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. rxti/seven ! Ninety-seven voted for its
a ; olition ; its continuance was affirmed by
double that number ! ! !
And Ireland is told to look for redress
f her grievances to Westminster—to the
British Parliament ! Ireland is told she
is fairly and effectually represented in a
Legislature where a tremendous majority
ot members vote on a purely
Iri s h subject— vote that the Irish, who
} a ve long been robbed and wronged,
Jhall be forever plundered and oppressed.
Thus draws “the Irish Session of Par
liament” to a close, and this is the result
of its labors for our native land.
It has ordered that the Ensanguined
L ,nce shall be uplifted in perpetuity over
the heads of the people; it has confirmed
the landlords’ power of life aud death,
or exile, over them and theirs; it has
decreed that a vampire Establishment
<.■11311 suck their blood, and oppress them,
by every art of oppression, by lies, slan
ders, calumny, open plunder, and fierce
coercion
Thus has the British Parliament la
bored for Ireland.
FLOWERS.
The origin of the red rose has been va
riously explained. According to heathen
mythology, Venus, being wounded by its
thorns, her blood flowed upon the flower,
and changed it to red. Spencer says:
‘•White as the native rose before the change,
Which Genius’ blood did in her leaves impress.”
Another poet has it, that Eve, while
strolling in the bowers of Eden, observed
an opening rose, of purest white; and,
that, stooping to kiss it,
“Straight it drew
From beauty’s lips the vermeil hue.”
The Gentian, an American wild flower,
of exquisite beauty, blossoms late in the
season, when nearly all the other flowers
are gone. Bryant speaks of it very pret
tily:
"Thou comest not when violets lean
O’er wandering brooks and springs unseen;
Thou waitest late aud com’st alone,
When woods are bare and birds are flown.”
The woodbine is a favorite with the
poets, and is regarded as an emblem of
fidelity, Milton places it in Paradise,
and Shakspeare makes Oberon say :
‘I know a bank whereon the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows:
Quite over-canopied with lush woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine.”
The mistletoe was the sacred plant of
the Druids, and much used in all their
rites.
The Wallflower derives its name from
a habit of springing up among old ruins,
and is esteemed as an emblem of fidelity
in misfortune.
The English Daisy, the emblem of love,
is the Scotch gowan. Wordsworth,
Burns, and Montgomery, have dedicated
poems to it.
The Sunflower is usually looked upon
as a vulgar plant, but is blessed with a
classic origin.
Ivy is the emblem of woman’s con
stancy. Dickens says:
“Creeping where no plant is seen,
A dainty thing is an ivy green,”
The Dandelion is the emblem of co
quetry. Though a very common and
humble flower, it has been smiled upon by
Tom Moore, and even Ralph Waldo
Emerson.
Os the Violet, Shakspeare says:
“Violet is for faithfulness,
Which in me shall abide;
Hoping that likewise from your heart,
You will not let it slide.”
[Exchange.
The Negro Patient. —‘‘Julius, is you
l etter this morning ?” “No, 1 was better
Yesterday, but I’se got ober dat.” “Am
Sere no hopes ob your discovery
"} dscovery ob what ?” “Your discovery
b'om the convalescence what am fetching
V uon your back.” “Pat depends, sah,
■ togeddah on the prognostication which
iniphfies the disease; should dey continu
ity fatually, de doctor tinks Pse a goner.
S lould dey not continuate fatally, he
- 'pes dis culled indiwidual won’t die dis
Put, as 1 said afore, dat all de
; uds on the prognostics, and till deso
lie t< > a head, dere am no tellin whedder
‘ " pussun will cum to a discontinuation
r oddervvise.’’
As the above case is perfectly clear as
“■ s > need not intend to mar its trans
» !e ‘ iC y by any remarks of our own.
An Alleviation. —The London Re.
• remembers to have once heard a
- lorite preacher, in a bitter, frosty,
unuary, make the following announce
■ t: “ There will be a baptizing in this
1 ice on Thursday evening. It would be
p-1 u 1 thing it the Lord should appear
: t e clouds of heaven, and you should
; shut out of the kingdom! Repent and
30 baptized in the name of the Lord
Je ns’ The water will be warmed! Now
■ ttie accepted time, now is the day of
salvotion!”
specimen copies of The Banner of the
"i tii sent free to auv address.
