The Aberystwith Observer

j 4 eLftMOE HI FOREIGN AFFAIRS. [The Proprietor ot tnis paper does not necessarily identify himself with the opinions here expressed.] The settlement of the affairs of Italy now seems as far off as ever. As everybody knows, they were to be determined on by the Congress; but this Congress seems now to be indefinitely postponed. The retire- ment of the Chevalier Desambrois, the Sardinian mi- nister at the French court, may be considered as conclusive that no Congress will be held. Lord John Russell, it appears, on behalf of the British Government, has made some propositions which have never been at all clear'y defined, and the tenor of which differs considerably according to various j ournals. Whatever they may have been, however, it seems that they are not at all acceptable, and are not likely to be the foundation of any settlement of matters in dispute. So far, indeed, as peaceful negotiation is concerned, the newspaper reader is now involved in alabyilnth of false news or doubtful rumours. One day contradicts another, and what is to-day most reliable is to-morrow shown to have been without foundation, till the next day ghows that the contradiction was itself a mistake. Mucft of this uncertainty comes of the censorship over the press. ,Jn France we merely refer to facts. The most im- portant consideration appears to be the activity m Warlike preparations. The dockyards and arsenals are 111 full swing, and shipwrights are even working by ..torchlight. The excuce is China--what the real mo- tive may be is not known. With regard to Savoy and Nice, the strong desire which France has for their annexation is undoubted. Incidentally this has latterly been frequently proved; but she Empe .'or of the French seems carefully to pro- hibit any open demonstration in France in favour of any such'scheme. As to Savoy and Nice, their tendencies seem to be rather in favour of Piedmont than France. Indeed, an influential national party in Savoy have for- mally protested against any annexation to the latter country. Glancing over the whole of the Italian peninsula, and considering the position of Italy with regard to France, Austria, and Piedmont, it is impossible to avoid the conviction that affairs look gloomy and unsettled. Zurich and Villafranca have settled nothing, and it is al- most idle even to. speculate what a day may bring forth. Spain, flushed with victory, appears determined to carry forward her successful vantage over the Moors. Marshal O'Donnell says he will continue his offensive operations against them till they ask mercy of Spain, 0, and repay her for her sacrifices. Tetuan having fallen, military operations are now to be directed against Tangier, the capital of the country. Spain evidently sees her power, and is fired with the thirst for conquest a thirst which was one of the distinguishing features 111 her earlier history. An important article of news comes from Vienna, to the effect that the reforms promised in the Minis- terial programme will be granted. Every province, it is said, will receive a separate constitution r,nd adminis- tration according to the wants of the different nation- ) alities. This statement might well have the hackneyed heading, "Important, if true." We fear that when this official announcement comes to be translated into acts, the reforms will dwindle down into very poor reforms indeed—Austrian reforms.

NEW EXPLOSIVE SUBSTANCES.—M. Bcettger, an eminent German chemist, has jrst discovered a curious property of carburetted hydrogen or illuminating gas -viz., that being brought into contact with certain saline solutions, and especially with nitrate of silver, it will, by chemical combinations, form substances of a highly exolosive nature. A few particles of that ob- tained with nitrate of silver will, when subjected to friction, explode with as much violence as the fulnrnate of mercury. This will, doubtless, in some measure account for certain instances of explosion hitherto un- explained. Dr. Torrey, of New York, some time ago discovered that illuminating gas, when conveyed through copper pipes, would in time produce an ex- plosive deposit on the inner surface. This substance seems to have been of the same nature as those dis- covered by M. Boettger, and which he describes as being combinations of copper with carburetted hydrogen, the latter therein the same part as cyanogen in other well-known fulminates. Gas pines are never made of copper now, and neither iron nor lead is liable to produce any fulminating compound. DIPHTHERIA.-Our readers may recollect that, about a year ago, much interest was excited among medical men by a plan for curing the croup through the introduction of a small tube into the wind-pipe. Dr. Bouchut, the author of this plan, soon afterwards announced that he had cured three cases of malignant sore throat or diphtheria by amputating the tonsils-a method which, in his opinion, prevented the develop- ment of croup. He now, in a communication to the Union Medicale, announces that several other cases have been treated in that manner with success—viz., one by Dr. Domerc, three by Dr. Simyan at Cluny, and two by himself, making in all nine successful cases, and no failure. There are certainly few instances in medicine of a new system ushered in under such favourable auspices, and we therefore call the attention of practitioners to Dr. Bouchut's detailed account of the last two cases, which have fallen under his obser- vation, ana ^hich certainly tend to confirm his opinion above alluded ^.—~Q.aiignanit AMERICAN "TELEGRAPHIC REPORTS."—A com- plaint was receitly, Inade to the House of Representa- tives, Washington, by Mr. Ashmore, of South Carolina, respecting a seri ot an(| indecent impertinences aimed at ±lon.. ryor, of Virginia, in what pur- ported to be a report of the proceedings of the House on the previous day, in the New York Herald. He stigmaased this^ohei sive drivel as an insult to the Whole House, <tnd demanded the expulsion of the reporter of the journal which had thus disgraced itself. A further Discussion of the matter, however, revealed the fact that all this vile twaadle had been interpolated at the Herald office, no what was published as a special telegraphic dispatch from. Washington City; and the unhappy reporter was therefore exonerated from the reproach and ignominy which would other- wise most properly have attached to him. The New York Times castigates its contemporary very severely upon such behaviour. LARGE SALE OF FELLOW BEINGS.-—ON Tues- DAY last (says the Savannah Republican,) 1.03 negroes were sold at Cuthbert to settle the business of Messrs. Th 1?' raihoad contractors, one of whom is deceased. -h-r,ere-i 's Probably never been offered m Georgia so ^,7°^ °f negroes at one time. Out of the 108, only e children and 25 women. Of the remaining 73 j, ne vvs.s 60 years old, another 37, and none of the tL a -e 0Ve? 32 years old. The terms were cash, and C6f were enormous. The average 01 the ri„i re rpv6 w,as 1-364 dols. A mechanic brought 2,o00 ^ld'si y before-Monday, General Armstrong coii„3 ne^oef Montezuma. They were an ordinary tion TU' Su°k as would be gathered on a planta- Wo™0„ i6 about 20 men, the remainder being Sevpvoi a?lli, en. The average was 1,100 dols. of Ti t the men brought over 2,000 dols. A girl years brought 1,465 dols; and another a lit;le younger 1,385 dols. The terms were one and two years' credit, with interest added on the face of the notes." I THE COUNTESS AND THE CHANDELIER.