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A regular trade in rice is established between England and Cochin China, South Africa, Brazil, the United States, and other parts of the world, as well as India; and to interfere with this trade by compulsory laws, and so check its natural operations, would be, we are told, fatal to the future. History tells us of great cities ruined by a check to their trade, and we have before us similar instances in Charleston, Savannah, and New Orleans, which cannot for years, if ever, regain the commercial importance they enjoyed before the secession war. During the Orissa famine in 1866-7 the grain was carried away before the very eyes of the dying natives; and this not from wanton barbarity on the part of the authorities, but because the law of supply and demand had carved a natural channel that they feared to check. "It is impossible to interfere with free trade," say political economists, although circumstances may sometimes arise which overbear all ordinary considerations. In good seasons in India there is always enough for food at home and a surplus for exportation.

In the districts where the crops are so liable to failure are populations of about 11,000,000, of 7,500,000, and 4,000,000, amounting in all to above twenty-four millions of people, who require the enormous amount of 20,000 tons a day, at ordinary rations. In some parts the peasantry are paid in kind, so much rice a day for wages. A Hindoo consumes two pounds of rice a day; a Malay scarcely so much, 56 pounds a month; a Siamese 64 pounds per month; and in China rice is cultivated at the rate of half an acre to each person. A recent writer from India has stated that on an average more than five and a half millions of tons of rice are annually consumed in Bengal! Supposing only one-half of the population of the whole of India live on rice, twenty-two and a half million tons are thus consumed. The means of transportation over a wild and savage country are only slightly better now than in former times of famine. Immense efforts have been made to overcome this difficulty, and we may hope to see some permanent improvement. John Stuart Mill says "great scarcity is the natural result of imperfect traffic, which does not allow the abundance of one track to compensate the deficiences of the other." Rice-famines in India have been hitherto accepted by the natives as a sort of inevitable evil. It need not be so, and will not be when rice-lands are properly irrigated as in other countries, and facilities of intercommunication are established.

By way of postscript, a passing hint on cooking rice may not be unacceptable; for rarely in an English kitchen is justice done to this wholesome and excellent grain. In the Southern States of America, rice, in one form or another, is seldom absent from the table. As a vegetable it is an unfailing dish-or was, when the writer was in South Carolina. Snow-white, large, loose, and yet not dry, a dish of rice was beautiful to behold. The method of preparing it there is to throw the rice into boiling water, which has already been rendered sufficiently salt, and allow it to remain on the boil for four or five minutes at most. Then drain off the water, and let the saucepan stand covered over near the fire for twenty minutes more. By this time each grain is fully swollen and soft, and you have only to "dish. up." In India they use less water, and allow the rice to boil until all moisture has evaporated. The result is the same, each grain is loose and thoroughly

The

cooked. As in all simple culinary performances, observation and practice soon lead to success. tying in a cloth and leaving the delicate grain to boil its strength away into the water, which latter, containing all the flavour and nutriment, is then thrown away, is worse than barbarous. Barbarous nations know better. Rice-water made from the old grain is useful in dysentery; new grain produces the disease. As a drink it can be flavoured, and is extremely nutritious. If not required for such uses, the less water the better for cooking the grain. It is a subject of wonder that rice-so wholesome, life-sustaining, and within the means of every oneshould not be more freely used in England. The poor Hindoos are, for the most part, content to boil it and then mix it with ghee, vegetables, grease, or merely sweeten it. But the American housewife will astonish you with her countless ways of introducing rice into her "breads," her "corn-fixings," and "flour-doings;" cakes, pastry, puddings, to say nothing of soups and stews. The ways rice has of insinuating itself into American diet are endless; and it is all the more adaptable on account of its own lack of strong flavour.

C. H.

Sonnets of the Sacred Year.

BY THE REV. S. J. STONE, M.A.

SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. "That we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness." -1 St. Peter ii. 24.

