The Bangkok Recorder.

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Closing notice of Karens.

The previous notice of the Rev. Dr. Mason's pamphlet relating to the peculiar views entertained by the Karen people on various subjects, ended with the story of the Magic Ring, which had been cut out of the head of a Crocodile, by the express wish of that animal.

There were Giants in those days before the Flood, and the Karens believe that there are supernatural beings even in this day with whom they have to contend. They are men-eating giants. "The elders say, remarks Dr. Mason, that a little girl went down to the brook to draw water in the usual Karen bucket made of a joint of a large bamboo. When she laid it on the surface of the stream to fill with water, it escaped from her hands and floated away. She ran after it down the bank till she reached a dam, which proved to be the dam of a giant. Soon after her arrival the giant came down to fish and was about to devour her, but she told her artless story, and the giant spared and took her up to his house. Here they were met by the giantess, who congratulated her husband on having picked up so nice a morsel for their dinner. However the old giant protected the child and she be- came their adopted daughter."

Among the Karens it is a friendly act to examine one another's beads for ver- min. In performing that act for the giantess, the little girl found her head full of green snakes and centipedes. It be- came necessary to get an axe to destroy them. While living in the giant's family the little girl made a discovery that there were two baskets in the house, one was filled with gold and silver, the other with human skulls, the owners of which had been eaten by the giant and giantess.

The girl got leave to return home, and when she was going, she asked to have a basket to take with her. Of course she took the one with the gold and silver in it. On reaching home, the fame of her gold and silver brought all her friends around her, to each of whom she give a full bowl. Among those who received a bowl of silver and gold, there was a dis- satisfied young man, who coveted more. He went to the giants house and was al- lowed to stay with them. After a time he, too, wished to leave and thought of taking away a basket of gold and silver. He got hold of the wrong basket which contained the skulls. The giant followed him and then eat him up.

Omens. The Karens believe in Omens, and when unpropitious they desist from any undertaking. The Romans were simi-

early superstitions. A snake crossing a path, a woodpecker tapping, the falling of the branch of a tree, the bleating of a barking deer are all omens which must be respected. Sickness comes because omens are not heeded, and the neglect requires the sacrifice of a dog, which is killed as an atonement. After being flung three times backwards and forward the dog is then cooked and eaten.

SOOTHSAYING. The wrath of unseen spirits is appeased through soothsayers, who make offerings to get the evil one to depart.

NECROMANCERS, are a superior class to the soothsayers. They profess to have eyes to see invisible spirits. They can call up the spirits of the dead from Hades and converse with them.

A necromancer was once invoked to bring back the two daughters of a widow, both of whom died from ill usage. He spoke to them both in Hades, "Thy mother on earth, weeps for thee exceed- ingly. Go comfort her."

The younger sister then sang to her elder sister.

"She weeps for us in deep distress,"

"Return not to her, sister dear,

’Twas mother who beat and sent us here,

The younger sister was a case of resurrection,

She came to life again.

The elder sister responds,

FOWLS' BONES. Concerning this super- stition Dr. Mason remarks, "In the be- ginning, say the elders, God gave to the Chinese a book of paper, to the Burmese a book of palm leaves, to the Karens a book of skins. The Chinese and Burmese studied their books, and taught then to their children. But the Karens were indolent and did not value their book, but laid it at the end of their house, where it was thrown down on the ground and a hog came and tore it up. After the hog had gone, a fowl came and picked up all the fragments."

This, it will be noticed, is the Karen tradition respecting the manner in which they lost the law of God, which they as- sert they once possessed.

Both the Chinese and Burmese greatly excelled the Karens, because of their knowledge of books. Believing that the fowl which had eaten up the book, must possess all the knowledge which is con- tained, the Karens resolved to consult its thigh bones, and to note the mark and indentations made by the tendons on them as letters, and pray to it to reveal its knowledge.' This praying to the thigh bones of a cock seems to be a very com- mon superstition among that people.

We are able to present our readers with only the most meagre outline of these Karen stories, which have come down from father to son, for many generations.

ASTRONOMY AND COSMOLOGY. Accord- ing to the views of these people, "There are seven heavens, and seven earths." Though this expression occurs frequently in Karen traditions, yet the people have no definite ideas on the subject. The sun is supposed to go round the earth. In the west are two massive strata of rocks which are continually opening and shut- ting. Between these strata the sun descends in the evening, but how the up- per stratum is supported they are unable to describe.

CONSTELLATIONS. For the most promi- nent constellations, the Karens have names. The great bear, they call an elephant, and so do the Burmese and Hin- dus. The Polestar is a mouse crawling into the elephant's trunk. The Southern cross, they call the Mai-la-ka, a name whose derivation is not obvious. The Pleiades is called the great house and is regarded as a family of persons, one of whom being lost, there are only six now. The Karens of the South call the milky way, THE PADDY BIN, while the Bghais denominate it as the BAZAR STREET, be- cause the streets in a bazar are an undes- tinguishable mass of people.

COMETS are sometimes called, 'Tailed Stars,' sometimes 'Fire Stars' and some- times, 'smoke stars.' In common with all other unenlightened nations, the Karens regard their appearance as indicating ap- proaching war, famine, pestilence, or other public calamities.

PLANETS seem to be unrecognized except Venus, which is sometimes called The Star receiving the morning, at other times, 'The Star receiving the evening.'

SHOOTING STARS are said to be Youth stars going to visit the 'Maiden Star.' When a Karen girl sees one, she exclaims. 'May my hair grow as long as the path thou fliest.'

METEORS are the animals which pro- duce gold and silver and when seen in the heavens descending to earth, are suppo- sed to be returning home. When a report is heard, as the Karens say there often is, it is the roar the animal makes on enter- ing the earth. Wherever they fall gold or silver is sure to be found.

DIVISION OF THE YEAR. The Karens divide the year into twelve lunar months, and like occidental nations, they begin it with January and end it with December. This is contrary, says Dr. Mason, to the usage of all the nations that surround them. The Burmese, the Talines, and the Shams commence the year in March (or April.) The Civil year, as stated in the Journal of the Asiatic Society Bengal, commences differently in dif- ferent parts of Thibet, varying from December to February. Dr. Mason thinks the Karens have derived their calendar from Thibet, for while they now make the year to begin in January, the months corresponding to June and July are de- signated numerically the "seventh" and eight months, which must have origina- ted from a system, that made December the first month, as our September and October must have been named when the year was made to commence in March. With these people, January is the search- ing month. February the hewing month, April the seed month, August is the month of gladness, and December is named the month of shades.

We must here close this somewhat lengthened notice of the Rev. Dr. Mason's interesting production regarding the Karens. We have to express our obliga- tions for his researches, which have en- abled us to place a good deal of informa- tion before our readers, concerning one of the indigeneous races of Burmah, who are rapidly accepting those great and grand truths, which make wise unto sal- vation.—-RANGOON TIMES.

Sir Herbert Edwardes on India
Missions.

