A SPANIARD'S IMPRESSIÓNS OF GIBRALTAR. DON ELISEO GUARDIOLA VALERO, in the Revista Contemporanea for October 15th and October 30th, describes a visit to the Rock. The point of view gives his narrative a certain freshness, and his criticisms on the British army are, to say the least of it, original. In most of the descriptions familiar to us, people "do Gib" after landing from a P. and O. steamer in the harbour. Don Eliseo crossed the isthmus, starting from Estepona in Andalusia, and driving to Guadiaro, from which place the journey has to be performed on mule, back to the frontier village of Lima de la Concepcion. Here, he says—

One can already see the scarlet uniforms of the foreign sentinels, who were walking carelessly and like lords of the soil along the walls and through the neutral ground near the line.

A PATRIOT'S REGIET.

I acknowledge that it is irritating, and produces on any one who, like myself, visits Gibraltar for the first time, and arrives from the land side, the effect of an insult to see those numerous English soldiers walking fearlessly about on that soil which is quite as Spanish as the rest of the surrounding country, and that which stretches away in the distanceface to face with the Spanish soldiers who, in their turn, guard the line of our frontier, and who, leaning on their muskets, with eyes fixed on the stolen treasure, seem to mourn the spoliation of which our mother country has been the victim, and seem to vow in the depth of their souls to sacrifice themselves on the altar of the sacred cause which, for the moment, they represent.

I do not know whether it was wrath or grief, or both, that I felt on finding myself within the English city, on touching this enormous wound, this chronic cancer, which lowers and disgraces us in the face of the whole world-on seeing a foreign flag wave from the gates and forts and the public buildings of the city-on assuring myself beyond doubt that I had passed beyond the limits of my country. Never did I feel more deeply pained by our civil wars, our intestine strife, our political dissensions, than now, when I came quite close to an evil which we have forgotten, and whose disappearance ought to be the steadfast aim of our lives.

GIBRALTAR SPANISH.

Though Gibraltar, at first sight, gives the impression of an English city, the real character of the place is decidedly Spanish. Spanish names over the shops-Spanish faces in the streets-Spanish screamed and yelled by the traffickers in the market. Most of the local papers are published in Spanish, though there are one or two English ones-and the Spanish journals, El Imparcial, El Liberel, etc., have a large sale. The visitor is struck by the quantities of tobacco in every shop. There is no Governinent monopoly as in Spain, and every trader lays in a large supply for the benefit of Spanish smugglers.

Don Eliseo was grieved by the sight of Governor Elliot's statue in Alameda Gardens, and struck with admiration by the road up to Europa Point. In examining the religious accommodation of the place, he took the synagogue first, his guide being a zealous Jew, and then strayed into the English church, with all the curiosity of an outsider.

Within a short distance of each other, and standing, as it were, face to face, stand the Protestant cathedral, the Catholic church, and the Hebrew synagogue-a proof this of the marvellous religious tolerance which prevails in England, and which, at Gibraltar, is still further evidenced by the fact that, besides the above-mentioned religious centres, there exist an Arab mosque and a masonic temple where all races and creeds find their liberty of action guaranteed, and adherents of all sects may, without anxiety, énjoy the benefits of that noble conquest of modern civilisation

which has ended in recognising liberty of conscience as the highest and most incontestable right of the individual.

THE ROCK.

The Rock is the most remarkable object at Gibraltar. It is impossible to describe the effect produced on the mind by the sight of those immense tunnels crossing each other in all directions, bifurcating again and again, sometimes lit up, sometimes wrapped in the deepest darkness, forming an inextricable network of galleries and passages, a confused labyrinth, the way out of which could be found by no one who did not possess the clue of Ariadne. The slopes by which we ascended were smooth and wide, better than some high-roads traversed all day long by passengers. Frequently we came upon enormous heaps of cannon-balls, providently stored in case of need,or we found an embrasure in the living rock through which a gun was pointed as though ready to begin work on the spot, surrounded by all the necessary ammunition. Sometimes the darkness was so dense that I scarcely dared move my feet for fear of falling over one or other of those iron monsters, and, on more than one occasion I was forced to strike a match to find my way through those gloomy caverns, while I found myself nearly always lagging behind my guide who, knowing the way, and being more active on his legs, kept going on ahead till he reached the next loophole, when he waited for me.

