proper consistency for ordinary fritters—add the beaten whites of the eggs, and a little salt, and fry in boiling lard.
Potato Puffs.—To two cups cold mashed potatoes add two tablespoonfuls of butter, two beaten eggs, a cup of milk, and a little salt. Stir well together, pour into a baking dish, and bake in a quick oven.
With a lively imagination, a liberal supply of potatoes, and a few other ingredients, one can go on and multiply almost indefinitely the different styles in which potatoes can be prepared for the table; but through all the variations the seven cardinal methods of cooking them remain unchanged, and cover and include all the styles of serving, whether designated by plain unassuming names or dignified with pretentious, aristocratic titles.
SELECTED BY THE REV. J. H. VINCENT, D.D.
The Strange Bargain.—In a well known city there lived two merchants—one of them a skillful arithmetician, and generally an able man; the other, inexperienced in figures, and by no means a match for the former in talent. They made the following bargain: The first sold a horse to the second; but instead of fixing a definite sum of money as the price, they agreed that it should be regulated by the thirty-two nails with which the four shoes were fastened to the animal’s hoofs, and should be paid in millet, one grain being given for the first nail, two for the second, four for the third, eight for the fourth, and so on; that is, doubling the number at every nail. The buyer was at first delighted at purchasing a fine charger for what he fancied a very moderate price; but, when the account came to be settled, he found that the quantity of grain which, by the terms of the agreement, he was required to pay, was enormous. In fact, he would have been reduced to beggary, if some sensible friends had not interposed and procured a dissolution of the bargain. Gotthold, who heard the story, observed: “Well does it exemplify the wiles of Satan. By promising merry hours and temporal gain, he persuades and seduces man at first into what he calls venial faults, and labors to keep them in these until they have grown into a habit. Afterwards he advances by geometrical progression. Sin grows from sin, and one transgression follows another, the new being always the double of the old; and so the increase proceeds, until at last the base pleasure which has been bought, can be paid for only with that which is above all price, namely, the immortal soul; unless, indeed, God mercifully interpose in time with his holy spirit, opening the sinner’s eyes, convincing him of the deception, and inducing him to revoke the bargain, and implore help and deliverance from his Savior, Jesus Christ. It is therefore best to keep one’s self aloof in every way from Satan and his concerns, and to regard no sin as venial and small. How can it be that, when it is committed in opposition to the holy will of the Most High God?”
My God! teach me to reckon every sin great, so long as I live; but oh, let me look upon the very greatest sins as little, when I die!
The Lock.—A lock was shown to Gotthold, constructed of rings, which were severally inscribed with certain letters, and could be turned round until the letters represented the name Jesus. It was only when the rings were disposed in this manner that the lock could be opened. The invention pleased him beyond measure, and he exclaimed: Oh that I could put such a lock as this upon my heart! Our hearts are already locked, no doubt, but generally with a lock of quite another kind. Many need only to hear the wordsGain,Honor,Pleasure,Riches,Revenge, and their heart opens in a moment, whereas, to the Savior and to his holy name it continues shut. Lord Jesus, engrave thou thy name with thine own finger upon my heart, that it may remain closed to worldly joy and to worldly pleasure, self-interest, fading honor and low revenge, and open only to thee!
The Fruitful Tree.—Passing a garden, Gotthold observed a pear tree whose branches were bending to the ground, as if they would break with the weight of the fruit. On asking a friend, who was with him, “What do you think it is which this tree needs?” he was answered: “A prop or two to support the overloaded boughs.” “No,” rejoined Gotthold, “but hands to pluck, and baskets to contain the fruit. It presents to us a beautiful emblem of the Lord Jesus, our beloved Savior. He needs me, and I him; and so we suit each other, nor think it strange when I say that the Lord Jesus needs me, I mean that he needs me as this tree does baskets, or as the widow’s cruse, which God had blessed, needed empty vessels to contain the oil.… Love constrains the Lord to seek me, as my wants do me to seek him. He possesses all things—heaven, earth, and all which they contain; but these he does not need. What he needs is souls and hearts to replenish with his grace and spirit, and bless with his salvation. O mighty love, tender compassion, and mercy of our Savior! He, who needsnothing else, can not do without sinful and wretched man.”
