The Aberystwith Observer

fonkt Comspottai. We deem it rights to state that wo do not at aR +.ïme9 identify ourselves with our correspondent's opinions.) At the commencement of the Session-and the re-as- sembling of Parliament last week was virtually the commencement of the Parliamentary campaign—the contrast between the activity of the Commons and the inaction of the Lords is always more remarkable than at any other time. At the end of a Session it some- times happens that their Lordships are harder worked than her Majesty's faithful Commons; but, through- out a Session, the Lords, as a rule, take it much easier than the Commons. There is more legislation com- pared with talk in the Upper Chamber than in the Lower, but at present their Lordships have really done nothing. Had there been any important business on hand, the absence of the Premier would have been more felt than it has been. Everyone will regret to hear that his lordship continues very weak from the effects of his recent severe attack of gout, but it is to be hoped that he will soon take his place once more at the post of honour in the Chamber I of Peers. Aa to the Commons, they have com- menced the political campaign with spirit. Pity that one of their first acts was to continue the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act in Ireland, but it is generally admitted that there is no help for it, and even the Irish members did not make a stand against the Government proposal. May we soom see danger's troubled night depart, and the star of peace return;" and may Ireland, freed from the blighting curse of Fenianima, soon enter on a new oareer of prosperity. A very gratifying announcement has been made by Mr. Disraeli, that a measure with respect to primary education will be introduced by the Govern- ment in the course of the Session. It remains to be seen whether Ministers will propose so large and liberal a scheme that the Liberal party can give it its support. Meanwhile the Public Schools Bill has been read a second time. The effect of this measure will be to revise tho statutes and charters relating to Eton, Rugby, Harrow, Winchester, Westminster, Shrews- bury, and the Charter-House schools, and to aim at removing all obstacles to their expansion in accordance with the spirit of the timea but it is worth remark that the measure will only apply to these seven schools. It will not touch St. Paul's Merchant Taylors', the Bluecoat School, Queen Elizabeth's grammar-schools, and many others which to all intents and-purp0øe8 are public schools." If, however, the seven leading public schools referred to are reformed in the interest of the community thia will be an immense boon in itself, and it will infallibly lead the way for further reform. Her Majesty's Journal in the Highlands con- tinues to sell largely, and by thia time must be pretty well known, through reviews and extracts, to the majority of her subjects—leaving out of count those who foolishly refrain from reading newspapers. But it is, on dit, to be translated into French by Madame Hoe&W formerly French governess to the Princesses Beatrice, Louise, and Helena. The simple, chaste, and unpretentious style of the book will. how- ever, render it difficult to translate it into the language of our next-door neighbours, who delight in going a roundabout way to express the simplest idea. Her Majesty, it is stated, has presented a copy to the Royal Free Hospital. What is to be done with it! Who is to read it aloud, if any ? Will the patients ever have an opportunity of reading it as they lie on their lonely, cheerless beds in those startlingly clean and painfully proper wards ? And how is it that this hospital did not get a oopy from amongst those that Dr. Jenner was commissioned to distribute among the London hospitals ? To all of which questions, I, like Brutus, pause for a reply. As yet there is no confirmation of the startling state- ment by the Washington correspondent of the Standard last week, that President Johnson had decided on insisting on payment of the Alabama claims or else on going to war—or at least on suspending diplomatic relations, which is a preliminary to it. We may reasonably conclude, therefore, that this WM-we will say, a misapprehension. But still the sooner this horrid Alabama question is settled somehow or other the better. At present it is a continued source of ill- feeling. There is another claim which we can afford to laugh at. Mr. George Francis Train claims S100,000 for a day's imprisonment, or rather did claim it, for his bombast seems to have died away. This gentleman has a very high opinion of himself, and if this country had to buy him up at his own estimate we should want another penny of income-tax to buy him. But he is very kind and good to refrain from pressing his claims—in fact he was very considerate in the first instance. He might just as well have said a million, and he would have been just as likely to get it. At a time when both capital and labour are from various causes comparatively idle in thia country a pamphlet by Mr. Kitto, the Government mining surveyor of the colony of Victoria, deserves attention. He shows that immense areas of unoccupied auriferous country exist throughout Victoria, and points out that thousands of miners in Great Britain, who are com- pelled to lire in idleness, might be profitably employed in working the Victoria mines. If this view of the matter be true, and his facts appear unimpeachable, it is remarkable, as showing how wonderfully correct was Sir Roderick Murchison, the eminent geologist, who twenty-two years ago was so impressed with the belief that gold would be found in that part of the world that he advised the tin miners of Cornwall to emi. grate to Australia, and mine for gold as they mine for tin in their own country. It was fully three years after this advice that gold was found about 100 miles from Melbourne, and many of us must remember the excitement that ensued, and the streams of emi- gration that flowed to Australia from all parts ef the world. Thousands of these persons were from various reasons unfitted for the labour of gold-mining, and abandoned the work, and now it seems that there is a great want of labour. Mr. Smyth, the Secretary of Mines for the colony of Victoria, stated a few months ago, "we have room for four times the number of persona now actually engaged in mining." This is a statement which should induce enquiry among that portion of the working classes who are employed— when they can get employment-in this department of labour. From the capitalist's point of view the Victoria gold-mines must possess a charm, seeing that several of them pay as high as 1,500 pet cent. per annum, an amount which is almost incredible, but some curious facts are mentioned in illustration. Mr. Kitto, in ad- vising the Australian United Gold Mining Company to purchase and work the Central gold-mine in the colony for which he is Government Mining Surveyor, says the result will be at least 70 to 80 per cent. profit for many years. But realised facta are more curloua still. The Sir William Don mine since last March has made a profit of 5,000 per cent. on its paid-up capital; while the Band of Hope mine has produced a profit of £240,000 per annum, nearly equal to the whole of the profits of the metallic mines of Great Britain and Ireland for 18G7. This is. suggestive. If gold is to be discovered in such startling ratios as these, and its purchasing power is to decrease as of late years, must not salaries be riz ? But I am not going into currency theories, and make a sudden halt. Archimedes, we have been often told, said that he could move the world if he could find fulcrum. What his lever was to be is not stated. May we not say, however, that we have a lever which mores the world, that lever being the PreM ? What a gigantic power, for instance, is the Press of Great Britain! From the Newspaper Press Directory" for 1868 it appears that there are now published in the United Kingdom 1,324 newspapers, thus distributed: in London, 253 in the provinces, 751; in Wales, 49 in Scotland, 132; in Ireland, 124 in the British Isles, 15. There are no less than 85 daily papers in the kingdom—58 in England 1 in Walea 12 in Scotland 13 in Ireland and 1 in the British Isles. The ad. vance in ten years is remarkable, and of special im- portance, seeing that this shows how the cheap, ntaxed people's Press has taken root in the United Kingdom. In 1858 there were only 866 journals, the overwhelming majority of these being dear, and nothing near so good as the cheap Press of to-day. But who will venture to say that the Press has reached its limit ? On the contrary, there must still be many groups of villages totally unrepresented by the Press, to say nothing of towns where there is room for more newspapers than those which now exist. But the fact as it stands is a great fact;" and when we add to it another, that there are no less than 621 magazines and reviews, there is room for any amount of speculation on the immense influence that must thus be exerted on the popular mind, and this influence will extend as education opens up an ever-widening field for news- paper enterprise. While people are talking about horseflesh as food, wowld it not be well to endeavour to get a little more beef and Mutton. Mighty roast beef is an English- man's food," says the old song; it accounts for the freedom that ran in his blood." And the same old ditty assures us—though I don't wholly believe it—that •■r fathers of old were robust, stout, and strong And they kept open house with good cheer all day lODg Which made their plump tenant* rejoice in the song, Oh the roast beef of old Ifcglaad And oh the old bplah roast beef! Now it seems that in some parts of Australia beef and mutton are being sold for 1 jd. a lb., amd that, naturally enough, ev colonial kinsfolk have been turning their attention to the but modes of preserving it. It is said that in Melbourne beef haa been preserved in tinll for months, and when opened, after several months' inoaroerationvwM found to be very good and even to taste M §ood M fresh meat. The latter statement i8 rather difficult to believe, but surely our men of science, to whom scarcely anything seems impossible, could find eut some method of preserving meat long enough for its being sent, from Australia, where it is almost dirt cheap, to England, where it is painfully dear. Thousands of our poor never taste meat because its price is so high, while in Australia sheep are still boiled down for the fat only. The sooner our scientific men hit upon a plan of compensation the better for our masses of poor in this country. Everybody knows Leicester-square, by reputation at.least. They say that it is to be transmogrified into pretty knick-nack shops and restaurants in the Parisian style. But then "they have said something of this kind for years, and Leicester-square remains the dull, dreary desert it has been for years.

