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The Exeter Times, 1886-7-1, Page 6Retribution At Last! CHAPTER I, Through the. olden window of the little !pitting room in Alin, Perm the Netting sen ehoue with wattle''arid yellow lustre, the eunllgbt lying across the somewhat faded uarpet in broad streaks, lighting up wall and polling, and glorifying a large bunch of pink hawthorn that adorned a iglare table in the centre of the room, whereon was spread Cecil Grahams modest supper. In the stogie holland-covered maw -chair the apartment boasted, drawn oloso to the window, reclined Ceoll Graham, revelling in the delicious lilao•eeented air and In the last rioh apleudcura of the sunmhiue. In the garden outside wag an abundance of graee, tall and daiey•dappled, whinh grew clow to the rough stone walls of the house there were also Rhos, purple and white, blossoming apple -trees, and laburnum with its golden meters, and a wilderness of flowers blooming under their shelter. In- numerable beea kept up a low steady hum- ming over their hives, wblob were placed on a benoh beneath a mass of honey -suckle ; a wood -pigeon or two cooed in the dusky grove of firs and beeches which almost sur- rounded the garden. No other sound, save the occasional faint rustling of the wind among the leaves, disturbed the sweet still- ness of the vesper hour. Cecil Graham lay back in his chair, enjoy - Ing the silence and the beauty of the evening to the full, Poet in heart and soul, bards• ter by profession, the idolized eonof wealthy parents, Ms life thee far had been one of almost unexatnpled'proaperity and happl• noes. At the Bar he was neither anxious nor likely to astonish the world by his legal eminence and plauslble eloquence ; but hie first volume of poems, lately published, had been kindly reviewed, if anything, In. deed, overpraised, and a third edition had already been called for. In eooiety he was courted, flattered, and admired, and even genuinely beloved, hie handsome person, hie winning smile, and polished address• :.gaining him friends without an effort on his (part, There were some, it is true, who thought that both the man and his poetry might be the better ter a little less sunehlne, • and a little more shadow in his life ; but theme were not his personal friends, who would have been sorry to miss the heart - 'whole brightness of Me mile and the j eyoua =ring of his volae. Ever the creature of impulse, hia last 'awlaim had been to retire, in the very dawn Elf the London season, into the bowery re- m:neea of the wildest and loveliest part of Blankshlre, to read in charmed solitude the hidden thoughts of Nature, to study her secret lore, to get by heart the passion el her summer days and the mystery ef her shadowy nights. Drinking at her count- less wells of inapiration thus, he meant to hive the whole eweetnesa in the crystal of such a poem as would make hia name Im- mortal, while it elevated and purified the world. He had found in a steep ferny dell, open- ing on one aide to the west, this rustic farm, which was a very gem of beauty and lone- liness. Its rough walls clothed with jessa- mine, rose, and wistaria to the law over- hanging roof ; its diamend-paned windows looking towards the west ; its wide, cool hall, and its tiny lavender-ecented rooms, spotlessly clean, pleased his fancy at once, and Mere Farm became his temporary home forthwith. Almoet close to the back of the honeethe rooky sides of the dell rose to the height of a Hundred feet or mere, a mase of gene, wild hyacinths, and ferns. Slender, grace- ful birches, emerald -foliaged oaks, and mountain ashes oast their shadows here and there. Towards the "sunset land" wound a narrow river through meadows ripening for hay harveat ; then mere woods, more rooks, wore hills, till in the distance the blue line of the sea seemed to wed earth and sky. • 0 Beautiful as the wreck of Paradise 1' ^ murmured Cecil, as he watched the sun dis- appear beyond the fair landscape. Softly the twilight shadows deepened, the wonderful rese and purple lights died away, and the nightingale began to sing, flooding the groves with melody. Lost in poetic dreams, beautiful and evanescent as the sunset clouds, Cecil sat till a gentle knack at the door startled him from his rev- erie, and his landlady, a stout comely ma- tren of sixty, with rosy oheeks, stood oour- tesying on the threshold. " Please, Mr. Graham, sir, would you be a -wanting aught ? It's main late, sir, and me and my master's'going to bed, air ; and —but dear mel you'll excuse me being eo bold—you've not touched your supper, sir ; and that milk's as oold as hice, and'll nit as seavy ; I couldn't abide you to drink it now. I could ha' warmed it up only the fire's gone eat ; deary, deary me 1" With a countenance expressive of dire dismay, Mrs. Mill surveyed Brat the basin of cold bread -and -milk, then the amused face of the young man, " Never mind, Mra. Mill 1 Yon can't ex- pect people to eat on an exquisite evening like this. With each a view before them tee 1" " Well, sir, it is bonnie weather, and a deal o' folks admires the view ; but