The Child at Play.—A little boy was running about in an apartment, amusing himself as children are accustomed to do. His money was potsherds, his house bits of wood, his horse a stick, and his child a doll. In the same apartment sat his father, at a table, occupied with important matters of business, which he noted and arranged for the future benefit of his young companion. The child frequently ran to him, asked many foolish questions, and begged one thing after another as necessary for his diversion. The father answered briefly, did not intermit his work, but all the time kept a watchful eye over the child to save him from any serious fall or injury. Gotthold was a spectator of the scene, and thought with himself: “How beautiful an adumbration of the fatherly care of God! We, too, who are old children, course about in the world, and often play at games which are much more foolish than those of our little ones; we collect and scatter, build and demolish, plant and pluck up, ride and drive, eat and drink, sing and play, and fancy that we are performing great exploits, well worthy of God’s special attention. Meanwhile, however, the Omniscient is sitting by, and writing our days in his book. He orders and executes all that is to befall us, overruling it for our best interests in time and in eternity; and yet his eye never ceases to watch over us, and the childish sports in which we are engaged, that we may meet with no deadly mischief.”
“My God! such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high, and I can not attain unto it; but I shall thank and praise thee for it. O, my Father! withhold not from me thy care and inspection, and, above all, at those times when, perhaps, like this little one, I am playing the fool!”—From Gotthold’s “Emblems.”
Thus all history is swallowed up in boundless sorrow and remorse for that he is still laden with his boundless infirmity. But he hath delight and joy in that he seeth that the goodness of God is as great as his necessities, so that his life may well be called a dying life, by reason of such his griefs and joys, which are conformable and like unto the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, which from beginning to end was always made up of mingled grief and joy. Grief in that he left his heavenly throne and came down into this world; joy in that he was not severed from the glory and honor of the Father. Grief in that he was the son of man; joy in that he nevertheless was and remained the Son of God. Grief, because he took upon him the form of a servant; joy in that he was nevertheless a great Lord. Grief, because in human nature he was mortal, and died upon the cross; joy, because he was immortal, according to his godhead. Grief in his birth, in that he was once born of his mother; joy, in that he is the only begotten of God’s heart from everlasting to everlasting. Grief, because he became in time subject to time; joy, because he was eternal before all time, and shall be so forever. Grief, in that the word was born into the flesh, and hath dwelt in us; joy, in that the word was in the beginning with God, and God himself was the word. Grief, in that it behooved him to be baptized, like any human sinner, by St. John the Baptist, in the Jordan; joy, in that the voice of his heavenly Father said of him: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Grief, in that, like others, sinners, he was tempted of the enemy; joy, in that the angels came and ministered unto him. Grief, in that he ofttimes endured hunger and thirst; joy, because he is himself the food of men and angels. Grief, in that he was often wearied with his labors; joy, because he is the rest of all loving hearts and blessed spirits. Grief, forasmuch as his holy life and sufferings should remain in vain for so many human beings; joy, because he should thereby save his friends. Grief, in that he must needs ask to drink water of the heathen woman at the well; joy, in that he gave to that same woman to drink of living water, so that she should never thirst again. Grief, in that he was wont to sail in ships over the sea; joy, because he was wont to walk dry shod upon the waves. Grief, in that he wept with Martha and Mary, over Lazarus; joy, in that he raised their brother Lazarus from the dead. Grief, in that he was nailed to the cross with nails; joy, in that he promised paradise to the thief by his side. Grief, in that he thirsted when hanging on the cross; joy, in that he should thereby redeem his elect from eternal thirst. Grief, when he said, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me;” joy, in that he would, with these words, comfort all sad hearts. Grief, in that his soul was parted from his body, and he died and was buried; joy, because on the third day he rose again from the dead, with a glorified body.
Thus was all his life, from the manger to the cross, a mingled web of grief and joy. Which life he hath left as a sacred testament to his followers in this present time, who are converted unto his dying life, that they may remember him when they drink of his cup, and walk as he hath walked! May God help us so to do! Amen.—From Tauler.
I count it the most grievous offense which the honor of Christianity has to sustain, that some of its ostentatious disciples confine their piety to the Sabbath and its ordinances, and banish God from the week-day employment of ordinary business. Whence that disgusting censoriousness which spreads the tincture of gall over so many a religious conversation? Whence that low tone of honesty and truth, which … is so often found to accompany the uniform appearance, and I believe, too, the occasional reality, of zeal in matters of religion? Whence, in fact, that separation of religious from social duty we so often meet with, not merely in their conception, but in their example and practice?… Alas! against them, too, we can prefer the charge of not “doing all things,” and we can substantiate it. With the mark of godliness upon their forehead, their conduct for the great majority of their time says: “We will not have God to rule over us.” He is only their occasional God. The easy offering of their prayers in the family, or of their attendance in the church and at the table, is ever in readiness. But the living sacrifice of the whole body, soul, and spirit, is withheld from him. He is deposed from his right and sovereignty over every minute of their existence; and instead of his law reaching to all their concerns, and bringing the whole man under its obedience, we see that in the vast majority of their doings they cast him off, and are as much the slaves of their own temper, and inclination, and interest, as if God had not a will for them at all times to obey, and as if Christ had never set an example before them to study and to imitate.
