change on both these heads is remarkable, the rail- | labourers above referred to, that there is, as compared with 1861, a rise of about two hundred thousand in the number of general labourers, many of whom have in all probability come from the rural districts and find work as navvies or in other ways on our great railways. Thus we have briefly sketched the vast field of labour which is brought before us in the third volume of the census, and it will occupy a future paper to deal with the matter in detail, and to show the class of work and the ages of those by whom it is performed in the various parts of the country.. Sonnets of the Sacred Year. BY THE REV. S. J. STONE, M.A. SIXTH SUNDAY IN LENT. "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant."-Phil. ii. 6, 7. a cross. In the agricultural population of the country the [The following Sonnet was written after a first view of Mr. decrease noticed at the last census is still continued, Holman Hunt's new painting, "The Shadow of Death." For the number of persons actually employed in the fields those readers who have not yet seen this picture-one of the and in pastures being more than four hundred thou- few in this age which show that consecration of Art found so sand less than in 1861, a result due to the daily frequently in the works of the great masters-it may be necesincreasing use of machinery and the consequent sary to state that the scene represented is the workshop in emigration of labourers, or their migration to the Nazareth at sunset. The Saviour is represented with outstretched mining and manufacturing districts. In the gar- arms as He ceases wearily from the toil of the day, and the deners there is, however, an increase in the ten years shadow thrown from His figure falls behind Him in the sign of of nearly twenty thousand, a fact which may perhaps Underneath the picture is inscribed the passage here be attributable to the growth of the suburban districts quoted from the Epistle for this Sunday.] around our great centres of industry, and the multiplication of those little plots which require the occasional visit of the "horticulturist," as he is termed in the report. It may be interesting to add that there are still a hundred and eighty thousand females employed in agriculture, one-third of whom are under twenty years of age, but this is less than half the number so employed ten years previously; an evidence of progress which is full of hope for the future. We have left ourselves but little space to deal with the general results of the enumeration of what are called the industrial classes of the country-a term which can scarcely be said to be strictly appropriate, as it includes many of those who might have been more fitly placed under the commercial division. Here we see more than a million individuals devoted to the production of books, works of art, musical and mathematical instruments, watches, clocks, houses, carriages, and the like; more than two millions whose occupation is drawn from the all-important business of dressing the nation, either as the absolute makers of the various fabrics or as the dealers in them; about half a million of persons who supply us with articles of food and of drink; about two hundred thousand workers and dealers in animal and vegetable substances; and more than a million workers in mineral substances; or, in a word, a vast army of upwards of five millions, or nearly a quarter of the total population, always engaged in providing for the accommodation and comfort of the nation. Of the last, or miscellaneous class, we have already spoken; but it is worthy of a passing note as partly explaining the decrease in the number of agricultural WISTFUL is every servant,* who hath borne The high sun's heat, for lower light that throws the year; the country was well watered by numerous streams; the population was in many districts large, and where the slavers had not penetrated the natives were well-disposed. There were all the desiderata for a great forward movement; the Nile was navigable for large vessels as far as Gondokoro, 1,450 miles by river from Khartoum; the forest on the banks of the stream would supply fuel without expense for the steamers required; the supply of ivory appeared to be inexhaustible; valuable fibres existed, and their preparation was understood by the natives; the Highlands were specially adapted for coffee cultivation, while the Lowlands were peculiarly suitable for cotton, which is now cultivated by the Shillook tribe in considerable quantities. There are portions of Africa, especially Fatiko, about 3 deg. north latitude, that would form a terrestrial paradise. Unfortunately, this beautiful country was subject to a blight that had sprung from the Egyptian discovery of this land of promise. Under the pretence of trading in ivory, immense numbers of slave-hunters from the Soudan had organised themselves as piratical bands to pillage the natives and to kidnap the women and children, to be sold in Khartoum as slaves. I do not think I exaggerate in estimating that 50,000 slaves were carried down the Nile annually, closely packed in small vessels of about forty tons or fifty tons, to the number of 250 or more on each ship. These miserable creatures were fre quently attacked by severe epidemics, such as smallpox or typhus, which might kill half before their arrival at Khartoum. In