I don't think yen'd like it very often instead of your dinner, eh 1"- " No, perhaps not," said Cecil, laughing blithely ; " the flesh Is weak, or rather, I should say, strong, and dinner is a neces- sity of our sublunary existence," •" Ye -es, sir," enervated the old woman, considerably mystified, " If you don't obj act, Mrs. Mill," maid Cecil, laughing again, " I will go for a stroll by the river to smoke my pipe. You may trunt me to fasten the big front door' safely on my return." " Ay, do, sir 1 A walk'll de yon good, As for locking of the deer, why we never does that once in twelve years—bleu you 1 Who's to harm no here 7" " Who indeed 1" echoed the young man,; as, in t'he balmy etillnees of the long twee fight, he went down the wonted garden, and along the dewy meadow path to the river. " Who indeed in anon ' a haunt of ancient peace' as this ? Oh, how happy I shall be here -no dinners, no theatres, no bores, and no women 1 Nothing to disturb the eye, to break the thread ef thought, or to frighten the shy nurse. A eeoond Adam In a second Paradise, without an Eve 1" Here followed a silence ; and a sigh smothered by a laugh, " After all, Adam couldn't get on long without an Eve ; though she brought him nothing but trouble when he got her. I wonder if I shall fare better 1 Doubtless, yes, having had a surfeit of the fair fickle sex already ? But oh, ye gode of sleep and silence, what a glorious night 1" At his feet as he paused, the limpid water of the stream, level with the grainy turf, inurmured drowsily. The whole landscape lay hushed In tender repose, while in the weet, still bright with memories of day, one large star glittered like a jewel. Afar, embowered in darkness, the nightingale • sang, and now and then a wakeful thrush sent its clear whistle arrest the meadows, Truly It was a glorione night 1 The yet'ng poet's Sensitive epirit acknowledged its holy Influence, growing hushed and calm beneath it, Cull Graham felt like,a child kneeling at he motbern knee when evening has oome, and this, hie mother Nature, seemed to look tenderly intohis face with her starry eyes, murrnurieg, '" Pray i'' 7dot to pray was one ori the few thine ghat Goon Graham bad never learned, and only in sore strait and sorrow, whfoh was the very Vali ley of the Shadow of Death, did the know- ledge oome to him, Beautiful was, the,heu Cecil �morning w Graham sauntered out to find some quiet nook wherein, free from fear of letruelon, he mfght revel in " the light that never was on sea or shore "—a nook wherein the hoaveu- born muse might choose to fold her wings, and cit by hie aide through the long sweet hours, Attired in a Bolt of gray tweed, with a wide-awake on his olosolm oropped head, the young man strolled down the gravelled path between the laburnums, to the meadow be- yond. Hie brow—such of it as could be eeeu beneath the large hat,—was equate; his month, a trifle too thin-llppod, was'shaded by a alight moustache; els nose was large and aquiline ; and bio eyes rather deeply y set, were singularly dark and introns, fel of changing restless light, expressive of every emotion of his mind, They were beautiful bat never yet had they been soft- ened by the pathos ef leas, sorrow or love. For, though his foelirgewere easily excited, and all his emotions near tae surfaoe, hie heart was exceedingly difficult to reach, So at least decided many a lovely maiden, as she gazed at her face in her mirror, wonder- ing how he could remain blind to a face like here—how one de susceptible to the in- fluence ef female beauty, so quiok to admire, and so enthusiastic in its description, should be so loath to love. M•:anwhile Cecil wandered along by the river, now sparkling in the sunshine, until its level banks rose shelving and rooky tea ooneilerahle height, crowned by a belt of pines. In every crevice of the rooks, long thick mosses, ferns, and wild flowers grew untouohed,and " You scarce could sea the grass for flowers." over whose petals butterfilee fluttered. The stream here widened and foamed over vari- coloured granite blocks tumultuously, "' Not a alga of man's ezletsno3. Not a glimpse of man's abode ; But the ohuroh-spire in the dietance Linke the eolitude with Clod; " quoted Coil,. " Ah, this is the plane for me 1" In en ecetaey of enjoyment he thre v him- eelf full length upon the grams, and, lying with his arms folded above hie head, he gazed up through emerald leaves at the ex - gelette sapphire of the eky, whence came the liquid notes of the lark, though the songster was inviable, drowned In light, From the deep slnmberoua reverie into which he had fallen the poet was roused by the shrill notes of a voice 'ringing— " 'Twee near that atreamlet'e murmur I passed my bappy youth," Looking up with a quick movement of annoyance, he beheld coming round a corner of the rocke a small girlish figure in a bel - lent dross and bright scarlet petticoat, The girl did not eee him, so he surveyed her leisurely, his annoyance giving way to amusement and admiration. Tae girl wore a large straw hat adorned with poppies, and coquettishly turned up at one aide, which