STAGE AND STUDIO.

(By Euterpe.)

*'i Choral Society Jmying now disposed of &&nefflj,%w4 earned great kudos in it, ' fnddress itself with vigour to the re ■■ of Smart's " Bride of Dunkerron " a next concert. As next Tuesday is a : i/tfday,the first practice will not take place week. "The Bride of Dun- V rron " * s a verjr melorlious work, and Id find great favour with the perform • of the Society. Henry Smart, i- -composer, was born at London in ISI3, '■'& died in 1579. Ho enjoyed great repute in , world's metropolis as composer, conduc .γ-and teacher of music. He was also an cellent organist, and a number of his com fUions are still- frequently performed. Us lincle, Sir George Smart, who was born •London in 1778, and died thereon the 23rd 'f February, 1567, was an excellent conduc tor and did a great deal to raise the tandard of musical tnsfce in England. Ho f mded the Philharmonic Society in Loiir Lain 1813' anc * was he who first gave iflOTilar performances of the works of Beethoven,' Weber. Schumann, and Schubert). Weber, who stayed with him Tfhen in London to conduct the first per formances of his opera, " Oberon," in 1826, died in Sir George Smart's house.

■'■ Richard W. Younge, the aefcor whose; death was chronicled by a cable message the '• other day, arrived in Melbourne with G. V. Brooke, the famous tragedian, and Miss Fanny Cathcart (better remembered as Mrs George Darrell), in the early part of 1555, IH after playing at) the old Queen's Theatre lie went on with them to Sydney, returning aram to Melbourne and opening there at 'Coppin's Iron Tot with Mr Brooke in July oftliQsame year. Younge was connected !,vitij the great Brooke during the whole of'his managerial career in Australia, arid -when that gentleman returned to England Younge followed him, but ■came back to the colonies at the time 'Charles Kean visited Australia. He played fwith that gentleman at the Haymarket 'Theatre, where lie was stage manager for a 'time; but finding little scope for his abili ties, he finally returned to England, and Srith his brother, Mr Fred Younge, pur chased the provincial lights of Robertson's •'Caste,' , etc., and was connected with this enterprise until poor Fred met with his 'death in a railway collision. Richard 'afterwards became manager of the Sheffield ■Theatre, and of late years lessee and mana ger of the Tync Theatre Royal, Newcastle, Epgland.

■ lowe an apology to Mrs T. Garrard, of Christehurch, for an inadvertent oversight in a reference made by mo in the Star of May 28th to the production of Offenbach's opera bouffe' "Madame Favart." It was Mrs Garrard, and not Miss Fairhurst, who took the leading role, and the "Press," in 'criticising her, said that ths part displayed (the lady's versatility in a remarkable de igree. ,"She showed that she is a clever •actress as well as an accomplished vocalist. Her singing was marked by a thorough ap: Weciation of the niceties of the music, while jher acting was full of vivacity and arch ness." Miss Fairhurst, it appears, took the ipart of Suzanne, and her vocalisation was jpraise'das being "highly finished in style." I When does our club intend to wake up and settle its programme for,the year ?

§ Sir Lohr brings Mr Locke Richardson, the well-known' Shakespearian reader, to New Zealand shortly. His return to Auck land will be eagerly welcomed.

I In Melbourne to-night Miss Amy Sherwin, the Australian primadonna, "leadingsoprano oi Covent Garden, Her Majesty's, and PruryLane Theatres, London," gives her initial concert at the Town Hall. Herr fchannes Ehodes, the celebrated violinist, BcLa strong company support her. The performance is under the patronage of the Australian Natives Association.

General Logan'-e forthcoming book, ." The Volunteer. Soldier of America," will be published early in June, by R. S. Peale and: Co., Chicago. It is dedicated "To the intoortal host of Citizen - Soldiers and Sailors who, from Lexington to Appbmat to|, ,have. won the liberty of the republic, maintained its honour and; preserved its integrity."

A "best on record " of an unusual kind was recently achieved at Baberton, Cape Colony. An artist named Woodcock played the : piana for twenty -four consecutive hours "without breaking harmony," which I take to mean that he had at laasu two fingers on thf.keyboard throughout the time, unless the'conditions of the" exhibition permited the employment of his nose. During the twenty-fours. Mr Woodcock took no other refreshment than, some beef-tea and an oc casional cigar.

Some Curiosities of Paris Law.

