In our December issue we called attention to the effort being made to establish an Assembly in Canada, at Niagara. The plan is developing very satisfactorily. The proposition involves the acquirement from the Dominion Government of the piece of land known as Paradise Grove, containing about eighty acres, situated upon the bank of the Niagara River just outside the town of Niagara. The company which holds the lease has signified its willingness to consent to a transfer. Toronto is also thoroughly aroused to the importance of the movement, so much so that at a very largely attended public meeting called in February to discuss the matter the citizens pledged themselves almost unanimously to give a bonus of ten thousand dollars to the company. In addition to this promises of stock subscriptions have been made of at least as much more. It is easy to see that, if carried out, this project will prove a great boon to the old town. Already a large number of persons on both sides of the line have signified their intention to erect cottages and make it their summer home.
The Chautauqua Circle has just added a new and important branch to the many into which it is already divided. This is an art “circle,” to be called the Chautauqua Society of Fine Arts, in which it is proposed to give lessons in drawing and painting by correspondence. Every branch of art will be taught, from elementary drawing to oil-painting. The plan is a thoroughly practical one, and will be carried out in the best interests of the fine arts. Mr. Frank Fowler has been appointed director, and Messrs. R. Swain Gifford, Thomas Moran and Will H. Low will act as a committee of award. The course of study will extend over two years, at the end of which time diplomas will be given and prizes awarded for the best work in the different classes. The membership fee is fifty cents a year. Application for circulars and further information should be made to Miss K. F. Kimball, Plainfield, N. J.
With the fall of Khartoum, the death of General Gordon, the Irish dynamiteurs and their explosions in London, together with the land troubles in Ireland, a growing dissatisfaction with the Gladstone ministry, and the threatening aspect of Russia, England has enough of perplexing questions on hand to keep her Queen, Ministry and Parliament employed for an indefinite period of time. To be an English politician to-day is to have unrivaled opportunities for strong and vigorous action. Apropos of the Soudan trouble our readers will find the article by Dr. Wheeler, on England and Islam, in this impression, both spirited and profitable reading.
Roller skating is now claiming the attention of, first, physicians, who seem to be divided in their verdict as to the injurious physical effects of the exercise; second, of clergymen and laymen in the churches, who object to the “rink” on account of the associations, quite as much as the doctors do to the skating; third, of economists. In a railroad car bound west recently, we overheard a conversation between two cattle drovers on the “Roller Rink,” one of whom held up a paper named the Rink and Roller, the organ of the new sport. These two men discussed the financial side of “roller skating,” one insisting thus: “A boy will chop wood for seventy-five cents a day, or work at the bench for that amount, and then spend fifty cents in the evening for himself and girl to attend the rink; they keep it up; what’s the good; it is a craze.” Rinks are being built in all our towns and cities, but it will come to an end like every craze. Some will be injured physically—perhaps some will date a moral lapse to an unfortunate acquaintance made in the promiscuous company; while all who go will spend their money. What is the profit?
The venerable Mr. George Bancroft, having passed his eightieth birthday, still preserves his physical vigor and looks like one of the patriarchs of Washington. His mind is active and retains its strength, though now enjoying a much needed respite from literary work. Mr. Bancroft has finished his “History of the United States,” which has been a long and laborious task. Some new historian must appear, who can live in the midst of political changes, and like this great man, preserve an impartial judgment, as a historian, to continue Bancroft’s standard history of the United States.