SUPPLEMENT TO THE AUCKLAND EVENING STAR.

A True Wife.

AN EPISODE OF LIFE AT HOMBURG.

[From Chambers's Journal]

The Lutheran cemetery of Homburg vor der Hohe has no special attraction for a stranger unless it be the profusion of flowers which spring up round the graves. Roses red a white, and yellow, dahlias, geraniums, pansies, sweet william, and a legion of wild-flowers, seem to mock with their gaiety the sad shadows of the grave-stones. Many of the monuments stand in a small plot of their own, fenced in ty a miniature palisade, and laid out in flower-beds and tiny paths, a space being left for a seat under a trellised canopy. These gardens are more generally left to the bounty

of nature than to the care of man, but oc casionally may be seen a sombre figure stoop ing over a flower-bed, or trimming the borders of some loved inclo«ure.

I was strolling, one June evening, amid the

tombs and roses, when I saw the seat in one

of the little gardens occupied by a man clad in deep mourning. An Englishman, certainly, from his appearance, I at once judged him to

be, before I had heard the voice of a little brown-eyed, ruddy child, who was toddling about the paths, and stooping over the flowers. Not far from the spot stood a man-servant, hidden by the abor from the view of the visitors to the grave. The occupant of the

seat, who was a young man of neat, soldier- Jike appearance, was gazing vacantly upon the little girl, who was engaged in filling a wire basket with flowers, picked with no small amount of difficulty. When filled, this was carried to her father (for so I naturally guessed him to be), duly arranged by him, and then laid as an offering at the foot of the bright green mound. This done the child, clambering up her father's side on tho seat, asked him solemnly :—

"Will mother like to smell them, father ?"

" I am sure she will, darling,"was the reply. I was all this time concealed behind an ad joining monument, whence I watched every movement of the mourners who had so attracted my attention. Presently, the man- Bervant, coming forward, intimated that it was getting late, and, with an air of authority mingled with respect, opened the small gate of the inclosure for his master to pass out. The latter, kneeling for a moment with his forehead resting upon the cross which sprang from some ivy-clad rock-work at the head of tne grave, kissed the name inscribed, and, followed by his daughter, who insisted on shutting the gate herself with great careful ness, took the path to the entrance of the cemetery. As soon a3 they were out of sight. I hurried to the spot which" bad already awakened in me a strong feeling of curiosity, and read these words inscribed In gilt charac-

ter on a cross of white marble :—

Hier ruhet m Gott, Louise Margaretba Martyn, Geb. den 22 August, 1549. Gest den 3 Mai, 1870.

On the reverse of the cross, an English

inscription ran thus :—

Here rests in peace, Louise Margaret Mar tyn, the dearly loved wife of Cyril John Mar tyn, late a Captain in Her Britannic Majesty's th Hussars. > Born, 22 August, 1849. Died, 3 May, 1870.

After gazing sadly at these words, and not ing much that I have described, I bent my way homeward, in a saddened state of feeling.

It was easy enough to read a tale of sorrow in what I had seen ; but there was something more to be read between the lines, I felt sure. The expression of the widower's face, and the authoritative manner of the servant, could not but mean something. However, I soon afterward entered the gardens of the Kurhaus, and mingled with the crowd of promenaders, My friend, Dr. Eichte, had asked me to sup with him that evening; he would be sure to know something about the Martyns, if there was anything worth telling, so that I did not fail to avail myself of his invitation. After our pleasant little meal, when the doctor had pulled down from the wall a china pipe, with a stem as tall as himself, and I had filled my own pipe with caporal, I told him what I had seen in the cemetery.

"Ah! there's a sad Btory about them, my friend, almost too sad for a happy meeting like the present ; but you shall hear it. It was in 1869, somewhat early in the season, that an English gentleman, named Martyn, called upon me for advice; He was a strong looking man of athletic build, and had one of your regular English faces, expressive of cool ness and resolve. From his appearance, I should have said that there was not a healthier man in Homburg; nor was it easy for me, after, a careful examination, to discover his ailment. But I need not tell you, that it is often the physician's duty to devote his atten tion to an imaginary sickness, and to listen with as interested an air to delusions as to real suffering. Without entering into any technical details, it will he enough for me to say that my patient described himself {is suffer ing from general debility and lack of energy. He said he was always losing ground, that luck was against him,-and that there must be some one thing radically wrong in his constitution, which prevented his playing a successful part in the world. He had tried all sorts of sys tems, as he called them, but they had failed miserably, and he was now a broken-down man He assured me that he had no mental cause of anxiety, thst he was perfectly happy in his domwitic relations, aud that he was not in any f" iegj hypochondriacal. 1 prescribed for hinjcourse of bathing, early hours, and reg ilsjxercise, and, on his taking leave, begg© .

