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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.

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.