admi.ingly. "If I did uot know it before, I should be convinced of it from such loyal lip*. > None but a true man could have won for himself such a defender. What is your opinion, Mr Barlow ?" "I think you need scarcely ask it, Mr Durham," said the lawyer. "Ifl am less demonstrative than some folks in this good cause," and he laid his lrand lovingly on Amy's shoulder, •■ you will find me equally devoted to it."

"Ay, to parody a famous saying," said Uncle Stephen, with a pucker about his mouth ■which under other circumstances would have developed into a smile, " he will go as far in a skin of parchment as anyone in the glittering mail of chivalry." " I hope si, answered the lawyer pru dently, not from any distrust of himself, but because he entertained some doubt of the other's meauing. " Each must work bis own light and in his own way." "Only let us work together," said Uncle Stephen drily ; " then we shall s and four square to every wind that blows " Amy looked from one to the o'her very gravely. It was well, of course, to be as sured (though she had never doubted it) that these stout friends were with her and hers ; but what slio noted with alarm was that they spoke only of defending Matthew's memory, as though they hndalreuly des paired of seeing him in the flesh. They had no com mon meal that evening, for Uncle Stephen's bronchitis was severe, and the two women were glad enough to escape irom what was to them but an empty ceremony. Sabey retired early; she had declined, with a grateful caress, her sister's offer to share hcr^bed, but had promised to endeavour to get some sleep. Amy herself was uuablc to do so, and after a few hours rose and went on tiptoe to Sabey's room. The door was open, the fire burning brightly, and the babe asleep in its cot; but there was no Sabey, nor any sign of her having laid her head on the pillow. What on earth could have become of her ? Was it possjbl6 that, with a brain half-turned by \yeariues*and anxiety, she had gono forth in the night to seek her Lost One? Half paralysed with terror, Amy ran downstairs, and to her joy found the front door locked as usual; a feeble light shone from the smoking-room below, and with a beating heart, but swift and noiseless| step, she descended und pushed open the half-closed door. In the far corner of the room, close to the machine her husband had invented and leaning over it, | was Saboy. She had taken the cover off, ' and was anointing the little wheels with oil and rubbing them with a piece of flannel just as sho had seen Matthew do. She did not hear her sister's step, but worked on with great intentness. At first Amy feared her reason had given way, but presently perceived that the expression of her eyes was only that of tender solicitude. Did she think that eho would have her husband back again, and was thus preparing all things as he would have them for his return ? or was it a pious duty paid to the memory of the dead» In either case it was a pitiful sight, , With a gentle sigh, but without dis turbing her in her occupation, Amy with drew as softly as she had come. Her heart-strings were wrung with pity. What a desolate future was in all human proba bility in store for yonder gentle creature ! What unimaginable anxiety and woe must needs be consuming her, which could find relief in such a task as this! She was almost angry with herself for _ having felt such strength and comfort awhile ago from her lover's pre-eucej when for Sabey there was no protectoi and no solace left. Upon her knees that ni«ht she took Heaven to witness t'uit she would never desert her un happy si^t-r —never permit the gratification of her own happiness to interfere with any mitigation p'f the other's trouble that it might lio in her power to afford. If it should be Sabey's fate to suffer, and so un deservedly, then it should be hers to do what she could to break the bitter stroke of calamity—no matter at what self-sacrifice. With her soft eyes turned towards the Heaven she wa? importuning for another's sake, her beauty had a certain ethereal cast which at other times was Dot observablo ; yet it is doubtful whether, if Mr Frank Barlow had just then got at "the back of her mind," as he called it, he would have admired her in this tuood so_ much ns in ordinary ones. There are circumstances under which one prefers a woman to an angel, especially if herangelicattributes tend to place one in the position of second fiddle. In this instance, perhaps, that would be to overstate the case. Her Frank wag first in Amy's eyes, but he was not all in all; and for the time Matthew and Matthew's wife seemed to haye greater-or, at all events, more immediate—claims upon her.

(To be continued.)

Diamond Dust.

One day is worth three to him who does everything in order. Beautiful are .the. admonitions of him whose life accords with his teachings. Never excuse a wrong action by saying someone else does the same thing, this is no excuse at all.

Let all malice be removed, and let ua never adopt that maxim, rather to lose our friend than, our jest.