for my wife to be allowed to make the a quaintance of Mrs. Martyn. This request you may understand, I made from a desire to have a few words' conversation with my pati ent's wife regarding his case. But as he grew fidgety and nervous on my making the pro posal, I bade him good-bye with the hope of seeing him again in my own house. His manner had tended to confirm my rising apprehensions that my patient's desease was not of such a nature as we can minister to, and, ifter a second prolonged visit from him, I felt the absolute necessity of putting myself into personal communication with his wife. I had already made her acquaintance in the gardens and had been struck by her singular grace and sad beauty of expression. I called at their lodgings one day, after my after noon's work, and was ushered at once into a small room at the top of the house, which was in Dorotheen-strasse, a street not much fre-

quented, as you know, by your countrymen. I found Martyn and his wife seated opposite to each other at a small table, on which was placed an oval board covered with green cloth and marked with the plan of a rouge-et-noir table. Opposite Mrs. Martyn, vi ho was act ing as coupier, was placed the inventaire of the bank, consisting of rouleaux of gold and silver, two small boxes with compartments

for various peices of money, the talon of white marble for the taille of six packs of cards to stand on, and the basket into which the used cards are thrown. Martyn's back was turned toward me as I entered the room; his wife faced me, so that I caught at once her glance of anguish and anxiety, revealing in a mom ent the nature of her husband's ailment, which I had suspected to be beyond my power to euro: " 'Messieurs, faites le jeu,' called out the poor wife. "'Come, doctor, try your luck,' cried tho poor madman, as he placed four gold pieces on the red. 4 Our minimum is 2 florins, and I

never go higher than 100.'

" I put a couple of florins on the red. Mrs. Martyn called out: •Le jeu est fait, rien ne va plas;' dealt out in two lots the requisite number of cards ; and saying : ' Rounge perd —couleur gagne,' sweeps off her husband's gold and my florins, and takes some fresh cards from the talon for the next deal.

"Bowing to the poor croupier, whose sad, serious face told plainly enough what it cost her to keep her poor husband thus amused, I said adieu to my patient, from whom, however I had no small difficulty in getting away.

"'My dear doctor,' he said, 'if you will put down your hat; have a glass of iced water by your side, and follow my play steadily, your fortune is made. The bank has only an advantage of § per cant, which is double the chance "of the public tables here.' Then addressing his wife: ' Pardon, monsieur, voulez-vous bien me changer une note de trente-cinq gulden ?'

"However, I pleaded stress of work : promised to return before long, and have some steady play ; and hurried out; my heart wrung with the sound of ' Messieurs, faites le jeu,' as I went down the stair-case.

"In the evening of the same day I received a note from Mrs Martyn, in which she told me that she would call on me between 7 and 8 o'clock the next morning. At the appointed time, after my last patient had left. me, I ound the young lady awaiting our interview. But before I go Jon any further, you must know what she was like. She was very tall and slim, too tall for beauty, though her natural grace and ease removed any awkward ness that excessive height might have given her figure. Her head and features were rather small, and the natural color of her face—then pale —must have been fresh and thoroughly English. Her soft brown hair was tied behind into one [thick plait, which fell below her shoulders. As she swept into this room thtough the folding doors, my great pity for her was for the moment lost in ad miration of her beauty. Sinking down on the sofa, she burst into an agony of tears. 'Forgive me, doctor; I cannot restrain, myself before you, for I know that you can feel for me. I

was unwilling to take up your time, but knowing that you would wish to be informed of all the circumstances attending my hus band's illness, I have drawn up an account of the few months previous to the accident which led to it. When you have read it, I will consult you again.' She then leffc me the narrative, which I will now ask you to read before I complete the tale."

