Aid Yourself, and

in this. The waiter will take three cups in his left hand, and, tilting the kettle with his right, will manage it so cleverly as not to spill a drop of the boiling water. Though the skin of the Chinese is delicate, these waiters are not at all distressed at holding the cups of boiling water in their hands. When one of them has filled his three cups, he will fill others in like manner, and, piling six or eight of them on his left hand, go round to supply the tables. When filling the cups at the table, he has a kettle of boiling water, and, though several persons are sitting round, he will, as it were, shoot the water into each cup so nicely as to exactly fill it and no more. Friends who have accompanied me to a tea shop have often expressed surprise that the waiter should do this in so adroit and confident a manner, without scalding those who were sitting so near, and who did not pause in their conversation for an instant, though prepared to administer a sharp scolding to the waiter had he faltered or hesitated in the supply of their wants.

To entice customers, the proprietor sometimes invites a scholar who has the gift of eloquence or story-telling to speak on certain days or evenings. A table is placed on benches at the side of the hall, with a chair for the scholar, who takes his place, and, having been supplied with tea and tobacco, begins his story. His subject is often taken from some historical novel, as "The History of the Three States,' or he will recite some classical story, or an adventurous history, or personal narrative. After leading his hearers to the point of the story, he pauses while his open fan is sent round for the contributions of the liberal. Îf he is satisfied he will proceed, but if not he waits until they give more. The story is all the more telling when it partakes of the dramatic, enlivened by a little singing, to the accompaniment of a violin. The object of the proprietor is to attract

strains the leaves aside as he drinks, and proceeds on his journey refreshed and invigorated. When a student or a workman expects to remain for any time at a place, he will take with him his teapot filled with weak tea, and refresh himself by sucking it from the narrow spout, which is somewhat difficult to pour from. Wherever you go, you will find the teacup or teapot; in shops, upon the counter, customers being perfectly welcome to use it as they choose, or when a visitor enters a house he is supplied with hot tea. A small table is at once placed by his side, and, a cup of tea being handed to him, he is politely asked to partake, after which he makes his enquiries or enters on his business.

Wealthy persons, by subscribing together, and at times entirely at individual cost, will provide, during the heat of summer, large buckets or jars filled with weak tea for the refreshment of the public. These jars, with a cup floating at the top, are placed in a small mat shed in the public thoroughfares, in the main roads leading to the cities, or wherever large numbers of coolies or porters frequent. All comers are invited to partake, an announcement stating the tea to be provided for the refreshment of weary and thirsty workmen and travellers. A crowd may be generally seen around the bench on which the jar stands, while travellers, hot and dusty, sit in the shade of the mat, all enjoying their cup of tea without expense. It is thought highly meritorious of the individual who sets up one of these tea sheds for the refreshment of his poorer countrymen. The plan has been worthily imitated in England by the establishment of drinking-fountains, coffee palaces, cabmen's retreats, &c.

Some of these men have a great reputation. A good voice, if well managed, and accompanied by a vivid imagination, ensures popularity. Crowds go to hear the story, which will be enlivened by humorous incidentsand sketches of men and things. Placards at the door frequently announce the intention of a certain teacher to give some well-known history, and upon these occasions numbers of people collect early for the purpose of securing good seats in the hall. Others of these scholars occupy tea shops which are more retired, and before a select audience give explanations of the classics, or commentaries on some literary subject, and sometimes a digest of historical periods in the annals of the empire. The assembly in this case is composed of respectable men, who thus learn something of their native literature, and revive their knowledge previously acquired. The scene thus presented is a striking one; the teacher discoursing eloquently, fixing the atention of his hearers, who, in their turn, pay him marked respect, as he thus enlarges their acquaintance with historical or general literature.

There

are also places which are much resorted to by the lower orders, where a scholar of smaller pretensions, or perhaps an itinerant story-teller, will occupy the table; and where the stories are mostly descriptive of domestic life, into which indecent allusions are introduced to excite the laughter or the lower passions of the listeners.

The news is gathered by the keepers of the tea halls and retailed to their customers, who on their part carry thither any information they pick up outside. A report is considered to be authenticated by the remarks, "It is commonly spoken of in the tea shop," or is supposed to be generally credited when "it is discussed at such and such a tea shop." At these places the state of public feeling may be easily learned. The magistrate of the city will send his officers there to listen to the conversation of the people, and, if any obnoxious sentiments are spoken, the proprietor is fined, or warned that a repetition of the offence will cause his house to be closed. He is held accountable for the good and quiet behaviour of his customers, and is fined or punished for any breach of the

peace.

