7 B. F. SCHWEIER, THE OOHSTITUTIOH-THE UNIOH-AST) TEE E5FOECEMEHT OF THE LAWS. Kilitor ami Proprietor. VOL. XXXI. MIFFLINTOWN, JUNIATA COUNTY, PEXNA., WEDNESDAY, OGTOBEK 10, 1877. NO. 41. THE REAPERS. The reaper baud their lost; becks ; Their sounding sickles sway ; At every stroke the golden see Recedes to give them way ; The heavy ears (all bowing duwn And nestle at their feet. Such wd.1 such work a theirs, perforce. Must win must homage meet. 8j careless of fatigue they go. So true, so steadily. The admiring traveler on the road Leans o'er the gate to see ; With marvel of the soon-fallen breadth, Ths lounging gossips tell ; But the reapers labor for us all ; Tis need they should work well Ere the great sun tha'. burns above, Khali cr.meou In the west. And the children's poppy nosegays fade. And they he down to rest, Eaoh golden spesr that upward points Shall fall upon the field. And ttie fanner drains a sirkaiig tilana. Rejoicing o'er the yield. Ply. bonny men, your tickle bright. And give the people bread ! At every conquering stride you take. On want and woe y u tiead. lrop, heavy ears, and give the strength You gathered from this paia. That man may rise refreshed and firm. And do great things again. tied bless the hands, all hard and brown, That guide the cleaving plow. That cast abroad the eh ning seed, Aud bniid the wealthy mow ; Tbey rear the bread our children eat ; Tis by their toil we hve ; Hurrah ! give them the loud at cheer That grateful hearts can give! Cluimbert' Journal Bobbles' Mistake. Mr. Julius Bobbles is an iiidepeudent gentleman. In his youth lie eutered a large commission house as errant boy, By industry ami a certain amount of cuii nint;, he raised himself, step by step, to the position of confidential clerk. Dur ing his clerkship he managed, by several little successful speculations, to amass a fortune, and after thirty-live years' hard service lie retired. He w as fat, forty-seven years of age and had a bald place on the top of his head, which li tried to conceal by carefully brushing his hair over it. lie w ore no beard or mustache, aud during the latter part of his business career he caused the discharge of no less than seventeen clerks who insisted upon wearing moustaches. Mr. Bobbles was very iarticular about his dress. He always wore black, the sombreness of w hich was relieved by a white waistcoat and neckcloth There is not a man w ho has seen i speck on the one or a wrinkle on the other. Mr. Bobbles had been known to send a shirt back to the washerwoman live times, simply because there was minute stain on the wristband. The muddiest day never caught Mr. Bobbles with a siot of mud on his highly-iwlished boots. Mr. Bobbles missed the pleasures of business, for business was to him pleasure, and be came melancholy. One morning, as he was taking hi solitary breakfast, he looked round his room and heaved a deep sigh. "Julius," he began, mentally addressing himself. "you ought to get married you want somebody to look over your linen, and see that your toast is properly done; for the last three mornings Mrs. ig lev has burnt it. You can afford it, Julius, and vou are not ugly no," -aid Mr. Bobbles, looking at himself in the glass. "You are not ugly, Julius, far from it. Ah, you cunning dog, vou." And Mr. Bobbles playfully shook his fingers at the reflection, of himself. "What will eople say at your mar rvinsr. Julius Pooh! I don't care hat they say. Jilsou got married the other day. and he'steu years older than I am, and not half so rich. Pity you have not mixed more in society, Julius, for I really don't know who to choose. Poor Fannie !" sighed Bobbles, w hile a tear stole into his eye. "1 had no idea. when we parted, that I loved you so much. Why was I not richer? Oh, nonsense! I was only tive-and-twenty Then," and Mr. Bobbles threw a piece ..f toast at a fly that w as aliout to com mit suicide in the milk-jug. Mr. Bobbles was one of those men who have not the moral courage to narrr on two hundred a year. Poor fool! he broke a poor girl's heart, ami fussy old bachelor himself, in con sequence. "Yes, I certainly ought to marry," thought Mr. Bobbles. "Nature intends man to marry. Iear me, how shabby my coat is getting. I must get a new one. Yes. I ll have a blue one for a change. I think blue would become me ilou't yon, Julius?" and Mr. Bubbles stopped In-fore the glass for a reply. A the glass did nt answer him, lie resumed : "I wonder how a moustache would become me? Egad! I think I'll let mine grow and tee." How much longer Mr. Bobbles might have mused I know not, if Mrs. Wig ley hadu't entered the room to clear away the breakfast things. "Ah, Mrs. Wigley," said Mr. Bob bles. "Good morning to you. I wish to ask you a question. I had a dispute with a friend of mine, last evening, alHiut my own age. How old would you suppose me to lie?" Now Mrs, Wigley had had an eye on Mr. Bobbles for a long time past. "If I flatter him he may propose," thought Mrs. Wigley, whose thoughts by day and dreams by night were that her initial might be changed from W to B. "About thirty-five I should say, sir." "Thirty-five! Oh, no, Mrs. Wigley," said Mr. Bobbles, chuckling with im mense satisfaction; "not quite so young as that let me see. I was thirty-eight last birthday." "More like forty-eight," thought Mrs. Wigley, but she said, aloud, "Lor', w ell, you do bear your age remarkably well." Mr. Bobbles was delighted with Mrs. Wigley g reply. He thought her a re markably intelligent woman, and he re solved to raise her wages immediately but prudence stepped in, and Mr. Bob bles put off doing so for a short time, After ordering some, chops to be cooked for his dinner, Mr. Bobbles dressed