" A swine is a pig," she was saying to herself: "nobody ever had to pay so much for a pig—or the nse of a pig's name—as you will have to pay, my lady."

CHAPTER XXIX. WHITING FOR THS PRESS. TiiK cool head is the great winner in the game of life. To it full all the jn-izes of the material sort: money ; good position in the law and commerce; and generally what reputation, of the respectable kind, can confer. In rare instances, it even at tains the highest honours. These make up to its possessor for a luck of enjoyments which by tlie nature of the case are denied to him. For love, for Friendship, for al most all kinds A social pleasure, a man must be more or less impulsive; if he begins to calculate about them they are lost to lam. The Poet has delights which the Financier, though ho has made millions, can never share lam not, of course, speaking ot the '■philosophic mind," which, to say truth, very few of us, whether poets or otuorwisc, ever attain to, but of the order of man whom his friends term philosophic ; the world m general a "coot head;" and his enemies a "cool hand." He is almost always prospers, if ho bo not, Vo is of all men the most miserable; for to Pros perity he has pinned himself,. and what Would be his position with the pin thiough him and nothing to stick it to ! Mr Signet, was pre-eminently a man ot this class, but not altogether by nature. He had had impulses in hw ume (he had some even now, as we know), but the cir cumstances of his life and trade had soberod him. Ha knew how to wait. Men say of a wealthy man that he can " all'ord " to wait —to hold on tJ dropping stock till it rises, or to depreciatedgoonstill they are in demand ; but in nine cases out of tea what has helped him to become lieh.has been a natural apti tude for biding his time. As compared with their less prudently constituted fellows, these men are like bill-discounters who have to deal with spendthrifts- It is ouly the cleverest of them, however, who are aware how many men are eagerly desirous to cet matters settled out of hand, even at a loss, and to have done with bother. Bother does not attect them, and tliey are therefore fortunately ignorant of the jar and jangle that it causes in the whole har mony of being in others: otherwise they would take eve j greater advantage of them than they do. Lady Pargiter was by no means what is «enerally understood by the pUra-e " a creature of impulse ;" she inherited the caution and total absence of sentiment of her father the money-lender; but she lacked his heavenly temper. N o ill-behaviour of his clients e<er roused him to passion ; one man whom the exigencies of the case com pelled him to send to prison (th jugh he had already repaid his original loan twice over) once spat in his f.ice. Mr Ingot was not a Christian, yet no word of anger crossed his lips. You would never have discovered that he had been insulted, unless you had been a Taxing Master and had had that pirticular Bill of Costa relating to the offender under your consideration. Hut Lady Pargiter, besides an ungovernable temper, had been very rich for years, which is a great hindrance to patience. The most engaging of epicure once observed to me in a moment of confidence (it was after some canvas-backed ducks), " I like cvorything good, and very often a great deal of it," Ana Lady Pargiter, though not in matters relating to the Üble, had the same tastes. S!ic liked her own way al ways, and to have-it at once. It was this diffcrenoii of character be tween her ladyship and Mr Signet that made the combat between them over Matthew Helstoft's missing body so much more equal than it looked to be. For, »it the first Unsh, bor ladyship would have appeared to have both legal and mora right upon her sid». Mr Signet's confidential agent had disap peared with her diamond-, for which Mr Signet was therefore responsible. And if she had not been conscious of at least one flaw in her armour, she would without doubt have struck the first blow. Her not having done so had indeed to Mr Signet, who knew her c .aracter, appeared strange, though unlike Mr Buil, he could not allow it to have boon so strange that it ought to have suggested the reason. But now her whole conduct was explicable enough, even to her having inspired the paragraph in the morning paper which had so deeply offeuded him. Unable to re-train her impatience, yet not daring to demand the money from him point-blank, she had used that device to draw from him an acknowledgement of his indebtedness; and, but for Rutherford's evidence, might have succeeded. It was likely enough that Mr Signet should have communicated with her, and if so he could hardly have expressed his sorrow for what had happened, and his hope that the jewels might be recovered, without admitting his responsibility. But now nothing was further from his thoughts. If he had decided upon fighting a desperate cause, with nothing but the cabman's evi dence to hack it, how much more was he ready to do battle now ! For not only, sup posing Misa Selwood's information was cor rect, hai he discovered the weak point of her ladyship's case, but was more convinced than ever that she had the diamonds in her possession; it might have been by bribinS Helston, or even by murdering him, but "somehow or other," he said to himself, " that woman has got them." For a long headed, cautions man of business, it was extraordinary how lie loatned Lady Pargi ter ; his confidence in Patty was perhaps as much owing to her evident hatred of her mis tress as to the assistance her testimony pro mised him. The accusations which her lady ship had been so imprudent as to make against him had aroused his deepest resent ment, for it there was one thing on which he prided himself (and there wero many) it was his honesty, ■ This sentiment was quite apart from the sen4tiveiicss with which Sabey resented the least slur upon her husband's honour; he had the pride of the British tradesman, in that he had paid his way, and made it; had not been bank rupt ; and had never, or hardly ever, taken advantage of a fellow-creature, except in the way of business. Moreover—and this he plumed himself upon more than all—he had refrained from doing dishonest acts on several occasions when he might have done them with impunity. Such slanders as Lady Pargiter's were not only galling to a mind thus conscious of its own rectitude, but threatened his credit. Her ladyship's immense wealth gave her great influence ; but, on the other hand, reflected Mr Signet, if she was only a little more imprudent, would make her well worth " shooting at" in an action for damages. On that Sunday afternoon Mr Brail and his employer had a long discussion upon the plan of the coming campaign; for that there would be a fight with Lady Pargiter they took for granted. The detective was for remaining quite quiet, or, as I am sorry to say he had the discourtesy to express it, for " giving the woman plenty of rope;" but Mr Signet was eager for action. In the end a compromise was effected: it was decided that no direct attack should be made against the enemy, but a flank movement, and with such a j show of force as might draw him from his j entrenchments. A paragraph was to be •written to the newspapers taking quite another view of the disappearance of the

