The Bangkok Recorder.

A Weekly journal will be issued from the
printing office of the American Missionary
Association, at the mouth of the Canal,
"Klong Bangkok Yai." It will contain such
Political, Literary, Scientific, Commercial, and
Local Intelligence, as shall render it worthy
of the general patronage.

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dents subject to the usual restrictions.

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for the sentiments of his correspondents.

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less accompanied by the name of the Cor-
respondent.

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D. B. BRADLEY, PUBLISHER & PROPRIETOR.

Civil Rights.

Gen. Terry's Testimony.

We print a portion of Gen. Terry's tes-
timony before the Reconstruction commit-
tee. As all who know him are aware, he
is a man remarkable for prudence fairness
and common sense, and the testimony of
no other man in a like position could be
more reliable or valuable!

Q.—What generally is the feeling on the
part of the secession element against Un-
ionists, whether native Virginians or those
from other states?

A.—I think it is as hostile as it ever has
been. As to the feeling toward the peo-
ple of the North, I do not think it has es-
sentially changed from what it was before
and during the war. There is still the
same hatred and the same contempt for
them.

Q.—How much social intercourse is there
between them.

A—-Very little so far as my knowledge
goes; very little indeed.

Q—-Are you prepared to state that the
state of feeling between secessionists and
Unionists is one of bitter hostility?

A—-I think it is.

Q—-Are Unionists secure in the enjoy-
ments of their rights in the midst of a se-
cession community there?

A.—-I don't think they are.

Q.-—Can they safely rely on the State
Courts for justice to themselves and pro-
tection to their rights?

A.-—No, sir; I think not.

Q.-—How would it be, for instance, in a
suit between a Union man, whether resid-
ing there or from a loyal state, and a se-
cessionist; would you apprehend that a
jury called in the regular way in Virginia
would be prejudiced against a Union man?

A.-—While I do not know of any such ca-
ses, such is my impression in regard to
the feeling of secessionists toward Union
men, that I think the rights of the latter
under these circumstances, would not be
secured; and I know from conversation
with Union men that such is the general
impression among them.

Q.-—What do the secessionists appear to
desire? What great object have they in
view?

A.-—In the first place, having failed to
maintain their separate nationality, they
desire to keep themselves as separate peo-
ple, and to prevent the nation, by any
means in their power, from becoming ho-
mogeneous. Secondly they wish to make
treason honorable and loyalty infamous,
and to preserve, as far as they are able,
political power.

Q.-—And the great object which they im-
mediately have in view is the possession
of political power?

A.-—Yes, sir.

Q.-—How do they regard President John-
son's liberal policy in reconstructing the
State, and granting pardons and amnes-
ties?

A.-—They seem to be very much pleased
with it. They would, of course, regard
with great favor any action tending to
restore them to their former station.

Q.-—Do you hear any expressions of dis-
loyalty among them toward President
Johnson?

A.—I do not.

Q.-—Suppose they get into favor again,
with their full representation in Congress,
and with a President who, like Mr. Buch-
anan, should disavow the right of the Gov-
ernment of the United States to coerce
States, and should decline to use the mili-
tary force of the Government to prevent
secession, would they, or would they not,
in your opinion, again secede from the
Union and attempt to get up an indepen-
dent Government?

A.-—If they should be convinced that
notwithstanding their former failure, they
then would have a certainty of success, I
think they would attempt to secede again.

Q-—State whether they are in the habit
of speaking contemptuously of the Govern-
ment of the United States, as a political
institution?

A.—-They are.

Q.-—And in view of the contingency of a
foreign war with a powerful nation, and
the occurrence of such an invasion of our
country, do you regard the rebel States,
one or altogether, as an element of
strength in the Government of the United
States at the present time?

A.-—No, sir. On the contrary, most de-
cidedly an element of weakness.

Q.-—Do you suppose, from what you have
seen and heard, and from what you know,
that it would be safe to entrust the great
body of freedmen in Virginia or elsewhere
in the South, to the care of the local auth-
orities or the local legislation?

A.—-I do not.-—Lo. Co. News.

The decay of the English race.

Dr. Morgan, a Manchester physician, has
published a pamphlet on his formidable
subject, which deserves the most serious
attention. It was originally made public
in the shape of a paper [fead?] at one of the
late Social Science congresses, and strik-
ingly contrasts with the ordinary staple of
the manufactures produced at the some-
what windy gatherings. He maintains
that we are all going to decay from too much
congregating in great cities. He has had
long experience in the effects of town life
upon the working man and his family, and
has been led to study the abounding sani-
tary statistics of the day with unusual care.
And here is his description of the Manches-
ter operative, such as he now is in a vast
number of instances, and such as he is uni-
versally tending to become. The present
typical factory hand wants physical sta-
mina, and his muscular system is rarely
well strung. His pulse tells of a want of
power in the heart, and its variations are
rapid under the least excitement and exer-
tion. His feet are cold, his veins prominent,
and he is given to vertigo. His lips are
blanched, and his cheeks colourless. Neur-
algia is his frequent ailment; and the teeth,
the eyes, the hair, the skin, and the glands
all denote "the absence of that well-balan-
ced tension of the nervous system on which
the easy and harmonious working of the
frame so largely depends." In men who
were born in country places, and only mi-
grate to Manchester or other large towns
in their youth or advanced boyhood, these
symptoms of degeneration are less usual
than in those who were born and bred in
the midst of the destroying influences; but
even upon them these influences tell to an
extent which is nothing less than a national
calamity.

The carefully arranged tables of figures
which Dr. Morgan has appended to his
easy supply illustrations of the results of
town life which are sufficiently surprising
to those who are unacquainted with its
physical conditions. Perhaps the most
significant is the startling contrast between
the birth rates in cities and in the country.
In the four largest cities in England—-Lon-
don, Liverpool, Manchester, and Birming-
ham—-the average number of marriages to
every thousand of living persons was about
twelve and a-half in the year 1861; and
the number of births was about thirty six;
so that the average number of children
born in each family is somewhat less than
three. But in London, where the propor-
tion of the wealthy and comfortable classes
is so great, the average number of children
was nearly four, while in Manchester,
where the poor are an enormous portion of
the whole population, the average number
born to each family was little more than
two. Now, examine the proportion of mar-
riages and births in the twenty-seven
agricultural counties. In the year 1861
the number of births indicated an average
of four and a-half children born to every
married pair during their lifetime. Here,
indeed, is a physiological proof of the per-
manent decay of the constitution of vital
moment. There are more than twice as
many children born to each country-dwel-
ling pair as are born to each married couple
in Manchester.

Take next the death rate in the four great
cities and in the agricultural counties. In
1861 forty-five out of every thousand per-
sons died under the age of fifteen in the
cities, taking them all together. In Lon-
don by itself the death rate was only thirty
four per thousand; while in Manchester it
was forty-seven, and in Liverpool fifty-six.
In the same year in the agricultural districts
the death-rate of persons under fifteen was
only twenty-two per thousand; showing
that in Liverpool the mortality of children
is two-and-a-half times as great as in vil-
lages and country towns.