himself with immense pains and went out, called on his tailor, and or dered a blue coat. As Mr. Bobbles was never known to wear any other color than black the order so surprised the tailor that he could hardly enter it for agitation. "If I understand you aright, sir, you said blue?" "Yes, Mr. Suipeui, I said blue, and i nave saia so tour times. I suppose there Is nothing so very extraordinary in a gentleman ordering a blue coat? "Oh, dear, no, sir," said Mr. Snipem rubbing his bauds. "Well, then, if I like to w ear a b !ack. bine ,red, yellow, or green coat, it nothing to you, if I pay for it, is it? asked Mr. Bobbles, slightlv irritated. Mr. Snipem gave an ajiologetic wave of the hand. "Well, then, send it home this week, and don't disapoint me. Good mora lug." .nr. noiiuics lclt on shaving his up- erlip; consequently, in aliout a fort night, tt assumed the apiearaiice of a cheap tooth-brush. Mr. Bobbles, to add grace and dignity to his carriage determined to learn danciug, and joined a well-known school for that purpose. A grand ball was aliout to take place at Mr. Bobbles school. All the pupils were invited and they had invited a number of their friends. It was to be the grand affair of the season, and the friend of any pupil could be invited by the payment of five shillings. Mr. Bobbles had made great progress in dancing. He could dance a polka and a schottische, aud could go through a quadrille very creditably by lieiug told what to do at the commencement of everv set. The evening of the ball came at last, Mr. Bobbles was gorgeously a r raved in a blue dress-coat, w ith white satin fac ings, a fancy w aistcoat w ith a gold vine running about all over it, a fancy shirt front, so fanciful that it would bewilder any person to find out the pattern, and patent-leather boots, that hurt his corns exceedingly, but he bore it like a mar tvr, and white kid gloves. The master of ceremonies introduced Mr. Bobble: to a Mrs. Gleeson. Will you allow me the pleasure of your hand for the next polka?" asked Mr. Bobbles. "I shall be happy," said Mrs. Gleeson as she booked the engagement and Mr. Bobbles departed. Mrs. Gleeson was not. handsome, but she was exceedingly prettv. She hail a finely formed face, and such lovely hair and eyes, while her laugh she had such a charming little laugh that it captivated a fellow immediately. Mr. Bobbles danced w ith Mrs. Glee son, anu he w as so charmed that he took her in to supper. She told Mr. Bobbles she was a widow - M r. Bobble told her he was a bachelor, and they both laughed. Ah, that winning laugh of Mrs. Gleeson's, Take care take care. There there it goes. I knew how it would 1m-; Bobbles, you've lost votir heart. When the liall was over Mw. Bobbles hired a carriage, and saw Mrs. Gleeson to her home. He took her hand at irt nig, and, giving it a gentle squeeze, said : You w ill allow me to call upon you to-morrow ? If I were to say no, what then?" asked Mrs. Gleeson, playfully. "I should he the most miserable of men. "Flatterer!" "Xo flattery ; only the honest truth. "Well, then, you may. Good-night. Aud Bobbles went home in an extra ordinary state of mind. Mr. Bobbles called on Mrs. Gleeson the following day, with a fine bouquet, and was made happy by her smiling on him. Things went on this way for some time, Bobbles calling umiu her every day, and occasionally enjoying a tete-a-tete supper with her. Bobbles had made her any number of presents, from a silver thimble to a gold watch, and from a reel of cotton to a Cashmere shaw l, (she smiled niton him, and he was remarkably happy. One day Bobbles called uion her he had his moustache very carefully dyed for the occasion and found her reclin ing on the sofa, reading the last new novel. Bobbles sat down beside her, took her delicate little hand in his, and said: "Julia, I love you. You are the only woman that can make me happy. Will you marry me? And Mr. Bobbles dropjicd upon one knee, and placed one hand uioii his heart. "O, Mr. Bobbles, this is so sudden," said Mrs. Gleeson, simjicring. "O, Julia, say that you love me, please do," continued Mr. Bobbles. Pray rise, Mr. Bobbles. If any on honld happen to come in, saul .Mrs. Gleason, know ing very well that no one would be likely to coma in. "I w ill not rise till you answ er me, said Mr. Bobbles, passionately. O, Julia! take your Julius to your heart, aud make him happy." About a week before the nuptial-knot was to be tied, Bobbles arranged that they should have a quiet little supjier together at Mrs. Gleeson's apartmetits. M r. Bobbles provided the supper and a very nice supjier it was, too, with one or wo bottles of choice wine to was a n -1 a..VU down. The supiier was on me ut.nr, and Mr. Bobbles, w ho had taken his seat was w aiting for the appearance of Mrs. Gleeson, who had just retired to her room to arrange her hair, w lien a man with a ferocious beard and moustache entered the room and sat down. Mr. Bobbles was petrified w ith astonish ment. I beg your par Ion," said Bobbles as goon as he could use his tongue; "I think you have made a mistake." I think not," replied tne man. "What hare you got here?" he asked, uncovering a pair of ducks. "Ducks, as I am a sinner. I'm fond of ducks ! and so saying he commenced to devour them. Mr. Bobbles almost choked himself with anger. "Sir, said Mr. Bobbles, rising in great wrath, "this supiier is mine, sir, mine. sir, prepared expressly for Mrs. Gleeson and myself ; so you will oblige me, sir, by not touching it." "Mrs. Gleeson won't mind my having some," said the man ; "for I am hun gry." Mr. Bobbles looked as if he would like to have pitched the man out of the window, but he was about a size too big. so he