The Aberdare Times

THE ALLEGED CONSPIRACY TO MURDER; In London, at Bow-street Police-court, on Friday in last week, William Kimpton Vance, 24, medical ttadent, and Mrs Helen Snee, 30, were brought up for final examination before Mr Vaughan, charged with conspiring together to murder some person unknown. Mr. Poland appeared on behalf of tha Crown to prosecute Mr. R A M'Call defended Vance, and Mr. George Francis appeared for Snee.-The following report of the case is from The Times:— Elizabeth Brand deposed that she was an assistant to the post mistress at Welwyn, Hertfordshire. She knew the prisoner Vance as a medical student, and acting as Dr. Kite's assistant. He came to the post- offiee with the money order produced, and witness cashed it for him. It was signed when presented. William James, assistant to Messrs. Corbyn and Co., chymists, 300, High Holborn, proved that on the 8th of April a man calling himself W. Bennett, of Kimblethwaite, Leeds, bought an ounce of liquid chloral. Witness did not identify the prisoner, but believed the bottle produced was the same in which he served the chloral. Witness charged the man medical price. Chiaf Inspector Clarke, of Scotland-yard, recalled, deposed that he took to Dr. Bond all the drugs found on Vance's premises. Dr. Thomas Bond, of Parliament-street, F.R.C.S., and Lecturer on Forensic Medicine at Westminster, deposed that he received from the last witness certain drugs, including the bottle referred to. The bottle from the smell had contained chloral. The bottle would contain sufficient to destroy two lives. Some of the bottles contained prussic acid; one had no label on it. The label of another bottle was "Poison—not to be tikenthe bottle containing strychnine. There were about 4oz. of corrosive sublimate, a bottle of laudanum, powdered opium, 6t grains of morphia, and one tincture of bella- donna. They were all puisons, but were used by medi- cal men in the course of their profession. The remain- ing drugs were ordinary. In reply to Mr. Francis, witness said he had never known the liquid chloral to be used by doctors in the form found in the bottle. It could be used with safety in the hands of a medical man. Questioned by Mr. Vaughan, he said that death from chloral was not easily distinguishable from death from natural causes, and it could not be distinguished from death by chloroform or opium. Mr. Poland here intimated that the prosecution was closed, and the prisoners, after receiving the usual caution from Mr. Vaughan, said they would reserve their defence. Mr. M'Call complained of certain observations which appeared in a weekly newspaper commenting on the evidence given in the case. He said they were cal- culated seriously to prejudice the minds of every one. Mr. Vaughan said he had not seen the article, but he was sure if the jury saw it, and it was improper, it would not influence their minds in the matter. The Press, as a rule, was managed very well in this country, and deserved the support of the public. The prisoners were then committed for conspiracy to murder Helen Saee, and Vance was specially charged with unlawfully encouraging Mrs. Snee to commit self-murder.

MADE OF IRON! The Madrid Correspondent of the Dibatt writes as follows The Prince of Wales is a man of iron. Here where the lives of private and of public personages can be studied and followed about as closely as those of fishes in an aquarium, we give up the task of tracking the Heir Apparent of England. He exhausts us. We weary of following even with our eyes alone the motions of a -man who is absolutely indefatigable. The Prince attended a tiresome review on Wednesday, under a sun which mortal man could scarcely Bupport. Upon the same evening he was pre- sent at a redoubtable diner d'etiquette, followed by an official tea. Next day he was^olf to Toledo, a city of the moyen age, preserved as if it had been under a glass case. Since then, the amount of sight-seeing the Royal party did there was enormous, and carriages had to be requisitioned from all the country round to minister to the visiting necessities of the distinguished party. At nightfall the Royal cortlge re-entered Madrid, partook of a hurried dinner, and at 10 p.m. put in an appear- ance at the theatre, where the audience rose to receive them, while the grand orchestra struck up God Save the Queen.' The curtain was then raised after a delay of more than an hour, borne by the crowd with no more than a subdued impatience. At the close of the third act the Prince quitted the theatre, not because he was bored, but because he was expected at a ball given in his honour by the Duchess of Fernand Nunez. He entered the ball-room about half-an-hour after mid- night. There were 850 guests present in the magnificent salons of the Duchess. The Prince appeared highly pleased with the entertainment. He remained at the Duke's house for three hours and a half, and could, doubtless, have stayed longer but for the Escurial trip, which claimed his presence in a few hours. He danced only twice, once with the Duchess of Fernand Nunfz and once with the Duchess de la Torre. At eleven o'clock in the day the traia started for the Escurial. It comprises a world of things curious, and his Royal Highness seems to have had a look at them all. Nobody else has ever to go through half this show without crying mercy. The Prince rushed to see everything and saw. Am I not right in asserting that he is made of iron ? From all we learn, to-day (Saturday) will be as exhaustively occupied.