The physical causes of this frightful state
of things are, in Dr. Morgan's opinion,
chiefly three, each of them destructive by
itself, and in combination with the others
still more fatal. The first is the vitiated
air of the houses, the factories, and the
streets of cities, and pre-eminently of Man-
chester. The phenomena ascertained by
meteorological observations at Manchester
are surprising. In the middle of the city
the average winter temperature is eight
degrees higher than in the outskirts; and
the average summer temperature is five
degrees lower. The explanation is easy.
A murky mass of noxious, gaseous vapour
hangs over the city night and day, through
which the sun's warmest summer rays nev-
er thoroughly penetrate, while in the win-
ter the earth's heat never thoroughly ra-
diates upwards. That mysterious element
of life, ozone, is never detected in the cen-
tre of Manchester; in the suburbs it is ob-
tained in considerable quantities. But what
the air loses in ozone it gains in sulphur.
No alkaline rain falls in Manchester proper,
and the rain is so acid that one drop colours
the litmus paper that is used as the ordinary
test; while just in those parts of the city
where the air is found most largely charg-
ed with organic impurities there the death-
rate is highest. In the midst of this poi-
sonous atmosphere lives a population that
suffers to a frightful extent from that con-
tagious and hereditary disease which is
ruining the health of our soldiers and sail-
ors, which a few overflowing Lock Hospitals
vainly attempt to stem, and which the shal-
low Pharisaism of the times prevents us
from attacking with any prospect of wide
alleviation. In two years, says Dr. Morgan,
9,000 of the Manchester poor were known
to suffer from this pest, as detected in the
working of public institutions alone, and
exclusive of the innumerable cases treated
in private practice. To these two causes
add the results of excessive spirit drink-
ing, and we are no longer at a loss to ac-
count for the innumerable early deaths and
the childless marriages of the artisan class.
Drinking, too, in the country is more ex-
clusively the vice of the men than it is in
cities. There are drunken women enough,
indeed, in our villages and smaller towns;
but they bear no proportion to the gin-
drinking women and girls of London,
Liverpool, and every city in Great Brittan.
Drinking, too, tells more fatally on the
woman than on the man. Her more sus-
ceptible temperament is more easily excit-
ed, and the depression that follows and
calls for renewed excitement is proportion-
ately more complete. A very small acquain-
tance with police offices, or any places where
drunken women are to be found, is amply
sufficient to show that the gin that turns a
man into a beast turns a woman into some-
thing almost devilish. Such are the deadly
influences at work upon the millions who
are congregated in cities, and ever re-
cruited by as large an immigration from
the country districts that the purely agri-
cultural population of the kingdom actual-
ly remains stationary. The condition of
the farm labourer is bad enough. He, too,
often lives in a hovel, is perfectly free and
easy in his morals, and gets drunk with
beer. It is a satisfaction to remember that
the fresh air of heaven supplies him with
some compensation for what he loses by
not following those of his companions who
flock to the gigantic money-making centres
of manufacture and trade.—-LON. & CHINA
EXPRESS.

“Take no Thought for the
Morrow.”

When John Koller, of the village of
Helsen, was obliged to sell all his pro-
perty, because, in that year of scarcity,
1847, he could pay neither rent nor taxes,
he went the day before with his wife to
church, as was his regular custom every
Sunday. He found abundant comfort in
the text, “Take no thought for the mor-
row,” and in the words, “Your heavenly
Father knoweth that ye have need of all
these things.”

On his return from the church, he walk-
ed much consoled by the side of his
Margaret; and the words in Matt. viii. 1,
“When Jesus was come down from the
mount, great multitudes followed him,”
seemed also to apply; for he, too, fol-
lowed his Saviour with faith and hope,
whose blessed words he had heard upon
the mountain where the little church
stood. And when Margaret entered for
the last time on Sunday, the cottage,
which, on the morrow they were to turn
their backs upon, and was beginning to
weep, he comforted her with the words,
“Take no thought for the morrow, for
your heavenly Father knoweth that ye
have need of all these things.” He spoke
much to her of how, through God’s dis-
pensation, they had been reduced to
poverty, how He had sent sickness, the
bad harvest, and the scarcity; and argued
that the Lord, who always kept His word,
would make all things turn out for the
best.

The next morning came the bailiff, and
the auctioneer with his hammer. An
offer for the property was made of 450
thalers.

“Will no one bid higher?”

“Five hundred thalers!” called a young
lad, with a stout walking stick in his hand,
a knapsack on his back, and the peace of
God in his heart, who stood before the
cottage, and had opened his pocket-book,
which was full of bank-notes. No one
bid higher, and the bargain was agreed
upon.

“What is your name?”

“That has nothing to do with the af-
fair; I have not bought the cottage for
myself but for its former owner. I am
a student, and was passing through here
on my journey from my home to the
university. I saw these good people at
church, and I overheard enough of what
was said by them, as they were walking
home, to make inquiry of their neighbors:
I saw the tears in this woman’s eyes, and
remarked, from the trembling lips and
clasped hands of the man, that he could
pray. Five hundred thalers will not ruin
me. I can give them, and if I miss them,
shall do so willingly, if faithful Christians
have been helped thereby.”

The poor Kollers had no time to ex-
press their thanks, for, before they had
recovered from their joy and surprise,
their deliverer had vanished, and they
never saw him again, but the more fer-
vently did they thank God, who had sent
them this help. The bailiff and the
auctioneer went away, and the good couple
remained in the cottage they had inherit-
ed from their fathers; over the door of
the house they carved the inscription:
“Take no thought for the morrow; your
heavenly Father knoweth that ye have
need of all these things.”—-SUNDAYS AT
HOME.

National Affairs.

In all the recent action of State Legis-
latures and Conventions of the party, the
Union men, the loyal masses, have voted
to sustain Congress, and not the President,
regarding those matters about which they
differ. And it is apparent that the feel-
ing of the great North is more radical
than conservative.

In these circumstances, it is fit that the
President should pause. He seems to
have supposed that he could carry a large
portion of the Union men into a new
party, on a "Conservative" platform,
where they would be joined by the grea-
ter part of the old Democratic party,
forming thus a combination which would
control the politics and the legislation of
the country, and take away from the
Radicals all direction of affairs. The
chief plank in the platform of the propos-
ed "Conservative" party was to be the
immediate admission of all the lately Con-
federate States into full and regular stand-
ing in the Union, with their Senators and
Representatives in the halls of Congress,
[as many of them as could take the oaths]
without requiring of them any further
guarantees, conditions, or probation.

After it became quite certain that the
Civil Rights Bill would become a law,
over the veto, the President issued his
Proclamation of Peace, declaring the re-
bellion crushed, the United States author-
ity restored, and the war ended. This
action was more shrewd than wise, and
was somewhat premature; since the
authorities find it still impracticable to
withdraw the United States troops from
all parts of the South.

Such is the present situation. The
President, sustained by all the Democrats,
and a few of the Union men, in Congress,
insist that there shall be no more legislat-
ion in Congress, in respect to the Southern
States, and no more guarantees required
of them, till their Senators and Repre-
sentatives are admitted into Congress, and
the States are recognized as in the Union,
with all the rights of States. And this,
for the present, is what is called "Con-
servatism," in our National affairs.

On the other hand, two-thirds of all
the Union members of Congress, in both
Houses, and even a larger proportion of
them, insist that the condition of affairs
in the States lately in rebellion is such,
the character of the legislation in the same
States is such, as lately accomplished,
and the acts and opinions of the Govern-
ors, Senators, and Representatives of said
States, such, as to render it unwise to ad-
mit the Senators and Representaires into
Congress, at present, or to recognize these
States as fully in the Union, for the time
being. They wish to proceed slowly;
and are in favor of requiring more guaran-
tees, than are now offered, that these
States will be true to the Union, the
Constitution, the laws of Congress, and
to the rights of the freedmen. In other
words, the Union majorities in Congress
insist that in the matter of the recon-
struction of the Union, the Union party
shall dictate the terms and not those that
sympathized with the rebellion; and that
the great results of the war shall be se-
cured beyond a doubt, and the objects
of it not defeated, after the fighting has
been done. And these views of the Union
men in Congress are, for the present,
termed "Radicalism,"

We regret the difference between the
President and the great majority in Con-
gress. We hope the Congress will be firm,
because we think they are in the right;
and we hope the President will reconsider
his position, recede, and gracefully yield
to the future measures of the Union ma-
jorities, in this matter of reconstruction;
though his late speech, of April 19th,
does not much encourage us.

Otherwise, if the President persists in
his course, as during the last two months,
of threatening Congress, and parleying
with the opposition, and making common
cause with the Blairs, and talking of a
third party pledged to him and his policy.
And using his patronage for such a pur-
pose, we hope that Congress will keep its
two-thirds power compact, take its great
measures right through, make haste slow-
ly, continue in session till next March,
and see to it, in every possible way, that
"the Republic suffers no damage.? Cer-
tainly, neither the President's falter-
ing and wavering on the one hand, nor his
passion and obsti-nacy, on the other hand,
ought to be allowed to defeat the will of
the loyal masses, or to hinder the pro-
gress of the public welfare.—PACIFIC.

CHLOROFORM FOR BEES.—-A gentleman
writing to the MAINE FARMER says:
"Having had little satisfaction and much
trouble in fumigating bees with puff ball,
&c., I bethought me to try chloroform,
and shall never use any thing else in
future. I put about ten drops on a bit
of rag, pushed it under the hive from be-
hind, and in about five minutes the bees
were all on the bottom board. In this
way I united two swarms most success-
fully."

