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â- â- â-  > FEMALE JEEOISM Many a heart was thrilled in reading the story of the heroism of Signor.-v Pa- quita Alvarez, who died in an effort to Bave her husband from being cut to pieces by (he Spaniards. lie and two .or three men that were with him had ventured too close to the Spanish line during an engagejment, and were cut off and surrouniled by the enemy.. ' le peril of Senor Alvarez was witnessed by his vvife, who, with two Cubans deter- 4nint,.'< he should nut die alone, ran to )ua rescue. For a few moments they struggled against overwhelming odds, when Alvarez, seeing a chance to escape called to hia wife to follow, ami make a bold dash through the Spanish line, Under the Impression that she was just behind him, he hewed his way through the living wall that stood before him and escajjed, but she was too weak to cope with the Spanish soldiers who clos- ed in behind him. The Spaniards re- cognizing tlie fact that she was a wom- an, called to her to surrender, and thus â- ave her life, but, with a cry of Viva Cuba Libre, she and the two men with her hewed right and left with their mat'hetas, and were finally cut to pieces by the Spanish soldiers in sight of the Cuban forc«.s, that, with a shout and a charge, answered the death cry of the heroine. In the confusion of the hand- to-hand struggle and the flight that followed Alvarez did not know that his wife bad been left behind until be bad reached the rebel liines; when, in de- spair, be placed his pistol to his breast, fired and joined the heroic woman in death. d^y a singular coincidence a tale of equal heroism comes about the same time from the other side of the globe. The incident it narrates occurred a year a^o, but only within the last few days has it been told in the press of civiliz- ed oountries. When Zeitoun was occup- ied by the desperate Armenians, the Turkish garrison of over -IM men was besieged in the citadel. There was no prosp-ect of relief, and the Turks sur- rendered, on condition that their lives be spared. The prisoners were confin- ed in various bouses in the town, and almost immediately afterwards a Turk- ish force arrived and made an attack on the fortifications.' Every Armenian man and boy was needed in the front, and while the struggle for the walls was raging the prisoners broke loose and began to set fire to the bouses. In this desperate strait the Armenian women seized whatever weapons were most convenient, axes, hatchets, pokers, clubs, pitchforks, and fell upon the Turks with all the ferocity of tigresses. The Turkish prLsoners had the advan- tage of superior strength and skill, but the greater numbers of the women, to- gether with the i>oBaession of the rude weapons they had Iwen able to find, gave them the mastery; they killed ev- ery man, and threw their bodies over the cliff on whi^h the town was built. It was a deed of heroic daring, but they were fighting for life and what was dearer their honor, for, had the enemy taken the town, a fate worse than death awaited every woinitn in it, and none knew the fact better than themselves. No contest would seeui more hopeless than that of a crowd of women against 200 men, even without arms, fighting for their lives, but the women of Zeit- oun took the risk against fearful odds and shiiwed that t hey possessed the qual- ities, that in every age and country, aave been considered such as make the heroine. We are accustomed to think and say that we live in a dull prosaic age, an age of money-getting, an age in which the greed of gold has burned out the nobler feelings and impulses of human- ilyj We have accustomed ourselves to he thompht that the age of heroism, the heroic age, concerning which his- torians write and jioets rave, is very far away, so far as to be lost in the misty remoteness of antiquity. But this Is a mistake. In every age that has neetl of heroes and heroin(!s they spring in the front . Heroic people do not always play their part on a stage ill sight of a nation, for often in humljlc life and among people of inconspicuous station deeds of daring are performed, which, on a mere exalted arena, would attract the attention of the worldj The locomotive engineer who, last month remained at his post to save his pas.