ANSWERS TO FORTUNE-TELLER. 1. A life full of changes-die rich. 2. Early marriage and prosperous. 3. Many lovers, but die single. 4. A speedy journey of great import ance. 5. Become rich through a legacy. 6. Hours of pleasure, years of care. 7. Your present lover is false. 8. You will marry your present choice. 9. Wed thrice, and die in widowhood. 10. You will travel over land and sea. 11. If not already wed you never will be. 12. Gaming will be your ruin. 13. You will be very happy in marriage. 14. You will change your love soon. 15. A long life and prosperous. 16. A rival will cause you tears. 17. Beware of a false friend. 18. Fate decrees you two partners. 19. A large family of prosperous children. 20. You will not wed your present lover. 21. You will soon fall desperately in love. 22. You will soon be in mourning. 23. You will gain an estate by industry. 24. You will better yourself by marriage. 25. You will soon lose by fraud. 26. You will marry an ill-tempered person. 27. A sudden rise attends you. 28. You will see an absent lover. 29. Many enemies, but finally triumph. 30. A bad partner, but happy reformation. 31. A speedy proposal of marriage. 32. A present, and a new lover. 33. Invitation to a gay party. 34. A serious quarrel. 35. A disgraceful intrigue. 36. A run of ill-luck. 37. Gifts of money. 38. A good partner in marriage. 40. Money through love. 42. A long journey. 43. Important news soon. 44. Mind what you say to a lover. 47. Visit from a distant friend. 49. Advancement in life. 56. Preferment through a friend. 60. A pleasing surprise. 61. A change in your affairs. 65. Great loss and disappointment. 68. A handsome present soon. 69. An invitation to a marriage. 70. News from sea. 71. Happiness or marriage. 72. Pleasant intelligence from abroad. 73. An agreeable partner. 86. A lapful of money and a lapful of children. 87. You will marry a widow-or widower. 89. You will be married this year. 90. You will be apt to break your promise. 93. Beware of changing for the worse. 95. You will be happy if contented. 98. You will see your intended next Sun- 99. Others will covet your good luck. 101. Venture freely, and you will certainly gain. 102. Your present speculations will succeed. pect. 105. You will obtain your wishes through a 106. A fortune is in store for you-per- severe. 107. Alter your intention; you cannot suc- 108. Remain at home for the present. 110. Prepare for a journey. 111. You will succeed according to your 112. Beware of enemies who seek to do you 74. You are in love, but you won't allow it. 113. Misfortune at first, but comfort and 76. Disappointment in love. happiness after. 114. Prosperity in all your undertakings. 77. You will fall in love with one who is 115. Rely not on one who pretends to be OUR SPHINX. ANSWERS RECEIVED. Name the aids for a boy (without money) to rise step by step till he gets into an University?-I know no aids but perseverance, hard study, and plenty of exercise to keep yourself in the condition to study. However, there are scholarships; prizes, &c., given to those who pass high enough in some examinations, connected with different colleges, &c. For example, in the "senior middleclass Oxford examination," and the "matriculation," at the London University. Information about these things can be obtained by applying, by post, sending a stamp for the forwarding of the information you require, to one of the principal persons connected with the University, &c., by which the examination is held. And here I may take the liberty of saying, do whatever you do well, and your best. There are prizes given all over the world for excellency in everything physical, artistical, and intellectual. Explain the English Constitution, and how it differs from that of France?-The British Government is a limited monarchy, consisting of King, Lords, and Commons. In the legislature, these three powers are professedly equal, the consent of all being necessary to any alteration in the laws, or the making of new ones. If either power reject a bill, that bill cannot become law. Thus the British Government is made up of a Monarchy (the King), Aristocracy (Lords), and Democracy (Commons). Besides their joint legislative power, each of these has peculiar functions. The King, he is a single person, his office is hereditary, and he is the sole executive power. He appoints, directly or indirectly, all the members of the administration, the officers of the army and navy, ambassadors, judges (for life), &c., and he nominates (although he cannot appoint) the bishops. He has the power of making peace or war, levying armies, and fitting out fleets; to make treaties of league and commerce; to coin money, and dispose of all employments; to summon, prorogue, and dissolve the Parliament; choose his own privy counsel; and although he may not of himself alter any of the existing laws of the realm, yet he may approve or disapprove any alterations suggested by the Lords or Commons. He is the nominated supreme governor of the Church of England. The improper exercise of such great powers is checked by the dependence of the Sovereign for supplies, and the responsibility of ministers, who