The house in Ecclefechan, in Dumfriesshire, where Carlyle was born, and which was purchased by a niece, has been restored and has had some interesting relics placed in it. It will no doubt be the scene of many pilgrimages. In carrying out the alterations, the old doors and the like have been scrupulously preserved. The room where the young Carlyle lived contains the philosopher's easy-chair, a mahogany table well stained with ink, an old-fashioned bookcase consisting of a series of shelves supported by pillars at the side and hung upon the wall, besides appropriate photographs and other articles.
Memory in Dogs.
Several years ago a gentleman was presented with a black-and-tan terrier. One evening he went to St. John's Wood, London, to fetch it to his own home, some five miles on the south of the Thames. For the greater part of the way the dog and his new owner travelled (in the dark of course) outside an omnibus. The terrier was confined for a week and then set at liberty. Next day it disappeared, and it was afterwards learnt that it arrived at its old home—ragged and starved—six or seven days after effecting its escape. As the dog had been taken on a vehicle right across London, over the river, and in the dark, to a strange district nine miles from its home, its finding its way back to St. John's Wood must be regarded as a remarkable instance of canine intelligence.
Anecdotes of Apelles.
Some interesting anecdotes have been preserved about Apelles, who flourished during the latter half of the fourth century before Christ, and who was considered to be the most famous painter of the ancient world. Alexander the Great once visited his studio, and exhibited so much ignorance of art that Apelles desired him to be silent, as the boys who were grinding his colours were laughing at him. He painted an ideal portrait of this celebrated king, of which Alexander said, "There are only two Alexanders—the invincible son of Philip, and the inimitable Alexander of Apelles." The painter's disposition was so generous that he purchased a picture of an artist whose talents were not recognised as they deserved, and spread a report that he would sell it again as one of his own. His industry was such that he never allowed a day to pass without painting one line—a habit which has become proverbial in the Latin phrase, nulla dies sine linea ("No day without a line"). Apelles was not above criticism. When his paintings were exposed to the public view, it is said that he used to conceal himself near them so that he might hear the comments of onlookers. A cobbler finding fault with the shoe of one of his figures, Apelles at once corrected it. But next day when the cobbler ventured to criticise the legs, the painter came forth from his hiding-place and recommended the cobbler to stick to the shoes—advice which in the words of the Latin version of the story also has been adopted as a proverb, Ne sutor ultra crepidam ("Let not the shoemaker overstep his last").
Drawing the Badger.
Badger-baiting was a brutal sport at one time in vogue in this country as a kind of "attraction" in public-houses of the lowest class. The animal was kept in a tub or barrel and was attacked by dogs. Yielding at last to superior numbers, it was dragged or drawn out. The badger was then set free and permitted to return to its tub until it recovered from the effects of the struggle, after which it was again baited. It had to submit to this barbarous treatment several times a day. The verb "to badger," now often applied to persons, was originally used in direct reference to this cruel practice.
A Gallant Rescue.
Not many months since some boys were sitting on the banks of the River Devon, near Tillicoultry (Scotland), when one of them, aged ten, waded into the stream in search of an article. He had hardly entered the water when he walked into a deep pool, in which he was whirled about quite helplessly, like a cork. Fortunately, a lad named James Henderson happened to be passing at the time, and observing the imminent peril of the poor boy, plunged into the river at the risk of his life, and brought him to the bank, where, after treatment, he recovered. The painful screams of the boy created great excitement in the neighbourhood, and there seems no doubt that but for the gallant rescue here recorded he would have been drowned. It would be a great advantage if the teaching of boys and girls how to swim were made a necessary part of their education.
