THEOBALD MATHEW. To John O'Connell, Esq., Grena, Killarney.

The town of Killarney in 1845 was a denselypopulated ugly town, set close to the famed lakes, and to the loveliest scenery in Ireland, or in the world. It was yearly visited by hordes of tourists from whom the boatmen and guides earned much money, which, instead of being saved for the rainy days of winter, was too often entirely spent after the day's labour in drinking bouts. Here was a notable field for Father Mathew's exertions, and he had, on three occasions previous to 1845, visited Killarney, and had worked successfully in the temperance cause, aided by some of the richer classes, by none more devotedly than by my father. Temperance coffee and reading-rooms replaced the public-houses, wives and children were well fed and well dressed, and the boatmen and guides in Killarney became a sober, respectable race of men.

There were some special gaieties in that August week in 1845, and a stag hunt on the charming lakes was on the programme. That Thursday, named in the letter, August 21st, shone a welcome to Father Mathew over the sparkling waters of Loch Lein. We had a row of fully four miles across the Lower Lake from our home to the quay at Ross Castle, the place of embarkation for the inhabitants of Killarney; and there our eightoared barge, the Erin, awaited Father Mathew, amid a large flotilla of boats. We were in Killarney early, and drove him to Ross Castle, and as he walked down the quay to the boats, cheer upon cheer greeted him, the crews of all the boats lifted upright their oars, and the enthusiasm was general. One town band struck up See the Conquering Hero Comes," and another the "Boys of Killarney," in honour of the county of Father Mathew's birth. He bore his honours meekly, and enjoyed himself that day like a schoolboy, as

66

he said. Killarney Lakes are beautiful at all seasons, and were surpassingly so on that glorious autumn day, long ago. We rowed off, followed by a long procession of boats, the boatmen all striving to keep near the great attraction of the day. We soon left Innisfallen behind us, our destination being the Eagle's Nest, for in the woods near it a stag was reported in his lair. As we disembarked at the Old Weir Bridge a troupe of vendors of wild strawberries, and “hurts,” and goat's milk, to-day without its usual accompaniment of "potheen," surrounded Father Mathew, and formed a female guard of honour under the fine old oaks and along the path to the boats. Most of them had taken the temperance pledge, and those that had not done so promised to visit him next day in Killarney to be enrolled as teetotalers, and they did so.

The stag hunt, as regarded sport, was a failure; the stag, preferring the privacy of his lair to a public life, kept out of sight. Some of the hounds of the pack had sought sport on their own account, and, abandoning the nobler game, had started a hare and followed it, and only an occasional note of an excited dog told us that a hunt was going

on.

So by Father Mathew's special wish we left the Eagle's Nest and rowed him up the Long Range to the end of the lovely Upper Lake, and landed to see Derrycunihy Waterfall, whilst the boatmen rested and refreshed themselves with tea, substituted for the whisky-and-water of other days.

A number of friends and acquaintances met us on Innisfallen whom we had invited to dine to honour Father Mathew. The tables were laid close to the ruins of the old abbey, in full view of the lake and wooded shores, with a background of Madgerton and Crohane. The president proposed Father Mathew's health, and prosperity to the temperance cause, in a bumper of sparkling water, and gave a pleasant sketch of the rise and progress of temperance in Ireland, and showed that it was a Christian movement, but not essentially a sectarian one, for before Father Mathew had taken up the cause so energetically, William Martin, a Quaker, in Cork, and the Rev. George Carr, a clergyman of the Church of England, in Wexford, were both zealous workers in the temperance crusade.

In April, 1838, Father Mathew signed the pledge in Cork, and then definitely began his great Temperance Society, urged to do so by William Martin, "Friend William," as he was called, who rightly judged that he was one entirely fitted by character and position to obtain and preserve an influence over an impressionable and religiously-inclined people, and his judgment was a true one. Father Mathew responded briefly and touchingly to the toast. It was a coincidence to remember, that Franciscan monks in the eighth

British Association. The fifty-third annual meeting of this parliament of science commences on the 17th September, at Southport, under the presidency of Professor Arthur Cayley, F.R.S., Sadlerian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge. The vice-presidents are the Earl of Derby, the Earl of Crawford and Balcarras, the Earl of Lathom, Professor Greenwood, and Professor Roscoe.

