Literary Extracts.

told in illustration of this remark one of his characteristic stories -. — " A negro had been learning arithmetic . Another negro asked him , if he shot at three pigeons sitting on a fence and killed one , how many would remain . ' One , ' replied the arithmetician . ' No , ' said the other negro , 'the other two would fly away . '" In the course of the conversation he told two or three more of

these stories—if stories they could be called—always by Avay of illustrating some remark he had made , rather than for the sake of the anecdote itself . The -writer recognised in this propensity , as he thought , not a particularly jocular temperament , much less an addiction -to brutal levitj r , such as would call for a comic song among soldiers' graves , but the humour of the West , and

especially of a Western man accustomed to address popular audiences , and to enforce his ideas by vivid aud homely illustration ? . You must have studied the American character—and indeed the English character of Avhich ifc is tho offspring—very superficially if yon do not know that certain levity of expression , iu speaking even of important subjects , is perfectly compatible Avith great

earnestness and seriousness beneath . The language of the President , like his demeanour , Avas perfectly simple ; he did not let fall a single coarse or vulgar phrase , and all his words had a meaning .- —Professor Goldwin Smith , in Macmillan ' s Magazine for February . UNWELCOME VISITORS . —The Sioux are off again , but this time they have taken aAvay Avith them Avhatever they could lay their hands upon , whether begged or

stolen . Horses , oxen , COAVS , calves , pigs , and other live stock Avere taken from farmyards or the plains during the night Avhen they commenced their departure , and either killed or driven out ofthe settlement by the last frequented tracks . At one house a pane of glass was broken in each window , and every article Avithin arm ' s length abstracted ; and several houses were broken open

and plundered . They stole potatoes out of the fields , and coolly walked into the nearest houso and asked to be allowed to cook them . The red rascals visited every house Avhere they had sold children during their visit last winter , and took the children away , even against their Avishes in many cases . In one instance the master of the house coining up seized by the arm the boy they were

dragging away , and several of the Sioux held on to the other arm , both sides pulling atny , lvliile tbe child AVas screaming with fright ; at length the Sioux moA-ed off discomfited . They stole the communion-cloth from the church at High Bloff , and some of the ornaments from the altar of the French chapel near Sturgeon-creek . In short , Ave have had such a warning on this visit that Ave

must take steps to be prepared to make a stand against these invaders when next tliey come . Thoy may profess that their object is to endeavour to open up a trade Avith a settlement , bnt we must make such a display of force as Avill cause them to fear and respect us , or else Ave must place ourselves at their mercy , and tho result Avill probably be the re-enactment in our midst of the Minnesota massacres . —Nor' Wester .

A BOHEMIAS . —While talking at the door of the Portree Inn Avith tho landlord , Avho had knoAvn my old friend , I saw approach a broken , bloated figure in a pilot coat- —a strange wreck of an English gentleman to have Avashed up on that stormy coast . "Who is that ?" I asked , as he moved away . " That , sir , " the landlord said , smacking his lips over the name , " that is the

Honourable Alfred Monthermer , third son of the Earl of Daneville—a commander in the navy 1 " The curious interest and Avonder I had felt about the figure were explained , and my thoughts floAV back just twenty-one years . "What , the little pale youngster Avith an eyeglass , of the Boanerges , that lay near us iu Plymouth Sound ! " Pic-nics to the breakwaterevening jiarties

; , Avhere we judiciously danced with the captain ' s daughters ; cigars on the sly , when out of the reach of oldsters indifferent to the vice , but liking to lick you for committing it—all floated through the mind as t gazed after the

figure of a man , broken , beaten , bedevilled , and forsaken at the age of thirty-five . ' Then I formed a little theory of the history . The accident of a fast messmate or two to develop the latent tendency to " go a-mucker ; " the fatal tick at Malta , and the presents of filigree and other Avork to a young Sicilian there ; brandy and water to relieve the languor of the sirocco , claret and soda to

temper the rays of the Dogstar ; allowance outrun and money borrowed from the landlord of the Jervis' Head , at Portsmouth— a spell in the West Indies inflaming tho growing thirst—and then " Monthermer drinks . " Ho forgets to report Galita Light to one skipper , and another comes up at two bells in tho middle watch , and finds him asleep in the hammock netting . He goes from ship to

ship—with no open scandal , but pursued by a mysterious blight . There is a snug court of inquiry , and he is "invalided" soon after . High-born aunts of an evangelical turn get ivind of the state of things , and die , leaving him nothing . The older brother is glad of an excuse for buttoning np bis pockets ; but at last there is no shito be got for Alfredand he is packed off to the

p , Highlands , to be cured of drunkenness in the land of Avhisky . There are establishments dotted over the western counties Avhere they profess to do that kind of thing ; but , bless you ! tho patients get mysteriously drunk for all that ; the Avhisky seems to be in the air . And after a few hours of deepening degradation , 3-oung Hopeful now becomes young Hopeless—dies . The

family solicitor sees a good opportunity of giving a holiday to one of the senior clerks , Avho runs down and buries our friend , and is very glad of the trip . There my brisk young gentleman of the "Bag , " making the haj of pleasure , in the Haymarket , Avhile the sun shines —how do you like the programme ? The grave is open before us , and the polite moralist bows , and says , " After you . " —Cornhill Magazine . "EXAMINATION" AT THE UNIVERSITIES . —The great bugbear and terror of undergraduate existence lies in

that awful Avord " examination . " There are , it is true , little interludes of delight , consisting of the remainder ofthe term in Avhich a triumph has been gained ; but yet , for an honours man , there really seems no rest . The ordeals are undergone in rooms situated in a splendid quadrangle called " the schools ; " the Avrifcleu Avork is done at small deal tables , each man having a

separate table , and examiners aro posted all about to prevent " cribbing" of any kind , Avhich nevertheless does , Ave suspect , go on to a considerable extent iu the " pass " schools . It is an aAvful affair for a culprit to be discovered . We Avell remember being startled by hearing the head examiner on a certain afternoon announce , in a loud , clear tone , " Sir -, you Avill

have tho goodness to leave the schools . " Happily , in this case , the suspicion eventually proved to have been , unfounded . When tho viva voce comes on , each victim goes up to a table covered Avith green baize , where sit the two inquisitors ; the trembling Avretch is requested in bland tones to sit down , Avhicli he docs , looking furtivelround at his friendswhoAvith a mistaken

y , , kindness , if ho is a nervous man , are assembled to see how ho gets 011 . If a man is popular , or if he is in for honours , and great things are expected of him , large numbers are often , present to hear him . This Avas the case Avhen the present Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland and Lord Carnarvon were candidates for the class list . Numerous stories aro always afloat of Avonderful

blunders in divinity ; some , of course , are inventions , and others facts , or founded on facts . Here are a couple of amusing specimens , Avhich Ave credit with some foundation : —Examiner— " What can you tell me about St . Paul ? " Undergraduate— " He Avas also called Saul , and Avas brought up ab the foot of Gamaliel . " Examiner— " Yes , quite right . What do you knoAv about Gamaliel ? " Undergraduate — "Ib is a mountain in Galilee . " The next , Ave believe , may bo credited to Cambridge . Examiner— "Why did Moses leaA-o Egypt ? "