and cousins intermarry as a matter of course, so as to keep the inheritance undivided. M. Baudin found that while consanguineous marriages form but two per cent. of the marriages of France, twenty-five per cent. of the deaf mutes are the offspring of such marriages. Scrofulous and tuberculous diseases are frequent in the progeny of such wedlock. Dr. Bemiss collected statistics of 833 consanguineous marriages. The whole number of children was 3,742, of which 1,134 were defective; 145 were deaf and dumb, 85 were blind, 308 idiotic, 38 insane, 60 epileptic, 300 scrofulous, 98 deformed, and 883 died early. In 1848 in Massachusetts the parentage of 359 idiots in an asylum was ascertained, and 17 were the children of parents known to be blood relations. In these 17 families there were born 95 children, of whom 44 were idiots and 12 others scrofulous or puny. In one family of 8, 5 were idiotic. Another family had 4 idiotic, and 4 other deformed children. A late report of the Kentucky Deaf and Dumb Asylum states that from 10 to 12 per cent. of the deaf mutes are offspring of the marriage of cousins. Dr. Mulligan, of Dublin, found 100 mutes among the children of 154 families where the parents were cousins. Dr. Buxton, of Liverpool, found 269 mutes among the children of 170 such marriages.-The Independent. Brains vs. Labor.-The following beautiful passage is by the Rev. J. F. Corning. It will be appreciated by all "brain workers :" "While I sit at my study-table with my pen in hand, the fingers moving with tardy pace at the beckon of brain, I hear right below my window, in the adja- | cent field, the monotonous ring of a laborer's hoe upon the corn-hills. While he hoes, he whistles hour by hour till the clock strikes twelve, and then with ravenous appetite repairs to his bountiful yet simple meal, only to resume his task again and pursue it to the setting of the sun. As I stood at the window watching his toil, and turned again to my pen and paper, I asked myself how it happened that the man with the hoe will labor his eight or ten hours a day with less fatigue than the man with his pen will toil his three or four. Hugh Miller was a great worker with the shovel and pick-would have made a good hand in a slate quarry, in grading a railroad, or digging a canal. But one night, as you know, he shot himself in a fit of nervous fever. What was the difference between the great geologist and the man with the hoe whistling under my window? Simply this, the former was a worker of brain, and the latter a worker of muscle. Let this man with the hoe lay down his husbandry for a little while and set himself to studying one of the stalks of corn, or the chemistry of one of those hills of soil, and very likely he would soon learn what it is to lose one's appetite, and hear the clock strike nearly all the night hours in feverish wakefulness. And thus we get at a great organic law of our being, to-wit: that brainwork subtracts vitality from the fountain, while muscle-work only makes draughts upon one of the ramifying streams of life. It is estimated by scientific observers that a man will use up as much vital force in working his brains two hours as he will in working his muscles eight." GOOD DIGESTION IS PROMOTED BY CHEERFULNESS.-Nothing is better understood than that there is a connection between cheerfulness and good digestion; and the trite expression, "to laugh and get fat," undoubtedly has its origin in observation, if not in philosophy. What an astonishing amount and variety of food can be disposed of, and perfectly digested, at one sitting of two or three hours, by a Company of cheerful and happy, not to say jolly and merry, old friends, and that without alcohol, or any other unnatural stimulus to help digestion! I venture to say more than three times as much as the same individuals could eat and digest in the same time if each took his meals by himself. And this one fact is worth more than all else I can write to show the dependence of the digestive powers on the state of the mind, and to prove that he must be lean and haggard who, keeping his mind constantly on his business, bolts his meals in silence and solitude, even in the presence of his family. I commend it to the careful consideration of uncomfortable mortals who never properly digest their food, and whose bones are too poorly clothed with flesh, and too poorly protected even to allow them quiet rest, and who, therefore, envy "fat, sleek-headed men, and such as sleep o' nights."-How not to be Sick. LET US BE MORE SOCIABLE.