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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times, 1888-11-22, Page 2._rte._ ••••..•••1... RAISING THE DEVIL.' "Cor.xa to las,th foot non the hearts off WITSC.�LLQNEOUS. HEALTH. widow e 1 y p 4 I IRAN GE STORY. Under the title •t'Ant DiabolµsautNihil," "The, true Story of a Hallucination," Blaek- woodpublishea a weird; story of how a circle of Spiritualists in 'Paris raised the Devil. The wmiter'givea it as .the true story of a meeting' with the Devil in Paris not many mare ago -a true story in every particular, as can be easily proved by a directlapplication to any of the persons conoerned in it, for they are living still. He says :—"The key tc the enignmwe°cannot find, for wecertain- y do nwtpub faith in any one of the theories of S iritnttlists'•; but that an apparition such as we have described did appear in: the 'V ay and tinder the oironmets't oes we:hoye relat- ed is a feet, aced we must 'leave the -satis- factory 'solutiAn of the difficulty to more profountl p:lyo iologists than ourselves.' The (thief poison; named are a :'Russian ,T('rince, Pomeranteeff, and a French Abbe, 'deed, who ridiculed the whole theory of eAtiparitione, The convereation ab a dinner Verily of the 'Duo da Frontignan's having 'turned on spiritualism, the Duke said he bade seen the spirit of Love. The Abbe, who twee sceptical, had just preached a great seermon, demonstrating the existence of the ,personalDevil, laughed at the Duke, when the Prince declared that this was in no way ,incredible,: inasmuchas he, thePeince, knew and"had seen the Devil. " S tell you," said /he, "1 have seen him the God of all Evil, theiPrince of Desolation, and what is more I will chow him to a ou." He refused at *rat, bot afterwards, fascinated by the offer, he .accepted. THE TRYSTI',ax4 PLACE. 'So the •matter was arranged, and he, the AbbeGirod, the renowned .preacher of the celebrated—Church, was to meet that very night, by special appointment, at half. mast nine, the Prince of Darkness ; and this in January, in Paras, at the height of the season, in the capital of civilisation—la ride *mien ! At had -past Mee o'clock precisely the Prince arrived. He was in full evening dress, but—contrary to his usual custom -- wearing no ribbon or decoration, and his eface was of a deadly peeler. They entered theoarriage, and the •coachman, evidently instructed beforehand where to go, drove off without delay. The Peiace immediately pulled down the blinds, and taking a silty pocket-handkeruhief from his pocket began -quietly to fold it lengthwise. " I must blindfold you. •mtin cher," he re- marked simply, as if aunouncing the most ordinary fact. " Diable 1 •' cried the Abbe, now becoming • a little nervous. " Tete is very unpleasant ; T like to see where C ani going." On they drove ; tee time seemed intermin- able to the Abbe. " Are we near our destination yet ?" he inquired at last. Not very far off," replied th' other, in what seemed to G;rod a moat sepulchral tone -of voice. At length, of-er a drive of about half an hour, but which seemed to the Abbe double that time, Pomerauesetf murmured in a loud tone, and with a profound sigh, which sounded almost like a sob, " Here we are ;" and at that moment the Abbe felt the car- riage was turning, and heard the horses' hoofs platter on what he imagined to be the stones of a courtyard. The carriage stopped ; Pomerantseff opened the door himself, and assisted the blindfolded priest to aught. "There are five step," he said, as he held the Abbe by the arm." " Take care!" The Abbe stumbled up the five steps. When they had proceeded a few yards, Pomerantseff warned him that they were about to ascend a staircase, and up many shallow steps they went. When at length they had reached the top, the Prince guided him by the arm through what the Abbe im- agined to be a hall, opened a door, closed and locked it after them, walked on again, opened another door, which he closed and locked likewise, and over which the Abbe heard hire pull a heavy curtain. The Prince then took him again by the arm, advanced him a few steps, and said in a low whisper : "Remain quietly standing where you are. I rely upon your honour not to attempt to remove the pocket•handkerchief from •your eyes until you hear voice." The Abbe folded his arms -and atooct motionless, while he heard the seduce walk away, and then suddenly all sound ceased. It was evident to the unfortunate priest that the room in which be stood was not :dark ; for although he could, of course, see nothing, owing to the pocket -handkerchief, which had been bound most skilfully over his eyes, th ere was a sensation of being in strong light, and his cheeks and hands felt as it were illuminated. THE INCANTATION. Suddenly a horrible sound sent a chill of terror through him—a gentle noise as of naked flesh touching the waxed .floor—and before he could recover from the shook occasioned by the sound, the voices of many men—voices of men groaning or wailing in some hideous ecstaey—brobo the