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

% BLEEAMS: â€")laj er-Ceneral ller- Report. . says :--The Queen is ealth; the cold weath- :r Majesty in every to. ac is rather too relax. mild at this season. font in the grounds {in her donkey chair, l in the park or in the Liternoon. a refer to the good ‘dy been produced by j Major-General Ivor ct of the local militia. 1 how outspoken and iport was. General he truth, but he told kought home to 0- their responsibilities ly the interests of the jeopardized if the n to ignore theué 1nothing to be desir. seems tobe at last bsolute necessity for is doing so in a way ‘ produce the nec. ; as been so long do. Double Duchy will ‘ at least. There is pGotha, his income rom surpluses yield- d hitherto this has tobourg and £25,000 Duke has to reside .apitals, the expenses .ourt are very con- nglish allowance of ass will thus, how- of about £40.000a 0 this he has in her the estates of his e shooting grounds. Marylebone Cricket mitted themselves on the side taking ghty runs less than ers shall have the 'th the second inn~ sending the other This seems to be a for the slight evils f following on and cans of great in- normous advantage -ere is no sufficient at advantage. An behind on the first essof the elements. misfortune be made ther advantage to {annual revenue of ‘ ease of the French .- with unqualified e best position for ent on the matter that the country. vimuch money on it war comes, it e army, and the : long time before how little their he last great war. ’I‘cant and its cost at. The naval esti- s to 266,000,000 e late Sir lVilliam » ished in the spring rcve an extremely en have enjoyed a vf life than Sir Wil- -me time a sports- a finejudge of art, rnor and a man of mirable recouteur, of interesting and ords should be en- 0 the Paris Jockey but there are not ng the long list of likely that many . to the ballot, as ~rl’icially announced oly. excepzing for ship extended to inerants in consid- ;c tion. During the o noble lords and have been victims ng. INDIANS- Sel r- laceration mahas. g at the obsequies ) has been greatly ' 'pon the death of rime of early man- r the lodge of the ves of all clothing ke two incisions in he loop of flesh so anch, having on it the blood dripping hanging from their 3, the men move e lodge where the g themselves in a er, and marking . beating together hey sing in unison trast tween the vocal utterances, . strains suggests date, and has a ‘evertheless, there - ony between the . Music, the In- to reach the un- of the dead man . ves the body, and cheer him as he ve been dear to only, he cannot im; the bleeding re expressmns ' of the dead; hi): i the manifested re for them. eme- “ This r sa 3 Paris.”pape y .~ , that’s the bright- A man don’t care on him after heis . he don’t and if he ~ can insomnia be the patient should 'tative manner 500 .at’s all very Well, tcounr.” " â€"- IN AMERICA. 4 claimant Turns up After Thirty Years A Nervous Amen ‘. An interesting story in real life broughttolight the other day by a :3: â€"â€" _ . .. instituted at Osgoode Hall Toronto b The Gilbert 1313mm the Latest AcqulSI Joseph Miller of Rochester, N. Y., ag’ainsst’ tion- Mrs. McMann of the township of Ops, , Victoria County, and her daughter, Mrs. . th An American Views With “3"“ afa _ . This rm. The stor told b Miller 13 Encroachmeau of England on stanti ally folloy s : .Y sub. Continent- t Wm: Robe: tson was a farmer in the town- England d last year declared? protgc 0:; ship_ot Ops, Victoria, and in 1847 he died “0 over the Gilbert Islands int-he 50“ . leavnig three children, a deaf mute son, Pacific Archipelago and recently has 001“. William, and two daughters, Margaret and plete d their annexation by taking full P03 Catharine. .The farm he resided on was session. The Gilberto are wanted 33h“ Wllled to William for his life, and upon his coaiing and cable station between for It e decease was to revert to his sister Margaret. vast commerce now being rapidly deve 0P' To Catherine he left another farm. ed from British Columbia to Australia. 