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lectures, British Association meetings, or in such private circles of society as in any way affected to be fashionably scientific, there was one face, I was always seeing; it was a face, that never looked a wrinkle older, and which I could fancy had never looked young. The owner of this ubiquitous, sub-acid face, was Babbage. No man was more ready for conversation in medias res;-greetings and weather talk were taken as said, and if your observation was pointless-his repartee came smart and sharp, with a ready click. Unfortunately for himself he was a man with a grievance, his calculating machine was never completed, though the patience of Government, and his own private fortune had been heavily taxed. Both Mr. Babbage and Count Strezlecki were dining at Lady Murchison's, when the Count observed, that in China, where he had lately been travelling, they took great interest in the calculating machine, and particularly wanted to know if it could be put in the pocket.

"Tell them" replied Babbage "that it is in every sense an out of pocket machine.

It was at this same dinner, if I remember rightly, that a sham apple made of some hard substance, fell from the massive épergne in the centre of the table. It rolled toward me, and Mr. Babbage, arresting its course, presented it to our host saying "Sir Roderick here comes an erratic boulder for you to classify."

Babbage had known Ada Byron from her childhood; he was much attached to her, and took special interest in the philosophical studies to which she devoted herself. After she became the wife of Lord Lovelace, she translated and published a memoir of General Menabrea on the elementary principles of the Analytical Engine, adding notes of her own, which," said Babbage, were a complete demonstration that the operations of analysis are capable of being executed by machinery.' I remember his telling me, that he hoped to leave behind him notes and diagrams sufficient to enable some future philosopher to carry out his idea of the Analytical machine.

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We are too much accustomed perhaps to connect Babbage's name only with his great failure-the incompleted calculating machine-but he did good work in his day; he was the first to relieve the stu

dent from "the cramped domain of ancient synthesis." Herschel and Peacock were associated with him, in trying to introduce the new analytic methods of mathematical reasoning which had already obtained on the Continent. There is an amusing story told of the flutter produced by these proceedings, among the Dons of Cambridge.

It will be remembered that Newton used dots in certain symbols, while Leibnitz employed d's as a sign. Babbage proposed meetings for the propagation of the d's-consigning to perdition all those who supported the heresy of the dots. The joke was so little understood, that the big-wigs denounced the young philosophers as infidels. When they were about to publish a translation of Lacroix, it was necessary to decide on a titie, and Babbage suggested that it should be "The Principles of pure D'ism, in opposition to the Dot-age of the University.

If Babbage, Wheatstone, Grove, Owen, Tyndall, and a host of other distinguished scientists were to be met very generally in the society of the day, there was one man who was very conspicuous by his absence -this was Faraday! His biographers say, that in earlier years, he would occasionally accept Lady Davy's invitations to dinner; but I never heard of his going elsewhere, except in obedience to the commands of royalty. I remember his shaking hands with me one evening, immediately after the lecture, in a hurried manner, and with an anxious look; before I could ask any questions he was gone, like one of his own electric flashes. Some one told me that Faraday was bidden to the Queen's ball!

One does not easily associate Faraday's name with the frivolities of life, but he had a wholesome liking for them—as a recreation, not as the whole duty of man. He records in his journal, written when in Rome, that he went to a masked ball at the time of the Carnival, with a lady, who knew all his acquaintance, and enjoyed himself immensely. He adds that he was attired in a nightgown and nightcapgarments, I presume, which did duty for a domino. The Carnival evidently afforded him great amusement, for he expatiates largely on it in his early letters and his diaries.

In later life, Faraday retained a taste for all scenic representation; the more

curious in a man of his severely religious views. He could make very shrewd and searching criticisms on the actors of the day. In published letters from Faraday to Lady Burdett Coutts-he thanks her for sending them a box for the pantomime (of January, 1857)—adding :

"We had your box once before, I remember, for a pantomime, which is always interesting to me, because of the immense concentration of means which it requires, you are very kind to think of our pleasures for to-morrow night. . . . I mean to enjoy it, for I still have a sympathy for children, and all their thoughts and pleasures."

of September, Michael Faraday, the son of a blacksmith, was born in Jacob's Well Mews, near Manchester Square. In childhood, his "thoughts and pleasures" were minding a little baby sister, and playing marbles in the street. A few years pass, and Reiss, the German electrician, addresses a letter to the self-educated manas Professor Michael Faraday-member of all Academies of Science. His centenary

princes are pleased to commemoratebut when some one remarks on the honor done to science, the answer might be given in Faraday's own words, when he said "I am not one who considers that

Just one hundred years ago, the 22nd science can be honored."—Temple Bar.

THE BLIND SUMMIT.

BY WILLIAM WATSON.

[A Viennese gentleman, who had climbed the Hoch König without a guide, was found dead, in a sitting posture, near the summit, upon which he had written, “It is cold, and clouds shut out the view."-Vide the Daily News of September 10th, 1891.]