A little book has been published recently which gives the public some insight into ; the functions and power of the Prefect of Pari3. No one is allowed to stick a note on door or window asking for an employe, or post a bill on a bearding unless it be Btampedahd taxed. Advertisers may adopt anjrlcolour they please, except white, which signifies purity, and is exclusively, reserved for official announcements. • Special permis sion is required to giye an, assault at arms, tut nothing is said about permission to fight adael. If anyone goes to Paris with the idea that lie can start business right off as a rag 'pinker, he is mistaken. He will be run in !if found gathering rags without Ca license. ■ Ndreunion or meeting for political or re iligjous-objects can meet without the con «se|ji of the prefect, and under whatever Conditions he pleases.. In order to hold a jffieeting on a non-political subject, seven persons connected with it must make a desaratjon at th,e prefecture three clear iaysb'efore the day ..of meeting. Special permission is required to give balls and "coafeei'ts, and to perform feats of agility m music halls. Owing to the exigencies or the octroi, cattle, and live : stock are only allowed to enter Paris at -certain hours pi, -ahcl by certain routes. Mer chants; of bric-a-brac must be sup plificl- with brass medals and . licensed. Dogs are made the subject of a ; series P| '"regulations. ' . Frenchmen '■' seem _to Ye a terror of the bulldog, for it is de- tliat-^.no dog of the race boule dogue .°t a crossed boule° dogue must be allowed' to go at large in the street, in warehouses, ; Workshops,- or other public places. • Inside fases" these dogs must. always be kept m a; sting' 1 or • nruzzled. "• Commissionaires ■ttistmake a declai-ation and get a medal ; and livre't before starting business. Com )%jonaries axe shoeblacks. No organ-; griider,'Btreet musician, or itinerant mer- exercise his profession without the prefect. No permis- is granted unless the applicant has Resided at least a year within the junsdic .bon of the prefect and is French. The R musicians, however, sometimes s;Pla|:? ] withoub permission. Should a. .be in a particularly amic ab turn, ! le he will allow an Italian to ■ P% within'his where lie is as abso-. lut e prefect. The prefect supplies *orkme!rwith livrets, without which they Tβ not-ivorth anything ' Porters at the P»Wie markets must have a certificate ot good conduct from the police. Any one ™o saves a drowning person in the'river, fiithei-"by calling- attention to or rescumg .""Ci gets 25f • v/iibever .discovers a corpse, 'ijParfc of:a corpse, in the river, receives sJsf_; f or rescu j a horjsc .6f are allowed. f*Pubiicah guards employed at theatres or iWre paid If per night, if on horseback for a private soiree they get sf.

SCENES AT FLOGGING PUNISHMENT.

The English ip Egypt.

A " Daily News" correspondent writes as follows -.-The particulars I telegraphed to you regarding the assault on British officers near the Ghizoh Pyramids w.ere as nearly as possible correct, but 1 omitted to say that besides the (logging awarded, some of the prisoners were heavily lined into the bargain, and that three sheikhs were punished by fine and imprisonmen t, At three p.m. last Ihursday, two companies of the Welsh, to which the officers belonged, marched off to the villages of the prisoners, and were drawn up.to witness the execution of the sentence. Buleigh Bey was present with native mounted police, and Captain Freeman with some of his English military police. These consist of men picked from different cavalry regiments. A fine, stalwart body they are, and admirably disciplined. Captain Riddlo (60th Rifles) was also there on duty. ,He is attachedtothepolice; Theprisonerswere tied to the typical triangle, and in front of the villagers they received a pretty good casti gation from the cat, laid on by stalwart British warders from the Ghizeli Gaol. The old prisoners bore the infliction toler ably well, but the younger ones halloaed. The punishment of the cat, however, is nothing in comparison with that inflicted by the corbash, and this used to be laid on the natives' backs and feet on every pos sible occasion. After a certain number had been flogged at one village, the troops, warders, and police moved to another*and here some other prisoners were flooged in thepresenceof the inhabitants. Culonel Till loch, commanding the Welsh, then made a short speech, saying that the British were in Egypt to protect Europeans as natives, that they had shed their blood for the country, and were desirous to maintain order. Therefore, if a similar outrage oc curred the perpetrators would be punished in a much more severe manner than the present prisoners had been. It must be remarked, however, that the villagers are often very hardly used by Europeans as regards their crops. No sooner does the shooting season commence —in fact, there is always something to shoot about Cairo all the year round— than a.swarm of Greeks, Italians, French, Levpntines, nondescripts of all blends, and Englishmen go forth- and tread down their crops. Again and og-ain have the poor natives protested, But what can bo done ? The " Capitulations," as they do in every and fill occa sions, stap in. It is a crying shame. I heard to-day that some of the sheikhs of the villages have given out that on the first occasion of a European misconducting himself when on a shooting excursion,they will have him hanged, without mercy, in retaliation fov the punishment inflicted upon the Arabs.

An Extraordinary Suicide.

A workman and his wife, named Ardouin, living in the Avenue. Parmenticr, Paris, recently lost one of their children (a little girl of six) with croup. Her brother, eight years of ago, on his return from school, seeing the little girl extended lifeless on the bed, was greatly affected. For a long time he was quite inconsolable, and his parents were obliged to remove him to an adjoining room and soothe him with kind attentions ere the} ,, could bring the poor child to him self. On the following morning the boy asked to be allowed to see his sister once more for the last time. He was taken into the death chamber, went softly up to the bed, and, imprinting a kiss on the face of the little corpse, said, "We shall soon meet again, dear sister." The child returned to his room, and his parents, busy with preparations for the- funeral, lost sight of him for some moments. His mother, going to the- room an hour after wards, found him hanging from the window, quite dead. The child had tied a towel to the handle of the window, had climbed on a bench, and then, passing the towel round his neck, had kicked the bench aside. Not a cry or groan had There can be no doubt that the poor child's mind was affected by the. shock of his little sister's death, but the resolution he. displayed and the manner in which he carried out his fatal determination were extraordinary for a boy of such a tender age. ;

IN A POOL OF VITRIOL.

John Rapp's Awful Experience in a Chemical Factory.

