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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times, 1887-5-5, Page 6BY ORDER OF THE LEA , CHAPTER UL, Le Gentler Was not Mr wrong in Ids esti- mate a Carlo Vied. The game the former W88 playing was. a dangerous one. He lied met the yeuthful Genevieve in one of hie country exoursious, aud, struck by her beauty, ceneeived the idea, of finding seine slight athhi3otheht in her soeictY, It was not hard, ie. that collet place, with his aud- city and telents, to meke himeelf known to her ; no did. the ohild—for ele was little more --romantic, pesstonate, her bsad filled with dreams a loye and devotion, loug re, mein cold to hie Advances. Friendship soon ripens into love in the sunny South, where temperaments are warmer, a,nd the cold reatrAints of northern society do not exist. The Frenelunan had no sinister ix - tendons when he commingled his little flirta- den, a mere recreation pear paseer Zs tamps on his side ; but alas for good intentiens ; the moth may not approa,oh too near the flame without scorching its wings. Begun in playfulness, almost sport, the thing gradually ripened into love—love such as most woinea never know, love encountered by keen wit and a kuowledge of the evil side of life. When the story opens, Gen- evieve had known Le Gautier for six months—had known him, loved him, and trusted him. But Ls Gautier was already tired of his broken toy. It was all very well as apestirae; bee the gilded chains were beginning to oh tie, and besides, he had ambitious schemes into which any calculations of Genevieve never entered. He heal been thinking less • of dark passionate eyes lately than of a far English face, the face et Enid Charteris; so in his mind he began to revolve bow he could best free himself from the Italian girl ere commencing his campaign against the heart and fortune of Sir Geoffrey Charteris' heiress, Come what may now, he must file his fetters. Filled with this virtuous and manly re - 'solution, he set out the following afternoon for the Villa. lelattio. It was Vici's whim to keep his sister there, along with a young- • er sister, a child as yet, little Lucrece, both ono.= he eharge of a sleepy old gourernante. In site of his faults, !fled was a good 'breather, having too sincere an affeotion for Ilifs sister to keep her with him among the wild student spirits he affected, fearing con- tamination from her mind. And so she remained in the country; Visci running down from the city to see, her, each time congratulating himself upon the foresight he had displayed in such an arrangement as this, little thinking he had thus caused the greatest evil he had to fear.. Le Gautier walked on till the white facade and stucco pillars of the villa were in sight, and then, striking across a little path lead- ing deep into a thick shady wood, all car- peted with spring flowers, threw himself upon the grass to wait. There was a little shrine here by the side of a tinatstream, with the crucifix and a rude stone image of the Virgin in a park niche; evidently a kind of rustic woodland sanctuary. But Le Gautier did not notice these things as he lay there; and there was a frown upon his brow, and a thoughtful, determined look upon his face, which boded ill for some one. He had not long to wait. Pushing the branches of the trees aside and coming to- ward him with eager, elastic step, was a girl. She was tall and slight; not more than seventeen, in fact, and her great dark eyes and clear-cut features gave promise of great beauty. There was a wistful, tender smile upom her face as she caane forward—a smile tinged with pain, as she noted. the moody face of the man lying there, but nevertheless a smile which betokened no- thing but perfect, truiting, unuttera.ble love. Le Gautier noted thism his turn, and it did not tend to increase his equanimity. It is not easy for a man, when he is going to commit a base action, to preserve his equanimity when met with perfect con& donee by the victim. For a moment she stood there, looking at him, neither speak- ing for a brief space. "How ridiculously happy you look, Genevieve;' Le Gautier said. irritably. "It is a great compliment to me, but"— The girl looked at him shyly, as she leant against a tree, the shafts of light through the leaves playing upon her lustrous coronal dusky hair and showing the happy gleam in her eyes. "1 am always contented when you are here, Hector," she answered softly. "And never at any other time, I sup- pose ?" "1 cannot say that. I have ,many things to do, but I oaaa always find time to think of you. I dwell upon you when you are away, and think what I should do if you were to leave me. Ah, yes, I know you will not do that ; but if you did, I should die." Le Gautier groaned inwardly. Time had been when he had dwelt with pleasure on these out• pourings of an innocent heart. "You are not one of the dying order of heroines, Genevieve. By no means. And so you often wonder what you would do if I were to leave you ?" The girl half started from her reclining position, and'with her scarlet