Letter from Henry Nathan to Isaac Leeser;June 18, 1855
- Title
- Letter from Henry Nathan to Isaac Leeser;June 18, 1855
- Author
- Henry Nathan
- Contributor
- Isaac Leeser
- Format
- Letter. 4 page(s) on 2 sheet(s).
- Letter
- Type
- Letter
- Language(s)
- English
- Physical Characteristics
- Unlined Paper
- Wax Seal
- Manuscript
- content
-
Curacao June 18th 1855
Rev Isaac Leeser
Philadelphia
Dear Sir
I am in receipt of your esteemed form of March 14th and also of a box containing 5 sets festival prayers pr Sarah which arrived here on the 2nd Inst. The Books however were not landed till yesterday, as from the tenor of your letter, it was impossible to imagine there was anything on board for me, as not her letter of advice nor B/L waqs sent with them. In fact, a few days after the arrival of the vessel she sailed for a neighbouring port and while sailing out of the Harbour I learned there was a parcel on board to my address. I was therefore compelled to await her return The Books were in good order and have been delivered to the party who ordered them. I have sold them at fourteen dollars pr set, contenting myself with 3⅓ % rather than lose the sale. Consequently there is in my hands sixty seven dollars fifty cents, say $67,50, to your credit which shall be very soon remitted. I regret to say, that your Bibles do not sell quickly, there are but few here who know or care any thing about Biblical literature, and still fewer who care about an English Translation. You are indebted to Elias Lindo's unwearied energy for the few already sold. I have neither the time nor the strength to walk about with a Bible under my arm offering it for a sale. During E L's visit to your city, he must have given you ample information respecting this Island. But even if he has not done so, it is too disagreeable a subject to enlarge upon. In future unless specifically ordered I would not recommend you to send any Books here, If I can sell those on hand minus my commission I will do so, and without my boasting I would do any thing else in my humble way to serve you, but to sell books is almost an impossibility here.
Dutch & French books are obtained and used by many and I am I confess, surprised, not at the small number you sold, but at the great number On a future occasion, if you should send any more here, be a little more particular, about sending notice of shipment, for if in this instance the Box and its contents, had been lost, the fault would not have been mine. How is it no Occidents have arrived by the Venus? or the Sarah? If you have them ready you can send them to Messrs D Appleton & Co. N.Y. who have to send me some books, and they will pack up with them up in the same trunk. Excuse the apparent negligence of my letter, I am compelled to write at night, after elven hours of tiresome teaching, and my sight begins to fail slightly. Do not wonder at my not ordering any of your Catechisms & other works, my school is not a religious one, but licensed by the Island authorities and except during one hour in the morning, nothing that can strictly be called religion is permitted, the pupils consisting of Israelites Protestants and Catholics, as in all the other schools here, and they are far too numerous, to yield any thing like a proper remuneration for so arduous an employment as teaching. A change may take place as the Mahamad has at last written to Holland for a Hebrew. I had urged this from my arrival, as it is really lamentable, to see the oldest congregation the W I. nay the western world, and which formerly had its Hebrew and Hebrew now without either. I am sure there are not six persons in the Congregation who understand any thing of Hebrew except the mere reading nor have my they any taste for it. I have done all I could to diffuse a taste, and my want of success I must attribute to my unfitness for I do not feel authorised to blame others the community till others better qualified than I have attempted the task, I await the result and hope it may be successful, tho' the fault rest with me
Excuse this long intelligible scrawl. Hoping you are quite well and with kind regards in which ? unites.
I am yours truly
M N Nathan
PS Do not send me more number of the Occident than those named—which I believe are 4. Edwards, Julien D Caperes P Jesurun. E Lindo must have paid you the subscription, consequently you may know better than I the exact number.
Rev Isaac Leeser
Philadelphia
US
pr Sarah
6/53 - Identifier
- LSDCBx2FF2_33
- Date
- 1855-06-18
Part of Letter from Henry Nathan to Isaac Leeser;June 18, 1855
Henry Nathan, “Letter from Henry Nathan to Isaac Leeser;June 18, 1855”, 1855-06-18, Isaac Leeser Digital Repository, accessed September 7, 2024, https://judaicadhpenn.org/legacyprojects/s/leeser/item/68101