case of an outbreak of disease, the sick were generally thrown overboard or landed on the pestilential marshes to starve. The drain upon the population was frightful; countries which were once flourishing were depopulated. Worse than the physical suffering was the moral effect upon the natives, for all confidence was destroyed by the repeated acts of treachery by the slavetraders. Thus the natives became hostile and suspicious of all strangers; cultivation was reduced to the smallest scale, as the natives feared to sow where they might not reap. It must be distinctly understood that the "slave trade" is a misnomer. There is no such thing as trade; but the slaves were kidnapped by night attacks upon unsuspecting villages, in which the men and old women were massacred, and the young girls and children captured. This has been described in my former work, the "Albert N'Yanza," a reference to which will at once initiate the reader in the miseries of the slave-hunted provinces.Speech at Brighton Banquet. SILKWORMS FROM JAPAN FOR EUROPE via CHICAGO. Towards the end of December, a freight-car, anglice, goods-van, travelled along the Central Pacific, Chicago, Burlington, Quincy, and Michigan Central Railways, from San Francisco to New York, containing goods the value of which exceeded 2,000,000 dollars. This costly van-load was a consignment of nine and a half tons of silkworm eggs en route for France. They were bought by the French Government in Yokohama and consigned to Messrs. Stoppel and Ferrari, who accompanied the precious goods from Japan. The eggs are packed in leaves, layer upon layer, and placed in air-tight tin boxes, covered with matting. The car in which they travelled by rail was kept at a temperature below freezing point and no light was admitted. "This," says the "Chicago Tribune," "is the first attempt made to import silkworms via the United States, and if human foresight avail anything, there is every reason to look for success." The introduction of a vigorous race of silkworms into the mulberry grounds of the European continent has, it is well known, been long since imperatively demanded by the silk-growers of France and Italy, the worms having been, of late years, frequently attacked by disease. forty-one having been begun only in 1872, and these new mills counting one-third of the producing capacity of the whole. Besides the cotton mills, Fall River has two printworks, large ironworks, and machine shops, counting before the panic an aggregate pay-roll of about 100,000 dollars per month." In this busy and prosperous place it recently became necessary to reduce wages 10 per cent. and to work three-quarters time, but no distress 'seems to have been felt except by operatives addicted to drinking or other bad habits. Nearly 13,000 of the 15,000 mill hands are, it is said, depositors in the savings-banks. There are four savings-banks in the town, with deposits amounting in the whole to 9,000,000 dollars, and it is stated that 6,000,000 dollars of this amount comes from the operatives. The most remarkable circumstances about Fall River are, however, these two-viz., that nearly all the stock of the mills, 90 per cent. of the whole, is held in the city itself; and, next, that much of it is held in small amounts by people of all classes, mechanics and mill hands being among the shareholders. WHITBY JET.-The early use of Whitby jet as an ornament takes us back to antiquarian times, and yet the first jet workshop in Whitby dates in the present century. In 1808 there was only one, forty years later there were fifty, and now there are more than two hundred. And yet this is the same jet that the Saxon poet Cadman, who lies buried in the abbey of the little town, describes as "black and shiny, smooth and light," and in quality "almost a gem." Whitby jet is an article of European fame; its popularity justifies the proposal just announced of holding a great exhibition of it in the course of the present year. Other countries do, indeed, come into competi tion with us in this manufacture, and especially Spain and France. The working of the seams at Whitby is as variable in its results as any other mining operations. Some seams that yield more than £1,000 worth of produce have been found at once; in other instances the labour has been long and unremunerative. Nothing, of course, gives this trade such an impetus as a national mourning. It seems shocking, but intelligible, to learn that the deaths of the Duke of Wellington and the Prince Consort made substantial and permanent differences in the demand, and the trade now employs a third of the whole popu lation of the town. In 1860 its value amounted to £45,000, and it has since steadily risen, till it now represents more than double that sum. Jet is exported largely to the colonies, and especially to the United States. Latterly many of the seams have become exhausted, and it is not every article which is sold as warranted Whitby jet that comes from the best market. A great deal of the Spanish material is brought into London every year, and worked up by English hands after Whitby designs. The superiority of the Whitby jet consists not only in its greater brilliancy and fuller colour, but also in its durability. Being chiefly composed of hydrogen and carbon, it is not so brittle as the Spanish jet, which is liable to crack and fly under sudden changes of temperature. It burns brilliantly in the fire, leaving very little ash, but with a strong and disagreeable odour. Indeed it is known that many hundred pounds' worth of the material was burned by the Whitby villagers for coal.