THE EDITOR TO HIS FRIENDS. ADDRESS: 122, FLEET STREET, E.C., LONDON. When "Thomasina" writes that-"Your re plies to correspondents are most valuable: although I have never sent you an inquiry, I have derived a great deal of information by looking them over" she only explains the true utility of our "Please Inform Me?" We must, however, have inquiries: for one person usually expresses the want of many; therefore we invite free and unreserved applications. FIRST CLASS. this institution called in law Latin jurata, and the persons composing it jurati; in French les jurés, and in English the jury.-ROLANDO. 13. NUMBER ONE.-ALBUM (white) was a tablet on which the Roman prætor's edicts were written; it was put up in a public place. It was white. The word was also used to signify a list probably called album because the tablet was of any body of persons, as of the senators and of the judices.-ROLANDO. 14. J. MEEK.-GAME OF DRAUGHTS.-The nine laws for regulating the game of draughts are as follow:-1. Each player takes the first move alternately, whether the last game be won or Alpha.-Nellie (your kind letter is an earnest of drawn. 2. Any action which prevents the adverwhat you could do for the Council if you would sary from having a full view of the men is not allowed. 3. The player who touches a man must but try-do).-A. G. (too many like you; we are sorry for all).-D. M. R.-Vesper (we thank you play him. 4. In case of standing the huff, which for your good intentions, but we think the lines means omitting to take a man when an opporare too well known).-Jane Anne (true, the suffer-tunity for so doing occurred, the other party may ings of the poor have been great, and it has greatly has been so omitted by his adversary, being taken. either take the man, or insist upon his man, which developed the benevolence of mankind). - Kate Leslie (you are entitled; send name and address, 5. If either party, when it is his turn to move, and one shall be forwarded).-Irene.-Lucinda B. hesitate above three minutes, the other may call (have you not had a certificate? if not you are upon him to play; and if, after that, he delay above fully entitled).-Worcester Union.-Emma B.-five minutes longer, then he loses the game. 6. In the losing game, the player can insist upon his Fanny (we are sorry we have had so long to exer cise your patience).-G. Matthewson (thanks for adversary taking all the men, in case opportunities the answers).- Rosa Matilda.-Lizzie E. R.- should present themselves for their being so taken. 7. Persons not playing are not to advise, or in Little Giggie (only one certificate is awarded).— Bertha S. (please send us the poem complete).any manner interfere with the game of either party. Mary Anne (the character of your friend shall be 8. To prevent unnecessary delay, if one colour given in an early number).-W. Garbutt, jun.- the other no piece but one king, the latter can call have no pieces but two kings on the board, and Robin Hood (much improved). upon the former to win the game in twenty moves; if he does not finish it within that number of moves, the game to be relinquished as drawn. 9. If there to hear of your fall, and we hope it will not provequent moves are not to exceed forty. are three kings to two on the board, the subseas serious as your fears lead you to believe).15. J. LESTER.-MARY-LE-BONE.-The mcMyrtle and Mistletoe.-Marguerite.-The Lost Pleiad.-Emma S. P. (see wrapper).-Diana (the dern name of Mary-le-bone is a perversion; it was y is short; you omitted the solutions to the originally written Mary-le-bourne, or Mary-on-theriddles.)-Rolando.-W. H. H.- Funnyboy.-brook, from the circumstance of its being built on Happy Heart.-Ada and Eva (not so good as usual; accept our heartfelt thanks for your kind wishes).-Estelle. - Gipsy King. Mistletoe. Oyster Catcher.-A Brave Boy.-Abelard.-Nil Desperandum.-Confessor (a dreadful falling off). SECOND CLASS. Narcissa.-Heckmondwike.-Eliza (we regret -J. C. L. QUESTIONS ANSWERED. 10. J. C. J.-"AULD REEKIE."-Edinburgh derives its name of "Auld Reekie" from the quantity of smoke which hovers over it in damp and uncertain weather. "Reek" is the Scotch synonyme for smoke. Not being, however, a manufacturing town, it is a great deal better off in this respect than many of its Scotch neighbours.GEO. MATTHEWSON. 11. OLD CLOTHES.-HATS.-Hats were first introduced into fashion by Charles VII. of France, who made his public entry into Rouen in 1449, wearing a hat lined with red velvet, and ornamented with a plume of feathers. From this time they became general. Charles VII. of France lived in the reign of our Henry VI.BERTHA S. 12. E. E. C.