Flintshire Observer Mining Journal and General Advertiser for the Counties of Flint Denbigh

DKATH Or THE KEY. U. H. 8RJ KGKOK. Mr..Spurgeon died at the Beaurivage, at Mentone, soon after 11 o'clook on Sunday night. Mrs. Spurgeon, Mr. Harrold, secretary, Mr. Allison, one of his most intimate friends, and Miss Thome were in the room when he passed away. Mr. Spurgeon had been in a comatose condition since noon, and never recovered consciousness. Mrs. Spurgeon is bearing up bravely. The body will be taken to England fcr burial. During Saturday night Mr. Spurgeon, who was very restless, was able to take small quantities of milk. Early on Sunday morning, however, it became evident that recovery was impossible, and before noon he had lapsed into unconsciousness. Once or twice during the morning he just recognised Mrs. Spurgeon, but that was all. From ten o'clock he took no food, and gradually got weaker. At seven o'clock in the evening he was in a comatose con- dition. Mrs. Spurgeon bore up exceedingly well cninpg the 10 days of her husband's severe illness, and affer his recovery from what, up to Sunday morning, she believed to have been a much severer attack before he left England she did not lose hope. Those around Mr. Spurgeon felt confident that his constitution would again with- stand this further attack of illness. It was a return of his former trouble-namely, congestion of the kidneys, complicated by gout. The latter first attacked his hand, and after he took to his bed it spread to his head. Between the attacks on Saturday he was able to speak, and his words showed that be was thinking constantly, first of Mrs. Spurgeon, and then of his congregation, to whom he was most anxious to send some message. The winter which has proved fatal to so many valu- able lives has taken from us also (says the Times) the Rev. Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Pastor of the Metro- politan Tabernacle. For several years his health has been precarious, and he was constantly compelled to winter abroad. Last year be. had a specially severe attack, from which he seemed, however, to have rallied. By bis death Fnglish Noncom- 1 formity has been deprived of a remarkable man, a man of striking power and strong personality, a man who has left upon the religious life of his generation a mark deeper, if less wide, than that whic h will be left by his contemporary of the Salva- tion Army. The British Islands have not failed to Produce leaders of religious thought as generation fallowed upon generation from the days when Tacitus spoke of inaccessa Bowianisloca, Christo tamen mbdita even until now. In the religious leader who has gone to his rest the English-speaking world has lost a man of great power, of shrewd common sense, of remark- able influence; a man who could answer far better than the majority of men that searching question of Carlyle's, Man, what is thy work ?" If there be such a thing as heredity in religion, then Charles Haddon Spurgeon was a hereditary Puritan. Mr. Spurgeon took just pride in his religious proclivities which he inherited from his ancestors and in a sermon preached not many years ago he adverted to the subject. When I spoke, the other day, with a Christian brother he seemed right happy to tell me that he sprang of a family which came from Holland during the perse- cution of the Duke of Alva, and I felt a brotherhood with him in claiming a like descent. I daresay our fathers were poor weavers, but I had far rather be descended from one who suffered for the faith than bear the blood of all the Emperors within my veins." As a matter of fact, the immediate ancestors of the late Mr. Spurgeon were Nonconformist ministers. His father, John Spurgeon, preached to an Independent congregation on Sundays for 16 years in Essex and then became a regular pastor, first at Cranbrook, then in Fetter-lane, and last at Upper-street, Islington. His grandfather, James Spurgeon, was for more than half-a-century pastor of the Independent church at Stambourne, in Essex. Mr. Spurgeon's ancestors were, in fact, among those Protestants from the Netherlands who settled on the East Coast to avoid religious persecu- tion in their own country; and it is recorded that they were not entirely free from persecution in their adopted country, since one of them, at the least, suffered imprisonment for conscience' sake in the time of Charles II. Charles Haddon Spurgeon himself was born on June 19, 1834, at Kelvedon, in Essex. Much of the embryo pastor's early life appears to have been spent under the care of his grandfather at Stambourne, and that early life appears, according to all the numerous accounts which nave been written, to have been of a highly characteristic nature. An admiring biographer wrote in 1887, The pious pre- cocity of the child soon attracted the attention of all around him. He astonished the grave deacons and matrons who called on hir grandfather on Sabbath evenings by the serious, intelligent questions he asked, and by the pertinent remarks he made." It is said on good authority," continues the biographer, that before he was six years old he publicly reproved sinners in the street." 8e iwn e vero e ben' trovato, and the same observation applies to the story concerning a certain backsliding member of the Independent community at Stambourne who appears to have been addicted, albeit Rot beyond the bounds of moderation, to the use of beer and tobacco. The backslider's account appears to have been to the effect that the child confronted him in the village ale- house with upraised finger and the words, What doest thou here, Elijah ?" These accounts may, of course, be apocryphal; they may be the mere legends, illustrative of man's capacity for hero- worship and saint-making, which have grown round the history of the childhood of Charles Spurgeon, but the probability is that they have at least a substratum of truth in them, and it may well be imagined that the child who was to become one of the most determined and one of the most confident of preachers started in life with considerable capacity for believing in the correctness cf his own views. Another story, told by Mr. Spurgeon himself in a sermon preached..