OUR LIBRARY TABLE. ODD FELLOWS' QUARTERLY. (Published by | and do likewise. Of the graver papers the G. M. and Board of Directors, Manchester). -In the new-year s number of this Quarterly the majority of the articles are by lady contributors, hence it is more than an ordinarily bright and pleasant number. We have read with pleasure the first part of a tale by Silverpen, (Miss Meteyard), "Amidst the Corn," written with that pleasant power of word-painting of rustic-scenery, and of depicting quaintly charming characters, like Miss Poole of the present story, which delighted us in her "Three Hyacinths," and the "Buttercup-spoon" of long ago. There are the little simple traits that we smile at though we love them, and touches of pathos that half awaken tears. This is how the story commences : It was an August afternoon, and the sun glared hotly over the wide landscapes of Southern England, yet in some districts the great heat was tempered by the shadows of fir and beech woods. In others the embrowned commons showed islets and nooks of greenness, for fern and gorse, and scattered trees broke the baldness of the waste. The villages were silent and half tenantless at this hour, for reapers and gleaners were alike in the fields. In a retired nook of one of these commons which lie around Esher, and steal up and within the fir-woods about Claremont, stands a small low-roofed cottage. A forecourt or garden separates it from the gorsedotted waste in front, whilst a far larger garden lies on either side and stretches away to the rear. Beyond this is an orchard, of which the farthest trees mingled their shadows with those of the gloomy pine-woods. Yet, on this afternoon, all was bright about the little cottage. As you unlatched the wicket, you heard the hum of countless bees; as you ascended the path a cloud of sweet old-fashioned perfumes stole upwards from the flowers; and as you glanced through an open casement which stood wide, you saw a plainly-attired old lady asleep in her chair. Her fat dog lay asleep, too, on the hearth-rug, a favourite black cat dozed and winked on a table near, and the loud tick of a clock in the not distant kitchen added to the somnolent, drowsy air of the scene and hour. A simple, home-like, pretty scene, with that vraisemblance that makes the charm of this lady's writing; just as simple are the characters and incidents of the story, and just as true to nature and humanity. Miss Munro finishes her pretty story of "The Three Weddings," founded on the old Dutch custom of renewing the marriagevows on the anniversary of the twenty-fifth and fiftieth wedding-day. There is also an interesting paper by the author of "Scattered Seed anent The Flowers of Spring and Summer in Switzerland." But, having thus remembered Place au Dames, we turn back to re-read "An Old Nest," by Mr. Edwin Waugh, a well written description of a visit to Beverly Minster, or rather of the author's impressions of the fine old fane, It is a description to make others go "Cri minal Stupidity," by H. Owgan, L.L.D., and the Editor's own article, condensed from "The Registrar's Annual Report," are the most importantly suggestive; for instance, "In the year 1867" the Registrar had examined and certified the rules of 1,134 friendly societies, and also alterations of the rules of 1,542, making a total of 2,676 certificates, while in Ireland he has certified the rules of 22 societies and 35 amendments of rules. These figures, observes Mr. Hardwick, attest two distinct facts, viz., "that the mass of the working population living on Irish soil are both relatively poorer and relatively of a less provident habit of mind when contrasted with their compeers in Great Britain. How a beneficial change in these respects could be brought about, is well worthy the earnest consideration of both the patriotic statesmen of every party, and the Christian philanthropist of every sect or creed." 66 SHAKESPERIAN GEMS, in French and English. By the Chevalier de Chatelain. (London, Wm. acquainted with our greatest poet than the CheTegg.)-Few Frenchmen are more intimately valier de Chatelain; and few have done more to make him familiar and appreciated by his countrymen. His clever translation of many of Shakesperian plays are well known; and these gems" appear to have been a natural result of the study necessitated by the former work, and the matured admiration and feeling for what is exquisite in his author. But our readers must not suppose that the book before them is a mere modern form of "elegant extracts;" on the contrary, the Chevalier has so arranged his selections that they outline the story of the play from which they are taken, and thus engage the interest and awaken the curiosity of the reader. THE LIFE BOAT; a Journal of the National Life-Boat Institution.