PASSING EVEHTS, RUMOURS. &0, The Queen has received the address of the loyal Irishmen in London, and Mr. Hardy has sent the following letter to Mr Digby Seymour:—"I have had great satisfaction in laying before the Queen the loyal and dutiful address of her Majesty's Irish subjects, residing in London and its vicinity, which you, accompanied by a large deputation, placed in my hands; and I have the honour to inform you that her Majesty has beeu pleased to receive the same most gra- ciously."

In'the House of Commons, on Monday evening, Lord E. Cecil asked the Secretary of State for War whether it was the intention of the government to move for a sufficient sum in the forthcoming estimates to extend the benefit of the Contagious Diseases Aet to every camp, garrison, and seaport town in the United Kingdom, considering the large per centage of soldiers and sailors whose services are now wholly or in part lost to the state In consequence of its partial and Incomplete adoption. Sir J. Pakiugton replied that when the estimates were laid on the table the noble lord would find a considerable increase in the item relating to the oarrying oat of the Contagious Diseases Act. He should, however, postpone an explanation of the details until It became his duty to submit the army estimates to the consideration of the House.

The French Academy of Medicine has offered a prize of 480 for the discovery of an infallible means of recognising the presence of death. The French are deeply interested in this question, as the official medical certificate of a death is a very lax affair, and the moment this certificate is made out the official undertaker attends, and in less than forty-eight hours the whele drama is ever. The consequence is that many people have been, and still are, buried alive.

The Lord Chief Justice, in writing to the Lord Chancellor in the names of all the judges, protested most strongly against the proposal now before Parliament to bring election petitions before the Court of Queen's Bench and the superior courts. At present the Judges have very little to do with political matters, and the less they have to do the better, Sir Alexander Cockburn thinks. Let them be mixed up in a few election disputes, and their decisions will soon cease to be respected. They did not bargain for this when they were made judges. Besides, It cannot be done; they have toa much werk already. There are many barristers who, if not briefless, have at least abuadant leisure and learning. Why not give it to them ?

The lay declaration of the Catholics of Ireland against the Church Establishment bears the signatures of twelve peers, four right honourables, fourteen baronets, nineteen members of Parliament, fifty-eight deputy-lieutenants, and over three hundred magistrates. All the Roman Catholle peers and right honourables have signed it; and it is des- cribed by the Freeman') Journal as a "dignified repudia- tion of the alleged apathy of the Catholic laity on the subject, and a significant expression of the sentiments of the Catholic community."

Mr. Roebuck has been called to account by cne of his admirers for abruptly terminating his recent speech without treating on the duties of capital. The hon. gentleman replies that he gave broadly his views of what he thought ought to be the aim of the Legislature in any future legislation, and that there he left the matter because there was no proof of any glaring mistake on the part of the capitalist. He denies that his sympathies with the labourers have ceased. Experience has, he hopes, corrected errors, but age has not chilled his sympathies, and the temptation which failed to Influence the young man will not," he says, make me swerve from what I believe the path of duty now that my eareer is coming to its end."

Earl Fortescue attended a meeting of the North Devon farmers on Friday evening at Barnstaple, the subject dis- cussed being compulsory education. His lordship said that he considered the recent Act for the extension of the fran- cliise was a rash one, and Parliament would ,do well in not committing another rash act in widely extending the State support of education. He moved a resolution to the effect that any system of general compulsory education at the cost of the community at large would be unjust to the ratepayer, as it would compel him to educate his neighbour's chtldreu as well as his own, and likewise that such a plan would be demoralising to the children and parents. This was seconded by Mr. George Langden. The Rev. Prebendary Brereton, of Norfolk, also took part in the discussion, reading a paper on "Learning and Earning." He deprecated the system of com- pulsory education at the State expense, as proposed by many statesmen and others, as he believed that if the working classes had their children educated from a part of their earnings there would be a greater interest felt by the parents than if the children were left to the eire of the State. The motion against the compulsory principle was carried.

Lord Lichfield presided on Friday night at a preliminary conference on technical education, which was held at the offices of the Working Men's Club and Institute in the Strand, London. After a discussion, in which Mr. Paterson, Mr. Lucraft, Mr. Wynne, Mr. Symons, Professor Rogers, Mr. Coningsby, Mr. Davis, Mr. Hodgson Pratt, Mr. Applegarth, and otSiers, took part, the following resolutions were agreed to with unanimity That the question of technical educa- tion of our workmen demands the earnest attention of all classes, but that no action on the subject can be complete or satisfactory which does not take into account the opinions of the working classes themselves, and which Is not in Home degree based on the special information which they alone can give. That to obtain this special information and to give an opportunity for the expression of opinion, it is desirable to hold a conference where working men represent- ing the various trades should be invited to meet with em- ployers of labour, scientific men, and others, with a view to some definite action." Other resolutions were passed ap- pointing a committee to arrange for the holding of the con- ference, to be held on the second Saturday in March, and to prepare a definite plan to lay before it; and deciding to apply to Government for copies of such reports and docu- ments as have a direct relation to the subject of the con- ference for the use of the persons who may take part in it.

A "FLOWERY ADDRESS" TO THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH. The Duke of Edinburgh, during his visit to Castlemaine (Australia), received the following address from the Chinese population of the district :— We of the hundred sing (people) of the great clear nation (China), from the province of Canton and the neighbouring districts, have anxiously waited, Royal Sir, your arrival at Castlemaine to come forth and welcome you, great England's lesser lord, 1,000 years second in the temple below. We bow our heads to the ground and let our heads hang down as a token of reverence. We maintain that posture, and in great swelling. words give utterance. At this propitious time the subtile- influences are efficacious in the ground, increasing its fertility, and men are becoming eminent for virtue and talent. The earth yields more largely her golden treasures. We acknowledge with thankfulness the gracious love of the reigning dynasty of England which permits our merchants and all others to follow their occupations here. We have a feel- ing of profound veneration and respect, which leads 118 to obey and induce obedience to the Royal laws. With serious attention we have endeavoured to act in ac- cordance with them. When her Majesty, your sacred mother, commenced her reign, like the time when the three holy sages. Wong I., Yaou, and Shun hung the upper and inferior garments on their persons, so the whole empire was forthwith subjected to order and decorum. Koyal Prince, you have gone out to examine the distant part of the empire, and all the people skip for joy in welcoming you. To look upon the dragon (Royal) countenance may be compared to beholding the dark clouds and the sun immediately bursting forth. We have followed you to the tiger- skin covered seat (the levée) with beat of drum, vibrating stringed instruments, and blowing the cheerful reed, mingling with every voice, singing vour virtue, which is as high as the vault of heaven. Your benign love is liberally diffused, and extends to all things. The blessings and happiness you confer are as the ocean. They mollify and enrich us who are of another country, although the subjects of this. The people love you as the Kaum Hong tree which shaded Cho Hong, the brother of the Emperor Moon, when he stayed his horse-to rest during his tour of inspection of the empire. Following in your track sweet rains fall, making no noise. All kindreds and people are improved by your example, and thus military operations cease, and literary pursuits are culti- vated. We desire earnestly that your Royal house shall, through all agee, remain unmoved, and reign continually over a nation as rich and power- ful as England is at present. Prolong your stay with us until the customs of the people in every nook of our shores are inquired into ana known b^ you then all will be exhilarated with delight. When you return to the Royal Court and take the comer place, we hope you will sit down in joy with universal peace prevail- ing. Oh .how excellent and admirable, how worthy of praise is he to whom, with veneration, awe, and humility we present our address. In the sixth year, eleventh month of the. reign of the Emperor Hong Che, ot the dynasty of Tliln-English calculation of time, 1867 years, twelfth month-at Castlemaine, by the Flowery Nation (Chinese), this address was humbly presented.

SUICIDE OF A LONDON STOCKBROKER. An inquest has been held at the Bull Inn, Bisham, upon the body of Mr. Alfred Arrivabene, a City stockbroker, who committed suicide in Quarry Wood, near Great Marlow, by shooting himself with a six. chamber revolver. Ernest Lelile, of 35, York-stret, Portman-square, London, said the deceased lived at the same house with him. He had known him for about six years. Witness went to school with him in Paris. Mr. Arrivabene was a stockbroker, and had offices in Copthall-oourt. He thought he was doing very well, and did not know to the contrary until after he left London. Witness received a letter on Monday morning stating that the deceased was in debt, and was a ruined man from speculating, and that he could not bear up against it. He asked pardon in his letter for the sorrow and grief he caused to his parents. He said— It it useless to tell yen ishy I hill myself. My conduct nms unwerthy, vnfameus it hills me. His last wish was how to dispose of some trifles. The letter was very long, written in French. He had written to his principal creditor, Mr. Bierdeman, who sent a telegram advising him to do nothing desperate, as all might be arranged. In answer to Mr. Powell, the foreman of the jury, witness said he knew nothing of deceased's circum- stances before, and did not know that he was in difficulties. He left his lodging. about three o'clock one Saturday. The servant sat up late for him but he did not return. He complained of headache the night previous, and went to bed soon after six o'clock; he appeared very dull. Hemy BwMjr, ef Cookkaat JDmb, pom, »aid en Monday he was going down to Marlow Point fishing, expecting to meet some friends, when at the top of the wood he heard the report of firearms. When he got to the bottom of the wood he saw the. deceased lying on his back, and the six-chamber revolver produced on hia chest, the case being between his legs. He was quite dead, but warm. One chamber of the revolver was discharged, the other five were loaded. The re- volver and box were quite new, made by G. H. Daw, of Thraaclneedle-street, London. Thehs was a letter in his possession which stated his intention to commit suicide, and asking that a tomb might be provided where anybody who pitied him might go and pray for him. G. Sargent, one of the waiters at the Orkney Arms Hotel, Maidenhead-bridge, stated that the deceased slept at the hotel on Saturaay night, the 8th instant. He had a small parcel wrapped up in paper similar in size to the pistol box. Deceased bad eight sheets of paper, and wrote several letters before he left on Sun- day morning. The deceased was last seen at Cookham on Sunday, the 9th instant, when he left a letter to be posted to the first witness, and which was produced. The verdict of the jury was Suicide by a pistol shot from his own hand during a fit of temporary in- sanity." [It is said that the unfortunate gentleman is the son of Count Arrivabene, whose name will be familiar in connection with Italian politics.]

