STAR SATURDAY SUPPLEMMT.

AUCKLAND, N.Z., SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1883

„„.—I wish to UWr-weg--. - There .vas a silenco, and Brace i___ , ii'We'vo been Rivals, I know. Maybe . (houeht my chance as good as yours. If I "J J? j sft y ain't truth, we'll stand as wo I before-and if you're on the shoot iJL V oiir man when you like, whore you I like or on sight, if you choose. But I can't ! !' jto sco another man played upon as i I'm been played upon—given dead away 1 ',i'v_ been. It ain't on the square. "There." ho continued after a pause, -Whattremendous cackle ovd. t__ A week 0 { tho Te Aroha egg has been quite a feature in the week's sensations. I notico from the reports that tho product of tho rushing was placed in a dish on tho dinner table, perhaps with tho laudable idea of ' makinir the mouths of the guests water, hereby aiding the digestion of the heavy L,d which is considered en rente on such oawons. The affair has, however, its ludicrous side, although only an unsophisti cated child of tho forest could appreciate it thoroughly. Imagine the intense disgust of such a one, totally ignorant of the value we nlace upon thismetal.when exultantly intro duced to the whity-yellow contents of that tin dish and told that in honour of those lump, which were neither good to eat nor pretty to look at, ail this crowd of people had been gathered together to eat ami drink and make merry. But what place outside a lunatic asylum would he deem a fitting abode for the eccentric pale - face when told that two considerable towns had been built; monster hotels had arisen in the wilderness; watercourses had been diverted, forests felled, great machines erected ; a newspaper started : and a largo population had toiled on for three years, living chiefly upon great expectations and limited credit, a_l all for this? Yet so it is In a, note on the bankruptcy of nonce wealthy Thames miner a month or two ago, I showed from the Government statistics that every ounce of gold obtained in New Zealand last year cost throe times its commercial value. The cost of the first 1,700 ounces from Te Aroha is incalculable. Let me jot down a few of the items roughly:

«nv 500 neople supported for three years nt a cost of .-100 a year .. _150,_- Machinery and tramway IKO-i Buildings ■ io' two

__10,_0 Of bourse it will be said that this capital invested should be distributed over many crushings ; but if it be true that the average yield of geld does not cover the cost of win-, ning, much less leave a surplus for reduc tion of capital, tlie items enumerated aro irretrievably sunk, while the same amount of capital and labour spent on the adjacent lands would have given a permanent in terest-paying investment, extending the population-bearing capability of the colony. ItfgJieVertHeless true that but for the di_ coveryof gold at Te Arohathe locality would still be a silent wilderness, and the fertile lands around would have less chance of being cultivated than they have now, despite the expenditure of energy on an economically wasteful pursuit. Such is the glitter and fascinatio . of gold-mining Speculation, with its few rich prizes in sudden fortunes, and multitudinous blanks !

The novel dish at the Te Aroha banquet, however, was a surprise to a creature in spotless white tie and with capacious shirt front, who could claim no kinship with the child of the desert, or anything else that is innocent and child-like. This worthy had been pressed into the service from some neighbouring hash-mill or elsewhere to busy himself in passing round the provender for the assembled lions. He had deemed it a wise precaution te fortify beforehand for the unaccustomed duties, and so well had he executed that part of his preparations that ho manifested undisguised confusion with respect to the various items of the somewhat complicated menu. Taking in the situation at a glance, a wag, directing his attention to the semi circular objects on the adjacent tray, which bore a rather striking resemblance to puddings turned out of a basin, asked to be helped to that dish. The obfuscated waiter, willing to make himself agreeable and oblige the gentleman, approached spoon and plate in hand for the attack, but his way was abruptly barred by the stern guardians who had been placed on either side of the costly dish, and the guffaw that followed his advance conveyed even to his dull intellect a suspicion that the British lion was being tampered with.

