The Bangkok Recorder.

A Weekly journal will be issued from the
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D. B. BRADLEY, PUBLISHER & PROPRIETOR.

“I Hold Still”

Tribulation means THRESHING, and
Trench, in his excellent treatise on the
study of words, has carried out the fig-
ure, showing that it is only by threshing
us that God separates the wheat from
the chaff. Here is a precious little mor-
sel which somebody has clipped from an
old paper and sent to us, credited “to
the German of Julius Sturm,” and which
will speak touchingly to many a heart
which has been put into the FURNACE of
affliction.—-RELIGIOUS MAGAZINE.

The Karens.

A few numbers back, we promised to
return to the Rev. Dr. Mason's interesting
pamphlets on the Religion, Mythology
and Astronomy among the Karens. We
terminated our last notice of the subject
with the Rainbow,—-the bow of promise
to the descendants of Abraham and one
of the most beautiful objects in nature.
The Karens were apparently ignorant of
how it was formed. They now know all
about it. According to Dr. Mason, the
Karens entertained the opinion that the
waters are inhabited by beings, whose
proper form is that of dragons. But they
occasionally appear as men and who take
wives of the children of men. These are
Naida, who in the belief of the ancients
were water nymphs, female deities, who
preside over rivers and springs. In
ancient Mythology the world is supposed
to be full of nymphs, some celestial and
some terrestrial. They are the goddess-
es or guardians of mountains, meadows,
forests and plains.

The Karen Naida differ from those of
classic antiquity. They never take the
form of females, but always appear as
men. "A water spirit called Mau lau
kwie, figures largely in the Karen Myths.
A girl is represented as having formed an
acquaintance with this personage, Mau
lau kwie, and as holding clandestine meet-
ings with him, when she went down to
the stream to draw water. Standing on
the bank she sung,

"Mau lau Kwe come let us but be together

Mau lau kwe come let us wash our faces
together.

Mau lau kwe come with beads and rings.

Come Come as thou art wont.

Mau lau Kwe came and they washed
their faces together, and combed their
heads together.

Dryads and Oreads are two classes of
nymphs, one presiding over woods the
other over mountains as their Greek origin
imply." The Karen elders relate, obser-
ves Dr. Mason, that Mount Kie ku in
the Bghai country, and the people Tha
Kau beyond the seas had a quarrel and
engaged in war. The combatants have
been fighting ever since and the quarrel
is not ended. As these supernatural per-
sonages use thunderbolts and crocodiles
in their warfare, it will be some gener-
ations before the supply is expended.

Brownies are good natured spirits which
appear in Karen stories. In Scotland
among superstitious people a brownie
"is a good natured spirit, who was suppos-
ed often to perform important services
around the house by night, such as thrash-
ing churning &c."

Dr. Mason furnishes the following
Karen story. "The elders say that there
was once a poor orphan boy, that owned
nothing but a dog which had seven tails.
On one occasion he noticed his dog go
and bark on a hillock in the field near the
house, but when he went there he found
nothing so he came away. Still the dog
remained barking and he went again and
dug into the hillock, when he found a
cavity with an egg in it. He took the
egg intending to eat it, put it in a basket
and went to work in his field. During
his absence the spirit in the egg cooked
the poor boy's rice and curry for him,
when he came home, he found his meal
ready prepared for him, but he was afraid
to eat, and he went to the neighbours to
inquire, if they could explain the matter.
They replied to him roughly. "Thou art
an orphan, thy house is nasty and dirty,
who dost thou think would go up into it?
He returned to his house and being very
hungry he said to himself, "If I die, I
will eat." So he ate and nothing happened
to him.

The same thing occurred the next day.
His food was cooked and ready for him
on returning from his labour. The fol-
lowing day, he determined to watch, so
after going away he returned cautiously
and he saw a young woman come out of
the basket. She went to the brook, and
brought water and then cooked the rice.
He showed himself to her and she no
more took the form of an egg, but be-
came his wife. She said to him "my
name is Miss Egg, but never speak my
name. If thou dost, I shall disappear and
thou will see me no more." It is men-
tioned that the young man, incautiously
uttered the name and so lost his wife,
but found her again by means of his
faithful dog.

In regard to Feticism, Dr. Mason re-
marks, that the Karens in some of their
observances come very near to the worship
of "stocks and stones." Many keep stores
in their houses which they suppose pos-
sess miraculous powers, and which seem
to represent the household gods of the
ancients.

All material things have certain magical
properties, said to be attached to them.
Hence the MAGIC RING is a story which
the Karen elders repeat as one of their
traditions. There was an orphan child
say the elders, who was brought up by
his grandmother. He was so lazy that he
would not open the skins of the plantains,
when he wanted to eat them. He would
do nothing but play. He got the name
of Mr. Laziness. His grand mother got
rid of him by sending him off on a trad-
ing boat. Here he would do nothing,
but when the boatmen were away he
would watch the boat, and for this ser-
vice he received an occasional bit of silver.
One morning after the boat men had all
gone on shore, he heard that one of the
people was about to kill a cat. He bought
it. About noon, he heard that another
person was going to kill a rat. He bought
that too. Near evening several persons
brought a crocodile along which was also
to be killed. He bought the crocodile
from its owners. He also bought a dog
for a quarter of a rupee. He thus owned
a dog, a cat, a rat and a crocodile.

When the crocodile was placed in the
boat, it spoke and said, "Master thou
hast had mercy on me and bought me,"

and I shall not die. The reason that I
devour men is, there is a gold ring in my
head. The ring is under the flesh in my
head, and whatsoever I desire I obtain.
Chisel it out, take it for yourself, and let
me go into the water. So he took a chisel
belonging to one of the boatmen cut the
gold ring out of the crocodiles head and
let it go free into the water. He put the
gold ring on his finger, and when he de-
sired silver, silver came into his box, and
when he desired gold, gold come into his
box. The boatmen came back at night
to the boat, but knew nothing of what
had happened.

Many marvellous things are related of
the man and his magic ring, which we
regret we are unable here to reproduce.
We must defer our closing notice to an-
other day. These interesting topics give
us an insight into the character of the
Karen mind and of the different objects,
which have been held in oral tradition
among them for many centuries past.

The Present Congress.

This body entered upon its duties with a
spirit which electrified the nation. Its
first important act was the creation of a
Joint Committee of Fifteen on the Recon-
struction of the Union: a committee which
the President now calls an "Irresponsible
Directory;" a committee which is fortun-
ately irresponsible to the President. What
was the foundation of that memorable
Committee whose fame has since filled the
world? Its charter is the following resolu-
tion:

"RESOLVED (by the House of Represen-
tatives, the Senate concurring), That a Joint
Committee of Fifteen members shall be
appointed, nine of whom shall be members
of the House, and six members of the Sen-
ate, who shall INQUIRE INTO THE CONDI-
TION of the states which formed the so-
called Confederate States of America, and
report WHETHER THEY OR ANY OF THEM
ARE ENTITLED TO BE REPRESENTED
IN EITHER HOUSE OF CONGRESS, with
leave to report at any time by bill or other-
wise."

Is not this resolution explicit? Does it
not enjoin upon the Committee something
more than the petty task of determining
the loyalty of certain so-called MEMBERS
ELECT from the Southern States? Does it
not impose the duty of inquiring whether
the SOUTHERN STATES themselves, or any
of them, are "entitled to representation!"
This resolution was passed, this Committee
formed, so long ago as December—and not
only Thaddeus Stevens, but Henry J. Ray-
mond, voted aye. The measure, at the
time, commanded the almost universal as-
sent of the Republican party—even of
those journals which have since eaten their
own words to shout for the President. But,
on Washington's Birthday, Mr. Andrew
Johnson, speaking the wish of the copper-
heads and rebels who composed his fit
body-guard in that scene of humiliation,
denied the RIGHT of Congress to inquire
whether or not any of the late rebellious
states are now so unrebellious as to
be "entitled to representation," 'but main-
tained that each and all such rebellious
states must be taken for granted as
entitled to representation, and must be im-
mediately admitted to seats in Congress.
His exact words (if any of his words on
that day could be called exact) stand in
the amended report as follows:

"By this rule," he says, "it is assumed
that there must be laws passed recognizing
A STATE AS IN THE UNION, or its practic-
al relations to the Union as restored, be-
fore the respective houses, under the Con-
stitution, can judge of the elections, re-
turns, and qualifications of their own
members. What a position is that!"