-*- engers during a collision, and after it was over was found dead with his hand.s >n the throttle, and none the less a hero bough his noble deed received only a scant mention in the columns of the press. The wmia-n who, last, week ran in front of a rapidly moving street car io save the life of a child she had nev- er seen before was none the less a hero- ine though she kept her name to her- self, refusing to divulge it, even at t he request of the by-slandersi In truth, the world ua as full of the heroic as ever it was, liut we have, somehow, be- come .accustomed to overlooking the deeds of daring done in every-day life, and look for heroism only at times when public excitement runs high and when unusual emergencies call for un- wonted efforts. In the case of the en- gineers, we say that three engineers out of five would have done the same; in the ca.se of the woman, we think that any other woman would have acted as she ilid. In both instances we may be in the right, but if we are, this only proves that heroes and heroines are so numerous that their deeds are no long- er lon-iiilcre 1 e.xtraonliu iry â€" are, in- deed, not regarded as worthy of more than the scant attention they receive. The Swiss war with Austria develop- etl heroines by the regiment. Kvery canton, almost every neighliorhood chcr- 'vhoH the memor.v of simu- woman, often of more than on •, who she 1 her blood in the cause of the insurrection. Here and there all over Switzerlan I, modcsi monuments by the wrjyside, tombs iiml momimental slabs in the parisli churches, tell where gallant deeds were done or mark the resting places of t he heroines who performed them when Switzerland was slrugsling aa Cuba is now struggling to l>e free. The Swiss women were not organized in separate brdies, but frught side by side with theif husbands, urothers, sous and fath- ers, and did good service. At the great victory of Serapach, in 1380, won by Arnold von "Vinkelried over Duke leaders fell, the Swiss women especial- eladers fell, the Swiss women especial- ly distinguished them.selves by their valor, handling lance and ax as stoutly as the men, and numl>ers of them jwr- Lsheil during the action. At St. Jacobs, on the Birs, where, in 1144, 1500 Swiss resisted 30,000 French and were all kill- eil, the victors lo.sing 10,000 men, there were numbers of women in the Swiss ranks, nor, according to the testimony of a contemporary, were they in brav- ery or effectiveness to be distinguished from the men. In several cases, when their sex was peri^eived, they were of- fered qu.arter if they woulii surrender, but inv.iriably refused, preferring to die with their friends rather than to live as the prisoners of a hated enemy. The tales of these old days abound with ac- counts of how invading forces were ov- erwhelmed by artificial avalanches, pre- ^ pared on the cliff above some narrow defile through which the enemy must pass, and in most such cases the duty of cutting loose the masses of stones, earth and snow, was intrusted to the women, while the men, armed an<l ready for battle, stood ready at some favorable position to fall upon the foe and complete the defeat with spear and ax. They were worthy of their moun- taineer husbands and deserve the hon- ors that have lieen heaped upon their memories. The women of Carthage were the iiro- totypes of the Cubaji women of to-day, and even the brutal Romans could not help admiring the bravery of those whom they were sworn to destroy. The history of the Uoman State is smeared with the blood of the innocent on every page, but not one is worse splotched with the red and black of slaughter and treachery than that which tells the story of the downfall of Carthage. The City of Dido was completely prostrated by the second Punic war, and willing- ly accepted peace on any terms. The Homana, however, were bent on the tot- al destruction of the city, so encouraged their :i.iiies to insult and attack the humiliated State, until finally it look up arms against them, despite the agrecmeait with Rome. When Scipio appeared before the city, however, it submitted, and at his demand surrend- ered ail thd arms and armor it contain- ed, giving up a quantity so large, as even at thia day to excite wonder at the amount. Then came the demand th^tt the inhabitants should remove to :uiother place, and that the city should l)B leveled, and in desperation the in- habitants determined to perish with their city. Then came hurried iirepara- lions for resistance to the death.. The .smiths worked night and day forging