(n 1887, belongs to the same period: When I was a young child staying with my griihd- fatber there came to preach in the village Mr. Knill, who had been a missionary at St. Petersburg and a mighty preacher of the gospel. Then, in the presence of them all, Mr. Knill took me on his knee and said, This child will one day preach the Gospel and he will preach it to great multitudes. I am persuaded that he will preach it in the chapel of Rowland Hill, where (I think he said) I am now the minister." He spoke very solemnly, and called upon all present to witness what he said. Then he gave me 6d. as a reward if I would learn the hymn, God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform." I was made to promise that when I preached in Rowland Hill's Chapel that hymn should be sung. The prophecy was fulfilled to the letter, but that is no great matter since, humanely speaking, the chances were much in favour of young Spurgeon's becoming a minister and of his being asked, some day or other, to preach in Rowland Hill's Chapel; but the interest ing part of the story is in the clear evidence it affords that Charles Spurgeon showed power and promise even in very early youth. Charles Spbrgeon's education was not of the best. He appears to have gone to a school at Colchester, at seven years old, and to have stayed there for four years. For three years more we may presume that he was kept to lessons of some kind, and in 1848 he ap- pears to have spent some time at an agricultural college at Maidstone. In 1849, when he served for a short time as an usher in a school at Newmarket, and, in the following year when he was beset by sceptical doubts, he underwent that mental, moral, and spiritual process of conversion which was placed in evidence by his public baptism at Isleham, Cam- bridgeshire, in 1850. A sermon preached in 1856 gives an account of the process in language curiously illustrative of Mr. Spurgeon's preaching method :— I resolved to visit every place of worship in Col- chester that I might find out the way of salvation. I felt willing to be anything and to do anything if God would only forgive me. At last one snowy day-it snowed so much I could not go to the place 1 was determined to go to, and I was obliged to stop on the road, and it was a blessed stop for me. I found rather an obscure street, and turned down a court and there was a little chapel. I wanted to go somewhere, but I did not know this place. It was the Primitive Methodists Chapel. I had heard of these people from many and how they sang so loudly that they made people's heads ache but that did npt matter. I wanted to know how I might be saved, and if they made my head ache ever so much I did not care. So, sitting down, the service went on, but no minister came. At last a very thin-looking man came into the pulpit and opened his Bible and read these words Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth." Jnst setting his eyes upon me, as if he knew me all bv heart, he said, "Young man, yon are in trouble." Well, I was, sure enough. Says he, You will never get out of it unless you look to Christ. And then, lifting up hit hands, he cried out, as only I think a Primitive Methodist could do, Look, look, look!" It is only look,* said be. I at onoe saw the way of salvation. Oh, how I did leap for joy at that moment I I know not what else he said I did not take much notice of it, I was so possessed with that one thought. Like as when the brazen serpent was lifted up, they only looked and were healed. I had been waiting to do 50 things, but when I heard this word, Look," what a charming word it seemed to me! Oh, I looked until I could almost have looked my eyes away, and in heaven I will look on still in my joy unutterable. I now think I am bound never to preach a sermon without preaching to sinners. I do think that a minister who can preach a sermon without address- ing sinners does not know how to preach. Converted by the Primitive Methodists, in so far as he was convinced of sin at one of their meet ings Mr. Spurgeon nevertheless remained a Baptist, 'i!tÏth a touch of Calvinism at heart. Very soon after his conversion he became a member of a lay preachers' association at Cambridge, and preached in the neigh- bouring villages, earning hig living as an usher in a school at Cambridge during the week. In 1852, Mr. Spurgeon, being 18 years of age, became pastor of the Baptist church at Waterbeach, and, not long after this, he escaped that more com- plete education which his parents desired to give him by a ludicrous accident, his account of which may be given in his own words: Soon after I had begun, in 1852, to preach the word in Waterbeach, I was strongly advised by my father and others to enter Stepney (now Regent's- park) College, to prepare more fully for the ministry. Knowing that learning is never an encumbrance, and is often A great means of uaefulness, I felt inclined to avail myself of the opportunity of attaining it, although I believed I might be useful without a college training. I assented to the opinion of friends that I should be more useful with it. Dr. AngtiO, the tutor of the college, visited Cambridge, where I then resided, and it was arranged that we should meet at the house of Mr. Macmillan, the publisher. Thinking and praying over the matter, I entered the house at exactly the time appointed, and was shown into a room where I waited patiently for a couple of hours, feeling too much impressed with my own insignificance and the greatness of the tutor from London to venture to ring the bell and inquire the cause of the unreasonably long delay. At last, patience having had her perfect work, the bell was set in motion, and, on the arrival of the servant, the waiting young man of 18 was informed that the doctor had tarried in another room, and could stay no longer, so had gone off by train to London. The stupid girl had given no information to the family that any one had called and had been shown into the drawing-room, consequently the meeting never came about, although designed by both parties. I was not a little disappointed at the moment; but have a thousand times since then thanked the Lord very heartily for the strange providence which forced my steps into another and far better path." Mr. Spurgeon was too valuable a preacher to be left long in the retirement of Waterbeach. While there he distinguished himself in characteristic fashion. Being asked to preach the anniversary sermon at a neighbouring village, he presented himself to the pastor, who, astonished at his youth, spoke of boys going up and down the country preaching before their mother's-milk was well out of their mouths but the young preacher promptly preached a sermon upon the text a hoary head is a crown of glory (Pro. xvi.), the character of which may be guessed from the fact that his aged colleague accosted him as "the sauciest dog that ever barked in