At last we reached a spot where the passage was barred by thick timbers, and where my guide told me we could go no further, as this was the reserved part of the fortress, where excavations are still being made to continue the enormous trench. This place, he added, was closed to all outsiders; and even the officers of the English army not actually on duty at the works, are scarcely allowed to see it.

I had, therefore, to resign myself to forego the sight of the greatest part of that mysterious cavern, and approached the nearest loop-hole-the highest we had yet passed-to admire the delicious view and breathe the fresh air to which it gave

TOMMY ATKINS.

During my stay at Gibraltar my attention was greatly attracted by the troops.

The many soldiers I saw in the streets-the importance of Gibraltar from a military point of view-and the great number of barracks included within its precincts, made me think-as I afterwards found, rightly-that the army must be the most important element of the population. The garrison of Gibraltar is usually composed of some 6,000 men, under the command of the Governor-General.

The English soldiers sport an elegant uniform, but one which produces a certain effect of affectation. Nearly all of them wear, when in barracks, a kind of cap, slit along the top, with small ribbons falling over the shoulder (like what, among us, are vulgarly called coñas); while others have small caps which scarcely cover one side of the head, and have to be kept on by a strap passing beneath the chin. This is an oddity which seemed to me one of the many eccentricities of the English, in which I can see nothing warlike, but, on the other hand, a great deal that is ridiculous. The infantry wear scarlet jackets and blue trousers; the artillery uniform is entirely of the latter colour-as in most European armiesand the cavalry corps wear one which is somewhat greenish. (sic!) There are some regiments of Scotchmen who wear (the privates, but not the officers) certain short petticoats with many folds, which have little or nothing of a military character, and in which they go about, showing their legs, (which are bare) up to a considerable height. This piece of un

seemliness forms part of a costume in a high degree indecent, and unworthy of a cultivated and civilised England. The campaigning uniform is completed by a monumental helmet of white felt, covering the head down to the eyes, which seemed to me in the highest degree heavy and uncomfortable, When walking about the town, many of them carry a little thin cane, not long enough to reach the ground, a fraud which rather takes away from them than gives them anything like a martial air. We, who are accustomed to the trimness and serviceable neatness of our Spanish soldiers (I am speaking without bias) cannot help being surprised by the sight of the English troops carrying their muskets on the left shoulder and employing the left hand in many of the operations necessary in using it. This detail readily catches the attention of foreigners, and made me smile at the recollection of those Uruguayan soldiers, who have always been my delight, in the farce, "The Cousins of Captain Grant."

To look at them, you would not take the English soldiers to be the ambitious rulers of half the world; and though this army has and justly--a high reputation for valour and endurance, its principal advantage lies in the support of the famous naval force, and in the universal instruction and skill which can be acquired by all, from the officers to the lowest private.

THE RE-CONQUEST OF GIBRALTAR.

The large garrison kept at Gibraltar, and the immense and costly works carried on there, prove that the English have a particular affection for this place. Well aware of its commercial and strategic importance, they would in no conceivable case be willing to abandon it; and were it attacked by an enemy, they would rather be buried under its ruins than lose this precious treasure, which nothing could replace, by withdrawal, which would be equivalent to the most disgraceful defeat.

There is no denying it. As things stand at the present moment, it is absolutely necessary that we should lay aside our long-cherished desire of re-conquering Gibraltar. On the most favourable supposition our only gain would be the possession of a heap of ruins. And though even this would be preferable to the disgrace of having this sign of infamy continually flaunted under our eyes, it is necessary that in our day we should seek the means of regaining our lost jewel without force, and without recklessly throwing away the lives of thousands of men. The Powers of Europe sanctioned this iniquitous spoiliation at the Peace of Utrecht. Why should not the Powers of to-day direct their action individually and collectively to the undoing of this dishonourable robbery, which is to-day, and always will be, a continued menace to the peace of nations?

WHY NOT EXCHANGE IT FOR CUBA?

