Just so. Who was I? That's the question. Perhaps, friendly reader, if I take you into my confidence, you will help me to see the matter in a clearer light, for I am just now in much obscurity.
"I was not myself" at the time. My friends said so, and I said so. It was my—and their—only apology and excuse.
"Mr. Jones is prudent and clear-headed and never would have done it if he had been himself." Every one assented to this, and I accepted the declaration as true.
But how came it that I was not myself?
Had I been to a "circle" or "seance"? No; for I have no fancy for the sound of footfalls on the boundaries of another world. My business for the present is with embodied, and not with a vagrant crew of disembodied spirits. Was I suffering from temporary insanity? No one, so far as I know, ever hinted such a thing.
Let me tell you the whole story. I think it will interest you.
I am, or was, a merchant. For many years my business, under prudent management, had grown steadily, until the house over which I presided was known as one of the most prominent in the city. There are two pivots in every mercantile business on which success or failure rests—buying and selling. If the buyer of an establishment thoroughly understands his role, and the salesmen theirs, success, in ordinary circumstances, is almost sure; but if either be seriously at fault, ruin is quite as certain.
I was, and always had been the buyer in our house. To this part of the business I gave careful and systematic attention, keeping myself posted in regard to stocks of leading goods in market, and the prospect of advancing or receding rates. To-day I would buy freely, when others hesitated, because I was better informed, or had, from long observation and experience, a kind of intuition as to the future prices; but to-morrow found me cautious on a different line of goods, and I touched them lightly while others bought heavily. The result nearly always proved my skill or prescience.
There was no guess-work in all this. I was educated to it; and when I went to auction, or examined the importer's samples, I knew to a fraction what the article offered for sale was worth in the market—whether stocks in first hands were large or small, and how much it would be prudent to buy.
During a period of ten years, in which scarcely a day passed that I did not go to auction or visit the sample-room or store of some manufacturer, commission merchant or importer, no serious mistake in buying was made. In consequence, we were never caught with a large stock of anything on a falling market, but often got single advantages when prices went up.
But something came over me about three years ago, and every now and then I would make a slight mistake that annoyed me exceedingly, for I had grown proud of my skill and reputation as a buyer.
The first time this occurred, the mistake was so palpable that I made no attempt to excuse it. The case of goods I bought fell six cents a yard on the very next day. Every clerk in the store knew there would be a fall, and so did I. And yet, when the case was put up, I bid it off in my usual confident tone—the error flashing on me when it was too late for repair.
"I don't understand this," I said to myself, greatly annoyed by the incident. "What could have possessed me? The blunder has no excuse."
And yet, strange to say, within a month I committed a worse blunder. Now, if I had fallen into habits of intemperance, the thing would have been plain. But this was not the case. I am temperate in all things, in eating as in drinking. I don't mean that I am what is called a teetotaler for I consider myself a rational being, and so put myself under the government of reason, and not in bonds. I take a glass of wine, or ale, or brandy whenever I think I need it, and expect to continue doing so until I find that it does me harm, which is not yet. I can stop whenever I please.
Well, as I was saying, within a month I committed a worse blunder; stocking our shelves with a line of goods that fell twenty per cent, I was annoyed, bewildered, confounded.
"What has come over me? Am I losing my senses?" So I talked to myself. "There is n't a buyer of six months' experience that wouldn't have known better."
I put as good a face on the matter as possible, and resolved never to be "caught napping again." Naturally, I was sensitive about the mistakes committed, and the remotest allusion to them annoyed me.
One of my partners, whose faith in my judgment, these lapses had disturbed, ventured now and then a word of caution, especially when I was about going to some large sale. I was never able to repress my irritation at this; and we had sharp words now and then, in consequence.
A great sale of goods, in our line, had been advertised in New York; the invoices covering, in the aggregate, nearly a quarter of a million dollars.
"Buy cautiously," said the partner whose faith in my judgment had been impaired.
"Hadn't you better go yourself?" I answered testily.
He looked at me with troubled eyes but made no response.
I went over to New York in the evening train, in company with several merchants on the same errand with myself. They talked up the matter of stocks of goods, the effect this heavy sale would have on prices, and the probable future of the market. Opinions differed. Some held that prices would advance, and some that they would recede. I listened and said but little, as was my habit; but carefully weighed all the pros and cons, and considering all the reasons urged on both sides.