a pulpit." This little village, however, was not the only place in which Spurgeon's' voice was heard, and an address delivered by him at Cambridge, in 1852 or 1853, brought him rapid pre- ferment. One Mr. Gould, of Loughton, heard the young preacher; he carried the news of his power to Mr. Olney, a deacon of the New Park-street Chapel. Now the New Park-street Chapel was one of the most ancient Baptist institutions in London. It had been established two centuries before by Puritan Baptists; its pastorate had been held by William Rider; by Benjamin Keach, of Metaphors renown. by Benjamin Stinton; by John Gill, a noted commen- tator by John Rippon, the editor of the Baptist hymn-book: by Joseph Angus; and James Smith. But New Park-street was in low water, and the deacons were on the look-out for a man capable of multiplying a congregation of 100 by 12, and so fill- ing 1100 empty seats. Mr.Olney wrote to Mr. Spurgeon. The young preacher thought the invitation was wrongly addressed, and so answered. It was no mis- take, but the beginning of Mr. Spurgeon's remarkable metropolitan career. Very soon the young preacher was appointed permanent pastor, very soon the 120b seats had to be increased to 1800. Invitations to preach in various parts of the country came rapidly, and he did preach to overflowing congregations, undex- roofs and in the open air, with conspicuous success, While the New Park-street Chapel was being en- larged, Exeter Hall and the Surrey Music Hall, at, which Lord Campbell is said to have attended, were pressed into service. The very large congregations, which were attracted by Mr. Spurgeon's discourses were noticed in the Times of those days. In 1856 a calamity which occurred at the Surrey Music-hall while a service was being held attracted general notice. Some foolish person raised a false alarm of fire, and in the panic which ensued seven persons were killed and 28 were injured. Some censure was expended upon Mr. Spurgeon in this connection, and this censure, or its injustice, was felt so. deeply by him that., according to his own account, his mind was shaken seriously for a fortnight. In 1857 Mr. Spurgeo4r preached to au assemblage of 24,000. people at the Crystal Palace 0' in --oormection- L with the Indian Mutiny. In 1858, while he was preaching at Halifax, a gallery collapsed, aad two- persons were injured. In 1859 the foundation?-stone of the Metropolitan Tabernaele was laid, a Bible, the Baptist Confession of Faith, the declaration of the deacons, and Dr. Rippon's hymn- book being placed underneath it. In 1861 the Metro- politan Tabernacle, capable of accommodating between five and six thousand persons, was opened free from debt. Since then various great institutions have grown up in connection with the Tabernacle, the principal being the Pastors' College, the Colportage Association, the almshouses, the two orphanages at Stockwell, and the mission hall at Bermondsey-all brought into" being and maintained by the energy of one man. In 1862 came a memorable controversy concerning bap- tismal regeneration. Three hundred thousand copies of Mr. Spurgeon s sermons on the subject were circu- lated, and the controversy roused by them was fierce that he dropped the prefix cf reverend and became, if possible, more of a free lance preacher than before. In politics Mr. Spurgeon exercised an active influence. A man of his oratorical strength, who was in the habit of addressing huge congregations, who did not shrink from alluding to the eventg., of the day, could hardly fail to be a power, and the tn- chant attack which he made upon Mr. Gladstone's Irish policy of 1886 was a serious blow to the influence of that sometime leader of the Liberal party. Of Spur- geon literature there is almost a library. "The Saint and his Saviour" came out in 1867 in 1868 "John Ploughman's Talk" was published and obtained, v? l a circulation of 350,000; 1872 brought to light the Treasury of David in seven volumes, and numerous religious works bear his name. A strong tribute is due also to the energy shown by Mr. Spurgeon in the education of young ministers, of which the Pastors' College is the visible sign. It was as a writer and a preacher of sermons that Mr. Spurgeon exercised most powerful influence. An American author wrote of him that the chief sources of his power lay in his wonderfully original, natural, and impressive delivery, his marvellous command of simple, precise, idiomatic, Saxon lauguage, and his red-hot earnestness and singleness of pur- pose." There was justice in his rather superlative criticism, but for all that it did not describe Mr. Spurgeon's method adequately. Readers of his multitudinous sermons, which have been published regularly for nearly 40 years, caa hardly fail to be struck with them in many ways. They will notice in them a strong egotistical and anecdotal tendency, an outspoken defiance and confidnce of tone, a lIerce hatred of "the Cloaca Maxima of Rome," a detestation of anything and everything that is sham or artificial, a determination to be lively, an aptitude in the use of strong and familiar phrases. "There is raw material i& a publican which yon seldom find in a Pfearisee.^ A Pharisee may polish up into an ordinary Crxristian but somehow there is a charming tollch about the pardoned sinner which is lacking yr the other' —such is an example of his aptitude in familiar phrase taken from a H manifelto" of faith embodied in a sermon of April 25, 1890. The liveliness of the discourses is systematical and r deliberates witness .the preface te the first volume of sermons published in 1856, in which the preacher says that he is not quite sure about a smile being a SiD, and, at any rate, he; thinks it lew crime,,to cause momentary laughter than a half-hour's slumber." On this principle be ppeapbed .throughout a toler- ably long life, with the result that he obtained hearers in thousands when scholarly men coald not obtain them by hundreds or even by spores; and had an almost unbounded influence over large bodies of men and women, chiefly in the lower middle :cla«ea. This eloquent. and energetic preacher, who was almost. worshipped by his immediate followers, whose. views of things in daily life were abnormally shrewd, who was the personal friend of President Garfield and of Lord Shaftesbury, whose works were widely read, not only in Great Britain, but in the United States, who enter- t ained by the flashes of his shrewd wit ev^R^bose, who were not attracted to his principles, will leave a, great and visible gap in English life.

