The Aberystwith Observer

AN EXTRAORDINARY ATTEMPT TO MURDER A MERCHANT. One of the most extraordinary and daring attempts at murder and robbery that has ever come under the cognizance of the police of Liverpool (and such offences are by no means rare in that town) was com- mitted on Monday morning. About half-past eleven o'clock, Mr. Adoiphe Kusel, a wine merchant, who hag an office in Tower-buildings, Water-street, was alone there, his clerks happening to be all out on business at the time, when two persons entered. One of them appeared to be a woman, and the other, seem- ingly a middle-aged man, had a large beard and moustache. The latter holding in his hand an adver- tisement cut from a newspaper, made an inquiry of Mr. Kusel concerning some wines he had on sale, saying he wished to sample them. Mr. Kusel was going into the outer office to show the wines, when his interrogator jumped upon his- back, and began beating him in a furious manner upon the head with a life preserver or loaded cane. The other person then joined his com- panion in the attack upon the helpless merchant, and the latter was felled to the ground, the two beating him savagely. His cries of "Murder!" were heard by Mr. Hopps, a merchant, who occupies adjoining rooms, and he and his clerks rushed to the assistance of Mr. Kusel. They found, however, that the door of his office was locked, the ruffians having turned the key when they entered. The door was forced open with an adze, and they found Mr. Kusel upon the floor covered with blood and most seriously injured. Near him were standing his assailants, who treated the matter in a very cool off-hand manner. They were of course de- tained, and the police sent for. Mr. Kusel was taken to the nearest hospital, where it was found that he was fearfully cut about the head and face, his right arm broken, and other severe injuries. On the-pris- oners being examined, the supposed female turned out to be a young fellow named John Wilson, a clerk in the establishment of Mr. Wood, confectioner, Bold- street, who had obtained leave of absence for an hour or two, and borrowed his "get up" from a girl of his acquaintance. The man with the moustache and beard (which were false) was David Harris a clerk in the office of Mr. R. S. Williams, attorney, Moornelds. They are beardless boys, neither of them seeming more than eighteen or nineteen years of age. Mr. Kusel was known to keep large sums of money in the safe in his office, and the object of the young miscreants in attacking him no doubt was, if not to murder him to maim him to such an extent that he would be unable to prevent them robbing the place. «18 expected that there must have been some collusion between the would-be thieves and some one on the premises, as the young men had obtained a key of the office door, and it is singular that they should have made their appear- ance when the whole of the clerks were absent.

A TRAGEDY AT RIO JANEIRO. The following particulars of a dreadful tragedy wln ag which has just been enacted at Brazil are from the Anglo-Brazilian Times :— Some seven months ago a family onied (!uYz' transferred their residence from Montevideo to Bio, and with them came a man of 33 years of age named Heitor Monetta, who, having become enamoured of the eldest daughter, Genoveva, deter- mined to cast his lot with them, and was betrothed to the object of his affections soon after his arrival here. Ac- cording to his tale, upon the strength of these intimate relations existing between them, the father of the Cuyiis family borrowed at various times what money he possessed and from that time ho says a coldness was manifested to him by the parents, which finally induced him to leave his residence in their house and remove to an hotel. Becoming more and more annoyed at the increasing coolness of their connexion, he at last determined to bring the matter to a crisis, and he wrote a note to the young lady, asking her to come to see him in a neighbour's house, the answer to which was that she could not, and did not wish to see him. He waited half an hour and then departed, leaving a note for the girl. Apparently, however, his anxiety overpowered' him, and lie went to the Cuyás' house. There in the kitchen he found the mother, and on demanding whether the marriage was or was not to take place he asserts that she began to abuse him. He then appealed to the girl, who was sitting in the parleur, but she remained silent, and the mother, still more angry at the appeal, gave him a slap in the face. Furious at his reception he hurried to his hotel, and, taking a revolver from his trunk, returned to the Cuyis' house, where, finding the mother reposing on a sofa, he beat her upon the face with his lists and then shot her in the shoulder. At her cries Genoveva rushed 111, and was received with two shots which laid her dying. He then proceeded towards the stairs, bat, returning, shot a younger sister in the lungs and another in the stomach, and ran into the street (Rozaria.) Pursued by the public hue ana crv he directed his course to ltio Direita, but as he still corned the revolver in his hand nl) one ventured to stay him, and he was lost in the night- fall. For several days no trace oi mm could be obtained, but at length an intercepted letter revealed that he was staying at the Hotel d'ltnlia at the Botanic-gardens. <)n tj,e afternoon of the 10th a party of police, disguised as excursionists, drove to the hotel and managed to examine the house and grounds without being suspected, but without finding Monetta. Seventy more men were sent on from Rio during the night, and by three a m. the grounas and house were surrounded. At three the house was entered and, after searching the rooms in vain, he was discovered on the roof, from which after being summeued, he came down and surrendered quietly, and was taken to the city. Of the victims to his fury, Genoveva died on the day succeeding the catastrophe, but the other three, although severely injured, it is believed will recover. Another daughter, who was fortunately out of the house at the fatal hour, thus escaped, but the father, who was likewise absent, was so overcome by the shock of the misfortune which had fallen on him that he died during the night of the 8th from an attack of cerebral congestion.

