The Aberdare Times

THE GRAND FESTIVAL AT THE PARIS OPERA. A grand fete took place at the Opera House in Paris on Saturday evening in aid of the sufferers by the floods at Szeged in. The proceedings were divided into a preliminary evening concert and a fancy fair, com- mencing at midnight. There were present at the fete the Prince of Walea and other distinguished visitors, the general audience being the faahionable world of the French capital. The stall-keepers in the fair were the leading French actors and actresses. The prices charged were worthy of the magnitude of the whole conception. Thepooreat place for the concert was forty francs, but after midnight twenty francs admitted to all the fun of the fair." The Paris correspondent of tht Daily News,in noticing the festival, ears :—" Nothing in the recorded history of public entertainments is known to have been so gay and beautiful. As much downright material enjoy- ment for the eyes, ears, and imagination aa can be bought and sold was crowded into one evening, and the cup of pleasure was filled quite to the brim. The amusements were so numerous and skilfully diversified that they seemed endless. They oamprised a Japanese shop managed by Mdlles. Sangalli, Marquet, Salan- ville, Roumier, and Biot-tluch shopwomen as were never seen before; a fortune-teller in Leonide Leblanc, who foretold the moat enviable destinies. There waa a maze of flowers such as Paris only can ahow; an at- mosphere ef perfumes j a world of sweets; toys enough to set whole nurseries dancing with delight; wine and wit for the asking; and Sevres beer for nothing. "The enchanted man who, had paid his entrance money into this paradise could be weighed or photo- graphed, could play at billiards, or ride on a wooden horse at wilL He could enter with spirit into Polish games and fancy himself an illustrious exile, or look at Fantoceini like the whimsicial things of a waking dream. There was Weldteufel's orchestra, with seven other companies of renown, including the excellent band ef the Republican Guard. The sparkling qaatuor of Jtigolletto was executed by Fauro, Vergnet, Krauas, and Bloch. There were also some Tyroleae singers, and a conjuror who seemed at least a magician. AU the art and the fame of Paris at its best, every celebrity who could attract the sightseer, assembled to take part in the gracious work of international oharity which appeared to draw the links of all haman brotherhood mere closely. The Preaident of the Republic arrived shortly before nine, and the Prince of Wales took possession of his box a few minutes afterwards. At two in the morning there was a mock auction, held by a charming auctioneer, Mdlle. Marie Legault. At three there was a tombola. Even the naughty joy of gambling was not wanting to give the zest of tor- bidden fruit to the cloee of the merriment. By list n- ing to the vivacious sallies of some of the prettieet and most amusing women in tne world, a generous stranger might probably be induced to bid a high price for a hot chestnut. By staking a hundred francs, more or less, on a lottery ticket, a lucky sportsman might become possessed of a flagon of miracle water to make him beautiful for ever, of a smoked tongua for immediate use, or of a hundred free permissions to go up in a balloon," The amusements did not conclude till breakfast time, and the festival was as complete a success as such things can be, producing a net profit of £10,000.

PLOUGHING BY ELECTRICITY. The Times of Monday published the following letter:— Sir,—For some long time put interesting experi- menta have been made at Sermaize-les-Bains (Marne), France, in the use of electricity aa a motive pewer, and daring the put week an important trial of ploughing by electricity was accomplished in presence of various officials belonging to the department—viz., General Clinchant, the Prefect, the Sons Prefect, M. Henry (chief engineer), a delegation from the Institute, M. Doreleste (Inspector-General of Bridges), a deputation from the National Society of Agriculture, &c. The trial resulted in a complete suecess. One of Howard's double farrow ploughs was uaed, supplied by M. Th. Pilter, of 24, Rue Alibert, Paris, The plough worked steadily and completely to the satisfaction of all present. Agentleosau whom I have known for many years, M. Gonrguillon, of Vitry-le Fracfoia, who saw the experiment, speaks of it in the moat assuring terms. He says the motion is conveyed to a drum from the electric machine and thence by a coil of wire to the plough. There was no stoppage of any kind, but the plough did ita work steadily, about 8io. deep. I The inventor ia a M. Felix, owner of a large sugar manufactory at Sermaize-lee-Bains. It may be many years before thia can be brought into profitable practical use, but if it can, what a revolution it will accomplish! If motive, power can be utiliaed from electricity for one thing, why not for another f M. Peronne, of Serm&ize-le*-Bains, who writing to one ot the papers is very sanguine of its ultimate accomplishment, says "it may be utilised in towna and places for industrial purpol88-a powerful elec- trioal machine might be constructed, and the power conveyed by wire to different industries at a moderate cost to those using it." I am not able to say whether the cost of ploughing by electricity is more or less than steam power-m08t probably more at present. I can only report the faet of its having been aocomplished. I am, however, promised further details. 1 am Borry to say that the crops look wretched everywhere in this generally much-favoured country. Everything is backward; the wheat has not grown lately-how can it, with constant cold winds and wet ? The barley and all the cereals look sickly and yellow and if this miserable weather continues the general crop must be very defioient.—I am, Sir, yours truly, Charlevllle (les Ardennes), Franoe, Janf '2. 00KBSDGS'

THE AMERICAN AND CANADIAN FOOD SUPPLY. The supply of American and Canadian food at Liverpool last week was remarkable for the great increase in the quantity of fresh beef, which was double that of the preceding week. In live stock there was an equally marked decrease in the arrival of live sheep and pigs when contraetedwith the former week. The arrivals were the Wisconsin, with 1,580 quarters of beef and 550 carcases of mutton The Nevada, 1,580 quarters of beef and 500 carcases of mutton the Pennsylvania, 1,146 qaarters of beef; the Republic, 600 quarters of beef and 250 carcases of mutton the City of Berlin, 640 quarters of beef, 300 caicases of matton, and 212 dead pigs; and the Illyrian 400 quarters of beef, making the total 5,946 quarters of beef, 1,600 carcases of mutton, and 272 dead pigs. With live stock the steameis were:—The City of Bristol with 421 head of cattle the Dominion. 340 head of cattle the Canadian, 280 head of cattle; the Devonshire, 162 head of cattia the Illyrian, 140 head of cattle and 71 sheep, and the Lord Gough with 130 head of uattle; being 1,473 head of cattle, and 71 sheep.