There's no pleasing Everybody.-My worthy friend Sir Roger, when we are talking of the malice of parties, very frequently tells us an accident that happened to him when the feuds ran high between the Roundheads and Cavaliers. The worthy knight, being then but a stripling, had occasion to inquire which was the way to St. Anne's Lane; upon which the person whom he spoke to, instead of answering his question, called him a young Popish cur, and asked him who had made Anne a saint? The boy, being in some confusion, inquired of the next he met which was the way to Anne's Lane, but was called a prick-eared cur for his pains, and, instead of being shown the way, was told that she had been a saint before he was born, and would be one after he was hanged. Upon this," says Sir Roger, "I did not think fit to repeat the former question, but, going into every lane in the neighbourhood, asked what they called the name of that lane." By which ingenious artifice he found out the place he inquired after without giving offence to any party.-Addison, “Spectator," No. 125.

Soils and Plants.-In the lower Denmark peat the Scotch fir is found; above this the oak, while the present growth is beech. This change of growth is attributed to a change of climate, but it only requires a change of soil. Now soils are always changing, owing to the denudation of the whole surface of the earth by rain. Bagshot Heath is now a sand and Scotch fir country. When the Bagshot sand has vanished it will be a clay and oak country. When the London clay and plastic clay have vanished it will be a chalk and beech country. But no change of climate is required. Plants come and go according to soils. Heath grows on the Bagshot sand to the north of the chalk Hog's-back, and on the green sand to the south of the chalk Hog's-back, but no heath grows on the intermediate chalk Hog's-back. This means simply that heath will grow on sand and will not grow on chalk.-Colonel Greenwood.

A Witty Definition.-The joke about an archdeacon's duties being "to perform archidiaconal functions" is often quoted, but the origin of the saying is not so generally known. It is thus told in the life of Bishop Blomfield: "Lord Althorp, when Chancellor of the Exchequer, having to propose to the House of Commons a vote of £400 a year for the salary of the Archdeacon of Bengal, was puzzled by a question from Mr. Hume, 'What are the duties of an archdeacon?' So he sent one of the subordinate occupants of the Treasury Bench to the other House to obtain an answer to the question from one of the bishops. The messenger first

met with Archbishop Vernon Harcourt, who described an archdeacon as 'aide-de-camp to the bishop'; and then with Bishop Copleston, of Llandaff, who said, the archdeacon is oculus Episcopi.' Lord Althorp, however, declared that neither of these explanations would satisfy the House. 'Go,' said he, and ask the Bishop of London; he is a straightforward man, and will give you a plain answer.' To the Bishop of London (Blomfield) accordingly the messenger went, and repeated the question What is an archdeacon?' 'An archdeacon?' replied the bishop, in his quick way, an archdeacon is an ecclesiastical officer who performs archidiaconal functions;' and with this reply Lord Althorp and the House were perfectly satisfied."

Dene Holes, or Pit Dwellings.-The council of the "Essex Field Club" has undertaken to make a careful exploration of the mysterious subterranean cavities known locally as "Dene holes, of which there are noted examples at Purfleet, at East Tilbury, in Hangman's Wood, and other localities in the country. There can be little doubt that at some period of history these excavations were used for at least temporary abodes. It appears also, from the regularity of construction -or rather of excavation-that the holes are not merely deserted chalk pits turned to habitable use, but that they have been prepared for ordinary storage of food, and possibly as places of refuge in time of danger. Is it possible that they served the same purpose as the once equally mys. terious Round Towers of Ireland? One use of these was certainly for safety to life and property on sudden invasion of Danish or other sea-borne marauders. Is it possible that the Dene, or Dane holes, were used for similar purposes? Nothing but a careful exploration can solve a question of much historical and archæological interest. Contributions to the fund can be sent to the secretary, Mr. William Cole, Laurel Cottage, Buckhurst Hill, or to Mr. Andrew John. ston, J.P., The Firs, Woodford, Essex. Lord Rayleigh, Sir John Lubbock, Professor Boulger, Mr. E. N. Buxton, Professor Flower, and other well-known men of science are on the committee.