The doctor soon afterwards left me absorbed in the carefully written manuscript, which ran as follows:— "My dear husband had not a fault, as I thought, when I married him. Accomplished, good-humoured, handsome, every one loved him, and our first year's married life was un clouded by a speck of trouble. We had spent our winter's leave of absence in Germany, my hußband having wished to collect information about the Prussian military system, with the view of writing on the subject. We stopped here on our return, and one day, by way of i amusement, going up to the roulette-table in t the kursaal my husband put a napoleon on No. 19. which was then the number of my years. Round went the roulette, the ivory ball rattled, fell into 19, and my husband took up 35 napoleons besides the one he had staked. Pleased, as he could not help being, his face wore aa expression of something almost like shame, as we walked out of the rooms. ««I don't feel as if I had come by this

money honestly,' he said ; ' what shall I do with it?'

" Amid various projects, he decided to give a grand treat to the men of his troop, and relieve the families in the regiment that stood in need of help. Sad news awaited us on our arrival in England. Owing to the failure of an assurance company, my father-in-law, who held a large number of shares in it was depri ved of all his fortune, and it seemed as if he must depend upon his friends for the ?ery means of subsistence. My husband effected an exchange to a regiment in India, and we were spending the last anxious weeks in my old home. He had left me for a few days to go to town on business, and I was eagerly looking out for a letter from him during this our first separation, when at last came the wished for envelope, with a foreign head on it and stamped with the post-mark, Homburg v. d. H. Eortunately I was alone as I read, almost terrified that my husband had gone to Homburg, with a view of winning a hand some sum of money with which to buy an annuity for his father. The success of his first venture in gaining 35 napoleons had in no sense demoralized him. He had now plunged into gambling ; commencing to play with great luck, and winning £500 on the first evening. This was almost doubled, the next day. He determined to leave when he had won £1500 but on the third day he left off play with a loss of £200 and en the fourth the whole of the rest of his winnings wore gone, together with the £100 he had taken out to play with. The anxiety I felt to be with my husband,

when I read this terrible letter, prevented

my yielding to anything like useless grief ; I got ready my travelling things in an hour, and telling my people at home that Cyril wanted to see me immediately on pressing business, I left our house in time to reach London by midday. Fortunately, on that very morning, a half-yearly dividend of money of my own had been forwarded to me in the customary way ; I cashed this at our banker's

and after passing a wretched afternoon in London, of course all alone, I left by the mail train for Brussels. I must tell tou that, wanting to rest somewhere, I wandered into

our academy exhibition of pictures and had there been at first staggered and then fascinated, by a large painting of a rouge-et-noir fable, surrounded by every representative of gambling life. Long did I stand leaning on the rail before the picture,

reading the history of every group, and find

ingmyown portrait in a young wife endea vouring to drag her husband from the scene. In twenty four hours after I had left London, as quickly as the letters travel, I was with my dear husband in Louisen-strasse. Oh, how

pale and wan he looked ! Bat the happiness I felt in once more being at his side to com fort him makes me look back to that meeting with more joy than sorrow. He kissed me so tenderly, asked how our little Edith was, and then, pulliug a chair to the table rested his head on his hand, and remained silent for a

minute or two.

"' O, Louise,' he said, 'I have ruined you,' and then he broke down completely. When I had had some tea, I told him cheerfully we may then talk of business. I bad brought £60 in £10 notes, which would pay any little debt he owed, and take us home. But my husband would not speak; sitting motionless, with his face buried in his hands. At last, as

I feared, came out worse news. He owed £150 to a banker in Homburg, and had bound himself to make over the proceeds of his com mission, whenever he should sell out, to an English money-lender, who had advanced him a large sum at about 70 per cent interest. I would not show my husbaud what I felt on hearing this j and hard as th c struggle was, I tried to talk lightly of the loss. We must stay at Homburg until more of my dividends were sent to me, then hasten home and hurry out to India, where we could live on Cyril's pay, and perhaps send some pay of it to my father. My husband got more cheerful as evening.wore on; and as we walked through the Schloss garden into the cemetery, he said: • Well, I shan't have to lie here after all, Louise, having shot myself through despair.' Tired out as I was, I went to bed very early, and was soon asleep, when I was awakened by the noise of some one groping about near the dressing table.

" 'It is I, dear ; don't be alarmed,' said Cyril as I asked in terror who was there. ' I am only looking for my cigar-case.'

