Indianapolis Journal, Indianapolis, Marion County, 22 March 1885 — Page 12

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EDWIN I'. WHIPPLE. Written for tb® Indinnapolia Journal. It baa been said that every Unitarian minister Is an author. It might quite as truly be said that every other man you meet in Boston has written a book. It is a city of literary men, where authorship is in the air, where nothing seems more natural than for a man to coin his thoughts into a volume. The list of men in Boston and Cambridge who have seen their names on the title pages of books would be a very long one. A friend of mine going into the city on the morning train, the other day, was accosted by a neighbor: “So you have written a book, Mr. A . It’s a very good thing: every young man ought to do it I wrote a book once myself.” “Oh! did yon Mr. B 1 May I ask what was the title < f your work!" “It was a treatise on book keeping.” • A few well-known authors seem largely to monopolize the public attention: but the studious and thoughtful reader finds many who are as well or better worth his attention. The very qualities which make a book popular are often not those which make it beat worth reading. For instance, here is Mr. Edwm P. Whipple, who is well known to the readers of thoughtful and critical works as a scholarly and able writer, whose books are a credit to American literature. His books are not sought for eagerly at the public libraries, but for all that he has done much that is worthy of attention. His books are critical in their nature, and that necessarily keeps them from becoming popular. All who love bright and instructive essays about men and books will find in his writings what is more helpful to them than they will in those of many a more popular author. Mr. Whipple was born in Gloucester, Mass., March 8, 1819. He moved to Salem with his widowed mother at an early age, and he passed through the high school in that eity. At the age of fifteen he beeamp a clerk in a Salem bank, and even before this he had begun to write for the papers. At the age of eighteen he moved to Boston, where he entered the office of a large broker’s firm. A year or two later he became the superintendent of the news-room of the Merchant's Exchange in State street, which position he continued to occupy until the year 1860. One of the leading institutions of Boston when Whipple moved there was the Mercantile Library Association, which was one of the literary centers of the city. It possessed an excellent library, it gave courses of lectures each winter, and it did much other work for the education of the people. Whipple at once became an active member, spending much of his time in the reading offche best books. Especially he gave himself with enthusiasm to the study of English literature, from the time of Chaucer to that of Wordsworth. He beeame a member of a club of six young men belonging to the association, who met weekly for debate, and for literary improvement, and whose meetings were called “The Attic Nights.'’ At tho age of twenty-one, in 1840, Whipple gave a satirical poem before the association, which was warmly received. Ho first came distinctly before the public as an autltf>r in an essay on Macauley, published in the Boston Miscellany for February, 1843. He had reached the age of twenty-four at this time, and his paper betrays a marked critical and lit erary ability. In October of the same year he appeared before the Library Association with a lecture on the “Lives of Authors.” This was followed by a yearly lecture from him in the same place, his subjects being “Novels and Novelists—Charles Dickens,” “Wit and Humor," “The Ludicrous Side of Life,” “Genius,” and other similar subjects. In 1850 be delivered before the municipal authorities, at their invitation, a lecture on “Washington, and the Principles of the Revolution." His literary tastes and his critical ability also brought him into demand for the anniversaries of the various colleges, and he gave addresses at Brown, Amherst, Dartmouth and other institutions of learning. From about 1850, ou for twenty years or more, Whipple was in frequent demand as a lyeeum lecturer. In those days it was understood that the lecture was a means of instruction. People attended the lyceura for knowledge and not merely to be amused. The days of the popular lectnre had not yet come. Whipple was a good speaker, full of literary information, with a gift of talking about books and literary men in an interesting manner, and he enjoyed qnite a popularity. He had not the reputation of Phillips, Curtis or Beeeher, but lie was one of the recognized lecturers of the day. There was something more in his lectures than mere rhetoric and eloquence; that pleases for the moment, but leaves no intellectual result behind. A keen insight ir to the facts and principles of life, a moral tone of elevated and helpful thought, and a rich and noble body of sentimeut find expression in all his lectures. Whipple’s principal work has been done as a critic. He is not a technical critic, a finder of faults, or one given to tho tearing to pieces of other men's work. Tie is a genial, appreciative and loving writer about books and literary men, with a. genuine insight into what is best in the great authors, and with a remarkable power of interpreting an author in his relations to the spirit and the genius of his age. Macaulay declared some of Whipple’s essays to be among the subtlest, and ablest, and clearest that he had ever read. Prescott said that no critic ever treated his tonics with more discrimination and acuteness. Miss Mitford found that his essays would bear comparison with any of the critical writings of England. Even the Loudon Spectator said that Whipple was “one of the most subtle, discriminating and profound of critics.” Such testimony as this is abundantly deserved, as every one will testify who has read Whipple's books with appreciation. If criticism were regarded at its true value in this country, Whipple would be much more popular than he is now. The love of merely popular writing has made it impossible for such as he to be accepted at tlieir true worth. His critical writing has been largely done in the pages of the Christian Examiner and the North American Review. For both those peiiodicals he began to write at an early age, and he continued for many years a frequent contributor to their pages. In more recent years many of his best paper? have appeared in Harper’s Magazine and the Atlantic Monthly. Quite recently his papers on Emerson and Matthew Arnold have attracted special attention. t Two volumes of his critical writings, under the title of “Essays and Reviews,” appeared in 1848. These include his early paper on Macaulay, already mentioned: a dozen essays on the American