The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

 Wmore imi'ilMl li X.J.^» '*»«*?•'--*«',. PROPHECY'ffilrF'rllliiei ?h. two lalf tea- |r. Mix *oriae. jf sweet js, one fteaspoon y of salt, I slice the 5r in the ties in it. In size of spread- I nutmeg, hot, cut A TALE OF SOCIAL LIFE IN CANADA. B"Y" "W. E. BESSE^X-, -^iL. ID. .. \nd "Jch is human life, so grlidingr on it L'linimers like a meteor, and is gone Ytt i* the tale, brief though it be, as strange, \iid full, methinks, of wild and wondrous change 4." any that the wandering tribes recount, ' stretched in the desert round their evening fires, \i anv of old, in Erin hall or home, ' To minstrel harps, at midnight's witching hour." It was Christmas morning in the year 18 â€" I remember well. The hills were covered with a mantle of spotless white. The storm, which had set in with sleet and rain, had ended in a heavy fall of snow. The boughs of the evergreen trees in the grounds of the Elliott mansion bent low under the weight of tlie deecy covering with which they were laden, while the rain and sleet had frozen in icicles on the branches of the trees which winter had stripped of their foliage. And so the great drooping elms in the meadows, and the weeping willows on the lawns, were hung with crystal pendants, that, glittering in the morning sun, reflected the light in all the prismatic colors of the rainbow. Beau- tiful is the only word in the language tTiat will express the fairy -like scene, such pranks artistic had Jack Frost played upon the wimlow paiies and among the trees about the home of the Elliotts, wreathing them with fantastic^hapes, and clothing the shrub- hery with crystal forms until they looked like some fairy bower. The little snowbirds had crept forth from their hiding places and were circling through the air in whirling flocks. Winter in all its reality had come, that season when, as Shakespeare says :â€" " Icicles hanft by the wall. And Dick, the shepherd, blows his nail, And Tom brings lo^s into the hall. And milk comes frozen in the pail." Old James, the colored servant, was abroad in cheerful mood, clearing the walks with iiis broad snow-shovel. This was the first rtiiow-fall of the season it had been a regu- lar nor'easter and the wild winds of the pre- viotis night Imd caused the snow to drift badly, but tlie big Newfoundland dog. Ma- jor, evidently thought clambering through the drifts and rolling himself gleefully in them glorious fun thus contributing to the amusement and adding to the good humor of his friend old James, on this bright Christ- mas morning. It was easy to see the roads leading to the jity were heavily obstructed, as the milk vendors with their sleighs toiled heavily along on their way to supply their customers, liut cheerily singing to keep time with the merry tinkle of the bells upon their horses. lirightly the church spires shone in the distance, whilst the blue smoke, curling up- ward from a thousand chimney tops, told of .1 great city just awaking to the rejoicing of the gladdest day of all the year. It was indeed a beautiful scene and one tint the observer could not soon forget. The mansion of the Elliotts was among the most pretentious of the many elegant private residences that adorned Dorchester Avenue, one of the principal approaches to the lieautiful city of Montreal at that time, for then the palatial home of the princely knight and magnate of the Hudson Bay and Pacific Railway Company, had not yet been built. The stranger would not be long in making up his mind that wealth, luxury, culture, ;ind retinement were among the prominent eharacteristics of the residents of Dorchester Avenue, and that it was a city on whose trade and commerce prosperity had smiled, and to whose stately "halls hospitality was no stranger, for of them it could not be said by any distinguished tourist, "I \.as a stranLjer and ye took me not in." Such is the scene where our story begins none more charming could be desired. liut let the reader imagine hhnself making a summer visit, and finding a city with great docks and extensive harbor crowded with ocean vessels and mighty steamers thing the penants of every nation. Let him calculate the volume of business I if several convergent railways ;let him visit its ci-owded business thoroughfares,, measure its trade and estimate its commerce let him value its miles upon miles of solidly built •streets, its magnificent warehouses, drive through the boulevards on its mountain slopes, dotted everywhere with the stately