not returned until it was almost too late to hope | ern society and civilization, that it is useless to dwell that the messenger of mercy should reach Eckern- on it more particularly here. ford before sunset. However, I was saved, and having been sent to Schleswig, was there set at liberty, General Berg being sensible enough to perceive that I had been made a mere scapegoat in the matter. "You will make the best of your way to England, I suppose," said the general, good-humoredly; "and keep out of old Rothenthurm's way in future, I advise you. That old man he won his way up from the ranks in the French war by sheer dogged courage is a terrible Turk, and might have involved us sadly with your country but for Pastor Kruse. But I see plainly how ill you have been used. Why, Mademoiselle Christina has no brother at all, as I am informed. The captain is a cousin, | and the young people have been betrothed from childhood in the old Danish fashion." And such was the case; for long afterwards I heard from the Hanburys, whom I found it hard to forgive for their share of the plot, that Count Torfe's eldest daughter had, at the conclusion of the war, been married to Baron Harald, her cousin. A CUP OF COFFEE.' But this is certain, that Anne Boleyn must have risen from a breakfast of half a pound of bacon and a quart of beer (mentioned by her in one of her letters) with very different sensations as well as sentiments, from those she would have had, if the meal had consisted only of a cup of coffee or tea with some bread and butter and an egg. I also pass over unnoticed the national economical importance of coffee, and will merely say a few words on the influence which coffee has had on modern warfare. In the first Schleswig-Holstein and the last Italian campaign the introduction of coffee very materially contributed to improve the general health of the German and French soldier; and I am assured (by Captain Pfeufer, of the Sanitary Commission in the Bavarian Army) that since the use of coffee in the Bavarian army as beverage for the men, the numbers of soldiers on a march unable to proceed has, in comparison with formerly, very considerably diminished, so much so, indeed, that sometimes not a man is ill; and this too when the distances have been great and the weather unfavorable. And Julius Froebel relates ("Seven Years in Central America," p. 226), that for the men accom WHEN a boy I had lessons in French of a French-panying the great trading caravans in Central woman, whose husband was confectioner in the grand ducal kitchen at Darmstadt. One of the sons -he became afterwards a brave and distinguished officer was a great crony of mine, and with him I often paid a visit to the said ducal kitchen, which for me was not merely a source of material enjoyment. The steaming, roasting, and boiling which were going on there excited in me the greatest interest, and I could uninterruptedly watch the process of roasting a joint from the first, when it was put raw on the spit, till that consummating moment when the fire had imparted to it a rich brown covering and of sweetest savor. I observed how the roast-veal was sprinkled with salt, the capons wrapped in slices of bacon; nothing escaped my eager boyish attention. Hence I have retained a taste for cooking, and in leisure hours occupy myself with the mysteries of the kitchen; with the preparation of articles of human food, and all thereto belonging; in which are not unfrequently included matters of which chemistry knows next to nothing. Young chemists do not devote their attention to such things, inasmuch as they are little fitted to afford proof of their skill and ingenuity, or to found a claim to recognition in the domain of science. It therefore is left for the older ones to do so. On the best method of preparing our common beverage, coffee, the opinions both of cooks and connoisseurs considerably diverge; and the difficulty of a decision cannot fail to be appreciated by him who knows that our tinmen and other artificers are yearly adding to the improvement of the halfhundred biggins or coffee-pots which we already possess. America, coffee is an indispensable necessity: "Brandy is only taken as a medicine, but coffee, on the contrary, is an indispensable article, and is drunk twice a day, and in large quantities. The refreshing and strengthening effect of the drink under great toil in heat and in cold, in rain or dry. is extraordinary.” As is well known, the English are masters in the preparation of tea. In preparing coffee, the Germans are, so they assert, greater adepts. It is certain that more coffee is drunk in Germany than tea. The German savant especially prefers coffee to tea, which, perhaps, is because of his habits and of the different effect of the two beverages on the body. Tea acts directly on the stomach, whose movements sometimes can be so much augmented by