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THE COURT.
THE COURT. THE QUEEN remained at Balmoral during the past week. Her Majesty is living in comparative seclusion at her Highland residence. At the latter end of the week the Prince and Princess of Prussia arrived at the castle, and were affectionately greeted by her Majesty. THE Prince and Princess of Wales arrived at Marl- borough-house on Saturday from Scotland. In passing through Edinburgh, their Royal Highnesses dined with the Lord Provost, at his residence in George- square. The preparations made by his lordship for the reception of his Royal guests were on a scale of great magnitude and magnificence. The nurseries at Inverleith-row were liberallv laid under contribution to supply choice evergreens, flowers, and hot-house plants for the embellishment of the various apart- ments. Painters and decorators took possession of the establishment, and lavished their ingenuity in novel and effective designs. Mirrors were employed without limitation to magnify and reproduce the splendours of the rooms, and illuminated stained-glass windows were introduced to heighten the effect of the decorations. The dining-room on the ground floor was most mag- nificently fitted up. One of the windows overlooking the meadows was taken out, and an arbour of beau- tiful plants was formed outside which stretched into a vista, the end of which seemed an immeasurable distance away. Long waving palm branches were in- geniously arranged so as to produce a most striking effect; rare tropical plants of the most luxurious foliage, intertwined with delicate-tinted flowers, were disposed in the most artistic fashion; mirrors were placed so as to reproduce the flowers and the plants, and magnify the vista till the eye lost itself in a dim maze of foliage, and the effects of the whole were heightened and magnified by a blaze of light. Towards the upper end of the room, a combina- tion of heather and flowers was wrought into an ingenious device, in the centre of which was placed a small fountain of clear water. Tke furnishings of the dinner table were of the most sumptuous and costly description, and the general arrangement of the room was most elegant. On the decorations of the drawing- room neither labour nor money was spared, and the effect was strikingly magnificent. Adjoining the drawing-room was a boudoir for the Princess, which was most tastefully designed. The roof was concealed by a white lace canopy of fine wavy outline, and the walls were covered with white muslin. The furnish- ings were extremely elegant, and the whole of the interior fittings realised the idea of a magnificent Oriental tent. ON Sunday morning the Prince and Princess of Wales attended Divine Service in the Chapel Royal, St. James's. The sermon was preached by the Rev. Mr. Garden, sub-dean. The anthem was, "Sing we merrily unto God"—Crotch. Captain Grey and the Hon. Mrs. W. Grey were in attendance on their Royal Highnesses. The Duke of Cambridge was also present at the service. CAPTAIN GREY has relieved Lieutenant-Colonel Keppel in his duties as the Equerry in Waiting to the Prince of Wales. PRINCE ALFRED will, it is expected, shortly take his departure from Balmoral, to take a course of instruc- tion in Edinburgh, where his Royal Highness will at- tend the lectures of celebrated professors. The Prince will reside in Holyrood Palace.
POLITICAL GOSSIP.
POLITICAL GOSSIP. IT is stated that 4,000 pieces of ordnance of various sizes are being constructed in this country for the Russian Government. THE number of persons who have been ordered to repair to England from India, with reference to the court-martial to be held on Lieut.-Colonel Crawley, of the Inniskilling Dragoons, comprises thirteen officers, fifty non-commissioned officers and privates, and two natives. It is calculated that the cost of this proceed- ing will be little less than = £ 50.000. THE price of a substitute in America has now risen to < £ 1,000. This sum was given by John Morrisey, famed as a fighting-man, but who has no stomach for the work South. THE Paris papers are full of conjecture and specula- tion about the probable action of the three Powers in regard to Poland. La France emphatically repudiates the idea of France going to war for Poland unless aided by England and Austria. Most of the articles in the papers on the subject are, however, mere speculation, and have scarcely any practical interest. A CANADIAN paper states that the Marquis of Normandy (late Lord Mulgrave) is to be succeeded in the governorship of Nova Scotia by the Hon. Arthur Gordon, now Governor of New Brunswick. The Hon. J. Rose, Q.C., of Montreal, is to be the new Governor of New Brunswick. The same authority states that Captain Kennedy has been appointed Governor of Vancouver's Island in the reoin of Governor Douglas. LETTERS received from Warsaw state that the Russian Government is still unable to find an editor for the official journal there, although offering a salary equivalent to nearly = £ 1,000 a year-a large sum for a Warsaw editor. THE Siecle has an effective article denouncing the deeds of the Confederate privateers, and calling on the French Government to seize the Florida in reparation for the damages inflicted upon the property of French subjects. THE REV. JOHN IRWIN, a Canadian clergyman, now in Dublin, has published a letter in the Daily Express, in which he denies that there is any founda- tion for the statement of Mr. Darcy Magee, that the United States Government has designs upon Canada, and is preparing for an invasion. Speaking from per- sonal observation, he questions if two companies of soldiers could find a comfortable lodgment within the walls of the immense works said to be in progress at Rouse's Point, and which it is stated would accom- modate 500,000 stand of arms. A LOCAL contemporary understands that although he has resigned the office of Attorney-General, Sir William Atherton intends to retain his seat for the city of Durham. MR. ROEBUCK, M.P. for Sheffield, who is now stay- ing in Swanage, in Dorsetshire, delivered an address on Education in the Congregational School-room in that place, on Thursday evening last, to a very crowded audience. The Rev. S. Saville occupied the chair. u. « MADRID TELEGRAMS announce tlxat tliG revolt in fean Domingo is spreading, the Spanish forces being in some jeopardy. Some of the journals, in order to "explain" the revolt, assert that it is fostered by the Federal Government. THE formalities connected with the swearing in of Sir Roundel1 Palmer, Q.C., and Mr. Collier, Q.C., the now Attorney-General and Solicitor-General, were duly observed on Saturday. Both of the hon. and learned gentlemen have issued addresses to their constituents, at Richmond and Plymouth, and it is understood that they will be re-elected without opposition.
