regret that so much enterprise and valour had not found a more fitting arena for their display in the king's regular service.

-an

Captain Webbe was, I knew, extremely proud of Mr Wilson Croker's semi-official recognition of his services; which, if a forgery, as some asserteduncharitable hypothesis, but quite within the range of possibility-was, I may remark in passing, exceedingly well executed, both in the imitation of the secretary's handwriting, with which I happened to be acquainted, and the official seal.

I returned the precious document with a few civil words of course; Captain Webbe replaced it in his pocket-book, and drew therefrom a sealed letter.

'You doubted,' said he, 'that I passed last Monday evening with your captive relatives in Havre de Grace. This letter will remove that doubt. Do you recognise,' added Webbe-'do you recognise the hand which traced this direction to Mr William Linwood?'

'My mother's!' I exclaimed, starting up, and rudely snatching the letter. It was the first I had ever received from her; and with uncontrollable emotion, relieved by the scalding tears which fell upon the paper, I, after many efforts, read it to the end.

'MY BELOVED CHILD! for child you are still to me, as when, ten sad weary years ago, you were awakened to receive your mother's yearning, last embrace. I cannot as yet, my darling boy, realise you to be the fine tall youth-tall as your suffering, persecuted father -described by Captain Webbe; but the blessed time will come when, strained in these clasping arms, my heart shall recognise in the manlike son, the developed, matured promise of the child of memory-yes, and that it will come speedily, I have a lively hope and faith. It is now almost openly said even here, that the power of the French emperor, but a brief time since, so colossal, seemingly unassailable, was irremediably shattered by the Russian campaign-an afflictive yet merciful visitation of a just God, which gives assurance that the woful days of captivity are numbered. But alas, my son! the restoration of peace to Europe will not bring peace to your father's bruised and fainting spirit; nor to mine, which is inseparable from his. My pen runs on, dear boy, as if addressing one acquainted with the nature of the burden beneath which we have for so many years hopelessly languished. The sad story will be related to you by Captain Webbe; and you will, at the same time, hear from him that circumstances have recently come to his knowledge, through which, with your aid, he may be enabled to restore your father to society-to cheerful, healthy life! God grant that it prove so! And whatever may be said of Webbe, he cannot be accused of idle boasting. What the circumstances are, or how your assistance, dear child, should be so absolutely necessary to the success of his design, he declined to say, and I feared to press him for his grounds of hope. He assured me again and again that you would incur no serious peril; but what may such a fearless man esteem to be serious peril? I must break off, for Captain Webbe waits only for this letter to be gone; and but a brief delay in the perilous position wherein, for the purpose of conferring freely with us, he has placed himself, might compromise his safety. With fear and trembling, now that this letter will in a few minutes have passed from me beyond recall, I commend you, my beloved, my only son, to an enterprise in which your mother can only aid you with her blessing and her prayers.

EMILY LINWOOD.'

I thrust the letter into my pocket, and, turning from the window, reseated myself at the table.

"Take a sup of brandy and water,' said Captain Webbe, pushing his glass towards me; it will do you good. Never care to hide your tears. I should have a poor opinion of the spirit of a youth whom such a

letter, as I suppose that to be from a long-absent mother, did not affect to tears. You are quite resolved, I see, to go with me in this matter?' 'To the death!'

"Yes, I know, but we'll contrive, if possible, to cast anchor on this side of that mooring-ground: it is always, however, well to look the worst that can happen boldly in the face; it tends to prevent flurry when the worst presents itself, and steadiness of nerve is indispensable.'

"The letter intimates that you will inform me of all the circumstances which led to, or may throw light upon, my father's unfortunate position.'

'I am quite ready to do so, but you must say grace first.'

Say grace first! What do you mean?' 'Frankly this: If you are the lad of metal I have represented you to be, we are about to initiate a difficult enterprise, in which I, moved by various considerations -an old regard for your oppressed, broken-spirited father-a love of counterplot, if only for the excitement and mischief of the thing-and, to be quite candid, the promise by your mother of a substantial reward in the event of success-have determined to engage.'

I understand all that; and you but dally with my impatience.'

'Steady-steady, my fine lad! It is never wise to spread too much sail, fair as the wind, and fine as the weather may be. That enterprise, I was about to say, not hesitate to devote himself body and soul, will to which any son who had a heart in his bosom would necessarily bring you acquainted with certain business secrets of mine, which I must have a solemn guarantee from you shall never, under any circumstances, be made known to my prejudice.'

