saw any weapon similarly treated in Norfolk. Lame Carey is an invaluable guide. He knows every inch of Monbraher. He retires from sport himself after his one shot at the duck, and begs to be invested with the bag. His performances with the crutch are astonishing. When a drain is to be crossed, he turns half round, and then swings himself by an indescribable wriggle off the ground altogether, and, making a kind of spread-eagle in the air, he is at the other side in an instant. The feat calls to mind an odd mode of transit over this very moor adopted many years ago by an athletic minister of the Church, who officiated every Sunday at a little parish on the edge of the bog. This rev thing there no doubt:- and with a heavy | took a large stone from his pocket and sigh as though waking from a gloomy gave the cap a sharp blow, whereupon the dream, a man suddenly rises in the reeds gun went off. Wallace never and confronts the dog and his master. This figure will stand for the very genius of ague and of Monbraher. Though bent with cramp he stands six feet high in the ragged bandages which are swathed upon his legs to serve as moccasins. His face is livid, a thin hoar frost of beard fringes his jaws and lips, and his hollow eyes glitter. In his lean hand he clutches a reapinghook, and on his back is the reward of his toil the withies and other stuff which he gathers for fuel or for manufacture into coarse matting. Has not a poet told us of beauty born of murmuring sound passing into the face of a woman? On the countenance of the ague-stricken matmaker the desolation of this landscape has impressed its hungry gloom-its separa-erend gentleman, finding the high road tion from the world of culture or intelli- tedious and having a taste for muscular gent interest its abandonment to birds exercise, procured a pair of stilts after the that do not sing but cry with painful quer- fashion of the peasants in the Landes, and ulous notes when the chill wind scatters stalked to service on them. After awhile, their squadrons, or when the fowler sur- however, he considered this system of prises them. Wallace so far recovers him- travelling rather slow, and he substituted self as to bark, and then to sniff at the for the stilts a huge leaping pole, and with lean shanks of the Monbraher matmaker. white tie and spectacles and a tall hat Have you seen any snipe or duck?" might be seen bounding like a kangaroo Yes, but 'tis late in the day to come for to church, returning home in the same them. There are four or five heavy duck, manner, a distance of three or four miles. he thinks, pitched two or three hundred But this is a digression. Lame Carey yards, but his honour had better be quick, points to a field full of dry barren grass, for Lame Carey the tailor is "stalin' and says he is certain quail have settled in down on them already. And, indeed, it. Carey is right. Wallace no sooner puts Wallace is fated this day to meet more his foot on the spot than he shows evident than one curious product of Irish moorland tokens of game of some kind being about, existence. With stealthy jerks of a crutch, and in a few moments a quail is added to and with a long single gun in hand, ap- the bag, and two others marked down. proaches Lame Carey the tailor, a well- Wallace does not like snipe-shooting. He known character in this wild district. has not been brought up to the work, and is Advancing to meet Mr. Carey (who has too quick and impatient; nevertheless a furnished the end of his crutch with a flat very fair number of snipe continue to acpiece of wood, to prevent it sinking so cumulate in our collection, when upon the deep in the soil that he would be staked hill at the southern end of Monbraher to it or unable to pull it out again), a par-hill most appropriately termed Mount ley, and an offensive alliance against the Misery - a cloud suddenly descends, and birds, are entered into with him. We a chiding sough of the wind heard all over agree to come at the spot indicated by the the entire moor warns us that what Mr. matmaker from different sides, so as to Carey terms a "dhrop o' rain" is approachhave a better chance, and the manoeuvre ing. The dhrop o'rain is a steady downis not unsuccessful; one bird goes downpour, in the midst of which we trudge for to Mr. Carey's score and two to that of his shelter to a cabin or shieling, the upper temporary confederate. It was impossible half of the door of which is open, allowing not to admire the skill of Mr. Carey in volumes of thick smoke to rush out. Lame shooting under difficulties. His gun was Carey, with the usual salutation, unhasps fastened to the stock with twine, and the lintel and disturbs a group of poultry though furnished with a nipple, it had no from the threshold, the fowl cluttering lock. The manner, then, in which Mr. with a tremendous pother to the