-In order to increase the sum of human happiness, we should cultivate kind and fraternal feelings one with another. A true life consists in something else than simply accumulating property. We do not and can not "live by bread alone." A writer in the Journal of Agriculture discourses on this subject most beautifully as follows: The sole object and aim of too many individuals seems to be to get gain, "grab all," let the consequences be what they may to others. The desire to accumulate wealth, regardless of the comfort and social happiness of our neighbors, and the interchange of friendly sentiments, should be ignored. On the other hand, we should so live and act that the generous impulses of our own hearts would prompt us to extend the hand of fellowship to all our neighbors and, looking them squarely in the eye, feel that glorious inward consciousness that we had never wronged them in thought, word, or deed. Then, too, let words of kindness be spoken; let little deeds of love be done; let the principles of the golden rule be exemplified in our daily lives; let us be more sociable, and cultivate our convivial qualities by frequent interchanges of friendly greetings at social gatherings; let no aristocracy be acknowledged, save that of the intellect; let us beautify our homes; let us make them what they should be by cherishing a love for the beautiful, so that "Blessings may attend us forever; To type the pure, the good, and the true !" AN INVALUABLE RECIPE FOR CONTENTMENT.— We were greatly instructed some time since in read 7 ing an incident related by a city missionary. In Her hut was so poor that the wintery winds caused poverty. As she bent to kiss him a "good-night," BUSINESS AND PRAYER.-The following sentiments, "If a professed disciple would not have his secular that never receives an answer from the Lord. Let GOD.-Pluck that beautiful flower; look at it a thoughts! Look at the sea. What an undivided thought! Ponder the whole earth. A world of some creating mind. Gaze at the stars. Thoughts line the firmament. How great, how wise, how lovely, how potent, how incomprehensible the spirit whose thoughts are thus put forth! "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard." Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world!" He that built all things is God. We walk upon and in the midst of his realized thoughts. How carefully and lovingly toward him should we walk! THE CROSS AND THE CROWN.-The cross nowthe crown to-morrow. Now the bed of languishing-to-morrow the throne of Jesus. What encourbody now bears the spirit down; wait till the dawn agement to "fight the good fight of faith!" The of day, and the spirit will bear the body up. A few breathings more in this dull and oppressive element, then all will be health and buoyancy, strength and gladness, purity and peace—the body changed, the heart all holy. Even now the Lord is with you; but you can not see him for the darkness of night. You walk by faith, not by sight. Yet you can say, "I know that my Redeemer liveth." He lives-he thinks upon you-he is with you-he will never leave you nor forsake you. He is a friend, a brother, a Lord-a friend to guide you by his counsel, a brother to sympathize with you in all your sorrows, a Lord to defend you from all evil, and make all things work together for your good. No safety but at his side; no comfort but in his bosom; no strength but in his arm; no holiness but in his steps.-Hewitson. "OWES ME A LIVING."-It is among men who try to get a living by some shift or trick of laziness that we hear the familiar words, "The world owes me a living." A loafer who never did a useful thing in his life, who dresses at the expense of the tailor, and the world owes him a living, and declares his intendrinks at the cost of his friends, always insists that tion to secure the debt. I should like to know how it is that a man who owes the world for every mouthshould be so heavy a creditor in account with the ful he ever ate, and every garment he ever put on, world. The loafer lies about it. The world owes him nothing but a very rough coffin, and a retired and otherwise useless place to put it in. The world owes a living to those who are not able to earn one, to children, to the sick, to the disabled and the aged, to all who, in the course of nature or by force of circumstances, are dependent; and it was mainly for the supply of the wants of these that men were endowed with the power to produce more than enough for themselves. To a genuine shirk the world owes nothing; and when he tells me with a whine that the world owes him a living, I am assured that he has the disposition of a highway robber, and lacks only his courage and his enterprise.-J. G. Holland. CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE. JOHN'S GOSPELS: APOLOGETICAL LECTURES. By J. J. Van Oosterzee, D. D., Professor of Theology in the University of Utrecht. Translated, with Additions, by J. F. Hurst, D. D. 8vo. Pp. 256. $1.75. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark. New York: Scribner, Wellford & Co. Cincinnati: Robt. Clarke & Co. This is a translation from the authorized German edition, of four apologetical lectures on the authenticity of John's Gospel, delivered to a large audience in the Odeon at Amsterdam, Holland, by Dr. Van Oosterzee. They were designed chiefly, though not exclusively, as a reply to skeptical lectures on the life of Jesus which had been delivered at the same place by professors and preachers of the so-called Modern Tendency. They are in popular style, avoiding all abstruse and technical treatment of his subject, giving the results rather than the method of the author's learned investigations. The translator justly says, "There are few theologians more capable, by acquire ments, native talents, and piety, for defending Christian truth than Dr. Van Oosterzee. In the present work he furnishes new proof, that, while he refuses to renounce any cardinal point of evangelical theology, and gives abundant grounds therefore, he is ready to make any concessions that candor requires." He is generally considered the ablest pulpit orator and divine of the evangelical school in Holland now living. He combines genius, learning, and piety. He is orthodox and conservative, yet liberal and progressive. He seems to be as fully at home in the modern theology of Germany as in that of his native country. To his attainments in scientific theology he adds a general literary culture and fine poetical taste. Besides his Life of Christ and a Christology, he has written Commentaries on several books of the New Testament. As for the book before us, coming from such competent hands, and on a subject of so much present interest, we would expect a masterly production. And such it is. Addressing popular audiences, the author found his strong points in the internal evidences of the genuineness of the Gospel, and these he has presented in a most attractive and convincing manner. The nature, extent, and philosophy of the modern skeptical opposition to John's Gospel the lecturer presents in impartial but incisive paragraphs. The secret of the opposition lies in the fact, that while this inimitable Gospel stands unchallenged, the waves of criticism against the superhuman, Divine Christ of history, break and recoil in empty foam from this rock. Therefore every means, fair and foul, must be used to weaken the power of this wonderful Gospel. Its authorship is denied; it is referred to a late date in the second century; it is mythical; it is figurative and imaginative; it is par tisan; it is written in defense of Judaistic tendencies; giving the history recorded in the Old Testament mentioned an account of each of the Books of the Bible, the geography of the Holy Land and of con- The present volume concludes the author's series of comments on the Old Testament prophets. We have frequently noticed them as the successive volumes appeared. They constitute a valuable contribution to the study of the old prophets, and welladapted to the wants of both pastors and people. We are sure that wherever they are used they will accomplish the author's prayerful hope, that "they may serve to obviate some misconceptions, to remove some obscurities, to solve some difficulties, to disclose some new beauties, to illustrate for present use some great principles of God's government in time over nations and men, and chiefly to bring out the great points of prophetic revelation with a richer practical force, conducive to a more intelligent faith, and to more vigorous and effective labor toward the grand results erelong to be realized in the universal diffusion of the Gospel, and in the triumphs of its truth and love in all the earth." To the present volume is appended a special dissertation on the system of opinions on prophecy currently known as the Premillennial Advent of Christ, in which the author takes an antagonistic position with great force of conviction. We are informed in a note that "Notes on the writings of Solomon are now in course of preparation, and will constitute the next volume." LAWS OF BUSINESS FOR ALL THE STATES OF THE UNION: With Forms and Directions for all Transactions. By Theophilus Parsons, LL. D., Professor of Law in Harvard University. 8vo. Pp. 703. $3.75. Cincinnati: National Publishing Company. Sold on Subscription. Professor Parsons is one of the most eminent lawyers of our country. After gaining a wide and enviable reputation as a practitioner, he was called to the chair of Law in Harvard, where he has been for twenty years, during which he has given several very valuable and authoritative law books to the profession and the public. It was a happy thought to prepare such a volume as the present, so much needed by the active business men of our age and country, and it was a most happy occurrence that its preparation fell into hands so thoroughly competent. The result is a volume of great value to all classes of people. No intelligent person will fail to find in it information of practical and almost daily use, touching a multitude of questions concerning social, civil, and business rights and duties. It is for every body the safest and cheapest counselor and legal adviser, ready at hand at all times to be consulted. It should be possessed as a matter of economy. Some physician equally eminent in his profession as Dr. Parsons in the