'What guarantee can I give?'

'That of your sacred word and honour.' 'It is given already.'

'You declare solemnly that, happen what will, you will never make known to my injury or prejudice any fact concerning me, or my transactions, which may by any chance become known to you.'

'I do solemnly make that declaration-bind myself by that promise.'

'As you shall answer to God at the last great day!' 'As I shall answer to God at the last great day!' 'Enough! Now, then, to business.'

THE PEOPLE AT SARAWAK.

THE inhabitants of Sarawak are of three different races-Dyaks, Malays, and Chinese. The Dyaks are the aborigines of the island; the Malays, a seafaring race who have settled on the coast, and have to a considerable extent compelled the Dyaks to retire inland; and the Chinese are immigrants who have settled in the country, and form a distinct community in the midst of either the Malays or Dyaks, as chance may have placed them. The Malays and Chinese are so well known, that I shall say little concerning them, but shall merely reproduce a parallel which I have sometimes mentally drawn between these two races on the one hand, and the Scottish Highlanders and Lowlanders on the other.

clear-headed, persevering, industrious, and frugal without being niggardly. They lay hold of every opportunity of bettering their circumstances, turn everything to account, and stick all together. They have a keen relish for the humorous, are very hospitable, and excessively proud-proud of themselves and their attainments, proud of their country and its greatness, reckoning themselves the first people, and it the first nation by many degrees on the face of

The Chinese, like the Lowland Scotch, are cautious,

the earth. They emigrate in great numbers to all the countries with which they are acquainted; and though they strive to return to their own land with a competence, they generally settle permanently abroad. So far, I think, the characters of the two nations run parallel; but beyond this point the comparison turns into a contrast. The Chinese are utterly unprincipled and mendacious, and thoroughly selfish; and, though many of them know that 'honesty is the best policy,' it may be safely said that they are never honest from high principle.

The Malays, on the other hand, are proud, hotblooded, and revengeful; expert in the use of arms, fond of war, and averse to work; fierce and ferocious when excited, but polite and gentlemanly in their ordinary conduct, always civil, and often obliging. They are very fond of their children-so fond, that they never correct them; and the indulgence with which they are treated when young, is probably one cause of the high sense of personal dignity which they possess, and why they so deeply feel anything like slight or insult. If they quarrel, they never apply abusive epithets to each other, like Chinese or Hindoos; they are too proud to scold, and their resentment is too deep to be vented in words. They are not exactly brave, in our sense of the word; that is, they have not the cool calm courage of western nations, at least of disciplined men; but when their blood is roused, they lose all regard for personal consequences, and fight like furies to the death. 'You must surely give your men something to inspire courage,' said a Malay who witnessed Keppell's attack on Patusan to one of the Europeans, for they rush up right in face of the cannons. Now we Malays are brave, but we cannot do that.' Yet this man bears a high character for courage, and was the first to scale the enemy's palisade at Sungè Lang (Kite's River), preceding even Europeans in the attack.

The Dyaks are a branch of the Malay race, and differ little from the ordinary Malay type. They have broad faces, flat noses, thickish lips, black eyes, and coarse lank black hair. They are fairer than the Malays, some of them when young being as fair as a European; but as they grow up and expose themselves to the sun, they become of a reddish brown, like the savages of the Amazon, whom, I have been told, they much resemble in many respects. They are smaller, and possess less physical strength than Europeans, but they have great powers of endurance, and great bodily activity, climbing rocks and trees like cats or monkeys. Their countenance is, as I have said, of the Malay type, and it consequently takes some time before a European becomes accustomed to their appearance; but when his eye has been reconciled to their cast of features, he soon discovers in them intelligence, openness, sprightliness, and good-humour. These qualities never fail to commend themselves to the favourable consideration of the spectator, and he soon begins to consider them handsome, according as they approach the ideal of the Malay type, just as he considers a European handsome, according as he approaches the ideal of the Caucasian type. The ordinary dress of the men consists of a chawat, or piece of cloth, about six inches wide, and six or eight feet long, passed once between the legs, and wrapped several times round the waist, one end of it hanging down in front, the other behind. They also wear a jacket of thick cotton cloth of their own manufacture, and a handkerchief or piece of bark-cloth tied like a turban around the head. The women wear a petticoat of much scantier dimensions than a Highlander's kilt, together with a jacket like that of the men. Few of either sex, however, wear the jacket, except in cold weather; the men, if on a journey, generally carrying theirs in a basket, while the women hang theirs over one shoulder. Many men wear their hair long like

the women, but most of them wear it short, while a few shave the head completely bare. Both sexes are fond of adorning their hair or head-dresses with flowers, generally large bright red and yellow blossoms, which become their dark complexions exceedingly well.