THE GREAT SEA SERPENT. We extract the following from the Bombay Gazette of the 17th ult. (says the Daily Telegraph of Monday) ST. HYDASPES, March 22. I must tell you at once that I write on one of the most worn and commonplace of subjects-the voyage of a P. and O. steamer from Bombay to Aden. But I must ask you, before throwing this letter into the waste-paper basket, to read it through carefully. If it be not published, one of the most extraordinary facts in this world's history may be absolutely lost; and in the interests of truth, in the interest I may say truly of science, I ask you to make known what I now state. As a missionary, I have travelled over a great part of the world, but I can safely aver that what I saw on Saturday, the 18Lh day ot March, was incomparably the most marvellous phenomenon that has ever met my eyes. We steamed out of Bombay harbour on the evening of Monday, the 13th of March, in the staamship Hy daspes, Captain Reynould. On Tuesday at twelve we had made 162 miles, on Wednesday at midday 429, on Thursday 707, and on Friday nearly 1,000, so that on Saturday morning we were about 1,550 miles from Bombay. Nothing of remark had occurred up to Satur- day. There were a monkey and a Persian cat among the passengers, which had caused some little amusement; and 32 children who had caused extreme annoyance to the male passengers from the constant screams that they gave forth, morning, noon, and night. The weather was cool and nearly every one slept below only one passenger, a Captain Davidson, and my- self remaining on deck for the night. I was roused from sleep every morning at six by the men wash- ing and scraping the decks, and on Saturday was roused as usual. I took my plate of broken biscuits to the stern and sat there munching them, and looking at the sun rising. I was quite alone, Captain Davidson still sleeping in p9ace on the port side. There was a thick bank of clouds on the horizon, and as the sun rose from the sea behind this dark bank, great masses of colour- red and blue and yellow-lit up the whole expanse of sky and sea. I was looking at a strange ruddy blot of red on the water, right astern, when I saw, apparently near the horizon, but in the red blot, a dark moving shadow. It did not seem to move with the other shadows on the sea, and this fixed my attention to it. Soon I saw that it waa steadily approaching the vessel. I could distinguish no form, only a dark shadow, but I made out certainly that it was advancing towards us and at a Rreat rate. Fifteen minutes must have passed when I at last became able to dis- tinguish the form of the advancing object. (I spoke to the captain afterwards as to the distance the object could have been from us when I first distinguished it, and he told me I must have been deceived by the mov- ing lights in supposing it tear the horizon; and he guessed, from what I said, that it was then only three or four miles distant. Mistakes of a like nature, he said, are commonly made by the inexperienced. I cannot accurately describe my feeling on beholding that hideous sight. At first I turned to call out, to bring others to look on with me; but, before a cry could pass my lips, a second feeling of selfish pleasure, that I alone saw that fearful thing, seized me, and I turned my eyes again to the sea and kept them fixed there. Within a hundred feet of the stern of our vessel, not now approaching us, but simply following steadily in our wake, was this hideous thing, A great mass of what looked like tangled seaweed, on which a futile attempt at combing bad been made, rose out of the water. This mass must have been twenty or thirty feet in length and ten feet in width, and as it came on it caused a wide ripple in the water that showed there must be a still greater part below the surface. From the centre of this mas*, raised just clear above it and facing the vessel, was a great black head. The top was quite flat, in shape not unlike that of a monstrous toad. A thick fringe of coarse reddish hair hung over the mouth, quite concealing it. But the eyes were the most awful part of this fearful thing. They were placed far apart, at either extremity of the flat head, distant from each other at least frhree feet. I must here state that all the passengers and all the crew except the captain himself saw the thing after- wards, but that there were scarcely two who could agree as to the colour and nature of these eyes. I can only, therefore, write as they appeared to me. The eyeballs were enwrmous; they must have been four or five inches in diameter. They scintillated constantly. Every one knows the extraordinary appearance of a surface covered with small alternate squares of bright red and bright blue, the quivering uncertain, unfixed look such a surface has, the difficulty, the impossi- bility experienced by the looker on, to fix the colour of any particular square. The eyeballs of this thing had such a quivering, uncertain look but they were not red, not blue, not^ red and blue; they were of a bright, burningly bright, copper hue; they pained our eyes -and in this we were all agreed—as we looked at them. In the centre of each eyeball, a mere speck, but visible from its extreme brightness, was a point of light, of white light. It was impossible to tell whether these points were or were not material points of the eye or merely caused by reflection, but they were clearly defined, and seemed to remain in the same place. The motion, however, of the thing was so steady that no deduction could fairly be drawn from their not changing their position. The appearance of this extraordinary creature was so new to me, so en- tirely outside all my previous experience, that I had no preconceived ideas with which to compare the thoughts it raised in my mind. So the impression it caused was vague and indefinite, and I can only say that it raised in me extreme horror and dislike. I had been so absorbed in the pleasing pain of look- ing at the thing, that I had quite forgotten the other people on board, and was first roused by hearing Cap- tain Davidson step up on the stern by me, give one look below at the water, and then hurriedly go back. In a few minutes every passenger was crowding on to the stern, even the ladies appearing, though in un- finished costume. Exclamations of the extremest astonishment broke from all, and then silence fell, as the crowd stared at the hideous creature. The children, u,, the first sight, ran back below screaming, and some I refused to come again on deck, though their nurses and ayahs—desirous of looking on themselves-used all possible means to make them. Some, however, returned, curiosity overcoming fear, but even these looked on in a perpetual tremor of terror, and held themselves ready at the first movement of the thing to rush away. I noticed at this time that the cap- tain was not present, and turned to an old European sailor by me and asked him to go and tell him. Cap- tain won't come, no fear of that, sir," replied the m m. I asked if he was navigating the ship ? "No, he was not navigating the ship," said the sailor but he would not come for all that; however, he would go and tell him." But though he went, the captain would not come. We all remained absorbed in the strange sight till the first breakfast-bell rang at half-past eight, when we had perforce to hurry away and take our chance of bathing at that late hour. Up to this time the thing had kept steadily in our wake, its movement continu- ing absolutely smooth and constant, and the two specks of light in the glaring eyes never changing a hair's breadth from their position. At breakfast I sat one removed from the captain. We began, of course talking, of the thing we had seen, but the captain, for somereason we could not then understand, seemed to dislike the subject, and soon we abandoned it, falling then into absolute silence, for we could talk of nothing else. When we went on deck again— we were only a few minutes at breakfast-we found the thing still following steadily in our wake. The children had in great measure got over their fear, and had made a long line by joining hands, and the whole lot of them would now crouch down and then suddenly rise up, open their mouths at the thing, and cry out at it. No notice apparently being taken of this, they grew bolder, and at last their cries increased till they shrieked shrilly. Suddenly the hideous creature seemed roused by these cries, it raised his head in the air, uttered a strange bellow, and came forward at a great pace towards the ship. None of us could at first move from fear; the thing seemed to have grown in size, its eyeballs were more burningly bright; the children fell on the deck crying, and some of the women fainted. But we who remained standing, suffering though we were under intense terror, still could not, when we at last were able to move, retreat, or even take our eyes off the thing. It came swiftly up to the ship, always uttering the same peculiar cry or bellow. When but a few feet from the stern, it suddenly turned and came up close on the port side. Here the side awnings had been put up to keep off the sun; but three of us rushed up to the awning and quickly got it down, that we might the better watch the thing. For myself I must say that while doing this I was still suffering from extreme fear, but my curiosity was so intense, so irre- sistible, that I could only act as I did. No sooner was the thing level with us than it raised itself with a sudden movement high out of the water, till its head was thirty or forty feet above us. It still uttered the same peculiar cry or bellow. Under our intense curiosity we stood out on the bulwarks to follow its movements. It opened a great mouth, cried more loudly than before, and made three blows at the main-mast. The last of these touched it, and caused the ship to sway violently, so that we were nearly cast off into the water. When we again looked for the thing it had gone. There was no ripple, no disturbance of any kind in the water to show where it had been. It was gone absolutely. We looked constantly for it dur- ing the rest of that day, but not the slightest trace did we again discover. And now let me state shortly why I, not over facile in writing, or fitted for the subject by knowledge, write this. At tiffin of that same day, just as we were rising to return on deck, the captain rose and asked us to remain for a few minutes. Then he shortly referred to the strange sight we had seen that day, laying stress on the fact, however, that he himself had not seen it, and he went on ''Now, none of you can doubt what you saw but I advise you not to talk about it. That was the sea-serpent you saw. But I wouldn't talk about it if I saw it. It only leads to making people laugh, and the papers take it up and cut jokes on it, and it won't do you any good, and it would not do me any good. But then remember I did not see it, so I've nothing to do with this one. But, if you take my advice, you won't talk about it. Punch took up one sea serpent, and that captain never got over it-never. Remember, though, I didn't see this one." You will see now, Mr. Editor, that if you don't pub- lish this, a most extraordinary fact may be lost to the world. This account I may state has been read over by some of the passengers, and their disagreement from what I have written is oniy what would neces- sarily, under the circumstances mentioned, be ex- pected. To show that I have no fear of ridicule I give my name. MATTHEW STRONG. I may state that when the thing raised itself up and struck the mast it was apparent that the seaweed-like mass was long coarse hair, covering a dark thick neck. But the thing could not possibly have been a serpent; for to raise so prodigious a length of neck above the surface a huge body below the surface was of course required.

The COLOURS of the 77th REGIMENT. An interesting ceremony took place in front of the Mansion House, in London, on Monday morning. The old colours of the 77th Regiment were brought up from Woolwich, in charge of an escort of one hundred men, being met at Cannon-street Station by the City Militia. At the Mansion House they were received by the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress, with Major- General, Willis, C.B., and others. The colours were handed by Colonel Kent to the Lord Mayor, who, in receiving them, said It is a very high compliment which you and your regi- ment pay to the Lord Mayor in handing to him these honoured though much-worn colourn, which I believe went through the wars of the Crimea. Your regiment has been celebrated for many years, particularly In 1788 and 1790 At Seringapatam, Ciudad, Rodrigo, Saragossa, Alma, Inkerman, and Sebastopol, your regiment has at all times distin- guished itself. Noble, brave, and heroic as the English army always is, your regiment has not been behind ia any respect, and has added much to the honour of the country. Her Majesty has presented the regiment with new colours, but 1 have no doubt that in parting thus with your old colours you look on them as old friends, and leave them with grief. But you are about to place them over the monument of those who fell In the Crimea, and of those who died in their defence. I and my successors will take care of those colours, and there they will be an ot-j act of interest to all who look upon them, helping, as they will, to stimulate the men of the present day as they did in the past. They will be a fitting memorial that the British seldier at all times does his duty, and though many of the men are gone who then held a place in your regiment, the young blood that Is there will maintain the honour of the 77th .Regiment, and behave as those have done who accom- panied you in years gone by. Colonel Kent thanked his lordship on behalf of the regiment. The officers and men of the regiment were then conducted to the Egyptian Hall, where the band played several airs. At the conclusion the Lord Mayor again addressed those pre3ent, and the party then marched to St. Paul's Cathedral, where there is a monument to the memory of the men of the 77th who fell in the Crimea. The colours were here placed upon the altar, whilst the Dean and Chaplin-General ad- dressed the regiment, and at the conclusion of the ser- vice were hung up over the monument.