If there is one thing more than another which most people detest, it is the obliga tion to be just to those with whom they differ.

Nonsense when earnest is impressive and sometimestakesyouin. If you are in a hurry you occasionally' mistake it for sense.

He ia a great simpleton who imagines that the chief power of wealth is to supply wants. In 99 cases out of a hundred it creates more wants than it supplies.

He that visits the sick in hope of a legacy let him be never so friendly in all other cases, I look upon him in this to be no better than a raven that watches a weak sheep only to pick out the eyes on't. Never suffer your children to requite services from others which they can perform themselves. A strict observance of this rule will be ot incalculable advantage to them during evrry period of life. It is not becomiug to turn from friends in adversity, but then it is for those who have basked in the sunshine of their pros perity to adhere to them. No one was ever so foolish as to select the unfortunate for their friends.

Which will you do-smile and make others happy, or be crabbed, and make everyone around you miserable ? The amount of happiness you can produce is in calculable if you show a smiling tace and speak pleasant words. There is no joy like that which springs from a kind act or a pleasant deed, and you may feel it at nifht when you rest, and at moring when you rise, and through all the day when about your business.

FOR THE LADIES.

TIGHT-LACING TO-DAY IS VTJLGAIJ. Health with its immense possibilities of usefulness is at once the most beautiful and enjoyable possession life has to offer. It sweetens hard work and hard fare ; it is a perpetual song of gladness whose music lives in the heart with such native grace as to make its every pulsation a throb of joy ; earth, air and water and all things therein eagerly vicing wita this radiant Queen to express the harmony of being and doing which constitute life in all its fulness of bliss. Yet health has no sentiment; it is too urandly imperious to brook the many insults offered to its benignant sway in the form of excessive eating and drinking ; of each reckless exposure to heat, cold and damp ; of enervating indolence, as also of the crowning stupidity of tight-laciug : of each and all of which barbarities it will avenge itself right speedily. We know not how much stronger, handsomer aud more perfectly developed the human race would have become but for the accursed evils of tiglit-lacing,together with the entorced igno rance of women which has made such stu pidity possible. For it m tiuo of fashion's devotees as of the supporters of all the wrongs that curse humanity, that " they know not what they do." Give to woman —what, indeed ought never to have been withheld—v knowledge of physiology for practical uses, and sho will quickly discon tinue this suicidal habit, however much sill v men may pretend to admire the slender waist. The waist of the infant both male and female is square with tho shoulders and whatever difference may appear in after life is due wholly and solely to the perni cious habit of tight-lacing ; notwithstanding that the ready lie is ever on tho lips ol women of tho wasp-waist hideousness, "I do not lace tight." Mau's figure is more syme trical, therefore more graceful than is woman's of cramped proportions. Until the laws of health and of the human frume arc understood by women, all sensible men and women should persistently denounce the slender waist as vulgar—hideously vul gar, and it will soon become the distinctive badge oi " servantgalism " only. It is, however, but one of the tens of thousands of ills men tolerate because they will not thiuk of what they arc doing ; they give all their energies to money-making ; and when they have made it what arc they ? For the sake of health and itsconsequent happiness; for the sake of the innocent, the unborn of both sexes; unhesitatingly declare a com pressed figure to be a monstrosity of exer cise to good taste and a breach of good style because it destroys all grace of form, of motion, and of manners, substituting its very antipodes—stiffness; than which no thing can bo uglier.

Children's Drolleries.

%lIARP QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS BY THE

LITTLE FOLKS,

Not long since a correspondent sent to a provincial paper an anecdote of which his six-year old boy was the hero. He says : I keep .i shop and sell fancy goods. A irentleman came in to buy something. It was early, and my little boy and I were alone in the house at the time. The gen tleman gave me a sovereign, and I had to go up-stairs to my cash-box. Before doing so, I went into the little room next to tho shop, and said to the boy : " Watch the gentleman, that he don't steal anything ; " and I put him on the counter. As soon as I returned, he sang out; "Pa, he didn't steal anything—l watched him." You may imagine what a position I was in. Children's questions arc often no less em barrassing than they are amusing, as may be instanced in tho story of tho mercenary littls boy who overheard a conversation re specting a wedding that was soon to take plocc. At breakfast the next morning lie recalled the subject by asking the following question: "Papa, what do they want to give the bride away for ? Can't they sell her ?"