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happened, the societies founded with the most innocent objects have been converted into the most dangerous conspiracies. Nothing could be more innocent in its inception than" the Society for gazing on the Moon" at the festival in the seventh month. At that feast it is the custom of the people to eat cakes baked in honor of the Queen of Heaven. But at the time of the decline of the Mongol dynasty, the meetings on these occasions became political gatherings, and in one memorable year messages were enclosed in the cakes which were sent from place to place warning the people to rise on a certain day. Like the Chupattis which heralded the outbreak of the Indian Mutiny, these cakes were distributed throughout the country, and were the means of bringing into the field a rebel army which contributed largely to the overthrow of the Mongol power.

After the Manchu conquest of China in the seventeenth century, the secret societies which had remained dormant during the Ming or Chinese dynasty (1638-1644) again becaine active, and during the reign of the third Emperor of a present Manchu line, so prominent had they become that their machinations were publicly condemned in a State paper, in which, by a confusion of ideas, the Imperial writer coupled the Roman Catholics with the more legitimate objects of his wrath. At the time of their revival the principal association was known as the "White Lily Society," and certainly no lack of energy can be ascribed to the members of this fraternity. Repeated outbreaks occurred, of which they were the moving spirits, and their sedition culminated in a conspiracy (1813) which had for its object a simultaneous rising in Honan and Peking, and the murder of the Emperor. By one of those curious combinations of circumstances which have so constantly occurred to frustrate the designs of assassins, the life of the Emperor was saved. The conspirators succeeded, however, in penetrating into the palace, and but for the courage of one of the Imperial princes and his followers would probably have possessed themselves of the capital.

So notorious did this exploit make the association, that its chiefs found it expedient to change its name to the "Triad Society." Under this new designation its principles permeated the Empire, and

in 1817 as many as two or three thousand members were arrested at Canton alone. An alternative name for association was the Hung kia, or "the universal family.' The character chosen to represent the word Hung is an ideograph 'composed of the parts "general" and " water," signifying a flood, or something which overspreads the earth like a flood. By degrees the idea preserved in the character began to predominate, and gradually the name of the Hung League" usurped the place of the "Triad Society." Of late there have sprung into existence several branches of this association, among the chief of which is the Kolao hwui, which is at present occupying the attention of the authorities.

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It is always difficult to penetrate the arcana of treasonable secret societies. The members have the best of all reasons for preserving inviolate their oath to secrecy, and it is only by some chance that their true objects and their forms and ceremonies ever stand confessed. That the Hung League had for its main object the overthrow of the Manchu dynasty was a matter of common knowledge, but very little was generally known of its constitution until certain manuscripts fell into the hands of the authorities, which contained a full account of the formation of the so

ciety and of its true aims. Like the Freemasons, the members of the Hung League claim that their society is as old as the world itself; and, as emblems of its never-dying and ever-regenerating life, are chosen the fir, pine, cedar, and cypress, just as the acacia among the Masons symbolizes the same idea. The equilateral triangle, also, is a prominent symbol, and is said to signify in its three sides the combination of Heaven, Earth, and Man. It is noteworthy, also, that the sword is the traditional weapon of both the Hung Brethren and Freemasons. It serves both as a weapon of defence against enemies aud as an insignia at the reception of new members. On the first entrance of the neophyte at the gate of the Lodge, he is received by the brethren drawn up in a double row, with the points of their swords so crossed as to form an arch; much as, according to the Illustrated London News, the Prince and Princess of Wales were received at the Apollo Lodge at Oxford, on the occasion of their visit to that city in 1863.

But, however great may be the antiquity which is claimed by the League, its actual history dates no further back than the beginning of the present dynasty. And its most popular attributes are associated with the leading principle of a return to the Ming or "Bright" Chinese dynasty, which was overthrown by the Manchus. To help to attain this object the members are constantly encouraged to seek after that spiritual light which is emblematized at all the ceremonies by the conspicuous use of lighted lamps.

As a political association the Hung League first took shape in the reign of Yung-ching (1720-35). A gross act of oppression committed by that Emperor, by which the Shaolin monastery was burned and a number of the monks killed, drove the remnant which remained into declared hostility to the throne. As in the history of the rise of all Eastern movements, a supernatural element was introduced into the constitution of the League. The five founders, so runs the legend, being attacked by thirst in their flight from the burning monastery, went down to a stream to drink, and saw, to their astonishment, a china censer floating on the water. On recovering it from the flood, they found four characters engraved upon it, which, being interpreted, read

:

"Overthrow the Ts'ing [Manchu dynasty] and restore the Ming' (the Chinese dynasty). This saying they adopted as their motto, and, further to steel their resolution, they mixed their blood with wine, and drank the mixture to the dregs, swearing eternal brotherhood and deathless hate against the Manchus. To the nucleus thus formed gradually gravitated all the discontented and all the patriots in the Empire, and in the space of a few years the organization had spread to wherever the Chinese language was spoken. Lodges were formed, which were commonly situated in mountainous retreats or in the deep recesses of the forests, and which resembled armed camps. The whole League was divided into five grand divisions, and each Lodge was presided over by one president, two vice-presidents, one master, two introducers, one fiscal, thirteen councillors, agents, and "horse-leaders" or recruiting officers.

