Show CURRENT TOPICS IN EUROPE just juat now DOW the news dews has ar rived that the beautiful woods overlooking the vale of avoca are going to be cut down and made up into matches people of a sentimental turn of mind declare it an outrage if there is a spot in all the british islands that deserves to be kept sacred from the desecrating dese crating hands of commerce and manufactures it is the sweet vale of f avoca it forms the inspiration of perhaps the best known poem of Ir elands elandIs greatest bard thomas moore who does not remember those beautiful lines commencing there is not in the wide world a valley so sweet As that vale in whose valley the bright waters meet but even it this beautiful spot had not been immortalized zed in moores famous lyric it deserves to be spared for its own sake it lies in one of the loveliest districts of ireland the whole route from dublin to wicklow runs through a beautiful country and it would seem difficultly difficult to find anywhere a more exquisite combination of foliage water and distant views of mountain scenery than tn in these smiling glens but the vale of avoca has companions in tune perhaps the words of scott are true when the poet dies mute nature mourns her borshi worshiper it may be so for nature seems to mave have no power to protect her shrines from the invasion even the lands of burns and scott have fullen fallen victims to the modern commercial spirit it is true the highlanders High landers have succeeded in preserving the trossachs sachs and beavenue ben Beu venue and ellens isle for the benefit of tourists but he who visits melrose abbey will perceive with regret the huge brick chimneys belching their roul foul fumes into the air and jhb dye products and chemical nations that kill the turf and poison and pollute the river the quiet shades of stoke bogis churchyard are still undisturbed except by an occasional locomotive whistle and we may see the seene scene of the elegy much as it was in the days of thom thomas gray we may see Mil tons home at horton in much the same condi condition tio pro probably bobly that it was three hundred bunar years ago Shake house and burial place at stratford are seemingly well preserved and almost unchanged is the little church at brington arington Br ington in Northampton shire where lie the mortal remains of george ancestors but we look and look in vain to find the forest of arden or the bosky depths chat teu the imagery of the midsummer nights dream and As you like it forest as described by pope is no longer a forest and many another landmark odthe past has been obliterated even at the present time liverpool is turning one of the loveliest of welsh valleys into an artificial water tank the hand baud of change is evitable en but many look with regret upon the destruction of those scenes so intimately connected with what king george iain his broken english used to call bietry and I 1 ba intine inting 11 the jubilee of the penny post which took place in various parts parte of england on the of january to ie in reality one of the most significant of the celebrations that have taken place lace recently it was on january fa lo 10 1840 that universal cheap cbs ap postage was waa inaugurated in the united kingdom at this distance of time we can scarcely comprehend the great social change that was thus brought about previous to th it at time there had beer been a penny post in Edinburg haud hand likewise an arrangement in london and suburbs for the carrying of parcels and letters sir rowland hill however was the originator of a universal aud uniform rate of cheap postage and the inventor of the adhesive postage stamp we can now scarcely realize the amount of persecution that sir rowland hill suffered during the two years that the now famous postal bill was pending before parliament As soon as it became law and went into operation its benefits were readily seen an enormous increase of correspondence pon dence was the first result previously otters had bed been a luxury beyond the reach of the very poor A days wages of a laboring mau man would scarcely pay the postage of a single letter A parting of relatives and f manda had something ng of the nature of a farewell A mothers parting with her child was reu rendered dered more painful by the thought that it would be long before she would hear from him again it was not long before other nations adopted the postage system in produced trod by sir rowland hill switzerland was the firby among continental nations but before ton ten years had passed the system had extended to the whole civilized world the advent of cheap postage eon tedas it is with rapid thas brou brought ghr with it one of the greatest social revolutions in the history ot of the world it is well that sir row land hill is to have a magnificent statue erected to his bis memory as one of the great benefactors of his race whether the prince of wales is following the example of his royal nephew the emperor of germany or the aforesaid royal nephew is following the example of his uncle the prince of wales may be a matter of dispute but this much is evident that both seem anxious to benefit their people we can imagine no subject of deeper Imports importance tuce than that which alleviates or eradicates that greatest disease of medi times known to historians by the name of leprosy it is certainly a mark of kindness of heart to see the prince of wales presiding as he did on the instant over a meeting of philanthropists and scientists to consider and discuss leprosy in all its forms methods of treatment and risible possible extirpation the meeting IR R itself partook of rather an international ter character for besides tho eminent eminent in the medical profession and residing I 1 in great Br britain britana itala such as dr mckenzie sir umes james paget dr priestly and