53 THE BIRTH OF THE HEIR now only requires the capture of t e ‘ .. . . .. Shortl afte h f be ’ death M the Gucci-ts are Y 1' er at rs argaret ghzzldbbdslzngdmgevfdlfilb lastlink in we went ‘0 R33h'eflter, Where she married a vast chain of possessions and fortresses by gianhnamed Miller and subsequently gave ’Jhich Great Britain has circled the globe, ”33 :0 1? Child, a boy. Her husoand died to the East via the Suez Canal and the an s e .erself followed him to the grave in Cape of Good Hope to Australia, from 1865’ when the b°y W93 only about 4 years Australia to Vancouver via the Hawaiian old£1 While she was sick, and just.previous Islands and from thence across Canada and to or death, her brother Willlam went to the Atlhntic back to England. The Hagad‘ Eztlsiisttefihioeasgher and 215° 'sawlth'ell b0): _ . - m . was no serious 1 an aqslslands are the most important hn William returned to Canada, leayving her _ . v and the boy at Rochester. Some time WORLD samRCLIhG CHM-i afterwards William returned to Rochester not only to the commerce and dominion 0f but found that his sister was dead, and the Great Britain on the Pacific Ocean, butfot child had disappeared. the protection and commerce of the United THE FIRST CLUE. States 83 well on the Pacific “8'“ and “em In the meantime the child had grown to If the infamous P°H°Y 0f Cleveland “Pd manhood and anxious to learn somethin gfismegeHzfimgngThg (33$: €333: about his parentage he returned to Rochesg- sixteen in number cover an area of 170 ter and began a search for his relatives. square mileS, are hear the equator and be- ‘Ylhlle engaged mghm search he acc1dent~ tween the Hawaiian and Fiji Islands. Great ll" y met a Enan w .0 was acquainted With [8 mother s relatives in Canada. From £2:;€1§$§:§$§n‘: Iii: ngymefiepg: this man he learned of their whereabouts, the Pfcific ocean as she does everywhere and came over to Canada to wait them. ’ Although they received him into the house ' t alia . . . 533%};1:33:rt::gizg:giiii?:;tfig: rm]. and allowed him to remain for a short time, 9 .. - they would not altogether recognize him as 22?: dugo'phfalleiofzfvgllfilo 32% (31:21.: arelative. They very properly said that considerable trade with them in copra and hedwas a iota; SEE-rig? to thepfi, _and they cocoanuts heretofore mainly in the hands ll: gfiildno proo at e was en: snster 8 Americans, from which the will now .' . . . , driven. The King previously offered these Miller remained at William 3 place for a islands to the United States. On the some short time, when he returned to the States. day that England declared a protectorate Shortly after his departure William Rob- over the Gilberts she also proclaimed a pro- ertson, the deaf mute, died, and Catharine tectorate over the Gardnerr, Danger and “”13: P05393510” 0f the farm and deeded 1‘ Nassau Islands in the Western Pacific to her daughter, Mrs. Cole. . ocean, to the Northeast of the Samoan After returning to the States Miller kept Islands intending to use the harbor of himself posted as to his relatives in Canada, Pagopago and on hearing of his uncle’s death he came to Canada to claim the farm, which, if he is AS A COALIXG STATION. . _ Margaret’s son, as he contends, would be The same month Great Britain 15001! p03885° his by descent through his mother. On ar- sion of the Johnston islands, to the north- riving at the place he found his aunt, who 3635 0f Hawaii, Proposing to “353 *1th .33 is now a widow named McMann, in posses- a cable station. Hawaiian missionaries sion of the property. At Osgoode Hall yes- under American-superintendence' have 18" tel-day suit was entered against mother and bored. at the Gilberts since 1807. The daughter for the recovery of the same. Americans Will now lose their trade and influence in the Gilberts. The natives have CALL HIM AN IMPOSTOR' already received orders not to sell copra. 0n the other hand Mrs. McMann claims and pearl shells to any except English that Miller is an impostor who has by some dealers. Heretotore . the‘ Americans have means heard the story and is trying to obtain controlled this lucrative nusmess. . alarm without paying for it. She admits ll hen Russxa 301d Alaska to the Unltffl that her brother William told her when he States “3 was 110‘; merely for the seven ”‘11- returned from his first visit to Rochester lion (1011313 paid, but ‘0 serve notice by the , that he had seen their sister Margaret and Czar on the rest of the world that in his a chiidf She says that she did not know °Pml°n whether the child was her sister’s or not. ALL THE TERRITORY She d.d not even know whether her sister of North America from the Gulf of Mexico “'35 married or 11013.. and even if she W83 to the Arctic Ocean should rightfully be married audihad a child she does not believe controlled by the United States. In this that Miller 15 the one.“ opinion William H. Seward concurred. Mr. Reeve 55 Day, 13 king~street‘east, who Henry B. Atherton, of Nashua, N. H., in a. are handbag the case for the Plamtlff, and recent address holds that the manifest des- “"11 have .tO prove that Margaret Robertson tiny of this country is to control this con- was “131T led, that she had a ell-11d, and that tinent. He points out the mighty chain of J9§8Ph1§llllexy the plaintiff, is that child, armament with which Great Britain has “’1‘! Pl°°ably have a. 106 Of trouble before managed to surround our present territory they d0 80, for it is no easy matter to trace thus: a man’s history up from the time of his , . . . . birth until he becomes ‘30 cars of a e and “She has a military railway from Halifax , . _ " ' . y. . g ’ on the Atlantic to Port Moody on the Paci- 231;;er 11;“ 33“?!