Flintshire Observer Mining Journal and General Advertiser for the Counties of Flint Denbigh

MOTIVES: A SPIRITED PROTEST. Addressing his usual congregation of about 1000 people in Bromley (Kent,) Congregational Church on Sunday morning, the Rev. R. H. Lovell said I have lately been looking closely into the writing in our best and greatest newspapers, and reading a great many of the speeches of our leading public men on varied topics, and this is what I find-appeals to fear, to selfishness, to policy, to Belf-aggraadise- ment, and to all sorts of lower motives. One finds hardly an article, and hardly a speech on this ground-Is it right? I declare to you that nine-tenths of the appeals made to men to-day as grounds of action are made on lower issues, and generally on this issue-What that we do not like will happen if we do this ? I set no value on efforts to evangelise, nor on prayers nor charities, if men are not anxious first to do what is right. I, do not believe that money obtained by scheming, or any unworthy means, and then given to a church, ever yet helped the Gospel cause. So long M our workers and our means are not right, they cannot promote anything in Christ's kingdom, and I protest against chapels, churches, or cathedrals, or any religious institutions, being endowed with money which has been obtained in an unrighteous way,"

IN Scotland bishops have to support their dignity on some E600 or E700 a year. A GENTLEMAN ordered for dinner the highest ornament of a woman roasted, the best part of a man fried, and temptation baked in a puff. What did the dinner consist of ?—Roast bare (hair), fried sole (soul), and apple tart (temptation in the garden of Ødea).

THE SPITZER SALE. A GRBAT ART COLLBCTIOK. Certainly no artistic event of equal importance with the forthcoming sale in Paris of this wonderful collec- tion has for a number of years occupied the art world. For a parallel to the interest which it excites not only among connoisseurs and dealers but with the general publio we must go back to the sale of the Hamilton Palace Collection in 1882. It must be re- membered, too, that that sale stood, as did the subse- quent ones of the Blenheim and the Dudley House pic- tures respectively, on an altogether different footing, since the interest, although in some respects a higher one—seeing that paintings of the highest class and the greatest fame were involved- was, on the other hand, far more restricted, and the field covered much less vast. The Basilewski Collection- shown as part of the Exposition Retrospective of the Trocad6ro at the Universal Exhibition of 1878, and afterwards acquired en bloc by the Russian State under a private contract-was the only rival of the Spitzer Collection in certain branches. In comparison with the latter, the now dispersed treasures of the Fountaine and Magniac Collections, not a few of which found their way, be it noted, into the hands of the late Mr. Spitzer, must cease to astonish; and with it even the great groups of works of art brought together by leading members of the Rothschild family in Paris and Frankfort cannot compete on equal terms. The late Frederic Spitzer, a native of Vienna, was entirely the architect of his own fortunes, and con- quered his unique position in the art-world of Paris and the Continent generally by his surprising energy, boldness, and power of self-education, and by a pecu- liar quality, too, that can only be described as le flair —that instinct which enables the connoisseur to distinguish not only the good from the indiffe- rent, bnt what is supremely fide from what is very good. Establishing himself in Paris in or about 1852 as a dealer in these special branches, and achieving a success and a supremacy among his confreres which was un- grudgingly acknowledged, he by degrees, as his wealth grew, and with it his honourable ambition, formed the design of bringing together not a mere collection of splendid objects of vertu, but a veritable museum of decorative, applied, and industrial arts generally, beginning with the earliest post-classical periods of the Byzantine and Romanesque styles on the one hand, and ending with the 17th and 18th centuries on the other. This museum the late col- lector continued to add to and to complete with in- finite labour and skill, during the whole of the latter part of his career, weeding out things less than first-rate, but not otherwise impairing its integrity his object being that after his death it should be disposed of as a whole to the Louvre, or, as an alternative, to some other great museum, Continental or British, so as to preserve unimpaired its interest as a resume of the finest in- dustrial art. This plan, for the achievement of which Mr. Spitzer always declared himself prepared to make the most important pecuniary sacrifices, has, unfortunately, proved impossible of achievement at the present moment, and the collection will only be seen in its intregrity for about three weeks longer, previous to its dispersal at the mansion of the late collector, No. 33, Rue de Villejust, Paris-a private museum built expressly to enshrine it-by a sale which will extend from April 17 to June 16, both days inclusive. In certain branches the Spitzer Collection is only to be surpassed in splendour and artistic worth by such phenomenal gatherings of precious and pre- ciously-wrought'objects as are to be found in the Salle d'Apollon of the Louvre, the New Imperial Museum at Vienna, and the so-called Green Vaults of Dresden—the last-named as splendid as, but much less valuable from an artistic standpoint, than its rivals. Even these marvellous collections, however— the accumulated riches of successive dynasties— lack in some respects the completeness which the late Mr. Spitzer successfully strove to give to his chrono- logical series of works, constituting together what may be called, in the widest sense of the term, the ■mobilier of ths Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The collection contains a few pictures, main.'y of the 15th century, but these may be passed over as relatively unimportant, and even the miniatures and illuminations, though more remarkable, need not on the present occasion detain us. It is questionable, however, whether more beautiful or more perfectly preserved Flemish tapestries of the 15th and early 16th centuries, chiefly of the fabriques of Arras and Brussels, have ever been seen together than on the present occa- sion. Even the Davillier Collection, with its so-called Reine des Tapisseries (bequeathed to the French nation), is in this respect surpassed. Italian sculpture of the Quattrocento period of the Renaissance is not represented on anything like so extensive a scale or in such interesting fashion as in the Gustav Dreyfus or Edouard Andre collections in Paris, or in the Drury-Fortnum collection in England; but it con- tains one vast ensemble of extraordinary beauty and interest-the series of exquisite marble reliefs exe- cuted just at the turn of the century (1508) for Duke Alfonso of Ferrara, and by the most competent authorities attributed