THE light of Jesus lies o'er all the way

That leads the pilgrim to the portal strait
Of the spiritual City. That far gate
Admits to full meridian of the Day
Whose tender earnest, like a dawning ray,
Lightens that narrow path o'er the wide plain
Where Lust and Pride and all-seducing Gain
Would each by broader roads the soul betray.

Light of Life, that I at last may win
That lovely radiant City of the morn,
Here grant me grace to count with hate and scorn
As ways of death the ways of Self and Sin;
And 'mid what world-contempt, what inner strife,
To keep Thy path of Resurrection life.

Varietics.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S DREAM.-A strange dream of President Lincoln is told, which Mr. Dickens related to the Queen when he was her Majesty's guest for a day at Windsor Castle. He had formerly told it in a letter to Mr. Forster:-"On the afternoon of the day on which the President was shot, there was a cabinet council at which he presided. Mr. Stanton, being at the time commander-in-chief of the Northern troops that were concentrated about here, arrived rather late. Indeed they were waiting for him, and on his entering the room, the President broke off in something he was saying, and remarked: Let us proceed to business, gentlemen.' Mr. Stanton then noticed, with great surprise, that the President sat with an air of dignity in his chair instead of lolling about in it in the most ungainly attitudes, as his invariable custom was; and that instead of telling irrelevant or questionable stories, he was grave and

calm, and quite a different man. Mr. Stanton, on leaving the council with the Attorney-General, said to him, 'That is the most satisfactory cabinet I have attended for many a long day! What an extraordinary change in Mr. Lincoln!' The Attorney. General replied, 'We all saw it, before you came in. While we were waiting for you, he said, with his chin down on his breast, "Gentlemen, something very extraordinary is going to happen, and that very soon.' To which the AttorneyGeneral had observed, 'Something good, sir, I hope?' when the President answered very gravely, don't know, I don't know. But it will happen, and shortly too!' As they were all impressed by his manner, the Attorney-General took him up again: 'Have you received any information, sir, not yet disclosed to us?' No,' answered the President; but I have had a dream. And I have now had the same dream three times. Once, on the night preceding the Battle of Bull Run. Once, on the night preceding such another (naming a battle also not favourable to the North).' His chin sank on his breast again, and he sat reflecting. Might one ask the nature of this dream, sir?' said the Attorney-General. Well,' replied the President, without lifting his head or changing his attitude, I am on a great broad rolling river-and I am in a boat-and I drift and I drift!-But this is not business' suddenly raising his face and looking round the table as Mr. Stanton entered, 'let us proceed to business, gentlemen.' Mr. Stanton and the Attorney-General said, as they walked on together, it would be curious to notice whether anything ensued on this; and they agreed to notice. He was shot that night."