poets; an equal number on the English poets of the present century; just a dozen on the old Euglish dramatists, six on the British critics, and many papers on the English and American authors of the present century. These volumes were followed the next year by one on “Literature and Life,” which contained his lectures before the Mercantile Library Association. In 1859 he gave a course of twelve lectures before the Lowell Institute, on “The Literature of the Age of Elizabeth.” These lectures were published ten years later, and the volume is one of the best interpretations of the Elizabethan literature which has appeared from the pen of any critic. Whipple’s other published volumes consist of his “Character and Characteristic Men;” and his “Success and its Conditions,” which include many of his most popular lectures and magazine articles. They are amoug the best of American essays devoted to tho discussion of the practical problems of life. They are marked by clearness of thought, freshness of insight and a scholarly appreciation of the noblest culture. An intimate friend of Starr King, Whipple haß edited two volumes of hi# sermons and lectures, with °f his life. The six volumes of }' hippies wqjks have been published in a uniform library edited by Houghton, Mifflin & Co-. . Th *>’. constitute a body of critical frntmg which has been surpassed by no other

American author, either in amount or in quality. They are likely to retain a permanent place in American literature, find even to be held much higher in the future than they now are. In 1869 Whipple resigned his business position, and since that time he has devoted himself wholly te literary work. In 1872 he was, for one rear, the literary editor of the Boston Globe; but the greater part of his work has been done iu the magazines and reviews. He has lived for many years in Chestnut street, in the neighborhood of the State-house. It is one of the most quiet streets in Boston: but near by are Dr. Holmes, Howells and other literary men of note. In his habits and testes Whipple is distinctively a man of letters. He is a lover of books and he has a goodly collection of them in his own house. He may be seen at the Boston Antheneum in search of the best among the new pulications or hunting out Some old author for the purposes of his critical work. Going into society but little, and taking little part in the gatherings of literary men, many of the Boston authors find their way to his door and pay tribute to his critical genius. A grave, thoughtful man, with a broad forehead and a scholarly look about his .face, Whipple, in his old age, is still pursuing His literary work with his usual skill and ability. He now writes but little, but it is excellent in quality and in the antrammeled clearness of his critical opinions. Such work as Whipple’s can never become popular: but no library is fully equipped from which his books have been omitted. In the development of a literary taste, and an appreciation of the best which literature contains, his books are invaluable. The best literary culture of the past fifty years is in them; and they are worthy of the most careful and studious reading, by whoever would know what is contained in the literature of the English language. G. w. c. - Boston, Mass., March, 1883.

RATHER ROMANTIC. The Strange Story Which Forms the Basis of a Sensational Suit in Pensylvania* Pittsburg Dispatch. The papers iu a very strange case are being prepared by a well-known law firm in this city. The case is an action in ejectment, iu which the plaintiff is Jos. B. Metz and the defendant a young man by the name of Hylebrone alias Mels. The dispute between the parties is in reference to a large farm located in the northeastern part of this State. The defendant in the action has been living on the farm for the past five years and is known among his neighbors as Joseph Metz. He is at present very prosperous and intends, it is said, to contest bitterly the grounds upon which the plaintiff bases his claim to the farm. The story is a long one and adds another illustration in support of the declaration that truth is stranger than fiction. The story of the plaintiff to his lawyer is as follows: About nine years ago Joseph Metz, a prosperous and honest Teuton residing in the southern part of Germany, having met with domestic bereavements, decided to quit the land of his fathers and the scene of his misfortunes, and emigrate to that land of golden promise, America. He made preparations for leaving, and in the summer of 1875 he, with his good wife Catharine and his five sturdy boys, started for the United States. From the sale of his real estate he realized about $30,000, and with this sum he was able to buy a well-tilled farm with a comfortable dwelling thereon in the eastern part of the State, and still have a neat amount in cash besides. He lived on the farm for five years, but finally the desire to die iu his native land took such a hold on him that in 1880 he and his wife made a deed of the farm to the supposed oldest sou, the present occupant, and returned to Germany. His wife and tho four younger children accompanied him. With the remaining cash in his possession he bought a farm in the vicinity of his old home, which, at his death, which occurred about a year ago, he bequeathed to the younger members of his family. The strangest part of this narrative transpired after his return to Germany. It appeared that at the time young Metz, tho present occupant of the farm, was born, there lived in the vicinity of Metz’s place a woman by the name of Mrs. Hylebrone. She was employed at various times as nurse in Metz’s household and was pres ent at the time young Metz was born. This woman made some startling disclosures to old man Metz just before his death, which in substance were about as follows: At the time of the birth of tho child she also had an infant son, and although she was very poor she desired that her son should be raised in affluence. A3 she had the entire control of young Wroz, she one day shortly after the infant’s birth substituted her own child and took young Metz to raise. The family never discovered thip, and young Hylebrone grew up to manhood as Joseph Metz. She said that she had always regretted the act, but was afraid to tell the truth. The real Metz has always been known as her son. The scene at the father’s death bed when these faets were brought out was affecting in the extreme. The father refused at first to believe the woman’s statement and to recognize the young man as his son, but finally, by circumstantial evidence, the truth of the woman’s statement dawned upon him, and he received his newly-found son. The revelation was as unexpected to the son as it was to his lather. A few days later Mr. Metz died, and after waiting