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For trades are brisk and trades are slow,

But mine goes on for ever."

Here we have no coarse or vulgar burlesque, but a sterling parody, that points a contrast to the original to the latter's advantage and has the great merit of closeness.

What the advantage of closeness is, these oftquoted lines of Pope show:

"Here shall the spring its earliest sweets bestow,
Here the first roses of the year shall blow."

as side by side with the parody:

Here shall the spring its earliest coughs bestow,
Here the first noses of the year shall blow.

STRENGTH.

Siren voices across the sea,
Wailing their witching melody,

"War and battle, labour and pain! What is the glory or what is the gain?" Woe upon woe,

So must ye go

Unto what ending no man doth know.
Answer came to their mournful singing,
Over the water the proud notes ringing:
"War and battle, labour and pain,
These are but steps to the goal ye must gain ?"
So shall ye live!

What though ye strive?

Great is the triumph the high gods give.

DR. RAE'S LECTURE.

The Natural History Society was greatly honoured on Thursday, March 6th, by a lecture, which a very large audience attended, from Dr. Rae, whose name has long been a household word wherever the English language is spoken as that of the man who first obtained intelligence of the fate of Franklin's expedition.

It was very pleasant to see Dr. Rae so hale and strong, for it is now forty years since he made his first expedition under the auspices of the Hudson's Bay Company. In his cheery narrative he was constantly describing how "jolly" he and his companions were when, e.g., the thermometer stood at ever so many degrees below freezing point, and how courteous, and pleasant, and honest was every one, christian or heathen, with whom he had anything to do in the far north. As we listened to his vivacious story we thought the cause of his good fortune was not far to seek. Such buoyant optimism

doubtless proved contagious with all sorts and conditions of men, for not Mark Tapley himself could have encountered the hardships and accidents of travel with a lighter heart than Dr Rae. A happy rose-tint pervaded all his landscapes. "Snow-shoes hard to walk on!-pooh! Nothing of the sort. Any lady could learn how to use them in an hour or two." "The Esquimaux dirty!-Not they. A great deal cleaner than a Londoner at the East End, or for that matter, at the West End, in a fog." "A rough lot of companions !-I assure you I never heard in those regions a single oath or a word that could offend a lady." "No vegetables!-why what would you have? There are the contents of the reindeer's stomach, and no Esquimaux ever has any other vegetables in his larder." 'Cold severe ! It was a perfect godsend,-dried the walls of our damp hut beautifully, and if your noseSo far we had seen the hardships of his life through Dr. Rae's spectacles, or as he is far too young to use any such appliances, let us mend our metaphor and say through his reversed telescope of memory, but when he went on to say how the old homeopathic remedy of rubbing with snow was not half so efficacious as keeping your warm hand on the frozen part till it thawed, we seemed to see intruding on the festal scenes that had been conjured up, the horrid apparition of a noseless ghost who had forgotten to keep his hands warm; and we concluded that on the whole we were safer and more comfortable" in the Bradleian than Dr. Rae had been when for ten months, by his own skill as a hunter, he kept his comrades alive on the shores of Repulse Bay.

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The lecture was a chatty résumé of the events of various expeditions made by Dr. Rae, either as an explorer or in the search for Franklin. He was employed by the Hudson's Bay Company to complete the survey of the coast from the Great Fish River to the peninsula of Boothia. As we understood him, it was to acquire the knowledge which would qualify him for the duties of this expedition that he took a little walk of 1100 miles to Canada in snow shoes. He set out with two open boats having only an oil-cloth covering, and with four months' provisions, intending to be absent about 14 or 15 months. Before he started, an old Scotch friend gave him a cheering bit of advice as to the number of his party, "Tak as few as posseeble, for never