or dr russell reynolds there were others from the continent who take a deep interest in the subject among these mav be mentioned dr bayrer and father pam pamphile hile do de beuster Ve uster the brother of vather father damien that noble martyr to the cause of leprosy respecting the origin of leprosy but little is known with certainty lucretius regards egypt as the land from whence it came be that as it may the sacred books of the jews are full of allusions to the dreaded malady and he who reads the writings of moses will perceive how minute directions he gave concerning it herodotus speaks of leprosy as existing in babylon and pliny thought that the army of pompey brought it to italy from syria it was however in the mi middle idle ages that the horrible malady spread with such irresistible power and scattered abroad such widespread desolation and horror immediately after the crusadee leprosy became a common thing in western europe it is a disputed question whether it was brought hither by the crusaders themselves or whether it was caused by wholesale licentiousness of the priests du during r ng the absence of so many of the husbands during those fanatical wars ware the absence of husbands who in most instances never lived to return we can only form some inadequate idea of the magnitude of the evil when we recollect that there were in the fourth century more than nineteen thousand leper houses in western europe at the present day leprosy is more widely distributed in the world than we are apt to imagine many lepers are to be found on the coast or of norway on the islands of the levant and along the shores of the caspian sea the disease prevails not only in syria and egypt but likewise in japan and west africa and hawaiian lepers have gained wide notoriety by the self sacrifice of father damien while dr hutchinson president of the royal college of surgeons declares that medi inaudi al science is in such an advanced state that a concerted movement may now practically end the disease 11 sir andrew clarke declares not only that leprosy exists in larger measure than in recent years but likewise now new germinal centres bentres of it are springing up in various quarters old centres bentres are widening and before england and the world is looming a condition of affairs which may grow and attain such proportions as to threaten not only one class of society but all that is dearest in the fruits fruite of civilization ili but this la Is not the only work of humanity in which the prince of wales has shown a strong and abad abiding ng interest the establishment of t the h e imperial institute of modern orr cental languages under the patronage of the prince of wales may be said not only to form an epoch in the colonial policy of the empire but likewise in the literature of the british people professor max muller Mull bris is perhaps the greatest living in the world and it is he alio has been laboring to this end for the past thirty years no wonder rhe he expresses surprise that E england should have been bh oolong so long content to see her great european rivals russia france and germany doing so much to cultivate the knowledge of those eastern peoples among whom billish influence is so great for fifty years russia has sedulously taught her v buths the language of the chinese the tartars Tar tars the and the afghans while at the same time there has not been in great britain a single school for the learning of those languages and yet british manufacturers supply the market for a thousand millions of those peoples A few words from an oration by max muller may not be out of place it is said that great britain has conquered india but the true conquest of that country is yet to come our new conquerors will have to study the ancient literature of ind india ia which is still the leaven of indian th thought ou bt they must gain insight into the the anci ancient elit religion of the people 0 e whick which will furnish the bestry best key to unlock further religious instruction to their minds they must enter into the spirit of their ancient laws before attempting to enforce modern legislation they must learn to appreciate indian literature and indian poetry before we can rightly measure the status of the people whether for unselfishness or devotion to high ideals truthfulness ful ness purity and real religion I 1 know of no hero greater than kes kea hub caunder Ch under no heroine greater than Bam Ra mabal abai 11 the prince of wales as well as max muller and his compeers com peers perceive that the british indian empire is not hot safe so long as those untold hundreds of millions of people are merely governed by the power of the sword concerning the cretan question it to is evident to many that the end of turkish rule there will soon be ended greece is anxious to annex the island crete is anxious to be annexed and the principal question now is the sanction of the great european powers to the transfer meanwhile we may expect to hear of turkish atrocities another point in the great eastern question ot will soon be settled the dispute dispi ite between great britain and portugal still occupies much attention the superior naval and military strength streng tb of great britain has compelled portugal to accede to the demands of lord salisbury but back of all this lies the question what is the mean ling of all these professions of international peace and goodwill if a claim of a few miles of the black mans country will destroy the much vaunted european peace some of the wise ones are asking how it would have been if the disputants had been russia and austria germany and england or france and portugal the events of the past week have shown upon how weak a thread hang bang the destinies or donations nations co and the issues of pence peace and war J H WARD EUROPE Euia opE jan |