When I reached New York, my mind was made up to buy with great caution. It was barely possible that one or two leading capitalists in the trade might purchase heavily on speculation, and hold for an advance; in that case, other buyers would make a good thing of it. But if the large stock went into several hands, each taking pretty freely, some, more eager to sell than the rest, might press the market, and cause a serious decline in prices.
I saw this clearly, and resolved to purchase only to the extent of supplying our immediate wants. But during the evening this purpose was disturbed, and a different view adopted.
"Come to my room," said a well-known merchant who had been with me in the cars. It was after supper. "Two or three friends are to drop in for a talk over a bottle of wine about to-morrow's sale."
I went with him to his room. In a short time two merchants from my own city, and one resident in New York, joined us. Wine and cigars were ordered, and we spent two or three hours together, drinking, smoking and talking about the sale. I have never been able to recall the data and reasonings by which I passed to the conclusion that my role on the next day was to be that of a heavy, instead of a light buyer; but when I went to bed that night, such was my fixed purpose. I lay awake for a long time, pleasing my fancy with golden results that were sure to come from to-morrow's business. I counted the profits of our houses tens of thousands of dollars. Thought ran riot over the gains I would not fail to secure.
In thinking back to this night, I have always felt that I was not my real self—that in some way, the perception of reasoning of another mind was superinduced upon my own—that my experience, clear judgment and prudence were lost for a period, and that my mental powers were operated by some volition foreign to my own.
I was not myself. That is certain. I was not fully myself on next morning. On rising, my head ached in a dull way, and my brain was slightly confused. It was not clear to me that I was to make the fortune of our house by bidding off at the coming sale to the amount of fifty or a hundred thousand dollars. The wet blanket of doubt chilled my night's enthusiasm.
But a glass of brandy and water, followed by coffee and breakfast, cleared my head, gave life to my pulse, and tension to my nerves. I met my friend of the evening before, and we spent an hour previous to the sale in talking up the business of the day, and then, after emptying a bottle or two of wine, repaired to the auction rooms, which we found crowded with merchants from all parts of the country.
I was in a state of confidence and exhilaration—never had a clearer head, so it seemed, nor saw my way more distinctly. Terms were announced, and the sale began. Bidding was cautious at-first, and a few lots were struck down at figures so low that I remember feeling disturbed as well as surprised. But the impression faded in a moment. On the next lot, I bid at the figure last obtained. Some one advanced, and I went higher promptly. The goods were mine, no one going above me.
"Do you take the whole lot—forty cases?" asked the auctioneer.
"The whole," I answered in a confident way that caused many to turn and look at me.
The sale went on, growing more spirited as it progressed, new bidders ventured in at every successive lot. I forgot everything but my purpose to buy heavily, and make the fortune of our house. A single idea possessed me, and that was the certain great advance in the price of the goods now being sold. I was as sure of this as of my existence, and felt a kind of contempt for the timid buyers, who, with the opportunity of a hundred cases, took only five or ten.
At two o'clock, I left the heated auction rooms with flushed face and throbbing temples. As the fresh air struck upon me with its grateful coolness, I seemed to pass into a new world of thought and perception. I was myself again—my clear headed self, poised amid my own business experience and convictions.
What a shiver ran down to my heart as the fact that I had just bid over sixty thousand dollars on a single line of goods looked me darkly in the face.
"Impossible!" I exclaimed, standing still, and catching my breath, for I seemed, for the instant, as if in a vacuum.279"Impossible! That would be ruin!"
And it was ruin! On the day after the sale, the goods that I had bought for a rise, fell twenty per cent., and steadily declined day after day, until they were fifty per cent. below the figures I had paid.
Stunned and bewildered by the peril in which my blind recklessness had plunged our house, we failed to do the only wise thing, that was to sell at once, and accept the inevitable loss of twelve thousand dollars. But none of us had the courage to look that disaster fairly in the face.
"The market will surely rally," we said. But it did not rally. We struggled with our fate, resorting to all kinds of expedients to keep our ship afloat—plunging, buffeting; gasping amid the waves, until in storm and darkness the goodly vessel was stranded.
We saved little from the wreck. My partners gathered what to them remained, and started on a new business venture, leaving me out.
Yes, I was left out—out in the cold, where I have been shivering ever since.
I was not myself when I bid so blindly. That my partners said—our business friends, who pitied us, said—and that I said emphatically.