refrained. Mrs. Gleeson en tered the room. "Julia," asked Mr. Bubbles, "who is that man ?" "Yes, who am 1?" said the man. - Mrs. Gleeson gave a startled scream, and exclaimed : "My husband !" "Your husband?" almost shrieked Mr. Bobbles. "Why, ain't your hus band dead ?" . But Mrs. Gleeson didu t answer tor she had fainted. "This woman is my wife," said the man ; "and I think you had Ix-tler go while you are safe." Mr. Bobbles didn't answer him, but took his hat aud made for home. It was too true; the man was Mrs. Gleeson's husband. He w as a wild.dis- sipated fellow, and bad married her when she was quite a girl, ami long be fore she knew her own mind. He had gone abroad, and she, not hearing any thing of him for ten years, concluded that he was dead, and gave out that she was widow. When Mr. Bobbles came, she thought him an elegant catch, .aud determined upon marrying him, if pos sible. But she was prevented by the sudden and tinexieclcd arrival of her husband. Mr. Bobbles has discarded blue coats and moustaches, and has gone back to his old-fashioned black coat and w hite waistcoats, and is still a bachelor. The Land of the Pharauha. The past lends to Egypt a charm more entrancing than its cloudless skies and delicious climate. Go w here vou will antiquity meets you at every turn. Around you lie the ruins of cities whose very names have been obliterated in the silent march of the ages. Before you flows the sacred river iiioii whose w ax es floated centuries ago the little ark of the outcast Hebrew infant and the gol den barge of the gorgeous daughter of the Ptolemies. Time was when this old Nile was the highway dowu w hich many successive nations rushed to con quest, for the Ethiopian, the Assyrian, the Persian, the Roman and the Saracen have all lorded it in turn in this ancient realm of the Pharaohs. Now, vexed no longer with the fleets of rival monarchs. the mighty river rocks with slumbering swell the lotus lilies on its tranquil breast, ami ou its lonely banks, w hich have rung so often in days gone by to the shrill paans of triumph, the palms in the sultry moontidc throw their long shailows athwart tiie ruined temples and colossal statues, grand in execution aud faultless in detail, w hich reveal in every outline the perfection to which the arts of architecture and sculpture were carried in this their earliest cra dle. The soil is strewed with fragments of broken columns and defaced colossi. Buried beneath the drifting sand of the desert lie the glorious and yet grotesque masterpieces of the Egyptian chisel Serene, grave, majestic, inundated with flood of harmonious light, the calm features of the once inscrutable sphinx look down uioii us, as many centuries ago they looked down in their grand re pose upon the wondering father of hi. tory. Time has pressed ligtly on these Titanic temples aud vast tomb places, but from their shadowy jKirtals the worshippers have gone forever. Deso late and state-fallen, they ojm'H now only to admit the curious stranger. CVwmW Journal. Sound Sleep. It is wonderful how much may be done to protect existence by the habit ual restorative of sound sleep. I .ate hours under mental strain are, of course, incompatible with this solace- men t. On this topic, Dr. Richardson says it has been painful for him to trace the beginnings of pulmonary consump tion to late hours at "unearthly balls and evening parties," by which rest is broken, and encroachments made on the constitution. "But," he adds, "if in middle age the habit of taking defi cient and irregular sleep be still main tained, every source of depression, every latent form of disease, Is quickened and ntensified. The sleepless exhaustion allies itself with all other processes of exhaustion, or It kills inperceptibly, by a rapid introduction of premature old age, which leads directly to prema ture dissolution." There, at once, is an explanation why many people die earlier than they ought to. They vio late the primary principle of taking a night's rest. If tbey sleep It Is disturbed. They dream all sorts of nonsense. That Is to say, they do not sleep soundly or for any useful purpose; for dreaming is nothing more than wild, imaginative notions passing through the brain while half sleeping or dozing. In dreaming, there Is no proper or restorative rest. Chututer't Journal. A Shingle Tree. California stories are expected to be large, but not on, that account, neces sarily untrue, for California is an ex tensive State and does many things on a grand scale. Its large red-wood trees are deservedly famous, and their beauty often consists not merely in their size aud height, but equally in their sym metry and the unbroken barrenness of their trunks for a hundred feet or more. We now read of one at Dutch Bill Can yon which measures fifteen feet through and 1770 feet to its limbs. It will make 400 000 shingles and the owner is camped beside it, where he will have a steady job lor a year in working it up. On Top of Moanl Blanc. The day was fully established when we halted for our second breakfast at the only rocks that are met with above the Grands Mulets. A great part of the way from this point to the summit re quired steadiness of head. At times you have to mount the angles of very steep aretes of enow, feeling that below you are abysses unfathonable to the eye, and that right and left there is nothing nearer than the nearest planet; sometimes yon have to travel the more level ridges of these areta, with little more space along the ridge than enough to set your foot on, and with rapid in clines on either side going down to you cannot guess where. These situations, as is the case, I suppose, with every kind of danger, calm