Chicago Daily Tribune Newspaper, November 8, 1874, Page 5

THE CHICAGO DAILY TRIBUNE: SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1874—SIXTEEN PAGES. tears in his he, f not in his but, how- ever much ho may rebel againat it, he is perfoct- Iv helpless,—for bss he not tramped all over the city, day after day, in search of something to do, only to come home unsuccessful at night, gnd Cons of TFemale | wiiu his rect blistorod and amollen, and bis a Pro8 o petite, sharpened with cxerciso, voraciously de- o lail ey Ce manding food ? So be cannot hold hor back. Go ehe must; he knowsitas well as she. Bhe ¢ —_— nl.'lll.rt! ont, walks .;n nntill ahm.; egm‘an‘ i‘: S plfi 3 where men are mostly employed, but it is at su of the Miserics of WomeD With | Jabor as she can perform as weit =5 they. She fomd Tushands enters and asks for work. Shois thera informed Husbands. , | that they have ali the help thoy need. She pass- es on to another establishment, where she re- e ceives tho samo reply. Wli‘th fuiling courage she e ries again. This time sho meets & man with & 4 from Mrs. Swisshelm to WOmen | bonevolont - conntenance and kiodly maoner. Car **Have you a husband 7" he inquires. out of Work. —_— *Yea, sir,” is her roply. *“Wo have no vacancics. We have persons constantly applying for work, and, when we are in want of help, WE OIVE THE PREFERENCE TO MEN who have families dependont upon them for sup- port theso hard times,” he says with a com- filu:nut air, fecling satisfied with himsolf that iscellaneous Feminine Items. P miore Suffrage. ohe Chicago Tribune: e has shown his sympathy for men in enforced s BB S T ikion of African Slavery, | idlopot. 4 s Bine iical factions have had no roal bone. Tho woman with a hugband calls & smile to the Fg:::m; s0d, 88 neitber will accept Tem- g:;?fi‘;&“h“ him good-day, and politely bows o s a farebead, and the Hard-and-Soft- | “'she entors another place, with the ssmo_ re- is 100 abetruse for the masses, and the | sult, except that she is almost tempted to deny Movey ie people will not admit of the | that she has a husband ; but poor gohn, eitting meligenet of CC0 ate, it ia mot. impossible st homs a0 hnlfilms. she could not return xmion of C and teil him taas sho bad found work as an un- married woman or a widow,—it would scem like oot BUEERAGN death; and, if they could only get through theso w,umumpm“‘m& hard times, the future might still hold some = eacght 3¢ the emancipated negro | brightness for them. Bo, onca more summoning | Omoply B0 eolely for the purpose of | ber fortitude, sho goes where women nre em- sod B eatoreats ; and it 18 nof un- | Ployed at remanerative salaries, and applios for ts 0 3 a sitnation. tustiog 1 22 . s ofher will ¢ last fall back on the | “iHavg yon a husband? ™ is one of the quos- f the! mu;kh: boost them into power. And why | tions asked. v;n; Now that the sons of Ham have bad & :“!{z:u, fl;." she rcnlll delvithhn ningd:g heart. o i * It i true we employ ladies here, but we show, xhy o3 ive ho dsughtors of Japheth = PREFER ‘r_o‘arv: OUE WORK TO WIDOWS \chanco? « wiso policy in those old Demo- | W2 have families dependent upon them. | 1o might prev® ¢ Good heayons! " she thinks, “have I not a is whoss hesas are just siruggling to the | family dependent upon me? And jnst now the s third and last time, if they wonid | oldest of that family is the veriest chuld of them for the m‘z {tis Woman-Suffrag plank drifting past fiem. 0,j0goda! how quickly Mrs. Stsoton ‘iisa Anthony would shoulder the party and ey itinto Washington triumphant. ‘Thara bas been 1o ittlo eaid and written about s ‘WOMAN'S MISSION ; yhat the Lord designed her for, sod what He o't design her for. Whatever the plans of - the Almighty were, 80 far her work has been to all. Oh, Johp, John! what will bscoms of ns? "™ A 1ittl6 paler perhaps, with a little more glittor in her eye, she bows with-a faint smule, walks out, and returns to hor husband. Mns. 3L D. Wrxxoor. To Women Out of Werk. o the Editor of The Chicago Tribune: Sin: Pormit meto esy, through your eol- nmns, to all the women in this city who ars oat of employment, that I am not publishing & paper ight hi ng: tore s 4 {al_!v: fl ;’:‘;m :]:’g‘"’%n vicJu( z;’.fd it fo- | or carrying on suy business which requires as- BT e e undoiio; to roplace wEat he | sistance; and that, when I was, Inaver employsd man, womap, boy, beast, or machine, because he, she, or it wanted work, but always BECAUSE THE WOBK WANTED THEX; that, if I needed 500 women, I would not engage one who came to me with a top-heavy load of feathers, flowers, bugles, beads, bows, and bands, on her head, presented a painted face be- hind a masque veil, or wore a dress either trail- ing in the mud or beflounced, befolded, and bo- fuddled, until ehe looked hiks a French hen with Ber feathers all turned up, while she complainéd of hard times and waut of employment. I do not know any one who wants copying done, or wishes to employ 8 womsan to do office- work. I have po influence with any publisher by which I eould induce him topublish anybody's letters, or * pomos,” or stories. I know no ons who has any gentvel employment for which hs or she is willing to pay large wages ; snd my time i of importance to me. I am 57 years old; have spent the fortune my parents left me in belping the slave to freedom, and women ioto a position where they might help themselves. I gave my health, snd nessly my life, in hoepital- service ; am literally worn out, poor, and - ENTIRELY DEPENDENT OX MY OWN LABOR for a living, except when I break down alto- gether, and am obliged to accept the assistance my friends are always ready to giveme. I livo in very plain lodmings, aud wear a very plain dress and bounet from ten to fiftcen years, be- cause I cannot afford new; for I could not if I would, and would not if I conld, do that kind of literary work for which there is a ready market and a high price. One-third my work goes into editorial waste-baskets because I sgol.l it with my idioayncrasies: but I never gramble, and t; to owe no man a dollar. If I wore out of worl and threatened with want, I would go into s family to render such service as I could,—cook- iog, dishwashing, general housework, or any s tobuild up what Lo has pulled F .i‘-“z;'id ‘ow that men have ruled this oy 0 long, and mado such an infernal mess of it, why not let the women take hold and right it they can? "i’fi'.'gm o very strange that they are getting camorous for the rights of suflrsge, or apything G tuat will bo of assistance to them in getting o hresd. Of Lho mauy thonsands of working womep. educated, refined, and intellectual, in this city, how many czn provide for themselves td futies the comforts of life even, to say Ioting of the luxuries? While positions of Patlic trast are filled with ignorant, inefficient, cormapt men, who vote themselves 1nto easy hairs and mupificent salacies. ‘Erery year increases the number of women DYPENDENT ON THEIR OWN EXEBTIONS fora Iivelihood. It ia necessity, not choice, that as forced women to the front. They are con- cions that theylabor uder a disadvantage, and, {2 bopes to remova it, have struck out blindly for uffrage. The legsi right to deposit & bit of pa- yer in the ballot-box, tae first Tuesday after the fret Monday in November, ‘wil prove by no means the grest highway to affla- ence and Lappicess, as some of the sanguine onos appesr to think. But, witboot a doult, it would be a step gaiued in the advancement of in- dustry. Public oficers naturally select their euvordinates from those whose votes helped them into their positions, sad those whoso yotes will help to kecp them there. Of 400 employes in the Chicago Post-Office, ton are women ; smong the many clerks in the Board of Public Sorks, Comptroller’s_office, Treasurer's office, elc, there are only three ladies,—those in the Tax-Commissioner’s office; in the Recorder's oftice, a_majority; in County Treasurer’s office, coe, and, touse theTreasurer'sown words, '‘ The Yoliticians kicked sgaiust ” even that. Of the 400 clerks to be dischatged at Washington, 860 are womon, The reason is obvious: Threo ‘ondred and sixty men less means 360 votes less inthe comping ampaign. It is not much won- | gpecialty,—and take euch wages aa I could earn, derthat the msjority of womankind imagine | whether it was 81a week or 50 cents; and no that the ballot 16 the employer should put mo out of my place, wher- ever that was. Ishonld never be foundin the parlor when the kitchen was my aphere, and showd TAKE ERIDE IN DEING A GOOD SERVANT. Such oeing tho etandpoint from whica I view life, I cannot, of course, feel sympathy with the fine ladies who come, every day, robbidg mo of my time and strength in listoning to their ro- cifals of sentimental sorrows. 