partly shaded the rich pomegranate hues of cheek and lips, the arched dark brows, the hazel eyes, and the short boyish curls olueteringronnd her head. In one hand she swung a basket half full of ferne, and, as she came along, her round dimpled face well up, she lilted out at the top of her not very musical voice the old ballad. She would have stepped e' Ceoil'e recumbent form bad he net jumped up. He raised hie hat and courteously expressed his regret for being in the way. The girl started aside with a snpprcrosed scream, deep binebes suffering her face at this meet anexpeoted encounter ; and she looked at Ceoll with frightened eyes. "I fear I have alarmed you," he Bald, smiling reaeanringly, " I ought to have moved before, but I did not apprehend any danger until you came eo near.' Recovering her composure she Iaughed j eyously. " Danger 1" she echoed, with the merest soupcon of Blankehire accent, and in a shrill childish voice, " But only think how I ehonld have felt if I had really trodden on you 1" And she laughed again, Ceotl join- ing in heartily. " And only think how I should have felt too 1 You must always look where you are going, you know"—with a paternal air ; " butyou were se engrossed by your song,s She blushed again at the recollection of her singing. " May I net hear the end of it ?" said Cecil. " I waa listening with great plea- sure, I assure you." " No, no 1" she murmured, greatly con- fused. " And indeed I must go now, Good morning." " If you must," returned Cecil languid- ly, again raising hie hat, " then good morn- ing." He threw himself down again upon the graee. " Same sort of an Eve in my Paradiee," he mused. " But nota dangerous ono—oh, no 1 A pretty child though ; innocent as a daisy and aa fresh. I wonder who she is, and how she has found out theme outlandish parte. Surely my peaoe is not going to be disturbed by that awful phantom, the British tourist, in any form or shape 1 Bat begone dull care 1 snob dread. This girl is like a fairy or a' butterfly t the tinware seem to mise her now she's goxe, I'll hove her bank ; ehe doesn't disturb, me at ail. Nov I net Mrs, MIII," aN his lendleder enterer to remove the tea ecfn',poge "why breve you. been turning that young lady out ot thegarden, eh ?' The suddenuets of this attack (mite gave Mrs, Mill " a turn," to use her own exproe• eu " Well, Mr_ Graham, slr,1--I thought as you'd maybe be ee aing out presently, and I —I thought Nellie'd better not be to the way ; there'll plenty o' biome at the baok o the house if she must needa be allays a - gathering on " Well, when you sent her away, you de- prived me of a pleasure, Mrs, Mill, I beg you will allow her to be AS much in the gar- den es she likes, or she will regard me in the light of a regular ogre 1" Mrs. Mill always confessed that she waa unable to toll what Mr. Graham was driv log at, and never half understood him ; but she replied with dignity— " I'm much obliged, I'm sure, sir ; but young galla Iike her le better out o' young gentleman's ways momotlmea. ,r r, Upon my word, Mrs Dlll,„ laughed Ceotl, "if I am an ogre, you aro a dragon and he began to sing — ” • & lake and a fairy boat, To eall in the moonlight clear ; And merrily we would tint From the dragons abet guard us here.' " He laughed again at the end so heartily that Moe, Mill was fain to nein in with the laugh. " You must let her come when I am out then," he said : "that will suit all parties. Be -the,bye, might I ask is she your dangh ter ?" " N alt, she's my nleoe—my huebaud'a brother'a only daughter. She's an orphan, and is like our o an, seeing we've neither chick nor child beside. Shreve been well brought up," said Mrs, Mill, with pardon- able pride, " An'good girl in the main, but my ideas, a trifle fl'ghty, according to you know, elm" Cecil did net know that the goo' woman's ideas of correct girlish behavior consisted in sitting upright, never speaking exoept when epaken to, dresaing with quakerieh simpli- city, and doing medal work all hours of the day, Still he guessed they would be different enough from modern ones, and he laughed lightly. " Youth cannot pones the wisdom of age," he said. " However, I am sure you will make the very best of duennae 1" Gravely wondering what a " daenna " could be, the landlady retired to her own apartments, where she warned the blushing Nellie solemnly against the folly and vanity and beauty of youth ; and dwelt upon the awful impropriety of speaking to, er attract- ing the attention of, young men in general, and her lodger in particular ; until, in the eyes of the young girl, Ur. Graham's roo n possessed all the oharm and fascination of a Slnebeard'e chamber, and a degree of inter- est in him was excited in her simple soul which nothing could ever have convinced Mra Mill was the ramie of her own injadi- oiens remarks. - '• ` He Is but a landscape painter, And a village maiden oho.' And he drew forth his little M.S. book and pencil and began to write, the silver-tongued river setting hie words to sweetest mucic. Great was Ceoll G:aham'e astonishment when, oeated at hie early tea -table that