aud steady some minds, while on others tbey have the opposite effect. At all events they keep out of your mind the thought of time, and so we were surprised, as we had been at the advent of day, at finding that our object was attained, and that we were standing on the summit of our continent. It was now S:30A. M., aud we had been climbing seven hours and a half. To disengage ourselves from the rope was our first act. As I stepped out of the loop a sense of liberty and relief thrilled through me. My first thought was of the panorama of the Alps now spread out beneath me; a sight I had often thought about, and should never again behold. The actual summit is a nairow level-topped snow rib about 300 yards in length. On its northern side is a rapid snow descent; on its southern some eight or ten feet below the summit Is a parallel, almost level couch of snow, after which is a a parallel desceut which is soon lost to sight in precipices, i stood for some time on the summit rib to receive on my memory the photographs of the many ranges aud groups of the Alpine world all around. They were so far below that the whole scene had the ap pearance of au embossed map. That this was theaspect of the Alpine world brought home to me the meaning of be ing three miles up in the air. Having taken not my fill, but as it were, a first deep draught of the grand panorama, breakfast it was our third was an nounced. On the couch sheltered by tne top-most rib from the current of air which on this morning came up the north side, my shawl, which a porter had brought up, had been spread for me on the snow to lie upon. The sun- liine was delicious. It was a subtle ether pervading with luvigorating warmth my mind as well as my body. My muscles, my bones, my very brain had an insatiable affinity for it. Its absorption, aided by the other adjuncts of the situation, constituted for the time their tummum tannin, leaving nothing to be desired, or that could be thought of, as wauling or better. Xo thought about the difficulty some feel in breath ing rarified air, any more than about the cold annually felt at these heights, occurred to me during the day; in fact, these matters were never at all in my mind, till in the evening, on my re turn to Chamouni, I was asked how I managed with respect to them. As to my clothing, I did not wear on the summit, nor at any time during the night or day, anything more than I wore throughout the whole excursion. My outer garb was a suit of light and rather flimsy cheviot, and my inner of rather fine merino. These on so calm and sunny a day I found amply suffi cient. In asceuding, and again de scending, I changed both sack and boots at the Grands Mulcts. Fnnwr'i Magazine. Lonlou'a Water-supply. There are in London close iihjii J,000,onu human lieiugs, anil the prob lem how this vast Mipulation can lie supplied with water is full of difficulties A pajM-r on this subject was read in the section of Economic Science and Statis tics of the British Association for the Advam-emeut of Sciem-e at the recent Plymouth session. The conditions of a water-supply in any city ought to lie, first, a sufficient quantity; second, a good quality; third, a high pressure; anil, fourth, accessibility, so that the excuse of Hie serviee"inay lie brought within moderate limits. The present water-supply of London meets only the first and last of these conditions. Its impurity unfits it for use for drinking purposes, and the pressure i not high enough to secure the efficiency of the Fire Department. The supply is pro vided by eight companies, which have an aggregate capital of t'l I,l!Hi,0"0, a gross income of 1,137,000, and a net income of .70.1,700, giving a rate of interest on all the capital employed of proximately !..! er cent. The water is taken from the River T.ea, and from the Thames alwve Teddington Weir. Its impurity has lieen attested by many chemists, and might lie exjiected from the fact that the streams font which it is drawn drain a richly manured country and many populous towns above Loudon. The pressure will not afford on the average more than 2,000 jier gal lon at any tire, ami this at the street level, where fire engines will be re quired. "But there car: lie no ques tion," says the report, "that to insure the promt extinction of fires it would be in the highest degree desirable to lie able to supply an effective jet from the water-main, without the intervention of an engine." The remedy for the deficiencies is outlined in the scientific paier alluded to, which was drawn up at the request of the Metropolitan Board of Works, and lias lieen approved by such an eminent authority as the London Tit. The plan is to have a double-service one to furnish water for drinking and for the extinction of fires, and the other to supply water for washing, street cleaning and miscellaneous purposes. The companies now in existence would be charged with the latter work, while the corporation would undertake the former. The new supply would be taken from the vast stores which lie unused in the chalk formations fifteen or twenty miles distant from London. It is estimated that 1C,000,000 gallons a day might be drawn from this source, The daily average quantity now used is 120,000,000, but it is believed not more than 8,000,000 arc used for drink ing aud culinary purioses. The plan contemplates the building of reservoirs on the high ground to the north and south of Iondon at a height of 400 feet above the level. 