At the chemical works of E. Grassell and Co., Cincinnati, John Rapp, a man about 37 years of age, is employed as a helper to the engineer. There are two large vats on the first floor of thr establishment. One division was about one hundred feet long and the other about twenty feet in length. The width was 33 feet, and the depth 22. The vats are made of sheet lead. The liquid vitriol is poured into these large receptacles preparatory to being used. Frequently the lead springs a leak, which can only be stopped by plastering the spot with white lead. Recently the workmen have had considerable trouble of this kind, and' lately there were two serious breaks. The first occurred early in the afternoon, and caused great excitement among the employees. Rapp with more presence of mind than the rest, hurried to the leaking chamber and stopped, the hole with white lead. . , ~■-■... About 3.38 o'clock another and more serious break was discovered. The work men shouted to Rapp, who came running immediately to the rescue. The acid was running over the floor.- At the time there were only two or three inches of vitriol in the larp-er vat, but the smaller one con tained about two feet. The two vats were separated by a low lead fence. Rapp hurriedly put on wooden shoes and climbed down into the big vat. He found that it would be impossible to stop the leak in. the -usual way, so he shouted for an axe,- which was let down to him. He made his way to tlie small fence, his intention being to cut it. He had made only one or two slashes when his foot slipped. The axe slinped from his hand, and was thrown inM'the big pool of acid. Rapp had fallen over on the lead fence, and, as the vitriol splashed, a large quantity struck him lull iii the face and breast. As he was working around the hot furnace he wore a. woollen sliirt and this was unbottomed and opened. His face, body, and uncovered arms, were deluged with the burnjng fluid. The acid 'blinded him, and, falling on his knees, he began t? crawl along the bottom of the big vat to two'steps at the upper end. • The vitriol had, in the meantime, eaten off his wooden shoes, and as he crawled his hands were buried in the fiery fluid and his clothing burned off wherever it came in contact with the fluid. He groped his way td the place of exit, where he was assisted by his fellow-workmen. Rapp's agony was frHitful when he was taken out ot the vat. hST -rolled about the floor, and crazed pain, begged for someone to hit him on tne Had anklm him. The workmen, with un pardonable indifference, allowed the blmded man to go out alone and grope his way to his Kβ Aich is not far distant A young Sever see put of them again. His face Si hands and arms were Sered, and his chest one mass of burned flesh The pain had somewhat subsided, but he was still enduring indescribable torture. • Between his groans from , pain he described with difficulty his terrible ex periencein"-She vat, and harshly blamed EfsSlow workmen loathe way they had treated him after he, had been rescued.

Suicide of Two Lads.

On Monday last two lads, each 14 years of age, committed suicide in the neighbour hood of Vienna., by blowing their brains out with a revolver. Their bodies were found in a vineyard, .each of them-holding a revolver in his right hand. One of tho ill-fated boys was not quite dead, but he expired soon after he was found. Each of them had a note in his pocket. One ran thus: ''My name is Frank Geist; lam 14 years of age : my father is a grocer. Dear parents, forgive me my faults and my sins. I cannot help it; I must die." The note found on the other boy was as fol lows : "My name is Franz Heimle. lam 14 years old and was a compositor's ap prentice r in the Augustiner strasse, I have shot myself and Franz also, because I led him astray." This double suicide of two mere children has caused a most painful impression in Vienna. The lad Geist seems to have played truant from school for a whole year without his parents finding it out. Both he and his companion had been reading unwholesome literature, which is supposed to have worked upon their imag inations. They had neither of them the slightest cause for worry or complaint, and were well treated at 'home. Curiously enough, a short time ago a playmate_ of theirs also committed suicide by throwing himself from the tower of St. Augustine,s church.

A BROKEN HEART.

A Man Uvea Four Months With a Heart Valvo Burst. Edwabd H. Palmer died at the Louisville hospital recently under peculiar circum stances. On December 21st last ho was admitted to the hospital, and owing to his swarthy complexion he was assigned to the coloured medical ward. Ho conversed intelligently with the officers and nurses, and was recognised as a man of education and refinement. To all appearances he was healthy, but an examination proved that his ailment was one of the most serious nature. At times he would com plain of a most sudden twitching in the region of the heart, but there were symp toms and complications in the way which rendered an accurate and complete diag nosis difficult to reach. His appetite was all that could have been desired, and for some time the contradictory symptoms were a puzzle to the attending physicians. One morning, however, the patient com plained more than ordinarily, and ono of the physicians, on sounding his chest, heard the blood rushing to and from his heart with great speed and violence, the sounds being distinctly audible to the lis tener. In an instant it dawned upon the physician that one of the valves of the heart had burst. The patient admitted that he had been affected with heart dis ease for some years, but until his admis sion to the hospital here had never been treated for it. Further examination developed the fact that the auricular-ventricular valve had been burst for several months, and that the hissing sounds were produced by the hurried, uninterrupted passage qf the blood to and fro between" the auricle and ven tricle.. The valve had originally served to allow the blood to pass from the auricle to the ventricle, but prevented its return to the auricle, and it is most remarkable that the man has lived as long as he has. According to medical research, death would have been the inevitable result as soon as the valve gave way. As it was, Palmer lived for four months at least wkh his heart in this condition, and up ,to the last moment was able to converse intelli gently with all around him, remarking to his sister, who had arrived, a short time before his death, that his time had come and that he felt as if he were full of blood, running riot over his body. When he died there was not the least tremor or ex hibition of pain, and he merely cloced his eyes, after looking at all around him, never to open them again. **.' . From his sister it was learned that Palmer was a member of a creole family, residing near New Orleans ; that ho had been given the best education money could afford, and had held several lucrative posi tions in the South. He was, however, never satisfied to remain at home, and would wander aimlessly over the country, never writing to his relatives unless taken ill. He spoke English, Spanish, and French fluently. Among the attache's of the hospital he was very popular, and every means was resorted to to prolong his life. The remains will be sent to New Orleans for interment

Municipal Bribery in New York.