Old Graveyards.-The Kyrle Society is exerting good influence in seeking to get disused burial-grounds in crowded neighbourhoods turned into gardens for the poor. This is certainly a better use than that they should be given over to building speculators and to railway companies, as was proposed in the case of the Old St. Pancras graveyard. Whatever is done with these open spaces, provision should be made for respecting the memory of the dead. Where tombstones are worth preserving they should be removed to some place where they can still be seen by those interested in them. A cross or other central memorial should bear an inscription recording the former use of the ground.

George Pritchard.-This once famous missionary, the friend and companion of John Williams, died this summer at the age of eighty-seven. He was Acting British Consul at

Tahiti when that island was seized by the French. His treatment on that occasion caused much indignation in England, and might have led to war with France had not reparation been made by M. Thiers on the part of the Government of Louis Philippe. The "Pritchard indemnité" was long a source of irritation among the French. Lord Palmerston's firmness in this matter was in accordance with the best traditions of our national policy. Mr. Pritchard was subse quently appointed English Consul at Samoa.

Tahiti. In the pulpit of the Romish cathedral at Tahiti is a copy of the Tahitian Bible, translated by old Mr. Nott, one of the early missionaries, and printed by the British and Foreign Bible Society. When a traveller expressed sur prise that a Bible translated by a Protestant should be there, a native curtly remarked, "But for that Bible, no native would enter the place at all." After thirty-four years of French "occupation" there are, at an outside estimate, only three hundred Romish native converts on Tahiti and a sister island Moorca. What a pity it is that the good Emperor of Germany and Prince Bismarck did not compel the French to give up the Tahitian islands, which they wantonly seized!

:

The Late Sir George Jessel in the Synagogue -We find the following interesting record in connection with the mar riage of a daughter of the lamented Sir George Jessel: "The Right Hon. Sir George Jessel attended the morning service at the Central Synagogue, Great Portland Street, on Saturday [the date we have lost]. As it is customary among the Jews on the Saturday immediately preceding a marriage for the parents of the bridegroom and bride, together with the bridegroom, to attend synagogue and make a special announcement of the event, and as the daughter of Sir George was married last Wednesday, the ceremony incidental to such occasions was strictly followed. The name of the bridegroom is Mr. Nathan Hardy. Sir George took part in the services of the day, acting as Parnass (warden), and performing Hagbo (raising the Scroll of the Law). Sir George made a voluntary offering of £50 to the synagogue fund, as did his intended son-in-law of a similar amount, other members of the family also contributing liberal sums; while compli mentary offerings in honour of Sir George were made by the entire congregation assembled."

Gossip. In the change this word has undergone lies a good deal of significance. Originally, to a certainty, a gossip meant a sponsor for a child in baptism; we read of the "gossip bowl," a beverage provided for the party assembled on such occasions. From the talk or chat commonly indulged in then, "gossip" began to have a bad meaning, and the brank, used to punish scolds, was called also the 'gossip's bridle." Johnson, unfairly perhaps, defined 'gossip to mean a "female tattler," although the world yields abundant evidence that silly and slanderous talkers are not all of one sex.

66

Hubbub.-A word traced to a Celtic root; the Irish advancing to battle were accustomed to shout, as their war-cry, 'A-boo! a-boo!" The English resident in that country formed the phrase Hubbaboo to signify an uproar or tumult, which subsequently was abbreviated to "hubbub.”

Locusts. A correspondent writes from Kyrenia, Cyprus: "This voracious insect is a sad drain on the resources of the island. Locust destruction last year cost £40,000, and this year will probably exceed £20,000. A special tax is levied for this. The Cypriot peasant, although well paid, and furnished with screens, will cooly smoke his narghili in the shade and let the insects hop over, or protect his own property and that of his friends to the detriment of his neighbours. What is really wanted is the hearty co-operation of the villager and constant pegging away' if the plague is ever to be annihilated. The magnificent crops of wheat and barley which the island produces ought always to allow a large amount of grain for exportation."

Tristan d'Acunha.-H.M.S. Sapphire recently visited the island of Tristan d'Acunha, with which our readers have been made acquainted by various communications. The

report of Captain Fullerton, forwarded to us from the Admiralty, states that the inhabitants at present number ninetythree, and seem healthy, contented, and prosperous. Excellent beef was obtained at fourpence per pound, and very fair potatoes at eight shillings per hundredweight; no other kinds of vegetables were procurable. Sheep are a fair size at LI each. We regret to hear that there is now a general appearance of neglect and indolence throughout the settlement. Captain Fullerton, as appears to have been the custom hitherto when men-of-war have visited the place, supplied the islanders with various small stores of which they stood in need, amongst others thirty pounds of powder for blasting rock for the purpose of building another church, a work which he thinks would take from twenty to thirty years to complete. The labour is entirely voluntary, limited to two days a week, of four or five hours each, and suspended should any vessel call for suppies on either of those days. The blocks of stone, weighing at least haif a ton, have to be quarried, conveyed to the site in bullock carts, and then squared and fitted by men who have but little knowledge of masonry. No mortar is used, lime not being procurable on the island.

