The Aberdare Times

The Cape Time* says:—•* The Mhevenda, with Cet ewayo s brother, who came in a few days ago has given some interesting particulars about Cetewayo's present intention, and about the Isandula battle, in which he was engaged. On the day of the battle, Mhevenda says, it was the Zulu plan to enter Natal with an imp! of 25,000 men, destroying the oamp of the column and the post at Rorke's Drift on the way. Four- JwvuJ attacked the camp, a reserve of 11,000 being kept out of action. The 24th Foot behaved so steadily, both outside the camp, and afterwards. when they retired on the tents, that the Zulus were defeated and about to fly, when the ammunition of the soldiers failing, they plucked up courage for a rush, and carried the position by weight of attack The 24th at the last unable to fire their rifles were formed back to back, and thus held the ground with the bayonet until they fell in their lines. The reserve then advanced on Rorke's Drift, and the gallant defence of that post saved the colony Cetewayo now says that he will attack no more camps or laagers; if the English will meet him in the open' he is ready for them; and his next attack will be made upon one of our advancing columns while in motion. Men are now being colleoted in foroe at the Kingr* kraal, and a regiment has been despatched down the coast line to intercept Dabulamanzi, who is said to be preparing to come in to us with his people. This Zulu force is concentrated either on the Inyani, or this side of Gingihlovo, or in the Ekowe Bush, some miles beyond. MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS. Colonel Buller has made a reconnaissance and found the Zloblane stronghold deserted. Spies report that Kambula is to be again attacked. The laager has been removed to a higher ridge in the mountain and has been considerably strengthened. All the reinforcements have left Durban and the majority Maritzburg; they will in a few days arrive at their appointed poets. Dabulamanzi is still reported as anxious to sur- render, but prevented by a Zulu impi. Colonel Pearson is suffering from fever at Fort Pear- son and is expected to go down to Durban again. Captain Stourton, of the 53rd Regiment, has died suddenly. Small bodies of Zulus are occasionally met with by convoys passing from the Lower Tugela, to the new Fort Chelmsford, on the Inytsane river, and Lonsdale's Horse, under Captain Ebden, have made several raids, capturing a number of cattle. The health of the men at the new fort continues good, and it is said that the accounts of sickness at Ginghilova have been much exaggerated. The Tugela is falling fast. and the engineers are busy constructing a pontoon-bridge at Fort Pearson. Tne telegraph is then to be constructed to the Inyezand camp. Reports of intended raids by Zulus immediately the river falls have been circulated, and the Natal Mercury seems to fear that a sufficient force has not been left on the borders to prevent such attempts, if made by any large number of Zulus. It was stated a short time ago that Cetewayo had altered his tactics and intended invading the Transvaal ill preference to attacking the British camps or convaya. The foundation of this statement appears to be that Uoseliti shortly before his death made a raid into Swaneland, and, being driven back, he destroyed all the tarm houaea he came across. Another petty ohief with several followers has sur- rendered in Basutoland. » "till being invested, but *° rn th« Free State having ArmatIoong gun, The natives on the northern border are being driven frem the strong; positions they previously held. Since the Hon. Mr. Upington took the field a much neater amount of activity has been shown. greater Sir Bartle Frere has been fited in Pretoria. Dinners and balls were given and levies held. He was expected to leave for Kimberley about May 2 and to S £ e in Potchefatroem on the 6th He will be accompanied by Major Lanyon, and will be met, near Bloemkoff, by Colonel Warrand. A reception committee hu been formed at Kimberley, and a great demonstration is expected. The Cape Times yesterday announced that it was authorized to state that Sir Bartle Frere had no intention of resigning. Nearly every town and village in South Africa has neld a public meeting to discuss his policy, which was almost without exception heartily endorsed. Efforts are being made by the winegrowers to in- duce the Chancellor of the Exchequer to make such an alteration in the wine duties as to enable the native wines to compete with the home market. A com. mittee of gentlemen in London is to be appointed to watch their interests. Mneh siokness prevails at Fort Chelmsford, and 173 men have been sent back thence invalided to the General Crealook is at Fort Pearson seriously U1 from typhoid fever. k*" been formed on the Amatakulu, nsmed Jort Crsalocfe, Frequent convoys pass between eaA ocMiiioo but Zulu* bein&' seea on his kraal and returned In a north-westerly direction. An imd-tw r&-dng haa been held in Cape Town to arrange for a brilliant reception to Sir Bartle JFrere on his return from the Transvaal and Natal. Celoaei Wood haa broken up his camp at Kambula, and has formed a new one at Queen's Kraal, on the White Umvolosi, in order that he may be able the better to co-operate with General Newdigate. The AVAW [Timea states that the general British advance haa been postponed for the present, owing to difficulties of transport, but that a force consisting of two cavalry regiments and six guna will make a rapid march to Ulundi. No official information on this sub- ject, has, however, been made known.

The heroes who on our side have perished are, in some instances, to have memorials reared (says a correspondent). At Utrecht a movement ia on foot to erect a monument to commemorate the gallantry of the brave Piet Uys. Singularly enough, the father of this gallant commander lost his life in the same way as his son-a small band ef Dutchmen, of which he was commander, having to fight their way through an overwhelming number of Zulus. A stone cross is to be placed near the spot where the fatal struggle for the colours at Isandula occurred. The inscription on it will be, aa drawn by the High Commissioner :— To the Memory of Lieutenant and Adjutant Telgnmouth Melvill and Lieutenant Neville Coghill. 24th Regiment, Who died at this spot, 22od Jan., 1879, To Save the Queen's Colours of their Regiment. Joan-Marcy. The remains of the two officers have been recovered, placed in coffins, and received Christian burial.

Lieutenant Geosge C. Jefferyes Johnson, of the 99th Regiment, who was killed in action during the battle of Ginghilova (A.pril 2), was the second son of William Johnson, Esq., of Vosterburg >, near Cork, his father being a deputy -lieutenant of that county, in which the family had resided for more than two centuries. The late Lieutenant Johnson, although only twenty-seven years of age, had had command of a company for some months, his captain having been promoted, and when Lord Chelmsford inspected the troops on the banks of the Tagela, his youthful appearance seemed to astonish the general, who, however, named quite satisfied when informed that the young officer, besides being leader of his company, was musketry-instructor of the regiment. When poor Johnson received his death wound he was endeavouring to steady and restrain the too fervid enthusiasm of his men (all of them young soldiers), and to prevent them wasting their ammunition.

SURRENDER OF CETYWAYO'S YOUNGEST BROTHER. One of the Correspondents of The Tima, writing from Ginghilova on April 23, says:- On the morning of the 21st Inst. Mugwende, Cetywayo's youngest brother, came in, aooompanlea by his wives and some 20 followers. He had been In treaty with the acting Brigadier for some days previously, and It was anticipated that he would have surrendered, with a larger number of his men. His desertion of his brother's cause is not considered of any political significance, as his disaffection had been well known so much so, that two of the Ungoya chiefs had re- ceived orders from the King to watch his brother's move- ments, and so well had they done their duty that, accord- ing to Mugwende's statement, the greater number of his party as well as all his cattle had been cut off and he him. self had been barely able to escape with the small number who accompanied him. He says that no Zulu force of any considerable size Is anywhere collected which would be capable of opposing a general advance; that since the double victories of Kambula and Ginghilova the Zulus have been completely disorganised and have dispersed to their dif- ferent kraals. He concluded his statement, however, by saying that If time and opportunity are only afforded them the Zulu army will again be mobilised and a vigorous resistance may be then expected, on our side of the country particularly In the Umthaluzt bush. "In appearance Mugwende Is a low, cunning-looking savage, with a forbidding look about his eyes. He has a tendency to elephantlasia, caused by his weakness for native beer, which It is said he indulges In to excess. His wives are conspicuous rather by the scanty naturu of their costume- viz., a string of fine beads round the loial- than by beauty of person. Their hair is shaved close, except a round patch on the crown of the head, where the hair is gathered into a sort of oone and plastered with red clay. The dignity and self-possession shown by the whole party, male and female, struck all the numerous onlookers as the most remarkable feature of a very Interacting scene. Mugwende and bis lollowerm have been forwarded into Natal by the convoy of empty waggons which left here for Tugela yester- day."

