I 
* 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
Come before any one has time to notice Sir Owen’s 
absence—it will sa ve so many unpleasant remarks. 
I will order a carriage, and no one need know for 
whom it is intended. 
•‘Thank yon,” she said gently; "that will lie 
best. I will go to the cloak-room at once.” 
She did so. and a tew minutes afterwards she 
stood, with her opera-cloak round her, waiting for 
him. , , . 
"The carriage is ready, lady Chevenlx,” he 
said; “ allow me." He opened the door for her, 
and stood walling until she had taken her seat. 
" it will not, he long before yon are home—you have 
a capital horse and a good driver.” 
She looked at him, and her eyes filled with tears. 
"Felix,’’she, said, "will you accompany me home? 
I would not ask you but that 1 am l Tightened. I 
am Indeed. I dare not go alone.” 
ile hesitated a minute, and then he said to him¬ 
self that he must not think that she was Violet 
Ilaye or Lady chevenlx; she was simply a woman 
in distress, and It was Ills duty to help her. 
"1 am afraid," she continued—and ho saw that 
her face was quite white and that her hands 
trembled. What, a mockery her diamonds and her 
superb dress appeared now: “Sir Owen Is very 
violent when he Is not quite himself,” she con¬ 
tinued. " If he is at home alone, 1 dart; not go." 
"I will accompauy you, Lady chevenlx,” he 
said; “have no fear—you may rely upon me." 
They said but little during the Journey, and Fe¬ 
lix was glad when the carriage reached Oarsvvood. 
‘•You will come lu with me?" said Lady Che¬ 
venlx ; and, seeing the white frightened lace, lie 
would have done anything to help her. 
He was thankful that he had consented, for Sir 
Owen had worked himself into a state of uncon¬ 
trollable anger. He was in the drawing-room, 
with a decanter hall lull of brandy by ins side, 
and when the pale woman entered he launched a 
volley of furious oaths at her. she made no reply, 
but, turning to Felix, said quietly— 
“ Will you take any rerreshment, Mr. Lonsdale? 
You have had a long drive.” 
Another vulley or oaths followed. Pale, seared 
and trembling, she tied from the room and took 
refuge In her own. if she had been alone, he 
would have followed her, and then she would have 
had to save horseH as best she could; but Felix 
was there, and the very thought of his presence 
comforted her. He stayed with the lurlous man, 
whose violence soon changed Into the extreme of 
friendliness, until lie had stupefied himself with 
drink and was carried off helpless to bed. and then 
Felix started ror Lifford. 
As he left Garswood Felix raised his face to the 
calm evening skies. 
“ lleaven help her!" he said. " Poor Violet 
No reference to tills little scene passed his Ups, 
hut in his mind ho felt Infinite pity for her. 
A few days later sir Owen, feeling ashamed of 
his recent escapade, Insisted upon having a dinner¬ 
party. Lady Kolfe, that veteran diner-out, with 
her daughter l.avlnla (who had married a curare 
and subsided Into "parish work ”), the curate him¬ 
self (a mild inoffensive gentleman who had per¬ 
haps deserved a bolter fate), the lfeverend Mr. 
Clayburn, Darcy and Felix Lonsdale, Captain Hill, 
with one or two more, were to be present. 
( 7 b oe continued.) 
•-- 
BOSTON LETTER. 
The Carnival of Authors; “Uncle Tom;” Memoirs 
of Motley ; The Tourjee European Excursion. 