THE ZULU WAB. The following despatch from the Cape has been received at the War Offloe :— U CAPE Tows, May 20. Lord Chelmsford telegraphs that a reconnaissance by General Crealock's Division and the naval authori- ties gives the hope that stores may be landed at the month of the Ulalasi. This will be of great assistance. Lanyon hopes to bring down 500 mounted purghera for the defence of the Transvaal frontier under Pretorius. A reconnoissance ought to decide the bed line for the advance, for Newdigate and Wood's advance ahould commence in ten days. General Clifford, Maritzburg, adds:—Lord Chelmsford requirea two months' supplies with the force advancing, and one month's at advance Conference-hill. No date can be fixed for the completion; want of transport driven is the cause of the delay. The move of the Dragoons to Standerton is postponed. "Lord Chelmsford telegraphs from Utrecht this day, and the following intelligence haa been received from General Crealock under date May 11 The King's messenger was interviewed at eight this morn- ing, TJmdvanche being the chief messenger's name. He had delivered a summons to Dabulemanzi soon after Ginghilova; he went to hia kraal. While there the second messenger came with the King's orders to go to Fort Chelmsford to see Dunn and give the message I telegraphed yesterday. He was requested, if possible, to intercede with Dunn, saying the King was wrong—he had been deceived. He knew now be waa no match for the white man. We had killed his young warriors in whom he had trusted. A private conversation was afterwards held. The seoond messenger said Cetewayo had sent a message to a chief about here that Zulua were not to fire on white men. The chief asked to see the elephant tuak, the sign of being in eameat. Dann states he believed they had the tusk. Sigsig- wella, a chief, would not permit this message to be published. More chiefs, it is believed, would give themselves (up ?) but for fear and jealousy of others. My reply to Cetewayo :—* If I return, your second messenger, Umdwdwandwnf, remainawithme. I have heard your words, and have sent them to the great white chief; but I am sure he will say what I lay- viz., that I could not understand the King's words, as he haa not sent me one of his headnten who were pre- sent at the ultimatum meeting at Tugela, and nene of the words now said by hia head messengers referred in any way to his words spoken in the ultimatum.' I would send the King the great white chief a answer. All the great chiefs were still in council with Cetewayo. The three points discussed were—giving up their firearms, giving up the prisoners demanded, and collections of cattle to pay the fine demanded. Dunn sent messages to all chiefa that if they wished things settled they muat come 10 at once, trusting English elemency, and they would not be badly dealt with, but if they stay with the king when I advance all would be destroyed. My messengers went from Umaguenda, and two from Clarke had been with the King. Dann thinks this is the result. The King hears we are going to cut off his retreat to Limbombo, Dunn told the messenger we were going much further, even to the Swazi country. He thinks the King means business. I have ordered redoubled precautions and vigilance everywhere." Colonel Reilly, R.A., has broken his wrist in a fall from his horse. Remains at Newcastle as com. mandant there."

The special Correspondent of the Daily Neu>i under date Maritzburg, May 19, ssys "The numerous rumours which have been flying about for the last few dsys, reporting Cetewayo's willingness to surrender, have not. up to this date, been officially confirmed. On reliable authority I am infQrmed 11Ich overtures have not beeo made. John Dunn has gone liito Zululand, but his mission Is not known. Dabulamaozl, who was reported dead some days ago, Is ttiM ttvlag, aad has gone up to the King's kraal in response to a command of his Royal brother, It is laid, to confer on tbe terml to be propoAed in making onrturea for peace, but this is aaofficial. Dabulamacxl's seosssion would be a grave blow to the Zalul. He is their ablest general, and Is the best shot, not only in Zululand but in South Africa."

The Correspondent of the Daily Telegraph says:—"On May 161 reached £ orke's Drift on my return from Isandula, Colonel Black having made a reconnaissance of the surround- log country, thereby assuring himself that the rumours of any Impls being In the neighbourhood were unfounded. The battle-field was in much the same state as it had been left by the Zulul, only the wagons remaining intact. The high grass now conceals most of the bodies, only those that have not been stripped retaining human form. Nothing valuable was found. Major Smith's remains were discovered near the river. The expedition returned by the path taken by the fugttlves, tracing it from the scene of the fighting across a stream and up the Natal hills to within five miles of Korke's Drift by the skeletons of the slain. Same Zntna fired at us when we were checked by the watercourse, and again when crossing the river, but we suffered no casualties."

SALMON AND TROUT AT THE ANTIPODES. The Timet has published the following letter from Mr. Jamea A. Youl, Waratah-house, Clapham-park Sir,—From the lateat files of the Melbourne papers I learn that Captain Payne, Inspector of Fisheries, has drawn the attention of those engaged in fishing to the fact that accounta have been reoeived that several shoals of small fish, varying from nine inches to one foot in length, have lately been seen going down the 1 arra river, which are supposed to be the Californian salmon on their way to sea. Fiahermen are requested to use extra precautions, and should they catch any of theae young fish to return them at once to the water. The Argue newspaper remarks:— It is enoouraging to learn, from information which has reached the Inspector of Fisheries, that there are at last traces of the Californian salmon which Sir Samuel Wilson, at se much cost and trouble, introduced into the Victorian rivers more than 12 months ago; the young try have escaped their first perils, and, in accordance with instinct, are now making their way to the aea." On the 24th of March last some 20,000 ova of the small south and north of England trout arrived safely in Melbourne. They were from Cumber- land and shipped to the order of Sir Samuel Wilaon. The people of Melbourne do not appear to be satisfied with the trout I sent them, which were from the Itchin, Wey, and Wick, and are, I believe, as fine aa any in the world: but the rivera of Victoria, being very lightly stocked, they get abun- dance of food without much exertion, and, therefore, grow to great size, lazy, and do not rise readily to the Ily. In Tasmania, whence they obtained all their ova in the smaller streams there, they riae beautifully, and average from three-quarters of a pound to a pound and a half, whereas in the Derwsnt they attain from lOlb. to 141b. weight

MB. GLADSTONE AND HIS VISITORS. On Saturday a party of nearly a thousand members of the Liberal Assooiations of Haworoft and Spotland, Rochdale, visited Hawarden Castle, near Cheater, the residence of the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, and were admitted to the park and grounds. Mr, Glad- stone was not at home, being on a visit to Lord Strat- ford de Redcliffe, but had written as follows to the secretary of the Spotland Association :— "I don't doubt the day for your visit could be arranged, but I have been obliged altogether to abandon the practice of giving large parties of visitors personally a welcome, as It was found to involve in an inoonvenlent way the character of a political address. A deputation of the excursionists were reoeived by Mrs. Gladstone, and in her presence passed a vote of thanks to Mr. Gladstone for throwing open the park. The resolution was acknowledged by Mrs. Gladstone, who said the kind expressions made use of towards her husband were more gratifying to her than those ased towards herself. j

