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ADVERTISEMENTS.

"Free Love" Sects.The Editor's Box. Notabilia... 268-9

Natural History.

Green Parrots.-Can you kindly give me some account of the
Kea (Nestor Notabilis), or sheep-eating parrot, of New Zealand?
-SNOOK.

THE KEA, or mountain parrot, of New Zealand, was
first introduced to notice by Mr. Walter Mendall, in
1856, one of the early explorers of that country, who

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when

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HALF YEARLY VOLS.} ONE PENNY. nights when the sheep mustered on high grounds, and WHY SPEND MONTHS OF SUFFERING the result was that on the ranges near the snow line the marauders were found in full operation. The birds come in flocks, single out a sheep at random, and each alighting on its back in turn, tears out the wool Headache, fevers, smallpox, t'irst, and skin and makes the sheep bleed till the animal runs away from the rest of the flock. The birds pursue it, and force it to run about until, stupified, it throws itself down, and rolls on its back, but the enemy pick a fresh hole in its side, and the victim, unless rescued, dies. When the birds so attack the sheep, the elevation of the country is about 4,000 to 5,000 feet above the sealevel; and they only do so in winter time. On a station 30 miles distant from the one where the discovery of this habit of the kea was made, in the Java district, and at the same altitude, the sheep were not although attacked, the birds were plentiful. Necessity makes them criminal! From "A History of the Birds of New Zealand," by W. L. Baller, Sc. D.

113, HOLBORN HILL, LONDON.

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the country of late years has made us better acquainted
with this bird. It inhabits the slopes of the Southern
Alps, and is driven to the plains only during severe
winters. It is seen in the Canterbury Province, at the
heads of all the principal rivers, soaring aloft among
the rocks, or foraging amongst the close, stunted Alpine
vegetation. Amongst holes and fissures in almost
inaccessible rocks, in a region often shrouded with
dense mists, or driving sleet, where the N. W. wind
rages at times with terrific violence, here the kea makes
its home.
The falcon is perhaps the sole intruder in
its domain. At early dawn its peculiar note is heard,
very like the mewing of the cat. It is sometimes seen
during the day, but the dusk seems its peculiar hour,
it being to a certain extent nocturnal in its habits. It
is gregarious.
In the moonlight nights of winter,
numbers are seen on the ground feeding. Its chief
food is the hard bitter seed of the Kowhai, the small
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Servants' Caps.-Kindly give history and origin of the small muslin
caps which female servants wear when in service.-DAN.
IN the late Mr. Planché's "Cyclopedia of Costume" is
some information. 'Hollar has given us a graceful
engraving of a female servant of the time of Charles I.
in a close white cap; but coifs, hats, and hoods were
more generally worn than caps by women of all classes
during the sevententh century, and in our modern
sense of the word they do not appear as a portion of
female attire previous to the reign of William and
Mary, when the head-dress composed of tiers of lace
and ribbons, known as 'the tower,' and less appro-
priately as 'the commode,' became the rage, and
must, I suppose, be ranked as a cap, although it is
never so designated in works of the period when it was
in fashion. The earliest women's caps, according to
our modern notions, were very small, low-crowned, and
bound with a ribbon, much like what are still worn
by girls in charity schools, and sometimes with a
narrow frill or edging of lace. As late as 1753, in

is of quite recent years that it has discovered the out-BIRKBECK BANK.-Southampton Buildings, receipt for Modern Dress,' a lady is recommended to

stations of some of the back country settlers. Every
station has its meat gallows, stored with beef and
mutton.
This the kea visits at night, and takes his
fill of the good things within. The penchant for raw
flesh exhibited by this parrot in its wild state is very
remarkable. It picks clean the sheeps' heads thrown
out from the slaughter-shed, and will eat piece-meal
fresh sheep-skins. It is while engaged in tearing up
the skin, which is used as a bait, that it is easily cap-
tured.
It is very inquisitive, and ruthlessly destruc-
tive. Instances are given by the settlers of its enter-
ing their huts, and breaking, with its powerful man-
dible, crockery and furniture, and tearing up blankets,
bedding, and clothes. It is difficult to tame; being
both cunning and strong, it effects its escape often
in a manner undiscoverable. Nothing is known of its
breeding habits, because of the inaccessibility of its
haunts.
In the Otago Daily Times newspaper the
following account of its sheep-eating propensities
was given.
Some sheep belonging to
a settler
appeared afflicted with à new kind of disease,
which no
one could account for. It at the
beginning looked like a patch of raw flesh
the loin of the sheep, about the size of a man's hand.
From this, matter ran down the sides, taking the wool
off the part it touched. Death in many cases ensued.
At last a shepherd discovered a kea sticking to a sheep,
and picking at a sore.
get rid of its tormentor.

