Scripture reader, had lost a little child from that sudden scourge of intancy, croup. He had secretly arranged for the burial this forenoon, hoping that it would escape the notice of his enemies. No carpenter in the neighbourhood dared make a coffin for him; so, with his own hands, he fashioned one rudely of drift-timber; but it was as safe custodier of the quiet little body therein, as any coffin velvetcased and silver-mounted. The mother walked beside, stricken with sorrow, sobbing under her heavy cloak a low miserable cry: what to her was it that the poor little one had no expectation in his life, if he had lived, but hardship the sorest, toil unflavoured by comforts, an old age of pauperism, that he was taken from the evil to come? Grief lies deeper than reason with longest plummet can sound its recesses; and the more fathomless the love, greater is the twin abyss of sorrow. This mother, now in the first bitterness of laying the precious dead out of her sight, had small comfort even in the belief that he was gone into a good land and a large, to Him who loved the children, and that the most glorious result of the longest life was his, without the heat and burden of the day.

Under an alder springing from the old masonry of St. Synan's church-how alders love ancient ruins!-in an unnoticed place among long weeds, the Scripture reader had dug his child's grave at carly morning. But as the funeral now approached the churchyard, an ominous gathering of people was noticeable about the walls; the poor man's heart failed and wavered, in anticipation of a scene of reviling. The crowd scowled sullenly at the converts, yet they were permitted to pass the gate. When Mr. Brooke began to repeat the beautiful words which have fallen soothingly on many hearts of mourners-"I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth"--some of the people, entering after him, shrank back from the sound of the Protestant service: they swarmed upon the walls. The poor father much doubted that their hostility would be confined to looks; and when he came to the place of the grave, it was found that the earth had been filled in, and flattened down. A shout of derision broke from the mob when they saw the momentary discomfiture of the converts.

"They carry their grudge to the grave," was Meade's remark, as he took a spade to open the ground afresh. Shouts grew angrier. "Right up aginst holy Saint Synan's church, to be berrin' a souper! Ye shan't do it, one foot of ye;" and off the walls came the crowd, collecting threateningly about the grave.

"Where'll ye give me to bury him in, the poor Show me any place-any place that ye'll lave him in peace. I chose what I thought none of ye could object to, bein' where there wasn't another grave; but sure I'll take any spot of earth ye give me, for I don't want to fight wid ye, boys; my holy Bible taught me somethin' better than that. Where will ye give me ?"

"Outside-outside-ye may bury him in the field beyant; a souper shan't have a yard of the holy ground." Mr. Brooke was speaking to one

or two whom he knew to be ringleaders, appealing to them unsuccessfully.

"Will ye give me this place ?" and Meade struck his spade into a vacant spot of soil.

"The O'Ryans' berrin'-ground-rest their souls! Never! We might expect them-for honest Catholics as they was-to walk in ghosts if we let a Protestant touch their coffins! No-we'll give you outside the whole counthry-any ditch ye like; an' good enough for ye!"

The mother rose up, and walked between the contenders; her tear-swollen face was pitiable. "Boys, don't ye be grudgin' us a little bit of earth to cover a poor weenoch, who never did harm to anybody, and who's in heaven this minit! Give us that place near the gate, where the big weeds are, an' may ye never feel the heart-scald that I have this day!" The poor woman's eyes rained down tears.

The crowd were somewhat moved;

but one fellow on the outskirts aimed a stone at her, which struck her face sharply. Instantly Philip Orme had seized him, and, after an instant's struggle, dragged him outside the gate, and hurled him to the ground. It was the man whom Meade had unsuccessfully prosecuted at the quarter sessions at Castlebay.

One might have expected that this act would cause a general blaze; but the pluck of the young gentleman was just suited to excite admiration from the mob; and not one of them but thought the fellow deserved such chastisement for his cowardly conduct. The stone-throwing became less brisk as Mr. Orme looked round; two or three dropped missiles which they had gathered. Frank's presence contributed to this, for they knew his father's fearless upholding of the law. Men slunk away over the low walls quietly. It was quite a dif ferent thing to assault the converts or Mr. Brooke, who were gentle and friendless; but Mr. Orme looked dangerous, and had power within his reach. The crowd were cooled. The Scripture reader began to dig in the weedy spot at the gateway, none hindering.

For the live-long night, the father and his friends sat by the new-made mound, to prevent a dreaded insult the coffin being torn up and cast out-no rare outrage to dead converts. A sorrowful vigil they kept under the bright stars, in the soft June weather.

SIBERIAN GEMS.

In the district around the Oural are found many stones of great value and beauty-emerald, amethyst, beryl, christoberyl, topaz, rose-tourmaline, and garnet-all highly interesting to the crystallographer in their natural state, and much more so to the ladies when cut into gems.