residences of its merchant princes let him walk through its immense and varidtis fac- tories, visit its banks and monetary institu- tions, and estimate the volume of business they represent, and yet the picture but feebly describes the great commercial metropolis of the Dominion. The night before had been a bright and happy Christmas eve in the Elliott mansion. The family consisted of Grandpapa Elliott, whf)se long and silvery locks had been whitened by the snows of seventy winters, whose youthful days had been spent in merry England, and who by industry, intelligence and skill in agriculture and stock farming had amassed a fortune, and established the Elliott homestead where we now find it. His son, who succeeded to the estate and farm, had received a business training was a jeweler by trade and is head of an extensive firm in business in the adjacent city. Mrs. Elliott was the per- sonitication of a happy, cheerful, contented, thrifty housewife, who was at once queen of the home, and angel of the household. She enjoyed the love and devotion of the whole household. There were two bright and happy children Percy, a lively little fellow of ten summers, whom nurse would persist in calling "Dewdrop" ever since she had told him that his little sister, pet â€" named " (Jolden "" " a sweet child of seven summers, had Hail descended from the clouds a pearly dewdrop, *nd had been found one bright summer morning half hidden under a rose leaf in the garden. On this Chistmas Eve, mamma had busi- ness in the town, and intended tilling at the store for papa Elliott, so that they might re- turn home together, as papa would be later than usual that night owing to the crowds ?i customers that were expected to be mak- ing their holiday purchases. And so it was *n^nged that the children were to be left « home for Grandpa to entertaia with stories while niu-se shouldfinish lome sewing. ., "^ow. Grandpapa, you must tell the "uldren all about Santa Clans while lam 8one, and when they get sleepy nurse will pot them in their little beds. Now, do ;iot sit up too late, my little cherubs," said mam- ma as she kissea them cheerily and was rone. Soon they had clambered up on Grand- papa's knees, and wanted to know who Santa Claus was, and all about him. Percy could not see how he was going to get up to the roof, as nurse had told them that he came down the chiumey with lots of presents for little folks, unless James should place a ladder for him to climb up by. And so they toyed with the old man's silvery locks, and rested their little heads on his bMKm, and listened with upturned gaze while he narrated to them the wonderful story of the Advent of the native of Beth- lehem, and of Good St Nicholas, Santa- Claus, as we call the patron saint of Christ- mas Tide. Their little minds were all attention as the good old man lead them along through the labyrinths of wonderland. He told how in the olden times, in an Eastern land called Palestine, the home of the Jews, as some shepherds watched their flocks by night on the plains of Bethlehem, suddenly a light shone rotmd about them, an angel appeared, who said to the frightened shepherds, " Be not afraid, for I bring you good tidings." " How often," â€" soliloquised the old man, â€" " have I pondered over that scene the simple shepherds, the helpless sheep, the stillness of the midnight solitude, the aston- ishment of the shepherds, the heraldic angel and his heavenly message, the attendant angelic choir, and the sublimity of that first Christmas carol which they sang. Could fancy but catch those angelic cords that floated out on that midnight hour and greet- ed those shepherds' ears, how grand, how sublime must the conception be. Was ever chorus half so grand or sweet as this " The little ones plied grandpapa with many childish questions as they sat in the ruddy light looking at the blazing of the great beech.log as it crackled away in the old open fire hearth with its lionfaced fireirons frandpa had brought with him from old Ingland. Nurse had told them about a queer little old man called Santa-Clans who came with reindeer harnessed to a sled, and laden with all kinds of presents for little folks on Christmas eve, but no little boy or girl had ever yet seen him, while nobody knew where he lived, or when he came, or whither he went. " But, grandpapa," chimed in both little voices, you " knows eberyting, so j'ou will tell us all the truth about Santa-Clans, won't you V So grai.dpapa began â€" I " Our Santa-Clans, of whom you