Wukn the salvation ot the old South Meetln’- 
house shall have been fairly accomplished, what 
will Boston uppertendom do tor excitement? It 
will certainly' be a dull day when there shall he no 
more original entertainments and grand balls lor 
which the Old south fund may aetve as a raison 
d'etat l 
The last experiment, made by t he Ingenious and 
active committee of ladles and gentlemen who have, 
devoted their energies lo tins great patriotic enter¬ 
prise lor nearly three yearn past, was the Carnival 
of Authors, which look place at Music Hall. This 
was one of the most originally and thoroughly de¬ 
lightful entertainments that, was ever given In 
Boston, and It was thronged every evening With Im¬ 
mense audiences, made up of the best people of t he 
city, each Individual of whom represented Jt.uo Ut 
good money, for there was no “paper” In the 
house, It, being very difficult for even the scribblers 
to get passe*. The entertainment consisted of a 
continual succession of living tableaux from the 
works of the famous authors, who were each rep¬ 
resented by a booth gotten up in the most pictur¬ 
esque and characteristic style, these mimic stages 
entirely circling the hall. 01 course It was Impos¬ 
sible to see all that was going on, omnipresence 
not being a finite quality, especially as there were 
platform tableax and pantomimes following each 
other In quick succession. Perhaps none ol the 
entertainments were more thoroughly enjoyable 
than the Saturday matinee, when Mother Goose 
received the most ample justice at the hands ol 
forty children, with some or their older friends. I 
never saw anything more Intensely amusing and 
" taking ” In my life. 
There was considerable dissatisfaction felt by 
those who did not have much opportunity to at¬ 
tend, that the carnival could not be prolonged, but 
It was quite out of the question. It Is hoped, how¬ 
ever, that at least the platform tableaux wlU be 
repeated In a series of entertainments to be given 
In the same haU In the course of a few weeks. 
CertalhJy they could not fall to be as thorough a 
success as was the carnival Itself. 
The original " l'nolo Tom ” Is In Boston, raising 
a fund to build a new aud substantial church for 
his oolored friends In the little Canadian town of 
Dresden, which is his homo. Nearly all those peo¬ 
ple were fugitives from slavery In the old days and 
many an Interesting story can this agod man tell 
of them, to say nothing ot his own thrilling his¬ 
tory. 
Perhaps you did not know that the very individ¬ 
ual from whom Harriet Beecher Stowe framed the 
character of the hero of her wonderful book Is still 
living, but It Is a fact, and he Is well and hearty, 
and looking not more than sixty years old, though 
he will really be ninety next June. He Is tall, 
straight and broad-shouldered, though he Is not 
able-bodied, having only had the use ol his arms 
from the elbows down since he was eighteen, at 
which time he was nearly beaten to dea th and re¬ 
ceived this lasting Injury. Ills laugh Ls the very 
jolliest “kl-yl-yl!" you ever heard; he has the. 
very blackest of skins and a. perfect type of the Af¬ 
rican face, Illumined With a rare degree ot culti¬ 
vated intelligence, ins head is well protected by 
"kinky" gray hair and a full gray beard softens 
his features. Father ilanson, as he Is called, 
glve 3 most Interesting entertainments, lecturing, 
singing and giving bits of his history. 
You should hear him toil bow he escaped from 
the land of bondage forty-eight years ago, with Ills 
wife and four little children. A few yearn after¬ 
wards. he wrote and published a little book, and 
bought his brother. This family now is no small 
one-lor he has ten children, forty-lour grand¬ 
children, and eleven great-grandchildren! ills 
conversation and manners are perfectly refined, 
lor he Is accustomed to the best society, not only 
here, hut in England, where on his recent visit 
lie was honored by a personal interview with the 
Queen, who Invited him to visit her at her palace. 
The success which Mrs. Stowe’s " Great American 
Novel ” has met in the twenty-seven years of Its 
existence Is certainly very remarkable. There 
have been no less than U)3 entirely distinct- ver¬ 
sions published in English and the various lan 
guages Into which it has been translated, the last 
and most elegant edition ol all having been brought 
out this season by Houghton « osgood. it. is beau¬ 
tifully gotten up on thick, tinted, red-lined and 
gilt-edged paper, with very full Illustrations and 
rich binding, and a bibliography ol the work pre¬ 
cedes the story. It Is said that no book except tin* 
Bible was ever translated Into so many different 
languages—among those in which it ls known to 
have been published being the Armenian, Bohe¬ 
mian, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Flemish, French. 