THE ARTS, LITERATURE, &c.
THE ARTS, LITERATURE, &c. THERE is now in course of erection in Bishop- wearmouth Church a monument to the late Thomas William Bowlby, the Times' correspondent, who was butchered by the Chinese in 1860. The monument bears an inscription written by his old schoolfellow, Mr. Tom Taylor. THE long-promised lions, moulded by Sir Edwin Landseer for the decoration of the base of the Nelson monument, are in a forward state; and Mr. Cowper hopes that when next her Majesty passes through Trafalgar-square "the finest site in Europe" will be cleared of, at least, some of the defects which now mar its beauty. By way of hint to students and teachers of technical art, says the Athenozum, we will quote the opinion of Sir E. Landseer, given before the Academy Commission, on the amount of instruction it may be desirable to press upon a student. In answer to question No. 1,267, Sir Edwin says, The students (of the Academy) teach themselves; you cannot teach a man beyond giving him a preliminary education. There are only a few things that can be taught in art; perspective and anatomy are the two most essential; and if I were to educate a landscape-painter, I would begin by giving him a perfect knowledge of the human skeleton." Again, the witness says, with regard to teaching in the Life School: "The visitors who are present there do not in point of fact teach they are there as books of reference. When a student has a difficulty he says, 'May I ask you to give your opinion upon so and so?'" AMONG the rwns of Pershore Abbey Church, Wor- cestershire, some workmen have discovered the remains of a parement of tiles, bearing the figures of men armed with bows and arrows, deer, lions, &c. These appear to ha/yg formed part of the floor of the north transept. In St. Edgar's Chapel, in the same abbey, similar relics have been found, also pieces of the bells that may have fallen during the conflagration which injured the edifice traces of fire are yet visible on the walls. The fragments of pavement are to be preserved in the interior of the church. THE Queen has caused to be presented to the Wind- sor Dispensary portraits of herself and the Prince Consort, lithographed by Vinter from the last paint- ings her Majesty and the Prince Consort sat for to Winterhalter. They are three-quarter size, and taken in parliamentary robes. The portraits were framed in maple; that of her Majesty is surmounted by a coronet. NEW MINERALOGICAL DISCOVERIEs.-The sub- joined account of mineralogical discoveries made in Siberia by M. Alibert, a Frenchman, is published in the French papers. "One day as he was traversing- a gorge in the Saian mountains, which separate the Russian Empire from China, he observed some unusual substance lying in the crevices of a gigantic rock; he ex- amined it more closely, and before long the men of his escort, who are at the same time guides, miners, and Cos- sacks, were on foot, and had exchanged their lances for pickaxes and hammers. After some days of continued labour, M. Alibert acquired the conviction that he was on the traces of an incomparable mine of graphite." But what is graphite ? Everyone is not bound to be a mineralogist. Graphite is the precious substance with which black lead pencils,- which were not known to the ancients, are made. The discovery of graphite only dates from the middle of the sixteenth century. Good graphite is very rare, more so than gold, silver, or any other production of the mineral kingdom. The best yet found was derived from the Borrowdale mine, in the county of Cumberland, England. That source is, however, now nearly exhausted, and only small fragments, overlooked by the first workers of the mine, are to be found. The discovery of graphite in the mountains mentioned has been followed by that of nephite or jade, which is a massive translucent mine- ral much valued in the East, and which until now has only been found at a few places in the Chinese Empire, and from its high price and great rarity the official sceptre of the sovereigns of the Celestial Empire was made of it. It will be remembered that one of the most remarkable curiosities derived from the plunder of the Summer Palace at Pekin was a jade sceptre. A block of this rare mineral, weighing 1,200 pounds, and of exceptional purity, has just been ob- tained. The Kensington Museum, at London, also possesses a valuable block. MESSRS. CASSELL, PETTER, AND GALPIN, the eminent publishers, are issuing a map of London in bits. It is on the magnificent scale of nine inches to the mile, and, when complete, will not be much less than a young street in size.—Court Journal. SOME useful hints and rather extraordinary facts relative to slavery are given in a work by Eliza Wigham, bearing as its title The Anti-Slavery Cause in America, and its Martyrs." This lady endeavours to show that the cause of abolition had not taken a very deep root in the North a few years ago, and that, however earnest its advocates may be, the people generally are too lukewarm.