1 hese reservoirs would be supplied by pumping engines drawing their supply of spring w ater at distances of from eight to fifteen miles beyond the reservoirs. The reservoirs would be united bv large arterial mains traversing London from north to south Service pies w ould take the water into a close vessel having a draw-off tap, and containing, according to the size of the house, from three to ten gallons, and filling up gradually after having been emptied. The annual cost of the plan proposed is thus stated. Interest at .t'f er cent, on iTi,."Kl0,0lHl,i:i!l2,oli0; work ing exieuses for pumping ami manage ment Jt:fc.."iw; total, jL'2-J.,WN). This would lie equal to aliout .'-..d. in the ouiid on the ratable value of the me- trojMilis. It is estimated, on the other hand, that the expense of buying up the privileges of the present companies and adding the pumping lacilities for fire pnrMscs w ould lie .t'2,fl0t,ni, and t.ieannual riinniiigexpeuses t'l,r.l ,2"s. equal to almtit Hi,..d. in the pound on the ratable value. The advantages of the new scheme are apparent, but it is oen to serious objections, one of which the London Timet has noticed. The supply of 1(1,- 000.000 gallons daily w ill not lie suf ficient w lieu the wants of the country about the chalk beds increase, as they promise to do, and their supplies are taken from this source. It may !e doubted also w hether the average house holder can lie decndcd on to save the chalk-bed water only for drinking and cooking. On the other baud, the adop tion of the plan would remove at once all difficulties as to the existing conia nies, and would furnish a supply for the extinction of tires under an enor mous pressure, so that the reduction in rates of insurance might in a short time cover the exenses of the alterations. It is understood that householders would always have t ue choice w hether thev should use the turbid Thames water or the pure water from the chalk- beds, or Itoth. The London Cat. A Londoner's house may be his castle. but his garden in decidedly his cat's. Xo, not his cat's the London cat recog nizes no human possessor; he is a free citizen, or if the term be preferred an Arab, the oasis in whose Sahara is a dust he p, or a snug corner on the garden wall. It cannot be disputed that the Loudon cat is a species apart. Take, for instance, his cynical indiffer ence to broken bottles. The feline community all over the world like to lie softly, and are sensitive upon the stfiject of moisture; but, now, watch the London cat stretched at his ease upon a couch of jagged glass, blinking forth upon life through a pouring November rain. His whiskers are drenched and drooping, his fur resem bles the bat of the typical Leicester square foreigner, but be is free and happy. His passionate love of inde pendence and his rejection of a fixed place of abode (supposed to be the dearest desire of his race) are further proofs of his originality.' In considera tion of a little mousing an assured home has often been offered him, but always he has resisted such overtures. We have in mind a cat of an imposing presence: whose blak coat, though dingy and lustreless from exposure and poor diet. was unspecked with any tuft of white ness, and lent him so much dignity that he went by the name of the Black Prince. He was an inhabitant of Lon don, and could not otherwise have specified his abode; but every day, at two o'clock precisely, when the bell rang for the children's dinner, he presented himself at a certain house. and waited on the window-ledge of the parlor until his wants were attended to. Although nothing could be more de corous than his behavior, he was pro nounced by the governess to be a cor rupter of the children's manners, and to disturb that silence and absorption in their meals to which well bred young folk should be trained. Accordingly, various discouraging devices were att empted to induce him to renounce his t.I.- A 1 . fc . f 1 1 . yiBite. a uuiacv vi taiiu waier was poured over him; on another occasion the housemaid assailed him with the broom ; on a third, he was taken by a member of the family five miles in an omnibus, and then dropped by the way side; and finally he was given over to the butcher boy who was bribed to make away with him. But even this last attempt failed. On the following day, as the dinner bell rang, precisely at two o'clock, Black Prince reappeared at his post. At length this persistence softened all hearts; it was decided that, since he refused to be removed off the face of the earth, his reformation should be attempted. The window was thrown open, he was taken in, well fed, washed and decorated with a blue velvet collar, put to sleep in a basket filled with new hay in the back kitchen. The next morning he had disappeared. The din ner bell rang at two o'clock, but the parlor window ledge was deserted. Where cold water, the housemaid's broom and even the butcher's boy had failed this last cruel kindness proved effectual the children saw Black Prince's face no more. Jiot Then Knt Haw. IH not keep the alabaster lioxeg of your love and tenderness sealed up un til your friends are dead. Fill their lives with sweetness. Sieak approving, cheering words, w hile their ears can hear thein and while their hearts can be thrilled by them. The things you mean to say w lien they are gone say be fore they go. The flowers you mean to send for their coffins, send to brighten and sweeten their homes before they leave them. I would rather have a bare coffin without a flower and a fune ral without an eulogy, than a life with out the sweetnescof love and sympathy. Scrap Bock. SUk-Oomethlnc ft Ita Hiatory A Caae of I loua nuiUKKUUR. A writer in All the !ir says The tw o Greek monks who, hiding a handful of silkworms' eggs w ithin the hollow of a cane, eluded the lynx-eyed officers of the Chinese Custom House, and roblied the Flowery Land of its most cherished