HAIR AND HAIR-DYEING.-I have been lately looking at an article on "Hair-Dyeing" in the "Leisure Hour" volume for 1867, and even at this distance of time would make a few remarks on one or two of the paragraphs. The writer says that covering the hair interferes with its luxuriance. In the great hair-producing districts of France (Normandy and Picardy) the peasant women almost invariably wear a covering to the head. The caps of the women of these provinces are celebrated on account of their picturesque forms. Again, take Bohemia, another large hair-producing country, and you will find the rule amongst the women is to wear a handkerchief tied cornerwise over the head, leaving one corner to hang down the neck, so that in these two, or rather three districts, the hair is not injured by being covered up, so far as the female part of the population is concerned. The great bulk of hair is obtained from those countries where the female peasantry cover the hair, as they are enabled to part with nature's covering without inconvenience or even detection from this very fact. In the fourth paragraph also I must beg to differ from your writer. Commercial experience tells us emphatically that the hair of English women is very far inferior in quality to that of the foreigner. The finest hair that comes to market is the produce of the north-west provinces of France, then the Swedish and German, and lastly the Italian, and the produce of England certainly is no better than the Italian; in fact, I should give the preference by far to the produce of northern Italian States. Since the date of the article, the article "hair-dye" has undergone some considerable changes. The old powder dye mentioned is practically discarded. The various dyes in which nitrate of silver formed the basis are barely maintaining their position, having had to give way to what are termed progressive hair-dyes, or colour-restorers, some of which are well known from conspicuous advertisements, and which all contain sulphur and lead in larger or smaller proportions, visible in the deposit of the article. These preparations are again being thrust aside by more recent English and French preparations which are displacing the old nitrate of silver hair-dyes for several reasons. They are not, in fact, dyes that at one operation change the hair suddenly, but they are slow and cumulative in their action; neither do they produce the black colours produced by the old dyes; indeed, the fault with nearly all of them is that the colour is too brown, and it yet remains to be discovered how to dye the hair a natural dark brown. The preparations are nearly all of American origin, and it is in America that the widest scope exists for the employment of hair-dyes. Our cousins, from climate or social causes, turn grey at a very early age, while the hair is thick and luxurious, hence the demand for hair-dyes is there very great, and large fortunes have been realised by the proprietors of many of these American articles. And now as to the fancy colours. The fashion has been and is increasing for dyeing the hair blonde colour; indeed the disposition is to entirely de-colour the hair even to whiteness. At the present time many ladies are desirous of appearing with white hair, thus realising the effect of hair powder. At the time the article in question was written, all the blonde dyes, or, more properly speaking, bleaching fluids, were

more or less caustic, and quickly destroyed the hair, burning the skin even when they touched it; hence the blonde dyes were quickly falling into disuse. But a set of preparations called Aureoline, Aqua Mira, etc., all being fancy names for the same chemical compound, was produced, which can be used with impunity; it is so harmless that it may be even drunk, although the taste is not agreeable; and these articles quickly revived the waning fashion for fair hair. To this fluid is due nineteen out of twenty of the heads of fair hair we see daily in the public assemblies Some sixty or seventy years ago the same fashion existed, but at that period there were no blonde hair washes, so our belles of that period had to be content with wearing wigs and fronts of hair of the then fashionable tint, and it was carried to the same excess that the chignon is at the present moment.

"

R. H. 8.

JOHN HOWARD MEDAL.-An article was published in the "Sunday at Home" last November (No. 1019), headed "John Howard, the Philanthropist.' It was illustrated by a portrait and autograph of the great philanthropist. Reference was made to a pamphlet by Dr. Guy, F.R.S., on occasion of the centenary anniversary of Howard's appointment as High Sheriff prison reformer. The Statistical Society, recognising in Howard of Bedfordshire, when he first began his public career as a the Statist no less than the Philanthropist, have done lasting honour to him after their own fashion. The Council of the Society, giving effect to the views of the president, Dr. Guy, have established a Howard Medal. This Medal is to be given every year to the Author of the best Essay on some subject in social statistics, giving a preference to those in which Howard himself was most interested. The subject of the Essay for which the Medal will be given in 1874 (the centenary of the year in which Howard achieved his Parliamentary triumph) is "The State of Prisons, and the condition and treatment of Prisoners in the Prisons of England and Wales during the last half of the Eighteenth Century, as set forth in Howard's 'State of Prisons' and his work on Lazarettos.'" Full particulars may be obtained on application to the Assistant Secretary of the Statistical Society, 12, St. James's Square, S. W. We are happy to hear that the number of applicants for information is already such as to justify the expectation of a brisk competition.

CARLIST SYMPATHISERS.-Some members of the Society of Friends, who are not given to untruth or exaggeration, bring north of Spain, in districts ravaged by the Carlists. The funds sad reports of barbarous cruelties witnessed by them in the for carrying on this insurrection are largely supplied by the English papists, who thus make themselves responsible for the crimes of the brigands in Spain.

