Druggists' Drudgery.

HOWEVER faithfully and ably a minister may preach the true principles oi the gospel-though he preach them as fully as they are proclaimed in the Bible-if he fail to apply them, as they are applied in the Bible itself, to his individual hearers, if he come not down from the intangibilities of principle to the tangibilities of practice-his success as a reformer of morals, and as a preacher of righteousness, will be inconsiderable.

So with our Magazine. It has for its main object the moral and intellectual improvement of young men in general; but to effect this in any large measure, it will be still, as it has hitherto been necessary, that from time to time, as occasion offers, we should advocate the cause of particular classes of them. It is then our wish, this month, to plead the cause of a class of young men of whom little has hitherto been heard-a class that obtrudes itself less on the notice of the public than do many others, whose claims upon its sympathy are not greater, viz., that class of young men who are occupied in the compounding of our drugs and in the dispensing of our prescriptions. As the subject is novel, and not a little complicated, from the various interests involved in its discussion, we hope our readers will give us a patient hearing, and, in return, we promise to be as little heavy as we can.

Romeo, on reaching the shop of the starved Apothecary of Mantua, found it closed,

"Being a holiday, the beggar's shop is shut."

An apothecary's holiday! Surely, for once at least, we have got Shakspeare tripping? Who, in our day, ever dreams of finding his apothecary closed, "it being a holiday"? Sabbath and Saturday, fair day and fast day, the apothecary of our times must be at his post.

There was recently held in Glasgow an Early-Closing Soiree of the Druggists of Glasgow, at half-past nine o'clock evening. As was well remarked at the meeting by one of the speakers, (Rev. Wm. Arnot,) the very hour at which the Soiree was held indicated, very emphatically, that, on the part of the holders of it, a sore was felt, and that a cure was called for. At that meeting it was brought out that, generally speaking, the Druggists of Glasgow open their premises at Seven A.M., and close them at Nine, Ten, or Eleven P.M. Ten o'clock seemed to be considered as the average hour of closing. It was also brought out that, with few exceptions, these shops are open on Sabbaths from Nine A. M. till Nine P. M.* Fifteen hours, on week days, from the hour of opening to that of the closing of the drug establishments in Glasgow! Seven hours of sleep (as the average quantity required by the majority of individuals,) added to the fifteen working (and mealtaking) hours, fills up twenty-two hours of the daily twenty-four, thus leaving to the fagged and wearied Druggist two hours a day for his dressing and undressing, for his evening meal, for reading and recreation, and for his devotional exercises !

* Since the present article was put to press, we have had our attention drawn to an advertisement that appeared in the Times of the 5th ult., to the following effect:

EARLIER CLOSING OF CHEMISTS SHOPS.-At 5 o'clock in the morning, a Public Meeting for the promotion of this important object, will be held at the Freemasons' Tavern, on Tuesday, 11th July. Peter Jones, Esq., of Nortonfalgate, in the chair. As this unseasonable early hour is chosen to meet the case of the great body of Assistant Chemists, who, being daily employed in their respective shops from 8 morning till 10, and oftener half-past 10 and 11 at night, have no opportunity to attend an evening meeting, it is trusted that all will show their appreciation of the efforts of the Early-Closing Association, by giving their presence on this occasion. The attendence of employers will also be warmly welcomed.

JOHN LILWALL,

Hon. Sec. of the Early-Closing Association.

Such an announcement, while it shows that the evil complained of is not a mere local one, speaks so powerfully, by its naked truthfulness, on behalf of the class whose case we are now pleading, that we cannot omit its insertion here.

But it may be asked, is not all this drudgery necessary? Is it not required by the necessities of the case? It is true, it may be said, that the hours of employment in the case of very many other businesses have been, of late years materially lessened, but is not the Druggist's case a peculiar and an exceptional one? To this we at once reply, that to some extent it is, but it is not so to anything like the extent that many seem to suppose it.