BANQUET TO MR. TRAIN. The Cork papers report a banquet which has been given at Cork by Mr. Train to a number of Roman Catholic clergymen and some gentlemen connected with the local journals. We are told that the gather- ing was "characterised by that vastness ef conception which our distinguished visitor acquired upon the sum- mits of the Rocky Mountains," and that the banquet was designed to form a sort of gastronomic cable of communication between the Catholics of the United States and those on this aide the Atlantic." "The Press" was the first toast given, Mr. Train observing that he would for once elevate it to the drees circle, instead of being consigned to the bottomless pit, as was the usual cuatom." In toasting "the Catholic Church Mr Train said that his admiration for the Church and ita wonderful power culminated, as he mentioned at one of his lectures in Cork, at Rome, at the canonisation of the Japanese martyrs. (Applause.) When five hundred bishops dreased in purple, five thousand priests dressed in black, came up from the uttermost parts of the earth, and sat down with one hundred cardinals dressed in scarlet at the great banquet of the Pope, who, dressed in white, spoke in the name of-three hundred millions of his nock to Christendom and the nation—(cheers)—some day, I said, I will buy a Palace for the Holy Father on the banks of the Hudson—(loud applause)-and when the hour arrives I will carry out my long-thought-of pro- ject of establishing a great Catholic colony on five hundred thousand acres of corn and wheat lands surrounded by the Platte, the Loup, the Elkhom, and the Missouri, in God's great garden there in America, between Omaha, the half-way station to China, and Columbus, the future capital of America, when its population in one generation more is larger than all Norway, Sweden, Denmark. Belgium, Portugal, Franee, and Great Britain combined. (Loud cheers.) There in Nebraska, the centre of a hundred States, and a population of one hundred millions. (Cheers.) He informed his guests that he had caused the withdrawal from the Cabinet, and perhaps from public life, of the persistent enemy of Ireland, Lord Derby. Mr. Train reviewed his prospects of being returned to the White House, and promised, says the Cork Examiner, in the event of his being elected Preai- dent, to furnish every one present, with a return ticket to Washington to attend his inaugural banquet. Songs in several foreign languages were sung, one in modem Greek, being, it is said, much admired. The vice- chairman, a Catholic priest, named Buckley, gave a song illustrative of an Irish jig, the invention of which, he alleged, was variously attributed to Adam and ling David.

JURIDICAL VALUE OF A DYING DECLARATION. At the November Criminal Sittings of the Supreme Court of Melbourne, a prisoner named Whelan was put on trial and convicted of the murder of a hawker named Bramley, the principal evidence against him being the dying declaration of the deceased that prisoner was the man who shot him. The admission of the declaration as evidence was objected to, on the ground that Bramley had, after making it, expressed hopes that he would recover, and the point was reserved for the opinion of the court in banco. The case having been argued, the court determined that the dying declaration of the murdered man Bramley was not admissible, and that there must be a new trial—the first time a man has been twice put on his trial in Victoria upon a charge of murder. The judges were not unanimous. Mr. Justice Barry and Mr. Justice Williams held that a dying declaration is not admissible unless the maker of it had from the time it was made until his death an unchanged conviction that he would never recover. The Chief Justice, on the other hand, held the apparently more reasonable doctrine, that the declaration is admissible if the maker was under the fixed expectation of death at the time he made it, and was not rendered inadmissible by his afterwards for a time feeling a revival of hope. The opinion of the majority waa binding.

