this new issue is a striking proof of the debased state of art in Spain. The government engraver is either incapable of inventing any fresh device, or else, from very laziness, prefers to take one fashioned by a foreign firm, because it is ready to hand, and make a poor copy of it.

HANOVER. From this country comes an embryo, whose birth was prevented by the needle-gun. This design had been chosen for a new series of envelopes, but circumstances were not favourable to their emission. There is rather an ineffective look about the border, but the portrait of the king is a very faithful one. Proofs only of the design are in existence, and are in the following colours -rose, bright-blue, and bistre, all upon white paper.

QUEENSLAND.-Besides the fourpence purple noticed last month, and as to which we ought to have observed that the shaded outline of the nose on the left side of the face bears evident marks of having been altered from its original state to its present harsh, dark line, this month brings us another new value for the colony, viz., five shillings, of the old design in every respect, but printed in a light rose-coloured ink-far too delicate, if we may judge from the specimens we have seen, for lasting efficiency. Both it and the fourpence are printed on plain, unwatermarked paper; and are perforated after the fashion of their fellows and predecessors.

CASHMERE. In our number for October last, we described a round stamp which had been emitted for this state. We are now able to present our readers with an engraving of it, which, however, is not so faithful as

we could wish, the characters being rather more indistinct than in the original.

BRITISH GUIANA.-The last-issued of the one cent black, two cents orange, and twelve cents lilac, of this colony, now appear to be perforated with fewer holes than those in former use. The perforation is by machine; and there is about one punctured space where

-CORREOS X

SHANGHAI. The design of the new series, differing though little from the last, is yet so far removed from the generality of stamp

BELGIUM.-As a rule, we now avoid mention of essays, but we are induced to break through our regulation on behalf of a beautiful set for this country. We have no data respecting them at present; we know not when, or for what occasion they were designed, but they have not the appearance of having been concocted merely for the sake of filthy lucre. The portrait of the late king is wonderfully exact, and the engraving, altogether, we have never seen surpassed. The design, resembling that of the obsolete series, bears the head of Leopold I. in an oval, which is contained in a rectangular frame, foliated at the sides, and having two blank white disks at the top for the value. Our specimens are printed in black, red, and green, on cartridge paper.

GREAT BRITAIN.-There is no class of stamps on which a reliable paper is more needed than those of our native country. Will not

some of our readers devote a little time and patient research to this subject? Mr. Pearson Hill has furnished our columns with data of unquestionable accuracy and great value; and the elaborate papers by M. Herpin, in Maury's periodical, will give ample suggestions as well as many curious details. Meantime, a proof hitherto unnoticed, because unknown, has been discovered among the papers of the post-office. But two or three specimens are known to exist, and they cannot be reproduced.

It is a proof of the circular die used for the fourpenny envelope as submitted for final approbation, after the design was selected, but before the three circular spaces for the date had been cut in the engine-turned pattern below the head; and consequently this pattern appears intact. The beauty of the die, which was produced by Messrs. De la Rue & Co., is strikingly shown in this proof, which, in common with all the dies of the series, possesses no small artistic merit.

NEW SOUTH WALES.-With the November mails from Sydney came sundry specimens of the large square sixpence purple-lilac, watermarked with a figure 5 in the paper, in lieu of the 6; probably an error analogous to that of the twopence diademed head, printed on paper similarly watermarked.

PORTUGAL. Another of the new series has made its appearance, viz., the 25 reis lakepink, of exactly the same design as those formerly described in this magazine.

CUBA AND SPANISH COLONIES.-A provisional stamp for these colonies has been submitted to our notice. It is the former real plata f. black on buff, utilized for the occasion by impressing the figures '66' on the lower part of the face and bust. These figures are, we suppose, intended to indicate the date— 1866. But we hope to receive further information as to this stamp for our readers before long; and will then give them such details as shall have come to us.