SIR ROWLAND HILL AND PENNY POSTAGE. A deputation of the Corporation of the Cltv of London, accompanied by the Town Clerk and the Chamberlain, waited on Sir Rowland Hill at his residence, Hampstead, on Friday in last week, for the purpose of presenting him with the freedom of the City In a handsome gold oasket. 8ir Rowland Hill, now 83 years of age, though in the enjoyment of his mental laeultles, was not able to visit the City, and It was thought beat to let the ceremony be of the simplest kind. Sir Rowland Hill, in replying to the deputation, spokewith deep feeling of the gratification with which he and all the members of his family received the honour which it had pleased the corporation of Lon- don to confer upon him—an honour rendered all the more gratifying by the very generous manner in which the Chamberlain had been pleased to speak of his ser- vices. Like every one elae who endeavoured to effect improvements in existing institutions, it had been his lot te encounter misrepresentation, injustice, and strenuous, though doubtless often honeat opposition but, on the other hand, there were probably few innovators who had had the good fortune which had been granted to him; to live to see his plans crowned with a success far exceeding his most sanguine ex- pectations to find former opponents converted into zealous friends and, above all, to know-as he did by that day's ceremony and by other tokens which from time to time had reached his hands that, though nearly 4Q years had passed since his plans came into operation, the public still retained a kindly remem- brance of his services to their common country, and, as had been kindly said, to the world at large. The present generation, fortunately for itself, had no practical acquaintance with the evils of the old poetal system. Probably few even of those assembled around him were aware that a lower rate of postage now carried a letter from Egypt or the farthest parts of Europe to San Frand-co than was charged in 1839 on a letter coming irom Guildhall (which they had left scarcely an hour ago) to that house, though the latter distance, as the crow flies, was scarcely four miles. The uniform penny postage system seemed, perhaps, now to many persons to be so natural and proper-50 thoroughly ia accordance with the fitness of things-that they were probably unaware how incredulous many people were 40 years ago aa to its propriety, and how narrowly the 'plan more than once essaped total shipwreck. It. might, perhaps, be interesting to them to know that when he first turned his attention to the practicability of re- forming the Post Office-thongh he was confident that the existing rates of postage were in many cases too high—he had no idea of uniformity of rate, and, so far as he was aware, no one else bad ever even suggested such a thing. Beforemaking uphis mind, however, as to what simplifications of arrangement and reductions of charge were praotioablel he set himself to analyse care- fully each item of cost in the service performed by the Post Office as regarded letters committed to its charge. In the coarse of the investigation he found that the chief items of cost were what he might call the terminal lerviC88-i.e., those of collection and delivery and it was then he discovered what was to him the astonish- ing fact that not only did the cost of conveying a letter from the town in which it originated to ita place of destination bear no proportion to the distance it had to be conveyed, but that that cost was so insignificant (only the ninth part of a farthing even for carrying a letter the 400 miles between London and Edinburgh) that it might be ignored, and that a uniform rate of postage, with its manifest advantages in simplify- ing and still further cheapening the postal arrangements, was in truth absolutely fairer than any other. So little, however, were many people prepared at that time to accept the principle of ^uniform poøtage-a change even more inconsistent with their established usages than a uniform rate .for passengers and goods by railway would probably be considered at the present time— that, even after all the evidence had been submitted to the Parliamentary Committee of 1838, that com- mittee, when th-l principle of uniformity of postage was put to the vote, was equally divided, and this question—the very essence of his Icheme-was only carried by the casting vote of the chairman—the late Mr, Robert Wallace, member for Greenock, a gentle- man, he might add, who had then already distinguished hill1øelf. for many improvements which he had effected in the details of Post Office management. When the fnrther question was put that the uniform rate should be one penny, this was rejected by the committee- only three voting in ita favour and six against it—and ipetead of the penny rate a twopenny rate of postage was recommended. He would not enter into a long explanation to show how this difficulty was ultimately overcome, and how in the end penny postage wr' conceded by the Government of the day, not so mush, he feared, from any real con. viction as to ita merits, but as a means, he believed, of securing, on a coming division, the votes of certain influential members of Parliament, whose opposition, on a question wholly unconnected with the post Office, had become dangerous to the Government. In eonclusion, he begged the deputation to convey to the Lord Mayor and Corporation of London his most earnest thanks not only for the honour they had conferred upon him, but for the kind con. aideration they had shown in sending a deputation of their body to present the resolution to him there, his feeble state of health (which had kept him a prisoner in those rooms for nearly four years) preventing him from going into the City to re- ceive the freedom at their hands. In the fulness of time, when those who could still remember the incon- venience of the former postal system should have passed away, and the public, as years rolled on, should have forgotten, aa necessarily they would, everything concerning himself and the reform whioh it had fallen to his lot to effect, his son and his son's sons would still be able to point with pride to this permanent and visible token of the full and generous manner in which the corporation of the greatest city in the world had been pleased to express ita approval of his labours for the public welfare. Sir Rowland Hill then Bigned the roll of honorary citizenship, the Chamberlain observing that the archives in the City Library showed that he was the third of that name and family who had become con- nected with the city of London. The first was a direct ancestor of his and bore the same arms-viz., Sir Row- land Hill, citizen and mercer, who was Lord Mayor in 1549, a benefactor of Christ's Hospital, and founder of the Grammar School at Drayton, Salop. He was buried in the church of St. Stephen, Walbrook, and his epitaph is in Stow's Survey of London." The second was Geceral Sir Rowland Hill, who in 1814 re- ceived the honorary freedom of the City for his ser- vices at the battle of Vitoria. This brought the ceremony to a conclusion.

The casket presented by the Lord Mayor and Cor- poration is of 18 carat gold and weighs twenty ounces. The front panel is ornamented after a design by the late Mr. Mulready, R A., for the first penny envelope issued by the Post Office. It represents Britannia as sending forth her messengers to all parts of the globe, and beneath the figure of Britannia ia a fac simile in enamel of the penny stamp. At the back is an in- scription, at one end the monogram of Sir Rowland Hill, at the other end the family crest, and on the lid the arms of the city of London. It is lined with crimson silk velvet, and stands on a block of coloured marble. There is a baae covered with silk velvet, and the whole can be enclosed in a Morocco case lined with satin and velvet.

