The Cardigan Observer and General Advertiser for the Counties of Cardigan Carmarthen and Pembroke

JVABIHS AND HYDROPHOBIA. The nlxt olass of facts is a very large one, and of vary great importance, as it tends to point to the possibility that the virus may be at certain stages localised, and therefore locally treated with success. That the poison is so for the first tew minutes we know, since it can be locally destroyed by cautery, acids, or other treatment. It is further remarkable tha when, after the wound has healed, hydrophobia appears the first uneasy sensations are very often in th.. w, .aod or cicatrix itself. Further still, Dr Stokes, of Dublin, reported to Dr. Brown-Sequard. that when he applied a. tourniquet to the bitten limb of a hydro- phobic patient the symptoms at once improved, and even seemed to cease. gfreh may be called symptoms of prluxury local effects but there is a remarkable and large class of evidence to show that possibly the virtu may become locally manifest, after these have ceased, in a secon- dary form. In 1819 (we quote Fleming) Dr. Salvatori, of St. Petersburg, found that the peasants of Galicia were unanimous in stating that underneath the tongues (about the jraenuni) of persons or animals bitten by mad dogs were to be found pustules, which opened about the fourteenth day after the wound. In 1813 a peasant of the Ukraine had called Dr. Maro- chetti's attention to the same fact, and assured him that if these pustules were not opened, and the matter removed within twenty-four hours, the virtu wo aid be re-absorbed, and hydrophobia set in; but if the pusdes were open, discharged, and cauterised, exemption was sure. Maro- chetti affirms that five years later, in Podolia, he verified all this; Xanthos affirms the same thing; and Magiatel, in 1824, after a special investigation, re- ports to the same effect, Turenne and Trousseau both consider these statements worfchy of most serioiis attention, and so does evidently Mr. Fleming, though many other observers have ridiculed, discarded, and even denied them. But it is to be observed, m refer- eace to these failures and denials, that Magistel clearly affirms he never succeeded in finding these pustules, except within very narrow limits, never .in any known case exceeding thirty-four days after the bite; and, we may justly ask, in how many cases does hydrophobia set in so early, and in how many have such appearances been looked for before the well-known symptoms show that the period for such pustules is long since past ? They only last for some twenty-six hours, and it is obvious that only a careful daily search at early periods, apart from other symptoms, could discover them. Another class of facts tend to show the very probable occurrence of the alleged pustules. There are-lint, the remarkable traditions Respecting the worm wider a dog's tongue, extraction of which is sup- posed to prevent his ever going mad. This is clearly expressed so far baek as in Pliny; again in old Anglo- Saxon books; and Dr. Xanthos says the belief has been universal in Greece from time immemorial. Turenne says it is prevalent in Turkey and Roumania; and others have found the same tradition in Poland, in Spain, and the Brazils. We now know it to be a mistake; but tehenee comes itl Mr. Fleming has notieed the extraordinary fact that such a tradition should so prevail from early times in localities so widely separated but has apparently failed to notice its extremely probable connection with some former successful treatment of hydrophobia by removing the pustules referred to. The probability of woo" con- nection is very obvious. Again, such pustules Ifeve o ten been observed in the rabid dog before the later symptoms; and in this animal the period of incuba- tion is shorter and more definite. Here too it is obvious many eases would never be observed; but it is remarkable that in nearly all cases of extensive outbreaks—when, therefore, careful examination would be made—such appearances were found.—Live Stock Journal. g

A DISAPPOINTED BRIDEGROOM. In one Of the arrondissementa of Paris ca short J, time ago, as we (Globe) learn from a Strasbourg journal, a bridal pair, each evidently belonging to prosperous and cultivated middle-class society, pre. sented themselves before the civil functionary for the purpose of betrothal. The bridegroom came from busy Mulhausen, which, as every one knows, was lately French, but is now German. When M. Ie Maire, in the course of the prescribed queries, came to the statement of the etat civil," he discovered that the gentleman had emigrated from Alsace without going through the famous option"—that is, he had neither declared himself willing to be German ner willing to be French, and he bad thus selfishly escaped the obligation of military strvioe to both these alternative fatherlands. The Maire was, no doubt, indignant; but he politely hid his feelings. The numerous company of kinsfolk, on the contrary, scowled unpleasantly at the craven and unpatriotic man who was on the verge of entering into close re- lations with a French family. But the wont blow was dealt by the gentlest hand. When the Marie put the specific marriage question to the bride, Consented vousf a round, full ringing Non" burst from her lips, which at once astonished and gratified tha whole assembly, with one exception. Turning to the would-be bridegroom, the young lady said in a quiet tone, I will never marry a man who denies his fatherland in-order te escape from the duty of serving it." Then gathering up her skirts, bo'h metaphorically and literally, she abruptly turned from the rejected bridegroom and marched out, her approving kinsfolk following her. In such a nation as Fr;»t.ce, a lady eo full of character and patriotism is certain not to have to tiait long for another and mere worthy suitor. .1

DISASTERS AT SEA. A Beuter's telegram, dated Liverpool, January 28, states that intelligence has been received there of a serious disaster to the Swansea brig Argo. The ship I Shenla spoke the Argo on the 19th inst., when the officer in charge announced that on the 5th inst. she shipped a heavy sea, which washed the captain and three of the erew overboard, all of them perishing. The Shenla put three of her crew on board the Argo. Ot the 26th inst. Lloyd's agent at Padstow reported that, the New Parliament, schooner, had pat into Padstiw, the captain of which vessel stated that he had p 3eed a sinking steamer, wjth all hands on the bndge. north-east of Pentire Head. The steamer had a straight up and down stem, white bulwarks aft, red oridge, yellow funnel, black hull, and was rigged as a fore-and-aft schooner, with polo masts (no topmasts), and was about 200 tons burthen. At dusk on the 26th a boat was sighted from Padstow containing five men (another report says seven men); but she was swamped when about half a mile from the peint, after which two men only were seen. The lifeboat at Padstow made repeated attempts to reach the unfortunate men but, owing to the strong wind and tide, £ tis was impossible, as the lifeboat could not make headway, and there was no steam tag of sufficient power available at Padstow to assist her in getting to the men. A boat has since been wished ashore in Padstow Harbour marked "S.s. Pioneer, 8wansea.—E. J. Nicholas, Master;" and is probably the one which was seen to swamp at the mouth of the harbour. The owners of the Pioneer, st., which leftlho Mumbles on WedMeday last, have no news yet of the steamer's arrival, and it is feared that this is the steamer which has gone down with all hands near Padstow.