About one year ago a number of political scandals were unearthed in New York, which bade fair to equal the exploits of the. Tweed gang, , which reigned supreme in New York for many years, and was finally destroyed through the efforts of the late Governor Tilden in 1872. The scandal of a year a°-o involved many members of the Board °of Aldermen, who' were shown to have received bribes repeatedly from persons who desired to pass certain swindling measures through the board. Principal among this class of legislaton wjere a series of franchise bills, giving to certain street railroad, telegraph, and other companies the exclusive privilege de voting the public streets to the purposes of their various business. These franchises, as a matter of course, were of great value and much sought after. Among the members of one company which was striving to obtain a number of franchises, was an unscrupu lous old man named Jacob Sharp, who had amassed a large fortune as a lobbyist and political trickster, who induced the mem bers of the Board of Aldermen to give these franchisesto his company. Sharp ofl'eretl them very large sums, which were accep ted. ; ' . * ■ ■;■" '■'";! This was a patent breaph .of trust, as tlicre were companies which would have gladly paid the City of New Yoijk millions of dollars for the privileges which the board'gratuitously granted to Sharp and his associates, and it was evident that the aldermen, had they been' 'honest, would have offered the franchises to the highest bidders. While this was very evident, and i proved, to a moral certainty, that the alder men had;been bribed, it was of but little or no importance as legal evidence, and hence the conviction of the aldermen and Sharp and his confederates in a court of justice was- a matter of extreme diffi culty.' Indeed, it is probable that they could not have been punished at all, had not one pf the. guilty .aldermen confessed his guilt, and given damaging testimony against his fellows, which resulted in the conviction of several of their number. But the demands ef justice, will not be fully satisfied until the areh-erfminal Sharp shares the fate of the' aldermen whom he corrupted. District Attorney Martine, of New, York, proposes to soon bring him to trial on thirty-one separate charges of bribery, that being the number of aldermen whom he is charged . with ■havino- improperly-influenced. The same evidence which induced the juries to render verdicts of guilty against the men charged with having received bribes' from Sharp ought it is evident, to suffice to convict him of having given bribes. The convic tion of Sharp would be a most salutary example to the rich and bold knaves in all large American cities who grow rich On siniilar practices, but haye so much wealth and influence that they can afford to, set the law afc defiance.

■ Suspicions tailor : "There, stand in that position, please, and look; straight at that Notice while I take your measure.' Cus tomer reads the nofKft : V -Terms Cftsh. .

Strange Death of the Painter Guillaumet.

A correstoxdent reports a strange story current anent the death of .the French, painter Guillaumefc. ?His demise was a'b-: tributed to peritonitis ; but this, it is said, was produced in a tragical manner w:hich recalls the melancholy circumstances at tending the death of Gambetta. M. Guil laumet, -who was only 46, and very wealthy, had become, it is said, infatu ated with a lady who was his senior by many years. Owing to this unfor tunate attachment he was separated from his wife, who lived with her son in another part of Paris. A few weeks ago M. Gillaumet had a scene with his mistress, after which he put a revolver to his heart and fired. The bullet lodged in his intes tines, and he lingered from that moment in the agonies of a painful illness, terminated by death. His last words after the bullet had entered his body. were for his wife and son, who, on being informed of the tragical occurrence, came and nursed him until his death. The painter died in his studio, whibhor he was parried at his own request. He wanted to see his Oriental'skctches for the last time.

Louis XVl's Last Order.

An interesting document is about to be added to the treasures of tho Hotel Carna valet, Paris. It is the last order signed by Louis XVI. ordering the Swiss Guard on August 10, 1702, to cease firing and to abandon the Tuileries. His majesty and his family had been driven from the Palace and had taken refuge in the National Assembly, holding its sittings in-the Salle dv Manege. A company of Swiss Guards, under tho di rection of Captain Do Durlor, was advancing in shooting order to deliver the royal family, whereupon a number of Deputies arid citi zens begged the King to sign a formal order to put an end to the combat. Louis XVI. signed the document with a trembling hand. Captain De Durler preserved the document, which his descendants have now placed in the Museum Carnavalet.

A YOUTHFUL HERO.

RomarlEEiMe Feat of a Twolve-Yoar-Old Boy. An application has been made to the Secre tary of the Treasury, Washington, for a medal to be given to a boy of 12 years, under the law which permits those who haye saved life by heroic rescue to be so dis tinguished. The lad's namo is Walter Kernochan. His father is a merchant of wealth in New York, and his undo'is LoriUnrd, the tobacco manufacturer. Last fall, whilo wandering along the banks of the Shrewsbury River in New Jersey, near his father's summer home, the: boy's nurse, Annie Snvefte, fell into the water. She sank tw.ee, and then, according to thoafli davitsjpresented, tho child hearing her cries, ran to her assistance, and, throwing off his coat, sprang into the stream, seized her by the hair, held her head above water and swam ashore. He weighs less than sixty pounds, she more than ] 20. He is shown by evidenae to bo a phenomenal swimmer for a lad of his age, and to have taken to the water like a duck before he shed his petticoats. While the claim is regarded as unusual, and there are sceptics : who cannot be convinced that such a fer.fj 'could be performed by a boy of his age and '•weight, it is probable that he will be given a medal by the Government, as ho has already received one from the Humane Society of New York.

The Mount of Moses.

