can enter our ranks without being baptized with water. Our creed is the same apostolic creed as yours; our prayers are the same, including the Lord's Prayer; and our hymns are in praise of the heavenly God; while our great festival is at Christ

mas."

"I have heard all this before, and that when your chief, Hoong Lew-tseuen, first disseminated his views, he and his followers were simple and sincere. But now, after the lapse of ten years, when his armies have overrun the country and defeated the imperialists, I have been told that, under his new title of Tien-wang, he assumes divine power himself, and his followers have degenerated into bands of banditti, who plunder and kill friend and foe alike, without establishing any peace in your distracted land.”

"It is true, noble sir, that our armies have devastated the country in their progress from south to north, but that is the fate of all places where the scourge of war is introduced; as it has been where your own victorious army has defeated the Tartar forces and destroyed the palace of Heen Foong. But as your honourable chiefs have made peace with the imps through defeating them, so we expect to found our Great Peaceful Heavenly Kingdom on the ruins. of the Tartar dynasty. Ah! if your armies and ours would but combine, we could destroy their power for ever, and raise up a dynasty of Christian emperors to last for all time."

"Well! the imps, as you call the imperialists, had a very narrow escape last year in a change of dynasty. If the allied forces had driven them out of Peking, and the Government had refused to come to terms, there is no saying but what they might have recognised your chief and placed him on the throne." "It may not be too late yet, noble sir, to effect that union. Who can tell what the year may bring forth? We know through our agents that this is but a hollow peace the Tartars have made with you. There is no doubt there are some who are sincere in upholding it, but there are more among the war party, who look upon it as temporary, and bide their time to renew the struggle, and drive your armies, if they can, into the sea."

"We know these things also, but our commanders are fully prepared for them, as they are on their guard at Shanghai to drive back your troops should they threaten to invade the suburbs of that city and settlement. I must tell you plainly," I added, "that some of them are in favour of maintaining the strictest neutrality, and allow the insurrection to take its course, but the majority have as little reliance in their faith as that of the Tartar Government. Besides, they find your chiefs to be ignorant men, excepting a few who have recently joined the movement."

"There you are rightly informed, and it is for the purpose of enlisting scholars in our righteous cause that I have been sent by the Chung-wang, the commander-in-chief of our armies, to Peking on a secret mission. Our honourable friend here, Meng-kee, is favourable to our cause, and I am empowered to offer him a high post should he join us."

"That is the case," said the mandarin, " and I am so disgusted with the corruption and favouritism of these Manchoos that I am seriously thinking of going over to the Taipings, who may in the end be the rulers of China. But let us return now to the ladies' apartments, to prevent them taking too much notice of our interview."

CHAPTER XVI.-DEATH OF THE EMPEROR.

WHEN I reflected on what the Taiping emissary had said, and the inducements he held out to enlist the mandarin in the cause, I became alarmed for the safety of the father of my beloved. I knew well, from what had transpired at Canton, of the sanguinary punishments inflicted on the rebels, even if only suspected, as proved by the wholesale decapitations by the monster Yeh. Nothing of the kind had occurred in Peking, as the Government had too much on hand with foreign affairs to look after these internal matters. This in a great measure accounted for the impunity with which Cut-sing had gone about his mission.

Of course I was careful not to whisper a word at the embassy about the secrets divulged by the emissary, but thought it advisable to ask Loo A-Lee if she was not afraid that his frequent visits would cause suspicion to fall upon her father, and he might come under the wrath of the Board of Punishments.

"I am indeed, and I have told my father that it is not safe to see Cut-sing come so often to the house. He agrees with me, and that man-of whom I have an involuntary dread-has been told to make his visits less frequent, to prevent any of us getting into trouble."

This information was satisfactory in more ways than one, as I had a strong suspicion that the sinister-looking Taiping emissary cast an amorous eye on the mandarin's daughter, and that his frequent visits were on her account as much as that of the father. Be that as it may, I did not see Cut-sing at the house again, though I heard from Meng-kee that he saw him occasionally for a short time in the evening after it was dark, and that his mission was progressing favourably without creating any suspicion.

"The fact is, my honourable son, the present condition of the Government is so disjointed, that any important event may cause it to fall to pieces; and the ministers have been rendered powerless by the successes of your victorious army, and also those of the Taipings. Moreover, the emperor is known to be seriously ill at his retreat of Je-hol in the fastnesses of the Tartar mountains; and the empress, whom we supposed to be in the secret apartments of the palace here, has been in close attendance on her lord in case he succumbs to his disease.”