Of national ornaments, as they may be called, there are no great variety, and most of them, though still retained by the inland tribes, are being abandoned by those who have come much in contact with Europeans. The most striking to the eye of a stranger are the large and numerous ear-rings worn by the tribes of Sarebas and Sakarran, and which are inserted not only in the lobe, but also in the cartilage of the ear. Five or six large brass rings-the largest being sometimes four inches in diameter-are suspended in the lobe of the ear, and eight or ten more in regularly diminishing order as they ascend, are inserted in the cartilage. The women do not wear these enormous ear-rings, their peculiar ornament being a circlet of painted rattan hoops around the waist. Both sexes wear numerous bracelets and anklets of brass-wire, and frequently also armlets of polished white shell, which contrast well with their dusky forms. On one occasion, I saw the daughters of several Sakarran chiefs clothed in loose dresses composed of shells, beads, and polished stones, arranged with great care and considerable taste. The dress, which was very becoming, hung as low as the knee, and as the young ladies walked along, the stones of which it was composed rung upon each other like the chime of distant bells. These dresses are very expensive, costing some seventy or eighty reals apiece (about L.12), and are therefore not common.

Some of the young men wear head-dresses composed of the hair of their enemies, dyed red, with which they also ornament the heads of their spears and the handles and scabbards of their swords. Others adorn themselves with the feathers of the argus pheasant, and many with fantastic artificial plumes. At Sampro, I saw a woman wearing a long round hat, somewhat resembling the head-dress of a Parsee, but narrower, and much more lofty. The Malos and Kyans tattoo themselves slightly, and generally each tribe has some trifling distinction in dress or ornament peculiar to themselves.

In disposition, the Dyaks are mild and gentle; they are quiet and docile when well treated, but proud and apt to take offence if they think themselves slighted. They are industrious, frugal, and accumulative, and, were they not so poor, might even be reckoned stingy; but as each knows that, if from the failure of his crop, or from any other unavoidable cause, he should fall into debt, it will accumulate so rapidly, from the high rate of interest, that he will probably never get free from it, the carefulness and frugality which they display cannot be regarded otherwise than as being legitimate. At the same time, they are hospitable to the extent of their means, and consider themselves bound to place before a visitor the best they can afford. They have a strong perception of the distinction between meum and tuum, and scarcely ever violate it either among themselves or towards Europeans. They never attempt such thefts and robberies as the Southsea islanders were in the habit of committing upon the early navigators; for their great self-esteem, their high sense of personal and family dignity, and the intense keenness with which they feel anything like degradation, would alone prevent their doing anything to which infamy was attached. As they are thus honest, so are they to a great extent truthful, though to this general character there are of course exceptions. On one occasion, a Dyak said to a missionary: "Your religion is for sinners, is it not?' 'Yes,' he replied, it is for all men to teach them to be good, and to do God's will.' 'Very well,' was the answer; 'you should try and convert that man,' pointing to one who passed

by, for he is a thief.' But though the Dyaks do not steal, they are great beggars; for they have been so accustomed to receive things from white men, that they think they have only to ask for anything they may want. Their, pride, however, is so great, that a few rebuffs effectually check them; and they have, besides, a delicacy of feeling, and an innate sense of the becoming, which prevent their doing anything improper or contrary to natural good manners. When they receive a present, they never say "Thank you,' but next day they will bring in return a little fruit or some such trifle: it is their method of making an acknowledgment.

When young, the Dyaks are acute and apt to learn, but as they grow older, their intellect seems to become deadened, and incapable of rising beyond familiar subjects. The cause of this seems to be, that having neither religion nor poetry, having nothing that can elevate the mind above the routine of ordinary life, or cause the past, the distant, or the future to predominate over the present, their faculties are bowed down to the daily wants of their daily existence, and become incapable of expanding beyond them. I have observed that those lads who are in the habit of associating with the missionaries, and have been by them instructed in Christianity, are much more acute and intelligent than their companions; and I think it not unlikely that they may retain through life that mental superiority which they now unquestionably possess. Let us hope, then, that Christianity, which has done so much for every other nation by whom it has been received, will do as much for them, and that they will be elevated both morally and intellectually by being taught the sublime and affecting narrative of the Saviour's life and death.