it, that strong tea, if taken fasting, inclines to vomiting. Coffee, on the contrary, furthers the peristaltic movement downwards; and, therefore, the German man of letters, more accustomed to a sitting life, looks on a cup of coffee, without milk, and assisted by a cigar, as a very acceptable means of assisting certain organic processes. For the same reason, so it is said, Russian ladies have become patronesses of coffee and tobacco. These remarks prove sufficiently that the preparation of a beverage possessing in the highest degree the above valuable qualities cannot be without interest. I was originally led to my attempts in this matter by the intention to obtain an extract of coffee, which might be useful for travellers and for armies on a march; and on this occasion I became aware of the influence which the atmosphere, or the oxygen in the atmosphere, exercises on coffee, by which its As my recipe for the preparation of coffee threatens to make all these inventions unnecessary, I risk, of course, making all manufacturers as such my ad-qualities are very materially deteriorated. I have versaries. I appeal, however, to the impartiality of those who drink my coffee, all of whom I hope to have on my side. So much has already been written about the mental influence of tea and coffee upon our mod found that a watery hot extract of roasted coffee, which, when fresh, is perfectly enjoyable, if allowed to evaporate, quickly or slowly, in a high or low temperature, loses by degrees its agreeable flavor from coming in contact with the air; a black mass remains that cannot be entirely redissolved in cold water, and which on account of its bad taste cannot be used. Be the method of preparing coffee what it may, it is first requisite to sort the berries. Foreign substances are frequently found among them, bits of wood, feathers, and usually a number of black mouldy berries, which must be taken away; for our sense of taste is so delicate that the smallest admixture cannot escape notice. Berries of dark or green hue are generally dyed; and these must first be washed in a little water and afterwards dried with a warm linen cloth; with those of a pale color this is unnecessary. The next operation is the roasting. On this depends the good quality of the coffee. In reality the berries should only be roasted until they have lost their horny condition, so that they may be ground, or, as is done in the East, pounded to a fine pow der. Coffee contains a crystalline substance, named caffeine or theine, because it is also a component part of tea. This matter is volatile, and every care must be taken to retain it in the coffee. For this purpose the berries should be roasted till they are of a palebrown color; in those which are too dark there is no caffeine; if they are black the essential parts of the berries are entirely destroyed, and the beverage prepared from these does not deserve the name of coffee. The berries of coffee, once roasted, lose every hour somewhat of their aroma, in consequence of the influence of the oxygen of the air, which, owing to the porosity of the roasted berries, can easily penetrate. This pernicious change may best be avoided by strewing over the berries, when the roasting is completed, and while the vessel in which it has been done is still hot, some powdered white or brown sugar (half an ounce to one pound of coffee is sufficient). The sugar melts immediately, and by well shaking or turning the roaster quickly, it spreads over all the berries, and gives each one a fine glaze, impervious to the atmosphere. They have then a shining appearance, as though covered with a varnish, and they in consequence lose their smell entirely, which, however, returns in a high degree as soon as they are ground. After this operation, they are to be shaken out rapidly from the roaster and spread on a cold plate of iron, so that they may cool as soon as possible. If the hot berries are allowed to remain heaped together, they begin to sweat, and when the quantity is large the heating process, by the influence of air, increases to such a degree that at last they take fire spontaneously. The roasted and glazed berries should be kept in a dry place, because the covering of sugar attracts moisture. If the raw berries are boiled in water, from 23 to 24 per cent of soluble matter is extracted. On being roasted till they assume a pale chestnut color, they lose 15 to 16 per cent, and the extract obtained from these by means of boiling water is 20 to 21 per cent of the weight of the unroasted berries. The loss in weight of the extract is much larger when the roasting process is carried on till the color of the berries is dark-brown or black. At the same time that the berries lose in weight by roasting they gain in volume by swelling; 100 volume of green berries give, after roasting, a volume of 150 to 160; or two pint