The chief argument used in defence of the protracted hours, during which the Drug Dispensaries have hitherto been kept open, has been the following: -medical men make their evening calls upon their patients between the hours of seven and nine o'clock, and that therefore, if the dispensaries are closed before the latter of these hours, their evening prescriptions could not be made up. This looks like a formidable objection to an early-closing movement on the part of the Druggists, but what do medical men themselves, as the parties more immediately interested, say on this very subject? They, then, in answer to a requisition recently presented to them by the Druggists' assistants in Glasgow, in the kindest and most cordial manner, all but unan imously, gave their sanction to the closing of the Druggists at eight o'clock P. M.! With a like cordiality and kindness, and with a like unanimity, the master Druggists gave in their adhesion to the proposed abbreviation of hours. But alas! one gentleman, as yet unable to see his way clear in the matter, withheld his sanction, and so for a time at least, the movement in question has been unsuccessful.

This result is, we think, much to be regretted. We believe that the public-on whose behalf it is that the long hour advocates plead for a continuance of the present protracted hours-would at once, with the medical men and the majority of the master druggists, have aquiesced in, and by their co-operation, supported the movement. We think so for these reasons -1st, They (the public) have cordially supported the early-closing movements of all the other parties who have successively (and successfully) carried into effect that system of early-closing that has now become so general, and that is so popular. 2d, Although medical men do make their evening visits as late as eight and nine o'clock, they very seldom write fresh prescriptions at these hours. It is by the character of the night passed, and by the morning symptoms of his patient, that, in nineteen cases out of twenty, the treatment for the day is decided upon by the physician. It is well known that the morning hours are those at which most diseases assume the hue they are to wear for the day. 3d, As almost every other place of business is shut by seven or eight o'clock P.M., it will be little, if any inconvenience to them (the public) though the druggists should now close at eight.

Further, as the public have so readily supported all the early-closing movements hitherto carried out, it is quite a fair inference to draw, that a like movement on the part of the Druggists would receive a like support. All the other movements were carried out in a period of altogether unexampled prosperity and bustle; and yet, we have never heard that any one suffered by the change of hours. Have the Masters been less successful in business, or has the public been worse served since these movements began? Surely not. Why, then, anticipate a different result in the case of the Druggists? In all professions and in all trades it is found that, almost invariably, the best educated and best informed man, is also the best business man, Energy is one of the characteristics of successful men in every walk of life; but energy never long keeps company with ignorance, in, at least, the special field on which the man of energy has entered. And surely, if a good education be found so necessary for success in other vocations, it must be absolutely neces sary in the case of the druggist, or the dispenser of our medicines? The public are, from time to time, startled from their propriety, by hearing of the fatal effects of wrongly administered drugs. We have reason to know, that frequently as such errors are committed by the druggists, there are very many caused by the inconsiderate manner in which children and ignorant individuals are entrusted with verbal messages to the Druggist.

Now, while accidents in the dispensing of drugs will occasionally happen, even in circumstances the most favourable for their avoidance, how much more likely are they to occur with an ignorant dispenser? It is not enough, in order to avoid or to rectify mistakes, that the drug dispenser be merely careful and cautious. If a wrong quantity or a wrong article be prescribed or asked for, an intelligent, well-informed, and careful dispenser, will almost invariably be able to detect and expose the error.

But, how is the knowledge requisite for the detection and exposure of error by the druggist to be attained? When-where, is the druggist to acquire a sufficient knowledge of Materia Medica and of Chemistry to qualify him for such responsible duties? A knowledge of the properties and doses of drugs does not come by sight or by touch-by the mere passing of them under the eyes or through the hands. A young man may see all the drugs of the east or of the west pass under his eyes-he may have the weighing or the measuring of them all by his hands, and yet be no Druggist after all. To be a Druggist, in the proper sense of the word, it is not only necessary to be able to distinguish between bitter apples and poppy heads, between oil of vitriol and oil of almonds; it is equally necessary to know something of their various qualities, of their properties, uses, and, above all, of their doses. The lamentable effects, in a recent case in this city, of an ignorance in the lastmentioned particular, on the part of one who was at once the prescriber and the dispenser, must be fresh in the recollection of our readers, and so need not further be alluded to.