—The following are correct details of an accident to the Countess de St. Marsault, the wife of the Prefect of the Seine-et-Oise, which occurred a few nights ago in the Prefecture at Versailles, says a French paper:— In the course of a ball a chandelier fell in one of the saloons, but fortunately no one was beneath it. A lady, Mme. Felix Passy, was, however, close to it, and she received such a shock that she had to retire to the private apartments, and Mine, de St. Marsault accompanied her. They were followed by the English governess of Mme. de St. Marsault's children and as the governess was attending on Mme. Passy, she approached so near the grate that her dress caught fire. Mme. de Saint-Marsault rushed forward and attempted to extinguish the flames she suc- ceeded, but her own dress being of very light texture, caught fire also, and in an instant she was enveloped in flame. With great presence of mind she went to an adjacent room, and wrapped herself in a large table cover and some of the servants having come in, they tore off the burning parts of the dress, and extinguished the flames. Mme. de Saint- Marsatilt was much burned, but she is in no danger, and hopes are even entertained that the burns will not leave any mark. The Princess Mathiide, to whom Mme. de Saint- Marsault is lady of honour, sent on hearing of the accident to inqwre after her, and subsequently paid her a visit. A COMMERCIAL PATRIARCH.—The Beaune jour- nals announce the death, three days ago, of an eminent inhabitant of the town, M. Bouchard. He was born on the 3rd of April, 1759, and was consequently up- wards of 100 years of age. He was noted through his long life for his integrity as a commercial man. He, at different times, held various local offices, such as president and member of Tribunal of Commerce, mem- ber of the municipal council, director of hospitals, &c., and in each he display d capacity ard zeal. His funeral was attended by the entire population of the town, and the cords of the pall were held by M. Guiod, mayor of Beaune; M. Villiard, president of the Tribunal of Commerce M. Molin, juge de paix and M. Maire, president of the Commercial Club. M. Morelot, dean o" the Faculty of Law at Dijon, delivered over the grave an eloquent address, narrating the career end eulogising the virtues of the deceased. A SAD LIFE AND A SAD END !—There died recently, at Maryborough, Australia, William Edward Pierson, formerly a clergyman of the Church of Eng- land, who had held a benefice in Yorkshire. The Melbourne Herald says The unfortunate man had forfeited his position at home, i, appears, from his intemperate habits, and was digging at Maryborough for his subsistence. His habits here were of a dissipated nature and having gone to bed one night after drinking to excess, the curtains caught fire, and before he could be rescued he w„s so severely burnt that he was dragged out quite dead. AN AUSTRIAN CITY WITHOUT POLICE.—The necessity to reinforce the police at Verona seems to have left no choice to the Austrian authorities, but to deprive some other town of that blessed institution, and the selection has fallen upon Gratz, the capital of Styria, a city of nearly 70,000 inhabitants, and the seat of a university. The police of Gratz are all off for Verona, and there is now no police in Gratz. The people of Gratz, during the last few days, have been looking at each other, have shrugged their shoulders, and shown the white of their eyes, and have been lamenting :— What is to become of us without police ?" But, strange to say, since the police are gone, whom all the people went and saw off at the rail way-station, no offence against public seciuity whatever has come to the knowledge of the public. Perhaps the explanation is, that malefactors are more afraid of a people without police, than of the po'ce itself. THE ROMAN CATHOLIC PRELATES.-It appears from official returns which have just appeared at Rome, that the number of Roman Catholic bishoprics in the world amounts to 850, exclusively of ninety apostolic vicarships and several prefectures. Pius IX. has created eighty new dioceses. Besides those in Holland and England, he has created eleven in the United States, one in California, one in Newfoundland, two in Canada, one in Mexico, three in Brazil, two in other parts of South America, two in Naples, one iu Hun- ?Tr'y;.0lle i11 Tuscany, two in the French Antilles, at Maromique and Guadaloupe, one at Reunion, and one ao Laval, m 1 ranee.

UlisteflaiMis qffitnend Jäns. Too MODEST TO BE GRATEFUL.—A young lady, the eldest daughter of a well-known political baronet, (says Liverpool paper), was so deep a sleeper thai it was elwavs difficult to wake her; and in. the year 1S58 a x -e broke out at night in the family mansion, when F, male dom estic burst into her room and snatching her she If i bed, conveyed her to a place of safety. S range ,o tay, the lady's high sense o. modesty caused her preserver to be dismissed "ram lior service. The lady is still unmarried, but man, who risked his life to save that of his mistress, has been rewarded by a legacy of £500, bequeathed him by his late master. THE LAST TAX UPON ^KNOWLEDGE.—Long ago the shackles which bound the English press were snapped asunder, but the broken lm.s were su remain as weights upon its free ac.ion (remarks the Times). • One by one these also have been removed, and now the last fa,lh ch/ttering on the ground. We honestly believe it M be a gre°t boon to the whole com- munity to the poor s well as to the rich, and especially to that j.6W geneiaoion which is rising amon0* us, better taught than their fathers are. ar.d with keener appetites tor thaj intellectual food for which they have learned to hunger. It was wisely said by Mr. Gladstone that you may make any article pj rich man's luxury by taxing it, but that nothing ought to be esteemed a rich man's luxury which a, poor man can enjoy, and which a re- duction of taxation will place within his reach. There must, of course, be in all merchandise qualities to suit every class of consumers, but the interest of our society requires that in this article—knowledge—aU should be consumers, and that the quality supplied to them should be as good as may be; for this purpose it is good that all restrictions, all intellectual corn laws, should be removed. THE DRONES IN THE HIVE.—The Spectator says— The loss by thieves is estimated at 16,000,000Z. a-year, 50,000,000i. a-year by insolvents to which add 6,000,000?. consumed by paupers making a total Ov 72,000,000?. of treasure yearly taken from the honey of the iiive, and de- voured by wicked and lazy drones. The time is yet far distant, when the honest enduring worker, he who creates all this wealth, commonly on wages ranging from 10s. to 20s. a-weeli, will be able to keep his little earnings from being so heavily fleeced by marauders. THE PRINCESS ALICE.—The project of marriage between the Prince of Orange and the Princess Alice of England appears to be fully decided on. as well as the visit which the young couple will pay to King Leopold, the great uncle of the bride, when their Royal High- nesses shall leave England for Holland. The marriage will, it is thought, take place on the 24th of May, the anniversary of the birthday of Queen Victoria. The Princess Alice Maude Mary was born on the 25th April, 1843; the Prince of Orange, Rear-Admiral and Major-General and Commander of the Brigade of Re- serve of the Dutch Army, on the 3rd September, 1840. No PLEASING EVERYONE !