measures of unroasted berries give three pints when roasted. The usual methods of preparing coffee are, first, by filtration; second, by infusion; third, by boiling. Filtration gives often, but not always, a good cup of coffee. When the pouring the boiling water over the ground coffee is done slowly, the drops in passing come in contact with too much air, whose oxygen works a change in the aromatic particles, and often destroys them entirely. The extraction, moreover, is incomplete. Instead of 20 to 21 per cent, the water dissolves only 11 to 15 per cent, and 7 to 10 per cent is lost. Infusion is accomplished by making the water boil, and then putting in the ground coffee; the vessel being immediately taken off the fire and allowed to stand quietly for about ten minutes. The coffee is ready for use when the powder swimming on the surface falls to the bottom on slighty stirring it. This method gives a very aromatic coffee, but one containing little extract. Boiling, as is. the custom in the East, yields excellent coffee. The powder is put on the fire in cold water, which is allowed merely to boil up a few seconds. The fine particles of coffee are drunk with the beverage. If boiled long, the aromatic parts are volatilized, and the coffee is then rich in extract, but poor in aroma. As the best method, I adopt the following, which is a union of the second and the third: The usual quantities both of coffee and water are to be retained; a tin measure containing half an ounce of green berries, when filled with roasted ones, is generally sufficient for two small cups of coffee of moderate strength, or one, so called, large breakfastcup (one pound of green berries, equal to 16 ounces, yielding after roasting 24 tin measures [of ounce] for 48 small cups of coffee). With three fourths of the coffee to be employed, after being ground, the water is made to boil for ten or fifteen minutes. The one quarter of the coffee which has been kept back is then flung in, and the vessel immediately withdrawn from the fire, covered over, and allowed to stand for five or six minutes. In order that the powder on the surface may fall to the bottom, it is stirred round; the deposit takes place, and the coffee poured off is ready for use. In order to separate the dregs more completely, the coffee may be passed through a clean cloth; but generally this is not necessary, and often prejudicial to the pure flavor of the beverage. The first boiling gives the strength, the second addition the flavor. The water does not dissolve of the aromatic substances more than the fourth part contained in the roasted coffee. The beverage when ready ought to be of a brownblack color; untransparent it always is, somewhat like chocolate thinned with water; and this want of clearness in coffee so prepared does not come from the fine grounds, but from a peculiar fat resembling butter, about twelve per cent of which the berries contain, and which, if over-roasted, is partly destroyed. In the other methods of making coffee, more than the half of the valuable parts of the berries remains in the "grounds," and is lost. To judge as favorably of my coffee as I do myself, its taste is not to be compared with that of the ordinary beverage, but rather the good effects might be taken into consideration which my coffee has on the organism. Many persons, too, who connect the idea of strength or concentration with a dark or black color, fancy my coffee to be thin and weak, but these were at once inclined more favorably directly I gave it a dark color by means of burnt | Where is thy home? Amid the tempests' anger, sugar, or by adding some substitute. be The real flavor of coffee is so little known to most persons, that many who drank my coffee for the first time doubted of its goodness, because it tasted of the berries. A coffee, however, which has not the flavor of the berry is no coffee, but an artificial beverage, for which many other things may substituted at pleasure. Hence it comes that if to the decoction made from roasted chicory, carrots, or beetroot, the slightest quantity of coffee be added, few persons detect the difference. This accounts for the great diffusion of each such substitute. A dark mixture, with an empyreumatical taste, most people fancy to be coffee. For tea there are no substitutes, because everybody knows what real tea is like. Heating qualities have generally been attributed to coffee, and for this reason it is avoided by many people however, these heating qualities belong to the volatile products called forth by the destruction of the soluble parts of the berries in the process of roasting. Coffee prepared in my manner is not heating, and I have found that it may be taken after dinner without disturbing the digestion; a circumstance which, with me at least, always takes place after the enjoyment of strongly-roasted cof fee. For special cases, such