SUICIDES BY CHILDREN. On Monday night Dr. Lankester held an inquest at the Empress of Russia lavern, Owen's -row, Islington, London, upon the body of a boy named Victor Verbeyst, aged thirteen years, who came to his death by hanging. Mr. Joseph Verbeyst, the father of the deceased, said he was a Belgian, and had been in London only a few years. His son was a very good boy, and on Wednesday last Was working by his side at his business of a pocket-book maker. He inquired of him when he should be allowed to go to school again, to which witness replied as soon as he could spare him. He went out of the workshop, and witness saw no more of him until he was called to open the door of the water closet, wherein he (deceased) was supposed to have fallen asleep. He discovered him hanging by a cord. He was in a sitting position, quite dead. The cord was fastened to the handle of the door. Deceased had been reading some of the cheap literature of the day—" The Boys of England," and other similar publications—and his (witness's) impression was that he had been experimenting'' and had killed himself accidentally. He could never keep his son from the books he had spoken of. He was not very passionate, but slightly so. The Coroner said he had known many cases where children had been killed through experi- menting at hanging. Dr. Goddard, who was called to the deceased, said he tried every proper remedy to restore him, but without avail. He spoke against the theory of death being the result of an accident. The jury returned a verdict of Suicide while in a state of unsound mind," supposed through the reading of a certain class of literature.

On Sunday night, Edward Elkin. fifteen years of age, son of a dairyman, living in Chisen-hall-street, Liverpool, committed suicide by hanging himself. No cause could be assigned for the rash act, except that his father had spoken to him sharply about two hours previously.

JOUR NEW AMBASSADOR AND PRESI- DENT JOHNSON. The American papers contain verbatim reports of the speech of Mr. Thornton on his presentation to the President, and of Mr. Johnson's reply. Mr. Thorn- ton was accompanied by Mr. Ford, of the British Legation, both gentlemen being in full court dress. Mr. Thornton made the following address on the oc- casion :— Sir,—I have the honour to deliver into your Excellency's hands a letter addressed to you by her Majesty Queen Vic- toria, accrediting me as her Majesty's 11 iuister to your Ex- cellency. I have also received her Majesty's orders to assure your Excellency of her sincere friendship, and of the deep interest she takes in the welfare and prosperity of the nation over which you se worthily preside. Her Majesty's Government and the English nation are deeply grateful lor the warm sympathy shown by the people of the United States on the occasion of the death of my lamented pre- decessor. Allow me to assure your Excellency that I shall do my best to take his place in their affections, and to strengthen the relations of cordial friendship which happily subsist, and which it is our earnest desire, and our duty as kinsmen, to maintain between the two countries. In this pleasing task I am confident that I may count upon the support and assistance of your Excellency, as well as of the distinguished statesmen who compose your cabinet and the legislature of this nation. The President replied to this address as follows :— Mr, Thornton-Your Queen enjoys lUore than any other sovereign the respect and sympathy of the American people. The people of the United States will believe that she is en- tirely sincere in the kindly message which, under her com- mand, you have delivered to me; and this belief will en. courage them to hope for a speedy and amicable adjustment of matters in difference between her Majesty's Govern- ment and the Government of the United States. Your late predecessor, Sir Frederick Bruce, without any dis- obedience to instructions, or any want of regard to llritish interests, won the respect and esteem of this Government and nation. Sir Frederick's sudden death revealed to ourselves the fact that the friendship we cherished for him had even acquired the intensity of fra- ternal affection. It will be a pleasing duty for me to extend to you the same consideration and confidence which he so eminently enjoyed. In regard to the political relations of the United States and Great Britain, only one thing seems to be necessary, which is that the statesmen and people of the two countries may carefully and constantly study to con- form their measures to the political logic which in every region where the English language is spoken so distinctly manifests itself in the measuring line of constitutional free- dom, and the rapid march of a common, irresistible and in- divisible civilization.