swords and sjiears, to take the place of tho.He trt jcheruusiy obtained by the Roman General. The women worked as hard as the smiths, making arrow-proof coats of bull's hide; they cut off their hair for Ixiwstrings; they cut up their clothing and bedding to make quilted helmets ami tunics; they surrendered their tables to be made into shields, and when the last desiierate struggle took place, lasting for seventeen days, in the .streets and among the bouses of the doomed city,then threw stones from the housetops on the beacl of the enemy, and wit h such means of defense as came to hand, fought like tigresses^ Thous- ands of them iierisbed in the storming of the city, but these were fortunate eom^)ared with those who were taken, for m those days, slavery for life was the lot of every i;riiianer of war. Kxactly 216 years after the merciless butchery of the heroic women of Carth- age t here was another destruction of another famous city, during the siege :in<l storming of which the heroism of I he women equaled that of the men. I'he details of the Jewish war that re- sulted in the destruction of the city by litus have been told, with great par- I icularit y by Jo.sephu.s,but save in a casu- al allusion here and there lie does not do justice to 1 ho heroism of t he women. The details of the Jewish war that resulted in the destruction of the city by Titus have been told, with great particularity, liy Josephus, but save iai a casual allusi- on here and there he does not do jus- tice to the heroism of the women. The traditions of the most remarkable na- tion on the earth, however, have pre- served many stories of one of the most tremendous events of history, anil have showed that in the time of supreme lieril, when the city w.as completely en- vironed by the Roman wall and starva- l^lon was playing havoc with the de- fenders of the unhappy city, the courage of the women never failed. With an implicit faith, sublime in its confidence, they refused to b.dieve that Jehovah hal lorsakeu his people and temple, and even after the mornuig ami evening sacrifices had been discontinued for lack of animals to serve as offerings the wo- men daily crowded the women's court of the temple to prayj But they did not confine their efforts to prayers for succes.s., When the siege grew string- ent and every m,an was needed on the walls the women brought water to the soidiers; they ground the swords and spearheads, one turning the grindstone, while another held the weapon; they worked hard, fashioning as well .is their skill permitted, the arrowshafis to which the smiths afterwards .adde<l the heads; with hammers they broke up the stones of their dwellings for tiie cala- (lulls and ballistas; they tore up their garments and took the oil out of the tiiinily cruse in order to furnish the lilaziiig arrows that more than once put the Roman works in jeopardy, and when, at last, all their efforts proved fruitless, and the Uoman troops actual- ly efCecte<l a lo.lgiiieiit within the city, t hey fought from house to house as stubbornly as the men, and met a fate as cruel as that which had befallen the women of Carthage, with a heroism which fully matcheil that displayed by the desceiiidauts of Uido's maids of hon- or. U is not often the good fortune of a woman to be able to save a kingdom which is almost at the last grasp; in fact, the case of Joan of Arc slailTis uni- iiue in history, which probably acroiiiits for the interest it has always excited. Just now, when the revival of public i".ud literary interest in the enthuaiast of Domremy is causing more to be writ- ten and I'ublLshed about her than ever l)efore, and while the propriety of her iMiionization is under consideration at Rome, it is interesting to note lliat even the men of history and science are changing their opinion about her, and, instead of regarding her as a lunatic (ir victim of nervous disease, are com- ing to consider her a genuine heroine, Cull of an idea and sturdily intent on its realization. While it is probable there will always be two opinions con- •erniug her and her exploits, there can he no doubts that, at the time when she entered on what she believed to be a divinely appointed mission, the Kingdom of France was at a lower point in Its fortunes than ever before or since. The territory that was actu- ally under the control of the Daujihin was insignificant in comparison with that which had been