EPITOME OF NEWS. Sin FRBDBKICK ROBERTS hast determined, to retain his own name on his elevation to the peerage. IT is not generally known that tobacco plud cigars are supplied ad libitum to criminal lunatics in Broad- moor and Perth penitentiaries. This luxury oota the Treasury nothing, as the weed is provided gratui- tously by the Commissioners of Customs out of con- fiscated goods Reized at shipping ports. Liverpool and Leith furnish a considerable quantity of the forfeited article. THIS is Loi d Lome's picture of Rob Roy. "ob Roy," writes the essayist," was a better educated man than were mostof his clan. He could write a fair signa- ture, and plead his ..interests well in. good • English. All accounts agree in saying that he was a rpmart- able person, both in character and body. His lo g arms—red, hair, and huge-could reach -W-iiearl e knees when he-stood upright." TIB men who in 1890 signed the marriage re i stlr, ] with marks instead of writing their names were 72 in 1000, while the women were 83 in 1000. In 24 out of 1000 marriages both bridegroom and bride used that form of signature. With the progress of ele- mentary education there has been a continuous dimi- nution in the proportions of both men and women signing with marks; and in 1890 the proportions, as compared with those for 1889, showed a reduction of 7'7 per cent. for men, and 7-8 per cent. for women. TaB cry for A specific for influenza has drawn from Dr. T. J. Maclagan, a plea for the use of salicm. The drug is already recognised as a specific for rheumatic fever, and Dr. Maclagan is of opinion that in full and frequent doses it will cure influenza more rapidly than does any other mode of treatment. All the cases which he has seen during three epidemics have been so treated, and not one has terminated fatally; and he mentions, to inspire further confi- dence, that he is himself now taking ten grains three times daily as a prophylactic. Far from being lowering," the remedy may be taken in largd doses with impunity. Whether it destroys the influenza germ, however, Dr. Maclagan does not. profesa to know. FROM letters which have been received by. the Southampton police from all quarters of the country, it appears that a clever swindle has been peVDetrated in that town by a person whose name and addrta| are unknown. He advertised in London papers announcing that he bad for sale a great quantity of rabbits, pigeons, and Christmas goose at prices much below market valne. Purchasers were to remit half value of their orders and the remainder on receipt of eoods. Hundreds in London, Liverpool, Cardiff, Manchester, and Sheffield answered the advertise- ment and sent remittances, but heard nothing of the ml advertiser, who is now missing. A PARLIAMENTARY return (No. 396) dealing with the sea-going warships of various countries, wae ordered on the 3rd of August last to be printed, but did- not -appear until the end of the year. Much of it is com- piled from a Naval Intelligence Department Circular of May 1, 1891, and the whole paper is, of course, quite out of date. How much so may be judged from the fact that whereas the return says that there are 147 British and 68 French sea-going ships in commission, the real numbers now are 171 British and 116 French. Of these, 29 British and 21 French are battleships, and 69 British and 31 French are cruisers of various kiads. ABOUT 14 miles from Southsea there still stands the old-fashioned wayside inn with the sign of the Bat and Ball. This humble tavern was the earliest home and nursery of cricket. It was the gathering place of the famous Hambledon Club, which flourished in the last half of the 18th century. The still more illustrious M.C.C. arose from the ruins of the Hambledon. It was founded in 1787. Lord.afamopa bowler of the day, gave his name tto the- original cricket-ground of the club; and, after one or two changes, the members finally settled in ttfck famous ground in St. John's-wood-road in the year 18M. The club now.numbers above 3300 members, aira has an annual income of £ 30,000. -I AM »Federalist," SAY* Mr. John Redmond. f I believe the proper, solution of the question at issue between Ireignls,,R"nd England IS: ,tQ be, found in Federalism. But if .Federalism be, once adopted in regard to Ireland, it is evident that it must sooner or later be extended to England, Scotland, and TIIERK is," says Professor Max Miiller, no religion so easy to study as the Christian religion, if only it is understood that no evidence is, allowed to be used except the New Testament. If you once go beyond that, a correctirepresent^ion qi |t.he. Clj^istian religion becomes as difficult as a correct representa- tion of Buddhism cr,?oro^triamsm. LONDON is thought to contain A million of inhabi- tants, which is the number of persons said to haye occupied the whole island at the time of it^invasion by Julius Csesar." Such is the remark of the Rev. John Evans in a curious old work," TheTst," written about 100 years ago. This century has seen London multiply itself five-fold, and this week's reports from Russia speak^ of the peasantry having multiplied by 50 per cent. from 1861. A pamphlet, lately coming to hand from Kansas, compiled by Mr. Wood Davis, says the United States, with its present population of 64 millions, should increase during 20 years to a total of 90 "millions. The argument is that for such population the present wheat-planted area of America will not be adequate, and other crops will have to, be displaced in order to. grow enough wheat foe home consumption. I IT baa been ascertained that the medical men in London alone exceed- the number of doqtora in both Scotland and Ireland. There are, upwards of 5000 medical the sickness of the capital provides support, and the body is constantly 4 increasing. ENGLISII farmers have lately been threshing out wheat and barley freely, as the weather has not allowed much other work on the farms. But the markets have not been attractive, prices receding another Is. per quarter for wheat, so that a total decline of 5s. has been suffered from the best autumn rates. Red wheat making 41s. is now obtainable at 36s. Many farmers therefore return from market with their samples in their pockets. In 1891 value fluctuated 8s. Id. for wheat, the average being 37s. Id,, highest rate 40s. 5d., lowest 32s. 4d. Barley fluc- tuated 4s. lid., the average being 28s. 2d. per quarter. Oats varied 3s. 9d., frdm 17s. 10d.