to Antonio Lombardo, son of Pietro and brother of Tullio Lombardo, of Venice. This, if it should prove to be within the means of the South Kensington Museuin, would be a most desirable acquisition for the nation, seeing that, rich as its collections are in examples of the Florentine, the Sienese, and the Milanese Renais- sance, it owns no example recalling the period- circa 1500—when the Lombardi and Alessandro Leopardi shared the artistic supremacy as sculptors in Venice. The period of the early Renaissance in France, when French and Italian influences were still battling, is represented by several magnificent chimney-pieces and other monumental decorations of the same type. To do more than rder to the Italian caskets of gesso, modelled, painted, and gilt; the splendid carved furniture, chiefly French, and in the various styles comprised between the transitional Gothic of the fifteenth century and the late Renaissance; the wondrous examples of the locksmith's art, is in the present summary impossible. It is in the department of:what may be styled, though a little vaguely, ecclesiastical art-in its endless series of processional crosses, pastoral staffs, croziers, morses, holy vessels for ritual service, reliquaries, shrines, and caskets-that the Spitzer Collection is, it may be boldly said, absolutely unrivalled. Here is seen the oloisonne enamel identified with Byzantine art; here the finest champleve enamels of Limoges, vie with, but do not quite equal the best examples of the Rhenish-Byzantine contemporary art of the 12th and 13th centuries; and the trans- lucent enamels which were executed alike in Italy, Germany, and France during the 14th and 15th cen- turies appear side by side. Among countless marvels may be singled out for mention the surprising pro- cessional cross in silver, gilt and decorated with trans- lucent enamels (No. 303), which is a Spanish work of the 15th century; the so-called bust-reliquaries in repousse silver partly gilt, which are of the Hispano- Flemish school of the same century (Nos. 309 and 310): and, in quite á different style, the great Venetian Tabernacle of 16th-century work is repousse silver and ebony (No. 390). Among the ivories, which, superb as they are, do not exceed in beauty the admirable series in our own South Kensington I Museum, we will note besides the more familiar statuettes representing the Virgin and Child, and the delicate 14th century reliefs, sculptes a jour, of sacred subjects, some wonderfully carved oliphants or horns, and two unique saddles of 12th or early 13th century Gothic work, still strongly recalling Byzantine motives. Another depart- ment in which the Spitzer Collection comes very close to the Louvre itself, and leaves far behind it all other competitors even the South Kensington Museum, which is exceptionally rich in this respect —is that of Limoges enamels on copper of the late 15th and 16th centuries. Here the series begins with the dazzling brilliant triptychs of Nardon Penicaud, and goes on with the Penicaud group. L6onard Limousin, Pierre Raymond, Jean Cour- tois, Nouailher, De Court, and all the most brilliant luminaries of this great artistic industry. The crown- ing piece in this extraordinary display of Limoges is the great enamelled picture by Leonard Limousin, with Neptune stilling the waves," than which the Salle d'Apollon itself contains nothing more magnifi- cent. Here we have reproduced by the King of Limoges enamellers, in 15 plaques, Marc-Antonio Raimondi's plate after Raphael's design, known as the Q*»08 Ego." Nowhere else is to be seen a finer or a better-chosen set of examples of Palissy ware Per~*Pa justnow a little less popular with collec- tors than it has been—than that here brought together, comprising as it does between 40 aA 50 choice pieces. None of these, however, quite attain the proportions of the importance of the two great decorative pieces (pgunnes rustigues) which were in the Fountaine sale. The seven pieces of the famous Henri II. ware, more correctly described now as Faience de St. Porchaire, make up a group only sur- passed by that in the Louvre, although a few individual pieces in the collections of members of the Rothschild family exceed in beauty and ela- boration any of those here brought together. With regard to the Italian Majolica, too, magnificent as are many of the specimens here seen, they do not, as a whole, come up to the level of the unsurpassed series displayed in the British and South Kensington Museums respectively, or, indeed, match some of the pieces of so peculiar an interest in connec- tion with the development o; Italian art which are contained in the Salting collection now on loan at South Kensington. Admirable are the bronze plaquettes, the medallions, and medals, both of the early and the mature Italian Renaissance ;and admir- able, too, the wax medallion portraits and the wonder- fully elaborate relief portraits carved in boxwood, in the production of which the Germany of the 16th century knew no rival. An exception in all this unbroken succession of. mediaeval and Renaissance objects is the group of elaborate Greek terra-cottas of various provenance, as to which, belonging as they do to the debateable land of classical archeology, experts will no doubt have something to say in criticism. The cista of incised bronze from Praeneste (from the Castellani. Collection) belongs to the same type as the famous Ficoroni Cista in the Kircheriana Museum at Rome, and the three obtained by the British Museum from the same Castellani Collection, but is less fine in quality than any of these. One of the greatest glories of the Spitzer Collec- tion is its singularly interesting group of armour and arms, which, although it cannot of course rival, either in splendour or extent, the world-famous armouries of Madrid, Turin, and Dresden, or the Ambras Collection now newly arranged in the Vienna Museum, is probably not, exceeded by any similar pri- vate collection. Six hundred pieces-complete arma- ment, we might almost say, of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance-are here, and among these are in- cluded not only magnificent armures d'apparat but many less showy examples of unique rarity and com- pleteness; prominent among them being the very remarkable suit of polished steel, cut and pierced so as to re3emble lace work, which is only paralleled by the similar suit in the Vienna Collection. The catalogue of the sale, in two huge volumes, accompanied by a still more huge portfolio contain- ing reproductions in photogravure of many of the principal treasures, is a monument which will con- tribute to keep in memory this collection, which we must regard as unique in the true sense of the word, if we bear in mind that it is the unaided work of one man. Its dispersal now iuto its component groups and items, although apparently inevitable, must be deeply deplored by all true amateurs, and by all, in- deed, who regard art in all its branches not only as a mere jesthetic delight, but as a legitimate means for the education and consolation of mankind.

