CLIPPINGS FROM OUR MAIL FILES.

Waikato Times, Volume XX, Issue 1701, 31 May 1883, Page 3

CLIPPINGS FROM OUR MAIL FILES.

As Queen Elizabeth used to " time her pulpiti" in olden days, so General Butler, now by a strange freak of fortune Governor of Massachusetts, has undertaken a similar task among the descendants of the men of the Mayjloivcr. His proclamation setting apart April 5 no a fast day, concludes in the following remarkable fashion : "I do specially exhort the ministers of the Gospel on that day to feed their flocks with the Divine "Word, nnd not to discourse upon political nnd other secnlar topics which may divert the serious thoughts of the people from the humble worship of the Father." The whirligig of time has bi ought about atrangc revenges, but whoever imagined he would live to see " Ben Butler" in a position from whence he could attempt to " specially exhort the ministers of the Gospel " as to what they should say or leave unsaid in the pulpits of Boston ? The interior of the arch on w Inch the equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington rested, at Hyde Park gate, was found on being taken down, to be honeycomed with rooms, in which a colony of twenty persons, including the janitor airl his family, six policemen and a medical ntudent, lived. When the old palace at Somerset House was pulled down to make room for the new Government offices, it was found that a prolific colony of cripples and beggais had been squatting there, nnd that a gang of coiners plied their trade in the cellers. So lien the old Winter Palace at St. Petersburg was burned down it was discovered that nearly 300 people had been living for years on the roof of the edifice ; that they kept cows and grew vegetables, and that children had been bom and men died on that old eyrie. When it was announced the other day in the House of Commons that the Queen would be rcpiesented at the Czar's coioliation by the Duke of Edinburgh, Mr Labouchcrc could not resist the temptation to make himself specially Amcucan. 11 He was opposed," he said, "to these special missions. We did not Bend one to Washington, and, in his opinion, the inauguration of a President of a Republic was a far gi eater occasion than the coionation.of an Emperor. We had an Ambassador at St. Petei&buig, and if he were competent to undertake important diplomatic business he must be equal to the torn foolery in question." Mr. Brewster, who the other day took his p^^ in the House of Commons for is one of the tallest members of that assembly. His statin c is 6 feet 4 inches. He was introduced by Mr. Tottenham, who measured 6 feet 3 inches, and by Colonel KingHarman, who is the same bight. All thiee members sit on the Conservative benches. The two tallest membeis in the House — Mr. Cotes and Mr Whitbrcad, who are G feet o indies each — sit on the Liberal side. As the three stalwart Irish representatives walked up the Jloor of the House they weic leceived with loud cheeis and some good-humored laughter. A short time ago the daughter of an English gentleman at a school in Pans wrote a letter to the CV-ar, expressing hci sympathy with him, and telling him that she nightly pinyed that he might not meet the fate of his father. She addrcsed the letter, " The Empeior of Russia," and put it in the post. Sometime afterwards fie Gi and Duke Nicholas, called at t tlic school, bi ought her various presents from the Emperor, and took her out for a drive. Recently an unusual scene was witnessed at Limerick. An Ameiican finn in New Hampshire recently ofleicd to pay the passage of 200 gills to that place and to guaiantee them employment upon their anhal. Candidates weie not difficult to find ; and the same moinimr they left Limeiick for Galway, whcie they embarked for America. The en the population of Limeiick turned out to bid them good-bye and a scene that is rarely witnessed attended the dcpaitme, The Prime Minister will win suppoit from the maba of his countrymen, if not from his Radical followeis, by his first utterance in the House of Commons last night. Suiting from a question about a supplementary cxpendituic m the late war, Mr Gladstone seized the occasion to make a statement, which will be welcomed by the country at laige. He threw over Loid H.utiu^ton, who bad turned too much in the ducction of Mr Chamberlain's and Sir Wilfi id Law son's sentiments, and took up his stand for once on the tine patiiotic and ".lingo" line. He made it clear that we shall not only quit Egypt in six months, but that we shall lemam thcie until all the purposes of this countiy have been accomplished. Om desne to withdiaw is one thing, but the possibility of filing effect to thai desiie is another. At the piescnt moment credit ond confidence ha\c been shaken in Egypt by the Ultia-Radical declarations which have been lecently made ; but the Piemicr, whose sympathetic and appreciative nature has recently been in contact with foieign statesmen, and whose judgment has had ample time for reflection, now takes on himself to declare that " wo should not be contributing to accelerate the rate of our progress were we to undei take explanations to the House of a picmatuie chaiacter." In other woids, the Government of England does not see its way to determine any date as to its retiicment fiom the position we occupy at Can o and on the Sue-5 Canal. We hold the highway to India, and, not until weaie ccitain that a stable Government can give us .suiiioient guamntees, shall we lelax our grasp upon a position which is to us of vital hnpoitance. We trust we may accept the declaration of Mr Gladstone as final, and not to be explained away after interviews with his Radical colleagues. We have spent blood and treasure in a great enterprise, and, without looking back to the question of whether or not war might have been avoided, we must lcqune of the Admiuistiation that they shall avail themselves to the utmost of the position which has been secured by the power of our Navy and Army. — I'o.if, London. Duelling in the German Universities does not appear to be going out of fashion, though a stiong movement against it has recently arisen. Diumg tho Hub wooli of this month no less than twenty-one duels were fought in Jena alone, and in consequence of a number of the rapiers used in those engagements not having been properly cleaned, nearly all the combatants suffered from blood-poisoning, and four of them died from the effects of it. The causes of nearly all these ' ' affairs of honour " were trivial in the extreme, and the people on Jena, among others, are begining to ask whether it is not time for the German Government to take the matter in hand. It is noticeable also that agitation against the senseless practice o^rielling has begun in France. The SenawHt short time ago had under consideraram a new law containing very stringent provisions against what many Frenchman consider an inalienable right — the right to shoot and stab one's adversary on the field. As a rule, however French duels are very harmless affairs. and there is reason to fear that no more attention wonld be paid to the new legislation on the subject than is given to that now nominally in force. This is little enough. The new law proposes to authorise both fines and imprisonment for principals and seconds, and to forbid newspaper publications about duels. Everybody being agreed that pigeonshooting must come to an end, it is rather curious to note the argumentative subtleties by which it is sought to prevent the growth of the spirit which has revolted against that form of amusement from affecting other kinds of sport. A broad distinction is made by the London Saturday Review : '• Sport,' it says, "is the slaughter of wild animals ; the slaughter of tame animals is not sport." As a de- • finition this is well enough, but on the point of cruelty, and this is the really vital point, it seems to make very little difference whether the animal killed, chased or wounded be a tame stag or a wild one, a pigeon or a partridge. The difference is wholly in the sportamau/e

