and the other two each ten feet, though you still have eighty feet of wall to build, each floor will only contain 300 square feet. Let your mortar be made with hair, good silver-sand, and the best lime; unless you specially insist on this you will get a mixture of lime and mud. The roof of a stone house should be covered with slate, and let there be easy access to it from the inside, in order to shovel off snow, clear out the pipes, etc. The rain-water from the roof should run into a tank for garden purposes; do not let any of it get into your fresh-water cistern. Let all your beams be of well-seasoned oak, it is false economy to use anything else. Let the walls of your (stone) house be lined with brick, it will keep it much dryer and warmer, and be more convenient for many things, as fastening up picture rods, putting up cupboards, etc. Let all perpendicular beams and posts be placed the wrong way up, ie., let the end at which, when they were trees, the roots grew, be the upper end when the post or beam is embedded in the ground, this will in a great measure prevent its rotting, and in all cases it will be thus less inflammable. When a perpendicular beam rests on the centre of a horizontal one, which is only supported at the ends, the horizontal beam would not be weakened by cutting a place to let in the other, but four stops should be screwed on its surface to make a place in which to fit the perpendicular. I close with a few hints:-1st. Let your stone be cut into the required shape at the quarry, otherwise you have to pay for the carting of much that is afterwards thrown away as refuse. 2nd. Do not allow beams to be fastened with iron nails or bolts; use old oak pegs instead; the iron rusts the wood and is not safe in frosty weather. 3rd. The foundation walls should be built on a firm bottom of concrete; and let all your cellar doorways be good arches-they will be better able to support the weight above than square ones. 4th. Never use cement where hair mortar will answer the purpose; good mortar is the very best thing of its kind. 5th. Let all your drains be of socket-pipes, i.e., pipes that fit one another, and take care that you always have curved pipes for the corners. I have heard of workmen, to save the trouble of getting a curved one, laying a straight one across, with of course a leak at each joint. 6th. Let all cellars be well drained; people usually think cellars can drain themselves. 7th. A circuit of drain pipes round the house about eighteen inches from the walls and three or four feet below the surface will materially assist in keeping the walls dry, but should not of course be used as a water drain. 8th. Have no drains under the house unless you are fond of fever.

DECORATION DAY.-Saturday, the 30th of May, is observed in all parts of the United States in memory of the soldiers who fell during the late war. The day has become a legal holiday, the banks and exchanges being closed, and the custom-house only open till 10 A. M. for clearance of vessels. In New York and the neighbouring cities the floral offerings, processions, and other features of the occasion, were this year upon a very grand scale, and witnessed by vast crowds. The decorating of soldiers' graves was carried out with such a display of flowers and plants as has probably never before been witnessed upon this memorial day. At Union Square there was a large gathering at early morning. The granite base which surrounds the statue of Lincoln was a maze of flowering plants in pots. Woven in the evergreen surface in white flowers on the north side was the motto, "Charity to all." At 10 A.M. a procession, headed by four divisions of the army, marched down Broadway to South Ferry, and took special cars for the Cypress Hills Cemetery. Here a speech was made by General Joseph C. Jackson, and two or three large blooming plants were set on each soldier's grave. The graves here number 3,000, of which 400 are tenanted by the remains of Confederate soldiers, but all alike were decorated on this occasion. The services at Greenwood Cemetery were unusually impressive, and the decoration upon the largest scale. The ceremonies were witnessed by at least ten thousand persons. -New York Observer.

test.