On Monday the Sixty-seventh Anniver- sary Meeting of the Church Missionary Society was held in the large room, Exe- ter Hall, the Bishop of Ripon in the Chair. Sir H. Edwardes, seconded by the Rev. W. S. Smith Chaplain to the Bishop of Madras, moved the Resolution: —-“That the speedy triumph of Chris- tianity in British India becomes every day more hopeful, if the proclamation of the Gospel be viewed in connexion with the momentous changes which are going for- ward in the political, social, and intel- lectual habits of the people.” The battle of India has now been fought. Clive's battle of Plassey, in 1757, founded the British Empire; but it was not completed till the Sepoy war of 1857, and the total re-organization of the native army, and increase of the European army, which succeeded that great effort to expel us. All ranks, from the Rajah to the mercen- ary soldier; all classes, from the million- aire banker to the tiller of the soil; all creeds, Hindoo, Mohammedan, Parsee, native Christian, and European Christian, alike feel this to be the case, and act upon it; some with disappointment, some with fear, some with hope, but all with a new impulse and conviction. The native chiefs are now busy in securing or extending their rights under English title deeds. The military classes see their occupation slipping away, and are betaking themsel- ves to other callings. Capital, of which the timidity is proverbial has unlocked its hoards in India since 1857, and is trading no longer village with village, and pro- vince with province, but with all the countries of the world. And what is to be noted is the novel association of natives and Europeans in large schemes of com- merce, which forms a new bond of union. One of the most marked results of an as- sured state of peace is the extraordinary struggle for land which is now going on in India, as if the whole population were animated by an instinct to take root, and perceived that it must be done now or never. Every squatter of unquiet times is now engaged in obtaining from the English Courts a title derived from oc- cupation; every old proprietor, who had left the paternal acres to go off soldiering at native courts, is now reappearing at his home, and spending his last rupee in trying to oust the squatter, and establish a title from hereditary right. Every tenant-at-will is trying to convert himself into a landlord, and every landlord is trying to eject his tenant-at-will. The struggle is intensified by two classes, the native merchants and bankers and the European settler. The native merchant, like the merchant in England desires the status in the country which land carries with it; and the European settler, believ- ing in a prosperous and peaceful future, wants land for tea, coffee, sugar, cotton, flax, and indigo, and calls on the Govern- ment of India to redeem the land-tax in perpetuity, that there may be no fetters on his enterprise. Then we have the telegraph from every corner of India to the three capitals, and from the capitals to Europe, spreading intelligence, encour- aging enterprise, awakening human sym- pathies, and carrying with it political education. The great system of railroads projected under the East India Company is now rapidly approaching development in the union of all the capitals with each other and with the farthest frontiers; bringing province into communication with province in a way unknown before to the stagnant East, and raising the prices of all agricultural produce for the benefit of the people; while it places in the hands of Government a fresh security for peace throughout the empire. New works of irrigation are increasing year by year the area of cultivation. Great public works are raising the demand for labour; so that one of the most thickly populated coun-

tries in the world can no longer afford to send coolies to the Mauritius or the West Indies, but wants every man at home. I do not expatiate upon these changes which are going on in the political life of India. I do but hastily marshal them before you. You are well able to think them out for yourselves; and all I ask you to realize is that the great mutiny of 1857 fell like a landslip from the mountains across the current of British power; that by God’s help the dammed-up flood rose and rose till it prevailed; and clearing its way through piled up rock and forest, scatter- ed them in broken splinters over the land and is now flowing on in broader, deeper, swifter streams than ever of fertility, progress, and civilization. Let us now turn and see what changes are going on in the "social and intellectual habits of the people." They are so intertwined together that I will not attempt to sep- arate them. The great fact that stands out from all others is this, that Western education has begun to tell at last upon the Eastern mind; and that after centuries of stagnation it may now be said joyfully of the intellect of India, as the hearty English crowd shouted the other day at the launch of the Northumberland, "She’s off! She’s off!" In using the term "West- ern education" I speak advisedly, in or- der to include education of all kinds, secular and religious, that given by the State and that given by missionary Socie- ties. The latest statistics I can obtain are from the FRIEND OF INDIA, which states that "There are in all 30,000,000 of children in India who should be at school. Of these, missionaries educate 100,000 and the State only 127,513." The State schools were costing £250,000. a year; and the State also gave grants-in- aid to the mission schools amounting to £16,500. more. This seems very little;- less than 300,000 children at school out of 30,000,000. But it is as large as the leaven which raises a baking of bread. (Applause.) After all it is only a small knot of thinkers who ever raise their country out of ignorance. (Hear, hear.) And what we have to look to is not as much the number of the scholars, as the kind of ideas which are being taught and spread abroad in the country. Now, what are the ideas of the educated natives of the day? Let us take the Hindoos, for they are nine-tenths of the population of India; are the most thoughtful race, and are doubtless the race through whom In- dia will be regenerated. It may surprise many of you—but no one who knows India of to-day will deny what I now state—that a school, of thoughtful and proselytizing Reformers has sprung up, who are actively engaged in what they call the Reformation of Hindooism. The points on which they mainly insist are,— renunciation of idolatry and polytheism, and adoption of a pure Deism; abolition of caste; abolition of polygamy; abolition of infant marriages; female education, and general introduction of women into society; purity of morals. (Great ap- plause.) A still more advanced school have a dawning consciousness that even Deism is but a halting place, and real reformers must push on to a higher faith. The centre of all this movement has been the association called the Brahmo Somaj in Calcutta; and what marks the vitality of their impulse, is their missionary zeal. (Applause.) The Brahmo Somaj are most active proselytizers, and have sent missionaries of their own to the other two capitals of India, to preach the reform- ation they have in hand.

Nor are these movements entirely con- fined to the Brahmo Somaj and its bran- ches. The very last mails from India have brought us accounts of a Petition having been presented to the Bengal Government praying for the emancipation of the "females of Bengal from the pains, cruelties, and attendant crimes of the debasing custom of polygamy." (Hear, hear.) The Petition was signed by 21,000 Hindoos, among whom (says the FRIEND OF INDIA) "are the highest in rank, learning, wealth, and sanctity in Bengal." (Applause.) Every question connected with the degraded state of wo- man in India is just now being thoroughly canvassed by the natives themselves; and I doubt not that some decided movement like this against polygamy will soon be made against infant marriages. The Mohammedans still remain the most dif- ficult to move; and they are in danger of dropping into the rear and being left be- hind in all departments by the educated Hindoos. Still here and there we hear of some Mohammedan like Safder Ali, who has the courage to inquire for him- self, and become a Christian. (Applause.) The last mail mentions two incidents of great independence among Mohamme- dans. The first is the establishment of female schools throughout his territory by the Nawab of Rampore in Rohilkund; and the second is the prayer for the Royal family being offered up (it is believed for the first time in India) in the great Mosque at Lahore, in the name of Queen Victoria. (Great applause.) Here are proofs, in the language of the Resolution before us, that "momentous changes are going forward in the social, and intel-

