PRESIDENT CLEVELAND will have no trouble to get a renomination in the same way that his henchmen and office-holders in this State forced a ticket through the convention last Wednesday.-Philadelphia Press (Rep.).

THE lines for the Presidential campaign of 1888 are about to be formed. The leaders in the field, on the Republican side, are Blaine and Sherman.-Cincinnati Post (Rep.).

MR. BLAINE is running the anti-saloon movement for all it is worth in his own behalf-and that is all he cares for it.-Hartford Times (Dem.).

THE NEW STYLE IN BOSSES.

Boston Transcript (Ind.), August 20.

It is noted that the band of thieving officials and contractors who have plundered New York for the past few years are very different men in appearance and bearing from their great predecessors of the Tweed ring. Tweed was a coarse, vulgar, low fellow, the kind of man to delight the "boys," sensual, uninformed, but shrewd, sharp, and with the rough-and-ready courage that often passes for high spirit. He was fond of display and ostentatious of his wealth. Sweeney was supposed to be the one member of the ring capable of being the man for occasions demanding social tact and easy bearing. The new ring-that is, the ring New York is now breaking up, and which, doubtless, will be followed by another ring to be broken in its turn-is made up of men who dress handsomely, live well, and have the bearing of people used to society. They are men of the world, or aspire to be, whereas their predecessors were men of the ward. At least, such is the description of the new men. An observer would probably detect that members of the ring dress beyond the fashion; that their carriages are more showy than those of people long used to wealth; that they are perfumed up to the barber standard, and that their jewelry is not such as is usually worn by men of refined tastes. But at a distance they would pass for exquisites. Flynn is always represented as a man of striking appearance, though just a shade too dudish to be called well dressed. Squire must have changed greatly since his residence in New York, if he is any. thing but the big, loud-talking, showy man he was here, with an odd, boyish "bounce" in his manner. It was this latter peculiarity that made his appointment all the more singular to those who had known him in Boston, for he seemed the very last man that keen politicians would intrust with dangerous secrets or permit to conduct intrigues demanding caution. But when his Boston acquaintances read the letter in which he surrendered himself to Flynn, they recognized the same boyish shallowness that marked him here, and when they heard him testify that he considered the document as a sort of a joke, and believed he could outwit men of twice his brains, or, having signed away his freedom, could yet be free, they saw he was the same man as of old-a strange mixture of credulousness and cunning, but possessing neither quality in sufficient degree to keep him safe or prevent him from being the despised tool of others.

NOT A SECTARIAN FIGHT.

The Irish World, August 21.

BELFAST is the only town in Ireland in which there is a Loyalist majority, and it is the only place in Ireland where there is or has been in recent times either riot or disturbance. In all other towns of Ireland and in all rural districts outside the counties of Antrim, Derry, and a portion of Down, the Nationalists are largely in the majority, and in those districts there is not now nor has there been for years any disturbances bearing a religious or party aspect. What section of the population of Ireland is it, then, against which the charge of intolerance and of rowdyism holds good? The answer is to be found in the facts just stated. Nowhere else in Ireland except in Belfast and a few other places in which the Loyalists have a majority do we hear of organized, murderous assaults on the minority. In Dublin and Cork and Limerick, and every other city, town, and district outside of a small corner in Ulster, toleration is not only the theory but the fact. Where the Nationalists are in the majority no man is subjected to outrage because of his religion or politics. In the south and west Catholic constituencies have elected Protestants to represent them in Parliament, and Catholic towns have chosen Protestant mayors. Every public office and honor in the gift of the people in the Nationalist districts has been given to Protestants as freely as to Catholics, while in the small corner of Ireland where the Loyalists predominate not a single Catholic is permitted to hold any public office or representative position. On which side, then, is the intolerance? Mr. Chamberlain objected to the Gladstone home-rule measure on the ground that if passed it would have the effect, as he pretended to believe, of "handing over the Protestants of Ireland, bound hand and foot, to the Roman Catholics." Do the murderous outrages of the Loyalist majority in Belfast and the universal toleration by the Nationalist majority throughout all the rest of Ireland afford any justification for the affected fear of Mr. Chamber. lain? Is it not, in short, patent to all the world that there is intolerance nowhere in Ireland but the intolerance so brutally manifested by the murderous colonies of aliens of whose impudent claim to rule the Irish people Mr. Chamberlain has become the champion? As we have repeatedly asserted, the riots in Belfast were begun and are being continued, not by Irishmen either Catholic or Protestant, but by an insignificant handful of foreigners whose object is to hold in the future the position they have long held, viz., that of masters of the country and monopolizers of all the good things in it.

