CHAPTER XXX.

"In the strife 'twixt love and reason,
Who will say where lies the treason."

WHEN Miss Westford left the old castle, under the excitement provoked by Mr. Deepwell's disclosure, it was evident that one of her strongest feelings had been stirred to its lowest depth. As she passed through the garden on her way to the Hall her discomposure was so evident that the old gardener noticed it and ejaculated "Eh! what the deevil's the maitter wi' the young leddy; hes she rued after a' o' geein Johnny the bag? It was a fulish thing on yen o' her sense-that's maw opinyin. What a a grand yestate the twa tigether wid ha' meyd."

He meant Rivington Grange and Westford Hall. Our readers will observe that the gardener seemed not to have heard that the Grange was likely to change owners.

Miss Westford at once proceeded to the library seeking her father. Not finding him, she rang for the butler, who at once appeared. On enquiry she found that the squire had gone out on horseback and would not return for an hour. She had not reflected for a moment, and was still under the full effect of her first impulse of excitement. Had her father been present, therefore, she would, undoubtedly, have poured out to him her whole heart. Two minutes, however, had not elapsed before she began to reason. "How silly I have been," she said to herself," and how very imprudent to allow myself to have been led into a confession of love by a stranger, and that stranger-" The thought seemed to provoke again the same strong emotion; reflection closed, and for some minutes she was unable to form a distinct thought. When, however, these feelings had somewhat subsided, she began to consider her position—yet only in a disjointed and loose manner.

"I too easily abandoned the idea that I had seen him before," she continued; "I wish I had discovered and been on my guard. But why should I not love him? Impossible! It is over! Done!" A heavy sigh accompanied this expression of determination. "I am not compromised openly; to himself alone is it known-even Anna is baffled. He is manly, and will not, I am quite sure, take any mean advantage. Manly? yes!-but no! no ! it was not manly to deceive me. But did he deceive me? He never spoke of love-never till to-day. But then he should have told me before he asked me to meet him. That's somewhat unreasonable too-for, no doubt, he in

At the recollection of what here arose in her mind, which was no less than the ravished kiss that had so startled her, she blushed, alone as she was, till her cheeks glowed again, and "She could no more; distraction checked her tongue, Whilst recollection on the rapture hung."

"Would to heaven!" she said at last, fervently, "would to heaven, he had at least been respectable in position; want of wealth would not have cost me a thought. If John Rivington had been such a man. But how stupid I am to think thus to think any more about him-the whole matter is ended. I have indulged in sweet thoughts; I have seen visions of happiness; the sweet has become bitter; the visions have been mirage--but Flora Westford is no lugubrious, silly maiden, to waste herself in sorrow. Enough!—it cannot be !" The young lady having thus made up her

mind

To conquer her love-fluctuating soul,

And keep her heart, rebellious, in control," her thoughts began to take another turn.

Why should I," she said, "tell this to my father? If I do, I must make confession of having met him, and for what purpose-that would do no good whatever, whilst to me it would be very humiliating. Why should anybody know? Why did I ever think of telling him? He evidently wished to conceal himself, for reasons of his own, doubtless; what business is it of mine to reveal him to the village? Why should I betray him? Am I not in honour bound not to do so?"

Thus she questioned and reasoned with herself till it became quite clear to her mind that there was not the slightest necessity to take her father into confidence in the matter.

We do not say she was right in such conclusions-by no means. We think, on the contrary, she should have put her father in possession of the information she had got; notwithstanding her reasoning it was an unwholesome concealment. At the bottom of her heart she felt this. She had but argued with her feelings and conquered. "The chief use of reason," says an eminent writer, "is to argue with conscience, to make that which is wrong appear right."

When her father returned from his ride, therefore, she appeared in her normal state of mind, and did not communicate to him the incidents of the morning. And so the mystery that was upon the point of being revealed to the Ronhamites remained a mystery still. The Curate had come, had dwelt among them; it had been a thousand times asked "Who is he?" None could say but one.

(To be continued.)

"RUBBISH SHOT HERE."

A REMINISCENCE OF NEWSPAPER LIFE.

BY RICHARD WELFORD.