It is in accordance with the traditions of the society that so often as occasions permit these horse-leaders should do their

spiriting gently; but in cases where persuasion proves ineffectual more powerful arguments are used to enlist recruits. Sometimes a householder finds a note on his table summoning him to a certain spot at a certain hour under pain of death to himself and his family. At another time a man is stopped on the road by a stranger, who gives him a verbal message to the same effect. Again, stratagems are occasionally used to decoy the intended recruit into a secluded spot, where he is faced by guards from the Lodge, who march him off to the assembled conclave. On arrival at the outer gate of the Lodge the neophyte is constrained to adopt a dishevelled appearance. His hair is ruffled, the white garment which he is compelled to don is unbuttoned and put on awry, and his feet are bare, as tokens that he is dead to the past and is about to rise into newness of life in the organization into which he is about to enter.

Having been introduced by the Vanguard, and having passed under the bridge of swords, the neophyte is led through the various enclosures, at each of which the Vanguard is catechized by the guardian officials, to the Lodge of Universal Peace, where the council is assembled. Here, again, certain questions are put to the Vanguard, who answers them "by the book," and caps them with verses professedly to explain his answers, but which from the cryptic nature of the terms used makes them, if anything, more unintelligible to the initiated than they were before. At the conclusion of these interrogations the neophytes are led forward to take the oath. Any who may positively refuse to do so should, according to the strict interpretation of the law, be taken by the executioner outside the west gate of the Lodge and be beheaded at once. In times of open rebellion the rest suffer the loss of their quenes, and then, having listened to a prayer for the success of the society's aims and the recitation of the thirty-six articles of association, they proceed to take the oath. As a preliminary to this part of the ceremony, each neophyte pricks his finger with a silver needle and allows the blood to drop into a bowl of wine. Sometimes a cock is bled for the same purpose. whether it is the blood of the men or of the cock, it is drunk by the neophyte, in whose presence the written oath, after hav

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ing been read over to him, is burned as an offering to the gods, who, it is believed, will punish with endless tortures those who may be faithless to their new allegiance.

The laws of the association and certain mystic emblems are next handed to the recruits, who are then at liberty to return to the outer world. The laws present a curious mixture of high morality and gross treason to the State and to society. There is much mention of the necessity of obeying Heaven and of acting righteously, of practising strict morality, and of exercising every domestic virtue. But no punishment which is named as the penalty for any lapse from these virtuous heights is to be compared with those which are pronounced against any member who may fail to assist a brother who has got into trouble" with the police, or who has murdered a stranger," or who, for any cause, may wish to put himself beyond the reach of the law. That these obligations are strictly practised is only too plain by the difficulty which the authorities have in laying their hands on the real in

stigators of the repeated outbreaks which have disturbed the Empire during the last two hundred years.

Of late there have been ominous signs that the societies are again becoming active for mischief, apart from the recent outrages against foreigners. In the provinces of Ganhwui, Kiangsi, Hupeh, Fuhkien, and Kwangtung, there have been outbreaks of more or less importance, and the superstitious profess to see signs of an impending revolution. White hairs have been observed to grow out of the ground, and this is held to be an infallible token of approaching trouble. Prophecies also. are passing from mouth to mouth foretelling the end of the Manchu dynasty, and one which presages the speedy destruction of the Manchus and foreigners, and the consequent opening of a new era of glory to China, is current and is likely to be prevalent just now. Unfortunately such prophecies have a way of bringing about their own fulfilment, and herein lies a distinct danger to foreigners in China at the present time.-Saturday Review.

MARLOWE.

THE erection of a statue to Marlowe in his birthplace, the City of Canterbury, has called forth not only an inaugural address from Mr. Henry Irving, but a great number of leading articles in the daily papers. Many of these have been excellent in their way, but, as a rule, the most interesting point about Marlowe has been missed. What makes his career almost a literary miracle is the fact that he created a style and manner of writing which in its essentials has remained unchanged to the present day. Behind Marlowe, English poetry may be beautiful, interesting, truthful to Nature, inspired, what you will, but it is confessedly archaic, mediæval, unmodern. Contemporary with and after bim, the style of English verse is revolutionized, and becomes what, for want of a better general term, we must call modern. For example, we find Marlowe, the moment he begins to write, pens such couplets as :

"Where both deliberate, the love is slight :

Whoever loved that loved not at first sight?" It was no doubt to be expected that the

Renaissance would in England, as elsewhere, rapidly affect our literature. Still, a period of transition was to be looked for, as in France and Italy. Marlowe, however, with practically nothing behind. him from which to draw inspiration for a new form, begins, as a lad of twenty, to cast his thoughts in the mould which is used by the poets of the nineteenth century. Marlowe's verbal imagery may be more gorgeous, because his imagination was more profuse, but in essentials he writes as men write to-day. Take his blank verse, "the mighty line" which caused the admiration of Ben Jonson. Surrey had imported from Italy" a drumming deccasyllabon," with the rhythms of an imperfect musical-box. Marlowe took the instrument, and invoked from it harmonies which, for mere music, have never been and never can be surpassed. But the melody of his verse, like his style, depends in no sense upon the charm of archaicism. We do not admire it because it has a quaint old-world air about it. Instead, it is bold, clear-cut,-classical,

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