Señor Valero thinks that, through the mediation of the Powers, Gibraltar might, in time, be exchanged for some of the Spanish foreign possessions (Cuba, perhaps?) "which bring us no advantage, while they cost us heavy sacrifices in men and money.'

A CONVERSATION WITH MR. PARNELL.

BY LORD RIBBLESDALE,

IN the late summer of 1887 Lord Ribblesdale met Mr. Parnell in a railway train on his way from Euston to Holyhead. They were strangers, but having got Mr. Parnell in a coupé all to himself, Lord Ribblesdale was determined that he would get as much out of Mr. Parnell as circumstances would allow. He communicated the notes of the conversation to Mr. Balfour next morning, and now that Mr. Parnell is dead and gone he prints his notes in the Nineteenth Century. They are very short, but sensible, and characterised by Mr. Parnell's usual shrewd common sense. He told Lord Ribblesdale that Lord Carnarvon had a very complete scheme of Home Rule worked out in all its details, but the scheme was only to come into

operation gradually, that is, that Home Rule, was to be a measure granted by degrees to Ireland on her preferment. Lord Salisbury, said Mr. Parnell, has a great chance. The Irish party are quite willing to be reasonable, although they would be sorry to see Mr. Gladstone dished by the Unionists. He had, however, no hope that Lord Salisbury would take the chance as he was a man above treaties and negotiations. Of Mr. Balfour Mr. Parnell spoke highly. He said he doubted whether Mr. Balfour's nervous organisation would stand the strain of office, but he was a man with great capacity, and by no means as much disliked by the Irish party as they pretended. He was denounced only as the incarnation of an odious policy. The party rather liked him in other ways. They liked his mettle, and they liked his adroitness in retort and debate. The only man they could not stand was Mr. CampbellBannerman, and for the good reason that no impression could ever be made upon him. Mr. Parnell tried to remember something about a bull's head and a brazen front which was quoted about Mr. Campbell-Bannerman by somebody. "It was very good," said Mr. Parnell. seriously, "but I never can remember poetry." Of course, Mr. Parnell declared that Home Rule was within certain to come, and that ཀྭ very few years. When Home Rule came the first years would be a time of great anxiety. His faith in the success of Home Rule generally, judging from Lord Ribblesdale's notes, was based almost entirely upon its economic effects. He believed that its immediate results would be industrial development of all kinds. Even a resolute Government might, he thought, be successful if you could get rid of the Irish representation in the House of Commons, with an able and courageous administrator in Ireland with But a strong executive. even then his success would depend upon the extent to which he could materially improve the condition of the Irish people. His task would be, therefore, to settle the land, develop the resources of the country, improve the butter factories, extend the woollen trade, creat harbours and promote fisheries. Speaking of what should be done in Ireland now, he said he thought that local agricultural societies should be encouraged and subsidised by the Government. A Board of Agriculture should te established in Dublin with a staff of peripatetic lecturers and local agents. He would also make the harbours on the west coast, declaring that wherever there was a harbour there was prosperity.

He also spoke of Government forestry. Government was to employ labour in extensive trenching, draining, and planting, and he desired to see railway rates compulsorily lowered for the inward carriage of fish and the outward carriage of agricultural produce.

Lord Ribblesdale asked Mr. Parnell if whether by an enchanter's wand the price of Irish stock could be raised fifty per cent., and kept up, we should hear any more of Irish national sentiment ? Mr. Parnell said we should. Of course, Lord Ribblesdale firmly believes we should not. It does not matter, however, very much what Lord Ribblesdale believes. The important thing to note in this conversation is the clear grasp which Mr. Parnell had on the absolute necessity of an economic improvement in the condition of the Irish electorate. When Home Rule comes, the President of the Board of Agriculture will be the most important man in Ireland after the Prime Minister. Ireland is a great farm, and in the development of that farın by a Government which would possess the confidence of the people is the great hope for the future.

THE EGYPTIAN QUESTION.

FROM THE FRENCH POINT OF VIEW.