“ his “1611th clearly fic, intended to be used in military opera- you a. on t“ tions against this country, and on that ac- count built in a great measure from the MUD AVALANCHBS. Phenomenon that is Slowly Changing imperial treasury. She has free entry for her fleets to the St.Lawrence,through which A the Features of the Himalayas. EXplorers are discovering that mud aval- flow the waters of the great lakes. From L . . anc..es are a powerful element in determm- her ~ 8he could let slip a swarm of armored ing the physical features of the Himalayan cruisers that in forty-eight hours might ruin regions. A number of travellers have ob- our coasting trade, and lay our unprotected served the results of these great rushes of seacoast under contribution.~ She has a mud and rock, but very few have been so similar ciign of vantage on the Pacific at fortunate as to see them. Mr. MART. Con- Esquimault. English dominion is exerted way had that good fortune awhile agO, and over the Bermudas, the Bahamas, Jamaica, has givena description of one of these fall- the Belize, British Guiana, Trinidad, Bar- ing avalanches to the Royal Geovraphical badoes,St. Locia, and the Leeward Islands. Society of London. 0 Bermuda, three days out from Charleston His party were travelling up the Gilgit and New York, is equipped with fortifica- Valley adjoining the Himalayas, in the ex- tions which are described in the Colonial treme northern part of India. Suddenly Book as the ‘most perfect and formidable they heard anoise as of continuous thunder. in the world.’ A submarine cable connects They saw a. huge mud avalanche sweeping the fortress at Bermuda with Halifax. It down a steep gully between two mountains waslaid only two years ago and cost 81,- opposxte them. The on-rush and weight of 500,000a sun ten times greater than the the mud tOI‘e from the sides of the gully exchanges between the group and Canada. masses of rock and rolled them over like so In the reef-enclosed harbor at Bermuda, many pebbles. Each of the big rocks that Great Britain has a shipbuilding plant, 9- formed the Vanguard of the avalanche dry dock that will lift her heaviest weighed many tons. The mass of mud had SEAGOIXG BATTLE SHIPS, 3’ Widtn or forty feet and was fifteen feet . . deep and moved at the rate of five miles an acoahng station, and a vast system 0f hour. lnafew minutes the mass of stuff earth-works, moun:ed with the heaviest became shallower. ' guns. Since 1867 Great Britain haswim- half mud and half rill: gildtflldzevda‘fsazlf: mensely strengthened the garrison at Ixing- Now and then one of the larger rocks bar- ston and created an entirely new one in the red the way, and mud filled up behind it harbor of Castries, St. Lucia. and finally sw:ps it on. Lookina up the “Taking Halifax, Bermuda, Kingston gully, Mr. Conway could see «5,9,1; earth and Castries together, a chain of offensive from its sides was constantlv falling in the fortification is constituted within three mud river and being swept g, a part of it. days’ reach of every American Atlantic 383- All this materialfipoured over into the board city. Each is mounted with guns of gorge through which the river runs. It did the most effective modern type. Each is not reach the river, but spread out and capable of equipping vessels for sea at an piled up on one side of it. Conway says instant’s notice. A cable connects them that this accumulation of debris has piled all with each other and with London. up 3-11 310138 the Valley to a. depth of 500 to “In the South seas British empire 1000 feed/and that the Gilgit River flows spreads over immense oceans and holds in a sort 0f canon built up by this accumu- almost every dot of land that rises above lat-ion. If the valley were filled up in this them. On one of the Falkland Islands, way to a depth of 2,000 or 3 000 feet more just north and east of Cape Horn, there is it would resemble the Pamifs and all the another. There is a third, recently built deeply filled Valleys that are characteristic and equipped and splendidly armed, at of the Central Asian plateau. Conway says Fiji Islands; and there are the great de- that mud avalanches have done all this fences at Esquimanlt, from which at an work of filling up the valleys, and have hour’s notice Seattle and Tacoma could be