diamonds than that which had been already made public. Mr Signet accordingly retired to an upstairs apartment, and devoted himself for some hours to composition: it was a line he was not used to, but for which in his secret heart he imagined himself to have a natural bent; only, he was too modest to compose in the presence of another pcivon. Give him solitude, however—awl a dictionary—and the result was one with which he was generally well content.

On the present occasion he elaborated quite a treatise upon the annals of his respectable firm: how it hail begun in obscurity, progressed through integrity and attention to business, and culminated in "one of the largest establishments con nected with jewels and the precious metals in the City of London." Then he des cribed the " s.vstcm " on which the establishment worked, and showed it to bo faultless. One of the precautions it took was only to employ assistants after the pat cm of the members of the firm them selves—namely, of the moat unblemished chart ctcr. Under such circumstances it was impoasiole, ho argued, that Messrs Star and Signet could be morally responsible for any loss whatever : nevertheless, they were always prepared to accept their responsibilities, however gigan tic, which the extent of the their resources easily enabled them to do. As to the mys terious disappearance, however, of Lady Pargitcr's diamond!, a contemporary had fallen into the error of supposing that Messrs Star and Signet admitted a liability which in fact lay altogether elsewhere, as they had written and other evidence to prove. The space occupied by the missing man in this eloquent composition — notwith standing that it was a little lorn; and decidely discursive, was about three lines ; nor were the jewels themselves much dwelt upou—with the ingenious design of hinting that their loss was LadyjJPargitcr'n busi ness ; but a< a monograph on the house of Star and Signet, it was superb.

Mr Brail's face said so, as his employer read out the rolling periods in a sonorous voice. "Beautiful, beautiful !" lie said, when the reading was finished. "The style is— dear jiic—" he looked round, as if for a litting adjective, and his eye, lighting upon a ticket appended to an Aphrodite in frosted silver, found what it sought—" very chaste. I had no idea, sir, you possessed the literary gift. But it won't do for the newspipcrg." "Won't do?' cried Mr Signet, the ex pression of his face changing from gratified pride to an irritation that was almost truculent. "What's, the matter with it?"

"Nothing, my dear sir: in its own way it's perfect; but for a newspaper it's too good." Mr Signet's brow relaxed: lie himself thought tlmt there was a waste of force in composing such an essay for a penny daily; but still, a man of genius can't suit his style to the lower classes: moreover, he wanted to see it in print. "It's all true, and its all very pretty," continued his critic: "and you needn't waste it, you know : it will do admirably for a Christinas advertisement." [Mr Signet shuddered]; "but it shows too much the source from which it comes. Apart from its excellence (which itself, my dear sir, would betray its author), it has too much of Star and Signet. To use a vulgar image, it smells of the shop " " Smells of the shop?" repeated Mr Signet,putting the manuscript mechanically to his nose. "Not a bit of it. You would not have me write about my jewels without spoking of myself f" " Certainly not; not about your jewels ; but we are concerning ourselves with Lady Pargitcr's jewels. It is slip, we contend, who baa lost them, or got them : you should have condoled with her, just as the other fellow did with you." "I couldn't do it," said Mr Signet can didly. "She'sa thief and .1 liar."

