The question of the date of the birth of Elizabeth Barrett Browning interested the readers of the C. L. S. C. some time ago. The year alone was ascertained. If any one was troubled that we were unable to answer the query exactly, the answer of Mr. Robert Browning to a lady asking for the date of Mrs. Browning’s birth may be of some consolation: “I know neither the day, month, nor year of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s birth. It is a subject upon which I have never had the slightest curiosity.” * * * * * One of the most active public men of the last generation has been Schuyler Colfax. He has been prominent, both as a political leader and as a public speaker. Mr. Colfax’s life of a little more than sixty years was immensely busy. He made his career, beginning as errand boy and clerk in his grandfather’s store. After he was eighteen years of age he took up the study of law, then launching out as a journalist, and finally, at twenty-five, entering the world of politics as secretary of the Whig National Convention, to which he had been sent as a delegate. When the new Republican party was started, Mr. Colfax was sent as a representative to Congress, and from that time he was closely identified with his party, serving particularly as Speaker and Vice President. He was of that large class of industrious, quick witted men who make themselves indispensable in whatever relations they are placed. * * * * * The “Imperial Dictionary” promises to be the rival of all the old standard dictionaries among scholarly people. Its form is four good sized volumes, which signifies that the English language grows and grows, and that words need fuller explanation. Mr. Gilder, editor of _The Century_, explained to us, when on a recent pleasant visit to the _Century_ offices, that the “Imperial Dictionary” was built on “Webster’s Dictionary” in England, and that scholarly men had devoted ten years to the task. Now the Century Company have more than two hundred scholars engaged in making improvements on the English edition. It will be seven years before the new American edition will be ready for the market. * * * * *