ANTI-PAPAL PROTEST FROM CAMBRIDGE.-The Act of Supremacy, under Henry VIII, however it may be objected to for its Erastian tone, giving overdue authority to the Civil power in the Church, was in its origin a truly anti-papal proOn the 23rd of October, 1585, the University of Cambridge made a public declaration, of which the following is an extract, translated from the original Latin :-"We do affirm, and we do openly declare, and we will declare, and we will diligently strive that others shall declare, that the Roman Papacy has not been ordained and appointed by God in the Holy Scriptures; and we will not take part with any mortal men whatever, privately or publicly, or will we consent that the Roman Pontiff may have or exercise here any longer any authority or jurisdiction, or hereafter may be restored to the same; and we

knowingly and publicly will assert, that the modern Roman Bishop himself, or any successor whoever, in that bishopric, is not the Pope, is not the supreme Pontiff, is not the universal Bishop, nor the most holy Lord, but only the Bishop of Rome or Pontiff (as was the custom in primitive times). And we ourselves, with all our power, knowledge, and ability, will firmly guard both the laws and statutes of this kingdom for the extirpation and removal of the Papacy, and of the authority and jurisdiction of the said Bishop of Rome, whensoever pub lished or enacted, or to be published, or to be enacted; and we will take care and cause as far as it may be in our power, that they be so guarded by others. Nor hereafter will we appeal to the said Bishop of Rome, nor will we consent to any one making appeal, nor in his court will we plead for right and justice, nor reply to any pleadings, nor in that court will we sustain the character of the accuser or the accused. And whatever notice the said Bishop by his messengers or by letter convey to us, of whatever nature it may be, as quickly as we conveniently can, we will communicate, or cause it to be communicated, to your Royal Majesty or your Secretaries of State, or to your successors, or their Secretaries of State. And we will neither send nor cause to be sent letters or messengers to the same Bishop of Rome or to his court, unless with the knowledge and consent of your Majesty, that the said letters or messengers may be conveyed to him. We will not obtain any Bulls, Briefs, or Rescripts whatsoever for ourselves or for others from the Bishop of Rome or from his court, nor that such may be obtained by any one, will we advise. And if such instruments, general or particular, shall be obtained for us in our ignorance and without our knowledge, or shall be granted in any way whatever, we will repudiate them and will not consent to them, nor will we use them in any manner, but we will as speedily as possible take care that the bearers of them shall give them up to your Majesty or to your successors."

HOPS.-There is always something wrong with the hops. When the smut, or the fly, the flea, and the other entomological plagues that assail it have for the time ceased their ravages, another pest is sure to turn up, or a new atmospherical difficulty to arise which will diminish the yield of the plant. It is only right, however, to point out that the result of the hop season is seldom, if ever, quite so bad as the vivid fancy of local reporters paints it. The brewer generally manages to have an ample choice of fair samples from Kent and Worcestershire, how much soever the factors may lament that the hops in their par ticular neighbourhood lack "that beautiful aroma for which, combined with their exquisite bitter, they are so highly prized." The convincing proof that, taking season by season, hops cannot be very unprofitable to the grower, is that, no matter what the season may apparently yield, it is quite worth his while to continue the cultivation. Formerly, when the home market the shorter the crop the dearer the market, and so much the was entirely his own, he did not need to care so much, since more did he get for what he had succeeded in harvesting. now all the continent and the United States send us hops, and prices are fairly equalised, so that the grower can never look for extravagant returns. Yet he cultivates the plant as much as ever, and seems to thrive on the process. We are prepared to find that, despite fleas and mould and red rust, and all the other ills to which hops are heir, the brewer will get whatever he wants, and the popular beverage will not be a whit deficient in aroma and pungency.-Daily Telegraph.

But

DOG FIGHTS AND PIGEON MATCHES.-The affair of the "Dwarf and dog fight" at Hanley made a great sensation at clearly ascertained. the time, and the truth or falsehood of the story has never been But there is nothing incredible in the report; nor was there any just ground for making the incident a text for moralising on the degraded condition of the people of the district where it occurred. In every large town there will be found many to take delight in brutal sports and spectacles. More than this, we believe if such an "event" were advertised in London, thousands would flock to witness it. Thousands do flock to witness sports of a still more cruel and degrading kind. The pigeon-shooting matches at Hurlingham and elsewhere are really more discreditable than the Hanley dog fight. In that case both of the brutes were able to take care of themselves, and had a fair chance in the encounter. But at a pigeon match, the poor, trembling, helpless birds are cruelly mangled for the lust of gain, or the love of excitement; and the scene is patronised by others besides professional blacklegs and betting men. An American paper, after quoting the report of a meeting at Hurlingham, and the names of "officers and gentlemen and others present, refrained from comment, except these words, "We can only read and wonder,'

