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FOUR REFLECTIONS UPON DEATH.

From an eloquent and thoughtful essay, by the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol, in the Contemporary Review, we quote the following:

"First, there does not seem any thing unreasonable in the opinion of many modern psychologists that the indwelling Ego or soul may have form, and even some kind of subtle corporeity, so that when it leaves the body and becomes unclothed it may still preserve some distinct objective existence. Secondly, there is nothing unreasonable in the supposition that it may hereafter again receive and occupy a body, the elements of which it may aggregate from the surrounding environment, and may dispose and distribute in some kind of accordance with the agencies by which it has been supposed to work in reference to its present body. Thirdly, the whole consideration of the subject seems to leave behind a feeling, if not actually a conviction, that to personal beings like ourselves there is something alien in death, something that seems to indicate disturbance and dislocation, and stands in sharp contrast with the ideas of orderly progress and beneficent changes. This is to some extent confirmed by the prevalence of the fear of death, which though, as Sir Benjamin Brodie has noticed, rare when death has actually arrived, is still undoubtedly one of the common feelings of our race, and in some countries, as I believe to this day in Madagascar, often shows itself in a very startling manner. The importance of this observation will be deeply felt when we advance beyond the mere general principles to which we have confined ourselves in this paper. Lastly, that if there is any truth whatever in the last observation, the opinion of many early thinkers and the judgment of a provincial council, are worthy of grave con

sideration, viz. that death originally might not have been a necessity for a personal being, but that any thing we may conceive as possible for ourselves hereafter might have been arrived at by gradual change, rather than by the apparently abrupt and discontinuous process of physical death."

EDUCATION OF CHILDREN.

I hold it to be true (says "S. G. O." in The Times), and to be a truth deserving all attention, that a child is born to love; it has to learn to fear. I argue, therefore, that we should in very early stages of their existence seek, by looks of love, by gentle tones, to lead our children to yield to our wishes, rather than by a harsh tone and frowning aspect try to terrify them into obedience. It is very questionable in what way they feel the fear we thus try to produce-whether we do not act prematurely on a sense scarcely as yet developed, and simply confuse and annoy with no good result-whereas we do know that at the earliest moment of any exercise of reasoning power a child does answer to the tone and look of affection with the smile which indicates its return, and by sounds which show pleasure. We are apt to laugh at the nonsense of the nursery dialect, that utterance of perverted English with lisping accent which, by common usage, is supposed to be best suited to the comprehension of a small child; it is only, after its fashion, a lesson from the book of nature. If we watch Juno, with her puppy family, we shall see that when they teaze her into utterance, or please her into it, with their fondling play, she has a very modified growl of reproof to repress whelpine excess, and a soft whine of affectionate encouragement in return for proper exhibition of whelpine affection, very different from the out-growled menace or the out-barked applause with which she greets

or menaces the more advanced in life of her species. It is the tone and look combined which makes the nonsense uttered to children attractive to them. Sense and nonsense are to them otherwise much alike. We do not in using it make fools of ourselves; on the contrary, we show wisdom by this attempt to become as children, that children may understand us after their own fashion. We give a rag doll of bright colours, hideous and unshapely; the child likes it for its bright hues; it may or may not see in it a caricature of its own species; the waxen, curly-headed, well-clad Dolla, so prized by Miss in walking boots, would be a meaningless thing to Miss scarcely out of socks.

HAPPINESS.

It was a notion of Hume's, that all who are happy are so equally : a little miss with a new gown at a dancing schoolball, a general at the head of a victorious army, and an orator, after having made an eloquent speech in a great assembly."

A RARE WIFE.

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"Frances, Lady Carberry, was extolled by Jeremy Taylor for being as excellent a mother as she was a rare wife.' To her children he describes her as being 'kind and severe, careful and prudent, very tender, and not at all fond.' And again, 'the severe and angry education' which she herself received, he accounted amongst the special mercies of her life. The whole system of early training, at this time, tended strongly to eradicate that frivolity of temper and unreality of tone which stunt so fatally the growth of all moral and mental excellence. On the other hand, it especially fostered that child-like spirit that wins its way into the kingdom of

heaven. But severity did not necessarily include harshness, even if sometimes it unfortunately assumed that form. Children, though permitted less familiarity of address than at present, were perhaps admitted to still more constant intercourse with their parents. In Evelyn's time, it is true, 'Colleges of young gentlewomen,' as he termed them, existed in the environs of London. But, generally, female education was not only conducted at home, but the mother herself was the chief instructor there. For, though accepting assistance from other sources, she was not content to depute her highest duty wholly to the hands of another. It was by their mother, then, that the young daughters were instructed in their household duties. And, whilst in these and in her works of charity they contributed their aid, she led and joined their devotions. In one instance, an oratory was added to the nursery for this purpose. Thus at the rising of the sun, and the going down thereof, the incense of praise and the pure offering of infant lips ascended in acceptable sacrifice on high."

SAYINGS.

"Turn coal, never be rich."

Alludes to the extravagant practice of turning over a half burnt coal.

"Paint costs nothing."

Alludes to its protecting and preservative effect on the woodwork underneath.

MONEY-MATTERS.

POPULAR AND UNPOPULAR COINS.

It is curious to note how currencies die out, and how certain coins are popular or unpopular for years. The guinea and half-crown were always popular; the five-shilling piece, the florin, and the fourpenny piece were always unpopular. The guinea was first coined in Charles II.'s reign, and derived its name from the Guinea Company, which used sometimes to stamp on it the elephant, as symbolical of its African origin. The guinea was so popular that its successor, the sovereign, was for a long time looked on with dislike. It may surprise the reader to hear that any coins of the realm were ever looked on with disfavour, but the records of the Mint show that the public are as fastidious in their coins as in their food; and there are some which are regarded with such dislike that the public will not take them till they see that they can get no others. In this way the coinage of guineas was stopped, and the sovereign forced upon the public, who have now taken to it very kindly indeed. But this has not been the case with either the five-shilling or fourpenny pieces. The former were old institutions of longstanding unpopularity. Many, even in the simplest retail transactions, refused to receive them. But they were driven out of circulation by the bankers who sent to the Mint for silver,

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