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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D. B. BRADLEY, PUBLISHER & PROPRIETOR.

Civil Rights.

The loyal Nation’s choice!

For not alone the Capitol

Has shouted back their voice!

Our north woods hear the south wind call,

East cries to West, “Rejoice!”

Fit offerings at the Senate door

From grateful angels drop—

God’s flowers, that drink for rich and poor

The happy sunlight up,

And turn the dew from mead or moor

To jewels in their cup.

Day dawns along our skies at last,

The vigil shadows creep;

From the sullen gloom of pride and caste

It wakes the ages’ sleep,

And makes the graves of our buried past

So bright we may not weep.

What though a priestly hand it be

Would stay the ark of God,

And, midway o’er the lifted sea,

Dash down the parting rod?

The ransomed host is marching free!

WHO struggles in the flood?

Truth is her own immortal meed

Since martyr-days of old,

When the world was sown with hero-seed,

For a harvest manifold:

The word at need, and the nobler deed,

We do not buy with gold.

God bless them, then, the stalwart crew

That man our Ship of State!

The storm-wind she will weather through,

Nor reach the harbor late.

The pilot’s hand may prove untrue—

GOD’S eye is on her fate!

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.