share of the proceedings, and here, there is no doubt, the greatest contrast in the world between fox-hunting, deer-stalking, or grouse-shooting, nnd the slaughter of pigeons, or, for that matter, of pheasants, as now conducted in many quarters. "A community," as the Saturday licv'mv justly remarks, " in which young, wealthy and idle men were cut off from this way of spending their time, would certainly suffer by the other methods to which they would resort to get rid of their supei fluous animal vigour. " It may not be much comfort to the foxes and the grouse to know that they suffer in oider to keep the " golden youth " of England in the paths of virtue, but from the human point of view the consideration is not an uuimpoitant one. — Fall Mali Gazette. The latest addition to Madame Tussand's wax w oiks Walhalla in Bakerstreet is a lifelike portrait model of James Carey, with which is exhibited the very car, that, according to the evidence of the infoimers, coin ejed the assassins to and from the Phoenix Paik. The car, an old one, with cushions much the worse for wear, has just been brought over by the mail boat. The name, "Ml Kavanagh, Townsend st.,' is engraved on a brass plate affixed to the off-shaft. The effigies of the ictims in this horrible affair hare been placed closed to the car, and in another part of the exhibition are portrait figures of Mr Farnell and Michael Davitt. Queen Victoria and the Princees of Wales have resolved to impiove the tone and manners of London aristocratic society. They arc alaimed at the en croachments of American vulgarity and French refinement, and will attempt to repress both. This is on the atithonty of the Rev. Robert Liard Collier, avlio was now in London. "To quiet Ameiicans in this city," he wntes, "this change, should it be w-i ought, will be no gieat blow ; but it ought to be dremed a blessing. It is peifectly tiue that sonic Ameiicans who tra\cl in Euiopo are ' louder ' and more swaggeiing than other people." In view of the approaching coronation of the C/.ir, the (Joint jew ellgis of St Petci.sinirg arc now busy cleaning and rcpaii ing the insignia of the ciown, the value of' which is estimated .it $0,500,000The ci own itself, \ allied at !?(JOO,OOO, is adoined with magnificent diamonds, 51 pearls without a flaw, and a ruby of e\tiaordin.iry su-e ; it is of evquisite woikmansliip. It was first used at the coronation of Cathciine the Great. The sceptre is tipped with the famous Orloff diamond, which, like the Koh-i-noor, came from the treasury of the Grand Mogul. Mis Alexender Carlyle has brough the birthplace of her uncle, Thomas Caiysle, ntEcelcfcehan, toinsuieitsbettoi preservation. It will probably now becomes an established show -place, like Bums' cottage. " Lcsr-etits diners'' (nice little dinners), arc one of the most important things in the life of a Fienchman. He will become enthusiastic o\cr them, his eye will dilate, Ins mouth water, his face beam with the idea that ho is going to ha\e a nice little dinner. There is nothing to a Frenchman like '• 1111 petit diner," accompanied by the smait conversation " d'uu bon ami "—of a pood friend. And i« the Fienchman not light ? Is it not the most cnili/ing thing in the wot Id to sit atapiettily laid table, decotated with the freshest flowers, and while pai taking of dainty soups, fiesh fish, appetising entices, saxouiy toasts, early vegetables, salads and delicate sweets with old vintages of Sauteine, Boideaux, Burgundy and good brands spaikling champagne, talk over the concerns of the woild, or jour own with jour friend, and chat checiily with him on art, science and what not— aye, even gossip, and speak of " cheres amies ?" Give me for the tiue chili/er, haimoni/er and comforter of life, the nice little dinner. It beats a symphony by Beethoven, an opera of Wagner, a reverie by Schumann, a play by Shakespeaic ; w liy, it even beats a pic ture by Raphel or Rubens. It not only brings employment, but it increases