CotWTV RA.TI8.A Parliamentary return of 1834 estimates the annual value of property thaa assessed in England and Wales at £ 51,000,000, and the average rate of 3d. in the pound. The cost of lunatio asylums is set down a* £ 12,000, and of constables, If high and special," at S I BOoo. In the last financial year. 187%, the valuation for county assessment is returned at £ 112,000,000, and the average oounty rate (exclusive of the police rate) alt 2jjd. in the pound. The police rate averages Ild. The cost of lunatic asylums now amounts to 9312,000 annually, and of the police force to upwar41 of £ 1.000,000,

THE ENGLISH AGRICULTURAL LABOURER IN NEW ZEALAND. The Daily News of Tuesday publishes a letter from a correspondent at Richmond, Nelson, New Zealand, from which we make the following extracts :— In my last letter I gave an account of a visit to a new settler in the bush," and how the labourer fared in such a district. I propose now giving a sketch of an old settler's surroundings and or the labourer in such a sphere. A ten miles drive from Nelson City brought me to what I was assured was one of the best managed farms in the whole neighbourhood. The proprietor, a Somerset-thire man, met us at the gate, and his thoroughly John Bull appearance and hearty welcome at onee made us feel free of his domain. After refreshing myself with a glass of home- brewed ale I proceeded to take stock of the home stear). Nothing could look more like solid success. Immediately in front of the roomy and comf rtable house was a well-stocked garden, the trees well-laden. One of them was an apricot, and the delicious fruit was fortunately waiting to be gathered. The tree was as large as an average-sized English apple-tree. Peach- trees of similar bulk abounded, covered with ripening fruit, and of course there were any number of apple and pear trees. Beyond this garden was a large paddock newly mown, in which several sleek horses were luxuriating. At the back of the house, stretching away for some hundreds of acres, were the paddocks and fields which constituted the richest portion of an estate which in its entirety oomprised some twelve hundred acres. With a pardonable pride tha fine old yeoman took me over his fields, now standing ready for the reaper's gathering hand." What d'ye think of that for barley he asked, as he gathered a few atalka and rubbing them out in his hands showed a sample of bright grain which Mr. Bass would have been glad to buy twenty thousand quartors of at almost any price buy twenty thousand quartors of at almost any price the farmer chose to name. It was a splendid crop, and as the delicious sunlight poured down upon it, one felt no surprise at its matchless colour. I hinted to him how glad I fancied our Burton brewers would be to get hold of such barley, and he smilingly remarked, There's no need to go so far for a market; all this is bespoke long ago." I was next shown the wheat, which seemed equally fine, though not so heavy a crop as an average English one. One of the latest inventions in the shape of a reaping machine was at work, and it was with evident satisfaction that the farmer saw in the marvellous product of that machine a solution of the labour difficulty. There was the wheat standing up in front of the magic performer, and behind it, un. touched by human hands, it lay in neatly tied up bundles, ready to be carted off the ground. Two horses and two men would thus soon lay low a tolera- bly sized field, and instead of the excessive toilsome- ness of the old-fashioned harvest field no one seemed the least strained bf the proceedings. After thus doing the fields dinner was announced, and I was destined for the first time to witness that much vaunted triumph of democracy-the sitting down of master and men at the same table. Seated at the head of a long plain deal table was the owner of what in England would be con- sidered a fine estate. On his right hand was his wife, a comely dame, somewhat everweighted with domestic cares, as all New Zealand wives appear to be. On his left were his guests, and filling the remainder of the space were five labourers and a servant girl. I had often heard Mr. Arch and others grow eloquent over this feature of colonial life, and wondered how it would work. Well, here it was then. Jack was as good as his master for the nonce and the terrible scourge of t English society-social distinction, laid on one side. Like a good many other attractive baits of the stump orato-: "A stake in the soil," being your own master," &c., &c., I regret to have to record that it had all the appearance of being a huge blunder. The men looked as awkward and uncomfortable as possible, and the rest of us seemed at our wits' end to know how to prevent one another from being utterly wretched. I tried hard to engage the men in a little cheerful talk, but this was evidently what they were not used to, and the experiment proved a Bad failure. Scarcely less successful was an effort to draw the farmer out. A chill was upon the whole party, and it was not till the men had filed out, and the servant was gone into her own quarter, that the chip was out of the porridge, and things wore their becom- ing hue. As regards the pay of the labourers, how. ever, as I have already shown, no modification of the statements made at home ia necessary. In a paper of yesterday's date I find the following announcement An Ashburton telegram says that farm labourers during the harvest are demanding and receiving four pounds per week and found. What will they say in England ?" By the iound" here, of course, is meant board and lodging. If we put this at ten shillings, we have the startling fact of the "English Agricultural Labourer in New Zealand" actually receiving four pounds ten shillings a week for about half the real toil of air English harvest field I need scarcely say the living is far superior to that of the honaei toiler—three good meals per day, such as are found in an ordinary well-to-do English middle- class home. Well may the New Zaaland editor ask, What will they say in England ? As I read the ominous telegrams, Strike of the Kent Agricultural Labourers," Reduction of wages," &c., I am equally astounded at the stupidity of the labourers in Dot at once steering for this goodly land, and at the employers for risking the irreparable loss. As I have written so much that is favourable as to the working man's chances here, I will in this, my closing letter, give all that I can on the other side. And the all is very little. I have already referred to the high price of house rents. There are no snug cottages with gardens for one shilling and sixpence per week. The comfortable English practice of build- ing cottages for the labourers appears to be unknown among the landowners, and nence a vast deal of overcrowding and discomfort among workmen generally. More money passes through their hands, but I doubt if the thrifty, well-disposed English labourers do not get more real comfort and enjoyment out of their lives than do multitudes that I meet with here. I do not like the hard bar- gaining spirit generated by circumstances among these colonists. The high wages they have to pay are the reverse ef what is said about mercy. There is certainly no blessing for the giver, and it is a very dubious one for the receiver. There is no kindly feeling between master and man. Of course, no labourer must expect work a moment longer than his master absolutely needs his services. A luxury so expensive must be indulged in as little as possible. Where an English farmer employs a dozen hands all the year through a New Zealand farmer would not employ more than two. Hence an absence of the finish of an average English farm. I should think an English labourer who really took a pride in his work would be broken-hearted almost at the state of the farm on which he would find himself here. It ia aimply difgusting—the slovenliness observ- able all around. I saw yesterday field after field with the corn literally choked by weeds, and one large field of wheat was so bad that the farmer would have burnt it off instead of reaping it if the authorities would have permitted it. The universal reply to one's remonstrance is-u It won't pay to farm better. The produce won't recoup the large ex- penditure consequent on the high wages." Never was greater fallacy if it were the true cause, but it ia not. The real secret is the poverty of the landowners. Men have rushed into proprietorship without at all realising what it involved, and hence instead of the compact and well-cultured holdings of rural England, you see boundless acres of half-tilled land, divided by miles of fence, either of tumble-down woodwork or overgrown gorse or quick. I have referred to the educational advantages of New Zealand. They are of an exceptionally high order. It would seem as if the original settlers—for the most part illiterate working men—had been all roused up to an un. wonted earnestness in the matter of their chil- dren's education. Among various other illustra- tions of this laudable parental anxiety I notice a pro- vision on the Government railway whereby children are brought at a nominal charge to the town school, Of course each village has its parish school, as we should call it in England, but at the leading cities there are high schools or colleges, and to enable parents to avail themselves of them quarterly tickets are granted, whereby for, I think it is ten shillings, a boy or girl can have a daily ride to and from school. At the Nelson Station. for instance, you will see a whole troop of lads rush out of the morning train, many of whom live twenty miles off in some bush farm. As regards the English Agri. cultural Labourer in New Zealand," his future is tolerably clear. His children will be the future yeomanry of the country, Nothing can keep him from this destiny if he remains only true to himself. His large earnings will supply him with the means of either purchasing or hiring the land, and the disincli- nation of the children of old settlers to continue on their father's homesteads will supply him with the opportunity. Nor need England repine at this even- tualit.y, for each successful New Zealand farmer speedily becomes a valuable customer of the English merchant and manufacturer. On board the steamer which brought me out there were several prosperous colonists who had laid out thousands of pounds in British manufactures. Several of those men were labourers or village mechanics twenty years ago. I conclude with an illustration as to what the right sort of man may do here. Fourteen months ago an English agricultural labourer arrived in New Zealand with scarcely a shilling in his pocket. He was a handy sort of fellow, and took the first work that came to hand-øome fencing. Since then he has done all kinds ef farm work, principally by contract, and to-day he has over one hundred pounds in the bank. If the hard pressed home-toilers hear not what such a fact as this proclaims there is nothing for them bnt to take whatever their employers see fit to give. No one can blame an employer, be he farmer or manufacturer, for not giving more for his labour than he can help, and instead of useless kickinga against the pricks, let all who think they are worth more than they are getting for their services, place themselves at once in communication with Sir Julius Vogel, and bring their wares to his market. And as regards the employers, I should advise them, instead of battling with their work. men for a margin of profit on their high-rented farms, to bring their capital to New Zealand, and on their own freeholds taste the ^weets of independence, and reveal to the New Zealanders the wealth which now lies buried for want of adequate culture. With English capital and labour I see no limits to the prosperity of this really splendid colony, and in the prosperity of her offspring the mother oountry would find her surest guarantee as to her own.

