The Portland daily press., 1868-01-15
Varieties.

The Russian government has announced
that no notice will be taken of letters address
ed to it by foreigners unless they are In the
Russian language, and the Saxon ambassador
has accordingly ordered all letters in German
sent to him for transmission to the Russian
authorities, to be translated into Russian at
the cost of the senders.
Dreadful accounts are given OF the famine
in Finland. The peasants are reduced to such
e1tremities that they think themselves happy
il they can procure loayos composed, in equal
portions, of sawdust, moss and coarse rye
-four. Many have obtained the Emperor's per-
mission to emigrate. ..
At a concert at st. Austell, England, last
month, in singing the National Anthem
the line "Confound their knavish tricks" was
altered to "Confound their Fenian tricks"
The agitation of the popular mind In Eng
land about the Fenians, when viewed from q
distance, has its ludicrous aspect, although 1t
must be acknowledged that what with prison
explosions and incendiary mixtures thrown In
at windows, there is some cause for it. Nu-
merous curious instances might be given OF
the height which the prevailing excitement
has reached. An amusing incident occurred
in the Isle Of Wight, where most vigilant
guard is kept over the person of her Majesty
the Queen. A correspondent writing 10 ths
London Telegraph says that one day recently
two individuals armed with breech-loaders
were challenged by an Irish sentry, and being
uDprovided with the eountersign, were made
prisoners and marched off to the guardhouss.
They proved to be a royal parsonage on a visit
to the Queen, and her Msjesty's gamekeeper,
Mr.. Page.
-"The Boyhood of Lincoln" is the subject
Of a new picture by Eastman Johrson 1t rep.
resents Lincoln as a youth in homespun and
rough brogans, seated in chair which he has
tilted back toward huge open fireplace, the
better to obtain light by which to read book.
An exchange says: ut is not difficult TO trace
in This earnest, angular figure resemblance
to the late President, but the scene In the
house, with the log walls, the simple cooking
utensils strewn upon the stone hearth, and
the figure Of the boy seeking knowledge from
books, is valuable and interesting as q lea out
of the pioneer life of America"
Among the csricatures which are going
very quietly about Paris is one called EateSre-
naeRt de la Conference, in which the Emperor
of theFrench is represented as shouldsring q
enee" while the representatives of the Euro
pesn powers are surrounding it as an escort,
or following it, with the exception of Russia,
who, In the form of bear, is leaning against
rock, with his mouth open in dersion. All
the comprny are guarding the olfactory nerves
with fingers or handkerchief. Another earl
. cature represents Theirs trampling on a wo-
man-Itsly-wno Is sprawled helplessly, with
dishevelled hair, and nose to the dust. Theirs
holds colossal pen in his right hand, while
hi, left is elenched against his breast, and he
is looking up into the face Of huge German
officer, who, with folded arms and an air Of ex-
treme sang Jroid, is saying, "That which snasls
little Theirs is, that Germany is two-thirds
larger than France" Another carieature rep
resents Garibaldi gravely digging, while on the
opposite side is a willow tree with q grim
guardsman resting on his gun. Underneath 70
written, Making pendant to the prisoner Of
st. Helena" ..,..
Even you are married, Sammy" said the
elder Weller, you'll understand great many
things you don't understand now; but vether
it's worth vile going through SO much to learn
so little, as the charity boy said ven he get to
the end of the alphabet, is a matter of taste."
In digging well in Montana short time
since, the workmen came upon gold-bearing
gravel. They have now turned the well into
gold mine, and have determIaed to drink
whiskey little longer.
Winter is rs severe in Europe as il IL In
Ameiica-and in America 1t is severe enough
to satisfy a White Satan, such as eolored folk
invent for their Inferno of Ice for the future
abode for the spirits of white men. The Ital-
ian skies, which are popularity supposed to be
always Of heavenly blue, have been shedding
snow at great rate In Northern and Cen
| trail Italy the snow storms have been so heavy
that there has been great obstruction to traN-
| ell, and the time for the reassembling OF Par
| lament was postponed, because many MEM
/ hers of that body were SHOWED up"
| Mr.. William L. Stone has been leeturing
In New York on "The Buccaneers of America -
including under that designation the late Em-
| peror of Mexico.
Rev. Mr.. Spurgeon recently told his hear
ers that if some of them stayed at home on
week days to mind their own business, instead
OF running about to preach In little chapels,
fewer would become bankrupt. He also advis-
ed his female devotees to stay at home darn
ins their husbands stockings occasionally,
instead of always focking to indulge in little
religious excitement.
Richard s. spofford, the husband of Hai-
riet Prescott spofford, is to make his debut in
the Atlantic next month with poem said to
be very clever.
"A gentleman of French descent, living in
Cincinnati, has watch that has been in his
family for more than two hundred years. and
is still in good running order,