But, if not myself, who was I? You see, reader, I am back to where I started. Ever since the memorable day when I went to that auction room, and acted the blind, over-confident, reckless speculator, instead of the cool, experienced, cautious business man that I am and was, I have puzzled my brain over this question. Can evil spirits, who love to do us harm, get, through some strange process unknown to us, a temporary possession of our mental machinery, and drive it to our hurt or ruin? I have thought so sometimes. What happened to me, I have seen happen to others at various times in my life. One of the shrewd est and most wary buyers I ever knew, lost, suddenly, as I did, on a single occasion, his clearness of judgment, and involved his house in a heavy loss. "I don't know what came over me," he said, when I asked him about it. "Somehow, I was not myself on that day." He looked puzzled and worried when he said this.
A thought comes flashing across the darkness of my mind as I write, and startles me! Can it bring the solution? Let me ponder. My brain did not have its normal steadiness and coolness on that night at the hotel, when we discussed the coming sale. Why! Was it the fatigue of riding in the cars? No! I was used to that, and not fatigued. The supper? Of course not. The wine?
I have walked the floor, since writing the last sentence, in much agitation, and now sit down in a calmer state and with a clearer brain. I am afraid it was the wine! My judgment was clear when I went, on the night before the sale, to the room of my business friend, and clouded when I left it, and yet it seemed clear. That is strange. It was an erroneous judgment, and false in the light of my own true intelligence, and yet it looked fair to me that night. Perception was inverted. How? Why? I was not my own self.
On the next morning, this false judgment was in a wavering state. The convictions of the night previous were not so clear. I had disturbed doubts and troublesome questionings. I was by no means so confident that an advance in the market was to follow this large sale. What dispersed these doubts? What restored my confidence? Was it the nerve quieting brandy before, and the exhilarating wine after breakfast? Did they give back that abnormal state of the brain, the result of unnatural stimulus, through which I became, as it were, another, and not myself—acting the part of a blind and foolish speculator, instead of the wise and prudent merchant that in my real self I was?
How is it? I am startled and shocked at such a view of the case. Strange, that this old saying should just now intrude itself—"When the wine is in, the wit is out!" There is no gainsaying that. And I, too, am out—out in the cold, and all for what? a glass or two of brandy, and a bottle of wine?
You have the whole story, reader. Do you think it was the wine? —Sel.
The Wine Cup.
NEVER taste it again, tho' the crimson and gold
In the cream on the wine cup with charm never told
May dazzle the eye with the promise of bliss;
'Tis a cheat, 'tis a demon; in mockery 'twill hiss
And sting like a serpent, and poison all good,
E'en the hope of young manhood, who nobly has stood
In the battle of life and the battles of war
Victorious in strife, decked with laurels all o'er—
The pride of his home, the pride of the race;
Ambitious of honors, ambitious of place;
No fears for the future, no clouds overcast,
So sure in safe harbor to anchor at last.
If he turn to the wine cup, tho' never so bright
May sparkle the foam in the red liquid light,
Yet lurking within is the vampire of hate,
Stinging deep with regret, yet whispering too late—
Too late to retrieve the dark deeds of sin,
Yet deeper, still deeper, on the poor soul within
Are forging the chains that rankle and burn
To make the poor victim a thing he would spurn,
Till he finds, ah! too late, in fetters, in chains,
Handcuffed and manacled, powerless to claim
The right to his manhood, the right to his will,
While this demon, the wine cup, is crying, "Fill! fill!"
Oh! taste not again, while the thousands and more
Creep slowly along to that dark, silent shore
Where kindly, oh! kindly concealed from our sight,
The scars burned so deep in the soul with this blight,
The blight of the wine cup, all sweet tho' it be,
From the bitterest dregs it can never be free.
Then turn from the sparkle and turn from the bowl,
And over your manhood and over your soul
Let the angel of reason, the angel of good,
Stand guard at your life gate, as surely they would
If hopeful and trustful you turn e're too late
And slay in your manhood this vampire of hate.
Then arise in your strength and bury from sight
This demon of wrong—America's blight.
—Sel.
Be Social at Home.
LET parents talk much and talk well at home. A father who is habitually silent in his own house may be in many respects a wise man, but he is not wise in his silence. We sometimes see parents, who are the life of every company they enter, dull, silent, uninteresting, at home among their children. If they have not mental activity and mental stores sufficient for both, let them first provide for their own household. It is better to instruct children and make them happy at home than it is to charm strangers or amuse friends. A silent house is a dull place for young people—a place from which they will escape if they can. They will talk of things as being "shut up" there; and the youth who does not love home is in danger. —Sel.