YAKOOB KHAN AT GANDAMAK. Under date Camp, GMdamak, May 9, The Timet of Tues- day published a most Interesting letter from their Special Correspondent, from which we make the following ex- tracts :— The night of the 7th was so stormy and wet that at one time it Beemed doubtful if the programme arranged for the reception of Ameer Yakoob Khan in this camp could be carried out. However, the weather moderated before daybreak, and a bright though cold morning enabled everything to go forward exactly aa intended. The first to be in motion from the camp was the Guard of Honour intended to meet the Ameer and render him the first courtesies. The Guard of Honour consisted of 50 men 10th Hussars and 50 Guides Cavalry, the whole under Major Wood, of the former regiment. This portion of the Cabul road is always interesting, no less from the associations connected with it than from the striking character of the scenery. The road for the first three miles from the camp lies through the open and fairiy pleasing valley of Gandamak, with its wheatfields now almost ready for the sickle, and its clumps of dark mulberry trees now in all the beauty of their spring foliage. The glorious snow- clad peaks of Sufed.koh bound the view to the south, and a bold dark range, known, locally at least, aa the Siyah-koh, or black mountain, which runs transversely from north-east to aouth-weat across the Jellalabad valley, marks the course of the Surkhab river and shuts the traveller out from the view of the rich Lugh- man valley and Cabul river to the north. In front are the dreary mountains through which the onward road to Cabul lies, and which are pierced at different points by the Jagdalak, the Tezin, and the Khurd Cabul passes. Apart from the striking character of the scenery, the road traversed yesterday morning passes, at four miles from camp, close under the memorable hill where the last stand of the retreating Cabul force was made in January, 1842, and where the seventy brave men who had fought their way under every priva- tion and difficulty up to that point were finally over. powered by their pitiless enemies. It is easy in pass- ing this sacred apot to conjure up the scene again, and to picture the diminiahed band, as, dauntless to the last, it resisted the attempt of the Afghana to possess themselves of its arms under the guise of friendly offers of bread and milk, which the exhausted soldiers were gladly purchasing with their last rupees. The treacherous attempt was repelled with the same re- solution which had carried our brave countrymen so far. The last remaining rounds of ammunition however, were soon expended, and the stones with which the hill is covered were soon the only defence left. Then the assailants, whom these supreme volleys had driven to a safe distance, perceived that their time had ceme, and rushing in with their cruel knives put an end to the dreadful scene. The colours of the British regiment, which Captain Souter, with a devotion, perhaps, hardly remembered, bad wrapped round his body, were saved by him, as they, in turn, are said to have saved his life. The rude Ghilzais, Btruck by the strange envelopment, and fancying that the bearer of a covering so rich and un- usual must be an officer of high rank, spared his life and also the lives of three or four of his humbler com- rades, and eventually sent them to join the other cap. tives in the hands of Akbar Khan. It has recently been told how, when this memo- rable hill was first visited by officers of Sir Samuel Browne's force, it was found still whitened in places by the bones of this gallant band. The hasty sepulture afforded to the sacred remains by Pollock's force had been unavailing, the stones piled upon them having become disturbed in the lapse of years. Once more they have had to receive at the hands of sym- pathetic comrades respectful care, and a solid cairn of stones now covers them, let it be hoped, on til the grave finally gives up its dead. There are Ghilzais still living and now present in this camp who own to having been present and taken part in the last fatal struggle. It is Eleasing to relate that they all bear witness to the ravery with which our countrymen died, and speak of them in terms of respect and admiration, quite free from triumph or boastfulnese. It was about one mile beyond this interesting hill that the escort halted te await the Ameer. He was not long in coming, only just long enough to enable the enterprising photographer, Mr. Burke, who has accompanied the Khjber column from the first, and photographed many memorable scenes of localities, to get his apparatus in order for exercising his art at the interesting moment when the Ameer and the Viceroy's representative should exchange their first salutations. The Ameer rode in front of his party, with Mustaufi Habibullah, his finance Minister, and General Daoud Shah Kltan, the commander of the troops stationed in Cabul, immediately behind him. As he shook hands with Major Cavagnari the guard of honour gave the customary salute, and after a few minutes devoted to compliments on each Bide the return march to oamp commenced. The detachment of Guides Cavalry led the way; then followed the Ameer with Major Cavagnari and Major Wood on his left and right, bat a little in rear, as respect demanded. Almost in a line with the two last-named officers followed the Mustaufi and the General; and at a. few paces' distance several of the near members of the Ameer's family, in particular tue two sons of Mahomed Shereef Khan, the only sur- viving full brother of the late Ameer. One of these, Hashum Khan, is married, it may be remembered, to the sister of the late heir designate, Abdullah Jan, and was put forward by the mother of the latter, on the Ameer's death at Mszar i-Sharif, as a candidate for the throne in opposition to Yakoob. Hashum Khan is unprepossessing in face and figure, and very far inferior to Yakoob Khan, whose appearance I will en- deavour briefly to describe. His appearance, I should say, ia decidedly aristo- D °' middle height, straight, and well < oomplexion is that of an Italian, and < Infinitely fairer than that of many of the bronzed < "anion one sees in the British oamps. His features I Me of the usual coarsely aquiline Afghan type, His expression is somewhat stern and careworn, but indicates character and resolution. His beard is short and crisp, and at his age, thirty-four, is adoubtless of its natural black colour, undisguised by "he cosmetics so freely used by Afghans when gray hairs appear. The Ameer rode a well-bitted, light chestnut Turcoman charger, equipped with European military saddle and bridle. He was dressed in an Afghan cloak of the finest material of the country, made with evident attention to a becoming fit, and wore European trousers fastened under a neat polished-leather boot by chain straps. Hia headdress was a olose-fitting cap of Astrakhan wool. He sat his horse erect and well, and it waa easy to fancy him the gallant soldier and skilful general which in his earlier years he so often proved himself to be. The Mmstaufi, or Finance Minister, is an ordinary- looking man, who might pass for an Indian Tuhseeldar. He wore a light blue Afghan cloak, or ohogha as it is called in this country. General Daoud Shah ia a man of enormous stature, and not even a loose Afghan oloak, a pair of very wide trousers without straps, and Boldier's ankle boots innocent of blacking, could con- ceal a certain soldierly air and look. He has been generally supposed to ba hostile to the English alli- ance. The Mustaufi, on the other hand, passes for our decided well-wisher. The relativea of the Ameer, whom 1 have described as riding in Beoond line, call for no particular remark. They were all young men, dressed like all Afghans of rank, plainly, and were mounted on indifferent horses; still they showed evident signs of birth and breeding. After proceeding a couple of miles a smart shower of rain came on and there waa a general call for cloaks and waterproofs, A mounted retainer of the Ameer's galloped up with a heavy overcoat for the Ameer, which he struggled into with some difficulty, owing to the fidgettiness of his horse. At the edge of the Gandamak plain and about two miles from camp, the outermost flank of the British troops was reached, and the Ameer was joined by Sir Samuel Browne and entered the street which extended up to his tents. The troops were drawn up in extended files at open order and were made to cover as much ground as pos- aible. Each infantry regiment, as the Ameer passed through ita opened ranks, presented arms, the band playing the National Anthem, followed by the regimental quick step. The two first native infantry regiments were in red, the three next in khakee, aa also the Sappers. The Rifles were in their green uni. form, therSlst, and 17th in red. The Artillery, 10th Hussars, and llth Bengal Cavalry were in b'ue the Guides Cavalry in the well-known khakee, which now popular colour they were the first to introduce into the native army. Drawn up in such extended order the maat was made of the troops, who looked extremely well, bronzed and hardened by six months' exposure and camp life. A company of the 17th Foot waa drawn up as a guard of honour at the Ameer's camp, which is divided from the Britiah camp by one of thõa," clear and rapid streams which descend from the Snfed-koh. The Ameer had sent on his own durbar tent, a mag- nificent one as compared with anything in the British camp; but a street of our Indian army tents had been pitched for the accommodation of his auite and were gratefully availed of. A Royal salute was given from the heavy battery (which had been left in camp for that purpose) as the Ameer approached his camp, the last gun being fired juat as he alighted. The guard of honour of the 17th Foot received the Ameer with presented arms as he rode up, and then marched back to ita own camp, thus avoiding the smallest appearance of placing any constraint upon the Ameer, who was left to the pro- tection of hia own infantry body guard, a rough-and. ready looking set of men, dressed in imitation of our kilted regiments. Everything passed off well, and the Ameer could hardly fail to have been pleased with the marked honour and respect with which he was received. At 4p.m. Major Cavagnari and Sir Samuel Browne paid the Ameer a joint visit of ceremony. j?* *^e usual inquiries after health the nameB of the British officers present were mentioned to the Ameer by Major Cavagnari, and a few formal ques- tions were asked and answered. Then Major Cavagnari presented to the Ameer a splendid Khnreeta," or letter from the Viceroy, which the Ameer handed over to the Mustaufi. The ASastaufi opened the handsomely decorated envelope with due respect, and, advancing up to the Ameer, proceeded to read it. It was addressed to Ameer Mahomed Yakoob Khan, Wall of Cabul," and I need hardly say is the first personal communication which haa passed between the Viceroy and the Ameer. The style and title by which the Ameer is addressed, are, I presume, tantamount to a recognition by the Viceroy of the Ameer's position as de facto ruler of the country. If this is correct, the receipt of the Khureeta" can hardly have failed to give the Ameer pleasure; but it is remarked that he keeps his features under wonderful oontroi and appears careful that they never betray his real feelings. The Khureeta com- menced with the Viceroy's condolences on the death of the Ameer's father, and went on to introduce to him Major Cavagnari as the British Plenipotentiary during the approaching negotiations. After a little further con. versation tea was handed round in a service which it surprised me to see at such a place as Gandamak, and the British officers took their leave, the Ameer shaking hands with each of them. The MuBtaufi and the General attended them to the outside of the tent and stood while they mounted their horses. At the same hour on Friday the Ameer returned the visit of Sir Samuel Browne and Major Cavagnari. On this occasion the whole of the Divisional Staff and the general officers commanding the several brigades were invited to be present. The Ameer was dressed in the same simple and becoming costume which he wore when he first met Major Cavagnari. He was, of course, re- oeived with a Royal salute and by a guard of honour, drawn on this occasion from the dlst Light Infantry. Major Cavagnari'a modeot double-poled tent was con. verted into a durbar tent for the occasion. The chairs were arranged in horseshoe form at one side of the tent, and in this way etiquette was preserved, which, I believe, required that the Ameer should not occupy a prominently central place in a durbar held by the representative of the Viceroy. The Ameer was placed on Sir Samuel Browne's right hand Mtj or Cavagnari being on Sir Samuel's left, General Da >ud Shah, the Mustaufi, and five others, the near relatives of the Ameer, sat on the Ameer's right. The British officers about 20 in number, occupied chairs indiscriminately on the right and left. After a few formal questions and replies the officers present were separately introduced by Sir Samuel Browne to the Ameer, who shook hands with each of them. Major Cavagnari then did the same office for three members of the Press who had been invited to attend the durbar, the Ameer repeating the name of the Illustrated London Newt, and expressing his fami iarifey with that paper. Tea waa soon after handed round, and the Ameer then took his leave under the same honours as he had been received with. The A.™eer is becoming very popular in the camp. His dignified and composed demeanour on these public occasions is much admired, and his Entire freedom from either a cringing or a swaggering air. Wonder is expressed how one who has recently asrived at kingly state should have acquired so soon the correct kingly air.