Mount Sinai is an immense block, isolated from the surrounding mountj»ins by deep valleys, so that it would bo an easy task to set bounds round it, and prevent persons from making the ascent," The "nether end of the mountain" is a magnificent bluff, rising precipitously from the plain, truly a "mount which might be touched." In front of this stretches a broad plain, which ha.? .been ascertained by Captain" H. S. Palmer, *8.E., from the actual measure ments of the Ordnance Survey, to be capablo of containing over a million of spectators. The highest summit of the mountain is completely hidden from this secluded peak. Moses might well have re mained tor forty clays until the people " wot not what had beconfe of him." The, Ai-abs hero show the traditional spot in which the (Law was delivered to Moses ; from the lower peak, overlooking the plain, the Law-giver of Israel must have pro claimed the Commandments of God to the expectant hosts assembled underneath. The distance from Egypt to Jebel Musa exactly accords with the number of stations or days' journey mentioned in the Bible; the physical aspect of the mountain and its surroundings exactly answer the description given in the Bible -of the Mountain of the Law ; and traditions of the event recorded in the Bible still linger in the tales which the untutored Arabs tell to their children over their camp-fires.

SUPERSTITIONS ABOUT BIRDS.

Visitors Which Ering Bad Luck -Omens of Good and Evil. In Ifrance the handsome white owl, with its plumage,- is accepted everywhere as a.fore runner of death. As if that were not enough to draw upon it the animadversion of all, this bird is often accused of sacrilege, for in Provence and Languedoc it is charged with drinking the oil of the. church lamps. In the south of Germany the crow bespeaks good luck, but in France anything but that if seen in the morning. The same with tho magpie—ill-luck if it iiies on your left; if on the°contrAry, on the right, you may be as sured that the day will be a fortunate one. In England the influence of tho appearance of this" saucy bird' upon current events is oovcrnod by the number in which ib ap pears, and is thus summed up. ', ~. .- Ono for sorrow, Two for mirth ; Three for a wedding; ......,...,„.,,.,. Fonrforabirth.

Among the negroes of the Southern states the" ■ moaning , dove moans.to"save a man's soul. To kill one of these; doves is a sign "of death, but more frequently the death of a child. A buzzard .or a. crow on a house top is believed bythe same people to be an in variable sign of death or disaster ; a visit at the door from a'rooster, the approaching visit of a friend ; the notes of the screeching owl, or "shivering " owl, are a.bad omen of many interpretationsy while, if the com mon-owl-hoots on your right, good luck will follow, but bad luck should he take up his position on your left side and hoot therefrom. The reputation of all/night birds, great or small; is no better, but Southern imagination has discovered a remedy for all • 'their spells. It consists of throwing a pinch of salt into the fire as soon as their so nd is heard.' ■~ :. If a chuffinch perches on your windowsill beware of treachery. It was the wren which aided Prmoetheus in steahng the sacred fire of knowledge from beneath Jove's throne in heaven. Accordingly, he who kills a wren will have: His home des stroyed; If you have money in your poc ket when you hear the cuckoo for time, it is a good omen, and you will have your pockets well lined during the year: if,'oh the contrary, you: have no .money, cultivate your friends, for you will be in need of their assistance before long. J. he blackbird which crosses your road brings you good luck. , No physician should'fail to procure a bed of partridge feathers! A patient laicl upon such a bed, no matter what" his disease, will never die of it, at'though be will npfc, necessarily get well.

Female Influence in France.

The.prominent.part female influence has all along 'playejl in the destinies of France has in some sense reduced the Salic law to a dead letter; Madame cle Girardin, e.rf:, observes that " ambition is the.whole life of French women, and' the attainment) pf.in fluenco the one subject of their dreams. It ■shows itself -even- in domestic life, where they generally manage to rule. A higher authority, Napoleon Bonaparte, hacl ob served long before - when he came to Paris in 1795, after the downfall of bho old Bourbon Court, which had been the special theatre of their domination - that (' here only women are at the helm; a woman must be six months in Paris to know her power') they owe that position to their skill alike in noble and ignoble arts, and their readiness to be content with the reality of power without its outward trappings. The long line of French queens who ruled as widows and regents open with Blanche of Castile, mother of Louis IX., who displayed her marvellous energy in the conduct of a seven war.with the great vassals of the: kingdom, though she afterwards tarnished her fair fame by helping tq introduce the Inquisition into France. In that ; most turbulent and desperate crisis of national history, when the kingdom seemed' to. be falling to pieces under the feeble sway of Charles VI., two women—as different as light and darkness—are again prominent on the scene ; on the one hand the Queen, Isabella of Bavaria, a shameless wife and unnatural mother, who would have robbed her own son of his succession to the throne ; and on the other hand the Maid of Orleans, the deliverer of her country. From the death of Louis XI. female influence was con stantly on the. increase, and we may desig nate tho century from 1484 to 1590—with the exception of Louis Xlt.'s reign-as the era of the ascendancy of women and favour ites. The kings were either nobodies, or were under the thumb of their wives and mistresses; during tho youth of Charles VIII. his elder sister, Anne of Beaujpu, go verned, who socmed to have inherited the political sagacity of her father. But the in fluence of Louis of Savoy over her son, Fran cis 1., was disastrous to the best interests of France. Under her, ib was said 'the women , —the King's favourites — 'made everything, even the generals,' and the bishop.?. "The next king, Henry 11., waa completely in the hands of a widow much older than himself, Diana of Poitiers. And thus we are brought to tho Italian and Machiavellian policy of Catherine de Medici and Mary, wife of Henry IV. and mother of Louis XIII. From both of them, as well as from tho Regent Anne and her foreign favourite, Mazarin, France had to learn to its cost the dangers and disasters of female supremacy. It ended in anarchy and treasonable compact with Spain, but served meanwhile to ag graiidiss tho absolutism of the Crown. And under the baneful influence of Anne and Cardinal Mazarin, Louis XIV. grew up in ignorance, pride, self-importance, and the habitual dependanco on female guidance which marked his character and conduct through life. It has been said, with much truth, that when, after the death of Mazarin, he took tho reins into his own hands, the modified despotism carried on by Richelieu and Mazarin was converted into a brutal tyranny, masked, for the time, by the glitter of military and intellectual glory, but which a century later provoked the terrible collapse of the whole ancient re gime. "

Should Husbands Open Wives' Letters?