A NAVAL ENGAGEMENT. The New York papers of May 13 contain details of an engagement between the Chilian gunboat Maral. lanes and the Peruvian corvette Union, 1,160 tons, carrying 12 70-pouoders and having a orew of 400 men, assisted by the Piloomayo, of 600 tons, carry. ing two rO-pounder and four 40-poQBdM guns. The engagement took place off the mouth of the river Loa, forming the harbour of the part of the same name. This river forma the boundary line near the coast between Bolivia and Pera. The two Peruvian vessels tired 130 shots at the Magallaneo, which fired 40 shells and solid thot in return; The firing of the Peruvians WM very wild, theiMagallanea only being stvck once and that by a ricochet shot. TBè Union then stopped firing and escaped with the Pilcomayo, which was badly damaged. The Chilian ronclad Almfrwtooochraue has goso in pursuit.

DEATH OF JUDGE PACKER. The death of Asa Packer, at the age of 73, on May 17, in the city of Philadelphia, has caused profound sorrow and attracted great attention, for his life has pointed out more than any other that has closed in recent years the possibilities of individual growth which exist in the United States. Simply by his own assiduity and foresight, Asa Packer accumulated a fortune of 15,000,000 dole, to 20,000,000 dols. during his lifetime; and though larger fortunes have been made in the States, yet there is perhap", no instance more demon8trative of the potentiality of individual energy—The Correspondent of the Times gives the following outline of Packer's career Packer walked with a knapsack on his back when 17 years old, in 1822, from Connecticut, where he was born, to the forests of the Upper Lehigh River in Pennsylvania, and he became a carpenter and after. wards a canal boatman, No origin could have been more humble or less likely to fashion a man to fill the large part in life that fell to the lot of Asa Packer. With scarcely any sohooling, without any advantages, but, in fact, in spite of many disadvantages in a secluded, rural region, far removed from any large city, but through the exercise of Bound common- sense and a business ability that seemed almost like prescience in the success it produced for every venture, Packer ultimately became almost the sole arbiter of the anthracite coal trade of the Atlantic sea- board, and in this way the indirect ruler of the capital and fortunes of eight or ten huge corporations, whose business was the mining and transporting of coal. Accident, as it were, plaoed him in the region of Pennsylvania, where the bsst anthracite coal was pro- duced and as a boatman he carried coal down the Lehigh canal to market—a trade then in its infancy. He foresaw ita possibilities, and worked them out. He acquired the ownership of coal-lands, and built the Lehigh Valley Railroad to carry the cual to sea- board. At times almost ruined by his ventures, they ultimately worked out successfully, and he died the owner of about one-third of the Btock and debt capital invested in the Lehigh Valley Railroad, which has a total par investment of 52,500,000 dols., and he was also personally the owner of large possessions in coal-mines and coal-lands. He had served in Con. grees and had been a Judge, and he was in former years a wise counsellor of the Democratic party and had been its candidate for Governor of Pennsylvania. He founded the Lehigh University with an endow- ment of 1,000,000 dols., and in it ia given a free educa. tion to young men desiring to enter upon a prac- tical scientific career. But the great fact that will be chit fly remembered about this typical American is the possibilities of life in the United States which his career demonstrates. He recently celebrated his golden wedding at Mauch Chunk, and at it, dis- played among the splendid evidences of fortune, were two or three brightly-scoured copper pots and pans hung on the wall. They were the utensils the newly. married pair had used a half century before, when they first set up housekeeping in the humble cabin of a canal boat, with plenty of youth, health, and hope, but little money. Judge Packer was proud of his origin and career, and always ready to help others up and his death has caused a genuine grief throughout the anthracite coal region."

WOMAN'S WORK. The Standard of Friday bases a leader on the reply given by tbe Postmaster-Oeneral (Lord John Manners) to a ques- tion put to his lordship in tie Houle of Commons by Mr. Chamberlain, on the subject of the employment of female clerks in the telegraph department. From this reply, it ap- pears that the Post Office authorities have no intention of discontinuing the use of female labour; on the oontrary, they are continually extending it, but In consequence of the excessive amount of labour at the principal London offices at night, which could only be satisfactorily done by male clerks, the further appointment of female clerks to the offices has been suspended, and the number of female olerks has been adjusted to the requirements of the service. In the course of the article the Standard makes the following observations on Woman's Work:- For certain forms and kinds of work women must always.be superior to men, and the working of the telegraphic instrument is one of these; exactly as- although at the other end of the scale-the manufac- ture of lace by hand is another. No man would ever have the patience, eublety, nimbleness, dexterity, and lightness of wucb, that are required to twist and inter- twist the hundred or so of bobbins that lie on the sur- face of a lace pillow. For the control of suoh a web the fingers of a Penelope are required. And in the mechanical manipulation of the telegraph instru- ment precisely the same qualities are brought into play, For a short time, and under given conditions, a woman makes a better telegraph clerk than a man. What handicaps her in the raoe is her inferior physique. A man can work on into the night for hour after hour, where a woman breaks down under a strain to which her constitution is unequal. This is only what might, after all, have been foreseen and expected. Women have been found to make fairly good com- positors bat no one supposes for a moment that they would be equal to the work required in a large London printing establishment, where the la bour often hardly begins until ten at night, and is carried far on into the morning hours. And if unfit for severe physical toil of this kind, women must always fail when the still greater pressure is put on them of sudden and grave responsibility. Because they make good hospital nurses, and their quick fingers and gentle voices are welcome round the bed of pain, we are asked to believe that as physicians and surgeons they would prove the equalB of men, or be at leaat able to hold their own. Because some of their number have shown a certain ability in grasping abstruse subjects and dealing with abstract ideas-beoause. that is to say, the world has seen a Hypatia, a Maria Agnesi, and a Mary Somer. viile-we are asked to admit women to the bar. In the race of life women will never be able to com- pete with men, or even to hold their own against them, for the simple reason that the best years of their life are fewer than those of man's. A man at thirty has but just entered on his prime, and at fifty ought to be better fit for responsible and difficult work than at thirty. A woman's prime is earlier and briefer than this, and for all practical purposes her life is some ten or fifteen years shorter than is that of a man. She reaches maturity earlier. She ages much earlier. The years it is in her power to devote to a profession are fewer; and she will consequently never be really in the race if called upon to match herself against men in the higher professions and callings."