THE TRADE RETURNS FOR MAY. The accounts relating to the trade and navigation of the United Kingdom for the month of May have been issued. They exhibit a ccntinaed decline in the value ef our imports from other countries, but as regards the exports of British and Irish produce are more en- couraging than the return's for many months past, a distinct though comparatively small advance having been made upon the figures for the corresponding period ef last year. The month's imports reached a total value of £21,667,653, as against JML028.768 in May, 1878. The total for the five months of the present year was £144,872,943, comparing with £ 160,986,75L The exports for the month were £ 16,520,490, or £355,41õ in exoess of May last year. The total for the five months, however, is only B74.242 953. all compared with £ 79,568,762. f The most satifactory features in the month's exports were an increase of upwards of £9 000 in cotton an twist, and of over £80,000 in cotton- manufactures: and an increase of £ 80,000 in iron and steel. Linen manufactures, on the other hand, declined to the u. tent of £50,000; silk manufactures, £15,000; and woollen and worsted manufactures, £96,000.

AVEBAOB PBICU OF BRITISH COBS.—The following are the average prices of British corn for the week Boding June 7, as received from the inspectors and officers of Excise :—Wheat, 41s. 7d.; barley, 26s. 6d.; Jats, 21s. 8d. per imperial qr. Corresponding week last year Wheat, 491. Od.; barley, 391. lOd. oats Ms, 9d,