" Just so,"answered the other cheerfully; " but it is injudicious to prove it by praising our own truth and integrity. Put it on Matthew Helston's shoulders. Adopt a tone of virtuous indignation. Why should n man "poor but honest" be suspected of a ciime, because the poraon who has suffered —or.rather, has apparently suflered-is rich and powerful ? It is not worth our while, let them uuderstand, to defend ourselves in this matter, but we feel that something is owing to the character of a tried and faithful servant—a man we have trusted with untold gold, and priceless articles of vertu. lam oo scholar, like you, Mr Sig net, but I know the public and what tickles 'em, and while you were upstairs I just ventured to throw together my own views of how the thing should run, and here they are. Perhaps you would kindly put 'cm*into proper shape." The few sentences the detective had jotted down in his note-book were certainly not to be compared to the ornate production of Mr Signet; but they did not lack a cer tain vigour, which was the more creditable to him considering that he didn't believe a word he wrote. For he still secretly stuck to his first view that Hclston made off with the jewels. "Dear me," said Mr Signet, "this is very bold—and —uin, commonplace. ' Kcs> pectablc young man,' 'well connected,' ' stain of reproach,1 ' confidence of em ployer.' However, I daresay I can make something of it—' wreck of a household'— 'suspend their opinion.'—That seems all right" " Then you can conclude," said Mr Brail, " with your owb admirable hit against Lady Pargiter." Air Signet nodded adhesion; he was glad that all his labour was not be thrown away, and he was beginning to be pleased with this new and improved version of the affair fora reason that the detective could not have fathomed. His thus putting publicly forward his confidence in Helston's integrity could not but be gratifying to Amy Thur low.

(To be continued.)

The End of the World.

A weekly newspaper which generally eschews sensationalism with a holy horror, broke through its traditions recently, and startled its readers by giving currency to a prediction that the world is to come to an end in a very unpleasant manner in the year 1897—that is to say, in fifteen years time. The prophet is no less distinguished a person than Mr R. A. Proctor, and tbe burden of his prophecy is tbat the end of all things—so far as human beings are con cerned - is to be brought about by the in strumentality of the comet by which we were visited last year. There is some reason for believing 111 the identity of that body with the comet of 1843, and also with the comet of 1068; and as, supposing this identity established, it is clear that the comet's orbit is rapidly diminishing, Mr Proctor considers it all but certain that at its next visit it must fall into the sun, and that the tremendous accession of heat pro duced by the impact will suffice to burn up the whole of the solar system. As there is not a link in this portentous chain of argu ment that is not rendered well nigh worth less by a gigantic "perhaps," it seems rather unkind of the " Spectator " to fasten it about the imaginations of nervously-dis posed readers. If people can be frightened out of their senses by Mother Shipton, how much more so by Mr Proctor?

MUSICAL NOTES.

[Specially iVmttbn fou the "Stab" by Processor F. 0. Caillimj.]

NO VI.—MUSICAL INSTRUCTION

IN TrjE COLONIES.