THE EDUCATION OF DEAF-MUTES. The misfortune of those whom Nature has deprfved of the means of communication with their fellow-creatures must always command sympathy and the efforts of those who pbilantbropicaily endeavour to restore the missing faculty are worthy of commendation and encouragement. The follow- Ing Instructive article, which appeared In the Daily News of May 29, will be read with Interest, as showing the method by which it Is sought to extend the advantages of education to the deaf and dumb On the topmost floor of the Board Bchool in Win- chester-street, Pentonville, is a room set apart for the teaching of deaf-mutes. The method pursued may be called "dual, "as Mr. William Stainer, Instructor of the Deaf and Dumb to the School Board for London, as elected to apply each of the rival systems of putting deaf-mutes into communication with their fellow- creatures to the children entrusted to his care. To give the French or "sign" system, and the German or oral system, an opportunity of adaptation to peculiar wants, eaoh of the two ladies to whom, direction of Mr. Stainer, the care of the children is confided teaches under an opposite system, confusion, however, is created by this apparent eonBict of authority. The instruction of the smaller children is conducted on the lip or German system by Miss Ensor that of the better grown students on the sign system, by Mrs. Ockleston-the latter lady a deaf-mute, acquainted with both methods of communication, able to *peak a little, but §rei.i*rl?g two-handed sign system of the Abb4 1 i talking to another deaf-mute, and the *i u u visitor be not acquainted with the dumb alphabet. To give the German system, which brings those who are able to Acquire it into immediate communication with their country. men, every chance, Mr. Stainer first hands over the younger children to Miss Ensor for instruction in lip-teaching. A very interesting and instructive L.°r*v[0 Passed in watching these ladies at work with their pupils, numbering some two soore, some of whom come from long distances, and are fed and otherwise cared for at the Home in Pentonville- | road. The children are from five to fourteen years of age, a few amalt boys being scattered among the large majority of girls. Calling up the little children-those from five to eight years of age-Miss Ensor ranges them in front of that inevitable black board without which education would come to a standstill. The very juveniles, however, are taught little beyond the method of producing Bounds. It has already been explained in an article on this subject in the Daily News that the unfortunate persons vulgarly called deaf and dumb" are only incapable of uttering intel. ligible sounds because they are stone-deaf. Hence a faculty, unsuspected by the deaf-mute, must be developed. The teacher has first to convey to her pupil what a sound is, and effects this by stamping on the ground and producing a vibration which is felt, although the Bound produced by it is unheard. aaisB Ensor next produces the vowels, showing the child how she produces them, and putting its hand on her throat that the vibration may be felt. She next proceeds to the consonants, pronouncing the b" and "t" sounds like those of the "m and "n," without the addition of a vowel i The impulse merely is taught. Thus b," instead of being pro- nounced "bee," is "buh," "t" is "tuh," "f" is not" eft" but "fuh"—the child being taught exactly how to bring the lips smartly apart in the first, to force the tongue forward for the second, and to press the lips against the teeth fer the third. By degrees he learns to make these sounds, and to recognise them when made by others, provided, of course, that he can see the mouth of the speaker, and that the latter measures her utterance and moves her lips in a marked manner. Frem sounds a step is at once made to short words, and this is much facilitated by the picture-teach- ing" books. The child who has been taught the b" sound the "a" Bound, and the "t" sound, find* but little difficulty in saying bat" when shown the painted image and the written name of that instru- ment of propulsion. Some of the children, notably one smart little fellow deaf as a post," pronounced the short words set before them on the occasion of our visit with almost startling distinctness, and a little sunny-haired Beatrice of twelve Bummers recited the Lord's Prayer very clearly and forcibly. Short words having been practised for some considerable time, the teaching of the letters as letters and not as mere sounds is carried on, accompanied by their delineation en the slate. It has been proved over and over again that in time the dumb may often be taught literally to speak in this way and thus be brought into com- munication with the better endowed of their kind. More rapid by far is the sign system as taught in many institutions In Europe and America, and it is a pleasant sight to see Mrs. OckleBton teaching her olasa by the sign alphabet. The first difficulty, that of bringing the mind of the pupil into communioatipn with that of the teacher, is got over, all in the German system, by picture-teaching," and the pupil its taught to write at onoe. The teacher points to a figure of a hat in a picture-book, writes "hat" distinctly r on a blackboard, and then, claiming her pupils' attention, draws the palm of her hand smartly over the other, touches the thumb of the 1> ft hand mth the index finger of th§ right, and applies 6ha same finger to the lower edge of the left hand. This is repeated till the children have mastered it, and thus become acquainted with the connection between the natural object, the written and the manuel signs. Pictures are again employed to teach the verbs, adjectives, and minor parts of speech, and coloured engravings are given to the children for ex- planation. Short questions are asked on the black- board and the pupils reply accurately enough, spelling out their words carefully and slowly. It often happens that they understand the question, but cannot find the word to express their meaning, as in the case of one poor little fellow who, when asked how flour is made, seemed puzzled as to the respective meanings of "miller and "ground," At this stage of teacning it is found necessary to repress with some firmness the use of the arbitrary signs which come like second nature to the poor little deaf-mutes. It is, of course, easier to indicate a cup by the action of drinking or a taU hat by a motion of the finger than to spell it; but, as this kind of converse advances the pupils not a whit, they are rigidly for- bidden to use it in school hours. Among themselves they use "arbitraries" very largely, as a point upwards to signify God," and a slap on the thigh to signify a dog." It would seem indeed as if the little deaf-mutes made a sign-language of their own, and lived a kind of shorthand existence. This is unfortunately inevitable, as is the length of time required to develope the intelli- gence of a deaf-mute. The acquisition of language, the proper use and arrangement of the parts of speech occupies so much time that several years must elapse before the pupils can attain to the studies usually pursued in schools, as it is found impossible to teach them history, or any similar subject, until they thoroughly comprehend the use of language. Like the form of language the abstract idea of number is found difficult to convey. It is, however, got over in the old-fashioned way, by the use oi vari- ously coloured spheres, in order that the conception of number may be dissociated from those of size and colour. Some of the elder children at the Win- chester-street School have advanced as far as multiplication by three places of figures, and thus give hope that the science of arithmetic, for which their infirmity fits them, may in time become a speciality of deaf-mutes. On the other hand, recent experiments with maps have shown that the idea of locality is almost as strong with them as with the blind. At first the astonishment of the I pupils had no bounds when they found that the world extended far beyond London, and one bright eyed child hunted perseveringly over Mercator's projection in the hope of finding her mother's house at Shepherd's bush. Familiarity with maps has somewhat expanded this purely metropolitan idea of epace, and the little child who 'three months ago thought to find her home in the centre of the world, where mediaeval cartographers placed Jeru- salem, can now find the principal towns on the map ef England on the instant. So far as the experiment of "dual" teaching has gone, it has been generally successful, and it is understood that Mr. Stainer has recommended its adoption at the west and south centres of the London School Board, in addition to those at Winchester street and Wilmott street, Bethnal-green.