@ur Jonbon Concspottbeni. [We deem it right to state that we do not at all times identify ourselves with our Correspondent's opinions.] The annual Horse Show at the Agricultural Hall at Islington has in the face of many competitors for the public favour, retained its popularity. Twice.. year is this vast building, so conspicuous an object to the wayfarer ia the north of London, thronged to its utmost available capacity by crowds who have oome not only from the uttermost parts of the metropolis, but from distant places in the United Kingdom. In the long days of June the beet horses are to be seen which England can produce; and in the dull December light prime specimens are there from the cattle which are upon a thousand hills. It is difficult to decide which is the more popular exhibition of the two both are usually patronised by Royalty, and are invariably well attended. The saying that behind the horseman sits Black Care does not apply to the Agricultural Hall. When the summer ran is shining high in the heavens, the bril- liant light falls upon an eager multitude whioh watches the leaping with intense interest. There are fences and hurdles, ditches and water-jumps, in fact, all the accessories of life's incidents in the hunting- field; and it is no wonder that such a spectacle, in the very heart of crowded London, should be so attractive to its inhabitants, a large pro- portion of whom, it may safely be relied cpon, were never in a hunting-field in their lives. Bat a Horse Show seldom passes over without aa ac- cident-not often fatal, fortunately, but frequently serious. Wet weather, so destructive to the success of outdoor recreation, cells rather in favour of the Horse Show; for everything there is under cover, and a drenching rain rather adds to than takes from the number of visitors. What a difference shelter makes in a place of relaxation when a rain-storm oomes on, was never more forcibly illus- trated than on the last Bank Holiday. In London the day was one of the most dismal of this dismal season, the consequence of which was that let's than 18,000 persons went to the Zoological Gardens, where there is no protection from the violence of the elements, while more than 55,000 found accomo- dation under the glass roof of the Crystal Palace. On a fine day as many as 40,000 visitors are at the former place on the occasion of a Bank Holiday. Easter-Monday and Whit-Monday having been spoilt by the weather, the people now look forward to the first Monday in August for a few hours of fine weather. That will be the last Bank holiday before Boxing-Day—a long spell of more than four months. To large numbers of the working classes these holidays are the only times of recreation in the twelve months; they are anticipated for weeks with much interest, and it is peculiarly disappointing when they are utterly destroyed by torrents ef rain. The Silver Wedding celebration of the Emperor of Austria is speedily followed by the festivities conse- quent upon the commemoration of the Golden Wed- ding of the Emperor of Germany. The great age of this venerable monarch, and the vast strides which have been made by his country during his reign, surround with interest one of the most commanding figures in modern European history. During his lifetime Prussia, beaten to the ground by the first Napoleon at Jena in 1806, finally triumphed over her old enemy in the gigantic struggle of nine years ago, and is cow at the head of the most powerful military organization in Europe. The Emperor may not be old enough to retain a vivid recollection of the consternation produced throughout Prussia at the disaster of Jena, although he was then nine years of age, but he took part in the events which immediately succeeded the battle of Waterloo, and was present with the Prussian army of Occupation in France after the fall of Napoleon. Whatever of truth there may be in the saying attributed to Marshal Blucherwhen he rode through Paris, "Mein Gott! what a city for to sack there can be none as to his desire to blow up the Bridge of Jena, one of the numerous structures which spans the Seine. Blucher objected to the French people immortalising the terrible disaster to his country which was represented by the results of that battle; so he was making preparations to destroy the bridge when the Duke of Wellington, who was also in Paris at the time, heard of what was going on, and interdicted it. Fifty-five years after the Battle of Waterlo, the Emperor of Germany again entered Fraace, when the two countries were at war. That was in 1870, when J the German nation went forth to repel the French in- vasion. From one end of the vast Fatherland to the other, from the banks of the Danube to the shorea of the Baltic, the German people, like the dry bones mentioned in the book of the prophet Ezekiel, stood upon their feet an exceeding great army." Wholl guard the Rhine—the Uerman Rhine ? To whom ahall we the task assign 1 Dear Fatherland! no care be thine. Firm stand thy ions to guard the RMne It was the rectification of the Rhine frontier for which France went to war, and its results were to shut her out from even a Bight of that coveted river. Her boundaries were instead pushed back to the Moselle and in the splendid palace of the kings of France at Versailles the sovereign of Prussia was crowned Emperor of Germany. Such he is now, and so he celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of his wedding-day after the "battles, sieges, fortunes he has passed;" and, moreover, more than once he has been subjected to the danger of assassination. One Royal visitor goeth away, and another cometh. The Crown Prince of Denmark has left London, bat immediately afterwards, Prince Alexander of Batten- burg arrived, and has been on a visit to the Queen at Balmoral. Prince Alexander is the new ruler of Bul- garia, a state which has been added to the European family under circumstances which need not be recapitulated here. The experiment will be watched with great interest: Bulgaria is to have a Prince, and to be supplied with a constitutional form of Govern- ment and all will be anxious to see how the tree of Liberty flourishee in that virgin soil. This still leaves Russia the only country in Europe without representative institutions of some kind. Russia went to war in order te give Bulgaria a constitution while she has none of her own. Prince Alexander of Battenbarg is accompanied to this country by his brother Prince Louis, and both have made a very favourable impression here. Every confidence is felt in the ruler of the new State that he will discharge his delicate and difficult functions with ability and tact. Another ef the scions of Royal houses who has lately been over here is the Crown Prince of Sweden and Norway—a kingdom of which we hear but little, although it is washed by the same sea as that which breaks upon the eastern coast of England—the German Ocean, wherein the Thames empties its volume. Sweden ia even more of a terra incognita than Norway", which in the summer months, during the put few years, has been made a held for the exploration of the British tourist. The reassembling of the House of Commons after the Whitsuntide Recess antedated that of the Lords by a week; and 10 far as both Chambers are con. cerned, there will aow be no more holidays until Parliament is finally prorogued for the recess that lasts throughout the autumn. Looking back, it is of some interest to note how holiday after holiday has relieved the length of the Session. The Legislature met on the 5th December, and npon its adjoarnment the Christmas recess lasted two months. Reassembling on the 13th February, two months more brought the Easter vacation. Another seven weeks, and there came the adjournment for Whitsuntide and now two months more will brine the prorogation. To the vast multitudes who are incessantly engaged in business, or are absorbed in the heavy toil of a professional career, a small proportion of such an amount of holiday would be most grateful. The Lords meet on four days a week, sometimes sitting only a quarter of an hour the Commons meet five days a week, and their sittings are often of a very protracted character. The Session, excluding the holidays, does not last more than five months out of the twelve, so that ample time is allowed for relaxation from the effects of the long hours whieh the performance of the duties occasionally demand. The prorogation is expected to take place at about the usual time—the secend week in August, and t-hould the Parliament re-assemble next year, it will be for its seventh session. There are, however, many well-informed persons in political circles who are of opinion that it will never meet next year, and that now the Afghan business is out of the way, could the Zulu War be brought to a satisfactory termina- tion, Ministers would at once appeal to the country. The commercial importance of the City of London is recognised throughout the world, and is attested by the fact that it returns four members te the House of Commons. Yet the population is comparatively amall-not more than 75,000 at the last census, and it is possible that it has since decreased, inasmuch as the places of business and warehouses of which it chitfty consists are at night left to the custody of care takers the proprietors preferring the fresher air of the suburbs But it is the enormoos interests of the city, and net merely its population, which its four members of Par. liament represent, and foremost amongst these interests is the colossal banking business of Messrs. Rothschild. Baron Lionel de Rothschild, whoseremains were interred in the Jewish Cemetery at Willesden, near London, a few days ago, was the head of this giant undertaking, daily accastomed to deal with millions of money. When the Suez Canal shares were purchased, four years ago, the necessary four millions were at once advanced by Messrs. Rothschild, who would have had no difficulty over five times that amount. It seemed appropriate enough that the city should be represented by its greatest capitalist, and thus it time to pass that for more than a quarter of a oentury, that great com- mercial constituency sent the baron to Parliament as one of its four membera. He dispensed much of hie vaat wealth in the cause of charity and benevolence, and is spoken of by all who knew him as a genial and kindly man. Those great Temples of the Drama, Covent Garden and Her Majesty's Theatres, are just now in the full tide of the London MaIOD. Italian opera is per. formed at both, the prima donnas at Covent Garden being Madame Patti and Madame Albani, and at Her Majesty's, Madame Christine Nillson and Madame Gerater. To ahow the different nationalities whioh send their representatives to London for the perform. ance of the opera, it may be mentioned that Madame Patti is an Italian, Madame Albani a Frenchwoman, Madame Nillson a Swede, and Madame Gsrster an Hungarian. The Bpectacle of either of these housel on a great night, would convey a most telling idea of the wealth and beauty of the British capital. The overture does not begin until half-past eight and it is ten minutea later before the first bar of the opera is heard. Yet, as early aa six o'clock there is a crowd round the doors; and as the lowest prioe of admission is half'a-crown, the amount of money in such an enormous plase as Covent Garden must be vesy great. Viewed from the amphitheatre stalls, the impression produced is a very effective one. The ladies in full dress, the gentlemen in evening attire, the ample orchestra, the brilliant light, and the ahower of bouquets directed at the prima donna, all combine to make up a marvel. lous picture. The whole of the opera is aung-a great etrain upon the physical powers of the artists. Considering that it Is given in a foreign language, it is of great interest to note the attention with which it is followed by those who have supplied themselves with books of the words. The votaries of music follow every bar with the closest of notice, and are so absorbed in this work that, much as they are delighted with the rendering of this or that psurticular part, they are careful te applaud only in places where their approbation can be manifested without destroy- ing the sound of one single note of the entire perform- ance. With Italian opera at two of the best houses, and French plays at the Gaiety, those who appreciate the drama in foreign languages have now ample oppor- tunities of doing so in the metropolis.

YAKOOB KHAN AND THE VICEROY. The Viceroy of India has telegraphed to the India Office the text of the letter in which the Ameer aaya he is exceedingly pleased with and thankful for the receptien and treatment accorded to him by the British officers, which will doubtless tend to produce good results and bear the fruits of friendship, unity, and concord. He purposes, towards the close of the next cold season, to have a joyful meeting with hia Excellency, for the purpose of making firmer the basis of friendship, and drawing closer the bonds of affec- tion and amity in a most suitable and appropriate manner. Lord Lyttoa replied that a meeting would have been moet advantageous towards drawing closer the bonds of personal friendship, and confirming the fortunate alliance which has now been concluded between the two States. Major Cavagnari will pay a three weeks' visit to the Viceroy, during which time preparations will be made for his reception and residence at Cabul.