Klkfiteifous fntclitgcttte, HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL. THE END OF A WRETCHED LIFE !—A poor old lady of seventy-three haa just ended a long and wretched life in Hanwell Lunatic Asylum. When young she was heiress to a fortune of JS4,000, but she married a perfumer and her relatives discarded her. Her husband subsequently fell into difficulties, and died, leaving her penniless, with a daughter, who was a cripple. For years the mother and daughter eked out a scanty living, but at last their strength failed and they both went into the workhouse. There the old lady became insane with thinking over hertroubleil, and was sent to Hanwell, where she died from exhaus- tion soon after her admission.. A FRENCHMAN ON THE QUEEN'S BOOK.—The feuilletoniite of the Paris Dibatg, in the following observations, represents the general sentiment of the French press:— I intended to enjoy the luxury of criticising a .Queen's work to-day, having before me the two volumes recently published by Queen Victoria. I said to myself that I should be merciful—at once respectful and indulgent. Who, indeed, could be severe in presence of 80 much amcerity and so much frankneas7 Never were books so truly "livres de bonne foi," to use the expression of Montaigne. One must posae8s great rudene8l!-one must have a pitUeas idea of literary justice—not to be disarmed by works where there is so much of the woman and so little of the author, nay, so little of the writer. There Is much to be said of these narra- tions of a Queen to her people; simple and touching disclosures which may cause mockers to smile, but which will captivate and move the artless. A LAME EXCUSE!—At a jury trial in a northern sheriff court a juryman pleaded the excuse that he had a timber leg. The Sheriff remarked that, as it was the head and not the feet which was required for the right discharge of the duty imposed on him, he could not be excused. The juror then explained that he had examined the jury-box and found from its construction there existed a physical impossibility of his taking hia seat therein. The Sheriff having ascertained the fact to be as represented, excused the gentleman, remarking, however, that the objection might perhaps resolve into his having "a defective understanding." DEPUTATION OF LADIES TO THE POPA-The Rome correspondent of the Pall Mall Gaaette says :— A few days ago the Pope gave a public audience to up- wards of two hundred ladies, amongst whom were a number of English Catholics. Tills fair throng came for the double purpose of evincing their adhesion to the brief of October 12,1867, relating to ladies' toilets, and of presenting the Holy Father with some valuable gifts, in testimony of their devotion to the Holy See. One of the ladies expressed these sentiments in a speech, to which the Pope replied by an allocution in Italian, reminding his hearers that St. Peter, after his miraculous delivery from prison by an angel, found an asylum in the midst of women. The Holy Father then dwelt severely on the licence of the female toilet of the present day, referring to the fantastic headdresses in use, the vestments borrowed from the Pagan Chinese, and the scandalously indecent robes. He exhorted his audience to oppose to this "propaganda of the devil" a counter display of Catholic attire, worthy of their character and sex. BURNING HER RIVAL.—The Court of Assizes at Ajaccio has just tried a woman named Maria Castola on a charge of burning to death a married woman whom she considered her rival. The victim had gone from her husband's house to visit her parents and recover her health, and, on her return, she found Castola occupying tho position of her husband's mis- tress. Quarrels took place between the two women, and the accused finished the affair by forcibly placing the wife upon the fire and holding her there until she was literally roaated to death. The husband was not implicated, no charge being made against him. Cas- tola was condemned to hard labour for life. DEATH BY FALLING OVER A CLIFF.—An in- quest was held at Skinburness on Saturday, on the body of Edward Wilson. Deceased was driving a horse and cart along the highway leading from the port of Silloth to Skinburness, on the coast of the Solway Firth, and owing to the darkness of the night he had missed his way, and driven the horse and cart on to a piece of green ground lying between the road and the sea brow. This piece of ground was only eleven yards in breadth, and the poor fellow had driven the horse to the very edge of a cliff, which at this point is ten feet high, and horse, cart, and driver went crash over on to the beach below. When discovered, about two hours afterwards, Wilson was lying under- neath the upturned cart with his neck broken and quite dead. The horse was so much injured that it had to be at once destroyed. Verdict, Accidental Death. A "GRIEVE" FOR GARIBALDI.—It appears from the following advertisement in The Times that General Garibaldi has sent to Scotland for a minister of agriculture, and that the applications for that office at Caprera have been inconceivably numerous:- NOTICE TO APPLICANTS. —The Situation of Grieve, at Ciprera, to General Garibaldi, has been filled up. From the numerous applications (upwards of 100) it was found impos- sible to communicate with all; but in every case where original testimonials were sent copies were taken and the originals returned.—Forres, February 11, 1868. MR. DICKENS AT HOME.—A correspondent of the Chicago Tribune says the headquarters of Mr. Dickens in New York is at the Westminster Hotel, a quiet and very estpensive house on Irving-place, in the immediate vicinity of Steinway Hall, where his readings are given. Here he takes his meals with Dolby, and occasionally a few friends. He is an in- veterate story-teller, and expects all within earshot to listen to his anecdotes, which he tella with considerable spirit and dramatic effect; but when not engaged in story-telling, he always has the air of a man who is frightfully bored with everything and everybody; and therefore to please the great novelist, it is necessary, while in his company, to be a listener rather than a talker. Although his frequent engagements to read are enough to keep any one man busy, Dickens is at the same time a most industrious literary worker, and spends much of his time at the desk, writing for the Atlantic magazine, or taking notea of his present Amerieaa tour. He will tmdewbtedly make a haad- some fortune out of his visit to this country. No one will begrudge it to him, for no pecuniary recompense is too great for the man who "created" Little Nell and Tiny Tim, Captain Cuttle, and Wilkins Micawber. POOR FELLOW — Mexican papers give an account of tne murder of Mr. Brewster Russell, of London. Mr. Russell was employed by the Mexico and Vera Cruz Railway Company. Having occasion to go to Mazatlan, he was induced by one Oohoa, who had been a captain in the Juarist army, to travel 1,itl, Durango, and by an unusual route. On the road, and when near Nazas. Mr. Russell lent his pistol to Ochoa (who had pretended a desire to relieve the owner of the burden of carrying it). No sooner had Ochoa obtained the pistol than he shot Mr. Russell. Two boys of the pirty aided Ochoa in crushing with Btones the head of v.he victim; finally, the trunks and valises of Mr. Russell were broken open, and the contents carried off. it is not known that any attempt has been made to capture the murderers. PROFESSIONAL MURDERBRS.—A letter from Pesth states that the daughter of a man employed on the roads near that city, and who resided in a cottage between Alt Of en and Uereton, has just confessed, in a fit of remorse, that in concert with her father, she had committed not less than sixteen murders during the last ten year?, for the purpose of robbing their victims. Seven skeletons had already been discovered by the authorities, and information given by the young woman has led to the finding of the nine others. MURDER BY A LUNATIC MOTHER.—A woman named Fletcher has been committed at Gloucester for trial for the wilful murder of her child. The prisoner is the wife of a rural postman, living at Sevenhampton, six miles from Cheltenham. A few years ago she was in a lunatic asylum, and lately her mind had again become affected, through the over.suckling of a baby. On New Year's-day she tried to out her own throat. She was very fond of the infant, which was her only child living. A day or two ago she put the child into a pan of dirty water and suffocated it. When the neighbours went into the cottage they saw the mother looking wild and ghastly, and the child dead and naked. The poor creature begged her friends not to touch the child, because he would be back presently. She has since often inquired for the child. THE USE OF CHLOROFORM FOR OUTRAGE AND RonERY.It is a difficult thing at any time to bring an individual under the influence of chloroform against his will, and particularly an athletic person such as Mr. Speke is described to be (remarks the Laneet). It is exceedingly improbable that any one for criminal purposes would use an agent like chloroform, which would infallibly cause considerable struggling, and consume a good deal of time before it induced insensi- bility. It is simply a delusion to suppose that thia agent can be employed for the purposes of robbery, &c.; its administration under such circumstaaces would be attended with infinitely greater difficulties than the brute-force expedients which would be used by powerful and determined ruffians. THE REASON WHT 1—" What can be the object of my much-esteemed Austrian colleague in having a fever?" inquired the. sly old diplomatist whose own actions were beyond aU control of natural causes. And what makes Count Bismark apply for and obtain leave of absence for an indefinite period at this particular season ? is the subject of shrewd con- jecture both in and out of Germany. He took a similar holiday several months ago, and his retirement from active life then, as now, gave rise to a variety of wild surmises, ending, however, in the explanation that there was no mystery whatever in the matter— that Count Bismark, like other men, wanted relaxa- tion after the wear and tear of a busy Session, and that he would return as soon all fresh air and repose had soothed his shattered nerves. We (Times) hope he may again enjoy his hardly earned respite, and that nothing may be materially changed in tho position of affairs in his absence. MARRYING A MAID OF Low Archduke Henry, cousin of the Emperor of Austria has just been married to a young lady of the name of Hoffmann. She was formerly on the stage, but for two years past has been living with her family, near Vienna. The wedding took place without any pomp or ceremony, in the Archduke's palace at Brunn. He had, it seems, endeavoured to obtain permission from his Majesty te form this connection, but in vaio. Accordingly, some days ago, Fraulein Hoffmann was summoned to Brunn by her future husband, with strict injunctions to mention the journey to no one. She was, such was the archduke's wish, to appear at the altar in a simple dress of white muslin. In the room where the ceremony was gone through were two witnesses this was all the company. They have now left for Italy, where for some time they will remain. M. Louts BLANC.