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ALL OVER A PENNY STAMP.

; ATTACK UPON AN OFFICER.

---DEATH OF LADY MARGARET…

NEW COUNTY COURT JUDGE.

ONLY BACHELORS ELIGIBLE.

MARRIAGE RATE RECORD.

,ABOUT RUSSIAN TEA.

PENSIONS TO OFFICERS.j

ELIZABETH'S LONDON.

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ELIZABETH'S LONDON. The London Reform Union secured a very lijirge and distinguished audience for its meeting the other night, when the Bishop of London lectured on London in the Age of Elizabeth." For chairman there was Mr. II. II. Asquith, M.P., and amongs the audience were Lord and Lady Ribblesdale, Sir Arthur and Lady Arnold, Mr. T. Lough, M.P., Mr. T. McKinnon Wood, the Rev. Prebendary Ingram, Sir Charles Elliott,, Mr. Hudson Kearley, M.P., Canon Wilberforce, the Rev. W. Hardy Harwood, the Hon. and Rev. J. J. Adderley, Canon Barker, and nfany representative London men. :1 The Bishop of London began by giving a sketch of the topography of London in the time of Eliza- beth. The people were grouped in the City, [andr what were now crowded neighbourhoods jveroi then open fields. iDr.^Creightoix said he had known an old lady in North London who lived to. be [105,. and she in her youth could remember going to see the cows milked in what was now Finsbury- circus, and then walking across the fields to the village of Islington. St. Marti n's-in-t]Ae-.Fielda told by its name its remoteness. Westminster was a village grouped round the royal palace ..there.. On the other side of the river was the.JittJg, ward-. of Southwark. There were: fogs, but no Smoke. The growth of London was jaist beginning, and con- tinued, in spite of all attempts to check it. But the Londoners lived in London, and villadom was un- known. The merchant lived over his place of busi- ness, and in the same street as the workman or the lord. The streets were either torrents of dirt or paved with black mud; coaches were introduced in 1564. The Thames was the silent highway of London, and 2000 wherries plied upon its waters. Londoners of the time of Elizabeth had learnt the truth that the dignity of public life needed adequate expression, and the Lord Mayor's Show existed then in much the same way as at the present day, save that the Lord Mayor went to Westminster in his barge. The water that Londoners drank in Elizabeth's day came from the Thames, and from conduits fed by streams from the northern hills. In the time of James I., the question became a difficult one, and it had remained a difficult one ever since. He could not describe the lighting of the streets, because they were not I ighted at all. It was a day of hard-headed and long-headed men, who were keen after business and after profits; indeed, he was not sure ,that as many secret commissions were not taken then as now. The amusements-of the people consistedr of bull and bear-baiting, and the exhibition of mon- strosities of all kinds. Gambling was very prevalent, and much of the life of the City centred in the tavern, which was the rendezvous for all who had news to impart, or who sought it. The London apprentice was a feature of the time, and he was given to expressing the prevailing feeling of the country upon foreign affairs in a somewhat vigorous manner. Dr. Creighton said the question might be asked What sort of men were there living in those days ? That question he answered by reading a collection of opinions of foreigners who visited England in those days, and whose opinions (seeing there were no newspapers) must be regarded as unbiassed. They all concurred in, the opinion that the English women were the most beautiful in the world, which he regarded as being a proof of their discernment and impartiality. They also agreed with singular unanimity that Englishmen thought very much of themselves, and very little of the people of other nations. So that it seemed as though the people of the time of Eliza- beth were then engaged in the. same task as that in which the people of the present day were employed— that of impressing foreign countries with the sense of our own greatness, of which we are so profoundly conscious ourselves. The Rev. Hardy Harwood moved avete of thankr to the Bishop for his lecture. BISHOP OUGHT TO HAVE BEEN A DRAMATIST. Mr. Bernard Shaw, in seconding, said thfe Bishop of London was not only, an eminent Churchman but an eminent citizen and an eminent literary man. Some time ago he read a work of Dr. Creighton's dealing with the times of Alexander VI. and Csesar Borgia, and after reading it he felt what a pity it was that the bishop was not a dramatist. If plays were written by bishops as well as sermons, they would have much more influence. As it was, he had to preach sermons in his plays. Dr. Creighton had mentioned that on Bankside might be found bear- gardens, theatres, and places of amusement." The endeavour to turn theatres into places of amuse- ment was still going on. Another characteristic of the days of Elizabeth was that copyright for authors had not been invented. Since then, however, an author had the profit of his works for 42 years, and no longer. He thought that principle might be well extended to the water supply and other matters affecting London. The resultof giving a man a right to his own productions for ever might be seen in the present appearance of the people of London; whilst if they waited to see the benefit of limiting this right to only 42 years they had only to look at the Bishop and himself. Canon Wilberforce moved, and Sir Charles Elliott seconded, a vote of thanks to the chairman, to which Mr. Asquith briefly responded.

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-----A FAVOURITE FIELD FOR…

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j CHINESE TEA1TS.

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orn Lot DON CORRESPONDENT.

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NEWS NOTES. . \ - .-1

THE BOLINGBROKE HEIR. j

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i SIR M. HICKS BEACH ON COMMERCE.

MAX O'RELL'S MISADVENTURE.

FROM PRISON TO "THE FRONT."I

AMERICA'S MINERAL WEALTH.

THE LADY DOCTOR VOLUNTEER.

EXPLORATIONS IN CENTRAL ASIA.¡

THE IltON RATION. 'I

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GENERAL YULE'S MOTHER.

PRESIDENT LOUBKT'S MEDAL.

A' MOTHER OF SOLDIERS.

A GIANT WAR CORRESPONDENT.

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PIGEON MESSENGERS IN WAR TIME.

AUTUMN BIRDS.

A PRISON BREAKER'S REWARD.

A NEW CLERK OF THE WEATHER.

THE WAYS OF JOHN CHINAMAN

"PECULIAR PEOPLE" IN INDIANA.

THE REMAINS OF A FAMOUS PIRATE.

!NEW METHOD OF EXECUTION.

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COLLECTING DOGS.

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