In addition to these establishments in the city, there are similar houses in the villages and by the road-sides, which are of great service to travellers and passers-by. Frequently, when athirst and weary on a pedestrian journey in the hot summer day, I have enjoyed the cool shade afforded by these places and the cup of hot tea prepared in the Chinese fashion. The boiling water is poured upon a small quantity of tea in the cup, which is covered for the tea "to draw." The drinker then, slightly tilting the small cover on one side,

"A1

ID yourself, and God will aid you,"
Is a saying that I hold
Should be written not in letters

Wrought of silver or of gold,
But upon our hearts be graven—
A command from God in heaven.
'Tis the law of Him who made you-
Aid yourself, and God will aid you.
Aid yourself-you know the fable

Of the wheel sunk in the road,
How the carter was not able

By his prayers to move the load,
Till, urged by some wise beholder,
Moved the wheel with lusty shoulder.
Do your work-your Maker bade you-
Aid yourself, and God will aid you.
It is well to help a brother

Or a sister when in need,
But, believe me, there's another
Not-to-be-forgotten creed.
Better lore did never science
Teach to man than self-reliance.
'Tis the law of Him who made you--
Aid yourself, and God will aid you.

A WHISTLING BUOY.-Some time since the Trinity House steam yacht Galatea left Ramsgate Harbour for the Goodwin Sands with a buoy on board of peculiar construction. It is one belonging to the Trinity House Corporation, with which they intend to experiment at the north-cast Goodwin, so as to ascertain its capabilities in warning off sand-bank or dangerous coasts. The buoy comes from a French firm, being manufactured by M. J. Perrin, of Havre, and is called the Automatic Whistling Buoy." In shape, the body of the buoy is similar to the ordinary conical one, except that On this are about three feet from the top it is made flat. fastened two small tubes, through which the air passes into the interior, and between these a large whistle is fixed. Around the whole is a hand-rail, and two steps are placed, so that the top may be reached from a boat for painting, repairing, and other purposes; there is also a man-hole. To the bottom of the cone a large iron tube, about twenty feet long and between six feet and seven feet in circumference, is attached. When in use, more especially in a heavy sea, the wind which passes down the two small tubes is forced out through the whistle by the perpetual movement of the buoy The noise, it is expected, will be so great that it will be heard for miles.

A FEW OF THE OWLS OF THE POETs,

BY MRS. BATTERSBY.

"When merry milkmaids click the latch,

And rarely smells the new-mown hay,
And the cock hath sung beneath the thatch
Twice or thrice his roundelay,
Twice or thrice his roundelay,
Alone, and warming his five wits

The white owl in the belfry sits." -TENNYSON. Even in the time of Pliny, owls were considered birds of ill-omen, and he gives an account of the alarm felt amongst the citizens of Rome when the "funeral owl" at two different periods visited the imperial city, and when they considered lustrations necessary to purify the capital from such a visitation; or, as Butler wittily writes

"The Roman Senate, when within
The city walls an owl was seen,

Did cause their clergy with lustrations
(Our Synod calls humiliations)
The round-faced prodigy t'avert

From doing town and country hurt.”

Page after page of Shakespeare's writings make mention of the bird in the same strain. In "Macbeth".

"It was the owl that shriek'd,

The fatal bellman which gives the stern'st goodnight;" and the lines in "Richard II."

And almost the only places where it is not held forth as an evil omen by this great poet, is when he says sluggish soldiers are compared "to the night owl's lazy flight,' speaks of one who, "like the owl by day, if he arise, be mock'd and wonder'd at; " But enough of Shakespeare. Spencer sings

"And where the chaunting birds lul'd me to sleepe, The ghastlie owl her grievous ynn doth keepe.' and, where once high steeples took their proud stand"There now is but a heap of lyme and sand,

For the shriche owle to build her balefull bowre." Quotations from the earlier poets might easily be multiplied, but these will suffice. Later on, the hapless and maligned bird seems to be looked upon with more favour-or, at least, with less horror-if we may judge by a very few examples. Coleridge only alludes to him in "Christabel" as a watchman :

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and the following beautiful lines are to be found in Manfred's Incantation Scene :

"Where the falling stars are shooting,
And the answer'd owls are hooting,

And the silent leaves are still

In the shadow of the hill,
Shall my soul be upon thine

With a power and with a sign ;"

while, in his well-known description of the Coliseum— "From out the Cæsars' Palace came the owl's long cry." Jean Ingelow is evidently not one of the owl-haters, for, in her pretty poem of "The Four Bridges," her hero speaks of his boyhood thus:

"To yonder coppice by moonlight I did go,

In luxury of mischief, half afraid

To steal the great owl's brood, her downy snow;
Her screaming imps to sieze the while she preyed
With yellow cruel eyes, whose radiant glare,
Fell with their mother rage, I might not dare;"
and of the—

"Brown wood owls in the dusk, with noiseless wing,
Float from yon hanger to their haunted tree,
And hoot full softly; listening, I regain

A flashing thought of thee with their remembered strain."
She also mentions the owl in one of her songs of the "Night
Watches."

Perhaps the prettiest poem ever written about the owl is that by Barry Cornwall (Bryan Procter).