on

The latter seemed unable to
There was a watch set at

Hang a small bugle cap on, as big as a crown Smart it off with a flower, vulgo dict. a pompone.'" M. Planché gives two illustrations from Moore's Fables (1744) and Richardson's "Pamela " (1745), in which the caps are fuller in every respect than those worn at the present day. The present custom dates, therefore, only from some period after the reign of George IIL Caps of different kinds have usually been regarded as marks of honourable distinction, but in Italy they were connected with infamy and at one time green caps were worn by bankrupts to signal them out and induce wariness in any future commerce with them. In Scotland, among the lower order, the cap or snood was adopted by married women, maidens only appearing with uncovered heads. This was a very ancient custom, and still obtains in primitive parts of the sister Country. About ten years ago, in the manufacturing districts of Scotland-notably Dundee-there was an organised strike among the female domestics against It was branded as a badge of slavery, and hundreds of servants threw up their situations rather than continue to wear it. In Dundee were crowded meetings protesting against what they called the flag," and strong-minded and strong-armed Phylisses mounted the rostrum and enunciated advanced opinions on the question of the relative position of mistress and maid; but the common sense of most held the fretful maids in awe, and the commotion settled down in time, stilled by 'universal law.'

the cap.

66

Literature.

Robert Louis Stevenson.-Please give me some account of the
writings of Robert Louis Stevenson and tell me where I may find
exhaustive criticism of his works.-OBLIGEE.
THE works of Mr. Robert Louis Stevenson (not a pseu-
donym) include these:-"Inland Voyage,'
""Travels
with a Donkey in the Cevennes," 66
Virginibus
Puerisque and other Papers," "Edinburgh Picturesque
Tales," and "The Amateur Emigrant," in and within
something less than the last four years. From this
list it will be gathered that Mr. Stevenson has lately
made a number of excursions and has periodically re-
produced their principal features. The

same

EDITORIAL APPRENTICE WANTED. An
inteligent, educated Youth, with literary
tastes, can be received at this Office as Appren
tice to learn sub-editorial and editorial work,

Mme. Michelet, when she recounts the peculiarities which gave one of the Michelet cats the "Moquo." In these pleasant pages, too,

name

Berne allowed

one may learn how Sainte
his cat the liberty, denied his servant, of interfering
with his papers; may see a picture and something of
the nature of the antitype of a character occurring in
Victor Hugo's "Lettres sur le Rhin," and may learn the
relations of Merimée, Théophile Gautier, and Viollet-le-
duc, the German story-teller Hofman, and the
American poet Poe, to these delightful animals. To
all these instances we must not forget to add that of
Samuel Johnson's Hodge. "I shall never forget," says
the chatty, shameless Boswell, "the indulgence with

spirit of observation and power of expression which Apply to the Editor of The Oracle, and write which he treated Hodge, his cat, for whom he himself

has enabled him to work these out satisfactorily, has

"Apprentice" on envelope.

HATTERS, Wholesale and Retail, should
Advertise in the Denton and Haughton
Examiner, the only Weekly Journal published in
connection with the Hatting Trade. Office:
Market Place, Denton, near Manchester. Pro-
prietor: W. J. Knowles.

Wholesale only, and at Birmingham.

to

Street.

MICHAEL PAINE, 5, Seymour
Aberdare, Bill Poster, Distributer, and
Town Crier, begs to inform the public generally
Stations in Aberdare and District. N.B.-Con
tracts made. Price lists on application. M. P.
does not authorize anyone to receive orders
except at above address.

that he rents all the largest and best Bill Posting

FOR the Latest and fresh Midland Counties
News, see the Wolverhampton Evening
Offices: 161 to 164, Horseley Fields.
Star, and the Wolverhampton Weekly Guardian.