LOSS OF MEMORY. The Melbourne Argus brought by the last Austra- lian mail records a peculiar case of a man losing his memory and being quite oblivious of his past career. The case came under the notice of the Melbourne police on February 9, when a man, about 30 years of age, called at the police barracks, and asked the officer in charge if he could tell him who he J was. At first it was thought that the man was I a lunatic, but it soon became evident that his statement as to his memory having quite failed him was a genuine one. He was taken into custody, and kept in the Melbourne Gaol, where numerous persons have called in the hope of recog- nising him, but so far without sucess. He states that he does not remember anything before the day on which he visited the police barracks, and several medical men who have seen him express their belief In his statement, attributing his lack of memory to masked epilepsy. The man, being unidentified, in default of his right name is referred to as Edward Bellamy," the appellation bestowed upon him by the warders and prisoners who have read Bellamy's well-known work "Looking Back- ward." He appears to be a capable musician. While the Church service was being pro- ceeded with Bellamy" was noticed listening intently to the music. He was questioned about it, and said I seem to have heard that before some- where. What is it ? He did not understand when told it was music, but at the conclusion of the service Dr. Shields took him up to the organ, and explained to him that the sounds he bad heard were produced by fingering the keys. "Bellamy" then struck several notes unintelligently, and then a chord or two in harmony, and in an insiant, with a look of pleasure, he commenced a selection from Co The Creation," which he played correctly and well. He used the stops and showed that he was familiar with the instrument. He was tried with sheet music, but could not read it, and said he could not re- member ever having seen anything like it before. But when the organist whistled a bar or two of the hymn, Hark the Herald Angels Sing," Bellamy smiled again, and without music played the hymn through. As soon as be had done so he said, Something else has come into my mind, and T want you to listen to it, and see if it has anything to do with what I have just played." He then played, "Awake, my Soul." He played a number of secular airs after the first few bars had been whistled, and while doing so appeared to be much pleased with his performance. Dr. Shields is convinced that the man is genuinely afflicted, and not a mere malingerer.

WILLS AND BEQUESTS. Leaving personalty valued at E106,037 18s. 10d., the late Mr. Fredk. Iltyd Nicholl, of 120, Harley- street, and of 1, Howard-street, Strand, London, solicitor, who died on Feb. 25 last, appointed as sole executor of his will, with the codicil thereto, his son Henry Frederick Nicholl, and gave to him his estate at Wargrave and the effects there, his house in Harley-street and the stabling, and his interest in the houses Nos. 1 and 3, Howard-street. He be- queathed to his daughter-in-law, Mrs. Edith Nicholl, £ 1000; to his daughter, Evelyn, E700 and £ 5000; to his daughter, Mrs. Augusta Greenwood, £ 500 and E5000, and having settled upon Mrs. Greenwood on her marriage E9000, Mr. Nicholl left in trust for his daughter Evelyn £ 9000. Subject to other legacies, he left the residue of his property to his son. The will. dated Dec. 17, 1889, of Mr. Samuel Dun- kenfield Darbishire, Bachelor of Physic, late of Plas Mawr, Penmaenmawr, formerly of 63, Addison-road, Kensington, who was for some years coroner to the University of Oxford and bad often coached the boat- race crew, has been proved by the executors, his wife, Mrs. Florence Darbishire, and Dr. William Collier, of Oxford. The testator, who died on Dec. 16 last, bequeathed to his wife JE300, and his pic- tures, plate, furniture, and household effects. He leaves the residue of his property, the value of the personal estate being nearly E10,000, in trust to provide a life annuity for Mrs. Darbishire (including the income from the trust funds of her marriage set- tlements) of JE600, and, subject thereto, to hold the residuary estate in trust for his children. The execu- tors are authorised to cencur in the conversion of the business of Darbishire and Co., in which the testator was a partner, into a limited company, and he recom- mends that his shares in the Penyvorsedd Slate Quarry Company shall not be sold. The value, as far as can be at present ascertained, has been sworn at E824 4s. 5d. of the personal estate in England of the late Baron Jacques de Reinach, of 20, Rue Murillo, 4, Rue de la Bourse, and 66, Rue de la Chaussee, Paris, and of Nivillers, Oise, financier, who died on Nov. 17, 1892, and of whose estate in England administration has been granted to Mr. Albert Imbert, of 17, Rue Bonaparte, Judicial Administrator of the Civil Tribunal of the Seine. His co-sureties are Mr. Charles and Mr. Eloi Taillefer, of Chancery-lane. There is an affidavit by Mr. Imbert that part of the late baron's papers having been im- pounded he has been unable to ascertain the actual amount of his estate. Leaving personal estate valued at E18,492, the Ven. James A. Hessey, D.D., D.C.L., late of 41, Leinster- gardens, Archdeacon of Middlesex, formerly Head Master of Merchant Taylors' School and preacher at Gray's-inn, appointed as executors of his will and three codicils, all of which are in his own hand- writing, his wife, Mrs. Emma Hessey, and his brother- in-law,Mr. HenryCazenove. The archdeacon bequeaths a set of the Bampton Lectures to che library of St. Paul's Cathedral, and the silver um presented to him by the Gray's-inn congregation to his wife for her life, and then to his nephew, Francis Dodson Hessey. The provisions of the will are chiefly for Mrs. Hessey and for the testator's brother and sister and his nephews and nieces, and the will ends My soul I commit to Almighty God in deep repentance for the many sins and follies of my life, but in humble trust in the merits of my Lord Saviour Jesus Christ and in charity with all men."

RIDER HAGGARD is fond of golf, and ean play polo better than most people.