GAINSBOROUGH'S "DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIRE." In London, last Saturday, at the sale of the late Mr. Wynn Ellis's pictures at Messrs. Christie and Manson's, the Im- mense sum of 10,100 guineas was realised for Gainsborough's famous portrait of the Duchess of Devonshire.—The Times gives the following description of the sale :— The sale of the modern pictures belonging to the Wynn-Ellis collection on Saturday last created such a sensation as has never been experienced in the picture world of London. Throughout the week the pictures had attracted considerable numbers of visitors, but on the day preceding the sale the interest came to a climax, and crowda filled the rooms of Messrs. Christie, Manson, and Woods all day. Any one passing the neighbourhood of St. James-square might well have supposed that some great lady was holding a reception, and this, in fact, was pretty much what was going on within the gallery in King-street. All the world had come to see a beautiful Duchess created by Gainsborough, and, so far as we could observe, they all came, saw, and were conquered by the fascinating beauty. Even those who were prepared by Walpole's glowing description of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire-that her "lively modestv and modest familiarity made her a pheno- menon "-were not disappointed, though there were some few who, equally charmed with the picture, failed to recognize the lovely sentiment and refinement of the portraits of her by Sir Joshua at Chatsworth and at Althorpe. Thus there arose constantly the most lively discussions before the picture. To convince those who were disposed to be sceptical as to the right naming of the portrait, there were placed in the room two small engravings from portraits of the same personage, one of which bore the name plainly engraved upon it, and was taken from a small whole- length sketch or study in gri8aille by Gainsborough which has been in the possession of Lady Clifden for a great length of time. This corresponded precisely with the picture the sale of which we are about to speak of, but it is not an old engraving, being one pub- lished by Messrs. Graves. During the sale some further information was afforded by Mr. Woods, who was the auctioneer on the occasion. When the portrait was placed before the crowded audience, a burst of applause showed the universal admiration of the picture, and after this Mr. Woods proceeded to give the history of the picture, as far as he knew it. It was exhibited as a whole length at the Royal Academy in 1783, the ytar in which also was exhibited the portrait of Mra. Sheridan, by Gains- borough, now belonging to Baron Rothschild. It was purchhsed by Mr. Wynn Ellis of the late Mr. Bentley, the picture restorer, who had it from a Mrs. Magennis, and it had been many years in Mr. Ellis s collection. The biddings then com- menced at one of 1,000 guineas, which was immediately met with one of 3,000 guineas from Mr. Agnew, and, amid a silence of quite breathless attention, but bids followed in quick succession, at first by defiant sbots across the room of a thousand guineas then, a3 if the pace was too severe, the bids were only 500 up to 6,000 guineas, when again another thousand-pounder was fired oy Mr Agnew, making it 7,000 guineas. Still the fight went on briskly with500's, till there was a shout of applause at 10,100 guineas, and then a serious pause for breath between the combatants, when Mr Agnew was the first to challenge "any further ad- vance" with his 10,000 guineas, and won the battle in this most extraordinary contest. The whole affair was, of its kind, one of the most ex. citing ever witnessed the audience, densely packed on raised seats round the room and on the "floor of the house," stamped, clapped, and bravoed. After the furore had subsided a little, Mr. Woods, before going on with the sale, said that he might tell his audience that this sum which had just been bid was the highest price ever paid in that room for any picture. He also referred to an interesting record of Gainsborough's por- traits of this Duchess of Devonshire, to be found in Allan Cunningham's 'Lives of the Painters," in which it is related that Gainsborough once failed in painting a full-length of her, and left the picture unfinished, saying he found "the Duchess was too much for him."

A REVERSE JOKE.-A soldier passing through a meadow, a large mastiff ran at him, and he stabbed the dog with a bayonet. The master of the dog asked him why he had not rather struck the dog with the butt- end of his weapon? "So I should," said the soldier, if he had run at me with his tail <

OUTRAGE AT SALONICA. Intelligence has arrived from Salonica of a riot in which the French and German Consuls were both assassinated. The outbreak occurred in consequence of the interference of a portion of the Christian popu- lation to prevtnt a young Bulgarian girl embracing the Mussulman faith. A Turkish frigate has been despatched to Salonica, and the guilty parties are to be punished in a manner befitting the gravi.y of the crime that has been committed. A French frigate has also been dispatched to Salonica for the protection of the foreign community. The Porte has telegraphed the following account of the disturbances at Salonica to Musurus Pasha, the Turkish Ambassador in London :— The Sublime Porte received the subjoined telegram yester- day evening (May 6) fromthe Governor-General of Salonica A young Christian village girl who had embraced Islamism having arrived by railway at Salonica, some parties who awaited her arrival at the station proceeded to conduct her according to custom, to the residence of the Governor- General, when about 160 persons whom the United States Consul had assembled made a rush at the girl, tore off her veil and mantle, and, currying her away by force, took her to the house of a Christian, thereby exasperating the Mussulmans who witnessed this scene of violence. Shortly afterwards the excited crowd marched en masse to the resi- dence of the Governor to Insist upon the young Mussulman being brought thither, and the people collected in a mosque awaiting her arrival. All the efforts both of the authorities and the leading inhabitants were powerless to control the crowd, which only the presence of the girl or the arrival of troops could succeed in dispersing. At this moment the Go- vernor having been Informed that the consuls of Germany and France had entered the mosque, which had been invaded by the crowd, Immediately proceeded thither In person to Induce the consuls to leave and to calm the people but all his efforts were useless. As the young girl did not arrive, the populace wrenched the bars from the grating, and thus pro- vided with weapons fell upon the consuls. Though the Governor attempted by desperate efforts to shield them with his own person, he was unable to afford them protection, and they fell under the blows of their assailants, Shortly afterwards the troops which had arrived from the Ottoman stations and the barracks succeeded in dispersing the rioters." In a second telegram which arrived last night the Gover- nor-General confirms the suppression of the rioting, and announces that, as a measure of precaution, sentinels and gendarmes have been placed in front of the consulates and some other dwellings that, in fine, order is restored and proceedings have commenced by the arrest of the guilty parties. This painful event has deeply afflicted the Sublime Porte, which has resolved to chastise the authors of the crime promptly and with the greatest rigour. For this pur- pose two Imperial Commissioners, armed with full uowera, leave for Salonica. They are accompanied by delegates from the Embassies of Germany and France. The Official Gazette of the German Empire contains the following statement:— When the news of the Salonica outrage reached Constanti- nople, the Ambassadors of Germany and France at once took the necessary steps, in conjunction with the representatives of other Powers, to obtain protection from the Ottoman Government for the Salonica Christians, and the institution of a strict inquiry into the outrage. The Grand Vizier, in reply, declared his readiness to take all the measures demanded of him, and the Sultan sent at once his first aide- do camp to the German and French Ambassadors to express his great regret at the occurrence, and promised the severest chastisement of the guilty parties. A Turkish man-of-war left for Salonica with Echref Pasha and Vahan Effendi, as Extraordinary Commiesioners, accompanied by Herr Gillet, German Consul in Pera, and M. Robert, second dragoman of the French Embassy. Moreover, a Turkish Ironclad, with reinforcements for the garrison, has been despatched to Salonica. A telegram from Rome says that at the request of the Italian Minister of Foreiga Affairs the Minister of Marine has ordtrad two men-of-war to start imme- diately for Salonica.