- to 21s. 7d. per quarter. THERE is a pair of stocks at Abinger, in Surtey. It stands on the green near the churchyard gate, and is in fair condition, and has a hood over it, as many stocks «sed to have, to defend the criminals from bad weather. There is a pair of stocks in excellent re- pair at Alford, in Sussex, close to the churchyard .gate. There is a pair of stocks in good condition by the churchyard gate at WestOn-under-Bed Castle, in Salop. There is a pair of stocks, the'town stocks, at Colchester, but they have been removifl from their proper place and put into the local museum, within the castle. Attached to these Colchester stocks :is a label stating that they were last used m l.858 for the punishment of a drunken woman. All the stocks above mentioned have been seen by within the last year or two. THE new Member for Rossendale corn's of a sturdy Methodist stock which for five generations has been closely identified with Wesleyan work .^Lancashire. His great-great-grandfather was Bacup's first Metho- dist class leader, and the new Member has already held most of the offices open to the laity in that church. As a man," says Professor Blackie, Burns had his faults. So have we all; but as a pet he was at once national and natural, Mid as alympalpoet stands with Pindar and Hafiz in the very front Tan." WIlEN oxide of iron is placed in contact with timber excluded from the atmosphere, and aided by a slightly-increased temperature, the oxide will part with its oxygen, and is converted into very finely- divided particles of metallic iron having such an affinity for oxygen that, when afterwards exposed to the action of the atmosphere from any cause, oxygen is so rapidly absorbed that these particles become suddenly red-hot, and if in sufficient quantity will produce a temperature far beyond the ignition point of dry timber. Wherever iron pipes are employed for the circulation of any heated medium, whether hot water, hot air, or steam, and the pipes are allowed to become rusty, in close contact with timber, it is only necessary to suppose that under these circum- stances the particles of metallic iron become exposed to the action of the atmosphere-and this may occur from the mere expansion or contraction of the pipes —in order to account for many of the fires^jvhich periodically take place at the commencement of Jthe winter season.—Iron. DURING the past term at Oxford, a son of the Dean of Christ Church has been e ected to a fellowship of All Souls', and a son of the Archdeacon of Oxford to a fellowship at Balliol; while a son of the Chancellor of the University has been nominated to a fellowship at Hertford. We (Academy) may also mention that the new president of the Union is a son of the late Archbishop Magee, and the new secretary a son of Sir Walter Phillimore, while the treasurer is the nephew of one who was himself treasurer 20 years ago. ANOTHER exhibition is, it is stated, about to be organised at Earl's-court. It will be called a United Services Exhibition, and will be opened next May. The army, navy, and auxiliary forces will be repre- sented. Any surplus arising out of the undertaking it is proposed to divide equally between the guarantors and those army, navy, and auxiliary undenominational charities that have not benefited by the Wesleyan Bazaar (1888) or the recent Royal Military and Royal Naval Exhibition. IN the early part of next year a compilation, it is stated, will be published of each year for the past 20 years of the Jewish population of the metropolis, and other parts of the United Kingdom and Ireland and also of information as to the numbers and conditions of the different strata of the poorer classes amongst the Jews of London during the same period. Mr. Lionel Alexander has for some time past been engaged in the preparation of this information for the Board of Trade. THE Ashmolean Museum at Oxford has recently acquired a little cjlinder, engraved with a short cuneiform inscription and four Hittite symbols. Now that the famous boss of Tarchondemos hft, dis- appeared, this is the only "bilingual" Hittite te known; and Professor Sayce claims that it confirms his interpretation of the other. It was acquired from an Armenian dealer at Constantinople, through the good offices of Canon Greenwell. How many people are there (asks the London cor- respondent of the Glasgow Herald) who were aware until to-day that there is in existence a substance other than a jewel of the purest water, which is worth no less than 60 times its weight in pure gold ? Yet in the cabinet of chemical elements which the late Prince Lucien Buonaparte has bequeathed to the English nation there is a substance callea, germanium, which is reported to be of this fabulous value. TIIB Admiralty have decided-fchat at the forth- coming naval manoeuvres experiments shall be made in connection with the defending fleet to test the value of homing pigeons in time of war. The Ad- miralty is in communication with the secretary of the London Flying Club and other similar