vourself and Mr. and fears that your marriage may not turn out more happily than her own daughter's, who married under similar circumstances. As good advice is not to be despised, I think it right to call your attention to this-for after all, you are not yet married, and it is still time—” Here she paused, perceiving that, instead of listening attentively to what she was saying, Miss Madelina had seized hold of the jewel box, and had taken out a bracelet, and was trying it on.

"Well, mamma, what were you saying?" asked Madelina, surmising from Mrs. Withers' surprised look, that she might appear rather a graceless daughter in her eyes.

"That it is still time to break off the match," said Mrs. Dashington, with a slight tremor in her voice, for once sinking the woman of fashion in the mother—“ for I hope you do not for a moment imagine that I should ever wish to compel you—”

"Now don't make a scene, mamma," said Madelina with a light laugh. Mrs. Withers rose to go. "I'll leave you to discuss the matter between yourselves," said she, thinking the daughter would not allow herself to be moved in her presence.

"Don't go," pleaded Mrs. Dashington-"I wish you to bear me witness that I sincerely and truly offer Madelina to break off the match, if she does not feel a proper attachment for Mr.

"Dear me ! what a ridiculous fuss for nothing!" exclaimed Madelina. "Of course I don't love him—but only think of the absurdity of breaking off a match for such a romantic reason as that! I knew all along I did not care a farthing for him."

Pray Miss Dashington, think better of what you are about to do,” said Mrs. Withers. "You see your mamma takes no account of the expense she has incurred for your settlement, or your trousseau, and is willing to set you completely free."

"But I'm not willing to lose the diamonds (she had meanwhile tried on the component parts of the set), nor to go on foot when I can ride in my carriage," said the hopeful miss. "So, pray, let's have no more preaching."

Mrs. Withers shook hands silently with Mrs. Dashington, and left the room-thinking that since daughters give their mothers lessons of worldly wisdom, there is no fear those of the present generation should ever be forced into an odious union. But after all, Mrs. Dashington only reaped as she had sown-and the transitory motherly feeling that melted her heart for a moment, had no power to touch a frivolous girl brought up to worship at the shrine of the Golden Calf. It is no stretch of imagination to say that this unholy worship furnishes more occupation to the Divorce Court than all errors of the heart or imagination are ever likely to do. Formerly only old people were supposed to be avaricious and money-loving-but young England has reformed those obsolete notions, and at the present day, even youth and beauty bow the knee to the largest "nugget," and adore the Koh-I-noor as a holy relic.

We live in what may truly be termed a golden age. Gold is the king of earth, the monarch of the world; at his footstool thousands stoop and bow; at his shrine manifold are the sacrifices that are offered Truth, honesty, hearts, and alas! souls perish, and are yielded up. It is the god that men worship, the idol upon which they lavish time, and labour and life.

Gold is the cry, the one cry that rings aloud, spreading far and wide; for its sake honesty is changed to fraud, virtue to vice, truth to falsehood, innocence to guilt, hearts are sold, and the never-dying soul is laden with a thousand sins. Still onward, ever onward, is passed that wordGold the yearning for it, the craving for it, is the one feeling in the heart of man, and for it he barters all that is good and right; justice and mercy, love and honour, are sacrificed; and the still small voice of 2 F

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VOL. VI.

conscience is hushed and put to silence. Ever echoes from the lordly mansion, to the cottage home, that sin-stained, sullied word-Gold. And its fruits, aye upon its fruits, upon its harvest, its golden harvest, Let us read the tale, in the lost life, the dark-dyed crime, the broken heart.

let us gaze.

An old man, tottering with age, sits in his wretched home, the bitter blast of the wind without whistles around him; through the creaks and crevices the cold enters, and pinches yet more his sunken features; shiveringly he crouches low; no fire to warm him. Want and wretchedness are the only things that meet the eye. Yet he is not a poor man. He has wealth and riches in abundance; but he is a gold worshipper-a Miser. All that is good and noble, all the great and ennobling traits. of man, are lost long ago. The poor man's blessing has never been his, for a stranger is his hand to the relieving of real want and suffering. The world beyond is a thing forgotten, and yet so soon shall he reach it, and leave for ever his gold, his ill-gotten wealth. Leave it all, but he will not leave the reckoning of his lost life; that reckoning follows him, and is made in the world above.

Such is a sorrowing picture, but one that is not alone, only one taken from a mass. So every day we hear, and read, and see innumerable crimes and sins committed for the sake of gold. But there is that old saying, and though of ancient date we still verify it, "There are two sides to every picture." So there are brighter sides to these gloomy

ones.

"I work much evil but yet, oh! yet,

I reign with pride when my throne is set
In the good man's heart, where feeling gives
Its aid to the meanest thing that lives,
My glorious home is made in the breast
That loves to see the weary rest;

That freely and promptly yields a part

Of its riches to gladden the toil-worn heart."

Yes! there are many whose gold heaps blessings on their head. They who help the needy, who distribute to the poor, who relieve the want of the destitute. They shall obtain a golden treasure in the unseen world. The reward of the open-hearted, the generous, the self-denying, is not on earth, but in heaven. This great vital truth is rarely remembered, and thus it is that the earth is steeped in such fearful guilt and sin. Were it remembered more, far different would be the tone of morality. If the beatific influence of gold was more general, the sordid influence of vice would be far less.