A day's practice will enable the young apprentice to form a pill; but a year spent in forming pills, will not inform him what the properties of the pill are. It is, no doubt, true, that there never was a time when information on every possible topic was made so accessible as the present. Never did there issue from the press such a stream of valuable and standard works in every branch of knowledge, at such moderate prices. Never did the teeming press send forth such quantities of scientific, medical, and literary periodicals, as it does in our days. Never was popular lecturing conducted to such an extent, or by men of such high standing in society. But what avails it that these lectures are delivered nightly what avails it that hosts of most valuable works daily issue from the press-what avails it that the country is all but inundated by crowds of daily, weekly, and monthly periodicals, if there be a lack of leisure to attend the lectures or to read the publications, on the part of those on whose behalf they are all got up?

What avails it to the mariner to know of a North-West Passage if his vessel possess not the power, nor his men the daring, requisite to make way through the intervening ice that blocks the passage? What avails it to the man gasping for breath beneath the surging billows of the ocean-that dance far over-head, as if gloating over their victim-to know that, up, up yonder, above the briny surface of his watery shroud, there is an atmosphere in which, were he but once more there, his labouring lungs could again expand and allow life's wondrous machinery to move on again with its wonted harmony? On one other matter connected with this subject let us touch before we close. The long hours of, and the necessity for Sabbath attendance by, the druggist has considerable influence in preventing parents, in some of the more respectable classes of society, sending their sons to a respectable and, otherwise, a desirable calling. This evil might be considerably lessened were there shorter hours on the week-days and less work on the Sabbaths. The business itself has many recommendations. It is a light one, and is often remunerative. It has less of speculation, and gives greater scope for the exercise of the mind than do many others.

We think then, that what we have now written proves these three things:-1. The Public, for their own safety, have a deep stake in the character of their druggists. The power for injury lodged in the hands of an ignorant dispenser can easily be conceived by any one who thinks of the multiplicity and the potency of the agents he has daily to compound. 2. The

medical men have a like interest in the matter. For the correction of possible error in, and for the correct reading of, hurriedly or all but illegibly written prescriptions, it is manifestly requisite that their dispenser be familiar with the names, properties, and doses, of the agents prescribed. 3. The Employers, or master Druggists have an interest in the matter, only inferior to that of the Public, or to that of the medical men. A few seri

ous mistakes committed by an ignorant assistant will quickly tell upon his employer's receipts.

Having already considerably exceeded our proposed limits, we must, for the present, omit any remarks that otherwise we might have been disposed to make on the nature of the Sabbath work, as well as on the moral bearings of the whole question of druggists' hours and work, on Sabbath and week days alike. Perhaps a future opportunity for their discussion may occur, in the meantime, we again request for our readers a careful perusal of what we have, on the present occasion, been able to lay before them.

Sutton's Quinquenergia.

WITH Mr. Sutton's work we have been both disappointed and dissatisfied. We shall not, therefore, trouble our readers with an elaborate analysis of its contents. We have no heart for such a task. The book is so uninteresting --so destitute of sound argument and so full of mere theorizings, that we would sooner roll the stone with Sisyphus than sit down to give a minute detail of what Mr. S. has thought fit to thrust upon the public. We admit most readily that Mr. S. has some talent; but his whole train of thinking has taken a wrong course, and he clings so tenaciously to what is only a mere conceit, that the perusal of his book becomes a very irksome task. In these circumstances we shall content ourselves with indicating some of the main features of his Quinquenergian Theology.

Mr. S. expresses himself completely dissatisfied with the prevalent theology. The vulgar belief in Christianity as the divine religion is thoroughly erroneous. The natural theism of Parker is nearer the truth; but he refuses to acknowledge the Boston prophet as a perfect master. Indeed, he disowns most of the apostles of "the church of the future," to use Leigh Hunt's phraseology. He readily grants that in many respects they are admirable, but still there are defects in their teachings which must be supplied. But who is "the coming man "that is to reconstruct our theology and introduce a perfect system? No less a personage than Mr. Henry S. Sutton.