lectual habits of the people." Whence do they spring, and whither are they leading the people of India? I maintain that from Christianity they come; and in Christianity they will find their consummation. (Ap- plause.) I do not deny that the Secular Education imparted by the State has had a large share in this good work, as well as the direct missionary labour. But what is the secular education of the nineteenth century? It is an amalgamation of ancient learning, modern science, and Christian ethics. Alone it cannot give the Christian faith; but neither is it hostile to Christ- ianity-—rather it prepares the way, and welcomes fuller light and truth when it arrives. (Applause.) That secular educa- tion and civilization will ever regenerate a nation I do not believe. It does not go to the root of the matter. It is a police code at best. It does much to suppress crime between man and man; but it does nothing for sin between man and his Ma- ker. Undoubtedly it softens what is "brutal in human nature;" but it leaves untouched what is Satanic. (Hear, hear.) It was well said by one of the ablest missionaries in India (Dr. Mullens) that "He alone can make a new nation who can form a new man." (Great applause.) That he is forming a new nation in India, is clear to every thoughtful mind. While the Hindoos are busy pulling down their own religion, the Christian Church is rising above the horizon. Amidst a dense popu- lation of 200 million of heathen, the little flock of 200,000 native Christians, may seem like a speck; but surely it is that "little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand," which tells that there is to be "a great rain." (Hear.) Every other faith in India is decaying. Christianity alone is beginning to run its course. It has taken long to plant, but it has now taken root, and by God's grace will never be uprooted. (Great applause.) The Chris- tian converts have already been tested by persecution and martyrdom, in 1857; and stood the test without apostasy. And I believe that if the English were driven out of India to-morrow, Christianity would remain and triumph. (Applause.) In conclusion, I would wish to guard all friends of Missions against two great errors,-—the Scylla and Charybdis of Evangelical work. 1. Expecting too great results. 2. Valuing too little the results obtained. On the one hand don't expect a millennium on earth before the coming of our Lord himself. The conversion of 200,000,000 of heathen is not to be done by pulling a bell at your fireside. It is the vast inheritance of the Saviour, and must be gathered in by toil and waste of human life. But do not on the other hand be discouraged by the testimony of those faint-hearted witnesses who return from the promised land with the report that "the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled and very great, and moreover we saw the children of Anak there." (Laughter and applause.) I too have gone up and seen it; and have flung at your feet a cluster of the grapes of Eshcol. (Applause.) It is but "a cluster" it is true; for time and strength do not serve to gather more; but it testifies that the land "floweth with milk and honey", of Christian promise; and I would say with Caleb, "Let us go up, and possess it, for we are well able to overcome it." (Loud and long-continued applause.) Put confidence then in your missionaries, and sustain their hearts. I feel ashamed to offer my poor testimony in behalf of such a band; but the questions that have been put to me in England compel me to say a word. I have been 25 years in the Indian service, and have been thrown into contact with many missionaries of many Protestant denominations and from many countries. I have found no angel among them. They were all men. Some were gifted by God with very high powers indeed, and some with very humble powers. All had some share of human frailty. But I have never seen one who was not labouring with a single eye for the conversion of the hea- then to the utmost of his ability, and set- ting the example of a holy Christian life. (Loud applause.) Well would it be for the State, if in any department of its ser- vice, civil or military, it had such a body of servants as the missionaries in India. Do not discourage them then. Do not distrust them. Send out more to help them. Think how little can be done by 500 missionaries among 200,000,000 of heathen. I remember the two first Pro- testant missionaries who ever went to In- dia—-Ziegenbalg and Plutscho. They were sent by Frederic IV. of Denmark, great-great-great-grand-father of our Princess of Wales, (loud applause), in 1705. They found not one Protestant or Christian in India! Remember Schwarz, and Rhenius, and the long line of Evan- gelists and martyrs down to Ragland, Dr. Pfander, Janvier, and Robert Noble. These men ploughed, and sowed, but only reaped their tens and hundreds. And where are they now? Absorbed like the souls of the Brahmins? Or annihilated like the souls of the Buddhists? Not they are a portion of the "great cloud of wit- nesses" who encompass you now, as Noah.

Bangkok Recorder.

Heir Apparent

We have heretofore on several oc- casions spoken of the prince Somdetoh Chowfa Chulalonkorn as being heir apparent to the throse of his roy- al sire His Majesty the present king of Siam, and have wished him as we still most heartily do, such promotion. It has just occurred to us that some of our readers may have received an incorrect impression from our seeming unqualified use of the phrase heir ap- parent. We have always been aware of the fact, that according to Siamese custom and laws from time immemo- rial, that there never is in Siam, an heir apparent in the full sense in which the phrase is used in Europe. As we understand the English sense of it, the person to whom it is applied is understood to have "an absolute and exclusive title to succeed to an estate or crown". Now while it is true that the eldest living son of a Siamese king by his Queen or Queen-consort will, according to both ancient and modern custom, most probably become heir to the throne of his royal sire, he can- not be said to have an absolute and exclusive title to it; because the ques- tion of his accession is understood to depend upon the electing voice of the Senabawdee—that is the Grand Council of the kingdom, composed of the chief princes, nobles and lords of the land. Whenever a Siamese king dies there is, as we understand it, an in- terregnum for the time being, until the Grand Council shall make a selec- tion of a prince to succeed to the throne. The election, as we have before intimated, usually results in the choice of the eldest son of the Queen. But there occur sometimes certain contingencies in regard to such a son, which render his accession to the throne legitimiatly objectionable in the opinion of the Council; as for example, extreme childhood, or too little manhood—manifest want of men- tal capacity—gross intemperance,— prodigacy etc.

We have from the beginning of our long residence in Siam ever under- stood, that the king who immediately preceeded his present Majesty was elected by the Grand Council of the kingdom out of the usual line of suc- cession, because the elder son of his father's Queen was then thought to be too young to render it suitable that he should take the reins of government: but when, in process of time, his half- brother, after a reign of twenty-seven years deceased, the Grand Council were then unanimous in the election of him to the throne instead of one of the most honorable and promising sons of his late supreme Majesty, whom his royal sire had fondly hoped would be elected as his successor. What better proof can we have of the advan- tages of this Council than the choice it made in the present just, wise and good sovereign of Siam! This old pre- rogative of the Senabawdee we have no reason to think has been or will be soon abrogated. Its abrogation now would, in our opinion, be tantamount to a revolution—an overthrow of the long and justly revered prerogative of the Grand Council.

Hence in speaking or writing of an heir apparent in Siam, we would be un- derstood as using the phrase in its limited not in its absolute sense—as in speaking of the monarchy of England all would understand us to mean a limited and not an absolute monarchy.

Petchaburee No. 4.

We would hereby crave the pardon of our readers for having left them so long in the dark on the top of Mount Pra-Nakawn-k'tree, without fulfilling the promise we made them, that we would the next week point out the chief objects of interest in the magni- ficent landscape as viewed from that point of observation. Unforseen and unavoidable circumstances have pre- vented us doing so, until now, in the providence of God, we find ourselves, after an absence of more than six weeks, transported "body soul and spirit" to the same spot, and prepared to make some amends for our past failure.

We design to describe the scenery, now before us, much in the order of the impressions we conceive to be most commonly made on the minds of European spectators after having the first time reached the top of the observatory in which we now write. And the first object of admiration that will strike you is the paddy fields. It is so because of their wonderful uniqueness. You have seen nothing in all your travels like them, nor ever heard any description of them which half equals the reality; nor have we the vanity to think that we even, now in full view of the whole panorama, aided by a clear atmosphere and a good glass, shall do it adequate justice.

The fields are so level and smooth, without a knoll, or stump, or stone, as to defy a parallel being found in all the world. They are laid out into squares, parallelograms, acute an ob- tuse angles, generally with straight lines, by means of narrow embank- ments from 2 to 3 feet high in lots of various sizes from a tenth to a quarter of an acre each. Most of these lots have on them one, two, or more pal- myra trees in various stages of growth from 6 to 50 feet high.

The condition of the vast paddy prairies as seen from this stand point, is of course quite different in different months of the year, producing a cor- responding change in the general scen- ery. In February, when the fields are all dry and destitute of green grass as well as of green paddy, the palmyra trees, whose leaves are always of a dark green color, studding all the fields, appear to their best advantage in con- trast with the sered and yellowish face of the lots in which they stand. In the latter part of May, soon after the first rains have fallen, which have resur- rected the dead grass all over the field, and caused the scattered kernals of rice left in the fields at the last harvest to sprout and shoot up their tender blades, make the lots appear like so many beautiful lawns. In June, you will see some of these lots beginning to be ploughed and otherwise prepared for another crop; for the paddy which springs up spontaneously must be up- rooted as it will not produce a harvest of any value among all the grass and weeds that spring up with it.

Our present view of these paddy fields is on the 23d July 1866. Near- ly half of the lots are carpeted with green paddy and grass of various hues from that of the darkest to the lightest pea-green; the other half, variously in- terspersed among the others, and being entirely or nearly covered with water shine like glass. Some of these appear clear as crystal; some of a yellowish or turbid color; some look like soft yel- lowish mud a little ragged as roads much used in a very wet time appear, but without any ruts or furrows; some of the lots have the glare of the water a good deal removed by grass which the water has not yet entirely over- topped. These latter are mostly such as have not been ploughed; the others have both been ploughed and planted so that the paddy, standing three or four sprouts in a place ten inches apart, reaches a little above the surface of the water, which is a foot or more deep all over the lots. Those lots that appear muddy and a little ragged have recently been ploughed, but not smoothed down by harrowing. Those that present a uniform turbid appear- ance have been harrowed and prepar- ed for transplanting rice into them, and those which are entirely covered with a thick pea-green carpet, are lots in which sprouted rice, having been sown, has come up as thickly as it can stand, and is awaiting the proper time for being transplanted regularly in the lots that are now being prepared for them. This kia—-for such it is called, is now from 18 to 24 inches tall, but has the appearance from where we sit of being quite short and perfectly un- broken in its surface.