F I had been born with a silver spoon in a certain position, and believed that the principal object of life is to be amused, I should endeavour to negotiate a little matter of business with the charwoman at a newspaper office. It would be a secret arrangement; something strictly private and confidential between Mrs. Dustpan and myself. She would be a few shillings richer; I should possess a fund of amusement; nobody else would be one jot the

wiser, and

But let me explain.

There is in the editor's room of every well regulated newspaper office an unobtrusive article which receives more kicks than the spittoon, more splashes of ink than the blotting pad, and more abusive treatment generally than even the coal scuttle. In the summer it is a perpetual nuisance and eyesore, and even in the winter, when it humbly tries to be useful in promoting a genial glow of warmth and light, it is condemned for making a "plaguey mess," and despised accordingly. And yet it is in that despised, overloaded, bruised, and battered receptacle that I should seek my treasure. For its contents I should exchange the glittering coin with Mrs. Dustpan; over the same, inhaling the incense of a well ordered Havanna, I should calmly exult, knowing that from them I should derive enjoyment which to mankind generally is denied.

The impatient reader, who has struggled wearily through these lines, will already have guessed my meaning. He will know that the things I covet are the contents of that inexpensive but convenient arrangement of wicker work known as the editor's waste basket; and he will probably raise the "tilted tip," and exclaim" Rubbish!" My dear sir, you are quite right. Rubbish is the very word. The basket is generally full of it-trodden down and running over. Undoubted rubbish; but it is the most curious, the most prolific, the most entertaining rubbish that ever you set your eyes upon. I shall convince you of that presently.

Nearly twenty years ago, when occupying a seat in an editorial sanctum, I kept a private waste basket for my own delectation. Into that basket no larking printers' imp dared to fumble, nor fire-lighting charwoman to pry. It grew and it grew, like the rose and the briar out of the tomb of Lord Lovel, till my newspaper career ended, and ever since then it has budded and blossomed and brought forth fruit in

Lines addressed to the Nymph of the Tyne. Near the brink of a brimmer it once so befel, The lip of the lovely engender'l a spell; And that spell fair Northumbrian embosom'd was mine From a sweet sip of muscadel philtred by thine. In tinct unsurpassed by the bud's blushing hue, And fluid more fulgent orb could not review, Still the luminous cup (near as small as the hip)

Replenish'd remained after laving thy lip."

suffice as a sample. Next comes an item of There are other verses, but these two may news which the writer thought would interest him, at least not sufficiently. the public, but the editor did not agree with

"AN IMPORTANT DEBATE.

by a gentleman resident in this town, came off on WednesThe £5 prize given partly by subscription and the rest day night. The subject discussed was the Chinese Rhubarb question. There were 10 on each side-one side for the utility of it, and the other for the reverse of it. Mr. was the first to open the subject, and advanced some powerful arguments on the utility of it, and entered at some length into the customs of the Chinese. At the close of the debate it was decided in favour of the utility

of it."

Now, a little more poetry; this time from a miner who was dissatisfied with the result of

the inquest at the Burradon Colliery explosion,
and had previously drunk rather deeply at
Mr. Catnach's rill of Helicon, in Seven Dials:-
"BURRADON COLLERY EXPLOTION.
Come all you men that in the North
And listen to my ryme

I think the evidences is little worth
that happens in Wear and Tyne
Its of those great explotions
That in the deadly mine
the light sets it in motions
and theirs no justice in wear or tyne
Burradon they sat at that place
and spent all their precious time
I think it was a great disgrace
off the thinking men in wear and tyne
come Brothers miners let us agree
and think of the dangerous mine
and tell them the evils we see
its by neglect in the wear and tyne
there was 13 days of evidence
and all that time was spent
they brought in all their sences
and called it Burradon accident."

Next we fish up an item of news from a country correspondent, who must have played truant in childhood while the spelling lesson was proceeding, or had been experimenting in a new system of phonetics:

"On the 26 of Des. the 63 anniversary of the Loyalty Society was heald at the houes of Mr J NLucan

head inn When a substanchel Dinner was sevead up in the gud Ould Engilish stile of Roast Beaf and Plumb pudding When ampell Justices was dun to it and when the Cloth was Removed the Charman Roas and said that the Roules said Before a man was Entitled to aney Benifit From the Society he must be one year in it but he was sorey to in Forem them that a Brother had lost is wife verey sudantly be Dath end if she had Livead but Other 4 Days Longer he Would have bean in Titlead to 4 Pounds but as the Ruales Could not be Brocken but he hopead that the Member present Would show ther kindness bey Macking a Volintary Collection as is loes was one of Kithey when a Liberal sum was Collectead this bean the First Time that aney of the kind had bean dun befor and as Money Grased the Tabel with ther greay silver Lockes wo to all a perances had Long cum to the sam Feast."