resulted in a number of essays the merits of which are used to go out and buy oysters, lest the servants, having that trouble, should take a dislike to the poor somewhat unusual in kind. In The Athenæum of June creature. I am, unluckily, one of those who have an 28, 1879, is a full description of Mr. Stevenson's acantipathy to a cat, so that I am uneasy when in the count of his journey through the heart of the Cevennes, room with him, and I own I frequently suffered a good from Monastier, near Le Puy, to Alfais or the Gard. то TOBACCONISTS COMMENCING. A deal from the presence of this same Hodge. I recollect "As the hotel pamphlet post free, How This journey he decided to go on foot. Open him one day scrambling up Dr. Johnson's breast, Respectably, from £20 to £500. H. MYERS accommodation of these parts is limited, he also decided AND CO., Tobacco and Cigar Manufacturers, apparently with much satisfaction, while my friend, to be independent of it, and accordingly contrived an 112H, Euston Road, London (established 1855) smiling and half-whistling, rubbed down his back, and ingenious portable bed or sleeping sack; and, lastly, as pulled him by the tail; and when I observed he was a this was rather beyond a fair load for two legs, he made fine cat, saying, 'why, yes, sir, but I have had cats himself master of four more by purchasing a small whom I liked better than this'; and then, as if donkey, of irreproachable symmetry, but not wholly perceiving Hodge to be out of countenance, adding satisfactory disposition. This animal, named Modestine, But he is a very fine cat, a very fine cat indeed.' is the heroine, as Mr. Stevenson is the hero, of the Tasso, when in poverty, entreated his cat, in a pretty book; and their joint adventures are told with much humour, not unmingled with affectation, for which LONDON AND COUNTY ADVANCE AND Sonnet, to lend him the light of her eyes, so as at DISCOUNT COMPANY (Limited).-Cash night to compose his verses by them. Petrarch had readers of Mr. Stevenson's former book will be prepared. fees or deductions for interest, for short or long his favourite cat embalmed in Egyptian fashion; advances from £10 to £500, without preliminary This however is chiefly in the style, or, it might almost periods, repayable by easy instalments, at Wolsey sat as Chancellor, his cat always by his side. moderate rates, upon personal security, life be said, in the type, for the irritating fashion of writing policies, furniture without removal, deeds, stocks, Lord Chesterfield left pensions to his cats and their "'tis' and printing proper names in italics is its worst Offices, 57 and 58, Chancery Lane, London, W.C. bonds, &c. Bills discounted. "Forms gratis descendants. And the cat has had its celebrated symptom. Even Queen-Anne-ism should-JOHN STONE, Secretary. (r. 26, '82). painters: the German, Gotfried Mind; the Dutchman, draw the line somewhere, short at least of making a Cornelius Wischen; the Frenchmen, Grandville, pleasant narrative distasteful to the reader of cultiva Rerwière, Delacroix; the Englishman, Burband; even tion; and Mr. Stevenson's narrative is very pleasant. the Japanese Hok'sai. But it is apparently not in science He has a pretty talent (as he himself might say) for or in general literature that the cat has been destined catching the character of a scene and putting it into conspicuously to shine, so much as in the child's legend words, or, for fixing the surroundings and sensations of and the nursery rhyme. "The White Cat"; "The a moment by a neat phrase, and making them underCat of Dick Whittington,' "Puss in Boots," stood of others." About two years after, the same paper Trot's Comical Cat," "The Cats of St. Ives," and (April 30th, 1881) noticed Mr. Stevenson's "Virginibus the "Cats of Kilkenny," have all their place in tradi Puerisque " a work with several good examples of the tion. Among works do not fail to notice "Cats: their modern essays. Mr. Stevenson's power of composition, Points and Characteristics, "by Dr. Gorden Stables-each his critic tells us, is "employed, either to put old anecdote in which is vouched for by the author or by things in such a way as to set us thinking afresh, one of a number of ladies and gentlemen whose 'tantum series juncturaque pollet,' or else to propound addresses are added-(7/-), and "The Domestic Cat," a others original even to the verge of orthodox, but stated smaller work of the same writer. "Dogs and Cats: How in a way to set an archdeacon revising his convictions.' to Rear and Manage Them" is one of "Beeton's Country As Mr. Stevenson is, we believe, scarcely yet of the Books" (1/-); "The Life of Tammie Chattie, Victim of age of 25, it is not to be expected that any more exthe Siege of Paris" (10/6), by Tuckahoe, is an amusing haustive criticisms than those contained in current story of the cat; and "Cursory Cogitations concerning literature should exist. His journeys include one taken Cats,' in Blackwood's Magazine, November, 1839, we as steerage passenger from Glasgow to New York, and have found sufficiently interesting reading to make one westward from New York to California in an THE FROME TIMES is published every Wed- some slight use of it in the present paper. nesday morning, and is circulated extensively emigrant train. Mr. Stevenson seems to prefer bring- throughout the counties of Somerset, Wilts, and interesting points in the mythology connecting the cat ing his works to daylight through the monthly maga-the nobility, gentry, agriculturists, and the trading Dorset. In this important district it is read by and on one hand the sea, and the other the orb of the zines. He was understood some while back to be community: thus presenting an excellent medium sun or moon, may be seen in an article by Karl Blind, making Thoreau the subject of a monograph. His for giving publicity to announcements of every called "New Finds in Shetlandic and Welsh Folk-lore," description. Its intelligence columns give a carewritings are noticed by, amongst other papers, the ful condensation of the general news of the week, in a recent Gentleman's Magazine, and in Dr. Hyde Saturday Review. He has lately issued a new volume and the latest quotations of all the important Clarke's short treatise, Pasht, the Moon, and the of essays. W. C. and J. Penny, Proprietors, Cat." See page 35 for "The Dog in Literature." The "Nibelungen Lied.”—Please state the argument and the theories of the growth and meaning given by comparative mythologists of this German poem.-QUESTIO.