Food as Related to Health.
ALL living beings use food in order to supply the waste constantly occasioned by disintegration; and, generally speaking, the higher the grade of animal life, the finer and better the character of the foods required to sustain that life. As man is the highest of all, he, according to nature, requires the best and purest productions of the earth to supply the waste constantly occurring in his ever-changing body.
The question then arises, What is food for man? Understanding the fact that a constant change is taking place, the question naturally suggests the answer. As a matter of course, it would follow that the proper food for man consists in those things which the functions of the body, in a normal state, can transform into the tissues of the same. Here may be discerned the first law of nature, "self-preservation."
Our other relations to the external world being in a normal state, what would be the effect discernible to our senses, of any departure from nature in relation to food? A sense of uneasiness among the functions or machinery of the body—if the body may be called a machine—and a return to nature's laws would remove the uneasiness.
What then, among the many productions of the earth, can be used as food when taken in proper quantities and homogeneous combinations? My reply would be, The grains, fruits, and vegetables, as these are the best in a normal state to supply the waste tissue. One of the best evidences of the truth of this statement, to my mind, is the fact that they are readily recognized by the senses as something pleasing to them when they approximate anywhere near perfection, and "vice verse." Another fact is, that the non-appropriable portion of them does not counteract the substantial benefit to the system of those portions that are appropriated; but, on the other hand, they aid in preparing and placing that which is required. Therefore, anything containing non-appropriable matter which, when taken into the system, commences, so to speak, a warfare against the vital functions, can safely be counted out as not the best for the human structure; for, to preserve the body in the best possible health, there must be perfect harmony in the working machinery.
Food has much to do with health, and should not be looked upon as a secondary item; it is the substance convertible into power to build up the waste places, and to tear down that which is not needed, thus keeping the body in repair.—Sel.
SECULAR NEWS.
—In New South Wales, last year, 4,000,000 sheep were lost from the effects of dry weather.
—Behm and Wagner's tables, just published, give the total population of the globe as 1,459,145,300.
—There are forest fires on the shores of Lake Superior, extending 160 miles. The fires started near Duluth.
—The cost of running the city government of San Francisco for the fiscal years of 1877-78 amounted to $4,121,381.86.
—It is estimated that Delaware's peach export for the season will amount to 700,000 baskets, netting the shippers $575,000.
—In Cincinnati it is said 20,000 kerosene lamps have been sold within the last three months, and 4,000 gas meters taken out.
—The cotton spinners of Northern France have resolved not to work by gaslight, in order to lessen the accumulation of stock.
—The New York water supply system has cost since 1842, to complete and maintain it, $34,000,000. Total revenue, $30,000,000.
—It is thought that an extensive system of smuggling between England and the United States, is carried through the Mexican Free Zone.
—According to Mr. Wilfred Lawson (in the House of Commons) 350,000 persons were taken up for drunkenness in England and Scotland last year.
—Upward of 44,391 persons were employed in English coal mines in 1877; 20,141 less than in 1876, and 1,208 died by an accident.
—Statisticians compute that 70,000,000 bushels of grain, capable of making 1,050,000,000 pounds of bread, are used in the United States every year.
—Excavations within the territory of Olympus, Greece, have produced within the last two years 587 objects in marble, 1928 in bronze, 420 in silver, 383 medals and 200 inscriptions.
—San Francisco is remarkable for its great number of suicides; one in every three thousand of its population killed himself last year. In New York, the proportion is one in 8,000, and in Philadelphia, one in 14,000.
—In 1876-7 the State of North Carolina produced 125,000 bushels of peanuts, Virginia 780,000 bushels, and Tennessee 500,000 bushels; making the sum of 3,320,000 bushels harvested within the borders of the United States in four years.
—The best of our American colleges bear no comparison in the strength of their faculties with the German universities. The university of Leipsic, for the present year, has a corps of 123 professors, 46 tutors and 58 assistants. This university has 2,800 students.
—An exchange says: "By the law of France, a man who has twice been convicted of open drunkenness loses his right to vote, to hold office, or to sit on a jury. A similar law operating here it is to be feared would reduce the poll-list, thin out the officeholders, and raise the standard of the average jury."
