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New Zealand Tablet, Volume XIX, Issue 37, 19 June 1891, Page 5

An evidently authoritative exposition tf the budget of tbe Va ican has been published by a Catholic Munich piper. Tne Sovereign Pontiffs annual expenditure for his own household, and for all matters not comprised under tbe other departments, amounts to £20,000. Tbe Sacred G >llege is maintained on £28,000 ; poor dioceses receive a subvention of £18 000; for the Apostolic Palaces His Holiness is at a charge of £72 000 ; the State Secretariate costs £40 000, and the salary of funcuo anes and officials £60 000 ; schools ai;d charities are supplied by £48 000. It is sated that Barnum has died worth 5,000,000d018. The cause of death was old ajze, &•* he had no organic diuea&<\ For twentyone weeks he had been struggling against death. For several hours before his death he was unable to speak, but he gave occasional glances of recognition to the friends around him. The '• Greatest Bhow on Earth " will be continue 1, as 3,500,000d0i5. are invested in it. According both to Mr Barnum's will and the articles ot partnership with Mr Bailey, who has been responsible for most of the business done ia Mr Barnum's name in recent years, a generous provision has been made for all dependent?. His chief heir is a grandson, who will have a fortune that is estimated at 5 OOO.OOOdoIs. Here is a characteristic story told of Barnum during his last visit to England : " W« 11, Mr Barnum," said an illustrious personage to tbe great eh wman at the Agricultural Hall, as the Household tr<>op» w*-nt by in a mu-ical ride, " would you not like to run the Life Guards in the Siates?" '-Sir," he answered, "I have do desire to iun the Life Guards ; but I will give good terms to be allowed to run your hoyal Highnepe." — Cork Examiner. Mr Spurgeon, who occasionally reviews books himself in his Sword and Trowel, has been picking the ti bits for his readers out of Mi Wuodcook's " Primitive Methodism on the Yorkshire Wolds." Ihf pastor of the Tabernacle is particularly pleased witi Yorkshire criticism of sermons. Here is one of them: "Ah say, Mister, yon preeched a goodish sermon to-night ; but if it had been cut short at heath ends, and set a-fire in the middle, it wad a dean us mere good." Mr Spurgeon " scarcely remembers a better criticism than this,'* and says it might be applied to many of the discourses and speeches which one heais nowadays. Another story tells of a not very flueat you g man who, being in the habit of savins in his prayers " Lord, help me to prey,' 1 was answered one night by an old man's ejaculation, " And the Lord help thee to give ower.'" ' How heartily," remarks Mr Spurgeon, " could we say ' Amen ' to such a pray.r in the c se of a long-winded brother." Mr Spurgeon also likes the story of the clergyman who at a noisy prayer-meeting commanded silence and said, '• My dear friends, the Lord is not deaf. Now, don't you think you could pray a little more quietly? You iemember, when the temple was being built at Jerusalem, there was no sound of any to,>ls beard in it while building." " Yes, Sir," said one of the brothers, " that's all very true ; but you see we're not building the temple, we're blasting the rocks."

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