QUESTIONS FOR YOUNG MEN.

There was, a few years ago, a law in Connecticut and Massachusetts—and I think it is still extant in Connecticut—that no man shall kiss his wife in public. Both States have laws, as have many others, that no man shall swear; and they both had laws, if they do not still have them, that no one shall smoke on the street.

It has always been considered an immoral act for a Christian to swear, but there is unquestionably a distinction to be made which is of just as much interest to the average boy as to any full-grown man. The use of sacred names in common every-day language—that is, the colloquial use of terms that represent what we reverence, what are the property of each man for himself, and his deepest thoughts—is undoubtedly a wrong. The name of God and what it represents to you and to me in our lives belongs to us, and does not concern any one else. No one, therefore, has any right to vulgarize it in our presence, and if he does so, he is infringing on sacred personal rights, and is therefore committing a wrong. That is self-evident.

There is, however, a difference between committing this actual wrong, between breaking the sturdy old New England Puritan law, and using exaggerated terms which are just as much swearing as the use of sacred names is. There are many terms which in themselves have to-day no significance—though they may have in derivation—except as exaggerated expression. One says, "Good gracious!" "Oh dear!" "Oh my!" a dozen times an hour, and is never criticised for swearing. Yet these expressions in their original forms were swearing of the most exaggerated kind, and in principle are so to-day. They all originally had the name of the Deity attached to them, the second one being probably a corruption of French "Oh Dieu!"

The important point is that although they no longer infringe on sacred things and personal rights, they are really just as much swearing to-day as they originally were. They are signs of weakness, of a desire for something stronger in the form of expression than the ordinary English phrase which precedes or follows them. The speaker feels the need of some exaggeration, and these inoffensive terms are just as unnecessary as are the offensive ones—indeed, they are only weak subterfuges which try to get the same effect without using the sacred terms.

That means a vicious, because growing, tendency to constant increase and exaggeration, which is the real principle of too much drinking that makes a drunkard, too much smoking that makes a nervous invalid, too much idleness that makes an unsuccessful life. If you will listen to the greatest orators or read their speeches, if you will read the works of the greatest authors, you will find no exaggeration of language to speak of even at most important moments, and the very temperateness of these orations and writings has a wonderful effect. Read, if you have not done so, the little speech of Mr. Lincoln's at Gettysburg, and see how simple, how temperate it is, and yet it is said by all students and judges, by any one who really studies it, to not only cover the whole subject Mr. Lincoln had in hand, but to be one of the most stirring speeches that have been made to the American public.

On the other hand, go some day and listen to a cheap stump-speaker, and in the course of half an hour you will hear that this and that is the "most magnificent," the "most frightful," the "greatest crime that cries to Heaven," and abundant other phrases out of all proportion to the subjects, which do not carry the weight of one of Lincoln's simple sentences in his address. These unnecessary superlatives are, in their way, swearing, which in principle are as bad, and as evil in their results on the user and the listener, as is the use of sacred names. They are the beginning of which the latter is the end. The feeling which makes a boy or man want to use exaggerated terms is the real evil. It grows like any other weakness, until his talk is puerile and of no value. And if he would avoid swearing, or cure himself of it, he must begin there, and not at the particular words he has discovered himself to be using, and which may have called forth criticism because they were sacred to those who heard them.

FAMOUS FREQUENTERS OF PUBLIC LIBRARIES.

A London newspaper says of the late Mr. Robert Harrison, formerly secretary and librarian to the London Library, whose death occurred a short time ago, that he had an extensive acquaintance with famous men of letters. In a Presidential address at the Librarians' Conference at Nottingham in September, 1891, he gave some interesting reminiscences of some of the eminent frequenters of the library:

"The most conspicuously original man among them was Carlyle. He often visited the library. His conversation was most amusing, full of extravagant and exaggerated statements, and always ending with a loud laugh, apparently at himself. He used the library books extensively for his later works, and was guilty of the reprehensible practice of writing on the margins of their books. He must admit that his remarks were never meaningless, but chiefly consisted of corrections of dates or errors in the text."

Of Thackeray, another eminent member of the London Library, Mr. Harrison had also an anecdote to tell:

"When writing The Virginians he came to him (the speaker) for a life of General Wolfe. 'I don't want,' he said, 'an historical account of his career—Lord Mahon's book gives me that—but I want something that will tell me the color of his breeches.'"

