The Aberystwith Observer

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. In the House of Commons, April 11, several private bills were read a third time, and several others were read a S6Mr Veorge Gregory asked the First Commissioner of Works when he expected that the plan and design for the new Courts of Justice would be completed. been Mr. AyrtoB stated that considerable progress haa made in the plans, but he was not yet able to fix a w they would be completed. „winnRed Mr Winn asked the Home Secretary whether be ] to introduce a bill on the subject of Trades Unions g the present session ? the <mh- Mr. Bruce hoped to be able to introduce a bill on tn Ject ehortly after Easter. THE BUDGET. — L "ttt88 of WavR and The House naving gone ww touuu* —- M^s' chancellor of the Exchequer six o'clock to introduce the Budget. £ 72 K5' on^ htuh* said the original estimate for 1869-70 £ 72,865,000, butbj an alteration which the House ho^e of the income tax, the land tax, s^mo^S^8 WTheesedtwo together make aS ol (Hhhorb of In two wavs flrBt> that the 8Um of £ 4.6<W,JWU should be paid to me^fheuabilitiesol the, Abyssmian expedition; and, secogjUj. to appropriate £ 2 940 000 in reduction of taxation. «,~ w?s J? Jfa been deci a mi mi ii a nt ooo. After these reductions had oeen receipts reached #75,334,000, leaving an excess o'Vth being the large* f?er raised to this ooontg war. the exception three years of th estl- The receipts the year 1869-70 were :-Ca#tomB, mated at^l.f <>,000. and the «^»^PttaSted at short of tsi3 by £ 121,000. The excise £ 863,000. £20,900,000, the recelptshadexceededth^ exceeded The stamPS were estimated at £8.853,000, ^y egtlmated at that estimate by £398,000. The income and pro. £ 4,500,000 the receipts correspondea. reCeipts have ex- perty tax was estimated at waH e8timated at oeeded this by £ 684,000. by £ 210,000. The Crown £ 4,860,000; the receipts faUjMSl* £ 375 ooo; the receipts cor- Lands were estimated to pro receiptg were estimated at responded. The miteceiumeo" fcy the gum Qf £ 205,252, £ 3,000,000: they h^exc*eu estimates amounts to £ 1.819,000. The excess of there is afallingoff of £ 120,000. As regards the Custom*. aVfl been converted into a consider- That falling off wo beeQ for the ldea prevalent that it wag able surplus baa ,omething like a clear sweep of all matters intended to n»* ha breakfast table (laughter) which has that appesr.^ off tea to the amount of £ 140,000; coffee, ?io9ienn* and sugar and molasses of £ 153,003, making alto- «faiiine off of £ 303,000. I do Dot doubt, however, thlt this will be speedily reversed after this year. The revenue S-STSKr from keeping pace with increased popula- 2° g». nnw. £ 334 000 less than it was a few years ago. Foreien and colonial spirits had fallen off to the extent of imnmo guitar £ 70 000; wine, by £ 42,000. Tobacco shows an incieas^of £ 121,000; tea, £ 55,000. Under the head of Sccisa there has been a great increase. It seems as if British Mirits were gaining an increase over foreign, as there has Seen an increase on British spirits to the extent of £ 400,000, while there has been a falling off in foreign spirits to the ex- tent of iiso 000. licences substituted for the assessed taxes we estimated at £1,200,000; and the result has been very gratifying stamps have been more productive this year. The Post Office has not shown its usual elasticity this year; for it has only increased in value £10,000, whereas we anticipated an increase of £220,000. The total revenue of 1869 has exceeded the revenue of 1868 by the sum of £2.742,000. One of the causes of this is the great cheapness of grain. The amount of the grain in this'country is 10,500,000 cwts. ofwheat, 4,500,000 cwtl. of Indian corn, and 2,000,000 cwts. of flour in the country above the quantity here iMt year. The income-tax has • exceeded ourestimatebynolessthanje684,000. so that instead of mv anticipations last year being correct, when I said that they would yield j63,350,000, the fact is they have yielded £4,484,000. The operation is one that can never be repeated (hear, hear, and a laugh); unless, indeed, the country should fall once more into the sluggish and stupid practice of allowing the payment of its taxes to fall behind; and if that should happen, I hope some person may arise to repeat the operation. But I now wish to point out the amount of less and inconvenience that has been sustained by the ratepayers in return for the jB4,48t,<)00 f which we have extracted from the country. As far E as the land tax and hojjse tax are concerned there has | been no loss at all. As