lips parted, and a troubled expression on her face. "You speak very strangely to -day, Hector," she exclained. "What do you mean ?" "Precisely what I say. You are anxious to know how you would feel if I left you. Your curiosity shall be gratified. I am going to leave you." "To leave me I Going away, Hector, and without me ?" Genevieve wondered vaguely whether she heard the words aright. She started and pressed her hand to her heart, as if to still its rebellious beating. Going away? Th warmth seemed to have departed from ttiscene, the bright light grew dim a- g , ally the words forded themselves upone,. r;•and the cold numbness of despair fteed:litir trembling limbs. "Yes, leamegOing away," Le Gautier re- peated ia ,a; :matter-of-fact manner, but always wit !ye anywhere but on the girl's face. • " Indeed, I have no alternative; and as to taking you with me, it is impos- sible." ' "1 have dreamt of something like this," Genevieve intoned in a low vague voice, her look seemingly far away. ' It has been famedupon me, though I have tried not to think so, that you have been growing cold- er day by clay. And now you some and tell me that you are going to leave ! There is n� regret in yeur voice, no Sorrow ih your face. You will go away and forget, leaving me here in rny arrives, mournino for my lost love—leaving me here heartbroken— deceived!" " You shoeld go on the stage," Le Gauv- ler replied sardonically. "Your talents are wasted here. Let me assure you, Gene. vieVe, speaking as a num who has had a little experience, that if you can get up a, scene like this upon the boards, there is Money in it." " Yon are true'!" the girl cried, dashing her tears away impetuotisly—" you are cruel t ,Wlitee,have I done to deserve this • front yeita Reiter? • Yon wieli to leave me ; that you will not come back again, my heart assures me. ' a • r • "Your heart is a prophetic orgen, then, 1 , rare mica Now, do look ,ist the thiug la a. rational light. I Um under the orders of the League ; to disobey is cleeth to me ; end to take you with nie is impoesible. We mast forget all our little flirtations now, for I cennot tell when I may be in Italy ag tin. Now, be a eensible girl; forget all about nu fortunate ote. Noone possibly can know ; and when the prinee appears, marry him, Be Q5SUre4 that I shall tell no foolieh tales." Gradually, surely, the blood creptinto the gir.'s face as she listened to these mocking words. She drew herself up inch by inch, her eyes bright and hard, her head thrown back. There was a look of infinite withering SOOTR UpOil her as she spoke, sparing not herself in the ordeal, "And that is the thing I loved 1" she said, each word cold and clear --" that is the thing to which I gave all my poor heart! I undereatud your words only too well. I am abandoned. But you have not done with me yet. My turn will come, and then—beware 1" "A truoe to your histrionics," Le Gautier 1 cried' , all the tiger artake in him now, and , , , th . only too ready to e up the gage rown ' down. "Do you think I have no °coupe- ; tion, nothing to d well upon but romautio i schoolgirls one kills pleasant hours with in ' roaming about the world 1 You knew well Ienough the thing could not last. I leave for London to -morrow; so be sensible, and let i us part frieuds." . "Friends !" she echoed disdainfully. "You and I friends ! You have made a yeoman of nie. , From this moment, I shall • only think of you with loathing !" "Then why think of ine at all? It is very hard a man cannot have a little amusement without such a display of hysterical affec- tion as this. For goodness' sake, Genevieve, i do be sensible !" I Stung to madness by this cruel taunt, she took one step towards him and stopped, her whole frame thrilling with speechless, con- suming rage. It would have one hard with him then, could she have laid her hand upon a weapon. Then all at once she grew perfectly, rigidly calm. She stepped to the little saactuary, and took dowa the woodeu cross, holding it in her right hand, " 13efore you go, I have a word to gay to • you,' said between her clenched white teeth. "You aee a man;:I ani a poor defenceless girl. You are endowed with all the falseness and deceit that flesh is heir tci;. I am ignorant of the great world that lies beyond the horizon. You fear no harm trona me now; I shall ' evoke no arm in my defence; but my time will come. When you have nearly accom- plished your most cherished schemes, when you have your foot upon the goal of your crowning ambition, when fortune smiles her brightest upon your endeavours—then I shall strike! Not till then shall you see or hear of me; but the hour will come. Beware of it !" "Perfection 1" Le Gautier cried. "You only want"— "Not another word 1" the girl command- ed. "Now, go 1—mean, crawling hound, base deceiver of innocent girls I Go! and never look upon my face again; it shall be the worse for you if yen do! Go! and for- get my passionate words ; but the time will come when they shall come back to you. Go 1" With steady hand she pointed to the opening in the wood; and without another