THE prominent place which has been given to the Egyptian Question in late political speeches will cause most English readers of the Revue des Deux Mondes to turn with interest to the two carefully written articles which appear under this heading in the November numbers. The hundred pages or so of which they consist summarise in a lucid and effective manner the whole course of events from the rise of the new power of Mahomet Ali upon the Nile to the latest utterances of English politicians. They are conceived in a spirit of fairness which the polemics of the Journal des Débats have almost taught us to despair of meeting with in French utterances upon the subject, and they are valuable in proportion.

FRANCE IN EGYPT.

To attempt to present the contents of the two articles in a few lines would be vain. The facts that they narrate are for the most part well known in all that relates to recent years. It is the manner of their presentment and the fresh point of view which give a renewed interest to the narrative. The earlier part of the story, dealing with the days in which Russia regarded French influence in the East as the influence which it had most to fear, is less familiar. If it suggests some ironic reflections upon the change in Continental politics, it also serves to show how very little these changes have affected the purely English view of the situation. Egypt, under Mehemet Ali was, if not the child, at least the godchild of France. France furnished the model for her military, her educational, her legal, and her administrative system. French soldiers, French engineers, French doctors, French lawyers, French merchants, and French politicians inspired the councils of the Egyptian ruler. extension of the power of Mehemet Ali was practically the extension of the power of France. When his arms were victorious in Syria, the Sultan of Turkey saw France dominating Asia Minor, waiting only to knock, perhaps, at the very doors of Yeldiz Kiosk.

ENGLAND AND RUSSIA AS ALLIES.

The

His first victories of 1832 drove Turkey into the Russian alliance, which was sealed by the Treaty of Unkiar Skelessi in 1833. Russia assumed the position of the protector of Turkey-ostensibly against rebellious Egypt, really against encroaching France. This was proved when, five years later, a second Syrian war, provoked by the Sultan, ended in the Egyptian victory of Nezib, and the existence of Turkey appeared to be in the hands of Mehemet All. strong enough to deal single-handed tions likely to result, and the Emperor Nicholas approached Lord Palmerston with a view to concerted action for the purpose of keeping Turkey alive and checkmating the Eastern policy of France. The offer

Russia did not feel with the complica

he made was nothing less than to forego for Russia all the advantages secured by the Treaty of Unkiar Skelessi, and to instal Great Britain in its place as a more efficient protector of Turkish interests. Lord Palmerston's acceptance of the proposal may be said to have opened the modern phase of the Eastern Question.

LORD PALMERSTON ON FRENCH DESIGNS.

What France thought of the arrangement may be gathered from the action of M. Guizot, who was immediately sent to England in the position-much more important fifty years ago than it now is-of ambassador. He endeavoured to counteract the turn which affairs had

in

taken, and amongst other communications recorded to have passed between him and Lord Palmerston there is a conversation in which they opened their minds plainly to each other. M. Guizot was favour of settling matters without the employment of force-in other words, of leaving Mehemet Ali in possession of the advantages which he had gained. Lord Palmerston held such a course to be impossible. At the end Lord Palmerston summed up his opinion as follows: "France would be very glad, would she not, to see a and independent power, which is almost her creation and would necessarily be her ally, firmly established in Egypt and Syria? You have already the command of Algeria. The whole court of Africa from Morocco to Alexandretta would thus be in your power and under your influence. It is impossible that that should suit us."

THE ABDICATION OF FRANCE, 1882.