TERRIFIC BOILER EXPLOSION AT BRISTOL. A serious boiler explosion occurred at eleven o'clock on Monday morning at the whitelead works of Me3srp. Hare and Co., in St. Philips. The engineer, Thomas Chilcott, had just got up steam in one of two boilers, when one, weighing about five tons, exploding, went bodily through the roof, and crossing two thorough- fares at a height of three hundred feet, it crashed through two houses, carrying away the roof of one and completely destroying the other, and finally landing in the centre of a thickly populated square or court of small tenements. At the moment there was only one child in the court, a little girl who was found lying insensible with some injury to the brain. The greatest excitement prevailed, amidst the crash. ing of glass, the falling in of roofs, and the screams of the terrified inhabitants of the court. For nearly five minutes nothing could be seen, owing to the atmosphere being filled with dust, and mortar scattered by the falling walls of the houses; but the occupants of the court-chiefly women-then hearing screams proceedings from a corner of one of the rooms of a house that had been wrecked, climbed over the dtbris, and found the occupants-Mrs. Rowley and a child-had miraculously escaped, though the huge boiler must have passed within a few yards of them, while the house was a complete wreck. The engineer at Messrs. Hare's factory recf-ived such a shock that he had to be taken to the hospital, and several persons in the court were suffering from shocks to the system. The escape of the other inhabitants of the court was simply miraculous. Some thousands of per- sons visited the scene of the disaster during the day,

A MORTAL COMBAT. About three years ago, a leopard took it into his head to try the beefsteaks of a very savage and sharp- horned cow, who, with her calf, was the property of a blacksmith. It was a dark, rainy night, the blacksmith and his wife were in bed, and the cow and her calf were nestled in the warm straw of the cattle shed. The door was locked, and all was apparently secure when the hungry leopard prowled stealthily round the cow-house, sniffing the prey within. The strong smell of the leopard at once alarmed the keen senses of the cow, made doubly acute by her anxiety for her ltttle charge, and she stood ready for the danger, as the leopard, having mounted on the roof, commenced scratching his way through the thatch. Down he sprang, but with a splendid charge the cow pinned him against the wall, and a battle ensued, which can easily be imagined. A coolie slept in the corner of the shed, whose wandering senses were com- pletely scattered when he found himself the unwilling umpire of the fight. He rushed out and shut the door. In a few minutes he succeeded in awakening the black- smith, who struck a light, and proceeded to load a pistol, the only weapon he possessed. During the whole of this time the bellowing of the cow, the roars of the leopard, and the thumping, shuffling, and tramp. ing which proceeded from the cattle shed explained the savage nature of the fight. The blacksmith, who was no sportsman, shortly found himself with a lantern in one hand and a pistol in the other, and no idea what he meant to do. He waited, therefore, at the cattle shed door, and, holding the light so as to shine through the numerous small apertures in the shed, he looked in. The leopard was no longer growling, but the cow was mad with fury. She alternately threw a large dark mass above her head, then quickly pinned it to the ground on its descent, then bored ic against the wall as it crawled helplessly towards a corner of the shed. This was the beef eater in reduced circum- stances This gallant cow had nearly killed him, and was giving him the finishing strokes. The blacksmith perceived the leopards helpless state, and boldly opened the door, he discharged the pistol, and the next moment was bolting as hard as he could with the cow after him! She was regularly "up," and was ready for anything or anybody. However, she was at length pacified, and the dying leopard put out of his miseiy. Eight Years in Ceylon," by Sir S. Baker.

A LONG SPEECH. The longest speech on record is believed to have been that made by Mr. de Cosmos, in the Legislature of British Columbia, when a measure was pending whose passage would take from a great many settlers their lands. De Cosmos was m a hopeless minority. The job has been held back till the eve of the close of the Session; unless legislation was taken before noon of a given day the act of confiscation would fail. The day before the expiration of the limitation De Cosmos got the floor about 10a.m.. and begun a speech against the Bill. Its friends cared little, for they supposed that by one or two o'clock he would be through, and the Bill could be put on its passage. One o'clock came, and De Cosmos was speaking still—hadn't more than entered upon his subject. Two o'clock-he was Baying in the second place." Three o'clock-he pro- duced a fearful bundle of evidence and insisted on read- ing it. The majority began to have a suspicion of the truth—he was going to speak till next noon and kill the Bill. For a while they made merry over it, but, as it came on to dusk, they began to get alarmed. They tried interruptions, but soon abandoned them, bt cause each one afforded him a chance to digress and gain time. They tried to shout him down, but that gave him a breathing space, and, finally, they settled down to watch the combat between strength of will and weakness of body. They gave him no mercy. No adjournment for dinner; no chance to do more than wet his lips with water, no wandering from his subject; no sitting down. Twilight darkened; the gas was lit; members slipped out to diuneri n relays, ang returned to sleep in squads, but De Cosmos went on. The Speaker, to whom he was addressing himself, was alternately dozing, snoring, and tryin" to look wide awake. Day dawned, and the majority slipped out in EquacU to wash and breakfast, and the speaker still held on. It can't be said it was a very logical, eloquent, or sustained speech. There were digressions in it, repetitions also. But still the speaker kept on and at last, noon came to a baffled majority, lived with rage and impotence, and a single man who was triumphant, though his voice had sunk to a husky whisper, his eyes were almost shut, and were bleared and bloodshot, his legs tottered under him, his baked lips were cracked and smeared with blood. De Cosmcs had spoken twenty-six hours, and saved the settlers their lands

HEREDITARY PAUPERISM. Mr. Henry Goodson, the Master of St. Pancras Workhouse, in his Report read to the Board of Guar- dians of that parish, has made some remarks and sug- gestions on what he terms "hereditary pauperism." In the first place, he says that "in-door and out-door relief must be considered, not apart, but as one sub- ject," because they are closely connected, and are but two branches of one subject and act and re-act upon each other." He says "out-door relief should not be given and orders of admission to the work- house should not be obtained with more facility in one district than in another;" furthermore "it is a question of paramount importance whether, in in any particular case, it would be more economical to the ratepayers and more beneficial in the long run to the poor themselves to give out-door or in-door relief, and that as ragards economy a fair guide in deciding the question is what is actually the average weekly cost per head in the workhouse." At St. Pancras this cost seems to be little more than 5s. He remarks that in certain cases out-door is more economical than in- door relief. For instance, if by giving it temporarily the home of a family is kept together, then there is hope for that family in the future. The home is often the last link that binds the family to the chance of its recovering its position, but if that link is snapped asunder the recovery becomes doubtful. To use a simile, the home is the best chance the vessel has of righting itself and regaining its buoyancy and sailing power. When the home is broken up and all the old domestic associations are weakened and scattered there is the great risk, and more than the risk, that the parish will become permanently saddled with the sup- port of the entire family." 11 Mr. Goodson's remarks on hereditary pauperism may be thus summarised in his own words It is hazardous, he says, "to admit a family of young children into the workhouse. They become familiar with it and with its schools, and in time attached to them. The guardians stand to them in a stronger position than do their real parents. They grow up and leave the workhouse, but only for short intervals and they marry early and when their first child is born the mother of it is, perhaps, found in the Lying- in Ward, and, at last, the parents drift into the House and remain in it permanently, and die in it. This is but one furm of hereditary pauperism." Mr. Goodson further adds: Speaking from long experience, I can Bay that, in a vast number of cases pauperism, like many kinds of physical and mental diseases, is hereditary. I could point out numerous inmates with the same family names and peculiarities continued in a long and unbroken line. The Work- house is never free from them. This is hereditary pauperism. And if the Board of Guardians should find that in the out-door relief books names of the same families are continued for long periods this is a phase of hereditary pauperism which is very saddening and very serious, and no amount of thought can be too great to remove it. It will not be removed by considering in-door and out-door relief apart, but as partR of one subject." Mr Goodson says that very stringent rules are re- quired for the cases of young able-bodied men and women who are incessantly presenting themselves for re-admission into the workhouse, especially at St. Paneras, where there is not at present a stoneyard except for the casuals," in which a strict labour test can be applied, and where the oakum ward is limited in extent. He also roughly divides applicants for either indoor or outdoor relief into these classes :-1, Aged widowers and widows; 2, widowers and widows respectively without children, or with children too young to labour; 3, married couples without children, or with children too young to labour 4, young, single able-bodied men and women. To the last-named class is usually, if not always, offered the workhouse and nothing more, But if the workhouse has not the means of applying a strict labour test, it has no deter. rent effect on the last-mentioned persons—at least, such appears to be Mr. Goodson's opinion.