The prospect of war between France and China h_s already affected the Colonial tea market, and should hostilities ensue, there will be a tidy little fortune netted by some speculators, who are laying in large stocks in anticipation of a sudden rise. The clos ing of Chinese ports will be sad news to tea drinkers, aud it is no wonder that Britain views with extreme alarm such a possibility. But if doctors and common-sense people generally aro to be believed, the cutting off of our tea supply would not be altogether an evil. Even a clerical dignitary has been found bold enough to enter the lists as an anti-tea crusader. The Dean of Bangor, speaking at a meeting held to further the establishment of courses of instruction in practical cookery in the elementary schools, eaid that if he had his own way there would be much less tea-driuking among people of all classes. Oairoeol and milk produced strong, hearty, good-tempered men and women ; whereas excessive tea-driuking created a generation of nervous, discon tented people, who were for ever complain ing of the existing order of the universe, scolding their neighbours, and sighing after the impossible. Good cooking would, he firmly believed, enable them to take far higher and more correct views of existence. In fact, he suspected that over-much tea drinking, _y destroying the calmness of the nerves, was acting as a dangerous revolu tionary force among ns.

Stop there: that's it; "a dangerous revolutionary force." Now, it begins to dawn on my benighted intellect that I have got the clue to certain periodical ebullitions on .We part of Mrs Zamiel. Now I see (what I neater suspected before) that the estimable lady in question has been steadily pouring into her system a supply of "revolutionary force" which was bound to have an outlet if the " weak vessel" in which it was stored was not to "bust." Now I. perceive the secret of occasional peremptory requisitions for cash to buy new dresses and other paraphernalia, of frequent startling experiments and innova tion in expenditure, and of too frequent curtain lectures on fancied pc-eadi-loes of mine. The tea did it all, and I can now add my humble testimony to ' that of Bangor's zealous Dean, that it generates a very dangerous revolutionary force indeed. For the benefit of married men similarly situated (and is not their name legion?) I recommend a general adoption of the worthy Dean's antidote—viz., a copious use of oat-

I meal and milk. To have our sisters, our cousins, and our aunts, as well as onr I better-halves, mado "strong, hearty, and _ good-tempered," is a noble aim, and when -, the means are so simple and accessible, I expect to see a beneficent revolution effected without delay—the firs, step in which may be tho cutting off of our tea supply by French men-o'-war. Tho Dean's discovery lis no new one; ages ago the Scottish people knew the virtues of oatmeal, nnd many hundreds of thousands of "honest mon and bonnie lasses" have been reared on "the haniely parritch, chief o' Scotia's food." But the good old custom has fallen into disuse; tea is now on thousands of Scotch tables throo times a day; and though the sons of Caledonia still bear the palm among the nationalities of the United Kingdom for stature, bulk, and weight, they must return to the old paths if they wish to avoid a sad degeneracy.

Nor is the recognition of the baneful effects of tea, aud its vigorous denunciation, altogether a fresh departure in the social history of tho British people. Moro than a century ago, Arthur Young, in the eighth of his "1 armor's Letters to tho People of England," wrote as follows : —" I there fore am tempted to think that the present laws relative to the support of the poor aro universally encouragere of idleness-,

drunkenness, and ten-drinking ; and that as such they are highly pernicious to tho wel fare of tho kingdom. And here 1 cannot but obsorve that as low a figure ns tea drinking may make in this trio, it is, never theless, of wonderful extent and conse scquence. As much superfluous money is expended on tea and sugar as would main tain four millions more of subjects in bread. If it is considered what a fatal enemy exces sive tea-drinking is to the human body, how much it impairs the vigour of the constitu tion and debilitates the mind, the pernicious influence of it -ill be apparent. . . .

It has been asserted that excessive ten drinking is of more fatal consequence to tho increase of tlie human species than even the immoderate use of spirituous liquors. Nor should it be forgotten that the trado we can-}- on for tea is totally against us in the balance. It is a branch of commerce by which we perpetually lose ; thus burying our money in an unfathomable gulf for a pernicious commodity that tends to out very ruin. Our Legislature taxes every necessary of life ; surely this vile superfluity calls: aloud in its abuse for greater restric tions. But what are we to think of a conduct, diametrically opposite, of lowering the duty upon this pernicious' drug, that the people may bo able so much the easier to consume their health, their time, and their money ? To enable them universally tb drink' it twice intead of once a day . .