FRENCH AGRICULTURAL'S.-—The Mon-
ITEUR DES TRAVAUX PUBLICS publishes
the following statistics respecting the
number of horses and cattle in the 89
departments of France-Horses, 3,000,-
000; asses, 400,000; mules, 330,000;
horned cattle, 10,200,000—2,000,000 oxen;
5,800,000 cows; 2,100,000 yearlings. The
number of calves produced in the last
year was 4,000,000; sheep and lambs,
35,000,000, of which 26,000,000 were
mer-inos; 1,400,000 goats and kids; 1,400,-
000 hogs above a year old; 3,900,000
sucking pigs. There are at present in
France 12,600,000 acres of natural mea-
dow land, 5,000,000 acres of arti-ficial
meadows, and 20,000,000 acres of pas-
ture land.

OILING LEATHER.—-The SCIENTIFIC
AMERICAN says that oils should not be
applied to dry leather, as they would in-
variably injure it. If you wish to oil a
harness, wet it over night, cover it with
a blanket, and in the morning it will be
dry and supple; then apply neat's-foot
oil in small quantities, and with so much
elbow grease as will insure its dissemin-
ating itself throughout the leather. A
soft pliant harness is easy to handle, and
lasts longer than a neglect-ed one. Never
use vegetable oils on leather; and among
animal oils, neat's-foot is the beast."

THE WAY TO AVOID CALUMNY.—-" If
any one speaks ill of thee," said Epicte-
tus, "consider whether he hath truth on
his side; and if so, reform thyself, that
his censures may not affect thee." When
Anaxi-mander was told that the very boys
laughed at his singing. "Ay," said he,
"then I must learn to sing better." Pla-
to being told that he had many enemies
who spoke ill of him, said: "It is no
matter; I will live so that none shall be
believe them." Hearing at another time
that an intimate friend of his, had spo-
ken detractingly of him, he said: "I am
sure he would not do it, if he had not
some reason for it." This is the surest
as well as the noblest way of drawing the
sting out of a reproach, and the truest
method of preparing a man for that
great and only relief against the pains of
calumny—-A GOOD CONSCIENCE."

Bangkok Recorder.

Draining the City.

We are glad to learn that our article
headed preparation for the Cholera
has commended itself to the highest
authority in the city and kingdom, and
resulted in sending a written expres-
sion of gratitude for it, and a request
that we would translate it into Siam-
ese, and give it extensive circulation.
We have translated and published it
in our Siamese Recorder, which has
by this time brought it clearly before
more than a hundred of the principal
rulers who reside in the city. We
fervently hope that the city authorities
will by it be stirred up to inaugurate
a great improvement in the matter of
sewers and drains to carry off the
filth that is prone to become intensi-
fied in very many localities but more
so in some than in others.

We were pleased a few hours since
in walking before the palace of a prince
and finding the path abominably mud-
dy from stagnant water and filth only
3 or 4 feet from his door, to hear him
of his own accord refer to our ideas
of fuel for the Cholera and say that
he was ashamed of that mud and filth,
and was afraid that it might give him
and his family the cholera. But Si-
amese like, he added what can I do?
How shall I get the water to run out
of this hollow! O the inefficiency of
even moneyed princes! We pointed
out in a moment how he could drain
the place by cutting a little ditch to
the river only 30 feet long which
would cost him not more than a tical
at the most.

We hope the city authorities will
take some course to make such men
effectually ashamed of their ineffi-
ciency.

Why would it not be a capital plan
for the government to adopt some sys-
tem by which the many hundreds of
prisoners in the city shall be daily
employed under enlightened and effi-
cient superintendence in cleansing the
sewers of the chief bazars and form-
ing new ones wherever needed! We
have heard that Captain Ames, Com-
missioner of the Police, has proposed
to superintend a body of prisoners for
making such improvements. Why
will not government let him do so?
Will government say it will cost too
much? If so, shame on it! Penny
wise and pound foolish! How could
those culprits be better employed?
The proper work of prisoners under
European rule is to make such im-
provements for the public good.

We are informed that the side drains
to the new road Sanon-cham-ron-
kroong are clogged by the refuse mat-
ter, which the occupants by their side,
throw into them, and that they have be-
come a great nuisance, as the filth they
generate can find no outlet until it
overflows the sewers. We would say,
that if the city authorities have not
power enough to make every resident
on that street do his duty in keeping
those drains open, let them send a gang
of prisoners to do it, and then oblige
the residents to pay some suitable tax
for it.

Petchaburee No. 7.

Fancying that some of our readers
would be pleased and profited by ob-
taining more full information concern-
ing the agricultural interests of Petcha-
buree than we have as yet given them,
we have determined to write now on
this subject.

The province of Petchaburee is re-
garded as being one of the best in the
kingdom for the growth of Rice,
the great staple of the country. As
before intimated, the paddy fields are
all on nearly a common level, so that
whenever the river overflows her banks,
the water flows into all the lots. How-
ever distant from the river. There
was, in the natural state of the surface,
a slight variation in some localities
from a perfect level, which had to be
graded down to a more exact con-
formity with the general surface of
all the lots. The ground which was
removed for this purpose was put into
the embankments, which form the
boundaries of the several lots. In
such localities as were sufficiently low
without grading, the embankments
were made by earth taken close by
their side, and hence leaving a little
ditch. This slight variation in the
original surface of the rice prairies and
the consequent necessity of grading,
accounts for the many, and as one would
think whimsical, sizes of the paddy
lots which range from a tenth to a
quarter of an acre or more each.
Small lots, each surrounded with an
embankment, show the localities that
had originally a surface slightly higher
than that of the larger lots. The
readiest way to dispose of the surplus
earth obtained in grading, was to put
it into embankments, and consequent-
ly it became necessary to have more
of them and closer together than in
lower localities. It was not desirable
to have the embankments more than
2 or 3 feet high above the surface of
the paddy lots, nor more than 3 or 4
feet thick. It must have required
much labor to grade the lots on the
more elevated localities, for it was
done, not as we do such work in the
western world with scrapers drawn by
horses or oxen, but with simple spades,
and those small, and, as we would
think, very unhandy. A lot when
graded and enclosed is a fixture as
much so as the houses of the people.

The soil of all the paddy fields in
the Province of Petchaburee seems to
be very much the same, it being argil-
lacious with a slight mixture of sand,
and is of a yellowish color. It is not
nearly as stiff as the soil in the vicinity
of Bangkok, being like the latter an
alluvial deposit having a greater pro-
portion of red sand, probably, from its
having been formed in the process of
ages much nearer mountain regions.

There are large tracts of sea-level
land within 3 or 4 miles of the gulf coast
whose soil is of a slate color like that
between Bangkok and the sea; but it
is as yet too much under the influence
of sea water to be suitable for the
growth of rice. It has within the last
3 years been thoroughly tried for rais-
ing sugar cane, and a good deal of
capital invested in the experiment; but
turns out, if we have been correctly in-
formed, a great failure in consequence
of the brackish character of the cane
juice it produces. We took a lively
interest in this experiment, and feel
quite disappointed by what we have
heard of its result. We have still a
good deal of hope that science and art,
which are now being made to shine
more and more clearly upon sugar
producing interests, will soon reveal
the way by which these large tracts of
land shall be made as servicable for
the production of sugar as those on
Tacheen river.

The paddy fields of Petchaburee,
like most of the fields in other parts
of Siam, are favored with a deep and
inexhaustible soil. They never wear
out however continuously employed in
growing rice, and that even without
the least effort made to manure them.
Indeed, so far from ever applying any
manure, their owners usually burn off
the stubble in the dry season instead
of allowing it to rot on the ground
and become manure. Their object in
doing this, is not for any benefit the
ashes might be in stimulating the soil,
but simply to get rid of the stubble
so that it shall not impede the plough-
ing and harrowing of the ground
for the following crop. We know not
how to account for this wonderful
vitality and strength of the soil, but
by attributing it to a kind of stimulus
it receives from the overflowing of the
river two or three times every year,
each time from a week to a fortnight
in continuance.