TO ADVERTISING AGENTS.-"The Mex-
boro' and Swinton Times and Kilnhurst,
Wath-on-Dearne, and Conisboro Gazette," as a
medium of publicity in the great colliery district
of South Yorkshire, is unsurpassed. Terms and
copy of paper may be had on application to the
publisher, WALTER TURNER, 110, High Street,
Mexboro'.

HEXHAM COURANT.

Fifty other Valuables presented to Subscribers
Three Gold Watches and Two Hundred and
every quarter, to the value of nearly £250. Sent
proprietors: Mess CATHERALL and Co.,
Market Place, Hexham, Northumberland.

free 2d. per

AND KENT COUNTY

"M STANDARD, 48 Columns, One Penny.
Published Wednesday and Friday Evenings,
Serial advertisements inserted at one charge in
both editions. Small, prepaid advertisements:-
Under 30 words, Is.; three insertions for the
price of two. Proprietor: Charles Baker.
Offices: 94, Week Street, Maidstone.

a complete record of the events of the district

markets.
Frome, Somerset.

TRADES.-The Rotherham Advertiser

The Cat in Literature. -I want a list of well-known works to THE SOUTH YORKSHIRE COAL AND IRON
consult, fiction, biography, or otherwise, in which the cat has
figured as one of the characters.-DITES MOI.

is the best medium for advertising in one of the
most important mining and ironworking districts

only

throughout South Yorkshire. Besides full and

editorials, and comments on important local

SEE page 248. M. Jules Fleury, who has written
so largely under the name of Champfleury, has
collected a number of instances in which dis-
tinguished men have shewn strong liking for
cats. His book is entitled "Les Chats: histoire,
mœurs, observations, anecdotes" (3rd edition, Paris-
J. Rothschild, éditeur, 1869). He reminds us of the
affection of Mahomet for his cat Muezza, and how he
cut off the skirt of his robe, that he might rise without
disturbing the sleeper, tells that Richelieu was always
surrounded by a number of kittens, but doubts whether
he had any real affection for them; cites Moncrif, the
author of "Les Lettres sur les Chats," in a passage
which relates that the minister Colbert "avait toujours
des petits chats folâtrant dans ce même cabinet
d'où sont sortis tant d'établissements utiles et honorables
à la nation," points out how Chateaubriand, a life-long etc., are made payable.
friend of cats, admired in particular their independence,
and records how Leo XII. presented to the poet
"Micetto" the occasion of the piece commencing "J'ai
pour compagnon un gros chat gris roux," and quotes