hear so ' much, my children, is a myth of the middle ages. He was called the Patron Saint of Christmas, and was supposed to be the be- stower of all good gifts which any one. hap- pened to receive during that holiday season, as well as all pleasures and pastimes indulg- ed in by the people of all Eastern countries at this period of the year. " A tradition of the early churches traces the identity of Santa-Claus back to the pa- tron saint of school children, a bishop of the Christian church of the fourth century of the Christian era, called St. Nicholas. i " This good bishop preached earnestly against the superstitions of his time, and so anxious was he that the children should graw up more intelligent than their seniors that he became their patron saint, and de- voted much time to their instruction. ' "In the later ages of the church a boy was often chosen and made a mock bishop for Christmas day and called St. Nicholas, one of his duties being to preach to the ' children of the congregation. " In confirmation of the tradition that the good Bishop St. Nicholas had exorcised all evil spirits, Shakespeare tells us that at Christmas tide ' no spirits dared to stir abroad ' ' The nights are wholesome I • No planets are adverse No fairy takes, or witch hath power to charm I So hallowed, and so precious is the time.' •' The customs of all old Christian com- munities with respect to the observance of Christmas were very pretty and added much to the importance of this holiday season. " Not only was there much rejoicing and exchange of gifts in every household, but for days before the houses and the churches were decorated with evergreens, holly, and mistletoe. " Every family had its Christmas tree, ' and no one was forgotten, for dependant from its branches was a gift for every one present, old or young. It was brilliantly i lighted with waxen tapers, and laden with fruit, ornamented sugar toys, trinkets, and j holiday presents. 1 "In Catholic communities and among the Moravians, one of the most popular re- ' presentations was an altar in the centre of which was usually a manger with the Holy Child, the Virgin Mother, the wise men j bowing in adoration and presenting their ' gifts, and the shepherds in the distance keeping their flocks, while a group of minia- i ture waxen angels with harps were suspend- ' ed from the ceiling and hung hovering o'er I the scene. Even to this day the decoration of the churches with evergreens, mottoes ' and inscriptions is a common observance. The custom of giving presents at Christmas time is traceable back through the ages to the exjimple set by the wise men of the I east on the occasion of Christ's nativity i who, we are told, being guided by ' a bright particular star, which went before them till it came to and stood where the I young child was, visited Bethlehem, and I when they had entered in, «md saw the yotmg child, and Mary its mother, fell down and worshiped him, and when they had 'â-  opened their treasures they presented unto him gifts :~gold, frankincense, and myrrh." I And so Grandpapa talked on, all the while his little hearers finding it harder to keiep awake, until finally Morpheus, the god of ' sleep, touched with gentle fingers their little eyelids and they were wrapped in, slumber. i Nurse Brown peepinx in just then, after having laid aside her book, came and re- lieved Grandpa of first one tba. the other rieepii^ babe, and stowing them oarefnlly away in their little cots tacked Utem in and made than ccmfortaUe tat tibe ni^t. â- Fanner aad Mn. Elliott now arrlTed from town, and the slei^ locked like a tin ped- dler'svan, for it was laden with gifts for filling the Btpckiijgji and. labelling the gifts was next in opd^, aad^'i^ ^^ii, wive doieelMr part, |qpj.««% aiiiddDS t^ kicoife thesreatest surprise possible for HerCttle A cosy fire burned brightly in tiie brtek- fast room and the snow white doth and curiously folded napkins of the table on which was laid out a nice hot supper, gave the beholder the impression that ue women of that mansim excelled in the greatest d all female accomplishments, good house- wifery, and so it was, for Mrs. Elliott prided hersdf on this special accomplish- ment. The supper was dinposed of in due ooatae, and the (ud family Bible which had been placed in front of fanner Elliott was opened and he read St. Luke's account of theNativ- ity. This finished. Grandpapa's voice rose in fervent prayer. faithfnl posterity the spirit of ptofdiecy to foretell, to warn, and to