af- ternoon, he beheld flattering among the flowers in the garden the fair heroine of his morning's adventure. " Some friend or relative perhaps of Mra. Mill," he told himself. " What a pretty pioture it le 1" And he panned in the act of helping himself to a large plateful of cold ham to contemplate it, Robed in blue muslin, the hue of the eky, the girl peened in and out among the treed, plucking a blossom here and there, messing with small fingers the golden clusters of the laburnum, burying her round face in sweet - briar, her long dress sweeping the butter - cape in the green, and the light wind rung her dark silken curia. There was a native. child -like grace in every movement which charmed the peet'e eye. Presently he saw Mrs, Mill appear on the scene, in !tiff old- fashioned gown and apotlese folded ker. chtef, She said something to the girl in low tones, He saw the girl give a quick glance • towards his window, blush like a rose, and diaappear from view with hie land- lady. ' " Now I must ma out what that's all about," pondered the young man. I believe the old dame was bullying her, I won't have the child turned out of the garden like that ; it amuses me to see her, Saoh a haunter of my solitude is very different' from the fashionable lady er Inquisitive CHAPTER Il. For two or three days afterwards Cecil Graham never saw the '" butterfly," as he called Nellie, and she was gradually passing from his memory, when an event marred which brought about their meeting. One unueually warm afternoon he walked towards the ruins of an ancient abbey stand- ing on the borders of a forest, about four, tulles from Mill's Farm, and two miles fres the scattered village of Eaathore—the tory of those benighted regions—boaating tiny Anglican ohuroh, its lawyer, its doote•, and one et two mansion of arieteoratio pre. tension, CeoIl did not notice; until the sun had disappeared, that the sky had become overcast with black donde, while the dead silence reamed to portend some dread event, However, being near the Abbey, he preeeed ou—care of shelter there if the storm should burst, D.irkly defined against the forest the eld walls stood revealed, severe a id beautiful, as he appreaohed. Ling grasp waved over a few forgotten graves and massive fallen blocks. Dank mosses oeated the stones, and amid the exquisite tracery of the east window hung wreathe of ivy, while the wall- flower opened its rich. sweet blossoms among the cloister arches, " Taere is ever something sad and weird about a rule," thought Cecil. " Ghosts of the pact seem to sit brooding in the roof - lees aisles. Tne owl's cry from the empty windows and dismantled turrets sound like the lament of some unresting spirit hover- ing over its tomb." The eleotric state of the atmosphere had also its effects upen his sensitive nerved ; and he turned pale as lie heard a loud scream quite near him. The next moment he laughed at himself for his foolishness ; and, hurrying to the spot whence the sound proceeded, he found Mies Nellie Mill, who had fallen back on a block of stone, appar- ently half -fainting. My dear child, what is the matter ? Has any one frightened you ? Now, you're net to faint ; for I shan't knew what on do with you if you do 1' he quer tioned and rebuked, touching the hand ly- Ing on her knee. A faint blaeh replaced the pallor of the girl's face, and she smiled, ""Oh, don't 1 I am very silly but it was a snake. " Oh"—shuddering irrepres- sibly—" it did f righten me eo 1" "A enake ?, Where is it ?"—with inter- est, "I'11 do for it 1" " It's gone—through the grass—It reared itself up and hissed at me ! Oh, dear, I thought it was going to sting me 1" " 1 dare say it warms much frightened as you were, and nearly as harmlees, re- turned Mr, Graham reassuringly. " Bet are you here alone ? It is a long walk for you, is it net ?" " Oh, no 1 I could walk ever eo much farther, I often come hero ; I like to bring a book and read," responded Nellie, quite forgetting her annt'e lesson on propriety, and smiling up into the yourig man's fade in a way that would have horrified that good lady, " Ah, do yon ?"--looking at her curfone- ly, " May I ask what books you read ? Scientific works, no doubt," " Oh, no 1" she said, blushing with pret- ty confusion. " I—I don't think I could understand them." Yon needn't with to ; you're too young to bother your head with snob stuff. Poetry then, eh 2". " No' --looking more and more ashamed. " Generally—that is often—a—a novel, eir." " A novel ? Well, well, so long as it le a good one 1 But don't gall me ' air, my dear." " And do not call me ' my dear ;' "—and the spoke with spirit, " I beg your pardon, Mien Mill," he said, rataing his hat, " You see you are so very young," am not so very young 1" she inter- rupted indignantly.