-The January number of this quarterly which, from press of matter, we were reluctantly obliged to forego noticing last month, is rich in records of noble acts on the part of the brave fellows who, with heroic resolution and unselfishness, volunteer on every occasion of need, to man the Life-Boats of the Institution, and in the face of death pluck the expectant victims from their fate. We are glad to find that the first article in the current part is devoted to the task of setting the public right upon the subject of these services. The institution does its duty by placing Life-Boats (as far as the funds will permit them) at proper places, but there is no organized body of men receiving wages and bound by the terms of their engagement, to be forthcoming at any point on our coast where a Life-Boat station exists, and their services are required. Every man who seeing the blue lights flash through the hazy daylight, or the blackness of the stormy night, or hearing signals of distress through the Life-Boats men then launched their boat, the Ipswich (belonging to the institution), and succeeded in saving eight lives from the ship, which immediately became a wreck, and the Life-Boat, in consequence of the gale and heavy sea, was obliged to run into Dunwich. Another Life-Boat had picked up and landed eight of the crew of the ill-fated ship, Calcutta, which in the Bay of Biscay, all of whose crew went down, as did also, it is feared, the majority of those on board the Calcutta. Thus twentythree lives, at all events, are added to the thousands already saved by the Life-Boats of the institution, and many more will have been saved in the course of the past stormy month. To keep them afloat and to increase their num. bers, is the unceasing object of this most noble and useful charity, and for these purposes donations and annual subscriptions are earnestly solicited, and will be thankfully received by all bankers in town and country, and by the Secretary, Richard Lewis, Esq., at the office of the institution, 14, John-street, Adelphi. NEW MUSIC. pauses of the hurricane, sets his own life at | nought with the fierce desire to save the lives of the menaced ship's crew, is a free-agent, a simple volunteer obeying no other law or command than that of his own magnanimous and unselfish impulses, and as such under no stronger obligation to put his life in jeopardy than other spectators of the ship's peril, and the impending fate of those on board. Every-foundered from collision with a coal laden brig one remembering the small remuneration with which the Life-Boat Institution rewards their crews, must be convinced its amount has but little to do with the exertions of the men. Their own repeated battles as fishermen or sailors, with the fierce winds and wrathful sea, puts them upon their mettle, and sympathy with humanity in peril does the rest. The writer of the article we referred to, properly reminds his readers" that there is matter for congratulation and thankfulness that the failures of Life-Boats and their crews have been so unfrequent that the opportunity has rarely offered for excitable or mistaken persons to commit the indiscretion proclaiming their crews cowards, or their boats to be useless," because two or three cases have occurred in which ships with their crews have perished in the neighbourhood of a Life-Boat station, or within many miles of one. But instead of dwelling on the criticisms of actions and circumstances of which inexperienced and inactive spectators are but little able to judge, we take up a paper of the past week and find in that short space the following cases to add to the thousands in which but for the venturous efforts of Life-Boatsmen many homes on shore would have been left desolate, and widows and orphans thrown penniless upon parish charity. On the coast of Cumberland, in a heavy gale from the S.S.W., the brig Robert Bruce, in attempting to run into Maryport, fell to leeward and struck the ground to the northward of the harbour. She drags her anchors and gets into the surf, where the sea made a clean breach over her, so that the crew fearing she would capsize, cut away her masts; there at the mercy of the dreadful sea, the question of her crew's fate would not have taken long to decide. But the Henry Nixon of the National LifeBoat Institution had, in the meantime, been launched and rowed towards her, but the was so heavy that the first time the vessel was grappled, the grapnal iron was straightened by the force with which it tore the boat away. But the brave rescuers were not to