" He seemed as frightened as I was, and his voice trembled as he answered me. The next mornin , when I bad occasion to open my purse, all my notes were gone, and there was nothing in it but some bits of tobacco leaf sticking to it as though it had been car ried in the pocket with loose cigars. The purse had not been out of my possession till 1 had put it on the dressing-table at night. Oh the sad misery of the thoughts which flashed upon me! God forgive me if I wronged him, for he knew not what he was'doing. That money must havo followed the way of the , rest. Cyril must leave here at once. I would not stay for the remainder of the money, I expected. That morning, we had engaged horses for a ride to Saalburg, and I would urge upon my husband the necessity of his going away in the afternoon. We had hardly left the town when occurred the accident which deprived my dearest husband of his reason, My horse shied across the road at one of the little milk-carts drawn by dogs, and slipped quietly down into a ditch at the road-side, allowing me to step off without a scratch.

Qyril sprang on his horse, and rushed up to aisi^t me, when my animal, in his struggles to stand up, kicked my husband on the fore head, as he had stooped down to raise me. Erom th at moment he lay without sense or feeling for five days, with a great starred wound on his forehead, like the break which a stone ma kes in glass. Nothing but a slow, labored breathing and the irregular beats of his pulse, showed that he still lived, for his

eyes though open were quite insensible to the light. An operation for raising the de pressed parts of the bone to their proper level had been successfully performed, and the symp toms generally seemed favourable to his reco very. It was not until he was unmistakeably out of danger that I thought of a consequence more terrible than death, and almost hoped that he might be taken from me if he was not to be restored whole. But it was not to be.

His memory and reason wero gone and the doctors would not deceive me, they said, with the hope af a cure. We sent for our child of course and are staying here for a time, as my poor husband is amused by the people and music and we havo some very kind friends here. The history of that toy rouge-et-noir table is this : One day during a quiet time, I ven tured to take Cyril into the gaming-room I had thought poor fellow, that his mind was

too much of a blank to have been affected by the sight of the play, but he became so ex-

cited and anxious to be continually looking on that it was judged advisable to withdraw him entirely from the rooms. I contrived a miniature cable for him at home, where we play with counterfeit napoleons. He is under the delusion that he is always loosing money, and had often talked of going to consult a doctor on the subject, but had promised not to do this without telling me.

" I have now told you our story, which will perhaps, help to guide you in treating your patient. You will, I know, pardon me if I havo wearied you."

The forgoing narrative had so impressed me that the only words I addressed to Dr. Fichtc as ho re-entered the room, were : " And the sequel doctor ? What befell this treasure of a woman ?

" I was naturally anxious," said my friend " that the Martyns should leave Homburg without delay, their sojourn here being as bad for the husband's condition as it was painful to the wife. But there were difficulties attending the step. Mrs. Martyn, though she would have braved mo3t things on tlie poor fellow's behalf seemed to shrink most sensitively from the idea of meeting their relations in England. He was in good bodily health, she was greatly comforted by the society of some kind friends, and they were able to live here more economically than they could have done in England : so that it was decided that tiny should pass at all events, the ensuing winter in Homburg. We saw a good deal of them during those months, Martyn was quiet and tractable : and his wife would brighten up as she saw him romp ing with their child or eagerly exicited over a game of backgammoft. with my wife. It seemed indeed, as though her life might not be the blank it had threatened to be filled up as it now was by care for her husband, and affection for her child. The hope, too, was ever present with her that the great trouble might pass away, and that this was to be but a sad chapter in the story of their lives. Bui with the spring came more sorrow. April had been unsually cold, when a short summer o great heat set in for a week. One day, Mrs. Martyu called to ask my advice respecting her little girl, who had caught a cold, and wae otherwise ailing, from having sat out too latt in the gardens. I returned with her toDoro tbeen strasse, and found the child struggling for breath, and showing all the symptoms of a severe attack of diptheria. Capt. Martyn was committed to the charge of some friends, but his wife, I need scarcely tell could not b> persuaded to leave her child's side. The next day the little sufferer was worse and gave such , manifest signs of sinking, that it seemed un necessary to prepare her mother for the end. Por three days she had been by her child's side giving it ammonia every second hour, fumiga ting the room, and changing the linen. She would do everything herself from a feeling, as she told me, that no one would so faithfully carry out my injunctions. On the fourth day when we knew that the crisis must come, the child began to mend, and, in a few hours I was able to gladden the mother by telling her that all immediate danger was over. I urged upon lier the advisability of now leaving tlie patient to professional care, as the fear of con tagion still existed. But she would not move from the house ; and as the child slowly ad vanced toward recovery, so she began to sickeD from the same deadly disease. In three days all was over, her powers of resisting the complaint being exhausted by her previous labors. I followed her to the grave where she now lies, and have taught her husband and child to take a pride in adorning it. Ec is happily saved from the real consciousness of his loss. We see much of misery and vice here, but also something of the beauty of goodness. I have done."

