Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1896-06-10

Russia and Religious Liberty.

Ih6 only d1SSenteTS that the OrthOdOx
church has ever tolerated with any de-
gree Of good will have been the actual
|. pagans from the frozen north and the
Mohammedans. Neither Of these can be
charged with the crime of attempting
to pervert others from the Orthodox
faith. To speak plainly, the vaunted
liberation Of the Russian government
has always been Of peculiar character.
No dissenting body has suffered more
than the Uniats, and yet they differ
from their Orthodox brethren only in
acknowledging the supremacy of the
pope of Rome. M. Leroy Beaulieu tells
us that everything was put in opera
ton against them-fnes, imprisonment,
fogging, coniscation of their property,
exile and torture. We are Protestant
people, and the martyrdom Of the Uniat
church appealed but slightly to British
sympathies. 1t is otherwise with the
martyrdom of the reforming bodies
About the same time (1877) as the
Uniat persecution, the persecution OF
the Stundists began and has continued,
increasing in cruelty, to the present day.
The Stundists are, roughly speaking,
$50, 900 Of peasants; the Jews are 5,00O,-
900 or 100000. Mr.. Thompson tells
the pitiful tale of Jew batting with SYM
pathy and moderation. Here the Russian
government have appealed to what is
worst in human nature, and though they
have escaped being sent to Coventry by
the French and English Hebrew capital
lists they have not escaped economic
punishment. The marrying of the Jews
is generally admitted to be one of the
causes Of the growth Of poverty of the
Russian people. M. Ewera mentions
that, after the expulsion of the Jews
from Moscow, the rate Of interest in pri-
vate pawnshops rose from 25 to 200 per
cent per annum. -Academy
Memories of Sir Walter Scott.
A writing desk on which Scott wrote
most of his novels was given to his
amanuensis, William Laidlaw; on the
death of his daughter, Katherin, last
year, it passed, along with a collection
of letters, to her nephew, Mr.. W. l..
Carruthers, Inverness. The gold snuff
box presented by Scott to Sir Adam Fer
gusson is now in possession of Mr.. G. e.
S. Chambers, the editor Of this journal.
In 1892 Mary Gray Garden, daughter
of the Ettrick Shepherd, possessed a
small gold brooch, set with pearls, and
containing a lock of Sir Walters hair,
perfectly white, cut off after death and
given by one of the family to her father.
His pony phaeton was possessed by Mr..
w. Macfie of Clermiston, Midlothian;
the sofa and fire CRATE from his study in
Castle street by the Rev. Donald Mas
son, Edinburgh.
To the Advocates library, which al
ready possessed novel Of Scott's in
manuscript, the Marquis Of Huntly has
handed over AZ instruments Of credit,
drafts and promissory notes (1S19-25),
the latter showing sums amounting to
! $50, 600. The gold watch which Scott
presented to Dr.. Clarkson of Melrose,
his medical adviser, after Lady Scott's
death, is still worn by a descendant. A
ring, bearing the inscription, "From
Jedediah Cleisbotham to his friend,
Bailie Nicol Jarvie,' along with a
scarfpin, are possessed by a son of Mr..
Mackay, who acted this character in
"Rob Roy The picture by Sir David
Willkie, "The Abbotsford Family" rep
resenting the Scott family in lowland
Scots peasant costume, was added in
1895 to the Scottish National gallery at
cost of 800 guineas = Chambers
Journal
Side Hunts For ssvarmints"
The Tacoma Rife, Rod and Gun club
had side hunt recently, i'll which only
''varmints'' were killed. By 'svarmints"
they meant anything that was deadly to
any recognized game. They chose sides
of eight each, and the hunt lasted seven
days, on five Of which the weather was
drizzly and wet. Here is what they
killed: One weasel, So crows, mag
pies, coons, owls, minks, eagle,
SO skunks, hawks and wildcats.
There was time when side hunts
were extremely popular, everything
counting, from game to vermin, and it
was usually the game heads that counted
most, but now that there is SO little
game it is no longer popular to kill for
| count, because it savors too much Of
killing for price. Vermin hunts have
been recorded in increasing numbers
from time to time for some years back,
while squirrel hunts are rapidly going
out Of favor.
They held a squirrel hunt lasting one
day up in Herkimer county once. All
the kinds of squirrels they have there
are red and ground squirrels, and being
midwinter the ground squirrels were all
alternating. The hunters got three
bushels Of red squirrels, two bushels Of
rabbits varying hares) and half a dozen
foxes. That night they had supper and
dance, the losing side paying for it.
These hunts usually wind up in dance,
so that the women folks can have their
share Of the sport too.-New York Sun.
An Illiterate Preferred.
There are many who object to the
education of the masses, but the follow
| ing advertisement is the first instance I
have seen Of an employer of labor ex-
pressly STIMULATING for ignorance as
modification for aJnD1Ovmnpt.