"This is important news, my honourable father, and may be of value to our embassy; so may I mako use of the information, without compromising you in the matter?"

"You may do so, but be careful that my name is not mentioned as your informant."

At the embassy they had heard something about the emperor's illness, but as it was officially reported in the "Peking Gazette" that he was well, they were inclined to disregard the rumours. But I heard that Mr. Bruce's Chinese secretary had an interview with Prince Kung that afternoon, who appeared in very low spirits. Wan Se-ang, the prime-minister, was also present, who wished to know from Mr. Wade if he had any recent news of the movements of the Taipings, and put the question point-blank, as to whether, in the event of their attacking the Takoo forts or Tien-tsin, we would defend those places. The secretary replied that the Taipings had no ships, and that there was no risk whatever of their coming near any place where the Allies were in military occupation. This functionary excused the dulness of

the prince, as it was probably from some domestic cause, and there was nothing politically wrong. However, this explanation was not satisfactory to the members of the legation, and on further inquiry among their Chinese agents they learned that the information about the emperor's dangerous illness

was correct.

Shortly afterwards a rumour was current that the emperor had died ten days before, and that it has been the policy of the Government on such occasions to keep the event secret until they deemed it proper to announce the fact publicly. There is one peculiar law put in force after such announcements, namely, that subjects of his deceased majesty are not allowed to marry for nine months. In view of his actual demise the matrimonial market at Peking was excessively busy concluding engagements that otherwise would not have been consummated until the following year. Great was the traffic among the match-makers, and the purveyors of wedding furnishings raised their prices in consequence of the demand for their wares and services. The number of marriage processions seen in the streets quadrupled from what I had seen in ordinary times. Some of these were on a much grander scale than usual-camels were introduced into them, with the bridal chair, covered with gorgeous trappings, on the back, like the howdah on the elephant in India. Altogether the anxiety to get out of the state of single blessedness seemed to be the great characteristic of the day among the young Pekingese.

This uncertain state of affairs continued for more than a fortnight, and the people were "marrying and giving in marriage" until they ceased altogether. Then the official announcement of the emperor's death arrived from Je-hol. At the same time a decree was published, proclaiming his eldest son, a boy between six and seven years of age, as his successor, with a council of eight ministers to assist him in carrying on the government-in fact, leaving him a mere puppet in the hands of the council, which consisted of those who had shown the greatest aversion to foreign intercourse, while all the best statesmen friendly to foreigners, including Prince Kung, were carefully excluded.

This event created great consternation among all classes of the Pekingese, and caused considerable anxiety to the members of the foreign legations. It was evident to every one that a serious crisis in the government of the empire was at hand; I therefore lost no time in calling upon the mandarin.

He was alone in his library, busy with his duties in connection with the State ceremonies to be arranged on the occasion of the Court going into mourning, and making preparations for the funeral of the deceased emperor. There was a careworn expression on his face, and this appearance was heightened by the change in his apparel, which was blue and white, without any ornamental work, according to the rules laid down in the Book of Rites, when the people mourn for a dead monarch.

How will this event affect you?" I inquired, "Very seriously, my son," replied Meng-kee. "As you are aware, the members of this new council of State are inimical to foreigners, and should they hold supreme control over the various Boards, they will remove from office every one whom they suspect to be friendly to your countrymen here. Now I am not only suspected of this, but there are spies about

after salutations were over.

our offices who would denounce me as a Taiping for the sake of obtaining promotion. Seeing that there is trouble in store for me, I must be very circumspect in my conduct, even towards you. To-morrow all relations between the Government and the embassies will be suspended for twenty days, during which there must be no intercourse between us. You will therefore, my son, have to postpone your visits for that period, so that I may not get into further trouble." It was a sad parting with Loo A-Lee. Tears glistened in her eyes, and she sobbed at the thought of our future, though she almost recovered her composure before I left, and promised to write to me by a faithful messenger should anything important happen.

In the streets preparations were being made everywhere for the public mourning at the emperor's death, which was to continue for a hundred days. The shopkeepers were taking down all the red ornaments on their shop-fronts, and were hanging up strips of white and blue calico, or silk if the proprietors could afford it. All the richly-gilded signboards which hung outside the doors were also taken down, and a modest white sign substituted. Unusual activity prevailed, likewise, amongst the barbers, every person having his head shaved for the last time for three months, during which the hair is allowed to grow, as a token of mourning for the monarch.