THE HELIOGRAPH. A correspondent writes to us (Daily News) from Gan. mack, May 4 The English papers received by the last mail have long notices of the heliograph in South Africa. The Zulu has for the moment eclipsed the Afghan, but it should not be overlooked that the heliograph has been in constant use here ever since this war began, and it has done most valuable service. Lieutenant Whistler Smith, R.E., has charge of this department at General Sir Sam Browne's headquarters, and he not only keeps up communication with the rear at times when the telegraph is cut, but also with troops out on a reconnaissance, or making an expedition. No party of any consequence leaves the camp without taking Bome of the Heliograph staff with them, so as to keep headquarters informed of their movements. The value of this inatrumont would be very much diminished in a country where the sun is not often seen, still its value has been so amply demonstrated in this war that no army is likely in the future to go on any kind of service without the Heliograph. To give an example, on the day we came first to Gandamack, I telegraphed our arrival to the Daily News, but the wire had not at the time come up; even the tents were not pitched. Major Smith signed my telegram standing in the sun, and not many yards off the small tripod of the Heliograph was stretched out and in working order. By its means my telegram was sent on to the nearest point where the telegraph was working, and it was not many minutes till a re- turn fiash came back, and the man said, All right, sir, he has it all. J

THE DEMANDS OF THE TENANT FARMERS. The Manchester Examiner says :—It is stated that the demands of the Warwickshire Tenant Farmere' Association will probably compriae the following among other points :—The necessity of direct repre- sentation in Parliament, greater security than at pre- sent possessed for capital, all ground game to be the property of the tenant, recent burdens imposed in the shape of taxation to be repealed or more equitably ad. justed, greater liberty of cropping and disposing of agricultural produce, and the law of distraint to be restricted to one year's rental. Speaking at the meeting of the Warwickshire Chamber of Agriculture, the chairman contended that the Legislature had handicapped the British farmer and started him in a race against the unweighted pro- ducers of other countries. He knew many instances of farms having been thrown up by those whose fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers had lived upon them. He heartily went with the mem- bers of the Tenant Farmers' Association, and sincerely hoped they would succeed in their objects, as long as they were moderate in their language and just in their demands which he believed they had been up to the present time.

A DESTRUCTIVE CYCLONE. A terrific cyclone crossed Eastern Kansas on Friday evening, in Jast week, killing more than 50 people, injuring over 100, and destroying much property. The storm (according to a Times telegram) moved from west towards east, the chief damage occurring in Marshall County, along the line of the Union Pacific Railway for a distance of 30 miles. beginning 90 miles west of the eastern boundary of Kansas. At Irving 12 people were killed and 40 were wounded, and nearly the entire town was destroyed; at Delphos, 15 people were killed at Frankfort, eight were killed and 13 wounded af Blue Springs, three were killed; at Beloit three were killed, and at Fulton nine were killed. The iron railway bridge over the Blue River was blown to pieces, its rods and girders being twisted like wires. The cyclone is desoribedas a dark, funnel-shaped cloud, moving about ten miles per hour just above the earth with a whirling motion estimated at from 60 to 100 miles per hour. The path traversed varied from 300 to 700 yards wide, being distinctly marked, as every tree, house, fence or obstruction along it was destroyed.

THE LATE WILLIAM FROUDE, F.R.S. The Capetown Correspondent 01 the Daily News, writing on May 6, says :— The sad death of Mr. William Froude, F.R.S., the celebrated naval engineer, whose most recent investigations into the form of ships and kindred matters have been of Buch service to the British Government, will cause both surprise and regret at home. Mr. Froude came out in search of health and rest from prolonged mental exertion, in the Boadicea as a guest of Commodore Richards, and he shared with the officers and crew of that unlucky vessel all the tedium of the quarantine, which the outbreak of small-pox rendered necessary. Since the Boadicea left for Natal he has, with the ex. ception of a short trip along the Western Railway, re- mained in the neighbourhood of Capetown, where on Saturday last, at Admiralty House, Simon's Town, he succumbed, after a very shoit illness, to an attack of low fever, which developed into dysentery. He will be buried to-day. During the qaarantine of the Boadicea Mr. Froude made many interesting observa- tions connected with the flight of birds and the move- ment of currents of air, which it was his- intention to have embodied in a paper to be read before the Royal Society, and a melancholy interest will attach to these last records of so ingenious an observer in a somewhat novel field of science."

The Times of Tuesday also gave the following Sir,—In the obituary notice of Froude, the en. gineer, contained in your columns of May 27, you mentioned some of the claims to eminence of one whom you designate as among the greatest masters of applied mathematics in modern times. Will you and your readers accept a few particulars which will, though faintly, describe how rare a man he was of irhuiu the country is now bereaved ? William Froude was born in 1810. Hewas a younger brother of that gifted thinker, Richard Hurrell Froude, and elder brother of James Anthony, the historian. He was educated at Westminster and at Oriel; he was a pupil of John Henry Newman, and took a first class in mathematics in 1832. His Oxford training and love of literature stamped his manner of thought and of speech to the last. He would often find in quotations from many classical authors words promptly produced to illustrate problems of human life, grave and gay alike. Now, when one thinks of the intensity of his severer studies and accurate work, is it without in. terest to know that the sweet song of the Christian Year," early committed to memory, remained to the last a portion of his common stock of thought ? Froude was educated to be a civil engineer, and in 1838 became the assistant and valued friend of Mr. Brunei, and was engaged on the construction of the Bristol and Exeter Railway. In 1846, on account of his father's failing health, he retired from ordinary professional work to Darlington, near Totnes. His active and well. stored brain did not allow him to remain idle. lie occupied himself in several abstruse problems con- nected with the motion of fluids and kindred questions. The most important of these, undertaken at the request of Mr. Brunei, was an inquiry into the rolling of ships. This intrioate subject had hitherto been treated as if unapproachable by the method of regular investigation. It soon became the laborious and en grossing occupation of his life, and was that which gave him in the end an unrivalled reputation. These ex- periments were conducted by Froude without pecu- niary or other reward. He had suoh aid from the Admiralty as made it possible for the elaborate and delioate work to be carried on at hia house near Torquay. He obtained, however, what was to him of far higher value, the gratitude of succeeeive Boards of Admiralty and of their chiefs,the cordial co-operation of the heads of departments, and the consciousness that he was contributing to the stock of knowledge and adding to the resources and power of the nation. H When in 1876 Froude received a Royal medal from the Koyal Society, the President said, among other things, that— Mr. Froude has done more than anybody else toward g the establishment of a reasonable theory of the oscillation of j ships in wave water, as well as for Its experimental verifica- tion. The amount of mechanical skill as well as of theorett- cal geptenen which has been exhibited ID all this work has J placed Mr. Frouda In the foremost rank of all invertttJXJf on this subject. No cno, indeed, has ever done morSifVj^ theoretically or praotlcally, for the accurate aet«rmn»Tt*jj| of a ship's motion, whether in propulsion or in waves, Mr. Froude. Without undervaluing other modern wr* it Is not too much to say that his Investigations at PjfrL* take completely the lead in this very Important quest* most Important to a maritime nation.' # "No workman in any art ever combined in proportion, few in so eminent a degree, the » m properties of oulture, of science, and of practice.. hands were as skilful as his creative brain waa activ*' "They who know his workshops must have 10 velled at the often simple means by which the delicate results were produced, and must have mired the accuracy with which he would test et^. portion of the most trifling fautor. Like true genius, nothing was too small, nothing "J great fdP his grasp. He would bring the same tense yet almost playful attention to the of a toy as to the analysis of the curves of an the behaviour of an Atlantic wave. With such a racter he brought brightness wherever he went. ■*?> voice had an almost pathetic tone, the outcome sympathetic heart. And one in any trouble « distress who met Froude, not knowing who and fgj he was, must have thought his life was spent in to tender concern for others which springs from fulness of self and a sense of the mystery of life.—Your obedient servant, H. W. A.t Oxford, 30."

