CHINESE POLITICS.  The Chinese have a peculiar theory that the proper duration of.  a dynasty should not exceed one hundred years-a term which the reigning family has already greatly over stepped.  Beside this singular superstition,.  the Chinese have another deeply rooted idea tha~tthe line of descent has not been pre served intact by the reigning dynasty.  A Court: intrigue, supposed 'to ' have occurred during the reign of Yang Ching, the' iucces sor of Kang Hi, is said to have occasioned the rumor, which nowadays is' widely credited. : And so both' superstition and national anti.  pathy 'have' part in the prevailing strong feeling against the Ta Tsing dynasty, so th'at now'it is not a little difficult to define' the 'real positioni of the people with regard to the p?resent sovereign.  China is overrun with `secret organisations whose real aimi' is the abolition 'of the(Tartars and installation of a Chinese monarch, versus ac' mewus.  The famous White Lily sect of the northern and central ...

1. ;  /I (Frothe GreOkek-' Pui.)her, Pure as the skies'tht smil on her, Pure as the driven snoW ?  Pure as the surimer winds that stir Pure as the little rippling.brook. ; T.I That wanders downathe hilli Pure as the- silent starsjthat look,; : i; On things both good and il, Pure in each word' and thouiigh,:and tone, 4 Guileless; without.  offence r; FL'ti !'  For the sweet gar'o around hei;ithriwn Is spotless innocence! ;  ~t Ina mining.town, not; far from, Ball ara,, a family named ,its sons, One; ;Stickney,, Twvo Stickney, Three Stickney; and hedaugh-tes, were named First Stickney, Secontl tiekciaey, Third .itickney.  The three elder chil~re;a of anotlher' family-vwdteAnamed l'osdphf 1"nWl Another; and it was proposed to call t?e.  rest, if any appeared,.8lso,. Moredver, Never theless, and N?wvithstandlinn ino'therhouse hold actually named their 'ctifd itis; i up.  posing it was the last; but-three more were born, ,whb; were icalled Addenda, Appendix and Supplement.. If any more appear, the...

Negro Aphorisms.  De candy-piullin' can call louder dan de log-rollin'.  De bes',apples float on.  de top o' de peck medjier. .. .  De steel-trap know when to talk.  Hailstones don't pick hard' heis to drop on.  De young rooster dat crow too 'loud is 'lec: :tioneerng for a lickin'. .  Tall tree make de squ'el sassy.  De redbird lub to drink ? vhar' lih kin see hisse'f in do water.. . " "  iDe top o'de hill is harderi to find: dan de bottom.  De wood-pile 'fraido' de nof wind .  De s'ingle-tree got to stan' a heap' o kick in'.  Dus' don't sdttle ii de nimealbox.  A shotgun kin ontvote a good-size' com p'ny '.','watermillou hunters.  Whbn one reads of dogs' jcollars of gold and sliver -and set with jewels, worn by pampered pups in New York, andin an adjoining column notes the details of the suffering by the douthern flood, the unequrl distribution of wealth is forci bly realized.  296

" Safest Part of a Train." .  A party of merchants travelling in a pas senger train:were talking 'over ~their travel ing experiencei and the danger Of accidents, and finally the question arcse a§to the safest :part of' the car. ,  Failing to settle the qgcs-.  tion among thesnselves, they called 'onrthe cozductor, and one of them said to himi: " Conductor, we -hae been '.discussing athe.  matter'of the safest,part of the car and wvant to know your opinion." '  I ".Want to know the safest pari; ehli?"'- re •plied the : onductor. ' "  Yes, that's it." " " Well," continued'the coiductoi, borrow inig ' chei vof "tbbacco, atid looking disap p'6inted becairse he didn't get a?'cigar, " I've 'been on the road-for fifteen yearsi arid have beef' tuirnid'overmihbankmients, busted' up in tunnels, dumped off of bridges, telescodped in collisions, blown off the' track by cyclones, run iiito open swithies, and had other': plea isant 'iicidental '.divertiseniments of"kinidred niatire, aiid I should say, g...

THE' CIVILISATION OF .Th TONGATAB00.  Th- following clever specimen.  of rhyming ,appeared in the Dublin.  University Magazine: King Jungareegoo, of Tongataboo : .  -Was a:terrible savage just six feet,two, Who ne'er.worea coat, nor a vest, nor a shoe; His garments in fact were remarkably few, Consisting of feathers, and fibres run through The bones of his foes, that in battle he slew (And some of the latter were toothsome to chew).  But during his wars he had found 'time to woo Queen Wongaree Wang from the isles of Peloo, A lady adorned with the brightest tattoo Of mauve and of yellow, of crimson and blue, And she loved him as savage wives only can do.  King Jungaree's island was charming to view; The plantain and yam in luxuriance grew, The delicate palr and the slender bamboo.. To thread the dense forest required a clue.  The animals found were the horned cariboo, The hardy wild pig, and the bison-like gnu, And a species of miniature kangaroo; While over the island the sea-gull flew, Th...