The overflowing water runs from
one lot into another by small excava-
tion made in their embankments; and
whenever it is desired to retain the
water in the lots for the growth of the
paddy, these openings are readily
closed. You may see the farmers out
with their small spades a little before
the abundant rains are expected to
fall, all busily engaged in repairing the
embankments of their lots, some of
which had sunken too low, and some
been broken down by carts passing
over them in the dry season and by
other causes. They use their apparen-
tly awkward spades with surprising
dexterity. The blade of the spade is a
plain rectangular plate of iron 6 inches
by 4 or 5. The upper end of it is
split horizontally to form a kind of
socket for the handle which is as wide
as the blade itself, and hence without
a shoulder on which the foot can be
put to force it into the ground. In-
deed the instrument is so small and
the ground so soft at the time it is
called into service, that their arms
need no assistance from their legs. The
handles of these spades-—prooangs as
they are called—-are quite like a Roman
S much elongated.

The farmers prefer not to begin
ploughing their fields until the rains
have fallen so abundantly as to leave
the water ankle deep or more on the
lots. What a pity it is that they
know not the benefit of ploughing
their paddy fields before they become
so very wet, when they might quite
eradicate the weeds and grass that
occupy the ground, and have them
all well prepared for planting, without
a great pressure when the rains and
the inundation come, which happens
sometimes suddenly, giving not half
time enough for them to plough and
plant as the season requires. And
it is furthermore quite impossible by
the course they take to prevent the
weeds and grass from springing up with
the the paddy, and doing it much damage.
What European would think of
ploughing well a field inundated with
water, even though he have the best
plough of modern invention? But
these Siamese farmers have no ploughs
or harrows which are worthy of the
name. Their ploughs do but little
more than scratch up the ground and
thus prepare it a little for their harrow,
which is but a large wooden rake.
This instrument mixes up the ground
with the water so that it becomes a
semifluid; with weeds grass and all en-
tangled.

Nothing can be more manifest than
that these native growers of rice would
be vastly benefitted by the introduction
and general use of Western ploughs
and harrows. And we have recently
published several articles in our "Siam-
ese Recorder" on this subject hoping
to lead them to abandon their old
agricultural implements of the darkest
ages, and adopt in their stead the great
improvements of modern times. We
are happy to learn that those articles
have made some note-worthy impres-
sion on the minds of several of our
readers, who have extensive paddy
fields. And we consequently hope to
be agents, though but feeble, of intro-
ducing great changes in the agriculture
of the country, and thus in this way
as well as in others, be of real service
to Siam.

LOCAL.

The king of the Laos at Cheangmai
arrived on the 9th inst, having been
31 days in coming. He came all the
way in his royal barge attended by
about 25 other state boats. We had
the honor of meeting him on the 12th,
and of being saluted as an old ac-
quaintance and friend. He enquired
kindly after the welfare of our son-in-
law and family, who made a tour to
his capital in the year 1863, as he had
heard that his wife did not enjoy
good health. We were glad to report
to him the goodness of the Lord to
the family in granting full restoration
to health.

This is the regular year, when ac-
cording to a long established custom
the king of Cheangmai should pay his
triennial visit to His Majesty the king
of Siam as his Suzurain, bringing with
him the usual tribute of a silver tree, a
gold tree, a gold necklace and finger
rings richly decked with precious
stones.

We accidentally had a view of the
trees before they were presented. They
are about 8 feet high. The silver tree
is said to contain 30 tamlungs of the
purest silver, equal to 120 ticals, and
the gold tree 15 tamlungs of the finest
gold equal to 1080 ticals. We had
before seen at the palaces of the kings
of Siam many silver and gold trees of
equal richness, probably, and perhaps
more so, but none of them were half as
clear and bright as these. Those
were old and dusty, these new and
clean.

The bodies of the trees are two
inches in diameter at the bottom and
of suitable proportions as they extend
straight upward. Each had the ap-
pearance of being made entirely of
the precious metal it purported to be.
How precious would be that gold tree
if it were wholly of that metal? But
it was only a tin cylinder heavily
plated, and the limbs of it being some
40 or 50 in number were made of iron
wire gilded, and so graduated as to
form a very graceful top much like
the shape of a clove tree. The leaves
and petals of the flowers are of solid
gold and they are certainly very neat-
ly wrought, displaying with wonder-
ful accurateness even the ribs and
veins of the leaves. The flowers are
of the size of small roses and have a
purple bud the size of a lotus seed in
their centre. The tree stands on a
small artificial gilded mound.

The silver tree is of the same size
and shape, with leaves and flowers in
imitation of the same tree, said to be
indigenous in the Laos country.

The gold necklace is said to be
decked with 4 rubies of the size of a
lotus seed, and 100 of the size of a
grain of Indian corn.

The king of Cheangmai has come
down earlier this year than usual, as
we are informed, for the purpose of
clearing himself of charges which had
been rumoured against his loyalty to
the king of Siam as his Suzarain. He
had been represented by certain par-
ties, as having become dissatisfied
with His Majesty as Protector, and
was designing to transfer that relation-
ship, if possible, to His Majesty the
king of Burmah. We are happy to
learn, that he has fully satisfied the
Siamese government that he has nev-
er entertained a thought of taking
such a step. The report of his dis-
loyalty it appears all grew out of the
fact that in consideration of some
kindnesses shown the king of Cheang-
mai by the king of Burmah he sent him
two elephants possessed of some pecu-
liar excellencies in having white eyes
and singular tails but not being in any
sense white elephants. With these
peculiarities the king of Ava was
much pleased, and sent the king of
Cheangmai in return some gold ora-
ments richly decked with rubies which
was probably much more than a full
compensation for the animals. The
rich present may have been designed
to prepare the way for requesting the
king of Cheangmai to deliver up a cer-
tain Burmese subject who had been an
officer of high rank in Burmah, who
having rebelled, fled and took refuge
in the jurisdiction of the king of
Cheangmai Not long since a high of-
ficer of Burmah sent a messenger to
the king of Cheangmai requesting the
rendition of that fugitive. And there
is good evidence that the latter proved
his loyalty to the king of Siam by
saying that he could not grant the re-
quest without first obtaining authority
from the government of Siam.

With regard to the great law case
about teak timber, pending between
Racha Boot a nephew of the king of
Cheangmai and the successors of the
late Captain Burn, we have heard but
little since the arrival of the king.
From the little we have gathered, it
would seem that justice would acquit
Racha Boot in the form if not
wholly. It is understood that the king
of Cheangmai will remain here many
months for the purpose of having the
case definitively settled.

We learn that the Siamese govern-
ment are about dispatching messen-
gers to Maulmain overland, and an-
other company by Steamer via Sing-
apore to notify all parties concerned
in the suit, that the king of Cheangmai
is now ready for the trial of the case
here in Bangkok, and will wait a
suitable time for his accusers to come
hither and have their claims tried
before H. B. M's Consul for Siam.

The government seems to be resting
upon its oars, waiting for something
to turn up to engage its attention. In
the mean time it has set Mr. C.—at
rummaging four large volumes touch-
ing the relations of the native govern-
ments of India to the British govern-
ment, under whose protection they
exist, to find light on this great sub-
ject with which Siam is necessarily
becoming more and more interested.
We hope enough light will be found
to direct her effectually in the path of
wisdom ere it shall be too late.

His Excellency Chow Phya Kala-
home is now giving much of his at-
tention to the erection of buildings
supposed to be indispensable for the
cremation of the remains of his brother,
His late Excellency Phya Montree
Sooriwougs. The burning is to take
place, we hear, about the 24th proximo.

His Majesty the king is now much
engaged with the king of Cheangmai.
We learn that the presents which the
latter has brought were sent to him by
the king of Burmah, and now, in true
loyalty, he is going to present them to
his Lord Paramount.

CAPTAIN PETERSON of the Siamese
barque "Heng Hoi," we are informed,
left a few days ago not expecting to
return to this country again, as he
feels that he has laid up sufficient
money to allow of his retiring from
sea-life. To show his thanks to the
country and the people amongst whom
he has made his fortune, he fired a
salute of 21 guns and then saluted
regularly every Siamese square rigged
vessel outside of the bar.

Our wells of local news have mostly
been filled or dried up. There seems
to be little or nothing doing in the
way of commerce, especially among
the few Europeans left among us. The
steam-rice-mills are running and puf-
fing almost continually and keep up a
hopeful show, if nothing more.

We are sorry to hear that the Queen
of Cheangmai is now alarmingly ill of
dysentery, having lean seized with the
complaint a little before her arrival.
Her daughter also the wife of Kyaw
Meen Kyaw prime minister of the
king of Cheangmai, and her grand-
daughter aged 7 years, we are pained
to learn, are dangerously ill of the
same disease.