8o, to all women out of work, I ay, Tuke off your furbelows and set about the first honest labor which presents itself. JANE GREY SWISSHELM. P. S.—That Detroit frec Press man knows verr little about bonnets. Mine, which he mis- takes for a model of patient industry. is only a bit of silk basted looscly over a frame. I made it in one hour, sud it cost 81.45. Neitheris it ancient, 28 he hints ; for I have only worn it thres sum- mers. I take it off m church aod all otber pub- lic places, because anything which protects the head out of deors must be very injurious to the brain if worn in & heated room, snd bs- causs I would not. mock tho Apostde Paul by snbstituting any modern milli- per's invention for that covering of the head which he required the women of Corinth to wear when preaching or praying in public, and which to-day finds its only relative in the slat sun-bonnet common 1n rural districts. J. G. 3. EEY TO ALL THESE INEQUALITIES. 1tis quite true that, if women are .allowed the Jegal right £o vote, by the exerciee of that right fley may be able to pull themselves up a trifle. ‘Bat there is another side o the question. Does {be end justify the means? Can they afford to mathe Titk of the foul contamination of the kever hat raises them ? Men bave made of poli- tics s troubled and dirty pool, and the right of nfinge will bring with it many other rights that they have not counted upen, and will ot e for, The right to be abused, mirnn- farstood, and maligned, by the press; to mingle with snd be eneered at by tho Jowest elements of society; 10 aseociate hand in band with the worst of men, whose ' very glance is a Might, They will be obliged to clothe them- selies withs double-faced armor of resolution; to wowd back all timidity and eensitiveness; to salk slde by side with men in the harness, in fxn of eending them ahend to throw out tho iharp stones; to suppress their natural inclina- }iom ery, and r,nfuvnte a disposition to ewear o8t N Just, tleo, in proportion 28 women advance, it is advancement, x MEX WILL DETERIORATE. Man is Jike » balky horse, he witl do the whole croons. Tsks, for instance. A man who has a {family dependent on hus #mall salary. The wife 3ad mother, aoxions to do her part, decides to keep & fow boarders, or take in mewing,—imng- mmg that, with their united earnings, they will boable to placo themselves above want. Nine , limea out of ten, the hustand graduaily docs less and Jess, and generally gives up altogether stisst. Neceasityisthe spur that keepa the xorld going. When women commence to put llh:; ehoulders to the wheel, men will take theirs gL the face of this, it women insist upon it; thes have got it into their willful hesds that nffage they must have, and vote they will, FLat can be done, oply to let them try it ? BueTH. Miscellancous feminine Xtems., Anp Eliza " is Ann-Elizing Brighsm Young for the delectation of tho &uoplu of California. —Ope of the bridesmaids at a late wedding in Cosingkm, Ky., was the grandmother of the bride. % —A young 1ady fearful of becoming stout de- votes two bours to every meal, because she had read somewhers that ‘¢ Haste makes waist.” They eay Vinnie Ream ien't a sculptor—only » *persusive curly-head.” . —The plainest woman slive, if che reaches the age of 50, will be a pretty old one. ‘—An artificial (French) flower manufactory bas been started in Maine, snd the ladics are promised cheaper flowers ere long. —A good-looking and polite horse-car con- ductor pleased and married a rich widow in Sac- ramento recently, and now sll the young men are offering for situations on the street-rail- roads. —*1 am afraid you will come to want,™ said an’ old lady to a Young mentleman.g *‘I have come to want already,” was the reply. * I want your daughter.” i —Awoman in New Hampshiro, who was visited on ber 100th birthday by scrowd of relatives and frionds, talked all day without.showing fatigue. —Polygamy cannot be very unpopular among the women of Utah, when 10,000 of them vote to suatain it, as they did at the last Congressional election. —Mrs, Emperor Willism sets the Berlin ladies a good example, by dusting and ** fixing up " her OWD room every moiniog. —Girls, as you value your lives, don't get up and get breakfast in the mornivg. A young lady nitempted it one day last weck, and was burned to desth. Show this to your mothers. —A man begins to suspect the judgmert of his wife the moment she asks him for more money. The Woman with o Husband. vtk Bditor of ‘The Chicago Tridune : 5 8m: The woman who has s husband who -Bamke ber a comfortable home—that is, Bsup- M7 ber with the comforts of life, and notbing borec-usmally sighs for s few of its luxuries. Kore' esperially if they are possessod by her deacest neighbor does she desire them; and; in Kler to supply herself with them, sho takes into ::hmu some work etyled feminine, on which eipends her leienre-time, and earns a little Boney with which to purchsse tha coveted ar- ®. Ehe is in need of none of the necessnries itlite; she does not have to work for bread, or 0 even for necessary clothing ; therefore unvork at extremely low rates. Her em- er, finding the female labor market over- Tded by this class of women, pays cor- 'fl'gmflmsly low wages. Thus docs the woman ut lrisband, by reducing the price of Inbor, '.hwly Infure every ove of her sistors who for bread, but, at the samo time, places ieazs of support —Tho last Parisian ramor threatons the ladics B ' OUT OF HER OWK REACE ‘with a reyival of the big bonnots of 1834. B tima of need, —Three years’ imprisonment in the Penitenti- ary in Canada for refusing to support a wife. —Thersis good deal of sympatby felt for the Duke of Edinburg in consequence of a re- mark of his Maria, that if he had tie heart of a man it his bosom he woutdn't expect her to sit up all night,, alone with & colicky baby.—Brook- lyn Arqus. 2 —Mre. Byram, of Abingdon, I, fook 122 preminms (amounting to £1,150) on her cattle at the fairs this fall. —The wife of o poor colored man in Hicks- ville astonished bim last weck by giving birth to three male children. As preparations had ‘been made for dressing only one, the husband thinks this an outrageous attack of black male. —The New York Afail mentions ‘& Michigan woman who hes just made ber nicth husband the Liappiest man in the world.” She probably left him sooner than ehe left the others. ~ —The young Iadies of Al n, Ksn., bave resolved that *if the young men won't tome and see us, we will go and see them,” and most of the young men are now camping in the woods. —A Brooldsn woman sucs ber husband for di- vorce, one of his trifling offenses being the en- tering ‘of the room in which she was sleeping with a lighted candle in his hand, which he held 1n & position so that & drop of melted tallow fell into ber eye! . i —At Neuilly, in the suburbs of Paris, there is » harem, which she police have inquired into and—let alone. It is in the homo of & Turk. b Periods of distress like the present, when ¥y 253 is thrown out of employment, and b g €213 fmpossiblo to obtain it, his wife, Fanrag =eceanity, makes the attempt to be- vty bmd-_wmnur; and tbe firat thing that g teelf s that kind of feminine occnpa- b em-m she has passed her leisurs hours. ey 20k take her long to discover that what lm’la_mum. supply her with an article of ¥ill not furish fn0d for herselt and, It-our ladies had been accustomed to' 50 laws which govern trade, the inevit- of nngpl‘);u 'fid d&m):nd. they wounld 4 0 n| IAVe OVersuj m’“gst;;uh Labor whoo hes were ot el kenp), u.w_‘t, uotil they could ot even eamn !t&;{s own board, wuch less that Haedw g, ORAR With & husband, whoso acts, or borgg 201 hee nisters, have so far reduced the Rledpo ol that she camnot, in what are hh., mflmnlnu ‘walke of life, earn sufficiont wolf from the door, now turns her vhiels other avocations,—avocations, too, '"flm'hl may be eminently fitted, and b P2rvbace, she may have foliowed béfors ?