I SPORTS AND PASTIMES.\
SPORTS AND PASTIMES. REMOVAL OF MESSRS. TATTERSALLS FROM "THE CORNER."—The necessary preparations have been commenced for the conversion of the Portman-street Barracks, Portman-square, which have been given up by Government, into a horse repository, for the use of the Messrs. Tattersalls, who are about to remove the whole of their extensive establishment thither from the premises so long occupied by them in Grosvenor- place, Hyde-park-corner. THE fact has been remarked by sportsmen in France this season that there is a great scarcity of quails in every part of the country. IN the county of Tipperary a gentleman of large property-a prince of good fellows in the hunting-field -lately died, leaving behind him the evidence of his peculiar tastes. The harness-room in connection with his stables was found to contain no fewer than 100 saddles, but few of them had ever been used. THE French sportsmen think of introducing the bronze pheasant of Japan, and hope that it will cross with the present pheasant of Europe, and introduce a hardier breed of birds which will increase in quantity and become hardy denizens of woods and forests, even during the severest winters. i The Fans Oricket Dlub promises to become a COIn- plete success. The players muster in sufficient numbers to insure periodical matches. THE Spaniards of Vittoria have introduced a refined piece of cruelty into their bull-fights-namely, the in- troduction into the arena of a very tame" and good- natured elephant, with the hope that the bull would attack and gore the elephant into reprisals. But their hopes were disappoimted. The enraged bull no sooner saw the monster than his pluck left him, and he walked quietly round the elephant, eyeing him with trepida- tion and curiosity. A GENUINE NIMROD.—A few days since Colonel R. Farquharson of Invercauld went out deer-stalking on Lochnagar. After a most laborious stalk, he with great difficulty got within range of a herd consisting of fifty stags, and was just about to fire right and left, when something or other startled the noble herd, which went off at a rapid pace along the shoulder of the mountain. The gallant colonel, however, was not inclined to be thus disappointed, and instantly spring- ing to his feet he spiritedly gave chase for about a quarter of a mile, when, having approached within upwards of two hundred yards, he fired, bringing down one of the best stags, there being two which he had marked out while on the stalk. Running a few yards farther forward he fired a second time, when the other tumbled over. THE CRICKETERS FOR AUSTRALIA.—The twelve cricketers who are in a few months to uphold the sporting fame of the mother country at the Antipodes, are all now in London, making the necessary prepara- tions for their long voyage, half round the earth. They were to receive the sum of money, £ 50 per man, which has been munificently sent over, as the price of their engagement, and they are now occupied in making purchases for their outfit. They were to have embarked early this month in the Great Britain, but the start has been delayed till the 15th, in order that this splendid steamship may be fitted with larger boilers. It is calculated that this alteration will have the effect of shortening the trip by six days. Some little alteration has been made in the original list, but we believe that the following is a correct list of those who will sail from Liverpool next week:—G. Parr, Jackson, E. C. Tinley, and A. Clarke (Nottingham- shire) Caffyn, Lockyer, and Csesar (Surrey); Ander- son (Yorkshire); Hayward, Carpenter, and Tarrant (Cambridgeshire); and Mr. E. M. Grace—probably the finest team of .cricketers the world ever saw united.
-+--Dr. Ager's Digger.