The disturbance, we repeat, is not between Protestant and Catholic, nor between

two sections of Irishmen. It is not a fight about religion or an "Irish row." There are hundreds of Protestants in Ireland who, like the Protestant leader of the movement and his Protestant colleagues in the Parliamentary party, are heart and soul for national self-government a fact which is abundantly attested by the existence of a flourishing Irish Protestant Home Rule Association. There is no "Irish row." All Irishmen are agreed on the great question of home rule. The riots are the work of the landlords, the Loyalists magistrates and office-holders, and the small handful of their followers, none of them Irish in blood or sympathy. They are, in short, as foreign an element in Ireland as the anarchists are in America. As to why the riots are not put down the reason is obvious. It is simply that the authorities do not desire and have not tried to put them down. Is any one so foolish as to believe that with a force of 25,000 soldiers (the present garrison in Ireland) and over 12,000 armed police, the government, if in earnest, could not restore order in Belfast in twenty-four hours? If such riots were in Tipperary or Galway, we know from the history of the past that they would be speedily suppressed with rifle and bayonet. The true explanation of the continuance of the disturbance may be gleaned from the following extract from a cable dispatch this week to a New York daily paper:

"Over a month ago Belfast was proclaimed under the Arms Act, but not so much as a toy pistol has ever been surrendered, and the police have never been sent in search for arms into a single Protestant (Loyalist) house, though it is there where arms notoriously are kept. Then, again, to please the delicate susceptibilities of the Orangemen, no po. lice are allowed to go into the Shankhill (Orange) district. One (a policeman) ventured in last night because his home was there, and returned with his skull cracked. The Orange papers boast that it will be long months before a policeman again dares to show his head in that section. No magistrate rebukes the threat. Ask yourselves in New York how long such a state of affairs would be tolerated there. We can imagine pretty well how long it would last in Dublin or Cork; but in Belfast not only are the authorities entirely on the side of the rioters, but Irishmen are nightly allowed to fill their pockets with screws, bolts, and iron scraps from the yard of the Orange mayor's foundry before they start on their march home."

There is the secret of the continuance of the riots. The chief magistrate of Belfast-Mr. Harland, the mayor-and all the other local magistrates and authorities are on the side of the rioters. Mayor Harland allows the ruffians to carry away from his own shipbuilding yard the bolts, screws, and other pieces of iron which they use as deadly missiles in their murderous assaults on the Nationalists. They are also well supplied with rifles and ammunition, which they refuse to surrender in obedience to the proclamation, knowing as they well do that the authorities have no notion of compelling them to obey. The idea of the authorities is to make it appear that the Orangemen can not be conquered even by the British government, and that the British government being unable to "keep the peace against the wishes of the Loyalists, an Irish government would be much less able to do it. Of course, everybody knows that this is a dishonest pretense. The whole trouble could be put an end to in a few hours if the will to do it was there. If the police were permitted to put down the rioting, they could and would do it in less than one day. As for what an Irish national government would do, it is the certain conviction that an Irish government would keep them in order and give them stern justice that inspires the ruffianly conduct of the rioters and their backers.

CONSUL GREENBAUM AND SAMOA.

New York Sun (Dem.), August 22.

CONSUL BERTHOLD GREENBAUM, one of the earliest of President Cleveland's appointees, has got himself into hot water through the vigor of his diplomacy. A clothing dealer of San Francisco before his appointment, without international fame, he had no sooner secured the dazzling prize of $1,500 a year attached to his office as consul than he seems to have given rein to ambition, and within a year became, if not a king, at least a king-maker, the Warwick of the Samoan archipelago. It was Consul Greenbaum to whom King Malietoa appealed for protection last May, when the rival king, Tamasese, sought to overthrow him; and it was Greenbaum who thereupon at once hoisted the American flag above the Samoan and issued his proclamation ordering all persons within the kingdom to be at peace, particularly directing sundry rebellious subjects favoring the pretensions of one Tamasese to the throne to forthwith disperse to their homes. Then he astonished Mr. Bayard by informing him that he had established a temporary protectorate over certain disputed regions.

But this was by no means Consul Greenbaum's first appearance in a prominent international character. Last December, when Dr. Steubel, the German consul, caused the ejectment of King Malietoa from his seat of gevernment at Mulinu Point, in Apia, and by the aid of the German gunboat Albatross also pulled down the royal standard from the place at the other end of Apia, in which the dispossessed monarch had taken refuge, it was Consul Greenbaum who, backed by the English consul, made a strong protest and championed the cause of Malietoa.

There, however, another complication occurred in the case. Charges were made against Greenbaum that he had plotted to make Samoa an intermediate station for overrunning California with Chinese; that he collected extortionate fees; that he voted for an incompetent native magistrate, and that he was habitually intemperate. His relatives in San Francisco, however, learning that a petition for his removal was in circulation at Apia, based on these charges, and was on its way to Secretary Bayard, anticipated it by counter-statements on all these points. They declared that he was upholding American interests against German, and also that of the signers of the petition one had unsuccessfully tried to clear a cargo on false invoices, a second kept a dive, a third was a murderer, and a fourth, one Gunn, who made the charge of intemperance, had himself been discharged from employment for drunkenness. With matters in this confusion, Consul Greenbaum launched his bold stroke of the protectorate.

Exactly what will be the upshot of this trouble can not be known until the three special commissioners, sent by the three countries interested to Apia, have completed their investigation, and, if possible, their joint action, and made their reports.