There are in the Sarawak territory many different tribes of Dyaks, named from the rivers on which they live, many of them speaking distinct languages, and almost all of them habitually regarding each other as enemies. These tribes, prior to the coming of Sir James Brooke, lived in a state of chronic hostility with each other; whenever they met, they fought. They either fitted out numerous fleets to combat on a large scale, or they went out in small parties of one or two boats, stealing upon their enemies by surprise, and retreating as suddenly as they came. The object of all these expeditions was to procure human heads. The head of an enemy is the most valued prize a Dyak can have, and is not only esteemed as a trophy of valour, but is also intimately connected with their superstitious customs. The death of one of their tribe entailed an ulat or ban upon the whole country; and until this ulat was removed, which it only could be by the capture of a head, various restrictions were placed upon the whole community-for example, no widower could marry again, nor could the appropriate, offerings at the tombs of their deceased relatives be made till the ulat was removed. There were therefore many excuses for head-hunting. If the near relative of a chief died, he immediately organised a head-hunting expedition, viewing the heads captured probably, though now unconsciously, as an offering to the manes of the deceased. At other times, they went out to avenge former attacks by hostile tribes, and often, again, merely for the love of war and the glory of taking heads. Nor were they at all particular whose head they took. Primarily, of course, their expeditions were directed against enemies; but with them, every stranger was an enemy; and a disappointed war-party would sooner take the head of a friend, than return without one. Thus head-hunting became with them a passion; and in its palmy days, before it was so much put down by Sir James Brooke, a young man could scarcely get married before he had taken a head. If they fitted out a large fleet of war-boats, they would swiftly and silently

approach a village, surround it at night, or rather just before morning, set fire to the houses, and massacre indiscriminately men, women, and children, and then depart in triumph with their heads; or if a small war-party of six or seven men embarked in a fast boat, they would conceal it in the umbrageous creeks near an enemy's house, and then prowling about in the jungle, would pounce upon any unfortunate who might stray near them. Sometimes they would even get into the wells of their enemies, and, covering their heads with a few leaves, sit for hours in the water waiting for a victim. Then when any woman or girl came to draw water, they would rush out upon her, cut her down, take her head, and flee into the jungle with it before any alarm could be given. Sometimes a war-party would decoy a party of traders, and murder them for the sake of their heads; while a trading-party, if opportunity offered, never failed to act in a similar manner. Thus no party of Dyaks was ever safe from any other party: they lived, as I said before, in a state of chronic hostility with all their neighbours, attacking and being attacked by all around them.

This was the general state of Dyak society before the coming of Sir James Brooke; but there are two tribes who, from the atrocities they perpetrated, from the extent of country they devastated, and from the attacks to which Sir James Brooke was subjected, for having broken their power, merit a peculiar notice. These are the Dyaks of Sarebas and Sakarran.

These tribes were more numerous, more powerful, and better organised for purposes of aggression than any of the others, being to a considerable extent under the authority of Malay chiefs, who employed the headhunting propensities of the Dyaks to further their own piratical inclinations. They would call out a fleet of 100 or 200 war-boats-each containing on an average about thirty-five men-and with this formidable force they would plunder and devastate the whole coast from Pontianak to Barram, a distance of 400 miles. Villages were surrounded and whole tribes cut off. Many communities were broken up, and their families forced to flee, some to more powerful tribes, others to remote fastnesses and distant countries. Men at their fishing-stakes, and women and children in their ricefields, were surprised and murdered, and the country was fast becoming depopulated and desert. These fleets were led by the Malays, who appropriated the plunder that was captured, while the Dyaks received what they prized most-the heads. Of these bloody trophies, great numbers were taken, sometimes as many as 400 in a single expedition. Nor did they confine their attacks to other Dyaks against whom it might be supposed they had cause of war: they fell upon all who had either plunder to gratify the Malays, or heads to satisfy themselves. All whom they met they attacked, Dyaks, Malays, Chinese, and Europeans; villages ashore, or vessels afloat, all were equally subject to their indiscriminate ravages. To put a stop to these ravages, and to break their aggressive power, was the first step towards the pacification of the country; a step as absolutely indispensable as would be the destruction of a den of tigers in the vicinity of an Indian village. No other tribe could cultivate the arts of peace, or do anything else than prepare for war, when liable to be attacked any day or night by the men of Sarebas and Sakarran.