Here are a few from more than a score of questions submitted to editorial decision, and whose authors desired replies in the "Answers to Correspondents."

1.-"You will oblige a Constant Reader of your admirable paper by informing me who is the author of the common saying 'Go to Hexham,' and what it means?" 2. "I heard a clerical gentleman not long ago say 'The deuce is in it.' Is this a proper word for a Minister of the Gospel to use?"

3.-"How many steps are there inside of Grey's Monument, Newcastle; counting the first step as number one

and the platform as number last? Your answer will decide an argument."

4.-"Mr. Editor. At our flower show ball last Saturday night, I asked the M.C.-a man with a posy in his coat-to introduce me to a partner, and he says 'Catch hold of the first girl you see that's not dancing--that's the way we do here,' he says. Please, Sir, is this correct etiket? because I don't think so, in fact I felt real disgusted."

5.-"Sir, I have a bett on with J. B that 'uppards of 100' means above a 100. Put Ignoramus in your

anser-we shall know as you means us.'

--

Thus "from grave to gay, from lively to severe," we gather them in. There are more to come; the crop is abundant. Let us shake the basket anew, and see what the rubbish will yield now. It is an article on "Remorse "quite a model contribution, on tinted paper, ruled with a vermilion pencil. The writer considered that its publication during the assize week would be useful to the community at large. But being "only an amateur" he requested the Editor kindly to touch it up a little, and the Editor touched it up in such an emphatic way that it was jammed into the very centre of the heap. I quote exactly the number of lines that the Editor read :

"It is and always was an opinion of mine that nothing can disturb the minds of men so much as remorse, when it takes a deep impression on them. Alas! its voice is loud, uttered by a thousand tongues; sounding in the ears of the weeping Penitent when he is standing on the verge of death. He can see nothing but a wide ocean of despair and horrour dashing round him in lawless confusion, thinking that the next hour will bring his guilty soul before Heaven's tribunal where sits an awful riggerous judge."

From remorse to piety is a natural step in human advancement, and some lines on religious revivals will fitly close our harvesting. There are ten verses in this unique composition, but a lesser number will be sufficient to illustrate the author's meaning and vindicate his claim to a place of honour in the basket.

"LINES ON THE REVIVEL OF RELIGEON.
The Lord the soverign of the sky,
Who rules with uneversel power,
Hath harkene'd to his people's cry,
Give'n earth a pentcostal shower.
Accross the great Atlantic ocean,
Where billows largly, loudly roar ;
Thousands now joine in devoation,
In which they ne'er did joine before.
One sinner that repents of sin

Gives angels joy in heave'n we'er told;
At this, O, how theyi'll sweetly sing!

And strik their harps of purest gold! The stops and the spellings are the writer's own, as also is the following letter:

"Dear sir i undertake to ask you at the request of several of my friends who are all as highly interested by your daily periodical as i am myself to insert these few lines of poetry in it which i have composed the are the first i have ever execuited but i hope that they will not be the last nor are they likely to be the last for i am just yet eightene and full of youthful vigour and a spirit which aspires to be noble and which is determined to make dificultes an circumstances into steping stones to fame and glory."

It is to be feared that this aspiring young man, "just yet eightene," grew faint-hearted as he grew older, for his letter is dated November, 1859, and I have not heard of any "fame and glory" that he has achieved, although I have been constantly on the look out for him.

Here I pause, for the reader is beginning to cry "Hold! Enough!" I should require the whole range of this magazine, and a big supplement besides, to set forth all the curious from the consuming fire. There are still things that my private waste basket preserved amongst the rubbish piles of material similar to that which I have extracted; long-winded essays private character; unsolved problems about upon burning questions; bitter attacks upon spelling, dates, distances, names, and feats of skill; reports of convivial gatherings; coarse jokes; outbursts of invective; gushes of sentiment, and whole cataracts of-poetry. Those which I have quoted afford by no means a full I have extracted sufficient to show that, outside flavoured sample of the whole collection. But the Patent Office, there is no more entertaining record of human weakness and human folly than that which passes through the clearing house of wicker called the Editor's Waste Basket.