—The number of vessels belonging to, or bound to or from ports in the United States, reported totally lost and missing during the past month is 24, of which 2 were ships, 10 barks, 2 brigs and 10 schooners, and their total value, exclusive of cargoes, is estimated at $420,000. The list shows 10 wrecked, 6 abandoned, 2 sunk by collision, 4 foundered, 1 burned and 1 missing.
—A terrific storm, extending from Canada to West Virginia, and bordering the Ohio and Pennsylvania line for several miles on either side, raged about three days, reaching its hight on the 13th instant. Great damage by wind and flood is reported at Toronto, Cleveland, Erie, Meadville, Pittsburg, Wheeling and various other points within the scope of its influence. Railroad tracks and bridges were demolished, shipping destroyed, cities and villages flooded, houses washed away and blown down, and a number of lives lost.
—During the month of August the Central Pacific railroad transported 2,437 through passengers bound east, and 2,845 bound west, making a total of 5,282, and a net gain to the coast of 408. The movement by sea was 501 arrivals and 1,411 departures, making a total of 1,912. The net loss by both routes was 202. Since January 1st, 23,929 passengers have arrived by rail and 17,288 departed, against 32,374 arrivals and 18,565 departures for the same time in 1877, the decrease in arrivals this year being 8,445 and in departures 1,277. For the same eight months this year the arrivals by sea were 9,605 and the departures were 7,529, while for the same period in 1877 the arrivals numbered 14,561 and the departures 8,873, showing a decrease this year of 4,956 in arrivals and 1,344 in departures. The arrivals and departures by rail and sea may be summarized as follows:—
Eight months— Arr'id. Dep'd. Gain.
By rail..........23,920 17,288 6,641
By sea........... 9,605 7,529 2,076
Totals..........33,525 24,817 8,717
Same time in 1877 46,935 27,438 19,497
Decrease........13,410 2,621 10,780
Be Accurate.
ACCURACY should be considered a cardinal virtue; it necessarily involves being specific. Many a patient has been pushed back to the grave from which he was escaping by the indefinite advice of the physician.
A patient might live so light as to starve himself to death. Carefulness in diet would be interpreted as variously as the judgment of the individuals.
A "little" piece of copperas dissolved in a "little" water is an excellent thing to heal up a sore, yet a piece of copperas as large as a bean, dissolved in a teaspoonful of water, and applied to a sore, would burn it like fire, deep into the flesh, and make a man fairly yell with pain, if applied to some parts of the body. Every child should be early educated to habits of accuracy of statement; to leave a margin, a liberal margin, instead of outrageous exaggerations. Let all statements be within the truth. If you called to see a friend three or four times, don't call it a dozen. If you rode fifteen miles into the country don't call it twenty, but say "at least a dozen." Learn to reduce all your statements, as far as practicable, to facts, figures and forms. State a fact just as you saw it, without comment; if you learned it from another, say nothing positively. Give the exact numbers whenever you can, and in describing a thing put it on paper if possible. In fact, if every child was taught to draw and sketch with a free hand from the first months of going to school very great advantage and amusements could be drawn from it for life. If a love for rough sketching from nature were inculcated and encouraged and cherished it would in after years afford an infinite source of amusement, of interest, and oftentimes of profitable employment. The habit of drawing cultivates close and accurate observation; it strengthens the memory. Moreover to observe accurately and quickly is often of incalculable advantage in business matters.—Sel.
Practising Deception.
THERE is a large class of deceptions which are pleaded and extenuated, such as telling lies to children, and telling lies to sick persons. I set myself against the whole of this miserable tribe of wickedness. A lie told to a child is a monstrous thing. Your child is sick, and you bring him a portion and say, "It is good, my dear, it is good," when it is bitter as gall. You are not a liar, but a fool. The child learns after a little time not only that the medicine is not good, but that the truth is not to be regarded. You not only give the child an odious dose of medicine, but you give him a more odious dose of morals. You inoculate him with a spirit of lying from the beginning. I think we cannot be too careful to speak the truth, and above all to the children. As to the sick, I do not believe it necessary to tell them all the truth. But a doctor is not justified in lying to his patients. It is easy for him to say to the person whose case he has undertaken, "You must have confidence in me." But if he says anything, let him say the truth. It may excite the patient or it may not; but if excitability is a reason for not telling the truth, then it is a reason for silence—it is not a reason for deception. I think that such persons are oftentimes injured by being deceived. I think there is a great deal of cruelty practised toward sick people in this way. And I think it is a shame to let sick people go blindfolded down to death, and drop off without a single word, for fear that they will be injured if the truth is told them. I think if a person is going to die he has a right to know it. I do not believe in telling lies to sick folks.— Sel.