enconrsge the evfl and follow •ft It is Christmas morning, and little "Gold- en Hair" and "Dew Drop" are early awake, and are peeping slyly out from under' the bedcovers to see if old Santa-Claus is in their room. Gathering courage they call nurse and aslfher if she had seen Santa- Claus there last night. Nurse avoids answering, and advises them to go to sleep again, as it is too early for them to rise. But not a bit of it. Dew Drop must have an answer as usual he is persistent to the end. So nurse is at last obliged to say that Santa Claus had been there. "Oh, did you see him? had he lots of presents with him " and like questions in rotation follow. Yes, nurse had seen him and he had lots of presents with him for little people and she guessed he had left some for them " but don't be in a hurry," she said, "to get up, wait until it is daylight." " When will it be daylight " "Oh soon." " What does he look like?" " Well, the Santa Claus I saw looked like a man about as high as your papa, and he came in a sleieh, had another man driv- ing him, and such a sleigh load of presents. Oh what a lot he had." " And did he come in " they asked with bated breath." " Oh yes, he did," said nurse '"and asked for little Dewdrops's stockings, and Golden- hair's too, and put something in them wait, you'll see what nice things he has left for you." So on they prattled about their Christmas gitcs and before very long had concluded it was light enough for them to go on a visit of exploration. Without waiting to dress they hasten to the fire-side where the abundance of the provision made by Santa Clans for their gratification caused them to stare in wonder and amazement for a moment or two then began a most minute inspection and criticism of each article in its turn, discussing what they would keep, what give to mamma, papa, grandpapa, and. nurse. That was a very happy Christmas morn- ing in the Elliott mansion. When papa and mamma appeared in the breakfast-room, the carpet was already strewn with the children's toys, their eyes were big with joy and their little faces beamed the happi- ness their faltering tongues could not fitly speak. Papa soon had one on each knee, and before long it was settled what disposition should be made of their wealth of Christ- mas presents. A parcel was made up for mamma to take to the poor children, which was what their parents most desired, as they wished to teach them to be kind to the poor. Some articles were distributed in the household, and then little Golden-Hair began to regret her liberality, but Grandpapa â€" ever equal to the occasion â€" preached them a nice little sermon that would have done all children good to hear, on the text, "It is more blessed to give than to receive," and told them a nice little story about a little fellow who always remembered the poor, and car- ried some of his presents over to the Boys' Home every Christmas and asked the matron to give them to some poor boy there who had no papa or mamma. The visit to the Children's Home was made at ten o'clock and, was participated in by a number of ladies who vied with each other in making it a happy Christmas for the poor orphans there. Exactly at eleven o'clock a short service was held by Rev. Canon Norman, the children's friend, who told them about the Saviour's childhood days and explained Christmas to their young minds in simple and beautiful language. Service being over, the distribution of the gifts proceeded, and at twelve o'clock all was over and each ' retiuned to their re- spective homes to keep their own Christmas festival with their own choice-invited friends around the family board. The Elliotts were extensively related and quite a number gathered at their Christmas dinner with them, but little Golden-Hair was the centre of attraction, and by more than one quaint old lady present was de- clared to be a Mascotte, whose presence should always secure heaven's choicest bless- ing on her dwelling. But one was there of Gipsy blood, a Gipsy queen when young. The Elliotts had always been her kindest friend and although not making much of her, yet always welcomed her when she did appear. On this occasion she turned up ominously about the noonday hour and after her usual invocation of blessings on the household, set- tled herself in the old arm chair by the kit- chen fire. When dinner was over and the conversa- tion had turned on prognostications of the future, farmer Elliott bethought himself of the Gipsy woman in the kitchen and had her brought in for the