““’tsh ‘5, Dhe detormines to make the at- ¥ direction, and goes out to Jook for gy, TOF WOIK ST wUST HAVE 7 G onok John sees her go with | tiny koives in_sheaths of t Constantinople, and only brings twelve to aris at & timo. fused to let bis young daugbter go to a candy- pull, and she disappenred. = The otber dsy £he returned, lifted eleven childran out of the wagon, and entered the bouse and took off her things as coolly as if she had not been goneover » day. g —Love's Language.—Young bride : ‘¢ Wasshe his own darling duckums 2 ” " * Yes, she was his ownty donty darling duckums?” Erxit old mar- ried man, enraged and disgusted. —At the Paris Morgue there was recently ex- sed the body of a young woman 8o wondrous- ff beautiful that the authorities caused a mold to be taken of her. She was seen to throw her- golf into the river. ] —A pewly-married couple in Copnecticut re- cently started out on the wedding tour accom- panied by a small-sized 3-year-old infant, which they had hired for the purpose of deluding the public into the belief that they were old stagars. —Spilkins got home about 2 o'clock on Sunday morning, indignantly pronouncing the eclipse a fraud. Mrs. 8., with a womaun's intuition, at once inspected the color of his breath, and order- ed him to bed in disgrace.—ANew York Commer- cial. : —A thrifty Mormon in Salt Lake City adds to his income by hiring out his wives to do washing aud honso-cleaning. —A bill bas passed the Orepon Senate which provides that husbands and wives without chil- dren may be considered divorced by simply ceas- g to live together, ; —There 18 3 man in East Lynne, Conn., who has kept his bed for six years, o he was once disappointed in love, He is't sick, but simply chronically sorry that be didn't got the His indulgent mother waits o him constaotly. —A gentleman writes to the New York T'imes that he has been hunting for a wifo for fifteen years, but has never found a well-oducated girl, occupying a good position in society, who was willing to accept himself and his 1,600 » year. He claims to be well-bred, good-looking, and ac- complished. —There is one thing no trne Bouthern 1{unng Iady will do—and that is, marry a yonng North- erner, no matter how handsome, respectable, or Emgblo—bum- he asks hor.—Richmond ( Va.) —The French keep up their litile jokes: *“ An Alsatian woman goes to confess: ‘ Father, I have committed a great sin.’ ‘Well!' ¢ dare not say it; it is too grievous.! ‘Come, come, courage.’ ‘Ihave married s Prussisn.' ‘Keep him, my daughter. That's your penanes.’"” —8aid the plaintiff in a divorce case at Augus- ta, Me., to Chiof-Justice Applaton: “I_don't want to say nnythingn agin the woman, Judge, bat I wish you could live with her a little while: you'd think I hsd told the truth.® The Judge ‘was willing to take his word for it. —A Washington lady, upon the marriage of ber dsughter, gave her intended son-in-law &3 in a sesled envelope with which to fes the min- ister. The enterprising youth abstracted two- thirds of the amount, and’ delivered the remain- ing 81 to the preacher. Now, with a commence- meont like this, what chance has the mother-in- law? Madame D., of Paris, had & maid-servant of 19, lively and pretty. The girl wauted to go to & ball, and asked her mistress fora franc, to sat- isfy her desiro to dance. Madame D. refused, and then the indignant young woman rushed upon ber and twisted her nock like a pullets, ;::zr which ahe went 1o the dance. The mistress —A St. Louis woman, separated from her hus- band, recently sent him s long liat of proposi- tions, upon his acceptance of which she wonld live with him again. Woman-like she indicated the only real eause of difference m a postscript, 28 follows : ** Your mother must leave the house at once and forever.” —A Milwaukes man says he'd like to be wreck- ed as Enoch Arden was, and come home and find his wife remarried. He'd go out of the gato :m; s hop sada ekip, instead of breaking his eart. —Seventy-five ladies of Rochester aro outina card denying that they aleep in their corsets in order to keep their forms graceful. —**Nobody surpasses me in this specialty,” #aid a Cincinnati girl to her new lover the atber night 26 sho gave him a parting kias with a re- port to it like that of a pistol. The sstovished youth walked away wondering where that gitl got her experience. —The London (Eng.) Ezaminer says: *“In sixty-six municipal elections, out of every 1,000 woen who enjoy equal rights with mon on the rogister, 516 went to the polls, which is but xnny—eiqht less than the proportionate numbar of men.” —Black-and-tans havo gone out of fashion, bless 'em! Tiny bull-dogs, just as emall aa na- ture will allow, now accompany French ladies on the promenado, and sit on the carrisge seat. The uglier tho better, as the morose expression of thoir pup features is a great requisite in tho.r selection. Even e parasolk, buttons on one's garments, and trinkets by the ecore, are sdorned With the bull-dog’s head; and. a sure sign of & Iady's visit to Paris this summer, is the canine phiz that makes tho kaob of hor natty umbrella. —Brooklyn Argus. —A female writer, speaking of affinities, ob- serves that a woman now and then meets a man to whom she can truthfully say: * On the bar- ren shores of time, O, my soul's kingman! I have found in thes my *pearl of great prico, and there is nothing moro precious out of heaven." I havenodoubt that this is the cage, 2and while I would not rudely mar the sweet po- etic beauty of the picture thus summed up, my experience teachesme that the womou who begin by talking in this sugary manncr are usually prove to throw ets and flat-irous at *‘their soul's kinsmen” after marmage, and to growl at the ;Penrl of groat price™ because he comes to bod th bis foet cold.—Haz Adeler. —_— A Costume Displaye. Lucy Hooper, writiog to the Philadelphia Press {rom Paria, §3ys - ** A very intorcsting ex- hibition is now open in the Palais do I'lodustrie in counection with that of ‘ Fine Arts Applied to Industry'—it is the Retrospective Museam of Costumes, a vest display of tho garments of by- gons agea. Here may be geen the brocades and cloths of gold and silver of the reigns of Louis XIV. and XV., the milk-maid caps and linen fichius of the Revolution, the spangled crapes ana embroidered cashmores of the Directory. Here, too, are numbers of old household articles per- taining to the Middle Ages, silver-monnted es- corcellos suspended .to eilvor-studded belts, portable silvor cases containg fork, spoon, and (oh! horror of horrors 1 such com- pantonship!) somotimes & comb a8 well; i silvor or em- boesed leather, these two last being adapted to be suspended to the fair ownor's girdle; speci- mens of the.graceful feather fans so familiar to our eyes in Yenctian pictures, with handles of silver or of ivory, sometimes studded with precions stones ; fans of tho Louis XV. period, some painted by Boucer or by Wattesu, some with a peep-hoie ingeniously contrived on their pictured surfnce, were among the most inter- esting articles. A model of a poor little baby of the Middle Ages, swathed in swaddling bands of silver brocade, as tight and stiff as ever was an Indian papoose, made me wonder how the poor little creatures ever survived the treatment and lived to attain to years of matu- rity. 