No, Mr. Johnson, the issue is not, nor
has it been, nor will it be, that "there
must be laws passed recognizing a state as
in the Union." On the contrary, the ques-
tion whether or not the states were ever
out of the Union does not enter into the
President's controversy with Congress.
The disputed question simply is, whether
or not as yet these States, or any of them,
are "entitled to representation." If they
are entitled to representation, they are of
course in the Union; but it does not fol-
low that, because they are in the Union,
they are entitled to representation. If the
States were never out of the Union, they
were not out during the war; but were
they entitled to representation in the
United States Congress during the war—I
say, for instance, while their armies were
driving McClellan out of the Peninsula?
No. Let us grant, for argument's sake,
that the rebel States always WERE in the
Union, and so are in NOW. If therefore,
during the last five years, these States
could be IN the Union yet OUT of Congress,
can they not still be IN the Union and OUT
of Congress?

Now, what will finally entitle these States
to representation in Congress? Nothing
short of permanent good behavior. There
is but one opinion on this point among the
great Party that sustains Congress. Until
these States shall be willing to keep the
peace for themselves, they must have the
Federal Government keep it for them.
Who, therefore, is to decide as to when
they may be safely "let alone!" Shall
Congress! Shall the President! Or shall
the rebel States themselves? The answer
is, Congress. The President has no more
voice than the rebel States.

But how shall Congress make up this de-
cision? The question to be decided is
based upon facts. Congress must therefore
master these facts. This is exactly what
the committee of Fifteen are doing—work
ing night and day; sending for persons and
papers from all parts of the South; collect-
ing evidence as to the condition of the re-
bellious states; developing astounding
proofs of the prevalence, of turbulence,
hostility, and treason; recounting almost
incredible instances of cruelties to negroes;
demonstrating that some districts are
hardly more loyal to-day than after the
first battle of Bull Run; and exhibiting a
catalogue of inhumanities which, when it
shall be published, will set the country
aghast at the fires which yet are burning
under the ashes of our civil war. The
strange at tempt of the President to pre-
cipitate the re-enfranchisement of those
states against the prerogative of Congress,
and against the mountain of forbidding
reasons already piled on the records of the
Joint Committee, is judicial blindness.

Meanwhile, is the country impatient of
the spectacle of a reconstruction of the
Union still uncompleted? And are the
people seeking to hurry Congress faster
than a judicious circumspection will war-
rant? Not at all! If, in the momentous
task of reconstruction, the President was
allowed ten months, from April to Decem-
ber, to achieve a failure, shall complaint
be made of Congress because it has not in
three months, from December to March,
perfected a success? Moreover, the Pre-
sident, during his ten months, had no Con-
gress opposed to him; but Congress, during
its three months, has had a constant op-
ponent in the President,

At present, in surveying the obstacles to
a speedy reconstruction, let us take for an
illustration of the Southern mind the most
hopeful instance which has yet been offered
to Northern consideration—the speech of
Alexander H. Stephens; who, as he comes
like a Greek bearing a gift, is therefore to
be watched.

Mr. Stephens re-asserts his life-long
creed of the inequality of white men and
black in spite of the Declaration of In-
dependence which teaches that “all men
are created equal.” He re-erects what he
calls “the great barrier of races which the
Creator has placed between this of[?] inferi-
or class and ourselves”—whereas, the
South itself has never found this barrier
to be of the thickness of a bed-curtain. He
re-babbles Andrew Johnson's maundering
of a “war of races”—though both the
former vice-president of the Confederate
party and its present President know full
well that the only possible inciters to such
a war are white-faced rebels, and not
black-faced loyalists.

Let us quote once more from the Mil-
ledgeville meditations:

“We are in the condition,” says Mr.
Stephens, “of a man with a dislocated limb
or a broken leg, and a very bad compound
fracture too at that. How it was broken
should not be with him a question of so
much importance as how it can be restored
to health, vigor and strength. This re-
quires of him” as the highest duty to him-
self, to wait quietly and patiently in splints
and bandages until nature resumes her ac-
tive powers, until the vital functions per-
form their office. The knitting of the
bones and the granulation of the flesh re-
quire time.”

Exactly so. The great question with
the Southern States is, how they can be
“restored.” And what is the pre-requisite
to this restoration? Mr. Stephens states
it forcibly. “The highest duty,” he says,
“IS TO WAIT QUIETLY AND PATIENTLY IN
SPLINTS AND BANDAGES.” What advice
can be better? IT IS JUST THIS COURSE OF
TREATMENT THAT CONGRESS HAS PRE-
SCRIBED IN THE CONCURRENT RESOLU-
TION. Congress thus says to those States,
“Wait until the vital functions perform
their office.” And we are glad that the
rebel vice-president comes to the only
loyal conclusion, which is, “The knitting
of the bones and the granulation of the
flesh require time.” Thank you, Mr.
Stephens? And, to reciprocate, we hereby
beg an indulgent Congress to grant to
these slowly recuperating states all the
time they so greatly need before their full
and final restoration!

Meanwhile, to the radical Party in Con-
gress, to the Joint Committee of Fifteen,
and to the Concurrent Resolution (if Mr.
Beecher will lend us the use of his favorite
punctuation) we exclaim, “AMEN AND
AMEN.—-N. Y. INDEPENDENT.

A Pleasing Fact.

On the 26th of May, I was much en-
couraged in my visitation amongst the
crew of the Thames, by the following in-
cident.—A young sailor on board the SA-
RAH asked to speak with me in the fore-
castle.

With tears starting from his eyes he
shook me heartily by the hand, saying, "I
thank you, sir for the copy of the BRIT-
ISH WORKMAN that you gave me some
few months back; it has made me TURN
ABOUT... The pictures were so good, and
the reading so taking, that I read it
through before I stopped; and then I was
touched, and I cried like a child. Think
I, what a fool I am, I'll stow it away.
Well, I did so; but after a while, I took
it out and read it again, and it made me
THING A BIT; at last I said, 'I'll try to go
without my 'drops' for one month.' I
did so, and I can say, that at the month's
end, my HEALTH was better, and my
TEMPER was better!

"I then said to my wife, 'Phœbe, I'll
sign the pledge if you will!' Well, sir, we
both attended a meeting that evening,
and we both signed—Well, this was
a great thing, for, although a young man,
I had been a great drunkard and a swearer
I thought I was now a new man, but
alas! I found very soon, that I was got
all right. Coming up to London one
voyage, we had to encounter a very heavy
gale, and we thought we should all be
lost,—and oh, sir, very soon did I find
that TEMPERANCE alone will not save a
man. I trembled all over, and, for the
first time, began to pray. The Lord in
His mercy preserved us, and I promised
THEN and THERE, that, if religion was to
be bad, I would have it, come what may.

"On my arrival in London, I went to
the Seamen's Chapel, in Commercial Road,
and inquired for you, and bought this
Bible. Thank God, it is now my greatest
delight to read and think it over, and the
best of all, I can say, that through faith
in Christ, my sins are all forgiven. Hall-
elujah, praise the Lord! I am happy day
and night; I can sing, yes, BELOW or
ALOFT, I can sing.—

The happy-looking sailor went on to
say:—

"My wife has now taken to religion,
and our two children are in the Sunday-
school, and most heartily do I thank you
for your visits, and the British Work-
man, for it was the first thing in God's
hand, in making me a thinking, praying
man."

We knelt down, in company with three
others of the crew, and gave thanks to
God for the work of grace in the heart
of this once dissipated swearing sailor.

A BRAVE FELLOW.—On the 28 ult., at
Laughland, an engine driver of the Grand
Trunk Railway of Canada, was driving a
freight train down the line, on crossing
near the curve two miles west of Com-
wall he saw a drunken man sleeping on the
track. He immediately whistled "down
brakes," which the conductor and brake-
man applied as quickly as possible; but
the distance was so short that it was im-
possible to pull up in time. Laughland
immediately ran out on to the cow-catcher,
and as the locomotive came up he stooped
forward and seized the man by the neck,
and endeavoured to pull him on to the
cow-catcher, but being unable to do so he
jumped off with the man and succeed-
ed in shoving him clear of the train. The
whole train was in the place before it
could be stopped. On learning the facts
the authorities ordered that two day's pay
should be handed over to Laughland as a
slight reward for his conduct.