ane of them will come back." In this bold journey, and at a cost only of £1400, he surveyed the Gulf of Boothia, and proved the land of Boothia to be a peninsula. The isthmus of Melville Peninsula, which he then crossed, bears his name. Living on the fruits of the chase, and eating birds (such as ptarmigan), blood, bones, and in fact all except beak and claws, as the Esquimaux do, the party remained in perfect health. Lieutenant Schwatka was thus forestalled by Dr. Rae in all his plans and experiences. No doubt there were drawbacks: for instance, it was hard to read frozen books. But Dr. Rae's invention was quite equal to the emergency. Dividing them among his companions, he made each take a book to bed with him, so that the seals on knowledge were effectually forced during the watches of the night. To wash was impossible, for beards became ice before they could be dried, but the blankets were beaten in dry snow till they were as clean as if they had just come from the laundry. Dr. Rae then alluded to his journey with Dr. Richardson between the Mackenzie and Coppermine Rivers, in search of Franklin, and described the courage and ardour of "the dear old man," whom neither his sixty years, nor liability to heart disease, could deter from his labour of love. Of his own survey of the South of Wollaston Island he said nothing. A specimen of the Esquimaux lamp, with its three moss wicks, was burning before the lecturer, who showed how it was used for cooking, and boiling tea, &c. On the virtues of tea he was very emphatic. It was the universal experience, he said, in the North that no good was derived from wine or spirits. Health, strength, and cheerfulness were all to be found in the beverage which Cowper and Dr. Johnson loved. Diagrams of a snow hut were next exhibited, and its construction-which occupies from an hour to an hour-and-a-halfdescribed. A fine reindeer's head was made the text for an amusing anecdote. Dr. Rae was once present, when a naturalist was descanting on such a head, and, pointing to the short palmated antlers on the forehead, remarked on the shape being a providential arrangement, by which the animal was enabled to shovel up the snow. Dr. Rae interposed with the criticism that the reindeer sheds its antlers in November, but without dispelling the credulity to which the savant's beautiful theory had appealed. The seal and the baby seal-white as milk

those little rodents the lemming and the rat, were then noticed and diagrams of their dwellings exhibited. The Esquimaux have a clever way of harpooning the poor seal.

It has a small breathing hole in the ice in which the hunter places a tuft of hair. When the seal comes home it blows up the tuft and instantly down comes the watchman's weapon. As for foxes, not Brer Fox in Uncle Remus could beat his Alpine brother's cunning. Sometimes he will gnaw the rope which connects the bait with the trap. Sometimes when a gun is attached by a rope to the bait at such a level as to hit the fox's head he will burrow in the snow under the bait and purloin it from below. Apropos of the reasoning power evinced in such instances Dr. Rae made some remarks on instinct, and said he had observed that if a wild duck's eggs are put with a tame duck's under a hen the wild ducklings ran away as soon as they are hatched while the tame ones nestle under their nurse's wings.

Of the Esquimaux he spoke with a genuine enthusiasm, which was not the less pleasant because, with the experiences of many travellers fresh in our recollection, we could not help discounting a little its complete justice. Doubtless there are Esquimaux and Esquimaux. And we can quite believe that Esquimaux, like other people, would show their best side to Dr. Rae. He enlarged on their honesty, their straightforwardness, their delicate way of showing courtesy and gratitude (and here we could not help recalling how Mrs. Metck showed her gratitude to Dr. Kane by transferring to him a choice morsel from her own cheek), their cleanliness, they being literally not near so black as they have been painted, and lastly on their stature. Dwarfs they are not, bat vary in size from 5 feet, to 5ft. 10 inches. He said he had told a scientific man in London that Esquimaux were short in the legs only, not in the body, and had been told by him that in three skeletons he had observed that there was one vertebra more than in an ordinary human body! Even Dr. Rae was obliged to admit one failing in his favourites-viz, defective arithmetical capacity, for he said he had seen a husband and wife with a family of five counting on their fingers and in hot dispute as to the number of their children. He supports the theory that the Esquimaux are Mongols by descent driven by their enemies across Bering's Straits, illustrating his argument by some remarks, which however we failed to catch distinctly, on the jurts of the Asiatic tundra.