—We cannot conceal from ourselves, however, that in raising the revenue which makes this alteration possible Mr. Gladstone exhibits every symptom of financial distress (remarks the Times). Following the much-reprobated example of Mr. Disraeli in 1852, he lays his hands on money hitherto advanced by Government for pur- poses, and absorbs it into the expenditure for the year. He appropriates with equal eagerness the windfall of the Spanish repayment; he alters the system of bring- ing the Income-tax to account in order to squeeze a quarter of it into the coming financial year; he dashes into the hop controversy, and offends the irritable susceptibilities of malt. He attacks brokers, whar- fingers, bankers, importers, and exporters, and appears to have raked up every element of opposition which it was possible to excite. We confess we look with some apprehension on the fate of Mr. Gladstone's proposi- tions for raising this revenue; but, whether or no he be able to carry these substitutions for the abolished Customs, we trust and believe that he will, at any rate, succeed in his noble attempt to give to our tariff com- plete simplicity by the abolition of all protective and differential duties, and all duties on articles of in- considerable amount and that on this occasion, when it is absolutely necessary to make so large a change in our duties on imports, the opportunity will not be lost, whatever momentary sacrifice it may cost, of putting this part of our revenue on a thoroughly simple and satisfactory basis. As You WERE !"—The other day, while a tall and powerful soldier of the line was swaggering in military style along Buchanan-street, Glasgow, his appearance attracted the attention of a young, ragged, and bare-headed urchin, of seven or eight years of age, who was lounging about. The lit tie follow, fired with a spirit of juvenile waggery, immediately called out, I say, sodger." The son of Mars not condescending to reply, the little urchin trotted along at his heels, and repeated three or four times, I say, sodger." At last the soldier was constrained tota™ about, and say, Well, my little fellow, what is it ?' As you were said the little wag. The soldier immediately performed the right about face," and proceeded on his way; but with what feelings we know not. EXTRAORDINARY BREACH OF PROMISE.—An at- torney, named Page, living in Manchester-square, London, during the course of last year, paid his ad- dresses to a widow named Mrs. Hart, living in Tavis- tock-square, whom he had known during her husband's lifetime. Mrs. Hart had an income of^400/ and a family of nine children. After her husband's death she lived in retirement, but, twelve months having elapsed, she accepted an invitation to a musical party at Mr. Page's house, and she and Mr. Page continued for some time on visiting terms. Eventually, the gen- tleman, who was a widower, "proposed" to the lady," and preparations were made for the wedding. The ac- quaintance was renewed in March, 1859, and the itiiA11*a°"o \vr', to have taken place about Cnristmas. He broke off the engagemen m September, although matters had gone so far that a deed of settlement had been drawn up, settling 701, each on Mrs. Hart's two daughters, and 301, on her youngest son. The de- fence was, that the engagement was formed on Mrs. Hart, who was a Jewess, promising to become a member of the Established Church, but that she refused to do so, and, therefore, the defendant was exonerated from his undertaking. It appeared from the evidence that the plaintiff was about to adopt the Christian faith, when her children, hearing of the engagement, and of their mother's intended, change of religion, quarrelled with her, and ultimately left her. The case was heard in the Court of Queen's Bench, on Friday, when a verdict was returned for the plaintiff, damages 1,200l. IS OLD STORY. The Tfollowing, extracted from the volume of Reminiscences," recently given to the world by Dean Ramsay, relates to the "good old times," ere the modern innovation of railways mono- polised the passenger traffic of these lands :— A gentleman sitting on a stage coach at Berwick, com- plained bitterly that the cushion on which he sat was quite wet. On looking up to the roof he saw a hole through .which the rain descended copiously, and at once aococnied ] for the mischief. He called for the coachman, and in great wrath reproached him with the evil under which he sufferec, and pointed to the hole which was the cause of it. All the ] s irsfaction, however, that he got, was the quiet, unmoved < ''y :—' Aye inouy a. ane has complained o' that hole. ] THE BUDGET PUT IN THE SHADE!—" No event," 1 says the Liverpool Albion, "which has occurred for several years past has created a greater amount of E quiet, yet heartfelt interest, than has been excited among the uprrn- ranks of Liverpool society during the ( past week or two, by preparation for the grand fancy ball, which is to take place in St. George's Hall, to- t morrow (Tuesday). The choice of costumes has stim- < ulated the fancy, and engaged the attention, of the s younger and fascinating portion of the members of all fashionable circles; and judging from the interest taken, and the number of tickets, nearly 2,000, already disposed of, there cannot be any doubt that the affair r will be in all respects a most brilliant and satisfactory j* one." j THE TRIBUTE OF GENius !—A very significant c compliment to Mr. Gladstone's oratory, and a very striking incident in itself, occurred on Friday evening "J by the presence of Lord Brougham within the walls of the House of Commons for the first time during v \ry a nearly thirty years—that is, since he left it in 1830 to 1 become Lord Ch ,ncellor. It is pretty well kno.vn t that Lord Brougham left the House of Commons to preside over the House of Lords, with the utmost pain and reluctance—that his own most earnest desire was not to accept any office which necessitated the abdi- cation of his position as member for Yorkshire, f d e that he took a position nominally and titularly higher only at the most urgent entreaty and virtual corn- f mand of his party. Since his removal he lias never J once been known to enter as auditor those walls V which had so often echoed with his eloquence. On Friday night, for the first time, he overcame this re- markable reluctance; and then, too, for the first time, it is understood, he heard the man who now occu- pies the position he himself so long held, unrivalled and undisputed—the greatest orator in the British S House of Commons. Lord Brougham was seen to f listen intently during the whole four hours during which Mr. Gladstone spoke; and is known to have s expressed the highest admiration of the speech, as a a masterpiece of clear and skilful statement and per- t suasive rhetoric. l AN ACT OF FILIAL AFFECTION.-—Messrs. God- x frey Drake and Sons, of Huddersfield, merchants, have E received during the present week an enclosure of 701, I from two ladies, sisters, who conduct a boarding school i at one of the watering places on the Lancashire coast, c to meet a loss sustained by the bankruptcy through 2 misfortune of their deceased father, now nearly twenty I years ago. f FOREIGN LOANS.—The total amount issued f yearly out of the Consolidated Fund since 1843, for the I payment of that portion of the Greek Loan guaranteed c by this country, is 788,007?. Of this sum, 31,084Z. has ( been repaid by the Greek Government, leaving a balance due of 756,922?.— -There has also been issued out of the Consolidated Fund, in full of the Sardinian Loan f of 1855 and 1856, the sum of 2,000,000?. The Sardinian J Government has regularly paid the interest to a sinking f fund to extinguish the principal, and the sum now re- ( maining to be discharged is 1.921,138?. t A FLATTERER. RIGHTLY PUNISHED.