-+-- Dr. Ager's Digger. The Head Master of the Collegiate School at Aylsham, Dr. Ager, has invented a very ingenious machine for pulverising the soil and extirpating the weeds without breaking them. Everybody has now heard of Dr. Ager's Digger, but few people know how well it works. It is creating a good deal of excite- ment, however, amongst those who farm the light soils of Norfolk, to which, as yet, steam has not been applied as an economical substitute for horse-power, and being requested, says a correspondent of the Agricultural Gazette, to witness the performance of one of these machines on the farm of Mr. Hastings, who occupies a fine farm under the Earl of Leicester at Longham, near Dereham, I availed myself of the in- vitation, and was much pleased with what I saw. The occasion chosen for its exhibition was one of those ploughing matches which have effected so much for agricultural progress in this country, by establishing and recognising a community of interest between the farmer and his labourer. The digger is intended to perform the duties of the plough, cultivator, and harrow at one operation, in fact, to leave the land as it would be left after a thorough forking with a springy steel fork, the weeds being all deposited on the surface of a finely pulverised seed bed in a perfectly denuded state. The implement consists of a frame upon four wheels, containing two cylinders formed of seven discs or segments, from whose peri- pheries protrude a number of steel curved teeth six inches in length. This cylinder, revolving in the direction of the digger's advance, enters the soil with great ease, and to the depth of the teeth lifts it in a mass to the rear. There it is met by the rowels of the other and smaller cylinder, which work between the teeth of the larger one, being actuated by toothed wheels and pitch chain from the same; then free it of its load, and, revolving in a reverse direction, catch the weeds, divest them of mould, and scatter them lightly over the surface in the wake of the implement. The breadth 'of land taken by the implement I saw was twenty-seven inches; the diameter of the large cylinder thirty-six inches, and of the smaller one eighteen inches. The stubble on which the operation was performed stood in some need of cleansing, and therefore showed the digger to advantage. It would have done better, however, had no rain fallen during the night. There is no ploughing on this finely cultivated farm that would require more than two horses, and much that might be done with one. It is for the most part a thin staple on a gravel subsoil, much benefited by pretty frequent doses of clay. The digger was worked with six stout horses and two men. The pace at which they went would give about 3t acres a day, which I learn is a fair day's work for it, In the opinion of the most experienced men who witnessed the work, the one operation equalled one ploughing, 5s. 3d.; one scarifying with three horses, Is. 3d. an acre and one rolling and harrowing, 9d. an acre total, 7s. 3d. (the three ploughs doing four acres). On the other hand, the 3t acres would be cultivated by the digger for Xi, so that a slight saving is effected by its employment. The great advantage, of course, lies in the expedition with which the work is done at the right time; that is to say, the six or eight weeks that follow harvest.
Flower Garden and Shrubberies.
Flower Garden and Shrubberies. The weather is still very favourable for executing alterations; and where these are in hand they should be prosecuted with the greatest possible dispatch. Planting, or the removal of large evergreens, cannot be finished too soon for it is of the utmost importance that the plants should be afforded some chance of making fresh roots before bad weather sets in. See to even small plants being secured against wind for these are often greatly injured by being blown about after planting, which a small stake and a few minutes' work would prevent. Get in a stock of briars for budding upon as soon as the leaf is down. Let the roots be well trimmed, cutting back closely the strong ones; for these, if left, will be of little use except to furnish an endless supply of suckers. Sub-tropical plants and other choice things in the parterre can no longer be depended on as to display; it is there- fore desirable at this period to look over the masses aad see if there be anything of a tender character which it is desirable to secure for next year; such may be potted with balls and wintered in a cold pit. As the winter approaches, protection of some kind should be provided for plants and shrubs of tender character; almost any material is eligible, provided it will, in a considerable degree, throw off wet. Canopies for this purpose should be so contrived as to admit of one or two sides being opened at pleasure. If only one, it should be on the north or west side—certainly not on the south, as the excite- ment occasioned by fits of sunshine is apt to prove very prejudicial. The covering or canopy should by no means be allowed to touch the plant; and the greater the space allowed between it and the plant the better will it afford protection. It is bad practice to bundle the shoots together like a broom in order to make them occupy a more limited space; such may save trouble and material, but is a most injurious pro- ceeding. More injury is occasioned by confined damp, in a majority of cases, than by lowness of tem- perature. Hoodings of straw, so formed as to overlap the protecting material beneath, are very good and simple protectors, and if rightly contrived, may be removed with as much facility, for ventilation, as the top of an ordinary handglass. Oil-cloth will make a good protection also, formed into a kind of cone, on the sides of which a small flap or two may be made to open without admitting [rain. Before the application of any top-covering, we would advise an inch or two of the surface soil around the collar to be removed, and replaced with dry cinder siftings-the newer the better, or where it can be kept dry, cocoa-nut refuse. This last should be piled as high up the stem as the plant will admit, taking care not to choke too many of the lower leaves, and if the canopy is so contrived as to overlap this mound, the covering will be complete. The only thing that remains is to give air in favour- able opportunities, particularly avoiding cutting winds, which in all probability do more harm than frosts. Planting of bulbs must now occupy attention.- Gardeners' Chronicle.
ITOPICS OF THE WEEK.