-The etymological derivation of the term is from juro, to swear, whence we find I a brook, which still runs from Hampstead across the New road, through Allsop's-buildings, although now it is of course arched over. A bourne is a brook; and it is a very common termination of the names of English streets and towns. Holborn was originally called Oldbourne, from its standing on a brook. We have also Eastbourne, Sittingbourne, &c. In the time of Elizabeth it was called Marybone; and it is so distinguished by Lady Wortley Montague (a century later) in the following line: "And dukes at Marybone bowl time away." 16. MARIAN.-AGE OF PARROTS.-No rule can be supplied to determine the age of the parrot after one year, before which time a certain circle round the eye marks the date of the bird's birth. When this has disappeared, after periods cannot be distinguished with any certainty. There are various sorts of bird-whistles made for the purpose of teaching different kinds of birds to sing, but perhaps the lark-whistle will be found the best for giving lessons to the parrot. 17. W. HARNBY, JUN.-TO BRONZE PLASTER BUSTS.-A brownish grey bronze may be easily obtained by adding to a solution in water of palm oil soap, a mixture of sulphate of iron and sulphate of copper in solution. This furnishes a brownish green precipitate, the colour of which 18. A NURSE.-CASTOR (Greek gastor, a bigbellied animal). This is an oily substance secreted by the beaver (Castor fiber) in a bag near the rectum; it is a nervous stimulant, antispasmodic, and emmenagogue, and is useful in several nervous affections, especially when connected with uterine irregularity; we obtain it from both America and Russia, but that from the latter country is much the best. Dose of the Powder from 10 to 20 grains; of the Tincture from 1 to 2 drachms. Chemists have extracted its active principle, which they have called Castorine, but it has not come much into use. 19. VICAR. GORDIAN KNOT.-"Why is a certain knot, which cannot be loosed, called Gordian?"-Because Gordias, a king of Phrygia Major, being raised from the plough to the throne, placed the horses, or furniture of his wain and oxen, in the Temple of Apollo, tied in such a knot, that the monarchy of the world was promised to him who could untie it; which, when Alexander, "that tumour of a man," had long tried, and could not do, he cut it with his sword. Such, at least, is the ancient story: if not true, it is certainly ingenious. 20. Q. IN THE CORNER.-LONG AND SHORT DAYS.-At Berlin and London, the longest day has sixteen hours and a half; at Stockholm it has eighteen and a half hours; at Hamburg, seventeen hours, and the shortest seven; at St. Petersburg, the longest day has nineteen, and the shortest five hours; at Tornea, in Finland, the longest day has twenty-one hours and a half, and the shortest two hours and a half; at Wanderhus, in Norway, the day lasts from the 21st of May to the 22nd of July; and at Spitzbergen, the longest day is three months and a half. 21. MARIAN.-TO WHITEN THE HANDS.Prepared sand balls and warm water will effectually whiten the hands. I advise Glycerine and West of, England skin soap. [My hands are generally admired for their softness, and these are the only means I employ].-ANITA. Palm-tree.......... Psalm .............. Pomegranate-tree ..1 Samuel Sycamore-tree .Luke..... Teil-tree Vine Willow .... .......... Isaiah Psalm ..... Ezekiel ....... Almond.......... ...... XXX. 37 ........xiv. 2 xix. 4 ....... vi. 13 ........lxxviii. 47 ..........xvii. 5 FRUITS. Genesis.... Apple.. Cucumber.. Dates Figs.. Grapes Melon.... Nuts ..... xliii. 11 .i. 8 Proverbs ........ XXV. 11 .2 Chronicles ....xxxi. 5 xiii, 15 .......... xl. 10 .xi. 5 Solomon's Song.... vi. 11 Solomon's Song ..viii. 2 .vii. 14 Pomegranate Sycamore ..........Amos 23. J. B. AMBER VARNISH.