—The Co-Lii t Circular" is responsible for the following Her Majesty deterts anything approaching to adihation, or the least appearance of flattery. Not many weeks am r a female domestic wits dismissE" the royal service because £ she was in the habit of constan bestowing the most ful- j some compliments on one of the young Princesses and this summary correction appears to have been lnoLt acutely felt Who has constantly petitioned her loyal mistress to toe reinstated in liel- place, but without SUCCCS3. J A WIFE FOR THE PRINCE OF WALES.—Reports d are current that the Princess Alexandrina, the daughter e of Prince Albert of Prussia, is the destined spouse of 2 ibe Prince of Wales. The Princess Alexandrina is aoout to enter her eighteenth year, and is a great favourite with all the members of the Prussian Royal Family; the talents and acquirements of her Royal ( Highness are such as are in all respects in accordance A with what might he expected in a Princess of her ex- 1 alted station. RAPTD INCREASE IN THE VALUE OF LAND AT J £ C.ROYDON.—"When arrangements were being made last year, between the London, Brighton, "nd South Coast 1 Railway, and the Mid-Kent Ra"'way Company, the t former agreed to erect a junction station at Norwood ] for the reception of the Kent traffic. This has been t done, and is now in operatic 1. To e:ff;ct this the r Bngh on Company, through frelr surveyor, purcbas 1 g the land for this pu -po^e, ard 1 yving no act of par" i ment to compel the landowner to sell, Mr. Fulle: w t ri a great measure at their mercy., and as a consequence 1 0 had to purchase of several landowneis seven acres ( ? lore land than the company required, at the rate of t ;))Ol. per acre. These seven acres were sold by auction, f on the 28th day of January, at the Mart, in London, ] and realised the extraordinary price of 8301. 10s. per 1 acre. MARRIAGES, OF QUAKERS.A Bill introduced by Mr. Mellor and Mr. Bright proposes to enact that after the 30th of June, 1860, the marriages of Quakers m?jy be solemnised in crses where one only or where neither of the persons shall be a member of the Society of Friends, and to extend and amend the Act 6th and 1 7th William IV., cap. 85, and 7th and 8th Victoria, £ ca/o. 81, whereby both persons were required to be of the Society of Friends. OIL AND WAX v. GAS, &C.—The committee of t the Junior United Service Club, in London, have ca^ed ( a special meeting of the members, to consider how 'u far it may be,preferable to substitute oil and wax ctuwij&^ajior,the present gas lighting of the establish- i >.jjgrinst which a strong protest has been sighed T, 1 'J'W'ne hundred members, who state their b ie" 1 Vf&?used irr'ide a house, is injurious to t1 e eye- sifeiiriffid health in general. JUDICIAL SEPARATION.—Mrs. Sarah Bake the a wife of a schoolmaster at Burslem. obtained a jr 'J.cial c separation, in the Divorce Court, on Friday. The e parties were married in 1835, and had had two children, t The marriage being unhappy, Mrs. Baker left her huiO- e band in 1041, and- supported he-self by silk weaving, a Meanwhile, Baker formed a criminal acquaintance i with a woman named Anne Lowe, and removed with i: her to Liverpool, where they opened an oyster sho1!. ] In 1803 Mrs. Baker found them cohabiting, and went s to ask for an allowance. She stayed in the house ± several weeks, when the husband agreed to allow her 1 10s. a-week, and an agreement was signed to that effect. I A verdict was pronounced for the petitioner and a r judicial separation was decreed. r A HEARTLESS HOAX.—In the earlier part of the last week, a blind man was returning to his lodgings in one of the back lanes of Kennington, London, aiter tj having spent the day in vending pens and paper, with ,J little success, when he was accosted by a gentlemaxly man, who proposed to be desirous of assisting him, and presented him with a hundred copies of a new work called The Volunteer's Guide," for which he would 1: find a ready sale in the neighbourhood of Warwick- ? gardens. The gentleman, who L aid he was the author 1 of the work in question, treated the blind ma.n with the a price of a cab to Warwick-gardens, where he cried his a pamphlets, but for some time met with no custom; a but one of the books having been purchased and e=;- g amined by a footman, the rest met a rapid sale. The blind man then returned homewards, but was soon surprised to find himself in the custody of a policeman, who told him that the book he had sold was an auda- r cious libel upon a married lady of rank. The poor man I told his simple tale, which was believed, but he could give no information which might lead to the detection 1, of the individual who had hit upon this ingenious mode s of spreading scandal with impunity. £ HINTS FOR CLERGYMEN.—!A London Clergy- man writes :— Sir,—I f'nd no relief so much va'ued by the poor of my parish as the gift of port wine in the case of sickness. The r reason is that assigned by one of your correspondents, that the publicans' port wine" is poison and the poor have not the opportunity of buying anyt 'ng else. I always now keep a supply of wine to meet this <. JicnLy, so far as I am able, and the uniform reT't of my experience proves to me how A immence would be th e benefit to those classes by whom port < wine is only used as a medicine were they enabled to obtain it for themselves. ( THE VALUE OF SMOKE.—A striking instance of j economic talent came'to our knowledge in the district 1 of Alston Moor. From the melting earths of one house" an arched tunnel conducts the smoke to an i outlet at a distance from the works in a wasce spot -1 where no one can complain of it. The gathering matter < or "fume" resulting from the passage of the smoke is 1 annually submitted to a process, by which at that time 1 i; yielded enough to pay for the construction of the r chimney. A similar tunnel chimney, three miles in length, was erected at Allendale. Its fume will yield thousands of pounds sterling per annum. Truly, here it may be said that smoke does not end in smoke. "NIL DESPERANDUM !"—At the close of big engagement, the other evening, at the Queen's Theatre, Edinburgh, Mr. Kean, on being called for by the audience, in the course of his address said :— A crowd of thoughts come back on me at this moment, reminding me of 25 years a^o, whe", as a young man, alone and friendless, I first Lought the suL'rages of the Edinburgh public, and by their favour was pe_ -nitted to ascend the"first step of that ladder which has since led to fame and fortune. Those whose opinions were at that time of so much weight and value, whose ciltical judgrrent spread its influence over all your ociety, who pro o^ticated my success at a time when scarcely a gleam of ;e lighted up my pro essional career, have all, alas pas. away, or are now reposing in retirement after a long and honourable 'ne. EXTRAORDINARY CREDULITY.— Last week aTi elderly female beggar asked for a night's lodging in the cottage of a labourer, named Walmsev, Babswood, in the parish of Dromiskin. Her request was granted and, ere she went to r t, she told Walmsey that she had dreamt that she wo d be able to find a crock of ^old in his garden, if he would allow her to search for it. It contained, she said, 60,000l. worth of the precious metal, and all she would ask as a recompense was 100?. • Walmsey consented at once that the search should be made, and sent his son with the woman, as she said she 3ould not find the treasure without him. A number of mummeries were practised, and tomfoolery succeeded ;omfoolery, till Walmsey was bamboozled out of five It. lotes, when the fair charmer decamped, and has not ;ince come into the clutches of the police. Altogether ¡he credulity evinced by the dupes was most unac- countable. THE IRISH AND THE DIVORCE TRIBUNAL.