[Selected.]
The Dying Magdalene.
Pale and wasted--slowly dying—on a weary couch Os
pain,
Naught of sound to soothe her anguish but the falling
of the rain;
Naught of sight around, about her, through the vista
dim and long,
Save a hundred prostrate like her for a life of sin and
wrong;
And the hands are clasped together, and the heavy
eyelids fall,
And in the midnight darkness, that Las wrapt and
shrouded all,
She has cast aside the fetters that have bound her to
despair,
And the wan lips faintly murmur in an agony of
prayer:
•Jesus Saviour, Thou wert slaughtered for the ransom
of Thy fold,
Thou didst bow Thee, sorrow-laden, ’neath a weight of
wo untold;
There was never human passiou like that single one of
thine,
Then have pity, O, have pity! on this erring heart of
mine;
Thou didst promise love and pardon to the poor re
pentant soul
That would burst the galling bondage of sin’s weari
some control;
I have sinned and I have Buffered, and I come to Thee
at last,
On the brink of the Hereafter, craving pardon for the
past.
In the flush ot youthful beauty, I forsook the narrow
way,
And forgot the gentle mother who had taught me how
to pray;
All unnoticed were her warnings—all unheeded fell
her tears,
Unremembered the devotion and the watchfulness of
years; 1
For the demon that I worshipped fed the altar flame of
pride,
Driving on my reckless spirit through the madly flow
ing tide—
Never thinking, never caring, that the faithless water
rolls,
Unrelenting in its fury, over lost Immortal souls.
But an echo ever followed of the happy long ago,
Os the purity unsullied that I ne’er again might know,
And I lost the happy spirit that was mine in days of
yore,
And I sang the gleeful ballads of my native land no
more,
For the mem’ry of my birthplace, and the beauty of
its streams,
Long departed, half forgotten, came to visit me in
dreams;
Mother, thou wert ever with me, in my sky the guiding
star,
Oh! how could Ibe light-hearted, when my thoughts
had strayed so far,
Then my day of triumph darkened, and I walked the
world alone,
Broken-hearted and forsaken, on its bitter mercies
thrown,
Till at length the blessed shelter of these friendly walls
drew near,
For I saw the Cross above them, and I knew my rest
was here,
As I sank upon the threshold, from my soul arose a
prayer,
And I felt my spirit lifted from the blackness of des
pair;
There was never wretch more sinful, more abandoned,
Lord, than I
Then have mercy, O, have mercy! I have wandered
here to die.
Then the voice grew low and husky, and the pallid
hands unclasped,
Holding by the frailest tenure the poor Crucifix they
grasped,
And upon the marble forehead, there was set a seal so
fair,
That the Angels came and wondered to behold such
beauty there;
As they wafted alleluias, through the silence cf the
night,
All around the poor departed wreathed a coronal of
light,
And as back, on swiftest footsteps, through the Lden
paths thoy'trod,
Who shall say they did not bear her to the mercy seat
of God ?
Fidelia.
[Correspondence of the Philadelphia Public Ledger.]
A HOLIDAY TOUR.
THE LONDON TIME S.
London, June 13.
To the writer abroad, the London
Time*, and its office, are always objects of
interest, and your readers may, perhaps,
like to know something of this great
newspaper, which stands at the head of
the press of Europe. In the heart of the
old city of London, near St. Paul’s
Church and the Thames, are “Printing
House Square” and “Play House Yard,”
the former a small open space about fifty
feet square, the latter a narrow street a
few yards to the north; access being
gained to both through some of the
smallest, most crooked, and dingiest
streets of the metropolis. Here, in a
dozen, or more, low, ancient-looking*
houses, covering,•perhaps, an acre and a
half, is published the Time*, the pub
lishing office being on Play House Yard,
the office for receiving advertisements on
one side of Printing House Square, the
manager’s offices on another, and the
editors’ rooms on a third. The place is a
quiet one, secluded from the bustle and
noise of the traffic of the great London
streets, and none of the buildings make
any pretensions, or give, beyond one or
two modest signs, any indications of the
important business transacted within.