390

THE LEAGUE CONVENTION.

THE Irish National League convention assembled in Chicago on the 18th and closed its proceedings on the 19th instant. The general tenor of press comment on its work is indicated by the following extracts:

Utica Herald (Rep.).

THE opponents, at home, of Ireland's independence will be disappointed in the work at Chicago. They hoped for dissensions, for declarations in favor of violence, and a demand that the present English government shall be harrassed by dynamite. They could have appealed from this programme to British patriotism and courage, and the pride of the nation would have been aroused to maintain the union by force. But the resolutions will be searched in vain for threats of violence. They contain the calm declaration of approval of "national self-government for Ireland," of approval of the course of Parnell, of earnest thanks to Gladstone for his "great efforts in behalf of Irish self-government," of the purpose of the children of Ireland to persevere in their protest against England's misrule, and their efforts to secure their emancipation, and when they call attention to "the remarkable forbearance and self-restraint" which have characterized the Irish people under the grievous burdens they have had to bear, in addition to these declarations, the utterances at Chicago are given a weight which no amount of threats and of belligerent resolutions could have contributed. The cause of home rule is to go forward, and the National League of America has given impetus to the movement and cheer to the friends of Ireland everywhere. The election of Mr. Fitzgerald to the presidency of the league is an assurance that the counsels which have prevailed in recent years will be continued. The new president had the support of the retiring president, Mr. Egan, as the latter had the support of ex-president Sullivan.

New Yorker Staats-Zeitung (Ind.).

(Translated for PUBLIC OPINION.)

IF before the Irish National Convention, which, notably enough, was held with all the pomp of an American national convention, a Bible maxim hovered as a leading motive, it was the precept, "Be ye wise as serpents!" Neither the delegates assembled in Chicago, nor the public "over here nor over there," concealed even for a moment from themselves that an overwhelming majority of the representa tive American Irishmen there would rather have begun to-day than to-morrow the last bloody and decisive conflict for Ireland's absolute independence. Nevertheless, the thousand and more delegates scarce gave, with words, expression to their true designs, but conformed instead, with wonderful self-denial, to the bidding of the dictator: Be wise and dumb-as serpents! However deep and bitter the wrath this humiliating self-imposed restraint may have accumulated in the bosom of all these valiant patriots, it expressed itself at most in discreet and harmless demonstrations, and these almost at the close, for the embassy of the "king" had admonished them, "Be ye wise as serpents!" Parnell's injunction must be unconditionally obeyed, wherever green flag greets patriotic heart, by every one who ventures to call himself an Irish "National."

Chicago Herald (Ind.).

AN American has only to read the comments of the London press on the convention of Irish Nationalists in Chicago to be convinced of the race-hatred and prejudice which lie at the bottom of all the injustice with which England has treated Ireland for many centuries. The sneers, misrepresentations, and abuse of these journals, from which Americans do not escape, though their only offense is that they were successful as against this same tyranny and now sympathize with the victims of it, are well calculated to show the malignant spirit which actuates them. Irish hate of England could be removed by kindness and justice. English hate of Ireland grows more venomous as the dignified representatives of that island gather strength in and out of Parliament to press the cause of home rule to

success.

Philadelphia Press (Rep.).

MR. PARNELL may well thank the Chicago convention, as he does, for its encouraging and helpful action. It is doubtless true, as he says, that the order, union, and moderation of its proceedings have created a profound impression, and will greatly strengthen the friends of Ireland in Parliament. The sobriety and wisdom of its action must, in the nature of things, have a decided moral effect in England. The English people have been accustomed to regard the Irish as turbulent agitators, who were ready to resort to force and violence, and who would look with tolerance, if not with approval, upon the most lawless and destructive measures. With this traditional idea, the spectacle of a great Irish convention distinctly frowning upon the use of physical force will serve to open the English eyes.

Boston Journal (Rep.).

THERE were some exciting episodes, and the antagonism between Finerty and Davitt, which developed at the preliminary meeting on Saturday, was renewed from time to time. Put conservative influences were dominant, and Mr. Davitt kept both his head and his temper. The material support which has been given the Irish leaders by Irish Americans and those who sympathize with them in this country is a splendid example of ungrudging and practical sympathy. The resolutions adopted at Chicago contain nothing to embarrass the Irish leaders at home. The latter are left free to shape their policy as circumstances require, assured that they have a large constituency of well-wishers and practical sympathizers on this

side of the Atlantic.

New York Mail and Express (Rep.).

It will not be neglected in England that the nine hundred and twenty-five silent men in this convention are the significant part of the body. This means that in every group of thirty Irishmen in this country there is one talker, one fellow boiling over with eloquence and determined that all things else shall give way to his plan or his

Chicago Times (Ind.).

Philadelphia Inquirer (Rep.).

Springfield Republican (Ind.).

St. Louis Globe-Democrat (Rep.).

New York Sun (Dem.).

Brooklyn Union (Ind.).