—< In ;he course of a trial last week in the Irish Court of Queen's Bench, arising out of a case of wife-desertion, iome opinions transpired not very favourable to the vorking of the Divorce Court. For instance The Chief J ustiee Fe (the defendant) might have gone nto the Divorce Court and stat She was tr'ed of the irar- •iage, and tried to get rid of it in that way. Mr. ItoHeston fortunately the Divorce Court do- not- extend to Ireland. L'he Chief Justice Well then, they m'ght have gone to Sngland, for I undercj.^nd they have diciion there over mr Irish mariiages. Mr, Serjeant OFa an: We have not 'v .ot a Divorce Court in Iielknd yet. The Chief Justice And hope we never will. Mr. Serjeant O fa 'an It is the ;reatest sign of the deerdence of public morals, ard I say it vi Ji all deference to the Legislature which passed tlt Act, rid the jud ^es who administer it. rhis is something like Irish unanimity, which is raid o be as remarkable as it is rare. A NOVEL IDEA IN TAXATION,—A corresponder.i » £ pj London paper suggests, as one means of reducing he most burdensome taxes, that 5s. should be paid for ivery name given to a child beyond one. He adds :— "I know from experience the great inconvenience ard "0 3 rom having more names than one in a member of my family. I* was prevented taking a good clerkship, on the ground hat it would take up so much time to write his names and ong surname on the papers which would be his daily work aù imes." ENGLAND'S METROPOLIS. The author of that capital series of papers called "The ieason Ticket," injtlre Dublin University Magazine, gives the ollovving pen-and-ink photograph of London :— The more I see of this great capital," observed the enator, "the more astonished I am at its population md wealth. Places of public resort, of every descrip- ion, are thronged with people, and the crowds that requent and fill them do not perceptibly diminish the nultitudes that are usually seen in the fashionable itreets or business thoroughfares. The number of irivate carriages abroad during a fine day in the season s almost incredible. There are everywhere evidences )f great opulence in this metropolis that attract and istonish a stranger. The city appears to him like a arge estuary, receiving tributary streams of wealth rom all parts of the globe, and discharging an increasing iood of riches in return the region between that and Bon.d-street as the emporium of everything that is ;ostly and rare, and the West-end as the stately abode )f people of rank and fortune. All this is perceptible it a glance, and a cursory survey fills his mind with istonishment, but on closer inspection be finds that he ias seen only the surface of things. As he pursues his nvestigations, he learns that the ci ty is a vas j warehouse or the supply of the whole world that its merchants; rwn half the public stock of every civilised nation; that here are docks and depositories underneath the surface, iontaining untold and inconceivable wealth; and that he shop windows in the streets of fashionable resort, ■hough they glitter with gold and silver. 07 are decked lith silks, satins, laces, shawls, and the choicest and nost expensive merchandise, convey but a very in- idequatg idea of the hoards that; are necessarily packed nto the smallest possible space, and stored away in the ofts above, or the vaults beneath. Pursuing his inquiries in what js called ttc West End.' he finds that the stately nansiors le beholds there arc the mere -town residences Luring the season,' of a class who have enormous < states ri the country, with princely palaces, castles, ] md halls, and that there are amongst them one 1 .housard individuals, whose nited property would nore than extinguish the national debt. Such is the London of which he has read and her.rd so much; :;lie ;entre of the whole c< -jmercial world, the exchange vhere potentates negot^ve Joans for the purpcse of war md peace, the seat of 'bo arts and sciences, and the ;ource of all the civilisation and freedom that is to be O-Lin(I in the world. But great, and rich, and powerful is it is, it does not stand in the same relation to England as Paris does to France; it is independent, )Ut not omnipotent; th Te are other towns only second ,oit in population and capital, such as Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham Glasgow, and others, of which he wealth is almost fabulous. Well may an English- nan be proud of his country. In every quarter of the dobe he finds it is stamping the impress of its language, ts institutions, and its freedom. You and 1, who have travelled so far and seen so much, have beheld yonder British soldier at Gibraltar, Malta, and Corfu, at the 3ape, the ports of the East Indies, Hongkong. Aus- iralia, and New Zealand, in the W^est Indies, and Newr- 'oundland, Halifax, Quebec, and the shores of the Pacific. Great Britain fills but a small place on the nap, but owns and occupies a large portion of the dobe."

HOW THE SPANIARDS AND MOORS FIGHT. The Times' correspondent draws the following parallel between the mode of fighting adopted by the Moors and Spaniards Spaniards are apt to take illustrations from the bull- 'ing, and 1 have heard this army and the Moors com- pared to the bull and the bull-fighter. The Spanish mil stands calm and firm in his African arena, confi- lent of his power to repel and somewhat scornful of lis foe, worsted in many encounters. Forth rides the Moorish toreador, brandishing a red flag, which he hakes hi defiance and provocation, and followed by a warm of long-legged, long-gun-bearing Morisqos, who ooL upon the brown hill side and in their dirty white iaic';s, like lively gentles. "Come on, come on!" he nay be imagined to say as he makes his charger curvet .nd waves his banner on high, while his followers Touch behind bushes and seek supports for their spingardas, and fire ard vituperate. At the sounds of heir hideous yells and of a whistling bullet or two the :ager Spaniard pricks up his ears, paws the ground, ind soon forgets prudent resolves. Like the unrefiect- ng bull, he is not long in losing his temper and accept- ing his enemy's challenge. Forward the skirmishers -'ring up the mountain battery Up with Yergara's harpshooters Where are the rifled four-pounders ? >nd forward they all hurry-the active red-legged ight infantry, with Minie on shoulder, and the tall powerful mules, which the weight of guns and car- iages perched upon their high pack saddles cannot estrain from furious neighing and inconvenient rear- ng, and other antics highly annoying to their conduc- ors, and scarcely to be checked by sharp jerks at the evere iron apparatus affixed to their nose and mouth. battalions move up in support, the field artillery rum- lies in the rear, and lines of cavalry glitter on the lank, waiting an opportunity to charge. And soon the vlinie whistles, and the sharp report of the rifled guns s heard, and the Moriscos, who are not anxious to ;ome to close quarters, knock over a few men by part- ng shots, and scamper off to another position, and ,gain career to and fro, and wave their dirty little flags ,nd howl abuse of the Spaniards, who again, as before, 'ie seduced to follow them up. And thus some miles of rround are gone over, and the enemy doubtless suffers everely, which does not, however, prevent him, when Ie sees the Spaniards retire, from following them and billing and wounding a few more. The telegraph an- 10unces a fresh victory to Madrid, where there is )robably much rejoicing on the occasion; but the next norning the butcher's bill" is added up, and the loss s ascertained, while anything like a gain, either srb- tantial or moral, is sought for in vain. It may be (uestioned whether such expenditure of soldiers' iivez )e justifiable, but under present circumstances it cer- .ainly seems unwise.