What wretched politics ! Such an idea is congenial alono with the last ruin of tho State." Here I pause content, nor seek to urge the minor evils that (low from tea drinking, such as rheumatism, nervous prostration, liver complaint, Sec. I have stored my mind with those sweet epithets, "pernicious drug," "vile superfluity," and " dangerous revolutionary force;" while I have also committed to memory the triad of evils which afflicted good Mr Young, " idle ness, drunkenness, nnd tea-drinking : " and with oatmeal and milk diet as the acme of perfecHon in cookery, it will not bo my fault if Mrs Z. is not ere long made " strong, hearty and good-tempered." So mote it be !

Pocta nascitur non Jit was the Roman way of saying that poetical genius is hereditary, and is not to be acquired by diligent study or University "cramming." Of tho pretentious would-be poets of the learned species, Burns wrote— They gang in stirks and come oot asses, Plain truth to speak, And Bvno they hope to climb Parnassus Ily dint o' Greek.

The peer, like the poet, is generally born : but unlike tho poet, he is occasionally made. The peer .of birth and Mood is indeed sometimes inferior to the manu factured article. Tennyson, who was born a poet, has now been made a peer—differing slightly from Byron, who was born both ; also differing slightly from "Zamiel," who had the misfortune to be born neither. Of the author of Irish melodies it was said that "Tommy dearly loved a lord," and it is a pity that he did not live in these times when the Poet merges into tho Peer in the person of "Baron" Tennyson! For my self, if I may not be a poet, I can still hope to be a lord, for it is surprising how easily the latter are made, and of what poor stuff also. " Lord of himself, that heritage of woe," mothinks I hear some sarcastic reader quote. Very good, say I, if such should even be the summit of my achievement; to be master of one's self is to be truly great, for "he that ruleth himself is greater than he that taketh a city." But I have wan dered from the subject of poets into the mazes of poetry, and from that of lords into Lord knows what, so I had better try back and find the trail again.

Thinking of Tennyson and poets in general naturally gave my thoughts a pen sive direction, and in this mood I was when I was invited to inspect the contents of the editor's waste-paper basket. From that limbo of rojectedcommunicationsl managed to rescue several effusions, which, in the absence of other pabulum, may supply material for a random shot. The first that comes to hand is a school-boy effusion to the daisy. This piece has the usual refer ence to " sky of blue," " sylvan bowers," and " gontle streamlets," and it closes with the pathetic prayer- One sweet boon from theo I cravo— Wilt thou, pretty little daisy. Grow as sweetly on my g_.ve 1 This sentiment resembles that of an Ameri can poet who wished that he might be buried

With the point of his nose And the tips of his toes Turned up to the roots of a daisy,

and there is, I suppose, about as much poetry in the one way of expressing it as the other. But, Iranseat, as Bishop Luck would say, and let us see what comes next. It is "A Lay of the Lake," and refers to a city lawyer who visited Pupuke La_e, and while enjoying a recumtfeht position and a soothing cigar on its shores, was pounced upon by the lady of the domain, who ordered him off as a trespasser. His legal acumen was instantly aroused, and he argued that the lake beach was public property. I must give the close in the words of the peerless poet who narrates the incident:—

The lady paused. His argument At lirst confused her quite. But in an instant cleared her brow— •' Still I am in tho right. The beach, you say, is free to all, Then lie there if you please, But please to lie out in the sun, And not beneath our trees.'

That lawyer rose and bowed again, He scorned to longer stay. And from that place, with might and main,

He took himself away. A sadder and a wiser man ■ ■ Henceforth I'm sure he'll be. When next be seeks I'upuke's shore May I be there to see.

Victory for feminine ingenuity, and utter collapse of legal sophistries. To turn tho tables, as it were, I find that the next two "poems" .ire in lady's handwriting. A verse of ono piece, with the title of " When the Tide Comes In," reads thus:—

The glaring sun shone histh in air, As in nioek'ry of our pain. My love I my love I what we have been, VVe no'er can be again. I should think not, my dear; you can't always keep up a game at "spoons," and you must jttst reconcile yourself to broom sticks and flat-irons, "Zamiel" has been through it nil, and doesn't regret a bit that ho can't go back and be tho silly fool that he once was. Another piece by the samo sentimental lady is entitled "The Wnn dorer's Return," and tells how a sailor boy returns home just in time to see his girl going off to marry another fellow. This is more than the disappointed lover can bear, and so he goes off to sea once more.