You hear from all quarters the men driving their oxen and buffaloes saying hat and t’m—that is haw and gee, and the ploughmen are scolding their teams and using the vilest language to them. Those near the base of the mount you can see without a glass like dwarfs following a pair of small oxen or single buffalos, holding their ploughs and a whip with one hand, and the ox reins in the other, with a large knife or short sword in a wooden scabbord bound around their waists. They are generally fully clothed in dark blue, and wear sometimes a sim- ple palm leaf hat unbraided, sometimes a cloth tied around the head like a turban, and are bare-foot, wading half- knee deep in water and mud. And these men, let our readers fully under- stand, are in these circumstances, ac- tually breaking up the fallow ground in preparation for a new rice crop, and you will now and then see men fishing with a net in the same lot in which they are ploughing. We observe some of them following a harrow drawn by a yoke of oxen or a single buffalo; and what is very singular to us, their harrows have handles, and the men take hold of them with both hands, and every now then lift them up to clear off the grass from their wooden teeth. You generally see nothing for them to harrow but tarbed water; but sometimes there is the appearance of a slight roughness on the surface of the water which is harrowed down.

We are quite disappointed in not being able to see any person either with or without our glass, transplanting rice. A good proportion of the fields seem to have been prepared for this next step in rice farming, and the usual sea- son for doing this is certainly fully come and going rapidly past. Per- haps the water in the several lots is not yet quite deep enough, and possi- bly in some it may be too deep. We hear that the rice in some fields that had been planted a week or two since, has been destroyed by too much water.

These fields viewed from our present stand point in the latter part of the month of September will have greatly changed in their appearance. The watery lots will then have nearly or quite all disappeared, and in their places the most beautiful fields of liv- ing green of various hues will be dis- played. They are then covered with paddy in many stages of progress and shades of color from the delicate yel- lowish green of recently transplanted rice to that of rice nearly ready to ear. The dividing embankments of the lots will then appear less prominent, yet clearly discernible, and afford a plea- sant resting place and guiding lines to the eyes as they wander over the thousands of acres they behold.

The palmyra trees are in Sept. some- what shorn of their glory by contrast with the vast fields of the liveliest green which envelop them. Still they impart a pleasing variety to the entire landscape. As you extend your vision far in the distance, these sugar palms appear to become much more thickly set, so that they finally seem to form one unbroken forest.

The next view which most impres- ses a European from the mount is the vast sea-level forests to the South and the East, extending in either direction from 12 to 20 miles. Many of the trees are doubtless palmyra trees, but the greater part must be of many other species common to this country, as the mango, the tamarind, the oil tree, the bamboo, the tabaak, etc. The teak seems not to be indigenous to this part of Siam. These forests ap- pear to be almost an unbroken timber jungle, but are only such in appearance. There are many villages and vast tracts of paddy fields hidden among them. The town of P'etchaburee, even, which is less than a mile to the East, is but little seen from this mount on account of the many trees that are about it.

The next objects of admiration are the several little mounts which you see near by and afar off, standing up out of the sea-level plains like little is- lets out of the sea. The one more particularly interesting, aside from that on which you stand, is the one a mile at the West called Ków Kadie- it, which appears to be a twin-sister of the one on which we now write-—the palace mount. It is about 400 feet high, two miles or more in circumfer- ence, extending up boldly on all sides to its summit, and is composed of the most ragged and forked limestone rocks, thrown up in all probability, by a jet of volcanic eruption in a semifluid state, and which, by rapidly cooling, has left them in the wildest state of disorder. In the progress of ages a soil has been generated among those rocks, which now brings forth much beautiful shrubbery, and some trees of very dignified dimensions. It would seem that all the mountains in this re- gion, especially the more isolated ones are of the same origin. They are all now so clothed with verdure, that their original wildness and disorder is scarcely discernible from the view we here have of them. They abound in caves, and most of the caves have been consecrated to Buddhism by placing multitudes of idols in them. Ków Looang two miles at the north is another sister mount of more humble dimensions but dignified by the grandest idol caverns the country affords. There are several other small isolated mounts at the North and at the South from 2 to 10 miles distant. One of them at the N. E. is remarkable for having a slen- der base, apparently not more than ¼ of a mile in diameter and extending up in the form of a sugar loaf from 4 to 500 feet. At the West, S. W. and South your eyes behold magnificent ranges of mountains, the nearest of which may be 30 miles distant, and the farthest from 80 to 100 miles. The most distant at the West, form the boundary lines between Burmah and Siam. The most distant at the South is a range in Siamese territory called by the Siamese Sam roi-yawt, that is the mountain range with 300 peaks.

In looking to the E. and N. E. over a level plain of from 10 to 12 miles in width you see the gulf of Siam. When the air is clear vessels may be seen without a glass sailing far out on her bosom; and the highlands on the islands of Koh-see-ch'ang on the eas- tern side of the gulf, and the moun- tains of Bangplasoi are often discern- ible. We can this morning just discern without a glass the peaks of an island in the direction of S. S. E.

We are now again compelled to take leave of our readers, hoping by anoth- er week to meet them again on the same delightful "mount of vision," and point out to them many very interest- ing things in connection with the roy- al country palace on the mount.

LOCAL.

Passengers per Siamese bark-intine "Hera," arrived from Hongkong on the 22nd inst. Rev. Jonathan Wilson and wife, and Miss Field. Mr. Wil- son belongs to the Presbyterian Mis- sion, and Miss Field joins the Baptist Mission.

The "Hera" spoke the Siamese ship "Conquerer" 30 miles S. W. of Polo Obi.

Correction.—In the notice of the U.S. Consulate in one of our last issues, we stated that one of the Consuls was a machinist. We have since learned that such is not strictly the fact. The person alluded to claims to be more correctly an artist and inventor, having devoted many years to these labors, but more particularly to the latter.

Mr. Editor—In your notice of the grounds of the American Consulate you failed to convey to the public a cor- rect idea of the place. You should not have omitted the fact, that in ad- dition to the row of Banyan trees, and the two venerable Tamarinds—that eighteen other varieties of shade trees beautified the grounds—and that pro- bably the best and greatest variety of shrubs and flowers adorn the premises of any residence in the city. And in- stead of 150 feet front, the lot is 250 feet by 400 deep, and the house from floor to ceiling in the second story is 16 feet instead of 13 feet.

Mr. Editor—Were I an artist, and your humble little sheet "The Bang- kok Illustrated" or Pictorial, I might give you some sketches which would enhance materially your circulation abroad, and together we might edify and astonish the world at large: but as neither of the above contingences ex- sists, it is useless to speculate.

Saturday July 21st was rather a ga- la day at Samutta prakan, or more com- monly called Paknam, and not unfre- quently by Europeans, Pickenham.

It was throughout one of those clear bright days, which we seldom find here at this season of the year—no threat- ening cloud, no pouring rain, no mur- muring thunder. The breeze from the South west was just sufficiently strong to raise a gentle ripple upon the surface of the water, and to keep things gen- erally cool, but not strong enough to get up a sea and make it unpleasant. Koh See-ch'ang loomed up like a dia- mond set in the Southern horizon, and the Bangplasoi mountains in the South east lifted up their lofty heads, piercing the blue ether above.