"In the hollow tree, in the gray old tower,
The spectral owl doth dwell;

Dull, hated, despised, in the sunshine hour,
But at dusk he's abroad and well:

Not a bird of the forest e'er mates with him-
All mock him outright by day;

But at night, when the woods grow still and dim,
The boldest will shrink away;

Oh, when the night falls, and roosts the fowl,
Then, then, is the reign of the horned owl!

"And the owl hath a bride who is fond and bold,
And loveth the wood's deep gloom;

And, with eyes like the shine of the moonshine cold,
She awaiteth her ghastly groom.

Not a feather she moves, not a carol she sings,

As she waits in her tree so still,

But when her heart heareth his flapping wings
She hoots out her welcome shrill.

Oh, when the moon shines, and the dogs do howl,
Then, then, is the cry of the horned owl!
"Mourn not for the owl, nor his gloomy plight-
The owl hath his share of good:

If a pris'ner he be in the broad daylight,
He is lord in the dark green wood.
Nor lonely the bird, nor his ghastly mate,
They are each unto each a pride;

Thrice fonder, perhaps, since a strange dark fate
Hath rent them from all beside!

So, when the night falls, and dogs do howl,
Sing ho for the reign of the horned owl!
We know not alway who are kings by day,

But the king of the night is the bold brown owl."

It is exceedingly probable that the sight of an owl at midnight, as it is pictured in our illustration, with glaring eyeballs and noiseless flight, suddenly swooping down upon its hapless prey, in addition to what Longfellow calls its "demoniac laughter," may have given rise to much of the superstition attached to this bird in old times, and even now among the ignorant.

And now, to quote again from Wordsworth

"The owls have hooted all night long,
And with the owls began my song,

And with the owls must end."

SCRIPTURE PUZZLES.

I.

The king, not suspecting the treachery of this unworthy servant of a good master, too easily believed him; and, not having time to hear the cause, he took for granted the proofless charge of a designing knave, and conferred the master's inheritance on the servant, the unjust accuser, who deserved a rope much rather.

Who was the deceived king; who the deceitful servant; and who the wronged master?

II.

Who do my first are told they shall receive.
My next judged Israel ten years, I believe.
Unto my whole went Samson down, and slew
Some of their men, and took their clothing too.

III.-BURIED SCRIPTURE PROPER NAMES.

1. Seek the Lord and His strength.

2. Publish it not in the streets of Askelon.

3. Our enemies thought the wilderness had shut us in. 4. Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah.

5. Not for "the wealth of Ormus or of Ind" would I be

in such a man's shoes.

6. "Man's first disobedience" brought a sad amount of misery.

7. Never flog a donkey unmercifully.

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Judah, was the place where Jeroboam set up a golden calf. 2. Bethel, in the land of Palestine, in the province of 3. Shechem, in Palestine, in the province of Judah, between the mountains Ebal and Gerizim, is spoken of in connection with Jeroboam.

4. Gilgal, in the land of Palestine in the province of Judah, was the headquarters of the children of Israel during the conquest.

5. From Dan, in the province of Galilee, in the land of Palestine, to Beersheba, in the province of Judah, in the land of Palestine, was the scriptural length of the land of Israel. 6. Joppa, in the land of Palestine, in the province of Judah, was the landing-place of the cedars for the building of the temple.

7. Ai, in the province of Judah in the land of Palestine, was one of the cities taken by Joshua at the beginning of the conquest.

8. Bethsaida and Chorazin, in the land of Palestine, in the province of Galilee, were both upbraided for their wickedness.

II. M

Both day and night, and evermore. Primals and finals are to them

A glorious heavenly diadem.

HAM

HAGAR

KINDRED

MAGDALENE

EVER BLESSED JAMES LEVI JOHN SHIHON ANAHARATH

CANAANITESHI VITES

III.-DOUBLE ACROSTIC.

The first answers were received from FRANK COLEBROOK, aged 19, 88, London Road, Gloucester; and LOUISA J. BENHAM, aged 19, St. Mary's House, Crouch Street, Col

2. "An exceeding great city."

3. A plant or tree mentioned in Scripture.

4. "We seek one to come."

5. They are well (5) whom God keeps.

6. David fled to (6).

7. A very inflammable limpid bitumen which exudes from

the earth.

correct answers were received from ALPHONSE L. HOLLOWAY, WILLIAM H. MIDDELTON, S. A. ALEXANDER, JESSIE ORAM, ERNEST HOLLOWAY, ESTHER A. PASSMORE, C. SUSIE PASSMORE, CHARLES H. BEDELLS, JOHN W. BLACK, HERBERT FLOWERDEW, JULES BELLINGHAM, CLARA PECK, EVANGELINE H. BATTERSBY, ARCHIBALD W. GLASGOW, H. S. FREER, MARY A. R. GRIERSON, W. A. LEWIS, ALICE M. PASSMAN. The following is the answer :

Arcturus. Pleiades. 1. A slee P.

2. R ebe L.

3. C andac E.

4. T alitha Cum I

5. U topi A.

6. R o D.

7. U nivers E.

8. S tar S.