On reaching the embassy I saw the British standard hoisted half-mast high, and I learned that Mr. Bruce, the minister, had received a despatch from Prince Kung containing an official notification of his brother the emperor's death. The letter and envelope were in Chinese mourning, namely, white, the latter having a light pink stripe round it, and its contents, when translated, were to the following effect:

"The prince with all solemnity informs the British minister that, on the 17th of the present month (22nd August), his majesty the emperor departed on the great journey, ascending on the dragon to be a guest on high; and that nearly related as his royal highness is to the emperor, his grief is greater than words can express. Also, that occupied as he will be by the numerous and important obsequial rites the performance of which he has to superintend, he will necessarily be compelled to postpone for twenty days the discussion of matters relating to foreign affairs, which otherwise it would be his duty to attend to."

Thus closed the mortal career of Hien Foong, Emperor of China, whose reign was one of turbulence and disaster, of internecine strife and foreign

wars.

NOTES ON BOOKS.

11.

BY JOHN TIMBS.

SALE OF THE VALDARFER BOCCACCIO.

THE Roxburghe Club claims its foundation from the sale of the library of John Duke of Roxburghe, in 1812. The sale lasted forty-two days-we abridge the story from the Rev. T. F. Dibdin--and among the many curiosities was a copy of Boccaccio, published at Venice in 1471, the only perfect copy of this edition. Among the distinguished company who attended the sale were the Duke of Devonshire, Earl Spencer, and the Duke of Marlborough,

search for Lilliput." It is obvious how much all this must have amused the dean and his friends in connection with the unexampled sale of the volume: the price of the first edition was raised before the second could be printed. As a poetical humorist Swift stands almost alone: all his verses exemplify his own definition of a good style--they consist of proper words in proper places.

GRAY'S "ELEGY."

The scene of Gray's beautiful "Elegy on a Country Churchyard" has been much controverted, but it is settled by the following statement in vol. iii., page 49, of the edition of Gray's Poems by Mason, published in 1778, viz., "That being on a visit to his relations at Stoke, he (Gray) wrote that beautiful little ode which stands first in his collection of poems. He sent it as soon as written to his beloved friend Mr. West, but he was dead before it reached Hertfordshire." To which is added: "This singular anecdote is founded on a marginal note in his commonplace-book, where the ode is transcribed, and the following memorandum annexed: "Written at Stoke the beginning of June, 1742, and sent to Mr. West, not knowing he was dead!"

Rogers thought the stanza which Gray threw out of his Elegy better than some of the stanzas he retained. Here it is, and most persons will agree with Rogers:

"There scattered oft, the earliest of the year,

By hands unseen, are showers of violets found;
The redbreast loves to build and warble there,
And little footsteps lightly print the ground."

LETTER-WRITERS.

In all the great English letter-writers of the last century, with the exception of Cowper, it is easy to trace the wish to excel. They wrote a letter to do them credit, and to keep up their reputation. Horace Walpole knew that no one would light a candle with one of those careful productions of epigrammatic malice which he delighted to scatter around him. Gray wrote his letters as he wrote his poems, and they seem as if they had been put by for the nine years recommended by Horace, and then laboriously filed into their requisite polish. Voltaire writes as naturally, though not perhaps as simply, as Cowper did. There is an air of lettered elegance about his correspondence, the style is always light, the subject handled with the art of a man who has learnt not to say too much; but all seems to flow spontaneously from his pen. These letters are not like letters of

the present day, because they were written in a different state of society, but it probably cost any one habituated to the society of Paris a hundred years ago no trouble whatever to hit off the happy turns and the little prettinesses with which these letters abound. This is the opinion of the "Saturday Review" about Voltaire's letters, and strangely inconsistent it seems; the latter part of the statement, as to the artificial prettinesses disproving the alleged naturalness of the style.

PRINTING AND SALE OF SERMONS.

The following anecdote is interesting as well as serviceable in showing how apt to run into miscalculation are persons who found their estimate of the chances of publishing upon the patronage of a circle rather than upon the interest of the circumstances to the public.