TEMPERANCE WORK The annual meeting of the Church of England Tem- perance Society was held on Monday in the Library of Lambeth Palace, the Duke of Westminster occupying the chair during the first portion of the meeting, owing to the temporary absence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. A lengthy detailed report of the work of the society, which is carried on mainly by educational, social, and legislative agencies, was read by the Rev. A. Sargant, who also stated that their income had in- creased in three years from JB700 to £ 7,223. The Duke of Westminster said that, considering the society had been in operation so short a time the results were highly satisfactory. Only recently he had been induced to look into the matter, but having done so he was convinced that it was one of the vital ques- tions of the day, and if others would do as he had done and go into details a little, they would likewise be stimulated to take a more active part than they had hitherto done in dealing with the evil. (Hear, hear.) He felt that it was in the hands of the landlords of England to do much to check intemperance, for many of the evils arose from the facilities given to drink throughout the country. In London, the landlords might do as he had done, viz., make it a point of con- sidering, as their publichouses became empty, the wants of the district as regards them, and if there were too many or they were not necessary, closing them. (Applause.) There would be more diffi. culty in thus dealing with them in the country, but still by the landlords interposing the harm might be considerably lessened. He Bhould be very glad to see further restrictions placed upon the opening of public- houses on Sunday and during the week, and to this end they should endeavour to create a strong public opinion. The principle of restriction was admitted- it was only a question of degree, and then would come the question of counter attractions. Considerable steps to this end had been made in London. They had their Cafd Companies and street stalls, but what was wanted was more in the shape of reading rooms and houses upon the Gottenburg principle. (Hear, hear.) The report was adopted on the motion of the Bishop of Lichfield, as was a resolution congratulating the Church Temperance Society on its success. The Archbishop of Canterbury arrived during the progress of the meeting, and spoke in support of the object for which it was convened. A vote of thanks to the Archbishops for their help and advocacy was carried, on the motion of Sir Harcourt Johnstone, M.P., seconded by Canon Hopkins.

AMERICAN HUMOUR. An Oregon paper refers to a new editor on a rival journal as "a young man of frugal mental capacity." A Detroit man has painted his dog red, because somebody told him that the new law required all licensed dogs to be so distinguished. Aunt Jane having read in a Chicago newspaper that a champion boatman would row a rival for two thousand dollars a side, wanted to know how many sides the rival had You are a brilliant and versatile bouquet of love- liness," said he with a voice that was low and soft, and in return she warbled, "Dry up, George you've said enough." A Brooklyn bachelor mentions the fact that the scratch of a female baby is always more sudden and trea- cherous than that of a male baby. The most valuable recent western contribution to the language is a new verb-to "kornewoggle." Trauslated freely, It means to swindle artistically A Detroit paper sagaciously remarks A Russian paper predicts that within five years all the European powers will have a war on their hands. Let's keep neutral and sell powder to each." A New Yorker advertised an umbrella which he had found, the other day, and a morning paper sent a re- porter to interview him, and gives the public all the points about the extraordinary man. A New York man it was who sat a long time, very attentively, musing upon a cane-bottom chair. At length he said, I wonder what fellow took the trouble to find all them ar' holes and put straws round 'em. The editor of an Illinois paper thinks that fishing, as a general rule, doesn't pay. He says, We stood it all day in the river last week, but caught nothing-unttl we got home." A man who has been travelling in the far West' says-but he probably misrepresents the matter-that when an Idaho girl Is kissed she indignantly exclaims, "Now put that right back where you took it from A baby convention was held at Nuscatine, Iowa, recently. Fifteen mothers, with their little ones, were present, and voted on the question of the prettiest. Each baby got one vote, and no more. Every mother voted for her own offspring. A Missouri editor, summing up the virtues of a soap- boiler, lately deceased, concluded his eulogy with the usual phrase of peace to his ashes 1" The remark gave great offence to the family of the dead man, one of whom threatened the editor with personal violence. On one of the gentlemen in Congress saying, We must return to the food of our ancestors," somebody asked, "What food does he mean?"—"Thistles, I suppose," was the reply. A Chicago newspaper says, "A brick fell from a scaffold in Dearborn street yesterday, and crashed through a bridge underneath. What Colonel Jones has the doctor for this morning Is because it was the bridge of his nose." An old lady in a town of Pennsylvania lately re- fused the gift of a load of wood from a tree struck by light- ning, through fear that some of the "fluid" might remain in the wood, and cause disaster to her kitchen stove. A pious girl recently discarded a poor young man to whom she had long been engaged, and gave her hand to a wealthy, grey-haired widower. She said she had made the matter a subject of prayer, and that inspiration told her afterwards that with the rich man's money she could do great good in the way of converting sinners, and so she took up the burden. It is only women who can so sacrifice them- selves. Those Kentucky newspapers do well enough once in a while. Here, for instance, is the Livingstone Era re- marking, How often have we seen the blooming maiden, upon whose face smiles danced like sunbeams upon the bosom of the sea, and whose life gave promise of happiness unalloyed and hope unrequited, sitting with a huge wad of gum in her mouth, and her beautiful chin rising and falling like a wave upon the ocean, while the meek pastor endea- voured to point her to the new Jerusalem.