be driven from their act of mercy by one failure. Alas! the second time the rope which they threw on board the perishing vessel, broke from the same cause, but still they persevere; and the third time succeed in bringing off her crew of seven men, just as the upper part of the hull and deck are breaking up, and the Life-Boat herself is imperilled by the floating spars of the wreck. At Thorpeness, Suffolk, at one o'clock in the morning of the same day, a messenger arrived from the coast-guard station to say a ship was on shore near that place, and that they could not save her crew with the rocket apparatus. The HANOVER SQUARE: A Magazine of New Music. Edited by Lindsay Sloper. (London: Ashburn and Parry, Hanover Square.)-It is some months since we received a copy of this always welcome musical miscellany, but it is not the less welcome on that account. The interruption to its appearance on our table, left us better able to judge had there been any falling off in its merits; but the February number in 1869 is an excellent one, quite equal to any of its predecessors, and that is saying a great deal for it. Had the part contained only the two pianoforte pieces "Idylle," by Charles Neustedt, and "The Song of the Brook," by E. A. Sydenham, the purchaser would have had an admirable shilling's worth; but when in addition to these charming arrangements, we remember there are two songs-a very pretty setting of Moore's, "When Twilight Dews are falling fast," by Evelyn Hampton, and surf" Oh! to be a Sportive Fairy," the music by Hatton, a lively, graceful production, that will delight our lady vocalists-we think that it cannot be doubted, that the Hanover Square, in spite of its imitators, holds its own. FINE ARTS. THE NEW EXHIBITION OF PICTURES AND SCULPTURE, at the Corinthian Bazaar, Argylestreet, Regent-street.-Press of matter for our February number prevented our inserting a notice of this collection as we would otherwise have done. Are our readers aware that at this agreeable lounge (on dreary humid days such as those we have lately had a repetition of), a spacious gallery has been erected for works of art, capable of containing upwards of 500 pictures? We observed that many of those exhibited were of real merit, some of them works of men of note, one would desire to possess, others by less known hands, but the greater portion of fair average excellence. The gallery is tastefully fitted up with abundance of settees, and is well illuminated by gas on dull days. We noticed some clever busts by W. Weekes, R.A.; and amongst many other painters of repute, who have contributed to this very pleasing collection, we observed that the veteran, Valentine Bartholomew, who though (jealous of his fame) has ceased to contribute so largely as formerly to the various London and provincial Exhibitions, still takes delight in the art in which he so long excelled, had some of his fadeless flowers on the walls. We are glad to be able to add that his activity as a teacher is vigorous as ever and that he continues to impart to others the skill he has so well used, filling his busy days with pupils. It is arranged that in each year there shall be three exhibitions in this gallery. The next in April, of which our readers shall have proper notice in a future number. SOCIETY OF FEMALE ARTISTS.- 66 necessity of the present tax on exhibitors. At The first impression on entering this well-lit and well-filled gallery is, that the exhibition is a more than usually agreeable one, and as we look around more systematically this impression" strengthens. It is all very well to suppose that pictures being given there is nothing easier than to hang them on the walls and exhibit them; but here commences the real difficulties of the executive. When the committee of taste, if we may so call the judges, have decided on the propriety of admitting a picture for exhibition, there is its size and effect to be considered; and where space is a consideration, the first is of material importance, while, were the latter overlooked, the brightness of one picture would probably destroy the effect of another, and hence it is not always the most meritorious works that obtain the most prominent places. This year we are informed that nearly 300 pictures had to be returned, partly from want of room and others for want of fair average talent or probably any talent whatever. The space on the walls being purchasable, amateurs appear to think no other than the half-guinea claim necessary to entitle their works to a place on them; and quite overlook the proviso "if approved of by the committee," which appears on the prospectus. The great aim of the society is progress and the