Such were the tribes whom Sir James Brooke attacked, and whose power he broke; and it was on account of the severe chastisement which he inflicted upon them that he was branded in this country as a mercenary and blood-thirsty murderer. Fortunately for the interests of humanity, he was not deterred by the attacks made upon him from pursuing the line of conduct he had marked out for himself; but after having effectually broken the aggressive

power of the Dyaks, he took measures to pacify the country and to give security to life and property. This he has succeeded to a great extent in doing, and the consequences have been most gratifying, and almost wonderful. The late outbreak of the Chinese has of course given a shock to the prosperity of the settlement, and probably thrown it back about three years; but I am sure it will not really injure it, though I can only speak of the country as I saw it last year. At that period, people from neighbouring districts had flocked, and were flocking, into Sir James's territory to enjoy the benefits of his government; the resources of the country were being rapidly developed; trade had increased, and was increasing, to an astonishing extent; tribes of savages whose only delight was in bloodshed, and who regarded the possession of a human head as the summum bonum, have to a great extent been turned from their bloody courses, and taught to devote their superfluous energies to the increased production of the fruits of the earth. Larger breadths of land are being brought into cultivation, yet all the crops are consumed in the country, and it is necessary often to import rice for the increasing population. Pepper and gambier, and many other crops, are being introduced; sago is largely produced and manufactured; mines are wrought, and smelting establishments erected; gold is found in tolerable quantities, and antimony, and above all, coal will soon be wrought on a large scale. In short, Sarawak has become the emporium of trade and the centre of civilisation to the whole north-west coast of Borneo, and so far as man can presume to look into the future, Sir James Brooke seems there to have laid the foundation of a great, and, let us hope, a durable and Christian empire. This has he done, and thus has he earned for himself a place in the noble list of the benefactors of mankind, while in the government of his principality he has displayed a tact and an ability that have extorted the commendation even of his enemies. He is one of her sons of whom England may well be proud, one who in his lesser sphere has exhibited a courage and a capacity not unworthy of a Clive or a Hastings, united to a purer if a less brilliant fame.

HOW TO EAT WISELY.

Dr Hall, in his journal, gives the following advice: '1. Never sit down to a table with an anxious or disturbed mind; better a hundredfold intermit that meal, for there will then be that much more food in the world for hungrier stomachs than yours; and besides, eating under such circumstances can only, and will always, prolong and aggravate the condition of things. 2. Never sit down to a meal after any intense mental effort, for physical and mental injury are inevitable, and no man has a right to deliberately injure body, mind, or estate. 3. Never go to a full table during bodily exhaustion-designated by some as being worn out, tired to death, used up, done over, and the like. The wisest thing you can do under such circumstances is to take a cracker and a cup of warm tea, either black or green, and no more. In ten minutes you will feel a degree of refreshment and liveliness which will be pleasantly surprising to you; not of the transient kind which a glass of liquor affords, but permanent; for the tea gives present stimulus and a little strength, and before it subsides, nutriment begins to be drawn from the sugar and cream, and bread, thus allowing the body gradually, and by safe degrees, to regain its usual vigour. Then, in a couple of hours, you may take a full meal, provided it does not bring it later than two hours before sundown; if later, then take nothing for that day in addition to the cracker and tea, and the next day you will feel a freshness and vigour not recently known. No reader will require

to be advised a second time who will make a trial as above, whilst it is a fact of no unusual observation among intelligent physicians, that eating heartily, and under bodily exhaustion, is not unfrequently the cause of

alarming and painful illness, and sometimes sudden death. These things being so, let every family make it a point to assemble around the family board with kindly feelings, with a cheerful humour and a courteous spirit; and let that member of it be sent from it in disgrace who presumes to mar the ought-to-be blest reunion, by sullen silence, or impatient look, or angry tone, or complaining tongue. Eat in thankful gladness, or away with you to the kitchen, you graceless churl, you ungrateful pestilent lout that you are!-There was grand and good philosophy in the old-time custom of having a buffoon or music at the

dinner-table.

PAY OF MINISTERS OF THE CROWN.

An article in the last number of the Journal of the Statistical Society treats of this subject in a way that will be new to many. The principal ministers of state should enjoy incomes equal to that of the highest class of professional men. A successful barrister, for instance, makes bench is then ready to receive the judge; and when the a large income by the time he arrives at middle life; the powers of the judge fail, he may retire on a pension of L.3500 or L.5000 a year. A cabinet minister, other hand-with the exception of the Lord Chancellor has a most precarious income of from L.2000 to L.5000 a year, during his uncertain tenure of office, and then retires upon a pension ranging from L.1000 to L.2000 a year.

on the

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LITERATURE

No. 189.