Labour Traffic in Australia.-We have received several communications about our article in the June part, "Slavery and the Slave Trade in Australia." The title of the article was suggested by the remark of Admiral Wilson, that practically this " engage-trade (or labour traffic) is nothing but Of course, there is legally a difference, but the facts stated in this article proved that the system is open to all the abuses of "the apprenticeship system," which was found in the West Indies so intolerable as to hasten the time of complete emancipation. A pamphlet has been issued by the Agent-General for Queensland maintaining that the facts are exaggerated, and that This there are abuses nearer home requiring correction. kind of argument admits of no reply. But another and more temperate criticism on our article, while admitting that the Kanaka or Polynesian labour should be abolished, says that the same objections do not hold against coolie labour. "There is no reason," this writer says, "why the millions of Hindostan should be left to die of famine when their labour would be profitable in aland of plenty. The Indian Government has means and appliances for ascertaining that every coolie should know exactly the terms of his engagement, and, having signed his agreement, there is no more reason why he should not fulfil his contract than that the English emigrants should not do the same.'

the slave-trade under a new name."

[We can only repeat that, whatever regulations are made on paper, it is essential to have sufficient inspection and every possible guarantee against oppression and wrong. With fair wages there will always be ample supply of labour. It has been so in the West Indies, and ought to be so in Queensland.]

Burns's Cotter's Saturday Night.-One day, in the presence of Burns, a boy of thirteen, who had read his poems, was asked which of them he liked best, and replied, "I was much entertained with the Twa Dogs,' and 'Death,' and 'Dr. Hornbrook,' but I like best by far 'The Cotter's Saturday Night,' although it made me greet when my father had me to read it to my mother." Burns, with a sort of sudden start, looked in the boy's face intently, and patting his shoulder, said, "Well, my callant, I don't wonder at your greeting at reading the poem; it made me greet more than once when I was writing it at my father's fireside."

Sources of the Political and Natural History of Madagascar. It will be interesting at the present moment, when public attention is directed to matters relating to the island of Madagascar, to remember that in the year 1850 Sir Walter Minto Farquhar presented to the trustees of the British Museum a series of twenty-five manuscripts of great importance with regard to the political and natural history and to the language of that island. These are now preserved in the Manuscript Department of the British Museum; and the journal of the Royal Geographical Society for the year mentioned contains an article respecting the collection. Among the linguistic manuscripts are a "Dictionnaire Malgache, ou Madégasse et Français," arranged in a double form under

both French and Malagash words; this book is of the eighteenth century "Dictionnaire Français et Madécasse," arranged in three columns under both French and Malagash words of two dialects. This dictionary is in three volumes of folio size. It was compiled by Barthélemi Huet, Chevalier de Froberville, of the island of Mauritius, in 1816. The same author's "Grand Dictionnaire de Madagascar," historical, geographical, commercial, and linguistic, in five folio volumes, follows in the series. This is a perfect cyclopædia of information upon the numerous branches of knowledge which it embraces. Next in order comes a supplement of two volumes, consisting of notes by the indefatigable Chevalier de Froberville, upon the religion, history, and geography of the island. Froberville's manuscripts comprise, in addition to the foregoing, certain important "Mémoires pour servir a'l'Histoire de l'Isle Madagascar," compiled from memoirs and notes by Mayeur, Dumaine, Lexallier, Flaccourt, and others, in two volumes; a history of the island, modernised from Etienne de Flaccourt's work of 1658; an essay upon the language, dedicated to Robert Townsend Farquhar, Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Mauritius in 1816, afterwards first baronet, father of the donor of this interesting collection of manuscripts to the British nation. Among the remaining volumes are "Froberville's Geographical Index;" a communication of considerable length upon the natural productions of Madagascar; "Rémarques sur les rapports qui existent entre les langues Malagache, Tahitienne, Zélandaise, Malaise, et Espagnole;" Froberville's collection of memoirs and official papers relating to the island; various important political memoirs on the development of the island commerce, the first of which is entitled, " Mémoire Intéressant sur l'Isle de Madagascar, où l'on développe les avantages immenses de profit et de gloire que la France pourroit en retirer et où on donne un aperçu des moyens qui doivent en assurer le succés; an account of a journey to Ancova in 1808, by Froberville; and a volume entitled "Facture des effets de traité, vivres, etc., pour l'approvisionment du Fort Dauphin, Isle de Madagascar, etc., 1768." These manuscripts relating to the island are well worthy of the close attention and perusal of historians, politicians, and philologists.