The premises of Messrs Dyer & Co. were befittingly decorated with signals, and Captain Dyer himself was seated as umpire. The regatta fleet, seven in number, was lying opposite, await- ing the signal to start. They rejoiced in such names as the Plunger, Mr. Car- ter—the Mosquito, Capt. Peterson—the Laura and others whose names I did not learn. Among the rest was a neat little yatch, said to be the property of His Royal Highness Prince George. The Foam, which at the last regatta capsized with almost serious results, was on this occasion commanded by Capt. Shannon, but on account of some unfortunate delay, did not arrive until about five minutes after the signal was given, and consequently was not in the race. The yatch Kestrel having no com- petitor, did not enter the contest, but with some other amateurs sailed along. Signal boats were placed by the sunken junks at the upper end of the fort, to indicate the turning points. At 1½ o'clock A. M., the signal gun was fired by the umpire, and all sails were set. The boats started opposite the umpire's station, sailing up to the upper signal boat, and rounding that, and beating asok, and down to the lower signal cbbt which was also rounded, and thence back to the place of starting. The Plunger was the first to round the up- per boat, and she retained the advan- tage thus gained throughout, and con- sequently was the winner. It is but justice to the Plunger to say, that she is an American bottom and centre board. Next to the Plun- ger, came the Musquito. As to the comparative standing of the other com- petitors, I regret to be unable to re- port.

The seekers of pleasure on the oc- casion consisted of two steamers well loaded. Part of the community, had secured the fine new steamer, belong- ing to the estate of the late Phya Mon- tree, and called the Morning Star, which was well laden with passengers, and good things. His Excellency the Prime Minister had also placed his excellent and swift steamer Volant at the disposal of part of the European community. He had also supplied her with provisions, and every thing ne- cessary for comfort and pleasure, and enjoined upon them, to shew hospital- ity to all Europeans with whom they came in contact. His Excellency's brass band was also on board and af- forded excellent music. The Volant therefore was rather the attraction of the day.

Mr. Editor-—I observed in your last issue a notice of the young prince Som-detcli Chow-fa Chulalonkorn enter- ing into the priesthood, and think- ing that perhaps a little more full account of the affair might not be without interest to some of your rea- ders, I will now, with your consent, attempt something of the kind.

I think that it was a mistake that the prince was then entering or even preparing to enter the priesthood. It was, if I am correctly informed, a ceremony for his initiation into the Buddhistical order called Nane.

An invitation was given some days before in an autograph circular of His Majesty to all the foreign residents in this city to be present on the two days of the ceremony. Those whose pleasure it was to accept the invita- tion, assembled on Wednesday the 18th inst. in a salla out-side of the palace gate, where seats were provided for them, and at the appointed hour were conducted to the grand audience hall, at the porch of which they were met by His Majesty and children with cordial greetings. But Somdetcli Chow- fa, the lion of the day, appeared a little later, and was carried in a radan di- rectly into the audience hall. His Majesty, the princes and princesses, and all the rest of us comprising con- suls, merchants, missionaries, govern- ment interpreters and secretaries, la- dies and children followed the train His Majesty did not ascend the throne on this occasion, but made himself one among us, sitting down on a mat a lit- tle distance from the Somdetcli Chowfa.

Presently he arose and perambula- ted the hall, directing the ceremonies, the chief of which were to encircle the Prince with light and blessings. This was done by a circle of princes, nobles, and lords extending entirely around the great hall in front of the throne. The ladies were concealed by a curtain in a little recess at the right hand of the throne. Lighted candles were passed from one to the other in the cir- cle round and round, craving, as it was understood, a silent blessing upon the Prince. The scene was one of touch- ing interest. A meekr and more un- assuming youth it seemed to me I had never seen in any station, and yet he was dignified and perfectly self posses- sed. What was said to the prince I was unable to hear. No christian heart who witnessed the ceremony could re- frain from craving a blessing, and es- pecially divine light upon the mind and heart of the Prince. After the candles had completed their fifth evo- lution, that part of the ceremonies closed, and the guests all retired to the dining hall, the ladies having been pre- viously treated to tea. Of course on an occasion like this it matters lit- tle what are the viands so there is hear- ty good cheer, which was certainly not wanting at this festival; Toasts were given to His Majesty, to Somdetch Chowfa, and to the ladies in full voices, and silently, as I suppose, from the latter to the gentlemen. Thus ended the cere- monies of the first day when the com- pany retired to their homes.

The second day of the festival commenced with a procession, by which the Prince was escorted to the royal temple, Wat P'ra kaao. Few if any of the Europeans were in time to wit- ness it, though some of them had re- linquished their breakfast for that pur- pose. The crowd was great in all parts of the temple grounds, and became more dense as we approached the entrance of the main building. Some of us al- most regretted that we had undertaken to gain access to the most holy place of the ceremony, where His Majesty and royal son, Somdetch Chowfa, had begun the dressing exercises. But as it was not European or American cus- tom to give way to such difficulties, we proceeded to thread our way among priests, nobles, and officers of all grades, treading with the greatest care lest we should crush pearls which strewed the way in the form of fin- gers and toes, or soil their rich robes. But time and perseverance brought us to the end of this scene, and we were congratulating ourselves that we had given no great offence by giving every now and then a brush of a royal or no- bleman's head almost in contact with the pavement, if not with mother earth—-such being the universal native custom of prostration in the presence of their king.

Then a curtain was drawn, where to our astonishment we observed that our most difficult task of moving through a dense crowd thus prostrated without shocking any one of them by a tread on a finger, or toe, or a touch of a head held sacred, had but just commen- ced. Delighted as we were to see be- fore us the fairest and noblest speci- mens of Siamese royalty as closely compacted as it were possible, we could not but feel extremely anxious lest by some mis-step we should unavoidably offend some of them. But we were on our way to royalty, and we felt that we must take the royal road thither. So we began bowing, and stooping and begging pardon from in- stinct for what seemed to be, in our cir- cumstances, a matter of necessity. Had there been any other way of access to the place, how gladly would we have availed ourselves of it! but not for our own sakes, for nothing could have been more interesting to us than that group of smiling and wondering faces many of whom we recognized as old friends, though we had not seen them for years. We hope and trust the time will not be far distant when Si- amese ladies will be allowed to sit in chairs, even in the presence of their king.

Presently another curtain is drawn, and we are all in a worshipping assem- bly. There sits His Majesty, and there the Prince candidate for induction into the order of the Names, and there the Prime ministers, nobles, priests and people, Europeans and Americans, la- dies as well as gentlemen, all on a common level, with His Majesty,sitting flat down on rugs, mats, or carpet. This was a leveling of rank and station with which even republicans of the most ultra stamp could not be pleased. As for ourselves we would much pre- fer to have had a leveling upward 16 or 18 inches at least, so that each might have packed his feet under him, instead of being obliged to point them out backwards towards the faces of those close behind. Why, it seem- ed most barbarous to put ones feet in the faces of fellow-guests in that way.

The great object of the 2nd day's ceremony was to clothe the Prince in all due formality with the robes of a Name, and to invest him by a good deal of religious service with every needed Buddhistical blessing as such. These services being over, a breakfast was given to the 50 or more officiating priests in their holy place. His Majesty and his yellow robed son drank tea or coffee by themselves in the same hall.

After the priests had finished their breakfast and dinner united, between eleven and twelve o'clock, there came upon the stage another ceremony of presenting the new made name with a variety of articles needed in the practice of that order. It seemed to us that many of them were equally needed in the life of a priest as well as of a name. It is probable that these were presented to the Prince that he might have the privilege and the mer- it of giving them to the fraternity of the priests in the temple Baswaneawate in which he is to serve 3 months as a monk. All the presents thus made, whether designed for the one on the other order are considered irrevoca- bly devoted to sacred purposes, and cannot by any means never become personal property. But there were many valuable articles given the prince on this occasion which we suppose were designed especially for the prince's own personal use. In making these presents almost all classes par- ticipated. First came His Majesty with his gifts, then His Majesty's child- ren, then the Prince's uncles, aunts, and cousins, then the prime ministers, and then Chinese and Mohamedan merchants, etc. The occasion was em- braced by a Chinese nobleman of pre- senting each of his Majesty's children with a gold watch.