LUXURIES OR NECESSARIES? In the Court of Exchequer, before the Lord Chief Baron and a special jury, the cause of "Ortner and Another r. Callander" has been tried, and was an action to recover £ 13212s., the amount of a bill for jewellery and other articles. The defendant paid £ 613s. into court, and pleaded never in- debted as to the rest of the claim. He also pleaded infancy, The plaintiffs were Messrs. Ortner and Houle, jewellers, in St. Jameses-street, London, and the defendant was the youngest son of the late Mr. Cal- lander, of Preston Hall, near Edinburgh. He was born in November, 1845, and was for a short time in the 17th Lancers. In March, 18G4, he ordered certain goods of the plaintiffs, but before supplying them they communicated with his elder brother as to his means of paying. The brother said he should be much obliged to them if they would not at that time serve him, as he was a mere boy, though he looked older. The result was that the plaintiffs did not execute the order. In July following the defendant again called, and gave an order for a watch and chain, a dressing-case, a ring, and other trifling articles of jewellery. The plaintiffs referred a second time to the brother, who, it seemed, made no further objection to the goods being supplied, and intimated that the defendant had ob- tained a commission in the 17th Lancers. Accordingly, in that month, and in August and October, the de- fendant received the various articles, for the price of which he was now sued, he being at that time in his nineteenth year. The defendant admitted his liability for the smaller items in the plaintiffs' account—such, for instance, as those for solitaires or sleeve-links, studs, breast-pins, rings, and engraving his crest. The real contest was upon the following articles:—A plain gold hunting watch, £40; a strong gold vest guard, £20; a gold and blue enamelled cabinet locket (for attaching to a gentleman's watch chain and used for a miniature or hair), £14 14s. and an oak dressing case with silver fittings, £ 30. These, it was contended, were neces- saries for a young man of good family about to enter a crack cavalry regiment, and the evidence showed that the prices were reasonable. Mr. Denman, on the part of the defence, argued that they were not of that character, but luxuries, especially in the case of a youth like the defendant, whose income in 1864 did not exceed £340. The de- fendant's mother and elder brother were dead, and the latter having left an heir, who was an infant, the family property was in the hands of trustees. The defendant had got involved in pecuniary difficulties, and left the army, and was now, as the learned counsel said, no one knew where." His friends had thought it right to resist the claim, on the ground that the plaintiffs were not justified under the circumstances of supplying him with articles of this expensive descrip- tion on credit. Mr. Denman made some strong observations on the practice of tradesmen trusting mere boys with costly articles for the decoration of their persons, observing that under it the improvident and foolish were led into a species of extravagance which ultimately brought about their ruin. From the examination and cross-examination of the witnesses for the defence it appeared that there Were three sons and one daughter in the family, and that the family estates yielded a nominal rental of J69,000 a year, and an actual rental, after deducting the burdens and charges upon them, of only £3,000. The defen- dant's father kept several carriages and twenty ser- vants, and at his death he left a bond, under which his three youngest children were entitled to £26,000, chargeable on the estates but the bond had been challenged, and the matter was still in litigation. The defendant's mother had a jointure of £ 15,000 out of the estate, and before her death she lived in Ken- sington-square, London. On her decease the defen- dant was entitled to £1,000. His elder brother married into an English nobleman's family, and lived in Belgrave-square. The Lord Chief Baron, in summing up, said that the case was one of great importance, not only as concerned the parties, but as regarded society at large. They should do all they could to discourage a reckless system of credit, which might tend to bring about the absolute ruin of improvident young men, but on the other hand, they were bound to take care, where reasonable caution and discretion were exercised by a tradesman that he should not be defrauded of his fair and just claim by the plea of infancy. Having briefly recapitulated the facts, and commented upon the different items in the bill, his lordship said all these cases rested upon their own particular circumstances, and left the jury to say whether the articles were necessary or suitable for a young man under age, of the state and condition in life of the defendant. The jury, after having been absent from court for a short time, said they found a verdict for the plaintiffs, with the full amount of their claim, with the exception of the locket, for which £14 14s. was charged, adding, they were unanimfJusly of opinion that the plaintiffs had exercised every precaution in the conduct of their business, and they wished them to have interest.— Verdict for the plaintiffs; damages, £ 108 193.

TRIAL FOR PERJURY. At Carlisle assizes, Edward Coates has been indicted for perjury committed before justices at Penrith on the 19th of November last, on the hearing of an application for an affi- liation order. The case of the complainant—one Ann Thompson— was that a man named Winter, against whom she was seeking to obtain the order, was courting and visiting her shortly before Martinmas, 186(5, and was the father of her child. Winter called the prisoner as his witness to prove that Ann Thompson was at that time being courted by other men, and he swore that a few weeks before Martinmas he saw her late one night going to her father's house with a man named Greenhow, who had his arm round her waist that her sister, Jane Thompson, saw him also; and that he told this to two young men who were standing in the road. He shouted out to Greenhow, Halloo Joe," and he (Greenhow) "creeled" down behind Ann Thompson to escape observation. Ann Thompson, her sister, Greenbow, and the two young men were called to disprove this, and on this evidence of the prisoner the perjury was assigned. A great deal of amusement was created by the learned counsel for the prisoner, in the cross-examination of Jane Thompson, the sister, asking'her about her own courtships at that time. At first she stoutly denied any, but on having three separate letters put into her hand she admitted they were written by her, and she was asked to read them, which she did with great simplicity. The letters invited different young men of her acquaintance to come and see her at her father's house at that time late at night, when her father and mother were out. The reading of these letters with the quaintest simplicity by the witness excited great laughter. The defence was that it was clear several young men were about that time visiting both Ann Thompson and her sister late at night, and that it was probable the evidence of the prisoner was quite true as to the facts, but that he was mistaken as to the person whom he supposed to be Greenhow, who had endeavoured to escape observa- tion. If that were so, there was no wilful and corrupt perjury, and he ought to be acquitted. His lordship haviug summed up the evidence, the jury "Acquitted "the prisoner. On the conclusion of the case, Mr. Foster applied, under the statute of last session (30th and 31st of Victoria, cap. 35, sec. 5), for the costs of the prisoner's witnesses who had been examined before the justices and bound over to appear and give evidence at the trial. In the exercise of his discretion he had not called any of these witnesses, but he submitted that as they had been bound over to appear and their evidence bore upon the issue to be tried, they were, in the dis- cretion of his lordship, entitled to their costs. His lordship took time to consider the question.

