talks to his family. Mr. Bodley returns home | tures; and in this way both Europe and Amerfor Thanksgiving-day, and enhances the pleasures of that joyous season by further stories of Europe. The children also contribute their share to the general fund of enjoyment by rehearsing their own journeyings and adven O ica appear in equal proportions. The book is finely illustrated, and, like its predecessors, is luxuriously printed on a broad tinted page, in large clear type suitable for either very young or very old eyes. Editor's Bistorical Record. POLITICAL. The British Parliament was prorogued September 7 until November 24.-The Hares and Rabbits Bill passed both Houses; the Irish Constabulary Bill passed the House of Commons; the Employers' Liability Bill passed the House of Lords September 3, as recommended by the House of Commons; the Burials Bill passed the House of Lords the same day, and the bill for the registration of voters in Ireland was negatived by the House of Lords September 1. The British forces in Afghanistan, under command of General Roberts, attacked and completely routed the army of Ayoob Khan near Candaliar, September 1, and entered the city the same day. DISASTERS. August 18.-Hurricane in the island of Jamaica, wrecking forty vessels in the harbor of Kingston, and destroying many houses. August 29.-Steamer Marine City burned on Lake Huron, two miles off Alcona. Ten lives lost, probably more. August 29.-Steam-ship City of Vera Cruz, of the Mexican Line, foundered in a cyclone off the Florida coast. Sixty-eight lives lost. UR Record is closed on the 24th of September. State elections were held as follows: Arkansas, September 6, Democratic majority of 60,000; repudiation amendment defeated. Vermont, September 7, Republican majority of 25,000. Maine, September 13; returns appear to show a small plurality for the Fusion candidate. State Conventions were held and nominations were made during the month as follows: Texas Republican, Galveston, August 25, E. J. Davis for Governor and A. Siemering for Lieutenant-Governor; Iowa Republican, Des Moines, August 25, J. A. T. Hall for Secretary of State; Colorado Republican, Leadville, August 26, Governor Pitkin renominated, and George B. Robinson nominated for LieutenantGovernor; New Jersey Democratic, Trenton, September 1, George C. Ludlow for Governor; Massachusetts Democratic, Worcester, Sep- | tember 1, Charles P. Thompson for Governor and Alpha E. Thompson for Lieutenant-Governor; New Jersey Prohibitionist, Trenton, September 1, S. B. Ransom for Governor; Iowa Democratic, Des Moines, September 2, A. B. Keith for Secretary of State; Nebraska Republican, Lincoln, September 2, leading officers renominated; Delaware Republican, Dover, September 2, John W. Houston for Congressman; Kansas Republican, Topeka, September 2, Governor St. John renominated, and S. W. Finney nominated for Lieutenant-Governor; Georgia Republican, Atlanta, September 7, de- September 19.-News of steamer Aurora, claring inexpedient to nominate State officers; bound from Oporto for Southampton, founderMassachusetts Prohibition, Worcester, Septem-ing at sea. Fifty persons drowned. ber 8, Charles Almy for Governor and T. K. Earle for Lieutenant-Governor; Massachusetts Republican, Worcester, September 15, Governor Long and Lieutenant-Governor Weston renominated; New Hampshire Democratic, Con- August 30.-At Orange Mountain, New Jercord, September 15, Frank Jones for Governor; sey, Rev. Dr. William Adams, President of the Missouri Republican, St. Lonis, September 15, Union Theological Seminary, and for many Colonel D. P. Dyer for Governor and Milo years pastor of the Madison Square PresbyteBlair for Lieutenant-Governor; New Hamp-rian Church in this city, aged seventy-three shire Prohibition, Concord, September 16, George D. Dodge for Governor; Massachusetts Greenback, Worcester, September 22, General H. B. Sargent for Governor and George Dutton for Lieutenant-Governor. A divergence of views between the French Premier and his colleagues relative to the application of the religious decrees led to the resignation of M. De Freycinet, September 19. Three days later a new cabinet was announced, under the leadership of M. Jules Ferry. September 3.--Explosion of a floating tank containing 1000 tons of kerosene at Tsaritsin, on the Volga. Thirty persons killed. September 8.-Explosion at the Seaham Colliery, ten miles from Durham, England. One hundred and sixty-four lives lost. OBITUARY. August 29.-In New York city, Sanford R. Gifford, artist, aged fifty-seven years. years. September 11.-At Saratoga, New York, Marshall O. Roberts, aged sixty-eight years. September 18.-In England, Right Hon. Sir Fitzroy Edward Kelly, Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer, aged eighty-four years. September 19.