DAVID THE KING.-" David the king has fallen into sins enough; blackest crimes; there is no want of sins, and thereupon the unbelievers sneer and ask, 'Is this your man according to God's heart?' The sneer, I must say, seems to me a shallow one. What are faults, what are the outward details of a life, if the inner secret of it, the remorse, temptations often baffled, never-ended struggles of it, be forgotten? Of all acts, is not repentance, for man, the most divine? The deadliest sin, I say, were that same supercilious consciousness of no sin; that is death. David's life and history, as written for us in these psalms of his, I consider to be the truest emblem ever given of a man's moral progress and warfare here below. Is not man's walking, in truth, always that, 'a succession of falls'! That his struggle be a faithful, unconquerable one, that is the question of questions."-Thomas Carlyle.

FEMALE CHARACTER KNOWN BY THE FOOTSTEPS.-A lady writes: "Few things betray the character more completely than the footsteps, and we recommend Caelebs, very earnestly, to make choice of a woman whose footfall is never heard as she moves about the house. The footfall of the most active and clever is silent; the footfall of the considerate is silent; the footfall of the tender-hearted and gentle is silent; the footfall of the graceful is silent. The poet makes the fairy sing, 'I leave not a trace nor a footprint behind me;' so light is her tread that it does not crush a blade of grass. Of 'Annie Laurie' it is said in praise,

'Like dew on the gowan lying Is the fall of her fairy feet.'

This model woman of the lyrical singer is made by him both fair and handsome; but he dwells with equal admiration on her gentle voice and quiet movements. If a woman or girl is noisy in her tread it is not a good sign, as it may arise from clumsiness, or thoughtlessness, or temper. A soft footfall is almost always accompanied by a gentle voice, which is, in the words of Shakespeare, an excellent thing in woman.'"

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LEISURE HOUR

A FAMILY JOURNAL OF INSTRUCTION AND RECREATION.

"BEHOLD IN THESE WHAT LEISURE HOURS DEMAND,-AMUSEMENT AND TRUE KNOWLEDGE HAND IN HAND."-Couper.

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to do it. He says he is one thing, and we know he is another. When he first came to Hurlston he used to call himself a miller, and there is not a bolder seaman to be found anywhere. He does not now, however, pretend that he isn't. Many is the cargo of smuggled goods he has run on this coast, and yet he always manages to keep out of the clutches of the revenue officers. There are not a few decent lads he has got to go aboard his craft, and they have either lost their lives or turned out such ruffians that they have been a sorrow and disgrace to their families. He is more than suspected of having been a pirate, or something of that sort, in foreign parts. And they say when he first came to Hurlston he seemed to know this coast as well as if he had been born and bred here, though he told people that chance brought him to the place, and that he had never set eyes on it before."

"At all events, if common report speak true, Hurlston will be well rid of him if he does not venture back. I hope that the law will, at all events, be able to lay hands on the villain, should it be proved that he kidnapped your friend Jacob," observed Headland.

"If the cutter catches his craft Jacob may be saved. I am more than afraid that Gaffin will knock him on the head and heave him overboard with a shot to his feet, if he finds that he is hard pressed, and then he will deny ever having had the poor fellow on board."

Headland was thankful when at length the boat glided into the Tex and ran alongside the quay.

Several people were standing there. The news of what had occurred had spread about the village. Headland, anxious to lose no time, asked if any boy would be willing to run on to the Texford Arms and order his horse.

"Say Captain Headland's horse, the gentleman who accompanied Mr. Harry Castleton," he said. "Captain Headland!" said a person standing near, stepping up to him. "May I venture to ask where you come from?"

"I shall be happy to reply when I know to whom I speak," said Headland, not quite liking the man's

tone of voice.

"I am Miles Gaffin, the miller of Hurlston. My good neighbours here have been making pretty free with my name, and accusing me of carrying off one of their number on board a lugger, which I understand you have been chasing, sir, when I have had nothing to do with the matter, having been miles away at the time the occurrence is said to have taken place."

"I cannot say that I am unacquainted with your name, for I have just heard it mentioned, and I shall be glad to hear that you can give me the assurance that the young man has not been carried away," said Headland.