—The following letter to a London magistrate has been published by request j— To Sir R. Carden. Sir,—A countryman of mine whom I do not know, and with whom I have possibly nothing in common but the name, was brought before you on the 18th inat., charged with smuggling 210. of foreign manufactured tobacco and it aP1ea1'9 from â report published in several newspapers that you told the prisoner you were "very sorry to lee a man behrÏDg such a distingui*hed name as Louis Blanc charged with smuggling." I am not vainglorious enough to suppose that the allusion is pointed at me, but my friends will have it that it is. If so, it really puzaleg me to decide whether I ought to thank you, or may consider myself free from gratitude. Was your remark meant a3 a mere compliment ? In that case, I cannot help regrettisg that the lielltence should be 80 ambiguous as to spoil the effect of your good intentions. Did you think— which seems to me hardly credible—that I was the person it was your painful duty to flue tOs. ? Taen allow me to put you on your guard, in the event of some other Louis Blanc being henceforth found in possession of foreign manufaetured tobacco, by informing you that I do not smoke.—I am, sir, your obedient aervant, LOUIS BLANC.—Brighton, Feb. 16. ADRIFT ON THE ICE.—About four o'clock on the afternoon of the 30th ult., while 200 or 300 people—men, women, and children— mainly passengers by the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad train, were crossing the river on foot, at St. Louis, the ice suddenly broke loose and floated down the stream (aaya the New York Tribune.) The people ran hither and thither in terrible fright.. They coitld not get off at either shore, as the ice had floated the river banks, and a broad open space of water intervened between them and the land. It seemed as though the loss of life must have been fearful. Thousands of citizens gathered on the levee and watehed the scene with intense excite- ment. Luckily the immense field did not break, and after floating the distance of two blocks, it pressed against a steamer on the Missouri shore, from which planks were pushed out, and all the terrified people were rescued. No ene was injured. ROYALTY IN DEFAULT.—Australian papera state that the majority of the entire population of the district assembled in Geelong to greet the Duke of Edinburgh on his arrival. The groups about the pier included the principal people of the town and last, not least, waa the last monarch of the Dandenong tribe of aboriginals, King Jerry, dressed for once quite respectably in a new suit of clothes fresh from the peg, shoes and socks on his feet, a rosette and medal on his breaat, and a rifleman's badge on his arm. He was to have presented an addjess and a volume of Dr. Brace's work on the aboriginal languages, and swaggered about for hours on the strength of his future interview with the Prince. But alas when the time oame King Jerry was away, and the two scions of different Royal races never met. THE ADMIRALTY BOARD.—It has been a com- mon expression in the mouths of Englishmen that "boards'* have no souls but, to prove that the Admiralty Board has some sense of feeling, we (Art^y and Navy Gazette) can say that only lately a com- mander in the Royal Navy who had met with a fear- ful accident had his case properly represented, and, to the gratification of himself and friends, a decision was rapidly arrived at by their Lordships doubling the pension which under ordinary circumstances he woulcthave received. Again, a poor assistant-surgeon died who had not served sufficiently long to qualify his widow for a pension—4n fact she was in deep dis- tress. My Lords lost no time in directing a handsome gratuity to be sent to her, following up the principle of CM dot qui eito dat." "T AGABONDAOB" IN SPAIN.—The Spanish Chamber of Deputies have passed a bill against vaga- bondage. It declares that the following persons will be regarded as vagabonds :—" 1. Persons, though even married and living 1n fixed habitations, who do not possess some property, who have no profession, trade, or occupation, and no legitimate or known means of existence. 2. Persons in any employment or business constituting the sole means of living, who do not habi- tually follow it up. 3. Persons without sufficient means who frequent gambling houses or other sus- pected places." At eighteen years of age the vaga- bond is to be under the surveillance of the police. Ab«ve that age he will be imprisoned for a long or short period, according to ciroumstances. A JAPANESB LETTER.—Tho agent of a Califor- nia wine company recently forwarded a case of wine to a high military officer in Japan, and received the following acknowledgment, written in English on the rough brownish paper of the country :— Japan, Tenth Moon, 1867.—To Mr. B. N. Tan Brunt.— I reoeivad your letter dated September o d (?), and were glad to read it Your thaakfull for your sending ithe wine, an when I distribute the wine among my friends they wer glad to ahare in your favour. I beg that you shall inform me of the price of per case which contains r onse (dosen) ? When I drink the wine and become pleasant, I feel as if I were together with you. I have honor to be your servant, MATSMOTO JUDITO, Japan. No QUERE !—A story i" related of the late Judge Fleason, of Pennsylvania. On one occasion he was trying a case where the law and evidence was altogether on the side of the plaintiff. On the jury was a person who pretended to be learned in the law, waa in the habit of giving legal advice, and added largely to the litigation of the county. In this case he had given assurance to the defendantthat he would surely win the case, and when the judge had con- cluded his charge he jumped up and exclaimed, But, Judge, quere as to that law." "Silence, sir," said the Judge, you are a great fool, and of that, at least, there is no qutre:" The verdict was for the plaintiff, and the inquiring juryman never had any more clients. DEATH FROM THE IGNITION OF A LINIMENT. —A singular and fatal accident was the subject of inquiry on Friday at Liverpool. Peter Bragan, an old man troubled with rheumatism, had obtained a colourless liniment, which on Sunday last he gave to his wife and asked her to rub it upon one of his hips. She poured some of the liquid upon her hands, and after rubbing her husband tor some time, in order to increase its efficacy, she warmed her hands at the fire. The liquid on her hands became ignited, and she was very severely burned. Her husband approached to render her assistance, and the liquid upon his hip became ignited also; his clothes were bmrned, and he sustained such serious injuries that he died in the Northern Hospital on the following Thursday. A verdict of Accidental Death was returned. A MIRACULOUS ESCAPE.—A very extraordinary incident occurred on the South Leicestershire branch of the London and North-Western Railway on Satur. day morning. As the train which left Nuneaton at 10.10 a.m. was approaching Narborough the driver observed something lying between the metals, and at once took means to stop his train, but was unable to do so until it had proceeded some three hundred yards beyond the object which attracted hia attention. When he had stopped his train he went down the line, accompanied by the guard and several of the pas- sengers, when they discovered a "navvy "lying be- tween the metals helplessly drunk and fast asleep. It teek the aaited efferta ef tit* "M te ro. bias from his perilous slumber. Although the whole of the train had passed over him he was perfectly uninjured, and waa quite unconscious of the danger to which he had expose i himself. He abused the men for disturb- ing him, and, making a desperate resistance, declared that he would not move from the spot. Ultimately a "trolly" which was. in use on the line was procured, the foolish fellow was laid upon it and with great dif- ficulty conveyed to the train, and thence to Leicester, where he was locked up in a cell at the police-station, and kept there to recover his senses. RAILWAY CONTRACT TICKETS.'—At the poliee- conrt, Liverpool, on Monday, a builder named Hughes I waa summoned by an offieer of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway for travelling on that line and refusing to produce his ticket or pay the fare. It seemed that Mr. Hughes had taken a contract ticket for a certain period for travelling between Liverpool and Crosby. At Sandhills station, on the 5th of December, he was asked by the collector for his ticket, when he informed the latter he had lost it. The man then demanded the fare, amounting to 8d. Mr. Hughes, however, declined to pay the money, on the ground that he had purchased a eontract ticket, and had given notice to the company that he had lost it. According to the bye-laws, if a person loses a contract ticket he is to pay the fare for each journey he takes after such Ions, and in the event of the ticket, being recovered the money is to be returned. Mr. Hughes complained that he had to show his ticket something like 1,600 times in the course of a year. He had incurred a penalty of 408" but the bench ordered him to pay a fine of 2s. 6d., with 2s. 6J. costs. THB PARIS FASHIONS.—Apropot of the ball at Baron Haussmann's, Oalignani mentions that the multitudinous skirts of last year have disappeared the dresses are without plaits in front, the fulness being thrown back to terminate in a long queue sashes of exceedingly wide ribbon, to match the dress, are tastefully arranged in a knot behind, the ends falling low flowers ornament the bottom of the skirt; the dress is not worn so low as last year, either on the back or front; very little black lace is to be seen, and when white ia worn, it is no longer placed flat, but in zigzags or festoons on the dress, the points of the former and the semi-circle of the latter being orna- mented with flowers chignons are no longer seen, the hair being worn high on the head, with long stray curls allowed to float freely at each side of the neck. THB EFFECTS OF HUNGARIAN WINE I-The troop of Japanese jugglers who gave representations in Paris during the Exhibition are now performing at Pesth. A curious scene is reported to h ave taken place there on the occasion of the first exhibition. They had been invited to breakfast by an amateur on the morning of the representation, and during the repast the strong white wines of Hungary were oinculated freely. In due course the doors of the theatre were opened and all the seats speedily occupied. After long delay, the public became clamorous, when a com- missary of police oame forward to announce that the actors were unable to appear in consequence of having drunk too copiously at breakfast. Great tumult ensued, and the result was that the defaulters were obliged not only to return the money received, but also to pay a fine of 60 francs for having failed in their duty to the public. They are said to have required two whole days to recover their equilibrium. THB BULB OF THB ROAD AT SEA.—Late on Sunday night another fatal disregard of the rule of the road at sea produced a collision in the Gull Stream off Ramsgate. The ship Superior, outward bound to Carthagena, was on the starboard tack, steaming S.W. by S., with the wind N.W. The night was clear and starlight, when the lights of the Lena, screw steamer, bound to London from Odessa, came in sight. Which vessel was to blame remains yet to be estab- lished, but one or other blundered with the helm, and the result was that the steamer cut the ship down abaft the fore rigging to such an extent that she sank directly, giving the crew, two only excepted, scant time to scramble on board the steamer. The two men who failed to reached the Lena were drowned. The latter vessel was also much injured, but managed to get into port. AN EXCUSE FOR CLUBS.