attainment of higher art, so that the pictures themselves may be sufficiently attractive to make the visitors' shillings pay the expenses of the gallery, and so obviate the N that and enter as earnestly into the doings of ruin and decay, grey antiquity, and crumbling stone, witness Miss Rayner's views of Chester; the list of which occupies more than half a page of the catalogue, and the paintings themselves a third of the end wall of the gallery. They are marvels of time-worn sandstone, and elaborate ornamentation, minutely and faithfully pourtrayed: see "The Derby Palace" (205), for instance, and "The West Gateway, Chester Cathedral" (213). The old city offered congenial subjects for the Proutish pencil of this lady, and she has revelled in its quaint nooks and unique architecture. The screens are in possession of some very pretty things; we notice "Berries and Butterfly" (221), by Emma Cooper, a carefully drawn branch of the wayfaring tree, with its orange and scarlet fruit in effective contrast with a little blue underwing butterfly. "Arundel Castle, Sunset" (246), by Miss E. D. James, has merit. Lady Duckett's "Companions in life and death" (236), a dead finch among the tall heads of the larger cottongrass, the whiteness of which is relieved by a spray of berries, moss, &c., is carefully drawn and prettily conceived. Miss Adelaide Claxton's "These were his Toys" (253) tells its own tale. The young mother's anguish is touchingly represented, and yet we wish the toys had been fewer and less incongruous. Miss Ellen Partridge's "Young Salt" (268), is characteristic; Mrs. Collin's "Ridal Lake" (268), a charming little picture. Mrs. Marrable exhibits several works of more than ordinary merit. "Early Spring in our Garden" (285), a fair transcript of budding trees and tender revealings of leafage. This lady almost monopolizes the second screen with the contents of her fairly filled portfolio in the Engadine, Switzerland. These pictures demand attention and deserve it; they are almost too numerous to particularize, but 331, 335, and 340 will repay for the study of them. Miss Katie Dunnage is happy in her "Lanberris Lake, North Wales (299). Amongst the oilpaintings are several noticeable pictures : a frame containing four subjects by Mrs. J. W. Brown, painted with great delicacy and truthfulness, are among the first to attract us. Harriette Seymour's "Head of an old Woman" (386), is cleverly rendered, and "A Study of Trees” (426), by the same, is noticeable; nor must we overlook No. 390, a bird's nest à la W. Hunt amongst moss, wood, sorrel, and ivy, by Mrs. Blackney, carefully drawn and charmingly coloured. There are some fruit pictures in this collection that are quite Lance-like in drawing and colouring, specially 385, by E. H. Stannard, and (Miss Ellen Childes "Going to the Banquet" 375), "Summer" (441), by the former lady, a leaf of the freshest ripest strawberries, and a spray of full-blown honeysuckle, real enough almost to gather. "Autumn" too (445), by the same, is a branch of green-chesnut leaves, and bursting-nuts, blackberries, grapes, &c., all absolute transcripts of nature. Miss Jessie Landseer's "Dear Vic" (466) also claims favourable notice. These are a few of very many deserving pictures which our space will not allow us to distinguish. We must call attention to Mrs. Bodichon's works, and Miss Fitzjames's fruit and flower pieces. OUR PARIS CORRESPONDENT. the acquaintance of a young polish Count named 18 a gay man the police, so that two officers went and apprehended the two gentlemen, the student and the Count, both Poles, in Madame Belval's drawing-room, while they were waiting for her in their ball disguise. Both had a packet of " bonbons" on them when ransacked, but without poison in them. One of the officers thought he heard something drop while examining the student, and on searching, two other "bonbons" were found of a different The Count aspect to the other sweetmeats. made a full confession of the crime he premeditated, and declared that it was the Duke of Bauffremont he intended to poison, to be able to marry the Duchess, with whom he was madly in love, and who had long been his mistress. Of course the two culprits were conducted to prison. The Duke of Bauffremont, who of more than fifty, was in the meanwhile laughing and jesting with the multitude at the ball, little dreaming how near he had been to the brink of eternity. The duke and duchess have been separated for sixteen years, their only child died eight years ago, and the duchess is still only thirty-six years of age, and perfectly innocent of the intended crime. She is described as a most eccentric woman, as one may infer from the