Never was a Mother. "  The airs women give themselves" when 'the baby comes," Charles, Lamb observes, " '! are past all bearing.  If,""he says,' "there were any rarity in the matter, or anything so peculiar in a pack of brats, it were differ.  ent j but .when every blind alley swarms with them, and the more dirty and destitute: people are, the more they seem.to have them, they might say less about it."  It is evident that Charles was never a mother. 

Constaney.  SHE SAID: And leaned as he spoke on the pasture bars, That he vowed by the heavens blue By the silvery moon and the shining stars To ever prove leal and true. ' Men change, 'tis true," he said, " but oh I Bilieve me, my own dear love, Affection like mine, as time will show, Has a strength that no power can move."  SHE SAID : ` : - "No fear or douibts, beloved, have I, For deep in this heart of mine Is a love that will never die and' dim, But will ask for' aye-like `thine 1" He gave her a ring and a fond caress, .  While her tears like a torrent fell, As with falt'ring words and in sore distress, He bade her a long farewell.  But the man in the moon, who had often viewed_. -.  Such tender scenes, I ween, Winked knowingly then, as the lovers stood Beneath, in the silvery sheen.  Two summers with blossom and bud are gone, Two winters with frost and snow; And again thl manin??  the moon looked down On thd whirling world below.  And what did he see Why V the lover had Swon A widow wit...

He was His Pal.  One day last week, n incident tobok placke in-the Melbourne Cemetery~vhich perhaps is worthy of being detailed'.  Over "the remains of Edward Smidd, aged Major-General O. B. Gordon, O.B. 58, a marble angel was weepingminamanner suggestive of great misery.  The:attitude of despair as depicted on that figure's counten ance was wretched in the extreme: Suddenly.  a miab appeared in front of the statue, and laying a ratherunsteadyhafid on the celesial shoulder, tipped back a dilapi dated hat, and pointing to the name on the stone, said in decidedly beery, accents :, "Fren' o' yours, p'raps.i;bin dead long " Receiving no answer, he.  continued, ."Very worthy man, Ted; kknowed him up at Kan garoo Flat.  Goo' fell'r.". ; No response followed; but he went on just the same " I say, young 'ooman, Ted was my pal in the mines.:;  Goo'ffell'r,-I 'bserved" Still no effect was produced.  His patience was now about exhausted.,  He walked round' like a niggr minstrel in a break-down, and plan...

MARCUS OF R0ME: THE BOY MAGISTRATE. [ BY E. S. BROOKS in St. Nicholas.] ( Concluded from last week.)  The days of Marcus's miigistracy were soon over, and when the great festival of Jove was ended, and the magistrates had returned to the city, the lad gave up the curule chair and the dress and duties of his office, and retired to his mother's house, bearing with 1 him the thanks of the magistrates, the ap proval of the Emperor, and the applause of the people.  The villa of the matron Domitia Calvilla, the mother of Marcus, stood embowered in ielightful gardens on the Ccelian hill, the most easterly of the famous Seven Hills of 1 Rome.  In an age of splendour, when grand palaces lined the streets and covered the bill slopes of the imperial city; when fortunes were spent upon baths and gardens, or wasted on a gala dress, or on a single meal, this pleasant house was conducted uipon a plan that suited the home ways of the I mother and the quiet tastes of the son.  Let as enter the spacious ve...

Mrs. Fuddletop's Bachelor's Book. .:.  CHAPTER THE ONETH.  Roast beef was: dthcovered along time ago, Anid Ifancy cannot well be beaten.  And though gatly lished, for.  icertain I know, - 6t lsbeef is at timesrarely eaten '* If eggs you are boiling you must be eggsact, As I've found tomy cost more than once, sir; ' ' .Eggstreamly exact; or the shells' hell be cracked, And the eggs, ten to one, hardly done, sir.  If pancakes you fancy that you would enjoy,' The simplest plan you must take, sir. ' With a paling you spank till you ache well, my boy, , And you'll gethwhat we all call sfank aches, sir.  Doubtless, ybun'llsay fof'those things 'inmist pay, - And not a red ceint doyou own, sir.  You must- "make both ends meet If you can't, then, I'say, The plan is?"itdake one'end bone, sir. " Ah I can I hae butterl?,iI hearyou exclaim, But such nonsense as this do not mutter. .  You can, till 'bsom damsela i shres with youi your name,.  SFor then you won't have any butiher. "  You must join theBlue Rib...