At a whale exhibition a youngster is said to have asked his mamma if tho whale that swallowed Jonah had as large a mouth as the one before them, why didn't Jonah walk ont at one corner.

1' You must think Jonah was a fool; ho didn't want to walk out and get drowned," was the quick reply of a younger brother, before the mother could answer.

It U related of another infant inquirer who was looking with great interest at a certain pan oi milk, that he suddenly ex claimed : " Mamma, where do cows get the milk from?" "Where do you get your tears?1' After a thoughtful silence, in which the mention of tears had evidently recalled certain associations, he again broke out: "Mamma, do the cows have to be spanked ?" On seeing a house being whitewashed, a boy of three wanted to know if the house was going to be shaved. A lady, when ad miring tne stars on a bright night in a tropical climate, was suddeuly asked in the most innocent way by her little son, 5 years old if those were the nails that held up heaven. A l>Uy who had always refused to oat oat meal in spite of his mother's urginga that it was a strengthening diet,suddenly surprised her one morning by eating a liberal plateful and calling for more. Upon bis mother asking for an explanation, he replied: "I am bound to eat oatmeal till I am strong enough to whip Johnny Scott." Little Freddie, when visiting a neigh bour's- house, was offered a piece of bread and butter, which he accepted, bat without any show of gratitude, " What do you say, Freddie ? hinted the lady, expecting him to say " Thank you." " I say it ain't cake," was the impolite response. The father of a family, after reading from tha morning paper that the cold the night before was intense, the thermometer regis tering many degrees below freezing-point; said: "Now, children, I suppose you are taught all about that at school. Which of you caa tell me what the freezing-point is?" " The point of my nose, papa, was the promptly reply of ona of the youngsters.^ A gentleman somewhat advanced in life, and who was never remarkable for Ms good looks,askcd his grandchild what ho thought of him. The boy's parents were present. The youngster made no reply. '' Well,why don't you tell me what you think of me I "'Cause I don't want to get licked," was tho answer. •«

A mother once showed her child a beauti ful doll, aSt John,of fine make and colour. " See," she said, " he has been very good; <md heaven always rewards the good by making them beautiful." " Oh," said the child, lifting its shoulders, " don't believe that, mamma. This little t St. Jolin looks very meek, because he's all glued up, but if he could only move, you'd see!" The following remark of a little girl shows an opinion of her elders the reverse of flatteriug. ''0 dear !" she exclaimed to her doll, "I do wish you would sit still. I never saw such an uneasy thing in all my life. Why don't you act like grown folks, and be stiU and stupid for a while ?"

English and American Fashions.

Young ladies are reviving the moire skirts worn a generation ago by their mothers, and making a single full round skirt of the best parts of the moire, and pur chasing new velvet or plush for a coat that has side panels extending to the foot of the moire skirt. This is handsome in golden brown moire for the skirt, and darker seal brown plush for the jacket, with facings of red or pale blue in the panels. Velveteen of the "Louis " brand is much more in vogue this winter than for many years past, m consequence of being imported ill a variety of new artistic shade of colour, the dark grcon, olive, Russian blue, gar net and seal brown patterns very closely resembling silk velvet, and while it is never desirable for an entire suit, it answers cxcccedingly well for underskirts to dresses of costlier material, aud is also very useful and pretty for children's fancy streot costumes.

Sashes of every description are worn by the million, from the tiny infant in. arms to the silver-haired matron of maturo years. In the Litter case the skirt is draped low on the left side of the skirt. The fashion is a conspicuous [feature on one of the ino9t elegant imported costumes. In dresses de signed for more youthful wearers, and where the corsage is pointed behind, the broad sash is set directly under it, giving the back of the toumure the bouffant ap pearance now so much sought for. Among other novelties displayed by a leading French milliner is a back satin poke bonnet designed for "second" mourning, which is hand-painted on the outside of the protruding brim, with a design of convolvuli in various shades of bluish gray. It is further trimmed with satin aud a bunch of ostrich tips. The effect is quite uucommon. Painted sun shades, robes, muds, fans and caps have become general, but a bonnet decorated as above is something quite new aud attrac tive.