�" I am eighteen ; that is, I Shall be soon. ' "I am putting my foot In it again," said Cecil, smiling, "Jaet like me." 1 �! The words had hardly hit bin lips when a vivid fi.ieh of lightning darted from the oleude.overhead, followed almost immedi- ately by an ear•epiitting crash of thunder, while, like a cataract, down came the rain. White with terror, and trembling in every Nellie Mill clang to her Companion's arm. " Don't be frightened 1 Wo eau take. aholter here," he said soothingly, drawing her into the eloidten! near, and putting hie inn eoend her wito an inatinot of protec- tion; for she was eo small and child -like, and her dimpled fa9e was pale with fear, C'oae to the inner wall he espied the frag- ment of a boncb. Placing her gently en it, he remained standing beside her, It grew darker every moment. The sky was now blank with angry -looking olouds, which were rent from ttmetotime by the lightning the blue Seabee of which lighted up the landeoapo with a ghastly glare. The battle of the elements raged furiously ; but pres- ently the rain ceased, and, a silence more ap palling than the thunder followed every long reverberating roll. Never had Cecil Graham witnessed a scene n the •and,absorbed1 •1 1 rand so b Imo au 9 g spectacle, he almost forgot his oompanion's praeenoe, until one forked dart split up the trunk of a tree jolt in front of the are:, be• neath which they cowered, eoatteri ig leaves and branches, and upheaviag the turf. It was followed by a clap BO frightful that even CAI was aghast, and Nellie, wildly shriek- ing, started from her seat. But firmly, al - bolt tenderly, se•put her back, while she, scarcely knowing what she did, hid her fade on hia breast as he knelt by her side. A feeling of plty and tenderness stirred In Cie oil's heart tor the weak creature looking to him for protection. Her hat had' long Moe fallen off, and he stroked her dark tossed curie with womanly software Even In her wild terror, and amid the unabated fury.of the tempest, Nellie felt and owned the in- flnenoe of the man's etronger nature, and she beoame gradually, it not calm, at least perfeotly quiet. " At last! Look up, my child," he said gently ; and, looking up—the tears she had been shedding glistening on the long curled lashes—Nellie saw a bright golden buret of sunshine streaming down from the parting clouds, bathing leaf and grass in its eplen- dour, while every tiny blade glistened. S riftly the lurid Mends fled from the fair face ofheaven, and the earth seemed to gain life and gladness every moment.- The awal- lows darted gaily about the ruined walla, shaking glistening rain drops from the ivy, and thrashes and larks sang as if they had never sung before, " It is like Heaven," said the girl, speak- ing in a hushed tone, as they emerged from their retreat. " Like Heaven after a horrible death," added Ceoii. " Bat, really, that lightning was magnificent 1 What a split it has made here "—moving towards the shattered tree. "0h, don't go near 1" cried Nellie, taking his hand in her own small one, and holding it fast. "Why not ? Do yon thin le punned by an evil spirit ?" he asked, laughing heartily, Nevertheless he obeyed that soft grasp ; and, taking the little hand, he drew it within his arm. Tae two found Mrs. Mill looking out for them in the greatest anxiety. " 0 i, Nellie, oh, my darling," ehe cried, almost sobbing, " where have yen been I have been terribly upset. I could not think where you'd been and got to ; and suoh a hawful storm as we've had ! And Mr. Graham—ay, but I'm right glad to see you safe, air, And not wet, child ? Whore have you beeen ?" " Sheltering at Eaathore Abbey,': laugh ed Cecil ; " and a sad fright your niece has had. I am afraid that she too is' terribly upset."" Nellie did not speak ; but her glowing face, radiant with smiles, belted this oon- jeatare, (TO BB CONTINUED.) Teaohing Deaf -Mutes to Read. Instruction to conveyed to deaf mutee in most instances by the nee of sign language, or the manual alphabet. The foundation maxim of the methods need is " first ideas, then words." The mind must be aroneed to activity, and, as the foundations of know- ledge whfoh other children acquire by the aid of hearing are here wanting, progress is, of oonree, very slow at first. Mildly, in- struction le begun by the word method, words being connected with the objects they represent. For instance, the child is shown some common obj lot, er a pioture ef an ani- mal, and the printed name of the object or animal le shown him at the same time, Ho is three taught to connect names with their objects and to recognize printed words. When a few words have been learned, on - tenors are framed, and the ohild is taught to reoognize these as unite embodying a com- plete idea. The printed and the sign alpha - bete are taught together and, when theme are mastered, inetruotion in spelling is not difficult. After names of objeota, their ob- vious p-opertiee, with numerals and verbs of action, are next taught. 