TOPICS OF THE WEEK. THE NAVY.—" The Channel Fleet is still pursuing its triumphant course," writes our neighbour the Army and Navy Gazette, alluding to the ovation offered to tho navy in the reception given to the officers of that fleet at the various ports at which it has touched in its summer cruise. "The Navy," proceeds the kindly- disposed but mistaken critic, now bids fair to take its place by the side of its honoured sister, the army, in the estimation of the country." Noiv bids fair," surely our contemporary did not well weigh the unjust depreciation of that phrase. When was the navy otherwise than first in the estimation of Englishmen; to what distant period must we look to find our countrymen otherwise minded ? What forts, fort- resses, or citadels do we most value, those built of stone or those of wood ? What defence have we ever relied on, and what defence for centuries has been England's proud boast? why, her gallant navy. The dimensions of our islands, and the paucity of any army we can bring into the field, must leave us with chief reliance on the invincibility of our navy. Surely our able contemporary can hardly venture to compare the illustrious names which are to be found in the records of our generals with the more extended and glorious list of our distinguished admirals nor can he venture to compare the utility of the daring deeds of our army with that valour and conduct in the navy which has again and again been the salvation of England, from the days of Elizabeth to the present age. We are not depreciating our army, with its magnificent conduct under Wellington, still represented by living veterans; we are not unmindful of its claims to our admiration, proved in the bloody fields of the Crimea and India. We do not forget that Marlborough, Wolfe, and Abercrombie were our countrymen. Wherever our army may be tried it will be found equal to the occasion. We are not blind to the fact that the military service has found more favour with our rulers than the naval service, but our navy is the first service in the world, because it stands unrivalled among the nations. Our army has rivals, though no superiors; both services are entitled to our respect and gratitude, but it is unjust to the navy to say that it now iids fair to take its place by the side of the sister service." We shall be delighted if we can discover it to be the inten- tion of Government to improve the condition of naval oSioers of the popularity of such a step there can be no doubt. We cannot, however, but feel that it is a perfect anomaly to send our armour-clad fleet to sail round our islands and visit our ports without an effective gun on board any one of them which could make a hole in the side of its neighbour. We are thereby reminded of the brave knights of old, who were so encased in steel as to fight half a day without hurting anybody, unless some of them fell down and, not being able to flounder on their legs, were smothered in their armour. The Admiralty should look to it.- Examiner. MR. LINCOLN'S LAST DECREE.—Suppose, what might very well happen, that a small majority in Lan- cashire objected to a war which all the rest of Great Britain were fiercely resolved to wage, would the Ministry, if they agreed with the nation, be justified in pursuing that war ? Nobody doubts that they would; yet that is all Mr. Lincoln means by the decree which seems to affect some Liberals with so sudden a consti- tutional shudder. The President, in suspending the habeas corpus for military purposes, is simply doing what the Premier would undoubtedly do, i. e., over- riding a local existence, though he is compelled by his unmanageable Constitution to do it in a very cumbrous way. In this country Lancashire, after proper argu- ment, would be quietly disregarded, and would await in patience the reflux of public opinion. In America Lancashire would claim not only the right to be heard in proportion to her votes and her wealth, but the right to stop the supplies of men on her individual account. It is quite clear that the mass of the nation, from whatever motives, intend the war with the South to go on, and it is also clear that it cannot go on unless the North can call its militia into the field. So strongly did Congress, which, though limited in its power, still like the Presi- dent represents the nation and not a section of the nation, feel this necessity, that it passed the Acts required to mobilise the militia within the whole territory of the United States. That is the whole meaning and purport of the denounced Conscription Act, which differs in no appreciable respect from the Acts under which our own Government could to-morrow i enforce the ballot for the Militia." In this country, if that Act were enforced with general consent, re- fractory countries would be very speedily compelled to obey the law. In America, they can, while the civil law reigns, arrest or stop the, machine. Ohio, for in- stance, not liking the Act, can insist on trying every claim to draft any individual by her own Supreme Courts, and thus by mere force of delay can override the national representation. The war being equally waged for all the States, it is necessary either to abandon it or to make all States pull together; but the Constitution, framed by men who dreaded power quite as much as the misuse of power,-does not pro- vide civil means, and Americans, to the frantic disgust of our Tories, will not hear of revolution. The Govern- ment has no civil power to arrest the action of the States, no absolute Parliament at its back, and the President is compelled to cast