With the full panicr drapery the longitu dinal tonrnurc is secure. These machines, more or less torturous, arc made of a series of haircloth flounces on a bias breadth, which is buttoned on the petticoat, and can

be removed for the clinging draperies ot other toilets. Some of tbe other styles are of hoop, adjustable to every .demand but a comfortable sitting posture. Others are of a horse-hair, with air-tight bags that can be inflated or contracted to suit the panier. And another is provided with from five to thirty springs so flexible that their dura bility is not to be questioned.

EUGENIE'S SUCCESSOR,

The Princess of Wales wus once almost :is tasteless in her dress us her mother-in law, Even yet her example of screening a neck of rather lengthy proportions lias given aiidiculous habit of muffling in England to many of the short and most apoplectic of dairies. But the visits of this charming lady to Paris have gradually developed a genuine fine taste, and the Princess of Wales is fast becoming as much of a sovereign dictator iv dress as Eugenic w.is. When last in Paris slip appeared always in black. It is the fashionable colour of the moment, and, with the quantity of lace work, transforms Parisian ladies almost into Castilian dames of the Sixteenth cen tury, when Spain was under the severe in fluence of the gloomy Philip 11. The Princess usually wears pearls and c;it's eyes, which the superstitious suppose bring good luck.

SWISS GIRDLES,

Deep-pointed Swiss girdles of black, ruby, admiral-blue, or browu velvet, lined with gold-coloured satin, and embroidered with small golden flowers, arc worn with house dresses of cashmere or vigogne. For evening dress are girdles of silk, covered with pearl or silver bends, and finished around the bottom with a frill of lace or a fringe of chenille, mixed with gold or silver beads. Others, still move elaborate, arc made of tinted satin, hand-embroidered or hand-painted in delicate lloral designs, and matching these are tiny shoulder capes, hanging pocket-pouchc, and fans, em broidered or painted in like patterns.

MATERIALS FOR MOURNf>Jc: DKESSBS.

Henrietta cloth is the material most generally adopted for mourning dresses. It has entirely superseded the English bombazines once uuiversally used, but now out of favour on account of their lustre and harshness to the touch. There are so many different qualities (if the Henrietta cloth that its fineness is graded to suit those of limited means, as well as the wife of the millionaire. It lias a finely twilled surface that renders it smooth and more impervious to dust than the heavily twilled imperial serges that arc the second choice among such fabric?. Tamiso cloth is chosen for spring and summer woollen dresses, and is liked because it has a plain surface; that is, not twilled, and therefore sheds dust nicely. It should always bo well shaken after being worn, and brushed as little as possible, as brushing raises a woolly nap upon it. Some mourning dresses have been modified by using the lighter French mourn ing in preference to the English styles formerly adopted, the camel's-nair cloths without lustre and the fine black cashmeres worn by ladies in colours have been utilised for mourning dresses, and when economy is to be considered, these fabrics are in variably chosen, as they can be used after the period of wearing mourning has passed.

An Old Maid.

Wk frequently meet, in quiet home circles, kind, gentle, unobtrusive women who, in Borne unobtrusive way, exercise wondrous power over the circle in which they move, and to whom every member of that circle looks with love and respect. The bloom of youth has possibly faded from their cheeks, but there lingers round form and face some thing dearer than that. Outsiders call a woman of this type "an eld maid." Well, it is true, she is unmarried and alone Perhaps the years of maiden life were spent in self-denying toil, which was too engrossing to listen even to the call of love, and she grew old too soon ia the care of mother or sister and brother. Now, in these latter years, she looks back calmly on some half-cherished hopes once attrac tive of husband and child, but which long, long ago she gave up for present duty. So to-day, in her loneliness, who shall say that she is not beautiful and dear, She is not soured by disappointment; the mid day or afternoon of her life is as full of kindly sympathies and gentle deeds. Although unwedded, hers lias been no fruitless life. It is an almost daily wonder to us why some moo are married, and not a less marvel why many that we see are not. But this we know, that many and many a household would be desolate indeed, and many aud many a family circle would lose its brightest ornament and its best power were maiden sister or maiden aunt removed ; and it may bless the Providence that has kept them from making glad some husband's Jiome.

Frontier Anecdotes.—The Judge whom Bradford Disliked.—The Bar Tender's Trick.

