Jewesbury, a partner in the firm of Wilkinson & Jewesbury, and a member of an old and wellknown Gloucestershire family. Up to this date no bulky specimen of gutta-percha was known. The first article shown to this gentleman was, we believe, a whip, and Mr. Jewesbury applying to a merchant having a branch house at Singapore-the chief centre of the trade-for a larger and more important quantity, received the discouraging opinion recorded at the head of this paper. This was the first order given for gutta-percha as an article of commerce, but so convinced was the pio

neer of the value of the hitherto unknown substance, that in the month following his first modest order he wrote for five tons, and by the mail of July for fifty. The calculation had been made, the value and importance of the novel commodity well weighed, and the man who had laid his plans with the wisdom of a general followed them up with the courage of a soldier. In 1845 Mr. Jewesbury's firm imported gutta-percha to the amount of £377; in the following year they boldly bought more than thirty times that quantity, the value of their importation being £11,500, being at an average price of 4d. per pound weight! But it was in 1848 that the real triumph of the rare gutta-percha" commenced. A series of experiments proved its great insulating power when pure, and its faculty of resisting the destroying action of salt water. Here, then, was the obvious substance for submarine

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The

alone during the year 1882 was £537,396. tree from which gutta-percha is obtained is of considerable size, being from sixty to seventy feet high and about two to three feet in diameter; the leaf is similar in shape to that of the India rubber tree, but is rather smaller, and its under side is of a dull gold color; it blossoms and also bears a small nut of the shape of an acorn; when this is cut or pounded a juice is obtained.-Time.

IS CREMATION CHRISTIAN BURIAL?-We of the burning of the dead as more than theodo not regard any ecclesiastical authorization retically possible. But it is important that the Church's supreme authority over the manner of disposal of the Christian dead should be recognized, as well as her power of adaptation to the necessities, though not to the vagaries, of modern civilization. If the burial of the bodies of her children in the earth were accompanied by some serious mischief or danger, she could at any moment authorize their committal to the flames.

But no such need can be asserted at present. The movement in favor of cremation has its origin, not in any difficulty in finding a place where the dead may be conveniently and safely laid, but in a Pagan renaissance. Even though many of the advocates of cremation are, at least nominally, Christians, yet none the less is the movement a heathen one. A few eccentric enthusiasts may be found to advocate almost any novelty,

commenced the manufacture of the cable which was laid from Dover to Cape Grisnez in September, 1850. Primitive as this first submarine cable was, being merely a single copper wire thickly coated with gutta-percha, it solved a problem, and the cable (laid in 1851) which succeeded it is still in good working order. He continued to supply the Guttapercha Company with the whole of his importations, and when the company, uniting with the well-known firm of Messrs. Glass, Elliot & Co., formed the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company, it was through the hands of its first commercial importer that the immense supplies of gutta-percha used in the manufacture of the wonderful cables turned out by the Association were obtained. This arrangement still exists, and for once justice is pleased to ordain that he who first introduced this nationally important production still retains the largest share of the trade in the article. The statistics of this trade show that the value of gutta-percha exported from Singapore

ments in its favor. But the strength of the movement is to be found in the desire to throw over all that is distinctively Christian. Many among our literary men are open advocates of Greek and Roman as distinguished from Christian civilization, and such men are instinctively cremationists. On the continent the anti-Catholic and anti-Christian nature of cremation is far more clearly marked than in England, just as Freemasonry comes out far

more into relief when it is in the midst of Catholicity, and implies a hostility to all religion which it does not profess in Protestant England. The cremationists are but repeating the policy of the persecutors of the early Christians. They burned the bodies of their victims in order to demonstrate thereby the impossibility of the resurrection. When they scattered to the winds the calcined ashes they cried in mockery, "Now let us see if they will rise again."--Month.

VALUES IN THE TIME OF HENRY VIII.In the early part of the sixteenth century, just

before the Reformation, the ounce of silver was worth 3s. 4d., or, in other words, the shilling of Henry VIII. was in intrinsic value 1.55 the modern coin. The wages of an ordinary laborer were 6 1-2d. per day. The rents of cottages varied from 2s. 8d. to 4s. per an

num.