THE WAR OF A SNAKING COAT.—A cor-
respondent of the United States Times,
writing from the Winterhous, says:—-
"An extraordinary snake affair occurred
in this neighbourhood a few Sundays ago.
A large snake of the cobras tribe, about
4 feet 6 inches long, got uncoiled into a
farmer's house, is supposed on the
Saturday afternoon, and concealed him-
self under a harmonium. On the Sunday
afternoon, the children being at school,
the farmer and his wife were quietly oc-
cupying themselves reading, the wife sit-
ting in front of a window. The snake
quietly crawled out, got unperceived under
the good woman's crinoline, and twisted
itself round her leg from the ankle to the
knee, which position it kept for upwards
of half an hour. The farmer's wife, at
the while thinking it was her favorite kit-
ten, took no notice of it, until it length,
wishing to eject the intruder, she slightly
raised her dress for the purpose. Judge
of her surprize on finding a deadly
creature twisted round her leg. She at
perfectly still, not even looking at her
husband lest he should disturb the reptile.
At last it uncoiled itself, and then twisted
itself about her foot. The shoe fitted
loosely, and she softly withdrew her foot,
made one bound across the room, and
called her husband's attention to the cause
of the disturbance. The savage creature
now charged the wife, and was only kept
off by the husband with his Sunday coat.
Not so retarded, got under a footstool,
putting out its head as if to threaten death
to any one who should approach it. A
stick was brought to the farmer, who
struck a terrible blow at its head, but his
stick instead, shivering the stick to
pieces. This exasperated the creature,
which darted out at the farmer, and was
again kept at bay by the coat. It at
length retreated into the bedroom, where
it was killed."

Prompt and Pungent.

A benevolent lady was once threading
her way at night through a back street
of Philadelphia, on an errand of charity.
A rude fellow accosted her with the im-
pertinent question, "Where are you go-
ing?" Her ready reply was "To ETFR-
NITY, sir; just where you are going." He
got more truth than he bargained for,
and carried away a heavy shot in his con-
science.

Bangkok Recorder.

It requires but a glance at the dai-
ly shipping report, to notice the fact,
that business is not in a very prosper-
ous condition. When the report
dwindles down to one, or two arrivals
in a week, and some weeks none at
all, it is certainly low days for Siam,
and makes us long for the good times
we had in the earlier days of the Trea-
ties. When we have plenty of rice,
and the indications are so far good
for the next season, it is certainly to
be regretted, that prices here, and the
demand abroad are not such, as to pay
men to buy and export.

The Siamese fleet however is evi-
dently loading with something, and
one by one the vessels are dropping
down, and departing on there annual
visit to China. The long chain of ves-
sels but a short time ago anchored in
the river, have nearly all disappeared.
This must be certainly a relief to ma-
ny of the commanders, some of whom
have been laid up for the last half
year or more.

We are now enjoying the cotton
season, and the whole fleet of cotton
boats from the north, are anchored on
the left hand side of the river, in front
of wat Bang lam poo. They are
long boats of shallow draught, and
well calculated to ascend the river at
low water. Anchored with one end to
the river, and turned up at the stern, and
stern, they present rather a peculiar
appearance. We counted over a hund-
red of these boats the other day, and
did not get through, and suppose that
the whole fleet this year will consist of
about two hundred boats.

So far as we could see the cotton
trade this year is confined chiefly to
Hainan, and the small junks from that
island, which have been lying in the
river for months, were apparently
waiting for these boats to arrive, and
they are now loading up rapidly.

The resume of a week here in such
times as these, gives but little that is
interesting, or startling. Some are
selling out, and evidently preparing to
leave the place, whilst others to relieve
the dullness, and monotony, are get-
ting up yacht clubs, which is perhaps
a new feature for Bangkok. Several
regattas have already taken place, and
more are said to be in contemplation.
Such an enterprise in this place, if
properly conducted, may be made
highly beneficial. Any thing which
tends to increase the speed of sailing
craft, and the skill in handling them,
and at the same time affords whole-
some exercise, and recreation, is cer-
tainly commendable.

A matter of importance in its bear-
ing upon the future of the kingdom,
has transpired this week at the Royal
Palace. The young Prince Chow
Fa, heir apparent to the throne, has
really entered for a time, the holy or-
ders of the priesthood, without which
in the estimation of his Royal Father,
he would not have been fully prepared
to occupy the throne of Siam. Wed-
nesday and Thursday were devoted to
these ceremonies.

Preparation for the Cholera.

In our last issue we published a va-
luable extract from one of our exchang-
es on the treatment of Cholera. We
judge it timely and benevolent to do
so, as there seems to be much reason
to fear a visit of that scourge during
the present season. We hope and fer-
vently pray that it may please Almigh-
ty God to avert it from this city and
kingdom. Yet not having the faith of
assurance that our prayers will be
answered in the affirmative, we feel in-
clined to pursue this road of benevo-
lence a little further. While we hope
and pray for exemption from the Cho-
lera, it seems to us unquestionably
wise to do what we can by anticipa-
tion to strip it of its deadly power
should it come upon us as we fear.
And it strikes us that the city autho-
rities should promptly do all they can
to fortify the city against it. Should
a Burman or Cochin Chinese army
threaten to attack the city in the
course of this summer or in the au-
tumn, no one could question the wis-
dom of government in giving great at-
tention to the work of fortifying the
city against the treated attack. We
hear of the Cholera raging in many
parts of Hindostan and Bengal. And
the last mail brought intelligence of
its having broken out in Batavia.
From the latter city to this there is a
high way opened for it to come sud-

denly upon us. Merchant vessels trad-
ing between that port and this may
bring it hither any day. Still we do
not for this reason regard it at all cer-
tain that it will come on that route,
nor indeed on any other. The Cho-
lera has been rife more than once at
Singapore, if we recollect rightly, and
did not take passage to this city by
any of the many trading vessels which
came from that port. Nevertheless it
cannot but be wisdom for the citizens
of Bangkok, and for the city authori-
ties to take warning and prepare for
it. Now facts have most thoroughly
proved the wisdom of guarding cities
and villages against the Cholera, that
this disease, terrible as it is, can be
greatly controlled by suitable precau-
tionary measures, and that cleanliness
and perseveringly practiced in any ci-
ty or hamlet, forms a powerful barrier
against it.

We propose in the present article to
call the attention of government, and
private householders to the impor-
tance of clearing out all sewers or
drains about the city. Many of them
are now so clogged up that they can-
not disgorge themselves into any canal
or creek, and hence the filth they con-
tain becomes more and more concen-
trated in them and are unquestionably
the sources of much disease now, and
would become the very hot beds of
Cholera should it visit this city. Our
attention has been called to notice
particularly one such place in the rear
of the Portuguese village, adjoining the
Baptist Mission premises. We are
glad to learn that through the influ-
ence of A. J. Moor Esqr. Portuguese
Consul, and Rev. W. Dean D. D. of
the Chinese Mission, this most pro-
bable source of a deadly typhoid fever,
which has carried off an American
Missionary, and the wife of a Danish
Master Mariner, and well nigh took
the life of two or more unacclimated
Europeans, has quite recently been
opened out into the river, so henceforth
all the flood tides will have free
access to those sources of fever and
dysentery, and wash away any pesti-
ferous influences that would otherwise
collect in them.

Now work like this, not only as
preparatory for the Cholera but also
for the promotion of general health,
should be performed all about the ci-
ty. There are very many similar sinks
of filth and sources of disease in this
great metropolis. The Cholera com-
ing here, in the course of the summer
or autumn would find its citizens
eminently prepared for the display
of its deadly power. And yet we
think there is scarcely another city
within the tropics that might so
easily be made cleanly as this.
Though it be situated on a sea-level
plain it can with little trouble be dai-
ly washed by the flood tides. It has
a magnificent body of water running
through it, and canals traversing all
parts of it. By far the greater part of
the citizens of Bangkok have the privi-
lege of living either on one of the
banks of the river, or on a bank of a
canal, or a small ditch daily washed
by the tides. Those who do not en-
joy such a privilege can easily make a
drain from their houses to the nearest
canal or ditch, where they can have
the filth which naturally accumulates
about their dwellings daily washed
away.