A CURIOUS LAW-SUIT. On Monday morning the Master ot the Rolls had before him the case of Snow v. Milford, which was a suit instituted by three partners in a firm of bankers at Exeter to remove Mr. Alfred Milford, one of the partners, from the firm, ron the ground that he had committed adultery, and had thereby infringed one of the articles of partnership which provided that a partner should not do any act to the discredit or in- jury of such co-partnership." Mr. John Milford, the father of Mr. Alfred Milford, and one of the partner?, having refused to join in the suit, w; s made a co- defendant. The case was argued some weeks aao. His lordship ordered it to stand over for a time to enable the parties to make an arrangement. But an nrraiige- ment appearing to be impossible, the ca&e WBS net down on Monday morning for j udgment. Lord Romiily said the suit vas instituted to remove Mr. Alfred Millord from the partnership on the ground that he had com- mitted acts which made him unfit to he a member of the firm. What he had done, in fact was this—being a married man he had committed adultery with various persons in the city of Exeter, and his wife sued him in the Divorce Court for an absolute divorce. But cruelty was not proved adultery was proved, and a decree for separation was made. In the course of his judgment the judge of the Divorce Court made some very strong observations against the husband's con- duct. In his answer to the huit he admitted the truth of the allegations against him, and now the question was whether he should continue to be a member of the firm, If he should be excluded from the partnership, it could only be on the ground that he had broken some positive provision in the partnership articles or > some gtneral taw relating to the subject. He (Lord Romilly) was of opinion that, however reprehensible i was the conduct of a man who had committed adultery that was not a ground for removing him from a part- ner.-hip. This court was not a rensor morum. That I clause of the partnership articles which provided that none of the partners should do any act to the discredit or injury of the partnership was preceded and followed by provisions against acts which would injure the pecuniary credit of the partnership, and therefore that clause must lie construed as dealing with matters ejusdan generis. The case was a disagreeable one to him, and he was very anxious that some arrangement should have been made. because one partner in a firm might so conduct himself as to make a dissolution in- evitable. Lord Eldon frequently said that in trade partnerships, as in the partnership between husband and wife, mutual forbearance was essential. The court still hoped that an arrangement would be made. The bill must be dismissed, but without costs against the defendant Alfred Milford. The plaintiffs must pay the father's costs.

iiPl'i'OMifi or NEWS. iíRITISF ii-NJ a-G&elSN. Jeremiah Allen was put to the bar at the Central Criminal Court, in London, on Monday, charged on the coroner's inquisition with wilful murder, as implicated in the Clerkenwell explosion. No evidence being offered on the part of the crown, a verdict of not guilty was returned, and the prisoner was discharged. By the advice of the medical attendants, the stay of Prince Leopold at Osborne is to be prolonged, and the Queen has consequently deferred her departure for Windsor from the 28th instant to the 3rd of March. The report of the serious illness of Baron Channell is contradicted by the Solicitor's Journal. The learned Judge has just undergone successfully a slight medical operation, the effect of which will probably be to confirm him in better health than he has of late years enjoyed Samutl Hart, a lad thirteen years of age. was in charge of a horse and cart, the cart laden with stone at Bolton, on Saturday, and he went underneath to take the break off. Whilst in that situation the pin fastening the IJody of the cart cllme out, the cart went up, and the poor boy was crushed to death. An inquest has been held in Shoreditch, London, on the body of James Massey, aged 'fourteen months. On Saturday night the child had been put to bed, and a chair had beel) placed at the bedside to prevent it falling out. Subsequently the infant was discovered hanging by the neck between the rungs of the back of the chair, and quite dead. The jury returned a verdict of Accidental Death. The Committee of the Mechanics' Institute of Clonmel have refused the use of their hall to Mr. Train for his lectures, "in the absence of any definite information as to the object for which the hall may be required." The Waterford Town Hall has likewise been refused to Mr Train. The Rev. Gordon Calthrop, who is known as the most popular preacher among the Islington (London) clergy, preached a special sermon on Monday night to boys at Trinity Church, Islington. About 1,600 boys were present, and some thousand persons besides. It is understood that the publication of Lord Brougham's autobiography will be delayed, owing to some differences which have arisen between his lordship and the gentleman who is assisting him. Great regret is felt in military circles at the untimely end of Colonel Dunn, V.C., of the 33rd Regiment, who ac- cidentally shot -himself in Abyssinia. This gallant officer had seen much good service. At the last meeting of the conference of the Paris bar, this question was discussed:—"Can a person who directly aids another to commit suicide be indicted as accom- plice in an act of murder?" The point was decided in the negative. Lord Eldon has given j31,000 to the Society for the propagation of the Gospel. The Copenhagen papers state that her Royal High- ness the Princess of Wales has been invited to be present at the inauguration of a monument at Nice in memory of the late Czarewitch, but has been unable to accept the invita- tion. Bishop