WHAT ONE LEARNS IN THE WORLD. THERE is a good deal of spurious knowledge of the world. A crafty, manoeuvring kind of personage may frequently be met with, whose half-closed eyes twinkle with astuteness and suspicion. He will sometimes, in a confidential mood, take you by the button-hole, and assert, with a mysterious modulation of his voice, that he knows the world. The probability is, that he imparts this interesting fact in consequence of your having dropped some remark in which you gave some one credit for common honesty and uprightness of intention, or advocated a fair, straightforward line of conduct. If you should unfortunately have business relations with a 'party' of this stamp I fancy the word 'party' was first used in this odious sense by some Mr Worldly Wiseman-he will be found a sharp practitioner in matters of traffic, barter, and exchange. In case you wish to make a purchase, he will perhaps exhibit a coarse sort of skill in tickling your vanity and self-esteem. The little foibles of your character will be tenderly propitiated. If you are fond of outspeaking candour, the cunning bargainer will play the downright' inimitably. If your nature contains an element of Indian gravity, and you like a palaver, he will be loquacious on things in general with a particular view to commercial morality, and deliver a succession of texts for as many homilies. When the preliminary negotiations have been duly completed, your sympathising friend will wind up by asking fifty per cent. more than the price he would be willing to take, and will thus place you in the disadvantageous position of a beater-down-a haggler. Wearied and disgusted, you are glad to terminate the transaction by splitting the difference. The vender gets 25 per cent. more than a fair price, and goes away pleasantly simpering; and you, the vendee, think yourself fortunate in getting a reduction on the upset price, and a lesson in knowledge of the world caveat emptor.

But I beg the reader's pardon for supposing, even momentarily, that he can believe this sort of low cunning to be genuine knowledge of the world. It is the knowledge of an unluckily large class in the world, and, such as it is, is easily picked up, and scarcely worth acquiring.

If knowledge of the world makes men perfidious, May Juba ever live in ignorance! Nevertheless, there is a worldly wisdom which is extremely valuable, and must be learned by every prudent man, regardless of any cost but degradation. Persons whose manner of life is secluded and contem

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plative, are apt to form ideals, making a very pretty show in reverie, but as totally unfit for practical use and guidance as the paper constitutions of Abbé Sièyes. Social life, like the glorious British constitution, is a system of balancings, compensations, and patchwork. If the greatest intellects, from Plato downwards, have failed to contrive a perfect commonwealth, how can we expect to imagine, much less to realise, perfect social relations between man and man? It is our wisest plan to make the best of society as it is, and reform it as we can. To this end it is necessary to win knowledge of the world, and take care how we use it, bearing in mind that there is another knowledge, spiritual and divine, with which we must also take counsel, and the veto of which we must respect.

Now, let us think of one or two things which the freshman will learn in the school of experience. It is a good old custom in some Elizabethan foundations, to bump new-comers. The unwary youth entering the playground, and contemplating his future school-mates with mingled feelings of awe, interest, and curiosity, is suddenly seized by some half-dozen all at once. Two lusty lads are told off to his head and shoulders, two to each leg, and he is hurried off to a venerable tree-stump, smooth and polished by the frequent ceremony, and there he is bumped-not faintly, in make-believe fashion, but soundly bumped. Now, a school is a microcosm, and I believe we may anticipate a great deal of what we have to endure in the world by inference from school-experience. I apprehend the ceremony above mentioned has two principal aims-namely, the measurement and gauging of pluck and spirit, and the reduction of self-importance. In like manner, on entering the world-that is, on passing from the partial and indulgent little home-circle to the mart, the pulpit, or the forum-a youth generally finds that certain initiatory ordeals must be submitted to. He will learn amongst his first scraps of knowledge of the world, that he must endure considerable curtailment of his self-conceit. Political theorists lay down that each citizen must yield up a portion of his liberty, for the more secure enjoyment of the remainder. In like manner, a man must give up in private life a part of his self-conceit, or else it will all be knocked out of him rather roughly. One of the advantages-among many disadvantages-of public schools I take to be, that a very good elementary lesson on this point is derivable from companionship. Boys, like men, find their level, and learn to know their position, rights, and duties, by being thrown into a multitude, and left to fight it out. An old essayist has with partial truth remarked that the shyness and reserve so noticeable