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Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2898, 30 May 1878, Page 2

We hare received from the publishers, Messrs J. and W. 0. Johnston, Melbourne and Sydney, the May number of " Woids of Grace;" an illustrated monthly magazine of a religious chaiacier, as its. name impHes. We have previously had occasion to speak, in favorable terms ofth's ma£,azin?, and cm again recommend it io the reading public. The contenis are not confined to the views of any denomina ion, but embrace news of all Protsstant Churches, sermons by the Key. Thomas Jones, Independent Church, Collins street, Melbourne; Eev. J. Oswald Dykes, M.A., D.D., London ; Eev C. H. Spurgeon : d Eev. T. De Witt Talraage. The illustrations are very fairly executed, some of them, with the accompanying matter, being expressly prepared for the young. For class leaders and Sunday School teachers, '• Words of Grace " seems admirably adapted. Any who have not seen the magazine can do so at our publishing office.

An Austrian military paper, the Vedette, states that some bread <£ the same kind as that issued to the Russian troops ii Bi^garia was recently obtained and examined by the M'i;(ary Intendance in Vienna. A careful analysis showed that the bread contained 19 per cent, of sawdust and 14 per cent, of sand.

A cueious incident occurred (according to the London correspondent of tie Manchester Guardian) in a West-end Church on one Sunday. The preacher incidentally said a few words in praise of the Emperor of Eussia, whereupon severs! pe.?,o^3 :vre r.-.'.d left :> a'bnllding.

It lias been determined (says the Lyttelton TuiK-s) by the Acclimatisation Society to runko an effort to introduce the sugar m: />le into tins rtfony. A sum of not more than £50 i- to be expended, and probab. t'-o plan adopted will be to have yomg pi- its sent out in Wardian cases : aa it appears 'tivjssible to obtain seed which has preserved its germinating powers. Through Canada, New Brunswick, end Nova Scotia, the suga.■ maple (acer saccharinum) forms immense forests, and f-equently reaches a height of from 60 to 70 feet. It is st .ted tha in Great Britain the tree requires a cry pad sheltered situation, but the c'itnate of Canterbnl/ wou'd probably prove f?r more favorable to its development. The tree, when pierced duving the opeofng of the season, yields a copious flow of s^.p, which is readily converted into sugar, and the flow is stated^to be more ab' idant during a hot svnshine, which has b~Dn preceded by a frosty night. Isolated trees are richest in the sacchr me matter. The tree has a highly ornamental appearance, and its wood is particularly valuable for cabinet work.

It appears the present Provost of Glasgow is a teetotaller of a very objectionable type (s^ya "Atlas," in the World). On a recent oci asion he asked ihe officers of Her Majesty's 79th Highlanders to dine with h?m, and absolutely gave them nothing to drink but cold water, with the alternative of gingerade. No doubt this sort of entertainment suited the "douce man's " pocket as well fs his principles; bat lot me tell him, if not meant as a practical joke, it was Jittle better ;han an insult. Even tlj unspeakable lurk or the most ascetic H?*idoo, if enterldning a Feringee, offers fie latt-r the juice of the grape, ■ Ithough himself tikng nothing stronger than cherbefe. What vrould this " abstainer " think if, on dining with the 79th, they insisted on 1 "stay' <g nothing but bra itiy ? '

The experiences of a Fiji official with a native cock aie thus related, by the Fiji Times: —"This gentleman's weakness is I'.ncakes, and he ordered them accordingly ; but as they seemed to be heavy in consistency, he directed the sable Soyer to put :u more soda. Still they grew heavier, and the unhappy partaker beg? l to feel the baneful effects of their undue specific gravity Jn the failing of his usually robust health. More soda was demanded, and still those pancakes grew heavier, and still the devourer grew sicker, till a serious disturbance eventuated, the master vowing that the instruction: relative to the soda had been 1 neglec f;d, the cook swearing he had put it in ii handsful. 'Then the soda is no good,' roared the disappointed and ailing lover of flitters ; ' brng it here.' It was brought, a^id turned out to be a 561b tin of excellent plaster of Paris. There are no pancakes made in that establishment now, and a good pk'n cook is open for an engagement.

The St. Petersburg News publishes a poem on the subject of a tradition said to be cherish Iby the inhabitants of Sophia. When the Trks entered ithafc city upwards of four centuries ago numbsis of the inhabitants took refuge in the churches, and especally in the cathedral, where, however, the Turks continued to cut them down. The bishop remained p?ayin<j at the altar, where the Turks, unwilling to disturb him, bricked him up. The p >ple of Sophia believed, and according to the poet, continue to believe, that the good bishop did not die in his narrow place of confinement. It was written in the decrees of Providence that he should stay there until a Christian army came we deliver him, when, the wall which closed him having been pulled down, ho would walk out as well as ever. The time for liberating him is now declared ,'o have arrived, since the Russians have entered the town. Sophia is the ancient "Dlfia Serdria of the Romans. It was the seat of a convent r'n the year 34.4. Entirely rebuilt by the Emperor Justinian, it was conquered in 809 by the Bulgarians, who gnve it the name of Triaditsa. In tha time of the Crusades the Christians called it Strali.a or Stervifz. In ISB3, Sophia fell into the hands of the Turks, and since 1434 no Christian soldiers had entered the town until, on the 3rd of January, it was occupied by the Russians,