Our pipes had long since gone out, while I listened to this sad story. I could not trust myself to revisit the cemetery. # # # # *

I was at Hombnrg in the following year, and soon found myself at the grave which had so fascinated me the previous year. Another cross exactly similiar to the old one, stood at tne head of a very fresh mound, with an in.

scription recording that Cyril Martyn also here rest 9in peace. Little Edith was waiting in charge of the Fichtes, to be sent to her mother's relations in Eagland.

The Darwinian Theory.

The Dundee Advertiser says: 'It is toot generally known that a series of elaborate experiments intended to illustrate tne laws affecting the varia tion and selection of species have been going on under the direction of able and intelligent naturalists. These experiments were begun soon after the appearance of Mr. Darwin's great work, and their object is to discover the extent to which by persistant effort species may be varied, to what degree particular organs may be changed by a different circumstance and condition, and how far feeble and rudimentary development may be in creased and accelerated by special conditions and wants. These experi ments are carried out with the utmost care, and their results accorded with accuracy ; and they will no doubt in due time throw much light on the doctrines of development and natural selection. The period during which they have been conducted has as yet been too brief to yield important results, and they may possibly require to be carried on for more than half a century before their scientific value is ascertained. These experiments are under the direct supervision of nearly all the more eminent naturalists of the day, including Sir John Lubbock, Mr. Darwin and Mr. Wallace; and thpy will be the first sustained scien tific test to which the laws affecting 1 the variation and origin of the species i have been subjected.'

A Frenchman on American Girls.

A traveller, who has recently passed some months on this side of the Xtlantic, furnishes the Mevue dcs Deuoc Monies quite a lengthy sketch of life and manners in America. Without comment we give the por tion of his sketch in which reference is made to the manner and customs of the average American girl. The wrier says: "Tne young American girls only live to have the best possible time. They are as free as can be. Fortunately, their exaggerated love of pleasure is checked by calculating temperament ,which saves them from many a fall Then, the laws of the country protects them more efficiently than ours would against the enterprise of the male intriguer. They do not, however, prevent many abuses, and fast young ladies are by no means a rarity in the city of New York. During the day they go with some friends, or with him who has tbo privilege to flirt with them, to the Central Patk. In winter they go sleighing and skating, and air their curiosity in all the stores of Broadway. There they get all sorts of goods spread out before them; they ask the price of each, and buy none- The impassive salesman does not show the least sign of discontent. There is a peculiar word for that singular custom. It is 'shopping.' Another custom which is largely practiced by American ladies is to enter confectionery shops and take ice creams at every opportunity. * * * In the evening the same young ladies are seen at theatres and in the fashionable eating saloons. Tf a great ball is given anywhere, you may be sure to meet them there. In summer they flock to watering-places, such as Saratoga, Long Branch and Newport, where several times a day they make a display of dresses which might ruin a score of husbands; or they cross the ocean and astonish European folks with their merry freaks. # * # Many people accustomed to our habits would not fancy such girls for wives, and they may not be wrong; but the truth is that these gay, light-hearted and often dangerously imprudent girls, make exce lent wives and mothers.

Music of the Alps.

I have heard some fine music, as men are wont to speak, the play of orchestras, the anthems of choirs, the voices of song that moved admiring nations. But in the lofty passages of the Alps I heard a music over head from God's cloudy orchestra, the giant peaks of rock and ice, curtained in by the driving mist and only dimly visible athwart the sky through it's folds, such as mocks all sounds our lower world of art can ever hope to raise. I stood (excuse the simplicity) calling to them, in the loudest shouts I could raise, even till my power was spent and listening in compul sory trance to their reply. I heard them, roll it up through their cloudy worlds of snow, sifting out the harsh qualities that were tearing in it as demon screams of sin, holding on upon it as if it were a hymn they were singine to the ear of the great Creator, and sending it around and round in long reduplications of sweetness ' minute after, minute till finally receding and rising, it trembled, as it were, among the quick gratulations of angels, and fell into the silence of the pure empyrean. I never had any conception before of what is meant by quality in sound. There was more power upon the soul in one, of these simple notes than I ever expect to feel till -I hear them again in the choirs of the angelic world. I had never such a sense of purity, by its own pure quality : and I could not but say : ' Oh my God teach me this ! Be this in me forever !' And I can truly affirm that the experience of that hour has consciously made me better able to think of God ever since—better able to worship. All other sounds are gone, the sounds of yesterday heard in the silence of enchanted multitudes, are gone ; but that%is with me still and I hope will never cease to ring in my spirit till I go down to the slumber of silence itself. —EusMell.