But the great mass of this people
are too indolent to be at the trouble
of making any effort to be cleanly
about their houses. While they can
hardly avoid washing their persons
many times daily for the pleasures of
bathing, they can endure an unutterable
amount of filth in and under their
houses, taking no kind of care to make
any drain by which it shall ever be
carried off. What we wish to do now
is to induce the government to make
laws by which every householder
shall be obliged to make at least the
lower story of his own house clean,
and keep it clean. To this end it
must be made a punishable offence to
throw out their slops and filth where
there is no drain to carry them away.

This we hold should ever be an im-
portant part of the care of city autho-
rities. It is regarded as such in the
great cities of Europe and America.
And we hear from all parts of those
countries that this year, very extraor-
dinary care is being taken for the
cleanliness of large cities and towns in
preparation for a visit from the Chol-
era. Let the enlightened king of
Siam follow the example of kings and
queens and presidents in the western
world in this regard, and he will be a
saver of his people indeed, and worthy
of the greatest name among the kings
of the Eastern world.

The Literature of Siam.

After the Wats, and priests, which
constitute the schools and school-mas-
ters of the kingdom, a brief article in
reference to the language, and litera-
ture may not be unacceptable. The
language is evidently one of no very
ancient origin, and in its more primi-
tive state, must have consisted chiefly,
of a few simple monosyllables, and
was consequently vague, and inex-
pressive. But as the English language
has been burdened with additions from
the Latin, Greek, French &c., so that
to find the Saxon we must go back to
some rare old work, which has been
long out of print, so the Siamese has
received additions from the Bali,
Cambodian, Burmese, Peguan, Chinese,
Laos, and some few words from the
Sanscrit. But it is also still a ques-
tion, whether the Saxon has been real-
ly improved by its numerous additions,
so the additions to the Siamese really
do not enrich it, or make it the least
bit more expressive, but on the other
hand fill it with pleonasms, so that we
oftentimes find them using a double
expression meaning the same thing.
We saw the other day, wheren gentle-
man of deserved reputation as a Siam-
ese scholar, had used in a translation,
the Bali word Sákara, to adore, to
esteem, to salute, &c.—and immediate-
ly after it, the Siamese expression
náp thiu, meaning the same thing.
Either one of the expressions alone
would have been more expressive.
This is an error however into which
we are frequently lead, by teachers
who are desirous to show off their
learning.

There are also two, if not three lan-
guages. The Court language, and
phrases strictly speaking, are nothing
but a transfer of the Bali.

There is then the better language in
use among the Princes, and nobles,
and still a lower language full of vul-
garisms in use among the common
people.

It is to be expected therefore, that
a language such as this, and in a coun-
try where knowledge has hitherto
been so little appreciated, would in a
great measure be devoid of literature.
Such is the case. Their literary works
are few, and of an inferior quality.
Their principle historical work is the
Pongsawadan, or Siamese history,
and which is deservedly their best
work. It commences with the Laos
king, who ruled in Chieng-rai. It is
written in rather a vigorous, and
chaste style, and may be taken as the
best model of the language. It is the
Tacitus of Siam.

The next is the Samkoke,—-a fa-
bulous history of China. Three noble-
men, of the royal Counsellors all as-
pire to the throne, and hence arise a
series of wars. This work, on account
of its military bearing, is popular
among the princes and nobles, and
many of whom, it is said, after finishing
the labors of the day have their ser-
vants read to them at night. What
Jomini is to the European world, Sam-
koke is to the Siamese. We don't
know however that it possesses any
peculiar literary value. They have al-
so what they call Rachatirat,—a his-
tory of Pegu.

Also a number of Medical, and As-
trological works. There laws too
have been printed by the Proprietor of
the Bangkok Recorder, and when
bound up in European style, form two
respectable octavo volumes.

By far the greatest part of their
works, are plays or Lacon books.
These are the most popular among
the common people. They are most-
ly written in a kind of verse, and
some of them are decidedly vulgar.
Although the Siamese are naturally
poetical, and can spin love rhymes by
the yard, yet they have no poetical
works of any merit.

Add to those already mentioned
their religious books, which are le-
gion, and we have the principle part
of the literature of Siam.

LOCAL.

We are much gratified in announcing
to our readers that the American
Steam-screw-frigate Shenandoah may
be expected to arrive here daily.

We also understand that in future,
American Men-of-war will make fre-
quent visits to these waters, and in the
course of six months, it is expected,
that Admiral Bell, the commander-in-

chief of the East India squadron, will
pay his respects to the Siamese Go-
vernment in the Flag ship Hartford,
accompanied by other ships of the
squadron.

This certainly is good news as the
frequent arrivals of American national
vessels-of-war will tend to enlighten
this government in regard to the posi-
tion of the United States, or at least it
will give them to understand that such
a nation does really exist.

We have again to inform our
readers that the Editor of the Recorder
left his residence in this city for Pet-
chabureo at 10 A.M. on Tuesday the
17th inst and expects to return before
the next issue of the paper.

A Card.

M. ARNAL DUCLOS, French Baker
at Santa Cruz, desires hereby to apolo-
gize to his patrons, for the dark colour
of the bread he has lately been sending
to them. He would assure them that
the bread is made of unadulturated
wheaten flour, faulty chiefly for its
dark complexion—-that it is the best
he can at present procure, and that as
soon as a winter quality can be obtain-
ed he will send them better bread.

The young Prince Chow Fa, heir
apparent to the throne of Siam, was
inducted into the Buddhist priesthood
with appropriate ceremonies on, Wed-
nesday and Thursday of this week.
A number of the European community
were present.

Died.

On the morning of the 17th inst.
PHYA P'HAI SONGKRAM, of dysentery,
aged 44 years.

The deceased was a son of Som-
detch Ong Yai, and half-brother to
their Excellencies the Prime Minister
and the Praklang. His office was that
of a Military commander of the front
rank, under the second King.

THE CHOLERA.—-HALL’S JOURNAL OF
HEALTH gives the following suggestions
which, if properly observed, will do much
toward making the scourge of cholera
which threatens to attack us next summer,
much lighter than it otherwise would be.

1st. Every householder owes it to him-
self, to his family, to his neighbors, to
the community in which he resides, to
have his house, from cellar to garret,
from the street curb to the rear line of
his lot, most scrupuously cleansed, by
sweeping, washing and white-washing.

2d. Every man who has any authority
in city or town government should con-
sider himself bound by the oath of office,
and by every consideration of humanity,
to give himself no rest until every street,
alley, close gutter and sewer is placed in
a state of as perfect cleanliness as pos-
sible, and kept so until the frosts of next
summer come.

3d. These cleanings should be done
now in February and March, because, if
put off till warm weather, the very effort
necessary for the removal of filth, will only
tend, in the essential nature of things, to
hasten the appearance of the disease, to
increase its malignity and to extend the
time of its devastations.—-Lo. Co. Nurs.

WHAT OF THE PRESIDENT'S VETO?

There is a man now in Washington who,
when President Buchanan vetoed the
Homestead bill, made a terrible speech
against that veto, and said:

"I have always a great respect for a
man who fills the place of the President
of the United States, irrespective of party,
and it would be very natural for me to
have more respect for a President of my
own party than for any one of opposite
politics. But does the fact of the Pre-
sident's speaking change the nature and
character of great principles and truths?
Does it make wrong right, or right wrong?
If there is a great fundamental principle
in this measure, connected with govern-
ment and the great cause of humanity,
the fact that he withholds his signature
does not change my opinion; but if there
were forty Presidents, with forty assis-
tants, to write out vetoes, I would stand
by this bill, and give it the sanction of
my vote and support.

"I am constrained to say that I look
upon this objection to the bill as a mere
quibble on the part of the President, as
being hard-pressed for some excuse in
withholding his approval of the measure:
and his allusion to foreigners in this con-
nection looks more like the AD CAPTANDUM
of the more politician and demagogue
than a grave and sound reason to be of-
fered by the President of the United
States in a veto message."

So spake Andrew Johnson, in the Senate
of the United States, against a veto by a
President of his own party! The speech,
like a fly in amber, is preserved in the
CONGRESSIONAL GLOBE of June 22, 1860.
Now, if "the President's speaking" did
not avail to "change the nature and
character of great principles and truths"
in 1860, can it do so in 1866?—-N. Y.
INDEPENDENT.