stillness, crying— " father and Creator of all Sin and Crime, Prince and King of all Despair and Anguish 1 come t,o us, we implore thee ?" The Abbe, wild with terror, tore off the pockethandkercbief. He found himself in a Iarge oldfashioned room, pannelled up to the Tufty ceiling with oak, and filled with great light shed from:, innumerable tapers •fitted into scones ori thee wall—light which, though by •itax,nature soft, was almost fierce by reason„ pf its greatness and intensity, pro- ceededi'rom these countless tapers. All this passed into his comprehension like a flash of lightning, for hardly had the bandage left his eyes ere his whole attention was riveted upon the group before him. Twelve men. • Pomerantseff among the number—of all ages froth five -and -twenty to fifty-five, all dressed in evening dress, and all, so far as one could judge at such a mo- ment, men of culture and refinement, lay nearly prone upon the floor, with hands linked, They were bowing forward and kissing the floor—which might account for the strange sound heard by Girod—and their faces were illuminated with a light of hellish ecstasy—half distorted, as if in pain, half - smiling, as if in triumph. The Abbe's eyes inetinctively sought out the Prince. , lesfle was on the left-hand side, and while his left hand grasped that of his neighbour, his right was sweeping nervously over toe bare 'waxed floor, as if seeking to animate the boards. His face was more calm than those of the ethers, but of a deadly pal- lor, and the violet tints about the mouth and temples showed he wee suffering from intense emotion. They were all, each after his own fashion, praying aloud, or rather moaning, as they writhed in ecstatic adoration, 0 rather of Evil 1 oome to us 1" clothe to us, thy hair lurid with the slar ghter of innocence 1" "Come to us, thy brow wreathed with the clinging'Chapletof Despair 1" "'Come to us 1 The heart of the Abbe turned •cold and sick as these beings madly human/by reason of their great mental exaltation, swayed be- fore him, and as the air, charged with a subtle and overwheliniug eieotrioity, seemed to throb as from the echo of in memorable 'voioelese harps. Suddenly—or rather the full conception of the fact was sudden, for tihe influence had been gradually stealing over him—he felt a terrible coldness, a coldness more piercing than any he had ever before ex- perienced in Russia, and with th e coldness there Dame to him the•oertain knowledge of the preaenee of some new bei ig in the room. Withdrawing his eyes from the semi-cirole of men, who did not seem to be aware of his, the Abbe's presence, and who ceased not intheir blasphemies, he turned them slowly around, and as he did so, they fell upon s new -comer, a Thirteenth, who seem- ed to t•pring into existence from the air, and befeeu his very eyes. THE APPARITION OF SATAN. He was a young man of apparently twenty, tail, as beardless as the young Augustus, with bright golden hair falliug from his forehead like a girl's. He was dressed in evening dress, and his cheeks were flashed as if with wine or pleasure ; but from his eyes there gleamed a look of inexpressible sadness, of intens despair. The group of amen had evidently become aware of his presence at the same moment, for they all fell prone upon the floor adoring, and their words were now no longer words ot invoca- tion, but words of praise and worship. The Abbe was frozen with horror; there was no room in his breast for tne lesser emotion of fear ; indeed, the horror was so great • and all -absorbing as to charm him and hold him spell -bound. He would not remove his eyes from the Thirteenth, who stool before him calmly, a faint smile playing over his intel- lectual and aristocratic face—a smile whioh only added to the intensity of the despair gleaming in his clear blue eyes. Girod was struck first by sadness, then with the beauty, and then with the intellectual vigour of that marvellous countenance. The expression was not unkind, or even ,cold ; haughtiness and pride might indeed be read in high -bred features, shell-like sensitive nostrils, and short upper lip ; while the exquisite sym• metry and perteot proportions of his figure showed suppleness and steel -like strength, for the rest the face betokened, save for the flush upon the cheeks, only great sadness. The eyes were fixed upon those of Girod; and he felt their soft, subtle, intense light penetrate into every nook and cranny of his soul and being. This terrible Thirteenth simply stood and gazed upon the priest, as the worshippers grew more wild, more blasphemous, more cruel. The Abbe could think of nothing but thes'face before him, and the great desolation that lay folded over it as a veil. He could think of no prayer, although he could remember there were prayers. Was this Despair—the Despair of a man drowning in sight of land—being shed into him from the sad blue eyes ? Was it Despair or was it Death ? Ah, no, not Death 1 Death was peaceful, and this was violent and passionate. THE FASCINATION OF THE DEVIL. Moreover, by