As it was getting late the lecturer said but little of his discovery of the fate of Franklin's crews.

After a cordial vote of thanks had been accorded to him he was surrounded by a crowd of enquirers whose questions about the various articles on the table he seemed willing to go on answering for ever. His good nature they are not likely soon to forget, and they will some day realise perhaps more fully than on that night that they were in the presence of one whose name will live as long as the history of Arctic exploration, inseparable as it is from the main geographical discoveries made by Englishmen in this century.

There were present 73 of the School, 62 members, 37 visitors, total 172.

EDITORIAL.

The "Literary Effusions" which we have received from the school have long been languishing in the editorial box; and we hasten to relieve the agonised suspense which their authors must have been feeling about the verdict which the editorial mind has pronounced on them. We need not say that they are few in number; that is unfortunately always the case; we need not repeat the words of advice which our predecessors have uttered in vain; rather we would turn to the compositions themselves. We have received two articles and three poems; and of course the usual flood of correspondence. We have also to notice one variation from the usual run of the compositions; the articles are, strange to say, rather above the average; while the poems are still more insufferable than usual. We will consider the latter first. We have to thank X for a poem on “Savernake Forest by night"; the metre chosen is blank verse, of which we have in all twelve lines; our readers would not forgive us if we did not quote the whole of this little gem :—

This is the spot, the middle of the grove,
Here rests the oak, the lord of all the wood.
How bright and lovely is this nightly scene!
The silver moon unhidden goes her way,

Through skies where I could count the twinkling stars;

The south-west wind scarce agitates the leaves;

The brooklet rushing o'er its stony bed,

Imposes quiet with a chilly sound.

At such a spot as this, at such a time,

If ancestry can ever be believed,

Descending spirits have oft talked with me,

And told of worlds that are not known!

If our author were not anonymous, we should like to ask him the exact process by which he could accomplish the feat alluded to in the 5th line.

Our next piece is a ballad; this is as remarkable for curiosities of rhyme and metre as the former is for rhythm. Its subject is the well-known legend of the Monk of Hildesheim.'

66

Father Ambrose was sitting one fine day At the convent gate in the midday sun, Upon his knees the Holiest book lay, Whose verses he kept pondering one by one. And reading the nineteenth psalm he came Upon the words that say That in God's sight A thousand eves are but as yesternight;" And as he mused he doubted, "Is it so ?" What metre B. fondly imagines he is using, and the reason of the peculiar rhyming is quite beyond our mental grasp. The horrors of the rhymes thicken as the poem goes on; in the sixth verse the author has given it all up in desperation, and makes a hiatus and a mark of exclamation do duty instead. And when he upward looked he gave a start, "Who are these monks ?" he stood perplexed, and thought "The monks of Hildesheim-they know me not, Me, Father Ambrose

!

Is B. an embryo Walt Whitman? We candidly confess total inability to discover any merit in these poems.

Our last, a Holiday Reminiscence,' is not in quite so rudimentary a state, though it suffers from a want of all subject and incident.

The hollidays (sic) were almost over,
Another week they would be o'er,

For seven weeks I'd lived in clover,

And now I must exist on straw.

Our poet determines to do something; he goes out rowing and thinks:

"And as I drifted down the stream,

Aided by judicious steerage,
Thought I-'Dear me I must have

A poet, born to grace the peerage.'

We should scarcely have conceived it. Our poet writes; he breaks his pencil-point and the tragedy deepens :

My nice new knife comes into action,
About five shillings this knife cost,
At least four shillings and a fraction;
I've dropped it-In the water! Lost!!

'I watched the little bubbles rise

Beneath I know my knife lies deep.'

Then with a tear in both my eyes,

Silent I rowed away to weep.

The pathos of the last line is heartrending indeed. We may remind T.E.C. that "Iddyles" is a woeful infraction of the ordinary laws of spelling.