new

For fifty years, then, Egypt has been an open bone of contention between the Governments of France and England, but it is a contention which has always been carried on with a due regard for international rights. Up to the campaign of 1882 neither power had established any solid claim to preponderating influence upon the Nile. On the contrary, the attitude of each was a scrupulous regard for the susceptibilities of the other. As far as possible the directing powers of Downing Street and the Quai d'Orsay desired to avoid anything which should tend to render joint action in the East no longer possible. Up to the very moment of the bombardment of Alexandria this policy of mutual consideration was persevered in. The French narrative of the events which preceded the Egyptian war makes no attempt to gloss over the withdrawal of the French Government of the day from the share of responsibility offered to them again and again by England. In 1882, as in 1839, they denied the impossibility of an effective intervention unsupported by the sanction of force. He appears even to adopt, by quoting it, M. Clémenceau's description of their attitude, when, shortly before the outbreak of the war, they asked the French Chamber to vote a credit for the defence of the Suez Canal. "There were but two policies to follow in the Egyptian question," M. Clémenceau said on that occasion, "the policy of intervention or the policy of abstention; the Government has invented a third. Is it peace? No, because we are sending troops to Egypt. Is it war? No, because it is understood that they shall not fight. It is neither war nor peace, or it is both war and peace according to the taste of orators and audience." The outcome of the debate was that the Credit was not voted, that the troops did not go, and that England was called upon to bear, according to the old prevision of the Emperor Nicholas, the whole brunt of restoring the order which she had pledged herself to maintain. There is no denial that she has done it very well. The conclusion to which the writer of the articles apparently desires to lead his readers is rather that whatever may have been the faults of French policy or the virtues of Anglo-Egyptian administration, the permanent facts of the international situation are unaffected by them, and demand now, as they have always demanded, that there shall be no predominance of one Western Power or the other upon the Nile. The contention may or may not be just. It has, at any rate, the merit of a statesmanlike breadth of view.

THE DARKEST ENGLAND SCHEME. GENERAL BOOTH'S FARM AT HADLEY. THE Christmas number of All the World is very copiously illustrated and contains, among other articles of interest, an account of the new farm at Hadley. The agreement signed by each colonist, together with a plan of the colony, buildings, and rules and regulations under which the place is worked, are given in full.

Besides the old farmhouses on the estate, there have been erected, since May 2nd, five lofty and well-appointed dormitories, just under the brow of the hill, with a south aspect. These are furnished with iron bedsteads, mattresses, and blankets for the colonists, and will accommodate about fifty each. There is a dining-room to seat three hundred, with kitchen, antries, and store-rooms, complete; also a wash-house, a laundry, a bath-room with sanitary arrangement, temporary business offices, and a commodious readingroom has not been forgotten. All these buildings, together with eight houses almost completed, for the use of officers, are built upon concrete foundations, the material for which bas been obtained from the gravel pits by the "unskilled" labourers

The following time-table of the day will be generally observed from April to September, but in winter the hours of rising and time of meals will be varied :-5.30, bell for rising; 6.0, commence work; 8.0, breakfast; 8.30, knee-drill; 8.45, resume work; 1.0, dinner; 1.45, resume work; 5.30, tea; 8.30, supper; 9.0, roll-call and knee-drill. The meals supplied are breakfast and tea-tea, cocoa or coffee, bread and butter, lettuce, radishes, etc.; dinner, meat pudding twice a week, stewed meat twice, and on other days roa-t or cold joints, nearly a pound of potatoes at each meal and pudding occasionally; supper, bread and cheese or soup. The quantities are not limited to first helping. Mrs. Ward, who is regarded as a "mother" by every one, has never had an improper word addressed to her by any one of the men. Of the two hundred and fifteen men sent down from the City Colony during first four months one hundred and sixty were on the Farm Colony at the expiration of that period; of these not more than twenty were reported as being unsatisfactory as to the amount of work they did. Of the fifty-five who left twelve were di charged for flagrant breaches of the rules, some obtained outside situations, and others were incapable of out-door labour.

He

The rector looks upon the Colony work most favourably, and takes great interest in the progress of the men. has expressed the opinion that the work of the Army has materially improved the moral state of the district.

Attendance at the Army meetings is not compulsory, although a constant invitation is given. The rule of total abstinence, however, has been rigidly enforced since September 16. There were sixty non-abstainers then on the farm. They were given the option of becoming teetotalers or leaving the colony. Fifty-nine remained and only one left. The estate is one and a half miles square, and is thirty-seven miles distant from London. It comprises three farms and twelve hundred acres. Eighty acres are now in firstclass cultivation as a market garden. Two hundred acres of saltings, which are covered at the high spring tides, are to be embanked and converted into arable land by deposits of London dust and manure, which will be shipped from the Battersea Wharf, now in the occupation of the Salvage Brigade of the City Colony. Three and three-quarter miles of tram-lines have been commenced. The report is very satisfactory, and will be read with interest.

DOWN WITH THE DECIMALS!