MUSIC is a subject of conversation that pleases everyone, and to which oue likes to return an often as possible. Everybody gives his opinion of the work* of the masters and seeks to define in his own way the sen sations that they cause him to experience. Everyone, too, wishes to be right ; and. although we recogune that taste iv music is, like personal judgment, asso ciated with such an infinitude of variations, as to be incapable of uniformity, we believe, nevertheless, that discussions on this matter, just as the most contra dictory opinions, could be rendered less striking and less whimsical than they always are. The popularisation ot good music, and the execution of serious works, have already done a great deal for the correction of the taste of the public, but its musical education will not be com plete, and the hearing of the master works of musical genius, will only be really profitable when it knows the history of the art that it conceives itself called upon to judge, aud upon which it wishes to mani lest its desires. Of all the arts it is music that speaks the most spontaneously to tbe heart. Whether it is interpreted by the human voice, by tho bow of a Paganini, or by the lingers of a Liszt, it is it and it only that can subdue at tho lir.-t essay the feelings, aud cause a fountain ot unknown sensation*—of ecstaticcnjoyuients— to burst (orth, or which, with the change of the theme, can hush the spirit in awe aud niourutul uauquility. In writing these lines I have been recalled to a sense of the unfortunate fact, ouly too common indeed amongst us, that there is abroad a restlessness ttur. allures away tho representatives of rainic liom the task of extciuliug the knowledge of it. One may see there after all ouly ibo natural conse quence of excess iv uuytuuig, but what is cveu less explicable is Unit which meets us every day, viz., the flagrant opposition that exists between tuo love that we p.ofcss for the hi eat masters —a love which, iv certain cases, becomes ,1 sort of futishiam - nnd our own incomplete musical education. In effect, to love passionately the art of which one makes a daily study,to possess now and then some inclination tor playing on au instrument, to know a portiou of the chis.-ical works from the time of Handel until that of Schumann aud yet not to be able in a simple prelude to pass without hesitation from one tone to auother, is an anomaly which is to be re marked in the cases of nine-tenths of the persona who owe to musifi their purest on joynunts. Where are we to ascertain ihe cause of this state of disorder iv which music tiuds itself ? Would it not bo in the Blight encouragement that is given to the teaching of it, und that too not merely iv the Colonies, but in .England also ? Is not this tho reason too why so comparatively small a number of the leading musicians iv Great isritain arc natives of t In; country. London expends almost fabulous sums in order to obtain the services of instrumen talists and singers for her theatres und concerts, and these artistes are nearly nil foreigners, and yet this great city has never even dreamt of founding a JNational School of Music, ia which, as among certain Continental nations, numerous pupils are gratuitously lustiucteit iv all branches of the musical art —from,its very ABC to its most abstruse ke/mique and highest development. The enouios which, so far, are much more liberal aud progressive in all these thiugs than tiie mother couatry.luve unfortunately iv the matter uuder notice followed tOJClojely the example of the great metropolis. The question of instruction is of extreme importance, and this is not iv tho least diminished by the fact of the art in which instruction is needed being music. 1

The ancient Grceiuu^wlio understood and were skilled in the culture of morals^eaused music to be asnociated with their policy even,and had recourse to it for the purpose of exciting or discipliuing tho minds of the citizens.

Iv their epoch it stood foremost among the arts, whilst at present, by a strange revolu tion, it is scarcely to be included amongst them. Indeed, oue might almost say that it is only tolerated. Yet its character has not changed, and it has still the same influence upou people who cultivate it seriously. Italy is the principal modern power that has given a solid basis to this neglected art. She has been as the nurae who has guided its first steps. It is through this circumstance that all the terms which we use in music form a vocabulary bjlougiug to herself and comprehended by all nationp having the slightest prsteusion to any musi cal knowledge or taste. It was in Italy during the XVll.century that the lirat Con servatories of Music were founded. Those of Naples turned out numerous celebrated composers and Biugers, such as Scarlatti, Porporo, Durante.Leo.Perßolfcse, etc. After the Neapolitan conservatories came those of Venice, which were wholly consecrated to women, as those of Naples were to men. These institutions, as their name indicates, were designed ts propagate the art and to conserve it in all its purity. Civilised Governments, being fully nensi ble of the importance of having uniformity of weights and measures, established a. standard in platinum—tbat is to say as a prototype or original.which serves as a basis tor commerce. If legislators have acted thus it was because they knewwell enough that if they had left the matter for everyone to de termine as he pleased, the result would not be to their satisfaction or reckoning, and that at the end of a certain time the true mOtre would have shrunk to a half metre. The Conservatories subserve the purposes of a standard, for it is in them that, under the eyes of masters whose skill and ability have been recognised by public opinion, other artistes are instructed, who, in their own turn, when experience has come to ripen their talents, undertake the control of establishments of the same kiad, or teach under the direction of artistes more skilled or experienced than, themselves, becoming very often even frea professors, but profes sors for all that, who carry with them the stamp of unalloyed art; for we know that the water which comes to us immediately from its source is always more limpid than that which has already traversed a certaiu distance of its course in the earth.

What we are merely taught seldom nourishes the mind like that which we teach ourselves. He that cloth not know those things which are of use for him to know is but an iguorant man, whatever he may know besides.