INDIA. We have lately received the eight annas pink on paper watermarked with the elephant's head; this stamp completes the current series on this paper. With these were specimens of the one anna brown, of a much lighter shade than the one already known on this paper. Copies of the pro

visional six anuas also accompanied the others; and on comparing these with those first used, we remarked that they were of a much redder lilac than their predecessors; and further, that the green imprint of POSTAGE was done in a rounder and more extended type than that first used. The present lettering is not nearly so high, and occupies more space.

DANUBIAN PRINCIPALITIES.-De mortuis nil nisi bonum: we do not know if this has any qualified application to a living prince no longer reigning; but the present good of Prince Couza (in a timbrophilic sense) is, that the well-known 20 p. (effigy) has appeared printed, not in red, but in carmine or rosepink.

SAN SALVADOR.-In another part of our columns will be found an article on suspicious characters; we have two very ambiguous specimens now to notice. They began to appear at the commencement of the year, as if to evade immediate notice, and secure a month's unchallenged currency.

The design is very similar to that of the Hawaiian. The value appears in the centre, and again in words above and below; on the left is CORREOS, and on the right SAN SALVADOR. The frame is composed of a dark outer line, and a thinner line within the inscription. They are printed in black and also in blue ink on cream laid paper; are unperforated, and not adhesive.

Whence come they, and for what postal service intended? Not St. Salvador (or Cat Island) where Columbus first touched land in his great voyage of discovery; for that is one of the Bahama Islands, and a British possession; whereas the language and value of these comers point to a Spanish origin. Nor yet St. Salvador, in Bahia, in the Brazils? Surely, the Brazilian series is in currency there; as well as the Portuguese language. We cannot locate these at St. Salvador, in the central part of South America (Tucuman), for similar reasons; nor, again, at St. Salvador, in Loando, a Portuguese settlement on the West Coast of Africa. We are consequently driven, as a last resource, to suppose that the San Salvador, intended to be referred to, is the state of that name, one of the five in Central

America which are typified by the five stars on the Costa Rican stamps. But it seems hardly likely that, with the example of the last-named republic before it, the postal authorities of San Salvador would perpetrate such crudities as are these questionable stamps. The appearance of these new-comers is very much against their authenticity; and until we have further information in their favour, we must esteem them as not having proved any right or title to be reckoned as genuine, or to deserve a place in our collections.

THE SERVIAN POSTAL DECREE. THE decree authorizing the emission of these stamps is substantially as follows:

MICHEL OBRENOVITCH III., by the grace of God and the national will, prince of Servia, announces to all and each, that the Senate has decreed, and we have approved, the law concerning stamps, directing that they should serve to frank letters and journals.

'Art. 1.-All letters, journals, &c., sent by letter-post, shall be prepaid by means of stamps, with the exception of estafettes (?).

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Art. 2. The government printing-office shall be charged with the stamps and shall have the sale of them.

'Persons authorized by the minister of the interior to sell stamps, shall receive a commission of 10 per cent. upon their sales if they amount to 100 piastres; that favour is not accorded on lesser sums nor on fractions of 100 piastres above the first.

'The post-offices will also sell the stamps, but will not allow any reduction on them to purchasers.

'Art. 3.-No person will have the right of selling stamps above their facial value. Whosoever violates this law shall be punished by a fine of 5 thalers, and by employment on such works as may be decided in conformity with Article 114 of the Criminal Code.

'Art. 4.-Whosoever shall falsify or counterfeit the stamps, or knowingly use such counterfeits, shall be punished with three months' imprisonment and deprivation of civil rights.

'Art. 5.-The minister of the interior will designate the design, the shade, the quality

of paper, and the quantity of stamps which are to be printed. The minister of the interior, together with the controller-general, shall also have the supervision of the sale and impression of the stamps.

Art. 6.-If the minister of the interior shall judge it necessary to replace the existing stamps by others, he shall make known the change to the public, through the official journal, three months in advance, so as to permit of the stamps in their possession being exchanged, which shall be done at the government printing-office.