'There was n curious model exhibi of Bobe, a celebrated Polish dwarf, who must, when living, have beat Tom Thumb all hollow; his uny soit of clothes, several of which were with the fizure, were apparently just sbout large enough for a six months' old baby. Buff oolil and coata of mail, some of the former with significant Lioles and ominous red stains visible on their surfaces, took me back to tho novels of Walter Scott and the days of chivalry and ro- mance. Nor were the heroines of romanco want- ing in the sbapo of their pictured semblances. There was Gabrielle d'Estrecs, sweet and fair enough in her quaint, stiff dross of scarlet and gold to fully joatify the infatuation of that very gallant King Heory IV., her blonde bair frizzed out into » very modern-looking coiffare, and her sparkling brown eyes, roscbudmouth, and dainty features all portrayea with lifelike touch. Thero was poor Mario Louise d'Orleans, that daughter of Heurietta of England who became the Queen of Charles IL. of Spain. and was poisoned by the Countess do Boissons, sad and eweot and delicate-lookiug ; - there was Ame. de Montespsn, regal to behold in a mantle of blue velvet, and with her bright, fair hair in a clond of ringlets about her un- draped and besutifal shoulders, her almond- shaped blue eyes looking Ianguishing from the canvas, a vory type of material and sensual beauty. Then we came acroes a picture of the woman who hurled this earth-horn Venus from her prond position and stepped into her place with s wedding-ring on her finger,—Mme. ds Maintenon,—but painted in ner eevere and stern cloaked and hooded and carrying a old 3 mnfl,‘fit wearing a profusioa of saperb guipare lsco. But one ol; LE:Qmout interesting of the portraits was one of that lady whom some au- thors call * Maris, unrecognized Queen of En- land,’ the beautiful Mrs, Fitsherbert, painted Ey Tamsay, ‘and showing he- 88 8 most lovely woman, with an aquiline nose, hrgbn::ne eves, and exquisitely molded throat and , and in- tellectual and womsnly countenance. She wess the simplest of white dresses, with s blus ribbon in herhair. Altogether, the exhibition was one of iutense and varied intorest.” —A Yankes editor throws up the sponge with the remark that “ It don’t pay to run a paper in a town where business-men read almanacs and He has 160 wives, but keeps the msss of them | pick heir testh with the tail of a herring.” . —Nineteen years ago » Tennessee father re- OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS. Defects in the .Educational System of Chicago. How We Have Undertaken to Do Too Much, Evils of the Oral Course---Inhuman Pushing and Crowding, The Studying-at-Home Scheme, and Its Inevitably-Bad Results. Defects of Our School-System. T the Eduorof The Chicago Tribune : Bir: There isno problem before the peopls to-day whicly carries more weight in its practical solution than the plain, homely one of public instruction. Itis s matter demanding but little embellishment to establish its claim among thinking people as & question worthy of their consideration, and callipg for their best judg- ment in the manner of its administration, inas- much as it tonches not merely the pockets, but the fina! intellectual success, of the nation. Relatively, Chicago stands high among Ameri- can cities in this regard; but that our school- system has defects, and glaring ones, we must not presume to deny. It is our purpose to look » little on this side, and to point out & fow of these defects, even though we may suggest no remedy, 8ave by negation. Firat, thon, we have UNDERTAKEX T0O MUCH. The natural characteristic, fo go ahead, has outrun itsalf, and oar little ones are falling by the way. We grans that, in all races, some must 1ag behind ; but we inmist that when, day after day, the brightest and beat take up the line of march with weary air and uncertain feet, there is something radically wrong. Shall we never learn to make haste slowly? Some years since, the School Board of this city, to give variety to what else might be irksome, added to the so- called fundamental branches—Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Geography, etc.—what was designa- ted as an oral course. This was not intended to be a epecial study,—a matter requiring text-book drill; but sapplementary in character,—an agreo- able side-isane growing naturally and incidental- 1y out of the daily talks over lessons expauded and expounded by the intellizent teacher, The intelligont teacher treated it as such,—wisoly proportioning the extont of her communications, 10 the capacity of those under her charge,—al- ways aiming to incits them to think, reason, and question, with the basy brain of childhood, concerniog the every-day plenomena before paseed by nnhoeded. Buch a teacher by no moans endesvored to exhaust a subject; while the tescher lsoking [resource or information made it a toedious, droaded task, by presenting philosophy, pbysioiogy, and various other Natural Sciences, in cambrous form, to children whom they had ncver stimulated to ask the roason of a single fact in Nature. Astime grow, the bugbear increased, until the knowledge that the teacher's thoroughness of instruction on these points was to be TESTED DY CLASS-MARKS, led to renowed exertion on her part in over- whelming pupils whose *oral books” already presented & formidable amount of copied matter far begond their comprehension. “[his was through foar chat,i by comparison, the teacher would suffer; that, in her failure to bring before young children all possible illas, trations of a fact, she wouid be dotected through tbe Argus-like watchfnlness of a Principal, who, sitting comfortably in his office, witu = small library of Natural Bcience at his elbow, and grade-book in hand, makes use of the means which the pard.of Education and ths.re- soarclies of other men liaye put into his bands for * flooring” s class of small children, and thereby humiliating their woncher. ‘T'his fortify- ing process. he has emploed 10 often that lis can balance himseif beauufully oo the line of de- msrkation between the grades, aud woo betide the unlucky subordinate who bas not recon- poitered the fleld eome distance in advance of the spot where tha battleis to bo fought. It is this proponndiag of sbstruce Ecientific puzzles that has wrought tbe mischief, until what was intended s a recreation. while really oducating tae child; by scoding his busy thoughts out into easy and natural channels, has degenerawsd into A POSITIVE TNJURY, making the question of 1ts total rejection one of recent agitation. And this fairly illostrates the errors of our whole school-system from beginning to end. Our teachers are, for the most part, self- oducated, self-supportiug, hard-workiag women, who cannot afford, through fancied inefficiency, to lous their positions in this city, since such dismissal wouid seriously affect thoir advance- ment elsewhere ; and so they work beyond tneir men;,:h, adopt means directly contrary to what they believe for the best interests of their pupils, and go home, night after might, knowing that they have done an absolute wrong to thoss piaced under thoir cara. % And yot tho parents pass it by as s thing of course,—never opce looking into the matter; never asking why their children are so_languid, so stupid, #o 1pactive. Siuce they will not in- vestigate for themselves, let us force the knowl- edge upon thom, and tell them, in part, why it is 8o, At the head of our schools aro Principals ap- pointed for the purpose of supervising, but, if the rules of the Board of Education mean any- thing, not for controlling, tbe labors of tue teacgem who