Tins question has been- answered in the affirmative at the conference of French lawyers which has recently been held at the Palaii? de Justice at Paris. A writer in the "Temps"on hearing; of this death blow to "la galairterio francaiso," has asked some of his celebi-ated countrymen and women to give their views on the subject, and has received several interesting letters, from which we take the following extracts,, Mr Alexandre Dumas : "It is impos sible to hesitate for a moment .with :an answer to the question. The lawyers, in answering it in the affirmative, have been guided by simple common sense. Where are the traditions of most ancient humanity : Man and woman are placed in a Paradise, and stay there as long as the man obeys God's word. The first thing he doss is to listen to the.advi.cp of the woman. He is driven out of his happy homo. And what does-the only, woman between whom and the God-man there is a link of unity ? she, too, tempts Him at the wedding of Cana, and tells the ' servants, 'Do as Ho tells you.' At that moment the Virgin accepted, in the name of all women, eternal absolute submission, A husband who doubts his wife, and who hesifcatfcs to jopen the letters which she receives in order to enlighten himself,.is an imbecile." M. de Pressence takes a different view. "It is difficult," he says, " tq answer, this delicate question very definitely ; but at first sight I am inclined to tliink that the husband should respect the secrets of his wife. . . . If the measure whichi the lawyers have taken concerned only adulterous women, it might be de fended; bu tare .there only adulterous women in the world ?" Madme. Adam is, of course, indignant at the insult offered to;her sex.' "If the lawyers have said Yes, I am con vinced that all educated men will say

. . . Woman is at liberty to think, and to communicate witli her mother, her sisters, her daughters, her friends : she is at liberty to receive and to open her letters, and to judge whether she will show them to her husband, Without this liberty she will be obliged to have recourse to the honest secrecy of the restanto, and to reply on the doubtful and degrading complaisance of the postman and the servants." Mdme. de Peyrebrune approves of the lawyers' verdict. She says: " The lawyers have been logical in saying, that a husband has the right to open letters addressed to his wife. This is a consequence of the laws which retain the moral liberty of a woman in marriage. It is one more means of trying to keep her in that obedience which our laws command. To deny tho husband this right would be to deprive him of one of his prerogatives as legal guardian. The conference of lawyers has decided wisely."

VICE-REGAL ECONOMY.

Sir Wμ. Robinson, the Governor of South Australia, is, according to the rules lAicl down by all political economists, an iriyaluable member of society. It is by wjhafc a man saves, not by what lie spends that he benefits the community, John S. Mill teaches us; and Governor Robinson is a saving man. He is of Scotch extraction and from the north of Ireland, which pprhaps has something to do with b)s praiseworthy economy. The other day, according to a story that is going the rounds in Adelaide, his aide-de-camp was intercepted by a South Australian Customs official just as he was leaving the North terrace railway station with a neat little brown paper pai*cel under his arm. Go vernor Robinsop is not Ropppular in - Australia as he ought to be, so the official stopped the aide", ' and desired- to see the contents of the parcel.;. "It As for ■Government.;/ House," , 'said his Excellency's ' mpssengeiy pushing past. ," Must see what's '.. in ' it," said the jealous donairier.' " Well,'look here,'? said the aide-de-camp,brought to bay, and drop pins his voice .confidentially, ;" it's only ia. suitiof clothes !'' "Well, then, there's duty to be paid!" ".No, but you don't under stand," said the ; youtliful aide, in a voice that shook with suppressed emotion.'.: " It's I only an old dress suit, that his Excellency I has had dyed in Melbourne." ; The Custom house official staggered back against the walV.ais PM &W W X :■'■.:■■

Am Exciting Encounter.

A .workman on Linsay Point has in formed a reporter of a terrible conflict between a snake aiid a rat. His story is as follows :—The snake was of unubual size.and of a different appearance from those com monly found in water. The rat was of the ordinary brown variety, and was runnino- along the shore when the fight began. The snake was coiled upon a little point of mud just above the water, sunning itself, and probably asleep. Ihe rat, apparently without noticing the snake, ran directly into the latter saws ; that is, it jumped directly upon the folds of the : serpent's body. The snake struck instantly, fastening its fangs between the rat's shoulders. Then beganacontest that in its small way was truly thrilling. The rat, struggling violently, endeavoured to shake itself free, while the snake as persistently endeavoured to drag the head of its victim into its own mouth. This feat it was at first unable to accomplish. The rat was game, and as it writhed in its convulsive efforts to escape bit the big snake severely in the neck, just at the back of the head, until the blood flowed and mixed with its own. The counter attacks became at last so savagely painful that the snake loosened its grip, remaining, however, in half-coil. But the respite was too brief to afford the rat an opportunity to escape, for again the snake's tierce jaws descended and closed, this time around the rat's head. But the struggle was by no means over. The heavy body of the rat still swayed violently, but dragged with- it the head of the snake, until the latter, was thrown completely out of coil. By this time, however, the rat's struggles had grown comparatively faint, and the snake was apparently the victor. But the next moment tho. snake in its tuTn began to struggle violently, as if to release its adver sary's head, but ineffectually; the reason soon became fully apparent. The rat had bitten quite through the snake's throat and its sharp teeth could be distinctly seen in tHe narrow slit they made. The writhings of the snake were now intense. It lashed the ground with its thick folds to almost half its length from the ground.' The spectator stood hesitant, scarcely knowing whether he ought or not to The next moment he was .powerless in the premises, for the snake, with one last con vulsive effort, threw half its length into the muddy water, and the doughty twain sank together to a common death.