ROMANCE OF THE ORCHID. Collecting orchids (says the writer of an article printed in the Globe) is an especially interesting branch of floriculture. To begin with, the orchid has a weird beauty all its own. Its strange shape, its fantastic method of growth, clinging to the rock on lofty mountain sides, and to the branches of trees in tropical countries; the fact that it is gathered in these countries, often at great risk of life (lives having actually been lost in establishing some varieties), these circumstances serve to enhance the interest that orchids would awaken of themselves, even if they were not difficult to procure. Tnen, too, orchids are not difficult to cultivate: a cool house answering the requirments of temperature, as they mostly come from the mountain lauds of the tropics; and watering and cleaning being ail they need in the way of care. Moreover, as above stated, it is an easy matter to have bloom all the year round with orchids. This is due to the great number of varieries and the long flowering period of sons- varieties, the flowers on Cattleya Trianae and Cypripedium Insigne, for in- stance, lasting through the autumn and winter, so that with only these two varieties bloom could be maintained throughout these seasons. And such bloom! THE CATTLEYAS. No one who has ever serii a group of flowering Cattleyas can ever forget them. They are in appear- ance the most superb of all orchids. The flower is not infrequently half a foot in diameter. Petals and sepals hang with a languid grace that is simply en- trancing. The colour in a single flower will shade off from a soft pink to a delicate creamy flesh-tint like the lining of a sea-shell, while in the lip there is a spot of gorgeous royal purple. They are the planets among the constellation of orchids fairly glowing out from the deep shadows of their fronds, as tf some of the hues of the sunset bad taken shape and floated down to earth. Notably beautiful among the Cattleyas are the fleecy wliite Albinos (the col- lector prides himself on these, as they are very rare, and are therefore more highly valued, a point holding good with all groups of orchids), and the Cattleya Speciossissima, the purple in wb"se lips is either mottled or streaked with white and franled with a pure rich yellow. The Cypripedium Insigne, which also blooms during autumn and winter, is a yellow flower with large brown spots, a quiet contrast to the elegance of the Cattleyas. Similar contrasts can be effected during any season of the year. It is an easy matter to vary plants of gorgeous bloom with those which with their subdued colours seem to love dusk and shadow. No other genus of flower can approach orchids in their combination of the richest with the most delicate hues. HYBRIDS. The Cypripediums are perhaps the most useful of all orchids for general C" ltivahon. They are represented by some 50 species and some 500 hybrids, it being the easiest species to hybridise. The first hybrid orchid raised was Cypripedium Harrisianum, and it is still considered one of the best, as it flowers two or three times a year, and is of easy culture. As a rule hybrids are of darker colour than the parent plants and stronger. But there are exceptions. Cypripedium Marehallianum, for instance, originated years ago in England, yet to-day only one specimen of it is believed to exist in America, and, although it is a small plant, iavalued at 7r)i Idols. The value of the Albinos, among orchids has been referred to. A Cattleya of ten or twelve bulbs is worth 2dols.; an Albino of the same size, lOOdols. Orchids are extremely decorative in a conservatory or window. The decorative qualities of tha Cattleyas have already been mentioned. Nothing could be more graceful than sprays of Odontoglossum, with their exquisite small flowers, usually snowy white, with dots, lobes, and other shapes in hazel; banging dendrobiums and vandas give an airy touch to the arrangement, as do also the Cypripediums, whose lower sepals often taper away to spirating tendrils. Altogether, an orchid-house is a constant source of wonder and delight, while witb proper care the plants quickly increase in value. In 10 years a plant which originally cost Idol. will in some instances have put forth so many shoots that its value will have risen to 50dols. THE SPHINX AMONG FLOWERS. The hardships endured by the collectors whom orchid-growers have sent into the jungles of the tropics form a* hitherto unwritten chapter in the story of floriculture, and give a touch of romance to theee strange plants--the sphinx among flowers. As a good example I may cite the introduction of Cypripedium Spicerianum. About 1878 an Indian tea planter named Spicer sent to a brother in England an orchid which he believed to be the common variety of Cypripedium Insigne. As soon as it bloomed, however, it was found to be a new variety, and was named Spicerianum. It was a beautiful flower, and combining the desirable qualities of novelty and beauty, it brought a very high price. No other con- signment of this orchid reached England during the two following year?, and it seemed as if the specimen received by Spicer was to remain the only one known to the civilised world, alt hough somewhere in the Indian jungles it might be blooming in profusion. It was then that Ignatius Fosterman, an orchid collector for an English house, determined to organise an expedition to search for the" lost orchid." After arriving in Calcutta he found that there were two tea planters named Spicer in India, one on the little-travelled route to Manipore, the other in a more frequented district. A WEARY SEARCH. The collector concluded that the more inaccessible territory would be the likelier habitat of the "lost orchid," and started up the Ganges for Manipore. Meeting one of Spicer's tea caravans, be learned by cautious inquiry-for an orchid hunter is obliged to be as circumspect as a diplomat, so keen is the com- petition—that a Scotchman in Spicer's employ often hunted along the Brahmaputra River and had on several occasions returned with orchids as well as game. Fosterman had been unable to obtain per- mission to enter Manipore, but by ascending the Brahmaputra he could avoid detection, as the main road did not follow the river, and its banks were un- inhabited so when about 400 miles from the coast he started up the river with three boats and 20 natives, and so sneaked into Manipore. He pro- ceeded slowly up the river, exploring its banks, and also ascending its tributaries. To search for the lost orchid in the jungle was much like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack, but the collector pushed on undaunted. What added to the weariness of the search was the constant uneasiness of the natives, who were in dread of discovery, and knowing the Maharajah's unfriendliness towards travellers looked on discovery to be equivalent to death. Some had absolutely refused to proceed up the river into