entertainment of the company. "Well, Aunt Esther," saidFarmer Elliott, " our friends here wotdd like to have an ex- hibition of yotir skill in divining the future. Not that they believe in fortune-telling, but merely for amusement." " Well sir," modestiy replied the Gypsy woman, " it is not for me who is a poor wanderingGypsy woman to be finding fault with the thoughts that is passing v yo^ mind, who is ladies and gentlemen of edu- cash nn but- if the Lord in distributing o' his sifts to his children have said to my peome, â€" ^who are children of the desert, ' take to yourselves the gift of divination and warn tiie nations ol the dangers which shall beset their way, read the stara of the firmament for it is my bode, and observe the i^anets aad tiwir rdatkmtotiie niMvitgr of men and I will bequeath to yoa Mid.yoiar talkthe rarinn of a simple ehild of nature or the voice ol God, just as seemeth to the good. If sempr one of the oompany. will cross my hand with silver I will try what I can do. Whose fortune shall I tell " One after anotho- declined to be the subject of the Gypsy woman's prophecy, when at last someone suggested that little Grolden-Hair should be the subject and that they should all watch her future and note its fulfilment or otherwise. This suggestion met with general acceptance, not because of any special interest in the child's future but because it furnished a means of escape from an unpleasant trap nobody wished to fall into. So the Gipsy woman began " Well, my little dear, my ladies and gentlefolk, this little woman was bom for distinction,; for much happiness in early life ;for disappoint- ment, for misery and suffering for a while, and tiien for comfort and prosperity. There are two ways before her one bright like the starry band across the skies, (the milky way,) one dark and stormy like the nights of the north without many stars. This may the good Lord give her wisdom to avoid." "She was bom," she|continued, " to bean heiress, and to be a great lady if she be wise enough to choose the right husband and pass by a road along which there be no valleys of humility, no sufferings, no disappoint- ments. She will have to choose between two lovers one will be an honest young man who will be as wealthy and snccessfiu as her own dear father. The other a son of luxury, the idol of his parents, the hope of his friends, the possessor of fiery eloquence and the admired of all who hear his voice impulsive and enthusiastic she will have some trouble to avoid him. If he wins her she will be a happy bride, and win her he will," she said, lowering her voice to a whisper, " and just eighteen years from to- night she will be his bride. Weddings bells of joy will ring out on the crisp Christmas air. There will be a great gathering in these halls. Her parents will think their daughter a happy bride but there will be a serpent in the flower she will wear upon her bridal bosom, and two years from that night its fatal sting will have sent her a wanderer, seeking shelter from the sleety storm and asking to be directed to the home of a brother who lives somewhere in that great city, she knows not just where, because of the estrangement her unfortimate marriage has brought about, but whose aid she will be driven in despair to invoke on be- half of her wretched husband. Her cling- ing child will nerve her to superhuman ef- fort, until she will be discovered, shivering and exhausted, crouching for shelter from the wintry storm, in the porch of the veiy mansion in which dwells the one whom she is in search of. Returning from the house of a friend he will be her rescuer. "She will be given shelter and refresh- ment. Her identity will not at first be sus- pected, but a something in the face, a tone in the voice, and a ring now worn by her mother, will be recognised and she will be known. " That home will be an hospitable one, and in it she and her child will be nursed back to life from the burning, exhaustive fever that the cold and exposure has brought on. Brother and sister restored to each other by the overshadowing care of God's Providence will return together to the scene of her misery, to hear of her deliverance, by the death of the man who has brought her so much distress and misery. "She will live to marry the man she should have at first chosen, â€" for it be fated for them two to marry, â€" and she will live to be a rare happy woman, out of all her griefs will come the sound o,f rejoicing, she will grace a mansion of no mean pretensions, and