Habits of German Authors.
By J. H. Waggoner
MANY have wondered at the great amount of labor performed by German authors. The number of books produced by some of them is truly marvelous. A correspondent of the N. Y. Independent says it is all owing to their habits. The following is, in part, his description of the habits of the German literary man in regard to labor and diet:—
"The German author, moreover, owes a large degree of his productiveness to his simple diet and regular hours for sleep and rising. He rises early, and never touches any work until he has taken a cup of coffee and a biscuit. He never puts his brain and eyes into harness and under spur and whip without a little food to start with. At 10 he takes a light lunch, such as a sandwich of bread and cheese; and goes to work again, and sticks to it until about 1 o'clock. Then it is all over for that day. He has performed an immense amount of literary work. Six solid hours, and not a minute lost in painful digestion of ham and eggs, beefsteak, hot rolls, and blankety buckwheat cakes. As for hot bread, he never saw any, in all probability; for all the bread comes from the bakers, and is served cold twice a day. If by an oversight he should eat a couple of steaming soda-biscuits, it would cost him a whole day's work; for he never could bring himself to the belief that he has the capacity to digest hot bread. He would moan and smoke, and declare, in spite of the papers that the French are marching straight for Berlin. The dinner is plain but plentiful; the supper is light, with black bread as the staple. With the fiber and strength from one day's food he does the work for the next; hence digestion gives him no trouble or thought. He no more thinks of his stomach than of Barbarossa's falcons. Of course, he smokes a good deal; but even this, I have noticed, he pushes off largely into the play-hours of the afternoon."
Although this might be somewhat improved upon, it is surely a great improvement upon the habits of the average author of the United States. Here the work, instead of being done in the early day, is done largely by lamp light. And as authors in this country are notably erratic, they generally care for little, in regard to diet, except the gratification of appetite. We can say, at the least, that warm soda-biscuits, and other indigestible food, are taken as a general diet.
Of all classes, authors and other men of sedentary habits of life need a plain and nourishing diet. Those who spend much of their time in the open air and in manual exercise will have stronger powers of digestion, and could therefore much better afford to live on "fashionable" food. If ministers lived on "farmers' fare," and took sufficient exercise of a proper kind and at proper seasons, they would need no "vacations," and would have minds capable of more clearly apprehending the truths of revelation and life's responsibilities.—J. H. WAGGONER, in Health Reformer.
RELIGIOUS NEWS AND NOTES.
-In 1848, there was but one evangelical church member in all Italy. In 1872, there were 100 congregations, 10,000 communicants, and 30,000 hearers in the chapels every Sunday.
-The Russian Greek church possesses 38,602 churches, including cathedrals; 12,860 chapels and oratories; 18,887 archpriests, priests, deacons and precentors; 56,500,000 members. The sums received by the church during the year amount to about $9,000,000.
-The following is given as the exact status of the Mormon church, at Salt Lake city: There are 7 holy apostles, 7 patriarchs, 1,041 seventies, 492 high priests, 171 teachers, 654 deacons, a total lay membership of 10,122; 5,582 children, and a total membership of officers and laity, of 14,364 consisting of 4,154 families, counting harems as families.
-The Old Testament revision company, since their first meeting on the 30th of June, 1870, have sat for four hundred and sixty days, working six hours each day, and thus have revised the whole of the Old Testament for the first time, with the exception of a part of Esther, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Solomon's Song, and Daniel. They have also been a second time through the Pentateuch.
-According to latest statistics that have been gathered, there are 8,000,000 Jews in the world, who are thus divided: United States, 73,265; Great Britain and Ireland, 42,000; Italy, 25,000; France, 49,439; German Empire, 512,158; Netherlands (Holland), 68,003; Austria, 1,600,000; Russia in Europe, 2,612,179; Turkey, 150,000; Roumania, 247,424; Morocco, 340,000, Denmark, Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland and Canada have comparatively few Jews—they number there from 1,500 to 7,000—while Asia has 2,138,000. Most persons will be surprised at the statement that there are less than 73,300 Jews in this country, which is generally supposed to contain a great many more. Some reports make the number as high as 150,000, but this is probably an exaggeration. The statistics given here are said to be as trustworthy as can be had at present, though no published figures can be wholly depended on, as the Jews are scattered over the globe and in many places where such a thing as a census has never been taken. The two countries where Jews are the scarcest are Spain and Scotland.