inonnoly, could hardly have known how- immense was the boon which their evasion of the revenue laws conferred npon the Roman Em pire of the East. Previous to this act of pious smuggling, Euro, Persia, and even India, were dependent on the pigtailed producers of Kathay for every pound of the raw material. Pagan Koine, like Tvre of Persepolis, had to he content with such silk as the mon soons enabled Moormen and Geiitoos to carry in their square-sailed craft from the Yellow to the Red Sea. The small store of the silken seed which the Greek monks brought home proved fruitful exceedingly, and presently Cou.Uinti nople, not Canton or Xankin, became the centre of the silk trade and the chief seat of w hat speedily rose to the dignity of a national industry. .Thrace and Hellas, the Ionian Provinces of Asia Minor, aud above all, Cyprus and Syria, possessed a climate admirably suited to the new eultivatioii and to the growth of the mulberry -tree. They had, to, the advantage of a numerou opulation of gentle, atieut workers, well fitted to make the most cf this novel source of wealth. For hundred of years Byzantine silk was as well know n in the marts of East and West as that of Lyons is now. The inroad. of the Turk, and of barbarous invaders Avar, Oghur, and Bulgar, less know n than the turk, gradually dried up the well-springs of prosperity. Every year saw a lessening of the area of cultiva tion, a diminution in the number of buyers, as fertile lands were laid waste and fair cities plundered, until at last the headquarters of silk production were in the Lelianou, out of reach, for a while, of the Paynim robber. Silk. like tobacco, had to fai-e what mighr be called the itcrsonal hatred of enemies who were in a osition to give practical effect to their antipathy. The Gothic conqiierers, such as Alaric, had taken to it kindly enough. But the tierce Attiia proscribed it, and the rulers of Islam denounced it w ith Puritanic fer vor of bitter contempt. J lie auster Caliph Abulickr ordered such Moslem as were strutting in silken garb part of the "loot" of captured Greek tow ns to lie rolled ignominiously in the mire. as unworthy believers. Grim Omar's footstool was not to be approached bv Emir or Kaitnakam, glistening in the efteminaU' robes from the Syrian loom. But fashion, as usual, got the lietter of sumptuary law s, and silk was soon in as liijrli demand in Bagdad or Cairo as ever it had lieen in Christian Autioch or Damascus. Singularly enough, sericulture was not an art which com mended itself to the weal t lily and in dustrious Italy of the middle ages, and that in spite of the fact that Milan, Mantua, ami Florence supplied half Christendom with holiday clothes. Lombard and Tuscan w eavers looked to the Orient for silk, as they looked to England and Siain for wool. Mulber ries were planted in Italy, as they were planted in France, by some exception ally far-sighted prince or statesman, but the systematic rearing of silkworms dates from a period more recent than that w hich saw the great city common wealths flourishing in their free splen dor. As the steadiness of the demand called into lieing fresh sources of supply, and as France grew larger and more R)werful, the once imperial town of Lyons liegan to claim a silken pre cedence. From the earliest dawn of the Renaissance the silk manufacture had been with French kings a petted industry. Shrewd, sordid Louis XI tried to make Tours rival Pisa. Superb Francis I desired that the Gallic shuttle, as well as the Gallic sjiear, should con quer the foreign comjictitor. And free trade Wing as undreamed of as the steam horse aud the electric wire, the manufactures of aliens were heavily haudicapM'd by protective duties, while France learned to dress no longer in the Spanish or the Italian, hut di.-tiuc-tivelv in the French-stvle. Hoar tn stay at Rome without Crumhling. BT GAIL HAMILTON. The first thing is to go heme, and this sometimes seems to be the hardest part of alL There is no use in denying the fact; it is very charming to stay in other people's houses. There is a good deal of the tramp in all of us. One eats with a greater relish at a table he has not ordered. The flavor somehow is apt to escape from the joint you have skewered (Heaven send that joints are skewered!); the cucumbers you have hunted down in three markets; the pudding whose sauce has enlisted your own anxieties, not to say energies. To come to a table spread for you as the ravens and the robins find theirs spread, to be surrounded by a gay and kindly folk, to be called upon to take no thought for the morrow it is exceed Ingly pleasant. You may feel that the mould is gathering on your books at home, that the weeds are flourishing like a green bay-tree In your paths, that the canker worm is devouring your sub stance, and what the canker worm hath left the caterpillar bath eaten; and yet you linger, beguiled by pleasant words and friendly ways. It is pleasant even to take thine ease in thine inn. If the inn is perched upon a point of rocks, swept past by sunny waters rolling between wooded hills into the distant sunset; if it crests a mountain clia overlooking twelve thousand miles of what seems to be a mere level plain, a checkered and lonely expanse too far off for any life to be visible or any sound to reach still it is vastly pleasant. The steamers are but pointed white splinters gliding along a ribbon of river; the locomotive trains are but little curling trails of smoke ; the houses are but the toy houses of toy villages, the ponds are tinybits of mirror glassing the changing heaven. There is motion, color, a vivid splendor of sky and the grandeur of the great round world, but up