African Fashions.

Dr. Livingstone, in his recently publish-
ed account of his voyage up the great river
of Eastern Africa, says the sister of one of
the chiefs wore eighteen solid brass rings,
as thick as one's finger, on each leg, and
a toe of copper under each knee; nineteen
brass rings on her left arm, and eight of
brass and copper on her right; also a large
ivory ring above each elbow, or seventy-
one rings in all. She had a pretty bead
neck-lace, and a bead sash encircled her
Waist. The weight of the brass rings
around her legs impeded her walking and
chafed her ankles, but as it was the fashion
she did not mind the inconvenience, and
guarded against the pain by putting soft rag
round the lower rings.
So much for fashion.

Your Mother is Praying for
You.

Early one evening S.—-said to his
mother, "Mother, I expect to be absent
this evening until perhaps a late hour. I
have made an engagement, with other
young friends, to attend a ball this even-
ing; and notwithstanding your strong
prejudice against that kind of amuse-
ment, I really hope, mother, in this case
you will not object to my wishes. I shall
aim to keep within the bounds of be-
coming respect for myself and others,
and you well know it would greatly mar
my anticipated pleasure to feel that you
were opposed to my being gratified."

This appeal to his kind mother called
forth an answer worthy to be imitated by
all mothers who love and pray for the
salvation of their children:-—"My son,
long have I prayed that you might be-
come a Christian, and thus be happy
yourself, and a blessing and comfort to
me as my sun goes down, and my spirit
passes to its final home ; but I fear that
I must lie down and die without receiv-
ing an answer to my many prayers for
you. If so, I must leave you in the
hands of God. As to that engagement
for this evening, I have only to say that
you well know my wishes, and you are
old enough to judge correctly as to what
is right or wrong in the sight of God,
who will bring you and me into judg-
ment; and now as you go to meet your
engagement, remember, my child, when
amid that gay circle and in the merry
dance, that YOUR MOTHER IS AT HOME
PRAYING FOR HER ONLY SON, that he may
be turned from these fleeting vanities of
time, to seek those things that are eternal
in heaven." As he entered the place of
amusement, he rallied his youthful man-
hood to meet his companions with cheer-
fulness, but every countenance in the
gay circle seemed to say to him, "S—-,"
your mother is at home praying for you."
Even the music of the dance seemed to
echo, "Your mother is at home praying
for you."

Overwhelmed with these feelings, he
suddenly took leave of his companions,
and hastened to his home. As he was
about entering, he heard her well-known
voice pleading before God for herself as
a lonely widow, and for the salvation of
her dear son. Almost instinctively he
opened the door, rushed in, and threw
his arms around his mother, exclaiming,
"Dear mother, pray on for my poor soul.
I am sinking in despair. Lord, save or I
perish !"

It was not long ere that son was led
by faith to lay hold on Christ.—-Preist

Fashionable Dances.

We extract from the ATLANTIC
MONTHLY the following paragraphs. The
strictures of the writer are none too
severe :

What a glaring inconsistency is there
manifested in the toleration at one time
of postures which, under any other cir-
cumstances, would blast a reputation!
No pure woman would suffer a man to
retain her hand in his, much less to encir-
cle her with his arm, in the ordinary re-
lations of social life; and yet, as the bid-
ding of fashion, and because the addi-
tional stimulus of music is superadded,
she will not only permit these liberties,
but will remain willingly strained to his
breast for a quarter of an hour at a time,
publicly exhibiting herself in a position
which in itself she virtuously condemns.

Favors which would properly be de-
nied to the most favorable of her ac-
quaintances off the dancing floor are
there accorded freely even to a notorious
libertine, for no guarantee is required
from those to whom fashion intrusts the
persons of her female devotees, further
than proficiency in an art chiefly acquired
by young men through association with
the most degraded of the other sex—all
mental or moral disqualifications being
condoned by the single merit of dancing
well.

Many a young girl who intuitively
shrinks from the endearments innocently
proffered by her affianced lover, unthink-
ingly subjects herself to the contamina-
ting embrace and irreverent comment of
debauched witlings, whose every thought
is a concealed insult. Not that we would
imply a sweeping censure upon the male
portion of the community; for many—-
perhaps most—-are gentlemen, and as
such, incapable of harboring an idea re-
pugnant to female purity.

But in so composite a society as ours
some evil characters are inevitably intro-
duced; and, even of those whose ante-
cedents and position should vouch for their
refinement, there are many whose coarse
tastes and dissipated courses render their
contact with virtuous women almost a
sacrilege.—-Lo. Co. News.

Studies in Parliament.

As Lord Stanley waxes in impor-
tance in the House, Mr. Disraeli can-
not but wane. Both, indeed, are alike
in one thing-—the perfect and singu-
lar coldness of their intelligence. But
Lord Stanley’s intelligence is in the cold
sense of a man of business, which
measures everything by a clear and
visible standard ; Mr. Disraeli’s is the
cold, superficial insight of a sprite
which throws a fitful, will-of-the-wisp-
like gleam on everything, and is bet-
ter content with producing a pictur-
esque illusion than discovering a stu-
pid truth. There is no man who has
discovered so many marcs’-nests in
history as Mr. Disraeli-—the sort of
generalizations which, when we re-
member them suddenly in solitude,
make us laugh aloud to ourselves with-
out even the stimulus of sympathy.
When Mr. Disraeli brought in his In-
dia Bill No. 2 in 1858, with that won-
derful provision (due, no doubt, to
some such historical generalization of
his own) directing that a certain num-
ber of the Indian Councillors should
be elected by the political constitu-
encies of five great commercial towns
—-Belfast, Glasgow, Liverpool, Man-
chester, and Birmingham—-Lord Pal-
merston said in the House that when-
ever a man met a friend in the street
he found him in an uncontrollable fit of
laughter, and as soon as he was able
to speak and explain himself, it was
always found that he was laughing at
India Bill No. 2. Well, that is how
we laugh privately if something sud-
denly brings to mind one of Mr. Dis-
raeli’s favourite historical generaliza-
tions—say, for instance, the statement
that Charles I., in breaking with his
Parliament on tonnage and poundage,
became “the holocaust of direct taxa-
tion.” No man ever had such a won-
derful faculty for false generalizations,
for constructing a wide and novel the-
ory on the basis of a hundredth part
of a fact—in short, for what used to
be expressively called clever “viewi-
ness.” Now a “viewy” man is not a
man to lead the Conservative party.
We can only wonder he has been tol-
erated by them so long. Mr. Disrae-
li is a “stranger upon earth,”-—assur-
edly at least on this part of it; and in-
deed his intellect is not one to find a
home anywhere, is not so organized as
to draw up its sap and nutriment
through fixed roots at all. His liter-
ary impressions are quick, bright, and
picturesque, like a stranger’s impres-
sion of a new land. He notices much
that few native intellects would notice,
just because he is quite unable to take
for granted what all native intellects
would take for granted. His assump-
tions are not those of the English or
any other people—the Semetic includ-
ed. Probably there is nothing that
we can strictly call moral assumption
in Mr. Disraeli’s mind at all. His in-
tellect is like a cut flower stuck in the
earth, and yet, such as it is, it does not
fade, though fed from no root.”

LORD CRANBORNE.

There is no better debater in the
House than Lord Cranborne. He re-
ceives the arguments of his opponents
on a hard and perfectly inelastic men-
tal surface, so that they seem to drop
down like dead weights from the
shield of his impassive scepticism. A
perfect self-possession, a studiously
common place tone in both speech and
action-—he stands well out on the floor
of the House in an attitude of charac-
teristic solidity, and with exactly as
much composure as if he were talking
to the Speaker on his own hearthrug,
with his hands clasped behind him—-
an incredulous scornfulness, which is
not quite a sneering manner, held al-
ways in readiness for interpolated ex-
planations, a true man of the world's
disposition to believe that, of alterna-
tive theories of his opponents' actions,
the worse is always the more likely to
be the true one, an adroitness in deduc-
ing homely inference from admitted
facts, a vigilant eye for the critical
point of a discussion, and a keen party
feeling, are qualities which make Lord
Cranborne most telling and dangerous
in reply. He has not, like Lord Stan-
ley, a judicial intellect, for he is far
too much imbued with party feeling
and strong class-prejudices; but of all
the men of his party, Lord Cranborne
is probably the one who is best able
to select-—we will not say either the
most telling, or the most ingenious
arguments (for the stupider Conserva-
tives are often more telling), and Mr.