1. rHE ENGLISHMAN AND HIS, FALSE 1 NOSE. The Court, Journal tells the following story of the ad- rentures of one of our countrymen abroad, with their ex- :eedingly agreeable termination :— In Holland they smoke but few know to what an jxtent, and that there is only one thing that can awaken the enthusiasm of the Dutch—tobacco. All ;hat concerns it, they idolise. It happened that a poung English gentleman, and an old English gentle- man, were in a diligence between Amsterdam and Utrecht (they hold twenty, and are something like minibuses). Immediately after starting, the windows were put up, and s' 2am got up, and every man lit lis pipe, save the two Englishmen. It was soon a ) httle worse to bear than the inside of Vesuvius on one of its angry days. The old Englishman could stand it no longer, and it broke him of his taciturnity; with one of those awful cm'—'s he roared out, in French, for a window to be opened. Every one was astonished at the impudent request, and there was soon a row. The young Englishman, who could not before get his countryman into conversation—he believing, of course, that the young man was not bon ton enough, or some- thing of the kind-did not now interfere. The old Englishman roared again; and when he could not pre- vail, pleaded that he was a Briton, and COD ld not stand smoke if he could stand fire. A quiet, fat, gentlemanly-looking old Dutchman in the corner broke silence- and remarked, But here is a compatriot of yours; he does not mind it. Does the smoke inconvenience you, sir ?" Oh, not in the least. 'u I don't even smell it." He said this with a twinkle of his eye for he was as merry-faced as the fat old Dutch gentleman. The dispute was settled; the old English- man was stifled; and the fat Dutch gentleman and the young Englishman got into hearty conversation. They were both pleasant fellows, and the bond of fraternity with good-nature is mysterious, but quick in its opera- tion. They both got down at the same hotel, talked, ate, laughed, went out together. The only thing that they did not do together was smoke; for, though the young Englishman had no objection to the cloud, he did net care to produce one himself. They liked each other so well that they journeyed together to a border district of Holland, abutting on Germany; the young Englishman wishing to kill time and see the country in such good companionship. When there, however, the good-natured Dutchman would hear of nothing less than that the next day the young friend he liked so much should pay him a visit at his "lust," or country-house, for three days. He could not, as the song has it, Sing every day I am The richest merchant of Amsterdam. but certainly he could of Korg-n. And it was not singular, therefore, that the young Fraulein, his only- and his pretty daughter, had a lot of young boors bor- ing her. Neither can it be considered singular that a young Englishman should take a fancy to her; but, being wealthy and of good family, with no obstacles, it is particularly curious that he sighed and resolved to run for it. He did, and he got a letter, a few weeks after, to say that there was capital skating and plenty of wild-fowl shooting, and to come and stop a month. The answer was, "My dear friend, before I can think of setting foot in your house, let me explain a little matter which lies heavily on my conscience. I never told you why I was not annoyed about the smoke of tobacco. Because, then, I have got a false nose,-at least, a portion,—the original part being shot away when I was a subaltern. The make-up, thanks to a bristly moustache, is so good, that I don't think it worth while to let every one know, but, for certain reasons, I prefer to tell you." The reply was, "Come directly; or I'll come and fetch you. A certain person has enjoyed the e: lanation, considers it a capital ioke, and does not, I ;,ssure you, think any the worse of you. Nor did she, when the test was put at the end of six months, and she took Mr. S of the 7—d, for better, for worse," including the false bit of nose.

THE USE OF RAGS. In a capital article on the proposed abolition of the paper duty and its effect upon the paper manufacture, the leading journal has the following:- No doubt, the Chinese make paper from bamboo and from reeds, and Mr. Gladstone proposes to make his champagne from rhubarb, and a"er extracting his champagne to make the residuum into paper. This may come to pass, but unfortunately at the present time neither the champagne nor the paper so made would be suited to British taste. We can make paper out of old junk, or wheat straw, or bamboo, but we cannot prim a newspaper upon it. Eventually we hope that this may come. This abolition of duty will stimu- late our inventors; but, meanwhile, we are at the mercy of the rag merchant. Whatever substances may be used to supplement the supply of this article, the public may take as an indisputable fact that paper, of any quality worthy to be called paper, must depend for its fibla upon rags. Here is the great difficulty of enabling the British public to enter into the full ad- vantage of sudden boon. England does not prod ace rags enough; Ireland has her own use for hers; France, Belgium, Spain, and Portugal all rigorously prohib. j the export 0° the article. Our only foreign sunply comes from Italy and Germany, and this supply is quite incommensurate with the demand which is re- quired to keen the article at a reasonable price. We admire Air. Gladstone's enthusiasm. We have no ob- jection to his making coaches and pipes and dolls and teapots and arti acial arms, as he professes that he and his friends are about to do. out of paper. WILL THIS BE REALISED ? We smile indulgently at his romantic and Arcadian scheme of rearing paper Inills in every rural valley, whither the villagers will flock to make the paper of their village journal, and linger as they return in the 3yening to watch the angler casting his fly over the nm-tail. We desire the realisation of his dream, that Dy means of this paper manufacture wages will become plentiful, and poor-rates unknown. But this is the jnthusiasm of a recent convert, who is imagminr>- ar- guments to convince his hearers rather *W> ex'joundin^ those by which he was himself convinced. Alas! no village mills will ever again arise. These were all destroyed, not by the paper duty, but by Fourdrinier's paper-making machine, which rendered paper-making, li'ie cotton-spinning, an affair of capital machinery and great establishments. When handloom weaving again becomes a flourishing trade, and the distaff and spindle are seen in every cottage, then we shall have again the village paper mill, and not before. WHAT WOULD HAVE EEEN MUCH BETTER. Instead of luring country gentlemen by the fond hope of village mills and reduced pdor-rates, and in- stead of threatening to take from our present stock of the raw material in order to make dolls and teapots and artificial legs and arms, how much more far-sighted would it have been in Mr. Gladstone to have stipulated in the French Treaty for the removal of the prohibition on the export of rags Belgium is our very good friend, and might then, perhaps, have been won over to grant us the slight favour of allowing us to buy her surplus rags. Spain might have paid us that '500,000?. in rags—her bonds at this moment are little more,- but France was giving little and taking much even when Mr. Gladstone was resolving upon this abolition. She could not have refused so small a matter as this. Would it even now be too late to ask for this little sup- plemental benefit, without which the boon which Mr. Gladstone has conferred will lose half its advantage ?