a short time in the old country, hia son came to this eity to commence proceedings against the possessor of the estate in America. He claims that he can eject the present occupant, as the deed was made to Joseph Metz, and he has the facts in his possession to prove that he is the party intended. Hylebrone was naturally very much surprised when the foregoing statement was made to him. He refused to believe it, and declares that there is a conspiracy to defraud him out of his rights. His mother is also in the city, having left Germany in company with Metz. She says that she is very sorry for what she has done, and it will be her lifework for the remainder of her existence to bring matters out right When tho case comes to trial it will probably be one of the most sensational ones ever tried in this State. Mrs. Hylebrone, the author of tho deception, is a good-looking German woman, aud appears to be about forty years of age. She says that her only desire in doing it was to benefit her child, and that she did not realize at the time the terrible wrong she was committing against the babes. The farm is worth $25,000, as it is in good condition. Metz is married but has no children. A Diet to Reduce the Flesh. Dr. Ebstein’s Book on Corpulence. Breakfast —One large cup of black tea—about half a pint—without sugar; two ounces of white bread or brown bread, toasted, with plenty of butter. Dinner —Soup, often with marrow; from four to six and one half ounces of roast or boiled meat, vegetables in moderation, leguminous preferably, and cabbages. Turnips were almost and potatoes altogether excluded. After dinner a fittle fresh fruit. For second course, a salad or stewed fruit without sugar. Immediately after dinner a large cup of black tea, without milk or sugar. Supper—A large cup of black tea, as before. An egg, a little fat roast meat, or both, or some ham with its fat; bologna sausage, smoked or dried fish, about one ounce of white bread, well buttered, occasionally a small quantity of cheese and some fresh fruit On this diet the patient lost twenty pounds in six months. __ A Cheap Filter. Take a good sized flower pot and chip out the bottom hole to such an extent that the corner of a half brick can project through it. Break up some other bricks int o fragments about the size of Spanish nuts, aud pack them into the pot until it is throe-parts full. Soak the whole in a pail of water over night, and then let it drain dry. The filter is now ready for work. Allow the water from tho supply to drip on the broken bricks, and after a few hours the water which runs from the portion of the brick projecting at the bottom will be as pure as it can well be mada Even this filter will require cleansing occasionally, but that is easily done, or anew one made, for cost is not in this instance a consideration. Those bricks known as wellburned stocks are about the best for the purpose Spoiling the Child. Jacksou Conqty, G#., Herald. It is a strange thing what parents allow their children to attend ehurch for if they don’t teach them to behave properly, it is a sad thing to see a child disturbing a congregation who want to listen to the sermon, when his parents, by a little moral suasion in the shape of a good sized sprout, properly laid on, could remedy all. Spare the rod and spoil the peace of the churchgoers.

THE INDIANAPOLIS .JOURNAL, SUNDAY, MARCH 22, 1885.

INTERNATIONAL BIBLE LESSON. f Hereafter, the Sunday Journal will contain the exposition of the Sunday-school lesson for the following Sunday.) First Quarter, Lesson XU, March 22. Paul Vindicated—Acts xxvi, 19-32. Ooi.dbn Tkxt.— Having therefor® obtained help of God, I continue unto this day.—Acts xxvi, 22. HOME READINGS. Paul’s Testimony at Damascus and Jerusalem. Acts ix, 19-30 Paul’s Preaching I Cor. i, 17-31 Universality of Redemption Rom. iii, 19-31 The Lesson Acts xxvi, 19-32 The Great Prophet Promised Deut. xviii, 15-22 The Sufferings of Christ Isa liii Christ’s Glorious Reign Psa. lxxii Characters.— There are three persona in this lesson —the Apostle, the Governor and the King. Paul, Festus and Agrippa. Their personal histories have been studied, and should be well in mind of both teachers and pupils. The Place. —The judgment hall of Cesarea. Time.—6o A. D. The Lesson. —This lesson concludes Paul’s address bdrore Agrippa, a part of which constituted the last lesson. Paul’s character was intense. He was not a man to temporize, and whatever he recognized to be his duty he instantly set about performing. He undoubtedly had seen Jesus and heard him preach in Jerusalem. He may even have witnessed some of the Lord’s miracles; but the veil was then upon his heart He had all the prejudices of his nation, and regarded the Messiah as an earthly conqueror. When he saw the Nazarene prophet he may have considered him as a well-meaning but mistaken teacher; and while lie may have been pleased with the morality of his doctrine, he utterly rejected his claim to be the promised Christ. Miracle and prophecy in vain appealed to his judgment. But the dazzling light which flashed upon him on the road to Damascus and struck him to the ground, while it blinded his mortal eyes opened the eyes of his soul. He gaw with a light not of earth. His spiritual vision was purged, and he began to understand the import of prophecy and the nature of the Messianic kingdom. He recognized the call which Jesus of Nazareth made to him, and at one entered upon bis wonderful career as minister and witness of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the midst of his address before Festus and Agrippa, the Governor interrupts Paul. To Festus this state prisoner, whom he had received from his predecessor, was an enigma, and he hoped for some light on his perplexity from this hearing before Agrippa. Hitherto he had followed Paul’s narrative in silent interest; but now his Roman stoicism was overborne, and his loud ejaculation, “Paul, thou ant mad!” showed his utter failure to comprehend a real spiritual experience. The reply was as courteous as the charge was coarse. He had once been mad (v. 11), though in a different sense, but than now was never more soberminded and self-possessed. The rude interruption did not disconcert him, nor make him unmindful of what was due to one in authority; yet he could not quietly rest under an unjust charge. W r ith the courteously direct denial to the Governor, Paul referred the question to the tribunal of wiser judgment “The Kingknoweth of these things,” which manifestly the Governor did not: and Festus retired to the background while Paul continued his discourse, alleging the publicity of the occurrences to which he had referred, and the unlikeliness of any deception about the trial, and crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus. Taking