about for new devices to execute the national will. Fortunately for those who dread revolution, his powers as commander-in-chief, in time of war, either are, or are held to be, very large indeed, and among them he finds a weapon which, clumsy though it seems, "enables the nation in practice to carry out the policy on which it has resolved. The States must act through the Courts, and by suspending the habeas corpus he disables the Courts from acting. The State action once impeded, the power of Congress is the only one which he is bound to respect, and he consequently carries out the Act passed by Congress, when necessary, by force. That may be wise or foolish, harsh or well- considered but it is no more an act of despotism than a similar one in England would be. The only difference is, that in England we have, by the favour of Provi- dence, escaped a paper Constitution, and have delegated the absolute power over itself which every nation needs in emergency to an instrument which can work. A similar difficulty here would be met by a short bill similarly suspending the ordinary authority of the Courts, and Parliament being absolute the illegal action would at once be legal. The United States are less lucky, and when the nation and a State diner, the national will is compelled to execute itself in some roundabout or apparently tyrannical way. Mr. Lin- coln's decree is not a triumph for him over the people, but for the Union over the ruinous pretensions of its component States.—Spectator. REST AND BE THANKFUL.—Sunset has always attracted the poetical mind.. The mellow haze and golden calm which wait upon the dying day recall the good man melting into fame, surrounded and suffused by the subdued radi-ince of his own good deeds. So it is with autumn. There is a tinge of melancholy about the fruitfulness of the waning year, but, on the whole, the autumnal feeling is one of soft thankfulness. The season tells of the strong powers of life put forth, of the bursting and abounding fruits of vintage and har- vest, and of the victories of labour. There is a pause before the evil days of frost and nakedness. We rest and are thankful. It was but natural that Earl Russell should feel that this congenial topic was at the bottom of his mind at the Blairgowrie festival. After tra- versing all Europe and America, and dilating on all the political topics of the day, and surveying his own busy and restless career, lie found that he was disin- clined to do more. Thankful for the day's long work, he prepared himself for bed, smoothed his own pillow, and addressed himself to grateful sleep. We do not mean to say that he has not done enough to deserve his slumbers, but the difficulty is that he seems to suggest that it is bedtime for all his countrymen too. It does not follow that all our eyes ache because Earl Russell cannot keep his own open any longer; and though he has been a roadmaker in his time, we are not prepared to admit that the race of Macadam is to die with him. We may be thankful for the road, but rest is another matter. The lassitude and desire of repose which attend the later afternoon of life, and the natural love of a peaceful euthanasia, however real, may arise from very different causes. There is not a more touching or beautiful moral spectacle than the ripeness and the richness of a long and consistent life sinking, like the sun in his declining strength, more lovely ere his course be run." But in this sort of life there is not the violence and shock of contrast. Earl Russell's sunset may be golden and thankworthy, but his day has been chequered enough. No doubt the stormy petrel itself may have a home, and may betake itself to die surrounded by the grateful attentions of many generations of young petrels, but it is a bird at whose death-nest few naturalists have assisted. Earl Russell, too, may talk in a very edifying way of his calm and grateful desire to repose in the quiet haven where the winds breathe soft and the tempests cease to roar: but the taste is at least, for him, a new one. His life, at any rate, has been spent in disturbing other people's tranquillity, not perhaps altogether without a sacrifice of his own quiet. He has been a Reformer all his days; and reforming, amending, improving, cannot be achieved without a certain amount of agitation, and flurry, and jar. His eulogist on this very occasion recalls his strenuous fights," and his successful efforts to burst this and that fetter and shackle." But fighting and hammering at hard obstructive chains are not easy work. Nor is the task of upsetting ministries and managing successful intrigues quite 'n consistent with a love of personal ease. We do not mean to say that all these things may not be, under certain circumstances, a matter of duty, but one does not look for them in a very peace-loving man-in a man who pines for rest, who longs for the hour of sunset. Warwick the king-maker is not the man from whom one would expect to hear an aspiration to tired nature's sweet restorer. So, too, the author of the Durham Letter is not one whom it is easy to picture exchanging the mustard-pot for the oil-fiask. You do not look for the assuager of tempests in the cloud- compelling king. The statesman who curtly and insolently dismissed Lord Palmerston from office may very honestly—yet at the same time very oddly, and perhaps not altogether without a pang—parade him- self as this very Lord Palmerston's eulogist and subordinate; and, after performing such a feat, he may feel disposed to close the curtains on his own political life.—Saturday Revievj.
--OUR MISCELLANY.