EPITOME OF NEWS, BRITISH AND FOREIGN. The manufacture of rifled cannon at Berlin continues on a large scale. Some catf-iron cannon, on a new model, are being made on the works of M. JETreund and if the res al t of their trial proves satisfactory to the military authorities, it is believed that an order for six hundred will be given. A French journal states that Mr. Cobden, on passing through Lyons on his way to Nice, had several interv evvs with leading manufacturers, relative to the coimnercial tr, aty between .France and England. At a meeting of the Irish Privy Council on Thr s- day, the district of Tourmakeady was proclaimed, under ths provisions of the Crime and Outrage Act, and a force 01 dm- stabulary sufficient for three stations ordered to be at on JO <.ent down to the district. The authorities at Eton College are about takin steps for training e pupils in military exercises. At the Torquay railway station the other night, a. muffled stranger requested a glass of water. The porter who was goin: to supply him saw pistols and a cutlass poking out from beneath his cloak, and taking alarm telegraphed for assistance, which soon arrived. The alarm was ground- less, however, for the mysterious v;sitoi, ttrllecl out to be- a coast-guardsman! Not a single prisoner was in custody at the last assizes for the county of Antrim, and the improvement is attriputeo. by the autnorities to the good eifect produced by the Revival movement. Mr. Armstrong, in his late charge to the jury at the Coleraine Quarter Sessions, also alluded to the small number of cases in the calendar, and ascribed the gratifying change to the same cause. There were 229 wrecks during the month of Jan- uary last.—What a catalogue of disappointed hopes and cruel miseries' does not this melancholy line comprise There are three noblemen in the British Peerage who enjoy peerages of all the three kingdoms. They are the yrai'cuis of Aberdeen, the Earl of Veiniam, and the Marquis D ^Tastings. Ajyropos of dinners, we must mention the greatest novelty of the day—decidedly a let Russe-the introduction of massive blocks of model ice on the table, which have a very crystal-like effect, and are, at least, very whimsical.- C;oTii t Journal. Two African immigrants, who had lately arrived in French Guiana, being unable to obtain work, took to plunder, and were shot dead by a planter who had suffered by then depredations. The author of this act of vengeance was himself a negro. The Daily News says there is a very general ex- pectation that considerable changes in the British army are imminent. Sor'e anticipate that the purchase system Wjll be ibolislied, whilst there is a certainty that the recom- mendation of the Royal Commission for appointing colonels by selection will be carried into effect. Government has at last adopted Captain Blakely's method of construction for all large cannon. The saving of expense to the country will be enormous, the 70-pounders now in course of manufacture costing absolutely less than the Armstrong 12-pounders. Some 50 cottages have been erected by the Admiralty at the various coastguard stations since March 31, 1856, at Hurst Castle, Donna Nook, Harwich, Bagham, Dunwich, Newhaven, and Yarmouth. 12 houses and cottages have been leased by the coastguard, at Charmouth, Ballyeotlon and Helwick Head. A deputation of the directors of life insurance com- panies transacting business in India had an interview with the Right Hon. Sir Charles Wood, on Saturday, and pre- sented a memorial claiming a share (to the extent of their interest in iives murdered) in the compensation awarded by I Government for losses during the mutiny in India. J It is rumoured that a new work, from the pen of Lord Brougham, is in course of preparation nothing less than a History of tlie British Constitution." b°ars are just now so numerous :n the environs of Christel, near Oran, in Algeria, that they do much damage, and the local journals call for measures to be taken for the destruction of them. In one day a single gendarme k'Ued three. The number of bills relating to railways in Great Britain deposited this session amounts to 202. Of this number 149 authorise new works. The total length of new lines is 1,406 miles, beside which there are 106 miles of deviation lines. A man living in Paris, who had frequently beaten hit, wife, was surprised one evening by seeing her with a gun. Shi fired at him, but. lie dodged out of the way. and the charge killed their child. A New Orleans paper reports that Joseph Wheeler, who had been deaf and dumb for about four years, recently ventured very near the mouth of a cannon, and when it was fired he was knocked down senseless by the concussion. On recovering, he spoke as fluently as anybody, and heard and answered all questions put to him, and is, up to this time, retailing language out in large doses. Now I am one of those who do not think a fun choral service well-suited to our ordinary parochial churches and if such were introduced into my parish church, I should, if I had the opportunity, prefer attending where I could find move simple, and to me more devotional services.— The Earl ( Derby. There died, recently, at Bristol, aged 92, Mr. James VVcelrs, the oldest freeman in Bristol. In every election tnaj bas_ taken place fortheint three score years and ten, he exercised the franchise on the Tory, or, as he would have said himself, the "Blue interest. A correspondent writes to a contemporary, com- plaining of the wretched trash doled out to the poor in the various workhouses for port wine, but which in reality is a vile compound of logwood and other deleterious ingredients. One of the 1st Sussex Bifle Volunteers was the other night iound bivouacking on the beach at Brighton, smoking .us pipe, and casting his eyes over the vast expanse of water, meditating upon the course he should pursue in the event of an enemy appearing in sight. His example of thus roughing it is veiy commendable to inure him to field and camp life, but we would recommend him not to overdo soldier life by sleeping there, as there is a rifle brigade who prowl about that vicinity to rcb and plunder. All the persons attached to the Paris Observatory were on the alert the other night to observe the eclipse ot the moon. There were several ladies on the terrace and one of them seriously asked M. Leverrier, If you were to have your telescopes rifled, like cannons, would they not carry farther ?'' That two babies, no matter how young, count as one adult has been decided at the Hammersmith Police Court, when a lady was summoned by a cabman. Authenticated facts justify the belief that the marine steam-engines will yet be worked with an expenditure of I lb. of coal per hor,e-power per hour. In this case, a vessel like the Great Eastern, working 12,000 effective horse-power, could run seventy days, or to Australia and back, with 9,000 tons of coal, being at the rate of 128 tons a-day. The Rev. William Prosser, and the servant girl with whom he eloped from Croxdale Parsonage, Durham, have been seen together at service in St. Bancras Church, London. "TotheInnocent.- Yes, on the instant. It cannot be after. Your manner and ways, coupled with the truly absurd stories of the past, have made you ,ppear (to those not knowing you) other than you are. IV, ld that all the world was as amiable, virtuous, and good! Your FRIEND. Advertisement in London Times. A London paper satirically says The meeting of Lord Derby's supporters, which had reference to Mr. Glad- stone's policy, was held on Tuesday, and was of a very private and confidential character, as much so as if it had been a conspiracy, though we are not aware that those who attended were sworn at the table." In answer to a question put in the House of Com- mons the other evening, Lord John Russell commended the behaviour of the Spanish Government in the matter of paying the loan, which amounted to 49S,OOOZ. Intelligencs has been received from Dr. Hector, geologist and botanist to the North American Exploring Expedition, who left England in the spring of 1S57. He was at Fort Vancouver in December last, and expects to return to this country during the spring. The great gold-dust robbery on the South Eastern Railway does not seem to be quite done with. It came be- fore the Vice Chancellor's Court the other day, in an action brought to determine who was entitled to 5001., deposited with some London brewers, and alleged to be part of the proceeds of the robbery. The Coirf ordered the money to be given up to the Crown.