Six or eight days' labor was, therefore, sufficient to pay the year's rent. At the present day, taking an agricultural laborer's wages at 15s. a week, and cottage rent at 2s. a week, or £5 a year, it requires forty days' labor to pay the yearly rent. No doubt the cottages at that time were mere hovels; but, I fear, a large number at the present day are little better. About the same period wheat was 6s. 8d. per quarter, the price of a pig 3s. 2d., and of a coOW IOS. A laborer earning 6 1-2d. a day, or 3s. 3d. per week, could purchase a quarter of wheat with a fortnight's labor, which would now require three weeks, or a pig with one week's work, which would certainly now require the labor of three. Leaving out of view the cost of clothing and of the higher agrémens which modern habits require, there can be no doubt that the common people before the Reformation enjoyed an amount of rude plenty which has never since been equalled.-Notes and Queries.

THE PALACE OF THE MIKADOS.-Unlike the residences of some sovereigns which the rublic are privileged to gaze upon, here are no mighty four post bedsteads, no full-bottomed chairs, no tapestry, no carpets nor hangings, no portraits of ancestors, nothing but the bare room, with its thickly matted floor, its artistically decorated walls, and its ceiling always of beautiful wood. The absence of paint in their dwelling-houses compels the Japanese to seek color and variety in the grain of various woods, and within their own country they find a rich field. The throne-room, reached from the waiting-rooms by a corridor, is a long, bare apartment, with a canopied chair set near the centre. The chair is lacquered and richly inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The canopy consists of white silk trimmed with a deep border of reddish brown. At first sight it looks like chintz. As the attendants entered, they all bowed low to the empty throne, repeating the obeisance whenever they passed or approached it. In this room the new Mikado is solemnly enthroned, and here, through successive New Year's Days, a long line of Mikados, now sleeping in the dust, have given audience to peers of the realm. It is not actually the same room, since the palace has more

wall at the back of the throne is divided into panels, each containing four portraits of Chinese sages. Above these hang two excellent oil-portraits of the Mikado and the Empress. It must not be supposed that either sacred personage went through the process of "sitting" for the vulgar artist. But even a Mikado may, without suffering in his dignity, hold communication with the sun. This conceded, the illustrious pair were photographed, and from the photograph an able artist in Milan evolved the oil-paintings. We had been permitted to walk at will over the throne-room, but when we came to a suite of private apartments, called the Ko-go-sho, one of the attendants was found to have sufficient energy to forbid entrance. The Cornhill Magazine.

PEERS' MOTTOES.-The motto of Earl Fortescue, "Forte scutum salus ducum" (that is, A strong shield is the safeguard of the leaders) is noteworthy. According to Sir B. Burke, the ancestor of the Fortescues was one Sir Richard le Fort, who protected the Conqueror at the battle of Hastings by his shield. Escue being the Norman word for shield, it was added to Fort, and thus produced the name and the title of Fortescue. The above motto is also that of the Fortescues Lord Clermont, who are kinsmen of the others. Two ennobled barristers choose mottoes associated with their professional pursuits, Pratt, Marquis Camden, having taken "Judicum parium, aut lex terræ" (that is, The judgment of our peers, or the law of the land), while the renowned advocate Thomás, Lord Erskine, adopted the phrase "Trial by jury." This nobleman was the fifth son of the Earl of Buchan, whose family motto is "Judge nought;" and there is some singularity about the abandonment of this motto for that of "Trial by jury." There are two mottoes of an extremely suggestive character-that of Earl Howe ("Let Curzon hold what Curzon held'') and that of the Marquis Conyngham ("Over Fork over!"). The history of the latter family will show that the spirit of this

phrase, taken in-its vulgar acceptation, has not been disregarded by them. In some of the mottoes we discover a play of words-a fanciful conceit, as it would have once been termed. Thus, the Earls of Onslow use the wellknown proverb, "Festine lente," or "Hasten slowly," which evidently has reference to the present form of their name, On-slow, which, however, was originally Ondeslow. Then, again, Earl Manvers's is "Pie repone te" (Repose with pious confidence). If the position of the letters in the Latin words be changed,

we have " Piereponte ;" and Pierrepont" is

the family name of the above nobleman. The motto of the Earls of Wemyss, "This our Charter is," contains their name of Charteris. So, also, does that of the Roches, Lords Fermoy, "Mon Dieu est ma roche;" and the motto of the Earls of Sandwich, Post tot naufragia portam" (After so many shipwrecks we arrive at port). Then, again the Duke of Devonshire and Lords Chesham and Waterpark, all of the Cavendish family, have for their motto "Cavendo tutus" (Safe by being cautious), evidently a jeu de mots, a hazy sort of play on the name of the title.-Chambers's Journal.