German, Hungarian or Magyar, Illyrian, Polish, 
Portugese, Komalc or Modern Greek. Russian, 
Servian, Spanish, Swedish, Wallachtan and Welsh, 
Messrs, llougton & Osgood have Just published a 
valuable addition to biographical literature from 
tbe ljen of that most graceful writer, Olive)’ Wen¬ 
dell Holmes, in the form of a memoir ol the famous 
historian, John Lathrop Motley. Boston has the 
honor ol being the birthpluce ol tiffs talented, 
though often misunderstood, author and states¬ 
man, and his two chosen playmates with whom he 
used to enact mimic dramas, at his childhood home 
on Walnut Street, were Wendell Phillips and 
Thomas Gold Appleton. When thirteen years old 
he entered Harvard College, and P washers that 
Dr. Holmes first knew him, they being fellow- 
students. Years after they, with other bright and 
shining lights of the llub, started the now famous 
and exclusive Saturday club. 
Apropos of the cooking fever now raging among 
fashionable ladles, the same house publishes a little 
volume by Mrs. A. D. T. Whitney, called, "Just 
How; a key to the Cook-Books,” which will, I ex¬ 
pect, be well received by the fair cooktsts. Now 
somebody ought to publish a *• Just Why; a key to 
the Unabridged Dictionaries;" for cook-books and 
dictionaries are. about equally blind and self-re¬ 
volving In temperament I 
The Tourjee European Excursion lor 1879 Is 
rapidly filling up. The hooks were only opened a 
few days ago, aud 1 hear that a goodly nvunber of 
ladles and gentlemen have already registered. 
They are the wise ones, for "first come, first 
served, ’ with choice of staterooms, etc. it seems 
tliat not every one who tries can run one oi These 
gigantic enterprises successfully. It Is rumored 
that another ambitious Boston gentleman, who 
undertook to experiment in getting up a big picnic 
party for European travel next summer, has found 
himself compelled to withdraw from the field. 
Robin. 
RECOLLECTIONS OF SIR WALTER SCOTT. 
ZBffO CI.AYBOURNK. 
As Jennie sat beside tbe couch of a pretty young 
invalid friend, an uncle ot the sick girl, a rigid, 
canny old Scotchman came in. The greetings 
were warm. In remembrance of the time, long past, 
when Jennie had tried to follow the Intricate lead¬ 
ing of the Scotchman’s rheological arguments and 
researches In the Bible class to which they be¬ 
longed, and the conversation, like a current of air, 
rushed to fill up the time which intervened. 
Among the events of interest mentioned, was 
the wonderful, many-sided Centennial Exposition, 
and, incidentally, the Zoological Gardens ot l’htlu- 
delphla, and the swans In them, when Mr. Hogg 
remarked, *• Waiter Scott used to keep swans at 
his home, at Abbotsford, and l have often led 
them.” 
'l hls remark fell like a lighted match dropped 
among shavings, tor Jennie had just finished read¬ 
ing the brtof biography ol Scott found In Mitchell's 
Stories about Old Story Tellers, and she exclaimed 
with eag« - ness, 
“ Why, did you ever see Walter Scott ? and ills 
dog Malda. and ids family ?” 
«Oh, yes! many’s the time I’ve seen the fine old 
fellow, walking about his grounds, leaning on his 
favorite servant. You know he walked with a 
limp, having boon lamed by a sickness In boyhood.” 
" Scott was a powerful man, physically, and liad 
coarse features. 
"Tell uie all you remember about Win," sa ld 
Jennie. 
*• It seems to me quite wonderful to meet a man 
wbo has seen Walter Scott. Mitchell says that. 
Malda was a noble stag-hound, whom Scott, loved 
almost as well as any creature about him.” 
"Well, 1 was a little youngster thou, and 1 
thought the dog au enormous, ugly brute,” said 
the Scotchman. He certainly had to be kept muz¬ 
zled wltb a large leather muzzle. When he died 
he was buned on one side of the large Trent door, 
and a figure ot hhn cut from stone, after a photo- 
graph takou In life, was placed over Ids grave and 
used for a horse-block. Another large dog was 
named Nimrod, and two rot-tcrrlers, Spiro and 
pepper, belonged to Scott's lady, who was a French 
woma n, of small stature, with black eyes and hair. 