To the very last the apostles of physical force in the Irish convention at Chicago found a mouthpiece in Finerty, and he was sufficiently active to show how strong a hold this fatal folly has on a considerable portion of the Irish who, at a distance of 3,000 miles, so bravely proposed to free Ireland. But this gives only the greater reason to congratulate the convention on its conservative declarations, and on the demonstration it made of the good sense and real patriotism of the controlling part of its members.

New Orleans Times-Democrat (Dem.).

THE Convention of the representatives of the Irish-American League has done wisely and well. They have spoken in cheering tones to their fellow-countrymen in the British Parliament who are manfully endeavoring, by the weapons of statesmanship, to redress the grievances and right the wrongs of their land. The expression of this great American convention, spoken in accord with the views of Ireland's foremost commoners, will serve to greatly aid Ireland's cause at home. Wilmington Every Evening (Ind.).

THE Irish national convention at Chicago has transacted its busiuess very promptly and very satisfactorily. Its outcome is encouraging in its thorough demonstration that the overruling sentiment of the Irish in America as well as at home is in favor of trusting the great battle for Ireland's political regeneration to the hands that have already accomplished by peaceful measures so much that is stable and enduring as has Charles Stewart Parnell.

DURING the row in the convention Mr. Sullivan did not hesitate to speak harshly of the Philadelphia and New York delegates, when he referred to "the fellows who came from the sewers and purlieus of politics to breed discord." His remarks plainly indicated that he was aware of the real motives of the party who styled themselves anti-Eganites, and also that he knew their strength in the convention. New Orleans States (Dem.).

THE convention presented a spectacle of unanimity whose moral force will have no little influence in the settlement of the question of Ireland's self-government, for behind it, and but faintly shadowed through it, lies a reserve of conviction and of resource of which account will have to be taken by any ministry, Tory or Liberal, who may set their hands to the task of legislating for Ireland's liberty.

THE arraignment of Mr. Parnell was not attempted. The assertion of the methods of the Fenian and of the dynamiter was not allowed, and the policy of conservatism was endorsed overwhelmingly and entirely. This is assuring in the face of the threats which were first made at Odden's Grove.-Augusta, Ga., Chronicle (Dem.).

By the course it has followed the league has distinctly strengthened itself and the cause it has at heart. It has shown itself conscious of the gravity and importance of its work, and conscious also that such a work must be intrusted to the cool and earnest instead of to the hot-heads.-Detroit Free Press (Dem.).

MR. PARNELL, Mr. Davitt, Mr. O'Brien, and the other Irishmen who seek to redress wrongs by constitutional means and through the most powerful agency of modern civilization, the ballot, are to be heartily congratulated on the result of the Chicago convention.- Washington Post (Dem.).

THE moderate and rational demands of this convention will strengthen the cause of Irish emancipation, and the moral support of Irish-Americans will greatly aid their countrymen in the struggle now going on in Great Britain.- Washington Sunday Capital (Ind.).

THE best after-judgment of the clearest-headed people will be that Finerty was

not at all wild in the sentiments which he expressed. On the contrary, he showed a better and bolder grasp of the situation than any other man present.- Washington Hatchet (Ind.).

THE important thing about the Irish convention in Chicago is that while it was marked by an explosive sort of enthusiasm for every impassioned or vengeful sentiment, its actions as a whole were marked by an admirable temper.--Baltimore American (Rep.).

FINERTY will doubtless succeed in having his fierce utterances quoted in all the Tory papers of England, if that will do him any good. But if there were many more Finertys, the home rule struggle would be hopeless.-Nashville American (Dem.).

THE proceedings reveal an approach to complete harmony and homogeneity among Irish-Americans, and the latter are generally becoming convinced that the cause is safe under the leadership of Parnell and his lieutenants.-St. Paul Press (Rep.).

By words of peace, by patience, and by tolerance, let us give an assurance to suffering Ireland that no act, no declaration shall be made by us that would em barrass the brave men at the front.-Alexander Sullivan's Speech in Convention. IT has generally been expected that, in their zeal to say something for Irish liberty and the good of their native land, this convention would make rash demands. In this respect it has agreeably surprised its friends.—Oshkosh Times (Dem.).

MICHAEL DAVITT is right when he says that the Irish cause has not been perceptibly weakened by the defeat of Gladstone. Principles do not always lose their strength when their advocates are beaten.-San Francisco Chronicle (Ind.).

LET the unanimous and unmistakable utterances of the convention forever silence the suicidal and ill-advised policy of reprisals of the slaughter of the innocent for the sins of their present or past rulers.-New York Journal (Ind.).

ALTOGETHER, the convention may be regarded as a solid and unanimous expression of steadfast Irish-American support for Mr. Parnell and his followers in the battle across the Atlantic.-Philadelphia Chronicle-Herald (Den.).

THE Irish-American League represents the best sentiment of the Irish people in this country, and any opposition to it by irreconcilables and extremists will only injure the cause of Ireland.-Providence Journal (Rep.).

MR. REDMOND's assertion that the government of Ireland by England is an impossibility is true. Under a free constitution the only possible government is selfgovernment.—Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette (Rep.).