word he slunk away, feeling, in spite of his jaunty air, a miserable, pitiful coward in- deed. As he turned to go, Genevieve watched him down the long avenue out of sight, and then, sinking on her knees, she sobbed long and bitterly, so full of her grief and care that she was oblivious to her surroundings. Her face was deadly pale, her white lips moved • passionately, as she knelt there weeping, half -praying, half cursing herself in her despair. "Genevieve 1" The word, uttered in Et toneof wonder and alarm, was repeated a second time before the agitated. girl looked. up. Salvarini was standing there his usually grave face a prey to suspicion and alarm, a look which did not disguise entirely an expression of tenderness and affection. Genevieve roseto her feet and wiped away her tears. It was some momenta before she was calm enough to speak to the wondering man at her side. "I have chosen an unfortunate moment for my mission," Salvarini mournfully con- 'tinned:a " I am afraid my presence is unwel- come here.—Geneieve, there is something behind this I do not understand. It must be beyond an ordinary grief to move you like this." I " There are some sorrows we dare not think of," Genevieve replied with an air of utter weariness—" Luigi, do not press me I now. Some day, perhaps, I will ask you to help me." , "1 am afraid a brother is the fittest con- fidant in a case like this. Pardon me, if I am wrong; but when I hear you talking to a man—for his voice came to me—and then I find you in such a -plight as this, I must think. -0 Genevieve I my only love, my idol and dream since I first saw your face, to have given your heart to some one un- worthy of you. What will Gael° say, when he hers of ib?' "But he must not hear," Genevieve whis- pered, terrified. "Luigi, you have sur- prised me; but you must keep my secret --I implore you." "1 can refuse no words of yours. But one thing you must, nay, shall do—you most tell me who this man is; you must , have an avenger." • "Luigi," the girl said; laying her hand gently upon his arm, "1 shall be my own avenger—that I have sworn by the cross I hold in my hand. if it is for years, I can' wait—and hope." "That Is a wrong spirit," Salvarini re-, plied sorrowfully. " You are triad just now with your wrongs. Stay here at home, and let me be your chaaripion. I love you too well to admire such sentiments from you yet. I shall not press you now; but all time, for good or for evil, I shall wait for you •,, "Luigii you are a good man, far too good ese Stranger's earning .to-ilearrewe r •The words 1 11.41^.:11'11 bear on her brainlike therear a count - lees hammere, •,Strongera coming and or 143 ihO' 0 i ukCet tkl4131 liont with this wl1d, aelis of ` Wrong, burning within her yengeful Italian heart,' bruised but not crushed? She walked slowly up - stirs aud sat down in her roern thielting till the evening light, be tain to wane, and i the lainpe of distant ake Q to twinkle out one by one. The vex"ya ilence of the place oppressed her. "Are you coming dONVII to supper, Gene. She arm -teed herself at these words, and •looking up, saw a child standing before her. She was regarding her sister somewhat curi- ously, aud somewhat pitifully too; the lat. ter, child as she was, did not fail to notice the pale face and dark -ringed eyes. She ap- proached the older girl, throwing her arm. round her neck and kiseing her gently "What is the matter, care ?' she asked in her soft liquid Italian "Have you one of your headaches again, sister? Let me comfort you." "1 have something more thou headache, Lucrece—some pain that no soft words of yours eau ,charm away. Run clown -stairs, aim ; I am not fit to talk to you now." "Please, Genevieve, I would. rather stay with you." Genevieve looked out again across the landscape, lit here and there now by twink- ling lights, reflected from the happy fire. sides, till it was tee° dark any longer to see aught but the ghostly shadows. ' "Lucrece 1" she exclaimed sucldeely, "come here." The child hesitated for a moment, and obeyed, taking her sister's cold damp hand in her own, and waiting for her to speak. "Do you remember, Luorece, the Golden City I uee,d to tell you about when YQU were a little one, the blessed placefar away, where there is no strife and no care, and every heart can rest?" "Yes, I remember, sister." • "And should you care to go with me?" "0• yes, please. I wouid go anywhere with you and not be afraid." "Thea you shall go. •, When you go to your room to -night, do not take off your clothes, but lie awake till I come for you. Only, mind, if you say a word of this, you will not see the beautiful city." Through the rest of the hours, Genevieve moved about mechanically, getting through the evening meal she scarcely knew how. Gradually tirne passed on, one by one the members of the household retired. It Was au hour later when Genevieve entered her little sister's room. "Luorecie, are you awake?" she whispered. • "Yes, sister; I am waiting for you. Are we going now ?" "Yes we are going now. Walk slowly, and hold my hand. Come, let us hasten? we have