done it With great rapiditv, laid wasm.n These avalanches Show.how rapidly. an. der the mflusnce 0f Moisture, cold and heat, ' . the denudation, 01‘ crumbling of these stu- Snrpnsed- pendous rock .masses of the‘ Himalayas is A school teacher, who had been telling going 011- It 18. this denudation that pro- th? Story of David, ended with “And all videslhe material for mud avalanches. The this happened over 3,000 years ago. levelling processes 01: nature are in contin- A little cherub, its blue eyes opening 1131 operation and mllllons of tons of rock wide with wonder, said, after a moment’s dust and fragments of rock are taken away then b .. ; f m the upper portion of th - ““2; Film dear, hat a memory you dr:posited in the Valleys. e mountams and FORTRESS AT HALIFAX e Sole, of the same place, for the recovery of t IVING IN SOUTH A1310 A. British forces. A . sooner rather thagdlfigjll PrObably occur monarch was a. student of hi:f the colored . ver marshal, Justice of the peace, 0203:5312); the British see fit to allow hi _ . m. The stilling of L0 Bengula promises to open a large territory to settlers _ and l we observe conciderable speculdtion aiheafffiye newspapers as to the prospects for settlers from this countrv The re ' - . . ' 1 abound in gold mines, g on 13 said t° DIAMOND QUARRIES, and other desirable terrestrial ‘ These are good and seemly thinasoixhentlllgiar way, but the prudent emigrant :vill be apt to inquire if there is anything to eat in the country. Diamonds in the rough cannot be looked upon as an article of diet, except perhaps, for the domestic hen; and we fail to see any reason for entertaining the belief that a diamond-fattened hen would be any better than the ordinary gravel-fed hen. But supposing the question of food sup- ply were settled satisfactorily, there remain many other grave problems confronting the expectant emigrant to South Africa. Chief of these, we should say, would be the night- ly fighting and meowing of tigers on the back fence. Indeed, it seems probable that m the exaggerated and ridiculous animals of South Africa is to be found the real rea- son for giving the prospectice settler pause. The tiger idea just put forward, we pre- sume, Will cause many to give up the move. Who that hath listened to the common domestic catâ€"and who hath not ‘3â€" ON THE BACK FENCE of a night would care to encounter the same thing intensified fiftyfold? It would be maddening, especially if they got under the house, and bumped their heads up against the floor as they fought. This, with leop- ards andâ€"but the subject is too harrowing. We presume that the lion would scarcely condescend to roost lengthwise of a rear fence at three o’clock in the morning, with the hair on his back standing up while he yowled defiance at another lion, as we have just shown that the lion is wont to do ; but the lion, nevertheless, is‘ not a desirable neighbor. A close perusal of hunting stories, extending over a term of years, has led us to believe that the African lion spends his entire time lashing his sides with his tail. The sharp “swish” of the lion’s tail as it cuts the air, together with the hollow thump as it beats his royal ribs, will also be found annoying t6 those not accustomed to it. Besides, while prospect- ing for a new diamond mine, or for a tend- er foot to whom an old diamond mine can be old, the danger of being knocked over by the impetuous sweep of an enraged lion’s tail must be considerable. But of course these absurd overgrown cats are not the only wild animals which infest South Africa. It is a. warm country, and necessarily houses must be more or less open; but no doubt it will be comparatively easy to get accustomed to having elephants reach in at the dining-room windows and steal the mineral'watcr off the sideboard. Or the mineral~watcr can be kept down cellar, though the monkeys will be apt to get it wherever it is stored. But privacy with giraffes looking in the second-story windows will be impossible. W'c may be unduly apprehensive, but it seems to us that the hippopotami are going to be some- what rough on the gardens; and the way in which a rhinoceros will be able to walk along down a line of drying clothes and carry them off IMPALED ON HIS HORN will be calculated to drive a housewife mad. The possession of a gravel-walk made of uncut diamonds could scarcely compensate. It might be possible to fence out many of these obnoxious beasts with barbed wire, but in this case there would be the constant danger of the ostriches picking off the barbs for breakfast. And speaking of ostriches calls up another possible terror for the ner- vous man. We refer to the cackle of the