Obituary.

on the Plymouth-road , where the mournful service was brought to a conclusion . After tho bereaved relatives of the deceased had taken their last survey of the departed , each Freemason advanced to the grave , and dropping their sprigs of acacia upon tho coffin , exclaimed " Alas , my brother ! " This concluded the sad ceremonial , after which the Masons returned to their lodge and shortly

afterwards separated . Bro . Heath , of the Seven Stars , who had acted as Director of the Ceremonies , invited tho brethren from distant lodges to a substantial luncheon , Avhich Avas served with true Masonic liberality . Before the brethren dispersed , Bro . Heath , proposed that a letter of sympathy and condolence should be sent to thc widoiv and family

of their deceased brother . The proposal ivas at once seconded by several brethren and unanimously agreed , to .

Literary Extracts.

LITERARY EXTRACTS .

THE GREAT FIRE OP LONDON— "While London Avas burning , tho citizens ivere haunted ivith the notion that it had been caused by incendiaries . The crime ivas attributed to a class . Eoman Catholic emissaries , it ivas believed , had contrived and caused the frightful castastrophe . Many strangers and foreigners ivere arrested

on the charge of depositing fire-balls in empty wooden tenements , or scattering imfiammable missiles to increase the fury of the conflagration . A Portuguese passing along one of the streets ivas seen tojilace a 2 iarcel within the shutters of an unoccupied house , ancl Avas taken before a magistrate on tha charge . He declared his

innocence , but owned that he did placo a piece of bread Avhich ho had picked up , in the shop as described . Being led to the spot , he pointed out the aperture through Avhich ho passed his hand , and the lump of bread Avas found there . He declared it vra , s a custom in Portugal never to lcaA * o bread in tho street—citing the text ,

" Gather up tbe fragments , that nothing may bo lost . " He ivas immediately liberated . At the same time , a man unknown , went to a police-office , and confessed he AA'as an incendiary , having actually assisted in spreading the flames . ISTo evidence could be found to criminate him ,

and the tale he repeated Avas altogether improbable ; nevertheless , in the then excited state of the public mind , it AA'as considered right to bring him to trial . The judge AVIIO presided thought there ivas no case ; but the jury choosing to credit his confession , ho AA'as declared guilty , and suffered death . —The Old City , ils

Highways and Byways . A FAITHFUL SERVANT/—Some eight years ago I took Thomas from the plough to be general out-door manservant , groom , coachman , and gardener . It ivas also intended that he should occasionally Avait at table . But his early training ivas against this . Natara . ni cxpcllas furcayou knowand habits acquired in earllife

ren-, , y dered his presence ? - . inadvisable in tho dining-room , and incapacitated him from playing the part of occasional footman . I shall neA'er forget his first efforts , in that direction , and . his evident astonishment that master ancl missis , and the ladies and gentlemen , should make such a fuss over their victuals by having them in " courses , " instead of setting them down upon tho table at once , and

eating them np as appetite directed . It was evidently a matter of deep and long pondering with him , and I do not knoiv Avhether ho has solved the problem to this day . But as groom , coachman , and gardener , ho does fairly

well ; though , in his capacity of coachman , I haA'e the greatest difficulty in getting him to touch his hat to my friends Avhen he passes them on the road . With those who are simply acquaintances , I belieA * e he does go through the form ; but Avhen I see my friend Macaulay in the distance , I am pretty certain that Thomas will turn round from his perch and say , " Here ' s Master

Macooly acoming , sir ; " and that ho Avill greet my friend ivitli a broad grin of AA-elcomo , instead of thc customary touch of tho hat . Tho fact is , that Thomas thoroughly identifies himself Avith ns and Avith our fortunes . AVhen I took him into my service , somo eight years back , ho ivas utterly bankrupt in body and purse . Ho had been a farm labourer out of Avork for some months , down Avith .

a IOAV fever ; had run up a long bill at the shop and Avith the miller ; and his Avife and children Avere nearly starving . When I told him that I Avould take him into my employment , he fairly broke down , and sobbed like a child . But from that day to this ho has proved himself a most faithful and attached servant—a living specimen of the " antique service of the ancient world "—one of

those headless , honest , hard-working , civil creatures AV ! IO Avill spend their lives in . your service , if you will let them —soon to be extinct , I suppose , as the dodo . —OornhiU Magazine .

AVATI -R SUPPLY OF THE METROPOLIS IN OLDEN TIME . — The old AA * ater supply of this metropolis AA'as ludicrouslysimple . Neither pumps nor cisterns , much less reservoirs Avorked by steam-engines , wore thought of by men of primitive London . DOAVIA to the 13 th century they depended for Avater entirely upon the rivers , brooks , and wells of tho vicinity in their natural condition , and

thought of no artificial means to collect or distribute the health-giving fluid , tho utmost attempt at improvement being a clay tank or stone basin near the ivells . As the population increased , ancl tho supply grew less efficient — -for the streams of the Eiver Fletc , " the Old Bourne , the AVall Brook , and tho Lang Bourne became scanty , or were obstructed by their courses being impeded or

Availed over , as houses ivere erected and the soil raised — " thon the citizens , " says Stow , " ivere forced to seek sweet AVivters abroad , whereof some , at the request of Henry III ., 1236 , were , for the profit of tho City and good of the realm , thither repairing , to Avit , for the poor to drink , ancl for the rich to dress their meat , granted to the citizens by ono Gilbert Sanford , Avith liberty to

convoy Avater from the town of Tyburn by pipes of lead into tho City . " This Avater supply Avas received into a rough stone basin , for there wore no leaden cisterns in London before 1285 . Tin ' s useful novelty was provided by Henry Wallies , Avhile Mayor , and Avas called the Great Conduit iu AVest Chepo , and the water ivas brought from the distance of three miles and a half . In the 15 th

century , public benefactions for thc repair or restoration of the conduits ivere very general , and John Pope , citizen and barber , gave his estates , by will , 1437 , to his felloivcitizens , for ever , to keep up the City conduits . —The Old Oily , its Jf . ir jliiwys and Rijivays .

PniLic BEADING AND SPEAKING . —All public speaking and reading must be a little heightened above ordinary nature , the pauses being longer and more frequent , the tones stronger , thc action more forcible , and the expression more highly coloured . It should be the same in quality , but larger in quantity . Thus , in reading aloud in a largo building , to a numerous auditory , the reading

should be as natural as in reading in a small room to a few persons , but it should be stronger . The greater number of the auditors being at a distance , it must have stronger touches and greater lig ht and shade than would be correct or necessary for a near hearing and view alone , but j'ot so moderated as not to disgust the nearest auditors by gross exaggeration—as a statue or picture , placed at a distance , must be larger than life , but yet a perfect resemblance ; the features must be colossal , but not exaggerated . —0 . W . Smith's Clerical Elocution .