His home must be on the rolling deep ; No rest for 111111 till silent brave; Rut oft be will dream of a maiden sweet

Whose home wan by Uio " sad sea wave." And if ho doos he will bo v tool for his pains, say I. Ho may do as'much "rolling" as he finds congenial on this side of the "silent grave," but if he is wise he will eschew dreams about other men's wives, which are apt to end in mischief. Speak ing of dreams, however, lo ! here is a poem headed "A Dream," from which 1 am tempted to cive an extract in the author's original spelling—

I dreamt i bad no tougbl, No felines—None that among the toiulis, stood alone. and was not conscious what i was. as shrublc-s crags sii-ound a Ha-.-on I'uint, furall was blank, and bleak, and grey, it wnsnot Night, yet was not day. it was Not even my Kllic's light, llicn so hateful to my heavy sight. but Vacancy absorbing space and lixedness, without a place there were no stars,—no earth,—no time no check.—no change—no good, no crime but ..lem-t! inula slii-lcs. Ureal b wicth, neither was of life or death, but a sea of useless idleness. blind, boundless, mute and .Motionless. There is quite a Byronie touch about somo of these lines, particularly the last quoted : but the ideas arc simply unintelligible If one has no thought or feeling, how could he be conscious of being " among the tombs," arid how could tombs exist in a vacancy where there was no earth, no lime, and no place? I give it tip, and advise the reader to do the same if he does not wish his noble intellect to become a total wreck. To bring two ends of a long trail together, I call attention to the fact that the "poet" last quoted is in tho "peer" business to some extent, for he speaks of a".Baron Point." That leads me to think that if he is ever made a Baron his title will be easy to sug gest, viz., " Baron of Ideas !"

11l looking at the Auckland cabman as ho sits upon tho step of his cab sunning him self over a newspaper—most likely the Stak —eagerly seeking for the latest tip, news from tho Triumph, or a recent bit of scandal, "Zamicl" could not help feeling that cabby enjoys an easy nnd perhaps a pleasant life. Cabby, however, informs mo that his life is not so palatable, especially in the sunshine. Like vegetables and flowers, he loves the showers, and being ever provided with a thick overcoat, ho rarely catches cold in catching a customer on a wet day. Cabbies me not all alike in taste and disposition ; some are more learned than others, and one or two will be found wearing tho blue. Cabby says he does not particularly like his occupation (nobody docs), whicli is un certain, unsatisfactory, and anything but remunerative. He is under re strictive laws, and invariably regards tlie Inspector as his common enemy. He is obliged to mind his p's and q's, and is liable to be caught—if not napping, out of order, or without a light, or at No. T" on tho stand, at any moment. There is''no labourer more exposed to a summons, ex cepting a carter or builder, Hum cabby, and frequently is lie hauled up on the informa tion of his recognised foe nt Court; Voyagers to the Home country consider " going to Court" a very high honour, but the cabby deems it tin invasion of tlie rights of man and significant of slavery. It is "wonderful how much sympathy exists in tlie cabby fraternity. If an unfortunate brother gets into a difficulty, numbers force their way into Court to listen to the case, atifi at its olose show practical sympathy with the offender by contributing towards the liquidation of the fine.