THE LENGTH OF PACK.—The length of pace of the various European armies is as follows:—In the German army it is 31^ inches, with a cadence of 112 etepa per mmute in the Austrian army, 29i inches, with a cadence of from 115 to 130 per minute in the Italian "ches, WI £ cadence of 120 per minute; in the French army, 29$inches, with a cadence of 115 per minute in the English army, 30 tgchw. with a « cadence of 116 per minute,

The Times, of Monday, published the following from their Correspondent:— FORT PEARSON, LOWER TUGELA, May 20. For some time put rumours have been current that dis- semlons among the Zulus promised t eftect what oar arml have hitherto failed in doing. On the 16th Inst. UmdwanHbe and two othera-a mau and a boy—presented themselves at Fort Chelmsford as envoys from Cetewayo and asking for peace. 1 hey Intimated that their King was surprised that we should crown him king In the morning and wish to kill him In the afternoon. He was the white man's Ion and wished for peace. Fnrther information was obtained from this man a* to the King's army being dispersed and unwilling to fight again. General Crealock, on receipt of this inteMgence, at onoe despatched John Dunn to see the emissaries, and although his interview has not been made public, I am enabled to Inform jrou that further fighting to any extent may be considered at an end. Although Mr. Dunn does not believe that Cetewayo will agree to the only terms we can impoøe-namely, unconditional lurrender-It Is probable that mature consideration will show the folly of further rtsistance. Cetewayo they say, Is quite aware of all our reinforcements, and did not suppoie It possible that we could place so many men in the field. A private message from a number of chiefs was also sent to Mr. Dunn, to the effect that they were sorry they had not taken his advice, meaning that he advised submission before the war commenced. Cetewayo will probably wish to resign his pretensions to the disputed territory, supposing this to be sufficient satis- faction."

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS. The Cape Argue contains a telegram from Maritzburg which says that the negotiations with Cetewayo have fallen through, the King being unprepared to make unconditional submission. The terms proposed by him were inadmissable. Sir Bartle Frere had a grand reception at Klmberley. A novel sight was presented by the native labourers, with pick and shovel, lining each side of the road, welcoming him in the native fashion. The Diamond Mine waa illuosluated at night The contemplated rapid march upen the Zulu King's kraal at Ulundl has been abandoned. The difficulties con- nected with the transport servioe are Increasing owing to the scarcity ef grass. It Is thought probable that Cetewayo will shortly throw his whole strength against the lower TugeIa column. The health of the troops at the camps is Improving. The correspondent of the Daily Telegraph writes:—"On the occasion of my visit to Isandula I had a ntrrow escape of being cut off while bathing in the Buffalo. The ZulUI came down en me, but fortunately the men of the Native Contingent, posted on the Natal side by Colonel Black, opened a heavy fire on the enemy, ana drove them off. Ocr party was stalked the whole way by Zlllol on foot, whilst mounted men were seen waiting to cut iff eur retreat had we returned to Isandula." A great are broke out at Grey Town on the 18th Inst. Eleven hundred sacks of flour and grain and other commis- sariat stores were destroyed.

THE REINFORCEMENTS. In addition to ten general officers sent to Zulnland, there are no less than 13 colonels and 27 lieutenant-colonels, either sctuall,ln Natal or on their way there, besides a very Urge Bumber of special service officers sent out for duty with Native levies and with the transport. The force now in Natal musters 15 battalions of Infantry, two regiments of Cavalry, six batteries of Artillery, four companies of Engi- neers, and three companies of the Army Servioe Corps, be- sides detachments of the Army Hospital Corps; while, in addition to the Infantry and Artillery furnished by the Rojal Marines, a troop of Engtneera and three com- panies of the Army Service Corps are sn rotUe. 00 the Arrival of tb€M reinforcementl the British arm; la Zululand will be considerably larger than that which was present at Waterloo or at the Alma. At the memorable battle which ended In the overthrow of Napeleon, the Eugltsh troops numbered just under 84,000. At the first great fight in the Crimea the Britiah loroes consisted of 23,000 men. When the troops sent out during the last few days have croised the Tugela, the strength ot the EngUah army within the Zalu territory will be over 80,000.

Tre "Flying Dutchman," the fastest train in the world, has recently been accelerated, so that Exeter is now j prlthln four hours and a quarter of London, and Plymouth :an be reached in tlx hours. Between Paddlagtoa and Swindon the speed is 80 miles an hour, the highest knewn ea I uiy regular service. <