'Vhe adjectives firet brought forward are those of size and color, then prepcaitlone of locality. The elmple tenaoe are exemplified by calling at- tentten to a series of aotione. Mach nee to made of contrast of ideas. A. child of 10 or 12 years of age, if poeseesed of ordinary ia- telllgenoe, can usually, at the end of a year, oonetruot for hlmeelf simple sentences about every -day affaire. Daring the first two or three years text -books prepared especially for deaf-mutes are used, after that any text- books will serve. A Tragedy of the Far West. ' 'A dispute arose in an Indian camp near Stookton Hill, Arizona, recently, and before it ended a book named Paz it. with his Winchesterrlfle shot and killed Ab Qatnthe and his squaw, a daughter of Chief Leve - Love, mortally wounded another bunk and another daughter of the chief, and slightly wounded two other Indiana. Then the murderer fled, pnrened by invented braves, Head Chief Sarum arrived at the camp moon after, and hie first order was to kill all the relatives- of the murderer. The squaws and pappooses hurried to the miners' Damp near by, and begged hiding plaoee in their cabins, and tide aroused the minors, who told the chief that he could not carry out his bloody plan, and that he must coun- termand his order. He reluctantly com- plied, but ironed fresh orders' to bring Piz• zur in at any Dost. In the mean time the avengers were rid Ing fast after the fleeing murderer, and fol- lowed hie trail into the Wailapal Valley until darkneee put an end to the pursuit, Early next morning they took up the trail, and, after riding twelve miles, they came upon the dead bailee of the murderer and his horse. It was apparent that after rid- ing his horse until he gave out the Indian killed him, and then, putting the muzzle of hie Winohester to hia right eye, palled the trigger, and cheated hie penman of their antlolpatod vengeance.' OVBR T iR OCEAN. In the pariah of St Peter, Cornhlll (says the City Press), where the rector receives £2,300 a year, there is only one bona fide readout ratepayer, and he is not a member of the Churoh of England, The Cvnrletian boys of our S anday school will have to look to their laurels, A Chloeao boy in a Ceristfan mission school ot Pekin recently repeated the entire New Testa- ment without missing a word or making a mistake, The Dross is said to be a pre Chrletian sacred symbol, In the British Museum e colonial tablet from Nimroud displays a orosa hanging from the breast of Tiglath Pdeeer. Ds. Sahlieman found this figure on terra cotta duke at Troy, dating. as he sup. pone, from a period of about 2,500 years before C ariet, " Eplsoopal duty in some parte of Aae- tralta has its humorous side," says the Ballarat Courier. "One prelate on his first journey round waa flung into deep mud from his horee, Rising ruefully, with hie chap lain's help, and surveying the place, the : ereflection with the o bicho consoled hie -coif ' I have left a deep impression in that part of the diocese as any rate,'" The Rev, Arthur Gray -Hone, of Tankee- ton Lowers, Kent, England, who recently died, has left his two eons the comfortable sum of £4,000,000. This is a good deal of wealth for a clergyman to pewee, and some of the brethren on We lido of the water would doubtless like to know how he saved it out of his salary. The cable does not say anything about It, but it is pretty certain that he never allowed his pariehionere to give him a donation party. The little prayer book which Mary of Scotland used on the eoaffold was Bold at auction, in London the ether day. The prayers are the handiwork of some rare fif- teenth century ecribe ; they are written in Latin on vellum, The pages of the missal are exquisitely illuminated with elegant borders of fruit, fiawere and birds; they are aleo decorated with 35 minlateree by a Flemish artist, pieoee of elaborate workman- ship. The little book still rests in the orlg- anal oak board, covered with silk, now much worn, in which it was originally bound, A rival to the Rev. Mr. J leper, the Rich- mond negro who maintained, in spite of all argument to the contrary, that " the eun do move," has been found in Kentucky, where Bishop Turner, of the African Methodiet C aural, has j sat been preaching that the terrible tornadoes that have devastated Western States of late are oaused by the white man's impious uses of electricity, He predicts that, if the eame rate of progress is maintained for the next five years, whole cities will be blown away, and that floods will Dover the land as it never has been covered since the Noaohian period. The organ blower in a Landon ohuroh recently fell asleep during the service, of which fact the audience coon became .con- solons by the vigorous blowing of his own organ. The Rev. Arthur Hall, the preach• er, after bearing it for awhile, stopped and remarked : " I do not object to a quiet nap on a hot day, and am flattered at being able to contribute to any body's repose. But while proud at being able to give the be- loved Bleep, I wish it to be distinctly under- stood that I draw the line at enoree. There is a man snoring in the congregation, and I shall be obliged if somebody will waken him." The offender was quickly roused. An engineering feat of more than ordin• ary importance ie the completion of the railroad tunnel under the river Severn, that considerably lessens the dfstanoe between the South Wales coal fields and those porta and markets where a large amount of Welch coal is required. This new tunnel is four ranee and a half long, and being ventilated on the fan