in the open space in front of the Abbey, were shows and ginger-bread stalls, having all the appearance of a fair. Most of the excursionists were brought back to Hastings in two monster trains, each with a couple of engines, the first train arriving at 9 pm., and the second at 11.30. Messrs. Kennett and Descon, the Hastings and St. Leonards station-masters, went with the trains to Battle and superintended the traffic arrangements.
Lectures
"The Chemistry of Food, or a day at the boilers" formed the subject of an instructive and interesting lecture delivered at the Hastings Institution on the evening of the 10th of January, by J. G. Savery, Esq. On the various articles of food under their separate heads of "necessary", "accessary(sic)" and "auxiliary", the lecturer descanted in a pleasingly familiar style, and illustrated many of his statements in a reference to some analytical tables. He also treated of the laws that should be observed in the roastings, boiling and otherwise cooking of our ordinary food.
The Letter H and its Friends was the title of an instructive and somewhat amusing lecture delivered by Mr. John Stewart, A.C.B. on the 9th of December. In commencing his lecture, Mr. Stewart assured his hearers that his H was not the H family of Frederica Bremer, for hers died at about the usual age, whilst his had lived for the space of 6000 years, although it had been many times murdered. Need he say that his real subject was language, and that it carried them back to the days of Adam and Eve. The precise spot where their first parents flourished was a disputed point, but he thought he should not be far wrong if he placed it in Armenia. He then traced the constituent of oral and written language from the earliest times to the present, showing by means of diagrams, the course it had taken through Egypt, Greece, Italy, France, &c. to our own country. The Greek and Hebrew alphabets were minutely described and traced back to their original symbols in a manner that afforded some amusement to the audience. Coming to the letter H, the lecturer represented it as having a power and character superior to the other letters, because the latter could be classified in their pronounciation, whilst the former was simply aspirated. This power, however, had become less and less in its travel westward, as each nation's breath - so to speak - became weaker, until it was drawn up from Rome, through France to England, when the Saxons gave to it the hearty aspiration with which it was now endowed. There were only three words, said the lecturer, which were not aspirated - namely; hear, honour and honest. There were some few others it was true of doubtful pronounciation, such as herb, hospital, humble and hosier, but which he believed would, before long, have their aspirated sound. The lecturer expiated on the force and value of the aspirated H, and expressed a hope that -