Two of the king's men have recent-
ly died of dysentry. One died on the
way, and more than a dozen of the
men are now invalids from the same
cause. These triennial visits of the
king seem always to be made with
much loss of life to his retinue.

We are glad to report that the city
and country appear as yet to be
exempt from the Cholera. It is quite
remarkable that we have heard of no
case since more than a year ago. It
had become an annual visitor in spor-
adic cases in the months of April, May
and June. And no year has passed for
a long time, if our memory serves us
rightly, without its appearance in this
Metropolis in its least fearful form.

As we were going to press the Steamer
"Chow Phya" arrived, and from papers
received by her we have the following
telegram;

LONDON, JULY 20TH.—-Preliminaries of
Peace signed. Armistice indefinitely pro-
longed. Prussians remain in Bohemia
and Moravia. Atlantic Cable successfully
Laid.

Weekly Mail between
England and India.

The Parliamentary enquiry which is
now in progress, relative to the com-
munication between the East Indies and
the United Kingdom, promises to be at-
tended with one happy result. It is
rumoured that the Committee of the
House of Commons intend to offer a strong
recommendation to Her Majesty's Go-
vernment, for the despatch of a weekly
mail between England and Bombay, and
that private Companies be allowed the
privilege of constructing Telegraph lines
in any direction, they believe would be
profitable to themselves. There is a pros-
pect, therefore, of the present Over-
land communication being improved, and
of new lines of telegraph being laid down
under the auspices of private enterprise.

LICE ON HENS AND CHICKENS.—-Raise
the wings of setting hens, and examine
them closely for vermin. Sometimes lice
annoy hens so grievously, that they will
quit the nest. Apply sweet oil beneath
their wings; and also oil chickens and
young turkeys that are infested with lice.
Lice will sometimes stick around the
root of the bill of turkeys and chickens,
in the skin. Provide a box of dry sand
where they can roll in it; and lice will
find it so uncomfortable in their feathers,
that they will seek other quarters.

UNPRODUCTIVE FRUIT TREES.—-Some-
times fruit trees are unproductive from
other causes than poverty of the soil, or
neglect of the orchardist. They often
grow too luxuriantly to bear well. In
this case root-pruning is very effectual,
and is performed by digging a circle
round the tree. A fifteen year old tree,
for instance, may be encircled at five feet
from the trunk. No rules can be laid down
for this; judgment must be exercised.
If cut too close the tree may be stunted
for years, and if too far it will not be
effective. The aim should be to reduce
the root about one-third.—-GARDENER'S
MONTHLY.

MARKING EGGS.—-Every egg should
be marked with a pencil, or red chalk,
before placing it beneath the hen. Then,
when more eggs are laid in the nest, they
may be removed. Sometimes a hen will
drop an egg two or three days after she
has commenced sitting. It is not well
to have too many eggs in one nest. Hens
that are sitting should be lifted gently,
every day, to see if other hens have not
laid in their nests.

(Only is often more than one-lie.)
Beware of an "only," "'tis but," and "just one:"
These traitors have many a coward undoe,
All Troy for one woman in ashes was laid;
One tree mother Eve into ruin betrayed;
One crack will suffice that a vase be not sound;
One spark, and all London on fire was found;
One worm-eaten stick is enough for a wreck;
But one step too far, and a fall breaks our neck;
From only one word many quarrels begin;
And only this once leads to many a sin;
Only a penny wastes many a pound;
Only once more, and the diver was drowned;
Only one drop many drunkards has made;
Only in play many gamblers have said;
Only a cold opens many a grave;
Only resist many evils will save.

A visit to the ruined Cities
and buildings of Cambodia.

The principle ruins of Cambodia are
concentrated in the Province of Siem-
rab—although they are not confined to
it—-but scattered over a wide extent
of the neighboring country. Coming
from Bangkok I left the road from
Battambong at Tasavai or Sisuphon, and
taking a northwesterly direction arrived
at Panom Sok, where the remains of
an old palace can be traced. The
ground is low and swampy and flood-
ed during three months of the year.
The whole country between Siam and
Cambodia is an inclined plain falling
off to the sea from Khon Donrek-—or
highlands of Korat—-which constitute
the first platform of the terraces that
ascend to the mountain chains of Laos,
thence to the Himalyas, Khoa Donrek
—-or the mountains which bear on the
shoulder. i.e. "The Atlas" enclosed
in its domaine the Dong Phya-fai—
the jungle of the Lord of fire—-and
gives rise to most of the tributary
streams flowing to the Puchim river.

Two days to the East of Kubin the
water shed between the Gulf of Siam,
and the outlets of Mekhong is passed;
and the intervening space, before
the basin of the Thalesab, which drains
the valley of Cambodia, is converted
into a lake every year during the rainy
season. From August to November
all voyages are made in boats; during
the rest of the year the water becomes
dry land, and the traveler, who then
traverses these regions, on a buffalo
cart or an Elephant may still see the
boats which had been afloat in the
months of the rainy season, and which
await its return, lying about in the
forest and plains, where, in March
and April, it suffers greatly from want of
water. When I passed there in the
month of December the two seasons
were still contending for the mastery,
and I found, to my dismay, the truth
of what a Siamese noble had told me
of before my departure—-that the
ground would not be dry enough for
carts nor watery enough for boats.
Often when toiling through these
marshy swamps I looked wistfully up
to the ridge which at the elevation of
six or eight feet ran high and dry
through the lowland, sometimes stretch-
ing along one side of the road, some-
times crossing it at right angles to
plunge into the depths of the forest—-
and then to appear again as if to mock
our slow progress and invite us to
bestride and follow its course. This
elevated ridge was the remains of the
old highway of "Khamen boran"—-
(who built the stone monuments) and
it can be traced, as the natives told
me, from the neighborhood of Noph
or (Nokh buri) a large city of Siam
now nearly deserted, straight up to
Nakhon Watt; from which place it
continues to the centre of Cochin
China, and none of the people I met
with had seen its terminus.

Following the serpentine turns of
the Indian path, I was put in mind of
my wanderings in Peru, where the
traveler winds his way over a broken
and intersected ground, climbing hills
on the one side to descend them on
the other—-and wading rocky streams,
brawling down precipitous valleys—-
sees above his head the remnants of
the ancient road of the Incas which
leads along the level of the high plat-
eau in a straight line to Cuzco the
capital. Chasms are spanned by mag-
nificent stone bridges in Peru, and
although the difficulties to be over-
come in the low lands of Cambodia
cannot be compared with the wild and
grand nature of the Andes, the stone
bridges that these ancient Cambodians
built over comparatively insignificant
streams, rival in the boldness of con-
ception, and even surpass the Peruvian
bridges, and seem to prove that their
builders must have been a people ac-
customed to struggle with the obstacles
of mountainous countries. Dwellers
in the lowlands would scarcely have
thought of raising such immense works
to escape the water, which they rather
seek as their favorite means of con-
veyance.

The first induction of what I should
have to see in this mysterious land of
ruins met my view on the evening of
the day on which we had left Panom
Sok. We were encamped in a clearing
of the forest near the banks of a small
stream called Lamsong by the Siam-
ese, or Sibang [?] Sin by the Cambodians,
when the guide given me by the Gov-
ernor of Panom Sok, asked if I should
like to see the Taphan hin—-the stone
bridge. I followed the path indicated,
and at a place where the foliage parted
darkly round the foaming water of the
stream, which falls there in cascades
over a ridge of rocks, I saw stretched
across it a colossal structure 400 feet
long and 50 wide, which overgrows
with grass and weeds was supported
by 80 arched pillars built of huge
stones.

In traversing the countries of Ultra
India, in the vast ruins of Pegu
and Ava, or in the ancient capitals of
Siam, the only witnesses one meets
to tell of the past are brick buildings
decayed and crumbling to pieces; but
here I stood before a work built of
stone, still uninjured and apparently
as firm and strong as on the day of its
first being placed there. The bridge
of the landing is built of free stone
except the inferior layers of the pillars
for which a hard conglomerato is used
wherever they are exposed to the ac-
tion of the water. They are placed in
a ridge of rocks which there lies across
the river and are riveted firmly in this
natural foundation. The stones forming
the pillars are of oblong shape, and
are laid in lines with the broad side
six or eight feet towards the river. The
pillars stand in pairs arching in oppo-
site directions, at the bases the distance
is about six feet. The stones project
gradually towards the top, inclining in
an arch which are thus closed after
the manner of Mycena.