Disraeli is far more ingenious,) but
certainly the least vulnerable argu-
ments against a proposed reform,
though he is seldom effective in de-
fence of the threatened abuse.-—The
Friend of India.

Carlyle at Edinburgh.—-Mr
Conway. in a letter to the Common-
wealth, gives us this picture of the
great Scotchman, as he appeared during
the delivery of his address before the
faculty and students of Edinburgh Uni-
versity :

“When Mr. Carlyle made his appear-
ance, the cheers with which he was greet-
ed, in repeated long surges, were calcul-
ated to amuse one who remembered those
old denunciations of ‘tremendous cheers.’
Carlyle seemed, indeed, rather astounded,
and I am sure was asking himself, ‘Have
I done anything wrong, that I am re-
ceiving these plaudits?’ He stood for
a while, as if in wonder; and he was a
royal-looking man. He had on the Uni-
versity’s Lord-Rector’s robes, with deep
and wide sleeves of rich crimson velvet,
and it was amazing how he became them.
Above them was the face, full of grim
humor and of silent force, of the nine-
teenth century John Knox. It was an
impressive scene. Scotland’s leading uni-
versity crowning Scotland’s greatest liv-
ing son! The youth of nineteen, who,
with flaming eye and words full of feel-
ing, presented to the Vice-Chancellor, as
the elect of his fellow-students, ‘the
greatest living Scotchman,’ who, over
fifty years before, had left their halls,
seemed to touch Carlyle with every word,
and he arose and bowed solemnly and low
to the young man. He then threw off the
fine robes which were put on him to be
spoken, with a gravity which sent the
ripple of a smile around, and coming for-
ward, began the wonderful address. I
have never listened to an address of
which so much was lost by being put up-
on paper. You will see the good hits,
the wise sayings, the reporter’s notes of
‘applause and laughter;’ but you cannot
get the eloquent blood flaming up the
man’s cheek, the depth of feeling in his
kindled eye, the impressive tenderness of
his voice, and the drolleries which came
out! Without the least action of arm,
or hand, or body, standing motionless,
there was a whole dramatic company re-
presented in his tones and the expressions
of his face. His humor played along
every lineament of his face, like sheet-
lightning, then gathered itself anon into
bolts, and struck around us with great
crashes.”—-N. Y. INDEPENDENT.

How People Take Cold.

The prevalence of colds has again
induced the query so often agitated as
to the immediate cause of the "cold
in the head" "the cold in the throat."

A gentleman who endeavored to trace
the cause of his cold, came to the con-
clusion that he caught it going to bed
in his bare feet. The real cause of
many colds may be attributed to the
long talks which people indulge in
on the corner of the streets. One
of Boston's most celebrated physicians
now an octogenarian, when stopped in
the street invariably remarks: "I will
talk if you will walk." This should
be a hint to button-holding friends.

Under Your Hat.

In this country every man of sound
mind is a capitalist. You, Sir Reader
of the thread-bare coat, and vacuous
wallet deny it utterly. You insist that
your brain is healthy and well furnish-
ed, but intimate with a sneer that if any
conjurer will make discovery of your
capital, you will doff your capless hat
to him, and be his to command for
evermore. Sir, put on your rusty bear-
or, and we will tell you where your
capital is Right under it. We will
suppose there is common sense, a fair
stock of worldly knowledge, and plen-
ty of energy within the circle of felt
that you have just crowned yourself
withal. That's capital—" working
capital" of the best kind,

If you don't think so, you are over
modest and the sooner you get rid of
your diffidence the better for you and
yours. Why, man, such a head is
better than the philosopher's stone. It
is an engine only requiring to be set
at work, to procure you all the com-
forts and enjoyments that a rational
being can desire.

As to wealth—-its elements are lying
in their crude state on every side of
you, and only require persevering
manipulation to convert them into the
circulating medium. Indigent! With
brains and health you have no right
to be indigent in a country whose
magnificent resources are out of all
proportion to the number of heads
and hands there are to develop them.
Fifty roads are open to you. Take
the one suits you best and push ahead.
But you must push not loiter. Take
this piece of homely advice, and our
word for it, your coat hereafter shall
be of glossy broadcloth with all acces-
sories to match, don't lean on friends,
don't borrow, don't wait for dead
men's shoes, don't tarry for something
to turn up, or ten to one it will be the
world's nose at your lack of pluck and
industry. Employ the capital under
your hat. Work it wisely, honestly,
resolvedly, and the returns are sure to
be satisfactory.-—Exchange.

The Devil Right.

Dr. H-—, who is pastor of an orthodox
church, had been for some time annoyed
by the forwardness of a lay-brother to
“speak” whenever an opportunity was
offered, to the frequent exclusion of those
whose remarks had a greater tendency to
edification. This had been carried so far
that the pastor, whenever he stated that
an “opportunity would be offered for
any brother to give an exhortation,” had
always a secret dread of the loquacious
member.

On one special occasion, the latter
prefaced a prosy, incoherent harangue
with an account of a controversy he had
been carrying on with the great adver-
sary. “My friends,” said he, “the devil
and I have been fighting for more than
twenty minutes. He told me not to
speak to-night, but I determined I would.
He said some of the rest could speak
better than I, but still I felt that I could
not keep silent. He even whispered that
I spoke too often, and that nobody want-
ed to hear me; but I was not to be put
down that way—and now I have gained
the victory, I must tell you all that is in
my heart.” Then followed the tedious
harangue aforesaid.

As they were coming out of the ses-
sion-room, the good pastor inclined his
head so that his mouth approached the
ear of the militant member, and whisper-
ed, “Brother, I THINK THE DEVIL WAS
RIGHT!”—-PRESBYTERIAN.

Comfort after Loss.

On the 10th of last February a young
missionary, Charles H. Lloyd, died at
Umvoti Station, in South Africa. He
was thirty-two years old. He had been
on his field barely two years. It seemed
strange to call him away so soon. After
it was settled that he was to die, he said
to his fellow-labourer—-"Do you remem-
ber, Mr. Grout, that there is a little tree
standing about thirty feet from the door
of your new chapel? Bury me there.
Mrs. Lloyd will inclose the spot. Your
congregation will see it as they pass.
They will remember that the dead man
came to preach to them." The request
was complied with. All about the village,
by the river bank, and in the fields, the
little natives could be heard ringing the
songs Mr. Lloyd had taught them during
his brief stay. And what did Mrs. Lloyd
do? Did she sit down and wring her
hands, and nurse her grief? Let us see.
On July 10th, Mr. Grout wrote from
Umvoti:—-"Yesterday was one of our
bright days." It was bright, because
thirteen new members were added to the
little church. And among the occasions
of this increase, he mentions this:—-
"Since the death of Mr. Lloyd, Mrs.
Lloyd has taken hold of our work with
both her hands. I attribute, in good
part, to her labours the result. Her pra-
yers and labours have been literally "in
season, and out of season.""—-Priest

Purity of Character

Over the beauty of the plum and a-
pricot, there grows a bloom and beauty
more exquisite than the fruit itself—a
soft delicate flush that overspreads its
blushing cheek. Now if you strike your
hand over that and it is once gone, it is
gone forever, for it never grows but once.
The flower that hangs in the morning,
impearled with dew—-arrayed as no
queenly woman ever was arrayed with
jewels—-once shake it, so that the beads
roll off, and you may sprinkle water over
it as you please, yet it never can be made
again what it was when the dew fell
silently upon it from heaven! On a
frosty morning you may see the panes of
glass covered with landscapes, mountains,
lakes and trees, blended in a beautiful
fantastic picture. Now lay your hand
upon the glass, and by the scratch of
your finger, or by the warmth of the palm,
all the delicate tracery will be obliterated.
So there is in youth a beauty and purity
of character, which when once touched
and defiled' can never be restored a
fringe more delicate than frostwork, and
which when torn and broken, will never
be re-embroidered. A man who has spot-
ted and soiled his garments in youth,
though he may seek to make them white
again, can never wholly do it, even were
he to wash them with his tears. When
a young man leaves his father's house
with the blessing of his mother's tears
still wet upon his forehead, if he
once looses that early purity of charac-
ter, it is a loss that he never can make
whole again. Such is the consequence
of crime. Its effects cannot be eradicated;
it can only be forgiven—HENRY WARD
BEECHER.