female ostrich as she flies oift'ne nest. This must be deafening if she cackles in propor- tion to her size, something, however, which she may not do. African travellers are so much taken up with slashing the tails of their lions about in the air that they wholly neglect to tell us of the habits of the ostrich in this respect. But it is going to be noisy enough anyhow, without the ostrich cackle. South Africa may be an excellent place for residence, but it can do no harm to look into certain points before rushing 05 to it. 811‘ John Macdonald- The late Premier of Canada, Sir’ John A- Macdonald, owed much of his success as a political leader to judicious strokes of hum- or, which he knew so well how to apply. When introducing the several members of his Cabinet to the Marquis of Lorne, then just arrived in Canada to take the position of Governor-General, he said. speaking of Mr. Chapleau, the new Secre- tary of State,who was clad in a magnificent sealskin coat, “Your Excellency, allow me to introduce you to the keeper of the Great Seal.” Meeting upon one occasion a learned Canadian judge of avery rubicund coun- tenance he said :-â€"“I am delighted to see you, my deeply read (red) old friend.”â€" [Youth’s Companion. A Literal Interpretation. “Well, young man,” said old Mr. Breezys while you are at my house I hope you’l, feel just like‘ one of the family. “Thank you. I’m sure I haVe every reason to.” “What do you mean 2” “Your daughter has just said she would be a sister to me. Q ' Premier Peters, cf Prince Edward Island, is a grandson of Sir Samuel Cunard, who founded the Cunard Line. Mayor Stewart, of Hamilton, is the chief game warden for Ontarioâ€"a provincial ap- pointment. Professor Goldwin Smith and Mrs. Gold- win Smith are spending the winter at Ventnor, Isle of Wight. General Middleton is writing a personal account of the Riel rebellion. In the course of his brief history he speaks with admira- tion of the Toronto Grenadiers. Lord Aberdeen has been elected an hon- orary member of the Canadian Society of Civxl Engineers. If it cannot be said that he is an engineer it cannot be denied that he is civil. On the very day that Lieutenant-Gover- nor Boyd,of New Brunswick, died the Mar- quis of Lorne wrotehim, congratulating him upon his appointment to the Go'vernorship, ‘and wishing him,A Happy New Year. Mrs. Boyd has just received the letter. Dr. Hawke, of Stratford, has in his pos session an interesting relic of one of the patrons of ’37. It is apair of fire tongs made by Samuel Lount, the blacksmith, who was executed in Toronto in 1838. along with Peter Matthews. Mr. Gladstone has presented the Rev. Frederick Cecil Alderson, Canon of Peters- borough, and brother-in-law of Lord Salis- bury, to the important Vicarage of Lutter- worth, famous in connection with the labors of the Reformer Wycliffe. The model of L. P. Hebert has been selected out of about forty others for the Macdonald monument which is to be built .in Parliament 3 uare, Ottawa. Hebert is now in Paris. he statue of Sir John Will be of bronze, uniform in size with that of Sir George Cartier. Miss Eliza White, who recently died in Ottawa, left $400 to the “Poor Saint of India or the Poor labourers, whichever is most deserving,to be distributed as the Lord may direct.” The instructions ashto the distribution of the money are so indefinite that the courts have been called upon to de- termine who are the heirs. A despatch from Yarmouth announces the death of W. D. Levitt of pneumonia, after a few days’ illness. The deceased was the wealthiest man in Nova Scotia and in- terested in all the leading enterprises in Yarmouth. He owned among other vessels the County of Yarmouth, one of the largest wooden sailing ships afloat. Rev. Isaac Constantine, who died recent- ly at Exetcr, England, was until last autumn a clergyman in the Eastern Towu- ships. During the epidemic of ship fever, when many of the colonial clergy succumbed while visiting immigrants, Mr. Constantine voluntarily abandoned his more lucrative occupation to do his Master's work. Brantford has its “ Grand Old Man” in the person of its veteran city treasurer, Mr. James Wilkes, who is 85 years old, with eye as bright and signature as firm as a. man’s of 25. He discontinued the use of tobacco sixty years ago, and he has been a. moderate drinker of spirituous liquors and drank ale at dinner, but the latter be discontinued five years ago. He attributes his hearty old age with its upright figure and keen intel- lect partly to heredity and partly to regular habitsâ€"he goes to bed at ten o’clock and rises at six, winter and summer. It is recorded by the Hamilton Spectator that after the