A SOUTH AFRICAN PET. The banded mongoose of South Africa when domesticated becomes a most amusing little household favorite. This mongoose is in size rather larger than a guinea pig, and is of a grizzly color, with a tinge of chestnut, a number of black lines crossing the back. The eyes are peculiarly brilliant. A tame mongoose will allow himself to be freely handled, merely giving vent to an odd chattering sound, apparently indicative of satisfaction; should he become provoked, however, he will utter a sharp scream of anger. The banded mongoose is reputed to be a great destroyer of snakes, a statement which I have always doubted. That this animal occasionally kills and devours a small snake is probable, but I certainly do not believe that snakes are its usual food. In a state of domesticity the mongoose will eat and thrive upon all manner of scraps from the table, and looks upon an egg as a great treat. When one is given to him he generally rolls it for a short distance, and then embracing it with his forelegs and raising himself upon his hindquarters, will bring the egg down with sufficient force to break the shell, after which he greedily devours the contents. I have seen the trick played of throwing an empty pill-box to a tame mongoose, which he would seize in the

same manner as he would an egg, and continue to hammer upon the floor with much chattering and noise until it was taken from him. I have seen a pair of these little animals running loose in the streets of Durban and permitting even strangers to handle them. Another I have seen following his owner along the high road like a dog. This last was, if I remember rightly, killed by a Kafir's dog. Perhaps the most remarkable characteristic of the mongoose is the manner in which he will, especially if hungry, spring upon a piece of food thrown to some distance, bringing his forefeet directly down upon it after along leap. A tame mongoose, although not given to wandering very far from his owner's dwelling, is so extremely active and restless in his habits that it is difficult to know at any time where to look for him.-The London Field.

M. THIERS'S COLLECTIONS.-His collections were very fine, and it is to be noted that he had always been most chary of showing them to strangers. He would never lend them to public exhibitions lest they should get damaged, and when persons unknown to him applied for permission to view them a polite letter of excuse, signed by a secretary, was the invariable reply. The painter Courbet, who acted as Fine Art Minister to the Commune, was astounded when he made his first survey of M. Thiers's treasures, and he valued the bronzes alone at £60,000. There was among them a horseman on a galloping steed, attributed to Leonardo da Vinci; and two bronze mules' heads found in a vineyard of Dauphiné, and supposed to be the ornaments of a Roman arm-chair, were wonderful specimens of Greek art as it was believed. But M. Thiers's assemblage of rare Persian, Chinese, and Japanese objects was also nearly unique. His lac cabinets were only rivalled by those in the Apollo gallery of the Louvre, presented to Marie Antoinette by the Jesuit missionaries. After the overthrow of the Commune, Mme. Thiers and her sister spent months in driving about to all the bric-a-brac shops in Paris, and identifying the curiosities which had been looted from their house. As they prudently paid all that the dealers demanded, and asked no questions, they were pretty successful in their searches, and most of the stolen articles gradually found their way back to M. Thiers's new mansion, which was built at a cost of £40,000, voted by the National Assembly.— Temple Bar.

Excepting its last section, this article had been written, and part of it sent to the printers, by the 30th of May; and, consequently, before I saw the article of Sir James Stephen, published in the last number of this Review. Hence the fact that only in its last section have I been able (without undue interruption of my argument) to refer to points in Sir James Stephen's criticism.