from the valley comes no voice, nor out of the heavens a sound. Only the birds sing in the branches that almost touch your feet from tall tress springing up on the nearest crags be low. It is pleasant, impressive, enlarg ing; but it is uot staying at home without grumbling ! To do that you must turn away from the shifting glory of the clouds and the everlasting hills, and steadfastly con template the iron chain which hangs from your fourth story window to the ground, and down which you are ex pected to travel at midnight, hand over hand, in case your hotel is burned, as there seems every reason to suppose it will be. A fire etcae they call it, speaking with grim irouy. Bat ours nut to make reply, 31 oi to ask the reason why. Ours but to do or die ; and we shall certainly do both if we are ever reduced to that chain lightning. Observations and reflections of this sort make h ime look very welcoming; and perhaps some reflections of this sort are necessary to give glow and zest to home. I fear I shall displease, perhaps disappoint, my readers, but nothing makes home so delightful as to have just got there. The feeling of owner ship, the sense of independence, the consciousness of responsibility, the universal and absolute sovereignty, broaden your acres and heighten your walls. Your gate may be unhinged, and the paint flaking off your roof, and your cellar window broken, but the dragging gate and the piebald roof and the haggard window are your own ; and you will order up the glazier and the cooper with a very delightful feeling that one little superficial spot on one little star of the great Milky Way be longs to you and to no other man or angel! Keeping house is with most of us a misnomer. It is not we that keep the house so much as the house keeps us. We strain every nerve to build a costly box and All it with costly goods and then we spend the rest of our lives crouching inside of it. And all the while the bending heavens are giving us such frescoes as no painter can imi tate, and the careless greensward, docked with daisies, mocks even an Eastlake carpet, and every day the birds and the bobolinks that are more spirits than birds put our wood and metal music to shame. But we have built a fine house and we must stay in it to keep out moth and rust and tramp. And as we stay the little chains grow heavy and gall us, the little annoyances sprout and spring and spread till they brood over us and hide the sun. And the reason is not that we are peevish, selfish, unreasonable, nor that life is harder for us than for our neighbors; tt is only that we need movement a freshened circulation of the blood, fresh breezes blowing through the brain, the slight stir and stimulous of changed surroundings. We may talk as much as we like of contentment, and tranquility, and the quiet joys of home, but I firmly believe that nothing is so bad for the nerves, nothing so narrowing to the life, as staying too much In one place. There are many perplexities and entangle ments which would be smoothed and soothed out by only so much as a brisk little ramble up a high hill holding the mountains and the sea in sight. One month of sight seeing to the weary housekeeper who has been eleven months looking carefully to her cup boards and carpets, one month of lazy listening to the roar of the surf, one month of lounging in a hammock under trees, or lying on the grass watching the ant hill, would do more to sweeten and sanctitly the other eleven than all the precepts of all the sages and all the preaching of all our pages. And if you ask, What shall we do who cannot af ford it, I should still say, Go and sell all that thou hast and afford it! The riches of Divine Grace are inex haustible, but I at least do not see how even Divine Grace can keep people con stantly in the same round of small cares and duties and yet make them serene, large-natured and constantly growing. For Divine Grace apparently did not intend that human beings should re main constantly in such a circle. Even in our rigorous climate there comes a royal hour when the whole wide world woos us out to the hills, to the woods, to the sounding shores; and there is not any way, there ought not to be any way, to stay at home without grumbling. It is our first duty to grumble. Grumbling is the proper tribute to pay to Nature's lavish beauty and lordly inviting the proper moan and mourning for those violated laws which force us to decline her bidding. A divine discontent with wrong is the first step towards right. Xo one is wholly quenched and he sub mits to stagnation in silence. If every body will only grumble loud enough and in just the right way and time, under unnecessary or unwise priva tions, we shall soon have things on a better footing a brisk and salubrious activity among all the sluggish little atoms that compose a depressed human ity, and home-staying not only without grumbling but with a keen, vivid and creitive enjoyment! Christian I'iUoh. Steerage Diet. Each emigrant has a contract ticket which stipulates for his transportation to Xew York in consideration of four, five or six guineas, according to the current rate of fare. Trie company engages to provide a full supply of wholesome provisions, cooked and served by its stewards, and the pas senger is required to provide himself with bedding and cooking utensils. The weekly allowance of food for each adult is prescribed by the government and printed on the contract ticket as fol lows: "Twenty-one quarts of water, three and a half pounds of bread, one pound of wheaten flour, one pound and a half of oat-meal, rice aud peas, two pounds of potatoes, one and a quarter pounds of beef, one pound of pork, two