cause of her separation from her husband. It was after a ball, the duchess had returned home accompanied by several gentlemen, who, finding the duke from home and his cook also, put on the cook's apron, and did nothing less than dress and serve a supper, at which they drank too much wine, and finished by throwing the plates and dishes out of the window on the heads of the passers by. The duke learning what had happened did not relish such proceedings, and a quarrel ensued, which ended in the lady's running home to her mother, and then a separation. She entered a convent of Carmelites, where she remained in great devotion for some time, but appeared again in the world accompanied by a Capuchin friar, who said mass for her on an altar that she took about with her, in her travels, enclosed in a huge case. The friar was dismissed, and she · adopted four children, and for the last eighteen months has fixed her residence in the Champs Elysées, dressing in the most strange style, and driving four-in-hand in the Bois de Boulogne, the talk of her quarter. However, what was the surprise of the public, after all these details in the papers, to hear that the two culprits were set at liberty, as there was no proof against them! That no poison was found in the bon-bons when analyzed, only a kind of gum and ink! It seems that the family de Bauffremont, fearing more scandal, applied to the Emperor to have the affair hushed, and have succeeded. Madame Belval has not even received a thank from the man whose life she has saved, but is left exposed to the vengeance of those she had accused. Her only consolation is that her photograph is in every window. We have, for the moment, a collection of strange "great ladies." There is the law-suit now pending of the Princess de Beausau, who was declared out of her mind, a little while ago, and ineapable of managing her household affairs. At thirty years of age this lady retired into her château de Saint Õuen, an historical domain near Paris, receiving no one but a certain German baron and baroness, devotees to spiritualism. In vain her mother tried to gain admission. It was after a visit to her that her brother, the Prince de Beauvau, accidentally killed himself last summer. It was hoped that that catastrophe would have had some effect upon her; but no, it seems that she lives in a continual state of hallucination, excited by the occult science professed by the Baron Gulden Stubbé, who has the faculty of procuring the autograph of whom he will on a piece of paper in a bag locked and sealed, by evoking the right spirit in his ecstasies. What good the thing can do him, Goodness knows! And to go into ecstasies for it, too! Now, if he could persuade a spirit to put into the bag a few banknotes, I could understand his ecstasies and would be tempted to try with him. Or the pretty new fashioned manteau abbé, formed with four plaits of China crape ornamented with lace (Louis the Fifteenth style) that a fair lady may wear in her drawing-room, or in the street; or an Indian shawl, that are now becoming the fashion again. Madame de Metternich wore one the other day, and caused quite a sensation. All that would be worth troubling a spirit for; but an autograph!-Nonsense! We are not pleased with the Belgians, who imagine that they have a right to judge of their own affairs, and who in the railroad question never consulted us before acting. Several papers were for annexing that country immediately, without further ado; Government thought differently, and only asked for an explanation, which the King sent, and the Belgian question is again lulled for a time. M. Rangabé, the Greek representative in Paris during the Conference, has been quite the lion of the day, with dinners and soirées in every direction for him. His wife is an English lady, of great literary distinction. We have lost M. de Moustiers, our Minister of Foreign Affairs; and the Court is in mourning for the Emperor's cousin, the Princess Bacciocchi, who is said to have left her property to the Prince Imperial. Fuad Pacha, who was wont to boast that he always represented the Sublime Porte near a lady, having been Ambassador in London, Madrid, and Lisbon, died at Nice the other day. The Queen of Spain is soon to take possession of her own hotel, which they say is splendid, and contains three hundred thousand francs' worth of furniture. A gentleman who visited it the other day, told his cabman that he had just seen some chairs that cost five hundred "Five hundred francs!" exclaimed francs each. Cabby, "why how many, then, may sit on one at a time?" Our Corps Legislatif is soon to discuss the Loan of the Ville de Paris. The Opposition is |