degrees the blue eyes—it seemed as if their colour, their great blue- ness, had some fearful power—began pour- ing into him some more hideous pleasure. It was the ecstasy of great pain becoming a delight, the ecstasy of being beyond all hope, and of being thus enabled to look with scorn upon' the Author of hope. And all the while the blue eyes still.gezed sadly, with a soft smile breathing overwhelming despair upon him. Girod knew that in another moment he would not sink, faint, or fall, bat that he would—oh ! much worse 1 —he would smile 1 At this very instant a name—a familiar name,•andone which the in- fernal worshippers had made frequent use of, but which he had never remarked before— struck his ear ; thename of Christ. Where had he heard it ? He could not tell. It was the name of a young rnan ; he could remember that and nothing more. Again the name sounded "Christ." There was another word like Christ, which seemed at some time to have brought an idea, first of great suffering and then of great peace. Ay, peace, but no pleasure. No delight like this shed from those marvellous blue eyes. Again the name sounded " Christ." Ah 1 the other word was cross—" croix"—he remembered now ; a long thing with a short thing across it. Was it that as he thought these things the charm of the blue eyes and their great sadness lessened in intensity. We dare not say ; but as some faint conception of what a cross was flitted through the Abbe's brain, although he could think of no prayer—nay, of no distinct use of this oross—he drew hie right hand slowly up, for it was pinioned as by paralysis to his side, and feebly and half mechanically made the sign across hie breast. AFTERWARDS. The vision vanished. The men adoring ceased their clamour and lay crouohed up one against another, as if some strong electric power had been taken from them and great weakness had succeeded, while, at tbe same time, the throbbing of the thousand voiceless harps was hushed. The pause lasted but for a moment, and then the men rose, stumbling, trembling, andwith loosened hands, and stood feebly gazing at the Abbo, who felt faint and exhausted, and heeded them not. With ex- traordinarypresence of mind, the Prince walk ed quickly up to him, pushed him out of the door by which they had entered, followed him, and looked the door behind them, thus precluding the possibility of being imme- diately pursued by the others. Once in the adjoining room, the Abbo and Pomerantseff paused for an instant to recover breath, for bhe swiftness of their flight had exhausted them, worn out as they both were men tally and physically ; but during this brief interval the Prince, who appeared to be retaining his presence of mind by a purely mechanical effort, carefully replaced over his friend's eyes the bandage which the Abbe still held tightly grasped in his hand. Then he led him on, and it was not till the cold air struck them, that they noticed they had left their hats behind. ".N imperte 1" muttered Pomerantseff; "ib would be dangerous to return," and hurrying the Abbe into the carriage which awaited them, he bade the coachman speed them away—"an grand yalop 1" IrYot a word was epoken ; the Abbe lay back as one in a swoon, and heeded nothing until he felt the carriage stop, and the Prince uncovered his oyea and told him he hacl reached home ; then he alighted in silence and passed into his house without a word. How he reached hie apartment he never knew ; but the following morning found him raging with fever, and delirious. " 0 Prince of Endless Dedolation 1 who sitteth by beds of Suicides, we adore thee 1" Repent the day befere thy death. "0 Creator of .Eternal anguish 1" (Consider every day as possibly' your 0' .ging of cruelpleasuree and famg re iehin last, and be ever prepared through . oni. desires f we worship thee 1" tome.)p p g p Mrs. Robert Williams of Preston oonuty, Care of the Health; Health is wealth indeed, and people are beginning to realise that foot more than ever they did. Given the stinum corpus, the sound body, and the sans mens is pretty sure to follow. And when one hag a'' •thoronghly sound mind in a perfectly healthy body hie purse may be light, but his real wealth is not exchangeable at par with the dollars of a millionaire who finds both day and night, it may be, one long martyrdom due to ill - health. Money is geed, health is good. Fortunate indeed is the titan who has both, only the fools would ahooao wealth in pre- ference to health. This having been grantee then, that health is a most desirable possession, and that great care should be taken to retain and perfect it, or regain it if ib has been lost erimpaired, this also requires to be attended to, that, we do not free ourselves too much about our. health. Some people, who are is tolerably good health keep themstivea and other people miserable by the, anxious sol- icitude about it whioh is their normal state. This, of course, is folly. Absol= utely perfect health is nob to be looked for in this imperfect world. When all is said and done, and we get