are liable to impeachment for any unconstitutional act. The House of Lords is composed of the spiritual lords of the realm (except the bishop of Sodor and Man), and the temporal Lords, whose titles are hereditary, about 400; 16 Peers of Scotland, chosen every Parliament by the Scotch'peers; and 28 peers of Ireland, chosen for life by the Irish peers; 26 English bishops, and 4 Irish, who take their seats in rotation ; the temporal lords and dukes, marquises, earls, viscounts, and barons-the number of which may be increased at the King's pleasure. It is not common for any law to begin in the House of Lords, but there is no existing law that forbids it, except those relating to the finances of the nation. It can reject or receive a bill passed in the House of Commons, and make amendments, if not a money bill; but the Commons must approve of the amendments. The speaker of the House is the Lord Chancellor. It is the highest judicial court, and appeals may be made to it from the lower courts (not criminal), and its decision is final. It has the power of judging its own members, and every peer is judged by this house alone. The House of Commons is the representative of the whole nation, being chosen by the people to represent them. It consists of 658 members, of whom 500 are returned for England, 53 for Scotland, and 105 for Ireland. Of these 658, 399 are returned by the principal cities and boroughs, 6 by the Universities (Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin), and the remaining 253 by the counties. It has the control of the finances of the country, as no tax can be laid on, and no grant of money made, but by its consent. All money bills must originate in this house, and the Lords cannot alter any of the provisions, having only the power of accepting or rejecting such bill as a whole. Most laws are begun in this house. Since the House of Commons has the providing of the money, &c., the whole nation depends on it for money and means to support it; and it curbs the power of the King, for while the crown has, nominally, the power of making war, no war can be carried on without grants of public money-so no war can be entered on that this house does not approve of. Parliament is chosen every seven years, and sits in Westminster Hall. The French Government is a nearly absolute monarchy, under an Emperor, whose power is but slightly curbed by two feeble houses. Besides the Council of State, there is the Senate (appointed by the Emperor, and answering to our House of Lords), and the Legislative body (chosen by the people, and answering to our House of Commons). The power of these chambers is very limited. The difference between the English and French Government is, that the Emperor is the greatest power, the Chambers the least: this is reversed in our country. The Emperor has likewise the power of modifying the fundamental provisions of the constitution, which can only be done in England by our three powers. Give a short History and Account of St. Michael's Mount, Cornwall?-St. Michael's Mount, according to tradition, was once surrounded by a forest, which was submerged by the sea. From the same source, it is said to derive its name from Michael, the Archangel's, custom (A.D. 495) of sitting on it. It was the Ictis of the Romans, and was consequently an island at the time of their invasion (B.c. 55-A.D. 77). In the seventh century, it was called Michael-Stowe. St. Keyna paid a visit to the Mount, as did also her nephew, St. Cadoc, A.D. 490. After 500 years of renown, Edward the Confessor founded a priory of Benedictine monks here; and afterwards, Robert, Earl of Moreton and Cornwall, before A.D. 1085, made it a cell to the Abbey of St. Michael, in Normandy. There is a bill extant of Adrian, in 1155, confirming these possessions to the abbots and monks here, and to those of Normandy. There was once both a nunnery and a monastery, with a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary, built by the Earl of Moreton, in the reign of William II., and also a chapel to St. Michael (the guardian of sailors); but the last has long disappeared. The nunnery was detached from the monk's cell, and had much carved wood and stone in its construction. After the suppression of the alien priories, by Henry V., this was given, first, by King Henry VI. to King's College, Cambridge, and afterwards by King Edward II. to Sion Abbey, in Middlesex; it was first seized by Edward III. About the time of Richard I. it descended to one Pomeroy, who fortified it. Its priors, from 1260-1410 were De Carteret, De Perer, Gernon, De Cara Villa, Hardy, De Volant, Auncel, and Lambert. After the Reformation (about 1545), it appears to have been granted to Mr. Melliton, it is presumed of Pengerswick, for a term of years; then to Harris, of Gulval, and afterwards to another; and then by Elizabeth, or James I., it was given to Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, but was seized by Charles I. when William Cecil subscribed the York declaration, 1692, and took the side of the English people. It was then consigned to the Bassets, the staunch adherents of the Stuarts, to the last race; thus