far to go, and the way iireveary." Silently they passed down the stairs, and out into the night -air along the path to Rome, walking on till they were lost in the darkness of the night • Genevieve's face stern and set; the little one's, bright and hopeful. Gradually the east flushed with the Golden splendour of the coming dawn; thebirds awoke to welcome up the sun; and after them, the laggard morn. The orb of day saw strange things as he rose in the vault of heaven : he saw two tired wayfarers sleeping on the road- side; and then, later, the anxious faces of a party gathered at a pretty villa by the Tiber. As he sank to rest again, he went down upon a party searching woods and streams far and. near; and as he dipped be- hind the shoulder of the purple hills that night, hie last red glimpse flushed the faces of the stern sad -visaged group on their way to Rome. When he rose again there were no wayfarers by the roadside, but a brother on his knees praying for his lost darlings and strength to aid him in his extremity. In Sol's daily flight he saw hope lost, aban- doned in despair; but as came eacfi moan, he brought a gentle healing, but never Gen- evieve back to the Mattio wood again! And so time passed on, bringing peace, if not forgetfulness. fro se CONTINUED.) A Hindoo Marriage. A case that has attracted no little itten- don in England as well as India, and will strike Canadian readers as involving a curious marriage custom has just been tried in the High Court of Bombay. It appears that Rukmibhax, a native girl, was, according to Hindoo usage, married when only eleven years of age to a youth of nineteen. The two inunedietely parted, the girl remaining at the house of her parents. By them she was carefully educated', and "grew up into a refined and cultivated lady." Recently the husband came to claim t her as his wife,but she declined to live with ! him and her family refused to recognize his claim. He is described as being little better than a coolie—illiterate, coarse, too poor to support a wife, and, moreover, consumptive. .A. snit was thereupon brought ,to en- force the marriage agreement The judge remarked that their involuntary union would be unnatural and barbarous and held , that the man's claim could not be maintain- ; ed under Ihndoo law. From this decision an I appeal was taken to a higher court, which, ' while expressing sympathy with the young woman d.ecided that she was the lawful , r wife of man and bound to live with him. I ' An order was accordingly issued requiring , her to join him within a month or submit I to six months' imprisonment for disobe- dience. • Aside from its hardship and absurdity the case presents two curious legal aepects. The first Is that it was a suit for the restitution of conjugal rights, and the decision of the High Court upholding it was ' based on glnglish precedents. Now, this remedy to• , compel a wife to live with her husband has ; been abolished in England. Second, the ' wife may escape the obligation of the mar- riage by six months' imprisonment. After that she ia not bonnd to recognize the man as her husband, though she is not free to marrv another. Olean" and " Unclean, " 13ible etudents have noted with inter- eetieg cogneents the tea that the division of fehdh [nth two cheeses "lean," which were illowed, and "nucleon " which were forbidden, as found in the Pentatench, was something more than an arbiter' law im posed upon the Jewe. A careful study co the list of animals excluded from the cate- gory of alleivable foods as uuclean, will show • that all thein are by their habits render- ed specially unfit for food. Except when pressed by hunger, most of them are reject- ed by the most barbarous tribes, and are not considered choice food even by those Animals • which prey upon others; as the lion, tiger, etc. • Not a single predatory or scavenger ani- mal was allowed in the list of foods; and why? Evidently because in the eating flesh food, the flesh of the eater is deteriorated. The lion might eat the same sheep that the man intended to eat; but man must not eat the lion. Ile might take the grass and grains at second hand, but not the sheep. Is there any reason for this? Experieuce shows that when an animal whoae usual food is chiefly grains and other vegetable 'substan- ces, exchanges its ordinary diet for animal foo, its flesh becomes unpalatable and no- wholeimme. Evidently, animal food leave in the tissues of the eater certain impure and unwholesome elements which are not left by vegetable food. Is not this the rea- son why flesh -eating animals were interdict- ed by the law of Moses? The flesh of a flesh -eating animal is rank and unsavory; and that Of a vegetable-eatinganimal, as a sheep or an ex, bee:fames rank and masavory when the animal eats flesh food. Certainly the evidence seems to be conclusive. But there is still another conclusion which may be legitimately drawn from the facts referred to. If the use of flesh as food, has such a deteriorating effect upon a sheep or an ox, and upon all carnivorous animals, as thereby to render them unfit