rafters, Carey discharged his piece of ordnance the dresser, the top of the bed, and other was this: He put a cap on the nipple, customary roosting-places. Three women - -a are sitting round a huge potato pot by a bog-oak fire. Lame Carey plunges his pipe into the red ashes, and inquires if Thomasheen is any betther than he wor. A shake of the head from the eldest of the women signifies that Thomasheen is very bad indeed, and rising from a wooden box that has served her for a chair, the barelegged dame goes over to the foot of the bed where a cradle has been deposited. Covered with a dirty rug, but withal warm enough, is Thomasheen (little Thomas) himself, undergoing the ordeal of measles. His cheeks are round and plump yet, his bullet-head is covered with a thatch of golden curly hair, and it is to be hoped that Thomasheen with his dark blue Celtic eyes will weather his complaint: there is the stuff and stamina of half-a-dozen London children in him at any rate; and yet Thomasheen has been reared on the same dismal swamp of Monbraher of which our matmaker above-mentioned was a native and an illustration. Out into the open once more with Lame Carey, we find the rain has cleared off, or rather there is no more for the present where it came from, and our route requires us for a time to take a road, or what passes for a road, through the moor. "There's sure to be some tale (teal) in there, sir," remarks Mr. Carey. "You had better let me hould the dog and creep in behind the furze." Wallace submits rather ruefully to an embrace from Lame Carey, who sits on the ground and puts his arm about his neck, puffing villanous tobacco at the same time into the nostrils of that gentle and clever dog. But Wallace is a perfect gentleman, and submits to the restraint and to the rude caress without a murmur. There is nothing to be had for the adventure, however; the teal had either departed before our arrival or had never been there, and so we must seek our quarry elsewhere. Wallace, released, skips and frisks in so friendly a style around Mr. Carey that he gazes at him with fond admiration and surmises that he is worth his weight in gold, and can do everything but "spake." We arrive now at a more civilized district of Monbraher. A few cabbage gardens and potato fields have been reclaimed from the moor; they require to be fed with sea-weed, and the ocean odour they emit is strong. Women are at work here, with bare legs and feet and scanty petticoats, and Lame Carey has a joke or a greeting in Irish for each and all of them. They tell us the golden plover were on the ground about early in the morning, and in fact we can see a huge stand of them in the air, but miles away, and exhibiting no sign of alighting. Farther on we meet with considerable quantities of snipe, and Wallace, with some mild- very mildcorrection, begins to understand the peculiar kind of sport to which he has been introduced. He has not yet got accustomed, perhaps, to being so very wet. His master has made a vain effort to escape one of the penalties of fowling in Monbraher, by bringing with him from town the most scientifically constructed boots and leggings, warranted proof against damp. At the very first "gulch" into a Monbraher moss-pit the patent ever-dry boots were charged to the brim with Monbraher particular, the only advantage, if any, derived from the elaborate construction of the renowned boots being that the person in them was accompanied by sobs every step he took for the rest of the day. They retained the water admirably, and when they were removed in the evening they were proportionately as full of bilge as the carcass of the Megara. As for the waterproof leggings, they were also a snare and a delusion. They smelt abominably of creosote or gas, and despite the various and mysterious nastiness in which they were apparently steeped, or with which they had been annointed, they were as limp as wet brown paper at the close of the day. Resisting Lame Carey's suggestion to remain on the edge of the moor until duckflight, Wallace and his master prepare for a good three miles' stretch to home. The last stage of that march is by a path on a sand cliff over the sea. The grey evening dies in a dark sulk, but the night is very beautiful, with all those tender ornaments of moon and shining stars which never seem so lovely as when they glitter upon the waves of the tide. The beach is fringed with white half-phosphorescent foam, and from the tumbling surf comes a constant boom along the coast away to where the lighthouse lamp is gleaming across a reach of wet sand. A schooner in full sail passes almost within a stone's throw of the road we have now arrived at beyond the cliff; you can hear the voices of the sailors on board and the hail from the pilot boat that offers to convoy the vessels across the treacherous harbour bar on