ONE of the dryest jokers ot the (by is Judge Allen A. Bradford of the I'ucMo Bar. He is ft little eccentric, but withal, one of the best lawyers in the Far We-t. He was trying n case a few veins ago before a Judge jto whom he took a dislike. The Judge was undecided in his rulings; ■would change his conclusions every time the op- Sositc lawyer would argue a point. When radford came to talk with the jury ho took occasion to express his contempt. Said he : " Gentlemen of the jury, the de cision of this court reminds me of the fabled ass that died between the bundles of straw for want of decision." The Court could stand this no longer. Calling the at torney to order, he fined him $5 for con tempt. With the coolness he is capable of, Bradford felt in his pocket a moment, then producing §2 50, said in his pecular intona tion of voice : " Your Honor, I have but half the amount; I will pay fo1. the straw, but let the ass stand."

One day a notorious horse thief had been captured and brought into Court to be com mitted. While the examination was pro gressing the Prosecuting Attorney and the Sheriff stepped to the door to consult. The thief seized the opportunity, and clasped in the 'Squire's hand a 820 gold diece, with the remark : ''Hold the case until dark ; then dismiss for error in the complaint. It sets forth that a horse has been stolen, while the evidence shows it was a mare." The case went tripping alonj until the sun had dropped behind the hills and darkness covered the land. The the Court raised the horse and marc question and dismissed the prisoner. Before a new compliant could l)C made out he was far away under cover of darkness. The 'Squire then ad journed the Court and went straight h"me in high glee. Arriving there he clapped the "double saw buck " over his eve and went capering arouml the floor like a young colt, tlis good wife, noticing the wealth, made some remarks about apparel. "Nothing to wear, eh?" said tho 'Squire. " A calico dress goes." Supper being over, he repaired to tho barn to feed his beast, But lo ! she was gone. He had a bogus coin in his pocket, while tne thief was be stride his beau1 if ul marc over the hills and far away.

A vor-y good story is told of one 'Squire Dyer, who was n Justice of the Peace nt Canon City in an early day. He prided himself on having the finest saddle ware in all Colorado. She was as slick as a mouse and as lleet as a hound. Not a horse iv Fremont county could overtake her in a one-hundred-mile run, and the 'Squire was ready to stake his money on that proposi tion. Said he in a barroom one day, addressing some seedy bumpers : " Gentle men, if you will give my mare ten minutes' start, I will het !?1000 that all the horses in Colorado can't catch her ;hefore she lands in the Pacific Ocean." The barkeeper, having an eye to business, chimed in :— "Yes, gentlemen, I helieve the 'Squire's mar is a better horse than the winner of the Dr.rby to-day. She is a daisy, and don't you forget it." Tiicse remarks so pleased the 'Squire that he called all hands,and ten red noses with blue trimmings stood in a row at the bar without further notice. " Now," said the barkeeper, as he rawed hiH tumbler to his chin, " here's to the 'Sqnar and his wonderful mar." And they all gurgled at the same time. As the money was paid for tho" scoots "and the 'Squat retired, the barkeeper remarked to the hummers who had taken their seats at the stove! " Maybe I'm a sucker. This would have been a dull day if I hadn't n-runjr iv that are remark about, the Darby boss. The 'Squ're has got a weak spot, and it's boss, '

Mourning in England.

MOURNING is goinjj out »f fashion in Eng land. A widow's is the only bereavement that must, according to the canons of society, be symbolishcd by yards of crape and paramatta. All other decrees of grief for the departed can, it seems, be amply ex pressed by a band of black crape worn on the sleeve. This state of things is doubt less a reaction from the too luxury of woe prevalent till recently; but it has it-i disadvantages. Once on a time we were protected from the dis agreeable risk of inquiring after tbe health of persons who arc no more by the inky blackness of attire of their surviving relatives. It is not pleasant to remark casually and cheerfully to a young lady : "And your father, is he all right T and to be morally bowled over by the reply : " He is dead," accompanied by a reproach ful glanco at the strip of black which you have never noticed upon her arm. Surely some compromise can be made between the heavy black that was once considered necessary and the scrap of crape that is now thought .sufficient. Social pitfalls of a distressing kind ought to be guarded against, and women are ingenious enough to devise some means of advertising be reavement which shall be patent to all, and yet compatible with a becoming variety of costume and colours.—London "Truth."