There were four children, two sons and two daugh¬ 
ters; Charlotte, named after her mother, Anne, 
Walter and Charles. Charlotte became Lockhart's 
wife, and their daughter afterward married a 
Catholle, who took the fondly name, Scott, with 
the homestead at Abbotsford, and removed an old 
mill to make way tor a Roman Catholic chapel. 
Anne, fa vored her father in appearance and was a 
most excellent girl. Tho sons were both wild fel¬ 
lows. Walter married a Highland lady, and T re¬ 
member little about Charles. The grand old place 
has passod entirely out of the family. The present 
Incumbents have built an addition to it. in which 
they live, and keep the. original house Intact for 
exhibition. It Is a ponderous bouse of Gothic 
style, and full ot sir Walter’s own conceits; for In¬ 
stance, It contains a prison-door, which was once 
presented to him. 
There are great halls, and corridors, and turrets, 
and courts; and the whole cost c 125,000.” 
" No wonder,” said Jennie, " that It Is called a 
romance of stone and mortar?” 
“ scott bought farm utter farm,” continued Mr. 
nogg “ to make the estate of Abbotsford; but he 
only enjoyed It a few years. It was never opened 
to the public, but twice, first when his son Walter 
was married, and last, when Sir Walter, himself 
lay dead in t he house. 
" You see, he sold his copywright to Constable, a 
publisher In Edinboro, and by tbe failure of that 
house and of Ballutyue & Co , he was involved to 
the amount, of £UT,ooo. The 1 mke of Bucleugh 
offered to pay his creditors every pound, but, Scott 
was too proud to accept this favor. 1 le determined 
to pay Ills debts by writing more books as the 
Waverly Novels were already very popular; but 
his health failed, and he died, bom overwork, 
£80,000 In debt,. He went to Italy In a ship which 
the government placed at, his disposal, hoping to 
get better, but It was too late ; he could not rally. 
He was so well loved by the people ot London, that 
when ho stopped there on his way home, they 
carted straw and spread on the street to deaden 
the noise In front ol the hotel, where he lay. lie 
came home and died, on a still September day, 
within hearing ol the Tweed rippling over Us 
pebbles, which Lockhart says, was the sound 
most delicious to his ear.” 
Here the speaker stopped, and the Impressive 
silence was broken by Jennie’s Inquiring " Was 
not your uncle, the poet, a friend ot sir Walter’s?” 
•• Yes," said the Scotchman " James Hogg, the 
Et t rick Shepherd, orten went to the great house, 
and he considered sir Walter a very good friend. 
He said that Scott would never help any one, 
In a literary way except Lockhart, but he often 
gave money to unsuccessful authors, and, tn fact, 
supported several. 
*• Scott was a lawyer by profession and obtained 
tbe office of Sheriff, which ' corresponds to our 
circuit Judge. He was also knighted, which gave 
him the title ol sir. 
“ When the King, Geo IV. visited Scotland Sir 
Walter was appointed to receive lihn.” 
“ i have read,” said Jennie," t hat Dominie Samp¬ 
son, Dandy Dtomot oud other characters In ids 
books were real people. Did you know any of 
them?” 
“ o, yes,” answered her Mend, laughing, “Dom¬ 
inie Sampson was his book name tor Mr. Geo. 
Thompson, a learned preacher at Melrose. Meg 
Merllles was a gypsy, and Dondnle Sampson was 
quizzing her closer t han she Liked when she ex¬ 
claimed, " Gape, sinner, aud swallle.” 
•• The Dominie was engaged by Scott to make a 
catalogue of his library, and got along very well 
until he came to a very interesting book, In which 
he found himself portrayed, and he became so 
much absorbed, that when he. was called to dinner, 
he stood with one loot on a chair, and the other on 
the floor In which position he had been reading 
lor three or four hours. 