ruled by his fath- ers; the Knglish had most of the rest. The wildest romancer could never have dreamed that France would be deliver- ed by a sbephenl gir'' nor would he have imagined that afte^ the victories gained, partly at least, thrmgh her in- fluence and the sujierst it lous fear she inspired, the King she had aided to as- cend the throne would desert her, and, without even a protest, allow her to be put to a death of excruciating torture. Yet both events occurred; to the eternal infamy of all concerneil, Joan was burn- ed. She may have been a saint, she may have been a crazed enthusiast, ' but, wliatever she was, her name will go down into history as one of the most remarkable female characters who ever appeared on the earth, and the dastard King of France, the infamous Bishop of Beauvais will all lie remembered mainly aa associated with her history. ) A WOUAN SOLDLliH. A woman 73 years of age is an active and useful member of the French army. She has been wounded many times, ser- iously in several cases, but appears to bave many years of activity stUl be- fore her. Mother Ibrahim, as this remarkable old person is called, is the cantiniere of the Second Zouaves. Shu haa fol- lowed her regiment all over the world, sharing all its perils and hardships. She exposed herself to fire as cheerfully as the bravest soldier in the regiment. The cantinieres of the French army are famous in song and story, and their services are often very valuable, i they carry water and other kinda of drmk and reireehmenta, and many a wounded soldier ha.s owed his life to their aid. It is peculiarly interesting to call at- tention to this old woman just now, because many people are under ihu im- preasioa that women have only begim to do extraordinary things within the past few years. The venerable can- tiniere was hard at work, tramping round the world and taking her part lu battles, years and years uefore the present craze alxiut women's achieve- ments was heard of. It will be found on examination that in all ages some women have lieen in the habit of do- ing strange things. Mother Ibrahim was born in Egypt, the daughter of a soldier of the great Napoloeon. She married a non-cum- miasioned officer of Turcos, who is now dead. In appearance she is small, upright ami wrinkled. Her eyes are lilock and lively, her balr is white, but thick. Her whole bearing is military and alert. Her usual uniform includes a zouave turtian and very loose zouave trousers. She W.18 therefore a pioneer of the bloomer movement, although no one thought of her aa a great dresa re- former. She also wears the red ribbon of the cron of the Lagion of Honor, the mili- tary medal and the medals of the Cri- mea, Italy and Tunis, all of which hftve lieen conferred upon her. She has so many wounds that she can hardly count them. Nine she thinks they niunijer. Bullets, sabers and bayonets have Inflicted them. She has lost three rilis. She was preaent at the assault of the Malakoff in the Crimea, at the battle of Solferino, and took part in the Mexi- ':an ciiiupaign. After the liattle of Sedan a German soldier smashed her left shoulder while she wua attempting to rejoin some men of her regiment, who were lieing taken prisoners to Berlin. In Tonquiu she wua picked up, with her arm terri- bly mangled liy three knifo cuts. The surgeoua wanted to amputate it, but she refused, and to-day she can guide a bicycle with it. After an iiccident at Tonquin, where she lives, she had to go to Paris to undergo an ojieration. The evening she left the hospital she was received by President Faure, to whom she present- ed the Iwrrel of the zouave regiment, for which he had asked. A CHEERFUL FUNERAL. For years Madame Miette, a young widow of Paris, had struggled against the inconveniences of poverty. At last, some four montha ago, fortune favored her, by the death of a relative, who loft her a snug sum of money. Then the widow became gay and extravagant, and resolved to have a good time while her money lasted, and, when her cash was exhausted, close her career by sui- cide. With this end in view, she purchased a gorgeous funeral rolie, and a highly ornamented and padded coffin, which she placed in her bedroom. She next sent for the leader of the local town band, and handed him over a fair sum of money on condition that he should head her funeral proceasion, and she furthermore drew up a programme of popular and