ounces of tea, one pound of sugar, two ounces of salt, pepper, mustard aud vinegar." Srritmer, The Ifcardanelle. The straits of the Dardanelles (the ancient Hellespont) forms thecommun ication between the Sea of Marmora and the Grecian Archipelago. This channel, through which runs a con stant strong current, is abjut fifty miles long, and varies in breadth front one mile at its western to ten miles toward its eastern extremity. It derive its name from two ancient fortresses ou either side, one of which is built on the site of the ancient Scstos. and the other on the site of the ancient Abydos. About twenty miles to the west vi these are two modern fortresses, called the new castles, and between the old and new forts are military works of various descriptions. The total number of guns mouuted on these fortresses Is six hundred and eighty-nine, some of which discharge stone shot aud require a charge of more than three hundred pounds of gunpowder. The two old fortresses were built by Mahomot IL, while the modern one were constructed by Mahomet IV., In the year lt;9, to guard his fleet from the attacks of the Venetians, who were very bold at that time. Mahmoud II increased their strength by the addition of numerous bastions. They are con sidered to-day to be in a high state oi efficiency. The Dardanelles were al ways closed to the war ships of all nations, and no man-of-war could pes them without a special lirman of tha Porte, they being considered as the key to the Turkish capital. At their north ern extremity stands Gullipoli, which the Turks are now fortifying in all haste. The dosing of the Dardanelles against the war ships of all mt oris, ha been imposed on Turkey by the Treaty of L'nkiar-Skelessi. conlirmed bv the Treaty of Paris in 1S;. It is true that the Russians, by a secret clauso in the Treaty of L'nkiar Skelessi, obtained from Turkey the free passage of their own vessels; but this document has never been recognized as forming part of the law of nations, and has been abolished many years ago. Although the passage of the Dardan elles was considered impossible to be effected by a hostile fleet. It has been accomplished in several instauces,chief Iy by the Russian Admiral Elphiustone. July 26, 1770, and by the British Ad miral Duckworth, February 1!, 107. who anchored his fleet In sight of the Golden IIorn.Jt was at this time that the astute Sebastian!, Ambassador of Xapoleon I. to the Porte, opened ne gotiations with the English, while the Turks, at his secret advice, were build ing fortifications for the defence oi of their capital, which caused eventual ly the withdrawal of the British fleet. Holy Ba-ll. Dr. George Bird wood writes in the Academy: "The most Sacred plant In the whole indigenous n(?ni wlira of India is the Tuisl or Holy Basil Cr muih Kinctum), sacred to Krishna, and called after the nymph Tulasi, beloved of Krishna, and turned by him into this graceful and most fragrant plant. She is, indeed, the Hindoo Daphne. The plant is also sacred to Vishnu, whose followers wear necklaces and carry rosaries (used for counting the number of recitatious of their deity's name; made of its stalks and roots. For Its double sanctity it is reared in every Hindoo house, where it is daily watered and worshipped by all the members of the household. Xo doubt also it was on account of its virtues in disinfecting and vivifying malarious air that it first became inseparable from Hindoo houses in India as the protecting spirit or I.ar of the family. In the Deccaii villages the fair Brahminee mother may be seen early every morning, after having first ground the corn for the day's bread, and performed her simple toilet, walk ing with glad 9teps and waving hands round and round the pot of Holy Basil, planted on the four horned altar built up before each house, invoking the blessings of heaven on her husband and his children praying, that is, for lea carbonic acid, and ever more and mure oxygen. The scene always carries oue back in mind to the lile of aucient Greece, which so often is found to still live in India, and is a perfect study at once in religion, in science, and In art. Srvra t-Mil. The Envious man who cuds away his mutton liecause the wrson net to him is eating venison. The Jealous man who spreads his lied with stinging nettles, :m. then sleeps in it. The Proud man who gets wet through sooner than ride in the car riage of an inferior. The Litigious man w bo goes to law in hopesof ruining his opjionent, and gets ruined himself. The Extravagent man w ho buy a herring and takes a cab to carry it home. The Angry man who learns th ophieleide liecause he is annoyed by the playing of his neighbor's piano. The i Mentations m m w ho illumi nates the outside of his h.u-e most brilliantly, and sits inside in the dark. I'opular Frr.tr. To think that the more a man eats the fatter and stronger he w ill become. To believe that the more hours children study the fa.-ter they will learn. To Imagine that every hour taken from sleep is an hour gained. To act on the presumption that the smallest rioiu in the house is large enough to sleep in. To argue that whatever remedy cause one to feel immediately lietter is good for the system, w ithout regard to more ulterior effects. To eat without an ap etite. or to continue to eat after it ha been satisfied, merely to gratify the taste. To eat a hearty super for the pleasure experieni-ed during the brief time it is Kissing dow n the throat, at the expense of a w hole night of dis turbed sleep and a night of weary wak ing in the morning. There are 1,711 iiuucnDack aid sixteen dwarfs in Paris and its suburbs. - - J -
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