constitute the working force of their schools. These rules distinctly imply, if they g: Dot absolutely state it, that tho method is to OPTIONAL WITH THE TEACHER, whois o be judged by results. . Harmoniously working together, cousulting freely as to the best mesns of advancivg the school, such & body of instructors could not fail to exert a favorable iutldencs upon those whose interosts are iovolved in their action. Unfortu- ately, howover, it too often happons thata Principal relegates to himself a povier which he doea not poseess, and attempts to_trammel the Iabors of the subordinate teachers by presenting suggestions which aro actually commands, since_ the teacher knows that, upon their failure to adopt them, the Priucipal will use his power with the authorities to have them removed, on the ground of their Iack of co-operation with him in bis aim to improve the school. The balance of power being with the man, throngh his citi- zenship and bis knowledge of wire-pulling, the woman yields, because it becomes a question of bread and butter. And so the wrong reacts upon thousands of children, powerlees to protest: for these suggestions themselves are not the outgrowth of Superior ability on the part of the Principals, but spring from the selfish ambition of -those who desiro to reap the benefits of othere’ Inbor, and distance their fellow-Princi- in the race for figures. o That this laudable ambition may be gratified, teachers and pupils - . ARE SLAUGHTERED ISDISCRIMISATELY, whilo they who are largely 1esponsible for it lrx;k on, crimnally ignorant or careless of re- snlts. '*at our assertions are mot too strong, and that Jiv: ~rthods now employed in our schools are worku; 2calculable injury, can be_casily §'°"“L One Principal, through good luck rought about by the faichful Iabor of a subor- dinaze tencher, succeeds iu promoting an unu- sually-good class on an astonishiogly high aver- age. He is nowise reluctaat to mention tho fact. It gets noisod about, until the contagion spreads to such an extent that its influence is felt 1o every school in the city,—felt im the ichuman pusliing and crowding which are its consequonce. It is noticeable that, through- out the excitement, nobody seks, * What does the class know? Ifss it been thoroughly aod carefully instracted, or, parrot-like, only been taught to give stereotypedanswers tostereotyped questions?” . But rather, **What waa its aver- age?" To muchadegreeis this baneful influ- ence felt, that every teacher aud every child in our schools are injared by it,—the one conscious- Iy, the other noconsciously, driven with unspar- ing hmw those who look on and ahead merely to parsonal aggmndizement. . The effece 18 obviuus and TERRIDLY POSITIVE. The teachers are worn and_jaded st morning, a8 well 28 at night. The children sre crowded with 80 much to memorize, that, if Natare docs not _mssert itself, and, through the physical strain upon the system, compel submisaion to resson and the removal of tbe child from snch severs discipline, the intellect mast E.y the penalty, and become weakened through over- exartion in the atlempb 10 grasp 109 maoh, or | through the development of the recep apmty at the expense of the reasoning facul- 5. Bat, back of the principals, thero is & power that should make itsalf felt in the ri hl%iroc~ tion. Tho Board of Education, instead of wink- ing at the vanity and inordinate selfishness of {hose whom they have placed in charge of what should be the most sacred trust i their gift, should proceed to undo, as far as possible, this wrong.” They are v fault in esteeming theso men practical educators. How can a man be & practical educator when moat of his time is given to everything besides sctual teaching? Most educational Boards are, like our own, composed of business-men, -who can ill-afford the time to devote themselves to tha work they have undertaken; and 8o investigation goes by de- fault. Besiaes, they were educated ata day when the demands upon children at echool were less sevara than they are now, and, in view of the perfected appliances to assist the pupil, they rn:i;et that his capacity is not correspond- ingly enlarged, and so demand of him what they tuemeelves never did perfcrm, and 4 .NENER COULD HAVE PERFORMED without having paid a terrible price for it. Loards of Education must remomber that *“ There is no royal road to learning.” In that respect times bave not altered. We do not charge upon our Board willful commission of wrong; but we should foil in our duty to the children in our achools if wedid not say that, in their omiseion to look closely into thia matter, they are guilty. Snme time since, recognizing the injury arising from too long confinement in the school-room, the Board of this city reduced the school-day to five hours. Thoy did not, at the same time, ro- duce the lshor. The omission needs no com- ment. It carries its absurdity on its faco. - And now, not satiafied with the wrongs and_ sbuscs that, from time to time, have crept into the system, the present school-year has witnessed an innovation MORE BARBAROUS STILL, and more productive of evil consoquences, in that, while 1t combines the faulta of all the rest, increaged by a greater wrong than any provious method, 1t has no redeeming featurea. Princi- pals condemn it ; teachers condemn it ; children condemn it ; and parents condemn it. We do not know with whom it origmated, but we cannot help thinking that the man or men who favor the ontiro rejection of taxt-books are sowing the wind preparatory to reaping the whirlwind, Let us analyzo it briefly: Our schools have ten grades,—the firat being the highest. In tho lowest saven no text-book is [unni save Reader, Speller, and Arithmetic. The first. second, sud third, retain text-books with amendatory sug- gestions_rolative to manner of using the same; but, in the others, the teacher is to talk and the child to listen. ~Listening for fivo hours a day. or, at the least, three aud a half, gots to be somewhat tiresome if constantly followed. How many grown people could listen contentedly throngh that same length of time, day after day, even tothe most entertmning lectarer ? 131t oot asking too much of our children that they shall porform shis impossibility ? Let the teachers be mnover so strong, their lungs must give way under thia strain, and it is simply sui- cidal in them to attempt it. Itis NOTIIIXG LESS THAN MURDER on the part of thote who demand it. As usnal, tho strongest effort must be made by the most poorly paid. It becomes a simple questiou iu proportion : If a minister wears oat his throat in one year by preaching twice a week oue hour at a time, how long will it take & school-teacher to achieve the same feat by coustautly talking twenty bours per week for for.y consecutive weeks in every year ? Then the injury ioflicted upon the child. Take from him his books, and yoa jake from hiwm the ‘means of application and Investigation. You make bim a passive receptacle for whatever you may choose to tell him. ~You throw him into tha bad babit of taking everything on trust. and nsver trving to prove for bimself that certain facts are governed by certain rules, Under tlus system, the child may possibly grow to bo a learned man; but he can never bae said to be oducated. The teacher’s labor is more than double ; for, besides makiog Iaborious preparation for work that could be as well done without such elzborate preliminaries, sho bas thelabor of telling directly from some text-book what the child could read for himmself ; for it 13 not, of course, presumable that the teacher will give the child the benefic of original research ouly. If tho merits and de- merits of this schome were to be weighed in the balauce, THE YERITS WOULD SWING HIGH. Itis all very weir to talk about systoms being de- vised for the peueht of pupil rather than teacher; but it docs uot take » Solomon to see that what affects tho