“ Dandy ULnmot was a man who lived In the 
vicinity and raised rat-terriers, and with them 
hunted hares for other people. Mr. Laldlaw was 
another Inhabitant ol Melrose, who lived lu a good 
house, and was employed by Scott to write ids 
later novels, by dictation, as the paralysis made 
Sir Walter unfit to use a pen. Tom Purdy was 
Scott's game-keeper, and was often brought up 
to the mansion by the servants to make sport for 
them. Wine was freely used by all In those days 
and their teastlngs were times of reckless dissipa¬ 
tion. In tlds, the servants committed greater ex¬ 
cesses than their masters, and one night Purdy 
was taken home from a revel hi a state ot stupid 
intoxication. He was placed by a stand, on which 
he threw his amis, and dropped his head. 
“ ills wife exclaimed. * t here! 1 guess you 
have killed him now!’ and surely enough, In the 
morning, he was found in the same position, dead, 
Scott felt, very badly to lose his faffhlul servant, 
who had so oleen hunted with him, and supported 
him in Ids walks, and he caused a likeness of him 
to be cut to a marble wall, on one side ot a cor¬ 
ridor in his house. Our friend, the schoolmaster 
tells me ho saw this and the stone dog. Malda, 
when he visited Abbotsford, a few years ago; but 
It is getting late and I must begone. Good-utght,” 
and before Jennie could t hank him ror the pleasure 
he had given her, the Scotchman was out of hear¬ 
ing. 
There Is usually very little to record as regards 
any Innovation In men's costumes, but. Just now in 
Paris many of the dandles wear very tiny hooks 
at the. top ot their boots, and corresponding eyes 
on the trousers by which to keep them up on wet 
days. 
Ai, though the existence of kerosene oil In several 
of the provinces of Japan Is said to have been 
known for twelve hundred years, the Japanese did 
not know how to refine It till about six years ago. 
Now. however, refining establishments are spring¬ 
ing up rapidly, and Its manufacture 19 becoming 
an Important Industry'. 
The following ls recommended as a good means 
of getting rid of mould In cellars. Put some roll 
brimstone Into a pan and set fire to It; close the 
doors, making the cellar as nearly air tight as pos¬ 
sible. when the fungi will be destroyed and the 
mould dried up. Repeat, this simple and inexpen¬ 
sive operation every two or three months for two 
or three hours at a time. 
BITS OF GOSSIP. 
Manna is a saccharine Juice derived from h spe¬ 
cies of ash. It Is a mild purgative. 
Fifty-one metals are now* known to exist, thirty 
of which have been discovered wlt ldn the present 
century. Four hundred years ago but seven wore 
known. 
Tiik Chinese and Japanese use fans as we ao 
scrap-books. Friends Inscribe on them Impromp¬ 
tu, bon-rnots, caricatures, &e. There are many of 
these blank paper fans In the Japanese shops !n 
London. 
A recent number of the Levant Herald gives a 
lengthy d°finltlon of the meaning of the word 
“Pasha.” According to It, the title Is derived 
from two Persian words which signify “ the feet 
of the Shah,” and dates from the days when Cyrus 
gave to his different officers of stale the names 
of hands, feet, eyes, ears, and tongues, according 
to the different vocations assigned tothem. Thus 
the title conveys In its derivation the Idea of mili¬ 
tary service. 
SiMri.e Life-Saving Medium.— Most men, In dis¬ 
asters at sea, have at command a means of keep¬ 
ing themselves afloat which can be extemporized 
In a minute. It ls simply this. Spread a handker¬ 
chief on the deck of the vessel, place a hat In the 
center of It. month upwardB, lift the opposite cor¬ 
ners of the handkerchief and knot them very firm¬ 
ly. Grasp the knots tightly In the left, hand, and 
leap into the water, keeping the hat under the 
surrace. This provides a floating power of from 
five to six pounds with tail hats, and say half that 
with felt hats, which Is ample to support the heed 
and shoulders above the water for a considerable 
time. 
