MISCELLANEOUS.

Tuapeka Times, Volume VI, Issue 293, 11 September 1873, Page 7

MISCELLANEOUS.

Saintly Scotland, the land of tbe " unco quid " and pre-eminently the land of whisky, has other and more heinous sins to answer for than the fallible fancy for drams. In spite of her numerous kirks, with and without 11 kists o' whistles " nowadays, and her garrulous clergyman, we find from the Registrar-General's returns just published that she is the most immoral country in Europe as far as illegitimacy is a test. Burns pilloried Holy Willie for being, with all his prayerfulness, a little too larky with the other sex ; had the poet been living now be would have had more ample opportunities than ever for showing, as an old sly minister once said to an incontinent elder whom he was rebuking, that " a moderate measnre of the grace of God is no defence against these kind of things." Tn the first quarter of this year the little county of Kinross had 21.7 per cent, of illegitimate children ; in other words, more than every fifth person you meet has been born on what the Scotch people call •* tbe wrang side o' the blanket." When an old Aberdonian was asked by an angler how he could account for the large number of 1 Aberdeenshire, he remarked, wetrft^e delight of the angler it may count o tbe lairge numoeirf\,- „ ; that come oot our way." Perhaps Loch Leven being afashionable fishing resort, the same reason may hold good in the case of Kinross-shire. The cathedral county of Elgin gives 20. 1 per cent, of children born out of wedlock, Wigtownshire 196, and the adjoining county of Kirkudbright 18.3. Banff totals up 15, Aberdeen 13.6, Roxburgh 12.1. and so on ; showing that climate .has no effect in stopping the •intercourse of the sexes. If Scottish clergymen would cease wrangling with the " Scarlet Woman." and refrain from blackguarding Queen's Plates until they have purged their flocks from this gross impurity, it would be greatly to their credit, and the advantage of their country. — " Sportsman." The following is a specimen of English weather during last year: — Dirty days hath September, April, June, and November : from February 7th until May the rain it raineth every day ; all the rest have thirty-one without a blessed gleam of sun ; and if any of 'em had two-and-thirty they be just as wet and twice as dirty. M. Renan's volume on " AntiChrist" — being another instalment of his work on the " Origin of Christianity," has just appeared. Already 5,000 copies of it have been, sold, and a second edition has been ordered, Very often in France the second edition is sold before the first; but such a writer as Kenan has no occasion to stoop to that ruse. Anti-christ is supposed to be Nero, whose death the Christians did not believe in, but anticipated his return fco massacre them, with the fear his antecedents could so well inspire. It is a book that will be read from cover to cover, for tbe beauty of its style, thrilling interest, and vivid descriptions. The burning of Eome, the siege of Jerusalem, the domestic life of Nero, the massacre of the Christians, and the deaths of the Apostles, never hitherto have been treated so brilliantly. His opinions about Christianity remain the same, perhaps are not so rudely expressed^ The work, though small, comparatively speaking, has occupied him several years in patient research and the examination of authorities. He has in his service three Jews, converts to free thought — at least — like himself, whose duty is to make translations from Hebrew and Oriental manuscripts. Thus, the expenses attending the preparation of such a work are enormous ; often distant journeys have to be undertaken to compare translations with the originals. There appears to be just at present considerable commotion amongst the pawnbrokers at finding that the " Hall mark,'* as it is technically termed, is really no proof of the purity of gold or silversmiths' work ; and that gross frauds have been perpetrated upon that body. At a meet- ! ing of Lombards' in London, it was shown that gold guards, which, had they been as fine as denoted by the Hall mark, would have been worth some Lls or Ll6, and on which the pawnbrokers had advanced L 6 or L 7, were not really worth above 16s or 17s in gold. It was also shown that the Hall stamp was given to articiles in an unfurnished condition, so that they could be afterwards " filled," v plugged," or otherwise manipulated by the manufacturers. Overpaid lOOdol on a cheque by a bank, the Georgia negro wh > received it at one© returned the money. The local paper says this is another evidence that the race can never be civilized. With the assistance of six dogs, and a short spear, between April 3rd and May 18th of this year, one man succeeded in killing in the Awatere district, Marlborough, no iess than 750 head of swine, for which he receives at the rate of sixpence a tail. He has a grievance. He all&ges some sharp practice on the part of those who are hunting on the adjoining run, who cut off the tails of the pigs they catch and then let them go again ; and as they naturally stray over the boundaries, it follows that sometimes when he has spent a quantity of time and hard work in running down an anira il, he discovers his labor has been in vain, as far as benefit to himself is concerned. Daring the whole twenty-five years ho has been engaged in the trade, he declares that he never knew anything so nefarious, as not only is he deprived of his just due but another man reaps the reward from -bis j employ* r without a corresponding adI vantage. \ " *