A poor vicar, in a remote diocese, had, on some popular occasion, preached a sermon so acceptable to his parishioners, that they entreated him to print it, and he undertook a journey to London for that purpose. On his arrival in town he was recommended to Mr. Rivington, to whom he enthusiastically related the object of his journey. The printer agreed to his proposals, and required to know how many copies of the sermon he would have "struck off." The reply was, "Why, sir, I have calculated that there are in the kingdom ten thousand parishes, and that the majority of the parishes will at least take one, and others more, so that I think we may venture to print about 35,000 or 36,000 copies. The publisher remonstrated, the author insisted, and the matter was decided, and the latter returned home in high spirits. With much difficulty and great selfdenial a period of about two months was suffered to elapse, when his golden venture so tormented his imagination that he could endure it no longer; so he wrote to Mr. Rivington, desiring him to send him the debtor and creditor account, most liberally permitting the remittances to be forwarded at Mr. Rivington's convenience. Judge of the astonishment, tribulation, and anguish excited by the receipt of the following account :"The Rev. Dr. to C. Rivington. To printing and paper, 35,000 copies of Sermon.

Cr.

£785 5 6

By sale of 17 copies of the said Sermon 1 5 6 Balance due to C. Rivington £784 0 0" The publisher, however, in a day or two sent a letter to the following purport:

"Reverend Sir, I beg pardon for innocently amusing myself at your expense, but you need not give yourself any uneasiness. I know better than you could do the extent of the sale of single sermons, and accordingly have printed but 100 copies, to the expense of which you are heartily welcome."

There is in Miss Hawkins's "Countess and Gertrude a similar story of a young lady having written a novel and placed the manuscript in the hands of a printer without inquiring as to the expense of printing it; nor did she ascertain the extent of her liability until the cost incurred was somewhat considerable, and the printing was not completed.

DAMBERGER'S TRAVELS-EXPEDITIOUS PRINTING. The Travels of Damberger through Africa, which consisted of 528 pages in octavo, with three coloured engravings and a large map, was received in London from Germany on a Wednesday morning, and translated from German into English, and 1,500 copies printed, with the coloured engravings and the map of the route, on Saturday morning, the whole being sold and delivered before nine o'clock that evening. The circumstances were these. The announcement of the work had excited great interest in Germany, and Professor Bottiger, of Weimar, had recommended the work to a London bookseller, and had undertaken to transmit an early copy for a certain premium to the German publisher; but the book, though advertised, by some accident did not arrive in time; and in the interim three London booksellers associated to bring out another translation from a copy which had reached them. The first bookseller, therefore, to secure the market, employed

his translators, and himself revised the press; while he employed his engravers on the copperplate; and in the printing-office, sixteen compositors and ten presses, by working night and day, completed the whole in fifty-six hours. On the Wednesday following, the publisher received from Professor Bottiger notice that the work was discovered to be a forgery, a fact which was instantly communicated to the newspapers. But meanwhile a cheap edition had been prepared by a piratical bookseller from the translation published on the previous Saturday. It turned out that Damberger was a journeyman printer at Leipsic, who, as a soldier at the Cape of Good Hope, had seen enough of Africa to confer plausibility on the story of the Travels. The book obtained only a month's currency at Leipsic, but in that time it was translated into most European languages.

SMITH'S "WEALTH OF NATIONS."

Charles Butler, when spending the day with Mr. Fox, at St. Anne's Hill, mentioned that he had never read Adam Smith's celebrated work on the "Wealth of Nations." "To tell you the truth," said Mr. Fox, "nor I either. There is something in all these subjects which passes my comprehension, something so wide that I could never embrace them myself, nor find any one who did."

The stamp-duty on receipts was first introduced during the short reign of the Administration of " All the Talents." Fox was at this time in pecuniary difficulties, which led Sheridan to write :

"I would," says Fox, "a tax devise
That should not fall on me."
"Then tax receipts," Lord North replies,
"For those you never see."

BLAIR'S SERMONS.

Notwithstanding Dr. Hugh Blair's popularity as a preacher, he had nearly reached his sixtieth year before he could be induced to publish a volume of his Sermons. At length he transmitted the manuscript to Mr. Strahan, the king's printer, who, after keeping it for some time, wrote a letter to Dr. Blair, discouraging the publication. Such, at first, was the unpropitious state of one of the most successful theological books that has ever appeared. Mr. Strahan, however, had sent one of the sermons to Dr. Johnson for his opinion, and after his unfavourable letter to Dr. Blair had been sent off, he received from Johnson, on Christmas Eve, 1776, a note in which was the following paragraph: "I have read over Dr. Blair's first sermon with more than approbation; to say it is good is to say too little." Mr. Strahan had, very soon after this time, a conversation with Dr. Johnson concerning the Sermons; and then he very candidly wrote again to Dr. Blair, inclosing Johnson's note, and agreeing to purchase the volume, for which he and Mr. Cadell gave one hundred pounds. The sale was so rapid and extensive, and the public approbation so high, that the proprietors presented Dr. Blair with fifty pounds, and then with fifty more, thus voluntarily doubling the stipulated price. For the second volume they gave him at once three hundred pounds, and for the others he had six hundred pounds each. A fifth volume was prepared by him for the press, after he had completed his eighty-second year, and published

after his death.