'Art. 7.—This law shall come into force immediately upon its receiving the sanction of the prince, and henceforth all prior laws shall be abrogated.

'We charge our ministers of the interior, of finance, and of justice, to publish and put in force this law, and to cause all the authorities to execute and respect it. Belgrade, the 31st October, 1866. (Signed), M. M. OBRENOVITCH.'--Then follow the counter-signatures of the ministers of the abovenamed departments.

POSTAGE-STAMP PORTRAITS.-V.

PRINCE CHARLES OF ROUMANIA.

IN our September number we presented our readers with an engraving of one of the stamps of the new issue for Roumania, bearing the profile of Prince Charles, and since then they have each received a specimen of the lowest value, so that we doubt not they are familiar with the handsome features of the Prussian Hospodar. We have now the pleasure of laying before them an extract from the Times, showing, in the words of that paper, how a younger son in a family reigning over one of the most diminutive German principalities, passed at once from the 2nd regiment of Prussian dragoons, where he filled the rank of supernumerary sub-lieutenant, to the throne of the Danubian principalities of Wallachia and Moldavianow to be known as Roumania, a country with about 4,000,000 inhabitants.' Here is the account of his adventures, taken from a private letter.

'Few people in Europe, and I doubt even if many in Roumania, know the curious ad

ventures of Prince Charles, when going to take possession of the crown. He was simply a lieutenant in a garrison town of Rhenish Prussia, and one fine day he found himself marked out, almost without his knowing it, in the communications of highplaced diplomatists, to occupy a tottering throne likely soon to be vacant. The moment for action came. Three or four persons only knew what was to happen; but among these, it is true, were Count de Bismarck, and, perhaps, a crowned head.

The prince put on a disguise and set off on a journey. He went to Zurich, left that town under a feigned name, as a commercial traveller in the wine trade, with a case of champagne as baggage, and took the train for Dresden. In another carriage was a Wallachian officer, supposed not to know his highness in disguise.

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and

Charles I., before committing himself further in entering upon Austrian territory, took instructions from a person who, better than any other, knows men and affairs in Roumania, and who, a Lombard by birth and a Frenchman by adoption, has not been a stranger to Roumanian politics since 1848. He then boldly entered on the unknown; passed through Bohemia, Vienna, Hungary, by train and steamer, carrying with him his passport and his case of champagne, and close by was always the Wallachian officer,-whom he did not know, and who did not know him, when other people were present. He heard discussions going on around him of the war about to take place in Germany, of the fall of Couza, the singular vote of the Roumanians, their strange choice of a Prussian prince, and the attitude of the guaranteeing powers. At Turn-Severin, on the Wallachian shore, the steamer stopped an hour or two. On a hill On a hill are some Roman ruins-a tower built by Septimus Severus; the traveller in wine and the Wallachian officer landed to see the remains and study archæology. The hour for starting came round, but the two passengers did not return, and the steamer left without them. You know the rest. The prince had thrown off his disguise, and the officer had resumed his uniform; and the prefect of the village had the signal honour

of announcing to the provisional government the arrival of the elect of the Roumanians. Who was astonished? All Europe, with the exception of four persons. Because, let this be borne in mind, this remarkable enterprise was conceived, carried on, worked out, and executed against the will of Austria, and in the teeth of the guaranteeing powers, by four individuals. I do not know that there is in history an example of such another fortunate undertaking.

'Charles I. has a high idea of his princely duties; you will see him working with a real will, and conscientiously, as Germans usually do. One of the first things he did will give you an idea of what he is, and how immeasurably superior to his predecessors. The political personage whom I have already mentioned who accompanied the prince to Dresden, knew the influence which women had always exercised in the councils of Roumanian princes, and did not hesitate to hold to his pupil the language of Mentor to Telemachus, and, as a guarantee for the success of the new reign, he made him promise to banish ladies from his court. Charles I. had hardly arrived when he declared his intentions; the court of Roumania, formerly charming, as all know, and filled with allurements, intrigues, and fascinations, became more austere than the cell of a Western monk, a place of business and study worthy of Germany, whence its new master had come. There were some who did not find this change to their taste. first there was some little murmuring; then they began to adapt themselves to the change; they were not much in the habit of looking at things seriously, but it was necessary to do so, and accordingly they are beginning to get used to it. Prince Charles begins by establishing a reform among those who surround him; he does not commence with apparent and outside reforms, but goes straight at the seat of the disease, and there applies the searing iron. It is society which first of all requires to be purified, and that reform he is endeavouring to effect.'