right down to bed rook on this subject, just about all that has been said and written ,on the preservation of the health, resolves itself into enlarge- ments of those three first principles, viz., oleanliness, oxcorcise, 'and suitable food. Aim at these, use common sense, your own experience and the experience of other judi- cious people to guide you, and your health will be just about all right, unless you are constitutionally sere far astray. And first of all, cleanliness. So much importance do we attach to this that we are almost tempted to say that the first rule for pre- serving health is cleanliness, and the seo.nd is cleanliness, and the third is cloudiness. Why, just think for a moment, what an amount of ground this rule covers. Not physical cleanliness only, but mental °lean- liness, moral cleanliness and spiritual clean- liness. Since the whole nature of a man or woman is perfectly clean, body, mind and soul free from stain, pure, sweet, cleanly in every sense, chat more, think you, could be wanted for health? That would b health itself, ideal health, or wholeness. And therefore to persons who are in earn est about their health we say, Be cleanly in all your works and ways. Cleanliness i indeed a very near neighbor to godliness. KEEP YOUR PERSONS CLEAN.—Your bodies, not only what is seen but what is kept con- cealed from the public eye. Bathe frequent- ly. Keep yourself sweet. Your face and hands and feet, your hair, your teeth, your nose, your ears. Keep clean, keep clean, keep clean. You can hardly be too par- ticular. KEEP YOUR SURROUNDINGS CLEAN.—Your houses, your outhouses, your yards, your lanes. Don't let rubbish accumulate, and disseminate poison germs. Make constant war on dirt with fire and water. KEEP YOUR ANIMALS CLEAN.—If you have any, especially such an animal as the cow, whose milk you and others have to drink. The cleaner you keep them the better they will thrive. SEEP VOUn MINDS CLEAN.—The mind has a wonderful effect on the body, as the body has on the mind. They act and re -act on one another. Keep away from unclean minded people. They poison your atmos- phere. They are walking pestilences. They will injuriously affect your health if you have anything to do with them. Give them a wide berth. Do the same with unclean books, and lit- erature of all sorts that is dirty. There is plenty of it. Don't touch it. It will be harmful to your health. You can't touch pitch without being defiled. And whatever debases the mind and soul so far debases the body. We might enlarge still further on this subject, but what would be the use. In- telligent readers can do their own enlarg- ing. We have indicated the directions ; they can follow out the road. Be cleanly in all things, and this can he done, too, with- out undue fussiness. Some housekeepers keep everybody in hot water about a spot on the table-oloth, or a mud mark on the floor. That is cleanliness gone to seed. aWefters.hall speak on exercise and food here - West Virginia, although but fifty-two yenta: old, is the mother ot twentytwo children, The Glasgow International Exhibition was a very acedy affair, but that famous seaport was well able to stand the expense. From figures prepared under official super. vision, we learn that the total amount ex pended ou buildings and grounds was £74 • 404 as against an estimated cost of £69,12S. There were some other expeuses incurred for worb done after the Exhibition opened, such as the erection of a ceremonial arch, grandstand, etc., which amounted to some- thing !like £S,253, thus making a grand total outlay of £32,714. Agood man who has seenmuch of the world and is not tired of it says : "The grand essen- tials to happiness in thislife are something to do, something to love and something to hope fen" And the more one thinks over the whole matter the more he will be inclined to believe that that " good man " is about right, He is in a bad condition who has nothing to do et en though he need do noth- ing for a living. He tray as well commit suicide at once. And he who has nobhing to love and nothing to hope for may just as well follow suit and get out as fast as pos- sible. The now German Emperor seems to be upon the whole, a rash, foolish fellow who is apt to let his tongae run away with his judgment. In the course of a few months se has quarrelled with his mother, his un - ole, the Prince of Wales and nobody knows, how many more. He has become jealous even of his father's memory, and has issued an edict forbidding the Berliners any more to mention the name of the late Emperor, as the habit is offensis e to the reigning sover- eign. Can anything be sillier or more wrongheaded? If he is not taken good oare of and wisely advised, the poor lad may get himself and his country into difficulties. The French and the Germans are still speculating about what they will do when the supposedly inevitable fight Domes on, and when Belgian neutrality is violated and a cases belli thus `iroughb round. Such talk is simply infamous, just as are the specula- tions about a