"I know nothing about the matter," answered Gaffin, "so I cannot tell whether the story I have heard is true or not. You at all events see, sir, that I am not on board the lugger, which I hear left the coast some hours ago. But I must again beg your pardon, and ask you to answer the question I put when I first had the honour of addressing you."

"I am a commander in his Majesty's service, and you must rest satisfied with that answer, sir," said Headland, not feeling disposed to be more communicative to his suspicious questioner.

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"And you took that name from another to whom it properly belonged?"

"I did. Can you tell me anything of him?" said Headland, eagerly.

"I wish to ask that question of you, sir," replied Gaffin. "He was an old shipmate of mine, and being struck by hearing your name, I thought there might be some connection. I have long lost sight of him, and should have been glad to hear that he was alive and well."

"He lost his life, I have too much reason to believe, in the Indian seas many years ago," said Headland.

"Ah, poor fellow, I am sorry to hear that. Good evening to you, Captain Headland," and Miles Gaffin, turning away, was soon lost to sight in the darkness.

Captain Headland, accompanied by one of the Nancy's crew, hastened on till he met his horse, and mounting, rode back to Downside. He found the ladies somewhat anxious at his and his friend's long absence. Julia had sent a messenger on foot home to say that they were delayed, and hoped to return in the evening. The ladies now made many inquiries for Harry, while May stood by showing by her looks even still greater anxiety about him. Headland assured them there was no risk, though he probably would not be back till the following day.

Headland, for Julia's sake, wished to set off at once for Texford; but Miss Jane had supper prepared, and insisted on his taking some before starting. Whether or not they suspected that he would become their relation, they treated him as if he were one already, and completely won his heart.

"What dear amiable ladies your cousins are!" he observed, as he rode home with Julia. "I have never had the happiness of meeting any one like them."

"Indeed they are," said Julia; "I wish they were more appreciated at home. I have till lately been prejudiced against them. It has been an advantage for that sweet girl to have been brought up by them. Though she would have been equally lovely otherwise, yet she might not have had the charms of mind which she possesses. I am not surprised that Harry should have fallen in love with her, though I fear he will have a severe trial to go through when our father hears of his engagement."

"If she is all Harry believes her to be, I hope he may surmount that difficulty," said Headland. "Though I have no parents to obey, I feel that he would be wrong to marry against his parents' wishes."

"Then how ought I to act, should Sir Ralph refuse to allow us to marry?" asked Julia, in a voice which showed her agitation.

"I dare not advise you to disobey your father," answered Headland. "But there may come a change favourable to us.'

Neither Julia nor Headland uttered a vow or protestation; such they both felt was not required, so

perfect was the confidence they had in each other's | His father seemed struck by his appearance, and love. asked with more concern than usual if he had not slept well.

As they rode up to the house two servants, who had evidently been on the watch for them, hastened down the steps to take their horses.

Headland helped Julia to dismount, and led her into the hall. Lady Castleton hurried out of the drawing-room to meet them.

"Sir Ralph arrived this afternoon. been very anxious about you; we could stand your message. Where is Harry? happened, Captain Headland?"

We have not underWhat has Headland explained that a young Hurlston fisherman had been kidnapped by a band of smugglers; that he and Harry, indignant at the outrage, had set off in the hope of recovering him, and that while he had returned on shore, Harry had continued the chase on board the cutter.

"Harry was scarcely called upon to go through so much risk and inconvenience for the sake of a stranger," observed Lady Castleton. "His father was much disappointed at not seeing him on his arrival."

Julia pleaded that Harry had done what he thought to be right, and then went in to see her father, who was reclining on the sofa with his fingers between the pages of a book closed in his hand. He received her even more coldly than usual; he never exhibited much warmth of feeling even to her. She had again to recount what had happened, and he expressed the utmost surprise at Harry's acting in so extraordinary a manner. He did not allude to her ride home with Captain Headland, although she every moment thought he would speak of it. She excused herself for leaving him as soon as possible, on the plea that she must change her riding-habit.