After the gifts had all been present- ed and removed to the outer Court, a number of the brothers of Somdetech Chowfa, arrayed in full state costume loaded with gold and precious stones appeared upon the stage for the enter- tainment of the assembly in a game of fencing, in Siamese style, and displayed a good, degree of dexterity and skill for lads of their age. It was a pleasing evidence, that while their minds had been thoroughly disciplined under Eu- ropean teaching, their physical exercise had not been neglected. Not only were the spectators much interested in the game, but His Majesty also, so that he was constrained to lay aside for the moment the dignity of a monarch for the pleasure and pride of a father, in evin- cing lively sympathy with his little sons. Some of the spectators may be dispos- ed to criticize this condescension and playfulness of His Majesty on the oc- casion; but I confess I am not one of them.

Having finished the game, their royal sire then presented each of the actors with a purse of money, and the Chinese nobleman above spoken of, gave each a gold watch. This was the finishing stroke of the two days fes- tival. How the assembly managed to get to their homes in the rain, which just then came on, I will not attempt to show. SIGMA

Errors of Speech.

The newspaper writers never allow us to go anywhere, we always pro- ceed. A man going home, is set down as 'an individual proceeding to his residence.'

We never eat, but always partake, even though we happen to eat up the whole of the thing mentioned. In court, counsel asks a witness, 'Did you have anything to eat there?' 'Yes.' 'What was it?' 'A bun.' Now go to the report in the paper, and you'll be sure to find that witness confes[?]ed to having partaken of a bun,' as if some one else shared it with him.

We never hear of a place; it is al- ways locality. Nothing is ever placed, but always located. 'Most of the people of the place' would be a terri- ble vulgarism to this gentlemen; it must be 'the majority of the residents in the locality.

Then no one live in rooms, but al- ways in 'apartments.' 'Good lodg- ings' would be far too meagre; so we have 'eligible apartments.'

Another horrible word, which is fast getting into our language through the provincial press, is to 'eventuate.' If they want to say that a man spent his money till he was ruined, they tell us that his unprecedented extravaga- ance eventuated in the total dispersion of his property.

'Avocation' is another monster patronized by these writers. Now avocation, which of itself is an inno- cent word enough, means the being called away from something. We might say, 'He could not do it, having avocations elsewhere.' But in our newspapers, avocation means a man's calling in life. If a shoe-maker at his work is struck by lightning, we read that 'while pursuing his avocation, the electric fluid penetrated the un- happy man's person.'

If I have to complain to the post- office, that a letter legibly directed to me at Canterbury has been missent to Caermarthen, I get a regular red-tape reply, beginning: 'The letter alluded to by you.' Now I did not allude to the letter at all; I mentioned it as plainly as I could.

There is an expression creeping into general use which cannot be justified in grammar, 'a superior man;' 'a very inferior person.' We all know what is meant; and a certain sort of defence may be set up for it by calling it ellip- tical: by saying that the comparatives are to be filled up by inserting 'to most men,' or the like. But with all its convenience, and all the defence which can be set up for it, this way of speaking is not desirable; and if fol- lowed out as a precedent, cannot but vulgarize and deteriorate our language.

We seem rather unfortunate in our designations for our men of ability. For another term by which we describe them, 'talented,' is about as bad as possible. What is it? It looks like a participle. From what verb? Fancy such a verb as 'to talent!' Coleridge sometimes cries out against this news- paper word, and says, Imagine other participles formed by this analogy, and men being said to be pennied, shilling- ed, or pounded. He perhaps forgot that, by an equal abuse, men are said to be 'moneyed' men, or as we some- times see it spelt (as if the word itself were not bad enough without making it worse by false orthography,) 'monied.'

Another formation of this kind, 'gifted,' is at present very much in vogue. Every man whose parts are to be praised, is a gifted author, or speaker or preacher. Nay, sometimes a very odd transfer is made, and the pen with which the author writes is said to be 'gifted,' instead of himself." —Dean Alford.

A Moonless Month.

The month of February, 1866, which is now gone, will be marked in the astronomi- cal calendar as the month which had no full moon. January had two full moons, and March has had two; but February had none. Of course, this peculiar con- juncture of periods that makes the full moon show her face but a few hours before the month comes in, and again a few hours after the month goes out, is a rare thing in nature; but HOW rare, do you suppose, gentle reader? It has not occurred before in your lifetime nor ours—not since the discov- ery of America by Columbus; no, nor since the Christian era, nor since the fall of Adam, nor since the creation of the world, unless that be placed back myriads of years. And it will not occur again, ac- cording to the computation of astronomers, for TWO MILLION AND A HALF OF YEARS —-or probably NEVER—for before that cycle of ages shall be completed, it is our Chris- tian faith that time will be ended, and the solar system be destroyed.—-EVANGELIST.

Longevity.

We have the impression that 70 is the appointed period of human life. But the average is far short of it. And many might, and ought, to live far beyond it, who perish, as we say, PREMATURELY. Dr. Haller gathered up a thousand cases of men who had lived to be a hundred years old and over—-twenty-nine of these lived to be from 120 to 130, and fifteen of them from 130 to 140. Henry Jenkins, a York- shire fisherman, died in December, 1670, at the age of 169. Thomas Parr is the most celebrated of very old men. He was first married at the age of 80, again at 122, and died, in 1635, at 152. He was a farm- er, and up to the age of 130 was able to dig, plough, and thrash. Dr. Hervey, the famous surgeon, dissected him after death, and found no appearance of decay in any organ. Demetrius Gradowsky died in Po- land in 1880 at the age of 169. Petrarch Carstan died in 1724 at the good old age of 125. His biographer says of him:—He was born at Jofroach, a village four miles from Temeswar. A few days before his death he walked four miles to beg. His eyes were much inflamed, but he still en- joyed a little sight. His hair and beard were of a greenish-white colour, like mouldy bread, and he had a few of his teeth remaining. His food was chiefly milk, and certain cakes called COLLATSCHEN, together with a good glass of brandy, such as is made in the country." Another family in Hungary, by the name of Boven, attained great age. The father 172, the wife and mother 164. They had been married 142 years, when their youngest child was 115. In 1844, at Kieff, a man died at the age of 152. A few years ago a peasant died in Russia, aged 137 years, 10 months, and 11 days. He had 32 chil- dren, one of whom, a daughter, was still living, at the age of 100. He retained the use of his faculties to the last day of his life, and was very cheerful. In 1830 there were in these United States 2500 persons a hundred or more years old, the oldest being 140. This was an Indian woman in North Carolina. Baily, in his Annals of Longevity, mentions the case of Thomas Cam, whom the parish register of Shoreditch affirms to have died in 1588 at the age of 207—-and the St. PETERSBURG GAZETTE speaks of a man who died in 1812, aged 200. But what are all these cases, compared with the patriarchs? Think of Adam, 930; Seth, 912; Enos, 905; Canaan, 920; Jared, 962; Noah, 956; and Methu- selah, 969! Why is the life of man so much shorter now than then? Why do some men live so much longer than others now? Is there any reason why the ordi- nary life of man should not be greatly prolonged? We cannot in one generation overcome the inherited degeneracies that reduce our years; but the laws of health are now so well understood, that we might in a few generations, bring back a race of longer-lived, more enduring and useful men, than have lived since the flood. This is worth thinking of; and if no general reform can be wrought, it is still in the power of any household to initiate the work, and set a noble example. God would be well pleased with the effort.—- THE PRESBYTERIAN.

Thomas Carlylo.

He is a genius and an artist—a won- derful word-painter of what he sees and knows, but not a philosopher in any sense, much less a reformer, and scarcely a man, or at best a very inferior style of man. Carlyle’s earlier books, the Sartor Resartus, for instance, and the essay on Burns, reveal some degree of human sympathy : there are passages in them of deep and earnest pathos ; and these no doubt acquired him the almost universal admiration and hope he once excited. The world hailed with delight the rising of a new orb, not only with glory but healing on its wings. A passionate eulo- gist of sincere men, he was supposed to be sincere himself and much good was augured from the literary career of a man who united to such varied learning and such brilliant power, generous hu- manitary purposes.

