The star. (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1874-1875, 1875-05-26

The most noticeable article in the num-
ber is entitled "The Murats of Florida"
1t is sketch of Prince Achille Murat,
the nephew of the great Napoleon, and
his wife, niece OF George Washington.
An exile from France and Italy, Prince
Murat settled In Florida, and there met
and married the 'charming Widow
Grey" nee Willis. Both are now de-
ceased, and their remains lie in the
Episcopal cemetery at Tallahassee.
Prince Murat was very eccentric and
seemed little adapted to be the COM
panion of SO refined woman as Kate
Grey, yet they were very devoted to
each other and lived happily.
could doubt, most trying source Of annoy
ance to his sensitive wife, for had it not been
for the constant attendance Of his faithful valet,
William, his presence at times would scarcely
never removed his boots from their first days
use until they were worn out, and without some
stratagem practiced on him, 1t is believed that
he would never have changed his clothing.
On one 0ccasion-during the season OF sugar
making-Monsieur le Prince had the misfor
tune TO fall into vat Of sirup some degrees
above the Fahrenheit estimate of temperature.
The bystanders stood aghast, or rushed ex-
citedly to the rescue; his own only thought OF
the situation, as he afterward expressed it,
was, "kate will make me wash" The distaste
full fluid, water, he declared was only intended
for beasts Of the field, and ne never drank 1t
unless well disguised with brandy.
Colonel Murat (for l knew him as colonel as
well as prince was q man Of singular resour-
ces in dietetics as in many other matters. One
day, on occasion Of the unexpected arrival OF
quests, he. discovering the larder to be rather
empty, and finding the embarrassments OF the
menage aggravated by the consciousness Of
Madame's absence, ordered all the ears and
tails to be cut from his hogs, allowing their
swineships to roam again at large, while these
appendages lay seething in the cuisine prepar-
atory to most sayory meal. ga pity" de-.
clared the master Of Lipona, "that hogs could
not be all heads and tails"
AS a browning feat Of his enterprise in the
field above alluded to, it was his boast that
he had tasted Of every bird and reptile in
Florida. "Alligator tail SOUP" he said,
"would do, but the buzzard was not good"
or experiments in cookery he was very fond,
| and often annoyed both Nine. Murat and the
cook by the strange mingling Of sauces and
condiments furtively introduced into the fam
| lily food. No tree or shrub Of all the State bo-
| tanical repertory but he would appoint to
| some use, many as vegetables for the table.
From the magnolias, myrtles, and some other
glossy -leafed trees Of FlOridian forests, he
would extract wax, while many medicinal
herbs (the cinchona or quinine plant among
them) were brought forth as really worthy
| trophies Of his passion for research.
Another interesting article is pictur-
1
the birthplace of Fielding and Hannah
More, with its quaint customs and lam
guage, its romantic legends, its curious
architectural relics of the Druids and
bygone races, its old churches and varied
scenery, all attractively told.
Under the title of "The Classic Flora''
the writer notes the important part that
flowers played in the public and private
life of the Greeks and Romans. Richard
Grant White has torsaken grammar and
contributes an article on music. The
/ editorial department of the number is'uI
to the customary standard.
| HARPER.
Eight illustrated articles appear In
this number, furnishing eighty illustra.
tions in all. Those accompanying the
leading article, "The Channel Islands" J"
are superb.
A contribution on Concord Books has
portraits Of Emerson, Hawthorne, Thor
eau, Alcott, Miss Louisa Alcott, and f.
! B. Sanborn. "Caricature in the Ho.
garthian Period" is contributed by
James Parton. 1t is strikingly illus.
trated. The third psper on "The Stone
information. A lady gives an amusing
sketch of experiences about weddings
observed by clergyman's wife. Another
improve as architects. dEri0s Funeral!
is a very touching tale in rhyme.
| ST. NICHOLAS.
| The young folks have a very nice lis
of contents saved up for the first sum
mer month. There are several poems
the one by Rachel Pomeroy that opens the
number is particularly noteworthy 1t is
about young giant-girl, f" "Milmy M ell.
my" and the frontispiece is life sIze
picture Of her.
"Tsn en- years . ar old precisely
Stout enough to make q meal of
You andm
"The Druids and their Temples" is g
valuable contribution.
ss Soat seSrsS "The Tfs LIZZIE G whe whe
wouldn't say Please" may be profitable
study for al the children.
| REPOSITORY.
The engrayings Of the number are
Shadow Picture.b Contents:' Richard
Baxter; The Record of Crusade; List
and Chopin; The Merrimack River;
Sulks-Part II; Mount Vesuvius; Good
Dreams; Walks about Constantinople
| Confessions Of an Artisan; Educated to
Death; Rhetorical Honesty; Dress Re-
form; The Spirits Of the old World and
Of the New; Poetry and Editorial Notes.
ATLANTIC.
T. B. Aldrich opens the number with
lengthy poem-"SprinIg in New Eng
land" The most noticeable article Is
contributed by President Eliot, of Har-
ward, on "Wise and Unwise Economy in
| Schools" The Professor considers large
schools undesirable.
Let us examine atfcw Of the common wavs
of economizing in the public schools. One way
is to build avery large building for school pur-
poses, instead OF several smaller ones. 1t is
undoubtedly an economical measure, as re-
| CARDS both first cost and running expenses, to
| bring from five hundred TO one thousand chill
dren under one roof. But this kind of economy v
impairs the quality Of the schools. 1t is dis
advantageous to bring great number of chill
dren together into one building. The more
children the stricter and more repressiye must
be the discipline the greater the risk of con-
tagIous disease, the more dangerous the in1lu-
enca OF bad children, and the worse the hetero-
geneousness Of the school, unless, indeed.
1t is situated in densely populated dis
trist where all the people are of one stamp.
This great and growing evil of Heterogeneous
ness in the free schools is to be ayoi,l, ID
only by multiplying schools, SO that each
neighborhood in large towns and cities can
have its own. In small towns the population
is generally more homogeneous, and the evil is
not so serious. The common school grew IN
IN communities which were singularly homoge-
ncous; and 1t is all important that each school
taken by itself should be fairly homogeneous