associations with a view to the training of birds for the summer manoeuvres. Owing to the difficulties of Fending up the birds from France, the principal flights will pro- bably be from the neighbourhood of the Scilly Isles. A CONTRIBUTOR to Notes and Queries has made the discovery that the odiOun locution Thanks awfully —not to speak of the still more abhorrent, "Ta, awfully "—is probably much older than is commonly. supposed. There is reason, moreover, to believe that this grave offence-to the ears is of American origin.' It is unquestionably traceable to the absurd habit of making the word "awful" do duty as a sort of universal expletive, and this practice appears clearly to have prevailed in America before it was known here. In a work of: Travels in Canada and the United States," written by Mr. John Lambert, and published in 1810, the author notes among the peculiarities of speech of the country people in New England that "everything that creates surprise is awful with them. What an awful road! awful hole! awful mouth awful noise &e. > E. M. B., who sends the following story to the Animals' Guardian, was ataying at the house of a head mistress of a ladies' school in the country. One day she noticed that the girls were playi a game called King of the Castle." Half the flayers ranged themselves at the top of one of the slopes and half at the bottom, and it was the aim of the latter to reach the top and displace those who held this position. Now, it happened that when the rage for this game was at its height a drove of sheep was turned into the cricket-field. In a few days what was E. M. B.'s astonishment to see the sheep playing King of the Castle." Some took their places on the raised cricket-ground, others below it, and the same struggle for supremacy was gone through as had been carried on by the girls. E. M. B. says she witnessed this sight frequently. PREBBRVBD fruits are now eaten on so large a scale that caution should be used in their consumption Though glass and porcelain vessels are used much more frequently now than was the case a few years ago, tins are still used to a very considerable extent. In most cases tinned fruits should be avoided, for there will often be found to exist in the fruits so preserved metallic impurities which are likely to en- danger the health. No fruits containing acid juices should be preserved in anything but glass or earthen- ware, as has recently been pointed out by the Medical Officers of Health for Marylebone; and if people are offered sueh fruit in tins they will be wise to decline them.- The Ho&pital. Soxim interesting experiments in the analysis of milk have recently been carried out by Professor A. R. Leeds and Dr. E. P. Davis, of the United States. These experiments have led them to confirm the opinion that sterilised milk, though a useful remedy in various "stomach complaints, is insufficient to sustain life. If it is necessary to sterilise milk, the desired effect can be produced without detracting from its digestibility, by first making the milk very slightly alkaline with lime water, and then heating to 155 degrees F. for six minutes. By raiaing.the teiiipefttdie to the4-boiling pointy and retirining it at that point for some time, a considerable portion of the soluble pfoteids are converted into insoluble. The result of their conclusions is that sterilised milk is less readily and less|perfectly digestiblethan raw milk. PRO FKSSO^ IIB^N RY r HR, in TL^E tSco ttish _M^view 'pQtes that?an American Vessel, nkrn^d the ^forSlinah, /Wai^ the fl^st Btfeamsl^p U&t croitjod ttte Atlantic^ She crossed to *England_in lol9j but it' is added' tfiat her engines were only auxiliary'to her sailis. 'gjfie was, it appears, orginally intended to ply between New York and Savannah as a sailing packet, but she was pur- chased by Savannah merchants and fitted with steam machinery. She took 25 days to go from Savannah to Liverpool, 18 of which.were under steam. In 1833 the Royal William crossed from Quebec, but all her hold had to be filled with the fuel which was necessary for the voyage, so that, although such a vessel could be used for coast trade, it could not, as Professor Dyer observes, be successful commercially for trans-oceanic traffic.. THE London correspondent of the Scottish Leader tells this story concerning Sir H. Drummond Wolff- "When in Persia he consulted a sorceress with the view of learning her ideas about the future. The wise woman placed before him three coins, and told him to pick one up, and at the same time to think of someone whose fortune he would like to know. He took up piastre No. 1, and associated with it Mr. Balfour. You are thinking,' said the sorceress, of one who will be Grand Vizier.' With piastre No. 2 he called to mind LordR. Churchill. 'He is ruined,' said the oracle. With piastre No. 3 he thought of himself. In time this one will be Ambassador at Constantinople,' was the prediction." A YOUNG Japanese chemist, who studied at Edin- burgh and Glasgow Universities, has cultivated a fungus of the rice plant until it became a true nitro- genous ferment capable of producing rice whisky. This method of manufacturing this spirit has now been introduced into the United States, where the ferment can be as easily cultivated as in Japan. TUB total revenue of the charitable institutions having their headquarters in London amounted last year to over six millions sterling—or, to be precise, £ 6,060,763. This total included £ 2,658,212 for home and foreign missions; £ 200,251 raised on behalf of the blind, deaf and dumb, incurables, and idiots £ 655,790 for hospitals £ 504,423 for pensions and I relief of the aged; £ 750,000 for the Salvation Army; and £ 130,000 for the Darkest England Fund.