A FAMOUS MARE. Sadowa, the horse the Emperor William rode at ibo battle of Kcenigratz, so named in commemoration, that victory, has died lately. The FremdenbiaH nishes the following details relative to the venert^ charger:—" For some time past the noble animal such signs of weakness, resulting from age, that veterinary Burgeon waa convinced it could not By long. On the 17th ult. it was so feeble as to be nfl**? to stand, and to spare it further suffering it was Orders had been given, in case of the death of SadoJJ to have the animal stuffed, and the task was conh^T to M. Ludwig, expert at the Zoological Sadowa was a mare of great beauty, distinguished^ a noble carriage of the.head and fine ears. Her was Bix feet one inch and her height five feet s*^j inches. The skin will be prepared in such a way it may be stretched on a body of the same P- moulded in plaster."

Utisallanmts HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL. THK PERILS OF BALLOONING.—One of the mostJ>*j traordinary escapes from death ever recorded occnf* on Easter Monday to an aeronaut named L'Estra"*j (says the Melbourne Argus) In the presence^ thousands of spectators he made an ascent Agricultural Grounds, on the St. Kilda road, io *3 balloon Aurora—the same, it is said, which was to convey despatches during the Franco-PrU<*jj war. When the balloon had attained tbe altitude of a mile and three-quarters it denly collapsed, the gas bursting through < side, but the parachute came into play, instead of the wreck falling like a stone, it down in a zigzag course, and finally struck a tre^i the Government Domain, thus breaking the fall, L'Estrange reached the ground half stunned, alive. The excitement when the balloon came d0. was intense. Women screamed and fainted, fell on their knees with their hands clasped in pw j while hundreds of men rushed into the GovernPffif Domain expecting to find a mangled body, but to tjj^ astonishment they discovered L'Estrange alive almost unhurt. 4 THE "LIFE" OF RAILWAY MATERIAL. — curious figures have been compiled from the experfc*^ of American railways illustrative of the length 1 service, or the "life, of some of the *5 machines UBed. The Illinois Railroad Commissi seem to have obtained returns from twenty-six rail^J companies, which show that the life of a locom0* engine varied on these railways from eight :Feat', twenty-four, and that the general average duratio 151 years. Passenger cars endured from eight Y to twenty years-the avertge being 151 years; average life of stock cars being ten years, and tb»*d| freight cars 1U years and the railway bridges, so largely of wood in the United States, endure f*) £ j five to twenty years. As to the life of rails, satiBtics seem to indicate that those of iron last three to twelve years—the mean being Beven; j steel rails are credited with from nine to twenty 7^2 service—and an average of fourteep years is obt*^ from the returns. j. MAY WEATHER.—The Times, in their weather ar^ remarks The treacherous nature of the weathfl*^ May has been well known for many generations^ piercing nights (even after warm days) and its changes from warmth to cold when the irind into the northward, making the sage advice I Till May be out Ne'er cast a cloat' a of much more value than many of the other old which have been handed down to us, Most of us « remember one or more occasions when insufficient PJ caution against cold winds has caused the most w personal discomfort, if not positive sickness. We only refer to the Derby-day of 1867, when many » was made rheumatic for life, or the sudden ofaanS*^ a year or two later, when the Derby' was run f'J of the most delightful spring days ever experfeBjO, whereas the Oaks found us again in complete w* in order to substantiate this statement." J A PROTRACTED STATEMENT.—It ia stated that tjLji were three miles of bicyclists at the recent HaiDF^ Court meet. To what further lengths will this pO*^ be carried in the future ?-Fun. < OPIUM v. ALCOHOL.—The Lancet remarks statement, on good authority, has recently been to the effect that during the last two years the sumption of opium by the working classes haB siderably increased, and an explanation has bee0 vanced that this increased consumption has b^et\spf duced by the restriction of the sale of intoxic* gp liquors by the early closing of public-houses late Act. That the sale of narcotic drugs has of greatly increased we fear there ia but little doubt, but that the explanation offered is the c°rtMl one we feel bound to demur to. It is rather to u hardness of the times than to any restraint in the of drink that the increased consumption of opto10 p the working classes is to be attributed. OpifrJJJjf cheaper than alcohol, and 2d. expended on the foffyi will give more present ease than sixpennyworth of J latter. Nor when first commenced does it use PT< J such unpleasant after effects as an intoxicating alcohol. It is Bad to learn that the sale of tending among the lower classes, and we hope, '• evil be found to be gaining ground with the rap,(^ Btated—and from facts before us we cannot doubt a accuracy of the report in the main-that GovorvIO will take action in the matter and place severe striations on the sale of all narcotic drugs. The ,J| employment of narcotic drugs has wrought individ J evil enough among the upper and middle clas««" jf society, but it would be a national disaste*^ their use continued to extend among our wo'*1^ classes. I. there jf ABSIT OMEN.—According to newspapers, "th something between England and France." Bo* there always was—the Channel, for instance one finds any difficulty in getting over it," wh»** it is.— Judy. j\ LARGE LIBRARIES.—The largest library in the ^JJ» is stated to be the National Library at Paris, in 1874, contained 2,000,000 printed books andl&Ojj^l manuscripts. The British Museum and the ImP*^ Library at St. Petersburg both contained J jjf 1,100,000 volumes in 1874, and the relation is prob*j' the Bame now. The Royal Library of Munich tains 900,000 books. The Vatican Library at F.010 0 sometimes erroneously supposed to be among ipt largest, while in point of fact it is surpassed,$ as the number of volumes goes, by more European collections. It contains 105,000 books and 25,000 manuscripts. In the United the largest is the Library of Congress at Wash which in 1874 contained 231,000 volumes. The IB Public followed very cloBely after it with 206,500, the Harvard University collection came next, 200,000. FIRES IN RUSSIA.—In Russia conflagrations to have become epidemic (says the Corresponded^ The Times). From Woroneah it is announced *^4 the town of Walnike is laid in ashes, and that a village of more than 2,000 inhabitants has been b to the ground. In the Government of Warsa" 0" town of Gbujtz has been destroyed by an enorfB^ fire, nor could the inhabitants save any of their fjjy pertv. From the Government of Pensa, on the hand, intelligence comes that three large villages' been annihilated by fire and thousands of reduced to beggary. Similar news is daily from various parts of the Empire. In the year according to an official statement, no fewer jtf 33,319 conflagrations in Russia have caused damM the extent of upwards of 62,472,000 roubles. f AGRICULTURAL MEM.—Sowing seed is, no doubt« active exercise at the same time, may it not be rT sidered a sedentary (seed-entry) occupation ?—J THE CHEESE SHALL BE CUT !—Ezekiel the great-grandfather of the President of the States, was a successful mechanic in Connecticut* jf kept a number of apprentices. It is said that, *9^ times, like apprentices in all ages, they felt that »j^r bad l~>ng work and short rations. At one time cheese was put on the table whole. It stood ojtaf for a day or two, Hayee, saying at each meal, rfji' is a nice-looking cheese. It is a pity to cut it! 0* boys thought this waa growing rather monoto !,Pl and planned to show their sentiments. The h> smith had one day got a bar of iron nicely heated# -f laid it across the iron anvil to be cut the lengths. The boys, with chisels and sledges, cut it off. But no band was raised. Hayes asked^* they did not strike." One of them replied :—' is such a nice bar of iron it would be a pity it." Hayes quickly saw the point, and Bhouted, j/t a laugh, "Strike, boys, strike the cheese obsil cut Oct RACING CENTENARIES.—Many of our readers & aware that this year is the centennial of the that during the past few years our three great races have each completed their respective years. The Doncaster St. Leger is the oldestof tbeV^ff having been instituted in 1776, when the first r r run on Cantley-common, Lord baculia being the victor. Striotly speaking, the race can only be said to have dated from when its venue was changed to Doncaster Moor, and the race received its name in O to Colonel St. Leger, better known as •'HanoJJJtf Jack," The Oaks was contested for the hajj^w time last year, the twelfth< Earl of Derby established it in 1779. It was named after V* I-jjJ retreat, The Oaks," in the parish of Woodman*, j# near Epsom. The Earl won the first race vrlth filly Bridget. In the following year the established the Derby, which was called by hi* 0 he 0 He tried hard to win the first race as at ther^ hut could not succeed, Sir Charles Banbury's P1 being the winner. It is a curious fact that to* p? has only once been won by an Earl of Derby, t0:* V Earl trying very hard for it. and in 1858 only &K half a head—hiB Toxophilite being beaten 1 Joaeph Hawley's Beadsman by that length. *D ? Lord Derby won with Sir Peter Teade.—-Glob* j