Those who are surly and imperious to their inferiors, are generally humble, flattering, and cringing to their superiors.-FULLER.

THE VOICE AS A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT. BY RICHARD ELLIS, F.R.C.S., SENIOR SURGEON NEWCASTLE THROAT AND EAR HOSPITAL.

HE larynx, or voice box, is situated at the upper part of the windpipe, where it opens into the throat, and is of prime import ance for the purposes of life; for it is evident, and has been lately shown by the celebrated experiment of Dr. Tanner, that life can be sustained for a considerable period without food, but no experiment can be attempted to do without air. Stop the breath for a very short time and life becomes extinct. I wish in this paper to speak of the voice as a musical instrument, and show that it is one of extraordinary perfection and charm, at the same time to give a few medical hints which may prove of service in its development and pre

servation.

The top of the windpipe may be said to expand into a box-like cavity, closed except at the top, where are placed the vocal cords, to which we shall refer and have much to say about in the course of this paper; but first as to the construction of the voice-box itself, it may be noted how it is built up so as to exactly fulfil its purposes, it is principally composed of cartilage, being at once tough, strong, light, and elastic. The vocal cords, which might be more aptly called vocal reeds, are stretched across the upper opening of the windpipe, just behind the root of the tongue; they are highly elastic, and have small but, at the same time, very powerful muscles attached to them, which renders them capable of a variety of alteration in shape. A few words in illustration will give some idea of the action of the vocal cords. In ordinary quiet breathing the cords are just slightly separated, leaving a slight chink between. When the breath is drawn forcibly in they open wide; in shouting and singing they open and shut, vibrate or tremble, according to the pitch and note of the voice.

We may say that there are three distinct kinds of voice which most persons are capable of uttering, namely, the natural or chest voice, the falsetto or head voice, and the whispered voice. In the production of the natural voice, which ranges in different individuals from one to three octaves, the vocal cords lie parallel with each other in the whole length, having exactly the same degree of tension, and are thrown into vibration of exactly the same character by the forcible passage of the breath between them. The falsetto voice is not produced in the same way as the natural voice, but by a most perfect and

natural mechanism: the musical vibrations of the cords are limited to their extreme edges, which being bevelled off or thinner than the other portions, vibrate with proportionally greater rapidity. In the whispered voice the cords remain in a state of almost complete rest, allowing the breath to pass silently out with out vibration, the whisper being formed almost that when the windpipe is opened below its entirely by the lips; we know this by the fact expansion into the voice-box, as sometimes has to be done by the surgeon to save life, the voice is entirely lost, or at most dwindles down to a scarcely audible whisper. Now, to make our analogy of the voice to a musical instrument more complete, we have just to remember that the lungs, acting of course the part of bellows, or supplying the motor power, drive the air against the vocal cords, which, acting as the reeded tongues, are set in vibration, and thus divide the air into a number of sonorous waves or pulsations, the upper part of the mouth or palate acting at the same time as an efficient sounding board, for we know that any disease or imperfection in this part of the mouth, and also the condition of the teeth and nostrils, will very much affect the resonance and perfection of the voice as a musical instrument.

The formation of the windpipe, as to calibre and length, has very much to do with the character of the voice; for instance, its being smaller in short persons than in tall-the short person, as a pretty general rule, will have a high voice. It has been found that when the singer is tall, and has a tenor or soprano range, that the windpipe branches off very high up, and so the tube is lessened, and is, so to speak, disproportionate to the stature. Mr. Lennox Browne believes that when the voice is high, and the singer is tall, it is always characterised by volume and power, rather than by extent of range constituting the robust tenor, and the tragic or dramatic soprano.

