The Sun.
London, England, 1863-09-17 00:00:00

A Carpenter evidently up to a Trick or Two.

Mr. Robinson, in his new work, called " Shirley
Hall Asylum, or the Memoirs of a Monomaniac,'
gives an account of a passage in his early life which,
if not told in the manner of Defoe, is very much in
the manner of Mr. Dickens. When domiciled as a
boy in the house of a stingy uncle, he used fre-
quently to enliven his evenings by visits to the
Lyceum Theatre. A popular piece called "The
Dog of Montargis, or the Forest of Bondy," struck
his imagination forcibly. The dog's master hap-
pens to be cruelly murdered in the forest ; and in
the next scene a street in Bondy is represented, with
several houses in perspective, a bell-handle being
plainly visible at each street door. After smell-
ing at the doors of several houses in sue.
session, the faithful dog gives a violent pull
at the right bell-handle, and announces the non-
arrival of his master. Young Robinson, seized with
the desire of imparting the same amount of sagacity
to his own dog Rover, got one of the carpenters
belonging to the theatre to come home with
him. The carpenter declared himself perfectly wil-
ling and able to instruct Rover, at the moderate
price of one shil'ing for each trick to be taught.
The boy was delighted and went to fetch the dog :
" Rover was accordingly introduced, and the car-
penter examined him attentively and critically,
while I stood by in a state of no little anxiety, wait-
ing,,T
forh
"That dog judgment.
dog will do capitally, air. I never saw
one,
aYs judging from his appearance, who
d learn faster. What a shame, he continued,
chh 1 l east w

in an under tone, to starve a poor brute in that

manner.'

---__
" I felt exceedingly annoyed at the remark, but,
as it was a true one, I said nothing. The meanness
of my uncle's housekeeping was visible in poor
, ,Rover's
It
i s,, ribs,
I saallido:
,wahniacht
there
ri might hits easilytlie
shilbleincounted.
6
After a moment's silence on both sides, the carpen.
ter said,
" ' Well, sir, is it a bargain P lam agreeable if
you are.'
first trick.'

," Which would you like to know, sir ?'
" ' How the dog of Montargis was taught to ring
,he right bell.'

ohwe b itcllB-.
" The carpenter put the shilling into his pocket.
done. '' willl nowev e
getst l l yooffu faithfully,a
bargain.
All
sir, ht
r
pulls in the street is made of wood except the 0110
at his own house, and that's a sausage.'
" A what ?, I almost screamed.
" A sausage. The poor brute knew his own,
house by the sausage for the bell-pull ; and when
he catches hold of it, he naturally rings the bell:
Then I can't teach Rover to ring my bell ?'1
Oh, yes, you could sir, if you had a saneage
tied to the wire ; not otherwise. But then I don't
know that your servants would much like it, for
they would soon have to answer the door pretty

often. There is not a dog within a mile round that
wouldn't soon find it out, and have a pull at your
bell to tell you his master was murdered.' I was
thunderstruck at the information, but there was no
help for it; the money was gone."

POLYGAMY IN BENGAL.—It is believed at Cal-
cutta that the Hon. Rajah Deo Narain Singh in-
tends to introduce a bill to lessen the oils of polygamy.
This is a very delicate question and will be dealt with ten-
derly. In 1856 the leading Hindoos of Bengal petitioned.
the Legislature to put down a curse which practically is as
bad as infanticide and worse than suttee. The question is
a moral not a religious one ; and that a Hindoo member of
council from the sacred city of Kasi or Benares should deaf
with it is a great advantage. The Shastura nowhere do
more than tolerate polygamy, and it exists in Bengal in a
hideous form unknown elsewhere. Three centuries ago,
when Bengal was ruled from Gour by Adisur. a low-caste
king, he found there was not a Brahmin in his dominions
who could perfoim certain ceremonies, owing to the perse-
cution of the Buddhists in former times. Ile accordingly
applied to the King of Kanoje, who sent five Sagnic Brah-
mins, venerated priests, who preserved till the hour of their
death, for their funeral ceremonies, the sacrificial fire
lighted by their parents on the day of their birth, and fed.
daily by fuel and clarified butter. From these five have
descended a whole crowd of Kulin or privileged families.
They era simply hereditary spiritual peers, and es no father
will marry his daughter, if of a certain caste, except to
them, many of them live solely by such marriages.
Twenty wives is a common number for a Kulin Brahmin to
have—but there aro cases in which oue man has 180. The
polygamist does not feed these wives, but visits the richer
of them at their father's houses, and is in fact maintained
by his wives. In many cases whole families, consisting of
sisters, aunts, and nieces are married to one avaricious sen-
sualist. You may imagine the moral evils which flow from
this, and understand how, as a social abuse, native opinion
would like it put down penally. Information is now being
collected by the Rajah to see how much further legislatio4
can go than thin:,--Letter from Ca;c!‘!!Ag.