—Globe. THE SHORTEST AND BEST OVERLAND ROUTE TO INDIA. —— Mr. Wright, of Damascus, has lately been exploring the Hauran, and an account of his travels will shortly appear in the "Leisure Hour." But we lose no time in quoting one part of Mr. Wright's journal, as it touches on projects now before the Government. He describes what he thinks the shortest, safest, and least expensive railway route to the East. of the most striking objects in the landscape is the Roman "The view from the Castle of Sulkhad is superb, and one road. It comes straight as an arrow from Bosra, which stands out yonder like a huge terminal station, and making a slight bend southward at Sulkhad, it continues its course, with Ronian inflexibility, till it reaches Bussorah on the Euphrates, near the Persian Gulf. From Bosra to Derat westward the same unde FALL RIVER, THE MANCHESTER OF AMERICA. -An American paper gives the following account of Fall River, Massachusetts, which has been called the Manchester of America :-"Fall River is now the greatest cotton manufacturing town in America, having far outstripped Lowell, Lawrence, and all other compe-viating road shoots along, and crossing the Jordan about the titors in that line. It has forty-one mills, running 30,000 looms and nearly 1,300,000 spindles, which employ over 15,000 hands out of a total population of about 40,000. The mills are owned by thirty-five companies, with 15,000,000 dollars of capital stock, the property being, however, worth double that amount. Of the forty-one mills, thirty-four make printing cloths only, the remaining mills making other fabrics. They use 134,775 bales of cotton, and turn out 336,875,000 yards of cloth per annum, and before the panic their aggregate pay-roll was over half-a-million dollars per month. Abundant water power is what has marked the place as a site for the cotton manufacture, the Tuequechon River, which runs through the centre of the city, falling 136 feet in half a mile. Much of the expansion of business here is quite recent, eleven mills of the Sea of Galilee, it strikes across the uplands north of Nazareth, and reaches the sea somewhere about Akka. This, as it is the shortest, is no doubt one of the earliest routes to India; and I believe it is destined to become once more the great trunk line to that eastern land. The Romans paved the road the greater part of the way, and the soft feet of the camels have scarcely removed a stone from its pavement, so that the track only awaits the English, the legitimate successors of the Romans, to lay down their sleepers and rails, and start their trains on the shortest overland route to India. The line is there ready made, and no engineering difficulties have to be overcome. Under the protection of the railroad there would soon be a belt of cultivated land, and in the bend between Haiffa and Akka there is one of the finest harbours in the world." A FAMILY JOURNAL OF INSTRUCTION AND RECREATION. BEHOLD IN THESE WHAT LEISURE HOURS DEMAND,-AMUSEMENT AND TRUE KNOWLEDGE HAND IN HAND."-Cowper. which he would not have been willing for his cousins | heart, but if I know what love is, I believe that I to hear, and probably, had he been accused of making love to the fisherman's daughter, he would indignantly have denied that he was doing so. She did not stop to inquire why she felt unusually dull when he did not come, or why her ear was so eagerly on the watch for the sound of his horse's hoofs at the hour he generally arrived. Every day Harry fancied that he had discovered new graces in her mind, and the slight degree of rusticity which he might first have detected, when he compared her with his sister Julia, had entirely worn off. In person he thought her faultless. Harry was anxious that his mother and sister should see May without knowing who she was; he was sure that the Miss Pembertons would be pleased at receiving a visit from them, and he was in hopes that he might be able to induce them to call without showing his anxiety that they would do so. He made no secret at home of his visits to Downside, explaining that the Miss Pembertons had employed him to ornament a shell grotto for them, and as he hated to be idle, he was very glad to find employment suited to his taste, and at the same time to do anything to please the kind old ladies. Sir Ralph had been called to London on political business, and was likely to remain some time away. Most of the visitors had left Texford; those who remained were able to amuse themselves, and did not require the attention of their host and hostess. Captain Headland, being looked upon as Harry's guest, was quite independent. Lady Castleton was therefore more at liberty than she had been for some time. "By-the-by, mother, you should drive over some day, and call on our cousins and see the grotto. They will be much pleased, I am sure, with the visit, and will be delighted to show you over the garden, which is a perfect gem in its way." "I confess that we have somewhat neglected our cousins, but your father was annoyed with the way Jane spoke to him, and was afraid that she might come here oftener than would be agreeable, so he begged me not to encourage her,' ," said Lady Castleton. However, as she has shown no inclination to come, he will not object to my calling again, and Julia and I will drive over there to-morrow." 