possible collision between Britain and the States, and about how such a tussle would be likely to end. Why cannot common sense, and Christian feeling have the upper hand sometimes ? Why should braggards, blusterers and swash- bucklers have so much to say, and be so often listened to, nob only with patience, but apparently with pleasure:? The Corporation of the City of Edin- burgh is about to take a very wise step in the purchase of the Braid Hills for a public park and recrestioa grounds. The whole of the hills comprise about 155 acres but the trustees of the te.u.,y estate, to which the hills belong, wish to reserve 22 acres for a cattle grazing ground for the Braid farm, and so 133 acres will be the amount of land available for park purposes. It is under- stood that the purchase money will be in the neighborhood of £11,000. An money well invested too. Every city should pos- sess these public breathing spaces, and prize them highly. They are invaluable. The trouble over the railway crossing in Manitoba varies so from day to day that there is no possibility of saying with cer- tainty what the result will be. That it will be settled without bloodshed is to be sin- cerely hoped. The C.P.R, may be within its legal rights in resisting the crossing bub certainly the universal understanding was that on account of the bargain of last year no further resistance to Red River Railway was to be offered. Honesty and straight- forveard dealing always answer best, and the C.P.R. magnates, even for their own interests, had far better let things elide. Greed and bad temper are often stupidly shortsighted. Speaking of the Princess of Wales, Le Figaro, of Paris, remarks : —" Her friends say that often as night falls, in the large hall at Sandringham, she remains for hours watching tne coals reddening in the im- mense fireplace ; she does not see what passes around her ; she listens to nothing that is said to her, neither the calling of the Prin- cess Maud, nor the jokes of Prince Albert. Her Highness sleeps,' say her attendants. They deceive themselves. Her Highness meditates on the litle Alexandra, who be- lieved herself destined to marry a petty German Prince, very domesbio, very faith- ful, and who would have died very happy after having had many children." Citizens of St. Louis who were up early the other morning saw a rare sight. Two big flocks of pelicans passed over the city on their way south. They flew so low that the pouch under the lower bill and throat of each could be seen. The first flock, number- ing over 100, flew slowly and in abmosb an unbroken single line, massing the river to the Illinois side and disappearing in the dis- tance. The second flock, following close be- hind, seemed to have lost its way and circled over the river for ten minutes, and then the leader suddenly started in a bee line for the eoutheaeb and the rest trailed after him. Kaiser William doesn't miss an oppor- tunity to contrast himself with his father. In his response to the address of the Burgo• master of Munich, while on his journey to Rome, e expressed the hope that he might always "guide the destinies of the Gorman empire n accordance with the views of my grandfather." A sensation was produced at the recent banquet at Vienna regarding the strength of the Austro•German alliance. The Austrian Emperor proposed the unusual toast of "The German army, the most bril- liant incorporation of military virtues." To this William proposed " The Austro -Hun garian army," with dreintal troch, a nd th enthusiasm was tremendous. Not for many years has so much attention been given to any book as is now being be- stowed on thenovel "Robert Elsemere." The gifted writer, Mrs. Humphrey Ward, ie a daughter of Thomas Arnold, the second son of the famous headmaster of Rugby school, and therefore a niece of the late Matthew Arnold. Her book is an insidious and power- ful effort of aggressive Unitarianism, an effort whose influence will be all the strong- er, far-reaching and difficult to combat, be- cause of the emotional environments of the story, which are almost theatrical at timers in their intensity. It is not Christianity that is attacked, but the supernatural ele- ment in Christianity. Everything in the nature of miracle is prone.uncod mythic, from the Conception to the Reeurrection, and yet with the etherialized remnant a powerful effort is made to show what oan be done in the way of raising men above the mere bestial elements of existence. A Step Higher.. The principles. of business that oan be tau8.h11 are not many ; these that on be learned art almost without 'end. A clerk very soon reaehoe the place where he has been told all that is actually necessary that he should be told about the details of the business ; he falls into the ruts of the house, understands the run of trade, the variations in people and prices and how to get in and send out goods to the best advantage. But alt thee° details, while they are neoese- aty to bs learned, only fib the young man for blast parbicular place, and if ho is ambi