Williams, of the Catholic diocese of Massa- chusetts, has declined to allow the Catholic clergy in Wor- cester to say High Requiem Masses for the repose of the souls of Allen, Larkin, and O'Brien. One day last week 100 railway waggons left Anstruther and the adjoining stations laden with herrings, chiefly for the London market. The total quantity was nearly 3,900 crans, making altogether about 3,000,000 herriugs brought from the east coast of Scotland. Some Fenians last week visited Freshwater, in the Isle of Wight, and have attempted to administer the Fenian oath. Information was given to the police, and the detectives were placed on the track of the Fenians. A few days since the telegraph wires that communicate with the main land from the Isle of Wight were cut not far from the neighbour- hood of Freshwater. Mr. Charles Dickens recently sent 1,000 dols. to Mrs. Clemm, mother-in-law of Edgar A. Poe. The city of Brussels lately put up to competition the printing of 250,000 certificates for the new loan. The lowest estimate was £440, while three years ago the same work cost 11,120. The Church Times says "We are happy to state >>at KOIie of the late sisters of St. Mary's Priory, Hackney, WHO had seceded to the Roman communion, has already re- turned to the English Church!" Upwards of 5,000 pupils, eight per cent, of whom are females, are daily receiving music lessons in Boston. A Tyrolese sharpshooter has been condemned to eight months imprisonmentforhaying turned a crucifix into a target. The crucitlx had been hit twice, and the judges considered this an outrage upon religion, however thought- lessly free from intent and selecting an object at random. The English have invented a new crime, if they cannot flftvent a new sauce. On Monday a drunken sailor was sentenced at the Thames Police-court, in London, to seven days' imprisonment for an assault on a constable, and the case was reported in the newspapers under the heading of "Police-phobia." According to the South Australian Register Mr. rnderdown, of Adelaide, the exporter of Australian birds to Europe, has now in stock 35,000 pairs of shell parrots, 1,000 pairs ct cockatoo parrots, 7,000 pairs of zebra finches, besides white cockatoos, magpies, and Port Lincoln paITots-alto- gether nearly 100,000 birds. 9,000 birds are marked as sold. The 70,000 shell parrots are this year's (1867) birds. In an ancient Saxon law it is enacted Albeit as often as leap yeare dothe occure, the woman lioldeth pre- rogative over the menne in matter of courtship, love, and matrimonne; so that when the ladie proposeth it shall not be lawful for menne to say her nae, but shall receive her pro- pesall in all good courtisie." On Saturday evening, a married woman residing with her hushand in Warrington, committed a most atro- cious crime on her infant child. The woman, it appeared, became excited over something that the child had done, and taking up a basin of boiling water, she poured it down its breast, inflicting such serious injury that it is not expected to recover. She was taken Into custody. The Press of Vienna publishes a long list of the objects belonging to the Emperor Maximilian which have been distributed since his death amongst his relatives. The King of the Belgians obtained the Cross of Knight of the Order of Guadaloupe, which his deceased brother-in-law wore during the siege of Queretaro. The Count de Flandre received the Emperor's gold watch and chain; and the Queen of England a medallion containing a lock of the Empress Charlotte's hair. An Admiralty order has been received at Woolwich by Colonel Suther, commandant of the W oolwich division of Royal Marines, for a return of all men marked with the letter "D," or bearing an indifferent character, it is sup- posed for the purpose of making a considerable reduction in ) the division. All recruiting parties are also to be recalled, and no recruits are to be received until further orders. Squadrons of almost all the navies of the several nations have for some time past bean cruising in the Medi- terranean. After the American and the English, the Aus- trian squadron, from the Levant, has just left the Gneek waters, and cast anchor in the Bay of Saint Andre, which forms the southern portion of the roadstead of Trieste. The significant statement is made with regard to the depression of the American shipping interests, that on the 2\Jth of January there was not a single vessel of any descrip- tion in the port of New York loading for a British port. Scores of foreign vessels were up for freights. The Minister of the French Emperor's Household and Fine Arts has just submitted to the Council of State a decree fixing the retiring pension of Mdlle. Augustine Brohan, of the ThC&tre Fran?ais. The amount Is fixed at 6 4001. (£250) for twenty-seven years of consecutive services. The reports from Nice respecting the health of the King of Bavaria are by no means satisfactory. A first in- cision had been made in a tumonr which had arisen in his leg, but as the desired effect was not produced his medical attendants thought it advisable to proceed to a second. His Majesty is in a state of extreme debility. A conference, on the subject of national education, was held at the Glasgow City Hall, last Friday evening, the Lord Provost presiding. The whole of the resolutions, which affirmed the urgency of the national need of a liberal and comprehensive measure of education, at once compul- sory and strictly unsectanan, were carried though the one bearing upon the "conscience clause" gained but a narrow majority. ) It seems not unlikely that the expenses of the recent election at Manchester will come before a legal tri- bunal. Air. Alderman Bennett, it will he remembered, was the Conservative candidate who opposed Mr. Bright. He, hewever, refused to subscribe more than £100 towards the expenses, the remainder having tobe