as journeys and marches, where it is impossible to be burdened with the necessary machines for roasting and grinding, coffee may be carried in a powdered form, and its aromatic properties preserved by the following process: One pound of the roasted berries are reduced to powder and immediately wetted with a syrup of sugar, obtained by pouring on three ounces of sugar two ounces of water, and letting them stand a few minutes. When the powder is thoroughly wetted with the syrup, two ounces of finely-powdered sugar are to be added, mixed well with it, and the whole is then to be spread out in the air to dry. The sugar locks up the volatile parts of the coffee, so that when it is dry they cannot escape. If coffee is now to be made, cold water is to be poured over a certain quantity of the powder and made to boil. Ground coffee prepared in this way, and which lay exposed to the air for one month, yielded, on being boiled, as good a beverage as one made of freshlyroasted berries. A ROYAL POET. they KING OSCAR of Sweden is one of the most accomplished monarchs of Europe. His paintings, principally depicting the fine scenery of his country, are extremely beautiful. From his poemsnow lie before us in three small volumes- we give the two following, translated, at the request of the Queen-Dowager, by Mary Howitt. They were read this last summer before the court, by Herr Alberg, who gave in Stockholm a series of English readings, the English language being at this time greatly admired and studied in Sweden: THE HEART'S HOME. Where is thy home? Thus to my heart appealing And torrents leaping wild from rock to rock, Where is thy home? Perchance where tropic As the green herb, anon, foregoes its glory, Thou loveliest pearl beside the Mälar coast. I will ascend unto the past delight. Farewell, ye hills and valleys, groves and meadows, Where Flora scattered all her pomp abroad, And elves amidst the full moon's lights and shadows Traced magic rings in dances on the sward; Thou shore, reed-garlanded, where softly stringing His harp at eve the Necken charms the scene; Thou wood, made musical with wild birds' singing, And waters lapsing through the leafy screen. Farewell, thou starry eve, so oft reflected In the still waters, where my light bark drove The downward depth which still my gaze rejected, Turning instead unto the heaven above; Have thanks for all the quiet joy supernal, Which in my heart's recess by thee was laid, The whilst thy azure vault of truth eternal Expanded as a blessing, o'er my head! Farewell, thou lovely scene! The heart's deep feeling Gives forth these accents of my parting song! Yet thou in memory wilt be sorrow's healing, And speed the mournful winter night along; I'll think of thee when autumn fogs are glooming, O Drottningholm! for still thy sun will shine: Thou art to me in every season blooming, And peaceful lilies round thy name entwine! FOREIGN NOTES. NOT a bad hint is the following: The guards of the trains on the Swedish railways are required to have a knowledge of the elements of surgery, that in case of accidents they may be able to render medical assistance. An ambulance, fitted up with every requisite, forms part of each train. MR. BEETON, says the London Reader, is a bit of a wag. He has just published in the series of his reprints of American works, Mr. J. Godfrey Saxe's humorous poems, under the title of "The Times, The Telegraph, and other Poems, complete in one volume, and including, in the hope of securing English Copyright, one Note not by the Editor of the Biglow Papers." A SOMEWHAT noticeable publication has recently been issued, at Peking, in the shape of a translation into Chinese of Wheaton's International Law, which, at the instance of the United States Minister, has been brought out at the expense of the Imperial government. The translation is the work of an American missionary, the Rev. A. P. Martin, whose rough version has been recast into classical Chinese by a commission of four native officials, of high literary rank, under the auspices of the Foreign Board. RARE fragments of rich old Rome are daily turning up from out of the grave of the Eternal City. The Mount Palatine is being pierced by Papal authority, and thence have recently come to light new traces of the gorgeous Imperial Palace, - frescoed chambers, superbly adorned with bassi-rilievi, marble columns, one or two statues, fine though mutilated, and a bust of Britannicus of the best period of Art. At Ostia discoveries equally interesting have been made; and among the vines, near the Baths of Caracalla, Monsignore Guidi has come upon a magnificent mosaic, representing a skeleton, life size, with the inscription, in Greek letters, signifying "Know Thyself." This last is supposed to be of the time of the Antonines. A CURIOUS discovery has just been made at Place de la Croix-Buisée, in front of the Church of