Opus he is always looking to eemething bet- ter. Others have been beaohing him ; it is necessary that he should newteach himself. A clerk who remains in one position all his life advertises himself lacking in one of two thine-- ability or ambition. There undoubtedly` are inattentive where a clerk is kept so conatansly and osntinually employ ed at one task that he hes ne opportunity to learn anything but his present work, but such inabaucee are very rare. As a general rule, every clerk has some time at hie die- posal, eitheratintervals during the day or in the evening. These are hours that he cannot afford to throw away. Not that it follows that he must :deprive himself of every pleasure, or most desert every form of enterbainmenti, All work and no play makes .lack a dullboy, and dullness does not lead to success. But let him have his entertainment ass'recreation, and not seek it as business,ana then he will still have many valuable at fain self -improvement. One of the prow iereits merchants of this oiby began life as•,la errand boy in an office. :Most boys, and moil; men, too, for thab mat- ter, would say tha f t position offered but little hope of advanuement. The men in the office were busily employed, and saw or spoke to the toy only when they had no a c- omets to keep, no writing to do. But the desire being there, the opportunities came. He carried the mail to and from the post - office ; watching the letters that passed through bis hands, when he found an en- velope unusually well addressed he saved it from the waste -basket, and with this before him he began to try to imitate it. It was his duty to copy the letters in the copying -press, and he read and remembered the phraseology and the style until he could e have sat down and, with the topic given him, have dressed it up in the same form. • Me was eo ready and willing to do any and everything asked of him that the men s sent him on many privet° errands of their own, and in return they could not but an- swer his questions when he asked about the books or the business. A chance of- fered where he might do a little wrirtng, and he did the work before any one there knew thab he could. There was some sur- prise at the good form of his matter, and then he told them how he had learned. He was given a place at the desk, while another boy ran the errands, 'and before he had ever thought of studying to be a bookeeper he was one, and a good one. A Few Dont's. Don t worry. Don't eat too much. Don't wear thin shoes in wet weather. Don't coddle yourself. Don't think you are going to die every time you have some little ailment. Don't be a clam. Your brains were given you to use. Use them. Don't sit or sleep in a draught. Don't run out doors in cold weather from a warm room without a hat. Don't take liberties with your ears and nose. Don't neglect your teeth. Don't neglect a cold. Don't take liberties with yourself because you have a fine constitution. -..ss--asaeam--�• Rubbed the Wrong Lea. This is what two pieces of orange peel did. A lady and gentleman were hurrying forward to salute one another, when simultaneously they glissaded on the pavement, and in a moment became a mixed mass of humanity. The gentleman tried to rise ; his power to do so was gond. He rubbed his leg, now swollen to twice its normal size ; no feeling was there in it. He rubbed again, and as ho did so he received a sounding whack on his head from the umbrella of the prostrate female. "Let go my leg, you villain," she cried, "let go my leg, abominable wretch 1" What could she mean? The unhappy man glanoed down and beheld his benumbed leg clothed in white whereas it had started from home in a tweed trouser, Could it be true? Alas, it was? He had been rubbing tho lady's leg 1 Emperor William telegraphed to M. de Giers, the Russian foreign Minister, who yesterday celebrated hie fiftieth anniversery of his entrance into public life, felicitating him upon his jubilee, and stating that all Europe recognizes in him eaatatesman who fn his long career has won general esteem. It is interesting, by the way, to know that Mr. Haggard is a Norseman. Some of the other items of information givon about him are amusing enough, ranging from a cart- ouche at the head of his note paper "which conveys to the Egyptologist; the words, Russian styles are coming into vogue. " Ella, . ss Rider haggard, son of .I.",lla, Ludy of the Many Russian wraps and i _ gowns aro corning House, makes oblations to his Lord Thoth, ovelrfrom Paris this season. Mr. De 'Blinks is a very intellootual young man," said a young lady to a gentle- man who has oallod to see her. "De you fngs." Ib is also encouraging, inview of Mr. think so ?" " Why,of course. It seems to Haggard's present success, to know that his mo that he is a very hard thinker." `r Well profits on his first book, "Dawn,'' were when I come to consider, 2 believe he is. I ; only ten pounds, and that the re -writing of never` know another titan who thought with ; the MSS, to please his publishers nearly so m'ioh difficulty"" dost him