your power for enjoyment. Whnt happiness enn be compared to that state of physical and menial satisfaction that followers a nice, little dinner. You «ip your cup of black coffee and smoko a fragrant Havana, you arc content with everything nnd everybody, and with youiself the mo^t. A nieo little dinner! Of all the things to be desiied in this world, at the end of a day's business, is a nice little dinner ; and the housewife who can auangoit, the caterer who can piovide it, or the hotel that fui niches it, are benefrictois of mnnUnd. Rnbcnstein hns furnished the kitchen in his Russian palace horae moie sumptuously than hi« reception-room, becau-o giving forth much power, ho know 1 - the value of replacing it. If any paificular city on the face of the globe should imitate him it is this city of San Francisco, that has two bout-throbs to every other cita's one, with its life ot incessant excitement and frenzy. The human heart and brain are surely tried in this most cosmopolitan city of the modern world, nnd they want, above all, niuo little dinners to stimulate them for new exertions. All this sounds like tho advertisement for a new "hashhou«c,'' but it is nnt one. It is simply the result of a nice little dinner, — "Boanolerc."' — In the S,F. News Letter. The recent story about the Fenians sending clothes infected with small-pox to their English enemies of high degree, now turns out to be a shameless hoax, played by Mr. O'Raffcrty, of Dublin, on the Piemicr and several other high government officials. Mr. O. R, early last week sent little notes, worded somewhat as follows, to Mr. Gladstone and otheis : " Piivate and Confidential. — Dear sir : The clean underclothes which you put on last Sunday morning were all infected with malignant small-pox. Your Avasherw oinan is a Fenian. Take them all offi at once is the advice of A Friend." Mr Gladstone immediately rushed up stairs, took a hot bath, fifteen grains of blue mass, sent for. 'ill the family physicians, and had Mis. Gladstone and and all the household vaccinated. The other government officials all took similar precautions, and were equally fiightencd with the exception of the Piince of "WaKs, will), WIIUU hio eccicfctivy ruelinrl to him with O'Rafferty's missive, merely smiled, shut one eye, and remarked : " Too thin, they can't play me, I haven't changed my under-clothes for three weeks."

The fact that the graziers of England spend nearly £1,400,000 annually for ootton-secd meal shows the high appreciation in which this product is held. The advantages of using this meal to secure the quick and satisfactory ripening of animals fattening for market cannot be disputed.

Trial for Blasphemy. —The second trial of the three persons charged with the publication of a blasphemous libel in the Christmas number of tho Freethinker has ended in a verdict of guilty, and in sentences of striking severity. Foote, the editor, has been sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment with hard labour ; Ramsey, the publisher, to nine months ; and Kemp, the printer, to three months. The passing of the sentence, says an English paper, was the occasion of one of the most painful scenes of disorder which have been witnessed in a Court of justice for many years. The offenders themselves, by the indecency of the attack they made on persons and things which a large part of the community regard as sacred, had put themselves out of the pale of public sympathy ; but the severity of the punishment, and the language of the Judge, both in defining the legal meaning of blasphemy and in passing sentence, may go far to create a reaction of feeling, if not on their behalf, at least against such prosecutions. A Philadelphia youth who has been to the Hub, tells us that the intellectuality of the Boston girl begins at the break-fast-table and lasts until Ihe old folks go to bed. After that, if the'ffght fellow is in the parlour and the light is turned low, aho " aota like any other girl,"