A KORTUNATB SHOT.—The Ne. Orleans Dwmr*} at tells the following story: "The late Alex*r>ire Grailhe, whose remains were brought to this «tv from Europe in the steamship Nuremberg, had a. singular and rather unpleasant experience on the fieid of honour in his younger days. Like all adventurous young Frenchmen forty years ago, he could not avoid involvment in some of those numerous personal affairs which were then so frequent between Frenchmen and fiery young Creoles. Wrh two very prominent and gallant gentlemen of the latter race Mr. Gmilhe became engaged in contro- versies which led to meetings on the field of honour. In the first instance the duel was fought with swords, and the unfortunate Frenchman was run through the body, and not only suffered greatly from his wound, but exhibited for years after- wards the effects of the injury in a certain inclination of fcis body, whioh was not natural, owing to the internal absoess resulting from the wound. Some time after he engaged in hinecond reneontre, in which he reeeivrd the bullet of his adversary right through the body. Strange to say, the beneficent missile passed right through the former wound, opening the abscess whisk threatened the estimable gentleman's life; and by inflicting a new, severe, and painful wound, not only sured him, but had the effeet of straightening his person to a rigid and exact perpen- dicularity, so that his carnage appeared even unnatur- ally stiff and haughty.' Excise PROSECUTION.—At the Liverpool Poliee-court on Tuesday, before Lieutenant-Oolonel Steble and Mr. T, Avison, Lewis Levy. a clothier, was summoned by the Excise, under the 19th section oil the Wine Licence and Refreshment House Act, 1863, for having sold a pint of wine without having a proper licence, whereby he rendered himself liable to forfeit thr- sum 0" £20 over and above any other penalty. At Christmas the defendant issued hand- bills stating that he would give all bis old customers a bottle of fine old port or sherry as a Christmas present; and, to place his new customers upon the same foot- ing, all purchasers to the amount of 20a. and upwards would receive the same. An Excise officer bought a great coat for 25s. and received a ticket for a bottle of wine, obtainable at the stores of the W^ne Shippers' Association. The defence was that the wine was given as a present, but the Bench imposed a fine of .£5. A J special case for appeal was, however, granted.

THE PEACE TO CQMi- Under this title, Mr. Gladstone contributes an article to the February number of the Nineteenth Century. The right hOD. gentleman says It ap- pears to me that the time has come when men of bonest intention and fair intelligence may and should form an estimate of what lies around them and in front of them, without entangling themselves any longer in the controversies of the past. Notes, Memorandums, Conferences, Protocols, let them all lie in what I think the present Psime Minister once wittily called the political dusthole.' The Oriental question has received the solemn baptism of blood. The war has been warred; the seales of the supreme Arbiter have been shown on high; and, as far as a judgment can now be formed, the scale of Turkey, after a valorous resistance, has kicked the beam." A variety of considerations which Mr. Gladstone mentions point, in his opinion, to the three following propositions, which he thinks will serve for guides in considering the parts of the subject as they come up in detail: First, there is a legitimate ground for jealousy of Russia. Secondly, the safest and most effective eheek upon Russia is to be found in the concert of Europe. Thirdly, the setting up of separate interest and the ad- vancement of separate claims, even without pass- ing beyond the sphere of diplomatic action, tend to break up that concert, and are, therefore, to be eschewed unless in grave and evident necessity." The right hon. gentleman says: We have now reached a stage at which we have to deal, not with the high honour of the monarch, or the valour of the soldiery, nobly rivalled by its patienoe and devotion, or the generous emotions of a great and single-minded people; but with the excited spirit of a military caste, and with a diplomatic service esentially astute, and much maligned indeed if it be remarkable for scrupulosity." Referring to the changes that are needful, Mr. Gladstone says: Let the daily power of the Turk in Bulgaria be destroyed, as the power of the slaveholder has now been destroyed in every Christian county except one. Let him have his civil rights and nothing more than his civil rights, and, if there be need, let a foreign police, for such it would be though in military uniform, keep the peace until the new and equal laws, founded upon a broad basis of popular power, shall have acquired solidity enough to admit of their being enforced by ordinary and do- mestic means. It will not be in the option, and I almost doubt whether it will be in the will, of a few hundred thousands of Pomafes and Turks to oppress, or even permanently disturb, the soeial existence of 5,000,000 Bulgarian Chris- tians."$After discussing the question of autonomy, tribute, and other points relating to Bulgaria, Mr. Gladstone makes a brief reference to the other pro- vinces, and touches finally on the question of opening' the Bosphorus to ships of war. He assumes that any change made in that direction would be in favour of the ships of war of all countries, and that there would be such regulations respecting passage as the safety of Turkey, or of Constantinople, however governed, may require. He points out, however, that there remains the question, stripped of real or fictitious accessories, whether the sea, passage from the Mediterranean to the Euxine is to remain dosed by the law of Europe against ships of war or not. Hedpee not enter into the argument, but presses one point, that it is a European, not an English, question; that Europe, not England, must decide it; and that "to set up a separate title for England to decide it against Europe is to lead England into the position of a public offender; of what Earl Russell in 1854 truly declared the Emperor Nicholas to be, a wanton disturber of the. peace."