"Dame

Some

in Yorkshire. It was established in 1858, and was
en newspaper published in the Borough and IT is so little ascertained, though it has been so freely
Union of Rotherham, and has a large circulation questioned, whether the great German epic, the lay of
able reports of local news, and a careful summary the mystic land of mist, follows closely history or is
of general and Parliamentary intelligence; almost purely mythical; whether it is the composition
matters, local Notes and Queries, literary of one author, or is an aggregation of the work of
selections, and the latest telegrams appear weekly twenty; whether it is to be dated in the tenth or in any
IMPORTANT TO ADVERTISERS. Estab later, down to the thirteenth century-that nothing
lished 1850. RENFREWSHIRE INDE-
PENDENT: Bar head, Paisley, and Neilston dogmatical can prove satisfactory, and nothing tentative
afternoon, and dispatched so as to reach all parts
Weekly Journal. Is published every Friday can be brought in harmony with the brevity here essen
of the country by Saturday morning or evening. tial. We shall accordingly do nothing more than lightly
of local affairs, with a weekly summary of home sketch the argument; and, with a bare reference to possi
and foreign news, paying great attention to ble meanings and historical ground work, refer to some of
literature, with reviews of books, magazines, etc.
Terms for advertising are moderate, and pub- the oppressively abundant works with this their theme.
cation Paper, post free, 6s. 6d. per annum.
lisher will furnish specimen copies tree on appli
A passage from Carlyle's essay in the Westminster
JOIN MILLER, Publisher, High Street, Barr- Review, July, 1831, will serve to indicate the poem's
head, to whom Post Office orders, bank cheques character, and give meaning to the narrative description.
A FAMILY going abroad for a year offer to
comfortable House in Sutherland Gardens for 31⁄2
"The Nibelungen has been called the Northern Epos ;
careful tenant their fully furnished and very yet it has in great part a dramatic character; those
guineas a week. Twelve rooms (ten beds). thirty-nine Aventiuren (Adventures), which it consists
kitchen, and offices.-4. B. C, Oracle Office, 160, of, might be so many scenes in a tragedy. The catas-

order that she may avenge the death of Siegfried. Price, 12. 1id., 2s. 94., 4s. 6d., 11., 22s., 33. the Eddic and other Morse sources. There are at After seven years of repose in Hungary, she persuades Etzel to invite Günther and his heroes to visit him. They accept, and go with a retinue of 10,000 men. At the castle of Rüdiger, ambassador of the king, they are hospitably entertained. Provided with gifts, they advance into Etzel's land, who receives them with honour. A tumult [which, as between Chriemhild and Hagen,

the Burgundians were raving with Bersekir rage. The WHOLESALE
hall is then assailed by 2,000 Huns [subjects of Etzel]
At last, of all the Burgundians, only Günther
and Hagen remain, who are delivered in bonds to
Chriemhild. She demands of the latter where the
Nibelungen treasure is concealed, but he refuses to be-
tray it so long as one of his lords lives. The head of
Gunther is struck off, but Hagen still declares that he
alone of all men knows the secret, and that he will not
reveal it. She then, with the sword of Siegfried, beheads
him by a blow, but the Hunnish warrior, Hildebrand,
disdains to see a hero fall beneath a woman's hand, and
slays the queen; and Etzel and Dietrich survive alone
to lament the dead" (American Cyclopædia: In the
article Nibelungenlied the representation of the early
part is slightly inaccurate). If of the characters in this
epic and those of history any identification is to be
made, most probability attaches to the view that Etzel
is Attila, "The Scourge of God," Dietrich of Bern is

The Drama.

Catherine, Countess of Essex.-Please give a sketch of the life of
Miss Stephens, the actress, who was afterwards Countess of Essex.
-F. C. R.

a

ADVERTISEMENTS.

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'Polly,' speaks of its 'beautiful repose; the irresisti

H. J. INFIELD, Political, Educational, and ble way in which she condescends to beseech support when she might extort reluctant wonder, and the graceful awkwardness and naïveté of her manner, more captivating than the most finished elegance, completing the charms of her singing.' The writers, indeed, who have borne testimony to the neither few nor undistinguished. Macready, who singular charm both of her singing and acting, are often performed with her in those days, when serious

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"Remarkably clear and handy." "Publishers
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"I shall certainly recommend their adoption
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Thanks for specimen. Send me 8 Class
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Attleborough.
"They met with general approval."Mr. H.
Bury St. E munds.