system, the air is Buffiolently clear to admit of daylight being seen for a distance of two miles from either entrance. The tunnel ie not yet quite ocmpleted, as the necessary ventilation will require a larger fan than the one now in nee, and the pump- ing machinery ie net yet in thorough work. ing order, while a good deal of work en the new sidings and approaches Ie necessary for the full development of the traffic. The Comoro Isles, which have just been formally ceded to France, will strengthen her hold in Madagascar waters, as they Ile between the great island and Africa, in Mozambique Channel, Those of impor- tance are four In number, and contain perhaps 70,000 people, with some manufac- tures, and a very conaiderable cultivation of eager, now an export. French bit Ienoe has long been dominant in the group, the island of Mayotte having been ceded to France more that forty years age, under an agreement reaffirmed in 1845. Johanna, on the island of the same name, where the new treaty has jest been signed, has long been a port call, at which ships obtain pre- visions ; and to some extent the other two lelande—Angaziya or Great Comoro and Mohilia—have also furnlehed enppltee. The soil is fertile, and no doubt they will do quite as well under formal annexation as hitherto. On the West Coast of Africa. My voyage along the coast and visite to all the principal places have astonished mo profoundly. 1 looked forward with pleasure to a study of the influence which a century of contact with civilisation has effected in the barbarous trlbee of the seaboard. The result has been unspeakably disappointing. Leaving out of consideration the towns of Sierra Leone and Lagos, where the condi- tions have been abnormal, the tendency has been everywhere in the line of deterioration. There is absolu`ely not a single place, where the natives are left to their own free will, in which there is the slightest evidence of a desire for better things. The worst vices and diseases of Europe have found a congen- lal soil, and the taate for spirits has risen out of all proportion to their desire for clothes —the criterion with many of growth in grape, In these villages men, wo- men, and children, with scarcely a rag upen their persons, follow you about boeeeohing fare, little gin or tobacco. Eternally gin, tobba000, or gunpowder 1 These are the sole wants aroused by a century of trade and of contact with Europeans 1 And yet how is this region represented in England? Why, as a field "white unto harvest," The African is described as looking -to our Gov- ernment for a mere settled rule; as crying to the Churches, " Come over and help us ;" to our merchants, " We have oil, and rubbed, and ivory; give no in exchange your cloth and your outiery," " Ye pee us naked, and ye clothe us not;" to the philanthroplat, "We are able and willing to work, only Deme and show ns the way." Pray banleh all such rubbish from your minds, It (e simply myth, -Joseph Thomson, F..R. 6. S. Angustae Fulton, the only colored s.u- dent ever dent from the United Stated to the Propaganda hi Rome, has been ordained, and will return to American to take charge of a colored Catholic Church in ow Orleans, WOg4 i SDE' ' AG8. AY A. R GARMIAN, A. A. There Ie ono_ pbase c # thio woman suffrag question that 1 have hitherto deemed Mr worthy of notice), but it crops up so penis` tautly and conatttutes the etook•in•trado of eo many petty supporters of this movement, that I must crave apace toexpose its net- work of fallacy. It is the hackneyed but ever confident assertion that if a woman pays taxes, she certainly has a right to arty how they should be expended. This is gratuitously joggled into a reason why tax. paying women should vote on all questions, utterly regardless of the fact that our legla- lators aro supposedly elected for many other purposes than the disposal of the revenue. (Let a developments at Ottawa, however, might neem an excuse for this mistake,) This reasoning would show that ouch women have a right to vote only on purely fluenoial questions, but if the advooatee of woman suffrage are pleased with snob arguments they need not atop for want of them. They are plentiful, as for instance :—If a woman must obey laws, surely ehe hat right to say how these laws shall be made; rif a wo- man i affected bythe of nor mus ti m t Y , v laws of okn beaubser fent to the 1 ass and health, it Is outrageous to hinder her from having a voice in deciding when " old Sol" ohall 6bice, or as to what will be the effects of tete hours and bad air and eo on,ad infer. ituni Hence It is evident that it does not always follow that became% person is affect• ed, finenclatly or otherwise, by certain !awe that they oan frightfully claim a !land in the framing of those lawn, Again, this argument rests on the eeppo- sitiou that the property quahftoation is en amentia! element of the franohiee; awhile it is freely conceded by all the ripe' thinkers of the age that it is merely aooldentel, a means to reach an end. If the poseesalon of property or the reception of income Were the sine qua non of voting, a certain amount