UNION LINE for the SOUTH AFRICAN vj GOLD PIRLM. The Royal Xxi) and Stt-amors sail from Southampton »'Yory Friday, tor Caps Ifvrt*, call-tug at Lisbon, Madeira, and Canary Islandc. Apply t<) tM TTXI&JF STIIAM .SHIP CO., LIMITBD, Canuts Road, Southampton, » and South African House, 94 to 98, Blahopsgate 8t, Within.Loncfan, CASTLE WEEKLY SERVICE from LOKDOJT TTTffTJ GOLD FIELDS of SOUTH AFlUCA. ifli I ili ™ FDT In/armatitn affiy to the Managers. DONALD CURRIE & CQ 3:L=-t. 'tron-tbening, digeztiva tonic of excellent r, I N T RAPHAEL' ut in test acljuva TANNIN-WINE. ment of phthisis. Prescribed in stomachic exhaustion, chlorosis, ana tula, and during conraleucence. Recommended by the Faculty for aged persons, young married women, and children. BEWARE OP COUNTERFEITS. To obtain the only genuine Saint-Raphael WiM Apply to E. GALLAIS, 90, Piccadilly, W., London,. Iun-i Kirn .biniTii and HOOgiya. New and .-s»conO-liana School Booms, Lawn Tennis, Golf, Cricket Pavil- ions, Cotes, ces, Farm :Build- j ing8. Roofs, etc. HARBROW8 WORKS South Berinondsry Station, London, B.B. A GENTS WANTED EVERYWHEKE. -/JL. Experience* not necessary. Salary and Commission £ 5 per wpok. PHKitft. PMNT>LgHUHY & Co., Harwtch Road. wpok. PHKitft. PMNT>LgHUHY & Co., Harwtch Road. CANNES (South of France). HOTEL RICHE- Vv MONT. First Class. Pmtion from 7s. to 138. Large (iuxlen Tennis Ground. JSngiisli sanitary arr.nifjemt-nts.. ZnsT7 tt.i A BERDEEN GRANITE MONUMENTS from £ 5, carriage paid. Inscriptions accurate and bejntltuL t'lsiK and Prices from J. w. LEGGtt. Sculptor. ABEKDEKtr^ l\/rAL>EIIiA.—REID'S HOTELS. EIKST-CLABB, in i.TA finest situations, larse gardens, Tennis courts. Billiards, Sea bathinn, Mod-rn sanitation. Niw HOTBL now OPEN. All Steamer" met. Pamphlet free. WHEELS! WHEELS! WHEELS I Insist upon having your Mail-carts and Perambulatora fitted with Hughes' cementless, wired-on, rubber tyred wheels. These tyres cannot break, burst, or slil) Qg the wheel.—Sole Manufacturer (Hookham's Patent), Geo. -n. Hughea, Birmiiigham. MSCKlt'TI V i>, ami Detailed Lists of PHOTOGRAPHIC LANTERN SLIDES post free »>n reeeipi. o* addpess by H. W. Wtll,"40 tt Co.. Sot.yjth!T1 street. Ah..rdepn. P n IIF UA'i'a with 1 Box o .Santoril's Pellets (no uriuii). KIT I r11 ITU Also .lice Dressing for Corn Stacks. Semi IS l\IL.UI_U stamps, and try it. to SA)<yonn and aos. San'*y, Beds. IWEBBSM SEEDS VEScTABLE SEEDS, I FLOWER SEEDS. Webbs' Collections produce [ Webbs' Boxes of Floral Gems a constant supply of the best arranged for the Gardens of Vegetables all the year pound. Ladies and Amateurs. 5/ 7/6, 13/6, 21/ 421-, & 2/6, 5/ 7/6, 10/6, and 2'11- 105/- each. Delivered Free. each. Delivered Free. For Priced Lists, Descriptions, and Illustrations of the best sorta, 8" ■Webbs' Spring Catalosrue. Post free 1/ gratia to Customer*. Abridged Edition gratis and post free. WEBB & SONS,Wordsley, Stourbridge. «np|||f[" CARTE NOIRE, VtUVE VINTAGE 1884, SPECIAL |fl nUII I IT II The best-rates CUVEE INUHILLCN in the market. vintage 1884. CHAMPAGNE. NO FINER WINE CAN BE HAD AT ANY PRICE. To be obtained of sill Wine Blarchantj6 -T-nrtdnri -flfllcp.-q2.-GRIi,AT TOWER ST., E,C.