The Sabbath.
By Editor
REV. W. E. IJAMS spoke yesterday morning, September 16, in the Green-street Congregational church, from the text, Mark 2: "The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath." The preacher said that the subject of Sunday observance was prominently before the community, by means of the action of the clergy and others in petitioning the coming Constitutional Convention to recognize Sunday in the organic law of the State. He doubted the wisdom of such action, and did not believe it was supported by public opinion. Sunday observance was good, undoubtedly, but religious liberty was also good, and he desired the experiment of religious liberty to be thoroughly tried in this country. He deprecated any distinction being made in the law against the Jews and in favor of Christians. To be sure the Christians were in the large majority, but that fact should not be taken advantage of to put the Jews down with respect to religious observances—if it were, then religious liberty became a mere name and sham. But Christians were not united altogether in observing Sunday as the Sabbath. There were the Seventh-day Baptists and the Adventists, who held with the Jews that Saturday was the only Bible-appointed and true Sabbath—and it must be confessed that their arguments could not be answered. The seventh day of the week or Saturday, was the special day originally appointed, and no record of any change of the day by divine command could be found within the sacred volume. But to him it made little difference what seventh part of the week was observed, so long as one was. It was not observing the fourth commandment to the letter to keep the Sunday as Sabbath.
The above was a part of the notice made by the San Francisco Chronicle of Mr. Ijam's sermon, which shows clearly that he is not ignorant of what the Bible teaches upon the subject of the Sabbath, and that he knows the seventh day of the week or Saturday is the "special day" and only one commanded in the Bible and yet it makes "no difference" to him which day is kept. The best comment we can give is that which the Lord gave by the prophet Ezekiel: "Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things; they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them." Ezekiel 22:26.
Health Annual for 1879.
By Editor
We have received from the publishers at Battle Creek, Mich., an advance copy of the Family Health Annual for 1879. It is handsomely printed on fine tint paper, and, as in former years, is replete with interesting and useful matter. It is now time for district officers, churches, and individuals to calculate how many they can use to advantage and send in their orders. The success of this work depends largely upon being in season.
Colorado.
By M. E. Cornell
The meetings at Boulder City closed last evening with some encouragement. There are twenty-five names on the covenant. Several more have decided to keep the Sabbath as soon as they can arrange their business affairs. Have arranged for regular meetings, and the investigation is going on briskly. We confidently look for continued fruit from this effort.
We go to Georgetown, Colorado, to-morrow, and this will be our address during the next course of lectures.
September 3. M. E. Cornell.
For Sale.
By Wm. E. Price
DESIRING to use a portion of my means in the cause of our dear Master, and believing, with Brother White that now is the time to aid in the work, I offer for sale, one farm of 180 acres, with house, two barns, (one new) and grainery; the best orchard in the county, containing a variety of the best of fruit; a good spring, and abundance of water for the stock. This place is situated in Anderson Valley, Mendocino county, California, and within one-fourth mile of a schoolhouse and postoffice. Price, including stock and farming implements, $3,500. Also one farm of 160 acres, with two houses, one good frame barn, small orchard, bearing fruit enough for one family, good spring, good range for stock, well watered, good soil for both wheat and corn; within one-half mile of school-house and postoffice. Price, with stock and farming implements, $1,500. Terms easy. For particulars apply to the undersigned, Christine, Mendocino county, Cal. WM. E. PRICE.
Brother White's Furniture.
By John Norton Loughborough
Brother White has mentioned in the Signs his desire to dispose of his property and household goods in California. I hope our brethren and sisters will do all in their power to dispose of the property, so that Brother White may be enabled to accomplish his desire of using his means to advance the cause in other new fields.
There are doubtless many articles, furniture, carpets, etc., that our people can use to advantage. We hope all these will be taken of Brother White speedily.
J. N. Loughborough.
New Books.
By Editor
We have just received a small invoice of English Apocrypha of the Old Testament, morocco and gilt. Three sizes—Small Pica, $1.50; Brevier, $1.25; Nonpareil, $1.00. Also from Battle Creek, Mich., Progressive Bible Lessons No. 1, for little ones, by Prof. G. H. Bell; price 15 cents.