This closes our poetic list. Of the two prose articles we have not so much to say. An essay on "Matthew Arnold" is fairly creditable, though it is not up to the standard of insertion. The style is rather crude, and the essay is bolstered up with quotations of exorbitant length. Nevertheless we shall be glad to hear from the author on a different subject. The other article, "An adventure told in a train," has considerable merits. But the story, though told with vigour, is slight and somewhat feeble. The green-eyed monster transformed a sensible young man into a misanthropic maniac, fired with desire to torture the hated race of mankind; and selecting dentistry as his means practised his art with some success on his rival. The details are rather horrid and the quiet railway passenger to whom the tale is supposed to be told naturally thought the narrator mad. We were loth to reject this contribution, but though forcible, it was weak in plot, and written on both sides of the paper.

But

We have had no lack of correspondence. some of the letters are written on both sides of the paper, and others are the offsprings of very hopeful, not to say extravagant, brains. To the correspondence on Fussy's letter, the feelings of present and past Marlburians would have never allowed an end. Several letters on the subject were necessarily omitted, some couched in needlessly strong language, and others invertebrate and difficult to follow. A word for the writer of the letter on self-government in schools. His scheme is elaborately set forth. He proposes that every house, except of course A house and small out-boarder's, shall elect two members to represent it in a miniature School House of Commons, to discuss house grievances and move motions, with the S.P. in the chair. We, the representatives, are not 'to be the feeble puppets that occupy the throne of this country.' Here our loyalty got the better of us, and we dropped this most revolutionary letter, with the thought that the rising generation would give the masters a bad time of it. Other correspondents we will thank en masse for giving us the benefit of their opinions on almost as many and abstruse subjects as those suggested by the Walrus.

0.M.'s.

DEATH.

Feb. 29th, killed in action, at El Teb, Francis Hoel Probyn, Bengal Staff Corps, and Lieutenant 9th Bengal Cavalry (attached to 10th Hussars), second son of W. G. Probyn, late Bengal Civil Service, aged 29 years.

ARMY.

The Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry-Captain Charles Ernest Heath has been seconded for Service as a DeputyAssistant Commissary-General.

Lieut.-Col. Frederic Chenevix-French, half-pay, Military Attachè, St. Petersburg, to be Colonel.

PASSED THE PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION OF THE
INCORPORATED LAW SOCIETY.
William Edward Nicholson

Charles Edward Daliel Oldham Rew
ORDINATIONS.

Deacons Arthur Foley Winnington Ingram, B.A., Keble College, Oxford.

Charles Buxton, M.A., Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Priests-William Samuel Dixon, B.A.,Keble College, Oxford. ECCLESIASTICAL APPOINTMENTS.

Rev. A. F. N. Morgan; Curate of St. Mary, Shrewsbury. Rev. C. Buxton; Curate of All Saints and St. Lawrence, Evesham.

Occasional Notes.

THE Racquet Matches against Wellington, which were played here last Saturday, ended in a fairly decisive victory both for the School and the Common Room. The former, represented by A. H. D. Purcell and F. Meyrick-Jones, won by four games to none, the Masters (Mr. Leaf and Mr. Ford) by four to one. Next Saturday the same players will meet in the Wellington Court. An account of the matches appears in another column.

THE Competition for the House Racquets Cup ended in a victory for Ford's (Maltese Cross), who were represented by A. H. Purcell and H. D. Houseman.

THE Fives Cup has been won by Gould's (Star), whose representatives, L. Martineau and J. P. Cheales, did not lose a game throughout the ties.

DR. RAE, F.R.S., the well-known Arctic explorer, on March 6th, gave a interesting, lecture on life in those regions, before a large audience in the Bradleian. A full account appears in another column.

THE Penny Reading is fixed for next Saturday, March 22nd, when we believe some scenes from the "Rivals" will be acted.

