Mr. Herkomer's testimony on the Temperance question is brief and emphatic. In a note received from him by the writer a few months ago the artist remarks :

"It is no credit to me for being an abstainer. The credit is due to my father, who gave up smoking, drinking intoxicating drinks, and eating meat at the same time, about twenty years ago; and as I was only ten years old then, I naturally grew into my father's habits (I now eat meat, however). The blessings of that reform have come down upon my children."

More recently still Mr. Herkomer visited Leicester, to deliver the prizes to the Art students there, and in his address upon the occasion gave the following wholesome counsel:

"Let the student remember that Art cannot be exercised without health. It is not a light, easy occupation for a delicate child, as so many foolish parents think. To produce a work of Art we must gather all our mental and physical strength. Have this well in view when you start your career as students. The healthful issue of all Art depends on the healthful condition of the painter's body and mind. I beg of you, as students, to take this to heart; see that you build up sound constitutions in your young years, and strictly avoid all habits that are likely to impair your health in the long run. Dr. Johnson said, that nothing will supply the want of prudence,' and 'that negligence and irregularity, long continued, will make knowledge useless, wit ridiculous, and genius contemptible.' Guard yourselves, for the competition in Art is keen."

XVI.

SIR CHARLES NAPIER,

The Hero of Scinde.

XVI.

"Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so ;

For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death."

You

DR. JOHN DOnne,

YOU cannot be a good soldier and drink intoxicating liquor," was the emphatic opinion expressed by the heroic Sir Henry Havelock, when a soldier was brought before him charged with drunkenness. Such also may be said to have been the testimony of his great comrade-in-arms, the gallant Sir Charles James Napier. Both of these brave warriors were men under authority, having soldiers under them; both, in this matter of temperance, acted upon the wholesome principle of carrying out in their own lives the golden rule of "total abstinence from intoxicating liquors," which they so earnestly recommended to the adoption of their subordinates—and it may with unaffected sincerity be affirmed, that both had taken to heart the Apostolic injunction, "Thou, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Thou, therefore, endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." Some interesting parallels might be drawn between the lives of these two Illustrious Abstainers, but the space at our disposal renders it necessary to

confine the sketch to a brief narrative of Napier's remarkable career.

Charles James Napier was born in 1782, and was one of the numerous sons of the Hon. George Napier, comptroller of accounts in Ireland," a descendant of the inventor of the logarithms, and of Sir William Scott, of Thirlstain, a scholar and poet whose works are now almost forgotten. His mother was Lady Sarah Lennox, a great grand-daughter of Charles II., and a woman of many accomplishments. The deep attachment of Charles Napier to his mother was conspicuous throughout his life, and wherever he went, and whatever his duties, his heart ever fondly beat true to home.

The late Lord Hatherley, shortly before his death, publicly referred, in terms of satisfaction, to the unbroken correspondence with home, which his relative, Sir Evelyn Wood, maintained throughout the perils and anxieties of the Zulu campaign, and of Sir Charles James Napier it has been said, "No finer exhibition of filial love and respect can be presented than the letters written home to his mother, from the midst of war and bloodshed."

As a child, Napier was of a quiet and thoughtful demeanour, his health, too, being far from robust, but even thus early he manifested an ardent enthusiasm for a military life. Some of the anecdotes relating to his boyhood are not a little singular. For example, we are told, that “when only ten years of age, he rejoiced to find that he was short-sighted, because a portrait which hung up in his father's room had strange eyes, and he had heard Plutarch's statement mentioned, that Philip, Sertorius, and Hannibal