his eyesight. the God of Lettere, the Dweller in the Moon,"—to Mr. Haggard's' "blackened briarwoocl pipe" and "think knitted stock.. How the Great Southern Tortoise Burrows. Here and there, but rarely perhaps in one amid a hundred of these mounds, we find the place where the reptile entered the ground. This opening is at once seen to be quite separate in character from the mounds which first attract the eye. It consists of a clearly defined tunnel, the sides commonly somewhat smooth and compacted by the energy et ith which the body of the creature has been driven through it. •The passage inclines steeply. downward, descending at the outset at an angle of from 20 0 to 30 ° , then turning at the depth of two or three flet to a more horizontal position. On the surface, a little beyond this entrance, is a heap of debris, which consists of the sand taken from the passage. A few feet in from the opening, the passage appears to be closed by loose material which was not ejeoted from the mouth of the tunnel. Although I have been unable to catch these tortoises at work, I have succeeded by tolerably safe in- ferences in tracing their method of operation. When they begin the burrow, they endeavor at once to penetrate downward to the level in which they obtain their food. At the outset they manage, by frequently backing out of the passage and trusting the earth behind them in their retreat, to clear a con• siderable opening. When they have advanc- ed a few feet in the excavation, they cease to discharge the material excavated in their advance, bub thrust it behind them, and leave it lying in the' chamber, which it en- tirely closes. With this storage -room pro- vided, the gophers are able to advance through the earth for the distance of some yards; but as the earth compacted by its own weight, by the pressure exeroised through the expansion of roots, and the action of rain, occupies lees space than the same material loosened in the progress of the burrow, they soon become hampered in their movements. ` They then turn toward the surface and continue the excavation' upward until they have attained very nearly to the open air. They then use the great strength which they clearly possess to thrust a quantity of the burrowed material upward until it rises above the surface in the form of a none, and by the space in the burrow thereby gained they aro able to go a few feet further in their tortuous line of advance, when they must again seek to discharge a portion of the earth in the manner just des- cribed. Expert opinions of Women. When women cannot be revenged, they do as children do— they cry.—Cardan. Woman is a flower that exhales her per- fume only in the shade.—Lemennais. A lady and her maid acting in accord will outwit a dozen devils.—Old Proverb. Take the first advice of a woman ; under no circumstances the second—Proverb. Women never weep more bitterly than when they weep with spite.—A. Ricard. Women are extremists—they are either better or worse than men.—La Bruyere. Women are too imaginative and too sensi- tive to have much logic.—Mme. du Deffand. Women are constantly the dupes or the victims of their extreme sensitiveness.—Bal. Zoe. 0 woman 1 it is thou that calmest the tem. pests that agitate mankind.—J. J. Rouse seau, VV omen love always ; when earth slips from them they take refuge in heaven. -- d non. The 'society of women endangers men's morals and refines their tanners.—Montee quieu. There is no torture that woman would not suffer to gnhanne het beauty—Mon- taigne. Woman is a charming creature who changes her heart as easily 58 her gloves.—. Balsao.. Women ddietrust men too tuoh in general and hot enough in partioular.—Commerson, Of all the heavy bodies, the heaviest` is the woman we have ceased to love.--Le- montey, A woman forgives everything but the fact that you do not covet her. --A. de, Musset. WORTH A SMILE;., T1Iii RESTAURANT BELL% She attends on mo oft Ina certain cafe, And her glances ro stiff Her affections betray, No fine raiment has she: And no gems to bedeck ; But she beams upon me As she brings me my, oheok. She is pretty and} pert w But I'm sorely afraid With the diners to flirt Is a part of her trade. I'll nob yield to her wiles Nor repine for er sake;. .For the sweeter hsmiles The more callous her stake 1' A: man loses nothing by politeness, except possibly a seat in the horse oar. The author of the." Old Oaken Bucket" evidently did not believe in "letting well enough alone." The fraudulent old beau who dyes his hair has no right to be writing to any girl about his undyiug love. Young Man—"Will you"give assent to my marriage to your daughter, sir ?" Old Man (firmly)—"No, sir; not a Dent." ".Penny, do you know ,chat a miracle is?" " Yes'm. Ma says if you don't marry our new parson it will be a miracle." "Nothing will so retard the blossomin of budding love as a dog in the front yard." Or a boil on the girl's hp. "Jenny, do you know what a miracle is ?" " Yea m. Ma says if you don't marry our new parson it will be a miracle." The average tramp doesn't