of property, (or inoome,) would be made the unit of the franchise. That is, a man re- presenting, say, 200 gored of land would have one vote, while he, who held the deed for 400 acres, could oast two votes; the pro• perty (or income) possessing the vote, the man being amply a highly oomplioated automatic machine foedepooiting the ballot. But this ie not the case. The unit of the franohiee is the ei&i, and the great Republic to the eolith freely reoognieee' this principle in manhood euf- frage. I do not intend to defend, nor even to disown, this problem of manhood suffrage ; it has its advantages and it has its faults, and it fa solely to avoid one of these faults that we tack the property mialifioation as a test on to our system of ttanchise, We wish to eeoape the "tramp vote," as it Is called, an uninterested, ir're• epeneible and purchasable element ; and hence, while admitting the prinolple of MAN - hood suffrage by making man the unit, we effectively shut out tbis obnoxious Influence by requiring a qualification that they do not poeseee, Other means might have been need. To demand a certain length of resi- dence would have been equally effectual ; making a certain status of eduostlon the standard would have barred, not only this vo e, but a propertied ignorant vote with which we are note carted ;,and these pre - relations to purify thetballot would not have constituted the vital eeeeno� a of the Iran - ebbe, but simply outelde helps'to render its operations mere effaotive. And eo it is with the qualification of property. It is the man that votes ; and in so doing he exercises his legitimate, God•given privilege. Women, in some instanced, because, with- out their natural protectorsmay poetess an accidental, artificial qualification of the franchise, but they took the essen- tial element, the Divinely -ordained preroga- tive of manhood. Ai well might a woman claim the suffrage because, forsooth, she is not insane nor an alien, or on the ground that she escapee any of the barriers that are raised to proteot the dieigMy or purity of the franohiee, I fanny that I have earned the right to say a few words anent the noble work of our women through the centuries without exposing myself to a charge of flattery. History ie replete with their achievements, and when we look for their' lightest work it is not to Semairamua and Joan of Aro but rather to Either and Florence_ Nightingale ; their duty lies nearer the hospital'; °than the front of the charge, rather at the. hearth- . stone than on the huatinga. From their homea they nerved Roman valor and; defying the barbarism of the middle ages, made a beautiful chivalry possible. How many of the foremost men ot our planet, when asked the, secret of their euooese,have crystalized It all in the word " mother ?' Ah 1 " The hand that rooks the cradle mores the world." And if I were to write a panegyric upon " woman, her work and her influence," 1 should not seek my ideal on the lecture platform or among tha corridors of the Cap- itals, but in the humble homes of the people where Martha Washington are rearing de- Iiverers of the future, and Saeannah Wes - lays are training minds to mould the massae. Thera le true devotion, true `heroism, true nobility, true woman. In closing, I venture to state that women are truer. to their sphere than many auppoae. As a olass they do not desire the franchise, and would repudiate it as a somi•ineult if it were offered. They reoogniee that God has given them a grand work to do, equal if not superior to that allotted man ; and they aro in no haste to barter their womanliness, their sceptre of love, for a chance to jostle with man as he sweats amid the duet of his eordld struggle for pelf and position. •.� +war A Young Woman Dies of a Eattler's Bite. About a month ago Mee Gertrude Martin, a lovely and a000mplished society young lady of Hort Henry, went on v eh to a married sister in Tatnall county. Oee Tues- day evening Miss Martin, aocSmpanled by her enter and a young lady, went to a blackberry patch about half a mile from the house to pink blaokberrtes. About sundown, put au the party was ready to return home, Miss Martin cried out that ehe was bitten by a snake. Her sister ran to her, and, pulling off the shoe and atooking of the wounded limb, saw only a slight scratch, as if made by a pin. She at once applied her mouth to the bite and tried to suck out the pekoe, but the limb began swelling at a rapid rate. She stopped sucking, and tak- ing her handkerchief tied it around the leg, jest below the knee. In the mean time the young lady had gone to the house for as. etetanoo. In about an hotir Miee Martin was taken to the house, where all that was pose able was done to relieve her. The swelling oontinued until her entire body was swollen out of all pioportion, and in five hours after the snake had fastened its fang into her Seth she was a corpse. Her death was a horrible one, and yet ehe was oonsoiotis up to the last moment, "My question puzzler! yon ?" maid a pro - baser to a pupil. �" Not at all," waa the bright reply, "it re the antwor that fd a atiokor."