At

To this narrative we may append the following interesting remarks by the Times.

'By what secret agency the exaltation of this fortunate youth was originally promoted

will, perhaps, never be quite clear to the world; but nothing could be more propitious

than the combination of circumstances which subsequently favoured it. The vote of the Roumans and the acceptance of their princeelect were announced as an almost simultaneous event. It was not at first acknowledged as an accomplished fact. It was hardly made a subject for deliberate comment or diplomatic explanation. It was simply set aside as an insignificant episode, lost in the magnitude of the drama which was just then filling the European stage, and left to find its dénouement either in the general catastrophe or in some separate settlement after it. The war of Bohemia was neither one day too short nor one day too long for Prince Charles of Hohenzollern. It called away public attention from his affairs while it lasted, and brought about at its close that exhaustion which disposes great powers to concession and compromise.

'Prince Charles may now "congratulate himself on the good state of his international relations." He has just come back to Bucharest laden with honours and presents from his nominal Suzerain, the Sultan. Russia assures him of all the sympathy which "his descent and the first acts of his government" enlist in his behalf. Austria proposes that a protocol for the recognition of his hereditary rights should be drawn up by all the powers which signed the treaty of 1856; and as for France and England, if we had any doubt as to their mind on the subject, we have the testimony of our Bucharest correspondent to the effect, that the good understanding between the Porte and its royal vassal was mainly due to the "cordial and united action" of

the Western powers. On the part of

Prussia we fancy no insuperable objection to a Hohenzollern's promotion need be appre

hended.

'The Moldo-Wallachians have thus obtained at last what they for a long time. wanted- -a "heaven-sent" sovereign. Roumania had too long an experience of Hospodars chosen among its native Boyards to expect under them either order within or respect from without. So long as the Porte had only to deal with a subject, it hardly

realized to its full extent the downfall of its supremacy in its Danubian provinces. But even that poor Sigmaringen purple gave the prince born in it the right to feel at home in the sublime presence. We have seen how much Russia is willing to allow for "descent," and any deficiency in the late sub-lieutenant's princely title was more than made up by the distant cousinship of King William of Prussia, and possibly by the more immediate goodwill of Count Bismarck.'

AUSTRIAN COMMERCIAL STAMPS. WE are induced to pen this brief paper from a regard for our own ease and comfort. From the earliest number even unto the present time we have been constantly troubled with inquiries concerning certain mysterious Austrian stamps. It mattered not that we explained to some correspondent, who had sent a careful tracing of one of the number, that his label was not postal at all, but commercial. Our reply was hardly published, ere another eager philatelist would forward an elaborate description of these uncatalogued stamps of unknown origin, with a request that we would enlighten him as to the land of their nativity, or seek enlightenment ourselves from our readers. And so, as time passed on, we have replied, over and over again, to the queries of unstudious collectors. May we hope that a few words, descriptive of these stamps, will prevent the frequent repetition of unnecessary inquiries.

Taking first the design, we may observe that several contain the value within an ornamented circle, surmounted by a little cherub, and with the Austrian arms in the lower part. The device is singular, consisting of a kind of Gothic church-window frame of two arches, with scroll work on the sides. The open space, whereon the value appears, is white; but the ground of the stamps is composed of a finely-executed imitation of the network of a leaf. circular design, which is printed in black, occupies the upper part of the stamp, the lower part being filled with the tracery alone, which, in some stamps, is printed in green, and others light-brown. The value

The