to be eaten, is it not probable that the same cause nuty produce alike effect upon the flesh of human beings? Ib is not pleasant for one to con- template a condition of his body which in another animal would render it unfit M be eaten; and when we consider the high pur- poses for which the human body was made, mental and moral, as well as physical, and the infinitely delicate functions which its marvelous machinery must perform in the mechanism of tlaought and mind—in,feeling, knowing, and willing—does it not occur to one with considerahle force that a body un- fit to be eaten, is unfitted for thinking and for exercising the highest powers of heart and mind and soul, of which a human being is capable? If fruits and grains, the pure products of the earth, make the best flavor- ed flesh, will they not also make the best brains and the best nerves as well? Gut of Gaol Again. Herr John Most, the windy Anarchist for me. Listen 1 I must gratify ray re- who emerged to public view from under a venge ; till then, all must vvait. Thiogs alter; men change; but when the tirne comes, awl you are still the same, say Come to me,' and I shall be by your side," "I shall never change I" he replied as he touched the outstretched hand with his lips • gently. Slowly and sadly they walked back to- wards the house—Genevieve calm and col. lected r1097 ; Salvarini, mournfully resigned; pityand rage—pity for the girl, and rage against her deteiver—alterriately sopreme in his heart. For renne time neither epoke. "Will you eoine in ?" the tusked. " Not now," he replied feeling inetinctive. ly that his preeence would only be an un- ' welcome restraint. " I had a message to briefs from Carlo. He arid Sir Geoffrey and Mee Charteris arc coining to-morrow.—And now, remember, if you want a friend, you leave one in me.—Good bye." " Gooddaye, Luigi," she maid 7)1w -diesel. cally. "Sou are very good. I.shollre. member. bed about a year ago to disappear a little later in the penitentiary, reappeared the other day and was seen by many of his kind, , • until he again retired, this time into a beer - shop near Second avenue. A number of cnrious specimens of humanity greeted him • on his arrival from Blackwell'e Island, none of tnern having work that they could not just as well postpone. What Most expects to do beyond posing as a hero and martyr is not stated; but he will ;probably continue to be an agitator. Within bounds, of course. His term in the, penitentiary will serve as a wholesome check on his loose tongee, we imagine, for it is a painful' fact (painful to Most especially that for, ten rnen ths he hire 1)een actually working, Doubt- less lie expeets that to last him during his lifetime. ' l'erhaps it will, if he obey e the lawand keep hie mouth shut.— .111'. Y. 71eibutee. The first yesael to leave Port Colborne this season gelled for Cleveland. What to Do for the Baby's Earache. "What makes the baby so cross to -night?' says Jones. "Oh 1 he has taken cold, and got the ear- ache. I guess he will be all right as soon as Mary Ann gets back from the drug store with the laudanum," says Mrs. Jones. And so when Mary Ann gets back, a good dose of laudanum is poured into baby's ear, and very likely a few drops get into his stomach too,if he don't get quiet without. Perhaps some old lady in the neighborhood will droptin, and insist that he must have an onion poultice on the outside of his ear, or chloroform inside of it, or a mustard abider -to the back of his head, or a dose of soothing syrup, or sornething else equa'lly inefficient. Here is the proper thing to do. Pour a little warm water into baby's ear. Now wet a soft sponge of folded flannel in hot water, wring dry, and apply to the ear. A hot ear douche, taken with a syphon or fountain syringe, allowing the hot water to run slow- ly Into the ear with little force, is still more efficient. This simple remedy has the ad- vantage that it not only eases the pain, but removes the cause by stopping the inflam- mation. • The application of hot water may be made as often as necessary, or all , the time. Keep the ear warmly covered during the intervals. If the baby has really talon a cold, a warm blanket pack, M pro - dude a good sweat, should he used in addi- tion to the applications to the ear. The significance of earache is: generally not understood. Quite a proportion of the cases of deafness occurring in adults without , immediate cause, are justly attributable to the oft -recurring earaches of childhood. I Hence the importance of giving to a matter of this sort early and efficient attention. The notion that in cases of severe earache there is nothing to do but to wait for the ear to "break" or discharge, is a mischievous I one. When this occurs, it is usually the re- sult of neglect, and the effect is a more or less permanent injury to the ear. This "breaking" should be prevent( d by prompt treatment. If the earache is not (speedily relieved by the hot-water ear douche,— which may be used almost continuously, if necessary,—a skillful physician should be consulted without delay. It is sometimes necessary to lance the drum membrane. It is always important that an ear which has been subject to severe inflammation should be treated after the inflammation has subsided. The eustachian tube must be in- flated by means well known to physicians. This will also drive out of the ear, secre- tions which, if left for the slow process of absorption, may permanently injure the hearing. Hints Worth Preserving. 