Ferté Bernard, in France. While digging in the tons buried only a few inches beneath the surface; Cherré, the workmen came upon a number of skeleone of these had a large iron ring passed between the bones of the leg, and which, consequently, must have been riveted on through the flesh, unless, indeed, it was placed there after death, which is scarcely conceivable. Attached to this ring were several links of a heavy chain. Near the spot where the skeletons were found stood, previous to the year 1200, a gate of the old wall which divided the town of Ferté from the Commune of Cherré. The Place de la Croix-Buisée was outside the wall, and is supposed to have been the place for the execution of criminals. The relics have been sent to the Museum of Mans. -and A CORRESPONDENT sends us a curious story illustrative of the keen supervision of the French government in regard to the press:- An Englishman living in France was breakfasting with the prefect of his department. Talking of journals, the prefect said, "Vous, Monsieur, qui lisez Le Nord," was going on, when the Englishman called out, "Mais, M. le Préfet, comment savez-vous que je lis Le Nord?" M. le Préfet was at first rather embarrassed by the unexpected inquiry, but at length gave the following explanation: Every postmaster has to report to the Commissaire de Police the names of the journals which pass through his office, and of the persons to whom they are addressed. This report is transmitted at frequent intervals to the prefect, who is thus kept au courant of the political tastes and tendencies of his administrés. Among other considerations suggested by this little incident, is the paucity of newspaper readers which such an arrangement implies. Just imagine an English postmaster writing his daily list, or a mayor, justice of the peace, or other functionary studying the returns from every village! THE Paris correspondent of the London Times tells of the increasing extravagance in the manufacture and decoration of the trinkets and toys sold as etrennes. will look with supreme scorn at any toy that costs A young lady or gentleman of seven less than 150f. There are effigies of Punch that cost 1,000f, and dolls from 3f. to 4,000f. For the last fortnight you might see crowds stationed before the windows of a well-known confectioner in the Rue de la Paix, admiring the bonbonnieres,—for it is the box or the sac, and not its contents, that is so highly prized-of the latest fashion. This specirepresented by two ladies, one of the First Empire, men of Parisian ingenuity, this sac aux bonbons, is the other of the Second, - the one of 1806 in grand costume, glittering in gold and precious stones, and with a train of crimson velvet, which she holds up with one hand; and the one of 1866 in a dress of green velvet, embroidered with escutcheons, and covered over with garlands of flowers. The deficiency in the "body" of the dress is great, but is more than compensated by the vast amplitude of the lower part; and it may be said that never was court train or crinoline turned to better account, for it is in them that the bonbons are contained. These Imperial dolls cost 25,000f. apiece! There are others a little cheaper, intended as portraits of the principal actresses of the minor theatres. 1 BARON BIEDERMANN, of Leipzig, well known as a thorough scholar of the Goethe literature, has published two volumes, - Goethe and Leipzig: at the Centenary return of the Day on which Goethe became Student at the University of Leipzig (19th October)." The author has succeeded, notwithstanding the careful turning up of every classical stone before him, in throwing some new light on different points, and in obtaining a goodly number of letters by Goethe, hitherto unprinted; among which the most important are the letters to Herr Herrmann, afterwards burgomaster, and to his son, the celebrated philologist; to Consul Küstner, and to the poor student of theology, Goethe's next-room neighbor at Leipzig, and to whom he sent a few louis-d'or from Strasburg, because it struck him suddenly that the other might want the money Through Baron Biedermann's careful inquiries, we find the circle of Goethe's acquaintances at Leipzig enlarged. It is particularly interesting to see J. J. Engel in this circle, who, with Corona Schröter and Goethe, took part in private theatricals. If there is anything to blame in a book which reads pleasantly, and from which the author tried to banish all appearance of learned commentatorship, it is that we do not always find the sources named. It is satisfactory for the friends of the great poet on whom so many are always ready to pass judgment, that, wherever we may follow the young student, through this work, into all the nooks and corners of his student life, he need not fear the scrutiny of the spectator: his life is pure and blameless. On the whole, this work may