—According to the Atlantic .Monthly, Men say, in reply to those who object to their clubs, their men's dinner parties, and their smoking rooms, Women overwhelm society with superfluous dry goods. The moment ladies are invited, the whole affair becomes a mere question of costume. A party at which ladies assist is little more than an exhibition of wearing apparel. They dress, too, not for the purpose of giving pleasure to men, but for the purpose of inflicting pain on one another. Beside, a lady who is carrying a consider- able estate upon her person must devote a great part of her attention to the management of that estate. She may be talking to Mr. Smith about Shakespeare and the musical-glasses, but the thing her mind is really bent upon is crushing Mrs. Smith with her new Jace. Even dancing is nothing but an exceedingly laborious and anxious wielding of yards of silk trailing out behind, &c. A PROBABLE SUPPOSITION.—A destructive fire took place on Friday at Leeds, by which the premises and machinery of a large building firm were destroyed, damage to the extent of several thousands of pounds inflicted, and many workmen thrown out of employ. Unfortunately fires of this description are not of so unusual occurrence as to require special remark but in this case there appears to be evidence that the mischief waa caused by burglars. It is imagined that finding themselves unable to force open a large safe supposed to contain money, they broke their way out of the counting-house into the carpenter's shop to obtain more powerful tools, and when there probably set fire to the place accidentally. Perhaps other catastrophes of the kind where everything has been left and remained safe for hours, and where the out- break has been inexplicable, may have had a similar origin. CHAMPAGNE CHARLIE. Champagne Charlie" is a reYived soubriquet applied to a wine sneroban1: onoe living under the Opera Colonnade in the Haymarket, London—a Mr. Charles Wright. Among the singers and dancers of Her Majesty's Theatre Wright was very popular, and his presents of cheap champagne origi- nated the familiar nickname of Champagne Charlie." Late in life he laboured under the mouojnania that one of his legs belonged to Madame Vestris, Sjho at that time had made a sensation in the character of Pippo, and exhibited a matchless pair of limbs. The Italian image-men made models in plaster of Madame Vestris's legs," and did ajively trade in them—a cir- cumstance which affected the mind of Champagne Charlie, who on one. oocasion, when the late Tom Cooke visited him, refused to make an attempt to walk. THE IRISH CATTLB TRADE.—A memorial, signed by akout 2,000 of the principal landed pro- prietors in the grasing districts of Ireland, praying for a withdrawal of the Order in Council of the 17th January, 1868, restricting the transport and sale of cattle and sheep, is about to be presented to the govern- ment. The memorialists protest against interference with this important trade as unnecessary. The diseases referred to in the order, viz., the mouth and foot disease and pleuro-pneumonia in cattle, and the scab and mange in sheep, are not, according to their ex- perience, of a kind to require the stringent measures prescribed in the order, and the enforcement of these would, in fact, almost entirely stop the cattle trade. A NOVEL ARMAMENT 1- W., United Serine* Gateite, are given to understand that H.M.S. Wyvern is at present armed with three guns and a half," the explanation of this circumstance being that in experi- menting with 1501b. shot the breach of one of the muzzle-loading 800-pounders was blown completely off. An order has been given that the Wpem is not to fire her guns fer the present. AMBRIOAN PRISONERS IF England.—A Wash- ington telegram of the 3rd to the Nø Terk Herald says;— The Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House, it ia understood, will take into eonsideration to morrow the question of the release of American cltliens now in British prisons. This question has been entirely overloeked. It is thought that action in the matter will be speedily taken, and a request be made upon the freeident, with assurances of support, te make a formal demand for the release of all American eitisens so Imprisoned. The bill was taken up in the House on the ifch, but Was laid over until the nth. DECEMBER IN AUSTRALIA.—The thermometer at the Melbourne Observatory reaohed 104 degs. in the shade on the 19th of December. An instance of extreme variability of temperature in the climate is afforded by the fact that at Grant, on the Crooked River, on the 10th, the heat was very great, the glass standing at 88 deg. in the Bhade—an altitude uncom- mon in that alpine locality. On the l2th-only two days afterwardø-the temperature was at freezing point, and snow waa lying six inches deep on the plains. SINKING or AN HOTEL.—The Jowrnal de Parit relates a ourious circumstanoe whieh is taking place at Desenaano, in the province of Brescia, in Italy :— The Hotel de Porta-Veccliia, built upon piles on the shore of the Lake of Garda, is gradually sinking at the rate of about six inches a day the ground floor has already disappeared. This immersion la taking plaoa lmp&eeptlMy, and without any shock. Every means of preventing it have been em- ployed, hut without avail. Numbers of persons have come from a distance to witness this singular speotacle. The proprietor of the hotel, who was at first In despair at this misfortune, at length determined to charge a fee icr ad- mission to the house, and has already reeelved a sum of money which will go far to compensate him for his loss A scientific commission is about to visit the spot to open an inquiry. AN ILLUSTRIOUB SOLDIBR.—Prinoe Iturbide, the grandson of the preceding Emperor of Mexico, who had been adopted by Maximilian, has arrived in Rome, and haa enlisted as a eommon soldier. The Austrian Government allows him a pension of 40,000fr. This young Prince, who is scarcely twenty years of age, has refused the post of Aide-de-camp to the Em- peror of Austria, declaring that he would only serve the Holy Father. He is a handsome young man, and received his education at St. Barbe. He sleeps in the barracks with the soldiers of his squadron. The Pope has offered him the grade of major, which he has re- fused. The Prince is at this moment the lion of the Eternal City he goes, however, very little into society, and appears to be of a melancholy turn. RUSTIC IGNORANCE.—Aa illustrating the ig- norance which prevails among the working classes on religions subjects, notwithstanding the control which has been exercised by the clergy over their schools for so many years, a correspondent relates the following story :—The scene was a village in the diocese of London, and within seven miles of the General Post- office. A child was brought to be christened at the village church. The officiating clergyman asked the usual question, "Has this infant been baptized?" Oh, yes, sir!" was the answer of the godmother. Knowing that this was not the ease, the minister required to be informed of the name of the person whe had ad- ministered the rite. "Mr. the druggist." Ob, you mean that Mr. —— haa registered the child." Dang it all," was the reply, That's what I meant. I thought it was the same thing." A titter from the standers-by and a rebuke from the clergyman followed. FOOD FOR 'BUS HORSES.—All the food for the seven thousand and odd London horses is specially prepared at the feeding depots of the company, at Bell Lane, and at Iron Gate Wharf, Paddington (says a writer in Ca»ieW» Magazine.) The system on which the company feeds ita horses is worthy of the attention of all who have mnch to do with these animals, and require to give them as much rest as possible. The horse's feed is ee prepared that it wall take the animal the shortest possible time to consume it, in I order that he may lie down and have his rest. It is therefore cut up fine, and consists of a mixture of various nutritious materials—Indian corn, oats, barley, chaff, &c. This mixture is weighed out to each horse —a very proper precaution where so many have to ba fed. Each animal is allowed nineteen pounds of corn and ten pounds of chaff per day, thoroughly mixed. I am told that upon the price of corn the nature of dividends declared to the shareholders is governed if corn is dear, a poor dividend may be expected if it ( is cheap, a good one. When we consider that the cost half-yearly of this food is one hundred thousand pounds, the priM of this item must make a material difference to the eredit side of the ledger. THE FORTIFICATIONS OF ROME.—A correspon- dent of the Dibatt, writing from Rome, Says:— The works of fortification are still prosecuted with great activity. IjMKhole of the wall surrounding Rome is being crowned ^H^tlements part of the covered galleiy lead- ing from tnHPnean to Fort St. Angelo is being repaired or reconstructed but I ought to say that the sand bags have disappeared from the parapet of the Pinoian. The military administration has at last admitted what was obvious to all, namely, that no attaek oould possibly be attempted on that side. DIVINATION OF CHARACTER.—A new discovery has been made in Paris, and appears likely to become quite the rage. This is called phytiognomancie, and consists in the power of divining by the features. Pro- fessors of this science pretend that by means of scientific and artistic researches they are able to repre- sent all the different changes through which the countenance of a child will pass until he arrives at manhood. The inventor, by the aid of photography, produces two portraits, the one of the child as at present, and the other as he or she will be at her eighteenth or twentieth year. This science being of a nature to excite curiosity, will, no doubt, become the delight and amusement of parents. A SILLY JOKE.—A serious practical joks has just been played by a Franco-American gentleman which is likely to cost him very dear. He announced in the oafi of the Grand that a well-known American packet had been burned in the Atlantic. Several gentlemen present immediately left the room, and proceeded, some to break the news to families ex- pecting friends and relatives, others to insure mer- chandise to make "sicker" what may have been forgotten on the other side. Some insurances had been effected before the offices became aware of the rumour, but on their doing so they resolutely declined taking any more risks. Our joker seeing the gravity of his pleasantry, then acknowledged the error of his ways, but too late to prevent actions being taken against him by the insuranoe offices and those who had effected insurances. AN EDITORIAL EXCURSION iir AMERICA.— American editors, for some years past, have been in the habit of enjoying a holiday in the autumn, and of visiting the pl&ee which is supposed to have made the most rapid stride in the soale of oivilisation and im- provement. Their last visit was to Omaha, and the editor-of the Omaha Weekly Journal, among other rich Americanisms, says of them—"Two hundred real, live, bona fide, Simon-Pure editors in Omaha! We could swear on a thousand Bibles that eaoh excur- sionist is the most learned, most eloquent, most righteous, most disinterested, most statesmanlike, and most popular editor in the world A CHALLENGE.—The Marquis of Tweeddale, an agriculturist of no mean sagacity. and experience, has submitted to the Highland Agricultural Sooiety the following proposal for testing the merits of horse labour v. steam ploughing, and it is supposed that his lordship's challenge will be accepted :— I have a field of clay land which has been drained at li feet apart, and has never been ploughed above 8 inches, most probably 7 inches, which I have lately taken into my own hands. This field will be ready fur cross ploughing about the middle of March, when a trial could take place. 1 will produce seventeen pairs of horaas to work against the steam plough, so that it oannot be said the horses have been picked, as that is the number of pairs I have at work. As steam cultivation is stated to be the new means of breaking up the soil, I say that 12 inches is the depth that I will fix for the trial. I beg you will lay my proposition before the monthly oourt of directors.