The late Sir Edward Sabine, P.R.S.-Within a few days of the death of Mr. Spottiswode there passed away a former illustrious President of the Royal Society, General Sir Edward Sabine, K.C.B. He was the senior Fellow of the Society, having been elected in April, 1818. He held the presidency from 1861 to 1871, having been Vice-president from 1851 to 1861. He was President of the British Association in 1853. He died at the age of ninety-five, having been born in 1788.

B.itish Fisherfolk.-Out of the 113,640 men and boys described as engaged in fishing, 41,300 belong to England, 48, 100 to Scotland, 19,800 to Ireland, 2,840 to the Isle of Man, and 1,600 to the Channel Islands. But of these only about 90,000 are supposed to be bona fide fishermen, the remainder only spending part of their time at fishing, many deriving only half, and others less than half of their living from fishing. "Fishermen as a rule make early marriages; large families are the rule rather than the exception, as will be sufficiently evident to any visitor to a fishing village; very generally there are four, often five or six children in a family. We will take the average of a fisherman's family to be husband, wife, and four children-six in all. This will give us a total of 540, coo souls, the satisfaction of whose daily wants depends immediately upon the successful labours of the 90,000 bona fide fishermen included in that number. The most unremitting toil on the part of these fishermen but just suffices to supply those wants-toil which exposes the men to dangers and to hardships of which only those who have a close and familiar knowledge of the sea in its various moods can form an accurate conception. In winter cold and summer heat almost every port and bay sends out daily to the fishinggrounds its fleets of boats manned by their keen and eager crews prepared to face almost any emergency in their efforts to wrest its treasures from the deep." Such is part of the Duke of Edinburgh's description of the life of British fishermen. Further on he states, "The labours of our fishermen succeed in providing for the population of these islands a supply of fish food amounting to 615,000 tons weight per annum,

which at £12 per ton represents a money value of £7,380,000. Vast as this quantity appears, it does not suffice to meet the demand, and the imports of fish into the United Kingdom in the year ending December 31, 1881, according to the Custom House returns, were valued at £2,332,605. Against this sum we must set off an export value of £492,476, which will leave an excess of imports over exports of £1,840, 129." The duke tells us that "the total quantity of fish brought to London in a year is nearly 143,000 tons, or almost one-fourth of the total capture on our coasts, and represents a consumption of nearly 67 lb. per head of the population. This is probably about equal to the consumption of beef in the metropolis."

William Tyndale.-The memorial statue of Tyndale is at length completed, and will soon occupy its grand position on the Thames Embankment. The first translator of the New Testatment into English, his version has been the basis of all subsequent versions. The story of his life, and labours, and martyrdom has been well told in the biographical volume by the Rev. R. Demaus, published by the Religious Tract Society. The statue, by J. H. Boehm, R.A., represents

Tyndale in his doctor's robes as seen in the portrait at Oxford, evidently done from life. His right hand lies on an open New Testament, resting on a printing-press, copied from the contemporary one at the Musée Plantin in Antwerp. His left hand grasps his cloak, and holds a manuscript, while he is earnestly saying, "If God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a boy that driveth the plough shall know more of the Scripture than thou doest." Upon the press are some printed sheets to indicate that he did that part of the work himself.

Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire.-A very curious and interesting collection of personal relics belonging to the famous beautiful duchess whom Sir Joshua Reynolds and Gainsborough painted among their finest portraits was dispersed under the hammer of Messrs. Sotheby. These had long been treasured up by Lady Spencer-Clifford, along with many others which had belonged to Lady Betty Foster, the