But the intellectual arrogance of Carl- yle, and his want of heart, betrayed him soon into a false worship. It was no long- er the sincere men he admired, but the strong men, the men of moral force that is, of will, doers and not thinkers, wheth- er their doing happened to be right or wrong. The transition from Burns and Goethe was through Johnson to Mirabeau, one of the foulest and most treacherous creatures that ever breathed, but whose energy of vociferation and action com- pletely won Carlyle's heart. In his “French Revolution ” he began to gloat like a fiend over the destructive forces at work ; he seemed to revel in uproar and blood during that wild Walpurgis night of ferocity ; and throughout his book there is scarcely a pitying word, scarcely a sob or a sigh over the awful sufferings of the men and women who passed through the fiery furnace. An imperson- ation of the old pagan idea of fate, he was as impassive to the dread scenes he lit up with the lurid torch of hell as if they had been only phantasma gorical. His “Cromwell” was equally hard and heartless, and his latest work, in which he makes a sort of bronze military man, utterly destitute of human affections and the ordinary human passions his hero, is repulsive in its metallic glitter and hard- ness. Carlyle, indeed, has become such a blind worshipper of Force that nothing gentle, or sweet, or soft now touches him ; he is, in fact, quite skeptical of the existence of that side of human nature, and when it turns up he treats it as a proper topic for his huge Brobdignagian laughter.

To a person so constituted human de- stiny has no meaning but an eternal strug- gle between the strong and the weak, or rather a struggle in which the strong will survive and the weak go to the wall. The universe will become what the Old Norse fighters believed their Walhalla to be—-a place of endless combats and drinking bouts. Therefore persons hav- ing a hope of society are infinitely dis- tasteful to Carlyle.—-Americans in parti- cular, in whom the spontaneous life has been developed over the civic or moral life. Despairing of man and society, in- deed, he shuts himself up in his conceit, and growls and rails.—-N. Y. Post.

Eating, and What Comes of it.

Tell me what a nation eats, what is its diet, and I will tell you what is its liter- ature, its religious belief, and so forth. Solid, practical John Bull is a mutton, beef, and pudding eater. He drinks strong ale or beer, and thinks beer. He drives fat oxen, and is himself fat. He is no idealist in philosophy. He hates gen- eralization and abstract thought. He is for the real and concrete.—-Plain, una- dorned Protestantism is most to the taste of the middle classes of Great Britain. Music, sculpture, and painting add not their charms to the Englishman’s dull and respectable devotions. Cross the channel and behold his whilom hereditary foeman, but now firm ally, the French- man! He is a dainty feeder and the most accomplished of cooks. He ether- izes ordinary fish, flesh and fowl by his exquisite cuisine. He educates the palate to a daintiness whereof the gross feeding John Bull never dreamed. He extracts the finest flavors and quintes- sential principles from flesh and vegeta- bles. He drinks light and sparkling wines, the vintage of Champagne and Burgundy. Accordingly, the Frenchman is lightsome and buoyant. He is a great theorist and classifier. He adheres to the ornate worship of the Mother Church when religiously disposed. His literature is perspicuous and clear. He is an ad- mirable doctrinaire and generalizer-—wit- ness Guizot and Montesquieu. He puts philosophy and science into a readable and comprehensive shape.—-The Teuto- nic diet of sauer-kraut, sausages, cheese, ham, &c, is indigestible, giving rise to a vaporous, cloudy, cerebral state. German philosophy and mysticism are its natu- ral outcome.—-ATLANTIC MONTHLY.

Dress and Diseases.

There is no truth more firmly esta- blished among medical men that diseases follows fashion as much as bonnets do. When thin shoes prevail, consumption is the prevailing epidemic with the females in every fashionable community in the country. When low-necked dresses are in the ascendant, sore throat and quinsy are the raging maladies. When "bus- tles" and "bishops" made their appear- ance spinal affections became "the TON." —The reign of corsets is denoted by col- lapsed lungs, dyspepsia, and a general derangement of the digestive organs. In- deed, a certain doctor says that all he needs to determine what the majority of the young women are dying of is to have an inventory of their WARDROBE handed to him.—EXCHANGE.

Chine Juggling

While walking on the bank of the river this afternoon, near the junction with the Grand Canal, I saw some clever juggling. A boy fourteen years of age, performed the needle trick in an exceedingly expert man- ner. He commenced by sticking a dozen of common sewing needles upon the end of a piece of wood, and showed them to the lookers-on. I examined one of them, and found it to be an ordinary sharp-pointed needle. Having done this, he placed them, one after another, between his lips, and sucked them slowly into his mouth; and to all appearance, swallowed them. He then walked round the circle with his mouth open, and allowed the people to look into it; but nothing was to be seen of the needles. He then took a crystal ball, about the size of a walnut, and, placing it be- tween his teeth, drew it to his mouth, and to all appearance, swallowed it, as he open- ed his mouth, and it was not visible. He then made an effort as if bringing it up from his stomach, and ejected it from his mouth—-repeating this performance several times. He next took a long piece of thread, passed it up one nostril, and brought the end out of his mouth, moving it backward and forward by the two ends—the one hanging out of his nostril, and the other out of his mouth. He then pulled the string out altogether, introduced it again into his nostril and seemed to swallow the whole piece of string. He again swallow- ed the glass ball, ejected it, and immediate- ly afterward drew the thread out of his mouth with all the the needles strung upon it. This is really a clever trick, showing wonderful powers of stowing things away in the mouth—the more so, as he was talk- ing the whole time. A great amount of skill is exhibited, and no small degree of risk must be run in performing this trick, as Mr. Lockhart mentions a case that oc- curred at Shanghae, where the needles that had been introduced into the mouth, ready threaded, slipped down and became im- bedded into the thick part of the throat, and caused death the fifth day afterward. —-LIFE IN CHINA.

Want of Decision.

A great deal of labor is lost to the world for the want of a little courage. Every day sends to their graves a number of ob- scure men, who have only remained in ob- scurity because their timidity has prevent- ed them from making a first effort, and who if they had only been induced to be- gin, would in all probability, have gone great lengths in the career of fame. The fact is, that in doing anything in the world worth doing, we must not stand shivering on the bank, thinking of the cold and dan- ger, but jump in and scramble through as well as we can. It will not do to be per- petually calculating risks and adjusting nice chances; it did all very well before the flood, when a man could consult his friends upon an intended publication for a hundred and fifty years, and live to see its success for six or seven centuries after- ward; but at present a man waits and doubts, and consults his brothers, and un- cles, and his particular friends, till one day he finds that he has lost so much time in consulting first cousins and particular friends that he has no more time to follow their advice. There is so little time for over squeamishness at present, that the opportunity slips away. The very period of life at which a man chooses to venture, if ever, is so confined that it is no bad rule to preach up the necessity, in such instances, of a little violence done to the feelings, and efforts made in defiance of strict and sober calculations.—SIDNEY SMITH.

Hugo's Habits.

Victor Hugo rises, winter and summer, with the sun. He lights his fire and makes his coffee, takes two writes, reads, or com- poses until elven, and during that time no one troubles him in his meditations. At eleven, whatever the temperature may be, he goes out on the terrace of the house, which is on the same level as his room, and makes long [....] with cold water. He counts the breakfast-hour, devoted to family and the reading of newspapers and letters. This meal generally lasts for an hour and a half. Then the poet takes long walks across the island. He works while walking, and writes at times before the points he specially admires. He is not much given to eating. His table is simply set, and he is always satisfied with his dishes before him. Although he has a good appetite, he is moderate, and no one can say that he has seen him commit the least excess. He goes to bed early, gener- ally before ten o'clock. Pens, ink and pa- per are placed on a table near him. Often, in his broken sleep, he jots down the thoughts that cross his mind. Sometimes he writes in the dark, and makes hierogly- phics that in the morning he alone can decipher.