-The amber should be dissolved in drying linseed oil. For this purpose, however, the amber must be previously heated in an iron pot, over a clear red fire, till it soften and be semi-liquefied. The oil, previously heated, is to be now poured in, with much stirring, in the proportion of ten ounces to the pound of amber; and after the incorporation is complete, and the liquid somewhat cooled, a pound of oil of turpentine must be added. MRS. STUCKLEY GALLOPED ON WITH RECKLESS SPEED UNTIL SHE FOUND HERSELF ON THE BRINK OF A HIGH BANK SKIRTING THE RIVEE. THE FIRESIDE FAIRY. CHAPTER V. A GREAT SORROW ENDS. Eva went out and listened. When she injured, suffering martyr, until, at early dawn, she heard Stuckley rise from the easy chair by her side, walk to the window, and then quit the room. At once she started up in the bed, and seeing Eva standing near, inquired in suppressed AFTER the terrible attack made on his tones of great excitement, "Is he taken ? wife, Stuckley could hardly be convinced-go and see. Let me know instantly." for hours that her life was safe; he sat by her side with intense anxiety, watching her in silence, and leaning over her pillow, waiting for the return of the lifetints to her blanched countenance; but so terrible had been that night's shock to her that her face, recently so brilliant in its bloom, never lost afterwards that singular pallor that had been evoked by Carey's ferocity. She lay perfectly still, with eyelids closed, as if she were a calm, returned into the chamber she met a gaze so singular-so intense-so full of anguish and dread, that she stopped midway. "Is he taken ?" Mrs. Stuckley fell back on her pillow, and closed her eyes as before. The following day Mrs. Stuckley remained perfectly quiet-and Carey was still at large. Štuckley grew nervous as K night approached; and, leaving Eva to firmly upon his chest. Luckily a stout watch in his place beside his wife, he put dairyman of the neighbourhood was passon his hat, and walked out to make a calling near, and answered promptly to the on the magistrate of the district, Claude call of Stuckley for assistance. Barclay, Esq., of Foxley Hall, and urge "Where are you-who are you ?" more energetic measures in pursuit of the "Here, quick!" cried Stuckley; and, dangerous criminal. guided by his voice, the dairyman came close up and rendered most timely assistance. His mind was oppressed with many misgivings in respect to the madness of the curate; an awful cloud seemed to be drawn like a thick curtain over his own hitherto tranquil life; every moment appeared to be fraught with lurking dangers and with veiled grief; and he wished, in the bitterness of his soul, that he had never closed his shop-never married. The afternoon was misty, but, in the excitement of his feelings, he noticed nothing, and walked on the high road at a rapid pace without stopping, until at last he came to a stand beside a river fence. He knew the spot well, although the water was quite hidden by the mist. "I am far beyond the right turning," he said to himself, and turned to retrace his steps. A figure could be dimly made out leaning against the fence; it moved after Stuckley in a stealthy manner. He walked on, found the right turning to Foxley Hall, and proceeded along a narrow path by the side of the river bordered with trees. Here the stealthy figure sprang upon him with the grasp of a tiger, and Stuckley, thrown off his guard, was completely at the mercy of his assailant. It was a terrible moment, for the face that glared upon him, exaggerated by the mist, looked as that of some gloomy and ferocious demon, and the grasp on his throat was unmistakeably murderous. Not a word broke the awful silence until Stuckley sank beneath the deadly grip of the curate, and dropped heavily at the feet of Carey, by the river brink. The latter stood triumphant, flourishing his arms about and talking to himself wildly, quoting from Scripture and the classics, as if he were some inspired bard. Then, as the fancy struck him of David dancing before the ark, he began to dance fantastically; but in the midst of his gyrations he was brought violently to the ground, and Stuckley's knee was planted "Now, Mr. Carey, you must yield yourself up; it is of no use being obstinate," said Stuckley. "I yield," he replied. "I give you the word of a gentleman I will not do you any more injury, if you will take your knee from my chest." "But will you go quietly with me?" "Where must I go?" "Where you, shall be taken proper care of." "I yield, I say. Let me alone." "I trust your word, mind," said Stuckley, permitting him to rise. Between the dairyman and Stuckley the curate walked quietly to Foxley Hall, where he was taken into a private room, in the charge of two constables. He was handcuffed without difficulty, and then Stuckley, at his own request, held a private conversation with him, while the constables remained outside the door. Stuckley drew near to him slowly, regarding him with feelings of the deepest compassion, mixed with horror at the ruin which had been wrought in one who had been so promising, both in his private character