THE feeling of the Irish-Americans is no less strong and determined than if the convention had been a Kilkenny fair, and their self-restraint has had an obvious effect upon the other side.-New York Times (Ind.).

ENGLAND was never abler to put down rebellion than now, and the Irishman or Irish-American who offers insult and provocation shows that he has learned nothing by the lessons of the past.-Providence Star (Rep.).

Mr. PARNELL and his associates can depend on the American league for uncompromising support, for unconditional aid, and for means as ample as their re quirements shall demand.—Chicago Mail (Ind.).

NATIONAL prejudice and religious bigotry must both be allayed before the sun of liberty will dawn upon the hilltops of the land of Swift and Goldsmith, of Emmett and Parnell.-Cincinnati Sun (Dem.).

On the whole, the meeting was less stormy than might have been expected after the defeat of the Gladstone bill and the disappointment of hopes that seemed so near their fulfillment.-Montreal Gazette.

LIBERAL culture, a well-stored mind, lofty patriotism, careful breeding, and high and serene courage eminently fit Judge Fitzgerald for the presidency of the Irish league.-Fhiladelphia City Item (Ind.).

THE conservative attitude of the convention will do much to strengthen Gladstone and Parnell and the cause of Irish home rule throughout Great Britain.— Milwaukee Wisconsin (Rep.).

THE Irish National League convention demonstrates conclusively what was pretty plain before, that b-l-a-t-h-e-r-s-k-it-e spells both Ford and Finerty.-St. Louis Republican (Dem.).

FINERTY seems to have subsided completely since his defeat. It would not be without precedent if he turned up an active ally of the Tory government ere long.— Boston Transcript (Ind.).

THE worst enemies of the cause of Irish liberty are those bellowing boasters who, at the safe distance of 3,000 miles, are always eager to precipitate a "war."-Florida Times-Union (Dem.).

THE Convention presents a united front in its support of Mr. Parnell and his methods. The cause of home rule has been thus greatly strengthened.-New York World (Dem.).

THE resolutions adopted by acclamation amid applause are remarkable for their dignity of tone and moderation of language.-Baltimore Herald (Ind.).

ON the whole, the Chicago convention was an honor to Irish-American manhood.-Boston Globe (Dem.).

THE resolutions adopted yesterday were emphatic, but not extreme.-Kansas City Times (Dem.).

392

MISCELLANEOUS.

CONCERNING KISSING.-No one will require to be told what a kiss is, and yet every one will admit that there is some truth in the remark of the American humor. ist that the only way to define a kiss is to take one. We have many different kinds of kisses in this country, but we are not so far advanced in the osculatory practices as our friends in Europe. It is not a breach of continental etiquette for two members of the male sex to embrace and demonstrate their affection for each other by a hearty kiss. A Frenchman likes to maintain his reputation of bon enfant, and to him is granted a privilege which, fortunately, here, gentlemen do not enjoy, for on New Year's morning he kisses every young lady of his acquaintance whom he may meet or call upon. Although possibly we might envy French ladies in this particular, we must admit that we get a fair share of labial compliments during our lifetime. We are well-nigh overwhelmed with affectionate motherly kisses long before we can appreciate or return the compliment; and then we have, amongst many others, the kiss of friendly greeting, the kiss under the mistletoe, the kiss in the ring, the automatic kiss of the actor, the kiss blown from the tips of the fingers, and the formal kiss of fashion, which is subservient to the laws of etiquette. These salutions, when between royal personages, vary in number, according to the age and rank of the person kissed, and it is a serious matter if one kiss too few or too many may be given, The stolen kiss which the inamorata,

"With an easy cruelty denies,

Yet wishes you would snatch not ask the bliss," How divinely sweet and is supposed to possess certain qualities peculiarly its own. rapturous is that other kiss, the

"Evanescent touch that thrills

The ardent lover's trembling frame;
A dew which on the heart distils,
And kindles into flame,"

in reference to which Dr. Wallcott writes

"When we dwell on the lips of those we adore,
Not a pleasure in nature is missing;

May his soul be in heaven-he deserves it, I'm sure-
Who was the inventor of kissing."

The lover's kiss is often a lingering one. Byron speaks of the "Long, long kiss-the kiss of youth and love,"

"Fare thee well, thou first and fairest, Fare thee well, thou best and dearest; Thine be every joy and treasure,

Peace, enjoyment, love, and pleasure.

Ae fond kiss and then we sever:

Ae farewell, alas, forever!

Deep in heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee, Wailing sighs and groans I'll wage thee.'

the ass.

"Take, O take those lips away

That so sweetly were foresworn; And those eyes, the break of day, Lights that do mislead the morn. But those kisses bring again, Bring again, Seals of love, but sealed in vain, Sealed in vain.'

About her yielding waist, and took a fouth
O' sweetest kisses frae her glowing mouth.
While hard and fast I held her in my grips,
Ma very soul came louping to my lips,
Sair, sair she flet wl' me between ilka smack;
But weel I kent she meant na as she spak.
Dear Roger, when your Jo puts on her gloom,

Do you sae, too, and never fash a thoom;

Seem to forsake her-soon she'll change her mood,
Sae woo anither, and she'll gang clean mad.”