On January 13, 1785, Mr. John
Walter, of London, published the first
number of the ‘* Daily Universal Regis
terwhich was printed by what was
known as the logographic system, in
which types containing syllables and
words were employed instead of single
letters. This system, being not found to
answer, was soon disused. Mr. Walter
determined to change the name of his
newspaper, and, on January 1, 1788,
issued the first number of the Times , a
four page sheet, a little larger than the
first number of the Public Ledger , and
containing four columns on each page. It
w T as, of course, printed on the old-fash
ioned hand presses. It had many rivals
to contend with, and gained but slowly in
circulation, having at the start, and until
1803, a sale of 1,000 copies, whilst the
London Morning Post issued 4,500.
During this year, Mr. Walter gave up
the paper to his son, in whose hands it
advanced to a high place in journalism,
its start being gained by enterprise in
gathering news in Napoleon’s wars. On
November 2, 1814, the Times was first
printed by steam power, using the first
English steam printing press, constructed
by M. Konig, and capable of working oft'
1,200 copies per hour. By successive
improvements, this capacity wasincreased,
and, in 1815, there were 4,200 copies
per hour printed. The powerful articles
contributed by Edward Sterling to the
Times, gained it the well known name of
The Thunderer.” During this period it
gradually increased its size, adding a
fifth, and then a sixth column, to each
page, and on January 19, 1829, it issued
its first double number of eight pages.
In 1841, a memorable event happened
in the history of the paper. It used its
great power to defeat and expose a scheme
organized by a public company to defraud,
by forgery, all the influential bankers of
Europe. This brought upon the proprie
tors a long and vexatious action for libel,
involving them iu heavy expense. Final
ly, the jury found the charge true, hut
gave a verdict of only one farthing
damages. This trial was one of the great
events of the time, and subscriptions were
set on foot iu all parts of Europe to reim
burse the proprietors for their immense
outlay iu defending the action, hut this
being firmly declined, the money was
expended in founding “Times Scholar
ships at Oxford, Cambridge, and other
schools, and marble tablets commemo
rating the event were set up in the Royal
Exchange, in Printing House Square, and
other places, lliese were the greatest
honors ever given to an European news
paper. Subsequently, the paper came
into the hands of Mr. John Walter,
grandson of its founder. In 1815, the
limes established an overland express
from India, for the conveyance of news.
In 1848, it first used rotary printing ma
chines, those of Applegath, and, in 1852,
its average daily circulation was 36,000,
whilst ot the number of November 19,
1852, issued after the death of the Duke
of Wellington, and containing his biogra
phy, 56,000 copies were sold. In 1854,
Dr. Russell was employed as special
correspondent in the Crimea, and wrote
the letters that made him famous. During
this period, the Times began issuing
triple and quadruple sheets, papers of
twelve and 16 pages. In 1858, Mr.
Hoe’s American printing machine w T as
first used to print the Times. In 1861,
the daily circulation had increased to
54,000 copies, over 18,000,000 copies
being issued during the year. At this
time the Times began occasionally issuing
quadruple sheets of twenty pages to ac
commodate its business, and on June 22
1861, it issued a sextuple sheet of twenty
four pages, containing, besides the read
ing matter, 4,076 different advertise
ments, quite an increase over its modest
number of 150, fifty years before, in 1811.
In 1867, the Times began printing with
the Walter self-feeding press, patented the
year before, and claimed to be the fastest
and most economical printing machine in
the world. The present circulation of
the Times is from 63,000 to 68,000
daily, the ordinary issue being a sixteen
page newspaper, whilst sometimes it is
increased to a twenty page newspaper.
I his is a brief history of the paper, and
1 now will pass on to an account of its
present condition, and of the office at
Rrinting House Square. The Times is
in an era of great prosperity, and the
endeavor in the establishment is to issue
a newspaper which will at once be a
model of correct typography, excellent
printing, and tho purest English. It is
considered that the care bestowed in the
Times Office upon the diction of its lead
ing articles has contributed more than
anything else to preserve the purity of the
English language. The staff of “leader”
writers is large, and upon it are the best
newspaper writers in England, where an
Editor’s ambition is to be employed by the
Times. Unlike the custom in America,
the object at the lone* Office is to pre
serve the impersonality of the paper.