provided by his friends. The election cost £4,000, but £ .i,00o only has been received by the treasurer, and the creditors are beginning to be clamorous for payment. On Monday they held a meeting, and resolved to take proceedings f,,1' the recovery of the sums due to them. Some anxiety has prevailed in commercial circles this week with reference to the safety of the screw steamer Somerset shirt', from Melbourne for London, which has now been at sea elgnty-tive days, with £30,000 in gold. At Lloyd's on Monday twenty guineas premium were paid to effect fresh insurances. The Somersetshire is a new steamer, and the present is her first voyage home from Australia. Mr. G. F. Train toppled over completely on Saturday at Dublin. An afternoon "lecture" was announced, but when he came to deliver it he found an audience of only about 150 people in a room which holds 4,000. The per- formance was abandoned altogether. An evening lecture for" Ireland's working men," who were admitted at a re- duced price, was then resorted to, but the expectation of a crowd was not fulfilled. He declared his intention to visit Sligo and lecture for the benefit of Judge Keogh during the trial of Nagle. An orator in a recent speech satirised the present facility with which marriages are made, and divorces ob- tained, in a happy strain. He thinks the marriage service should read thus:—Clergyman: Will you take this stone mansion, this carriage and pair, these diamonds, for thy wedded husband ? Yes.—Will you take t,lis r liner's bill, this high chignon of foreign hair, tnese anectea accomplishments, and feeble constitution for thy Medued wife? Yes.—Then what man has joined ^ogether let the next best man run away with, so that the first Divorce ( ourt may tear them asunder. A man committed 8picide in Paris the other even- may tear them asunder. A man committed 8picide in Paris the other even- ing by throwing himself into the Seme from the Pont de la Concorde. He had left on the loot pavement a small parcel containing a blouse, cap, and neck-handkerchief, with a note bearing these words: My name is JS' I live in the Kue de Grenelle St. uermain.—The same day a seamstress named Maria » aged 18, jumped Into the river from the Quai de 1 hcole; she was, however, rescued by some watermen. A disappointment in love was the motive for, th18 attempt on her Ufe, The following laconic despatch was received at the >e«leral head-quarters during the late war in America:- "Averill, '2Sth December, 18C4.—My coamund 'o- b-H ration nos marched, climbed, slid, and swum S.50 miles MI.re tha 8th iust." The British Mcdicol Journal learns that the os. of cerebro-spinal meiogitus are becoming more W>H<?rou= In Dublin, and that they are to he found at "present both anion.' the civil and military population. > Twenty pounds was, in 1803, considered a fair week's receipt for valentines at a lirst.rate London shoo Five hundred pounds taken over the counter is now hel l t > he a fair, but not extraordinary, business in the seven da\ preceding, including the 14th. It is stated that the Mont Cenis Summit Railway j;.¡ expected to be opened for regular traffic on the 1st of M;>y next. The Wolrerinc, Captain T. Cochran, the vessel u board hkh Mr. Gordon was taken prisoner, aud afterwa:on u hung., and which subsequently went to the scene of tlv earthquake at Tortoia and rescued eighty ladies, has arri > ;i at Woolwich Dockyard, where she is the object of considei- able interest. The Empress Charlotte has addressed to the Pope u touching letter, imploring his prayers for the soul of her un- fortunate husband. The letter, which has a deep border i black, is written in very good Italian, and creates the in. pression that the Empress is no longer suffering from mental alienation, or at least that she has lucid moments. The proposition for an International Copyright re- ported by the Library Committeee of the American Consres* will, )t is believed, easily pass through both Houses. According to the average of recent wills an eminent London physician ought to die worth £ 29,500. When :I „,f?2'>er °* the profession has netted this figure he msv u in errand that his time is up, according to Cocker. i A young of HI, named Eugenie Marchal, tlw daughter of Iln lUnkeeper at La Rochere Haute saone bai i? £ iler lover Jules Dispot, a carpeuter, 24 years of a„e. He shot the young woman with a gun u • she was standing at her father's door. The charge stru her in the breast and she fell dead instantly. The cause d the crime is not stated In one of the Society Islands the Siamese twin- are parallelled. Two girls, infants as yet, are united at the hip, but are otherwise physically separate. The svmnath between them is said to be extraordinary. The K int ai"'1 Queen of the islands have adopted them, and lately relusiv to part with them long enough to carry them to one of tf villages to be photographed. In consequence of the recent assumption ei: Baronetcies by persons possessing neither right nor tiile tv the rank, it has been suggested that, in order to prevent the utter degradation of their dignity, the Baronets should unit? in a petition to the Queen, praying her Majesty to establis a tribunal, with full powers to investigate, prosecute, ai 'i enforce its decisions in all cases. A clergyman having been recently appointed to some parochial office, the guardians wrote to him to know what were his religious opinions—whether he inclinecf to High Church or Low Church. The reverend gentleman wrote, in reply, that he was just a little elevated Last year 1,001,545 acres in Ireland were devoted to the growth of potatoes in Great Britain, almost three tim«-s as large, and with more than four times the population, only 492,217 acres. A return just issued relative to the consumption of sugar in breweries shows that in London 24,597,552 Ibs. wer« consumed in the year ending September 