Mr. Harrison had the pleasure also of helping Charles Reade to find materials for his story of The Cloister and the Hearth. The late Lord Lytton was a frequent visitor and inquirer, as also was the author of Westward, Ho! and George Eliot. Mr. Harrison was quite astonished at first to see what pains and research were applied to the production of books so easy to read as were their best novels.

Concerning Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Harrison had likewise something to say. The G. O. M. has always taken an interest in the prosperity of the library:

"He (Mr. Gladstone) made use chiefly of their works of reference. The speaker remembered with pleasure a small incident that occurred when Javentus Mundi was going to press. Mr. Gladstone called to verify a line in Propertius, or Ausonius—he forgot which. He told his need to one of the Eton masters, who happened to be present. The line was found, and it differed slightly from that which Mr. Gladstone had quoted. 'But,' said the Eton master to him afterwards, 'his line was much finer than the one which we found in print.'"

HIS PROPOSITION.

There is a little suburban town out in New Jersey, and its inhabitants are very proud of their fire department, claiming that it can meet every possible exigency. As for the truth of this statement, it is not advisable to meditate upon, and there is one thing positive, and that is the inability of its members to prevent fires. Unfortunately such occurrences were growing to be a chronic affliction, and in desperation the leading officials of the fire department and the town officials met to devise ways and means of stopping them.

"It's carelessness, rank carelessness!" exclaimed one portly gentleman. "Such things should rarely happen in well-regulated communities."

Thus it went on for over an hour, growing no nearer to a solution of the difficulty. Finally one of the fire department members arose. "Gentlemen," he cried, "I have a resolution to propose which I think, if adopted by the honorable members of this board, will entirely do away with fires in our town."

"Hear! hear!" cried the members of the board. "What is it? Propose it," etc.

"Gentlemen, I propose that three days before each fire some one should go to the house and ascertain if it has been caused by the inmates' carelessness, and if so enforce a payment of money to meet the expenses of running the engines to the scene."

This Department is conducted in the interest of stamp and coin collectors, and the Editor will be pleased to answer any question on these subjects so far as possible. Correspondents should address Editor Stamp Department.

I know several subscribers to the Round Table who have exchanged stamps with other readers of this column, to the advantage of all concerned. For the first time in two years I have received a complaint that stamps were sent to one of the Round Table readers, without receiving any return or even acknowledgment of the stamps. Possibly the first letter accompanying the stamps, or the reply acknowledging the same, went astray or was lost in the mails. The complaint is being investigated; but I hope all subscribers to the Round Table will be prompt and businesslike in replying to correspondents on receipt of letters.

One of the best methods of exchange is through the books of one or the other of the local societies or national philatelic associations. These exchanges are conducted on a cash basis. Each member pays the manager of the exchange department for all stamps taken from the books, and the manager in turn pays the members for their stamps sold from the books, and returns the unsold stamps.

L. T. Brodstone, Superior, Neb.—Previous to 1890 all U.S. stamps were made by private bank-note companies under contract with the government. Since then the Bureau of Printing and Engraving at Washington has made all the stamps. The envelopes and post-cards are still made by private concerns under contract with the U.S. government. There are several monumental collections in the U.S. Probably the best is owned by a gentleman in one of the New England States. The above-named wishes to exchange stamps.

J. D. Waterman.—The difference between the Hartford and the Philadelphia dies of the Centennial (1876) envelope is this: the word "Postage" is in a label; in the Hartford die the lower line of the label is single, in the Philadelphia die it is double. U.S. stamps are printed in large sheets, and afterwards cut apart into sheets of 100. The guide-lines are made to call attention to the proper place for cutting. As nearly 10,000,000 of the 1c. and 2c. stamps are used every day in the year, it is not likely that these stamps will become rare even in a hundred years.

H. C. Branch.—Just one cent.

C. H. Williston.—The 1809 half-dollar can be bought for 75c.

S. S. Langley.—The star in heraldry is five-pointed, as a rule. The use of the six-pointed star by the U.S. Mint was probably an accident in the beginning, but has now become fully established as the custom.

George Bright.—About 10c. each.

Philatus.