ROUND THE WORLD.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VII, Issue 2065, 11 August 1885, Page 2

ROUND THE WORLD.

Veiy beautiful women, says Truth, and fine-looking men are "raised," as the Americans would say, in Persia and the khanates of central Asia. Europe or America never produced such a : paragon of loveliness as General Nazar Aga's wife. Some of the noblest types of the Caucasian and Semitic rages are still found in the valleys of central Asia, They are physically as superior to a civilized European as a Khiva steed is to a Parisian cab horse. However, when not in the first bloom of youth, the women have a sorrowful, not to say a morose, look, which- impairs their beauty. This is shown in Vereschagin's album of sketches mado between tlje Caspian and the Ganges, which will soon bo exhibited in London.

Mr T. P. O'Connor, in the last number of the "Times," deals with Mr Gladstone exclusively as he appears in Parliament. Mr O'Connor has evidently watched Mr Gladstone very closely from across the House of Commons, and with an admiration that is all the more valuable because it is critical and impartial, And this is how lie sums him up "He is fcho very genius of the place; his presence or absence makes all the the difference, whether Parliament is infinitely interesting or abysmally dull. The chief reason of tliiß is that he is so frankly human, There is not an emotion of the sensitive and weak human heart of which he' is not the ready victim; attack enrages, praise delights, trouble worries, disaster grieves him. Through all the gamut of human feeling lie passes in a single night j and ho lias a temperament that brings tlio expression of every emotion without a second's delay to his face. This changeable and infinite play pf passion is a drama which is carried on nightly in the House of Commons before the general and public eye; it is a mighty and potent personality displaying More the whole atten-tively-gazing world the 'nudity of his soul.' Every deduction from Mr Gladstone's chartvct er still leaves him the supreme eminence asEngland's greatest momber of Parliament."

The following vocabulary of abusive epithets, arranged for convenience in alphabetical order, is extracted from a Delhi paper. The Indian writer addresses the Russians as. follows:—".Russians! asses, blockheads, boobies, clowns, dolts, empty-heads, fanatics, flats, fools, fallowbrains, gabies, geeue, hypocrites, ignoramuses, jobbernowls, jabberheads, knaves, loggerheads, mooncalvea, numbskulls, oafs, pumpa,. quacks, rogues, ruffians, squatters, simpletons, tomnoddies, ualators vultures, wreakers, yellers, yokels, zanjes'," The' Pall Mall Gaxotte,' publishing the above abusive vocabulary, comments as follows" Having thus run through the gamut of abuse from A to'Z, the writer proceeds: 'Hearkento a friendly whisper of advice from an Indian, 1 and then he proceeds in a style very familar to writers in Bpme of the London paper*: 'You have already caused the said lion to wag his tail and roar, ye land-grabbing, besotted Russians. Attend to that roar—mark that tail—be warned, and beware. Run not your head into the lion's mouth." The "Stampa," a prominent Italian Liberal journal tells the following strange story:—On the night between May 19 and 20 the old Church of Sta Maria de (rradi, in the city of Yiterbo, was entered by the secretary to the municipality; (foe city enjjijieM, sn(( a fyjtid of workmen, They prodeeued to the tomb of Pope Clement IV,, whose body had lain in a marble sarcophagus in the ohuroh since his death in 1268, The sarcophagus was opened, and an inner coffin of wood was found. Upon opening this, they found the remains in a fair state of preservation and clad in the vestments suitable to the papal rank. They did not touch anything, but closed both coffin and sarcophagus. Next morning they accompanied by the 'sindico, p.f the city and the pf- thejiatrk' The <Wje to® tfleij'taken out 'of tho' coffin, tho'rjng, jn iyhich thero was a precious stone | was taken from the finger, the rich embroidered" silk gloves and embroidered sandals were torn off; The agraffe which 'fastened the capo the breast, which' tinted with preoioiffi was also cut out, (tnd those portions of the cape which were of gorgeous workmanship and in good preservation wero cut away, The remains were then huddled into a box and sent off to the municipal buildings; tho artioles that had been removed were,'according to the sindico, to be placed in the museum, of- Viterbo. The " Starnpa" p.bsoryies that if a poor, lien's grave' were" thus violated the law would give solne ninths' imprisonment' to' the criminals. Will not the same measure be given' to the disturbers of a Pope's tomb, which is one of Italy's historic calls on all the newspapers of the peninsiila frj publish thp 'Outrage, and bring public opinion to clemand'the punishment of the principals,-whoever they may be, At this time it may not be out of place (says an exchange) to dwell on one of the. merit? of the late, French poet, t.o which another French writer called attention in 1874, shortly after the publication of "Qua-treving-treize," a merit which a French, author could alone appreciate. ( No one,", .wrote M,.;. Edmond About, cin fail to recognise' the power of

Hugo's invention, .the wealth of His ideas, the grandeur of his oratorical and that sublimity which is the mark of a mail' of genius;: but itisiiot known in Europe, nor even in France", that Victor Hugo is the most learned of men of letters.. He possesses an enormous vacabiltfw. .Out of the 27,001) words wjiich ary of the academy contains, and COOO of which have mi individuality of their own, the language of common, life employs at most about a thousand, I could mention illustrious publicists, popular dramatists,' novelists whose works are much rend and much liked, none of whom has more than fifteen hundred words at liia disposal. Theophile Gautier, a studious man arid a dilettante, used to boast to his friends of "possessing 8000. ' But,'he used to add, '1 might,tcvLto the last' day of my life without attaSug to the vocabulary of Hugo, 1 Genius apart, merely by his knowledge and use of his mother tongue, Hugo is the Rabelais of modern days. This is the minoij side of his glory, I allow; but critics ought not to neglect it, or they will lead people to forrirfalse ideas."