Cabbies, in the aggregate, are decent fellows, ranging from the smart, good looking man with a rose in his coat, to the careless, long-bearded, loosely-dressed, weather-beaten individual in a wide-awake, greatly given to stables and hotels, and whose conversation is not always of tho strictest type. There is the rough, knowing cabby, with half-shut eyes, and there is Sweet William, clean-shaven, with a face wreathed in smiles, recognised as tho conjugal cabby, who generally falls in for wedding parties, and whose soul beats timo to tho merry tune of the " Wedding March." I cannot help, saying, however, in justice to Auckland cabmen, considering his opportunities for self-improvement, that he is* sober, courteous, and well-behaved, and taking him all round, ho is as respect able, morally, as many persons occupying a higher social position. I believe that cabby, like tradespeople, sometimes gets lot in for a fare—some persons are ungene rous enough to "do" cabby, but the "do," cabby takes uncomplainingly, as a cheat that cannot be helped occasionally. Very recently one of the jehus complained to Zamiel that he had driven a couple of gents around the city all day, and got nothing for his trouble but a card with a false address upon it. There are persons who regard cabby as among the necessary evils of the age, but which I am inclined to think is not true. Cabby's life is rather monotonous, which in a measure tends to irritation of temper; but think of cabby's temptations, of the trials to which he is subjected, of the badgerings ho gets frequently from the police ;of his numerous lines, and you will feel that a word of sympathy is due even to the Queen-street cabby. xxx It seems to mo that the members of the City Schools Committee are making a desperate effort to secure recog nition as the champion mean men of this part of the colony. If this be their object, they may rest assured that no one else is in "the running" with them. The notoriety is all their own. Out of tho superabundant generosity of their hearts they resolved to have a demonstration for the school children, and, at the same time, it was decided that the unfortunate youngsters should be started to be" and importune of all and sundry for the

sinews of war. Could anything more paltry and dishonouring be imagined? Could any thing, indeed, be more reprehensible ?. I had thought that the first intimation of such a degrading project would havo pro voked a storm of indignant remonstrance, and that the authors of it would havo been fain to bow their diminished heads under a perfect tornado of outraged sentiment. Tho empire, however, is peace, and meanwhile the little ones, accepting their subscription-card instructions from their teachers as a matter of course, are touting in highways and byways for the gratuities of tlie charitable, so that their princely entertainers may be recouped even unto the uttermost farthing for the outlay.

"Can such things be, And overcome us like a summer cloud Without our special wonder.

Yea ; 'tis even so, though the -vent occurs in the nineteenth century, and in such a prosperous coiner of Her Majesty's domin ions as the fondly-hoped Britain of the South.

It would bo strange, indeed, did the Triumph not prove good matter for a few random shots. One good story is related, in which tho doctor of the vessel and the cook figure conspicuously. It is usual for cooks to have various perquisites on board ship, and the fellow who acted in that capacity on the Triumph, having by some means offended the doctor, the marine medico resolved to punish him by stopping liis privilege of appropriating tho dripping, and it is said that ho ordered it should be thrown overboard. The cook objected to this interference, wanted to know what tin; doctor had to do wiili " ship-fat," and threatened to punch his tormentor. There was every prospect of a big row, but the " great catastrophe '' which befel the vessel" suddenly induced him to postpone the exhibition that he had promised untilsome more convenient season.

now travel with equal speed between the different centres of population. As an in stance of tho possibilities under tin's service, I sco it stated that Saturday's newspapers from Dunedin are delivered in Auckland by post on Tuesday morning. At that rate, Monday evening's Star sunt South by the Takapuna would be read on Thursday in Dunedin. A letter leaving the Southern capital can thus reach Auckland, be read, the answer written, scut on, and received in Dunedin in less than a week. For corres pondence and, travelling between our city and Taranaki, Wellington, aud Canterbury, this service is in proportion equally expedi tious ; and tlie Union Company have earned the gratitude of the public for instituting such an excellent service. " Zamiel " per sonally congratulates the Company on their enterprise, and hopes their shadow may never grow less.