Poets are rather unreasonable in their demands sometimes. One sings of his lady-love:

"Oh let me on thy panting breast recline,

And press my burning, hurried lips to thine;
A thousand thousand kisses let me first implore,
And after them a thousand thousand more;
A thousand thousand let me still repeat,
Till my joys grow as numberless as great."

Another rhymster-Sir Hamburg Williams-while demanding sweet kisses from his darling Chloe, declares that—

He also asserts that

"I'm not to be stinted in pleasure,

Then, prithee, my charmer, be kind; For while I love thee beyond measure, To number I'll not be confined."

Some very curious kiss transactions are on record. Kisses have actually been put up to auction to the highest bidder. The Duchess of Gordon, while she went about hiring-fairs in the north enlisting soldiers, used to offer the lads, along with the shilling, the alternative of a kiss. It is a well-known fact that if a lady salutes a gentlemen while he is asleep, she can demand a pair of gloves. Sir Walter gloves Scott, in the " Fair Maid of Perth," tells how Catharine obtained a pair from Henry Smith by stealing a kiss from him while asleep, and Gay humorously describes the practice thus:

'Cicely, brisk maid, steps forth before the rout,
And kisses with smacking lips the snoring lout;
For custom says, whoo'er the venture proves,
For such a kiss demands a pair of gloves."

The Book has to be kissed when the oath is taken. It is probably the kiss that makes the words sacred and inviolable; but Cowper truly says that

"Thousands, careless of the damning sin,

Kiss the book outside, who ne'er looked within."

The Book itself swarms with kisses of all complexions, from the innocent kiss of Rachel at the well, or the pathetic and beautiful one of Mary when she washes the feet of her Master with tears, to the most terrible of all treacherous kisses mentioned in the Bible or elsewhere the kiss in the garden of Gethsemane, which meant betrayal and death.-Toronto Press.

A TROPICAL SUNSET. While he [the sun] is still some fifteen or twenty degrees above the horizon, we are premonished by a few red flakes like scales of a fish rubbed off by the finger, and golden scintillæ in the west, and by the gen eral disposition of the clouds, and the silver edges of some, to expect a glorious sunset. The whole eastern half of the sky, from the horizon upward, is wrapped in a thick, woolly mantle of dark gray; but at, perhaps, thirty degrees beyond the zenith its continuity is broken by an interval of clear sky, and it forms roughly an arch or proscenium, already "with sun-fire garlanded," for the arena from which we are soon to witness the exit of the sun. From this break westward, the clouds are dispersed in all the infinite variety of form and texture which painters never paint, and words can only slightly indicate. Long, fleecy scrolls, tier behind tier, their borders and volutes here and there frayed into fringes and tassels, lie across the sky at a great height, and extend « far, deep, and motionless," in diminishing bulk with distance, toward the westering sun. Toward the horizon the clouds are

spread in broad bands and thin stripes, with small, rounded masses floating above and in front. In all directions, and at many different levels, are a multitude of clouds of wonderful diversity and delicacy of form. The sun is beginning to issue from the cloudy pavilion in which he has spent the day. Dark, impervious banks are piled up from the horizon on each side, like curved mountain ridges crowned with gigantic towers and battlements of a Titanic fortification. Already pennons and streamers of gold and vermilion are displayed above them, and from cloudy crag and turret beacon-fires are blazing to summon out the hosts of airy pensioners refulgent, clad in shining liveries of their regent and progenitor. Every moment the splendor grows, we can not tell how. The light, diaphanous clouds soon become wholly dyed in effluent streams of light. Far above all other clouds in the azure depths of sky between them, nets of dappled gauze and lace-like veils of lawn, before too fine for sight, now first reveal themselves in spangles of bright gold. The rose hues tingeing the prominences of the darker clouds become intenser and more diffused. Flakes, streaming like leaves upon the autumn wind, change as we look, as if by the process of the season, from pale gold to mellow crimson, while beaded strips of gray mist are transmuted into carcanets of burning carbuncle. The sun pours forth an ever-widening flood of light. About the con fines of the clear blue spaces marvelous shades of green and lilac expand them. selves, and, faster than we mark them, new hues blush out, and fresh regions of the sky "blossom in purple" and gold. The transparency of most of the clouds wherever the fire touches them is almost as remarkable as the color. As they be come illuminated, the distinctness of their markings also is greatly enhanced. Mot tled clouds become thickly covered with golden scales; long trains, crossed with ribs of light and shade like a zebra's side, become barred with alternate stripes of