A Search for Buried Treasure.

Some months ago an article was published, which excited cousidorable attention, on the buried treasures of the Buccaneers, Riving an account of one Currcy, who had succeeded in persuading'many people in Jamaica that lie had discovered an immense treasure cave on the island of St. Catalann, in the Carribean Sea, which was filled witU doubloons ac cumulated by the Buccaneers on the Spanish Main in tho seventeenth century. It was stated at the time that, strange and incredible as the story seemed, he had suc ceeded in securing influential supporters, who promised to help him to realise his treasure trove. That promise was fulfilled by the despatch of 11, M.5. Phcenix from Jamaica tv St, Catulina to assist in the un earthing of the buried hoard of Morgan and his piratical companions. The following account of the search for the cave, extrac ted from the journal of an officer who took part iv it, will be re.id with interest: - On Sunday morning, Dec. 4, ISBI, as the sun commenced to gild the summits of the IHue Mountains of Jamaica, 11.M.5. Plicouix might have been seen steaming from Port ttoyal, towing astern a Hailing sloop, ttic Lord VVurdcu, uaviiig on boara the gentlemen who have been induced by the representations ot Currcy to boiievo iv the story of tua treasure uuriod in the island by the old buccaneers. Ever since tlie Government agreed to permit oue of Her Majesty's ships to accompany a search expedition, Curroy showed symptoms ot" disinclination to go, and up to tho last moment it was quite on the tapis that he would retuso. lie professed hinuelf, how ever, to be very sanguine of the success of the expedition. "Look hero, sir," he said to me ; " here's a plan of Ihe island that 1 sketched ; here's the spot that holds the treasure ; and if 1 were on the bench there (pointing to a murk on tho plan) I could walk to the place blindfold, though I would guarantee to put all the WOW of tho t'hoiuix within 10 yards of the hole and they would never' find it/ I" order to put him to the proof, 11. M.S. I'lm'iti.v stood out to sea, exchanging the foul stenches of Port Koyal fur the fresh seabreezo. On Tuesday, Dec H, at noon, we sighted the Wand of Did I'rovuleneo, and shortly afterwards we reached the set icluicut ot Isabel, situated at the top of a picturesque bay at (he foot of a mountain of pyrauiidical shape. Here, dose to the smaller island of Catalina, we anchored, the Lord Warden following our example. The steam cutter was ihcu despatched to the sloop for Messrs Levy and Currey, and after consultation with them, t'apt. Greenfell, accompanied by some of his officers, went on shore to interview the islanders and ascertain what amount ot op position might be bo expected from them. Half nn hour after leaving tho ttiuonix in the cutter we were skirting tho coast of St. Uatalina, and passed close to the re markable rock, which is supposed to re semble Morgan, who must in that case have been remarkably ugly. Rounding die corner of Catulina, we landed for the first time on the island of Old Providence. A number of islanders, curious to know our business, soon gathered round us, and on learning that it 'iad reference to the treasure Mipposed to be in the neighbourhood seemed mightily tickled. They were good enough to say that they had no idea ot preventing Currey from taking it if he could (md it. The general impression seemed to be that Cur rcy was a madman. The town of Isabel is situated in a very picturesque spot ; palms fringe the sandy beach,and the mountainous ridges in the rear ot the settlement are clothed with bright green tropical vegeta tion. The islanders all speak Unglish, al though under the Government of the Ro public of Colombia, and appear to 1 • a con icntul, well-to-do people. Some a them may possibly be descendenls of the old hue canters, while many have evidently Spani-h blood in ther veins. Aftor some conversation with the prefect, Mr Hawkins, we said good evening, and returned to the Phiunix, getting on board about seven o'clock. On Wednesday, at (i..'!o a.m., the captain and some of tlie ollicers of the L'bicnix accompanied Currey and the gentlemen from the sloop to the island of St. Catalma. A landing was effected nn the beach a little to the houthward of Morgan's Head. Cur rey then led tha way up the .side of a hill, and on reaching its summit descended to the beach a few yards to the north of the head. Here he pointed out the cave, und running in made for the back of it, and commenced searching iv the sand for a hole which he sUtcd led into a sccutnl cavity. After "roping abou: for a short time he in formed the members of the expediti-n that the hole had been blocked up by debris washed in by the sea, but, said lie, pointing to what appeared to be the solid rosk, "The treasure's Jin there." Mr Currcy then seated him~clf on a larcc stone at the mouth of the cavern, and seemed to have no further interest in the matter. Crowbars and picks were then broushtiuto requisition, and with these a oertam amount of lime stone and clay at the back of the cave was knocked away, the excavators standing up to their knees in the water while they worked. By 10 a.m., as the tide was ilowing in, it was no longer possible to continue operations, so half the part) returned to the Phuniix, aud the remainder stopped on the island until ebb tide, when it was proposed to coutinuo the search, although by this time the gentlemen from Jamaica were beginning to think that Currey was humbugging them. That worthy individual haa retained his position on the big stone all the morning, looking as stolid as the head of Morgan; and when asked to explain certain little inconsis tencies — such as his declaration that if lai.ded he could place his hands on tlie fiftecL millions of dolla.s in five minutes— ouly deigned to answer, pointing at the rock, " The treasure's in there, I tell jou." A few of the islanders in their canoes presented themselves during the day. One man, evidently believing that lie was about to secure some o£ the booty of the bucca neers, had cou.e provided with a large bag; while another, with an eye to business, brought with him cocuauuts aud milk, which proved most acceptable to the treasure-hunters. At 3 p.m. several of tho party returned to the cave to proceed in the prosecution o f the search. On this occasion the steam cutter with the gig in tow went at once to tha mouth of tho cavern, and the explorers experienced some difficulty in getting ashore. Currey now showed a little n.ore interest in the business, and actually went so far as to swim through the broken water to the entrance. The work of excavation was got on with, although all concerned were almost convinced that they were tha dupes of an adventurer. At last tho arrival of a gentleman (a geologist) on the scene, who had been absent during the day ex ploring the island, settled the matter. Ho waded through the water at the back of the cave, and exuming the rock which the indefatigable treasure-hunters were digging away at, pronounced Currey's story of the blocking up by debris false. "This," said he. looking at a handful of tlie stone and showing it to Currey, " has been here for hundreds of years." Currey's only reply was, "The treasure's in there, I tell you." However, the party at once desisted from