THE MARKETS. THE PROVINCIAL CORN TRADE. The corn trade generally exhibits the same absence of tone and activity that it has shown for some months past, tor though occasionally a little spurt gives the turn in prices to holders, they gradually slacken down again to the point whence they rose. There has, however, been tolerable firm- ness during the past few days owing to the severe weather; but we cannot quote a decided general advance. MARK LANE, MONDAY. The supplies of home-grown wheat to this morning's mar- ket was rather limited, and an advance of about Is per quarter was obtained on good and dry samples. Foreign wheat met a steady sale at about former rates. Barley improved Is per quarter, and oats, beans, and peas were also at enhanced quotations. For town-made flour there was a good demand at late rates, and Norfolks and inferior qualities improved about 6d to Is per sack. Prices:— BRITISH. s. s. VIi HEAT.. Essex, Kent, and Suffolk, white, per qr. 38 to 49 BAILEY ..Malting 30 to 36 Oi 'C8 Essex aud Suffolk 20 to 25 BE AN S Mazagan 32 to 38 Tick and Harrow. 34 to 44 SEEB Canary per qr 52 to 60 Carraway per cwt. 36 to B&pe.perqr. 50 to 54 Hempseed ..per qr 83to — LONDON SEED. Linseed commands a steady sale at 52s for Bombay, and 49s to 50s for Cal,cutta on the spot. For arrival the latter sells according to quality, at 48s 3d to 49s 3d, cost, freight, and insurance. For Black Sea and Azoff Seed, 50s 3d to 50s 6d is required, but there is little doing. Niger seed was again sold largely, at 36s to arrive, and on the spot, Is more is asked. Rapeseed has an improved tendency, owing partly to the reports of crops on the Continent having sustained damage by frost, and the small supplies on passage from India. Bombay Guzerat is worth 53s to 55s, other sorts 46s to 48s. Arrivals of oilcake are still upon a liberal scale, but the market continues firm, nevertheless. MARK LANE, MOJDAT.—Linseed was only steady, but firm. Cakes were in very active demand, at lull prices. There was a good attendance at the seed market, and fair business in red clcverseed, at previous rates. The high price of white limited purchases Tares were not so free 01 sale i. om the backward weather,, Canary quiet. Other seeds much the same. LIVERPOOL, TUESDAY. We have had a good atterdance of both town and country Driers and dsalers at orr COlli Exchange this mormng, and a moie hea'thy demand was experienced for wheat at an advance of fu"y id per cental on the rates of Friday. Flour exhibited little 'mprovement either in demand or value. Indian corii was not Lo active as yesterday, nor were so good prices obta"aable 30'1 descriptions, however, closed f1"ly 6d per quarter dearer. Oats were Id per bushel, and oat- meal 6d per load higher. Beans, peas, and barley all advanced Is per quarter. LONDON WOOL. The next public sale of colonial wool will commence on the 1st proximo. About 30,000 bales will be offered, and the supply now on hand consists ot 3,20S bales Sydney, 7,254 Port Philip, 55 Tasmania, 1,104 Adelaide, 10,394 Cape, 42 Swan River, and 1,287 New Zealand. Privately, the trade is very inactive, at late quotations. POTATOES. Since our last report only moderate supplies of potatoes have come to hand coastwise and by railway. Most kinds are in fair request as follows York Regents, llOs to 145s ditto fluKes, 130s to 140s Kent and Essex, 80s to 120s Scotch, 90s to ditto cups, 72s to 95s per ton. METROPOLITAN CATTLE MARKET, MONDAY. We were very scantily supplied with each kind of foreign stock to-day, and the quality of both the beasts and sheep was otherwise than prime. Notwithstanding that only moderate supplies of beasts came fresh to hand from our own grazing districts, and that the weather was favourable for slaughtering, the beef trade was i a sluggish state, and in some instances prices ruled the tu i in favour of buyers. The extreme value of the best Scots "I s 4s lOd per 81b. The show of sheep was again moderate, ar d the general quality of each kind was by no means prime. The mutton trade ruled somewhat active, and the quotations had an upward tendency. Calves—the supply of which was limited—were brisk, and 4d per 81b dearer than on Monday last. The best veal was worth 6s per 81b. We have to report a fair inquiry for pigs, at fully last week's currency. Prices :—Beef, 3s 10d to 4s lOd mutton, 4s Sd to 5s 10d; veal, 4s Sd to 6s pork, 4s to 5s, at per stone of 81bs, sinking the offal. HAY AND STRAW. The London markets are moderately supplied, and trade is steady at the following quotations:—Meadow hay, 60s ito 84s rowen, 40s to 60s; clover, 75s to 105s; straw, 25a to 29s per load. LONDON PRODUCE MARKETS. MINCING LANE, TUESDAY. In the Produce Markets business remains inactive, but except that a further nse hai taken place in brandy no further alterations arising out of the new duties have trans- pired. For sugar there is a frequent inquiry. SUGAR —The market is firm with more inquiry. Musco- vado Manilla has sold at 32s, and 3,000 bgs. middling at 33s. COFFEE remains without quotable change. tn nntr7t p1, w nC50n! are still prevented by the disinclination to operate until the details of the China news are to hand. c^M°LASSES.—The demand is inactive, at from 15s to 17s per cwt. COCOA.—There is rather an improved feeling in the demand for most kinds, at about last week's currency. lllOE.—Rather more firmness is apparent in the inquiry for this article. Low Bengal has sold at 9s 4d to 9s 6d; and Rangoon, 7s to 9s 6d per cwt. INDIGo.-The public sales have been brought to a close. The total quantity disposed of was 3,200 chests, of which. 1,800 are for export purposes. Prices advanced 2d to 6d per lb. on the average. BRANDY.—The demand is more active, and prices have further advanced 6d per gallon. Henessey's in hogsheads having sold at lis per gallon. METALS.—Scotch pig iron has been rather firmer in price, and the market closed 59s 9d to 60s 100 tons spelter sold for arrival, at 20117 s 6d ex ship, and 40 tons on the spot, at 211 2s 6d per ton. OILS.—French refined rape oil is reported to have sold at 40s, but on Change the current quotation for foreign was 39s per cwt.; linseed remains at 27s 6d to 27s 9d per cwt. TALLOW.-The market is quiet but firm, closing. 60s 6d spot, and the same for March 56s to 56s 6d April to June, and 53s last three months 59s 6d Odessa beef; 60s sheep 59s 3d town tallow net cash. Owing to the proposed abolition of duty, the price in St. Petersburg has advanced to SO to 501 silver roubles.