,'3ines ,on finding as infant's *I~,grave in the bush :loe to the, sea-shore.  -Beside "a little cot two' wecpinigparents Clasping; in .their ownl' a sinill'shirivellerl There, ori a bed 'of :sickness;,their own siveet ,'darling lies, " . . ...,:  They mouriifullyl are waiting till death shall blosd its eyes.  Their first sweet p'cdge of love is fleeting fast --Fleeting 'to: its home niabove :thathhomie :of .-peerless cday-..: ;oh.. a .u :Itlisps.the name of " Mother," and smiles uhi in her face., : . :  She fondly lifts it .in her arms in' ote:loug last embrice. . ,  It turns and murmuirs "'!  Fathier;~' a tear is d his cheek;, .. .  He.  stooped, and kissed her forehead, but did not dare to speak.: :  A irembling of ;the eyelids, a- smile is'on her And.  angels swiftly 'beai her toy their en chantig placee .  A small and sad pioeession is wendinu g on apace, .:  Towaurds a belt of forest, where is the resting place of her who made them haplpy, whose spirit now has fled; And now they: lie her ...

PERSECUTED IORTALS.  No; 4.--THE NOCTURNAL VISITrroR You are:asked by a friend to call in ,on a certain evening; your friend mentions' his address.  Five 'minutesafter you have parted with him you can only remember the time and day on which you are ex pected, and the suburb in which your frend resides.  A faint recollection gradu ally returns of the street, and you' fancy that your friend said he lived near a cer tain hotel, the name' of which, however, still-and will, perhaps, for ever-remain a mystery.  However, .the evening arrives;' you must go, or at least essay to go--or else be dubbed rude.  You start, and commence your.  troubles by striving to determine which means of transit will be most con venient.  Will it be iPiser to proceed to your somewhat hazy destination by train, or may not a 'bus prove more satisfactory I In doubt, you take the train, and on emerging from that conveyance, you en quire of the ticket-taker at the station gates whether he knows such-and-such a street, Of ...

POVERTY IND SlrPTERIuN .-.  I w'as dru ged down.  with debt, poverty, and .sulitring for years, caused by a sick fam?ily lfil a ige:,, bills for doctoring.  which did thcii no ,cd.:  I was completely, discouragcd, ultrfil oe year ago by the advice of my pastor,Iproeu : red Hop Bitters and commenced :their use, and in one month we were ? 11l well, and none.  of uihave seeii a sick day since; and I want.'  to say, to all poor men, you can keep your: families well a year with Hop Bitters ftir less than one doctor's vibit will cost.  I kuno it."-  A WORKING 3?AN Ltead

Even a Queen, by writing a book, can find out what people think of her. ;  A duel is the quickest kind of encounter, be cause itonly takes two seconds.  A saloon sign in Cleveland reads: " Ise Kreme 'Sallune."  Any girl can guess what it.ineans; S SH'S THE WORST. ' Tis hard to get rid of a debt, A birth-mark, a wart, or the gout- : A hang nail, a corn or a stye ' ; Is a difficult thing to knock out.  The seven-year itch is no slouch,; ,' :'* '" i ' And the fiend who.has never a cent Is constant and stays with a man :Until all his money is spent. :  But with the calmest contentment and ease, .  .We on all these little things look,: ' And prefer.them, en masse, to that: pest, ,: ' S:A female who's selling a book. .  Generally a man doesn't like to, .be contra dieted.  But when hecalls himself a fool:dr' ai ass, you run less personal danger in 'icontradict ing than in agreeing with him.  NOBODY'S DOG.  Only a dirty black and white dog I You can see him any day,. ..  -Trotting meekly from street to...

BRIEF NOTES.  If a man cannot understand a tree, he will not get much out of it, or off it.  Jerseys make better butter than any other breed-better grain and better flavor.  Ashes applied to potatoes should be placed over the seed pieces after the latter have been placed in furrows or drills.  Don't breed too many kinds of fowls at the same time, unless you are going into the busi.  ness.  Four will make your hands full.  Cows cannot be treated all in a herd as simply cows; but each cow has an individuality, and so-: has each class and grade; and this must be felt by the owner.  Fistula is caused by an injury to any part and the burrowing of pus which cannot escape---' through the muscular tissues.  It is most fre quent in the poll and withers.  The "general purpose cow" is an impossible animal.  Let each farmer decide whether all circumstances point to a beef, a milk, or a but ter breed, and choose his stock accordingly.  Aside from the use of the fruit itself, the wood of the olive tree, espe...