The Art of Being Polite.

First and foremost don't try to be
polite, it will spoil all. If you keep over-
whelming your guests with ostentatious
entreaties to make themselves at home,
they will begin to wish they were there.
Let them find out that you are happy to
see them by your actions rather than
words. Always remember to let bashful
people alone at first. It is the only way
to set them at their ease.-—Trying to draw
them out has sometimes the contrary
effect of driving them out—of the house!
Leading the conversation is a dangerous
experiment. Better follow in its wake,
and if you want to endear yourself to
talkers, learn to listen well. Never make
a fuss about anything—-never talk about
yourself—-always preserve perfect com-
posure, no matter what solecisms or blun-
ders others may commit. Remember
that it is a foolish proceeding to lament
that you cannot afford to your guests a
better house, or furniture or viands. It
is fair to presume that the visit is to you,
and not to these surroundings. Give
people a pleasant impression of themsel-
ves, and they will be pretty sure to go
away with a pleasant impression of your
qualities. On just such slender wheels as
these the whole fabric of society turns;
it is your business, then, to keep them in
revolving order.-—Lo. Co. News.

How to Control the
Lower Nature.

"The true art of moral culture is to
balance extravagant tendencies by quick-
ening those which are languid. Growth
is a safer means of producing harmony
than repression." How often have I felt-
and said this! You cannot descend to the
regions of the lower nature, and wrestle
with success there. You must go above
and fight them as Perseus fought the
dragon that would have destroyed And-
romeda, on wings in the air. The lower
is subdued, - not by repression, but by
making it simply an instrument of the
higher. No fasting, for instance, will
make the soul pure; but a noble attach-
ment will keep all base feelings in check,
and ennoble them. By the by, that is a
better remedy than Cato's; that was the
very essence of St. Paul's system; that
was the gospel according to him. Not
repression, coercion, law—that only pro-
duces dreadful conflict. "Ye cannot do
the things ye would."—"Walk in the
spirit," - the higher life of loftier motiv-
es—"and then ye will not fulfill the lusts
of the flesh;" and that is true, particular-
ly, as well as generally. No courtmartial
or provost marshal's could[?] would stop
thieving in a regiment or make a coward
brave; but an esprit de corps and honor
have done it again and again.—ROBERT-
SON'S LIFE AND LETTERS.

Natural Eloquence.

Says a clergyman:—-"At an early stage
of my ministry, I spent some time in the
low country of South Carolina in mission-
ary service. Most of the negroes in the
region where I lived were very ignorant,
and as vicious as ignorant; for there is a
natural affinity between ignorance and
vice. But there were some striking excep-
tions; some who were evidently 'taught of
God.' Being ignorant of the technical
language of the Scripture, 'they spake as
the Spirit gave them utterance.' Such a
one I overtook when riding some forty
miles to exchange with my nearest brother.
After remarking upon the weather, a stand-
ing topic, I introduced the subject of relig-
ion, and as death was a matter of common
interest, I spoke of the importance of being
prepared to die. 'Yes, massa, when the
wicked man come to die, then he be scar'd;
he groan like a cow, he hollow like a bull;
his eyes stick out like two coal fire; but
when the Christian come to die, he ain't
scar'd at all—just like snuff of candle gone
out.'

"With this power of illustration, what
an impressive preacher this poor slave, so
rich with wealth earth cannot give, might
have become if suitably educated for the
ministry."—-PRESBYTERIAN.

THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE was read in
China forty-three days after it was read
in Washington. It was telegraphed from
Washington to San Francisco, and carri-
ed thence to China by a sailing vessel,
that made the remarkably quick passage
of forty days

ANOTHER POINT OF DIFFERENCE.-—The
President has recently ordered the remo-
val of a prominent Postmaster in Indiana,
who refuses to abdicate until his succes-
sor has been confirmed by the Senate.
That body will probably not do so, and
if not done the Johnson appointee will
appeal to the United States Court to put
him in the place; and the question will
then be settled, whether the President
possesses the right to remove an office-
holder and put another in his place with-
out the consent of the Senate, while that
body is in session.

THE SUBMARINE TELEGRAPHIC cable
connecting Vancouver's Island, in the
Pacific, with the mainland, was completed
last week, and found to work success-
fully. The event was celebrated with much
enthusiasm in the island, and in Oregon
and British America.

UNITED STATES BONDS—-The confi-
dence of Europeans in them has been gain-
ing so rapidly that now they even prefer
these securities in preference to their own
At home, the supply of Gold-Bearing
Bonds is very limited, and it is with difficul-
ty that large orders can be filled. It is,
therefore, predicted that with an easy
money market United States securities
will soon advance to a point beyond the
highest yet reached, which was 114, early
in 1864. Should foreigners continue to
hold our Bonds as they have in the past
a heavy rise must inevitably take place,
but, should large quantities return, they
would create a check to any further ad-
vance. It is a gratifying fact that one
year from the close of our civil strife we
are able to state, that in a financial panic
abroad United States securities ONLY
have remained firm, while all other Na-
tional Bonds have fallen heavily, some,
in fact, lower than at any time since the
Crimean War.

REVENGE.—-A story is told of the re-
venge taken by a Nantucket ship-master
against a United States Consul, who was
very rarely found in his office, although
upon his sign were these words, “In from
ten to one.” The indignant captain, after
trying to find the consul several days with-
out success, took a paint brush and alter-
ed the official’s sign, so that it read, “TEN
TO ONE that he is not in.”

GENUINE ELOQUENCE.—-There are no
people in the world with whom eloquence
is so universal as with the Irish. When
Leigh Ritchie was traveling in Ireland,
he passed a man who was a painful spec-
tacle of pallor, squalor, and raggedness.
His heart smote him, and he turned back.

“If you are in want,” said Ritchie
“why don’t you beg?”

“Surely, it’s begging I am, yer honor.”

“You didn’t say a word.”

“Of course not, yer honor, but see
how the skin is spakin’ through the trow-
sers! and the bones cryin’ out through
me skin! Look at me sunken cheeks, and
the famine that’s starin’ in me eyes! Man
alive, isn’t it beggin’ I am with a thous-
and tongues?”

WANTS THE “SIDEBOARDS” ALSO.—
The editor of the ROME (N. Y.) CITIZEN
recently had a wheel-barrow stolen. He
intimated in the next issue of his paper
that the thief had better come after the
sides, since they were no longer of use.

The next day the following note was
sent to the office :

“Mister Sanford deer ser i seen a no-
tis in yure Paper That sumboddy Stole
yure Whelebarrow i Kuwwed that be
Fore i seen it in the paper you sed That
if The Man what Had it did not want to
fetch it Back you would let him have
The side Boards if you will leave side
Boards right in frunt of the flower and
food store to Morrow nite I will caul and
git them and mutch obligd the wheel was
Brok But i got it fixt i pade 2 shillin to
git it fixt could you leve a 25 cent stamp
With the side Boards where I can find it
i shell Want the Bords by frida morning
fur i want to wheel some gravvle.
yures Trueley.”

THE HOLY FATHER.-—The French Legi-
timist UNION gives the text of the reply
made by the Pope the other day to an ad-
dress presented to him in the name of a
vast number of strangers now sojourning
in Rome. What above all struck his hear-
ers, it is reported, on this occasion, was the
“majestie rebuke” delivered by the Pope
to those “Catholies, whether lay or eccle-
siastic,” who have the pretension to offer
him advice, or show him the path he ought
to pursue. “I alone,” he said to such,
“despite my unworthiness, am the succes-
sor of the Apostles, the Vicar of Jesus
Christ; I alone have the mission to guide
and direct the barque of Peter; I am the
way, the truth, and the life. They who
are with me are with the Church; they
who are not with me are out of the Church
—they are out of the way, the truth, and
the life. Let men well understand this,
that they be not deceived or led astray by
any DISSANT Catholies, who desire and teach
something quite different from what the
Head of the Church desires and teaches.”
The Pope, it is added, was “full of dignity
and grandeur” when he pronounced these
words.—-WEEKLY SCOTSMAN.