The capital of the Oural is Ekaterineburg, situated on a beautiful lake, from which there is a charming view of the town. The towers, spires, and domes of its eight churches, a monastery, and a convent, rising over the numerous public and private buildings, produce a most pleasing effect; while in the distance are seen the pine-clad hills of

one pood for each child, on which they live and look stout. Other workmen were cutting the emerald, topaz, amethyst, aquamarine, and various stones, into different shapes, which they do with perfect accuracy and in good taste.

Near these works stands the building (the Granilnoï Fabric) in which the jaspers, porphyries, aventurine, and other stones found in the Oural are made into columns, pedestals, vases, and tables, unrivalled in workmanship either in ancient or modern times. The machines used are turned by water power; the whole establishment belongs to the Crown, and is worked by peasants.

The jaspers are found in a great variety of colours, the most beautiful being deep green, dark purple, dark violet, grey and cream-colour; also a ribbon jasper, with stripes of reddish brown and green. The porphyries are equally fine and varied, comprising some of the most brilliant colours. Orlite is also a splendid stone, of a deep pink colour, with veins of yellow and black: when made into vases it is semi-transparent. Malachite is used in making tables and various other articles. The vases formed from it, Mr. Atkinson (to whose interesting Travels in Siberia we are indebted for these particulars) states, are usually of a most classic design; this, with the rich materials in which they are executed, gives them a magnificent effect; but to be able fully to appreciate such works, they must be seen in the splendid collections at the imperial palaces in St. Petersburg.

Most sumptuous jasper tables are made at this establishment, inlaid with different coloured stones in imitation of birds, flowers, and foliage. In 1853, Mr. Atkinson saw one of them in Ekaterineburg, on which four or five men had been employed for six | years. Nor is this an uncommon occurrence. The cost of labour alone (even if the materials were to be had) would effectually prevent such work being executed in England. But in Russia, wages are excessively low; and Mr. Atkinson himself saw a man engaged carving foliage on some of the jasper vases, in a style not excelled anywhere in Europe, whose wages were three shillings and eightpence a month, with two poods (thirty-six pounds) of rye-flour per month to make into bread; meat he was never supposed to eat. Another man was cutting a head of Ajax after the antique, in jasper of two colours-the ground of dark green, and the head a yellowish cream-colour-in very high relief, and intended for a brooch. It was a splendid production of art, and would have raised the man to a high position in any country in Europe except Russia. He also, poor fellow! received his three shillings and eightpence a month and his bread. A married man with a family re

The lapidaries of Ekaterineburg deserve most honourable mention; they have brought their art to great perfection in cutting the various stones found in Siberia, and some of them may vie with the best workmen in Europe. Mr. Atkinson says: "The government employs a great number of its serfs in this establishment, in the machine and other shops. None of them can be said to be 'poor,' if by that word is meant want of bread; for black bread they have, and salt; this, with a drink made from rye, is the food of hundreds who work hard for twelve hours in the day, and receive for their labour fourpence. The Russian peasants have, undoubtedly, great imitative genius, and nothing daunts them. Men are brought from a village, never having seen any mechanical operations before, and are taken to the shop. One is told he must be a blacksmith; he goes to his anvil without the least hesitation, and begins his work; another is ordered to be a fitter in the machine shop; he seats himself at his bench, looks at the work his neighbour is doing, takes up his file, and commences his new and to him wonderful occupation; so they go on through many branches."

All precious stones, wherever discovered in Siberia, are the property of the emperor; but it is not always the case that they find their way into the Imperial jewel-case, as the following instance shows. About twenty-five or thirty years ago, several fine crystals of emerald were discovered by some children, while playing near the village of Takovaya, and were tossed about in the cottage for a considerable time before their character was recognised. At length they were sent to Ekaterineburg, and were most splendidly cut in the Granilnoï Fabric. They proved to be gems of rare beauty and great value, and were secretly sent into Germany, where they were bought by a prince of one of the reigning families. Some years afterwards, his consort, on some great occasion, visited the Emperor of Russia, and, while staying at St. Petersburg, wore these magnificent and rare gems. They were of such surpassing beauty as to attract the notice of the empress, who admired them very much, and inquired whence they were obtained. To the great astonishment of her Imperial Majesty, she was told they came from Siberia. This caused a great sensation. Without giving time for any communication to be made to Ekaterineburg, the emperor sent an officer to search the works, and the houses of all persons connected with the establishment there. He found in the house of the director several gems of great value, which the latter declared were there for safe custody. This was disbelieved, and without any investigation, the accused was sent to prison, and after many years' confinement died there.