30, 1867 14,719,71' lbs. in the English provinces 351,456 lbs. in Scotland an-.i 1,405,296 Ibs. iu Ireland. Public prayers are being offered up in Catalonia to solicit rain. Owing to the improvement in business, several of the works in Dundee are already put on full time. and tnr.) c are to be put on at once. This applies chiefly to jntf" spinning. The Indian Catholic Chronicle has republished, with, all the honours of a black cross and border, the "mortusii v Ca«' J™lch. asserts that Allen, Gould, and Larkin com- mitted the crime for which they were executed from thm* profound love of poor old Ireland and of the Fenian cause A special commission, with Lord Halifax as it-- chairman, is to be appointed to inquire into the question o: the assimilation of monetary systems. The Paris journals announce the death, in tht, Charenton Lunatic Asylum, of M. Charles Meryon, who had attained a certain reputation as an engraver. He of lau; years laboured under the hallucination of being .Tesus Chrii in custody of the Pharisees. He allowed himself to die < ° starvation Our obituary (observes the Western Trims) record* the death of Mr. 1'. P. Turner, a musician of local emmei,"e and one of the heirs-at-law of the great painter. The eay. chair of his old age was comfortably cushioned by the por tion of the artist's estate which came to him out of the co?s testation of the wilL Among the lecturers in New York this winter is a seceding Shaker, who gives humorous lectures on the way. of the disciples of Ann Lee. At Bristol, a young man absconded a month ago" with £750, the property of his employers. When arrestee the other day he had Is. 3d. upon him, and stated that h = had spent the rest of the money. Mr. John Stuart Mill has just published a pamphlet on Ireland. He proposes that a Parliamentary commlssio- should be formed, with compulsory powers to examine ever* farm let to a tenant in Ireland, and to change the prefer, variable rent for a fixed charge, which would henet forward be secured to the landlord by the State, the tenant, becoming, subject to this charge, the proprietor of the s.U During a severe storm that prevailed in Newfound- land for three days lately, it is reported that thirty neonk- have perished from the cold and in the snow acUa\ tbe superintendent of the Newfoundland Telegraph lin'r, nearly pp.rieherl. At the close of the American war a large quantity oi preserved fruits, vegetables, and meats, originally intended lor the Federal army, were left in the hands of the Con.- missariat. A bill has been passed, and approved by tin- President, to distribute them among the people of the South. Sanson, descendant of the celebrated executioner of the Reign of Terror, himself a worker of the guillotine has written to the Paris papers denying that he had any 111- tention of resuming his public duties. He retired III 1847 to enjoy as he states the peaceful obscurity of his caste; On Friday the protracted inquiry before the corout-r as to the deaths of two of the persons killed by the Tenia;, explosion at Clerkenwell was brought to a close by a verdie of wilful murder against the seven prisoners, and others uo. in custody. Allen was not included in the verdict: tin: jury stating they were divided in opinion as to his guilt. They also handed in a resolution to the effect that, in their opinion, sufficient precautions had not been taken hy the police at head-quarters to prevent the explosion. A farm tenant of the executors of the Earl of Moray sued them, in the scotch Court of Mission, for J.no. fin- injury done to his crops by game. The question was whe- ther, during the year 1S66, the Earl had upon the land an unreasonable and excessive stock of game, beyond whi*, existed thereon at the date of the plaintiffs entering 0..1 the tenancy. The jury found for the plaintiff for £ iy7. The Queen has made Dr. Jenner a baronet. Two ladies were walking in the Champs Elyseea in Paris the other day, when an old man approached them, an solicited them to buy a penny bouquet of Parma violet One of the ladies took the offered bouquet, and requested he companion to hand the man a napoleon. The "flower- merchant" stood petrified at such princely payment, ah. followed the ladies up to the gates of the Tuileries, where the guards, presenting arms, revealed his purchaser to be the Empress E8genie A labourer, named Egerton. employed at the CrNVt. wiw !16' has met with his death under the mo& circumstances. Deceased and a" fireman "trmr i inside of a boiler, when some one sudden' turned the steamupon them. The fireman escaped alinat unhurt, but Egerton was so badly scalded that his hair, pc: tions of his tiesh, and even his finger nails came off Tt steam tap is opened by a wheel, which can only be man, by using a lever, and the evidence at the inquest put u beyond a doubt that it must have been opened intentionally Great activity has lately prevailed in the gun fac- tory at Tophaneh, particularly m the making of gun car- riages and ammunition waggons, in which large nuipber workmen are employed. The models used were recentiv sent out from Woolwich Arsenal. The Alnchlr has. a la invited tenders from gunsmiths and engineers for the^ tfor! version of rifles into breech-loaders."—Levant Uerajti. ■* The Moscow journals announce the death in thp' city, from inflammation of the lungs, of the Czarina Georgia, Anna Paulowna, wife of the Orosarewitch "rnjiir, daughter-io-law of the last Czar of Georgia, (ieorge X nt, born Countess of Koutaissof. The deceased'was well known- for her great erudition and benevolence. She was acquainte-1 with all the remarkable personages of the 19th century « f. > a pleasing writer, and so excellent a composer that Meyer- beer, in speaking of her songs, said—"I shonld like to h»vi Eroduced them." She had resided for some years TieTofli" er death ln Moscow, where she was much esteemed.