tcacher usfavorably reacts upon the pupil. No teacher ‘performing ten, twelve, or fourtesn hours' latior daily i v (and this is not an oxaggeration, though tho hours of such labor are nominallv five), is fic to appear before s class ; and no class talked to incessantly on the pre- vious day is fit to appear for fresh attack from any teacher, especially the wearied one of the day before. ‘Teasher aad pupils are tired. Through fatigue comes irritation ; througl i« tation, disorder; and, through disorder, con- flict. So they act and roact upon esch osher. There is aaother objectionabla featura of this lan. By an abeence, a child losea what caomot replnced, because he has nothing to which he cau refer for past lessons ; and the teacher can- wot if sue would, reproduce her *‘ talk " of the lost days. Tho chiain of conoection beinf; broken, the interest is leasened, and to his habit, of 1dleness the pupil adds that of ivatteution ; and who can blame Lim? Overworked before with the caro of twice as many pupils. as thoy con)d well instruct, what wonder that, with this added and worse than unnecessary burden, the teachers of this clty are well-nigh disheartened ? . WHERE 18 THIS ALL TO END ? ‘When the labor of the day is over, both teach- ers and pupils are too tired for vigorous physical exercise, or even mild correctives of this kind; 80, instead of strong, healthy muscle, glowing cheeks, and springing s:eps, we have sof:_flesh, pale faces, and dragging movements. And these are to bo our men and women of a few years hence! The only ones not suffering irreparable injury from such = conrse of treatment are the incorrigible dunces, whose physical nature, re- volting at euch abasement of all their faculties, sssorta itself by a duliness that will vield neither to the threats nor the persuaaions of their teach- er. These are our only reliance for the future. Heaven help the native American of the twen- tieth century, unless we become imbued with common senge at & very early date. E. Studying at Home. To the Editor of The Chicago Tribune : 8ir: Tho editor of Tue TRIBUXE has the thaoks of the majority of tho patrons of our public schools for the articles against the acheme to make our schools of higher grade merely places of recitation. As now conducted, many of the grammar schools approach this false standard, and are littlo more than places for. recitation. During the session, little or no time is given for study. The pupils are stimulated to reach s high degree of excellence, but are re- quired to do all the studying at home. * A child who comes from home with imperfect les¢ona 18 HELD A CRIMINAL. Teachers often reproach those who do not study, at home, and become indignant does the child attempta to explain that it is dificult or impoesi- ble to study at home. The recitation, instead of being made helpful to the child, is made simply a test-exammation, and disgrace or hu- miliation awaita & failure. The teacher meets all excusos by the reproachfil, *“You shonld have studied at home.” Let us ses what this system entails. . j The pupils spend eix hours in school every day. ’flm is -Bexl;w time that should be devoted to study and recitation. We build schoolhouses snd employ teachers that this studying may bo done_ under advantageous circumstances. We could teach our children ourselves; but this would make home a gchool-room. We prefer to ay & tax, and have the teacbing done elsewhere. Cv. expect the teaching to badone 1n the schools, and do not expect that it sbell be so conducted s to entirely absord the attention of the child, and destroy, by long-continued effort, ‘all the elasticity of his nature, But make the scbool- hours merely hours of recitation, and WHAT IAVE WE? Ambitious boys and girls come home with the lossons for the morrow mapped out. They are anxious about their standing, and ambitious as to promotion. They have boen in school six hours ; but they must to work at once to prepare for the morrow. All homs-arrangements must adapt themselves to this demand for study. Tbe ‘business-man, tired and worried, aud longing for home-rest, finda that he is plunged intos school- room flurry. The lessons are ail important, and his comfort or convenieace nothing. He must not only bear the noise, but be must participate in discussion, and help the youug peopls over: troubles. Ho must get down on the floor and pezzle over arithmetical prob- lems, and must parse all the hard words in the grammar-lesson. The full weight of the work of tesching comes on him. He 18 the firat line of battle, 80 to speal, to re- ceive all the firat _sttacks, aod to overcome all the difficulties. This continues often until 9 or 10 o'clock at ni{nt, and, h:l Lhax; hl?D:; to be Bome stiff problems, perhaps an hour later. Enppnu%he bead of the family is not good at figures, what & TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF WEAR AND TEAR this nighdy stimggle invelves! The problems to his children, only he per judgment. He is ambitions to suo- ceed, becanse who wants to acknowledge failure to hia child ; and he works hard. -He gets his old notions of the rule of supposition mixed up with the latter-day keen ' an- alysis; and, if he does mnot confuse ihe boy struggling with the momentons question of how fnng it takes a bear to eat a wolf under a startling combination of tragic cir- cumatances, it is simply a wonder. The analyt- ical youngster disturbs _his suppositive declara~ tions (derived from Talbot, in the days when ciphering was sn accomplishment, and when it was the fashion vo shoot apple-seade at the gitls) by constant pert references to his papa's inabili- ty to analyzs; and, when the result is arrived at, eaid youngster sees the point, makes the appli- cation, and takes all the credit of *gatting the Then comes the grammar-leason in which tho hesd of family, holding fast to Kirkham, of tbe ancient day, puts formulss into his boy's head, which the teacher, the noxt day, wonders at and con- demns. Then he pronounces geographical names for his boy as they were pronounced when he went to school, and gets the boy into trouble again. If the parents aro not well-informed, the con- fusion is worse, and the discipline WORSE THAN NONE AT ALL. There is constaut battle between the parents who want their children’s time, and the children who cry lessons whenever work is mentioned. Tho Buperintendent of Schools mays traly that it is the teacher's duty to belp ~‘the pupil in_ systematic _study a3 well a3 m recitation. In short, school is a place for study; and the tendencyto make it only a place for recitation will meet with strong condemnation from those most interested. The peoplo, while interested in the sducation of their cluldren, and while willing to do their partin asuieting the teacher, do not favor any system that throws the hard work to their homesand ou themselves, and involves a labor of eight or_ten hours a day to the child, instead of six. Silk as an Article of Dress, The famous tapestries of Europe are yielding their glories, losing their colors that rivaled the glow of painting, whils their traditional richness is turned to hereditary tatters. Tapestry work wag nsuperb craft, a kind of needle-painting, which copied scenes of battle, chase, and altar, dravm by master artists, and wronght in the leisare of noble dame or Princess of the blood- royal. The most famous pieces, like that of Baveux, wrought by Queen Matilda and her maids, have stood the ravages of moth and decay for hundreds of years, till it 18 & wonder that snred or fragmeut i8 left to tell the tale. But the dragon hangings and the embroidered robes among the Imperial heirlooms of China outdate the Bayeux tapestry, and yet would seem. by the side of it. modern creations. Tho wonderful vegetable dyes of which the East guards jealonsly the secrat have not lost their power, and the pare and heavy silk, of which they were woven, looks as if the band of Time- had- only passed npon them to admire their excellence.’ No contrast could show the difference of materials more fully. Silk, in its natural state, has much the same durability which is a quality of human hair, that is ofcen the only relic found in tombs when all other re- mains have turned to qust. Modern instances of the same contrastare not hafd to find. Compare the chair-cushions wronght in silk twist and filoselle, which are treasured in old houses, with similar works in wool, and see how far the one outlasts the other. The purse of silk and beads which Penelope ‘Winslow knit for her husband Josiab, afterward Goveroor of the colony, is still shown at Ply- mouth, a pretty affair of blue, with gold-colorod stars. Both silk and color are but slightly im- paifed, while of all the work in wool, which busied B0 many fair fingers at the time. not a trace remains. *“The moth shall eat them up like wool " has long been s proverb of things doowmed to early decay. The reason why the durability of silk is not popu- arly recognized is because the old - and lionest methods of working it have been set aside, and it has been 50 injuriously treated with dyes. and mixtures 8 tolose its ancient prestige, and come to be regarded as an ephem- eral material. Spun silk for underwenr lasts the best woven merino must be renewed at least ounce in the same time. The writer has seen silk stockings handed down from mother to daughter, after ten years' wear, that hardly showed » trace of mending. The finest Balbriggan or thread hose are highly esteemed if they last three vears as woll Under the test of every-dsy wear, pure silk proves, beyond comparison, the most satiefactory of fabrics. The garments of the Chiness and Japanese, which are constantly washed and changed like our linens, prove this ; and, to come bearer home, what lady has ever seen tho last of a resl Indian pongee? How long will an all-wool cashmere at 22.50 & yard last against 8 genuino silk st the same price, such sili as is now much inrogue for traveling suits to wear on the tour of Europe? The cash- mere will wear out sooner than the silk will if it is nothing but silk, and has not been dyed so aa to injure the fibre. Water does not affect 1t as seriously as wool, for the latter shrinks on being wet, and &ilk is not faulty in that respect. It is well known that the best aipacas for endurance are those half &ilk, and such dressesaredipped in cold water to refresh them, or are sent io the Isundry after being out in the rain, andironed to look like new." Silk shows what it 18 worth in such case, for the reason that it is not easy to load an alpaca with injurious dyes. No better proof of the superiority of silk over other ma- terials for service can be shown than the lasting nature of American silks. These pure fabrics revive again the notions of an earlier day, when a silk dress, if nots garment fora lifetime, at least outlasted the mood of Fashion which ordered it. Wool eiciliennes, casbmeres, and cloths have their place in the wardrobe for warmth and quiet refinemeant, bot the dress of all others is & good solid silk, toadd to one’s atylo while ils first good looks are on, which means not one season, nor two only, then to as- sume its highest service for daily wear, or shop- ping, or jonrneys. Always turning up respecta- ble and ready for any emergency, from an im- promptu sociable to a botel dinner. Women who dress the most know the value of such & dress, for it takes the wear off choicer costumes, snd women of moderate taates prize it because it spares both their purse sud their feclings by its steady worth. Thoy know, too, that these good gualities can be affirmed with certainty of the Cheney-American silks, because, being entirely free from chemicals which injure tho silk, their fine wearing quality is sasured ; while in the case of many French silks numerous things are added to produce lustre and ~weight, which destroy the quality of the eilk and canse it tocrack on the slightest wear. Other brands may often combine these excel- lences, but the American silks of Cheney Broth- ers we have never known to fail. They unite softness, weight, and durability, weariog that half-lustre, pleasing to the artist eve, beyond th. gloss of eatin, or the finish of brighter silka. Economy is on the side of silk for constant wear, and oo that score, if no other, it is destined in tire to be worn for twenly occasions where even in these lavish days it is only nsed for one. _———— Archmological Discovery in France. An interesting azchological discovery Lias, ac- cording to the Prench newspapers, been receatly ‘made near Mount St. Odile, at Obernai, Lower TRhine, by M. Felix Youlot, an Alsatian archol- ogist. On excavating a slight eminonce resem- bling an ordioary heap of stones, within the area of the ruins known as the Heathens' Wall (Hei- denmauer), bo came upoa &ix sarcophagi, which afforded, 1t is said, incontestabls evidence of burial before the Roman period. Inove of the sarcophagi was found a sharp stons hatchet, while the others contained objects characteristic of the age of stone and bronze, Two graves, dug like the Scaudinavian sepulchres, in the torm of" a die, which gsemed to Lo intended to receive bodies in a sit:ing poature, contained tio fragments of s skull of extraordinary thick- ness, and also portions of a massive silver ring. But the most important discovery was that of 3 cofiin about G feet long, in which was the complota skeleton of & man. From the or- unameats found with him it is conjectured that he was a Gallic priest. The ornaments coueist of a collar, artisticaliy made of yellow amber, Ispis-lazuli, and glass beads; large gold and silver car-nngs, an iron Knife, an amulet of based eartl, A stone hatches similar to those five yoars if of good quality to begin with, while, which, according to the descriptions given by the abcients, were carried by the !g‘uxda; . handsome glaas vessel, supposed to bo a saori- ficial cup ; shoes ric yu};rnod with gold and silver ; and a gold ring covered with hieroglyph~ ics, and in an excellent state of preservation. vestigations at the foot of 1 o M. Voulot came upon tha remains, n great abundaace, of a similsr race ; aud from the condition of many skalls which he found, and the presence of warlike implement he was lad to infer that he was upon the scene.:] some early struggla of the Celtic and German races. The resultof the discoveriea in regard M:J:ha ?fixd}:}mlnu&u s!:id to prove that it dates not only lore the Rom: but bsf Gelts whom they conquerad?u' heopeeg OLD JACK FALSTAFF. The Original of the Chauracier ns a Stepiather. The London Saturday Review of Oct. 17 con- tains an entertaiving article eatitled ** Fastolf ar & Stepfather.” Sir Jobn Fastolf is regarded ar the original of Shakspeare’s witty character of Jack Falstafl. We sbould be sorry to beliava that the fat old Knight of the play waa capable of certain things which are set down it the fol- !owlmg extracts as having beon dono by ths orig- inal: “ Fastu)f himsels was of a good and wealthy family, which flourished not without crediz in the eastern counties during the thirteenth aad two following centuries. A yomuger son'a som, and a minor at the time of his father's death, John Fastalf early msde acquaintance with the harsh customs which he afterwards himself used to such purpose. We first hearof him in Irelaad, whither he had accompanied Richard IL, snd where he seems to bave remained during the Jorerament of Sir Stophen Scropo, who was ord-Deputy ander Heory IV., or rather Lord Deputy's deputy. S8ir Stepnen and his two brothers were the husbands or the Tiptoft co- heiresses, and Castle Combe was the inheritance ' of the Lady Millicent. = When Sir Stephen left her a widow, which he did in 1408, she was rich, if not very young, and her children were minors. Her little boy was 8 or 9 at the moss, and