joyous tunes to lie play- ed by his orcheatra on that occasion. A few days Uick, when only a franc or two of her little fortune remained, the widow determined on ending all earthly troubles, bought some charcoal, shut herself up in her room, and was found dead next mornuig. Punctually obedient to orders, the band appeared at the hour of the fun- eral and Siiluted the corpse with a gay hunting chorus. The funeral proces- sion then moved off at a quick pace to the ,accompaniment of a lively march. Four times Wiia the cortege pulled up en route for the cemetery, and .It, the last halt the band broke forth with the sprightlieat dance mus- ic, like strains accompanying tho lower- ing of the coffin into tho grave. SAFER It is sometimes emba(rrii8,sijig to pre- sume too far on one's own nobility of coujit<^nance. There is a story of an Edinburgh sheriff who lost a two- jx'tiny railway ticket, and was accord- ingly .aaked foi' his fare. I have alre;idy jiaid it, said he. Then Where's your ticket I 1 have lost it. 'I'ten you must i>ay again. Come now, friend, said the sheriff, juat glance at my f.ace, and tell me if 1 look like .i m.m who would tell ;i lie far t ujipenre I The ciish-tiiker obediently Inspected the countenance offered and then *iid, dryly : ril inat thnnk you for that tup<pcnco I sen' limi ter I'nrli.imentI INDIA'S IRITFOR EFEOPE WHAT NATIVE FIGHTERS COULD DO AGAINST CONTINENTALS. The OpluiOHH of Lonl Briirouiiarlil unil Loral Uulirru us Op|Mi<>e<l (o the Krcrul Dcclnrntlon or Lunl WoUrleyâ€" Rraven aucl Fldrllly ur Ib<! Troopii !â-  .Wauy Wnm. When Lord BeaconsfieJd sent some six or seven India native regiments to the island of iLilta he intended to demonstrate the fact that in the event of a war lietween England and any European power it would !« possible to raise an army a million strong from the vast recruiting grounds of In- dia, writes Thomaa P. Hughes in the New York Sun. It was a statesman- like action, and very few military of- ficers of standing have ever ventured to call in question the wiadom and ex-< pediency of the measure. It has been reserved for the present Commander-in- Chief, Viacount Wolaeley, to publish to the world his conviction that the na- tive troops of India could not lie truat- ed in a European war. The opinion haa been put forth in opposition to that of Lord Roberts, and not without some alight suspicion of rivalry and jeal- oaay. Those who have lived in India, any length of time are fully aware of the low estimate formed of the native troops by officers of English regi- ments, and aa Lord Wulesley bus had only very short experience of India, when he served with the Eightieth Foot in the Bui-mese war of 185ii-S3, it is i>ut reasonable to suppose that be haa im- bibed theee pi-ejudicea. On the other hand, the whole of the military life of Gen. Roberts has been passed In In- dia, from the time when he served with distingimhed bravery throughout the Imlian mutiny campaign, and received a Victoria Cross for personal valor in the field, to bis biatoriu maj'uh from Cabal to Canduhar, when with a pick- ed force of 9,00U ho emerged from tho trackleos regions of Afghanistan, and Inflicted a crushing defeat uiion Ayoob Khan, the proU^ge of Russia. The fighting qualities of the troops which form Britain's native Indian army of 250,000 nativee is not a mat- ter of opinion. It ia a fact of his- tory. Tuke, for example, THE SIKH REGUVIENTS. At the battle of Chlllianwalla Lord Gough wa« under the impreasiun that he had been thoroughly defeated by the Sikha, and no one who has ever seen a tilkh regiment inarch behind one of the fineat British regiments bus doubt- ed for a moment the.lr lighting quali- ties. Theae men stand six feet; they are men of wax from their youtli; they have no fear of death; to them fighting ia a recreation, Thia cannot lie said of the raw inateriaJ of which the regi- meuta of tuu line In the British army are composed. The Goorkha is probably the best soldier in the world. Hie ia sturdily built, of an average height of u feet 3 Inches, with a physiognomy of a Chinese Tartar character. Bluing my twenty years' residence in a large military station in India 1 never beanl the fighting quajitiea of the Goorkhiia called in que-jtion. The Britisli sol- dier likes the sturdy little Goorkjua. lu the Afghan war, when encamped lie- fore Cal)ul, it was found that the bag- gage of the Goorkh.i ivglmeiit had