which the sea-horses are tossing their manes. If you listen you can catch the whistle of the wild duck in the sky bound for Monbraher, the calling of the curlew, the occasional croak of a heron. Wallace 'is weary, and rubs his head against the wet water-proof gaiters as though to hint that | in shape as it approaches the sun, and has dalliance with scenery at such a time is even been detected on one or two occasions cruel to him, and so the pace is accelerated, and the welcome town twinkles at our jaded feet where Wallace shall rest for that night at least upon a soft rug. From The Spectator. attempting, as it would seem, to throw out a tail, yet these efforts have never resulted in any marked success. Halley's comet, on the other hand, has behaved most strangely in this respect. On most of the occasions when it has been in our neighbourhood it has had a magnificent tail; but Sir John Herschel tells us that the fine new tail which it threw out in the autumn of 1835 had disappeared on January 21, 1836, taking the head (all but the nucleus) along with it; and this when the comet was just in that part of its course where one would have expected to see the tail most fully developed. Then it swelled out so rapidly that in seventeen days its bulk had increased more than seventy-fold, and as the comet passed away towards the cold regions it had come from it changed in shape as if it intended to develop a new tail." 66 WITH an opera-glass possibly with the naked eye-there can now be seen each evening towards the west one of the most remarkable Comets known to astronomers. It is not, indeed, one of those amazing objects whose appearance used of old to inspire fear among the nations; nor does it present a very striking picture when viewed with even the most powerful telescope. We have before us, as we write, a sketch of this comet taken by Dr. Huggins with the splendid telescope lately placed in his hands by the Royal Society, and this drawing presents only a faint unsymmetrical cloud slightly condensed on the side where a larger comet would have a tail. Yet not even the splendid comets of 1843, 1858, and 1861 outvie this little cloud in real interest, or convey to the thoughtful mind a more instructive lesson. For the faint nebulous gleam is the famous comet named after Encke, the first comet ever shown to travel in a short period, and on a comparatively settled course around the orb which rules our Earth and her fellow-planets. Halley's comet had long before been proved to be a member of the Sun's family; but the course on which it travels is unplanetary to a very high degree; it passes from little more than one-half the earth's distance from the sun into those far-distant depths where Neptune pursues his dismal career; it ranges far away from that general level near which the planets travel; and it pursues its course, not as the planets do, from west to east, but from east to west. So that though Halley's comet belongs to the sun's family, he is but an unruly member of it. Encke's comet, on the other hand, is little less staid than some of the planets belonging to that strange ring which circles between the paths of Mars It is worthy of notice, in the next place, and Jupiter. It travels the right way that this comet was detected several times round the sun, and in its widest excursion before its real nature was recognized. keeps far within the path of giant Jupiter, Méchain detected it on January 17, 1786, while the slope or tilt of its path is even and was not a little gratified to find that less than that of some planetary orbits. he had anticipated Messier, the most Its very aspect suggests the settled nature laborious comet-seeker of those days. It of this comet, for though it changes visibly may have been on this very occasion, Encke's comet is remarkable, then, among comets because, unlike most comets, it varies little in aspect, and moves on a course little distinguished from the paths of the planets. But there is much else to attract us to the study of this little body. We speak of it, indeed, as little; but perhaps this description will be thought inexact, when we mention that the comet sometimes occupies a much larger space than this earth. It is little, however, as respects its mass or weight; for it has been known to approach very close to Mercury, the least of all the planets; and though Mercury swayed the comet notably from its track, the comet in no sensible way disturbed Mercury. It is far from being beyond belief, on the contrary, it is highly probable, that if the whole mass of this object could be collected into a convenient bulk and placed upon the earth, a man of average strength could readily lift it. Nay, there are those who think that the whole mass of many far larger comets would scarcely fill a wineglass, if compressed to the density of water. Be this as it