Some one after awhile began to talk-it must have been Jock, who was foremost in all mischiefabout going out to sow hempseed or to wind a clew in the kiln; and even asked if none of the lassies would venture out as far as a stone's cast on the moor, where it chanced that three lairds' lands-two of them were but small lairds, the third was Gavin's own landlord-met at a burn-they called it the Mossy water-to dip her sark sleeve. You ken that's an old Hallowe'en custom, Mr. Matthew, and I have known some bold enough to practise it. One woman I knew lang syne, would threep (insist) to her dying day, that as she was lying awake that night watching the sark that was drying before the fire, the likeness of her future gudeman came and turned it; but he was stopping in the house at the time, and maybe it was just himsell. However, she aye said it wasna, and got angry if anybody contradicted her. None of us lassies were brave enough to venture, and muckle laughing the lads raised about our cowardice, and none was louder than Tam Walkinshaw, a soft, turnip-headed fallow, who, everybody kent, was frightened for his own shadow. Gavin Johnstone was sitting in the bunker by the fireside and listening to what was going on, whiles putting in a word and a joke. He kent Tam well.

"You wouldna like a handfu' o' hempseed yoursell to saw, would ye, Tam?" says the old man pawkily (slyly) to him, to our great diversion: "if you would like to ken your fortune, I'm sure you're welcome to it."

It was a sight to see the change that came over Tam's face when Gavin spoke: he shrank back like a snail into its shell when you touch it, and his very lips turned blae.

"Me!" said he, stammering: he had aye a kind of hesitation in his speech, but now his words gurgled out as thick as the barm from a beer bottle in warm weather. "Me! I-I would hae nae objections, only-only ye see"

66

Hoots, man! you're surely no frichted for Jenny -you that were sae ready to laugh at others a minute since?" says Jock Elliot, winking to his neighbours.

"I'm-I'm no frichted," says Tam, shaking, however, in every limb of him; "but-but, you see, I'm no clear a'thegither in my conscience about it. The minister says that thae customs are heathenish and an opening to the enemy; and queer things have happened on Hallowe'en, if a' tales be true. I-I mind hearing tell of a lass that went to the barn by hersell to weigh three weights o' naething. She set both the doors wide open, as suld be I am tell'd, and to the weights she ga'ed; but just as she was at the wark, what does she see in the moonlicht but her ain coffin moving between the doors instead of the likeness of a gudeman! and as sure's death she was in her coffin before the same time next year." We all grewed at this story, and most of us lassies couldna help casting timorsome looks behind us-for you see Haughead was thought an unchancy place-but that unbelieving fellow Jock wasna to be daunted by such a narration.

"Toots, man!" he said, "that was just a woman's fancy, and you may be sure she was ower frichted to ken what she saw. But a bauld stout-hearted chield like you now might stay a whole night in the barn, and no a thing daur to steer you. I'll wad you a a plack (wager for a small sum) if you like to venture."

"I'll-I'll hae nothing to do wi't," says Tam, positively, and drawing back into the corner where he was sitting; "it's clean against my conscience, I tell ye; but since you're sae venturesome, neebor, what for do you no try it' yoursell?"

This seemed turning the laugh upon Jock, but, my certy! he was of a different nature from Tam. "Me!" says he, starting up, "gie's the key, and you'll soon see whether I'm frichted for either ghaist or goblin."

"You're no serious, Jock?" says Gavin Johnstone, laughing.