serve as a supplement to Otto Jahn's meritorious book on Goethe at Leipzig. SOME injuries are described as sufficient to make the very stones cry out. The stones of Paris have not yet found themselves a voice, but they have found advocates and complainants, on their part, without number. Broad streets instead of miserable alleys, good drainage in place of antique smells, and fresh instead of foetid air, have not reconciled the Bohemians of Paris to the interference with their territories. Antiquaries, and many others, deplore the destruction of streets and houses around which clung crowds of associations, political, literary, and social. Splendid new buildings have not reconciled the world to double rents; and the supply of cheap lodgings in outlying districts is not held by the poorer classes as a satisfactory excuse for the destruction of the beloved, though miserable garrets, in the centre of the town. These feelings represent, as in most such matters, a mixed mass of prejudice, error, and well-founded complaints; but the balance remains in favor of the system, which, at the cost of an enormous outlay and some injustice, has rendered Paris, what she never was before, convenient, clean, and comparatively healthy. But all matters may be pushed to excess; and there is a strong feeling that the energetic Prefect of the Seine has committed a great error in proposing to cut down that splendid lung of Southern Paris, the Bohemian garden of delight, the famous, well-worn Luxembourg. A considerable portion of these gardens, as well as a number of old streets adjacent, are doomed to fall into the chart of M. Haussmann's improvements, and the Quartier Latin can see nothing in the project but a means of securing a million or so for the city coffers by the sale of ground which has always been looked upon as sacred to the Muses. Another project, said to be under consideration, causes almost as loud and general a protest. It is said that the Rue Castiglione is to be continued through the Tuileries Gardens to the river; and that a new bridge will form with it a direct communication with the other side of the Seine. But this is not all; rumor says that the portion of the now public garden, left between the new street and the Tuileries, is to be added to the private garden of the palace; and that the other part, with its fine old horsechestnut-trees, is to be suppressed. We can scarcely believe that this report is well founded. There has been a talk for some years of a bridge over the river at the spot referred to, for the convenience of pedestrians, especially, and the new project may, after all, be only the old one magnified. We cannot imagine that the Tuileries Gardens, which, with the exception of those of the the heart of the city, will be seriously interfered Palais Royal, form the only place of recreation in with. It would be hurling defiance in the very face of young France, who has made the Tuileries Gardens his special playground. It is said that it is finally decided that the new square, which is being formed in front of the Théâtre Français, shall be named after the Maid of Orleans, and thus commemorate the attempt which she made, on that very spot, to wrest, the capital of France from the enemy, on the 8th of December, 1429, and in which she was wounded. It is curious that no place or street in Paris has been named after the heroine, and that no statue of her exists in the capital of France. DEATH has been busy among the savants. The ranks of our workers have been sadly thinned dur ing the past year. Natural Science especially has to mourn the loss of some of her most distinguished followers. In the twelve months which have glided by, the spirits of Hooker, Lindley, Fitzroy, Falconer, Woodward, Schomburgh, Remak, Piria, Bakic, Waterton, Malgaigne, Cuming, and Paxton have passed from among us. Sir William Jackson Hooker was born at Norwich, in 1785, and, although intended by his parents for mercantile pursuits, devoted himself to the study of botany at an early period of his life. Prior to his appointment to the mastership of the gardens at Kew, he held a professorship of botany at Glasgow. He was for sixty years engaged in the cultivation of botanical science, and the various journals bear ample testimony to the value of his labors. Dr. John Lindley was born in Norfolk, in the year 1799. He had published several treatises upon botany, some of which have become recognized school and college handbooks. As a teacher in his capacity of Professor in University College, he held a high reputation; but as a deep thinker he was not held in much esteem. He observed carefully, and recorded his observations clearly; when he attempted to generalize, he failed, and his systematic arrangement of plants was never regarded as a philosophic one. His "Vegetable Kingdom" articles in the "Penny Cyclopædia," and his editorship |