Historical Items.

The Egyptian physicians of old were paid by the State. Pliny says that four-wheeled carriages were invented by the Phrygians. " Paradise Lost," the finest work of Milton's genius, was sold in 1667 for the sum of £5.

Pliny tells us that Eocpalus invented the saw. The earliest sawmill of which we have mention was built at Maderia in 1429.

The seventh and last crusade was ended in 1250 by the surrender of King Louis IX., of France, with 30,000 men, at Damietta.

Up to the time of Henry 111. only silver and brass were vised for coinage, gold be ing first coined in England ia that King's reign. The first successful attempt at preserv ing meat, by packing in air-tight jars, was made by M. Apart, in France, in 1811. For his discovery the Kmperor presented him with a gift of 12,000 francs. The Hebrews wore sandals made of linen and wood, though, those of the sol diery were made of brass and iron. The Spartans went bare-foot, and Homer de scribes them as going into battle unshod. When Richard went to the Holy Land one of the laws he made tor his troops wa», that if anyone should be convicted of theft, boiling pitch should be poured over his head and a pillowful of feathers shaken oiler it.

According to an'old authority on English heraldry, a man, even if lie were not of gentle blood, who captured a prisoner in combat, was permitted to wear the shield of that prisoner, aud enjoy its use to him and his bcirs forever.

Damocles was a hanger-on of Dionysius, King of Syracuse, and did a good deal of flattering of his master, who was a sensible man, and once put Damocles at table with a sword hanging by a hair over his head. He meant to show him that every lot has its drawback. Cicero telk this, and every orator since, and every orator since now and then hangs up Damocles' sword.

Ups and Downs.—Curious Phases of Human Existence.

Charlks H. FaircLild, a native o( Colnni bia Co., N. V., went to sea at the age of 17, His mother, iv an attempt to dissuade her son from leading so perilous a life as that of a sailor, led him to believe that should he follow the sea he would be drowned, Young Fairchild kept the idea in his mind year after year. Nevertheless, he did not per mit his supmslitious feeling to influence his life. unce he was shipwrcckad and with fifteen other sailors fluated on a raft for a period of two weeks, During live da.NH of that time the men were without water and sowe uf them died. A few yean afterwards hu was swept overboard from a ship in a storm. He swam until he was exhausted, und then, thinking of hia mother's prediction, he gave up. When he recovered consciousness he found himself Burrounced r>j savages on a wild coast. He was presented to the Kintr, who had him placed in * ruoin aiid fea onfi uit. Evidences ot cflxnui^'^i^m were loundiibout, aud tlfic thought that he was being tattened to fur nish morsels for a royal feast filled Fair cliild with horror. His terror preyed upon his flesh as well as mind, aud instead of fattening he became thinner every day. He noticed that thunder frightened hia guards. One night during a terrific storm he managed to escape. Making his wiy.to the coast he found a ship and returnedto America. Having acquired considerable property, Fairchild came to Philadelphia. fie lived there for some years, ami then concluded to move to Auburn.N.Y. On the day betore his proposed removal he drew all his money §9,000, tram a bank and packed his goods, That night his house caught firo and his child, a pirl of TO years, was burned to deatli, iiis money and goods were also lost. He was a member of the Kuights of Pythias, and the order helped him to a fresli start in life. He went to Auburn and again hepau to pionper, A few days ago lie met with a tragic death, not from water, as he laid expected, but by lire.

Woman Students in England.