Manipore, and had been left behind, and it required constant bracing up in the shape of backsheesh r to keep the little band of followers intact. It was usual with the collector to divide up the expedition into two parties for the day's work, leading one party him- self and instructing the other to bring back everything in the shape of orchids they discovered. One day this latter party stumbled upon a tiger in the jungle, and one of its members was killed. This incident almost broke up the expedition more backsheesh" and offers of reward in case of success being the only means of dissuading the natives from turning back. SHARP WORK. Discouraged by lack of success and wearied by the continual importunities of his native followers, and being also within dangerous proximity to the wild tribe of Lousbais, the collector determined to con- tinue his search for only three days longer. He was then at the mouth of one of the tributaries of the Brahmaputra. He ascended this stream until sunset of the third day, when he halted, sick at heart from his failure. As the sun was setting its rosy light fell upon the side of one of the hills some two miles np the stream, and brought out in bold relief a mass of rock. As this looked favourable to orchid growth, the collector decided to make a final search there on the morrow. At daybreak he started with a few natives who consented to follow him, and led this forlorn hope up the river. Reaching the spot, he began to clamber up the hill side, and pausing in his ascent to look upward be saw nodding at him from a crevice in the rocks a flower of Cypripedium Spicerianum. He gathered 500 of these plants and hurried back to Calcutta. On arriving there he dis- covered that a collector for a rival house had learned of his route from some of the deserters of the expedition, and had started from Calcutta several days before his return. He was, therefore, obliged to turn right about and retrace his steps. Knowing the route, he outdistanced the other collector and gathered 3000 specimens of Cypripedium Spice- rianum, in addition to those he bad collected on his exploring expedition. The large consignment of these orchids to England soon brought the price down from E250 (1250 dols.) to a couple of shillings. The price has, however, again risen, as the orchids have never been found in any other spot, and have become soaroe in that one. I

A READERS' GLEANINGS. INSTRUMENT? IN THE OLD OBSERVATORY, PEKIN.—. When the missionaries of the Society ef Jesus made their way in the 17th century to Pekin, und startled the wise men of the Celestial Empire by t.V.eir superior knowledge, they found in the eastern part of the city, on the nmpart or wall surrounding it, an asTonomical observatory, furnished with several old instruments. Father Verbiest so gained the con- fidence of the Emperor by repeatedly calculating beforehand the exact length of the shadow which a gnomon would throw at noon that he was aui horised to have six new large instruments made. An account of these he published in 1687. To the old instruments, which bad to be removed to make room for his own, he s-ems to have paid :ittle attention. These instruments, as well as those erected by Verbiest, are, however, even still in exist- ne, and are described in an interesting paper bv kfr. J. L. E. Dreyer, in one of ihe numbers of lie Proceedings of the Royal Irish Ae-tdenv," A friend of Mr. Dreyer's residing in China. Mr. S. M. Russell, bad taken a series of photographs of these interesting scientiifc relics. Veriies''s instruments, sextant, quadrant, azimuth, circle, zodiaeal armillary pbere, &c., were copies of the astronomical instru- ments devised and constructed by Tycho Brahe, but besides these were the two large and imposing-looking instruments which had been removed from the observatory by Verbiest; these, according to Mr. Wylie, were made during the Yuen djnastv, and he quotes a Chinese description of Pekin, in which the observatory and four large instruments (two of which can from the description beidenufied as the two still extant) are said to have been constructed A.D. 1279, in this year Koblai Khan, the great Mongol monarch, finished the conquest of China, and moved his residence to the new city Taydo, now Pekin. This monarch favoured the arts and s-ciences, and he supported and protected the astronomer, Eo Show-King. It will be observed that t here are thus here two remarkable ins ances of how ihe Chinese often came in the possession of great inventions many centuries before the Westerns enjoyed them for there are found thus in the 13th century the equatorial armilla? of Tycho Brahe, and more remarkable still an equatorial instrument quite like t.hoe with which Tycho observed the comet of These instruments of Ko Show-King were examined in one of the first years of the 17th century by the Jesuit Matteo Ricci; and in Colonel Yule's translation of The Book of Ser Marco Polo they are described at length. By them it is proved that the Chinese astronomers anticipated some of the ideas of the great Danish astronomer some three centuries before his time. MONEY brings honour, friends, conquest, and realms. ALL FoR THE BEST.—Perhaps, my young friend, you have had some terrible knock down. You really think you must lie on the ground, and let anyone trample on you who has a fancy for that operation. You have been refused by the girl of \Our heart Your right wing is broken, and you will never be able to fly as long as you live. It may or may not be a rerv serious matter. Only this I say, that I know many men who would very gladly ha'l'e been refused if they knew all which they came to know afterwards. I know many, too, who when they see their old loves rejoice exceedingly that tremendous knock-down blow of a rejection was duly administered to them. You have been dismissed from a situation, or you have lost some appointment for which yoa have been trying. These are truly serious things, and I do not wish to underrate their gravity. Still the world is a wide one. and there is plenty of space to allow you a perch in it. I have an idea that if a man does not get on at one place, it is just a sign that he will get better in another. If he does not succeed in one profession it is because be is better adapted for something else. Perhaps you have been plucked at college. This is no doubt a serious matter, but still not so serious as it was in my time. There are so many more examinations, and the standard of the examinations is so much rai,ed. The young men who used to be in disgrace and despair at a pluck in my time, now take the matter with callous coolness. Very good men have been plucked, and followed up their pluck with a first class. I endorse the old-fashioned theory, that no one is born into the world without having a place assigned to him which will give him a livelihood and credit. Then, again, the extreme case arises of impaired health, and the enforced shutting up of the ordinary avenues of distinction. This blow seems of a deticedly knock- down character. But it is not necesstrily so. Some of the greatest of this world's children have been invalids. Macaulay draws a fine contrast between the "asthmatic skeleton" William III. and the crooked humpback who led the fit ry onset of France. How nobly Alexander Pope sang throughout that long disease, his life." That amiable and clever novelist Mr. Smedley wrote charming stories descriptive of that active existence in which he him- self could take no part. When limited by corporeal barriers, the mind has always seemed to work with greater strength and freedom. Thrown upon itself, it seems to gather up its resources with a firmer grasp. Some of the loftiest thoughts and loveliest pictures and sweetest songs have come from those for whom the world seemed to have no place.