Hold, ye hypocrites! who talk of this as the season that is given to the love of Christ and to the memorial of his atonement! Did not Christ order away a disciple from his altar?—and upon what errand? Upon what you, it seems, would call the very worldly and unsuitable employment of making up a quarrel with a neighbor? Did not Christ say, “If ye love me, keep my commandments?” And yet the minister who expounds these commandments, and presses their observance upon you, is looked upon as preaching another gospel than what Christ left behind him. Oh! when will men cease to put asunder what God hath joined; and taking their lesson from the Bible, as little children, submit to it without a murmur, in all its parts, and in all its varieties!
But let the minister of God be gentle with all men, and humble under the feeling of his own infirmities. Let him, however zealous for the truth as it is in Jesus, learn that there is nothing in the purity of his own practice to justify a tone of indignant superiority to others. It is easy to see and to approve that which is excellent; but how shall we compass the doing of it? It is easy to expatiate on the frailties and the delusions of men; but how shall he manage for himself, when told by his own melancholy experience that he shares in them?It is easy to acknowledge the right and the sovereignty of God in all things, and to press his earnest assurances upon you, that you are wrong, if you suffer not the word of exhortation urging you to the daily walk and duties of the Christian; but to what refuge can he fly, when he finds that he is himself a defaulter, and that after having warmed his heart at the inconsistency of others, and penned his sentences against it, he mingles in the business of his work and his family, and forgetting that the eye of his God follows him there, falls a helpless victim to the imbecilities of our ruined nature?—From Dr. Chalmers.
The Christian minister needs often to be reminded of this great end of his office, the perfection of the human character. He is too apt to rest in low attainments himself, and to be satisfied with low attainments in others. He ought never to forget the great distinction and glory of the gospel—that it is designed to perfect human nature. All the precepts of this divine system are marked by a sublime character. It demands that our piety be fervent, our benevolence unbounded, and our thirst for righteousness strong and insatiable. It enjoins a virtue which does not stop at what is positively prescribed, but which is prodigal of service to God and to mankind. The gospel enjoins inflexible integrity, fearless sincerity, fortitude which despises pain and tramples pleasure under foot in the pursuit of duty, and an independence of spirit which no scorn can deter and no example seduce from asserting truth and adhering to the cause which conscience approves. With this spirit of martyrs, this hardness and intrepidity of soldiers of the cross, the gospel calls us to unite the mildest and weakest virtues; a sympathy which melts over others’ woes; a disinterestedness which finds pleasure in toil, and labors for others’ good; a humility which loves to bless unseen, and forgets itself in the performance of the noblest deeds. To this perfection of social duty, the gospel commands us to join a piety which refers every event to the providence of God, and every action to his will; a love which counts no service hard, and a penitence which esteems no judgment severe; a gratitude which offers praise even in adversity; a holy trust unbroken by protracted suffering, and a hope triumphant over death. In one word, it enjoins that, living and confiding in Jesus Christ, we make his spotless character, his heavenly life, the model of our own. Such is the sublimity of character which the gospel demands, and such the end to which our preaching should ever be directed.
… We need to feel more deeply that we are entrusted with a religion which is designed to ennoble human nature; which recognizes in man the capacities of all that is great, good and excellent, and which offers every encouragement and aid to the pursuit of perfection. The Christian minister should often recollect that man, through prepense to evil, has yet power and faculties which may be exalted and refined to angelic glory; that he is called by the gospel to prepare for the community of angels; that he is formed for unlimited progress in intellectual and moral excellence and felicity. He should often recollect that in Jesus Christ our nature has been intimately united with the divine, and that in Jesus it is already enthroned in heaven. Familiarized to these generous conceptions, the Christian preacher, whilst he faithfully unfolds to men their guilt and danger, should also unfold their capacities for greatness; should reveal the splendor of that destiny to which they are called by Christ; should labor to awaken within them aspirations after a nobler character and a higher existence, and to inflame them with the love of all the graces and virtues with which Jesus came to enrich and adorn the human soul. In this way he will prove that he understands the true and great design of the gospel and the ministry—which is nothing less than the perfection of the human character.—From Channing.