Y hat it contains, is said by the paper
itself, and not by any individual, and, for
that reason, its opinions and statements
go before the world with all the weight
the newspaper can give them. Its
editors never write. They forecast, day
by day, the policy of the paper; suggest
subjects to the leader writers; sit in
judgment upon their articles when writ
ten; and decide what shall or shall not
go into the paper. Its correspondents,
in England and abroad, receive but one
instruction, and that is to send accurate
and impartial accounts of transpiring
events, at the earliest moment, written
in such a manner as to interest the
readers.
To conduct this establishment, a large
force is of course required. It prints
every day from 1,700 to 3,000 adver
tisements, and on extraordinary occa
sions, even more. It also prints twenty
to thirty columns of reading matter. To
perform the mechanical part of the work,
400 persons are employed at Printing
House Square, whilst probably as many
more are attached to the paper in literary
positions. With reference to advertise
ments, as the paper is always receiving
niore than it can print, it promises early
insertions to none but the poor people who
want places, and a few other urgent
classes. No one who eoines after twelve
o clock on any day with his advertise
ment, can hope for an insertion in the
next day’s paper, whilst generally the
advertisers do not see their advertise
ments printed until two or three days,
or sometimes as many weeks, after they
are handed over the couuter. They have
to wait their turn, and such is the anxiety
to get them in the dimes, that the Eng
lish public submit patiently to delays
that the American public would never
tolerate. The lowest charge is for
“wants,” in which case, each advertiser
is allowed three lines for a half crown,
about 60 cents, gold. For all others,
the regular rate is a shilling a line, 24
cents, gold, hut no advertisement is
taken for less than four shillings, whilst
long advertisements are charged more
in proportion, the rate, after the first fifty
lines, being two shillings a line. The
cheapest rates are allowed to public
charities and similar classes, but nothing
extra is charged for favorite positions in
the paper.
In the mornings, when the people flock
to the limes office to hand in their ad
vertisements, Printing House Square is a
place of tne greatest bustle and activity,
but in the afternoons it is comparatively
deserted. . The advertising pages are
made up in a regular order, beginning
with the births on the first columns of the
first page, and the “agonies,” as “per
sonals are called, on the second column,
and closing with the auction notices, of
which, alone, in the paper of June 6th,
there were twenty-five columns. There
are no headings to the advertising
columns, each department coming unan
nounced on the heels of its predecessor,
and this course, by bringing “washing
taken in immediately ahead of the aris
tocratic “tutors,” I am told, has caused
great complaint among that class of the
English community, as they regard their
characters as soiled by the juxtaposition.
The office for the receipt of advertise
ments is conducted by eleven persons, and
is devoted to that business exclusively,
the publication office being a separate
building. The reading matter is fur
nished by the editorial, reportorial, and
corresponding staffs, there being, besides,
22 law reporters, 19 Parliamentary re
porters, 12 police reporters, and an in
definite number of miscellaneous writers,
known as “penny-a-liners” in London, at
least 100 correspondents in various parts
ot Great Britain, and some 40 corres
pondents in other parts of the world. Os
the J arlianientary reporters, 16 are pho
nographers, two make summaries of the
debates in the Houses, and one directs
the force. To set up the types, there are
lot* compositors employed, 60 laborin o *
by day, and 70 at night, whilst 11 fore
men and assistants direct their move
ments. I wenty-four persons are required,
to read proofs, and three arc employed
merely to *‘pull” the proofs. The adver
tisements are set up during the day, and
the reading matter at night, the adver
tising pages being made up from 5 to 7
o'clock in the evening. Reading matter
is received until daylight, and afterwards,
and the reading pages are rarely put to
press before 4 o’clock, A. M., whilst
leading articles are frequently written on
Ikarliamentary debates and other events
happening after, midnight, and appear in
print the following morning. England is
different in its habits from the United
States, and very early newspaper issues
are not demanded. In all this work, the
greatest care is taken to guard against
mistakes, and every line printed is read
over by proof readers four or five differ
ent times.