Ii.a. EPITOME OF NEWS, BRITISH AND FOREIGN. Brigham Young has announced to the "Saints" that the Spirit of God has instructed him to order thsm to leave off drinking tea and coffee. The military court of Vienna has just given judg- ment in the affair of General Baron Kondelka, accused of frauds on the State during the war of 1866. He has been sentenced to four years' imprisonment and the loss of his military rank and titles of nobility. The number of deaths from the fever at Terling, Issex, has now risen to thirty-aye. Altogether there have been 1M attacks. The number of bills deposited for this Session which relate to railways and tramways in the United Kingdom amounts to 112. Of those bills thirty-one propose to autho- rise the coniltfuction of new railways, and five the construc- tion of street tramways. In Indianopolis recently a negro was sentenced to pay a fine of 6,000 do]g. and two years in the penitentiary for marrying a white woman. Whether anything was done with the woman is not stated. General Butler has been challenged to a duel by Colonel White, a Method 1st preacher of Virginia, on account of in order issued by General Busier reflecting upon him during the war. The challenge has not been accepted. France has again purchased a. large number of horses in Hungary. It i8 said that uo less than 25,000 will be successively despatched from Pesth to Strasburg. The Roman Catholic journal, the Glasgow Free Press, has succumbed to the sentence of the sacred congregation. Its publication is to cease after this week, but the pro- prietors mean to start in its place a new journal to be called the Irish Patriot. A man has been arrested at MODS for forging shares of the Orleans Company to the value of 300,000f They were placed with a notary of Brussels, who innocently disposed of a number of the iorged documents in the usual way of business. The King of the Belgians has just sent a handsome gold watch to M. de Block, Burgomaster of f ele, on the oocasion of his 102nd birthday. The following inscription is engraved on the case: "Given by the King to M. Guil- laume de Block, the 14th of February, 1868." This gentle- man still possesses aU his intellectual faculties; he is honorary president of the local shooting society; he walks out daily alone, and sometimes attends the rifle meetings. The Prince and-Princess of Wales paid a visit on Monday to Bt. Bartholomew's Hospital, in London, of which the Prince ia President. It is understood that the Prim-ess had long wished to see the institution, and especially since the reception there of most of the unfortunate persons who were injured by the OIerkenwel1 explosion. At Rome, on the 10th of February, in the gardens of the Vatican, 4.00 singers chanted a hymn by the Maestro Father Rosati, in honour of the victory of Mentana. The popewas present, and the performance attracted an immense crowd, though admittance was only obtained by tioket. At the conclusion of the hymn the Pope presented Father Rosati with a gold medal, and gave a silver one to each of the singers. A ship laden with petroleum took fire at Antwerp on Saturday, and at three o'clock in the afternoon the oon- flagrati n had a dangerous appearance, several vessels being threatened with destruction. The cloud seems to be thickening over the Bast. The North Bastern Corr*#p*n<Un*4 of Vienna speaks con- fidently of insurrectionary preparations in Bulgaria, aad other Continental journals, unfortunately confirm this view in every particular. Mr. John Abel Smith has fixed the second reading of his bill for stoppin. the Sunday liquor traffic on the list for Wednesday, the 18th of March. There has been a borough bread fund raised at Poole, In Dorsetshire, for the relief of the poor in that town. It has furnished 4,000 fourpenny leaves during the last six weeks. Buenos Ayres has been visited with cholera, and its ravages are of such a character as to almost paralyse co mmeroe. A New York paper aays A Newfoundland dog was seen carrying a bundle in his moath down Second Avenue, on Thursday night. Arriving at No. 451, oecupied by Mr. Van Winkle, he walked up the steps, and having deposited the bundle on the topmost step ran off. The package contained a female infant about one week old." A rumour was extensively prevalent on Saturday- it was, indeed, published in several of the papers—of the death of Mr. Justice Ibee, but the report was happily with- out foundation. Justice ahee has been ill, and is now said to be improving. "Hero is the sensational canard of the day—War with Prussia certain—an army to be marched across the Rhine whilst a squadron will land a force at the mouths of the Elbe. The date for this expedition is not stated, but there can be no mistake in fixing it for the 1st of April."— Saris correspondent of the London Standard. The building of the .Paris Exhibition in the Champ de Mars has been sold for 1,010, OOOf. It oost, and was worth, U.OOO.OOOf. Three coffins have been dug up near Weymouth filled with human bones. The coffins were of oak. their position was due north and south, alter the manner of the laxon period. The Maine Liquor Law has been repealed by the new Massachusetts Senate by 11 to IS An attractive novelty is announced in one of the sporting papers. A youth, paralysed in the right leg, and using a crutoh. offers to walk 1,000 mile* in 1,000 consecutive hours for a "moderate remuneration." President Johnson has not yet In any way recog- nised Mr. Stanton as the Secretary of War. Mr. Charles Dickens, while in Washington, WM the guest ollenator Sumner. A candidate for the Itoyal Asylum of St. Anne's has issued a poetical appeal to the charitable supporters of that institution. Here is a stansa:— I erave not alms, I ask not food or drink. Deny me not, kind souls, a little ink. I plead for love, for proxies, not for pence- Vote for my little son, poor Hampden Menee." At Kaaaii is religiously observed the custom of bathing on the solemnity of the Epiphany (6th January). This year at a temperature of 20 degrees Reaumur (IS below zero Fahrenheit), more than 100 individuals, old men, young ones, and lads, plunged into a hole broken in the ioe of the river Kasanka, and came out some looking as red as boiled lobsters and others pale as a shroud. On Monday the Bishop of London, Mrs. Tait, and the Rev. R. Maguire visited the sufferers by the Clerkenwell explosion now in the Royal Free Hospital, London, and were accompanied round the various wards by Dr. Marsden. They expressed themselves mueh pleased with the improved ana cheerfnl condition in which they found the patients. The poor little fellow, Arthur Abboti., who has all butlost his sight, rode his little horse about the ward much to the satisfaction of the visitors. "Two distinguished persons have arrived at Jack- son, Mississippi. One of these is Jefferson Davis, who has been received cordially but quietjy by the white people. The other is Serjeant Bates, who has undertaken to walk from Vicksburg to Washington, without money, but bearing the United States flag. Bates has been received by the negroes with much tom-toming, and supplied with food and whisky. The boast of Bates is that he will carry the flag' through the South, and that nobody will molest him."— American correspondent. Mr. Bernal, her Majesty's Consul at Havre, draws attention to the approaching maritime exhibition at Havre, and expresses regret that the number ot demands for ad- mission from flrtat Britain have fallen far short of what had reasonably beea expected. The exhibition will embrace every description of article connected with ships and seamen, and, as it will be held in the Liverpool of Franee, and at our very doors, Mr. Bernal thinks that it ought to possess very great attractions for a maritime nation like Great Britain. An old man in Manchester named O'Brien, suffering from bronchitis, obtained last week an order on a OlSpensary for a mixture composed of laudanum ipecacuanha. Haviog swallowed a dose of it, he found hiuiseu so much relieved that he drank off the entire contents of the bottle, on. the supposition that the more of the medicine he took the better: he should be. He was found dead in his bed the next morning with the empty bottle in his hand. At the coroner's inquest the jury censured the dispensary man for giving out medieines unaccompanied by written directions as te the quantity te ke taken. It appears that the suicides in the army of Saxony are increasing to a TIlOõt ahrmiLg extent. No special Ilause lias been elicited for this terrible phenomenon, save the fact that suicides seem to be on the increase throughout all clashes of society. Horses in Victoria. are as unsaleable as sheep. One paper speaks of them aa selling at sixpence enoh. Another sajs:—"On Thursday last nve were knoekci down for halt- a-crown, and ten others only realised twen' y-eight shillings, toe purchaser buying them LO feed pigs with." Rumours are again current in Paris of uneasiness in the relations between France and Prussia, and some people go so far ItS to say that Prince Napoleon is urging the Em- peror to declare war against "PrU8sia. The story leem8 to have no basis of probability. A paper gives a memoir of Mary Wolstonecraft, wife of bodwin and mother of Mrs. Shelley, with a portrait "from a photograph." As the strong-minded lady died in 1786, how on earth did the ingenious photographic artist obtain a sitting ? On dit that a distinguished clergyman who is about to visit the United States is disgusted with the British laws relative to marriage with a de eased wife's sister, and that; he will remain across the Atlantie in hopes of better times. —Court Journal. On Sunday last took place, in the vicinity of Paris, a race with veloclpedt's, open to all natioDS. A ireat crowd assembled, and appeared highly amused at this voluntary treadmill exercise which lasted ahout an hour and a halt. The successful competitor was a Frenchman. This kind of amusement is becoming very general with children of larger growth, and bids fair to superlecte rockiug-hoises. Her Majesty the Queen has been graciously pleased to Bend to tne Royal Free Hospital, GrayVinn-road, in Lon- don, through Dr. Jenner, a copy of her Majesty's work Leaves from the Journal of our Lite in the Highlands." Her Majesty has written on the fly-leaf, "Presented to the Royal Free Hespital by Victoria R." The Speke mystery is said to be solved, and in a very curious way. Any of your readers who have perused Mr. Cnarles Seaae s story, « Hard Cash,' will remsmber how the hero of tlte tale was oapturtd and incarcerated in a mad- house on the eve of his marriage. It is said that this ia the real explanation of Mr. Spoke's fate, aud the ciue to which Th, Timts of Friday alluded."