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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VI, Issue 78, 3 April 1871, Page 2

An Indian girl, to keep off mosquitoes, bathed her face with benzine, and then went to a lamp to dry it. The minister who preached her funeral sermon advised his hearers never to fight the insects on that line if they bit all summer. An Irish clergyman preached a discourse on the horrors of war, accompanied with a description of warlike gear. His definition of a bombshell was particularly amusing. "A baumshell, my friends ; you want to know what a baumshell is. Well, I will tell you. A baumshell is a large hole, empty within, and filled with gunpowther." Much Respected. — A Scotch minister administering a rebuke to his man John for getting occasionally elevated in the course of his peregrinations on session business, John excused himself on the plea that the country folks pressed him so heartily to take a dram. " Well," replied the minister, in a tone of grave rebuke, "I also visit my people, but they never think of pressing me." " Ay, but," says John, " that may be because you are no sne respeckit in the parish as I am."

Utilising Seavage. — Mr. Mechi records ia tho Times, for the information of towns aud cities which have not yet utilised their rrwngc, tho most successful and perfect instance be has hitherto seen. The farm of Mr. W. Hope, at Hornchurch, three aud a half miles from Romford, Essex, receives the whole of the available sewage of that town, containing about 8000 inhabitants. The farm consists of 121 acres of light and poor gravelly soil, which had previously ruined several tenants, and the land has been so arranged that while the flow of the sewage is sufficiently applied there is no scowring, but an easy and gradual distribution over every portion of the land. All the sewage is absorbed by the soil, and passes through it to the drains, issuing from them as clear as any pump water. Formerly three men and two boys were employed on the farm; now the number has been increased to 40 with 16 horses. The crops are enormous aud frequent, and the minimum value of £20 per acre, and, as many are perfected in from two to three months, the total value is very considerable. Thus within twelve months a wretchedly poor farm has been converted into a most luxuriant garden, its fertility ever increasing, multiplying food and the employment of labor /■concurrently, and extracting a money T value from that which is now, in too many cases, poisoniug our streams. The Bible in Schools. — The following is from a late number of the Sunday , Magazine : — " Probably our readers have observed that a very interesting and important question has lately been under consideration in the law-courts of Ohio, U.S. An effort had been made to secularise the common schools of the State, by excluding hymns and the Bible. The question came to be, whether or not Christianity was the law of the State in such sense as to require that the authoritative records of Christianity should be used and taught in its schools ? The Supreme Court, by a majority, has decided that it is. The question has a special interest at the present time, partly in connection with the education question, and partly as showing j how far States may go in honoring Christ j and Christianity, although there be no j formal establishment of any sect or church. One of the judges laid down the position that • Christianity was the prevailing religion of the State. The moral sense of the people was controlled by it, 3nd whatever was opposed to it undermined the moral support of the laws, and corrupted the community. Judge Stovor specified a variety of ways in which the Bible was houored by the law. The family Bible was exempt from execution ; the law required each apprentice to be provided with one; it put a Bible into the hands of every inmate of a jail, penitentiary, and reformatory institution ; even the halls of legislation and the courts of ! justice were supplied with copies of the Bible. He held that the religion recognised by the Constitution was not merely the religion of nature, hut the revelation of God given in the Scriptures; for if religion were merely that of reason and conscience, it would afford no unvarying standard of duty, but leave every man a law to himself. "We do not admit the assertion," he continued, " that the Bible leads to sectarianism; that is the work of man, not of God. The Scriptures teach we are all of one origin; but the human lesson is different. We learn from the Bible to forgive injuries; not so in the profoundesfc systems of human philosophy. A volume that teaches V immortality cannot teach exclusive- § ness. The Bible suffered from its friends. The claim that the conscience of the Catholic and Jew is violated is not to be considered, because there is no compulsion in either case. The reading of the Bible is not an act of worship. The lessons chosen are naturally those tending to elevate the mind, aud soul, and heart. Its object is to calm the mind, and give wholesome lessons in moral rectitude. No religious test is required, no act of worship, no sectarianism. We cannot see how the defendants can expect to exclude this exercise. It is not ciaimed that they have any new revelation, and we are led to believe they have acted hastily. The Bible was valuable as a literary and historical work. There was no censorship over the classics. The crusade was against the Bible ouly, against the book recognised by every civilised nation as sacred, and that holds the pre-emineut title of ' The Book. 5 If it is excluded, any other must follow on the ground that they offend the conscience. These resolutions are a sweeping edict, and leave the pupils not only without a hope but without a God. Not even natural religion may be taught. If a pupil asks about his origin, he may be referred to geology, but not to Genesis. If one asks why the Sabbath is observed, the teacher must ask permission of the Board of Education before the question can be answered." A Troublesome , Antagonist. — The most difficult task of the whole war must have been in silencing Fort Noisy.

