CURIOUS CUSTOM AT A CITY CHURCH.--The following extract from the last will and testament of Peter Symondes, mercer, dated April 24th, 1586, refers to a curious custom still observed on Good Friday at All Hallows Church, Lombard Street:--"The parson and churchwardens shall every year, upon the same Good Fryday, divide the same raisons into threescore parts in papers, and when the children of Christ's Hospital shall come upon Good Fryday as aforesaid, then the said parson and churchwardens shall give unto every child a part of that so appointed; and although this gift may be thought very frivolous, yet, my mind and meaning being hidden, may, notwithstanding, be performed, praying G.o.d to make all those children happy members of this Commonwealth. Amen." Under directions in the same will, each of the sixty boys also receives a new penny. An Easter card is also given by the churchwardens from the parish funds.

THE EARWIG.--The old-fashioned idea of the much-dreaded earwig is little more than a fallacy. The original English word "ear" signified an undeveloped flower-bud, especially among corn, and "wic" commonly stood for a hiding-place; so that familiar insect (formerly written "ear-wig"), through seeking its favourite dwelling beneath the closely-shielded bud "ears," has been universally accredited with propensities so deadly injurious to mankind of which it naturally stands wholly innocent. In this manner popular superst.i.tion has often thrown a mantle of evil and dread upon surrounding objects, harmless in themselves; and so long as the vulgar lend credence to ill-founded traditions without inst.i.tuting intelligent inquiry, so long must such discrepancies continue to hold sway over the public mind.

SHEEP-SHEARING BY MACHINERY.--A public trial of Mr. P. W. Wolseley's "Patent Sheep-Shearing Machine" was recently made in the presence of a number of gentlemen interested in sheep-breeding and wool-growing. The result--says _The Australasian_--was a complete success. The first test was upon a crossbred sheep with an average fleece. The animal was closely shorn in four and a half minutes. The second animal was shorn in the ordinary way, and then operated upon by the machine, with the result that, in addition to the cut of the old-fashioned shears, nine and a half ounces of wool were obtained. It is claimed for the invention that it works faster than hand labour, leaves no second cut, does not injure the skin in the slightest degree, and can be so regulated that the fleece can be removed of any length desired.

A MONSTER TROUT.--A monster trout was captured the last week in July in the river Itchen, at Winchester, weighing 16 lbs. 2 ozs., and measuring 32 inches in length and 21 inches in circ.u.mference. The bait was a live minnow, and he was not landed till two hours after he was hooked. He had haunted the stream for years, was almost as well known in the city as Queen Anne's statue in the High Street, and had acquired quite a reputation for the number of rods he had broken, and the quant.i.ty of fishing tackle he had carried away. His captor was a labourer named Turpin, who disposed of him for 1 to a fishmonger, on whose slab it attracted almost as many visitors as a monarch lying in state. He was in splendid condition, and has now gone into the hands of a taxidermist for preservation.

A RATHER curious episode in natural history occurred the other day on board the French steamboat _Abd-el-Kader_, during the pa.s.sage from Ma.r.s.eilles to Algiers. Just as the vessel was about two hours out, the skies became quite black with swallows. It was then about six o'clock in the evening. The birds alighted in thousands on the sails, ropes, and yards of the _Abd-el-Kader_. After a perky survey of the deck from their eminences aloft, they descended coolly on deck, hopped about among the sailors and pa.s.sengers, and eventually found their way into the cabins, both fore and aft. The birds were evidently fatigued, after a long flight, and allowed themselves to be caught by the people of the ship, who gave them a welcome reception, and provided them with food, which they enjoyed heartily. The little winged strangers remained all night on the vessel, and in the morning, at seven o'clock, the head look-out bird had, no doubt, sighted the Balearic Isles, for the whole flock made for land, after having spent a comfortable and refreshing night on board ship.

FACTS ABOUT LONDON.--London is the greatest city the world ever saw. It has an influence with all parts of the world, represented by the yearly delivery in its postal districts of 295 millions of letters; it covers within the fifteen miles' radius of Charing Cross nearly 700 square miles; it numbers within these boundaries four million two hundred thousand of inhabitants; it contains more country-born persons than the counties of Devon and Gloucester combined, or 37 per cent. of its population; has, on an average, four fires every day amongst its 500,000 houses; has a birth in it every four minutes; has a death in it every six minutes; has 230 persons every day and 84,000 annually added to its population; has nine accidents every day in its 7,000 miles of streets; has 55 miles of new streets opened, and 17,000 new houses built in it every year; has a vast network of 2,184 miles of sewers and pipes for its drainage, and 2,000 miles for its gas supply of 55,000 lamps; has 1,000 ships and 9,000 sailors in its port every day; has upwards of 89,000 persons annually taken into custody by the police; has more than one-third of all the crime in the country committed in it; has 25,000 persons living in its common lodging houses; has 43,286 persons annually arrested as drunk and disorderly. It is further estimated that it comprises 100,000 foreigners from every quarter of the globe. It contains more Roman Catholics than Rome itself; it contains more Jews than the whole of Palestine; it contains more Irish than Belfast; it contains more Scotchmen than Aberdeen; it contains more Welshmen than Cardiff; it has as many beershops and gin-palaces, the frontages of which would, if placed side by side, stretch from Charing Cross to Chichester, a distance of 62 miles. It has nearly as many paupers as would occupy every house in Brighton.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "WHO SHALL HAVE IT?" (_See page 218._)]

LITTLE SCOTCH GRANITE.

Burt and Johnnie Lee were delighted when their Scotch cousin came to live with them. He was little, but very bright and full of fun. He could tell curious things about his home in Scotland, and his voyage across the ocean. He was as far advanced in his studies as they were, and the first day he went to school they thought him remarkably good. He wasted no time in play when he should have been studying, and he advanced finely.