A few remarks may now be made about the cultivation of the voice, and its dietetic and medical management. As to the age for commencing to learn to sing, it is generally admitted that a child shall commence as soon as he can learn to read; but the exercises should be simple, that is, within a child's compass, and not carried to the point of fatigue. One reason why the Italians are so vocally gifted is that they are taught to sing from early childhood. Amongst the ancient Egyptians, also, in whom the profession of music was hereditary, youths were instructed in the art, both vocal and instrumental, at the earliest age. Mr. Lennox Browne limits the direction of a child's singing lesson to a quarter of an hour, or at most

twenty minutes; and it is to be borne in mind by the singer, and it would be kind of his audience to also remember this, that the more highly trained the organ of the voice is the more sensitive it is to those sudden changes of temperature or draughts of air which should be particularly avoided after singing, as at that time any congestion of the apparatus of the voice is most likely to be set up. When a cold

is caught by a singer the vocal cords become dry, and, in fact, loose much of their elasticity, and he is, in common parlance, "hoarse." In this condition he should never be induced to sing or strain his voice any more than he should try to walk if he were lame. The inhalation of a little steam or vapour from hot water, last thing at night, will often remove a slight hoarseness. The habit of coughing to clear the throat before singing is bad, and should be avoided. Over wrapping or muffling up much is also to be avoided. Singers and speakers, if they would only allow themselves to cool down for a very few moments before leaving a crowded room, and then on their way through the air to practise breathing with the mouth shut, or through the nose-the natural channel for respiration in a cold atmosphere-would rarely be troubled with hoarseness or colds. The habit of using very highly spiced lozenges to stimulate the voice is also bad. It does not fall within the scope of this article to show how a throaty voice is to be avoided and corrected; it generally arises from improper breathing, or a forcing of the voice. An intelligent teacher will point out the mode of correction. Singers should select nourishing and easily digested food. Pastry, salt meats, nuts, and other dried fruits should be avoided. Suppers, except the lightest, are bad; milk, in moderation, and cocoa may be used. Alcoholic drinks are bad, as they act as irritants, and deteriorate the voice, indeed a "toper's" voice is generally in a condition of chronic hoarseness; smoking also is bad.

There is no royal road to enable one to become a good singer or public speaker. Perfection is acquired by practice and industry, but a teacher will point out a pupil's voice compass, and prevent him attempting songs far above his natural powers. Some can sing very well in a small apartment or room, but prove quite inefficient in a theatre or town hall. It is related of a certain Italian master that he kept his pupil practising exercises for fully two years without allowing him a single song. To the pupil's continued remonstrances he answered, at the end of that period, "You are now one of the finest singers in Italy or elsewhere, and you can now sing anything."

Madame St. Germaine, the eminent Professor of Singing at the Crystal Palace School of Art, has pointed out that it is quite a mistake,

as has been done, to suppose that good English singers must necessarily be few in number; her experience, on the contrary, tells her that the English have at least as good capabilities for singing as any other nation. What we really want in this country is not better voices, but a more perfect or more rational method of teaching.

THE POST OFFICE.

BY THOMAS HERON.

HE General Post Office and the new

regulations which have just come into operation, and those that will come into operation shortly, are absorbing a great deal of public interest and attention at the present moment. There is much in the connection

between the public and the Post Office, that it would be to the advantage of the former to know more about. In the new regulations, the Government seem determined to popularise the use of the Post Office amongst the thrifty of the working classes as a safe, and, at the same time, a certain means of profitable investment of small savings, at a minimum of expenditure and inconvenience. It is not our intention, however, to go into detail on these new features of postal business while they are yet upon their trial, beyond expressing the hope that they may be the means of achieving much, if not all, that has been anticipated by the change.

The Post Office is strictly a Government monopoly, with the few exceptions named in the Post Office Act. Its ramifications and connections at home and abroad are simply vast, and embrace an infinity of detail in working.

The history of letters and letter writing is the history of mankind. The art of writing, and the sending of letters, is frequently mentioned in Scripture. Ancient Greece and Rome were not possessed of a public post; but Augustus established a body of messengers for the conveyance of Imperial despatches-a body of whom a survival is still seen in our own Queen's Messenger. The germ of the modern post office was planted by Charlemagne early in the ninth century, but it was not till the thirteenth century that a regular postal communication-that could be called such-was established; and it speedily spread from the Hans Towns to Austria and Lombardy, and other parts of the Continent. There was a "riding" post in England in the reign of Edward IV. The office of "Master of Posts" was established by Henry VIII., and in the reign of Queen Elizabeth there were continual disputes with the Flemings resident in England, who had made a Postmaster of