resignation of Sir John Mac- donald in 1873, Sir John wanted to with- draw from the leadership of the party. In caucus, Mr. H. B. VVitton rose and pointed out that it would be a serious mistake to set aside the Chieftain who had so frequent- ly led the Conservatives to victory. \Vhen he sat down Mr. Alonzo Wright followed in a. speech which carried conviction to the caucus. At its conclusion the tendered resignation was declined and the old leader was asked to retain his position. The Countess of Aberdeen wears at State functions a coronet the distinguishing features of which are five emeralds, said to be the largest in the world. These precious stones were presented to her Excellency by the people of Ireland as an expression of love and gratitude to her for her interest in their welfare during the period of Lord Aberdeen’s Lord-Lieutenancy. De Grasse is a very common name in Gloucester county, New Brunswick. All who bear it belong to the family at the head of which was Count de Greece, the French nobleman who assisted W’ashiugton in the War of Independence. When Count dc Grasse died,his brother came to Glouces- ter county and settled. The Canadian descendants of this Do Grasse, forty in number. expect to succeed to the count’s estate, which, it appears, has been look- ing for proprietors during the past century. Mr. Hugh Taylor, of Montreal, whose death is announced from London, England, was probably the oldest living member of the Colonial Bar, his admission as an advo- cate of Lower Canada, now the Province of Quebec, dating from 1829. Among other “ Fathers of the Bar ”who are still with us may be mentioned Clark Gamble, of Toronto Sir N. F. Belleau, of Quebec, and G. W. Wickstecd, of Ottawa, all of whom were called in the year 1832. Another old mem- ber of the Canadian Bar is Senator R. B. Dickey, who‘was called to the Bar of Nova Scotiain 1834 and to that of New Bruns- wick in 1835. Archbishop “781811. of Toronto, spent his early years in the priesthood in the back- woods of the County of Simcoe. Much of his extensive reading was done by the light of the log fire and the tallow candle. As a bishop, one of his exploits was the removal within three years,of a debt of $30,000 rest- ing upon the diocese of London when he I took charge. " Lieutenant-Governor Frazer, of New Brunswick, was, prior to 1867, an anti- Confederate. He was a colleague of Sir Albert Smith, and went out of office with him when Mr. Tilley and Mr. Mitchell were successful on the union 'cry. Later Mr. Frazer became a strong supporter of the Public school system of New Brunswick, and with the present Justice King, of the Supreme Court, defended the schools when they were attacked 1n the interests of the Separate system. m Mabe1â€"‘ ‘ What an interesting talker Mr. Gusher is ? He always holds one when he speaks.” Mrs. Gutherâ€"“ Does he ‘2 That accounts for the blur I found on his should- er last night. i l { "QM“ . . . GREAT BRITAIN » WHO Is THE arm? Hâ€"ww ' I WELL KNOWN PEOPLE. TAKING All OATH: Various Forms Used In Bludlnt Witnesses. Ever since there have courts-martial par- ticular stress has been placed upon the matter of administering the oath no the witnesses. In order that it may be binding and the loophole of informality may be, as far as possible, reduced it has been the cus- tom to swear witnesses in the manner con- sidered the most binding in their native lands. The march of civilization has, in this instance, tended toward accepting the methods for Protestants and Roman Catho- licsemployed in this country as these best suited to impress upon a witness the solem- nity and significance of the oath, though there are occasions when it became neceS- sary to resort to other methods. ROTESTANT WIT N ESSES before a court-martial are sworn by laying their right hand, ungloved, on the Bible, closed or open, while the oath is recited. Kissing the book is frequently required in addition to the laying on of the hand. Raising the right hand and keeping it rais- ed during the recital of the oath is also a form adopted by a number. There are many who prefer to afiirm rather than to swear and those are accommodated by saying: “ You do solemnly affirm," in- stead of “ solemnly swear,” the right hand being raised or placed on the Bible as be- fore. Formerly it was required to place the right hand on the open evangelists. IN SWEARING CATHOLICS the Bible is closed and has marked on the outer cover a cross, generally cut out of white paper and pasted on. Sometimesa crucifix is placed upon it, which the wit- ness, after the oath is recited, kisses when there is any suspicion in the mind of the president or the court martial or in