Concerning his criticism generally, I may remark that it shows me how dangerous it is to present separately, in brief space, conclusions which it has taken a large space to justify. Unhappily, twelve pages do not suffice for adequate exposition of a system of thought, or even of its bases; and misapprehension is, pretty certain to occur if a statement contained in twelve pages, is regarded as more than a rude outline. If Sir James Stephen will refer to SS 49-207 of the "Principles of Sociology," Occupying 350 pages, I fancy that instead of seeming to him weak," the evidence there given of the origin of religious ideas will seem to him very strong; and I venture also to NEW SERIES.-VOL. XL., No. 3

Old Series complete in 63 vols.

rated, a deadly encounter was preceded by a polite salute. Having by his obeisance professed to be his antagonist's very humble servant, each forthwith did his best to run him through the body.

This usage is recalled to me by the contrast between the compliments with which Mr. Harrison begins his article,

'The Ghost of Religion," and the efforts he afterward makes to destroy, in the brilliant style habitual with him, all but the negative part of that which he applauds. After speaking with too flattering eulogy of the mode in which I have dealt with current theological doctrines, he does his best, amid flashes of

wit coming from its polished surface, to pass the sword of his logic through the ribs of my argument, and let out its vital principle-that element in it which is derived from the religious ideas and sentiments that have grown up along with human evolution, but which is inconsistent with the creed Mr. Harrison preaches.

So misleading was the professed agreement with which he commenced his article, that, as I read on, I was some time in awakening to the fact that I had before me not a friend, but, controversially speaking, a determined enemy, who was seeking to reduce, as he would say to a ghostly form, that surviving element of religion which, as I had contended, Agnosticism contains. Even when this dawned on me, the suavity of Mr. Harrison's first manner continued so influential that I entertained no thought of defending myself. It was only after perceiving that what he modestly calls a rider, was described by one journal as a criticism keen, trenchant, destructive," while by some other journals kindred estimates of it were formed, that I decided to make a reply as soon as pending engagements allowed.

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"

Recognizing, then, the substance of Mr. Harrison's article as being an unsparing assault on the essential part of that doctrine which I have set forth, I shall here not scruple to defend it in the most effective way I can not allowing the laudation with which Mr. Harrison prefaces his ridicule, to negative such rejoinders, incisive as I can make them, as will best serve my purpose.

A critic who, in a recent number of the Edinburgh Review, tells the world in very plain language what he thinks about a book of mine, and who has been taken to task by the editor of Knowledge for his injustice, refers to Mr. Harrison (whom he describes in felicitous phrase as looking at me from a very opposite pole ") as being, on one point, in agreement with him.* But for this reference it would not have occurred to me to associate in thought Mr. Harrison's criticisms with those of the Edinburgh Reviewer; but now that comparison is suggested, I am struck by the fact

* Knowledge, March 14, 1884.

that Mr. Harrison's representations of my views diverge from the realities no less widely than those of a critic whose antagonism is unqualified, and whose animus is displayed in his first paragraph.

So anxious is Mr. Harrison to show that the doctrine he would discredit has no kinship to the doctrines called religious, that he will not allow me, without protest, to use the language needed for conveying my meaning. The expression an Infinite and Eternal Energy from which all things proceed," he objects to as being "perhaps a rather equivocal reversion to the theologic type;" and he says this because, the Athanasian Creed the Third Person proceeds from the First and the Second." It is hard that I should be debarred from thus using the word by this preceding use. Perhaps Mr. Harrison will be surprised to learn that, as originally written, the expression ran—

in

an Infinite and Eternal Energy by which all things are created and sustained;" and that in the proof I struck out the last clause because, though the words did not express more than I meant, the ideas associated with them might mislead, and there might result such an insinuation as that which Mr. Harrison makes. The substituted expression, which embodies my thought in the most colorless way, I cannot relinguish because he does not like it-or rather, indeed, because he does not like the thought itself. It is not convenient to him that the Unknowable, which he repeatedly speaks of as a pure negation, should be represented as that through which all things exist. And, indeed, it would greatly embarrass him to recognize this; since the recognition would prevent him from asserting that of the positive attributes which have ever been predicated of God can be used of this Energy."

་་

none

Not only does he, as in the last sentence, negatively misdescribe the character of this Energy, but he positively misdescribes it. He says " It remains always Energy, Force: nothing anthropomorphic; such as electricity, or anything else that we might conceive as the ultimate basis of all the physical forces. Now, on page 9 of the essay Mr. Harrison criticises, there occurs