"But I am," says Jock, "I never tried the freit, and now I'm determined to do't."

"Weel then," says the farmer, "you'll get the key hanging on the pin behint the door there, and be sure you lock the barn when you leave it." "Oh, dinna gang, dinna gang,' " cried most of the lassies, and especially little Katie Gourlay, who, we all thought, had a more than common kindness for Jock, and who had turned as red as a rose that night when we had burnt them together at the nuts : "Oh, dinna gang, Jock, or you'll maybe hae cause to rue it."

But Jock just laughed at them, and went for the key, while we lassies sat astonished at his daring; but when he looked behind the door, as the old man had tell'd him, the key was away.

Somebody aun hae taken it," says Gavin, "for I hung it there wi' my ain hands this very afternoon. Is ony ane out?"

We all looked round to see who had been so venturesome, and who did we miss but Bell! Nobody had seen her leave the kitchen, but doubtless she had taken the opportunity of slipping away when we were all busy with our cracks and games.

"Sirs! what's taken the foolish lassie out on sic an errand?" said her mother, anxiously. And we all looked on one another strangely, but none of us spoke. If it had been any other than Bell, I think nobody would have minded much; but her that was now so quiet and pensy to try such a wild kind o' freit seemed to strike us all as something no canny--as if the lassie was fey and no long for this world. Besides, Mr. Matthew, there were many folk even then-and no to say strict religious professors either --who thought it sinful to try such spells, and likely to bring down a judgment on them that used them.

"The lassie's no strong," said Gavin, gravely, rising to leave the house; "and I maun see that she doesna get a fright."

But just as he spoke there came a wild skreigh from the direction of the barn that made us all jump up from our seats and the hair stand on our head. There wasna a word said, but Bell's two brothers dashed to the door, and we after them, pell-mell, as fast as we could drive. The mother was wringing her hands and greeting, but the old man seemed as if he was stricken by the dead palsy, for he sank down in his seat and could neither move nor speak.

Well, out we got into the farmyard like a flock o' frightened sheep following their leaders, and keeping close together for mutual protection, when what should we see in the starlight but a man coming staggering across the yard from the barn carrying somebody in his arms! It was ower dark to see what he was, and we all stood still for a minute glowering at him, most of us feeling muckle inclined to run back into the house, and expecting, I'se warrant, to see some terrible sight.

"Make way!" cries the man, in a loud commanding voice, as we were all gathered about the door. And somehow we did make way, and on he came among us, and who was in his arms but Bell! Her head was hanging ower his arm like a broken lily, and she was evidently in a kind of dwam (faint). He passed through us all, looking neither to right nor left, and even her very brothers hadna a word to say to him, for his manner was like that of a man beside himself; and straight into the kitchen he went, where the light of the blazing fire fell on him, and we saw then that he was a sodger, for he was drest in regimentals. He took no notice of anybody, but down he knelt on one knee on the floor, with her resting against the other, and his arms about her, and looked into her face. We couldna see his, for his back was to us; and there we all stood behind them, staring and gaping like a set o' haverels overcome with surprise. No one moved to help Bell, not even her own friends; but they just glowered like the rest to see a stranger taking on as he did. I canna tell what had come over us, especially over her brothers, who had plenty of smeddum (spirit) in them for ordinary; but I reckon they were just dumbfoundert like others, and maybe thought there was something no canny in what they saw, considering what Bell had been about in the barn.

"I have killed her," said the stranger, in such a desperate voice. But the sound o't seemed to reach Bell's ears even though she was in a trance, for she gave a deep sigh and suddenly opened her een-I could see her face, though no his, from where I wasand fixed them on his face with such a look, I will never forget it; and her lips moved, but no sound came from them. And then, as if her strength had returned to her all at once, she raised herself up, and forgetting all about the onlookers, she flung her arms about his neck, and laying her head on his bosom, she sobbit and grat as if her very heart would burst. Truly it was a moving sight to look at the pair, for he still kept his arms about her, and 'deed it seemed to me that he was greeting himsell. We all looked at one another wonderingly, and then at her friends, but they appeared as little able to account for what they saw as ourselves. However, her two brothers now made a start forward as if they would have taken Bell away from the man. But just at this moment a queer thing happened.