I In alluding to the growing impatience in Eoglaud at the peace-at-auy-price policy of theGovernment, the Spectator remarks: " It is not danger from Germany, or Russia, or America that is feared, for tlie people still retain even too much confidence in tho fleet ; it is the want of influence, or respect throughout the world, which creates a disaffection all the more profound because its origin is so obscure and its objects so vague. There is a vote of waut of confidence in Mr. Gladstone as helmsman for a stormy time being passed silently through England, aud unless that vote can be recalled or cancelled it will be more fatal than any vote of the House of Commons. Statesmeu smile very justly at noisy meetings of nobodies held in Tra-falgar-square, but those meetings are symptoms of an unrest, a dissatisfaction which, though it may be as yet only dissatisfaction, reaches far higher in the electorate than the attorney who just now makes himself the mouthpiece of the mob. The desire is not for war — nor is there any scheme of military reform which has caught or is likely to catch the longing for a Government which shall be strong abroad, which ' can give Bismarck as good as he brings,' upon which allies can implicitly depend, and which must be treated by every Cabinet of Europe as an equal power." Comfort eor the Lowly. — Are you envious of the great, the eminent, the distinguished? Think of only a few of the penalties of greatuess, of tho extra weight ifc has to carry, and your feelings will change from jealousy to pity aud compassion. Reflect on what you escape by being humble, obscure, insignificant and small, and be content with your allotment in life. For a sample — You escape having to preside at public dinners and meetings ; to make speeches and move resolutions, aud respond to the toast of your health. You escape having to put your name down for subscriptions considerablv beyond your means, and for objects to which you are utterly indifferent. You escape seeing yourself painted at full length (by Tipp Top, R. A.) on .the walls of the Royal Academy, and hearing the somewhat plain-spoken remarks of the company on your attitude, expressions, and features. You escape gazing at your own photograph in the shop windows, bound by a dancer in short skirts on one side, and by a notorious criminal on the other. You escape persecution for your autograph, monogram, carte-de-visite, and possibly for a piece of your hair. You escape being made the subject of false and scandalous paragraphs in the newspapers. You escape public testimonials. You escape laying first stones ; inspecting hospitals, prisons, and lunatic asylums, &c. ; having addresses presented to you ; and being received by the local authorities. You escape knighthood. You escape levees, receptions, and uniforms. And, finally, you escape the publication of the contents of your will ; you escape having your life, aud your private letters given to the v/orld ; and — greatest deliverance of all — you escape a public statue. — Punch. One house in Birmingham consumes three tons of brass wire per week in producing pins, the consumption of which in Great Britain alone is calculated at fifteen millions per day.

children, ray suggestions are likely to bo disinterested as if I had never seen a child. According to my observation, the most difficult time to bring up children is in the morning. You can, sometimes, though seldom, bring them up in the morning by yelling at them ; but the effectiveness of this process diminishes with its repetition, even when not entirely neutralised by the children's trick of stopping thenears with the bed clothes. The only prompt, effective and absolutely reliable method is to bring them up by the hair. If your child has a good, healthy scalp, without any tendency to premature baldness, this method will work with most gratifying efficiency. Try it about once a week, and you will be surprised to observe how its influence will extend through the J six days' interval, inspiring your child with th* liveliest possible i: terest in the resplendent pageantry of sunrise. To bring up a darling child by the hair requires the exercise of some energy aud firmness ; but no affectionate parent will hesitate at any little sacrifice of this kind for the welfare of his offspring. : Nothing can be more fatal to your discipline than to allow your children to contradict you. If you happen to be betrayed into any misstatement or exaggeration in their presence, don't permit them to correct you. Right or wrong you must obstinately insist on your infallibility, and promptly suppress every symptom of j puerile scepticism, with force if need be. | The moment you permit them to doubt I your unerring wisdom, you will begin to j forleit their respect and pander to their conceit. There can be no sadder spectacle than a parent surrounded by olive branches who think they know more than he does. I vividly remember how my father — who was one of the most rigid and successful of disci plinarions — quelled the aspring egotism that prompted me to correct his careless remarks (when he was reckoning a problem in shillings,) that five times twelve was sixty- two and a half. ' So,' said he climbing over his spectacles, and surveying me gnmly, " ye think ye know more'n your father, hey ? Come 'ei*e to me !" His invitation was too pressing to he declined, and for a few excruciating moments I reposed in bitter humiliation across his left knee, with my neck in the embrace of his left arm. I didn't see him demonstrate his mathematical accuracy, with the palm of his right hand on the largest patch of my trousers, hut I felt that the old man was right ; and when, after completely eradicating my faith in the multiplication table, he asked me how much five times 12 was, I insisted with tears in my eyes that it was 62 and a half, " That's right !" said he : " I'll larn ye to respect yer father, if I have to thrash ye twelve times a day. IS'ow go'n water them hosses, "n be lively too !" The old gentleman didn't permit my respect for him to waue much until the inflammatory rheumatism disabled him ; and even then he continued to inspire me with awe until I was thoroughly convinced that his disability was permanent. Unquestioning obedieiiGe'ifKthe crowning grace of childhood. When you ted your child to do anything, and he stops to inquire why, it is a'dv'isable to kindly hut firmly fetch him a rap across the ear, and inform him " that's why?" He will soon get into the way of starting with charming' alacrity at the word of command. One of the most inveterate and annoying traits of children is inquisitiveness, if you are inconsiderate enough to attempt to ■ gratify their omnivorous curiosity, you may as well prepare to abdicate, for you will be nonplussed by their questions a dozen times a day, and in a week your sagacity will be hopelessly compromised. An average child is a magazine of unanswerable and disconcerting conundrums. - You can't expect children to have much reverence for a parent whose#y ignorance they can expose twice but *rtyl£P times trying. It is well enough tojJßpwer an easy question now and then, just to convince them that you can when you choose ; but when they come to you with a poser, tell them, " Oh, you never mind ?" or " shut up !" and then they will grow up independent and self-reliant, and restrained, only by veneration, from splitting your head open — to find out how it holds so much information without letting some out. It would be difficult — very difficult — to estimate the beneficial effect that would be entailed upon their children if parents generally would adopt the method here vaguely indicated.