she will be greatly beloved, and called a queen among women, by the very man she turned her back upon years before, to give her hand to a beautiful profligate whose star, for a time in the ascendant, burned and blazed, dazzling all beholders, only to go out in dismal night and wret3hed self destruction, another victim of that foul vice intemperance. " This be true my friends. Then if you wish to save her marry her not to any bril- liant star, in law or medicine, I divine not which, but one it is, I think law. For a while he will dazzle, like some fiery meteor which shoots across the horizon, only to go out suddenly and never more be heard from." Silence pervaded the company as the Gypsy finished and waited a moment for some one to speak. As she rose to retire, she added, "now cross my hand, good sirs, and I'll exorcise the evil, and bring in the good, and make her marry old farmer Dixon's Steve and live down here hard by, below the brook, in comfort always, as a country squire's lady should. But, as you won't, why let the fates be true, may the fairies guard her- and all true Gypsies be her ever faithful friends. " " I don't believe in this fortune telling," said farmer Dixon, " its nought but a heap o' nonsense." " Ah, yes, but," said Mrs. Singleton, " of the many who say they do not believe in it, I have known few on whom it had not a very sensible effect." " Ah, well, as to that," said Parson Jones, " there are cases where, from char- acteristics and association in the young, one may forecast the general trend of a life as one can see the direction in which a vine will run if unobstructed but as vegetable creation always tends in its growth toward water and the light, so among human beings, tendencies are always toward the greatest attraction and that will always be found to be in the direction of the greatest affection or the greatest pleasure, for these are the sunshine of our lives." " Or, as Shakespeare says," chimed in another, ' There is a history in all men's lives. Figurine the nature of the times deceased The which OMerred, a man may prophesy With a near aim of the main chaiice of things As yet not come to life which in their seeds And weak beginnings lie -untreasored.' " Or, as another writes, ' What is life t Uke a flower,' with the bane in its bosom. To-day full of promise to-morrow it dies And healtii, like the dew-drop that hangs in its bio-som. Survives but a night, and exhales to the skies How oft' neath the bud that i* brightest and fairest, The weds of the canker in embryo Ittrk I How oft at the root of the flower that is rarest Secure in its ambudi tiie wona is at work V " " That is sound- jriiiloeophjr, and beanti- fol riietarie bow apply the smiile to homaa life," •xdaimed Puaan Jodss. A laugh ot ridicule ftxm £snner DizoB aroused all to a aenae of ti^e ridicoloiu ttn' rtwrn t^ iwnimw ii HnB i iwAdliifci^ was dropped and the Qypeie's slxahge pio- phesies soon {oTi^ffymf'%y all except the yonng child's mottMl; who treanired theoi up in Mr^heart !«itk#e(fng^|Bre^o#ig. But such is Pb^ iniA it was nuic£.th« same at Farmer SUmtt's as ebewfaere. The yean oame ab4 west, ike oliiKJren grew to youth, from youth to more mature age, watched and tended by a mother's fondest care. Thus the poet sings of it, " Dm lariE IMS tuajr his oarol in the sky. The bees have sung their noontide lullaby Still in the vale the rillase bells resound. Still in Llewellyn's Hal] the Jests go round For now the CMKile«ip is ciiol^ there. Now glad at heart, the gowips breathe ttaeir p(w«r And crowding stop the oradle to admire The babe, the sleqring imag^e of its gii«, A few short years and then tiiese soands ahallliaa The day again and gladness fill the vale So soon the child a youth, the youth a man Eager to run the race his fathers ran." (XO BE CONTINUED.) â€" » LATE DOMIinOir HEWSs Port Elgin expects to become a town in January, 1888. The Minister of Customs recently receir- ed an envelope from Montreal containing $30 conscience money. The first regular freight train passed over the Saskatchewan ard Western Railway to Rapid City on Sunday last. Sweetsburg, Que., has a cow which gave in one week 216 pounds of milk, from which twelve pounds of butter were made. A fine of $400 has been imposed on the schooner Seabird, of St. John, N. B., for smuggling three cans of oil from Boston. Some weeks ago a little son of Mr. Chas. B. Harris, of Morris, broke one of his arms, and last week had the misfortune to fall and break the same arm again. Mrs. B. Farrow, of