THE CONVICT BENSON'S BANKRUPTCY.—The case of Hairy Benson, the notorious convict, was before Mr. Registrar Haslitt, at the Court of Bank- ruptcy, under the following circumstances: The bank- rupt was adjudicated in September 4,1876, under the name of George Henry Yonge, alias Montagu; in December following he was arrested on charges of forgery and fraud, and he is now undergoing a sentence of fifteen years' penal servitude. The trustee of the bankrupt's estate made an affidavit, in which he stated that the bankrupt at the time of his apprehension had upon his person a sum of jC2600 in Clydesdale notes, being a portion of the proceeds of the forgery, and in addition a valuable diamond ring, diamond studs, a gold watch and chain, and about £100 in Dutch, Belgian, and French money. The trustee did not claim the .£2600, but he claimed the jewellery and the £100 as part of the estate, and divisible among the general body of creditors. The Treasury declined, however, to recognise the elaim, and the trusteeaccordingly brought the matter before the Court. Mr. Willis appeared for the trustee. Mr. Poland, on behalf of the Treasury, said that it might be- come necessary to examine the convict and to answerthe trustee's affidavit. The jewellery and money seemed to stand upon a different footing, and he had hoped that the correspondence—what had taken place—between the Treasury and the trustee would have resulted in the Court not being troubled with the matter. Mr. Wilsts said that the trustee desired to realise the estate without further delay, and as the Treasury required an adjournment he asked that the costs should be reserved. Mr. Honour thought it was reasonable to reserve the costs, and granted an ad- journment to the 8tb of February. TxtMUBLB DESTITUTION IN MAESTKG, GLA- KOBeAftsnixB.—A gentleman, who is engaged in ascertaining the extent and nature of the distress in South Wales, paid a visit, on Saturday, to Maesteg, a town hitherto unnoticed, but where, he says, a good deal of destitution exists. In a house in Union- street he saw a woman who had been recently confined destitute of almost every article of bed clothing. There were only a few embers from green wood burning in the grate, and these failed to give any warmth to the room. For days before her confinement she had had, the neigh- bours said, scaroely any food to eat. No medical man had attended her, and they were doing what they could. A lady at Cardiff, with whom the woman had formerly lived as domestic servant, had that morning sent her some money to relieve her most pressing wants, and provide a covering for the infant. In the adjoining house he found a woman sitting on an old chair and five children standing round a table, the apartment being destitute of almost every other article of furniture. It was extremely cold, but there was no fire in the grate. They bad had nothing to eat since the previous day, and then only a few crusts which the children had obtained by beggiay. A quartern loaf was procured from the grocer's shop close by, and on this being broken up the children ate it ravenously, but the woman, who had evidently suffered a good deal from destitution, only ate it feebly. She said that they had often foEaWeeks had to subsist on one meal of bread a day, and sometimes go the day without food alto- gether. In the next street a boy, 12 years of age, had died a few days previously from starvation. The body was wonderfully emaciated, and presented the appearance of a skeleton. In the streets hundreds of men and women who had th. gaunt and haggard look of semi-starvation were to be seen. The entire population depends for employment en the Llynvi and Ogmore Works and Collieries, which are now in process of liquidation, and one man with whom he conversed, and who had a wife and five children de- pending on him, complained not only of the loir wages caused by irregular work, but that the wages were many weeks in arrears. There had been no pay day for some time, and the draws only amounted to a few shillings at a time. PICTURE MAKING.—The Portfolio for January contains two anecdotes communicated to Mr. Hamer- ton by Mr. Samuel Palmer of the Water Colour Society. Turner was staying once in a friend's house at Knoekholt, where there were three children. He had brought a drawing with him of which the dis- tance was already carefully outlined, but there was no material for the nearer parts. One morning, when about to proceed With this drawing, he called in the children as oollaboratewrs for the rest in the fol- lowing manner: He rubbed three cakes of water- colour—red, blue, and yellow—in three separate saucers, gave one to each child, and told the children to dabble in the saueers »and then play together with their coloured fingers on his paper. These directions were gleefully obeyed, as the reader may well imagine. Turner watched the work of the thirty little fingers with serious attention, and after the dabbling had gone on for some time sud- denly called owt, "Stop." He then took the drawing into his own hands, added imaginary landscape forms, suggested by the accidental colouring, and the work was finished. On another occasion, after dinner, he amused himself in arranging so many coloured plums on a dessert plate, and when disturbed in the operation by a question, said to the questioner There I you have made me lose fifty guineas." DEPRESSION OF TRADE.—The hands employed at the Harford and Bristol Brass Works, Keynsham, have received notice that in consequence of the de- pressed state of trade the works will be closed. The concern gives employment to about 100 men, and has been in operation nearly two centuries. A large proportion of the hands have been working short time for many weeks. MURDER OP A RIVAL.—John Chidlow. a young TOldier, was charged before Mr. Justice Lush, at Btaffbrd Assizes, with the wilful murder of George Holmes, In Deoembor, at Market Drayton. The deceased was in the house of Esther Beech, and struck her, whereupon Ohidlow stabbed Holmes fatally with a knife,and rnshed from the house. The jury returned a verdict of manslaughter in consideration of provoca- tion, and Chidlow was sentenced to penal servitude for life. [

LIFE IN LONDON: j 8IAD IX TBTTE. Margaret Thompson, apparently about 23 or 24, was charged, before Mr. Vaughan, at Bow-street with being drunk and incapable in the Tottenham- court-road. The offence having been proved, the gaoler stated that t.be prisoner was well known at this court, having frequently undergone imprisonment for drunken and disorderly behaviour. No sooner did she come out of prison after serving her term for one offence than she was charged with having committed another. The prisoner said that, unfortunately, this was so. She couldn't help it. She had no control ovev herself at all. Mr. Vaughan asked her whether, when she was Bober, as she was then, she did not refleet on the sad and sinful nature of her life. The prisoner said she supposed it wouldall have a bad ending some day; but Bhe eeuldn't help it. The worthy magistrate asked if she had no friends. She said she had none in London, but a married sister of her's lived near Swansea, in Glamorganshire, who had frequently wantecTher to leave town and go down there. There was nothing she would like better to do, but she had got herself and her dress in such a wretched state that she was not fit to go anywhere but to a prison or a public-house. If she could be assisted to get treats things she would go down. Mr. Vaughan put several questions to her as to the state and con- dition of her friends, and elicited from her state- ments to the effect that her sister's husband was a clerk, that both her parents were dead, that she her- self had left home and come up to town some years ago with a gentleman," who had deserted her; and that after he had left her she had led the miserable life—alternately in public-houses and in prisons— that she was now leading. Mr. Vaughan remanded the prisoner for a week, telling her that her sfster would be communicated with, and if she were willing to receive the prisoner everything would be done to enable her to go down to Glamorganshire as she desired.