knowledge of the law, ought to do just such a work as this for the people, in the department of medicine. ANECDOTES OF THE WESLEYS: Illustrative of their Character and Personal History. By Rev. J. B. Wakeley. With an Introduction by Rev. J. M'Clintock, D. D., LL. D. 16mo. Pp. 391. New York: Carlton & Lanahan. Cincinnati: Hitchcock & Walden. Dr. M'Clintock says well that "Mr. Wakeley has been happily inspired in the conception of this book of anecdotes. The execution of his task is also felicitous. The public will owe him gratitude for this contribution not merely to their entertainment, but to their instruction." We sincerely hope that the public will recognize the debt, and abundantly buy and read the book. Here are over four hundred anecdotes, embracing incidents in the lives of all the Wesley family, from Samuel Wesley, the father, to Charles Wesley, jr., the grandson. They are arranged in four books: Anecdotes of Samuel Wesley, sen.; Anecdotes of Susanna Wesley; Anecdotes of John Wesley, constituting the great bulk of the book; and Anecdotes of Charles Wesley. They are of almost every conceivable variety, exhibiting these illustrious actors and speakers in manifold phases of character and incident. Mr. Wakeley must have devoted great labor and patience in gathering these sparkling gems. Many of them were never published before, and most of them will be new to our readers. THREE SEASONS IN EUROPEAN VINEYARDS: Treating of Vine-Culture; Vine-Disease and its Cure; Wine-Making and Wines; Wine-Drinking, as Affecting Health and Morals. By William J. Flagg. 12mo. Pp. 332. $2. New York: Harper & Brothers. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co. The author claims for his work interest for the general reader if he has "the love of learning," for the general drinker, inasmuch as it relates to his daily beverages and their effects on his health and happiness, but chiefly for the vine-growers of America. He further claims that "no other American has made near so thorough a pilgrimage among the vineyards of Europe, and especially among those of France." Doubtless the work contains much reliable information with regard to the culture of the grape and the making of wine. For American society and sentiment it has rather too much wine and brandy. The author likes wine and brandy; he likes France and French society; he, evidently, does not like whisky, and we think there is some doubt whether he likes water, at least as a beverage, and there is even some doubt whether he would not prefer France and French wines and brandy, to America minus the beverages. In its influence the book is anti-American and anti-Christian; that is, in the sense of constantly putting French social life in favorable and approved contrast with American social life. The author argues from the first page to the last in favor of plentiful wine-drinking, but ar gues unfairly and sophistically. His contrasts are not between sober, temperate, water-drinking Americans and wine and brandy-drinking Frenchmen, but between the American bar-room, the American whisky and rum-drinker, and the French wine-garden or the French social board. The conclusion from all we read here is certainly not that wine-drinking is conducive to health and temperance, but simply that winedrinking is not so bad as whisky-drinking. But it still leaves untouched the higher fact, that abstinence from the whole of them is infinitely better than either. SIGHTS AND SENSATIONS IN FRANCE, GERMANY, AND SWITZERLAND; or, Experiences of an American Journalist in Europe. By Edward Gould Buffum, Author of "Six Months in the Gold Mines," etc. 12mo. Pp. 310. $1.50. New York: Harper & Brothers. Cincinnati: Clarke & Co. Mr. Buffum, the author of this volume, who died some months ago in Paris, had a name in America and Western Europe as a successful journalist and foreign correspondent. His work, "Six Months in the Gold Mines," contributed, in the early enthusiasm of the gold discovery of California, to enlarge the knowledge and intensify the interest of adventurous spirits concerning the new-found El Dorado. For several years he was chief editor of the Alta Californian, and was a member of the Legislature of the Golden State. In 1858 he went to Europe, and finally settled himself in Paris as the head of a bureau of correspondence, in which employment he continued up to the time of his death. The "Sights and Sensations" depicted in this volume are such as came under his observation during this European residence. They are written in the concise, forcible, and straightforward style of the newspaper writer, always interesting, vivacious, and to the point. THE WEDDING-DAY IN ALL AGES AND COUNTRIES. By Edward J. Wood. 12mo. Pp. 299. $1.50. New York: Harper & Brothers. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co. The title sufficiently explains the nature of this book. It is a valuable and entertaining compilation, shedding light on the customs and usages of nearly all people on that most interesting of days-the wedding-day. FIVE ACRES TOO MUCH. By Robert B. Roosevelt, Author of "Game Fish of North America," etc. 12mo. Pp. 296. $1.50. New York: Harper & Brothers. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co. A very amusing book, and to amateur farmers, and those contemplating becoming such, a very instructive one. The author gives "a truthful elucidation of the attractions of the country, and a careful consideration of the question of profit and loss as involved in amateur farming, with much valuable advice and instruction to those about purchasing large or small places in the rural districts." All of which is, as Artemus Ward would say, "intended for a joke." PRIMARY TRUTHS OF RELIGION. By Thomas M. Clark, D. D., LL. D. Bishop of the Diocese of Rhode Island. 16mo. Pp. 313. $1.25. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Cincinnati: Moore, Wilstach & Moore. This is an excellent little book and timely. It is not a mere popular digest of Christian doctrines, but lays hold of the great fundamental truths which underlie all religion, passing over from them naturally and necessarily to the great basis-facts of God's revealed word. "Is there a God? Who is God? What is God? Does God rule? Is the law of God inviolable? Is man responsible? Has God made a revelation to man?" etc., are the questions discussed here in a clear, forcible, and convincing style. MOPSA THE FAIRY. By Jean Ingelow. With Illustrations. Boston: Roberts Brothers. 16mo. Pp. 244. $1.25. Jean Ingelow has reached that enviable place in literature that guarantees the speedy sale of any thing she chooses to write. She is eminently worthy of her place, and her books are not only sold, but are read. She has few equals in writing stories for the young. This one will interest them intensely. FIRST STEPS IN GERMAN: An Elementary Grammar and Conversational Reader. By M. Th. Preu. 8vo. Pp. 157. $1.25. New York: Oakley, Mason & Co. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co. This strikes us as a well-arranged grammar and method for the study of German, and is well worth a trial in the school-room. The author is himself an experienced teacher. FRIDAY LOWE. By Mrs. C. E. K. Davis. 16mo. Pp. 346. Philadelphia: J. C. Garrigues & Co. Cincinnati: Hitchcock & Walden. An interesting and instructive story-book for the Sunday school and the juniors at home. THE Dance of Modern SOCIETY. By W. C. Wilkinson. 16mo. Pp. 77. $1. New York: Oakley, Mason & Co. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co. This is a reproduction in book form of an article that made some stir two years ago published in the Baptist Quarterly Review. It is strong meat, thor. oughly cooked, and will be nutritious food for those who will "inwardly digest it." THE LILY SERIES. By Mrs. Sherwood. 6 Volumes. 24mo. In a box. $2.50. New York: Robert Carter & Bros. Cincinnati: George Crosby. A box of small, neat books for the little ones, containing-The Flowers of the Forest, The Young Forester, The Little Woodman, The Little Beggars, The Two Orphans, and Joan. MISCELLANEOUS. IN PAPER.-The Third National Sunday School Convention of the United States, 1869. Published by Authority of the Convention. Philadelphia: J. C. Garrigues & Co. An octavo pamphlet of 188 pages, containing a full report of the proceedings, speeches, etc., of the great Sunday School Convention held April, 1869, in Newark, New Jersey. Central New York Annual Conference, Minutes of First Session, Auburn, New York, April 15-22, 1869. First Annual Report Ladies' and Pastors' Christian Union of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Philadelphia. From Robert Clarke & Co. we have the following issued by Harper & Brothers: The Newcomes. By Thackeray. Two Volumes in one. Svo. Pp. 210, 202. 75 cents. My Daughter Elinor. 8vo. Pp. 257. $1.25. Stret ton. By Henry Kingsley. 8vo. Pp. 144. 40 cents. CATALOGUES.-Albion College for 1868-69, Albion, Michigan. President, Rev. George B. Jocelyn, D. D. Students, 258. Gouverneur Wesleyan Seminary, Gouverneur, New York. Principal, Rev. George G. Dains, M. A. Students, 269. De Pauw College for Young Ladies, New Albany, Indiana. President, Rev. Erastus Rowley, D. D. Pupils, 136. Illinois Female College, Jacksonville, Illinois. President, W. H. De Motte, M. A. Hillsboro Female College, Hillsboro, Ohio. President, Rev. David Copeland, M. A. Stockwell Collegiate Institute, Stockwell, Indiana. President, John P. Rous, M. A. Pupils, 163. Hedding Female College and Seminary, Abington, Illinois. Principal, Rev. Milton C. Springer, A. M. Pupils, 243. Cornell College, Mount Vernon, Iowa. President, Rev. William F. King, M. A. Students, 392. Xenia Female College, Xenia, Ohio. President, William Smith, A. M. Students, 150. Ohio Wesleyan Female College, Delaware, Ohio. President, Rev. Park S. Donelson, D. D. Students, 258. Indiana University, Bloomington, Ind. President, Rev. Cyrus Nutt, D. D. Students, 239. |