Charles Reade.

A life of Charles Reade has just been pub lished by Mr Compton Reade and Mr Charles'Liston Reade. It seems from this work that the novelist was descended, en the father's side, from King Henry 111. and King John ;on the mother's side from John Balliol, and even was related by mar riage to Charlemagne. Reade's mother is "in every fibre a lady." Nevertheless, she was'of a rather singular disposition, for though " a devoted mother," yet when her children came home from school or college " she loved them for a day, tolerated them for a week, and then devoutly wished they were out of the house." "She was honey one moment, and vinegar the next," and "much as she loved tho baby Charles, she loved her own whims and fancies more." It is interesting to know that " Ehe abom inated the low wit of Dickens " because her son did not follow her example. He held Dickens to be the greatest Englishman of the century, and was indignant that he was not raised to the peerage. About the year 1850 Reade wrote " about thirteen dramas which nobody could play." He was, however, more successful in collaboration with Tom Taylor, with the drama "Masks and"fraces." There are many curious matters in this work, but space will only permit the quotation of the following estimate which Charles. Read formed of Ellen Terry : " Ellen Terry is an enigma. Her eyes are pale, her nose rather •long, her mouth nothing particular, com plexion a delicate brick dust, her hair rather like' tow. Yet, somehow, she is beautiful. Her expression kills any pretty face you see beside, hers. Her figure is lean and bony, her hand masculine in size and form. Yet she is a pattern of fawnlike grace. Whether in movement or repose •grace pervades the hussy. In character impulsive, intelligent, weak, hysterical—in short, all that is abominable in women."

French Beggars.

We hear a good deal in these days of de pression about the increase in mendicancy, but from various Parisian records of two centuries or so ago it would appear that mendicants were as numerous and as im portunate then as now,' arid that the devices and means they adopted fqr extorting charity have scarcely changed in character from that time to this. The usual number of beggars resident in Paris was greatly in creased at this period by bands of peasants and villages whose dwellings had been de vastated and crops destroyed by the Fronde quarrels. Oppressed alternately by the op posing and victorious party, when little short of starvation remained for them in the country, they came, a motley crowd, to join the company of Paris mendicants, in harass ing and waylaying street passengers by night and ' day. "Ruined farmers, day labourers, needy old nien, unpaid soldiers, country bandits, v T orkmev> possessing noth ing but'their souls, which they couldnot sell, flocked : into the capital, where hunger awaited them,still." Such is the description given; by ; the eyewitness Falon, in his Memoires of these events: :

i Another authority, Douet' de llomp Croissant, states that in the course of the j|ear 1642 three hundred and forty-men were assassinated by night in Paris ; and Boileau affirms that after sunset any wood was a place of safety compared with the streets. Some of these beggars demanded alms sword in-hand ; and in theCour dcs Miracles not only were they au fait in the matter of simulating deformity—loss of limbs, &c.— bufc lessons in the art of feigning epileptic jits, with the assistance of a pieceof soap in the mouth, were given then,as they.now are, in many a court- of less imposing name. This sudden affiuence .of beggar,s induced Bellievre, President of the Parliament, to solicit earnestly ■ the! taking ■of mendicants into custody. Mazarjn, was . pleased. with the project, and the king signed an edict to that effect in April, 1656. They were not, however,, to, be kept , under riecessarily as. offenders against the law; but as homeless.qutcasts in need of temporal and spiritual assistance. ; .. , ■> ■ -. : , ■.

A Noble Savage

A London contemporary says :—Dr. Oscar Lens,"the Austrian who : has walked, un harmed by'savage, or by disease, through the heart of Africa, will have to be dealt with severely at Exeter Hall. Here is the scandalous report which he brings concern ing tlxe.net result of missionary operations on the African coast:—" The negroes who are taught to read and, write mostly become xuifit for any manual occupation, ri They consider themselves as good as a white man, think it undignified to 'toil, and when .not engaged in holding large and noisy prayer meetings, at s which every man 'wants to take his turn at preaching, they roam about begging,. and take it very ill if they cannot live.'altogether on doles from their white fellow-Cnristians: The European factories have learned to beware of those men,, and will not give them employment,' so most of them end by relapsing into barbarism and vagabondage; then- last state being worse than the first, as the renegade negro Chris tian almost always turns criminal, 7 ' ... .

Who Would be an Emperor?