-At Norwich, Connecticut, exSenator Lafayette S. Foster, LL.D., President pro tem. of the Senate and acting Vice-President of the United States in 1865–67, aged sev enty-four years. So Editor's Drawer. NOME managed to get to the Oberammergau | for the same, executed a graceful obeisance, Passion Play. Some did not. The Drawer and emanated from the presence. Next morndid. Taking a fearfully and wonderfully made ing at eight o'clock, when the booming of a trap at Murnau, the railway terminus, we were cannon announced the commencement of the rolled over a well-made road some fourteen performance, the Drawer found himself in one miles, until we reached Underammergau, a of the very best places in the auditorium, and small village three miles this side of Oberam-seated next the Prince. It's something to be mergau. While stopping to water the horses an Elector of New York. a portly person emerged from a little wayside inn, and asked if we were going to Gaze's Hotel, and had rooms engaged. If these had not been previously secured, it was useless to go on, as not a room or cot was to be had for any outlay of affection or ready cash. The portly person added that there were eight beds disengaged in his house, which was a branch of Gaze's. The Drawer took one, but determined to go on to Oberammergau, and obtain, if possible, a reserved seat for the play. "No use," said the portly person; "all taken two weeks ago." "I'll try," meekly responded the Drawer. "Well, wait a moment," said he, in very imperfect English, "and you can ride with me, as I have to go up to get two places that have been reserved for Prince W, who is in the house." We were soon en route. The seat question was now the problem, its solution important. The Drawer was slightly perplexed, but soon soared to the occasion. Taking from his pocket a certain formidable official letter of introduction, he showed it to the portly aforesaid, and explained to him that it was a document of very many horse-power. The Drawer supplemented this brief oration with the frank and truly American proposition, "If you get a good seat for me, I'll give you half a sovereign." This was an unusual incentive. We reached Oberammergau, and drove to the residence of the burgomaster. While waiting to be ushered into his office the Drawer asked his guide, philosopher, and friend, in a casual, indifferent tone, "By-the-way, do you happen to know if the Elector of Hesse-Cassel has been here, or the Elector of Brandenburg?" "No, sir." DURING the last session of the court at Wisconsin, Lawyer Blank had been trying for two long hours to impress upon the minds of the jury the facts of the case. Hearing the dinner-bell, he turned to the judge and said, "Had we better adjourn for dinner, or shall I keep right on?" Weary and disgusted, his honor replied, "Oh, you keep right on, keep right on, and we will go to dinner." A CURIOUS inquirer asks if any one can give the words of a Puritan hymn, one verse of which is as follows: My soul is but a rusty lock: "Ah! I'm very sorry; should so like to have should get as his successor, and having obtainmet them!" "I'll ask," said he. "Oh, no matter; don't trouble yourself," replied the Drawer, and added, sotto voce, "Bythe-way, when we go into the burgomaster's you may say to him that I am one of the Electors of New York, travelling privately, and that I would feel greatly obliged if he could give me a good seat." It took. The Drawer was formally and gravely introduced as one of the Electors of New York. The good burgomaster had but eight seats left, which he had reserved for persons of distinction. One was handed politely to the Drawer. The Drawer paid the usual price ed such a one, urged them to keep him. He said, "You have not been given to keep your pastors long; you have never had a pastor die among you, nor do I think you ever will, unless he should be struck by lightning while on the wing." SCENE in a magistrate's court at Anderson, THE COURT. "Aunt Peggy, tell us, from what you know of -'s character, would you believe her under oath ?" AUNT PEGGY. "No, sah, I wouldn't. You Scripture, followed with prayers, when the visitor went with his host to the barn. When they returned to the house, the deaf wife was still on her knees. Her husband immediately went to her and shouted in her ear, "Amen!" Upon hearing that, she arose and went about her household duties. see, I hain't ben ter her house for more'n three | ing after his arrival they read a portion of years. I hain't got nothin' agin her, but I doesn't go ter her house. Some one dug fishin' worms, you know, an' she said I done it, an' tied 'em in a rag, an' put 'em on her gate pos' ter 'witch her, an' she said dat jes as she come ter de do' I tuck wings an' flewed off like a buzzard. No, sah, I ain't believin' 'er oaf, an' I didn't flew, nuther." A CANDIDATE for the office of County Clerk in Oregon issues a handbill to the public, in which he says: "I present myself as a candidate for the office of County Clerk for the following reasons: "1. I can conscientiously claim to possess the requisite qualifications-honesty and capacity. "2. Having been a consistent server of my fellow-men, not through a term of office, but through a lifetime, I am entitled to expect a helping hand in my time of need. That time has arrived. "Lastly. This is my 'dig for the woodchuckam out of meat.'" HERE is a case of a little five-year-old Flushing boy, whose mother commonly soothes his feelings and rouses his courage by saying, "Try to bear it like a man." Lately the next older brother returned from the post-office with the remark, "Mamma, the postmaster says I look just like you." Thinking that this was some sort of an affliction, the five-year-old exclaimed, with encouraging emphasis, "Try to bear it, Louis-try to bear it like a man." A FRIEND in the Pension Office at Washington is so kind as to send us the following verbatim copy of a petition to the Commissioner of Pensions, asking for a pension: to Commissioner of Pentions Washington D. C. these many years ive tried in vain an honest Pention to obtain at first battle of Bull Run one of ohioes sons so brave who went to the front the union to save I hope with that Eye to see the day A BAPTIST clergyman is responsible for the following: A good brother was visiting at the house of a friend whose wife was very deaf. The morn BORROWED BOOKS.