At night, before the close of the school, the teacher called the roll, and the boys began to answer, "Ten." When Willie understood that he was to say ten if he had not whispered during the day, he replied, "I have whispered."

"More than once?" asked the teacher.

"Yes, sir," answered Willie.

"As many as ten times?"

"Maybe I have," faltered Willie.

"Then I shall mark you zero," said the teacher, sternly; "and that is a great disgrace."

"Why, I did not see you whisper once," said Johnnie, that night after school.

"Well, I did," said Willie, "I saw others doing it, and so I asked to borrow a book; then I lent a slate pencil, and asked a boy for a knife, and did several such things. I supposed it was allowed."

"Oh, but we all do it," said Burt, reddening. "There isn't any sense in the old rule; and n.o.body could keep it; n.o.body does."

"I will, or else I will say I haven't," said Willie. "Do you suppose I would tell ten lies in one heap?"

"Oh, we don't call them lies," muttered Johnnie. "There wouldn't be a credit among us at night, if we were so strict."

"What of that if you told the truth?" laughed Willie, bravely.

In a short time the boys all saw how it was with him. He studied hard, played with all his might in play time; but, according to his account, he lost more credits than any of the rest. After some weeks, the boys answered "Nine" and "Eight" oftener than they used to. Yet the school-room seemed to have grown quieter. Sometimes, when Willie Grant's mark was even lower than usual, the teacher would smile peculiarly, but said no more of disgrace. Willie never preached at them or told tales; but somehow it made the boys ashamed of themselves, just the seeing that this st.u.r.dy blue-eyed boy must tell the truth. It was putting the clean cloth by the half-soiled one, you see; and they felt like cheats and story-tellers. They talked him all over, and loved him, if they did nickname him "Scotch Granite," he was so firm about a promise.

Well, at the end of the term, Willie's name was very low down on the credit list. When it was read, he had hard work not to cry; for he was very sensitive, and he had tried hard to be perfect. But the very last thing that day was a speech by the teacher, who told of once seeing a man m.u.f.fled up in a cloak. He was pa.s.sing him without a look, when he was told the man was General ----, the great hero.

"The signs of his rank were hidden, but the hero was there just the same," said the teacher. "And now, boys, you will see what I mean when I give a little gold medal to the most faithful boy--the one really the most conscientiously perfect in his deportment among you. Who shall have it?"

"Little Scotch Granite!" shouted forty boys at once; for the child whose name was so "low" on the credit list had made truth n.o.ble in their eyes.

"A poor man is better than a liar."--_The Lantern._

THE HYACINTH.

The sweet-scented pink hyacinth which had been brought me was beautiful indeed. It had not yet reached maturity, nor as yet shown all its resources of vigour and of beauty, but we took great pleasure in watching its gradual unfolding. Some of its beautiful double bells did, in fact, come out, and gave forth their delicious perfume. But one day there came a stop to its development, which made us anxious. Some of the blossoms faded before they had fully displayed their lovely hues, and the buds remained stationary in their leaves. Water, sunshine, soft spring air, were not lacking to them. The earth in the flower-pot was good, and there was sufficient s.p.a.ce for the roots to expand, but it was speedily evident that the plant was dying. "At all events," I said, "I'll save the bulb." So saying, I raised the plant out of the base, using great precaution, that I might not break the beautiful white-red threads, which I shook, in order to loosen them from the earth. They had become wound together, and formed a sort of nest, in which crawled, twisting themselves as they went along, as many as eight worms.

It was certainly not to be wondered at that, with eight worms at the root, the poor flower should not have been able to thrive. I removed the enemy at once, and planted the hyacinth again under more favourable conditions; but it is to be feared that the sap had been too much impoverished for it ever to thrive again.

I seemed to see a parable in the history of my plant, and I could not avoid sighing. Why did I sigh? Because I have known so many young men and women who have disappointed the hopes felt about them in their childhood. The careful culture these young people have had from tender and anxious parents has not succeeded. These promising plants have been blighted because some gnawing worm, which their friends had not remarked, was at the root. It was vanity--the desire to shine--it was deceit--untruthfulness--it was pride--rebellion of the will against all authority--it was covetousness--it was selfishness--it was----But why should I continue the melancholy enumeration? It is G.o.d who alone knows the secret enemies of our happiness. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked," says the voice of Scripture; "who can know it?" "Out of the heart come evil thoughts," says Christ; therefore how needful for all of us is the prayer, "Create in me a clean heart, O G.o.d!" and how cheering the promise, "I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you."

J. Y.

WORDS AND DEEDS.

One of our party greatly needed some elder-flower water for her face, upon which the sun was working great mischief. It was in the Italian town of Varallo, and not a word of Italian did I know. I entered a chemist's shop, and surveyed his drawers and bottles, but the result was nil. Bright thought--I would go down by the river, and walk until I could gather a bunch of elder-flowers, for the tree was then in bloom.

Happily the search was successful. The flowers were exhibited to the druggist; the extract was procured.

When you cannot tell in so many words what true religion is, exhibit it by your actions. Show by your life what grace can do. There is no language in the world so eloquent as a G.o.dly life. Men may doubt what you say, but they will believe what you do.--_C. H. Spurgeon._

IT is a great shame to a man to have a poor heart and a rich purse.--_Chaucer._

DESTRUCTION OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH.

"_He overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground._"--GENESIS xix. 25.

The following extract from "Word Pictures from the Bible," by G. H.

Taylor, furnishes a good specimen of pictorial teaching, and will serve to ill.u.s.trate the lesson on the above subject:--