— London Society. DEVOTION to friends is meted less by the esteem we have for them than the fuss they make over us. Whence comes it that we are so often deceived. PROTECTION FROM TUB EVIL EYE.—Of the pra-bia, or means of defence, intended to avert or to counteract forespeaking, and the evil eye, we will cite but a few taken at random. Books on folk-lore overflow with admonitions, with receipts, with mar- vellous secrets for the safeguarding of the posses- sions which are liable to be harmed by malevolence. The most naive of these proceedings is undoubtedly the one recorded by Mr. Moseley, once a member of the Challenger expedition, who t.us how at the Admiralty Islands, the chiefs and others were abjectly frightened at a squeaking doll, and signed for it to be taken out of their pight and ex- pressed a similar fear of goats, wbicl were offered them, sayiDg," The women would be afraid of them." Indeed, these women were far from being brave for, when a group was being photographed, the old ones put two long poles transversely between i: and themselves in order to be prutect ed from evil influence. In China the bride s face is hidden by a long white veil, not unlike that which is still worn by Egyptian women when they venture abroad. The Anglo-Saxons used the" care cloth on similar occa- sions. In Germany the bride was likely to be fore- spoken if eight ays before the nuptial ceremony she were to show herself out of her h.•■use, or clad in the wedding clothes. The child was liable to death or sickness if, before its christening, it were decked with gold and jewels. Incessant are the cares which the pregnant woman has to take for preserving herself and her precious burden from the malignant, influences everywhere busy around her. When the child is just born, as long as it has not been besprinkled with holy water, there is no end to the dangers which beset it, among which the most dreaded is that of the elfins secretly changing it for one of their abominable brood-bideous creatures with wrinkled faces and insatiable stomachs, screaming and gorging but never thriving. Recourse is had to lion's claws, to tiger's teeth, to corals, and other implements with points and edges, as knives, scissors, axes, and nails, for cutting and breaking the dart of the evil eye. Red clothes, vermillion cloaks, absorb and neutralise its poisonous influences. Blue ribbons, blue gems, are advocated by a few. Aspersioas with ho!y water, with sea water, with the water in which the smiths have cooled their red-hot irons bath? taken by rolling the naked body in the dewy grass when the sun rises over the horizon are said to operate wonders. The labourer cannot be too wary when the delicate seed shoot into leaves, when in stalk, when in bloom, when in ear, when it ripens, when it is threshed, when it is winnowed for night and day, the evil eye is sleep- lessly on the watch. Neither stable, nor barn, nor dairy, is safe from the sinister intentions of envy. The more precious the treasures are the more liable are they to be lost. Exquisite happiness is frail. Against the smiling bride, against the blithe child, a thousand bows are bent to throw their deadly missiles. Nay, the victorious General who returns in triumph is beset with more dangers when standing in his golden car than he was when he fought on the battle- field.—Comhill. NEW ENGLAND NAMES.—The early New England settlements were generally named after the town or village in England from whence the settlers bad originally come, though in many cases the New Worid namesake surpassed its Old World godfather. We need only recall New York and Boston to the reader's mind, though, at the same time, New Edin- burgh and New London have scarcely shot ahead of Old Edinburgh and Old London, nor likely to do so. Then came a period when the colomsta became Darticularlv loval. and accordingly, especially in < Virginia aud the other Southern States, tr.* princes j and ocher notabilities of the House of Stuart.—th« Hanoverians were not so popular-were h > ioured by having their names attached to various towns. With the Revolution ca,i,e an end to this. Then the young Republic bad heroes of its own, and with the advent of these—often rather ephemeral dignitaries-canie a long list of towns bearing their names, or those of the Continental ofiiers who—like Lal aN et,to -aided the colonists in their struggle against perfidious Albion. By-and-by, local celebrities, with un- euphonious names, made still more unsonoroiis by having ville attached to them, came to the front. and tto Stigginsvilles and Slocumvilles errw plentiful. After this came the reaction, and chf-sical names— for which the early American Republicans, like the French ones, had always a hankering—covered the map3. Others, more sensible, were derived from the Indian languages.—-The Countries ol' lle Vt orld, hy Dr. Rohert Brown. QUEEN ASNE FoRyr,At the beginning of the last century even silver forks were not very t:f'ne>ai; and it was not until the reign of George 11., ,r iater, that they were commonly found on t fit, taVes of ordinary gentlemen of good means. Ir, is, Therefore, easy to guess how many of the hundreHs, or t.hou- sands, perhaps, of Queen Anne forks t.b.)t have pasted from dealer to collector within the last 1C years are likely to be genuine. It is much easier tc find old spoons than old forks, aud yet genuine Queen Anne spoons are rarities indeed. D(¡.. it ever occur to the collector to ask himself how it is that he hardly ever sees Queen Anne spoons, though be has been able to acquire a complete set of three-pronged forks for his table ? The reason is this thai Queen 4nne spoons, having thin flat li.snrl.-s, and the ..otcbl"d end, called by the French the. pied ilr hit-he, or hind's foot, are not w-11 adapted ior modern domestic use, and have been left. to the collector: whereas the three pronged forks are of convenient shape and size, which has led to a demand for them by a class of persons who are unable to distinguish the forks of Anne from the forgeries of Victoria. It may be atked why the new forks ,rk, not as good as the old. It they are bought as modern, and paid for at the current market price of silver-tv'ate. well and good but if they are stamped with imitations of the hall-marks of the time of Queen Anne, and sold to unsuspecting antiquaries for as ma iv guineas an ouLce as they are worth shillings, the customer may be excused for thinking that he has h.,d very much the worst of his bargain.