OUR MISCELLANY. What pupil is most to be pitied ? The pupil of the eye, because it is always under the lash. I say, Brown, what a close shaver Jones is- why, he'll squabble about a penny! Well, what if he does ? said Brown; the less one squabbles about the better." Epigram.— "Attend your church," the parson cries To church each fair one goes; The old go there to close their eyes, The young to eye their clothes. The Baby Towers at Shanghai.—They are wells surrounded by walls, with apertures through which the bodies are thrown in. It appears that all poor people's children, which die in infancy, are wrapped up in straw and deposited in one of these towers to avoid the expense of coffins and burial cere- monies. They emit a terrible odour, and when the mass of straw bundles almost reach the top of the tower, it is emptied, the contents are burnt, and the ashes spread as manure over the fields. Such a mode of dis- posing of the bodies of infants struck us as a great incentive to infanticide, a crime which is so very common in China.-A Lady's Visit to Manilla and China. By Annct D'A. Chinese Pigtails.—Failing to find the veritable head man, who probably had made off on the first scent of alarm, the twelve most respectable-looking and oldest inhabitants were selected, fastened to one another by the pigtails, and conducted before Mr. Parkes for admonition. On arriving, the front man prostrated himself precipitately, which nearly wrenched out by the root the tail of the man behind him, and who was compelled to succumb to the tug. In his turn he likewise pulled down the next, and so, like successive ninepins, they were all at the feet of their captors. After a considerable lecture, they were told to rise, which they did rather more carefully, and were marched into the town, where, after a short detention, and another lecture as to social obligations, they were set at liberty.—Three Years' Service in China. Vermin and Birds.-There was in my youth as much worry from vermin as now, though perhaps there was not such extensive ravage. Kites and owls and rooks were nailed up on barn-doors; foxes spoiled young broods, and caused many tears aEonf children who wept sore for their pet chicks. Farmers called rooks black rascals," and hired bird-boys to scare them from the. fields. The squires' keepers were always provoking village wives, and maidservants, and schoolgirls by shooting cats; and the whole neigh- bourhood complained of the consequent plague of mice. In the kitchen garden the worm" was a sad pest in the carrot bed. I used to see gooseberry bushes as bare as any I see now, both as to leaves and fruit; and there was plenty of swearing at the birds in the cherry trees and the wasps among the apricots. Yet there was no such complaint, as far as I remember, as we hear this autumn of total devastation in the fruit garden. However freely the birds might help them- selves, they always left enough for us.—Oyice a Week. Napoleon XII.—The great drive in Paris is now through the Champs Elysees to the Bois de Boulogne. Thither the Emperor and Empress proceed almost daily, when the weather is at all inviting- Louis Napoleon is sometimes in a carriage and four with outriders, but more generally appears on horseback, followed by a groom. He is uniformly splendidly mounted, sits his horse well, and as a chevalier appears to advantage. He is now in good health, and appears less livid than he did some years ago. Occasionally he dismounts near the lake, and takes a short walk. He leans heavily on his stick, walks slowly, an d treads the ground like one whose limbs are feeble. He works daily at his "Life of Csesar," and conferred no later than Sunday, the 10th of May, with the Imperial printer, Henri Plon, touching the publication.—Eraser's Magazine. The Duke's Razors.—" My friend Geo. Smythe, the late Lord Strangford, once told me that, staying at Walmer Castle with the Duke of Wellington, the Duke informed him, one morning at breakfast, that he was obliged to go up to London immediately, as all his razors required setting, but he would be back to dinner. Lord Strangford very naturally offered to lend the Duke his razors, which, luckily for the Duke, he did not accept; for Lord S., who was somewhat careless about his personal appearance, shaved with razors something like miniature saws, which made one shudder to look at. Lord S. then offered to take the razors to Dover, but the Duke replied, The man who always sharpens my razors has sharpened them for many years: I would not trust them with any one else He lives in Jermyn-street, and there they must go. So you see, Strangford, every man has a weak point, and my weak point is about the sharpening of my razors. Perhaps you are not aware that I shave my- self, and brush my own clothes I regret that I cannot clean my own boots; for men-servants bore me, and the presence of a crowd of idle fellows annoys me more than I can tell you.' "-Captain Gronoiv's Recol- lections. Celtic Remains in Africa.-A Scotch gentle- man, Mr. Henry Christie, says a letter from Paris, has lately returned from a scientific tour in Africa, for which he started from Constantine in April last, in company with M. L. Feraud, interpreter of the French army in Africa. The object of M. Christie's search- which object has taken him already into many lands- is Celtic remains; he has now been very fortunate, finding a cemetery about twenty-five miles south-east of Constantine entirely filled with tombs. In three days one thousand of these cromlechs were examined; seventeen were opened and the contents investigated. Bones of men, women, horses, and birds, buckles, brass an4 iron rings, and many vases, were discovered. In two tombs the skeletons were yet perfect; they were reclining on the left side, the knees nearly touch- ing the chin, and the hands crossed over the breast. But the most important discovery, as fixing a date- though the date has terribly disappointed the anti- quaries—was that of the body of a man and horse in one burial blent," with which were some specimens of engraved silex, and a bronze medal of Faustine, a princess, who departed this life A.D. 141. All these excavations were carried out at the expense of Mr. Christie, who has presented the results of his labours to the Museum of Constantine. Another large necro- polis" has been discovered at Aures. Garibaldi's Glass.