their attempts at tunnelling the island of St. Cataliua, and'somu of themembeis ex pressed in very plain language their opinion of Currey's conduct in b'inging them on such a wild-goose chase.

KruTii trus worthy sources I understand that during the past iive yearn this man Currey has teen living at Jamaica on the charity of the people he has deceived. At various times lie has received nearly £500 from gentlemen on the strength of his promises to show the spot where the trea sure was concealed. One poor woman, a widow, alone gave him £200, her all. By his plausible representation he induced Her Majesty's Consul at Colon to believe in the story of the lizard and the enormous find of doubloon?, which were seen by Mr Edmund. Levy and others in Kingston. Thursday.— Sailed from Old Providence for Port Koyal, leaving Currey on board the sloop to lind his way bock. No doubt on his return he will endeavour to persuade another party to go down to St. Catalina, for he persisted to the last that the trea sure was in the cave ; but it is very likely that before he takes another trip he may see the inside of a prison, as it is deter mined to prosecute him for obtfiing money under false pretence.— Pall Mall (luzette.

Mr Peltzer's Leture on Charles Dickens.

Notwithstanding the inclement state of the weather, there was v large attendance at last Saturday's meeting of the "Societe" Litteraire Frauraise " to hear Air H. S. P, PelUer'a last lecture in Auckland, Mr C. do L'Eau, who presided, oneucd the pic ceedings by presenting Mr IVllzor, on be. half of the olliccrs and the oue hundred and four memburs of the club, with a taste fully illubtra.ed address. [n a highly laudatory speech, the president dwelt upon the valuable services rendered by the recipient to ihe popularising of the study of tue French language in Auckland, and pointed to the fact that Mr Peltzer was too founder ot the French Literary Club, which under his able management had In come, in a few months, one of the most uourUbing institutions of this kind in the colony. Mr C, de L'eau concluded his well-choscu re marks by expressing a hope that tbe retiring secretary would consent to act as Parisian correspondent to the club. After a grateful acknowledgment ot the compliment by Mr i'eltzer, the meeting proceeded to the electiou of an honorary secretary, and Mr A.Vilieval being the only candidate nominated, was declared duly elected. The prcßidcnt next called on Mr Pelizcr to deliver his pruiiiieed lec ture on " Charles Dickens and his Works," considered from a French point of view. The lecturer, who was re ceived with loud applause, prefaced his subject with a few introductory remarks on the different manners of criticising tho works of the g;cat authors. He declared himself adverse to copying from the opinions given by professional critics, and expressed his firm belief that, in a debating class, it was better to give one's own ideas and impressions, tlaving briefly reviewed the toremost novelists of the present age, Mr IMtzor went on to state that, in his opinion, Chariot Dickcas was fairly en» titled to the first pluce, for he, certainly was the international novelist " par excellence." Tho great English writer had waged a most successful war against social and religious pre judices and antipathies which were cosmopolitan, since feudalism, that old re gime of Divine ri^ht, had bequeathed them to modern civilization. He next re viewed a tew of Charles Diekuns's works, showing that each of them grappled with some social evil. In " iiaruaby Kudge," for instance, tho illustrious writer was the leaflets advocate of religious and political freedom and tolerution ; whilst in " Nicholas Nickleby," he had demonstrated the absolute necessity for State contro.i n national education. "Little