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, encompas- sed the Hebrew Church. And they are now thanking God for the 200,000 re- deemed ones over whose scanty numbers you are murmuring with faithless discon- tent. (Hear, hear). Murmur no more, but urge your missionaries to develope and complete the native Churches—-to bring forward native Pastors for ordina- tion; and where these have been secured, with vast congregations of native Chris- tians, as at Tinnevelly, give no rest to the Bishops of India till they consecrate a Native Bishop, (applause), and leave the native Christian Church to walk alone. Christianity will then be more indigenous in India then Mahommedanism has be- come in eleven centuries; for instead of being propagated by the sword of the stranger, it will be preached and evan- gelised by the natives of the soil. God grant that we may all live to see it!

The Gallant Officer then moved the Resolution, and resumed his seat amidst loud and prolonged applause.-—FRIEND OF INDIA.

English views of the Presi-
dent & Congress.

We would recommend those who ad- mire the constitution of the United States, and prefer it to our own, to observe the position into which it has now brought the machinery of Government. The central idea of that arrangement was to entrust legislative power to the represent- atives of the people and of the States, and executive power to an individual elected by the whole population, just as the central idea of our own is to unite both functions in the hands of the Min- istry of the day. After years of com- promise, a great occasion arises upon which the people and the executive are at direct variance, and instantly the con- stitution comes to a dead lock, and the nation is driven to choose between obey- ing an individual will—which is despot- ism, or resisting it—-which is neither more nor less than civil war. A majority of the people of the North, probably, as we shall soon show, a very great majority, but certainly a very considerable one in- deed, are resolutely determined upon two points; first, that substantial freedom of labour shall be the universal rule of the Union; and secondly, that the South shall either give the negroes the franchise, or abandon the claim to count them among the electors to be represented. So long as the President showed that these were his ends also, the people, with the remark- able docility of Americans, were willing to let him choose the means, and witness- ed his first acts with little annoyance or even agitation. The veto which stopped the Bill consolidating the Freedmen’s Bureau was tolerated, not without a cer- tain complacency, and the first thing which aroused suspicion was the wild speech from the steps of the White House, which in opposition to most of our contempora- ries we felt compelled to condemn. That speech being made by a half-educated person to uneducated persons was per- fectly intelligible to the quiet farmers who form the bulk of the American peo- ple, and they saw at once that it was an undignified explosion of extreme hatred to the Radicals. Well, the farmers did not love the Radicals particularly either, but still they thought them only a little extreme, and to hear them denounced in this undignified fashion excited a suspi- cion which the veto placed upon the Civil Rights Bill changed into certainty. That Bill was perhaps defective as to its machi- nery, but the President’s Message showed, first, that he did not think the negro ought to be protected in his civil rights at all; secondly, that he was attached to State rights in an extreme degree; and thirdly, that as between North and South he was a Southerner at heart. The agitation became extreme, and Mr. Johnson, either irritated beyond bearing by the pressure placed on him, or misled by his Tenness- sean experiences, or deceived by his ig- norance of the North in which he has never lived, and has traveled very little, issued without necessity or provocation a proclamation announcing the Civil War at an end, thus cutting away not only his own “war power”—-the useful fiction through which the necessary dictatorship was exercised,—but the power of Con- gress to legislate for public security, and, in fact, making the re-admission of the South a constitutional necessity. Then the people broke with him. So strong was the public feeling that it became possible for the Radicals to use the re- serve power of the constitution, and pass the Civil Rights Bill in the Conservative branch of the Legislature over the Presi- dent’s head by a majority of two-thirds. Moreover, that majority was less than the majority in the country, many senators saying openly that they had received dis- tinct orders from the Legislatures of their States to vote against the President, but could not conscientiously obey them. Even New York City, the stronghold of democratic feeling, turned against Mr. Johnson, and were he to be re-elected to-morrow it is probable he would not obtain a fifth of the popular vote. And yet under circumstances in which a Brit- ish Ministry would be instantly driven from power, the free people of America are powerless. Substantive power belongs up to March 1869, not to them or to their representatives, but to a self willed indi- vidual chosen by accident, who is not amenable to Congress, who if affected by opinion at all is affected by that of the half Southern Border States, who thinks yielding discreditable, who is legally mas- ter of the army, the navy, and the civil service, who is by position master of the Legislatures of the South, and who can- not be removed. The public feeling has no more power of resolving itself into action than in Prussia. Congress can, no doubt, pass the Civil Rights Bill over the President’s head, but that is only a declar- ation. The President must carry it out, and he either will not do it, or will do it ineffectually while he takes measures to prevent further legislation from being of any effect. Congress cannot forbid him to withdraw the army or compel him to fill up vacancies in the Freedmen’s Bu- reau, or keep him from filling the bureau with Southerners, or in fact from doing anything which Queen and Cabinet to- gether can do in England. If he likes to defy them he can, and they have only two constitutional remedies—to stop the supplies or impeach the President. The former expedient is nearly impossible, as it would dissolve the army and shake public credit; and the latter can only be attempted after the President has done some decidedly illegal act. It is true that the words of the Constitution, Art. II. sec. 2, are excessively wide, Congress be- ing empowered to elect a President, “in case of his removal from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office;” but there can be little doubt that “ina- bility” was only intended to cover such contingencies as lunacy, paralysis, pro- tracted illness, blindness or the like, and not mere deficiency in capacity or willing- ness. Should the President, indeed, as- semble the Southern members by them- selves, or do any act of that kind, then indeed he might be impeached for trea- son; but he is a man with great legality of thought, and has the extraordinary rev- erence of all Americans for the letters of the Constitution. The people can do no- thing, could do nothing if Congress were unanimous; and the conflict must, so far as appears, last till March 1869. Of course it cannot last so long, for either one side will yield or one resort to force; but constitutionally, there is no provision which could bring it to an end. There is, in fact, under the American system, no effective representative machinery through which the nation can carry out its will, while in England, though our President is hereditary and irremovable, the action of the people upon Govern- ment is almost dangerously direct and swift, becoming often effective, as was seen in the matter of the Conspiracy Bill, within a very few days. This is, as seems to us, the one grand defect of the Ameri- can system; one, too, absolutely irreme- diable, except by an amendment to the Constitution which the President himself can veto, and which is nearly sure to be vetoed. It was the defect also of our own Government under the Common- wealth, that government by “Parliament and a Person,” which Mr. Carlyle so much admires. The Person and Parliament came, after many efforts at compromise, into collision, and the Constitution went down. In America it is probable that the Parliament may win, but not till a revolution has once more become immi- nent. So strongly is this felt that the last vote on the Civil Rights Bill was given amid profound emotion, and the most absurd plans for the employment of phy- sical force are discussed in provincial newspapers. It is this possibility of any necessity arising for an appeal to force on behalf of a clear majority which our Constitution presents.

Dr. Charles Mackay, who was THE TIMES’ Correspondent during the Amer- ican war, thus writes in the FORTNIGHT- LY REVIEW for 1st April.

One thing is clear and distinct. There is a reaction against fanaticism and phi- losophism in America, and as strong a de- sire in peace as there was during the war, for a real Union—a union of hearts as well as of interests—a union that, purified of the great stain of slavery, shall have nothing left on which any of its citizens can found a pretext of quarrel. If such a Union is to be the result, it will be the imperishable glory of President Johnson, and his undying claim to the gratitude of his country, that he was sagacious enough to see the right course, and hold enough to follow it. Among all the statesmen of his age he stands preeminent. There is not a public man in Europe, unless it be the Emperor Napoleon, who does not ap- pear dwarfed when placed in comparison with him. Greater is his task than was that of Washington : brighter will be his place in history if he perform it.—-FRIEND OF INDIA.

PARENTS and teachers should never put away their own youth. They must never cease to be young. Their sympathies and sensibilities should always be quick and fresh. They must love that which God made the child to love. Children need not only government firm and mild, but sympathy warm and tender. So long as parents are their best and most agreeable companions, children are comparatively safe, even in the society of others.

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.