advantage of the interruption and of the silencing of Festus, Paul quickly turns to Agrippa. With startling directness he appealed to the King’s own conscience. “King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets?” You are a Jew; do you believe your own national Scriptures? And quickly the questioner answered his own query—“l know that thou believest,” leaving to the King the responsibility of denial, if he felt so disposed. The response was neither denial nor acquiescence. Whether it was sincere or sarcastic is a question with exegetes, but it is significant that the word “Christian,” occurring but three times in the New Testament, is in neither case used in a favorable sense, and was, doubtless, a sneer in the mouth of the King. The irony but awakened the flaming zeal of the Apostle. With rare tact he turned the edge of the royal taunt, and uttered his devout prayer that if it were possible, not only the King, but his courtiers might share his hope and joy. The King might scornfully characterize him as a “Christian” if he chose, as earlier the Jews spoke in eor.tempt of the “Nazarenes;” for him and all with him Paul s earnest desire was that they might know the Savior as their prisoner knew Him. Paul comes out triumphantly from his defense. He had completely vindicated himself, ana the verdict was. m the words of Aerippa to Festus, “This man might have been set at liberty if he had not appealed unto Caesar. ”

TRUTHS TO BE IMPRESSED. Obedience tests sincerity. Not “Lord, Lord,” but doing God's will indicates true discipleship. Matt vii, 21. Having found the will of God, any man who is determined to do it, regardless of the personal sacrifice involved, may depend upon divine help. No one can stand in his own strength. ‘‘Our sufficiency is of God.” “Having, therefore, obtained help of God, I continue to this day.” .“Thou art beside thyself,” whoever thou art who dost reject Christ, thy only hope. “Believest thou the prophets?” They testify of Christ His name is first and last in their testimony. “Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of Me.” The primary purpose of Paul’s address was individual Christian persuasion; incidentally, only, was'it intended for self defense. “He who would lose his life for my sake shall find it” -Lesson for Sunday, March 29. [temper AN ok lesson— Jeremiah xxxv, 12-19.) Golden Text.—Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons forever. Jer. xxxv, 0. home readings. The .Safety of the Godly Psa. exxv The Pathway of the Just. Prov. iv, 5-19 Destruction of the Wicked 2 Pet. ii, 4-17 The Ijesson Jer. xxxv, 12-19 The Virtue of good Example Kom, xiv, 10-21 The Law of the Nazarite Num. vi, 1-20 The Blessedness of Religion... Gal. v, 10-23 Characters.— The family of the Rechabites are supposed to have been descended from Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses. That they were not Israelities is certain, for we are ‘told that certain of them were “Kenites that came of Hemafch, the father of the house of Rechab.” To this house belonged Heber, whose wife was the slayer of Sisera. To the same house belonged Jehonadab or Jonadab, mentioned in our lesson. He was a contemporary of Jehu, whom he assisted in purging Israel of idolatry; and for nearly three hundred years his descendants closely followed his example, and walked in his precepts. * They were worshipers of Jehovah, and, though distinet from the Israelites, were connected with them by affinity of blood. Midian was their ancestor, and he was a son of Abraham. Through intermarriage with the Levites, to which tribe their kinsman, Moses, belonged, they were somehow connected with the temple worship, and allowed “to stand before the Lord” —though not perhaps as ministering priests. A few of the tribe took refuge in Jerusalem “for fear of the army of the Chaldiens, and for fear of the array of the Syriaus,” when Nebucadnezzar invaded Palestine- They were, at the time of our lesson, in the city. Here the prophet Jeremiah found them. The Lesson.— The ancient Israelites were a gross and unspiritual people, and little beyond children in understanding. They continually relapsed from the worship of Jehovah into the worship of idols. To reprove their stupidity, Jeremiah brought some of the Rechabite refugees into the temple inclosures. The exclusiveness of the Israelites at that time was not so great as it was afterward; and the presence of the Kenites was not, therefore, offensive. Here he tempted them with wine to drink in the presence of the priests, Levites and Judean worshipers. This was done by direction of the Lord. The Rechabites were held together by devotion to a principle, and although simple in their lives and rude in many of their habits, they bad inflexible will and purpose. Accordingly, when the prophet of Jehovah offered them wine to drink they scornfully refused, saying, “We will drink no wine, for we obey the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab iu all that he hath charged us, to drink no wine all our dars, we, our wives, our gone, nor our daughters, cor to build houses for us to dwell in; neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed; but we dwell in tents and obey and do according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.” The result of this adherence to their principle was that God favored them. “Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your

father aud kept all his precepts, and done according to all that he hath commanded you, therefore thussaith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me forever.” The Rechabites still exist Benjamin of Tudela, in the twelfth century, mentions that near El-Jubar, or Pumbenitha, he found Jews who were named Rechabites. They tilled the ground; but, like their ancestors, they kept flocks and herds, abstained from wine and flesh, and supported teachers, who devoted themselves to the study of the law. They numbered 100,000 souls. Dr. Wolff, in 1829, found near Mecca a large tribe who professed to be descended from Jonadab, 60,000 in number. They still kept the precepts of their father. In 1862, signor Pierrotti met with a tribe calling themselves by that name about two miles southeast of the Dead sea. They confirmed the story told by Wolff thirty years before, claiming to exist in fulfillment of the prophesy of Jeremiah: “Jonadab shall not want a* man to stand before me forever." TRUTHS TO BE IMPRESSED. God honors obedience to His law. “Them that honor Me will I honor." Self-restraint is one of God’s laws. “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself." “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” The body is God’s temple; it must be kept pure. Intemperance defiles it There is no security against defilement except in