SEASIDE SWINDLERS. The misfortune that befell the aristocracy of Shankl in in admitting into their coteries the dis- tinguished but now "languishing" Mr. Benson. alvu Yonge, alias Count de Montague, emissary of the French Government, is net so uncommon as people suppose. What promotes gullibility by the sad sea waves it is impossible to imagine. Perhaps the waves are too sad, and the blasts of the are only too glad to acoept any newcomer who can display moderate social talents. A gentleman whose only means of introduction are a doubtful title and a knowledge of the piano would searcely be admitted on such creden- tials into the most shady back-parlour of Brompton or Bayswater. But at our sea-side resorts all sorts of unknown persons are allowed admittance into clubs, drawing-rooms, lawn tennis parties, and other social gatherings. It is generally brought about in this wise: A good-natured person, with more money than brains, who has arrived," considers herself the leader of fashion, and any Count Progseekinski, or Baron von Shereoff, or Hon. Easton Slope, whose names appear in the local papers as having alighted at the splendid hotel, or at Mrs. Grummidge's lodgings on the Sward, are imme- diately sailed upon and introduced, without the slightest pains being taken to inquire about their relatives or antecedents. In one instance that ocr curred not long ago, a mysterious personage took a house near a certain western watering place, and awaited patiently the coming of his lady patroness, who called in due time, and induced her friends to call also. Signor N. W. then began to give dinners, the menus ot which were printed in gold letters on green satin. Bands played in the garden during dinner, and 10,000 additional lamps bland in the shrubberies after. Shortly it came to be bruited about that the host was the famous Due de M- in disguise, and who could disprove it ? How- ever, the duke took to a little tentative horse dealing, in which he was, to use his own term, nobbled." He was afterwards recognised as having been a well- known croupier at Baden or Homburg. Tradesmen and provincial clubs are enormously swindled by these peripatetic scou'ndrels. The former are easily sedneeS by any one who assumes a title though he hath it not. Any sensible man of the world ought to have decided at once that the very name Count de Montague was, as our neighbours say, suspect," but it took in" Captains, and Colonels, and Knighls in Asms."

OHARG. OF FRAUD AGAINST A BANK MANAGBB. —At the Penkridge, near Stafford, Petty Sessions Leonard J. Abbott, late manager of the Staffordshire Joint Stock Bank, at Cannock, was charged with obtaining the sum of £70 by false pretences from Messrs. E. Crisp and Son, builders, of Oannock, on the 25th of October. It appeared that the prisoner, on the date named, asked Mr. Crisp, junior, for the loan of £70. and it was alleged by the prosecutor that the money was lent in consequence of tne prisoner stating that ij was for the purpose of paying his father's debts and funeral expenses, and that the money was to be repaid out of his father's estate, from which £600 or £800 would be coming to him (the prisoner) immediately after the proving of the will. The prose- cutor also stated that the prisoner asked him to draw the cheqwe for £10 for selves," and that this cheque was cashed immediately, and the proceeds handed to the prisoner. In return the prisoner gave the prose- cutor a cheque for £10, which, however, he was not to present for a fortnight, by which time the prisoner said he should have the money. At the end of the time named the proseeutor presented the cheque; but the prisoner said his fathers affairs were not yet settled, and threw the blame upon the lawyers. The prosecutor called upon the prisoner for payment of the cheque several times, but was met with the same excuse. Finally he received a notice that the prisoner had presented a petition in bankruptcy. To prove the falsity of the prisoner's statement, evidence was called to show that the prisoner's father was a man in very poor circumstances at Norwich, and who had partly been maintained by the prisoner himself and that the father's property, which consisted of some old furniture only, realised .£12. Mr. Dale, solicitor, proved that he examined the prisoner as a bankrupt, and that the prisoner then said that his father had no estate, and that he borrowed the £70 to pay his father's funeral expenses and debts. The prisoner, in defence, said he borrowed the money for the purpose stated, but denied that he said he expected £000 or £800 from his father's estate. The prisoner waa committed for trial at the next Quarter Sessions for Staffordshire. Bail was fixed at two sureties of £100 each but this not being forthcoming, the prisoner was removed in custody. THJI RBIIBBS LIST.—A Royal Warrant jjpgt published provides that from the 1st of Ootober, 1877, every general officer in her Majesty's Indian forces shall on attaining the age of 70 be permanently removed from the establishment of effective general officers to the retired list, unless in any special case the Secretary of State for India in Council shall deem that a relaxation of this rule would be for the good of the service. General officers of the age stated who were holding staff appointments on the 1st of October, 1877, may continue to hold them until the expiration of the term for which they were appointed, unless the Secretary of State for India in Council shall think it expedient that they should sooner be removed to the retired list. THE PATTPBR CHILDJKBN BOABBOra-OUT STSTKM—From a report recently presented to the Edinburgh City Parochial Board, it appears that the number of children boarded in the country by them is 274, that no deaths have occurred since May, 1875, and that, taking into account the children sent to the country, those sent to service and trades, and those taken home by friends, there have been in all 520 children dealt with since that date. The youngest of the children was 11 months, and the eldest 14 years. The average cost of boarding out each child last year was as follows: For board, £ 7 16s.; education, 1St.. clothing, £1 8s. lOd.; inspector's twavelling expenses,' superintendence, and removals, 13s. lOd.; medical at-- tendance, Is. 4d.—total, £10 13s. ALLEeBD MTJBDKB OF AN AUSTBIAN SEAICAN. —Crescuolo Gaitano, an Italian seaman, was indicted before Mr. Justice Groves, at the Northumberland Anises, Newcastle, for the wilful murder of Francesco Tiesoh, an Austrian seaman, at North Shields, on the 1st ult. At an early hour on New Year's morning the prisoner and the deceased, with four other foreign seamen, were together, when the prisoner suddenly discharged a revolver, the contents of which entered the deceased's left side. He died the following day The defence was that the prisoner, in firing the pistol was carrying out an Austrian fashion on New Year's mo/nicg, and that the occurrence was aocidental The prisoner was sentenced to eight months' impri- sonment. REVOLT or A RUSSIAN GABBISON.—From Russia it is reported that in a few days acoort. martial will assemble at Warsaw to try a whole de- tachment of soldiers belonging to the garrison for revolt. The detachment contained a great many sol- diers of Polish origin, and, but for the energy of the governor of Warsaw in quietly surrounding the barracks of the revolterswith loyal regiments before the movement was quite ripe, a dangerous emeute would have taken place. Regiments containing an undue proportion of Poles are being sent to the Cau- casus, where there is no possibility of their deserting to the enemy. THE Journal de Samt-Malo states that a frightful stotm swept over the district for three days; the wind, rain, snow, and hail being occa- sionally mingled with flashes of lightning and peals of thunder. The electric fiugl struck the clock tower of the church, but without doing mischief.