The body of the bridge is formed
by large stone beams fourteen feet or
more in length, which stretch in several
layers one above the other. The
upper ones are placed alternately on
the ridges of the lower ones, and thus
their very weight contributes to keep
the arch steady. There was formerly
a balustrade which lined the bridge
on both sides but is now mostly
thrown down, these ornamental parts
of the massive structure being the only
ones on which the wanton destroyers
could wreak their vengeance. It was
composed of a series of long quarry
stones, on the ridges of which Carya-
tidian pillars, representing Puya Nak,
—-or the king of the subterranean ser-
pents, supported another slab, with
an excavation all along its rim to re-
ceive in it a semi-convex stone with
Arabesque sculptures.

On the left bank of the river a stair
case of a Ghaut leads down to the
water at a place where a temple is said
formerly to have stood, and under a
shed in a neighboring part of the forest
I found a collection of Brahminical
'Idols' including four handed Vishnus
and Ganesa with his Elephant head
which had been placed there by his
worshippers.

In examining the “Sau Chao” in
Cambodia which like the Wat houses
in Birma, and the Dewales in Ceylon
in most cases adjoin a Buddhistical
monastry, I have frequently found
fragments of these and similar statues,
together with offerings that had been
laid before them.

The landing had high and steep
banks at the time I saw it; but it is
filled to the brim, according to native
account, in the rainy season, when the
rocks which form the rapids, being
covered, the stream runs smoothly
along. Another stone bridge, called
Taphan Thup-—or Celestial bridge-—is
said to exist a little further up the river.

The next morning we passed over
the bridge with the roaring water be-
low; but as soon as the natives left
the other side they again left the dir-
ection of the old causeway to grope
their way through narrow and muddy
paths in the jungle. The afternoon of
the same day we arrived at the ruins
of another bridge, over the Paleng
river, which, according to popular tra-
dition, was left unfinished by the arch-
itects because the country was invaded
by the enemy who destroyed Nakhon
Watt. This bridge is likewise of stone
and has even in its imperfect state
outlived many centuries, whereas the
wooden bridges along the military
road built lately by the Siamese Gen-
eral “Chow Khoon bodin” from Pa-
chan to Battabong, are even now,
after hardly thirty years of existence,
out of repairs or totally broken down.

The plan of the bridge over the
Paleng river is the same as the one
previously described, the vaults being
formed of layers of stone projecting
four or six inches beyond those be-
neath. The people told me of three
other stone bridges somewhere in the
neighborhood, but I did not see them
on my way, as I found myself in two
days after in Siem-rab, the government
town of the province of the same
name, and from thence started for the
province of Nakhoo Watt two hours
distant.

The first impression this monument
makes is overwhelming. It is Ellora's
Kailasa taken out of it dark cave and
placed high in air, and the sculptures
rival in their elegant and animated
style the best of those at Mahabalipar-
iam. The chasteness of the design
recalls the classic style of Greece, but
an examination of the details shows it
to be mixed up with Indian extrava-
gances, like the architecture of the
Kashmerian temples. As I am in-
formed that the temple has been late-
ly described in the journal of the roy-
al Geographical Society, and as my
notes are as yet not properly arranged,
I shall confine myself to a few remarks
upon the delineations on the walls of
the outer corridor, which encases the
peristyles of the inner temple.

Siam and Farther India

[The following article, which appeared
in the “MACEDONIAN” for Nov. 1863,
gives a lively view of Siam as taken by an
old resident in retrospect at the beginning
of that year.]

From some points of view Siam
takes quite a high position. The
treaties with the great nations of the
earth do them much credit, and have
been of much service already to the
country.

First came the British Lion, grow-
ling and pawing, causing the whole
community to tremble for very fear,
and making the king and nobles wil-
ling to come to any terms, if the king
of beasts would but withdraw in peace
from their little defenceless kingdom.
Ere the Lion's growl had died away,
the American Eagle, soaring over the
wide waters, lit upon the very lair of
the king of beasts, and said in turn,
‘Give us to the British Lion,’ and it
was done.

Hopes were now at the height. Ships
stood in fleets to buy the produce of
the country. Foreigners flocked hith-
er in comparative multitudes, expec-
ting to make fortunes—-they hardly
knew how. Some came as merchants,
some as seamen, some as interpreters,
some as merchants, shipwrights, harbor
masters, gold diggers, bakers, ship
chandlers, &c. &c.

The nation looked on with great
fear and trembling, feeling at every
point that they were about to be
sacrificed—-and no wonder. Till now
they had lived in solitude, calling
themselves the great nation, and feel-
ing that they alone were the true
people, and all others barbarians.
Even the inhabitants of the great Cel-
estial Empire were to them but an
uncultivated race of workers, hewers
of wood and drawers of water. But
what could be done? Treaties had
been made; the seal of the great king
and his nobles affixed. Foreigners
must be allowed to come and buy and
sell-—there was no help.

The only safeguard was to have the
natives study English; study foreign
customs; have wise advisers-—a sort
of phalanx of mediators between them-
selves and the great worlds towards
the setting sun. This had its evils,
and for many, many months the new
treaties brought nothing but trouble
to the kingdom.

Eventually everything found its
level. The great flood of foreigners
were lessened by a variety of casual-
ties and sickness and disasters, till
we were reduced to a few merchants,
a few harbor masters, and certain of-
ficials needed in trade. The consuls
of the various nations represented in
treaties, gradually gave character to
the foreign community, till all the af-
fairs of the kingdom proceeded harmo-
niously, prosperously, and to the
decided advantage of the country in
many respects.

The king and many prominent
nobles, and wealthy Chinamen, bought
or built sailing vessels and steamers,
and competed successfully with for-
eigners in the China and Singapore
trade. They even sent ships to Eng-
land. The export of rice excited to
increased industry among the farm-
ing community, and gave them a
degree of independence before un-
known. The export duties brought
a great deal of money into the public
treasury, and enabled the king, at the
suggestion of foreigners, to add much
to the prosperity and advantage of the
country, by public roads, new canals,
bridges, and public buildings. In-
deed, the present king has done more
in this respect than all that have gone
before him. He has done himself
great credit, and distinguished him-
self among the western nations by the
stand he has taken as a friend of com-
merce.

The Rich and the Poor:

I will say, for example, that you are a
workingman, earning a pound or two a
week, and that I am an independent per-
son with an income of ten thousand a
year. I will not take the example of a
king, because I apprehend few persons
in their senses would aspire to that un-
comfortable position. Well, then, we are
both men, with the same senses and the
same appetites. As regards our animal
natures, you eat, drink, and sleep ; I can
do no more. Provided we both have suf-
ficient, there is no real difference in the
satisfaction we derive from these indul-
gences. My meal may be composed of
the so-called “delicacies of the season,”
while yours may be simply a steak and
potatoes. When we have both laid down
our knives and forks and cried, “Enough,”
the sensation is the same in both cases.
If you hanker after my delicacies, you
own to a desire simply to give your palate
a passing gratification. Your food is real-
ly more wholesome and nourishing than
mine, and, if you were content, you
would enjoy it quite as much. The real
fact is, that these “delicacies of the sea-
son” are invented and concocted for me,
not because they are good for me, or be-
cause there is any great amount of enjoy-
ment in the consumption of them, but
because I have a vast deal of money to
throw away. I merely conform to a
fashion in ordering and paying for them.

I began with salmon, for instance.
You think you would like to have salmon
every day for dinner. Try it three times
running. Why, in old days, before rail-
ways established a ready and rapid com-
munication with the London markets,
the servants of country gentlemen resid-
ing on the banks of the Severn, the Tey,
the Dee, and the Spey, made a stipula-
tion in their terms of engagement that
they should not be fed upon salmon more
than three times a week. Pheasant and
partridge are delicacies of the season ;
but always to dine on pheasant and par-
tridge would be less tolerable than per-
petual bread and water. There is noth-
ing for which a man should be more
thankful than an ever-recurring appetite
for plain beef and mutton—-nothing ex-
cept the means of indulging that appetite.
These highly-spiced dishes, called by fine
French names, which are set upon the
tables of the rich and great, are mere
cooks' tricks to stimulate the languid ap-
petite. To hanker after such things is to
have a longing for physic, not for whole-
some food. Many grand folks who habi-
tually eat them are miserable creatures,
who have to coax their stomachs at every
meal-—pitiable victims of dyspepsia and
gout.