Ulisalkitccms Inlelligwa. HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL. PRESENCE OF MIND.—It will be recollected that some time since George Sims, signalman at Han- well station, noticed that there was no rear guard's van attached to a goods train which passed his box, and had the line at once blocked, so that a serious accident to tha Paddington express train was in all probability prevented. In recognition of his sagacity and promptitude, a medal and £5 5s. collected by public subscription, were presented to him on Satur- day. PERHAPS SOMEBODY WILL ANSWER.—A con- temporary, supposed to be especially smart upon social subjects, asserts that One of the most important of the questions which concern the present generation is this, Are the young females who have just blossomed into womanhood n.ted for wives ?" This is, doubtless, important enough but another query which seems just as pertiuent is this, Are the voting females of the present day fitted for husbands 1—Judy. THE THOUGHTFUL DAUGHTER.—A Brooklyn paper says:-In these hard times the truly dutiful daughter delights to study economy for her father's sake. In this spirit of self-sacrifice, a Brooklyn young lady observed to her parent at the breakfast table the other morning Papa, I really don't think we need a .in the parlour I can get along just as well without it. Why, my dear, you must have it comfortable for gentlemen when they call." 0, that makes no difference, papa; there's only one calls whom I care for, and he's got an Ulster big enough for both of us. A TORNADO IN AMERICA.—A Times' telegram :_r'^ve-re was a tornado on Saturday afternoon (6tb) at Chicago, with violent rain, causing damage to property estimated at 250,000 dols. One man was killed and 15 injured. The Michigan and Southern Railroad station was unroofed; Grace Church steeple, 175ft. high, fell, crushing the church roof; another steeple was blown down, and a hospital was unroofed, but the patients were removed without serious injury. A massive fog bell, with its tower, was blown into the lake and entirely demolished. Several other build. lags were destroyed. The wooden side walks were turned over and jammed against the houses. The streets were strewn with trees, lamp-posts, over- turned vehicles, and wreck of all kinds. Thousands of chimneys were blown down, and nearly every vessel in the harbour lost its masts and sails.-A tornado on Saturday morning at Leavenworth, Kansas, cauEed damage to the extent of 150,000 dols., but no lives were lost. A large carpet factory was totally destroyed. The Odd Fellows' Hall was unroofed, the roof being carried 250 feet, and falling on and partially destroying two large houses. The Union Railway station was unroofed and 60 other buildings were damaged. USEFUL HINT.—How to make a eoat last —Why, make the other garments first, to be sure. (Nobody but a tailor can do this properly of course.)— Judy. A PLAGUE OF MICE ON THE SCOTTISH BORDER. ~C6^3man gives an account of a plague of mice N-UC TT" 8 aPPe'ared on several farms of Teviotdale. The farmers' Club of the district lately appointed a committee to investigate the matter. On some farms the mice have eaten 30 per cent. of the grass which should be ready for the ewes, and that in con- sequence of the want of keep the ewes are in poor condition, and the lambs are perishing. The mice, which are in millions, do not in all respects resemble the house or the ordinary field mouse; they are from three to four inches long, with a short stumpy tail, have bright piercing eyes, and large eirs almost level with the fur are brown-coloured on the back and ash-coloured on the belly and the stomachs of the few that were captured contained vegetable matter only. The importation of weasels and birds of prey is suggested by the Scotsman as the best remedy for the plague-which has been coming on for the last five years even though the game should to some extent suffer. The farms inspected by the committee of the Farmers' Club are the property of the Duke of Buccleuch. THE ARCHBISHOP or YORK ON INTEMPE- RANCE.—In the course of a sermon preached on Sun- day evening at Westminster Abbey, the Archbishop of York referred at length to the increase of intempe- rance in this country, which vice, he said, was eating away the vitality of the nation. The people of Great Britain spent 140 millions every year on drink, and ten years ago it was 110 millions, so that this great national vice had increased by more than one-quarter in so short a space of time. If the question were asked what was the cause of this fearful increase, he could conceive ef no answer but this-that the nation had lately been growing richer, and that it drank in proportion as it could pay for drink. That was a miserable and shameful confession to make, that there was no restraint on this passsion for drink but that of want. And was it to be supposed that all this flood of poison year after year left England and the English race where it found them? If BO, then physiology might as well burn all her books and reli- sjpn admit that her first premises were unsound. With Buch a state of things he would ask how long would the nation be allowed to hold in hands that were growing feeble by indulgence the sceptre of an empire so mighty ? A CAPITAL OFFENCE.-N ews from Abomey states that the wholesale-slaughter-loving King of Dahomey refuses to pay the fine levied upon him for his recent outrage upon an Englishman at Whydah. We know to our cost what little African wars mean, but think the most heavily weighted British taxpayer would not object to a brush which would be likely to result in the wiping out of an Abomeynation.— Fun. THE GOOD TEMPLARS IN AMERICA.—A tele- gram has been received by the Chief Office of the Independent Order of Good Templars in Birmingham, stating that the British delegation to the Right Worthy Grand Lodge of America, which sailed for the city of Richmond on April 27th, arrived safely at New York on Sunday. The whole delegation were well, though the voyage had been rather rough. They had held a number of temperance meetings on board. A HEALTHY PARISH.—The Rev. W. C Talbot, Rector of Hatfield, Herts, writes to The Times I have observed in your columns from time to time special obituary notices of persons who have died at advanced ages. I have thought that the fol- lowing account of the ages of persons still surviving taken from the list of permanent out-door paupers of the small Union of which I am Chairman may possess some interest in the same direction. On going through the list of permanent paupers I find the following results :-3-1 over 70 years and under 80, giving an average age of 74 38 and 21 over 80 (one of whom is 96), giving an average of 84'90. Among persons above the rank of paupers still surviving a still more remarkable list of longevity might be given, and if I were to ex- tract from the register of deaths in my own parish the same record of the healthiness of our neighbourhood would be yet more convincingly shown. The oldest man buried here within the last twelve months reached the age of 97. I may add that a tombstone in the churchyard records the death of an inhabitant who died in the present century, aged 107." To AMATEUR GARDENERS.—Flowers of rhe- toric, when not too luxuriant, are occasionally accept- able for after-dinner use, though they generally come rather late in the day.—Judy. WHAT NEXT ?—It seems that a Mr. Mahren- holz, an American, has devised a plan for utilizing the remains of his deceased fellow. creatures by converting their ekins into leather. He has lately tanned the hide of a respectable working man who lost his life by a lamentable accident, and the value of whose skin was an immense boon to his disconsolate widow and children A pair of boots manufactured from the akin of this ill- fated labourer have been deposited in the Smithsonian Institution at Washington, where they excite much interest and attention. It is proposed by the inventor to exhibit the boots at the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia. The leather is remarkable for its softness and pliancy, and takes a good polish, but its wearing qualities have yet to be proved. The general impression appears to be that it is hardly adapted for rough work, such as that of sportsmen or pedestrian tourists, but for evening wear at the theatre or in the ballroom it will be found far more comfortable than boots and shoes made of ordinary leather. Some little prejudice, it is expected, will have to be over. come btfure the new leather is taken into general use. -Pall Mall Gazette. WEAR IS THE MAN.-We heard of a man de- claring' the other day that he bad worn spectacles, on and off, all his life. On and off! Pooh I—Fun. AN INTERVIEW WITH CARLYLE.—A Manches- ter clergyman of the Independent body recently came upon Mr. Carlyle walking with a companion near Chelsea. Mr. Carlyle had stopped to pet a child who had fallen and hurt itself. The clergyman, who is something of a "hero worshipper," asked Mr. Carlyle's companion whether he might shake hands with the sage. Mr. Carlyle, having heard the wish, shook the clergyman by the hand very heartily, and asked him what he did. I am a black dragoon," was the answer. In what regiment ?" asked Mr. Carlvle. "The In- dependents," said the "dragoon." "Well," said Mr. Carlyle, your body is doing a great work. Its results will not be seen in my day, and may not be seen in yours but some day they will be seen, and England will be the better for them." A DYNAMITE EXPLOSION.—A Times' telegram on Monday from America says:—"In the railway tunnel being bored through Bergen-hill, Jersey city the dynamite magazine, located near the eastern end, exploded at 10 45 on Saturday night. The concussion shook New York and the country 20 miles around. Intense excitement was caused, and the streets were failed with people. Hundreds of buildings in Jersey city are shattered, but in New York the chief damage is confined to the breaking of window glass. No lives were lost, but several persons were injured. TRYING TO ACCOUNT FOR IT.-The papers are rather dull just now, and a contemporary is re- duced to a discussion of the question, How is the fastness of the present generation to be accounted for ? Perhaps the explanation may be found in the fact that the English are the descendants of a good many different "races" of people.—Judy,, THE BATTLE OF THE PAVEMENTS. -Iron says :-After a sufficient comparative trial, the contest between granite, asphalte, and wood for carriage ways has been decided in favour of the last, and the recent conclusions of the corporation of London may be re- garded as a final confirmation of that decision. Mr. Heywood, engineer for the City of London, has shown that before a horse falls he may be expected to travel on granite 132 miles, on asphalte 191 miles, and on wood 446 miles; and although between the two last materials there is a trifling advantage in cost on the side of asphalte, that is much more than counter- balanced in other ways. In easy traction and the absence of noise there is no comparison between wood and granite, and since the surface water has been kept out by means of asphalte, wood has become one of the most durable of pavements. The rapidity with which it can be laid and the ease with which it can be re- paired are not the least of its merits, while the flooring of planks, which is now laid as a superstructure, gives great elasticity, and by distributing the weight equally over the whole pavement, adds to its power of endur- ance. DELICATE LOVE.—An affection of the heart is superior to most affections, but many a lover refuses to meet his fair one by moonlight owing to a bronchial affection. -Fun. A WEIGHTY FORTUNE.—The Duchess of St. Albans, who died in 1837, left her immense fortune, amounting, it is said, to £1.800,000. to Miss Angela Burdett, who thereupon assumed the additional name of Coutts. It was stated in the newspapers at the time, that the weight of this enormous sum in gold reckoning sixty sovereigns to the pound, is 13 tons 7 cwt. 3 qrs. 12 lbs., and would require 107 men to carry it, supposing that each of them carried 298 Ibs equivalent to the weight of a sack of flour. This large sum may be partially guessed, by knowing also that counting at the rate of sixty sovereigns a minute for eight hours a day, and six days, of course, in the week, it would take ten weeks, two days, and four hours to accomplish the task. In sovereigns, by the most exact computation (each measuring in diameter 17-20ths of an inch, and placed to touch each other,) it would extend to the length of 24 miles and 26U yards, or about the distance between Merthyr and Cardiff; and in crown pieces, to 1132,1 miles and 280 yards. It may be noted that RI,800,000 was the exact sum also left by old Jemmy Wood, the banker and millionaire of Gloucester, who died in 1836. After inheriting the property in question, Miss Burdett-Coutts distin- guished herself by furthering works of charity and benevolence, and in recognition of her large-hearted- ness she was, in the year 1871, raised to the peerage as Baroness Burdett -Coutte.- Cassell's Old and New London.