may, there can be little question that Encke's comet is "a mere bunch of vapours," to use the words applied by Sir John Herschel to another comet. indeed, that Messier, as the story runs, medium, through which the solid planets missed a new comet through the interrup- pass without appreciable check. If so tion caused by his wife's fatal illness, - a(and it is difficult to resist the conclusion) circumstance which led him some time the comet is doomed to destruction. The after to mistake condolences addressed to nearer its path draws to the sun the greater him as a widower, and to inveigh against the resistance which the comet will experithe unhappy chance which had enabled ence, as well because the interplanetary another to discover one of his comets." atmosphere must be denser near the sun His comets! On the next occasion, No- than elsewhere, as because the comet's movember 7, 1795, this comet was discovered tion must grow continually more rapid. by a lady, no other than Miss Caroline This last circumstance, indeed, will seem Herschel, sister of the greatest astronomer to many a strange result of the resistance the world has known. Thulis, of Mar- experienced by the comet, but it is none seilles, saw the comet again in October, the less certain that such a result must 1805. It was not until November, 1818, follow. The time will at length come, then, that the last discovery (properly so-called) when this comet at each return to the took place. For then the comet's path sun will graze his mighty orb, giving up was determined, and at every return since gradually more and more of its substance, then astronomers have known precisely until finally it is completely absorbed by when and where the comet would come him, and so vanishes for ever from the into view. They are as confident, almost, planetary system. respecting its periodical return (three It remains only to be noticed that Dr. times in ten years) as about the motions Huggins has already succeeded in testing of Mars or Mercury; and they would even the light of this comet with the spectrobe quite as confident, but for a contingency scope. Like those few of its fellows which to which the planets are fortunately not exposed. It happened a few years since that a comet of much the same nature as Encke's, and supposed like it to be a settled member of the Solar family, divided itself into two distinct comets; nor did its vagaries end with this achievement, for though the double comet came back yet once again along the assigned track, it has never since been seen, so that some astronomers suppose that it has divided into parts too small to be separately discerned. Encke's comet, however, mnst not suffer in reputation because a brother comet has been thus dissipated. Astronomers have seen no signs either in the motions or in the changes of appearance of the comet, which would lead them to entertain any doubts respecting its remaining for many centuries a member of the Solar family. One peculiarity, however, its motions manifest, which suggests the conclusion that at no indefinitely distant epoch it will be destroyed by the Sun himself. It is circling in a continually diminishing orbit, and always in a shorter period. At the time of its first discovery it accomplished the circuit of its path in about 1,213 days (taking one circuit with another); at present its period is rather less than 1,210 days. It is the generally received opinion (though Sir J. Herschel suggested another explanation, that this constant hastening. which implies a constant tendency in the comet's path to draw nearer towards the sun, is due to the resistance of some very rare have been similarly examined, it consists "mere From The Spectator. SIMPLICITY OR SPLENDOUR? PRINCE BISMARCK has just delivered to the German Parliament a long and very amusing sermon upon a text which is always of interest to Englishmen, and is just now the subject in all our great cities of very warm debate, - does the visible splendour of an office tend to increase its power? Prince Bismarck says it does, that an Ambassador, for example who can keep up a great appearance, live in an imposing hotel, and entertain royally, will create a greater impression of the power of the State which accredits him than a poorly-paid man who must live quietly, and avoid striking the multitude by personal display. Of course, said the Prince, who knows men and things in many countries, educated persons are not moved by such shows; but the multitudes are, Germany, for example, looming greater in their eyes when represented by a great Ambassador with £6,000 a year than when represented and that an Envoy controlling 100,000 men in a shabby surtout would be more respected than an Envoy controlling half that number in a coat covered with gold and lace. Most people in England, we know, agree with the German