Laswarrie.

their blood be valued at its proper price ; they clo and they will demand , to all future ages , that the injustice of their country shall not follow upon the injuries of the enemy . I have knownPshaw ! so have scores of all the good

, people around me , the holiday ensign become lieutenant , captain , major ; I saw him colonel the other clay ; but he was a canny body . The curse of Midas was his blessing . Daniie is not dead , good brothers E . A . Oh , no ! whatever you have been taug ht about her by the Orbilius you have lately wished good-bye to . No such

man ( thanks to the negligence of that very queerly , and , indeed , to say the least of it , badly dressed lady on the halfpennies ) is stopped by either man or beast as he passes between the huge sentry boxes down in Parliament-street . I have known , I say , such a man go np and up—there has been no end to his going

upalthough he has literally never been on the field ; or , to use a soldier ' s phrase , seen a shot fired . His brother ( we will call him ) A . B . or C , a tried soldier , who has lost the wherewithal to further his interest , swelters a barrack master in the tropics .

Suchapost , many , manyyears after Laswarrie , did "fill . More than a quarter of a century had passed away , and the old man hacl learned to forget , 'midst the , to him , detestations of rum drinking and gambling , which on every side abounded , the hopes of fame and position indulged in younger days . It was evening when a grey-hairedbut yet active and

, exceedingly powerful-looking man even in the decline of years , sought shelter for himself and his wife , as well as for then- horses , from an impending storm , at the door of a resident gentleman ' s house in the interior of one of the West India Islands .

It was our old friend and hero , who had but a few days before entered upon the discharge of his duties as barraekmaster there . Of course , with West Indian courtesy , the request for shelter was acceded to ; the master ofthe mansion himself pressed a warm welcome ; ihe horses were ordered round to the stables , ancl the hospitality of the house was duly

proffered , whilst , as the storm was of a long continuance , it became a matter of politeness to accept it . During dinner the conversation repeatedly flagged ; for the host , otkewise a model of politeness , seemed , at times completely lost in reveries . It was after one of these , more than usually deeji , that he suddenly attracted ¦

's notice by rapidly making the F . C . sign . The latter , who detested hiife-and-forlcery of every kind ( ancl , brothers , you will recollect that that was a favourite degree in days gone by ) , and had ceased for some time to take any interest in Masonry , still , having noticed itrepeated the movement .

, "Were you ever , " hurriedly gasped , rather than . said , the host , "in India ? at—at—a little village—Laswarrie ? where— " " Certainly I was ; I served with my regiment as a cornet there , " answered . " A horse , a light horse regiment , was it not ? and

after it you had an artillery officer as a prisoner ?" " Tes , certainly , he was exchanged , " replied the other , in his turn scanning his host with a very curious eye . " I thought so , I thought so ! " was the exclamation ; " I thought so almost from the very first moment—my friend ! my friend !" * * * * « =

The pair had met again ; met to enjoy many an happy hour ; met to renew a friendship terminated the second time onl y by the HAND OE DEATH .

Sir Christopher Wren And His Times.

SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN AND HIS TIMES .

( Continued from page 406 ) It may be interesting to draw a parallel betiveen our Dr . "Wren , tho amateur of England , and his contemporary , Dr . Perrault , the amateur of Paris . Perrault , who was nearly twenty years the senior of "Wren , was by profession a physicianalthough it is not considered that he was successful in

, that vocation . When Bernini had prepared his plans Rathe Louvre , ancl proceeded to build , it was immediately found that he ancl his French subordinates could not pull together . An Italian celebrity in art of that day was accustomed to meet with deference to his dictation : the

l ! rench mind then , as now , was not so much accustomed to defer . In a word , before the foundations were put in , the haughty Italian quitted his commission in high dudgeon . His priceless designs , as he deemed them , ho carried with him , leaving his refractory clients in the lurch . But nothing daunted by this untoward event , the French architects ( of whom there were several of eminence when there were none

in England ) forthwith prepared designs for the abandoned undertaking , and the minister , Colbert , received them in competition . Amongst the rest one was received from Dr . Perrault as an amateur . The brother of this gentleman , by the bye , was at the time a confidential employe under Colbert ; and it is only human nature if the official brought to bear upon the interest of his relative what influence he possessed .

A design by the architect , Le Yeau , was much admired ; but that by Dr . Perrault was much admired also . The end of the matter was , that the ministerial secretary ' s brother received the preference in respect of honour and probably of emolument , and his professional rival received-employment as his assessor . A very so-so physician , said Boileau , seemed to make an excellent architectand the wits of

; Paris , taking up tho theme , suggested that architecture was in a very 23001 ' way , ancl had sent for the doctor . But , although the amateur of Paris had thus achieved an artistic immortality , per saltum , which no one grudges him , there is a wide difference betiveen him and our Englishman . How Wren , during a long series of years , calleckinto existence a multitude of first-class conceptions by the work of his own

pencil , and built them by his own constructive skill , all the world knows . Perrault ' s works , beyond the Louvre , were of no account whatever . Wren , again , had no Le Yeau at his right hand : he was himself both Perrault and Le Yeau . It is true that Perrault was fifty years of age , and Wren but

twenty-eight ; that the one had passed his best days , therefore , and the other was just approaching them ; but , as I think , there was all this difference more : the one at the best was but an eminent amateur , ancl the other at the least a great architect . "Well , our Savilian professor , in obedience to the royal command , takes up his abode once more in London . But , let it not be

supposed that he is set down at once to the drawing-board . The stately projects of royalty , just restored from the depths of seediness , must be allowed time to ripen . The exchequer must also be allowed time . to fill . So we must not expect to hear of our new architect , Dr . Wren , for some little while . However , such was the deplorable condition of the cathedral , that a survey of its dilapidations

could scarcely be postponed . Accordingly , of the date of 1663 , we have a report by Dr . Wren upon the state of the fabric ; and it at once becomes clear that the right man is in the right Jplace . The old church bore date the eleventh , twelfth , and thirteenth centuries ; and it has been falling rapidly into the decay of almost total neglect for a hundred years back . "When the son of good Dean "Wren was a bab

y in arms , the foundation of a new entrance porch had been laid b }* Bishop Laud . It was a fine Corinthian portico , by Inigo Jones . People are , now-a-days , fond of laughing at the idea of such a thing : somewhat inconsiderately , I think , looking at " the circumstances of the times . However , so far as we are concerned , this was but a now cloth put into an old garmentand / the rent was mado worse . A few

, years more , and the sacred choir was found to mako eligible quartoi-s for the Eoundhead cavalry , about the same time that the redoubtable Bishop of Ely was quartered in the Tower . The Eestoration relieved the temple from profanation , and the bishop from durance . It need scarcely be