GENERAL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9094, 30 June 1888, Page 2 (Supplement)

GENERAL NEWS.

WHEN' TO USE TIIE Fl\'<; Ells'.

There are a number of things that tfiQ most fashionable and well-bred people now cat at the dinner-table with their tinkers They are—Olives, to which a fork should never be applied. Asparagus, whether hob or cold, when served whole, as it should be. Lettuce, which should be dieted in the dressing, or in a little salt. Celery, whir-l, 'nay properly be placed on the tablecloth beside the plate. Strawberries, when served with the stem on, as they usually are in the most elegant houses. Bread toast, and all tarts and small cakes. Fruit of all kinds, except melons and preserves which are eaten with a spoon. Cheese' which is almost invariably eaten with the fingers by the most particular people. Lven the leg or other small pieces of a bird are taken in the lingers at fashionable dinners, _ and at most of the luncheons ladies pick small pieces of chicken without using a fork. THE STRENGTH OF THE IiRITISII ARMT. The preliminary return of the British army prepared in anticipation of the general annual return for .1887 shows that the average effective strength of the regular army was last year 200,574, of which 1304 were Household Cavalry, 18,054 cavalry of the line, 3898 Royal Horse Artillery, 30,836 Koyal Artillery, 0508 Royal En', ginecrs, 5809 Foot Guards, 134,303 infantry of the line, 2476 colonial corps, 2902 commissariat and transport, 683 ordnance store and 2610 medical staff. The average' strength of the army was larger last year than it has been since 1808, and on and over 0000 more than in 1886, which had the largest average up to that time. The recruits for long service during the year numbered 1513, and for short service 29,082. Of the recruits who joined during the year, ] OSS were under seventeen years of age, 12,648 under nineteen, 0307 under twenty; the total over twenty was] J, The number of recruits was less by about 8000 than in each of the years lssf> and 1886, and also less than in the two previous years ; but, with these exceptions, larger than in any year since 1808. The First? Class Army Reserve on the Ist January this year numbered 52,000, the Second Class 5300, the total Reserve ami auxiliary force, including 228,038 volunteers enrolled, numbered 415,784, being 48,825 less than the establishment.

INFIDELITY ITZZI.ED.

Archdeacon Farrar suggests mcetiti"* the questions of infidelity with harder question*. To most of the points raided by sceptics Christendom frankly responds, "I do not know." Now lit the tables be turned. Where did matter come from? Can a. dead thing create itself Where did motion come from? Where did life come from, save the finger-tip of Omnipotence? Whence came the exquisite order and design of Nature? If one told you that millions of printers' types should fortuitously shape themselves into the divine comedy of Dante, or the plays of Sliakspere, would you not think him a madman? Whence came consciousness Wlio ave yo free will ? I'RUIT-GROWINi; 1\ KKNT. Kent is prospering greatly as a fruitproducing county. Kent has nearly three times as much land devoted to market; gardens as the giant county of York. It is far ahead of all the counties in the production of small fruit. It affords (says the London correspondent of the Manchester Guardian) the principal supply of English strawberries. A crop of strawberries in Kent varies from 1 k to 3 tons per acre. Last year fruit-growing was not so prosperous, but quite recently poor woodland, on which the underwood of twelve years' growth was never worth more than i'S an acre, yielded in some instances £150 an aero after being grubbed up and planted with strawberries.

TOBACCO VERTIGO.

Having investigated sixty-three cases of excessive use of tobacco, Dwaisne finds forty-nine 13 be over fifty years of age. More than half the cases presented, besides digestive derangements, alternating constipation an I diarrhoea, an exaggeration of the urinary secretion and more or less abundant sveats, insomnia, and palpitation. In thirty-seven cases the sniuk-.-rs pursued the habit fasting, and in these vertigo was {resent especially in the morning. The appearance of the vertigo coincides in one-th rd of the cases with the suppression of the profuse sweats and marked diminution of the urinary secretion. .Sometimes the vertiginous symptoms have been confounded wish those due to cerebral congestion, and even to heart disease. Besides the absolute suppression of the use of tobacco, laxatives, warm baths, magnesia, and bitters an prescribed. Injections of ether subcutaneously also appeared to stop the vertigo in a few minutes. COUaUMiE AND br: QI'INCKY. De Quincey was profoundly influenced by the school of which Coleridge was a leader ; he shared many of the prejudices or principles, and especially their revolt against; the philosophical and literary principle dominant in the eighteenth century. While Coleridge and Wordsworth aimed at a poetical reformation, De Quincey tried to restore the traditions of the great prosewriters of the seventeenth century, .Jeremy Taylor, Sir Thomas Browne, and their contemporaries., His fine musical ear and rich imagination enabled him to succeed so tar as to become one of the great masters of English in what he calls (preface to collected works) the "department of impassioned prose." In the visionary dreamland which is Fxis peculiar domain lie is unrivalled ; and his stately rhetoric is also the fitting embodiment- of a tender and delicate sentiment, often blended with real pathos, and, at times, lighted up by genuine humour. The " Confessions," the " Suspiria," and essays in the same line elsewhere are the work by which he will be permanently known. He clearly possessed also an intellect of singular subtlety. He never rivalled Coleridge by stimulating philosophical inquiry, and the degree of his metaphysical powers must be matter of conjecture ; but he showed great power in the economical investigation which Coleridge despised.

THE IiIP.LK IN' CHINA. It i,? curious to find that China, which is not only heathen, but is the most stereotyped and non-progressive of nations, sets us a wise example in the treatment of tho Bible a.s an educational force. The Bible, it seems, has been included, by otficial direction, in the curriculum of the Tientsin University. This fact is significant, as showing the place the Bible is winning for itself even in pagan lands; but, as the British Weekly reflects, "The question suggests it-self, What are we doing for ourselves ? What British university makes study of the Bible a part of its regular course? Our system of primary education recognises the book, to be sure, in a fashion ; but ij it receiving the attention which it ought to have, even as the basis of the highest human culture In our system of primary education, the only " attention" the Bible receives takes the form of a kick ! Even the despised Chinese might teach our own educational sages a wholesome lesson.

CARDINAL MAN'NINO A" A J'KKU.

A correspondent writes to a contemporary :— It is stated on high authority that, should Lord Salisbury's Life Peerage Bill become law, Cardinal Manning would be among the llrst of the life Beers created. It is well known that all parties would hail the accession to the legislative power of tho State of the venerable and benevolent) Cardinal-Archbishop with satisfaction. It is also stated that it is likewise contemplated to oiler a similar dignity to tho Protestant and Roman Catholic Primates of Ireland and to one of the Bishops of the Episcopal Church of Scotland, It is believed, however, that the Roman Catholic Primate of Ireland would decline tho honour if offered.

TUB MODERN" JEW. In the current number of the Nineteenth Century Mr. F. W. H. Myers has a remark able passage on the character of the modern Jew, of which the gist is that the Jews have, become satisfied with the lot they hold in life, and have given up all hopes of the fulfilment of prophecy, " have learnt at last to silence the heart's infinite appeal." We need not say how mistaken is Mr. Myers in this estimate; indeed, he half owns that there are many exceptions to his remarks. But it is interesting to see ourselves as others see us, especially when they havo such clear vision as Mr. Myers. And tho growth of unidealisn? among us must have been marked among the classes whom Mr. Myers is likely to meet to have given him this impression. Unfortunately tor him, these are just the classes that least represent the religious aspirations of Jews.— Jewish Chronic!"-