Dorrit".was an eloquent protest against imprisonment for debt, andin "BlenkHouse,'1 the author claimed cheap and spteiiy justice foruvery body. It was also iv the same work that he ridiculed as) stem of ill-directed charily, which prevails everywhere. In all civilised countries we meet with charitably disposed people who collect to present far-distant savages with many things which are utterly useless to them. For in stance, these Kood souls send books and toys to the little Chinese, regardless of the fact tr/at the big Chinese will dispose of these gifts to satisfy their cravi. g for opium-smoking. They present whole boxes of wearing apparol to cannibals, who preter the primitive costume of Mother Kve to the most refined Parisian fashions, Finally these practical busy-badies bestow Bibles and tracts on people who cannot read, whilst they remain indifferent to the Buffering!" of their nearest neighbours. The lecturer gave a moviug description of the sufferings of "Poor Joe," and contended that by devoting a small part of this useless waste of money to the education of such outcasts, they would be turned into useful sailors and soldiers, or skilful mechanics. Ho next expressed his admiration for the versatility of Dickon's talent as a writer. Keferring to "Pickwick," Mr Feltzer compared this production, bristling with British humour, to the best works ot the inimitable Moliurc, and he provoKed great merriment by giving a graphic description of the " Trial SceDe. The lecturer exprcssod his regret at being unable to do ample justice to the many masterpieces for wbicn the civilised world was indebted to tho popular writer whom ho had under review. However.he deemed it his duty to mention "The Tale of Two Cities," which, in his opinion, stood un surpassed for the masterly knowledge, as well as the sterling impartiality dis played by a foreigner in dealing with the French national character. In this book Charks Dickens had given the coup dc grace to the now exploded fallacy, that revolutions are directly traceable to tbe perverted instincts of the proletariat, by showing that they are the result of the vices and follies of the governing classes. He had drawn a vivid but true picture of the wretched condition of the Freuch people under the old monarchy of divine right, and whilst deploring the excesses which followed the devolution of 1789, he had admitted them as tbe inevitable result ot centuries of oppression and tyranny, Mr Peltzer concluded bis ahle lecture by as serting that both Great Britain and France owed an everlasting debt of gratitude to Charles Dickens, whose charming writings had greatly contributed to conquer those feelings of national hatred which had so long divided the two great nations, and to bring about that entente cordiale which has achieved such gratifying results. The general criticism was highly complimentary to the lecturer, the prevailing opinion being that it was the boat production as yet delivered in the French Club. Mr E. S,. Watkins, of the Parnell Grammar School, was unanimously elected a member of the Association. Mr H. S. F. Peltzer. who proceeds to France by Orient Line,, will leave Auckland on the 18th instant, by the Kingarooma, for Sydney.

Give me the money that has been spent ;n war and I will purchase, every foot of jand upon the globe.

STAR SATURDAY SUPPLEMENT, APRIL 15, 1882

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Special Medicines for Children, Infants' Food, Feeding Bottles, Nursing Shields, Enemas, Waterproof Sheeting, Bandages, Belts, and all kinds 01 domestic appliances may be obtained at Gardner's English Pharmacy, 184, Queen-street, Auckland.— rADVT.I Goodwin's Baking Powder in half-pound tins, Is3d, sold by all the.proccra ; whole sale by all the merchants.—lADVT.]