School,

Aldershot.

and romantic dramas were sometimes made to include Themense Number of Unsolicited Testi.singing parts,' has frequent allusions to her, all of as to the peculiar usefulness of above Publications, and their special adaptation which are marked with affectionate admiration. Her to the wants of teachers, is perhaps as encourag ing a token of appreciation as any publisher voice,' he tells us, was of the most exquisite sweetever been favoured with. ness and extraordinary compass; there was occasional archness and humour in her comic scenes-always intelligence; and, combined with an almost rustic or child-like simplicity, a correctness of judgment that never deserted her.' In the same passage he speaks of the joyous eagerness' with which 'frequenters of the theatre used to welcome her as she nightly appeared before them.' Miss Stephens has been described as 'about the medium height of her sex, with dark hair and eyes, and a countenance which, though fascinating, was handsome.' Macready speaks of 'ce petite nez trousse, not, strictly speaking, She was much respected, and was a welcome guest in fashionable circles for many years before her marriage with George, fifth Earl of Essex, which took place on the 19th of April, 1838, and, as contemporary records add, by special licence at his lordship's house in Belgrave Square.' This was, we believe, the houseNo. 9-in which her ladyship had long lived in comparative retirement, and where she expired on 23rd February, 1881. Lord Essex, who at the time of his marriage had been a widower only two months, was nearly forty years older than his second wife, and he died in April of the following year." The value of the personal estate of the late Countess amounts to over £71,000. A portrait of her in her younger days is in the European Magazine for Jan., 1818,

Bicester.

J. Bourne, Hon. Sec. Teachers' Association,
"They are a decided improvement upon any
I have seen.”—Mr. W. H. Figott, Boys School,
"The Master of St. Peter's Schools writes
The Rev. J. F. Hannah, Vicer of St. Nicholas,
Brighton.
"I think very highly of them."-Mr.

me: "I think they are the best in the market."

B.

Wilson, Clerk to the School Boar, Bristol.
"They are an admirable set of books-the
Coventry.

School.

best in the market."-Mr. Mellor, St. John's
"I have given up those I have used many
years for yours."-Mr. Geo. Scott, Nat School,

Chester Le Street
-"Favourable opinions were expressed con-
cerning them.”—Mr. Freeman, Hon.
Sec.
Teachers' Association, Great Yarmouth.
"I like them very much.-Mr. H. Clark,
Association,
Ex-President Metropolitan Board Teachers
London.
SPECIMENS, POST FREE, FOR PUBLISHED

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MENT OF THE EDUCATION ACTS,

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3d-The School Board Chronicle (September 18,
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Chairman of the Hove School Board, Sussex.

1820) devoted a leading article to this pamphlet,

GENERAL PUBLICATIONS.