take any in - treat in the " How to Get Thin" advertise- ments which be sees in the papers. A wag has discovered a queer coincidence in the fact that while red is made from mad- der, bulls are made madder by red. An English chiropodist advertises in a country paper that he has "removed corns from several of the' orowned heads of Eu- rope." Teacher—" Miss Ingenue, will you please give ns an example of oapillat y attrac- tion ?" Miss Ingenue—" A handsome mus- tache." An old man pretending to be reading in a oar does not mean to look over his glasses at the pretty girls opposite. If he does it is purely an oversight on his part." Pastor—"Thomas 1 Don t you think your parents would feel very sore if they knew you were fishing on the Sabbath ?" Thomas —"Yes, sir ; but not half as sore as I'd feel if they found it out." A toad was recently dug, out of a strat- um of clay iu London which scientists aver must have been in its lonesome bed for more than three thousand years. The toad look- ed as lonesome as a clerk in a store that don't advertise. A gentleman while in church, intending to scratch his head, in a mental absence reached over into the next pew and scratch- ed the head of an old maid. t It is acid he discovered his mistake when the sued him for a breach of promise of marriage. Mrs. Pompsno : " Mary Ann, just run across the street and ask that man with the whitewash bucket if he is engaged." Mary Ann (returning after an, animated conversation with Julius Plumbob)),.;' Please mum, he says hes been married for twelve years." Visitor—" What a beautiful library you have 1 I really envy you." Retired Butch- er—" Yee ; and just look at the binding of them books." "t see ; they are all bound in calf." " Just to, and I killed all them calves myself what furnished the leather." "We will have tea, Bridget, if you please and we will have a few sliuea of bacon with the tea," said a new mistress to her Irish servant. Interval—at the termination of which Bridget brings in the tea tray. "Where is the bacon, Bridget I" asked th mistress. "In the taypot, mum 1 Yer sail ye'd have it with the tay, so I put it into; the pot." An amiable young female pedagogue resid ing in the Mohawk Valley prides herself on the close relations of trust and confidence which exist between her and the many little ones in the primary department. One da: last week elittle fellow made his way to th teacher's desk, and, with many blushes an much embarrassment, finally managed to say "You don't care, do you Miss—, f my pants don't match my coat ?" A rustic oomplimonb.—One day the recto had been absent, and on his return naturalh asked his clerk how he had liked his sub etitude on the previous Sunday. " Well sir," was the unequivocal reply, "savinj your honor, not very well ; he was a little too pline for me. I likes a preacher as joombles the r'ason and confoonds the joodg ment ; and of all the born preachers I's heard, there's none comes up to your rover ence for that 1" Deoisign. It has been well said that "purpose is th edge and point of charaoter—the supe scription on the letter of talent; that chat atter without tt is "blunt or torpid, an that genius without it is bullion—splondiclij but uncirculating." Even errors—if they) imply nothing criminal or of evil intent -t may be translated into something splend;ii1- something magnificent, by virtue of debit?" sion. When Mr. Disraeli, in his first gr4a effort in the House of Commons, met n only with unsympathetic listeners, but wil contempt so complete that he was oompellorli; to sit down with his oration unfinished, iittist. drew his hat over his eyes, and, with; tec resolute hake of the head, said to himspitr rather than to the House of Commongel " The day will come when you will heti me." And in spite of reb4iffs, many and severe, he persisted in getting on his legel on every available opportunity, attacked! those who lid supported as well fll those who had opposed him, and th.'Ct, by grand decision and magnificent audacity he translated his failure into a training fi success—a success . whioh, not improbabl future historians wil find to be somewh, qualified by the faith which Mr. Dina* carried to an extreme, based on the convi tion that this decision and magnifieeb audacity could atone for great errors;!. statesmanship: He certainly never showb that "habitual indecision which has be called the chief evidence of weakness ciug either a want of capacity to apprehekl what is best, or a want of energy to rued it," "Strike the iron while it is hot," say the old proverb. There is a propitious 3h merit, when outer eircutetancee, like d heated hoe ,ars eo:t and pliant; decfslio direoted by ineight, is as a haminer in ti killed hand to mold them to its pattern. A Detroit factory is building: k $47i organ for the Queen of .Portugal. Jean In chow gives several dinners wee ly to the sick, poor and discharged n0: valesoents from hospitals. 1 t 1� 1. t: 'h h t h� b, is w of w hi he ID he he m re hre hi; th In( we •1101 eh; ba bei he; Mt bo; hit nei ho, ant Vat tht nig