—Leeds Mercury. An aeronaut went up from the city of Mexico, on Christmas morning, in a hot-air balloon. He struck a cold current, which chilled his apparatus and sent him down rapidly, and broke his bones. A few days since two young greyhounds, while chasing a hare at Kimeridge, in the Isle of Purbeck, fell over a cliff several hundred leet in height and were killed. A negro who had outraged an Irish girl, aged fifteen years, and then thrown her over an embankment, badly in- juring her, has been taken from the gaol iu Frankfort, Kentucky, and hanged by an infuriated ni"b. Patrick Lennon, who was convicted of treason-felony at the Dublin Assizes, has been sentenced to fifteen years' penal servitude. On sentence being prQnowlced he consoled himself with the expectation that the English government of Ireland would be upset before that period had expired, and avowed that if he was set free he would again join the Fenian conspiracy. The artillery stores in Utrecht have been reduced to ashes. The loss is estimated at 200,000 florin; Good progress towards recovery has been made by her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales during her visit to Sandringham, which has extended to three months The Princess is now able to walk without the aid of a stick, and an ordinary observer would fail to perceive any remaining lameness."—The Laneet. It is stated that the sum to be paid for the dispensa- tion asked from the Pope on the occasion of the marriage of Prince Humbert with his ceusin the Princess Marguerita, will be lOO.eOOfr. According to a parliamentary return the number of licences taken out in the United Kingdom for the financial year 1866-66, by dealers In spirits, wine, maltsters, brewers, pubUeans, beershop-keepers, and other retailers of beer was 840,000. An inland revenue return which has just been issued shows that 111 the financial year 1866-67 no less than 186,078,045 penny stamps were supplied to the public for use on reeelpts, draughts, and other documents (other than letters) requiring a penny stamp. On Saturday night Mr. Richard Marshall, farmer, of Wysall, near Nottingham, met with his death by an ex- traordinary misadventure He went to an oyster stall in the Market-place, Nottingham, and ordered some oysters to be opened. The first handed to him was a very large one, and stuck in his throat. He was unable to dislodge it, fell to the ground gasping for breath, and was carried at once to the hospital, but died on his way. The deceased was a married man, and has left a large family. A marriage has been arranged at Nice between Mr. Henry Oppenheim, a partner in the well known Egyptian banking-house of that name, and the daughter of the Hon. James Butler, younger brother of Lord Dunboyne. The Carnival at Rome began on Saturday. The Corso was yery animated. Although few carriages "were ob- served, large crowds filled the streets. Perfect order prevailed. We are requested by the Lord Chancellor to con- tradict a statement of the intended marriage of his daughter, which, without any authority, was most improperly inserted in the Oourt Journal, and for which there is not the smallest foundation."—Times. The second valet of Lord Derby has committed suicide by cutting his throat. It appears that he had been engaged to one of Ahe female domestics at Knowsley Hall, and that a marriage between them had been arranged, and was shortly to have taken place. Within the last few weeks, however, the deceased became impressed with the delusion that he had been supplanted by another in her affections, and this circumstance preyed much upon his mind. The public will be glad to learn that Lord Derby's health continues to be decidedly improved. One fact has been Incidentally mentioned, which is not without interest as bearing on recent discussions. The noble Earl sees the official papers, which are sent to him in regular course and they are duly returned, not without haviug received his per- sonal attention. Parisian traders sometimes give their shops strange signs, fL.r signs for shops still rxibt in that country, though they have long since disappeared in England. At the present moment one of them is advertising his shop under the sign of the Illustrious Establishment." The ruling intellects of the city of Cork decline to admit the W øltminster Rtview to'their principal library, because it had an article lately on polygamy in Turkey. One of the artillery soldiers, named Hickey, who was in charge of the martello tower in Cork Harbour when the Fenian party attaoked it in December, has been tried by court-martial, convicted of disobedience to orders and neglect of duty, and sentenced to eighty-four days' imprisonment with hard labeur. The commissioners sent abroad to select the best moåe1 for a rifle wherewith to arm the Pope's troops have just returned to Rome, having decided for the American Remington nfle as modified in England, a simple but solid model. Some objections to the form of the cartouche have led to an improvement in It. Ten thousand of these weapons have been ordered, and in six months they are to be in the hands of Pio Nono's soldiers. The Turkish Army, according to the last official re- ports, was 170,876 men when on a war footing and 148,680 men when on a peace footing. A man living on the banks of the river Ness died recently, and his corpse was laid on a stretcher, which was placed on a box or trunk. The river rose higher than it has done for fifty years, and the inmates of the cottase, with the exception of a boy, fled. On going back to the house when the water began to recede, the eorpse was found floating in two feet of wat<jr, and the boy sitting on the coffin half starved. The Charivari (the French Punch) publishes a woodcut In which England, in the guise of an astronomer, is represented looking through ateiescopeat the starTheodorus in the far distance, and, in consequence, never sees the well of ffenianism open at her feet, and into which a fall seems imminent. m is a class of people in Paris who obtain a aZ £ piclclnSt up the ends of cigars in the streets, Ac. °*e people purchase from the head-waiter of a eu/i the exclusive right to pick up the butts of cigars. It is estimated that the total value of these cigar-ends is abeut £2,000 per annum, and that they are worked up into tobacco and oftentimes exported as pure Oriental weed. In the obituary column of the London Times of the 18th inst. were recorded the deaths of fourteen persons whose united ages amounted to 1,110 years Nine of the number were men and five women, the total of whOl8 years numbered 713 and 807 respectively. The average age of each person was, therefore, a little over 79 years. The youngest was TO, and the eldest (Sir. David Brewster) 87. A Maharatee Brahmin is now labouring as a oate. ehist of the Church mission at Cawnpore. Among the persons baptised are numbered two ladies of the Delhi Royal Family. A suggestion whioh appeared in The Timet some days ago, that a new industry might be created for Ireland by the cultivation of beet-roet sugar, was met at once by the disceuraging statement that it had been tried some years ago and had failed. This is literally true; but it turns out that the failure proves nothing, beoause the experiment was not fairly tried. A hopeful symptom is showing itself in Italy. In the principal cities addressess to the chamber are being signed, urging It to suspend all political discussion, and to throw aside all other matters of minor importance, in order to devote the whole of its energies exclusively to the task ot improving the finances and reforming the administration of the country. "Mr. Gordon, who accidentally shot himself the other day at Cambridge," one of hiB friends says, was one of the most careless men in handling arine I ever met. I have seen him, as a feat of strength, hold out at arm's length a loaded rifle with the muzsle towards his head." The university marker had known him to cock his rifle with his foot, with the muscle towards him. One of the most touchingly simple wills was left a few days ago by the German Pastor Holsapfel, of Reifnitr. It consists of this one line only :— ify soul to God, my body to earth, my money to our deal and dumb hospital." The property of the deceased, who had led a most rigorously abstemious life, amounts to about 70,000 florins. A. newspaper is about to be started at Sitka, in Nato Archangel, in Walrussia A Boston shipowner, who is building vessels at Quebec, writes home that, while first-class vessels can be built in Canada and Nova Scotia at 50 dols currency a ton, it is impossible for United States shipbuilders to compete with them, as the same 018lls ot velsela oannot be produced here at less than i5 dols. a ton. A letter from Rome, in the Dibats, says :—" Every body knows that the Papal army contains subjects of all countries; but what, ia not generally known is that it is not composed exclusively of Catholics, and that there are soldiers 1n it belonging to all ereeds. A myself could scarcely believe the fact, and I was obliged, to be convinced ot it, to take note with my own eyes of a certain number of men in the Pontifloal uniform attending a Protestant church." The Heme Secretary has put his veto on a gigantic lottery, or "annual sale by ballot," announced to take place at Oxford, for the benefit "of the sunennx thousands of London and the homeless poor of Oxf jid. The Mayor Mr Carr) haa been communicated with by Mr. Hariy, aud a cor- respondence ha? ensued which will probably lead the Go- vernment to prohibit the numerous mouster draws which are now going on throughout the kingdom. An employe on the Orleans Railway has invented an amalgamation of coal and other combustible material" especially petroleum, made for the convenience of use the form of bricks, which, it is said, is calculated to effect an immense saving in the fuel necessary for generating steam It burns with intense heat and for a long time, and is likely to be extensively employed very shortly on the Orleans line where some very ta'iaiactory experiments have been made with this material The compound is called briguettes hor- de laises. "Rebecca" is afoot in Scotland. Fourteen men with blackened face' knocked up the toll-keeper on Dunkeld- bridge, early last, and told him that they bad come to relieve the public from paying the tojl any longer. Thej t^hen divided themselves inte two parties one party £ tt.^rd.Ml £ Jhe toll keeper, whilst the other lifted the gate off its hinges ana threw it into the Tav. Having done # Partec1> and the toll-keeper wisely made no attempt to follow them. The gate floated down the Tav ferry beloj11 an(1 was found in a shattered state at a A letter from Rome to the Havas Agency states that a monk, Father Curci, who enjoys some reputation in Italy for eloquence, recently insinuated in a sermon that the .Emperor Napoleon was acting hypocritically in the ser. vices rendered to the Holy See. A "painful sensation" was in consequence created in Rome, and the French ambassador had a conversation with Cardinal AntonellI on the subject. The Roman secretary of state at once declared that the Pope had already administered a severe reprimand. "A distinguished London philosopher and M.P, will early in the Session draw the attention of the Chan- cellor of the Exchequer to the necessity of providing more dead horses for the consumption of the eats, since they have human competitors in their food. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, it is presumed, will say, Kill the cats. But the philosopher will retort, What will beeome of the rats and mice, anù, from that point of reasoning, of the stores of corn iu the land ? The question may become a party oae aad lead te a change of Miaiitry. "—Court Journal.