WAIFS AND STRAYS.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume III, Issue 145, 11 February 1876, Page 16

WAIFS AND STRAYS.

It is a, pity to say anything ungracious about a little creature so wrapped-up in poetic associations and pleasant memories as the glow-worm ; and yet the truth must be told. It feeds, then, good } reader, not on the violets and primroses, not even on the common greenery of the hedgerows, but on nosh— the flesh of snails, and eats it most voraciously ! The.'glow-worm strikes at the snail as it j crawls along, and by repeated bites speedily paralyses and kills its \ prey, which it then commences devouring, and seldom leaves for ' more than a few minutes until the whole of the body is consumed, j The voracity of the little thing is extreme, and one may sometimes \ see four or five of them together in a snail-shell, feasting upon their I prey, and continuing thus for hours together. And this fierce and ravenous little creature is the glow-worm ! Well may we say with Mr. Douglas, " Let u< draw a veil over the scene, and, as with some examples of human genius, be content with the ultimate lustre, without inquiring into the minutite of its origin and support."— Keaxsley's " Links in the Chain." Macknight, the expositor, had a repute for ' dryness ' in the pulpit, One day he was drenched by a shower in coming to church. In the vestry, and before the servico be^an, the attendants were doing all in their power to make him comfortable by rubbing him with towels and other appliances. The good man was ever and anon exclaiming, " O, I wish that I was dry V and repeating often, " Do ye think lam dry eneuch now?" Dr. Henry, his colleague, who was present, was a jocose man, of much quiet humour. He patted the dry doctor on the shoulder, with the encouraging remark, " Bide a wee, doctor; bide a wee, and ye's be dry eneuch when ye get into the pulpit." A well-known minister in Scotland observed with annoyance that many of his congregation were sleeping, and used the word " hyperbolical " in the sermon, pausing and remarking, " Now, my friends, some of you may not understand this word hyperbolical. I will explain it. Suppose that I were to say that this congregation were all asleep in this church at this present time; I should be speaking hyperbolically, because [looking round] I don t believe much more than one-half of you are sleeping." A general awakenment followed. Dr. Chalmers told the following : " A member of Robert Hall's flock, presuming on his weight and influence in the congregation, had called upon him and took him to task for not more frequently or more fully preaching predestination, which he hoped in future would be more referred to. Hall, the most moderate and cautious of men on this dark question, was very indignant ; he looked steadily at his censor for a time, and replied ' Sir, I perceive i/ov are predestinated to be an ass ; and what is more, I see that you are determined to " make your calling and election sure.' 51 — Pulpit Stories. The Lapps are very hospitable to strangers, although suspicious of them at first. They will give the passing traveller the best of everything they have ; and a small present of tobacco, or a little brandy, is cheerfully accepted as ample recompence. When residing among them, the food is the most trying part of the affair, for one soon tires of reindeer venison. Breakfast among this primitive people consists of reindeer milk, to which all help'themselves out of the same pot, |and generally with the same spoon. The dinner consists of reindeer venison and soup ; at the supper reindeer cheese is served out. When the meal is ready, the master of the household takes his place near the huge copper-pan in which the reindeer venison and soup are cooked ; the wife, children, and servants range themselves in a row, waiting to begin. The head of the family then gravely sticks his fork into a piece of vension, drags it out, and begins to eat it. The others do the same, and the only respect paid the master is this; when a servant hooks out a piece of venison that is particularly fat and inviting, he puts it into the pot again, giving his master a grin as he does so, as much as to say, " That belongs by right to you, O master ?" When this is done, the master gives a grunt of satisfaction, and complacently sticks his fork into the reserved morsel of venison.— The Naturalist in Norway The ' Invalide Russe ' publishes the following details of the Khan's palace in Khokand :— On Sept. 15 the Russian troops passed through the town of Khokan, the great majority of whose inhabitants looked on the Russians with more of friendliness than of suspicion. The Khan met the Commander-in-Chief at the doors of the palace. General Kaufmann, alighting from his horse, saluted the Khan, and, attended by his suite, ascended an eminence near the entrance to the palace. When all the troops had been drawn up, the Commander-in-Chief entered the palace with the Khan. That building i H a very common place erection. The entrance resembles that of a Turkestan mosque— a hall surmounted by a dome. From its inner door you enter a large room, also vaulted, and from which a corridor leads to the first court, around which there are open galleries. Inside this court is a second one, and opposite to its entrance stands the palace. The entrance door of the palace is placed as a considerable height, and the inclined plane which leads up to it occupies about the whole width of the yard, and is difficult of ascent. The room in which the Khan received the Commander-in-Chief and his attendants were splendid, from an eastern point of view. The ceilings weie covered with paintings, the walls with varnished and painted tiles, and the floor with carpets and silk coverlets wadded. Near these stood European armchairs and seats. From the ceiling hung three chandeliers, the middle one of large size, supended by a thin chain and descending almost to the floor. On the walls were four European mirrors, a fifth mirror being fixed in a niche of the wall opposite the entrance. There was here also a small eminence covered with carpets. On the eminence stood two armchairs, and between them and the large chandelier was a table on which were spread refreshments of a very ordinary nature— some tea, pilau, and fruits Before partaking of them, the Khan proposed to the Commander-in-Chief to inspect the other part of the palace. Accordin^lv after

having passed a third small court, we came to a portion of the building which was still in process of construction. Some small rooms, with curtained windows and small divans, before which stood round tables and arm-chairs, were just finished. The floors were covered with pretty carpets, and the hangings were quite new. Abbot Joseph, the Theban, said, " There are three classes of men who are pleasing in the sight of the Lord. The first are those who, though weak, accept temptations with a thankful heart. The second are those who perform all their actions before God with purity of heart and without human motives. The third are those who subject themselves to the commands of their spiritual father, and entirely renounce their own will."