EPITOME OF NEWS. BRITISH AND FOREIGN. The Melbourne Argus says a project is on foot to establish a fresh and sea water aquarium in Melbourne. No fewer than eleven Bishops preached in various London churches last Sunday. The King of Spain has conferred the Grand Cross of the Order of Charles IIL upon the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Connaught. A Body of the Benedictine monks is about to settle down at Fort-Augustus, on land which has been presented by Lord Lovat. Mr. Walter Bagehot was a witness on Monday be- fore the select Committee of the House of Commons which is Inquiring into the causes of the depreciation ot silver. These he described to be four in number—the increased production of the silver mines, the demonitizatlon by Germany the in- crease in the drafts on India by the Indian Councit and the limiting by the .states forming the Latin Union of the amount of silver they would coin. But for that change of policy all the silver that has been offered for sale in the English market would have been consumed in those countries, and would have released a considerable amount of gold. Mr. Bagehot was of opinion that a continuance in the deprecia- tion of silver would have a prejudicial effect upon the revenue of India, inasmuch as a large portion of its re- sources consisted of the land revenue, which was paid in rupees, Parisian ladies who do their own needlework adopted thimbles with a pebble inserted as a top. The Bg* cairngorm, onyx, and crystal are the most popular, as tbW look very pretty in their setting of silver. Lunatic fringe is the name given in New York to the fathion of cropping the hair and letting the ends hanl down over the forehead. The fine clipper, Like St. Claire, which left York on the 19th January last for Glasgow, has not siu"? been heard of, and it is feared she has been lost with hands. 1 The shipment of salmon ova, packed by Mr. You, and Mr. Buckland for Victoria and New Zealand, arrived 8* Melbourue on the 16th of March, and, according to the del" bourne Argm, appears to have turned out very well. Another sturgeon, nearly seven feet long, has added to the Brighton Aquarium. It was caught off KW'' gate on Saturday. John Walton, who styles himself a young novleo pedestrian, has Just completed a walk of a thousand in a thousand consecutive hours at Wrexham. At the flni«B he declared himself quite freah, and walked au extra with a child in his arms. The Commander-in-Chief has notified that it (J contrary to the rules of the service, for soldiers to take off their eaps and cheer the Queen, and that the proper way respect her Majesty is to salute In the usual military fashion- A man named Forshaw has met with a terrible deatfc in Liverpool. He was employed at Curtz's chemical work!, and being missed search was made, when he was found 1ioa¡- ing in a pan of boiling muriate of ammonia, having beeJ1 literally boiled alive. The Roman Catholic Bishop of Salford has issued pastoral letter on the necessity for an increase in the number of clergy in his diocese. Bishop Vaughan has procured a supply of priests from Holland, where "the clergy age excess of their work." The ship Astracan, 1,042 tons, chartered by the Agent General for South Australia, sailed on Saturday frouJ Plymouth with 373 emigrants, bound for Port Adelaide, con- sisting of married and single agricultural and other labourers and mechanics, and including ftlty-flve single yeung female domestic servants. e. j & Political discussions now wax so furious in Parisian private circles that several hostesses have determined t" taboo all party question at their receptions. Accordingly; Instead of the ordinary formula, daaciHg," on the cards o' invitation, the guests find the intimation "politics prohi- bited.Court Journal. Her Majesty's ship Pearl is about to leave Sydney for one of the islands in the Aurora group, where the com- modore intends to puniih the natives implicated in tb8 masiacre of the boat's crew of the merchant vessel Leslie, few months since. In the report of the Ragged Schools Union the com" mittee expreis their belief that there are at present numbers of children evading the Education Act, who migh^ have been induced te attend ragged schools had they not m'glstrate *rom ^em by threats of proceedings before • The new Italian ironclad Duilio was successfully launched on Monday at Castellamare in presence of the King, Princess Margherita christening the ship. Her illl" mersion was almost exactly to the calculated water-line. The Duilio, having received her engines, will go to 8pezzia to receive her armour. Mr. Macdonald, M.P., speaking at a meeting held at Leicester, said the working classes of England had nothing to fear from foreign competition; the great fear they bad was from themselves. Referring to the improved position of the working classes, he stated that productive co-operation did not mean to make them gentlemen, but to elevate the labourer. The Daily News says that the Sunday question seems to be getting into the foreground in France. The clergy are making efforts to induce the shopkeepers to shut up their establishments on Sanday, and every one must sympathise with their wish to secure for tradespeople a weekly holiday. Mr. Joseph P. Ronayne, senior member for the city ef Cork, died at his residence near Queenstown, on Sunday- On Friday his leg was amputatad, an abscsss having formed on it. Mr. Ronayne was elected for Cork city upon the death of the late Mr. John Francis Maguire, and was subsequently re-elected at the General Election, when he headed the polL Mr. A. M. Sullivan, M.P., presided on Sunday afternoon at a gathering of about 10,000 persons held in the Phoenix Park, Dublin, at which resolutions In favour of the Bill before Parliament for closing public-housei in Ireland on Sunday were adopted. The principal speakers were work- ing men. Reports from Madras (according to a Times tele' gram) say that the Odregaum goldflelds are likely to prove successful in yield, four to six ounces of the purest gold having been obtained from a ton of quartz, the working expenses being only half an ounce per ton. The Tourist's Church Guide, now in its third year of issue, gives a list of nearly 1,600 churches, in which there i* at least a weekly celebration of the Holy Communion. It states that in 251 churches vestments are worn, in 716 candles are placed on the altar, and that In 370 Instances these are lighted at the celebration. At the close of a tavern dinner two of the company fell downstairs, the one tumbling to the first landing-place, and the other rolling to the bottom. Some one remarked that the first seemed drunk. "Yes," observed a wag but he is not so far gone as the other gentleman below." A return recently issued shows that last year the amount of drawback paid on beer exported in the United Kingdom was jei71,215 16s. Sfi, against £197,689 8s. 21i. in the preceding year. In future the hour for tatto throughout all the year at stations and garrisons at home is to be ten o'clock p m. This change, the Army and Navy Gazette thinks, will be very generally approved, and may be considered another step towards the popularisation of the army. A large meeting of miners has been held at Dar- lastoD, to consider the position of the South Yorkihire and North Derbyshire miners, who at present are unemployed. It was stated that there are 11,509 to be supported, in addition to (S26 widows, 611 children, and eight aged parents. The meeting decided to grant £ 21 towards the relief fund. At the annual meeting of the Religious Tract SoCiejy, in London, it was stated that the circulation of pub- lications from the home depot amounted to nearly 52 mil- lions, and from the foreign depot 11 millions, making a total for the year of nearly 63 millions. The grand total of the circulation since the birth of the society amounted to 1,658 millions. It