1. Some one's nose bleeds and cannot be stopped: Take a plug of lint, moisten, dip in equal parts of powdered alum and gum - arabic, and insert in the nose. Bathe the forehead in cold water. 2. • Child eats a piece of bread on which arsenic has been spread for killing rats Give plenty of warm water, new milk in large quantities, gruel and linseed tea; fo- ment the bowels. Scrape iron -rust off any- thing, mix with warm water, and give in large ' draughts frequently. Never give large draughts of fluids until those given be- fore have been vomited, because the stomach will not contract properly if filled, and the object is to get rill of the poison as quickly as possible. 3. Child "falls backward into a tub of water and is much scalded: Carefully un- dress the child, lay it on a bed, on its breast if the back is scalded; be sure all draughts aro excluded; then dust over the parts scalded with bi-carbonate of soda; lay mus- lin over it ; then make a tent by placing two boxes with a board over them ih bed, to pre- vent the eovering from pressing on the scald.; cover up warm. 4. Mower cuts driver's legs as hn is thrown from his sent: Put a tight bandage around the limb above the cut, slip a cork under it in the direction �f a line drawn rem the inner part of the knee to a little utside of the groin. Draw the edges Of the ut together with sticking plaster. At the annual meeting of the Canadian Chili 18 New 'York, 1V1r. Brutus Wimen was re-elected President, HOME op CiEliRAL NEWS. Delaware is trying high license. The Dacoit leader in Burmah has` been ltilled bY one o 114i 9,_Nt?1 York Comity and Torbate are to be sepal., ated for shrievelty purposes. 'A Reesian War vessel seared the Varna people by praotise firing near their port. A society for the preVention of cruelty to animals has been organ zed in Kiegeton. Thb German Governmeat asks for au extra military credit of 134,000,000 marks, The Doinieion Exhibition grant of $10,000 is to be given this year to the Termite In dustrial. Successful experiments have beeu made in Metz with a navigable balloon propelled by an electric motor. The Prince oi Wales has consented to not as honorory president of the Melbourne In- ternational Exhibition. Since May 1 of last year 37 convictions for violation of the Scett act have been obtained in the County of Oxford. It is stated Tichoneff, the man who fired recently at the Czar, was hanged the day on which he committed the crime. The Vanslooten iron monopoly bill has been defeated in the Nova Scotia Legislature by an almost unanimous vote. A libel suit is to be brought against The London Times by Mr. Biggar because of its articles on Parnellisrn and Crime." Sheriff Jarvis, of the County of York, died suddenly on Saturday night of last week. He was in his sixty-ninth year. The proposal fir affiliation with Trinity Medical School, Toronto, has been approved of by the medical faculty of Queen's Univer- sity. Rev. Dr. McCaul, late President of the Toronto University, died at his residence, hi Toronto, the other morning, in his 81st year. The decision of the Pope in favor of the Knights of Labor is given on condition of their fighting shy of Henry George's doc- trines. The Imperial Government, fearing the importation of dynamite from America, has instructed Customs officials to keep a sharp lookout. An expert has compared Mr. Parnell's handwriting with the signature to the dines letter, and at present declines to give an opinion. The loss on the running expenses of the Intercolonial railway last year amounted to $106,000, and on the Prince Edward Island railway to $61,000. Mr. Alexander Sullivan, of Chicago, who was referred to in the Coercion bill debate, denies that he had any guilty knowledge of the Plannix park murders. The new Mahdi has written to the Queen saying if she recognizes him as the true Ma- hdi she willbe saved and they willbe friends. Otherwise he will march forward. An issue of five per cent. bonds of the Minneapolis, Sault Ste. Marie & Atlantic) railway has been successfully placed on the London market. Lord Salisbury on Tuesday evening made a speech before the Primrose League in which he violently attacked Mr. Gladstone and the Parnellites. Sir Donald Smith and Sir George Stephen have donated $500,000 each for a jubilee me- morial hospital in Montreal on condition that the city furnish the site. Premier Baker, of Tonga Island, and. his party have put a great many of the Wes- leyans on the island to death, apparently on a trumped up charge of conspiracy. Sir Adolphe Caron says that the Govern- ment will provide a sufficient sum to put up a spacious drillshed in Toronto as soon as the people of Toronto