abstinence. “Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness m the fear of God. SHE WAS NOT MRS. LOGAN. The Heroine of a Novel and the Story of a Typographical Error. Washington Letter. The death of T. S. Arthur, a once celebrated writer of temperance novels, in Philadelphia, on Saturday last, recalls an incident in his career in which General and Mrs. Logan bore a prominent part. About five years ago Mr. Arthur published a novel, the scene of which was laid in Washington City. It pictured the downfall of a talented and brilliant young man, who had gone to the bad through his fondness for drink. The author then proceeded, with great exactness, to picture the fascinating hostess, a lady prominent in the social circles of the capital city, at whose wine-table the young man first developed his fondness for drink. He ealied this lady Mrs. Logan, and went still further in fixing her personality by describing her as the wife of a gallant Union officer. When the matter was first brought to General Logan’s attention he addressed a sharp note to Mr. Arthur, asking him how he dared to take such liberties with a lady’s name, and assuring him that his wife was a teetotaler of the most advanced type. The explanation whieh General Logan demanded was forwarded immediately upon the receipt of his letter. Mr. Arthur explained that he was a very prolific writer, and literally ground out his temperance novels bv the score. f late years he hed left even the correction of his proof to his publishers, and seldom glanced over the books after they were offered for sale. His characters were all fictitious, and he felt sure there must be some mistake, as nothing could be further from his desires than to offend either Gen. or Mrs. Logan, whom he esteemed hiehly. In a subsequent letter he explained that he had hunted up the manuscript of the story and found that the lady to whom reference was made was dubbed* “Dagou.” The name was purely imaginary. The typos, thinking the proper reading of the word was Logan, had so printed it through the entire work. It was in this way that the mistake had occurred.- Mr. Arthur offered to make any reparation within his power, but as it was too late to undo the harm, the matter was finally dropped and forgotten entirely until recalled by Mr. Arthur’s death, a few days ago.

A PLUMBER'S NOTE-BOOK. / Possible Explanation of Some Tilings Not Heretofore Fully Understood. .Pittsburg Dispatch. 9 The following is from a stray leaf from a notebook picked up on Fifth avenue a few days ago. Its general tenor would indicate that it was from a plumber’s diary: Mem. —Send two men and boy to Smith, Lincoln avenue. Rich. Third time pipes burst; get name of cook; she may be useful. Half hour’s job; must not be done in less than a day. Charge $25. Mem. —Stop in and pay Gold & Gewgaw sl,000; wife’s diamonds. Mem. —Inclose $5 to Becky Sharp, domestic at Biggins’s, Third street. Has let water pipes freeze up five times this winter; thinks she can work it once more. Have mortgage on bis house for $1,500. Mem. —Old Curmuddy, Penn avenue, lets water run through pipes all the time to keep them from freezing. Send man to make inspection and see if small boy cannot be put through the kitchen window first cold night and turn water off. Mem.—Deposited $16,000 in Merchants’ and Mechanics’ Bank. Mem. —Discharge Smith to-night; vras only one day fixing pipes at H. J. Jones’s; a good week's work. Loss fully $175. Mem. —Send man up to make estimate on job at 34 Frigid street. Have learned that occupant owns house. Job will take two men three days. Estimate, however, not less than $175. Mem. —Offered Sletterly SI,OOO for team eoaeh horses. He will take it if I hold out. Mem.—See attorney about foreclosing mortgage on Scroggs’s house. Have waited a month now. Can’t afford to lose three months’ work, whether it leaves him homeless or not. The Dangers of Banting. Philadelphia Record. Banting, the man who invented the system for reducing the flesh of tho corpulent, has a great deal to answer for. It is quite likely that a person who is too stout to be comfortable may reduce his weight by judicious exercise and abstinence from certain articles of food; but that he should undergo such a course as that known as Banting is more than any one’s health can stand. He may reduce his weight, but he injures himself at the same time. Look at Fanny Davenport! By a system of Banting she has reduced her weight fifty pounds; but, instead of enjoying the high health that was formerly hers, she has hardly the strength to continue in her profession. She barely eats enough to keep body and soul together, and, rain or shine, she walks her three or four miles a day. I thoroughly believe in walking as an exercise, hut I think that people to keep up their strength for walking should eat proper and sufficient food. No one can look at Fanny Davenport and believo that she is well. You see her eome in from the theater of an even ing, and. instead of oeing bright and ready for her midnight supper, she throws herself exhausted on a chair, and only takes sufficient nourishment to keep her from actually fainting away. For all this she has smaller arms and a slimmer waist. But it seems to me she buys them with a too heavy price. Another case in point is that of a well-known young lady of society, who felt that she was growing too fat for the prevailing fashion in figures, and undertook a course of Banting to reduce herself to sylph-like proportions. The treatment was unnatural, and she got thin faster than she anticipated. She is now in bed. Her friends hope she is recovering from an illness which was so severe that it was given out she was dying. Perhaps if she pulls through this self-inflicted illness, she will be satified to let Banting’s system alone, and, if her good health •;akes tho form of stoutness, not to interfere with the course of nature. The Don’t-Kuow Country. From To-Kairwan tho Holy. The story is told, and it is good as a story, that the French sent their officials through the country with instructions to ascertain the names of the rivers, mountains, ruins, etc. On the completion of the map, a very large proportion of the places were foupd to bear the name "Ma’arifsh.” The proportion was unnaturally • large, and it was strange that ruins and rivers and mountains should all be called “Ma’arifsh.” Yet all the explorers solemnly assured the authorities that upon addressing the natives out of their phrase book in the set sentence, “What is the nairi® of that place!” the Berber, or Zlass, or other Arabs had replied, "Ma , arifsh.’ , These mountains, and rivers, and objects of interest were, in fact, all labelled with the interesting name (in Arabic) '‘Don’t know.” “River DonVkuow, the Don't-know mountains, Oued Ma’&rifab*J>iebel Ma’arifsh.