People who envy the luxurious feasts
of the rich should know that the wise
men who sit down to them only make a
pretence of partaking of the so-called
good things that are placed before them.
I have heard that the cabinet ministers,
before they go into the city to the Lord
Mayor's banquet, dine quietly at home
on some simple and wholesome viands,
knowing that there will be many dishes
on the groaning table of Guildhall which
they dare not touch. The Queen spreads
her table with all the most elaborate pro-
ductions of the culinary art ; but she
herself makes her dinner off a cut of sim-
ple mutton. Cook as you will, and lavish
money as you will, there is no exceeding
the enjoyment of that carter sitting by
the road-side thumbing his bread and
cheese!—-ALL THE YEAR ROUND.

The Laugh of Woman

A woman has no natural gift more be-
witching than a sweet laugh. It is like
the sound of flutes on the water. It leaps
from her in a clear, sparkling rill and the
heart that hears it feels as if bathed in the
cool, exhilarating spring. Have you ever
pursued an unseen fugitive through trees,
led on by a fairy who [....]—now here, now
there, now lost, now found. We have,
and we are pursuing that warbling voice
to this day. Sometimes it comes to us in
the midst of care, or sorrow, or irksome
business, and then we turn away and lis-
ten, and hear it ringing in the room like
a silver bell, with power to scare away the
evil spirit of mind. How much we owe
to that sweet laugh! It turns prose to
poetry; it dissolves clouds of [....] over
the darkness of the soul; it makes us, ere
traveling, it teaches faith in the even our
sleep, which is no more than the image of
death, but is consumed with dreams that
are the shadows of immortality.—PREN-
TICE.

The Home of a Rothschild.

The estate of La Ferriere was purchas-
ed thirty years ago by Rothschild from
the heirs of Fouche, Duke of Otranto, for
the sum of 2,600,000 francs. It has since
been considerably increased, and it now
consists of thirty-seven thousand English
acres. Like the great Foederick, who
vainly tried to purchase the mill at San
Souci which came twixt the wind and his
nobility, the Baron has vainly endeavour-
ed to buy a farm of fifteen acres which
happens to be in the centre of his vast do-
main. The gold of the Rothschilds will
not tempt the obdurate PAYMAN to part
with his beloved heritage. Curious to
say, the adjoining estates belong to the
mighty Pereires, the only name in France
which, in point of financial power, can
rival that of Rothschild.

“The Emperor's visit in 1865 to La
Ferrieres will be remembered. Every
hour which his Majesty breathed in this
superb mansion cost the host a million.
Till that time no artist had been allowed
to sketch the chateau; and it being a hid-
eous amalgamation of incorrect style,
such as would give Mr. Ruskin a shiver
even to contemplate in a photograph, I
think the Baron evinced his good sense in
not permitting his house to be seen in
prints. Imagine a huge building, partly
old English and partly Chinese in its de-
coration, surrounded by exquisite grounds,
in the designs of which Paxton had no in-
considerable part, immense tanks well
stocked with fish, and an indescribable air
of artificial ornament pervading the whole,
which conveys to one the idea that one of
the sumptuous palace in the Champs Ély-
sées had been transported to the flat plains
of La Brie.

The interior arrangements, however,
are faultless-—a double staircase leads to
the hall, which is eighty-five feet in height,
and lit from the roof by a dome of glass
illuminated at night by eleven hundred
and fifty gas burners. The gallery sepa-
rates this vast hall from the dwelling-
rooms, each of which would supply in it-
self enough treasures for a very respect-
able exhibition. Byzantine arm-chairs,
pictures by Velasques, Joseph Vernet, Gui-
do, Vandyke, and I know not how many
more great masters, almost fatigue the
spectator by their repeated claims for ad-
miration. The most comfortable chair in
the SALON DE FAMILLE was once the
throne of a Chinese Emperor, presented
by that Celestial to a Rothschild. A sofa
in this said room is covered by Oriental
embroidery bearing the Imperial Dragon.
The Baron's private study is furnished
with Gobelin tapestry worked from designs
by Boucher. The walls of the smoking-
room are entirely covered by Russia leath-
er, exactly the tint of a cigar, and on this
costly material Horace Larry has painted
exquisite frescoes. The family dining-
room is decorated by sporting subjects,
executed by Philippe Rousseau. It opens
on a small and very plain synagogue. It
was in too large a dining-room that the Em-
peror and his suite partook of the celebra-
ted luncheon in 1862, served on Bernard
de Palissy china and plate chiselled by
Gouttieres."-—PRESBYTERIAN.

Christianity and the New Dis-
coveries at Pompeii.

The last reports from the excavations
at Pompeii tell us that its inhabitants
were making a jest of our Christianity,
and caricaturing on their walls its chief
doctrine of a crucified God, at the mo-
ment Vesuvius was heaving with the fiery
flood that was to submerge for a thousand
years the city of so many graceful fanes
and palaces.........In the year 79 of era—-
only forty years after Christ's death—-
how was it in that sacredotal Alexandria
which formed the most beautiful watering-
place of old Italy? As we descend
through the causeway opened to us by a
modern pickaxe, and survey the city........
it costs little effort of fancy to recall it
as it then stood........and picture it on the
day when merry amateurs were scoring
on one part of the palace of Pansa
humorous abuse against the new creed,
and some sedater artist-—won to it, it
may be, by the persuasiveness of one of
its first apostles—-was congenially sculp-
turing in another part of the house the
devotional cross that remains unfinished
to this hour........Strange! "The super-
stition" which was already going about,
conquering and to conquer, and which
latter won to its faith every other Roman
city, never won Pompeii—-never won it,
between amid the last orgies of vice, and
to the music of pipe and tabor, the choi-
cest of the cities of Satan went down
bodily into Hades. As strange is it:
more than a thousand years later-—long
after Christianity had become the religion
of the State all over Europe the Old
Sorceress re-appeared amongst us with
much the same aspect and garments as
those with which she had disappeared.
The wonderful microcosm that enshrined
as in a model all the marvels of a worship
that had degenerated until it was without
soul or life, is now without soul or life
itself; and priestess, dead now as once
living, are found in mute attendance on
deities who, with their fanes and altars,
represent a system which—-thanks to the
Crucifixion it ridiculed—-is no more a
part of the world we live in, than we of
the world submerged under Noah.—
LONDON MORNING HERALD.

Trust and look upward.

The Lord has died, and faint not. The
Lord has risen; doubt not. The Lord is
exalted, fear not. The Lord reigneth:
hesitate not. The Lord returneth: delay
not. Believe, and that with all simplicity,
and with all joy. Believe, and bring be-
fore Him the wants of thine own heart
and daily life, the daily requirements of
thy soul: trust and look upward. Believe,
and bring before Him the wants of thy
friends, both for body and soul: trust and
look upward. Believe, and bring before
Him the wants of the church: trust and
look upward. Believe, and bring before
Him the wants of the world, and still
trustingly look upward! "The night
cometh, and also the morning." Soon the
Lord shall return, and thou shalt welcome
Him, thou and all saints: nay, earth itself,
and all that dwell therein. Then occupy
till He come, and if, before that day dawn,
thou art called to rest, lie down to sleep
in hope of the blessed resurrection, and the
coming of the Lord with ten thousand of
his saints. Even so, Lord Jesus, come
quickly.—PACIFIC.

An Obliging Disposition.

It is several years since the following
capital story made its last circuit of the
papers, and we start it once more on its
travels. It will find some new read-
ers and many old ones who will enjoy it.

There is nothing like an obliging dis-
position, I thought to myself, one day
when traveling in a railway car from
Boston to Worcester, seeing a gentleman
put himself to considerable trouble to
land another gentleman, who had fallen
asleep at his destination.

"Passengers for West Needham ?"
cried out the conductor—" the car stops
but one minute."

"Hello !" exclaimed a young man in
spectacles, at the same time seizing an
old gentleman by the shoulder, who was
sleeping very soundly, "here's Capt. Hol-
mes fast asleep, and this is West Need-
ham, where he lives. Come, get up, Capt.
Holmes, here you are."