Ten stereotypers prepare the plates for
the printing machines, by the papier
mache process, now in use in the Public
Ledger office, and in other leading news
paper offices in the United States, and
these machines are now run continuously
from about eight o’clock in the evening
until seven the next morning, besides
work during the day upon “second
editions.” Sixteen firemen and engineers
attend the engines and boilers, six men
prepare the paper, before printing, ninety
are employed on the presses, and seven
. . er the paper to the news-agents after
it is piinted. No carriers are employed,
as m the Lnited States, but the whole
edition is sold out to news agents, the
number ot copies printed being no more
than the sum total of their orders, which
have to be handed in by 2 o’clock P M
on the previous day.
The wholesale price of the Times is
2 id. per copy (about44cents gold); the
retoil price, 3d. (6 cents gold). For the
benefit of the employees, there are estab
lished in the office a saving fund, a sick
fund, and a co-operative restaurant, man
aged by five persons, at which all the
employees get their food and drink at
wholesale cost prices. This is known
familiarly as “The Canteen.” Stability
and comfort are great objects in Printing
House Square. The apartments, dingy
without, are clean and spacious withiu,
and faithful laborers remain there a life
time, bequeathing their places to their
sons. Many now in the place have*
worked there five-and-twenty years, and
two in particular, still hale and hearty,
have been in the office, respectively, 45
and 55 years. Father and son work
side by side, and all seem to regard the
place and its directors with the greatest
affection.
To print the Times , seventy tons
weight of paper, and two tons of printing
ink are used every week, whilst the
average weight of the daily issue of the
paper is from 11 to 12 tons. The ma
chines upon which this large edition is
printed are the best of their kind. There
are two ten-cylinder Hoe presses, and two
eight-cylinder Applegath machines; the
aggregate actual work done by them
being 52,000 impressions an hour, 16,000
from each of the former, aud 10,000 from
each ot the latter. Besides these, there
is now in use, the Walter Printing Press,
which is a self-feeder, and managed by a
man and two hoys, prints a large share of
the advertising pages of the Times. Its
capacity is from 22,000 to 24,000 im
pressions an hour, and it produces in that
time from 11,000 to 12,000 perfect
sheets, printed on both sides, and ready
for the reader.
This machine is somewhat similar to
the American Bullock Press. It prints
from a large roll of paper, containing
2,500 to 3,000 sheets, cuts them apart
after printing, and then delivers them, by
a double motion, into two piles. It has
been pronounced a success by competent
judges here, and will probably revolu
tionize the printing business in Eng
land, on account of its great capacity,
and the cheapness with which it is
operated. This wonderful machine was
invented and constructed by Mr. John C.
MacDonald, one of the leading men of
Printing House Square, and has been
named by him the “Walter Printing
Press,” in honor of the proprietor of the
Times. He spent six years of constant,
anxious labor, in building and perfecting
it.
There is little more to say of this great
newspaper. It circulates not only
throughout Great Britain, but all over the
world. Its policy in the treatment of
public affairs is not a fixed one, but is
governed by expediency. Towards
America, its former course of severe
criticism has been changed to one of
great friendliness, and it judges us now
with far more candor and generosity than
tne majority ot its London contempora
ries, besides paying great attention to the
collection of American intelligence.
W ho directs its course or controls its
opinions, however, is a sealed book. The
editor is invisible, nor are the writers
known, except by hearsay. It tries to
draw an impenetrable veil over the indi
viduality of all connected with it, aud
what tiiis or that writer may say is buried
in the great mass of leaders, news, and
other matters which the Times presents
to the world on its sixteen or twenty
broad pages every week-day morning.
C.
<♦ * >
A friend of ours, suspecting one ofghis
neigh borV negroes of stealing his turkeys,
went into the field andjaccusedHlie nc^ro
thTd^T^l' fa
matter of course, denied it, and protested
in his innocence. He'jsaid he carried a
rence rail home with him, and when
lie threw it down, it had nine turkeys up
,!n it, but he couldn’t account for their
being oil the rail. It is said by the
uegro’s master that he can steal the mo
lasses out of a ginger cake. We want
him to keep away from our turkey roost
with his fence rail.— Exchange.
7