THE life of the late Countess of Essex has recently
been sketched in the Daily News. On the 24th
February last, this journal contained the following
obituary notice of the lady in question:-"The once
brilliant fame of the Dowager Countess of Essex-CLASS REGISTERS. Fifty Names, 1s. ; Sixty
better known to the world as Miss Stephens-belongs
to a period now so remote that probably most persons
who read the announcement of the death of this cele-
brated vocalist and actress, which we published
yesterday, had been under the impression that she had
long since passed away. She was born, if early
memoirs may be trusted, on the 18th of September,
1794, and was, therefore, in her 88th year; but even
this date does not seem to carry us back into the past
as does the fact that seventy years ago rival professors
were contending in the public papers for the honour of
having shared in her training for the stage. Her
father, who was somewhat vaguely described as
carver and gilder in the busy metropolis,' but whom
the more courtly compilers of Peerages describe as
'Edward Stephens, Esq., of Leadwell, Oxon,' had two
daughters remarkable for their musical talents. The
elder Miss Stephens-afterwards Mrs. J. Smith-had
already attained some distinction as an actress
and singer; and was engaged at Drury Lane
about the time when her sister Catherine, who
was destined to become far more famous, was
placed as an articled pupil with Gesualdo Lauza, who
appears to have kept a sort of academy for operatic
Here, as
students in Foley Street, Portland Place.
Lauza proudly boasted, she studied from my theory
the elements of singing for five years, and I prepared
her for the stage, affording her the instructions of Mr.
Wright in elocution out of my own pocket.' It may
be inferred that Lauza's system was to give instruction S
to promising pupils-children of parents of humble
means-in the hope of finding his reward in the early
development of their talents as concert and operatic
singers. If so, he could hardly have found a more
satisfactory apprentice than little Catherine Stephens,
who, though the misfortune of her being near-sighted
caused some delay, could after two years' instruction
as he tells us, 'sing at sight with perfect correctness
whenever she could obtain a close view of the score.'
It was about that time-she being then in her four-
teenth year-that she appeared in concerts at Bath,
Bristol, Margate, Tunbridge Wells, and numerous
other towns-generally under the name of Miss
Young-and finally at the Pantheon and the Italian
Opera, where she played and sang in small parts. It
is even affirmed by Lauza that in the absence of
Madame Catalani, Signor Guglelmo, the composer,
was desirous of engaging her as the prima donna at
that house, but, he adds, her timidity and insufficiency
in the Italian language were the cause of my de-
clining the engagement. A substitute for Catalian,
who had not yet attained her sixteenth year, is not
easily to be conceived; but these statements were
published at the time, and remained uncontradicted.
Nevertheless, Miss Stephens's friends seem to have
thought it advisable that she should continue her
studies under another instructor--Mr. Thomas Welch
-who appears to have been also an organiser of
concerts, and is said to have been fortunate enough to
secure for himself one-half the high salary which he
was finally enabled to obtain for her under an engage
ment at Covent Garden. It was, in fact, her debut at
the latter house, on the 23rd of December 1813, which
first brought her fame in the strict sense of the word.
The part chosen for her was 'Mandane' in Dr. Arne's
Artaxerxes, which was quietly followed by Polly' in
The Beggar's Opera, Clara' in The Duenna, and other
parts. Only a fortnight after her first appearance,
Hazlitt wrote in the Examiner: Miss Stephens
becomes more and more a favourite of the public.
Her singing is delicious; but, admired as it is, it is
not admired as it ought to be. Oh, if she had been
wafted to us from Italy! A voice more sweet,
varied, and flexible was perhaps never heard upon
the English stage.' He adds: We doubt whether
Catalian could give the ballad style of the songs in
Artaxerxes--simple but elegant, chaste but full of
expression-with equal purity, taste, and tender-
As regards her acting, Leigh Hunt, one
of the best of critics of her time, describing her er

the Author of that "Life of a Violet," which

Ruskin pronounced to be "really very delightful."
The object of the Writer has been to gather into
a small compass all that is interesting, curious, or
useful about Bells and Bellringing; to chronicle

manufacture are described, the scientific prin

The Literary World observes that "Mr.

the peals of history; and to trace from its earliest
forms the eld Church Bell. Its form, uses, and
ciples on which its action depends investigated,
and the mysteries of Change Ringing unravelled,
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touching and describes his style as pleasant and
feeling upon a subject which fully warrants all the
who have not much previous acquaintance with
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Formation and Registration of Friendly Society.-Cana inform me what steps must be taken in establishing a Berefil Society before registration, whom to apply to, and the probable cot of registering the Rules ?-G. W. B.

You ought to arrange with all the proposed members or promoters of the intended society to sign a stamped memorandum, binding each one to pay a proportionate part of the preliminary expenses of the society should it not be established, and to indemnify each other against any excess. You will have to choose a name which has not already been appropriated by any other registered society, and which does not so nearly to lead to confusion or to deceive the public. The resemble any name already registered as to be likely number of original members must not be fewer than seven, and the existing members must not at any time fall below that number. After the suggested memorandum is signed, and the name, objects, and place of meeting of the society are decided upon, the next thing will be to prepare the rules. This is an important undertaking which ought not to be per formed in a negligent or hap-hazard manner. Much trouble and expense have been occasioned by imperfect or unskilfully drawn rules. It is impossible in the space at our disposal to do more than give a few hints on this subject. Of course the rules will set out the name and place of business of the intended society; the whole of the objects which the society is to ac complish; the purposes to which the funds are to be applicable; the terms on which members are to be admitted into the society and to become entitled to benefits; the fines and forfeitures to be inflicted for non-payment of subscriptions at the stipulated time and for misconduct; and the scale or various scales of allowance on sickness, accident, insanity, death, and any other contingency which may be contemplated as being within the scope of the society; all should be defined most accurately and fully. If two or more funds are to be formed, care must be taken to dis tinguish as to payments to be credited to each: especially as to the fund which is to have the benefit of interest on surplus capital invested, which in some societies is applied to the manage Iment fund without reference to the source from which the surplus arose; in others the interest is