With much modesty he assures us that he does not believe that he has any "miraculous light." In this opinion we are quite at one with him. His book betrays no traces of the supernatural, but not a few of the unnatural. He takes care, also, to inform his readers that he is quite ignorant of his being the Messiah. "If I am Shiloh," says he, "I can say unaffectedly I am at least not aware of it." But this frank confession of ignorance was scarcely required. Few, we think, would be in danger of paying him homage as a being of exalted character. Fools might, for no man can calculate the erratic courses of folly; but wise men would not. Surely, "Alice, the wife of the author" must have been absent from the side of her husband, when his vanity led him to think that possibly he might be mistaken for the Shiloh. Quinquenergia is represented as a country in which the people are far advanced in their religious notions. Mr. Sutton undertakes to be the exponent of their theology for the inhabitants of this old earth. But the name answers another purpose; it is made an index to Mr. Sutton's theories, and hence we have the five realms of nature, the five energies of God, &c.

* QUINQUENERGIA; or, PROPOSALS FOR A NEW PRACTICAL THEOLOGY. By Henry S. Sutton. London: published for the Author by John Chapman.

+ Preface, p. 4

The first chapter is devoted to the realms of nature. These are said to be the basal, chemic, floral, faunal, and viral. Bodies at "the bottom foundation of things are called basal. Those combined with caloric, or electricity, or chemic materials, are called chemic. The floral realm contains "vegetable beings; and the faunal all animated things, man only excepted; while the viral comprehends man alone. Now, of all these, theology concerns itself only with the viral; and of this realm the functions are said to be, "Industrialism-Mechanism-Science-Poesy-Religion.”

The second chapter is occupied with a consideration of matter and spirit. Mr. Sutton scouts the metaphysical notion of spirit, while he holds that matter is a condensation or concretion" of spirit. This accounts at once for his ideas being so gross.

66

The third chapter treats of God, and in it we are taught to look for the revelation of Him in viral substance, "since therein exists the clearest and least-veiled revelation of Deity." Here it is necessary to advert to the doctrine of planes, which is so important in the Quinquengerian theology. Substance," it appears, "exists in five different planes or degrees, of eminence, dignity, and rarity; basal matter at the bottom of the scale," and so on up to viral matter, which is the highest and nearest akin to the spirit or essence out of which matter has been concreted. Now, according as we ascend these planes we get clearer revelations of God. It is plain, therefore, that the viral matter, as already stated, contains the "least-veiled revelation." But in viral matter there are also planes, and of these there are five, industrialism being at the bottom, and so on upwards till we come to religion. Now, in industrialism we learn that “the source of all substance is unceasing activity;" in mechanism, we see that spirit is order and lay; in science, we discover that spirit is intelligence; while " poesy, with her five tongues, gives utterance of Deity;" showing us that spirit is "mindful of the past "the dweller in an atmosphere of sublimity"--the "fount of poetic gladness"--the "delighter in the beautiful"--and the sympathizer." But it is in religion that we find the most important revelation of God; and it is in this that substance becomes "so ethereal, as to be not inferior to SPIRIT himself, and rightly competent to be ranked as 'without robbery equal to God." "

66

Religion represents "only those five elements of the soul, whereof conscientiousness, faith, aspiration, veneration, and benevolence are specifications, or else the emotions themselves which are the product of the activity of these five elements,” and it is divided into two parts, secular and divine. The difference may be explained thus--When a man does his duty because it is pleasant, or easy, or natural, his acting is secular religion; but when he acts for the sake of "religion's pure self," it is a divine religion. Now "divine religion is, in its first sense, a peculiar kind of psychic substance, which constitutes part of the human soul, and in a second sense it is the emotion of the activity of that substance." To distinguish this supreme psychic substance, this transcendental element of the soul, from SPIRIT per se, on the one hand, and from the emotions which are its results on the other, we use the name CHRIST, as on the whole the most fitting, convenient, and serviceable designation. The presence of this august and awful living element in the soul, therefore, is spoken of as the presence of CHRIST within us, the incarnation of CHRIST; they alone who possess IT are true Christians; and they who plead for it are ministers and messengers of Christ. But although the name Christ is thus used, Mr. Sutton is careful to tell us that he "does not identify the Spirit of God within us with any historical personage whatever; for he alleges that "Were the name of Jesus and his history henceforth altogether lost, still, the fact would remain as firm as ever, that God does visit, does become templed, incarnated, concreted divinity in man, and that of his fulness every human being may receive."