Mitchell has given birth to a boy, which it is stated was bom on the same day of the month and the same hour of the day as his father. While edging boards at the Eastman saw- mills, a slit from one of the boards struck a workman in the eye, pierced the brain, and killed him almost instantly. While a day -laborer was turning a crank at the top of a well in Cowansville, Que. the handle slipped, breaking his jaw, and nearly putting out one of his eyes. St. John, N. B., merchants are threatened with an increase in the rates of insurance owing to representations made to the head offices of the insurance companies as to the water supply of the city and the efficiency of the fire department. A thirteen-year-old daughter of John A. Gordon, of Picton, N. S., while shaking a mat out of a second storey window, fell to the ground and sustained injuries from which death resulted. The height was about 12 or 15 feet. Both the child's arms were broken at the wrist, and internal in- jury was sustained. One day last week a man arrived at Brace* bridge by stage and went to one of the hotels of the town. He remained at the hotel for some hours, and w'hen he started to leave, instead' of going out at the front door, he opened the cellar door under the stairs, fell into the cellar head foremost and broke his neck. Four dog trains, with Indian runners, ar- rived at Winnipeg on Friday last, from Nor- quay House, bringing Rev. Mr. Semmens, the Methodist ^missonary, and three Win- nipegers, who have been up north erecting a church and parsonage. Mr. Semmens has an extensive pastorate. It is 400 miles square. He reports the Indians quiet and contented, and proud of their new church. Miss Shields, of the 15th concession of Grey township, has a foliage plant which is 2 feet 6 inches in height, and has 16 branches, some of which measure 13 inches. She has taken one dozen slips off it, and •nly got it fast March, then a small slip about 1 inch long. She brought it about 30 miles in an open sleigh. She also has a Rov- ing Sailor plant which measures 7 feet from the flower pot to the end of the vines. A fatal shooting accident occurred at Owen Sound a few days ago whereby a boy named Silver thorn, aged 13, lost his life. An elder brother, while carelessly handling a revolver, not thinking it was loaded, shot his brother through the neck, causing death almost immediately. The revolver had just been brought home by a third and elder ' brother, who had been sailing on the Al- berta. An inquest was held on the body of the deceased, and a verdict rendered in ac- cordance with the facts. In a late issue of Charlottetown Herald, un- der heading of editoiial notes, the editor says â€" " A marriage notice appears in to-day's issue of a boy and a girl," etc., and then he asks, "Is it not time that the law permit- ting magistrates to perform the ceremony was repealed " But he makes no conunent on another marriage notice in the same issue of The Herald of an uncle to his niece, and that, too by a minister. Which of the two committed the greatest error â€" the mag- istrate in marrying two minors, or the min- ister in marrying two so very nearly relat- ed? Acclimatization of Deer. Viscount Powerscourt has communicated to the Zoological Society of London the re- sults of his experiments in .acclimatization, conducted since 1858 and 1859 on his estate in Ireland, of foreign deer. He had at one time alive in a park of one hundred acres, about two thirds 01 which was open pasture and one third wood, red deer, sambur deer, nylghaies, axis deer, llamas, elands, wapiti deer and moufflons, or wild sheep. The red deer increased and the wapiti bred, hw the nylghaies died while still apparently in good health. Accidents interfered with the success of the experiments with the wapitis, but the results, taken in connec- tion with experiments made elsewhere, indicated that the acclimatization of these deer will be entirely practicable. The sam- burs declined, and died in the course of three or four yeani because, apparently, they insisted mi sta}ring in the shade. The elands, axis, and llamas died, or pioved so delicate that they had to be taken away. The most favorable results were obtained with Japanese deer {cereres sikd) which did remarkably well and multiplied without re- quiring other than the ordinary winter feeding. Th^ are pononnoed, affe^ 24 years of breeding and increase, " a most sa- tiafactoiy littie iem; the veidbon whoi dressed is about the size ci Weldi nvttoiLr^ 'and wen flavored."