AMONG THE MAGAZINES. Farms on the Baltic. F. D. Millet, in Harper's Monthly. A more beautiful farming country does not exist than that along the southern shore of the Baltic. No fences mark the boundaries of the fertile farms which stretch away over the rolling hills to the distant horizon, all aglow with yellow grain. At intervals a clump of trees, often seen intensely dark against the ripe grain, shows where a faini-honso stands, and giant wind mills swing their sails on the highest hill tops. The highway, a finely-built chaussee, leads straight across the country, only curving to pass through some village. Mountain ash, birch, and cherry trees border the road in an unbroken rank. In the ditches and by the roadside grow countless varieties of wild flowers—a perfect paradise for the botanist Prom the highest hill the eye meets to the south a succession of grain-fields. To the north, beyond the soft undulations of the cultivated hills, the Baltie shimmers in the strong sunlight, a narrow line, sharp at the horizon. The dimensions of the brick barns prove the accustomed magnitude of the harvest: the luxury of the farmers’ houses tells of inherited success. A Flea for Foot-Ball. Eugene L. Richards, jr., the captain of the Yale foot-bail team, has in the Outing Magazine for April an eloquent defense of the game from recent attacks. He says: “While it may be said, in illustration of the head work required in foot ball, that, before the recent match with Princeton, the line of march for the Yale team from the kick-off, with the requisite plays, was accurately traced out on paper, the Yale team, with one slight error, earned out that plan of tactics, and in three minutes and a haif they had crossed Princeton’s goal-line. This is the game which is pictured as won by brute force. It is really won by the greater cooiness and the quicker thinking. “No one but a veteran can describe the fascination, and even the romance, which foot ball possesses for its players. There is nothing like their loyalty to the sport either in the faithfulness of a base ball player or of a boating man. Their hearts are in the game, and they never forget it. The old player never watches a game without being seized with a mad desire to join it; he lives his important matches over and over again in his dreams and before his fire; and he will see foot-ball come to harm with feelings akin to those of a lover at the loss of his mistress, and those of a patriot at the betrayal of his country.” Gainsborough’s Animals. Harry Y. Barnett, in Magazine of Art. In one thing Gainsborough beats Sir Joshua wholly out of the field, and that is in animals. The best dog that Reynolds ever painted—the dog in the portrait of Miss Cholmondely crossing the brook —is but a feeble caricature compared with tho wonderfully puppy spaniel in the “Cottage Girl,” or the “Pomeranian Dog and Puppy,” and many another Gainsborough dbg besides. Then the “Hen and Chickens,” all snug and lively in a basket, are wonderful in their way. The horse, again, in the large “Colonel St. Ledger,” is one of the noblest horses ever painted in a portrait, which is saying a good deal. And think of the animals in the landscapes—the vigor and truth, for instance of the team in the *‘Harvest Wagon,” or any of his cattle and sheep: to say nothing of the impetuous energy and veracity of his “Fighting Dogs,” which reeall even JSuyders. Beside these Reynolds’s animals seem no more than essays in taxidermy. And the contrast marks tho difference between the two men; the one trained in the studio and the gallery, and viewing mainly a society of aristocrats; the other, for the most part, self-taught in the woods and fields, learning there the characters and habits of living things, enamored by the earth and air, and sympathizing with rustic souls and the strong joys of unsophisticated country-life. Correspondence of the Prince of Wales. William Howard Bussell, in Harper’s Magaziue. The amount of correspondence to be carried on at Sandringham, Marlborough House, Osborne Cottage, or wherever the Prince may be, is, as Sir Dighton Probyn, Mr. Francis Knollys, and the equerry in waiting for the time being well know, colossal in magnitude and extraordinarily various in its nature, and it would tax patience and credulity to give an account of the contents, in all languages, of some of his letterbags. The Prince may say, “Princeps sum, at •non supra grammaticam.” He is a favorite mark for begging-ietter writers and inventors, and wonderful pains and trouble must be taken by his secretaries in sifting the wheat from the chaff and in getting at the truth of the stories of the applicants for his bounteous assistance. Once there came in by one mail to the Hotel Bristol, in Paris, where he was at the time, in addition to a score of the ordinary sort of begging letters, a petition from an old lady for a dot for her lovely daughter, aged eighteen, the child of an old officer who had left his family in much distress; a request'from a mechanic that the Prince would put on a swimming-dress and take a header into the Seine to test its merits — “et dans ce cas, monseigneur,” added the inventor, “j’aurai ma fortune assuree;” a demand for a loan of 10,000 francs to enable a student in natural history to go on an entomological excursion to South America; a proposal that he should join the applicant in an experimental vineyard in the Vosges; an entreaty that he would enable a working jeweler to redeem his lathe and tools. Needless to say, he is also assailed by theignoble, malicious, or silly people who write and by the crack-brained “prophets” dealing in menaces of death and of eternal destruction on various theological or political bases, who, with the writers of threatening letters, form a very considerable legion. From every capital and court in Europe there comes also the important though unofficial correspondence by which the Prince of Wales adds daily to his knowledge of the