(our fffnkn Coraspoiitient. fWe deem it right to state that we do not at all times identify ourselves with our Correspondent's opimone.) Since the appointment of Sir Colin Campbell, after- wards Lord Clyde, to the command of the army in India in 1857, no such Incident has occurred in English history as that attending the selection of Sir Garnet Wolseley for supreme, civil, and military authority at the Cape, This distinguished general- who was announced to have arrived in London from Cyprus on leave of abaenoe—was immediately called into consultation with the Cabinet upon the situation of affairs in South Africa, appointed to the command there, his staff was selected, and within three days of the Ministerial statements in both Houses of Parlia- ment, he had started for the new scene of his labour?. He is now sailing over the seas towards that distant dependency which has caused us so much trouble and anxiety during the past few months. If there is a general in the British army in whom the public have every confidence, it is Sir Garnet Wolseley. The way in which he carried through the Aahantee expedition six years ago showed the prompti. tude and the skill which he eould bring to bear in dealing with a merciless foe and in getting through a difficult country. The work had to be done, and it was done at a small cost unprecedented in the annals of our national warfare. On his return he and his soldiers received the thanks of both Houses of the Legislature, Parliament made him a grant of J625,000, the Queen conferred upon him the Grand Cross of the Bath, and the City of London presented him with a aword of the value of 2,000 guineas. Connected with thia subject there is a point well worthy of a passing notice. The two generals in the British army who since the close of the war with Rossi* have had opportunities of showing their capacity, are Lord Napier of Magdala, and Sir Garnet Wolseley. Both have made their reputations in fields of savage warfare, the one in Abyssinia, and the other in Ashantee. Lord Napier's rescue of the captives from their fortress. prison at Magdala stands side by side with Sir Garnet Wolseley's march to Coomassie for boldness of con- ception and rapidity of execution. In each case the hour had come, and with it the man. It would have occurred to many that although not yet a quarter of a century has elapsed since the campaign in the Crimea, we have had none of the generals of that struggle to fail back upon. Lord Raglan died in the midst of his labours during the siege of Sebastopol; and General Sir James Simpson, his successor, never saw active service again. Contrast this experience with that of our opponents of that time. General Todleben, the young engineer officer, who, by his extraordinary skill in the construction of earthworks, kept the allied forces at bay for eleven months, is still in high com- mand in the Russian army. It is well to note that as on the last occasion Sir Garnet Welseley was re- quired to act against an African tribe, so it is now. Instead of in Ashantee, it is in Zululand—from the first letter of the alphabet to the last—that is all the difference. There were few who knew of the extent of British territory in South Africa until they read in the statements of the Prime Minister and the Chan- cellor of the Exchequer, that Cape Town, where Sir Bartle Frere will continue to discharge his duties as High Commissioner, is a thousand miles from the seat of war. The public would have heard with relief the declaration of the Colonial Secretary that we are not going in for any more annexations of territory in that part of the world. The taking over of the Transvaal territory two years ago was the primary cause of all our subsequent troubles there. When France was defeated by the Germans nine years ago, and had to submit to peace upon any terms, there were those who did not hesitate to predict that the would sink to the position of a second-class power. Instead of this, the marvellous courage in the face of adversity, and the wonderful resources in the power of recovery manifested by the people, have been the astonishment and admiration of the world. The war indemnity demanded by the Germans was one of colossal magnitude-two hundred millions sterling. In recalling the fact that it was paid off with extra- ordinary rapidity, it should not be forgotten that the cost of the war to the French nation must have been of an equal amount. Of course it was not paid off all at once: but the fact remains that an additional four hundred millions was added to the national burdens. France having got rid of the army of occupation set to work to reorganise her own. and It is now quietly and unostentatiously announced that eM can put into the field 840,000 men. It is barely eight years since she was prostrate at the feet of the conqueror and bleeding at every pore; yet the can now place her hand upon nearly a million soldiers. Whilst thus attending to her military organization, she has not neglected the arts of peace, as the success of the Paris Exhibition last year conclusively showed. The change of feeling which has come over the English people with respect to the French has been wonderfully marked even within the last twenty years. For cen- turies there had been a standing antagonism between the two countries, and they were taught to regard each other as natural enemies. From the battle of Agincourt to that of Waterloo there was a space ef exaetly four hundred years, during which time the two nations seemed to be in a chronic state of warfare. Only a couple of decades ago- in the year 1869—our volunteer force was called into existence to resist a possible French invasion. Yet any one who would raise such a cry now would be re- garded as outside the pale of practical prokbilitiea. The constant facilities of intercourse with France has doubtless had a very considerable effect In producing an improved condition of relations between the two countries. Generally, the Lords rise for a vacation such as Easter or Whitsuntide before the Commons, although at a prorogation of course both Chambers are dismissed together. This recess, however, the Lords sat two or three days after the Commons had risen but on the other hand they will not reassemble until a week later -the Lower House on the 9th, and the Upper House on the 16th. The time is coming, however, when the Lords will expect more work than they are accuatomed to early in the Session. For one Bill which is introduced into the Peera' Chamber, a score are brought into the Commons, consequently while the latter are being considered, the hereditary legis. lators have little or nothing to do. In July and August, however, when the Billa come up thlokly from the Commons, the position la different; and Lord Redeedale, the Chairman of Committees, has oftentimes some difficulty in finding a sufficient num- ber of noble lords to make up the Committees upon private Bills which the Commons have disposed of. The remission, by the Duke of Bedford, of half a year's rent to his agricultural tenantry, on account of the depression under which the farming interest has for some time laboured, is a reminder that his Grace has an enormously rich estate in the very heart of London, covered with streets and squares, the occupants of which are amongst the most prosperous and well- to-do residents in the metropolis. It lies chiefly between the Strand and the British Museum, although a part of it extends as far Euston. The Squares of Tavistock, Bedford, Russell, Woburn, and Bloomsbury, with a host of thoroughfares, are all upon the property of the Duke of Bedford. Gates still stand at the entrance of many of these streets, which are closed for a few hours to vehicular traffic once a year, for the purpose of asserting the rights of private property. In years long ago, before London showed such a capacity for extending towards the west, the squares mentioned above were the residences of our proudest aristocracy. But since the building of Tyburnia and Belgravia, they have been occupied chiefly by the professional classes. The course of London westward hae been in the direction of the property of the Duke of Westminster, the squares of Grosvenor, Ebury, and others bearing names associated with the family testify- ing to the ownership of the soil. Other noblemen pos- sess rich properties in London, the streets and squares being called after the names of the owners. For inatance, if a pedestrian through the Strand will take the trouble to glance at the names of the thorough. fares branching north and south, he will find Norfolk, 8urrey, Wellington, Cecil, Salisbury, Burleigh, Villien, Buckingham, Craven, Northumberland, Southampton, Exeter, and Bedford, all bearing the names of noblemen upon whose property the houses stand. Exeter Hall is a building known throughout the civilised world, and many might have supposed that it was called after the cathedral city of Devon. shire. This, however, is not so. It is known as Exeter Hall because it stands upon soil owned by the Marquis of Exeter, one of the branches of that noble family of Cecil, the other of which is repre- sented by the Marquis of Salisbury, the Secretory of State for Foreign Affairs. In a land where, more especially in summer time the success of so many engagements depends upon the weather, it is important to know what that weather is likely to be. Hitherto the man of tcianoe has been baffled over this question. He may construot a tele- scope of the power of Lord Rosse, which shall reveal to him the hidden secrete of the skies; he may measure the height of the mountains in the moon, gauge the dimensions of huge sun-spots, tell us when tha next transit of Venus will occur, and predict the precise time of an eclipse a century hence, but while all this and much more can be done in traversing vast fields of science, it is absolutely impossible to say with certainty what the weather will be to-morrow. You may draw up tide tables drawn up to laat for years to come, so easy Is it to estimate the ebb and Now of the sea. But the currents of the air have hitherto defied human attampta to bend tbem to the will of man. You can 100 in try London paper the exact second of high water at London Bridge morning and afterneon, but you cannot ascer- tain what the weather will with certainty be. How convenient, for example, it would be to find in the journals something like thit-H Nine o'clock, sunshine for three-quarters of an hour; 9.45, rain until 10.20 no more rain until 12.17, when there will be a smart shower, lasting 34 minutes 5 seconds. Bright sun- shine the remainder of the day." What an improved world it would be The Meteorological Office have, however, made a great step towards letting us know the probable weather for the day. At eight o'clock on ths previous evening the observations which have come in are made up, and the results appear in such of the London papers as care to pay for the information. As the Meteorological Office charges each jcumal J6300 a year for ita forecasts, it is assumed that these are compiled with the most elaborate care and those who have followed these prophecies for some months past declare that they are thoroughly trust- worthy, and in the great majority of cases turn out to be correct. Charles James Fox once described St. Jamses- street, the handsome thoroughfare connecting Pall Mall with Piccadilly, as the campus martins of London, the type of Rome in the days of her splendour and her power. Unquestionably, there is no part of the metropolis where such an idea can be obtained of the vast wealth of the capital as that conveyed by the neighbourhood of St. Jamee's-street, Bond-street, Piccadilly, and Regent-street, on a fine bright afternoon in the height of the season. As the Middlesex side of the river has attracted to itself all the public buildings, the palaces, and everything of national interest which is worth seeing, so the west-end streets draw to themselves the beauty, rank, and fashttn of the first city in the world. Just now, with the Royal Academy open, an additional number of visitors is drawn to that part of the town. The Exhibition is held in the gal- leriee of Burlington House, on the north side of Picca- dilly, almost opposite the top of St. James's Street, and within three minutes walk of Regent Circus. You m'J challenge Paris, Vienna, or Berlin, St. Petersburg, or New York to show anything equal to Regent Street or Piccadilly on a summer afternoon. Four rows of carriages move east and west, while the broad and ample pavements are crowded with pedestrians, the great majority of whom have come out to admire the glories of the shops. The excursionist to London has many places marked out upon his list which he is bound to see. He must go through the grim old Tower, must ascend to the whispering gallery of St. Paul's, go to the top of the Monument, be con- ducted through the Guildhall, see the curiosities of the British Museum, inspect the treasures of the National Gallery, go over the Houses of Parliament traverse the aisles of the venerable Abbey, have a run upon the underground railway, and taking a steamboat trip upon the rapid tide of the Thames, include a view of the Embankment and Cleopatra's Needle by the way. In the midst of all, however, a glance at Regent- street-and, In the language of the poet Gray, "all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,"—ought to be one of the engagements, and it would not be forgotten after the return of the ordinary matter-of-fact occupa- tions which combine to make up the work of every-day life.