THB City Press draws a doleful picture of the shrinking subscriptions to the metropolitan hospitals, and prophesies that, unless both the existing deficit be wiped off and the annual subscriptions increased, these voluntary institutions will soon become State hospitals, supported by public rates. A RECENT trial for damages done to a flock of sheep by the Middlesex Parmera' Drag Hunt elicited some curious opinions. Mr. Goodall, for 16 years huntsman to the Queen's Staghounds, had never heard of bounds hurting sheep," while a Harrow farmer confirmed the viev'. and thought even in lambing time sheep were not frighteded by a pack." Another farmer gave evidence that a single cur among sheep at night would do more harm than all the fox- hounds of the country. The sum of £3Jj paid into court was adjudged sufficient, and a verdict was-given for defendants, from whom £ 133 10s. was the amount I claimed. The case, however, should be a warning for "Drags "to be diverted from the farms of hostile landowners. Two brothers named Grey were sliding on a pond at Brynmawr, when the ice gave way, and the younger ¡landowners. I brother, a boy of eight, was drowned, the other being with difficulty rescued. At Rhymney a similar acci- dent occurred, resulting in the drowning of two boys named'Davies. TIUI toadstools and mushrooms of the world have (as the Horticultural Times reminds us) been enume- rated and catalogued by a scientist, and it is found that there are 4600 specie?. Not more than five per cent. are definitely known to be edible, while from 30 to 100 are positively asserted to be very poisonous. THOUGH gold and coloured ornaments must be laid aside during the national mVmrnmg, diamonds are specially mentioned as admissible in the orders for Court mourning issued in the Gazette. BLACK satin is likely to have a revival of favour for evening wear during the next few weeks of Court and general mourning. For the Princesse, Watteau, and Empire gowns which are HOW so fashionable no material is more suitable than a rich, soft, thick, satin. In the early days of the present century, a irork- 1 man splitting a large cherry tree at Haming, in the county of Selkirk, found a living bat of a bright scarlet colour. The cavity in which it was enclosed was surrounded by wood perfectly sound and solid. On of the most striking passages in all the writings of Dickens is to be found in his will. "I emphati- cally direct," he said, that I be buried in an inexpen- sive, unostentatious, and strictly private manner; that no public announcement be made of the time or place of my burial; that, at the utmost, not more than three plain mourning coaches be employed; and that those who attend my funeral wear no scarf, black bow, long hatband, or other such revolting absurdity." A CHBBS incident will be included among the many little stories of a personal kind with which Mr. Bradlaugh's life is to be lightened. On Mr. Brad- laugh's last voyage to India he was much pressed to join in the fraternal chess. He declined at first on the ground that he would be sure to win. Even- tually, however, he consented to play on the under- standing that he should give his winnings to some philanthropic object. Being an admirable player, Mr. Bradlaugh did win right from the beginning to the end of the voyage. At least one other member of the House of Commons was among the loaera. WHAT is the origin of the family name of Queen Victoria? According to Mr. H. W. Wolff, who writes on the early ancestors of the Queen in one of the magazines, the name Gualph" has no connection with whelp, as has been often supposed, and as certain ancient legends would lead us to conjecture, but is derived from hwelpe," or huelfe,"—help. Gwelph originally meant a helper, and the popular Latin rendering for it in olden days was Bonifacius." THB Court will move from Osborne to Windsor Castle on Feb. 26th. O* the Peninsular War we have (says the London correspondent of the Glasgow Herald) one survivor —Captain Gammell, who lives at Bath. WUOSB poetry is being most sought after for the minute ?" Mr. Stott, the publisher, was asked. Browning's, I should think. Browning even more than Tennyson. People say now that they can under- stand Browning." THBRB has just died in Paris, at a ripe age, a gentleman who, through his devotion to the memory of that ill-fated Queen, bad been styled Le dernier amoureux de Marie Antoinette." For many years M. EugAne de Thiac had spent his time in the collection of articles which had belonged to the prisoner at the Temple, and a goodly proportion of a comfortable fortune had enabled him to bring together a large variety of interesting relics of her whom he delighted to honour. COLONBL J. N. CRBALOCK, C.B., who is about to relinquish his position as Assistant Quartermaster- General at the Horse Guards on promotion to the general officers' list, was born in 1836, and at the age of 18 was first commissioned. He saw a good deal of active service in the Indian Mutiny in the first years ef his soldierhood, and subsequently served in South Africa, as well as in the Egyptian War of 10 years ago, gaining an extra medal by service at Alexandria. For three years previous to 1890 Colonel Crealock was Assistant Adjutant-General at Aldershot, and since the May of that year has held his present ofSea at the Hone Guards.