secret forces which move and direct the policy of states. There are, moreover, the special business of the Duchy of Cornwall, and regimental affairs in the corps of which he is colonel, which are elosely investigated by the Prince. Divided in his affection for the two services he naturally gives the greater share of his attention to that in which he holds rank, and in which he was reared and trained, A portion of his time is also devoted to the interests of theMa sonic body, the increase and vitality of which, in England, owe much to his care and patronage; and the Royal College of Music, the numerous institutions of which he is patron or chief, and innumerable charities and societies which he encourages and aids, make their several demands on the life of the busiest man in Europe, and have their claims allowed. Climate and Intellect. Charles Dudley Warner, in Harper’s Magazine. A great deal has been said about the effect of elimate upon intellect, and not much of the effect of intellect upon climate, or, to be more exact, of the power in mental activity to resist or control climatic influences. Sorao philosophers have held that there is an occult sympathy between mind and matter, and that a great accumulation of mind upon one point—that is to say, the direction of a strong current of desire for or against some operation of nature—would be eftective. For instance, if all the people in a wide district suffering under drought should unite in a common longing, a sincere mental struggle, for rain, that nature would feel the subtle influence through all its being, and rain would come. Unfortunately the experiment has never been tried, for common consent at any moment never has been attained—there is always somebody who has hay out. But this at least we can say, that it is safer to have the desire of the general mind in the right direction. Now two of the vulgar notions of this latitude are that we need “bracing up,” and that snow is a useful product, consequently that the more severe cold weather we have and the more snow, the letter off we are. And people go on believing this to their deaths every year. As to snow, there is a sentimental notion of its beauty as well as of its utility. And a good deal can bo said for it from an artistic point of view. But we aro not placed in this stern world merely to indulge our sensuousness. We are put here to make the most of our powers, in view of a hereafter; and long life is a duty, besides being, in the Old Testament view, a reward of virtue. It is probably necessary to have snow at the poles in order to keep the poles cool, and insure a proper circulation and change of air round the globe, just as it is necessary to keep the equator so hot that it is as unpleasant to sit on it as on a kitchen stove. Snow, indeed, might do little harm in a land where the sun never shone. But in this region, where the sun does shine, where half the winter days are clear, the only effect of the presence of snow is to fill the atmosphere with chilling moisture, lung fever, pneumonia, and that sort of thing. The pleasanter the weather, the more sunshine we have

with snow on the ground, the worse is our condition. And yet it is in vain to argue this with, people. They are wedded to traditional ideas and full of prejudice, and it seems impossible to convince them that snow in this region is harin' ful. It does no good to demonstrate to them, that tut for snow we should have a royal winter climate. On a small scale we see occasionally what it might be. There were such days in January last. The snow bad disappeared, the sun shone with the light but not the heat (lib* an electric lamp) of May, and the air was pure, exhilafanng, but not; damp and grave-like. It would have been perfect but for the chill that came down front tha vast snow-fields of Canada, where cold and snow are worshiped and feted all winter. And yet, after such experience, people, convinced, go back to snow. The ignorance ot this scientific age is discouraging. The other vulgar notion is that a hand tohand struggle with extreme cold for month* does a person good—braces him up. It must bo admitted that up to a certain point any struggle or trial is invigorating to the moral and intellectual nature. But we see what too much indulgence in this leads to. The Eskimo is but little raised above the polar bear and thw seal. His whole existence is just an effort to keep alive, to get blubber and skins enough to generate and keep in his body vital healL He can think ot nothing else; he has room for no other mental effort. We see th* same thing in the diaries and accounts of Uta polar exploration fanatics. It would be th most painful reading in the world if it were nofr so monotonous. Each one tells exactly the same story—the story of his physical struggle to keen alive with the thermometer 50 J below zero. Soon tho mind has no other occupation than thui struggle. It almost ceases to work in any other direction. This is interesting to us at first, as a study of the capacity of the human organism to resist the unrestrained attacks of nature. The experience of a person who should in this latitude, in winter, retire to an ice-house, with a. hatchet and a supply of frozen, hash, a whaleoil lamp, and a fur overcoat and body bag, and, sit on the ice in the darkness, and record hi* feelings, the gradual lowering of the vital powers, the concentration of the mind upon tbg numbness of his legs, would doubtless have % physiological interest But the second experimenter would not interest his readers so mue*. as the first with his narrative ns—w—*" l * —w IN A CIRCUS SCHOOL. A College for tlie Education of Tambkm% Bareback Riders and Jugglers. New York San. Near Van Nest station, on the Harlem riveF branch of the New York, New Haven & Hartford railroad, there is an educational institution of a peculiar sort, with a large number o£ studious pupils every winter. While possessing a varied curriculum and an