THE MARKETS. MARK-LANE, MONDAT. There was only a limited supply of English wheat ou sale here to-day chiefly in poor condition. Good and fine sampler- moved off slowly, but at prices fully equal to Monday lasr. All other kinds were a dull inquiry, at late rates. Tho attendance of both town and country millers wassimMt. The show of foreign wheat was good. In most kind i sales progressed slowly, but no quotable change took place in prices. There was a fair inquiry for float- iog cargoes of grain, at the iate sdvlUJce in the quota- tions. Both English and foreign barley was In moderat request, at last week's currency. The show of samples « tolerably good. Malt, the supply of which was good, met n slow sale. Nevertheless, prices were supported. Pine oats were scarce and the turn dearer: inferior parcels "were in active. In beans very little waft doing, and late rates *vern barely supported. Peas commanded full prices, but the sui- for them was by no means active. We have no change t notice in the value of flour. Indian corn, owing to hrgp. airivals, was rather cheaper. Seeds and cakes coinmaiuie i very little attention at last week's prices. METROPOLITAN CATfLE MARKET, M< >N DAY. The supply ot foreign stock on offer here to-day was verv moderate, but in fair average condition. The demand ruled heavy, and the quotations were barely supported. Fresh u this morning the arrivals of beasts from our own graz'n'* districts were rather limited. From Scotland, howev.-r ih i receipts were good. For most breeds there was an iniprove.t demand, but no advance took place in the quotations. Tho best Heots and crosses sold at 4s. lod. per Sib Tlij |eil?r,a] quality of the supply was good. From Norfolk, nuneld, Essex, and Cambridgeshire we received abbi ■; 1.000 Scots, crosses, and shorthorns from other parts ot England, 350 various breeds from Scotland, 4-2 i Scots an crosses and from Ireland, 170 oxen, cows, A c. With mo. breeds of sheep we were scantily supplied. On the Whüh the sale for them ruled steady, and prices were well sup- ported. The best Downs and half-breds realised fully f>s. pe, Sib. The value of shorn sheep was 4s. 4d. per Sib. About; 800 were in the market. Lambs moved off slowly at frrau 30s. to 35s. each. The supply was on the increase. The sal<> for calves ruled steady, at very full prices, owing to tile' limited number brought forward. III pigs very little business was transacted, at late rates, viz., from 3s. 4J t I 4 s. 2d. per 81b. HOPS. We have no improvement to notice in this market Th > demand has been very quiet, and has been mostly confined to fine samples, which have ruled tolerably firm in pric.. The value of inferior sorts has had a droopng tendency, in the foreign markets only a moderate business has be"ll con. eluded, on former terms. The imports into London lest weel; consisted of 71 bales from Dunkirk, 102 from llainnurgb, 123 from Antwerp, 75from Rotterdam, Csfrou) Koniw:sber«, and 284 bales from Bremen. Mid and East Kentn, OJ! 5 71. 15s. Weald of Kent, 4llJs. to 6,. 6s. Sussex, 41 4,. to 51. 5s.; yarnhams, 7t. Os. to 91 0s. Yearlings, 4. 0s. tu 61. 0s. POTATOES Large supplies of potatoes are on sale. T ne trade has nilwi dull, at barely late rates, lhe imports ii,U) London las, week consisted of 425 bags 2G6 saci;s from Konloe-ne S fi-v, sacks and 742 bags from Dunkirk, 5GO barrels from IHviii^en 303 bags and 2 barrels from Rotterdam 60fl tons lrom Caan 348 Rouen, 98 Name,. 100 Honour, f"t PortbaU 5VSt Mai aud 65 tons ixom Havre, fluents i<>o, tn -W w' person* 1708': Rocks' 100s-. to. 130s. French lOOs' to' 103?! pel" tall. WOOL latent1686 heen of a very limited character,,at abolir a e ra^es. lor English wool there has been a fair deuiano, on toymer terms. The imports into London last week con- slsted of6,b6f. bales from Port Philip, 1,811 from the ( apt. 8,572 frbocrlrfielaide, 1,198 from Brisbane, 5,06^ from Gee- long, 4,GSOrom Melbourne, 1,047 from, Taganrog, 1,854 frou; Sydney, pad '272 from Launceston. Current prices <k English woolFleeces.—Southdown hoggets, Is. 2j, t Is. 2tti. half-breds, Is. 3d. to Is. 41 nent fleers*, is to Is. l^d.; Southdown eweeanowethett, la. l^d. to Is 2 id and Leicester ditto lL Id. fro Is. 2d. ner lb. Sorts: clotliing, Is 2d. to Is 5!d.: and combing, Is. 2 L to la, 6|d. per 1". I TALLOW. The market is rather firmer, and prices are well sup- ported. P.Y.C., on the spot, is quoted at 42s. 9<.1.; t )wn tallow, 41s. 3d. nett cash.