Varieties.

LOTION FOR SWEETENING THE FEET.-Permanganate of washed twice a day with the lotion. They are then to be carepotash fifteen parts, distilled water 1,000 parts. The feet to be fully dried, and powdered either with potato-starch or lycopo dium.-Union Médicale.

LIBEL.-Mr. Justice Blackburn, in summing up a recent case of action for libel, against the "Times" for a letter which it had published, said, "The question of what is a libel is a mixed one of law and fact, and it cannot be better defined than in the particular words which have always been considered to be the best: A publication, without justification or lawful excuse, calculated to injure the reputation of another by exposing him to hatred, contempt, or ridicule. That is as nearly an accurate definition of a libel as can well be. When there is a lawful been a libel, which we usually call a privileged communication, excuse for writing and publishing what would otherwise have it ceases to be a libel altogether. In the present case there is nothing of that sort. It is a libel, and you have to consider what damages should be given. When libellous matter has been published, and you repeat it and put it in circulation, that repetition is none the less a libel. It is, perhaps, not so bad as originating a libel, but it is giving greater circulation to it. It is, to take a commercial metaphor, not only putting in circulation and passing the libel, but it is also endorsing it so as to give to it the credit of the person so endorsing it. It aggravates the libel, of course, and may give occasion for more damages."

FATHERHOOD OF GOD.-Men dream of their being God's children irrespectively of any new divine birth, being "born of God!" Paul, at Athens, quoted a Greek poet as saying, "We are all his offspring-from him we have our origin, and in him we live, and move, and have our being. Simply as his dependent offspring, we may think that we are entitled to be called his children, and to call him Father. We may speak of God's love in creating and caring for us-his calling us, in that aspect of our relation to him, children-as fatherly love. It is not, however, really so in any valid Scriptural sense. At any rate it is not "the manner of love" which St. John thinks it so amazing a wonder that the Father should have "bestowed upon us in our being called children of God:" divinely born children, deriving from a divine birth a divine nature; children of God, as born of God; children by spiritual regeneration, not merely by creation and natural relation.-Dr. Candlish.

A NEW YORK RAILROAD SIGNAL OFFICE. -The signal office is a little room at the northern entrance of the depôt, about 30ft. above the pavement. It is reached by a narrow passage-way from the west side, and when you get into it you see a sight which made Jones go into an unmistakable surprise. Looking down the depôt there was a space of more than 600ft. extent by 200ft. breadth, covered with an iron roof and lighted from the top. Trains of cars were coming and going incessantly, but no confusion was perceptible, and everything, as my friend said, "went on like clockwork." There are two operators in service here, relieving each other during a tour of duty which extends from 5 a.m. to 11 at night, their motions being regulated by a large and costly clock. The gentleman in charge received us very politely, but before we had hardly thanked him we heard the sharp and rapid ring of a bell overhead. It was marked "Ninety-sixth to Seventy-fifth street." "You see," said the operator, "there is a train coming in, and it wants to know if we are ready for it." "But how does it ring that "By electricity," was the reply. "This is Hall's patent, which works like a charm." In a few minutes another bell rang. It was marked "Sixty-first to Fifty-sixth street. "The train now reports itself again," said the operator, "and this renews notice either to prepare for it or to signal it to stop." He touched a telegraphic machine, and then said, "This throws up the signal to come in," and sure enough in a few minutes the train arrived. One hundred and forty trains arrive and depart in a day, including the Central Hudson, the Harlem, and the New Haven Roads, and hence the signal service is one of incessant activity. The operator then informed us that each road has four starting-bells of different keys, all of which were rung by him by means of electricity. Three started passenger trains and one ordered out which has just come in. The passengers are gone, and I want the cars as soon as emptied. "You see," said he, "this train to know if the baggage is taken out." He touched a stop and rang a bell (as he said) 600ft. distant. In a moment a bell

bell?" said Jones. 66