provide a site. • Mr. James takers, for nearly forty years secretary and manager of the Montreal Telegraph Company, died in Montreal re- cently, aged 75 years. • Mr. Gladstones has written a letter ex- pressing his sense .of the importance to be attached to the expression of views on the Irish question from this side of the Atlan- tic. In opening the Spring Assizes at Hamilton Sir M. C. Cameron remarked on the notable absence of crime on11113 present circuit, and spoke strongly in favour of maintaining the jury system. The Pall Mall Gazette, which has been a little wild on the Irish question of late, says the House of Commons ought to commit the editor of the Times to the Clock tower for a breach of privilege. Rev. Dr. Parker, of the Temple church, London, will deliver the eulogy on the late Rev. Henry Ward Beecher in Brooklyn on June 24, and it is believed that he will ac- cept an invitation to fill the vacant pulpit. The Aineer of Afghanistan is ooncentrat- ing troops round Herat to resist a dreaded Russian advance and he is also sending a strong force against the Ghilzeis and other rebel tribes who are resisting his authority. A deputation from the roronto Ministeri- al Association recently waited upon the Minister of Education and laid before him the resolutions passed by the association re- garding the education laws. An article in the current Quarterly Re. view says Canada is a failure as a wheat. producing country, and that nothing short of a ham:loon-re fortune should tempt anyone to a colony with a climate far colder than that of Siberia. A bill will be introduced at an early date in the Dominion Parliament for the total prohibition of the manufacture, importation and sale of intoxicating liquors, except for sacramental, medicinal and scientific pur. While renewing public records partly burned in the great fire of 1871, an employe 18 the Chicago• y clerk's oThce hadiscov- ered a deed conveying property covered with valuable business buildings to the city, . . . million dollara, The proposed Sunday law has been so amended by the Nova Scotia Legislative committee that its framers could not re- cognize it. The clause relating to barbers, ball.playing, racing, fishing, shooting, and running horse -cars were all struck out. Prospects for the building trade in Mont- real this season are of the momt promising charaeter. Public buildinge, iheluding two new railway stations, involving an expendi- ture of about two million dollars, will be erected, besides a large ntunber of business premises and private residences. An intense sensation has been created in London by the publication of the foesirnile of a letter signed by Mr. Parnell, written to Mr. Egan, say* that while he regret- ted the murder of Lord Frederick Cavene dish in the Plicenix Park, he thought Burke girt be more than his desert. Mr. Parnell denies that he wrote the letter, and epealcis about demanding that the editok of the rimes be called to the bar of the House of Commons. • rioning 10 DYsc The ?sage oPurope. Tho President of RobeetCollege, Constan- tinople, contiunes his etory in the New York indepeinteet, lie Mile ef the treachery of Rumple, and of the wisdom and moderation of those who have ruled in Bulgaria. bilICO PI ince AleeaMiler wee ,foreed to retire. Anything but thole eountry'm indepeeeence t heee men are willing to yield to Russia, but that independence never, so long as they Ihave a dollar or a gun. " deriously.," says Dr. Washburn, " Reptiblican Preece le using all her influence to aid Russia, in her effort to crush Bulgaria and melee it a bridge to Constantinople, uninieaful of the warning of Thiers titan) the fate of Europe when the Czar should plant ems foot upon Copenhagen and elm upon Conetantinople, and equally as unmindful of those principles of liberty! a which she profesees to champion." He adds ' that there are to -day not twenty political prisoners in Bulgaria and that all the charg- ea of atroctiee are pure febrications. As to immecliete war, he adds, opinion is divided. Some think it will not come this year, others are as sere that it will, If the Czar is rs ady he will go et it speedily, whatever his Jish to save the feelings of the old German i' peror. But what a pagan faros it is, all the same, that the peace of the world and the lives of uncounted thousands should depend upon the passion or caprice of an all but irrespon- sible madnian 1 Are the great masses of the people in every land never to have more sense than this amounts to? And never more Christian principle than to set about and "bleed each other white," as Bismarck phrases it, es soon as any ambitions and un- tiorutnikres seoundrel gives the 'signal? For the fiftieth time just let us the how the facts stand. At the beginning of this year of ,grace and peace, the armarriente of Europe on a peace footing reached the vast propor- tions of three and a quarter millione of men in the very vigour and hey -day of manhood. The number of trained men ready for war on the slighost emergency, in other words the armies on a war footing amounted to twelve and a