A Medium on the Bench.

A Chicago Justice "Who Decides Suits according to Spiritual Adtice.

TFrom the Chicago Tribune.] Among the recent converts to Spi ritualism in this city is a justice of the peace. Not willing to stop at the spiritual ladder and receive instruc tion from others, he has been busied in developing his powers as a medium, and at last has come to such a pitch of perfection as to be able to carry on long conversations with the inmates of the world beyond the grave. He no longer wastes his time in visiting saloons, but stays home at night and holds intercourse with Kent, Black stone and other dead worthies of the law. It is his great relaxation, when he gets home after a weary session, to light his pipe, mix a glass of punch, and theu have a protracted talk with Sir Edward Coke. This is really an improving way of spending the time, and may be recommended to all who desire to become experienced in the law.

These little peculiarities of the court have thus far had no influence upon the outside world, except to amuse the lawyers who found their way into his presence, whom he would inform how, on" the previous evening, he had had a long argument with Story on some obscure point, and had compelled him to own that he was mistaken. Yesterday, however, the matter assumed a serious form, and the lawyer, at least, is in a quandary as to what he shall do. During the afrenoon session a case came up for trial. The attorney for the defence quoted a decision which will be found in one of the early Illinois reports. It was apparently decisive. The law yer looked triumphantly at the judge. The latter said, —

'Wait a minute; I feel the influence.'

Then the judge grabbed a lead pencil and a sheet of paper. His hand went convulsively, and at the and of five minutes he had scribbled over the entire page. When he was through he said to the lawyer:— ' I have just received a message from Judge Lockwood, who was one of the judges of the Supreme court at the time the decision was rendered. He authorises me to say that the majority of the members of the court, who are now in the spirit land, after mature consideration, decided to reverse their former judgment. Please inform the profession of the tact, that they may govern themselves accordingly.' Then tho judge continued: ' Under the circumstances, Mr. , you will see that I can pay no attention what ever to the decision you have quoted, and judgment must be rendered against you.

The lawyer remonstrated, and the judge .finally agreed to postpone the ease for one week in order to give judge Lockwood and his colleagues an oppor tunity to examine the matter again and see if they are determined to reverse their former opinion. The lawyers are meditating what the result will be if the doctrine of Spiritual ism makes much further progress— whether it will not be necessary for them to burn all their reports, if judges of the spirit land are to be allowed to carry on the business of making decisions, and of reversing those which they have made while in this world.

The Rival-Babies.

Theilling Incident op the Eecent .Baby-Show in Deteoit.

Uncle Luther Beecher's grand co operative baby-show, which was to have been one of the features of the poultry and dog exposition at the JToung Men's Hall, is not visible to the naked eye as yet, but it came very near making a start on Saturday after noon. Two women with babies entered the parlor set aside for the little popsey wopseys, and, taking seats on the opposite sides of the room, pro ceeded to stare at each other coldly and suspiciously. One was a tall female with auburn hair, and the other was a little lump of a woman, with very black eyes and a deter mined look. Although they were alone in the room, neither of them spoke, but they commenced to unpack the offsprings.

The auburn-haired lady finally pro duced from the midst of innumerable wrappings a pale scrawny-looking infant, wearing considerable gold chain and an expression of settled melan choly. The other baby was a chip of the old block, so as to speak—a corpulent cherub, with puffy cheeks and big eyes, who proceeded to suck its fat thumbs with much composure. The silence was becoming oppressive when the tall woman broke it. jshe remarked, with affected solicitude.

' "What is the matter with your baby mum? The poor little thing looks quite unwell.'

The little woman's black eyes snap ped, but she answered with forced composure: ' Minerva Geraldine was never sick a day in her life, Madame, and she is sixteen months and ten days old. Has your little one been ailing long ?'

The tall woman's hair began to rise up, but she pretended to be looking to see where the pin was pricking her sad-faced babe, and made no reply. Presently [she wound the infant's gold

chain around her finger in an ab stracted manner so that the other would see.