Rothschild and Girard.

The insufficiency of mere wealth alone
to confer happiness is strikingly illus-
trated in the Life of Nathan Myers Roth-
schild, the Jew, who died in London some
thirty or forty years ago, one of the most
devoted worshippers that ever laid a
withered soul on the altar of Mammon.
For years he wielded the purse of the
world, opening and closing it to kings
and Emperors as he listed; and, upon
certain occasions, was supposed to have
more influence in Great Britian than the
proudest and wealthiest of its nobles—
perhaps more influence than the houses
of Parliament taken together. He once
purchased bills of the government, in a
single day, to the amount of $20,000,000;
and with the profits of a single loan, pur-
chased an estate at the cost of $750,000.
Yet, with all his colossal wealth, he was a
miserable man, and, with sorrowful earn-
estness, once exclaimed to a gentleman
who was congratulating him on the gor-
geous magnificence of his palatial man-
sion, and thence inferring that he was
happy:

“Happy! me happy!”

The late Stephen Girard, when sur-
rounded by immense wealth, and suppos-
ed to be taking supreme delight in his
accumulation, wrote thus to a friend:

“As to myself, I live like a galley slave,
constantly occupied, and often passing
the night without sleeping. I am wrap-
ped in a labyrinth of affairs, and worn
out with care. I do not value fortune.
The love of labor is my highest emotion.
When I rise in the morning, my only ef-
fort is to labor so hard during the day
that, when night comes, I may be enabled
to sleep soundly.”

Dangerous Guides.

It is a sad truth, and one to be heeded,
that the women who to-day ordain the
prevailing mode in Paris, are not the wo-
men whom it is sweet or wise to imitate.
To them we owe that bizarre and sense-
less display of the last few months ; the
taste for morocco and ugly ornaments ; the
use of tinsels, cameos and bullion ; the
tendency to extravagant and foolish out-
lay. It is women who can attract and
keep the attention of men only through
continual surprises of daring toilettes—-
women without the sweetest womanliness
and grace of culture—-graduates of a
school, by no means pure—-who study
dress as a bad means to a worse end—-
who are devising the pronounced styles
and OUTRÉ shapes at which our belles to-
day demurre, though certain to-morrow
to accept them.

In these days, when hotels and steam-
boats display such miracles of upholstery
and decoration as private fortunes cannot
compass ; when those accessories of wealth
whose only value is the ease and culture
they bring, are flaunted by vulgar people
as an offensive ostentation ; when elabor-
ate and costly dress is the armor and the
badge of a class of women who are mer-
cenary, vain, frivolous, and unwomanly,
do these possessions seem things eagerly
to be desired ? Reflect whether a man
may toil for gold, year after year, and
not lose something of his manliness ;
whether a woman may give her time, and
thought, and care to dress, and visiting,
and the pretentious ordering of her
household, and not lose something of her
womanliness. And when you have re-
flected, buy the muslin instead of the silk
and the grenadine, put the money saved
into United States securities, or make any
other wise use of it, and be happy.—-TRI-
BUNE.

Thrive Slowly.

It is dangerous for a man to grow rich
and strong faster than he grows good.
I do not think it is wise to grow rich too
fast, at any rate. I do not mean to say
there may not be men of such stature
that they can grow rich rapidly without
being hurt by their riches; but generally
God makes the road to wealth one of
care, so that the process is one of educa-
tion, and so that, when a man has attained
his competence, he has gone through that
which is a strengthener, a patience, and
which prevents his being much injured
by it. But when men come into the pos-
session of wealth without having earned it,
it are apt to be injured by it, be-
cause they have not received that educa-
tion which is necessary to enable them to
administer it properly.—BEECHER.

The Creator Still at work.

Prof. Clark, of Harvard College, has
written a book entitled, Mind in Nature,
in which he claims that the processes of
creation are going on as really as “in the
beginning.”

He regards law as the only ordinary
mode of action of the Father of life, who
he believes not only created all organized
beings at the first, but repeats the act of
creation from time to time as conditions
require. All living beings, he tells us,
are composed of carbon, hydrogen, oxy-
gen and nitrogen combined not in accord-
ance with chemical affinities, but with a
vital affinity or principle of life which is
the direct gift of God. The simplest
forms of animal life are not chemically
distinguishable from a drop of gum or
starch, yet they not only take in food but
enjoy the power of voluntary motion.
They perish in a heat less than that of
boiling water, and yet have been repro-
duced abundantly in flasks of beef juice,
dissolved gelatine and sugar, long heated
to the boiling point, and deprived of all
air which has not been thoroughly burn-
ed by passing slowly over red hot iron.
The flasks are closely sealed and in a few
days living organisms are invariably de-
veloped, a repetition of the act of crea-
tion in our own time and under our own
eyes. Still as of old "in the beginning,"
on the very threshold of life, "the spirit
of God moves upon the face of the wa-
ters." Mr. Clark alludes to the fact that
"when a pond or stream or a whole tract
of country dries up, as oftentimes happen
in the summer months, as a natural conse-
quence all the animals and plants in it
which are dependent upon water for their
existence, die for want of their natural
element; but when the rains of autumn
have refilled these streams and ponds, the
aquatic animals appear again," and this
in numbers and with a rapidity for which
no lingering eggs or germs can reasonably
account.

EXCITING SCENE AT A MENAGERIE.

While Wombwell's Menagerie was
being exhibited at Stirling, D'Avey, the
lion hunter, entered the den with the
performing group of lions, when he
was placed in rather an alarming posi-
tion by one of the lionesses suddenly
turning round upon him, and seizing
him by the left leg. D'Avey, with
great presence of mind, seized his rifle,
and brought it down with full force
upon the lioness's head, breaking the
stock of the rifle in two, and freeing
himself from the grasp of the lioness.

At the next performance, the lion hun-
ter again entered the den, when the
lioness immediately flew at him a second
time. D'Avey was well prepared for
her, being armed with a heavy stick,
when a severe struggle ensued as to
who was to be the master, the lioness
repeatedly flying at D'Avey, and he
meeting each charge and driving her
back, until she finally settled down in
a corner completely cowed and sub-
dued. The fight lasted several minutes,
and caused a good deal of excitement
in the menagerie, which was densely
crowded at the time. D'Avey escaped
with no further injury than a slight
flesh wound and a torn dress.—-

Odds and Ends.

—-Somebody describes a dinner party
as “a hospitable attempt upon your
life.”

-—He who lives for himself alone
lives for a mean fellow.

-—Why does a duck lift up its head
under water? Answer—For divers
reasons.

-—Lay by a good store of patience,
but put it where you can find it.

-—The three degrees of comparison
in mining-—Mine—-miner-—minus.

-—It is exceedingly bad husbandry
to harrow up the feelings of your wife.

-—That sincerity which is not Char-
itable proceeds from a charity which
is not sincere.

—-Why is President Johnson like
Chimborazo? Because he’s the great-
est of all the Andes.

-—Be true to your friend; never
speak of his faults to show your own
discrimination.

-—There are three things in this
world that deserve no quarter,—hypo-
crisy, pharisaism, and tyranny.

-—Dr. Chapin says: “The cause
that never made a fanatic never pro-
duced a martyr.”

-—How to become “small by de-
grees.” Get dubbed D. D. or L. L.
D., by some University.

-—If the memory is weak, do not
overload it, nor fill it with fooleries;
charge it only with useful matter.

-—We may be right or wrong in our
choice of a hero, but the enthusiasm
which takes us out of ourselves, and
costs us something must do us good.

-—A westerner describing a gale of
wind, says “a white dog while attempt-
ing to weather the gale, was caught
with mouth wide open, and turned
completely inside out.

A young lady explained to a print-
er her idea of the distinction between
printing and publishing, thus: “You
may print a kiss upon my cheek but,
you mustn’t publish it.” The young
man immediately signified his un-
derstanding by giving her a smack on
the lips which startled every one in
the neighborhood, and showed that
printing and publishing are very
nearly synonymous terms.

Correction.

In the Tide Table of the Bang-
kok Calendar for 1866, in May,
June, August and October, for
High read Low, and for Low read
High.