-A writer in All the Year Round" concludes an account of Garibaldi's defence of Rome in 1840 with the following incident, which hap- pened the day that Garibaldi withdrew with his band: -Some weeks previously, he says, I had lent a Cary's pocket telescope to a young Neapolitan who was fighting in the Roman ranks. One evening, on returning from the field, he came to. me, with a rather disconcerted air, to inform me that he no longer had my glass. The general had seen him make use of it, had borrowed it from him and, struck with its excel- lence, had inquired if it were his own ? No, general," was the answer, "It belongs to an English family residing here." Give me their address, and say that I regret that the necessities of war oblige me to borrow their property." The message was duly communi- cated to me; but I confess my confidence in the general was not sufficient to awaken in me any great expectation of ever seeing my glass again. But I had done injustice to Garibaldi. On thQ last day (for ,that time) of his Eoman career, when not only his own life, but the lives of all his gallant men, of his noble sons, and of his ill-fated wife, were in dark hazard and uncertainty, he did not forget this trifling matter. The lancer, whom he had seen riding so fast, was dis- patched by his chief with orders to find our house and restore the glass. Ignorant of the Eoman localities, he had ridden into various porte cocheres before he could discover where we lived creating awful alarm .in the quiet neighbourhood. But he made us out at last, and delivered his message a little daughter of mine received his trust j rom him; and, ever since a special value has been a tached by her, and by all of us, to Garibaldi's glass." The Queen of Saxony and the Half-crow n. -23rd December, 1822. Mr. Irving came in with Barham Suras to talk about plays, but soon got on the subject of his yesterday's adventures at the Sohloss, where he had been presented to the old King by the English minister, and been very well received. We compared notes about our presentations at this curious old court. He was very much amused to hear that my mother, the evening she was presented, was invited, as the highest honour that could be shown her, to sit down to cards with the old King, the Queen, and Prince Antoine, to play whist for half-a-crown the rubber. Now, the flowered robe and velvet train of Mrs. Foster, rich as they were in ornament, had (forgive the confession, you matronly housekeepers) no pockets. Money had not been provided, or thought of, in the evening's toilette! And my mother found herself indebted to the Queen of Saxony to the extent of two whole shillings and a sixpence. Terrible dilemma What was to be done ? A whisper to the gilded chamberlain behind her chair brought no relief; he was in a similar predicament, and could offer her no silver, or gold either, but his golden key, insignia of his omce The good old King read some hidden trouble in my mother's eye, and suggested payment in the morning. The hint was taken, and accordingly our trusty Gottlieb, the head, servant in our household, with the due sum in silver, wrapped in silver paper and scented envelope, was safely delivered to her Majesty, who caused the mes- senger to be detained till her Majesty's commands were committed to writing by the lord-in-waiting, to my mother; pressing commands for Mrs. Foster's acceptance of an invitation to a state dinner to be given the next day. Mr. Irving relished this half- crown business exceedingly, as a sample of the curious mixture of simplicity with stately etiquette at this court.-The Life and Letters of Washington. The Magsman and Jack Ketch.-I once at- tended an execution in the North, and I determined if possible to fleece Jack Ketch. My pals and I set to work, found out where he lodged, and by what train he would leave the town where the execution took place. I got to the station in good time, and kept a sharp look out for my friend the executioner. Presently Jack Ketch arrived, and with him a mob, who hooted and groaned dreadfully. We thieves thought they were groaning at us, and we began to be alarmed; but we soon saw that they were hooting the hangman. He took his seat, and we took ours. Still the mob yelled and groaned. A gentleman asked what it was all about, when I told him that Jack Ketch was with us in the carriage. On this several passengers became indignant, and declared they would not travel in the same carriage with a common hangman. I took Jack Ketch's part, and told them that if there was no law there would be no living; and that as murderers must be hung, somebody must do it. But they all left the carriage, and Jack Ketch quite took to me because I stuck up for him, which pleased me exceedingly. I told him that I was sorry and ashamed to see a public servant treated in such a scurvy manner. After a,, while some of my pals—we acted the part of perfect strangers to each other-began to play at cards, win- ning I:> and losing among themselves with varying fortunes. They asked me to join them, and I care- lessly consented. Sometimes I won, sometimes I lost; at last I began to lose heavily, and Jack Ketch in pity for my easy-going nature, and out of gratitude for my sympathy with him, began to offer me his advice and assistance. I refused his counsel, and persisted in losing. Ketch got excited, began to bet, and we soon fleeced him heavily. Gradually the truth dawned upon him that we were a swell-mob party, when he became furious. In angry tones he told us what we were, and demanded the return of his money. With a sneer I answered, Give back the blood and life you took this morning, and I will give you back your biood-money,> At the next station I made my escape, and left the hangman in the lurch.-Onee a Week.