MR. OLAD^TONE* AT* OXFORD,' [ Xr: Gladstone arrived at Oxford, and received an address from the Liberal Association of the city. In reply, in dealing with the proposed vote of credit, he said he was advised that the sending of the fleet to the Dardanelles constituted an act of war, and a distinct breach of neutrality by her Majesty's Government. He feared the vote would be carried, and the voice of the country alone could prevent iti If thr vote were intended as one of confidence it should 3 framed in a constitutional manner. The Liberal party would oppose it to the utmost. If the Government wanted the strength of England at their backs they could have it through the vote of the people; and the vote of £6,000,090 would be taken by the Sultan to be an encourage^ I ment to prolong the war. Their supporters might think the vote necessary to save Lord Beaconsfield, for if they lost him many of them thought that HOfland would sink to the bottom of the sea, or at all events into a third-rate Power. In the after- noon a public meeting was held at which Lords Card- well and Hatherly, the Bishop of Oxford, and Sir W. Harcourt, M.P., were present, when the scheme for the new High School was approved, and in the evening Mr. Gladstone was present at the Palmer- ston Club dinner, with Lords Coleridge, Oardwell, Lymington, Granville, and Selborne, Sir W. Har- court, and Mr. Goschen.

THURSDAY ISLAND. Australian papers state that on the 1st of January a (Queensland) Government settlement was established on Thursday Island, at tHe entrance to Torres Straits, in substitution for that which has been maintained at Somerset, and mail steamers will in future call at the former place instead of the latter. Thursday Island, hitherto little known even to Southern Queensland ers, lies thirty miles north-west of Port Somerset, and the settlement is at Vivian Point, at the western extremity T l a *s*aB< There is a signal station on Goode Island, four miles west, and as all ships passing by either the inner or outer passage from the Arafura Sea to the Pacific Ocean and vice versa must be sighted from this point, this island is very properly des. cribed the key to the position. It is said that it was chiefly to secure this that the transfer from Somerset to the Prince of Wales Group was decided upon. The Queensland Premier, who has been to inspect the island, states that as a port of call it may not perhaps be quite so convenient as Somerset for the mail steamers, but the anchorage will prove much safer than in the Albany Pass. He goes on to say: As a centre for the pearl-shell fishery, Thursday Island will, I am sure, be found to be more convenient, and if it prove to be as healthy as Somerset has been It will toon attain to some imoortance, for the pearl- shelling industry now appears to have a permanent character; at least, I gather from the pearl- shellers themselves that the supply of shell is likely to be permanent, and that the reefs are reproduetive. I endeavoured to stimulate the interest of some of these gentlemen in observ- ing the habits of the pearl oyster, and I have authorised Mr. Chester to expend a small sum of money In experimenting on their growth in one of the secluded bays near Thursday Island." The pearl-shell industry represents exports amounting to £ &0,000 a year. Advantage was taken of the Premier's pre- sence to call his attention to the labour contracts made on the fishery. He was told that some natives en board the Gem, brought from Port Essington, had been taken thence against their will, and he says: "I saw six of the men themselves, interrogated them, and • endeavoured, without success, to ascertain whether they understocd the nature of their agreement with Cap- tain Oadell. They had already been entered on the usual port agreement for a service of a year, at the rate of 10s. a month. I am convinced that they had not the slightest idea of the nature of their agreement. It 18 quite possible, however, that they may turn out useful men at the end of the term of their agreement. I had no time to pursue the inquiry, but I instructed Mr. Beddome to go on board the Gem, to see the rest of the natives themselves, and to place some European on board in the pay of the Government, in order to see that they are not taken beyond our jurisdiction* It is quite possible that Captain Oadell may, duriofi their twelve months' term of service, make good pearl-sellers of these native gentlemen from Port Essington; and when they return, aa they nwy, it is very possible that they may be looked up to with some respect by the rest of their tribe; but I cannot help thinking that they were not aware of the nature Of th3 enterprise with which they are likely to be made acquainted by Captain OadeU. I shall take care, at any rate, to bring this matter under the notice of the Government of South Austral so soon as I receive Mr. Beddome's report. It 18 evident that serious abuses might arise out of traU- sactions of this kind. I should wish also to take thw opportunity of remarking that South Sea Islanded are sometimes sent up from Sydney under agreenoeots which are manifestly unfair. It appears that the law does not require that the agreements should ho entered into in the presence of the shipping master. This has given rise to a loose state of affairs, much to the advantage of the lodging-house crimps and by nO means to the advantage of the men themselves.