— JIr. Wilfrid Cripps, in the .Jaga::inf of Art. Durcii DfET AND DrTNI;To my English ideas, accustomed as I am to plenty of fresh Uleat, a Dutch oiet seems sadly insufficient on which to conduct the business of life in tact, bread-and-butter, and sweets and tea or coffee four times a day, meat and wine but once. As to a popular belief thit the Dutch are a barè-drinldnz, schnap-taking nation, it is unfounded. You see very little drunkenness amongst the poor; they are, in truth, too poor to pay for it, and I never met anyone who even knew the taste of schnaps. Certainly the men of the upper classes do not supple- ment their poor diet by strong drinks. A glass or two of claret or Rhine- wine at dinner is all they take, and sonieti-mes at night a little brandy or Geneva. There may be some Mynheer von Dunk*, and on festive occasions, as at kermes or fairs, there may be revelry, but as a rule the people are temperate. I may, in conclusion, mention that on let" days they make what is called avolriat, and is, in fact, a thic custard, strongly flavoured with brandy. It is made in a large bowl and tadled out in liqueur glasses. in which it is served out to all who attend the afternoon reception of the person whose fete day it is. The future felicitation of the boider of the reception is wished before drinking. A fete day may he a birth- day. betrothal, christening, copper, silver, or golden wedding, or to celebrate the fact that a gentleman has been a certain number of years in one appoint- ment, say professor, clergyman, or indeed any other prominent official t)os,tion. AFEICAN CURB i,O;lt THE HEADACHE.—We went one day to pay a visit to an officer, and to our surprise found him lying on a bed with his head hanging over the end of it, having a small paper fuinel stuck into one nostril, and at the same time chewing something. On our asking the meaning of this extraordinary pro- ceeding, be replied that he was suffering from head- ache, aisd wished to grease his brain, so was pouring oil down the funnel into his nose, under the impres- sion that it would find its way into the skull and he said, pointing to his temple, You see, if I chew at the same time, it makes the brain work, so that it will be more quickly greased.lganda and the Egyptian Soudan, b, Rev. C. T. Wilson. MYSTERIES OF CORRESPONDENCE. One cannot always tell positively, from the appearance of a manuscript, whether a lady or gentleman has held the pen. I had," a New York literary man tells us, "a female relative, who was a strong, stout-built woman, to be sure; but she wrote a hand so for- midably masculine that the only suitor who ever made her an offer was terrified out of his negotiations by the first billet doux he bad the honour of receiving from her. He was a slender and delicately-made man, and wrote a fine Italian hand." The tale it somewhat old of the gentleman who had procured for his friend a situation in the service of the Eaat India Company, and was put to unprofitable expense by misreading an epistle, in which the latter endeavoured to express his gratitude. Having," said the absentee, "been thus placed in a post where I am sure of a regular salary, and have it in my power, while 1 enjoy health, to lay up something every year to provide for the future, I am not unmindful of my benefactor, and mean soon to send you an equivalent." Such a rascally hand did this grateful East Indian write, that the gentleman thought that he meant to send him an elephant. He erected a large outhouse for the unwieldy pet, but never got any- thing to put in it except a pot of chow-chow—and another grateful letter. A collector of rare animals, who had a small menagerie of his own, once dis- patched an order to Afrioa for two monkeys. The word two," as he wrote it, so much resembled the figures 200, that his literal and single- minded agent was somewhat perplexed in executing the commission. And great was the naturalist's surprise and perplexity when he received a letter informing him, in mercantile phraseology, that eighty monkeys had been secured and shipped, as per bill of lading enclosed, and that his correspondent hoped to be able to execute the rest of the order in time for the next vessel. Many years ago a poor flsherman's wife was terribly upset by the receipt of a letter from her husband,'who had been absent from home, with several of his companions, beyond the usual time. The honest man stated, in piscatorial phrase, the cause of his detention, and what bad luck he had encountered in his fishing. But tbe conclusion of bis bulletin, as spelled by his loving helpmate, was as follows I am no more The poor woman gazed awhile on this sad intelligence, and then on her eleven now fatherless children, and then burst into a paroxysm the clamorouse sorrow, which drew around her the consorts of other fishermen who had gone to sea with the deceased man. None of them could read, but they caught from the widow's broken lamentations the contents of the supernatural postscript. About this time one of the overseers of the poor, who to the spot, alarmed by tbe rumour that the was likely to be seriously burdened, snatched the letter from the weeping Thetis and silenced tbe g^16' of the company by making out its conclusion correctly. It was simply, I add no more. Leisure Hour. TOURNAMENTS AT EDINBURGH.—During the reign of the chivalrous and splendid James IV., — where he was crowned — became celebrated throughout all Europe as the scene of knightly feats. The favourite place for the roval tournaments was a spot of ground just below the rock, and near the King's stables. There, JameB in particular assembled the nobles by proclamation for jousting, offering such meeds of honour as a golden-headed lance, or similar favours, presented by his own hand or that of some beautiful woman. Knights came from all countries to take part in these j oasts bot," gav»P^8<lottie' »eyor none of thame passed aw»y unmatched, and oftimes overthrowne." One notable encounter, witnessed by the King from the Castle Wall, took place in 1503, when a famous cavalier of the Low Countries, named by Pitscottie Sir John Cochbevis, challenged the best knigbt in Scotland to break a spear, or met him à Hitrance in combat to the death. Sir Patrick Hamilton, of the House of Arran, took up his challenge. Amid a vast concourse, they came to the barriers, lanced, horsed, and clad in tempered mail, with their emblazoned shields hung round their necks. Atsouna of trumpet they rushed to the shock, and sp m their spears fairly. Fresh ones were g'V** them, &s Hamilton's horse failed him, They fought handed swords and encountered o° Datohman being thus "for a full boar, till, cagt his plumed struck to the ground, the gcombatf while the bonnet, over the RTJ £ 0CIain!ed tbe Scottish heralds and trumpeters P _ye,T FAitibw kniaht victorious.—tasteu ■-