bis sister—or there were but the two living— probably younger. Sir Stephen died in Ireland, aud in those days Ireland was a long way from Wiltshire. How was she to return with- ont an escort, aud who was o well fitted to. undertako the charge as tho young Norfolk Knight who had been long devotod to her lamented Lord? He was now 23, while sha was 36 at the least. But such small diecrepaacies were little thought of then, and widows, es- pecially rich ones, were not expected to wait loug in mourning. Lady Millicent, if ooe so- count i o ba trusted, was, Lowever, very dis- creet in this matter, for it was not until Sir Stephen hiad been dead for eleven months thst she accepted tho hand of Sir Jobn. She showed some prudence in her preouptial arrangements, for her new husband bound himself, wo read, ta pay her £100 per year] pinmoney, and the pay- ment was continded untill 1445, Except in_this matter, there is little further mention of Lady Millicent ; but & poem ia still extant which was possibly written by her son, in which she is eulo- gized for ber virtues, and her life of thirty-seven years as a wifo of Sir Jobn Fastolf is_spoken of, but without a word as to conjugal felicity or any such topic. **Bir John had no sooner married the dowager than hie began to arrange for the heir’s dsposal 8088 to best sdvantage himse!f. A still more distingmshed and scarcely leas famous Knight is brought on the ecene, One or two recent rovela- tions have done much to dethrone Sir William Gascoigue from the pedestal he long occupiea. His concurrence with Fastolf on this occasion is among them. Waile the boy Scrope was stilt of tender years, Gascoigoe purchased his wardship fora sum which msy be calculated at abeut £3,500, in our money. Nor was the minor’s gon- scut asked. A complaint 18 etill extant in which Stephen suys that the trausaction took place in the very vear of Fastolf's marriage with his mother. But within a short time we find Lim back againin the custody of his stepfather. ‘Whether Gascoigno's disgrace on the accession of Heary V., or whether the loss of her sole re- maiuing child made the Lady Millicent wish for Der son and persuade her husband to grant her the favor, we capnot guess, but poor Scrope says: * Ho boughte meand solde me as & beste, against all right and lawe.” He farther enumer- ates & number of injuries and damages in gaods and chattels which he had received from his stepfather, but the grest point of the complaint is of n different kind. While he waa away from home he received_some bodily hurt, we cannot nuw say what, and, if we interpret bim aright, ho became a cripple for Life, for he *took sykeness 3 _xilj or_xiv yere's swyng, whereby,’ ho *Tam disfigured in person, and shull be whilst live.!” Ho does notszem to have ever been Kuighted, and probably some deformity pre- cluded him from carrying arme. ¢ Stephen Scrope’s grievauces were destined to be of very long standing. Fastolf survived till 1459, and, having once grasped the estata, was in no hurry to let it go. Though his wife died thirteen yoars before him, he continued in possession Jduring his life, for he had persusded his step-son to sign o deed_while very young, and probably unaware of the meaning of the act, by virtue of which he remained undisturbed, ‘even refusing the yo man’s very reasonablo request to have Castle Combe to farm. To have granted it would bave been to interrupt the courve of action on which he had early entered. Duriog his tenancy of the estate he adminia- tered its affairs chiefly throngh a certain Wilt- 1am, whose surname I8 a question, for he was callod both Botoner and Wyrcester, a maa not unknown to fame, of whom a full account is to be found in the Paston Letters and other places, To Fastolf he made himself very usefal as staw- ard, secretary, herald, and indeed factotum. Many documents in his bandwritiog bave come to light lately, and are noticed by the local arch- wologists. Wyrcester’s administration 18 woll il- lustrated by the fate of a sporting yarson, ane John Grens, who was fined forty marka for some dopredations in the park, and by that of a pre- decessor of Grene's, who, with three other cler~ gymen, was convicted of poachiug, and duly smercod by the remorseless William. Arother of Fastolf's moet ready instruments was Thomas Howys, or_Howis, was_also parson of Caatle Combe. He became Sir John's executor, and persusded him to leave sorae money for the re- pair of the churches on his cutates ; it i probably owing to this bequest thatthe Fastolf armsjap- pear on the Castle Combe towwer. . “If Fastolf was hard upon Scropein the mats ter of the estate, ho was not more lenient in that of the wardship. He took him to France in one of his expeditions, bus at Honfleur the young man fell iuto disgrace with the local authorities, and had the mortification of seeing Sir John take part agaiost him. Re managed to escape to England, aod took refuge with his mother. But it is very characteristic of Fastolf to find that be insisted on Scrope moking a pavment for his board at home, and at last turnea bim ot of doors on acconnt of his impecuniosity. Soon after this, Scrope married, in order. 5 was said, to find a home, but how marriage conduced to that end does not very clearly appear. Faatolf, perfectly cousistent, now dewauded his fine of two marks for his ward's marriage, and actually obtained tho moncy after incessant importunity extending over maby years. +A mde light is tlitown upon Stephen Seropo’s character by a masuscript 1 the Harleisn col- lections, of which Mr. Dlades gives an acccunt in his * Life of Caxton.’ Itis on paper, and con- sists of a trauslation of the ‘Dits Moraux des Philosophes,” which in a different transiation was Caxton’s ficat book printed in England with & date. Tho pnf:r is in poor condition, but part of the colophon is still legible and runs thus; +Now late traslatyd out of French tuug in to Englysh the yer of onr Lord Mcceel. to Jhon Fostalf Knyght for his contemplacon and solas, by Stevyn Scrope squyer sonue in Jaw ta the eaid Fostalle. Deo grucias.’ This dedication places Scrope in an amiable light ; howthe offer~ ing was received does not appear. g “ Bcrope’s marriage, or marrisges, furnishies another carions example of Fastol’s disposition. One of the first of the Paston Letters 1sares quest to bis stop-son to use his influence to cor- rupt a certain Judge, his wife's father. Whether this was Sir William Yelverton or Sir Richard Bingbam does not appear. Scrope was twice 1arried, and each time to the daughter of a Judge, and Faatolf wishes 1t to b delicately con- Veyed that a reward might bo had by » perver- sion of justice. - - < ¢ At length, in November, 1459, after an illness which Insted 148 days, he died at Caitor. His il wtill exists at 3lagdalens College, Oxford. and some account of it and other documents re- isting to him occurs in the recent repork of the Historical Manuscripts Commission- It was made in June, therefore near the begioping of his illness, but was only proved by Paston and Howis, his executors, in 1469. Fastolf himself had tanght them that possession is nine points of law, and they did not fail to make use of their knowiedge. - His wishes were ncver carried out as to the roundation of & college at Caistor, and much of his property was wasted in litigation ss to the authenticity of & will * nuncapative,’ which ho way said to havs made oo his deathbed. ‘['wo thinga seem certsin —namely, shat Stephen Scrope, by whoee proper- ty he had 8o largely incicased bis own means, re- cuived nothing from Lim, and that Alagdaleno College, which has hitberto reckoned him among its benefactors, and still owns some lands which once wero his, only obtained them by the adroit~ ness of Bishop Waynflete, the rest of the estato going 10 Sir Joho Paston. As for Castle Ce:nbe, when poor Scrope at last came into possession, ho was already aa 0ld man.” i