There was a poor natural (idiot) that lived with the family. A quiet, inoffensive thing she was, poor creature! Her name was Jean Gibson; her friends were ill off, and hadna been very kind to her; so Jean, from making a howff at times of the farm, and helping with the tattie (potato) lifting and such like jobs, came to this at last, that she wouldna leave it. She would only work when it pleased herself; but her bit meat and claes didna cost muckle. The Johnstones were very good to her, and from less to more she had been about ten years in the house. She had been crouching all night, as was her custom, in a corner of the kitchen, watching the fun that was going on, and munching the apples that the mistress had given her. But now, all at once, just as what I have described was taking place, up she starts out o' the neuk, and with a loud guffaw of a laugh-she was an extraordinary laugher, Jean-she claps both her hands on the sodger's shoulders.

"Walcome hame, Allan Dempster, she says; "wha was to think o' seeing you at our Hallowe'en!"

"Allan Dempster!" cried the old man, making a start out of his seat as he heard the name. "Allan Dempster!" cried the mistress, and she ran forward. "Allan Dempster! cried we all; and there was instantly a crowding round him, and a hand-shaking, and a roaring of welcome that must have been about as deafening to him as the Frenchies' guns. And in the midst o' it all Bell disappeared from the kitchen; but her mother had now got her een opened, and soon followed her. And where did she find the poor trembling lassie but on her knees in her own wee room returning thanks to God! very

And it was truly Allan Dempster himsell brown with the sun and with the exposure to wind and weet that-wae's me!-he had gone through in foreign parts; but brawer and more manly-like than ever, for he had gotten the commanding look of a sodger. And they had made him a sergeant already on account of his bravery and good education-for Allan was a grand reader and writer and counter when at the school. But they used aye to say that Scotch lads were sure to get on on account of their learning if they were steady and could keep from the drink. But to think that nobody knew him at first but Bell and Jean, and him only three years away! However, we never had seen him in regimentals or with moustachers before, nor had we a good look at his face; and who, as Jean said, was expecting to see him then? Hech, sirs! you'll maybe think me an old soft-headed fool, Mr. Matthew, but I canna help the tears from happing down my cheeks yet, when I call it to mind.

It wasna long till Gavin got the punch-bowl filled in honour of Allan, and we were all gathered round the fire, and him in the midst of us. And then such a questioning he had to go through! for we were all keen to hear about the fighting and the wonders of other lands. Bell didna make one of us, though; she wouldna come back again. I trow she felt shame both to face us and Allan Dempster. To be sure, there was a wonderful enlightenment in all our minds that night on the cause of her long dwining; and 'deed none seemed more astonished than her own family, to judge by the looks they cast at one another. But they were very kind and cordial in their manner to Allan, who, though at first somewhat blate and confused like, was soon his old self, and cracking away like anything-no that his thoughts didna sometimes wander and his ee travel gey often to the door; but all his wishing couldna bring back Bell again among us.

He told us that after his regiment was landed he had got leave of absence, and that he had only reached home that day. He stayed with his father till dark, and after hearing all the country news from him he had come up to the Haughead; but seeing such a company o' folk there he hadna liked to come in. The truer story, I reckon, was that he wanted to see Bell alone at first, and was watching outside for an opportunity. No doubt he must have learned from his father that there had been no truth in the story of her marriage, and also about the change that had come over her soon after he left the country; and putting one thing to another, maybe he began to suspect the cause of it. Of course it was his face I had seen at the window; and when it was put to him by Jock Elliot, he confessed, though no very readily, that seeing Bell go to the barn by herself, and guessing her errand on a Hallowe'en night, he