So far gooth the congratulation ; now for the warning. Why do tbe Union Company dap on a higher fare for travelling by the Takapuna, and forbid any breaking of the journey? In these days of "railway re form," when a-farthing-a-milo is accounted extortion, 1 think I have a right to demand an answer to this query. And, of course, 1 will be told that it is a simple commercial arrangement, and the seller is entitled i-o the highest price he can get. for the article offered ; 1 may probably also be told that "time is money," and that if a man is taken to Wellington in one day instead ot two, he should not grudge to pay an extra pound note for tlie privilege. * I am no logician, as Bishop Luck is ; and in my happy-go-lucky armoury 1 have no weapon wherewith to repel such argu ments as those. But 1 warn tho Union Company that they arc certain to draw down upon themselves the wrath of "reformers " like Mr Samuel Vaile. lam no reformer; .1 simply utter my warning and pass on ; but 1 would point out before leaving tho subject, that tiro practical re sult of persistence in the present charges will bo to create a distinction between travellers—and tlio.se who can afford.to travel by tho Takapuna will look down with a kind of pity which i- not akin to love upon fho wretches, who have In go by Hie slow boats. In a democratic community Lhis is to be deplored.

Several amusing incidents also occurred while the crow were enctilnped upon Tiri tiii. Every meal-time, lor instance, tho Chinamen could bo seen trotting from one extreme of the island to tho other, where the rest oi the crow and stores were located, for the purpose of receiving their allowance of food ; and directly they hud swallowed it, these interesting sons of tho Flowery Land tnrnca their backs upon their shipmates, and made tracks for their own quarters, situated about i mile oil. 1 naturally inquired why this was thus, anil suggested that it would bo much bettor for tho Chitig- Cliongs to camp a little closer to their messmates, who kept charge of the pro visions ; but I was informed that they noted on their own choice, preferring to stay a considerable distance away from tho stranded vessel to a " paltry convenience " in having a permanent abode close at hand : while "a long walk before meals was excellent for giving them a gooil appetite, and there was any amount to eat." xxx I am not an engineer, and I cannot say that I havo had much experience in floating stranded vessels oil jagged rocks. But at the same time 1 do luy claim to the posses sion of a certain amount of common sense, and having watched the operations at T'iri tirt with a very great deal of interest, I feel strongly inclined to oxprcss my opinions on the subject. Of course, there ate very few men just now who do not feel absolutely convinced that they me tho heaven-chosen mediums for the transmission of some grand scheme for the accomplishment of the object in view to poor stupid humanity. lam not otic of these, but 1 must say that if 1 had taken a contract to float tlie Triumph off Tiritiri, I would have gone about it in a different way to that which has been carried into effect. As I am not a pro fessional man, I do not exact any charge for my opinion, nnd I simply give it for what it is worth, and that may possibly be nothing. -r + + To even tlie most uninitiated in the mysteries of engineering it must be ap parent that from tho first the wrong steps were adopted to float the ship. It was taken for granted at the start that the rocks were through the steamer's bottom. This being so, why was not an effort made ; to lighten her head, extricate her from the | rocks which were through her, and take her | over them the same way as she went on ? This result might have been gained by the removal of the railway iron at once, and by filling tlie ship's forchold with empty barrels. She would thus have been light ened at the head several feet, and then would havo been the time to deepen her stern. What was actually done was this: The Triumph was for a distance of sixty feet resting on the rocks. A great deal of dead weight remained in her forchold, nnd coal was actually shifted aft, and she was stiffened there to a terrible extent. What hotter means could havo been adopted to break her back ? Thou, knowing that there wero rocks through her bottom, several steamers were started to tow her oil. The railway iron naturally kept her from rising over the ledge, which was through her bottom, and oven had success been achieved, it would havo been at the expense of tearing tlie plates out of the ship for a distanoe of sixty feet—or, in fact, tearing the bows out of her, and strain ing her frame tei ribly. What engineering skill could have suggested such a .scheme as that? A ship has a hole of perhaps a yard or two square in her bottom, and to get her off tho rocks on which she rests she must be literally hauled to pieces. My opinion is that the neglect to send a div er down to ascertain the extent of the damage, and the subsequent operations, will do more harm to the port in the eyes of the outside world than a dozen such astound ing disasters. xxx Let me fire a shot—not at random, but deliberately—a signal-gun, so to speak, with n commingling of gratulation and warning in its reverberations. It ought, perhaps, to be a regular feu dc joic, since it has reference to an event of some im portance in colonial annals ; but stray "potting" from behind a bush is more after the style of literary skirmishers such as I. The event I wish to note is the starting of the new Union steamer Takapuna on the run between Onehunga and Lyttelton— practically between Auckland and Christ church. .Most people have heard of the inauguration of this fast service; but very few, I venture to think, realise tho full sig nificance of the innovation. It means that in three days' time one may transport him self from Auckland to Dunedin, or vice versa.; travelling in a steamer which for appearance and comfort is akin to a floating palace. A merchant may walk the streets of Auckland tin's afternoon and to-morrow forenoon be in the Empire City transacting business. Of course, letters and newspapers