Soup.— Physiologically, soup has great value 
for those who hurry to and from thelrmeals, as It 
allows an interval of comparative rest to the faint¬ 
ing Btomaeb before the more substantial beef and 
mutton Is attacked, rest before solid food being 
as Important as rest after It. Let a hungry and 
weary merchant or lawyer begin boldly with roast 
beet, and what is the result ? The defeat ls often 
as sudden as was the attack. When the body Is 
weary, the stomach cannot stand the shock of 
an 111-mastlcated half-pound of beef. But, If a 
small plateful of light soup be taken, nourishment 
will soon be Introduced, and strength to receive 
more substantial material will follow. 
cigars.— Rapid seasoning of a cigar ls undesira¬ 
ble, as a high temperature ls Injurious. A dry at¬ 
mosphere. with a temperature of about sixty or 
seventy degrees Fahrenheit, Is best,, the box being 
opened, and bundles untied. Some connoisseurs 
remove the cigars from the box, and place them 
loosely, In single rows. In a cabinet which ts kept 
warm hy the burning of a spirit-lamp. Unless cau¬ 
tion and Judgment be used, the cigars will lose 
flavor under such treatment. A cigar, after being 
well seasoned, should always be kept In a dry 
place, ns It will rapidly absorb moisture and spoil 
At sea, or by the seaside, a well-stoppered glass 
Jar. or metal box with well-fitting lid, Is best for 
the storage of cigars. 
To Judge Sit.ks.— There are two ways to Judge 
silks. Note the closeness and evenness of the rib, 
and hold it, to the light to Judge the better of this. 
That shows the texture. Then crush the materia 1 
In the hand and release It suddenly. Note It It 
sprlDgs out quickly; that is the verve, and should 
leave no crease behind. The quality of the silk ls 
denoted by the verve. The Italian silk la the soft¬ 
est in. the world, and often wanting In stlfftess of 
appearance. The Bengal silk Is the poorest,, and 
deficient In verve. And, again, there Is a great 
deal of silk manufactured which Is adulterated 
with a material called jute, which Is Interwoven 
in the fibre or the silk. This manufacture will be 
found very deficient in verve. It ls ft silk which, 
if wetted, stiffens almost like paper. 
Games.— Dice were known to the Lydians isoo 
years b. c. Perseus is credited with the invention 
of quoits, and the Hindoo Tessa with that of chess. 
Ardschio, King of Persia, Invented backgammon. 
Palamedes draughts, Pyrrhus tennis, and the 
Greeks the noble game of goose. Loto ls a com¬ 
paratively recent discovery, due to an Italian, Ce- 
lestlno Gallant, In 1753. Dominoes owe their name 
to the piety of a monk who originated them, and 
who was happy to pronounce a holy word while 
taking his amusement; and it ls a nun who ls be¬ 
lieved to have Invented both the game ot battledore 
and shuttlecock and the catgut racket used In 
playing tennis. Excavations at Hlssarllk, the pre¬ 
sumed site of Troy, have brought earthenware 
“marbles” to light; and those at Pompeii have 
yielded a number of jointed dolls in Ivory, which 
prove that the. custom or giving costly toys to chil¬ 
dren ls not one of modern development. 
seaweed JSM.Y.— 1 The Japanese not only eat 
seaweed in many forms, but they also largely em¬ 
ploy It In their m anufactures, and showed speci¬ 
mens at the Paris Exhibition. They use tt in sizing 
paper, dreasing silk, cotton and thread, as well os 
in dyeing. The French now collect the seaweed 
on their coasts and makethao, and employ It at 
Rouen on their fine cotton goods and prints. It 
na 3 been observed that rain or tog (dampl does not 
affect materials dressed with tbao. It also an¬ 
swers well tor sizing papers; and the only obstacle 
t<> Its more extensive use ts the cost of production. 
It yields te times as much jelly as an equal 
weight of isinglass, but tor purposes of food that 
Jelly Is not quite so pleasant as an animal Jelly, 
such as isinglass, as It does not melt !n the mouth, 
and it contains no nitrogen. Itl s being tried lu 
France in some of the hospitals, but as yet no 
oflfalalrepor a as been issued. 