that of any of its members. The witness, ifaRoman Catholic, after kissing the cross, is frequent- ly directed to cross himself. For con- venience, the oaths to be administered by the president of the court to the judge of the court and the witnesses that are called before it to give testimony, are often writ- ten out on paper and pasted on one of the covers of the Bible, so as to be at hand to refresh the memory of him whose duty it is to administer the oaths. THE J E‘VS are customarily sworn by the five books of Moses and the Great God of Israel, that the evidence they give shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Frequently, however, there is no departure in the methods used with this race from that wnich ordinarily obtains. The stat- utes in the time of George IV., King of England, contain several sections in relation to the administration of the oath in various cases, and among them are one or two refer- ring to the Quakers as well as to the Mor- avians. These statute: have been embraced in our own methods of procedure, and they allow people of the sects named solemnly, sincerely and truly to declare and affirm that the evidence which they give shall be the truth, the whole truth, and so forth. Mohammedans think the oath only positive- ly binding when they are sworn upon the koran while the Hindu prefers to swear by touching with his hand the foot of a Brah- min. THE CHINESE. In this country the Chinese do not insist upon the same methods that were once in force. Very likely the chinaware dealers wish they did, as they are so much more numerous than when the following was their custom : In England, at the old Bailey prison, a. Chinaman was presented as a witness in an important case, and for some time the nature of an oath and all that it implied would not be impressed upon him. N either could the authorities quite make out just what the Mongolian did consider binding. Finally, through the aid of an interpreter, it was decided to break a saucer over the head of the pro- posed witness. When this was done the Chinaman appealed to the supreme being Whom he worshiped, praying that his own body might be broken into as many pieces as the saucer if the testimony he was about to give should not be the entire truth. As a general thing in courts-martial held in foreign waters where native witnesses are required to give evidence, and particularly where such persons are not of the Chris- tian faith, care is taken to ascertain and adopt the ceremony of the religions of the witnesses respectively. It is also considered a. wise plan, c~pecially in impor~ tant cases, that a priest of the creed of the witnesses be present when the oath is ad- ministered in order to give it greater force and sanctity. Journey in Central Asia. 0 l' 3 a remarkable tour of exploration into Central Asia has recently been carried out by a young English officer/"in. a private capacity, and without any official support or credentials. The tour was remarkable, not so much for the region traversed as for the exceptional facilities placed _in the English officer‘s way by the Russmu au- thorities,with the result that he acquired a better knowledge of Russia’s present posi- tion in Central Asia than any traveller of recexit times. Mr. H. J. Coningham, a lieutenant in the Leinster Regiment, is the officer in question, and he spent the last eighteen months in a. visit to Persia and Central Asia. In the former country he explored sever al districts never previously visited by a European, but the real interest of his jour- ney began when he crossed the Russxan frontier into Trans-Caspia. As he had no letters or permits from the Foreign Office at St. Petersburg, Mr. Con- ingham simply wrote a letter to the Russian Governor, General Kuropatkin, stating that he wished to see him and study the country. The Russian commander, who is less famous for amiability than for capacity, seems to have been favourably impressed by the young officer’s candour and courage, for he at once gave him the requisite leave,and ordered one of his staff to see that all necessary facilities were placed at Mr. Con- inzham’s disposal. -,_ As General Kuropatkin freely discusse§ all political questions, including his famous scheme for the invasion of India, Mr. Con- ingham’s narrative of his conversations at the Russian headquarters in Central Asia should be specially interesting, more espe- cially as General Kuropatkin is said to have unfolded to him the plan by which England and Russia could alone become friends in Asia. It is to be hoped that Mr. Coningham will be permitted to publish his signified account of all he saw and heard AAAAL‘_AAAAALAA_AAA--__A..