I have a more excellent way to suggcsi— a plan by 'which the Union Company may gain both coin and " kudos. > The "New York War Cry" for- :10th' August last had an article describing the voyage of a detachment of tho Salvation Army from Liverpool to America in the steamer Alaska. According to that account, tho voyage must have been a particularly pleasant one—for the Salvationists. How the other passengers liked it may bo in ferred from the fact that the Army men carried on a vigorous "war" according to their approved methods during tho whole of the time spent at sea. The "War Cry" says:—"Thoworld-celebrated Mrs Langtry was among the attentive listeners to nil that was said. She was on her way to Paris to learn more effectually to be a decoy bird to the Devil. Who" knows but: that first Salvation Army meeting may have sont a shaft into that poor, sin-blighted heart?" Who knows, indeed? If the "Jersey lily" was preached at in the offen sive style of certain Salvationists, I fancy a bitter shaft would reach her heart, tipped with the poison of religious rancour and pride, and unchnritablciiess, which breathes in the above extract from a "religious' paper. But to my suggestion. The Salva tion Army is in our midst ; it has detach ments travelling about, and these at times occupy the Union S.S. Co.'s steamers. Would it not be a capita! plan to announce "No Salvationists carried by the Taka puna," and make that the ground for charging extra [mssage money? There would in such ease be a substantial ijtiiil pro quo, as the passengers would be spared the hideous infliction of having to listen to a horrid travesty of religion, and possibly of being alluded to as "sin-blighted decoy birds" to tho old gentleman whose name the Salvationists commence with a hi" big D.

POETRY.

A SUMMER SONNET.

Doligbtful summer, wreathed with full blown (towers, That smiles on mortals with a smile divine, In quiet nooks thy numerous beauties shine, In sun and shade, between fie welcome showers, Tissweet tostea! alongsomcoVr-i arched lane, And breathe the soti air, fragrant with p_ fume ; Or whirl away by speedy railway train, 'io distant scenes, where Nature's wildings bloom From dark gt .«n hedges, pleasant to lire gaac, Where simple joys in glad pi-ofm ion spring, Where children . vnic. s to the memory bring Fond recollections of nntroiiblcd days.' When wo tripped forth m rummer's genial hours. To lightly sport and cull life's sweetest flowers. John U_.ac._man>

LONGFELLOW'S CREED.

My work in finished; I iinr strong In faith and hope and chn-ity: For I have written the ihinus I s<-e. The Wrings- that have been iiiul shall be. Conscious of right, nor ft in ing wrong, Because I am in love with Love, And the sole thing I hate is Unto : .or Hate is death : nnd hove is life, A peace, a splendor from above; And Hate a never-ending strife— A smoke, a blackness from t he abyss Where unclean serpents coil and hiss! Love is tho Holy Ghost within, Hate is the unpardonable sin ! Who preaches otherwise than this Betrays his master with a kiss.

She Lost Her Improver.

A strange.—and to male eyes a mysterious —affair was to be seen suspended in the porch of a certain fashionable suburban church last Sunday morning. It was a "low" church, and therofore it could be nothing new in millinery for the priests, It was not a surplice, nor a gown, but yet very near a gown—it was "an improver." Some lady, who had stayed for tho other pin, and had given herself too little time for all her toilet, had gone to church in a semi-attached condition, and parted nom pany with bcr inaproverin tlie porch. There the apparatus had suddenly unhitched and quietly dropped. Though an obliging and appreciative verger put it where the owner could see and claim it as she came out, strange as it may seem, it hangs there still. Clearly, when our sisters, our. cousins, and our aunts go to church, it is not certain they will come home with their little "improvers" behind them.!