ruby and light flame-color. Some tracts remind us of draughts of mackerel dying in the surf, maculis auro squalentibus ardens, while other downy expanses, lying in spreading wavelets and ripples, like rounded, overlapping feathers on a sea bird's breast, are flecked with ruddy streaks and drops, like the torn bosom of a pelican in her piety. Nebulous fronds and plumes, stray filaments of gossamer and webs of misty lawn, twining wisps and flossy curling wreaths, angular patches that gleam like the gorget of a humming-bird, streaming flocks and tresses "like the bright hair uplifted from the head of some fierce Mænad," tapering sword-like spikes turning every way like the cherub's flaming brand-these, and clouds of countless other forms are soon but almost imperceptibly imbued, not, as seems from without, but as if by fire kindling within themselves, with flaming color, gold and violet, scarlet, carnation, and crimson. Whilst we speak, the hues of every part alter continually with ravishing changes. Ever as the mighty orb goes down, they are growing and glowing" until their intensity passes description or conception. All the west has become a vast screen of crimson, with tossing waves of golden fire, before and above which the nearer clouds, now mostly themselves all red, permeated and made transparent by "the inmost purple spirit of light," lie like the crowded islands of an aerial archipelago. Ere long, everything is steeped in colors of a hundred or a thousand tints, all ineffably beautiful. Where the sun pierces the clouds and throws his level rays along the waves, there is little but white light, relieved by a few rosy blushes on the water; to the north and south, the sea still remains deep blue; from the horizon half-way up toward the zenith, and spreading on either side almost into a semicircle, is the broad sheet of blood-red flame; elsewhere, every imaginable gradation of pure color is represented, from the most delicate primrose and saffron, shading imperceptibly through all colors of the rainbow, to the dark purple of the pansy and the deep black-red of the damask rose-and all is living fire.-The Spectator.

LONGEVITY IN PUBLIC MEN.-The recent wholesale mortality of public men in the United States has been noted far and wide, but as yet no philosophical nor physical law has been discovered which affords satisfactory explanation of the excessive rate. Herbert Spencer, when he was here, said, in his carefully prepared after-dinner speech at Delmonico's, that the trouble with our physical being and mental growth consisted in our working too much and playing too little; to overindulgence in the wearing game of eager competition, developing superficial mental structures attuned to high excitements, at the expense of the body, rather than living equable lives pitched at a uniform key. There are those who may say that, as Herbert Spencer has been an invalid nearly his whole life, he ought not to lay down generalities like these. Yet it is true that longevity, taking the mass of the people into consideration, is at a much lower figure in the United States than in England, while the comparison between the statesmen and publicists of the two countries is vastly more disproportionate in the same direction; and certainly in the last particular Mr. Spencer was correct. We have two examples before our very eyes. Here is Mr. Cleveland-not yet dead, it is true-a ceaseless and thankless routine drudge, who, to speak of nothing else, has written within eight months III vetoes, as against 105 written before him by all Presidents since the foundation of the Government. But beyond these we have pugnacious messages to Congress, letters of considerable length to citizens, and other extraordinary drains on his time and industry, which indicate that he is working the ultra-American idea of attention to details to the very furthest limit. On the other hand, there is Mr. Gladstone. Those who know him as he lives when premier in London are aware that there is no man in England who, from morning to night, goes through such an extraordinary number and variety of diversions, from playing on the piano, riding horseback, visiting the British Museum, or other resorts of scholars and connoisseurs, to preparing exhaustive brochures on the Greek classics, archeology, religious controversy, and subjects entirely extraneous to his official duties or political principles.

What is true of Mr. Gladstone is true of nearly every public man in England; of course, in a different way and degree. They believe in diversion, and they believe that diversion is the chief end of man. Take the present Conservative cabinet, for instance. It is known as an invalid ministry, for Lord Salisbury constantly has a physician at his elbow, while Lord Randolph Churchill, leader of the House of Commons, has to take frequent rests from arduous labor, owing to a severe surgical operation recently performed, and Lord Iddlesleigh is never beyond convalescence. For three American statesmen in like condition of health to hold the three highest offices under the Government would be simply impossible; it would create widespread distrust and alarm.

But still another feature of this interesting subject is, that when our public men do seek prolonged amusement or recreation, they do it too late in life. This was the truth about Mr. Tilden, who, while a horseback rider and a student all of his years, was yet a man who gave his mind and body up to ceaseless and wearing labor, and only thought of a country seat and its attendant blessings and pleasures when he was palsied and an unsightly wreck. William H. Vanderbilt only sought household quiet when warned by an unmistakable premonition that business exertion and death would go together; and so it has been with a long line of our railway presidents, Senators, and politicians. They do not begin to ease up while yet they are in middle life, but, feeding on habit, continue their exhausting toil till they are suddenly swept away or become victims to lingering and incurable disease.

If we turn to Europe we see a different state of affairs. M. Thiers was vociferating in the French tribune at the age of 84; Kossuth is still living in Turin; the mighty men of the German Empire, with but few exceptions, remain in the same group as when the Emperor was crowned on January 1st, 1871, and other notable examples might be mentioned; but, with the exception of George Bancroft, the historian, no American of great age and international fame is above the sod.-Frank Leslie's Illustrated Paper.