JUDGES' CIRCUITS. A return relating to the Spring and Summer Oir- cuitsof lastyear has jusAeen printed. On tbeNorthern Circuit (Spring Circuit, 1877) two judgiBs sat at A*9 places—one sat 32 days and the other 30 days. com- meneing from the 17th of February to the 27th of March; 131 prisoners were tried and 1^8 causes disposed of; at the Bummer Circuit, from the 27th of Junggto the 8th of August, before judges, one sittrngjaB and the other 31 days, 135 pri- soners were triedpEna 122 causes disposed of. On the North-Eastern Circuit (Spring), before two judges and onecommissioner, commencing on the 14th of February and ending on the 24th of March, the judges sitting -each 34 and the commissioner 16 days? 14 prisoners were tried and 141 causes disposed of; aDd on the Summer Circuit, with the same judges and commissioner, the former sitting 82 and 88 days respectively and the latter five days, the number of prisoners tried was 189 and the causes heard 167. On the Midland Circuit (Spri!1g), commencing on the 16th of February, and ^ng on tho 28th of March, two judges and three com- missioners were engaged; the judges sat 34 and 36 days, and the commissioners two, one, and two dltoYs the number of prisoners tried was 266 and the causes heard f6. On the Summer Circuit, from the 2nd of July to the 6th of August, two judges and two commissioners were engaged the judges sat 27 and 26 days, and the commissioners two and ond days- There were 185 prisoners tried and 71 causes of. On the Oxford Circuit (Spring), from the 10th °: to the 29th of March, two judge* sat 25 28 days; 166 prisoners were tried and 54 eaOl8Ø heard. On the Summer Circuit two judge* one commissioner sat respectively 34, anq two days; 161 prisoners were tried 27 causes disposed of. On the South-Eastern Oifcuit (Spring), where four judges sat 7,22, 22, days, 169 prisoners were tried and 81 causes dis- posed of. On the Summer Circuit, one judge and oie commissioner sat 19 and 23 days respectively; Prisoners wfra tried and 84 causes were heard; while at Oroydon, 19 prisoners were tried and 61 eaøøel were heard, making on the Sonth Eastern Circuit 173 prisoners, tried and 145 caUJel heard. On the Western Circuit (Spring), from the 14th of February to the 29th of Inarch,. two judges and one commissioner, 201 prisoners were tried and 44 causes heard and on the Summer Ove- cuit 143 prisoners were tried and 60 causes heard. On the North and South Wales Spring Circuit l* Prisoners were tried and 68 causes beard; on the Summer Circuit, 93 prisoners and 44 causes, ^he Judges' Sittings in London during the time of the Spring and Summer Circuits in the year 1877 ,#eT&- Spring rittings in baneo, 61 days; at nisi 50 days; and in chambers, 48 days. During ihe summer sittings the judges sat in banco 20 days at nisi prius, 47 days; and in chambers, 47 day"

JUDGMENT AGAINST THS GramiL.—The Lords Justices gave judgment against the Postmaster-General in an appeal on a case repre- senting many others, and involving an amount or about < £ 20,000. Mr. J. 3. Saunders, an inspector of one of the electric telegraph oonlpanies taken over hy the Poet Offlse in 1868, daimed that the assessment of his compensation should be based, not only upoa his salary, bat also upan the allowance which the company made to him for personal emenseewhea absent from head-quarters, the Lords jnsticee held that Mr. Saunders was entitled to compensation in respect to what he could save out of the allowance made to him. Thb Peupk, A demagogic paper, Is to be proøe- entad for publishing articles signed "Henri Boche- fort." Persons deprived of civil and political rights. or outlawed, cannot figure in print without subjecting their publishers to a fine of from 100QT. to 50001. Sm T. SHKPSTONE.—The Natal Mercury sayS: The events of the last year, followed by those that are transpiring, have entailed keen and constant anxiety upon the Transvaal Administrator, and we are not surprised, though we deeply regret, to iearn that Sir Theophilus begins to feel the strain that he has been subjected to. Ne man of less nerve and calmness could have borne so bravely the stress and worry that have attended his mission since he was wrecked in the Windsor Castle in October, 1876. The difficulties and responsibilities of his position may be said to have culminated in the present crisis, involving, as it does, the issue of peace or war, and requiring, in the most eminent degree, the exercise of coolness, self- control, and sagacity. ■

BREACH OF PROMISE CASE. The case of Burrow tv Land came before Mr. Baron 4 Pollock, at the Crown Court, Liverpool. Miss Eliza- beth Ann Burrow, a lady apparently about 30 years of age, who has the management of a co-operative store at Ireby, in Yorkshire, was the plaintiff in this action, the defendant being John Lund, an engine tenter, at Bradford, from wboaji she sought to recover damages for breach of promise of marriage. Mr. Potter appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr. Aspland for the defendant. It seemed from the evidence tendered in support of the claim, that the parties had known each other from childhood, and had attended school together. The families to which they be- longed were also acquainted with each other. In August, 1876, the plaintiff became engaged to defendant, and it was agreed that they should be married before Christmas of the following year. On Christmas eve 1876, defendant visited plaintiff at the house of her parents, and stayed there all night. Christmas day he also spent at the house, and in the evening, while he and his sweethert were standing at the door, he said to her, Lizzie, Tm not coming back again. I have nothing to complain of in you; you have done nothing but what I could wish to see from any young woman." He then went away without further explanation, and she saw nothing of him afterwards. In Ootober last, hearing he had been married, she consulted a firm of solicitors, who wrote to the defendant threatening an action for breach of promise. The defendant on this wrote to the father of the plaintiff on the 23rd October as follows "I have received a letter from the firm of Robinson and Robinson, lawyers, Skipton, threatening an action for breach of promise of marriage to your daughter. I dont know whether you are aware of this matter being in their hands or not. I do not attempt any denial of the fact of such promise being made, but when I broke off the engagement I did it with a sincere desire to save both of us from future misery, as I felt that both were un- suited for each other's happiness through life, not because my affections were transferred to another, as at that time I had not paid any addresses to another. If this case proceeds it will probably cripple all my endeavours to get along for a long time. I have worked hard to save a trifle to begin married life with, and the blow will fall most heavily on one who is entirely innocent in the matter, and therefore I beg you will use your in- fluence with Miss Barrow to induce her, if not to for- give and forget, at least to be lenient with me, if only for the sake of the innocent who would snffer most keenlyby it." While the engagement lasted the plaintiff, at the request of the defendant, spent £ 28 16.. on furniture for the "house in which they intended to reside after marriage. The plaintiff did not desire exorbitant damages, but she wished to recover the moneys he had spent andfsuch damages for the breach of promise as the inry might deem it right to award. The plaintiff, when being eross-examained, denied that she refused to go with the defendant to live at Derby. He told her he earned 33s. a week. Up to December, 1876, she had been writing most affec- tionate letters to the defendant. After that date she did. not know where be was. She denied having written to the sister of the defendant about Baster last, telling her that the engagement had been broken off. Mr. Aspland: You are not broken-hearted, nor without hope of making a happy marriage, yet? (Laughter.) Are you engaged to be married ? The Plaintiff No. Mr. Aspland: You have a friend called Burton Proctor ? The Plaintiff: Yes, he is a friend of mine. Mr. Aspland: He is an old sweetheart of yours, is he not?; Mr. Potter: He mutt have begun very early. (Laughter.) Mr. Aspland: You knew him before you knew the defendant? The Plaintiff: I am not engaged to him now. Mr. Aspland: Was he an old sweetheart x>f yours ? The Plaintiff: Yes. Mr. Aspland: Are you not keeping company with him ? The Plaintiff: No. Mr. Aspland: Have you not seen a good deal of him since Dec., 1876 ? The Plaintiff: I have not, I think, seen him twice. Mr. Aspland: Didn't you go with him to the Omven Agricultural Show ? The Plaintiff: Mrø. Proctor was with me, if I was there. Mr. Aspland: You are not without hopes that Proctor and you will make it up again ? "'(Laughter.) The Judge; That is rathffr u hard question. (Laughter.) Mr. Aspland Well, my lord, Til leave it there. The defendant was then called. He stated that his average earnings had been 27s. a week, but that he was now out of employment owing to the slack- ness of trade. In 1876 he obtained a situation at Derby, and when he asked the plaintiff whether she would go and live with him there, her reply was that she would not for any man go to a place she knew nothing about. He said that in that case he need not continue to visit her, and she told him he could do as he pleased. The jury having been addressed by Mr. Aspland, Mr. Potter, and the judge, returned a verdict in favour of the defendant* ..) ,r'd:

THE MAWmrfTT.ATHle AND "GOD SAVE TIm Qunx.Lord Houghton, in a letter to the Times, says: The late Baron de Bunsen used to assert that the "Marseillaise" was an old South German, per- haps Alsatian, air adapted by Rpuget d'lsle on the reception of the Marseilles regiment at Strasburg, Whence it spread like wild-firt ,throughout France. I should be glad if this iupposition could be fairly examined. Having the volume of Bonget de l'lsle's compositions before me, I am strnek by the immense superiority of this upelody over all the rest, the only one that shorn anything of a similar vigour being the song qf the fabulous destruction of the Vengeur," the chorus of which, Mourons pour la patrie was attached to the Parisienne of 1830. Were this origin authen- ticated, the French might find some consolation in theIknowledge that (r Gdd save the King was com- posed by Lully, and first produced on the visit of Louis XIV. and Madame de Maintenon to the con- vent of the Desmdiselles de St. Oyr. Some. years after it was happily and unscrupulously appropriated by Dr. John -B&l or^saat of St. Paul's. Duzi. BETWEEN BBOTHMS-iN-LAw.—Qn the afternoon of the 12th of January, 1878, a duel was fought at the junction of the Atlantic and Georgia and Savannah and Charleston Railroads, three miles from Savannah, between Walter S. Harlsy, a lawyer, and Robert Fishbume, clerk of the County Court of Walterborough) South Carolina. The parties arrived by different trains, and proceeded to tne. ground in carriages, accompanied bytheir seconds and a surgeon. They fought at ten paees, with Golfs re- volvers. Barley expressed his intention in a note to his wife to in the air, and did so, Fishburne's pistol being discharged at the same time. Harley tell mortally wounded. He was brought by his second to the town and taken to an inirmary. The newspaper report, sent to New York in the even- ing, .aye-II Harley is dying to-night. The ball entered the right side, severed the bowels, and lodged in the abdomen. fishburne and his party returned home. The parties dre brothers-in-law, having married sisters. The difficulty originated about a difference in local politics. Both parties are Demo- crats. The offensive words used by Harley were, I You and W. R. Fishburne are mean and cheap copies of the Rhetts, without their brains or courage.' A re- fusal to retract the insult resulted in Fishburne chal- lenging Harley." HORRIBLE MATRICIDE.—At the Eure Assizes a man named Louchard was condemned to death for the murder of his mother, whose body he cut into pieces and threw into a quarry. His object was to obtain possession of her savings, and he had once asked a doctor whether a man charged with murdering his mother could inherit her property. He will be guillotined barefoot and in the costmne assigned to murderers of parents-viz., a long shirt and a black I veil round his head.

A JAPANESE EXHIBITIONS The conductor of Messrs. Cook's "Round the World tour, writing from the steamship Hiroshima Marn, under date Nagasaki, Nov. 27, says: "Dudag our visit at Tokio this year, one of the graat events and attractions going on was the Hakurart-Kuwai, or national exhibition, at the Park of Uyeno which we were fortunate enough to witness and which does Japan great credit. It was opened on the 21st of August ltist. The exhibition buildings are six in num- ber, and form an irregular sexagen, within the liufe~# of which the grounds are tastily laid out in fioWv> ■ beds, and have in their centre an artificial circular lake, fed through pumpa from the big pond Shino-badzu-no-ike; but the grounds extend beyond the sides of this sexagon; they are, in fact. said to cover an area of 20,000 tsubo, or 720,000 square feet, and in these more distant places are to be found various structures, refreshment stalls, eating houses, &c. The six principal exhibition buildings bear each of them an inscription indicating their contents. Turning left from the entrance we find these buildings ranged in the following order—1, Horticultural hall; 2, Machinery hall; 3, Western hall; 4, Fine Arts gallery; 5, Eastern hall; and 6, Agricultural hall. These are all connected with each other by a shorty covered gallery, and are profusely decorated both inside and outside with flags of various colours. The structures being, with one exception, only intended to remain as long as the exhibition laøtø- viz., until the 1st of December this year-they are un- pretending in appearance, and have been built in the most economical manner. They are all of wood, one storied, roofed with galvanised iron, floored with cement, lit by windows in the walls, and by sky-lights in the roof, and painted both inside and outside with colours pleasing to the eye. Each building is con- structed in form of a rectangle, but they vary con- siderably in size. The one exception from the general method of construction is the building for the fine arts, which is intended to remain standing as a memorial after the exhibition shall have been closed. In every department of manufacturing industry, silks, lacquer- ware, bronzes, porcelains, and the thousand-and- one articles of dailylife, the exhibition teems with the best examples of what the artists and artisans of Japan of to-day can produce. Old curios and anti- quities are not shown, and the lover of things of the past must look elsewhere for a gratification of his curiosity. The Exhibition Bureau has published in the vernacular a guide book and a voluminous catalogue* The number of the exhibitors is about 18,000, and the articles exhibited about 30,000, valued at a total of 175,228 yen or dollars. The Japanese manufacturer* whose intelligent, ingenious, and artistic toil has mad* the exhibition what it is, are to be warmly congratu- lated on their meritorious success in almost every de* partment of human industry." J <*