appears from the latest details concerning the ex- plosion of the steamer Louise on the Rhine, that out of about 40 passengers who were on board, from 17 to 20 men, women- and children, residents of Kudesheim. Gelsenheim a»4 Bingen were saved, but with wounds more or less severe. The force of the explosion was so great that the windows in some houses along the banks of the river were blown out; and the boiler was driven against the railway embankment, whence it rolled back on the towing-path. The quantity of spirits retained by Scotland for con- sumption as a beverage, is seven million gallons, for a popu- lation of three and a half millions, which gives two gallons per head. England retains sixteen million* of gallons, to a population of twenty-three and a half millions, and the alloW- ance per head is three-fourths of a gallon. Ireland goes in for a gallon per head. The Bishop of Manchester, preaching at the Cathe- dral on Sunday evening, said the apprehension of some far- looking men was that we were on the eve of a great religious war. He did not pretend to read the signs of the times so clearly, but he thought he could see pretty distinctly that if there should be a great convulsion, of which religion would be the ground, it would probably be accompanied with almost inconceivable fierceness and cruelty, for men's pas- sions were not much under the control of reason or of oon- science. The Magnet says The warm sunshine succeed- ing the late abundant rains has lately stimulated vegetation, and the growing crops hava made good progress. Wheat does not, however, look well in all parts, the plant being dis- coloured in some districts. Should the weather keep favour- able this drawback will soon be removed. There is every probability of a large yield of hay, the grass at the present moment being very plentiful. The annual general meeting of the Christian Ver- nacular Education Society was held In London on Monday at Willis's Rooms, Lord Shaftesbury presiding. The report stated that the society was training native teachers, instruct- ing heathen children, and publishing educational works and a general Christian literature in all the principal languages of India, The number of students now being trained as teachers was 128, the number of children under Christian In- struction 8,208, and the number of copies of 106 different publications issued during the past year was 640,400. The Farmer states that the Duke of Bedford has not only alloted ninety acres of land for the use of the Royal Agricultural Society's experiments on feeding and the manurial value of artificial foods after consumption by animals, but he has also expressed a desire that the erection of the necessary buildings and the subsequent cost of the experiments themselves should be entirely borne by him. Mr. Lawes, in conjunction with Dr. Voelcker, has drawn up a scheme on which the experiments are to be conducted. The Sussex Advertiser has very good authority for stating that the number of troops, including officers, in the military camp at Lewes, which has been decided upon by the War Office, under the scheme for the mobilisation of the forces, will probably not exceed 2,000, and that the duration of the camp will not be of a lengthened period. The men will probably arrive near the end of June, and the camp will be broken up before the autumn races, which take place at an early date In August. The Pope received Sir Salar Jung and his suite at the Vatican on Monday. His Holiness, seated on the throne, received the homage of the Prime Minister of Hyderabad, and expressed his gratitude to him for the pro- tection afforded by the Nizam to Catholios, hoping that this protection would continue. He then entered into conversa- tion with the members of the suite, giving them his hand to kits and promising to pray for them. The Bishop of Peterborough has given evidence before the select committee appo-inted to inquire Into the working of the Acts of Parliament having reference to eccle- siastica1 dilapidations In his opinion the present system of dealing with dilapidations should be abolished, and, in lieu thereof, a fixed charge might be attached to every benefice, payable to a diocesan board or to Queen Anne's Bounty Board, either of which should then undertake the entire responsibility of building, repairing, and insuring all cltbe houses. Between the 24th and 28th April last the following objects were found in Paris Six gold bracelets, nine Watches of the same metal and two of silver, two diamond rings, six purses containing money, two gold heaped canes, another with a silver knob, seven pieces of plate, three opera glasses or spectacles of gold or silver, a gold mounted vinaigrette, several gold earrings, lockets, crosses, ke., and lastly, a small nugget of gold, weighing four grammes 9j found in the gutter of a small street in the Marais. Captain Kilgour, of the Dundee whaler Polhynia, recently brought home several interesting gespatehes con- nected with the expedition equipped by Lady Franklin in 1852 for discovering traces of her husband and his associates. Records were found in tin canisters embedded in cairns of stones on the shores of Batty Bay, and bore to have been deposited by Captain William Kenaedy, the commander of the expedition, on the 6th of August, 1862. Lady Franklin had the documents forwarded to her, and on Saturday they were returned to Dundee by her niece, Sophia Cracroft to be placed in the local museum. These contributions will be highly prized. The Sunday League "demonstration" in favour ef opening the national museums and picture galleries on Sun- day which was postponed on Sunday week owing to the rain, took place on Sunday. About half-past three o'clock a pro- cession of several thousand men marched from Trafalgar- square and halted In front of the National Gallery, where a copy of a "protest" on behalf of the League against the closing of the museums and picture galleries on Sunday was placed In the letter-box. The precession then went to the British Museum, where also a copy of the protest was left. The next destination was the Reformers' Tree in Hyde-park, where a meeting was held, and resolutions passed in favour of the objects of the gathering. At the sitting of the Central Criminal Court on Thursday In last week, the trial (which had commenced the day previous) of the Lennie mutineers was brought to a close. The jury, a'ter a deliberation of two hours and a half, found four of the prisoners Guilty ot Wilful Murder v z those who have been known as "French Peter," Big Harry/' "Lips," and "Joe the Cook." These were sen- tenced to death. Leosis ("Nicholas") and George Green were Acquitted The charge against Kenken and Angelos ("Little George ") was withdrawn-After the sentenced pri- soners had been removed from the dock, Mr. Justice Brett addressed Heydonc, the steward, and, while expressing regret that it was not in his power to confer upon him some decoration in reward for his bravery aad skill in bringing these wicked men to justice, ordered him to be paid a gratuity of £60. Mr. Forster, M.P., presided on Monday at the seventy-first general meeting of the British and Foreign School Society, and in the course of his speech, referred at some length to the education question. He congratulated his audience on the circumstance that the principles upon which the society was formed were those upon which Govern- ment action with regard to elementary education had been carried forward, and which the country had approved. Training schools for teachers he regarded as most valuable Institutions, which we cculd not do without; aud, referring to the Code of this year, he expressed his conviction that by its provisions the Government had struck a blow at tbe system of trained certificated teachers—a system without which the education movement would not meet the wants of the country.