-H. E. complains sadly, in a Rotherham paper (England), of the habit of friends borrowing books and never returning them. He writes: "I am myself minus several which have been lent at various times to friends some considerable time ago, and I should be glad to have these back in their places on my shelves. It is with a view of keeping the subject before the notice of those to whom it may concern that I trouble you with these lines. Sir Walter Scott once lent a book to a friend, and as he gave it to him, begged that he would not fail to return it, adding, good-humoredly, ‘Although most of my friends are bad arithmeticians, they are all good book-keepers.' In conclusion, I beg to give the following extract from some poet's witty verses, entitled, "The Art of Book-keeping': "I of my Spenser quite bereft, They've picked my Locke, to me far more And now my losses I deplore, Without a Home on earth. They still have made me slight returns, For oh! they've cured me of my Burns, But all I think I shall not say, Nor let my anger burn; For as they have not found me Gay, IN one of our Northern New England towns there lived, some years since, a man of more than ordinary intelligence, of gentlemanly address, and possessed more than one illustrious patronymic in his own person. He had a good wife, though inferior to him in mental ability and attainments. She had a sister living in a neighboring town, who had been seriously ill for some time. The husband of the former went one day and visited her. On his return home his wife inquired how he found her. He replied, “She is convalescent." Immediately, in the most emphatic manner, she says, "George W—, tell me whether my sister is dead or alive!" THERE is in Michigan an organization of ministers known as the Saginaw Valley Ministerial Association, which meets on the first Monday of each month. Recently this body met at the Frazer House, Bay City, and after several hours of literary and theological work, dined together. The next day another organ ization, the Michigan Sportsmen's Association, | Father T. had been pretty well warmed up. was to hold its annual meeting at the same Just then a few restless spirits in the rear of place. A lady, having the latter in mind, but the audience took occasion to leave. The old not the exact date of their meeting, and so man rose, and swinging his arm in his peculiar mistaking the Revs. for the men of the rod way, shouted out, "That's right, brethren; the and the rifle, after observing them attentive-tide's rising, the drift-wood is beginning to ly from another table, and remarking upon the generally intelligent and manly appearance of the company, sorrowfully added to her husband, "But what a pity it is that they will drink 80 much!" THE rabbi teacher of a Sabbath-school in Washington was very anxious to secure a full attendance of his confirmation class on the then approaching Shebout (Pentecost) festival, and requested that none be absent without good and sufficient cause. After the holiday the rabbi accosted a bright black-eyed little “daughter of Judah” with the inquiry, “Why were you not in synagogue yesterday ?" After twisting in her mouth for some moments the end of a dubiously clean apology for a pocket-handkerchief, Rebecca, with downcast look, replied, "Because my hat was not clean, sir." "Not clean ?" said the rabbi, somewhat sternly. "Don't you know that God cares not for outward appearances? that He looks to that which is of infinitely more importance, that which is within ?" "But," quickly interrupted the seven-yearold matron, as a perfect solution of the difficulty," the lining was dirty too." And that settled the controversy without further argument. THE following, from a little six-year-old girl in Kansas City, Missouri, aptly shows the logic of an infantile mind. Looking up from her play one day, she said to her mother, "Adam wrote, 'Jesus loves even me,' didn't he?" "Why, no, Mamie. What made you think so?" "Why, he says Eve 'n' [Eve and] me that Jesus loves, and I thought it must be Adam who wrote it." AN Ithaca correspondent says: "When a lad I was walking one day with my father in the quiet streets of Burlington, New Jersey, when we met the late Bishop Doane. The intense heat of the weather was the engrossing topic, and the natural question was asked, 'Well, bishop, how many more dogdays are we to have?" "With the faintest twinkle came the quiet reply: 'I don't know; they say that every dog has his day. I'm afraid we'll have a good many.'" float!" THE MUSICAL BOY. BY JAMES T. FIELDS. Ir is a ruthless, toothless wight The knave deals out inflated corn And doughnuts shaped like rings; O urchin rude, of manners crude, Pray tell me true, young ruffian, do, Your wares are insalubrious, Your carols are the same, Boy, cease your harmful, dreary notes, The rogue looks up with knowing leer, Then aims a missile at my head, With phrase that's not divine, And croaks a still more dismal songThe words, alas! are mine! SOON after the close of the last war Captain X was appointed a justice of the peace in a country place not far from Raleigh, North Carolina. His father had been a planter in a rather small way, and his son the captain had acquired considerable experience in