When Headland at last entered the drawing-room the baronet received him with marked coldness, and made no allusion to his having been absent. The young captain could not help feeling that Sir Ralph did not regard him with a favourable eye.

Julia came down only for a few minutes before the usual hour for retiring for the night had arrived, and Headland had no opportunity of speaking to

her.

CHAPTER XXXVII.-NO NEWS OF THE CUTTER.

WHEN Sir Ralph entered the breakfast-room next morning, Headland could not help remarking the formal politeness with which he greeted him.

"Has nothing been seen of my son Harry?" he asked; "perhaps, Captain Headland, you would favour me by riding over to Hurlston, to ascertain whether the cutter in which he embarked has

turned."

"Not particularly so; my cough somewhat troubled me, but with the advantage of a few warm days I dare say I shall be soon to rights again."

The baronet's thoughts seemed to bo diverted from their former channel by his anxiety for his son. General Sampson and Mrs. Appleton did their best to make the conversation more lively than it might otherwise have become, for Lady Castleton had evidently some anxiety on her mind, and was less able than usual to act the part of the hostess.

The old gentleman had discovered that Julia and Headland were on better terms than mere acquaintanceship, or even friendship, and he had a shrewd suspicion also that Master Harry had some greater attraction at Downside than his old maiden cousins could personally offer. He was now certain that some hitch had occurred. He had already paid a longer visit than usual, but a better motive than mere curiosity prompted him to stay to see the upshot. He had a sincere regard for Harry and Julia, and was much pleased with Headland, who took his jokes in such excellent part. "I may lend the young people a helping hand, and give my friend Sir Ralph a stroke the right way," he thought.

Soon after breakfast Headland's horse was brought to the door. He saw Julia only for a moment in the hall.

"Although I have had no opportunity of speaking to my mother, she, I suspect, guesses the truth, and has thought it best at once to speak to Sir Ralph, for she dare not conceal anything from him. I would rather you had been the first to inform him of our engagement, but he evidently wished to prevent you doing so by begging you to go to Hurlston."

"I wish I could have spoken myself; but pray assure your father that I would have done so had ho given me the opportunity. As we have nothing for which to blame ourselves, we must trust that his prejudices will be overcome, and that he will not withhold you from me."

The old general entering the hall at that moment prevented Headland from saying more.

The

Mounting his horse, the captain rode on to Hurlston. He met several of the Nancy's crew. cutter had not returned, and Ned Brown again expressed his conviction that if the lugger was to be caught it would not be till after a long chase. Knowing that the ladies of Downside would be anxious to hear any news he could give, he proceeded thither. The Miss Pembertons welcomed re-him cordially. May was on the point of setting out to visit Dame Halliburt. She had from early dawn kept a look-out over the ocean, and was aware that the cutter had not returned. He was more than ever struck by her beauty and unaffected manners, though her anxiety on Harry's and Jacob's account made her paler and graver than usual. She expressed her regret at being compelled to set off at once, and Headland, therefore, did not mention Sir Ralph's arrival till she had gone.

Headland said that he should be very happy to do as Sir Ralph wished. He looked towards Julia, doubting whether he might venture to ask her to ride in the same direction.

Sir Ralph seemed to divine his thoughts, for he immediately said :

"Julia, I wish to have some conversation with you during the morning; we will afterwards, if you please, take a canter round the park."

The hint was too broad, Headland saw, to be

misunderstood.

Julia looked annoyed, but quickly recovering herself, replied:

"I will come to you, papa, whenever you wish." Algernon soon after canie in, looking pale and ill.

"I am sorry to hear of it," said Miss Jane, "for I fear that it will terminate Harry's and May's present happiness, and that the troubles and trials which I foresce are in store for them will at once begin, though I trust that they may overcome them in the end."

Captain Headland felt that the remark applied

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