and in his public usefulness. Here was scholarship, wit, benevolence, high principle, all laid in the dust. Here were the hopes of a most respectable family, which had sacrificed much to give Carey a college education, and to start him in life as a clergyman, all reduced to a pair of handcuffs, the precursor of a lifelong imprisonment. It was very melancholy to look upon him, with his magnificent black eyes rolling vacantly-his chiselled features deathly and griefstricken-his clothes torn in many places and stained with mud. Stuckley had obtained for him some refreshments from the hall kitchen; for he had noticed that the poor madman was parched with thirst, and in reply to his inquiry, Carey said that he had not eaten for many days. When Stuckley humanely assisted him to partake of coffee and biscuits, for the handcuffs were not allowed to be removed, Carey thanked him with all the dignity of his better days, and asked him for warm water that he might wash. "I am in a sad plight," he said, looking at his tattered clothes. "You are, indeed, and I never expected to see you in such a condition," said Stuckley, kindly. "What is the cause of this painful change in you ?" "I had not the remotest idea that she was engaged to you, or I would not for the world have been the means of injur ing you." "Ah," said Carey, "I remember now, that you assisted me several times very generously with money and clothing for the poor people under my charge; and I used to like to drop in upon you in that nice quiet little room of yours behind the shop, and smoke a pipe with you, and discuss politics. Hah, old fellow, you were a redhot radical, were you not ?" "And you as steady a conservative." "And your books," continued Carey, "That beautiful fiend-that beautiful fiend! She has done it all. O, my brain!" why you knew them all half off by heart I felt it cracking and burning when she-quotation for quotation you matched mocked my passion." "You mean me. "Selina Neville. Yes; she has wrecked I am a lost soul through that woman." me. Yet I have been a college man-a Fellow of Magdalen's. Hah, what will my father say when he sees these!" Carey held up his handcuffs and burst into a fit of weeping. ; Stuckley drooped his head, for hardly "Come, come, Mr. Carey, thank God could the wreck before him feel more you have had a merciful Providence watchbitterly deceived, more desolate than he.ing over you, and preventing your hand "When I reach the gates of Paradise, from murder. I live, and so does Selina and the flaming sword waves every way she is little injured, I am happy to say.” to keep me from entering there, who will 'Injured," repeated Carey, with a behave made me a castaway? Sir, your wildered stare. "Who talks of murder? wife will have done it. In marrying You live-so does Selina-why should you you she perjured herself, and forsook one not both live? What has been the matter? who had staked all his life and soul upon Why have I these handcuffs on? Who her faith. She had lured me on by her keeps me here? Am I not free to go sweet graces, and her deceitful promises, whither I choose? You there by that to love her with a love as deep as Vesu- door, open it instantly, and let me pass vius-as hot as Hecla's fires-as strong out!" as the mountain rill-as lasting as the sea. Then, when I claimed her hand, she laughed at me for my presumption-she mocked my poverty. A curate's wife, indeed!' and she turned from me to bestow herself on you, whom she has ridiculed to me so often-because you had money. Stuckley, I am sane now. I tell you I have been cruelly wronged-barbarously deceived." "But, Mr. Carey, you will not be excited if I say, a Christian teacher of others ought to have known how to keep himself in subjection." "True, true;" said Carey, gloomily, "Fallen, fallen, fallen, fallen, Fallen from my high estate!" Stuckley tried to soothe him. Softly, softly, Mr. Carey, you need rest. There is a bedroom adjoining, let me assist you to lie down there, and when your strength is recruited I will come again-that is, if you wish it." "Thank you-thank you-thank you. I feel weak and worn. I will lie down, if you will help me. Heaven be merciful to me. I must sleep. Oh, that I might close my aching eyes, and never open them more." Stuckley saw him laid down, then stayed some time longer, bathing his face and head with warm water, which operation appeared to soothe him much. He fell asleep. Squire Barclay and Josiah Stuckley then had some conversation in undertones in the room adjoining, and the |