DAFFYDOWNDILLIES. You are a little early," says the great grower, aa he leads the way out into his open grounds, already ablaze with colour—' a little early. In a fortnight's time we shall have more to show you." It is just as well to be a little early. The flowers that are coming on, and have already got their advance guards flaunting their silken banners on the spring winds, are a cheerier sight than those same towers when they have reached the zenith of their beauty and have begun to show signs of exhaustion and decline. And the daffodils themselves are early this year-the Daffodils That come before the swallow dares, and take The winds of March with beauty. Already they are out here by the thousand—by- and-by they will be out by the million-and a pleasant thing it has been in sauntering along from the station at Surbiton to peep through the ragged hawthorn hedge, itself just bursting into spring verdure, and see the yellow blossoms shimmering V over a carpet of fresh green and dancing to the • music of the larks soaring and carolling up into the blue that is hardly so intense overhead as are the itreets of Scillas and Chionodoxas nonr in full glory. What an invigorating life-giving thing it is to get out here away from all the strife and turmoil of the town, and to listen to the birds and the fitful roar of the winds in the naked elms and to watch the eloud shadows and sunbeams gambolling over the springing turf and the brown clods and the woods and hedgerows! How easy it is to be a philosopher out here—to sit on a five-barred gate and pour con- tempt on the pitiful wire-pulling, stock jobbing, money grabbing, self-seeking, glory hunting that is going on in the crowded city ponder. A little early," fays the daffodil specialist, but come along," and he leads the way out into the grounds where five acres of daffodils will soon be all affaunt-greit trumpet daffofiil* and hoop petticoated daffodils, and snow whiles and Tenby yellows, and "angels' tears" and poets' narcissus, and double Romans, and golden spurs, and mountain daffodils, and tiny wee things not much bigger than a good-sized eowslip. Already they are out here in great sheets of luscious colour, and some of them delicately perfumed, and with larks over one's head, and thrushes and starlings warbling around, it is so pleasant to Stride about the beds here to make intimate acquaintance with these lusty trumpeters to the toming floral hosts, and to feel that under the tuition of an expert you are rapidly yourself becoming a daffodilidarian, or whatever may be the proper term by which to dub one who knows all about the flower. What are the conditions of success now ? What is the secret of growing these things well ?" Plant early for one thing. I don't know how the idea originated," says the famous grower, "but there is a very common notion that spring bulbs should be put in about Lord Mayor's Day. The earlier they are put in the better they do, and September is not at all too early indeed September is the best month for planting." And what about soil ? They do splendidly with you here, and you seem to have a loamy soil." Yes, a light loam. If the soil is stiff they should not be planted deep. In a stiff loam they should be dropped about the depth of the bulb beneath the surface—that is to say, if the bulb is an inch deep the crown should be put an inch under ground. If the soil is light they rnav he planted deeper. Plant them carefully and leave them undisturbed, and don't overdo them with manure. If the soil is fairly good they don't want anv at all. They'll do best without it." And so one goes on, gathering wisdom and filling one's hands with specimen blooms. This one is remarkable for the deep vivid brilliancy of its yellow, another for the size of its trumpet; this one is noticeable for its uniformity of colouring, and that one for the variety in its shades of yellow; this was found in a romantic district, of Northern Spain, that one has come from Portugal, and a third has been produced by hybridization. And so one moves on, at every step getting the honour of an introduction to some proud dame high up at the Court of Queen Flora—now the Lady Jane and now the Fair Helen, the Lady Grosvenor or the Cotmtess of Annesley. It is delicious to look a cluster of them all fairly in the face, to breathe in something of their lusty vigour, and to trudge off home with them with something of the exultation with which Paris ran away with Helen or Bois-Guilbert bore off Rebecca, All the ends of the earth have contributed to our stock of narcissi. This firm has specially ransacked Northern Spain and Portugal and the French and Spanish Pyrenees, and what with those they have found and imported, and those they have produced by cross fertilisation, our variety now is immense. We may now if we will have a constant series of them from January till June, and in all sorts of situations. Nothing of the kiad can be more delightful for the eentre of a bed or an irregular clump on the fringe of a shrubbery than a good well-grown group of golden spur-a great favourite, by the way, in Covent-garden, a magnificent trumpet daffodil of brilliant colour and noble form-or of Countess of Annesley, rich and varied in colour and superb in shape. For front situations there are many varieties of dainty little pigmies—such as cyclamineus, Nelsoni minor, minimus, and so forth, very dainty in form and pure and brilliant in colour. Others are especially adapted to rock-work, but the most exquisite effects are to be had by letting the stronger and showier kinds grow their own way in the turf of some sunny glade backed up by a shrubbery. The spring green of the grass, the lusty vigour of the foliage, and the free growing and the splendid colour- ing of the daffodils seem altogether to embody the very spirit of the spring Lusty spring all dight in leaves and flowers. We owe to foreign countries and to the cunning of our growers most of our narcissi, but we have our own indigenous daffodil nevertheless, and there are many parts of England where daffydowndillies still perk up their insignificant little blossoms in the fields just as their forbears did when Shakespeare noted that they came before the swallows dare. Thev were the old Lent lilies, the affodyles, as our fore- fathers called them, an old English name which signified-" that which cometh early," and they were probably at one time of day quite in the forefront of the great floral procession of the year, the trumpeters that led the way in the roaring moon," and were followed by all the pomp and beauty of the floral year, culminating in the roses of June and July.