not arrived, and the Highlanders volun- teered to lend the Goorkha boys their mllitaiT coats for the night when on duty. The singular fighting powers of tho Goorkhaa were first dis- oovere*! In the Nepauiese war of 1814-16, when the British troops met them aa enemies for the only time in their history. .England had a force of 30,000 ui the field, and the Goorkhaa only 10,000, and it took two years of tough fightiiig to bring them to terma The British glory lu the charge of Ba.laklava, but it finds a paraUel in the s.'ge of Kaluiigia in 1H15, when the Goorkhiia lost 'I'AJ out of i heir noble little band of (iUO, and inflicted upon the British the heavy loss of 7G0« In tho event of England's having to fight any European )tuwer single-hand- ed theiv can be no question as to the advisability of bringing these Sikh ami Goorkha. regimenta into the field, and tho very fact that an experienced of- ficer like LORD ROBERIS, endorses su<'h action will convince any one who has svvn these native soldiers day after day during a long life in India that -the native troops can lie trusted. In Judging ot tho Indian native army it must lie remembered thai its general organization is not on the lines of class ix'giments. The native regiments are for the most piurt made up of differ- ent races :ind re.ligioii.s; one company of Punjabia Moslems, another of Sikhs, another of Uoogras. another of Goork- hiis, anotht^r Pat bans, and so on. Regi- ments so constiluttMl m.iy lie difficult to handle on foreign soil, but they could lie easily reor^janized for a Eu- ropean war. rhe Sikhs .mil GoorWhu.s have no caste prejudice, ami if i bey were landed on the shores i)f Europe they would eat thi' Britisher's food and drink the Britisher's toildy even with .a gre.iter rtdish than that of Tommy Atkins himst'.lf. T have never met with an officer of experieuci! who haa not lieen ready to confess that for difficult service he would rather le;id a conijpany of na- tive soldiers than ime of the British army. In these native soldiers you have in • â- 'â- mt powers of eniluranoe. 'I'ljev 'hwut stimuhuits for weeks. "ivry five (lays' ra- tions o:i ilK-.i I.....-.; . Thi'V can sleep on the gixmnd with •..•ty little covering either on the sunny pi, tins of India Ov on th(^ snow-capped mountains of Af- ghanistan, They never complain, and their one conception ot duty is faith- fulness to those who pay them. But U'.siiles the Goorkh.us and Sikhs thr.' is ;in immense recruit in^ ground on ihe fniiitiera of India. The num- erous Pathan triliea, iiibiil>it.ing the long line ot frontier Ixjtween India and Afghani8t.\n, number as many as 200,- IKMI fighting men, .-ind from these tribes I he Pathan soldier ia enlisted. They ire historic fighters. TTieir ancestors swelled the armies of Mamud of Ghuz- ni, and of Baler, and they are fight- ers still. I rememlier during the Af- ghan war spending an evening in the midst of the Khvtier Pass in tne camp of a dis'inguished English General, who, like Lord Wolaeley, bod never seiTed with native troops, and he ex- pressed to me bis surprise at THE SOLDIERLIKE QUALITIES of theae tribesmen. Every one of them, be said, "is a liorn skirmisher. In single combat Tommy Atkins has no chance with him." The Pathan soldier is brave but impulsive, but when en- llstexl under British officers and treat- e<l kimlly he manifests the highest qualities. The e<litor of one of the London newspapers, who was former- ly a Captain in the Indian army, owee his life to the liravenry and devotion of a Pathan soldier, Sirdar Afzul Khan, who has now attained to the highest and most honorable position in the In- dian army open to a native. To those who are but slightly ac- quainted with the condition of' things in India the fact that 70,000 British troops keep in check a native force of nearly 300.000,000 is taken aa an evi- dence that the native is not good for much as far aa fighting goes. But it must be rememliered that ever since the Indian mutiny of 1857-58 the artillery and the guns of the forts aje entirely In the hands of Engliabmen, and that no native receives a military education calculated to fit him to lead an army in mixlem warfare. It was demon- strated in the mutiny that it was the absence of native Generals which made the mutineers so helpless, and the same may be said now. In ihe whole native army there is not a single man to be found to assume the command of a force in the field. If it ha<l lieen asserted twenty years ago that the Japaueau were a race ol soldiers the statement would have lieen calle4l in question, but this has been demonstrated in the recent war. Tboee who, like myself, have lieen interested in the native regiments of India, have lived among tJiem, spoken their lan- guage, and imbilied their thoughts, Know very well that there are latent energiee in the great empire of India which have not yet lieen oalled forth. 