The gentleman got upon his feet and
began to rub his eyes, but the young
man forced him along to the door of the
car, and gently landed him on the road-
side. Whiz went the steam and we be-
gan to fly again. The obliging young
man took his seat again, and said with a
good deal of satisfaction to somebody
near him—"Well, if it hadn't been for
me, Capt. Holmes would have missed his
home finely. But here he has left his
bundles :" and the young man picked up
a paper parcel and threw it out. "Well,
he said again, "if it hadn't been for me
Capt. Holmes would have missed his
bundles finely."

When we stopped at the next station,
a lady began to rummage under the seat
where Capt. Holmes had been sitting,
and exclaimed in great alarm :

"I can't find my bundle."

"Was it done up in a piece of brown
paper?" I asked.

"Yes it was, to be sure," said the lady.

"Then," said I, "that young man yon-
der threw it out of the window at the
last stopping place."

This led to a scene between the oblig-
ing young man and the old lady, which
ended by the former taking the address
of the latter, and promising to return the
package in a few days provided he should
ever find it.

"Well," said the obliging young man,
"catch me doing a good natured thing
again. What can I do for that poor wo-
man, if I cannot find her bundle ?"

Whiz went the steam, ding, ding, ding,
went the bell, the dust flew, the sparks
flew, and the cars flew, as they say, like
lightning, till we stopped again at the
next station, I forget the name of it now,
but it would be of no consequence if I
could remember it. An old gentleman
started up and began to poke under the
seat where Capt. Holmes had sat.

"What are you looking for ?" I in-
quired.

"Looking for ?" said the old gentle-
man, "why, I am looking for my bundle
of clothes."

"Was it tied up in a yellow handker-
chief ?" I asked.

"Yes, and nothing else," said the old
man.

"Good heavens," exclaimed the oblig-
ing young man, "I threw it out of the
car at Needham ; I thought it belonged
to Capt. Holmes."

"Capt. Holmes !" exclaimed the old
fellow, with a look of despair, "who is
Capt. Holmes ? That bundle contained
all my clean clothes, that I was to wear
at my son's wedding to-morrow morning.
Dear me what can I do ?"

Nothing could be done but to give his
address to the obliging young man as be-
fore, and console himself with the pro-
mise that the bundle should be returned
to him, provided it was ever found. The
obliging young man was now in despair,
and made another solemn vow that he
would never attempt to be obliging again.
The next station was his landing-place,
and as he went toward the door of the
car, he saw a silver-headed cane, which
he took hold of and read the inscription
on it, "Moses Holmes, East Needham."

"Well," again exclaimed the obliging
young man, "if here isn't Capt. Holmes'
cane !"

"Yes," said a gentleman, who got in
at the last station, "and the old man is
lame, too. He will miss his stick."

"Do you know him ?" inquired the
obliging young man.

"Know him ? I should think so," re-
plied the gentleman ; "he is my uncle."

"And does he live at East Needham ?"
asked the obliging young man.

"Of course he does. He never lived
anywhere else."

"Well, if it don't beat everything,"
said the obliging young man, "and I put
him out at West Needham, a mile and a
half the other side of his home."—-N. Y.
Observer.

WISE PROVERBS.—The harder the wood
the higher the polish. One man cries,
"There's a well;" another quietly puts a
pump into it. Prayers and provender never
hindered any man's journey. Experience
and wisdom are two best fortune-tellers.
The covetous man makes a half-penny of
a farthing; and a liberal man makes a six-
pence of it. Vain glory is a flower which
never comes to fruit. If folly were pain,
we should have great crying out in every
house. Your looking-glass will tell you
what friends never will. The man that
speaks plain truth is a cleverer fellow than
he is generally taken for. The snail looks
around his house, and thinks it is the whole
world.

FILLING UP.—England began the pres-
ent century with four acres of land for
every person within her borders. When
the century was half through, there were
but two acres per inhabitant; and now
they are upon a descending scale of frac-
tions between two acres and one acre to
each person. The estimate of the popula-
tion of England in the middle of the year
1866 gives 1.78 acre to each person. In
Scotland the tide of life rises more slowly,
and there are still six acres to every head
of population.

Odds and ends.

-—A physician once advised Sydney
Smith to “take a walk upon an empty
stomach.”

“Whose stomach?” said the wit?.

-—Nothing more is wanting to render
a man miserable, than that he should
fancy he is so.

—-Mrs. Partington asks very indignant-
ly. If the bills before Congress are not
counterfeit, why there should be so much
difficulty in passing them.

-—Why is a hen immortal? Because
her son never sets.

—-The custom of advertising is a cus-
tom that brings customers.

-—A lady who edits a newspaper in one
of the Western States, says that the po-
pularity of her journal is due to the fact
that people are always expecting that she
will say something she ought not to.
“Two ears and but a single tongue
By nature’s law to man belong;
The lesson she would teach is clear,—
Repeat but half of what you hear.”

—-“Thank God that I got my hat back
from this congregation!” said a disap-
pointed clergyman, turning it upside
down, when it was returned empty to
him, at the close of a collection.

—-Every man who is “diligent in busi-
ness,” is a sermon brimful of the energies
of life and truth, a witness to the com-
prehensiveness and adaptation of Christ’s
religion, a preacher of righteousness in
scenes where none can preach so effec-
tively or so well.

—-As those wines which flow from the
first treading of the grapes are sweeter
and better than those forced out by the
press, which gives them the roughness of
the husk and of the stone, so are those
doctrines best and sweetest that flow
from a gentle crush of the Scriptures,
and are not wrung into controversies and
common-places.—BACON.

—-A correspondent in the St. Louis
DEMOCRAT tells of a lady stepping into a
street car, in that city, a few days since,
and no vacant seat being visible, a gen-
tlemen vacated his, into which the lady
sat without acknowledging the compli-
ment. Of course the polite gentleman was
chagrined, and addressing the lady, said:
“What did you say, Miss?” “I didn’t
speak sir,” was the reply. “Oh,” said
the gentleman, “I beg your pardon, but
I thought I heard you say, ‘Thank you.’

-—The South bridge (Mass.) Journal
says that last Sunday a good deacon of the
Orthodox persuasion, who lives on Leba-
non Hill in that town, drove into the vil-
lage with a load of potatoes, and stopped
in front of the Postoffice, which place he
tried to enter, but found the door locked.
Some one standing by remarked that the
Postoffice didn’t keep open on Sunday.
“Sunday!” said the deacon, with a look
of perfect astonishment, “I thought it
was Saturday; and here I’ve brought a
load of potatoes to sell.” Being assured
that it was Sunday, the deacon mounted
his wagon and started homeward, with
the puzzled expression of one who was
never before so mistaken in all his life.

-—An old lady walked into an office of
a Judge of Probate, in Massachusetts,
once upon a time, and asked,—

“Are you the Judge of Re-probates?”

“I am the Judge of Probates.”

“Well, that’s it, I expect, quoth the
old lady. “You see my father died de-
tested, and he left several little infidels,
and I want to be their executioner.”

While his mother lives, a man has
one friend on earth who will not desert
him when he is needy. Her affection
flows from a pure fountain, and ceases
only at the ocean of eternity.

Physical freedom and the freedom of
the heart, must give woman grace and
beauty.—-Then, as she grows in strength,
she should receive the education of books
and of nature.

—-A distinguished physician says that
there is a marked difference in the heal-
thiness of houses according to their aspect
with regard to the sun; and those are
decidedly the healthiest, other things be-
ing equal, in which all the rooms are,
during some part of the day, fully ex-
posed to the diurnal light. Epidemics
are more likely to attack inhabitants on
the shady side of the street.

To kill cock roaches-—get a pair of
heavy boots, then catch your roaches,
put them into a barrel, and then get
in yourself and dance.

To catch mice—-on going to bed
put crumbs in your mouth and lie with
it open, and when a mouse’s whiskers
tickle your throat—bite.

To prevent dogs going mad-—cut
their tails off just behind their ears.

A BILL was brought into the Irish
House of Commons, “To cause the
watchmen to sleep in the day time,
in order that they might be watchful
at night.” Whereupon Lord Nugent
begged to be included in the bill, “as
the gout left him no sleep, day or
night.”

NOTICE.
Mr. W. H. Hamilton holds my
Power-of-Attorney, from this
date, to transact my business dur-
ing my absence.

G. W. VIRGIN.

Bangkok July 31st 1866.

CORRECTION.

In the Tide Table of the
Bangkok Calendar for
1866 for May, June, Au-
gust, and October, for High
read Low, and for Low
read HIGH.