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Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 18, Issue 1151, 20 October 1871, Page 3

Few move pi table scenes can be imagined than that presented by the " Drawing Room" at Buckingham Palace. Hundreds of ladies* might be patiently sitting in their carriages in the Mall for upwards of an hour on a bitter cold spring afternoon, in low evening dresses until they are admitted into the Palace, where they wait in pens for another hour, and then, having passed before her Majesty, wait for still another hour until, they c<:n get away, and at last arrive at their own homes many of them half-dead, probably having sown the seeds of consumption or other illness, in obedience to some " barbarous " custom, the relic of days, if possible, more unenlightened than our own. Surely these ceremonials might be arranged with more consideration lor the health and comfort of those expected to take part in them than is at present displayed. Evening at all times objectionable, is utterly inappropriate in the day time ; and there can be no occasion for turning an assemblage of well-meaning ladies into a despairing mob, all fighting with each other for " life—dear life," almost in the presence of their Sovereign. Ter rible, however, as must be the sufferings of the ladies who attend drawing-rooms in cold weather, they aie mild compared with those of the wretched coachmen and footmen, who, without great coats, in knee breeches and silk stockings, may be seen shivering with cold as they wait for hours until their carriages are called. These unhappy men should at least be clothed in garments capable of resisting the blast of a north-east w 7 ind. Besides the Society fdr the Protection of Women and Children, a Society for the Protection of Coachmen and Footmen would find a good field for their operations in the precinct* of Buckingham Palace on the occasion of a Drawing Room in the early spring. Old Dr A was a quack, and a very ignorant one. On one occasion he vas called by a mistake to attend a council of physicians in a critical case. After considerable discussion the opinion was expvessecj by one that the patient was convalescent. ft Con valescent," said he, " why, that's nothing serious. I have cured convalescence in twenty-four hours " Three fourths of the difficulties and miseries of men come from the fact that most want wealth without earning it, fame without deserving it, popularity without temperance, respecL without yi?tne, and happiness without holiness.

A poor colored woman in New Haven recently bequeathed between two and three thousand dollars—moneyshe had saved by a life of toil in washing and scrubbing—to educate any poor colored student who might enter Yale Divinity School to become a preacher and if no coloied student is presented, then the money may be applied for the benefit of a white student. " Pa, what can I do, unless you get me a riding habit up here in the country?" "Get into the habit of walking, my dear."