THE LATEST AMERICAN CRUSADE.

THE English-speaking man has hitherto felt somewhat ashamed of the fact that he has never followed France in adopting the decimal system of enumeration. To-day, however, he can lift up his head in pride when he reads the paper of William B. Smith, in the Educational Review of Boston for December. Therein he will find that his ' refusal to count by tens instead of by twelves is the hallmark of a superior civilisation. The triumph of the Ten is the triumph of the Celt, the triumph of the Twelve is to be the crowning glory of the Anglo-Saxon race. Mr. Smith says:

Here is opportunity and also occasion for our proud lineage to assert itself, as the roof and crown of humanity, by one bold stroke that shall smite from our intellectual limbs the shackles of centuries and leave them strong and nimble and free. But especially it is the privilege of America to advance herself at one giant stride o the forefront of the world. What other conceivable feat, either of

peace or of war, could so glorify our intelligence and

civilisation as a people.

A thoroughgoing adoption of the duodenary system is inevitable and impending unless the hated decimal system triumphs. The decimal system admits of no finality, the duodenary is the best that nature admits and which can only pretend to an absolute finality. Mr. Smith is a bold man; he would not only make our coinage duodecimal, but he is not even contented with the twelve months of the year. Their unequal length is puzzling and irrational. There must henceforth be twelve months with thirty days each with five supplementary days belonging to no month.

They would mark the stations of the sun's progress through the sky and be: New Year's dav, first quarter-day, midyear's day, second quarter-day, Old Year's day. They might otherwise be named Vernequid, upper rolstid, Autumnequid, lower Solstid, Vernequid.

Neither is he contented with the innocent clock. He would divide each hour into twelve grades, each grade consisting of twelve primes, and each prime consisting of twelve seconds. A grade is five minutes, that is easy enough; but when you come to the one hundred and fortyfourth fraction of five minutes you get rather mixed. Ten would no longer signify ten, but twelve, and ten and eleven would be known by their initials "t" and "e." He would abolish "ty" as a reminder of ten in twenty, and put on tel as a reminder of his beloved twelve. Here are the numbers of the future :

One, two, three, four five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve; tel one, tel two, tel three, tel four, tel five, tel six, tel sen, tel eight, tel nine, tel ten, tellen, twentel; twentel one, twentel two, etc.; thirtel, fortel, fiftel, sixtel, sentel, eightel, ninetel, tentel, lentel; dipo, tripo, tetrapo, etc., N- po. The termination PO will be at once recognised as an abbreviation both of power and position, and, in fact, the second power of twelve occupies the second position to the left of the unit place, which latter counts not as the first but as the zeroth position. These names depart as little as possible from familiar ones, and may all be learned in five minutes

Opinions will probably differ upon that point. Mr. Smith

THE FUTURE OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION IN
ENGLAND.

In the Newbery House Magazine for December, Dean Gregory discusses the question as to what will be the future of religious education in the elementary schools of England. He says, of course, that it entirely depends upon the voluntary schools, and he therefore makes his article a strong appeal to wealthy Churchmen to subscribe to a national fund to tide the voluntary schools over the difficulty entailed by the Free Education Act. His first impressions as to the working of Free Education are thus stated. Speaking broadly, the village schools are gainers by the change. The Education Act is an honest endeavour to help these small, poor schools, and is felt to be so. In agricultural districts school managers must be gainers by the new change. In London there is the same satisfaction there are few complaints, and managers are more than satisfied with the change. Dean Gregory says:

So far as I can make out, there is a demand for schools charging a high fee. Many parents object to sending their children to free schools, and if the School Board visitors drive the gutter children into the nearest Board School, I believe this demand will increase. What is true of London is, I believe, substantially true in most of the towns in the South of England. The change has brought no evil to the Voluntary Schools in that part of the country. The real crux of the question is in the North of England, where wages have been high, and school fees have been proportionately high. Beside this, dissent and political Liberalism are much stronger there than in the southern counties, and to add to these difficulties, there is much less class feeling.

It is seldom that a Dean of the Church of England speaks of class feeling as if it were a desirable element in the body politic.

TWO NEW YANKEE INVENTIONS.