THE'REMAINS OF QUEEN KATHARINE DE VALOIS. The Right Hon. the Earl of Carnarvon presided at a meeting qf the Society of Antiquaries, held at Burlington House, when the Very Rev. Dean Stanley read a paper upon the depositories of Katharine d' Valois, the Queen of Henry V., the remains of Ü18 Queen having been re-deposited near the chantry of the Abbey, after many romwkable nmovah an&vicw' tudes. The dean exhibited upon a screen the drawing* made of the contents of a box in which in 1778 the re mains of Queen Katharine de Valois were laid in St. Nichelses Chapel, in the vaultofth,,bVilliers',boyoud tbO tomb of the Percies, which was opened in Deoember last upon the occasion of the burial in the Abbey of the lat* Lord Percy, when the opportunity was taken, by the sanc- tion of the authorities and the consent of her Majesty the Queen, to fittingly encase the dust of de Yalois, and to restore the ashes to near their origin** iresting-plaee. The original tomb was in the chaDttf of Henry V., which stands on the original BelJ- quary of the Abbey. Katharine de Valois, the Dean remarked—the Kate of the never- to-be-forgotten seeoe in Shakespeare's Henry V.was on the day of b^ funeral conveyed by water to the Tower of London where a service was said in the chapel of which SM was the patron; thence to St. Paul's where anotlo service was held thence it was brought to the Abbey. Upon the death of her 00 Henry VI., it was proposed to move we body further down, and to erellt a tomb moto "honourably apparalled but k remained undi* turbed until Henry the YIL's chapel was when the bones of the grandam of that monarch we*2 placed in a wooden box and removed to a spot eal^ "the Friars," piobably from the monks having hibited relics there. Various writers, the dean showed, testified to the fact that the bones We openly exhibited, lying above-ground in a woocw, box, and Fuller, the author of "Lives of Worthier was among those who saw them, ai.d he gives in h* writings a quaint anecdote to account for the gular fact of the bones being above- ground upward'' then, of 200 years after they had been Gtyk mitted to the earth. Till the 18th century tb were thus exposed, and the Westminster scholars o1 those days were stated to have misused the remain** and the'box in which they were contained wae tb« £ locked up, and they were placed in the tomb beyof^ the Percies. There they rested until, as stated, tn* death of Lord Percy, in December liast, rendered^ possible to obtain the restoration of the remains t°' fitting depository. A space was made into the where the box was laid, and the box was found nea<v rotted away. Upon it was a leaden plate with inscription: "nKatherine de Valois,Queen of V., 1437, deposited in this Chapel of St. Nichofr by Benjamin Fidoe, Clerk of Works of Westmins^ Abbey, 1778." The box was only nailed rough way, and through part of the box having faV away the skull was visible. The upper part ot JS body had been, previous to its last burial in l"' much disturbed, and several portions of it were these facts testifying to the gross carlesaness with the remains were treated in bygone times. The d«*r described the spot where the remains of the^^8! Princess and English Queen, fittingly placed 1B proper covering, with the old plate inside, werej^ entombed between the Plantagenets and the and near to the memorials of her husband's vieto* by which he won her to be his bride. l'

MtmDBR OP A Box BY HIS FATHBB, shocking homicide has been perpetrated at Rochdt" A man named Thomas Tweedie, a mechanic, who recently been out of work, but obtained a living pianoforte player at the Queen's Hotel, Blackwa^ street, returned home under the influence of drin^i few days before one of his yetmger sons had enli^^ and he now charged his son Thomas, aged 19, having persuaded his brother to enlist. The son the charge. The father replied, Thou told him t^T thou would enlist if he cud." The son said," I did." The father then caught hold of his and said, Can you best me f The son replied, not want to do anything of 'the sort.* Mrs. here made motions to her son to leave the room, ing a quarrel, but before he was able to do soj^ father drew his pocket-knife and stabbed his son the heart. The unfortunate young man ran oajj the h6use into a neighbour's, but fell down and d> in about fifteen minutes. The father made his owl*, but the neighbours ran after him, and he wag arreo, by Police-oiffcer Robert Wild. He is only 46 yea^ age, and respectably connected.. J THE SILK SMUGGLING TRIAL.—The the pevsonrf accused of smuggling silk between pool and New York has terminated. The action commenced on the 1st of November last, and wa* stituted by the United States Government to rtC°JTf penalties from the National Steamship Oo for the' smuggling of silks, laces, te., on steamers since the year 1875. In connection the action against the steamships, Mr. TheJ^ Owen, purser of the steamer England, Mr. Graff, Mr. Thomas Gray, and Mr. Edgar B. 9^? were charged with smuggling the articles car#edj board the steamer England. Although the transactions could only be traced to 1875, thai* Zj no doubt that sinee'1869up to the seizure silks on board the England in September last, laces, &c., had been smuggled into New York on the National Company^ steamers to the valtt*^i 81,000,000. It transpire! during the trial that altho^ the proceedings were only taken in with the goods smuggled on board the Eng^fpJ the Treasury were in possession of information would seriously compromise two or three more National Company's steamers, and a number of smployts. Twb other persons besides those above—Richard Williams and A. J. Dunlop-'j>i £ » also charged with receiving the smuggled sitfjjj» fQ* they turned States' evidence. Owens, the pur* the England, and Alvar Graff, the general dock i intendent, were found guilty, and sentenced to I years' imprisonment and a fine of £ 200 each. » £ f LORD CARNARVON.—The speech of the E** p » Carnarvon in the House of Lords, explaining^ r circumstances of his resignation of office, haa jf published in the form of a pamphle". In a feWj t of preface he says: "In thia explanation merely justified my conduct in taking tLe aeriouS^s of a resignation of office, and indicated the disa* results which, in my opinion, would at this j have arisen from any action leading to a de]?*" j & from our neutrality. But I have thought it j avoid any reference, however indirect, to I communications with foreign Powers, and to largest question of all—which it ia my unceasing i this war will solve—the fuller liberty and the* governtaent of th* Christian subjects of the fo^^ i Printed and published by the proprietor, JOHS CO ROBERTS, at his General Printing Office, No.-J' j lane, Cardigan, in the parish of Saint Mary ■ 1 County ot Cardigan.—Saturday, Feb. 9, 1678. F County ot Cardigan.—Saturday, Feb. 9, 1678. F I-j}