Amethysts of great brilliancy, and beryl, are occasionally discovered in several parts of the Oural; some exceedingly fine crystals of a blue, yellow, and rose colour; those of the latter kind are rare,

Our readers will learn with interest that English mechanics have been employed in the Oural from a very early period, in its mining operations. Several of them, Mr. A. tells us, have become celebrated for their eccentricity, and their names will be handed down through many generations in connection with the works. He relates a tragical history of the fate of one of these adventurous spirits. In the reign of the emperor Paul, a young mechanic, named Major, was engaged by the Russian government, and sent to Ekaterineburg to superintend a small mechanical establishment. In this town Major spent a long life, and constructed many machines, which, rude as they were, proved of essential value in the mining districts. Peasants were sent to him from the different villages, who had never in their lives seen any mechanical tools except an axe and a saw. When he entered upon his duties he scarcely knew a word of the Russian language, which of course added much to his difficulties. However, as years rolled on, he acquired some knowledge of it. German he also learned by coming in contact with the miners, many of whom were from the Hartz Mountains. He likewise contrived to add a little French to his stock. His pay being liberal, and living cheap, he was enabled to keep a good establishment; and, being kind to the workmen, he gained their esteem and that of the officers who served under him, while his eccentricity amused them all. He had at length established a sort of jargon of his own, most strange and peculiar. In giving his instructions, he would begin in Russ, add a few words of German, then a scrap of French, and finally glide into an English sentence, which he concluded with an impetuous volley of threats in case of disobedience.

When the Emperor Alexander visited the Oural, he was greatly pleased with the works Major had established, and, as a token of his satisfaction, presented him with a piece of land, containing about twenty English acres, with all the minerals it contained, and gold was known to be deposited there. This imperial act of bounty proved fatal to the unhappy Englishman, who built for himself a house on his land, and a few years later began to excavate and wash the gold sand, usually obtaining more than two poods of gold a year, at a very small cost of labour. This was worth about £3500. He had gone on in this way for several years, living at his country house with very few people about him, and often having no domestic except an old woman. At length an unusually productive year occurred; the quantity of precious metal he had obtained

After this, the murderers possessed themselves of the box and the gold, with which they made off, closing the doors after them. It was not till the morning of the third day that this terrible tragedy was known, when one of the officers of the machine works came to consult Major on business of importance. Search being made, the ghastly remains of the murdered man were found, his hand still grasping the candlestick. The old woman was discovered in a state of unconsciousness, though still living.

A strict investigation was made, and suspicion fell on some of the workmen, who were seized and examined, but it was clearly proved they were innocent. A strict watch was kept on the movements of certain men who were rather suspicious characters. One of these, a small merchant, was taken and searched. On examination, however, he proved to the satisfaction of the police that he was ninety versts distant on the morning of the murder. He was accordingly set at liberty. Years passed over, and all hopes of penetrating the mystery was given up. It happened, however, that the quantity of gold stolen from the mines had become so enormous, that the government determined to discover how it was effected. An officer of police was despatched to the neighbourhood, and after a long and skilful course of manoeuvring, he contrived to effect the purpose for which he was sent. In the course of his investigations also, he came upon a clue which led to the discovery of the murderer of poor Major, who was no other than the merchant who had been in the first instance tried and acquitted. This man had long been engaged in gold-smuggling, in association with those who stole it from the mines. The murder was clearly proved against him and some accomplices, and they were sentenced to the horrible punishment of "running the gauntlet,* and died immediately after. The band of gold-stealers was broken up, and the officer of police returned to St. Petersburg to receive a reward for his arduous and really dangerous labours.

"To run the gauntlet" is to walk between the lines formed by a regiment of soldiers, consisting of 3000 men, cach man striking the culprit with a rod.

THE IONIAN ISLANDS.

CORFU.

BEAUTIFUL in the extreme are many of the isles of Greece, rich in lovely landscapes, gay with odorous flowers, bright with splendid sunshine, and washed by cerulean waters, varying in their tint, according to their depth, from light azure to the deepest ultramarine-land and water so perpetually interlacing as to be almost everywhere combined in the same view. Some, indeed, of these islets are scorched and sterile volcanic masses, presenting nothing to the eye at a distance but verdureless acclivities, with scarcely a single tree to break the uniform barrenness; and it is only in nooks and corners, in deep dells and shaded retreats, that the ground has its grassy lawns and leafy copses. But others, including all the Ionian series, exhibit the soft yet grand features common to districts which have a rocky skeleton clothed with fertile soil; and no contrast can well be conceived more striking than that presented by dark groups of tall and tufted cypresses, with the pale quivering foliage of luxu

sun.

riant olive-groves, the white limestone cliffs, and the blue sea, gloriously lighted up by the noonday With nature's attractive scenes, there are often blended remains of once stately temples, erected in honour of long dethroned gods and goddesses, imposing or picturesque, or effective by their very insignificance, carrying the mind far back into the hoary past, and suggesting impressive reflection upon the errors of mankind, the changes wrought by the destroying hand of time, and the still more utter desolation effected by war and barbarism.

Several of the world's great decisive battles were fought off the shores of these romantic islets. Men famous in history have been connected with them; Alexander in youth, and Demosthenes in death; Aristotle and Themistocles in banishment; Cicero and Cato in flight; Antony and Cleopatra in marriage and defeat; Augustus in victory; Agrippina in widowhood; and Richard Coeur de Lion on his way to an Austrian prison. Poetical associations of high interest invest many a cove and headland ; and one of the number was selected by the Divine