able faculty, the school grants no degrees and has no distinctive classes. It is peculiar in other respects. No instruction whatever is given in the classics or the sciences, and moral philosophy, history, and mathematics have no standing there, and even reading and writing are absont from the list of studies. Yet It has a reputation second to none in this country as an institution for the education of young men and women in its specialty, which is the art of circa* performing. A reporter the other day visited the school* which is located in a round building whose interior resembles the familiar circus performing ring. A young woman was taking a first lesson in riding a bare-backed horse. She wore a jacket, short skirt, and bloomers, and stood upon the galloping horse in her stockings. In the center of the ring was a grizzled man of about, sixty-five, with brown overalls tucked in tho tops of cowhide boots, whose enormous mouthful of tobacco made him appear to have chronio elephantiasis of one cheek. This was Pop Garroll, the proprietor of the institute, dean of tho faculty, and head professor. Another member ot the faculty was pushing around the ring ia time with the horse’s gait a beam attached to a sort of derrick, from which depended a rope and a contrivance called a mechanic, the latter being fastened beneath tho performor’s arms to save her from injury in case of a fall from the horse. Prof. Carroll cracked his whip at the trained steed and hurried instructive remarks at tho performer between expectorations of tobacco juice. “Left arm up —graceful—so—easy now—a leetle further for’ard —light leg out —keep hop{>in’ on ycr left lee—g’lang there, Beppo! Now est leg., right arm up—graceful, I tell ye—you ain’t no windmill —left for’ard, right back —left foot crostways—keep hoppin’, or ye’ll fall—there ye go, dammitall; didn’t I tell ye? Whoa, Beppo!” The performer, having lost her balance, was hung in midair by the mechanic, but waa straightway lowered to the ground by the associate professor, and, mounting again, continued her lesson. While this was in proeress the reporter discovered a network of trapezes, flying and stationary; horizontal bars, vaulting poles, and springboards, and a mass of circus properties in general, juggling tools, clown costumes* tights, trunks and shoes. While poking about in an adjoining stable for further information he was startled by an ugly growl, and saw in a dark recess a troupe of a dozen performing dogs that were being educated by Prof. Carroll, whose pedagogic attainments are as varied a* they are remarkable. Standing in stalls were several well-kept horses, trained for the ring; and a herd of diminutive ponies frolicked in aa. open field. Later in the day a number of young men f practiced tumbling under the professor’s tutoage, and some male performers essayed trickpad riding and the management of four horses bareback. At sin the afternoon the dinner bell was rung, and all, male and female, repaired to the Carroll residence, near by, where most of tho pupils board. Pop Carroll is one of the oldest and bestknown circus men living. He took Dan Rico from the talker’s stand in front of a side show, and gave him his first start as a clown. Hi* wife, now a matron of near his own age, was tho first female circus rider to discard the pad and ride a galloping horse bareback. She is yet well preserved and jolly, although extremely deaf. Carroll's eldest daughter married Ben Magialey, when that gentleman had not. yet relinquished the cap of the clown to become leading heavy old man for the Madison-square theatre, and his youngest daughter, Annie, is Barnum’s leading lady-baro* back rider, and the wife of Eddie Snow, a tumbler. Carroll himself has been a performer ia every branch of the profession, the manager ot several circuses, and has conducted Jiis school in Westchester for nearly a dozen years. He baa turned out hosts of finished acrobats, elowna, tumblers, jugglers and riders, and has trained half the educated dogs, horses, pigs and othor accomplished animals that have appeared before the public of late years. His place is the resort of all circus people who winter in tha neighborhood of New York. Mrs. James Russell Lowell. Letter in Boston Traveller. The late Mrs. Lowell had a veiled character, it did not reveal itself easily; perhaps had I not touched her compassionate heart, bearing as I did the unhealed scar of a great sorrow, I might never have known hem|but when she showed her feelings they did her infinite honor. She told me the story of her own great physical sufferings, which f.he bore most bravely. She wa® full of compassion for others. Society, the honors of her high position—these touched* her not at all. Yet she was a handsome! and gracious personage, filling her role of bassadress with tho sweetest dignity. Bh*. loved flowers, and little children, and country drives, and many a pleasant hour I spent in hot*, carriage with her in the height of the London season, when, after taking a turn in the park* wo drove off oot of town. Mr. Lowell’s devotiour to her and her devotion to him were poetical and beautiful. They were never so happy as when together, and the mind hesitates to dwell on his loneliness. Peace to her ashes! She was gentle, good and unpretending, with a wealth of nobility* and sympathy hidden beneath her calm maifc* ner. * m Abyssinian Hebrews. Boston Journal. One of the most remarkable peoples wit* whom missionaries have to do are tho Falashu* of Ethiopia. They are black Hebrews, aboub two hundred thousand in number, living west o|< Jordan, who have as their holy writings the 01* Testament in an Ethiopic version, and who stilt, rigidly adhere to the Mosaic ceremonies and laws. They are the children of Hebrew immigrant*, who, in the time of the great dispersion, settle* in Abyssinia, and married wives of that nationEfforts made during the last 200 years to conve*| them to Christianity have proved unavailing