A MERRY FUNERAL.-A merry funeral, with music and dances, took place recently at Jerusalem-a peculiar kind of funeral, which turns up every five or six years. At the Sephardic synagogue in Jerusalem is a chamber called "Cheder Hognisoh." There are preserved all the scrolls of the Torah that have become

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useless, also Mesusoth, Tefilin, etc. In accordance with an old custom, these old documents are sewn into bags or put in carthern jugs, and with music, dance, and song are carried outside of the city. There is a large cave toward the end of the cemetery at the foot of Mount Olive, where they are preserved. On that day all the stores and workshops are closed and crowds fill the streets. The men assemble in the synagogue, where prayers for the welfare of the sultan are recited. procession is formed. In front Torah scrolls are carried under Chupahs, and at their side men carry burning wax candles. Then follow about one hundred men carrying the bags and jugs. At the Zion gate the rabbi of the Sephardic synagogue ascends a large stone, and recites a prayer for the sultan, the state officers, rabbis, and the congregations throughout the whole world. Then the procession wends its way through the Josaphat valley to the cave, where the bags and jugs are deposited. The celebration lasts till late in the evening.-The Jewish Messenger.

RELIGIOUS.

THE GOLDEN RULE.-A few years ago a Brooklyn gentleman had printed at his own cost a very large edition of the "Sermon on the Mount," and gave the copies to a number of agents for gratuitous distribution. This was continued annually until the day of his death. We have some reason to think that the last edition has been exhausted, and that the good man who sought in this way to disseminate far and wide the purest code of morality the world has ever known has left no successor to carry on the work which he inaugurated.

The Hebrews take little stock in the New Testament, but the Jews as a race are quite as moral, to say the least, as the Gentiles, and we have heard many of the most devoted of God's ancient people declare that whatever a corrupt Pharisee might have said to this teaching eighteen hundred years ago, they could now cordially accept the "Sermon on the Mount" as a fit illustration and embodiment of their own moral law. Paganism itself has been charmed with the beauty and wholesomeness of the doctrines therein set forth, and thus the universal conscience of man has approved the grand ideal.

But our object in this article is to call special attention to a single paragraph of this sublime code, which seems of late to have dropped more than ever out of sight. Whether it is taken as a single precept, or as a summary of all that can be said of a man's duty to his fellows, it is worthy of being written in letters of gold upon the walls of every house and engraved, as the tables of the law were of old "with the finger of God," on every human heart. It reads: "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." It is so simple that a child can understand it, but it is so comprehensive in its scope that the Great Teacher was justified in adding, "for this is the law and the prophets." It is, indeed, an epitome of all that can be taught concerning human relations.

Whether the race is more selfish in hot weather, or men accept the midsummer term as a holiday season, during which they may rest not only from work, but also from obedience, we can not say, but the Golden Rule we have quoted seems to be less observed during the heated term than in any other part of the year. Our table is covered with complaints from the victims of human selfishness, and our own experience bears testimony to the prevailing disregard of the requirement whose paramount authority is so universally conceded by all classes of men.

A distracted citizen, who signs himself "Almost Crazy," is a tenant in one of these modern nuisances, an "apartment house," wherein dwells a family totally oblivious of the divine precept. These people own a piano, or have one on hire, and the keys of the instrument seldom have a moment's respite until after midnight. He can not sleep, he has lost his appetite, and he doubtless represents a dozen families who are nightly subjected to a similar annoyance. Even if the piano player hires her instrument by the year, and is determined to get the worth of her money out of it, she ought to remember that she is not alone in the world. Her apartments are a "lodge in some vast wilderness," where even Bedlam might be let loose without infringing the code. She is subject to the morals that govern one who dwells in the midst of a crowd, most of whom desire peace and repose after 9 o'clock at night. She can not annoy others without facing the condemning eye of Him who gave for her guidance the Golden Rule.

Another correspondent has a neighbor who keeps a coop of chickens in his back yard, and all the latter part of the night the "cock that crows in the morn" announces himself almost continuously to the surrounding families. Some have sick children who are restless and peevish, requiring all the parent's patience and care, and this shrill clarion goes like a sharp knife through every nerve. One of our most valued friends writes that he has a little place for the summer in the country, and the neighbor on one side has hens and chickens, and on the other side a dog is kept. Between the two, against which he has no sufficient protection, he has no garden, no safety for his children, and no rural felicity such as he hoped for in the quiet of an inland town.

A pile of letters still remains to be noticed, but we can not refer to them in detail. A wife is neglected and ill-treated by a husband who is not intentionally cruel, but is thoughtless and selfish. She can not get a divorce, or even a legal separation, in this State; perhaps, if she broods less over her own griefs, and seeks to make herself a part of his life (as she would wish if she was in his place), he may be won to a better mind. It looks to us as if both, now evidently "twain,' would be likelier to become "one flesh" if each would live up to the golden precept.

From the watering-places, from the springs, from the mountain retreats, from private boarding-houses in rural districts, comes the same sad wail over the general disregard of the quoted rule. The variety is legion, but the principle of all is the same. It is the self-seeking for whatever seems most to be desired at the moment, without regard to the rights, the comfort, or the convenience of others, It is the original sin over against which is the golden sentence.