The Czar leads the life of a prisoner, with the exception' of an occasional glimpse at the outer world. Uulike a prisoner, he is nob safe in his prison. The only place where he feels any security, is at Gatschina, seven miles away from St. Petersburg. The palace itself lies within a triple defence ot walls, palisades and ditches, and n0 one is permitted to enter even the pa r k outside the palace without a written authority, which is changed in form every eight days. The whole place swarms with police and guards, and the Emperor is not allowed to escape for a moment the eyes of his keepers. It is not surprising under such conditions that madness should so often break out in royal families. Even with all these pre cautions, the fate of the Czar is almost certain ; for his enemies, by the prodigal sacrifice of their own lives, seem to be capable of breaking through every obstacle. It is reported that 485 officers of the Russian army have arrived at Odessa,under a strong military escort, and being ac cused of participating in the last attempt on the Czar's life, they will be transported to Eastern Asia. According to some de tails of the attempt on the Czar's life, hi 3 Majesty was walking in the park at Gats china on March 29, between 1 and 2 o'clock in the afternoon, when a shot was fired at him from behind a tree. The bullet struck the Czar in the arm,but, nothing daunted, his Majesty darted in the direction whence the shot had come. A second report fol lowed and a bullet whizzed closely by the Czar. A soldier belonging to the so-called Golden company, who was on duty near the spot where this took place, seeing a man in a red bloure running away, fired at him and wounded him. The man was then arrested and carried into the guard house. The Czar behaved with great courage and presence of mind throughout the whole incident, and after the arrest of his assailant his Majesty walked to the guard-house, and gave strict orders that the affair should bo kept secret. It reached the ears of the Empress, however, and on returning to the Palace the Czar found her in violent hysterics. Since this a Nihilist proclamation has been issued announcing that although two unsuccessful attempts have been made to carry out the sentence prononnoed against the Czar, he will be executed within three months. The. proclamation admits that a general revolution is at present impossible, but adds that the Nihilists hope to pave the way for it by the assassination of tyrants.

Lord Nelson.

Never, assuredly, did stouter heart inhabit a frame so slight and delicate. He was a , ; little bit of a man, thin and puny, who was | always sick on first going to sea; but to j whom, nevertheless, fear was absolutely un- 1 known, honour immeasurably dearer than life, and the greatness and glory of his country precious beyond all eacrifices ; No- . body was ever so dutiful, in small as in great matters. When the Danes at Copen hagen lifted all their buoys and seamarks to baffle our fleet, Nelson went himself in. the boat of the Elephant with his captain, Brisbane, to take soundings, and re-buoy the channel. Nobody was ever so sub limely cool in the presence of danger. Think of him writing his letter to the Crown Prince of Denmark amid storms of shot. Noboby was ever so reckless of himself ig ; discharge of duty. See him, for instance, ' rowing on the Baltic to join his ships a& Carlscrona. "It was extremely cold,' writes Mr Briarly, "and I wished him to put on a great-coat of mine which was in the boat. 'No; lam not cold :my anxiety for my country will keep me warm. Do you think the fleet has sailed V ' I should suppose not, my lord.' 'If they have, we will follow them in the boat, by——: v The distance to Carlscrona was about fifty leagues." Nobody was ever so sleeplessly vigilant for England's sake. ■ When the French fleet put out from Cadiz in October, 1805, Nelson, by some subtle gift of fore sight, became the first in all the British ships to know it before a signal-gun from the Euryalus announced that Villeneuve was on his way to Cape Trafalgar. , No body—despite our immortal hero's admitted faults a more honest piety with earnest patriotism : witness that moving, faithful, half-embarrassed prayer which he offered up in his cabin before the tremen dous sea-fight, wherein, divided between, his innate humanity and his devotion to England, he supplicates the Almighty to grant a great victory to His Majesty's flag, but to restrain the shedding of the enemy's" blood within the smallest prac ticable limits. And, as none had more gallantly lived, so no British admiral ever more meekly and simply died, taking Hardy's kiss upon his cheek - a symbol of the kind salute and sad. farewell of his captains, his-crews, and his fellow country men. :V' .", . ..;,":„"

The New Ironclad.

The launch of the new ironclad Victoria from the Elswick shipbuilding yard was made the occasion of a very interesting speech by Sir. William Armstrongs the builder, who drew:a comparison between the fighting capacity of the Victoria and of the victory, Nelson's old flagship, the J memory of which is so tenderly cherished by the British nation; ,: In every way the comparison was, of course, in favour of the modern vessel; and there is no doubt that were the manned, as was the custom, with cannon of the maximum. ~ weight of three tons, opposed to the : Victoria,. whose ' largest guns are one hundred and ten the'latter would make short work of her. .Still; how-. 1 ever, it is impossible to avoid feeling a preference for the old style of fighting - , for it is more in consonance with our old traditions of the sea than tlio present. The picture of a British captain of the old school running- his vessel alongside of the enemy, locking the yards together , and then carrying her with a rush of boarders, is much more sfciiTing than the contempla tion ofo two floating iron, castles'at a dis tance of some half-a-dozen miles or so apart taking pop shots at each other and ex changing compliments in the shape pf l;S0O pounds weight of iron or steel shot. Ono yaluable feature of the old-world navy was that it really could go anywhere (short of tmn jvrma, of course) and do anything, which is much more than could be said of our present-navy. It really seems to us that in the present fashion x»f building * w.arships there is a parallel between the , ancient style of armour and the modern idea of military dress. The warriors of old went on'increasing the thickness of their armour iiritil at length they sank beneath ! the weight of it and were robbed by it alike of force arid agility. As time went on. it. was found necessary to discard portion after portion of the armour, until at present all that remains of it are the cuirasses and the helmets which are worn for ornamental purposes by certain corps of Guards. The gaiil has been immense to the soldier, and the loss of life has riot sensibly, increased thereby. The same thing will have to be done in the navy with our warships; Aye shall have to trust less to armour and more speed and skilful seamanship on the part of the commanders; and we are glad to. think that this fact is at length being recog nised at the Admiralty.

A new patent medicine has found its way to our shores—Dr. Henley's extract •of celery, beef, and by the lead- , < ing physicans of Europe and.America to hQp nutritive and invigorating, while the iron,/ is a tonic.ifor the blood and food for the " brain, Sharland and Co. are wholesale - agents. The extract can be had from all chemists. .;-."■;.' ~iu'-\

I

THE AUCKLAND STAE, BATOBDAf:, JfTMEj 18,J.488& y\ ■?

3