Current History of Literary and
Scientific Events.

DECEMBER 1ST.-THURSDAY.

Inauguration of a Memorial to the Late Sir G. Cornewall Lewis, Bart.--The monument erected at New Radnor to the memory of Sir G. Cornewall Lewis, was yesterday inaugurated with great pomp. This memorial, which was designed by Mr. John Gibbs, of Oxford, resembles that of the Martyrs in Oxford, being, however, several feet higher. It has four beautiful representations of Truth, Oratory, Justice, and Literature, with a fine marble medallion of the late Baronet.

Cape Town.-A new Mahomedan mosque is to be erected in Cape Town for one of the principal Malay congregations. It is expected to prove one of the handsomest architectural ornaments of the city, and is to cost several thousand pounds.

Linnean Society.-Mr. George Bentham, F. R.S., President, in the chair.-Henry Gibbs Dalton, M.D., F.R.C.S.E., of George Town, Demerara, was elected a Fellow. The following papers were read -1. "On new Tubicolous Annelids in the Collection of the British Museum, Part 2," by William Baird, M.D., F.L.S. 2. "On the Structure of Bonatea Speciosa, L., with Reference to its Fertilization," by Mr. Robert Trimen. 3. "Brief Notice of Results obtained by Experiments with Entozoa," by T. S. Cobbold, M.D., F. R. S. & L.S. 4. "On the Free Nematoids, Marine and Freshwater, with Descriptions of 100 Species," by Mr. H. C. Bastian, M. B., F.L.S.

DECEMBER 2D.-FRIDAY.

Reactionary Newspapers in Italy.-A Turin newspaper publishes a list of fifty

nine newspapers" of the blackest hue, continually preaching, not the reconciliation of Rome and Italy, but in a more or less open and violent manner, the destruction of the liberal institutions of this country, and revolt against the constituted monarchical Government. Some of these papers, especially those published in the cities of free Italy, are bitter censors of the French Emperor and not seldom politely call him the Son of the Devil."

DECEMBER 3D.-SATURDAY.

Mr. John Bright as a Poet.-The following lines will show that he has in his time perpetrated a little doggerel. They are taken from the visitors' book at Drummadrochit Inn, Inverness-shire, in which the entry stands :

DECEMBER 5TH.-MONDAY.

Shanghae now possesses a rowing club, a gymnasium, a debating society, an amateur theatrical corps, a cricket club, and a branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. Royal Institution.-- Mr. William Pole, F. R.S., Treas. and V.P., in the chair.Messrs. J. E. Mayall, C. Robinson, G. Tetley, W. J. Thompson, jun., A. White, E. Williams, and Mrs. Harriet Scott were elected Members. The Chairman announced the following addition to "The Donation Fund for the Promotion of Experimental Researches"-Miss Harriet Moore (second donation), £50. The Rev. C. H. Spurgeon.-It is said that the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon is to publish on the 1st of January, a new monthly magazine, entitled, "The Sword and the Trowel a Record of Combat with Sin and Labour for the Lord." The magazine will contain articles of general interest, and an account of the progress made by the numerous churches established through the instrumentality of Mr. Spurgeon, and the church over which he is pastor. OBITUARY. --The Earl of Carlisle, late Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, died this day at Castle Howard, near Walton, Yorkshire. The following sketch of his career is taken from Men of the Time: "George William Frederick Howard, K.G., eldest son of the late Earl of Carlisle, better known, until his accession to the Earldom in 1848, as Lord Morpeth, was born April 18, 1802. Having been educated at Eton, and Christ Church, Oxford, where he obtained two university prize poems and the highest classical honours, he commenced his public career at an early age, and sat first in the House of Commons as member for Morpeth. He was afterwards elected to Parliament for the West Riding of Yorkshire; and up to 1841, under the Melbourne Ministry, was Chief Secretary for Ireland, where he was universally beloved. When the Whigs came again into power, in 1846, he was appointed Commissioner of Woods and Forests, and succeeded Lord Campbell as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. He has acquired a high reputation as a man of letters and high mental culture. He travelled in America a few years ago, and shortly after his return to England, in the autumn of 1850, delivered, before the Mechanics' Institute at Leeds, a lecture on America, and another on the 'Life and Writings of Pope,' which attracted no small attention, partly from the intrinsic value of the lectures themselves, and partly from the then novelty of a lord lecturing to a society of mechanics. He has since visited the East, and has published his impressions of his tour under the title of 'Diary in Turkish and Greek Waters.' He is also the author of a work on Prophecy. On the accession of Lord Palmerston to the Premiership, in 1855, the Earl of Carlisle was nominated by Her Majesty Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, to which he was re-appointed on the return of his party to power in 1859. In that capacity he devoted much labour and pains to the development of the agricultural resources of Ireland, and to the spread of a general system of liberal and enlightened education."

DECEMBER 6TH.-TUESDAY.

The Armour-plated Ship Lord Warden.—The quantity of armour-plating the Lord Warden is intended to carry is between 1350 and 1500 tons. Instead of the armour being carried along only a portion of her sides, it will cover the whole vulnerable portion of the frigate from stem to stern, and at the same time be carried completely over two decks. The most novel feature observable in the Lord Warden is the high heavy bow towering above her fighting deck, which is intended to be armed with the thickest kind of plates to give protection to the battery of heavy guns intended to be placed in that part of the ship.