The Sun.
London, England, 1865-03-11 00:00:00

A GAME AT BACKGAMMON.

With his restoration to health, Captain Beaton's desire
unfortunately returned for the kind of amusement and
excitement to which ho had been so long habituated.
Long before he was able to resume his usual occupa-
tion in the Links and Union parlour, or to leave the
house at all, he began to tire of the stillness of the sick-
room, and much more of Wilberforce and Hannah More,
and indeed of all the books his wife had ever since his
illness been reading to him with so much satisfaction.
Even after she had at his request, and not without an
exertion of indulgent feeling, laid aside her own' favou-
rite studies for the last number of Blackwood, and then
Blackwood for the newspaper, which at all times he pre-
ferred to, any book in the world, he was restless and in-
attentive, and could scarcely bear to listen. At last he
ventured this gentle remonstrance :
• " Thank you, thank you, Lizzy ; but don't fatigue your-
self reading so long, dear. Now that I can walk up and
down the room again I don't so much care for it, and
•
need not plague you."
"But I am not at all tired. I like to read; and I have
not got above half through the debate about reducing the
army that you wanted to hear."
" Well, I suppose not ; but what a set of long-winded
fellows they are ! and from what you have read, I should
think most of them have mighty little notion of what they
are all so ready to talk about. It isn't that altogether, but
rather that I am doubtful whether listening to reading be
very good for me ; I get so deucedly stiff and cramped if I
keep long in the same_ position or I go over asleep, which,
you know, spoils one's night's rust. Heigh-ho ! don't I
seem to want something a little more stirring now, dear—
something to do with my hands rather? I wonder if
Ramsay could not find time to come and play a game or
two at backgammon with me, now and then, merely for
the sake of variety !"
" I daresay he could," she said, still strong in her im-
proved feelings, one of the bright but too rare smiles show-
ing her pleasure at this proof of his returning health. "I
wish I could play with you, I am sure ; the movement of
the arms might be beneficial ; could not I soon learn ?"
" Perhaps you could. You may try, if you like, dear."

But oh the wretchedness of such an entertainment! She
had never played at any game of the kind—had no natural
turn that way, and of course did not take it up at all
readily, and ho played so well, and so
.rapidly that her
slowness and difficulty appeared to him incomprehensible
stupidity. He soon lost patience, "pshawed," and "poohed,"
and declared it to be incredible that she should not imme-
diately understand what was so perfectly simple.
After a game or two, in which he had himself played
for both sides, with only a running commentary by way
of teaching her, he began to try whether she had learned
anything.

"This? Well, one, two, three, four—

" But, good heavens ! my dear Lizzy, must you always
spell over the points in that horribly tedious way, as if
you were a child taking its second reading lesson ? Look
here, havn't I told you, over and over again, that quite
across the board is six—that from black to black are the
even, from black to red are the odd numbers ? Well, then,
why can't you move your man at once—so ? I don't in the
least comprehend your difficulty." .

_ .
"You cannot comprehend the possibility of a difficulty
that is not one to yourself. What a philosopher you are !'
" Nonsense, my dear—go on."

"It is quite true, Captain Beaton—you forgot how
strange it all is to me—that Ido not spend half my life as
you do, playing games of one kind or another ; but even if I
were as stupid as you would make me out to be, I do think
a little more patience on your part would not be unbe-
coming."

" Oh! if you talk like that—only mind I said nothing
about stupidity. But come, come, come, Lizzy—all this is
such nonsense—you know it is ; only go on, and do pout
best, that is all I ask." But it was only the longer the
worse. A more unlucky expedient for making the time
pass pleasantly could not possibly have been hit upon by
any two people in the world. At the end of three-quar-
ters of an hour he was bored to death, and had almost
cracked his jaws with yawning ; and she, put thoroughly
out of humour by his want of patience and ill-disguised
contempt, was, in spite of her late softened feelings
towards him, obliged to fly to the refuge of her own room,
and not till after a long fit of crying, in the passionate
vehemence of which she, of course, recognised neither
impatience or ill-humour, and only then with the help o
some martyr-like whispers to herself, was she able to
take her place once more in the sick-room. It need not
be told that the rest of the evening passed very much less
pleasantly than the time had lately done between them.
More genial and happy is the home life at the Ram-
says, which Katharine is only at rare intervals per-
mitted to enjoy. " There was life, vivacity, ease,
bonhommie—above all, an entire harmony and tole-
ration throughout the whole menage, which con-
trasted only too favourably with the frequent mis-
understandings, the restraint, the almost puritanical
sternness, she witnessed so often and so painfully at
home." The two brothers, George and Frederick
Somerville Tempest, are two very dissimilar heroes,
but are both for a time, either through the faults of
others or themselves, singularly unfortunate in their
love affairs. We do not propose to unravel the
mysteries Of the little plot. The episode of George's
engagement to Miss Higham is the least pleasing
incident in an otherwise pleasing tale. Agnes
Hope, and her friend and pupil, Katharine Beaton,
are the most charming characters, and the readers
of Sedgely Court will find their companionship to
possess the cheering, elevating character of a walk
in the bright sunshine, which invigorates while it
amuses—which benefits the heart and intellect,
while it agreeably occupies the hour.

'lke Dictionary of Medical and Surgical Knowledge.
One Vol. Pp. 756. Houlston and Wright.

This is one of those thoroughly useful and prac-
tical books of reference that deserve, in no invi-
dious sense, to be put upon the shelf—the pro-
viso being that the shelf selected to bear them
must be readily accessible, must be immediately
within reach. The volume, in effect, is really what
it assumes to be in its very title, namely, a com-
plete and practical guide alike in health and disease :
a guide at once sanitory and sanatory—in other words
preservative and curative in its influences. The
compiler of it, is already favourably known as Editor
of the " Dictionary of Useful Knowledge." Wood-
cuts illustrations are sprinkled here and there
among the explanatory letterpress. The double-
columned pages are plentifully sown with prescrip-
tions. Scarcely an article of any importance at all in
the pharmacopeia but is here briefly yet sufficiently
described, both in its nature and in its uses. The
motto chosen for the very cover of the book—upon
which ',,cover the distich is emblazoned within a
garter—runs aptly thus :
_ _

A wise Physician skilled our wounds to heal,

Is more than armies to the public weal.
Altogether this goodly little tome of from 700 to
800 pages, alphabetically arranged in their contents,
is one of the last, as it is also one of the very best,
additions made to the two excellent series, " En-
quire Within," and " The Reason Why"—material
aids (both of these popular series) in the diffusion
of useful knowledge.

BREACH OF PROMISE OF MARRIAGE.—SEDUC-
TION.—An action for breach of promise of marriage
was brought by a woman named Longridgo, at the Durham
Assizes, on Tuesday, against a man named Bellingham,
employed in an ironworks, and earning (it was alleged)
some £6OO a year. The defendant denied the promise ;
but it was proved, to the satisfaction of the jury, that it had
been made, and that under it he had managed to seduce the
plaintiff, and make her a mother.---Damages, £2OO.