the business of managing real estate, drawing up deeds, etc., during the father's lifetime, and then in settling the estate after his decease. Further than this he had no legal knowledge, and, indeed, his entire stock of "book-learning" was small and poorly selected, but any lack in general information was fully made up, for his uses, by self-assertion. Late one afternoon, as he was riding home from Raleigh, he met a young woman and two men, who hail NUMEROUS are the anecdotes of the late Fa-ed him and inquired if he was Captain X. ther Taylor, of the Boston Seamen's Bethel. A prayer-meeting had been prolonged one evening beyond the usual hour of closing, and The young woman and one of the men wished to be married at once. The other had come as a witness. They had procured the necessary license, but an irate father was on their path, | couple, after shaking their benefactor's hand, and swore that they should never be married. went on to meet their destiny and the irate It was considered on all accounts safest to father, while the captain rode home richer in have the ceremony performed without delay, | experience. and try pacification afterward. Now the captain had never witnessed a marriage, and naturally had no very clear idea of what was usual in such cases. He remembered having seen a book about the house years before with a form for marriage in it, but what the book was and where it was he could not remember. "Why," said he, when he told the story afterward, "I knew the 'Postles' Creed and Commandments, and at first I thought I'd use 'em to begin on, but then I reckoned, on the whole, they was too durned solemn." He asked the couple to come to his house, secretly hoping that he could find that book; but they declined, for the reason that the matter admitted of no delay. A less assured man would have been sorely perplexed, but not he. He lost no time in removing his hat, and remarked, "Hats off in the presence of the court." All being uncovered, he said, "I'll swear you in fust off. Hold up yer right hands." "Me too?" asked the friend of the groom. "Of course," said the captain, "all witnesses must be sworn. You and each of you solemnly swear that the evidence you shall give in this case shall be the truth, th' 'ole truth, an' nothin' but the truth, s'elp you God. You, John Marvin, do solemnly swear that to the best of your knowledge an' belief you take this yer woman ter have an' ter hold for yerself, yer heirs, exekyerters, administrators, and assigns, for your an' their use an' behoof forever?" "I do," answered the groom. 66 You, Alice Ewer, take this yer man for yer husband, ter hev an' ter hold forever; and you do further swear that you are lawfully seized in fee-simple, are free from all incumbrance, and hev good right to sell, bargain, and convey to the said grantee yerself, yer heirs, administrators, and assigns?" "I do," said the bride, rather doubtfully. "Well, John," said the captain, "that'll be about a dollar 'n' fifty cents." "Are we married?" asked the other. "Not by a durned sight ye ain't," quoth the captain, with emphasis; "but the fee comes in here." After some fumbling it was produced and handed to the "Court," who examined it to make sure that it was all right, and then pocketed it, and continued: "Know all men by these presents, that I, Captain X, of Raleigh, North Carolina, being in good health and of sound and disposin' mind, in consideration of a dollar 'n' fifty cents to me in hand paid, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, do and by these presents have declared you man and wife during good behavior, and until | otherwise ordered by the court." A CORRESPONDENT at Hopkinsville, Kentucky, informs us that the Legislature of Kentucky, at a recent session, repealed the law offering a bounty on foxes' scalps. An effort for the repeal was made last year, but was defeated by the pathetic appeal of a mountain county member, who said: “Do the gentlemen want to deprive my constituents of the benefit of the preach-ed Gospel? Presbyterians is too high-minded for poor people, and there ain't water enough there for Baptists. Once a 'Piscopalian came up, but there wa'n't nobody to scotch for him, and he never came again. So we are all Methodists. Now our preachers won't come without chickens. We can't raise chickens except we kill the foxes, and it ain't worth anybody's while to hunt them for nothing. So, gentlemen, if you repeal this law, you deprive my constituents of the benefit of the preach-ed Gospel.” | ANOTHER from Kentucky: "Hard-shell Baptists are not yet extinct in Kentucky, though their ministrations are confined chiefly to the rural districts. Last summer a friend of mine, a Presbyterian elder, finding himself in the neighborhood of a Baptist meeting, went to hear old Brother Npreach. My friend, though a handsome, ‘personable' man, has not much more hair on his head than there is on a billiard ball. In the course of the sermon the preacher said: 'My brethren, ef it's intended a man shall be saved, he'll come in in spite of himself. Yes, he'll come in ef he's got to be dragged in by the ha'r of his head; but that old brother thar [pointing to my friend] will have to be brought in some other way, for he ain't got no ha'r to hold by.' Imagine my modest friend's feelings, especially as the preacher's sharp way of putting the thing had brought a general smile over the faces of the congre The men put on their hats again, the young | gation." |