The rival mother produced a coral necklace with a blue locket and care lessly clasped it about Minerva Geraldine's neck.

Then the other in tones of alarm exclaimed:

4 Why, Alphonso, have you lost your little gold ring?' Alphonso, who was about thirteen months old, vouchsafed no reply, but only looked sad, and his. mother, after a brief search, produced the ring from a needle-case, and with a glance of triumph forced it on his finger. The little # woman was pale, but compressed her lips with stern deter mination. Beaching down into her basket she brought out a silver mug and a wax doll with real hair. She trembled with excitment, for she had shown her full hand. She won; the silver mug settled it. 'Did you intend to put that over grown monstrosity on exhibition here?' inquired the fiery-haired female, glaring wildly at her rival. ' "Why don't you hire out your living skeleton to a side-show ?' screamed^the little woman, her eyes snapping with. i rage. < "Woman!' 1 Creature!' " ~ It looked as if there might be bloodshed, and a humane reporter, who had overheard the wrangle, rushed in to interefere.

' Is my babe a living skeleton ?'] ,,.,; 'Is my darling a monstrosity ?' Both interrogations rang out simultaneously with a shrilliness that drowned the yelping of the canines and the crowing of the prize roosters in the next department.

' Ladies,' said he, with an expression of great solictude, 'they are both angels. But for heaven's sake do not detain me, for I have just been exposed to the scarlet fey—'

And each exasperated female clutched up her baby and nursing bottle and basket and bounded out.

An Irish Ghost Story.

A. stoet of this description has gener ally something to do with the banshee, or death warner, but a supernatural > incident which is said to have occurred i_

in the wilds of Kerry the other day is = sufficiently thrilling, although the appa- ;^ rition concerned had no hereditary ... standing. It seems that a woman resid ing in Grlenflesk received a call from i the spirit of her husband, a 'man of the farming class, dressed in a shroud , and white stockings and gloves.' The farmer in white gloves stated that. j since his death, some months back, although he ought to be in heaven, he 2 was detained elsewhere on account of . owing a sum of £15 to friends of his, >, and he begged of his wife to give him the money. The woman in full faith •' handed him £10, and promised to bring him the rest in a few days if he ' came for it. Meanwhile she went and told the priest 'the circumstances of the case, and this gentleman acted very differently from the clerical moni tor of Mickey Eree, who. may be remembered by the readers of' Charles O'Malley.' When the ghost in com- • plete burial costume arrived for the bank-note he was at once received by a couple of police, and proved, as ghosts > do in our day, to be a mere pretender,' playing a part. He will have *tO r; answer for his misconduct before a, magistrate. There was a touch of real L dramatic cunning in the fashion in ■■", which this rogue tried to impose on the simple widow. The shroud, the stockings, and the gloves, were at once recognised by the poor woman as the most fitting garments for her husband, ? as"they were the last in which she had' A seen him. ■. • ,■• \ r «» f „ fia

Brougham and Macaulay.

Beohgham, tall, thin and commanding in figure, with a face which, however ugly, is full of expression, and a voice of great power, variety and even me lody, notwithstanding his occasional prolixity and tediousness, is an orator in every sense of the word. Macaulay short, fat and ungraceful, with a round 1 thick, unmeaning face, and with rathef a lisp, though he has made speeches of great merit and of a very high style of eloquence in point of composition, has. no pretensions to be put in com petition with Brougham in the House of Commons. Nor is the difference and inferiority of Macaulay less marked in society. Macaulay, indeed, is a great talker, and pours forth floods of knowledge on all' subjects; but the gracefulness, lightness and variety are wanting in his talk which are so con spicuous in his writings; there is not' enough of alloy in the metal of his conversation ; it is too didactic, it is '■'• all too good, and not sufficiently flexible, -; plastic and diversified for general^ society. Brougham, on the other hand■, is all life, spirit and gayety—" from grave to gay, from lively to severe ?'—si dashing through every description of folly and fun, dealing in those rapid transitions by which the attention and imagination are arrested and excited ; always amusing, always instructive, never tedious, elevated to the height of the greatest intellect, and familiar with the most abstruse subjects, and afci the same moment conciliating the humble pretensions of inferior minds by drop ping into the midst of their pursuits and objects with a fervour and intensity of interest which surprises and delights' his associates, and, above :all< which/ puts them at their ease.Tr'^wZfeV Memoirs. , ....,/_• ... .;, .{w<s\ '»