'These energies, however, would be call- ed forth in the event of Great Britain'* having to maintain her integrity in the face of Europe. If theae fighting races are estranged from British rule it will be probably by such utteranoea as those put forth by Lord Wolseley, for there ia nothing which the native of India alioininat4;a and detests more than the conscious superiority of the Briliah conque.ror. In 1H6(). aa I sat in the veranda of my house at Peabarsar with the late Ameer Shere All Khan of Cabul. we were disi-iissing this very question, whether the tribea of Central Asia would stand liy England in the event of a Russian invasion. "Patlri," bo stiid, "if ever such a time does come it wUl be seen that wo are a nation of men," i VICTORIA'S BENEVOLENCE. The Queen has just given a practical demonstration of her sidieitudc for the imor an<l oppressed whit:h Is likely to lift one poor couple at leaat into com- I>arative affluence. In a quiet vil- lage near Leeds an old couple, 71 ycam of ;ige, have for over hjilf a century gaine<l thir livelihood by milking cloth on an olil hand-power loom, but tho advent of modern mactiinery baa caused their strtiggle for existence to lie a very har<l one. The old eoiijile, whose namo ia Barn««, were lntro<iuced to lh« BLshoji of Ripon by the Vicar ot their l>url~h, and the Bishop not only bought a length of the fhiimel which they hiul miule, but proniLsexl t<i lay it liefore tho Queen and put her into poas«'«sion ot the facta eoneerning its nuinufacture. The Queen iinme<luitely ordered 'M yards of the hand-maile flannel, and this week it was forwarded to Balmoral. NumerouB .applicat icms have already been uuule for varioua lengilis of the same piece ae that from whii'h the Quivn's was cut, and it Is neeiilcss to say t4i;it at 20 shillings a yard tho old couple find themselvoa doing a high- ly profitable bualness. SOME HOUSEHOLD WORDS. Botherâ€" A word in great use when a stupid visitor has called, or a dress haa not come home, or the hair will not ourl. Fiddlesticksâ€" A word strongly expres- sive of contempt. It cnushes all argu- ment. When a bidy s;iys "Fiddle- sticksl" he must lie a bold man who ventures to say ano'her word. 1.1'iddlc-dee-dec.â€" The same aa "Fiddle- stickl" only one degree milder. Indeed.â€" An ejaculation, "strongly re- coinmeniled for family use." It implies doubt, a contemptuous denial, a gentle refusal, and saves an infinity of useless explanation. Much may lie said aliout the word "Indeed"â€" it all depends upon the way in which it is pronounced. Delicious.â€" A word that conveys, com- ing from a young lady's lips, tho highest amount of praise. I'^poonvâ€" .A. young man who cuiinot dance or talk, or talks no lietter thiin he dtmces. and vice ver.sa. \ young man who sings sentimental songs with a lisp, and has a turned-down collar.i and a portrait which he always carries in his waLstcoat pocket, on the side near- est to bis heart, BLUNDERS. Few attrilnites ot character are mora ihnnning tliiin the faculty of graceful- ly acknowledging one's errors. The man who makes a bliuider and sticks to it is a person with wlumi argument or controversy lieoomes Imiiossible. The trouble and lime sjient in attempting to convlnix} him of tlie truth are com- ])let<'ly wasttyl; for he will .still Indieve that what he has advanced must bo right, even In the f:u;c of actual dem- onstration that it Ls wrong. On tlia other h.ind, of the .action ot one who will adinit with frank ami ready coiuw tesy that he has lieen mistaken, it may lie ilid that it "lileaselb him thiit gives :ind him that takes,"â€" it covers his own retreat with gracefulness, and gives bin - adversary a pleasant memory of an emcoiuitcr with a geiit-ous foe AND LEFT HIM- Whe<n do 1 get Ihe next tjaj'^ ? aak- ed t he agitated pims<".tiger. The "next^ trains .iust gone, sir, a«- awerttd the poa'ter. -.â- ^vi$ma(:- ~'^"' ' '*\''i ' 'tl^ I'l'l '^, â-  A-h'tM I MMa