TblllnterutJng and well-deserved recognition of the bene- fits the country has derived from the adoption of the system of nniform penny postage, and which has Its abiding testi- mOBlallo the gratitude of every olass of the community, was the subjeot ot the following leader In The Timet :— Many years ago, at a time which to the present generation will aeem like the middle of the dark ages, though it was within the memory of men still living, the poet Coleridge was making a solitary tour through the Lake?. He stopped one day at a wayside inn for refreshment, and while he was there the rural postman came by, bearing a letter for the waiting-maid. The charge for postage was a shilling—no exorbitant sum in those days, so distant and yet so near. The girl looked wistfully at the letter, and then returned it to the poatman, saying that she could not afford to pay for it. The tender-hearted poet at once proffered the necessary fee, which the girl reluctantly ac- cepted; but when the postman was gone she ex- plained to her benefactor that he had spent his money in vain. The letter was only a blank sheet of paper, but on its oataide were some apparently insignificant marks, of which ahe had carefully taken note before ahe returned the missive to the postman. They had told her all she wanted to know, for she and her brother, from whom the letter came, had agreed upon this mode of communication in order to evade the exorbinate demands of the Post Omoe. "We are so poor," she said, that we have invented thia manner of corresponding and franking our letters." We re- call this once well known story because it illus- trates, better than a pile of statistics could do, the contrast between the postal arrangements of to-day and those of less than fifty years ago. It can hardly be necessary for us to say to whom the momentoua ehange is mainly due. The illustrious author of it, Sir Rowland Hill, is still living, and at the patriarchal age of eighty-three he received a tardy recognition of the services he has rendered alike to his country and to mankind by the proffer of the freedom of the City of London, unanimously voted by the Court of Common Council. The health of Sir Rowland Hill, unhappily, prevented his attending at the Guildhall and receiving the gift of his franchise in person, and it was therefore presented to him by a deputation at his own residence, (f the distinction thus lost Bome of ita prestige it will lose none of ita true significance in the eyes of the public. It has not, however, been necessary for the veteran reformer of our postal system to wait thue long for his appropriate reward. That haa long since been accorded in the gratitude of his countrymen for an emancipated Post Offiee, and in the practioal adoption of his system throughout the civilised world. Nevertheless, it was fitting that the City of London, the official representative of the first commercial com- munity in the world, should, even at this late hour, record ita sense of benefits conferred by the efforts of the originator of the Penny Postage, not only on com- merce, but on society at large. When Sir Rowland Hill first set himself, now more than forty yeara ago, to the task of postal reform, the communications of the country, though officially re- garded aa a model ofemeienoy, were, as compared with what we are now acoustomed to, in a very rudimentary state. Letters all a rule were not prepaid, and could be refused by those to whom they were addressed. They were charged according to a tariff increaaing very rapidly with their weight and with the distance they were carried, so that the briefest communication had to pay several pence for conveyance from one part of the kingdom to another. The inevitable con- sequence was that, although the Post office enjoyed a legal monopoly far the conveyance of letters, all kinds of expedienta were adopted for the independent and illicit transmission of correspondence at a cheaper rate. Members of Parliament and official personages enjoyed the privilege of franking letters under their signature. There was a large traffic in these franks, for it was the common perquisite of dependents of great personages to procure and sell them, and, besides this, they were forged to anenormousextent. Letterswereaentinbook sellers' parcels, in bales of goods, in parcels by common carriers, and all kinds of ingenious modes were devised For evading the exactions of the Post Office. In those lays a letter was a coatly affair, and thrifty people, in consequence, had recourse to many devices te avoid the expease of even necessary correspon- ience. Bankers hesitated to transmit money, awyers to communicate with their agents, mer- Jhants to Mod ordwrt or to forward invoices, while i private friends were either silent altogether, for fear of taxing their correspondents unduly, or waited for the precarious ohanee of a friendly frank. In many large towns four-fifths ef the commercial correspondence was illegally transmitted by private enterprise at a much lower coat than that of the official tariff. Never- theless, the Poøt Office system was regarded as amarvel of organization, and, in answer to all criticisms, it could Soint to a large sum annually earned for the Ixchequer. Herein lay the strength of the early official reBistacse to Sir Rowland Hill's efforts. He could not impugn the organization of th9 Post Office, which worked well in detail, though, as subsequent ex- perience has proved, its system was incurably vicious but he oould and did prove that its mode of levying its charges was unjust and obstructive. He pointed out that the cost of transmitting letters was in- significant as compared with that ef their collec- tion and delivery. Hence be argued that if a uni- form rate, sufficient te cover the necessary expenses were levied on all letters, the distance to which they were conveyed might be left out of account in appraising the charge. By fixing the rate all low as possible, he calculated that the increase of correspondence and the extinction of illicit modes of conveyance would Bpeedily recoup the revenue for its immediate loss, and in the meanwhile the correspon- dence of the country would be relieved from a burden- some and unjust tax. In the light of subsequent ex- perience, Sir Rowland Hill's argument looks so irre- fragable that it is difficult to see why it was at one time so vehemently opposed. But we can all be wise after the event, and it would be unjust not to acknow- ledge that the superior wisdom with which we re- gard the matter after forty yeare* experience is due in the main to Sir Rowland Hill's courage and sagacity* He fought the battle and won it,hopeleBS as his enterprise seemed at first, and we enjoy the fruits of his victory. What those frtiits are, in almost every relation of life, it is difficult to estimate and almost impossible to exaggerate; they are a part of our daily life and almost au natural to us as the air we breathe and yet they are of such recent growth that the author of the reform is still among us to witness the benefits he has con- ferred on all classes of his fellow-creatures, and the story of Coleridge and his wasted shilling is only an illustration of what might have happened any day in diatant parts of the country less than fifty y ears ago. A few figures, taken partly from a memorandum drawn up by Sir Rowland Hill himself on his re- tirement from the Post Office in 1863, will afford some measure of the extent of hia reforms. During the twenty years from 1815 to 1835 there was no increase whatever in the Post Offioe revenue, whether cross or net, and, therefore, the inference is fair that there was no in- crease in the number of letters annually transmitted during the same period. In 1838, the last complete year of the old system, the number of chargeable letters de- livered in the United Kingdom was 76,000,000. In the first five years after the reforms had come into full operation the number increased threefold; in 1863 it had mounted to 642,000,000; while in 1877-8 it reached the astonishing number of 1,057,732,300, or an average of 32 per head for the whole population of the British Isles. Thus while the number of letters remained stationary at three per head of the popula- tion for the twenty years before mentioned, it has increased more than tenfold in the last forty years. In the face of these astonishing figures it is hardly neces- sary to consider what was the immediate financial effect of the revolution wrought by Sir Rowland Hill. That has long since become an insignificant question in comparison with th6 social results produced. As a matter of fact, the profits of the Post Office fell off considerably for some time i but the gross revenue re- turned to about the old level in less than ten years, and the net profits had arisen in 1863 from £ 1,660,000—the figure at which they had stood before the change—to about £ 1,790,00#. In 1877-8 the net revenue was officially returned all £2,851,000, showing an increase of £110.000 upon that of the preceding year. As there is a reverse side to everything, some may be disposed to question whether this portentous increase in the amount ef the country's correspondence is, after all, an unmixed advantage. If those who supported Sir Rowland Hill in 1836, and the following years could have foreseen that the time would come when London would have more than a dozen deliveries a day, each bringing its burden of correspond- ence, always troublesome and too often trivial, they might have thought, as some of us certainly think now, that it ia possible te have too much of a good thing. The plague of oircu- lars, for instance, must be attributed, at least in- directly, to the reforms which were completed in 1840, no less inan the innumerable benefits of cheap and uniform postage. Nevertheless, it would be prepos- terous to doubt that the benefits of the system im- measurably outweigh its inevitable disadvantages. Sir Walter Scott could tell of a time, within the memory of his own friends, when the mail bag from London, which took ten days in transmission, had been known to arrive with only one letter in it. Now-a-days, if the mails between London and Scotland are delayed for only a few hours, business is dislocated and whole communities are inconvenienced. If we owe it to the Post Office itself and to its elaborate organisa- tion that we receive our letters with regularity, it is to Sir Rowland Hill that we owe it that there are letters to receive and that the cost of sending them from one end of the kingdom to the other is what to our fathers would have seemed an insignificant trifle. Nor has this priceless boon been confined to our own country and colonies. In cheap poatage. though not in free trade, the example set by Great Britain haa been all but universally followed, so that, as the veteran postal reformer reminded us, a lower rate of postage now carries a letter from the extremity of Europe to San Francisco than was charged in 1839 on a letter sent from Cheapside to Hampstead.

AMERICAN CROPS. The Ntw York Times published in the last week in May the following summary of reports just received from more than 70 places, oovering more than 1,000 points, in 35 of the United States on the subjeot of the condition of the crops — While there is no such universal promise of over- flowing harvests as was reported a year ago, resulting from the exceptionally early spring of 1878, there are satisfactory indications of an average product in most sections and of most crops, while in the case of some staples an increase is expected. The general cha- racteristics of the Beasen have been everywhere the same. A cold and late spring was followed by a severe drought, from which crops had begun to suffer seriously, when the rains of last week brought the needed relief. The lateness of the season was not without some compensating advantages. Had the seed been sown early, the dryness of the first two weeks in May would have hindered its germination, and a thin and uneven growth would necessarily have resulted. The favourable weather sucoeeding the rains has caused all kinds of vegetation to push forward rapidly until they are now in a state of advancement equal to that of an ordinary year, The wheat and corn crop of the western and north-western States will surpass that of last year should the later season prove favour- able. The condition of the frnit crop in New Eng. land and the middle States is one of unusual promise; but in many sections of the south and west the trees have been injured by the cold winter or late frosts. The crop of oats, roe, and barley will not be above the average. The nay crop will be large, except in some limited areas. The eotton crop will be larger than usual, notwithstanding the un- favourable weather, owing to the effect of the recent in- crease in prices in extending the acreage in most of the southern States. Farmers everywhere have planted more potatoes than usual, and vigorous measures will be taken to protect them from the ravages of the Colorado beetle, whioh has already appeared in threat- ening numberi in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ken- tucky, Ohio, and some other States. Tobacco ia being more largely cultivated by the farmers of Massa- chusetts and Connecticut. In Massachusetts and New Hampshire the sugar-beet industry ia receiving considerable attention, and sorghum has cjme into favour in many sections of the south and west. Thou- sands of acres of new land have been opened up and rut under cultivation in Michigan, Nebraska, and Texas during the present year. The population of Nebraska has increased 60,000 by immigration. Many farmers in the north-western States are engaging in stock-raising to a larger extent than in previous years."