granted to them, they sold it about 1660, after a very short possession, to the St. Aubyn family, in whose possession it is at present. At the side of the Mount is a basin for shipping-erected on the site of a less convenient work of the same kind which had existed there before, probably at the expense of the monks, by Mr. Blewitt, a merchant, of Marazion, who held a lease of it from the St. Aubyn family; near it are cellars for the fishers, and many dwelling-houses. Sir John Arundel, of Trerice, lost his life in an attack on St. Michael's Mount (1471), then recently seized by Richard de Vere, Earl of Oxford. Here Lady Catherine Gordon, wife of Perkin Warbeck, took refuge, and many families secured themselves during the rebellion of the Cornish in the reign of Edward VI. Charles II. slept there on his way to Scilly. It has been many times visited by different members of our present royal family. How to make Indian Ink?-Lamp black (finest) is ground to a paste, with a very weak liquor of potassa, and this paste is then diffused through water slightly alkalized with potassa, after which it is collected, washed with clean water, and dried; the dry powder is next levigated to a smooth, stiff paste, with a strong, filtered decoction of carrageen, or Irish moss, or of quince-seed, a few drops of essence of musk, and about half as much of essence of ambergris being added by way of perfume, towards the end of the process. The mass is, lastly, moulded into cakes, which are ornamented with Chinese characters and devices, as soon as they are dry and hard.HERBERT THOMAS. [(Buddha) died; eight of these vary between the years 2420 and 1202, 14 between the years 1081 and 1000, and 13 between the years 959 and 543 before our era. The concurrence of a comparatively large proportion of those statements in placing Buddha in the eleventh century, is remarkable, and, combined with other circumstances, renders it probable that the Tibetan and Mongol account, which fixes his birth in either 1022 or 1027, and his death in 942 or 947 before Christ, may come very near the truth. If the last-named dates are right, he was 80 years of age when he died.-Knight's Cyclopædia. Rules of Chess S. G. WILLS. 1. The board must be so placed as to give each player at his right hand a white corner square. 2. The queen must stand on a square of her own colour. 3. No piece ought to be touched without being 4. The king must never be left in check. 6. When your adversary places your king in 7. A stale-mate is a drawn game. 8. Once in the game, the king, under certain conditions, is allowed to move two squares at once. This is called "castling," as it is performed in conjunction with the king or queen's rook. The king, in cases where the castling is made with his own rook, is played to his knight's square, the rook taking up the position of the bishop. In castling with the queen's rook, the king is played to the queen's bishop's square, and the rook to the queen's square. Castling cannot take place if the king or the rook have been moved; if the king be in check; if the king in castling would have to pass over any square attacked by any one of his adversary's pieces; and if there be any pawn between the king and the rook. 9. A draw game occurs when neither party can check-mate the other. 10. Give an Account of the Rise and Progress of Buddhism?-Among the religions of Asia, that of Buddha, or Buddhism, is one of the most remarkable, partly for the peculiar character of its doctrine, and partly on account of the vast numbers of its followers. From India Proper, the country which gave it birth, nearly every trace of Buddhism has now disappeared; but it has become the religion of the great majority of the inhabitants of the high table-land to the north of the Himalayas, as far as the boundary of Siberia; and it is the prevailing creed of China, of the Peninsula of India beyond the Ganges, of Ceylon, and several islands of the Indian Archipelago, and of the empire of Japan. According to an estimate given by Hassel, there are now upon the globe 315 millions of Buddhists. According to the concurrent traditions of the Buddhists in various parts of Asia, the founder of the sect was the son of Suddhodana, King of Magadha, in South Behar, and Maya. His name is said to have been Sarvarthasiddha; but he was frequently called by what appears to have been a sort of patronymic designation, Gautama, and by the complimentary surnames Sakyasinha, and Šakyamuni, i.e., "the lion," or the "de-strings, made tight by bridges near each end of votee of (the race of) Sakya." The title of Buddha or "the sage" does not seem to have been given him till after he had attained eminent sanctity as a teacher of religion. The statements respecting the age in which Buddha lived vary in a degree which is, perhaps, without a parallel in history. Bohlen, in his work on Ancient India, has brought into a tabular arrangement no less than 35 different statements as to the date when he The relative value of the pieces is as follows: -Knights and bishops are of equal value, each worth about three pawns; the rook is equal to a knight, or a bishop and two pawns; the queen is equal to two rooks and three bishops, or a bishop and two knights. 