RAMIE AND LACTITIS.

IN the scientific chronicle of the American Quarterly Catholic Review is an account of two remarkable inventions, of which we shall hear something more in this country before long. One is the use of ramie fibre as a material for the manufacture of steam pipes. The pipe is made out of ramie fibre, and then subjected to

tremendous hydraulic pressure. Under this operation it becomes two and a half times as strong as steel, while remaining comparatively light. I will not absorb moisture, and consequently will not leak. It will neither swell nor shrink, nor rot, nor rust; and for work buried under ground this is another most valuable property sadly lacking in iron and steel. Ramie is a non-conductor of heat. Moreover, ramie, in this hardened condition, is sufficiently incombustible to make it safe for use in steampipes.

Still more remarkable is the other discovery which is announced in the same chronicle, which is to the effect that artificial ivory is to be made, in the future, out of milk:

The milk is first coagulated as in the process of making cheese. This is then strained and the whey rejected. Ten pounds of the curd is taken and mixed with a solution of three pounds of borax in three quarts of water, This mixture is now placed in a suitable vessel over a slow fire, and left there till it separates into two parts, the one as thin as water, the other rather thicker, somewhat resembling melted gelatine. The watery part is next drawn off, and to the residue is added a solution of one pound of a mineral salt in three pints of water. Almost any mineral salt will answer; for example, sugar of lead, copperas, blue or white vitriol. This brings about another separation of the mass into a liquid and a mushy solid. The liquid is again got rid of by straining, or better, by filtering. At this point, if desired, colouring matter may be added; if not, the final product will be

;

WOMEN AS TEACHERS.

A VALUABLE REPORT FROM AMERICA.

In response to an appeal from the Joint Education Committees of Wales and Monmouthshire, the Commission of Education in the United States has sent over some valuable information as to the experience of America in the employment of women as teachers in schools. The report appears in the Educational Review of Boston for November. 655 per cent. of the teaching body in the United States were women at the last census. The total number is 238,333. Women are sometimes employed as teachers exclusively for boys, but more frequently for boys and girls together. In Chicago there are no separate schools for boys-the sexes are taught together.

Women in Boston teach all the branches in all the public school course to children of all ages and all classes in life. In reply to the comparative success of male and female teachers, the Commissioner of Education reports :

Women, I think, as a rule, succeed better than men in getting work out of pupils of all kinds. The intellectual training which they give is therefore better up to a certain point than that given by men. They also maintain better discipline than men, and with less corporal punishment.

The superintendents in a number of the great cities reply that women are fully equal to the men in both as respects maintaining order and teaching capacity. There is a general agreement that it is better to employ both men and women as teachers. As a general rule, although women teach as well as men their salaries are 60 per cent. lower. Chicago, Brooklyn, Boston, and Philadelphia pay the same to both sexes for the same work. New York forbids female teachers to marry. Chicago lets them marry without let or hindrance. Many of the best teachers are married women and mothers. This report is a valuable illustration of the importance of intercommunication between the English-speaking races on both sides of the sea.

HOW IT IS NON CATHOLICS GO TO HEAVEN. CARDINAL MANNING, in the Review of the Churches, explains, for the satisfaction of the reunionists of Christendom, how it is that the Catholic Church admits that non-Catholics can be saved. It is owing to

the Catholic doctrine of the universality of grace. They presuppose the doctrine of the visible Church, which has not only a visible body, but also an invisible soul. The soul of the Church is as old as Abel, and as wide as the race of mankind. It embraces every soul of man who has lived, or at least who has died, in union with God by the indwelling of the

Holy Ghost. Nearly thirty years ago I published all this in

answer to my friend, the late Dr. Pusey, in a letter on "The Workings of the Spirit in the Church of England." This letter has been lately reprinted by Messrs. Burns and Oates. Thus far, then, I can lay a basis on which to write and to hope with all your contributors. We believe that the Holy Ghost breathes throughout the world, and gathers into union with God, and to eternal life, all those who faithfully co-operate with His light and grace. None are responsible for dying inculpably out of the visible Body of the Church. They only are culpable who knowingly and wilfully reject its divine voice when sufficiently known to them.