Chancellor, and especially those who for themselves prefer simplicity, but think that what they prefer their inferiors in æsthetical knowledge are pretty sure to dislike. The evidence, however, is not by any means so clear as they imagine, much of it seeming to show that while the crowd is slightly awed by splendour, it also resents its own awe, and dislikes the office which demands from it such an annoying emotion. This is undoubtedly true of the English Episcopacy, which would be twice as powerful with the populace if the Bishops had mod by a quiet little Envoy with only £4,000. Lord Palmerston held the same idea, and once told Mr. Cobden and a Committee of the House of Commons that a Minister of State whose front door was opened by a housemaid might be a most excellent Minister but would soon lose a portion of public respect. Mr. Cobden retorted that American Envoys had very much their own way, in spite of their poor allowances; but Lord Palmerston would only admit that the Union was a sort of enfant terrible among States, and not expected to do things exactly like other people. Mr. Gladstone expressed the same sentiment when defending the Royal appanages, and the whole House of Lords endorsed it recently when discussing the Judges' pay. Napoleon I. was strongly in favour of splendour, occasionally sending distinct re-erate incomes and no peerages, and thrice minders to his Marshals and great officials as powerful with the clergy, but we must that they were not spending enough, and admit that on this point a disturbing Mr. Disraeli has over and over again re- thought intrudes. The secret idea of all corded the same opinion in his books. Sus- Christians, an idea very seldom acted on, tained stateliness of life, he thinks or says, is that wealth is a snare, grandeur a deluexcites popular reverence for the great no- sion, and rank a temptation to worldlibles, a notion which was the key-note to ness, and as, by an unreasonable but unithe personal policy of Louis XIV. So versal prejudice, Bishops are required to be widely, moreover, is it entertained in Eng- more Christian than other men, their pomp land that it affects much of our political excites an additional and artificial odium. organization, being one of the strongest But even in secular offices we are not quite pleas put forward, by ourselves among sure of the soundness of the popular opinothers, for large allowances to the Throne, ion, suspect that the mass of the people and an argument constantly heard in despise and resent splendour, and espefavour of the salaries of the Bishops. cially unusual splendour, more than they They must not, it is frankly said, go about respect it. What else but this feeling like Dissenting ministers, or even Catholic call it envy, jealousy, simplicity, what you Archbishops, or nobody will respect them. will has banished splendour of dress so It is assumed that the people like splen- entirely from n en's society and from the dour, or at all events are impressed by it, streets of our cities? Costliness of dress and that the awe thus produced is an easy has not disappeared, but only splendour, substitute for the additional power with only that form of costliness which the unwhich it might otherwise be needful to educated eye can perceive. Wherever clothe the great officials. A Czar may live external stateliness has become a habit, a simply, it is said, but a Constitutional Sov-break in that habit of course creates reereign should maintain a certain grandeur of ceremonial; a Catholic Bishop may walk, because he can excommunicate, but a Protestant Bishop, who can only advise, requires the artificial aid of a visible rank. One even hears in society that such and such a statesman does not do enough, and would be indefinitely more powerful if any body would leave him a quarter or half a million, and in one instance a party paper actually scolded the Premier for not inhabiting a house big enough to hold the Liberal party in the House of Commons. We wonder if this idea, so very general and so constantly acted on in England, is true, -if Bismarck is right, or Frederic, who held that men reverenced only power, mark, and even a feeling of annoyance; but it is odd, if the love of splendour be real or deeply-rooted, that we do not carry. it abroad with us, Colonial dignitaries being just like other men, and Indian dignitaries, the Viceroy excepted, less splendid than English squires of the second grade. The Americans are very like Englishmen, with different traditions, and as a people they dislike and deprecate splendour, prefer not to elect rich men, and gave Mr. Lincoln his majority in part because he was a rail-splitter, and therefore closer to their sympathies in matters of daily life. Any innovation in the easy ways of the White House is acutely resented, and President Pierce fell twenty degrees in |