LAST Thursday the School played a hockey eleven captained by Mr. Way, the match resulting in a draw, as each side obtained three goals. Yesterday (Tuesday) the School Eleven met an eleven of O.M.'s brought down by E. H. Buckland, Esq., whom they defeated by four goals to one. Accounts of both these matches appear in our columns.

THE Races are fixed for Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday next week. We sincerely hope that the weather will prove false to its traditions, and that we shall have the benefit of some such splendid days as we are now enjoying. There has, we believe, been a regrettable falling off in the number of entries this year, so that the trial heats will be considerably fewer than usual.

COURT assumes an unwontedly martial appearance every evening between Tea and Preparation, owing to the presence of several squads practising the Bayonet Exercise, with a view to a competition which is to be held at the end of the term. The Rifle Corps are also proposing to have a field day on Friday next.

WE are requested to state that the Old Marlburians Cricket Match is fixed this year for July 4th and 5th. All who wish to play must communicate with J. A. Bourdillon, Esq., Manton Grange, Marlborough.

WE beg to acknowledge with thanks the receipt of the following contemporaries :-Reptonian, Cliftonian, Elizabethan, Pauline, Salopian, Eastbourne Cliftonian, Blue, Ulula, Cheltonian, Shirburian, Haileyburian, Horae Scholasticae, Leys Fortnightly, Newtonian, Blundellian, Pelican, Bromsgrovian, Malvernian, Fettesian, and some others.

In Memoriam.

GUY WOLFERSTAN THOMAS.

A bright and happy life has been very suddenly, and very sorrowfully brought to a close. A few days' sharp illness, followed by the utter prostration of strength already seriously impaired, has taken from us one of whom many will long think with loving regret. Guy Thomas had only spent four terms among us, but, short as the time was, it was long enough to show in bright colours his earnest, pure, untainted nature. His persevering diligence was the result of no mere ambition, but was based on his love for his happy Canadian home, his anxiety to please those, who, in their far-off land, were watching his progress and taking pride in his success. Though his circle of friends was small, those who knew him, knew him well and loved him well; how well, they only found out when they had lost him. None, who came across him, could fail to love and appreciate that frank and simple nature, that cheerful smile, ready answer, those shrewd, old-fashioned ways.

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Against the Chapham Rovers on 12th January, at Blackheath, we asserted our superiority by 2 goals and a try to a goal and a try—the first match having been drawn. Winning the toss the Nomads took the hill and wind, and after some severe scrummages in the Rovers' 25, Kingsbury got hold of the ball and after a good run scored a try behind the posts; the place failed and the smart running of Kitson and Forbes relieved the Rovers until Wilkins brought back the ball with a rush, and being collared passed to Buckland and he to Lawrie, who gained a try, from which F. B. Windeler had no difficulty in placing a goal. The same office he performed immediately afterwards for Wilkins, who himself got in after a hard run. Up to half-time the Nomads had played almost an entirely offensive game, but from that time they had to be more on their guard, and though Hankey, Buckland, Wilkins, and Templer were very much on the spot with their tackling, Newton and Forbes obtained tries for the Rovers, and Lyons placed a goal.-R. M. Yetts was sole umpire.

Nomads Team:-W. J. Petrie (back), C. M. Wilkins, and W. B. Kingsbury (), F. N. Templer, and F. B. Windeler (1), F. Thursby (Capt), G. H. Windeler, E. H. Lawrie, H. M. Elder, C. P. A. Hankey, J. T. Robinson, A. V. Buckland, A. H. Soden, and W. W. Ellis (forwards).

Short accounts of the remaining matches will appear in the next Marlburian.

The season having come to an end, we now publish the results of the matches, from which it will appear that of the 21 matches played 5 only have been lost and two drawn, while we have won 14; not a bad season considering that at the commencement we had only one behind who had played for us last season. It will be observed that the School was the only team who scored a goal against the Nomads before they went on their Northern tour.

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