66 66 They are kind, good creatures, and are so pleased to see me, that I cannot help liking them," and Harry turned away, lest further observations might be made. Although he was unwilling to mention May to his mother and sister, and still more so to his brother, he did not hesitate to speak of her to Headland. "But, my dear Harry, have you well considered what will be the consequence of your frequent interviews with this beautiful young creature?" asked his friend. "You appear already to have lost your heart, and what will be the effect of your attentions on her?" Harry was taken aback, as he would have said, at the question. "You are right in supposing that I have lost my love her as sincerely and devotedly as a man can love a girl. Had she been uneducated, and living with her father and mother, I would not have attempted to see her again. When I found her as ladylike and refined as the best-born in the land can be, I could not resist my cousin's invitation, and, I own, yielded to her attractions without considering the consequences. Still, whatever may be my feelings, I have done my utmost not to exhibit them, and she receives me so calmly and modestly-simply as a visitor to the Miss Pembertons-while she appears so unconscious of her own beauty, that I am not vain enough to suppose her feelings are in any way interested in me." "I am a person of little experience with regard to women's hearts," said Headland; "but it strikes me that a country girl, wholly unaccustomed to the society of gentlemen, is very likely, in spite of all your caution, to be more interested in you than you may in your modesty suppose. Whatever your cousins, who from your account must be unusually simple-minded, unworldly ladies, may think, their young protégée may suspect that you would not come over every day for the sole purpose of working at their grotto, and may have a suspicion that she herself is the attraction." 66 Indeed, I believe I like them so much, that had they asked me to come and make a grotto for them, I would have done so even if Miss Halliburt had not been with them," exclaimed Harry; "though I confess that the pleasure is enhanced by working with her." "It may be so, Harry," said Headland; "but if Miss Halliburt is there, and you admire her so warmly, can you sufficiently conceal your admiration to make her think that she is not the attraction, and if you did so might she not be unconsciously piqued by wishing to bring you to her feet ?" "She is too pure and simple-minded to do anything of the sort," exclaimed Harry, in an indignant tone. "If I find I have gained her affection, I will offer her my hand and stand the consequences-I shall feel that I am in honour bound to do so; indeed I should be utterly miserable if, conscious that I possessed her love, I was compelled from any circumstances to give her up." My dear Harry, it is not for a man of unknown birth like myself to warn you against the consequences of a misalliance; but you tell me that the Castletons are a proud race, and that your father and brother are like the rest of the family. You cannot for a moment suppose that they would be otherwise than indignant were you to propose to marry this girl, charming and beautiful as she may be. And I am afraid that your mother and sister, though they might be pleased with her, would strongly oppose your wishes." "I should have hopes of winning them over. Algernon has no right to interfere, and I do not think he would; and my father, proud as he is, has so great an admiration for female beauty that I believe were he to see May he would be compelled to acknowledge I had ample excuse for wishing her to become my wife." "I trust it may be so, Harry," said Headland; "I have spoken to you as I felt bound to do as one of your oldest friends; and as I know you to be thoroughly honourable and right-minded, you would not, I am sure, be the cause of pain and disappoint ment to any woman, especially to the young and innocent creature you admire so much." "I am grateful to you, Headland, indeed I am,' exclaimed Harry, taking his friend's hand. "I should have been wiser had I not spoken a second time to Miss Halliburt; but I am sure that I should have been less than human had I not done so. The fact is, my dear fellow, I am in for it; but I will remember your warning, and, for her sake rather than my own, not make love to her; and then, at all events, I shall have to suffer alone, should insuperable difficulties to our marrying arise." Though Headland had spoken thus frankly and faithfully to Harry, Harry, from delicacy, could not bring himself to speak in the same way to his friend. He felt very sure that Headland admired Julia, and from what she had said he fully suspected the secret of her heart. Would not his father, however, object as much to Julia marrying Headland as he would to his marrying the fisher-girl? The cases were, however, very different. Headland, though of unknown birth, had gained a position for himself, and Captain Fancourt had written in the highest terms of him, and would, he thought, support his suit if he proposed. Still, he was too well acquainted with his father's proud unyielding temper not to fear that in either case there would be difficulties to contend with. Headland had already made a considerable sum in prize-money, so that the only objection which could be raised against him was his ignorance of his family. Harry trusted that as he himself was a younger son, his father might not object so much as he would have done had Algernon been in his place. This gave him some slight hopes that the difficulties which he knew must arise would finally be overcome. At all events, as long as the Miss Pembertons wished him to come to their house, he arrived at the conclusion that he was perfectly justified in going there. CHAPTER XXX.