half millions. Is itpossible to realize the almount of misery, demoralization and waste which these figures indicate? In France military service is compulsory on all men ex- cept a few invalids. The time of training ex. toads over five years, and the liability Meer - vice over twenty years. So it is in Russia. In Austria the new military service act brings in all males from nineteen to forty-three years of age. All the men of Germany are liable to military service from twenty to forty-two years of age. They must, to begin with, joiu the army for three years. Think of all that! And then the costly fortifica- tions ! Why, since 1871 e'rance has erected a double line of forts of one hundred and forty miles along all her frontier bordering on Germany. And yet all these people claim to be Christians while all of them are as busy as beavers praying against each other for all they are worth and making eady to out each other's throats on the first opportunity. Suppose war broke out to- morrow, with what contradiitory and con- flicting petitions Heaven would be assailed, and yet, every chaplain in the whole crowd would keep as grave and earnest as an owl, and never think but with pity of the Roman augurs who laughed in each others' faces, or at any rate had good reason so to de. Good Heavens! "God of battles, ,1bless, ur ban. 1 ners, and for Thy dear Son's sake, send us speedy and overwhelming victory ! Nine- teenth century of the Christian Era 1 Eh? Toronto Truth. The Victorian Empire. Great Britain is quarrelling with Venez- uela, and has even gone so Inc as to with- draw her Minister. The quarrel is, of course, over the boundary question. Great Britain took Guiana from the Dutch, and while the line between Dutch and English territory has been settled by tre ty, those between English territory and e territories of Brazil and Venezuela have iaver been laid down, and Britain's claims rest upon the old Dutch conquests. Treaties between all the nations exist which debar either one from, occupying the disputedterritory, which is said to amount toover eighty thousand square miles. The area of British Guiana, wiphout this disputed territory, is, accord- ing to latest figures, one hundred and nine thousand square miles. This is a very small proportion of so large a continent for a nation which' has annexed over one- seventh of all the lanci on earth. She owns indeed even a smaller proportion of the con- tinent of Europe upon which her sole posses- sion is Gibraltar whose area is only about one andseven-eighth square miles; butthen, Europe is too Inc advanced to need her fostering. care, while South America is in part undeveloped and in part uncivilized. Of course Great Britain owns a good many scrappy islands which count with South America, and whose aggregate area is about 125,364 square miles, but two hundred and twenty-five thousand square miles is too sraall a proportion of such a vast continent Lor ,a nation to possess which owns about 3,600,000 square miles of North America, 3,306,000 square miles of Australia and Oceanian, 1,104,655 square miles of Asia and 300,000 s equare miles of Africa.. This is without counting such recent annexe- ' times as those in New Guinea, in Burmah, 1 on the Niger in Africa, or such protector- ates as those established over Egypt, or Afghanistan,.or Deloochistan, and leaving out such pearls as Cyprus, Malta, Aden, i Perim; nor does it include the.United King- dom, whose area is 120,892 miles. Serious- • ly, Great Britain possesses already too much undigested territory. She has been nowhere less successful in Anglicizing, her possessions than in the plantations of Guiana, whose conditions are little removed from those of the former slave plantations of the South, j and in some respects differ for the worse, as i the planters lipase less interest in their hands; i and these, being largely imported coolies, i suffer greatly from the climate. Britz' is iis r i a wellsgoverned country, and Venezu la, a self-governing republic, which, h leever ' unsettled, is more to the mind of freemen ,than a crown colony ever can be. On t i whole, we hope England will not distress herself about acquisitions in that region.— Montreal Wanes& • Frontier Marks. The frontier between Germany and Prance is more distinctly marked than that of any • other two countries. The frontier line is so arranged that it crosses every road at right anglee. On the German side is a large post, twelve feet high, painted like a barber's pole—red, black and white, with a cross -piece at the top,with the word, in black letters on a white • grounds (posse (boundary), with an exclama- tion mark. Diagonally opposite is a cast-iron poet, twelve feet high, whereon is painted in gray, on an iron cross -piece, the word fromeets Such posts are onlY .placed on road e and railways. The line is indicated "across country" by some stone block§ projecting about a foet above the ground at inter vale of fifty Yards, On thiPrench side of the bloelt is cut with a ehieel the' letter "P"'on the German'side is th'elettet "D" ---for "Deutsch- land.