The Portland daily press., 1867-01-02
VARIETIES.

A Washington letter says: Mention is
made OF a photograph of Mr.. Lincoln reading
the Bible to his little boy TAD" who stands
between his knees. The "Bible" is a large
photograph album, which the operator placed
in Mr.. Lincoln's hands, which. has been con-
verted into better book by those who are so
persistent in disappearing the martyr-Pres-
ident."
"A meerschaum pipe was recently sold by
auction in Chicago for 500. Its first public
appearance is said to have been at the corona
ton of Philip Second Of Spain, three hundred
years ago. Subsequently it has been owned by
King Ludwig of Bavaria and Lola Montez. 1t
holds an eighth Of apound.
The Private Journal and Diary of John
Surratt" has just been published. 1t claims to
be diary from July Sd, 1860, to November
9th, 1856, and will undoubtedly have large
sale all over the country. Nevertheless, the
whole thing is pure fabrication.
The old Boston Courier, latterly known as
the Evening Commercial, is at last defunct.-
1t has been moribund for some time, being
weighed down by the odium attached to its
traitorous course during the war, while at the
same time it has lacked the editorial ability
which then rendered it at least formidable
The publishers ascribe the decay of their jour-
nal chiefly to "a prejudice arising from the po-
litical delusion of the times" but express the
conviction that sthere is yet left a goodly REM
nant which has not bent the knee to the Baal
of political error, bigotry and intolerance
For the benefit of this faithful few the publica-
ton OF the Weekly Courier is to be continued.
Professor Agassiz will begin in the Febru-
AIRY Atlantic Monthly a series of papers on the
Glacial Phenomena in our Country. The
Coast CT Maine will be treated first, Mazzini
will have apaper in the same number of the
Atlantic, on The Republican Alliance. The
author OF "a Man without a Country is to
have story in the February issue, we learn,
so that with Holmes Guardian Angel to lead
off we may look for as great treat in the Sec
ond number OF The new year as we had in the
first.
"A mandatory for making printers type
from vulcanized India-rut Der has been started
at Dalston, England. The invention is Amer
lean, but is said to be making progress in Eng
land.
-Prescott's Philip II. has just been translat-
ed into Italian for the first time and published
at Venice and Turin. The work receives much
praise from the Italian journals.
The mouth of the Amazon is large enough
to take in the States OF Massachusetts and
Rhode Island. Suppose it should do it," kind
ly suggests Richmond paper.
Napoleon has kidney disease; Victor
Emmanuel a paralyzed right arm; Bismarck
is sick; the Empress Carlotta crazy; the hair Of
both the Emperor of Austria and the Queen of
Hanover has turned gray within year; the
Pope weeps day and night; and Victoria still
broods over the past with profound melancholy.
Who wouldn't wear a crown?-Ex.
The following is the name of French re-
igious work; "The Spiritual Mustard Pot, to
make the soul sneeze with devotion"
The Christmas tree in Trinity Church, New
York, on Monday evening, was lighted by two
hundred and twenty-eight gas jets.
DE Tocqueville, in his work on America,
gives this forcible sketch: "a newspaper can
drop the same thought into thousand minds
at the same moment A newspaper is an ad-
wiser who does not require to be sought, but
comes to you briefly every day Of common veal
without distracting your private affairs. News
papers, therefore, become more necessary in
proportion as men become more equal indiv-
iduals and more to be feared. To suppose that
they only served to protect freedom would be
to diminish their Importance; they maintain
civilization" Of. .;.s