-MAY'S INTRODUCTION TO THE CASTLETONS. MISS MARY, led by May, was taking a stroll after breakfast when Harry arrived. "We shall be truly glad to see your mother, as she so seldom visits us," said Miss Mary, mildly; "and as I hope she and Julia will stop to take luncheon, I will go in and order preparations; for Jane is out visiting at some cottages in the neighbourhood, and may not be back just yet. As I suppose you do not wish to be idle, pray, if you feel disposed, go on in the meantime with the grotto; and May will, I dare say, be glad to assist you." Harry, after his conversation with Headland, had been more observant than usual of May's behaviour. A blush suffused her cheeks as Miss Mary said this; and as her eyes met Harry's, he was convinced that she had no disinclination to his society. Accordingly, after they had attended Miss Mary to the house, they went together, Harry carrying a fresh basket of shells brought up by Jacob on the previous evening. May was more silent than usual, though she answered, when Harry spoke to her, in that soft tone he so much delighted to hear, which she had learned from Miss Mary rather than from her elder sister. Harry at length made a remark which caused her to reply: "I am thinking of the visit we are to receive from Lady Castleton and your sister, and I confess that I feel somewhat nervous." "Why so?" asked Harry. May looked up in his face, but did not answer. "Do you fancy they can do otherwise than admire you, and think you all that is sweet, and charming, and excellent, and lovable as I do, May?" and he took her hand, which she did not withdraw, though her eyes were cast down and the blush deepened on her cheeks. "Oh, May, I did not intend to say so much, but I had resolved to tear myself from you unless I could hope that you were not indifferent to me." "Harry," said May, trying to calm her agitation, she had always before called him Mr. Harry—“İ was thinking of your mother's proposed visit, and afraid lest she should believe that I was the cause of your frequent visits to Downside. Knowing as I do the pride of your family, I feared that you might be induced to give up your visits here." "No, no, May," exclaimed Harry, letting all his sober resolutions fly to the wind, and pressing more lovingly her hand; “ my parents, even should they wish to do so, have no right to insist on my giving up one against whom they cannot allege a single fault. The circumstance of your birth ought not to be an impediment; and, believe me, May, with all the desire I possess to be an obedient son, I could not be influenced by such a reason. I do not invite you to share poverty with me, for I have already an ample income to support a wife, and as I need not ask my father for a single shilling, I do not think he will have any just reason to object or to oppose my wishes." "Harry," said May, "I must not run any risk of creating dissension between you and your parents. I have been told of a sad history of a member of your own family, your father's brother, who, against his parent's wishes, married a young lady to whom they objected on account of her birth, and he was banished from his home ever afterwards, living an exile in foreign lands. I should fear that your father and mother would look upon me as an unfit match for you, and discard you should you persist in marrying me. "You speak of my uncle Ranald," exclaimed Harry, "who married, I am told, a very lovely girl, and simply because she could not trace her pedigree to as remote a stock as the Castletons, my grandfather refused to receive her as his daughter-in-law; and my uncle, rather than subject her to the annoyance to which she might have been exposed at home, took her abroad. Surely my father, after he has seen the consequence of the harsh treatment his brother received, would not behave in the same way to me; besides, you know he is my father's eldest brother, and it is not at all certain that he is dead, so that he may some day return and claim the baronetcy and Texford; and if so, I shall be but a younger brother's youngest son, and no one need trouble their heads as to whom I marry. But, my dear May, if I wore a ducal coronet you would be the richest prize I could wish for to grace it; and do not suppose, although I would rather, for the sake of avoiding difficulties, be of the humblest birth, that I consider you unworthy of filling the highest rank in the realm." May had never told Harry that she was not Dame Halliburt's daughter. Why she had not done so she might have found it difficult to say. At first, a feeling of modest reserve had prevented her from speaking about herself. The Miss Pembertons, in their simplicity, had not thought it likely that Harry |