The President of lowa College, George T. Magoun, D.D., has been looking into the movements for university education of women in England, and writes as follows to the Chicago "Advance ": J"My last sight-seeing in England has been of au educational character—namely, among the women's colleges at Cambridge. They arc not yet constituent parts of the university, any more than the 'Annex' of cur Cam bridge ia of Harvard, but they arc doing very nobly in raising the English standard of education for women. Three Americans of us went through Girton and Newnham, South, receiving all possible courtesy and attention from the mistress and lecturers of each, not without the inevitable English accompaniment of a hosipitablo cup of ten in each. I surrendered the pleasure and privilege of dining at Trinity with Profes sor Fawcctt, Mr Gladstone's Postmaster* General, for the sake of the insight into this beginning of English university educa tion for women, so kindly and gracefully accorded, Sir Sedgwick, widely well known by his work on ethics, we did not see at, Newnham, but Miss Clough, sister of the poet, herself once a resident in our country, was unwearied and most gracioua in her attentions. There are fifty-four lady students now at Girton ; sixty at No-.vn ham, with twenty day students (notboard ing together at the hull), each young lady 1) arder having a room by herself, witii about the same furniture provided as in our Amorican seminaries and colleges. Girton has the most picturesque building and sur roundings, but JNewnham is nearer the university lecture rooms. Doth are plain and inexpensive compared with the lavish appointments at WeJlesley, Newnham finite reminding me of Mount Holyokc. But with the buildings of either lowa Col lege would accommodate two hundred lady students where it has cot now boarding room for a dozen. Everything we said about the college education of women at home elicited the remarks : ' You remind us of the very points we had to study into and work at here.' The list of young ladies from each of these most interesting institu tions who have honourably passed uni veristy examinations, even surpassing young men in some instance, though de barred from the same when earned, are ex ceedingly creditable to them."

Russian Women and Children.

The crying evil in Russia, be it rein cm • bcred, is, and will be, heaven knows for how long, its scanty population ; and the main causes wbich prevent its growth arc the fearful mortality among the children of tender ago (40 per cent before the age of 5) and the forced barrenness of the women. The women, especially of the peasant class, usually marry late in life—not " till they have hardened their bones for their bus band's work"—and they are crushed by unconsciona lo haul toil, Loth in their girl hood and wifehood. Here, as in Germany, a good helpmate is expected by her lord to bo " as strong as a mule," and her mulish strength is not spared, even while she should be entitled to the tenderest care. With, respect to the children, those of the lower order, especially in the country, suffer from ' exposure to the o;ucl climate, partly owing to the boor's conceit that it is well the weakling should perish and only the hardy survive, but in a great measure from that dire necessity which bids poverty sink or swim. But even among the well-to-do people the _ children's constitutions are tampered with and vitiated from the cradle by injudicious coddling and cotting. For t'.ie nursery, as we all Know, is an exclu sively English institution, and the children throughout the Continent, Germany, per haps, excepted, are sacrificed to their parents' blind fondness, being made to share the meals, to keep the late hours and join in the talk of grown-up people; as much detriment arising from the unsuitable diet as development. Hence nowhere doer, 0110 see so many pale, thin and puny as well as knowing children oi the upper classes .is throughout the Czar's dominions ; nowhere do so many succumb to the treatment. Bat apart from the training of children in pri vate families, even in the foundling hos pitals of St. Petersburg and Moscow (this latter harbouring ns many as 13,000 in mates and the former providing for 29,000) we learn from_ Murray's Handbook, wliich lavishes the highest praises ou the vastnesa and munificence of these pubic charities, "the mortality among the children is very great," and yet that "too'many of ttiese illegitimate infants are saved at the ex pense of the lawful offspring of the nurses, left at tbat critical age to be brought up by hand in the villages.'' So little is the Euss fit to govern human beings, even in the earliest stage of their existence I— London Times.

On Easter Monday, 1208, the whole of England was laid under an interdict by the Pope. All the churches were closed, and no services allowed, save confession, absolution, baptism and administration of the viaticum at the point vi death. No marriages were to be celebrated, bodies were bnried without honor. The King retaliated by seizing property and land of the church. The interdict remained for six years,

STAR SATURDAY SUPPLEMENT, APRIL 1, 1882.

7



The true co-operative principle of doing •business is to buy cheap for cash and sell cheap for cash; this, with a very low rent and small expenses enables the working Man to make nis money go further at Wm. H. Smith's Cheap Drapery Warehouse than any other house in Auckland. Note the address: Corner of Upper Queen and Alexandra streets, opposite Army and Navy Botel.-{ADVT>]



"Do you expect friends!" asked the obsequious Boniface. "No, indeed," was the reply; "I'm expecting my phaeton." Her pretty phaeton, for which she paid $3,000, shortly afterwards appeared around tit* comer.



Very recently an English paper offered a prize for the best definition of a kiss. Among the replies were the following : — Love's proof impression ta1* en both before And after letters. Oddly, too, the more The print's repeated tho impression s stronger, And the true artist's best effects last longer. Sne asks for a kiss, and give it I can; 'Tis the heart of a woman- tis the soul orainan.