11. In playing the game, strive to check-mate, not to take pieces. 12. Never lose-in losing the game-your tem- the box, and fixed in its ends on pins. The ADJUDICATION ON PRIZE ESSAY-WAS CHARLES I. A MARTYR? THIS question, which until recently was answered in the affirmative by the Book of Common Prayer, is freely discussed by our Essayists; the majority of whom are of opinion that the act of putting Charles to death was imprudent and illegal, but that the King has no claim to the martyr's crown. PHILIP SMITH is the stoutest of the Cavaliers, and he sings a lament over the "Sainted Charles." He sees in him all virtue, and has bitter contempt and hatred for the "triumphant traitor" who condemned the monarch to death. JOHN MOORE is a good friend to the King, and tells us that his fate excited commiseration, pity, and admiration; and he concludes that he was a martyr to the Constitution. H. J. YOUNG, after an excellent sketch of the King's reign, says: "I think it will appear, from the foregoing outline, that Charles may justly be considered a martyr to his faith; for, if he had acceded to the demands of the Scotch in favour of their religion, they would undoubtedly have placed him at the head of such an army as would have crushed Cromwell and his adherents; or, if he had consented to the abolition of episcopacy, the majority of the Independents would have come over to his side, for, being naturally jealous of Cromwell, they tried, when too late, to check his rising power, and would gladly have accepted any excuse for so doing. Charles' death will be, and is, looked upon by unprejudiced men of both parties as nothing but a martyrdom." JOSEPH OSWALD, in a very carefully written Essay, in which he distinctly avows his attachment to the Royal cause, comes to the conclusion that Charles was not a martyr, but a murdered man. GEORGE FREDERICK CRAIK says:-"I finally decide, then, that Charles was not a martyr, that he deserved death; but that Cromwell's party had no legal right to behead him. They acted, I think, wrongfully, but not altogether without good intentions. Cromwell stood forth to represent the liberties of the people, and, though he was certainly ambitious for his own fame, yet I think he had the noble object of his country's good at heart; and, if he over-stepped his mark, if, in his bigoted zeal, if you will, he went further than he ought, yet I sincerely believe that his object was good, and that, in spite of his many faults, he deserves a much higher opinion than it is the general custom of his biographers to accord to him." E. H. TAYLOR holds the scales with a steady hand, and although a good friend to the King, cannot deny the virtues and ability of the leading men of the Commons. He thinks the King did wrong and the Commons did wrong; that the King was no martyr, but was put unjustly to death. JOHN R. SMART says of the King:-"His untimely death was a cruel, merciless wrong; for Cromwell by his remorse, by his daughter's avowal, has himself admitted it. Few blacker deeds have been done in this England of ours, than to butcher Charles Stuart, but that it was a martyrdom none but infatuated partizans will aver. When we talk of martyrs, we call to mind men of holy, unblameable lives, who, untainted by perdrication, have laid down their lives willingly on behalf of some holy master or doctrine. Can that man be a martyr who wanted the question at that time obsolete to be put to Felton the assassinator of Buckingham? Can that man be a martyr who, breaking all the ties of fellowship, both sworn and implied, forsook and gave over to death one who had fearlessly stood by him through good and evil report? Can that man be a martyr who deliberately and pertinaciously pursued a policy of mean, unkingly deception; who valued vows as temporary expedients to be put aside when he deemed state-craft called for it ? No, the Church two hundred years ago may have thought him a martyr, but we, who live under the light of other days' dare not put our hands to our hearts and say as much. His death was a foul crime, but posterity proclaims that the sacrificed King had much to atone for, much to redeem a life the greater part misspent, but with a clause immortalized by sufferings of overwhelming woe." WALTER C. TAYLOR selects twenty incidents in the King's life, and concludes that after all the evidence it would be "perfectly ridiculous for any one to say that he was a martyr." Frederick J. Hamlyn, William E. Purse, F. M. Holmes, and John MacDougall all express similar views-Charles was illegally beheaded, but he was no martyr. The following is the list of competitors in order of merit : Joseph Oswald, age 16, Westgate Hill Terrace, Newcastle-on-Tyne. Philip Smith, age 17, Wind-street, Swansea. George Frederick Craik, age 17, Hampton Park, Bristol. H. J. Young, age 16, Monnon-street, Monmouth. E. H. Taylor, age 16, Highfields, Newscone, N. B. John Moore, age 15, Binfield Lodge, near Bracknell, Berks. John R. Smart, age 12, Peterborough. Frederick J. Hamlyn, age 17, Hull. John MacDougall, age 14, Lochgoilhead, near Greenock. |