Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1870-12-15
THE NUMBER SEVEN.

"
fail 10 notice the frequent occurrence d
certain numbers; and in both the Old aud
New Testaments We 6nd that unusual
prominenea is given to the numbers.
The Old Testament opens with the crea-
tion Of tie world which l. said 10 have oc-
cupied six days. and the seventh wss de-
vofed to rsposs and aaaoug the Jewsthe
seventh year b asso ccusecrAt<d % the
rest Of the year. and is called the sabbatiral
year, and the seven times seventh yea- is
styled the year of jubilee.
Ii would be almost impossible to mem-
ton all the instances in which the mum.
Der seven occurs in the Scriptures. bu,
We viii briefly no;i'e few Of them, and
perhaps some Of our readers NAV be in
terested to search for themselves for a
number which figures so conspicuously in
the sacred writings. and to whose religious
significance many scholarly minds have
given much time and thought.
In the Old Testament we have the seven
days of the week: we find also tha. in
certain sacrifices the. sprinkiing of blood
was repeated seven times; that a leprcus
house was closed for seven DAYS. aud af.
terward sprinkled seven times; the con-
secration of the priests continued seven
days; the feast of the tabernacle lasted
seven days, and children were no. circum-
cised until they had reached their seventh
day. All are familiar with the story of
Jacob, who served seven years each for
Leah and Rachel. In Pharaoh's dreams,
of which Joseph was the interpreter, the
number of seven as applied to the kline
aud the ears o: corn, signiied the seven
years of plenty and Of famine that were to
come upon the land of Egypt
Seven years were required to conquer
Canaan, and the temple was sev,n wears
in building. Naaman was commanded
to wash seven times in Jordan. In com.
passing the city of Jericho. seven priests,
bearing seven trumpets of rams horns.
preceded the ark; they thus marched
about tue city seven days. and on the sew
enth day seven times.
As magical charm, Samson was bound
with seven green withes, aad seven locks
OK his hair were woven with the web
In the New Testament we have the sew
en- baskets of fragments. In Mathew
xviii. 81, 22, we read: "Then came
Peter to him, and said. Lord, how oft
shall my brother sin against me, and 1
forgive him? Till seven times? Jesus
saith unto him, say not unto thee until
seven times, but until seventy times sew
en-" $50.
In the book of Revelation the number
seven is used very frequently. There are
seven churches of Asia, seven stars, seven
golden candlesticks, seven spirits of God,
the lamb with seven horns aud seven eyes,
the book with seven seals, seven angels
with seven trump,ts, seven thun1ers, s,v-
en- via!s with seven last plaques. the earth
gu Ike destroying seven thousand men,
and the beast and the dragon having each
seven heads. The witnesses prophesy in
sackcloth the half of seven years, and lie
unhuried the half Of seven years
From sacred history we pass to profanc;
and among LARGE number of examples.
we will mention the seven ages. the sevea
champions, the sevep hills, the seventh
son OF the seventh son, the seven sleepers,
the seven wonders of the world. the seven
stages of life (ShaEespearc). and the seven
wise men. In astronomy we have the
seven stars called -pleiades, situated in
the neck Of the constellation Taurus. We
read Of the seveu-fold shield of Ajax; of
seven-fold rage: Milton SAYS:
..of every beast, and bird, and insect small,
Came sevens and pairs
There is an ancient couplct, by Thomas
Hayward, who lived i'll the seventeenth
century, which runs thus:
''Seven cities warrei for Homer. being dead.
Who, living, had no roof 10 shield his head
Ithas been frequently stated that seven
is the number of hours that should be de-
voted to sleep. We remember a little
couplet on this point which amused US in
cur childhood:
Mature requires FIVE. custom takes seven,
LaziIess nine, and wickedness eleven
Sir William Jones gives the safes. coun-
sci in regard to this matter:
Seven hours TO care, 10 soothing slumber sew
Ten to the world silot, and all TO Heaven"
Seven is often used to Indicate a great
number-as, Seven times US many,"
"Seven score" and Doubled seven
times" and to refer to the Bible once
more. we End in Proverbs this passage: !:
The sluggard is wiser in his own con-
ceit thaa seven men that can render 4 rea-
SON."
Leaving the sober paths of sacred and
profane history, we find that the number
seven has also been popularity adopted in
the fell Of wit and humor; however, we
viii give but one example. and that is an
ancient riddle:
"As was going TO ST. Ives,
l met seven wives:
Each ife had seven sacks,
, Each sack had seven cats,
Each cat had seven kits,
How many were going 10 81. fves?''
4 HIST FOR TRanEsaEy.-The Niagura
Nail says that advertising goods us Jest
Ike snoria' or takin' crying baby TO
church. IT, you sheep in church and don't
snore. how's folks on the back seats or in
gallery to know you are there? and in re-
gard to the baby. folks would never know
you could raise one. If. when nurse takes
him TO church. he didn't hegin to let o.i
steam. But when be yeiis Ou, good and
strong. everybody. parson and all, feel
mighty god; they look at him and ssy
20 themselves. Fine baby that, by hoSey