THE ZULU WAR, The Natal Mercury April 28, gives a description of the engagement of H.M.8. Forester with ths enemy on the Zulu coast. It says :— H.M.S. Forester returned from the Zulu coast on Saturday, and we learn from officers who have come ashore from her that she had a slight engagement with the enemy whilst she was lying off Pgjnt Darnford. The Forester left here on a second visit to the coast on the 21st instant, the arrangement being that she should take soundings in the neighbour- hood of the Tugela mouth and Point Durnford, situated Bome twenty or thirty miles apart, with the view of landing men there. The Tugela mouth was reached the morning after the Forester left here, and the work of taking soundings was imme. diately commenced, slow progress being made towards Point Durnford. No Zulus in large numbers were seen until the morning of the 24th. The Forester on that day lay off Point Durnford, and two boats manned with sounding parties were sent close in, and prooeeded with the work for some time with. out any signs of interference, all being apparently quiet and safe. At dinner time, the boats being then close in, the anchors were dropped, and the men commenced to partake of their meal. Sod denly a volley of musketry was heard, and at the came time shots came close up to the boats. A large body of Zulus was then observed on the beach, and a stcond volley was fired. The fire was returned by the men in the boats, and the lifting of the anchors was the work of a inute only. The boats made towards the Forester, continuing their fire as they got into deep water. None of the shots had touched the boats but they had had a very narrow shave. The Zulus were men retreating to the bush, which was at once shelled by the Forester, and no doubt a number of the enemy were killed. Of course there were no means of ascertaining the extent of the Zulu losses. They had forty head of cattle with them when they first fired, and of this number thirty-six were seen lying dead after they had retreated. The Forester kept a sharp look out for Zulus on the coast up to the time of her departure on Saturday. She leaves again to. morrow for the same neighbourhood. Commodore Richards and Mr. G. C Cato go with this trip. Mr. Cato will no doubt be able to render valuable assist- ance in connection with Bounding operations.

MEDICAL TEMPERANCE ASSOCIATION. The annual meeting of the British Medical Temperanoe Association, which was founded three years ago, and now nuoroers 94 members of the profession among Its constituents, was held in the rooms of the Medical Society of London, 11, Chandos-street, London, the other day. The newly-elected president, Dr. B. W. Richardson, F.R.S., in his inaugural address contended that the only reliable and scientific way of using alcohol as a medicine was to administer it as alcohol, and to prescribe it in set form and dose just as other active remedies in the pharma- copcea. For his own part, he had followed this plan exclusively for some years, and while the results he had obtained as to the value of alcohol were, in consequence, most precise, they did not place it in a very conspicuous or special p )e:tion as an important aid for the relief of disease, while they gave it no pre- tension whatever aa an actual means of cure. In any case, and at the best, its use was temporary and pallia- tive only, while the craving for itself, which it soon excited, demanded the most watchful care. Dr. Norman Kerr, F.L.8., in proposing a resolu- tion of thanks to Dr. Richardson for his address, with a request for permission to print it and to circulate it among the profession, said that by the magic of their president's name he had himself within the last six months enlisted 45 medical men as Associates. The vote having been Beoonded by Mr. Henry Dixon, eoroner for South Oxfordshire, was carried by acclama- tion, and Dr. Richardson having acknowledged the compliment and acceded to the request, the meeting dosed,