regards the income tax there I Vas a positive gain, because a quarter's forbearance was f allowed—a sum, at 5 per cent., equal to £ 22,000 in favour of the taxpayer. As to the much disputed iV, question of the licences substituted for the assessed H taxes, the operation was this: had no change been made, persons would have been called upon to pay their taxes for 1869-70-one half in next October and the other half in the following April. So that the loss those persons have sustained is this: that they have paid half the tax, or about J6600 000, half a year sooner than they otherwise would have 1 done, and the other half one and a quarter years sooner— altogether, the interest on half the tax for two years. Now, i the interest of £600,000 for two years at 6 per cent. is £ 60,000; deduct the sum 1 have above stated, and it leaves •' £ 38*000 which I apprehend to be the amount of cost and inconvenience to which the ratepayers have been put, in order to obtain the £4,484,000 (hear, hear). Well, we are so satisfied with the result of the experiment that we have resolved to carry it further (hear, hear, and a laugh), and to take the opinion of the House as to whether the time has not arrived when an end should be put to the system of collecting the taxes through pa- rochial officers, not only in the case of licenses, but also as reearas the income tax, the land tax, and the house • tax (hear, hear) I believe it would result in greater economy and that the revenue would be better collected and made i, mora nroductive (hear, hear). I n«w come to the expendl f ture for 1869-70. It was estimated at £ 68,223,000; but in H noniioniience of the charges connected with the Court of Chancery the amount was raised to £ 68,408,000 The in- ? on the public debt was estimated at £ 26,700,000, but it £ ho» hiwn exceeded by £ 353,559. The ether charges on the rw«oii<i<Lted Fund were estimated at £ 1,700,000; they have amonntfld to £ 30,134 in excess. The army was estimated at £ 14 280 000' the expenditure had been less by £ 664,600. Th«NT*VV Estimates were £ 9.997,000: the expenditure has faii«n short of that sum by £ 239,710 (hear, hear). The Civil Service was estimated at £9,715,000; it haa fallen short of it by fin 987. On the Customs and Revenue Department the estimate was £ 2,613,000; the expenditure has fallen t Short of it by £ 55,197. On the Post Office the estimate was £2,363,000 the expenditure was less than that sum by ( QQO on the packet service the estimate was JB1 090,000; "i ana at bas been exceeded by £131,653. Thus the committee Will observe that, with the exception of three items, there has been aconBirlerable decrease on all points. The decrease on the expenditure is no less than £ 1,418,494; and after the deductions above mentioned there is a net decrease of £903,248 on the year. Comparing the expendi- ture of this year with that of the previous one, there is a reduction of £ 2 468 000, and the levenue of that year exceeded the increase of the previous one by £2,700,000. From the telegraphs we have received £100,000, and paid £6u,ooo: the result being a revenue in the year of £ 75,434 000; and an expenditure of je67,664 000, leaving a sur- plus on the year of £7,870,000 (cheers). We had to propose supplementary estimates to the extent of £ 327,000, but is included in the JS67,564,000 of the surplus thus obtained. We have expended £ 4,300,(00 in discharging the liabilities on the Abyssinian expedition, which lelt a net suro^?illc £ 3 570,000. Of that amount £ 1,000,000 was devo|gj^>f ISWS SMS that is not an unmixed good, but we are not afraid that they will become so large as to be unmanageable. In regard to the tem for telegraphs the case stands thus. The daims of the companies against the Government were jB5,715,000, which was raised by other charges to £6,760,000. We have paid £ 6,327,000; and the balance still remains to be paid. The committee may remember that we were allowed several ways of raising the purchase money. That which we adopted was the creation of stock in Consols to the amount of nearly £7,000,000, The balance in the hands of the National Debt Commissioners enable them to take JU,ooo,OOO. The remaining j63,000,000 was sold in the market, and by careful management it was effected without disturbing the market, and I observed in the newspapers at the time a total unconsciousness that any such operation was going on (a laugh). The £7,000,000 stock was sold at £ 02 4s 7*d. Thus during the current year we have altogether Said off debt to the amount ol. £ 7,88*,600 (cheers). We also ope that it will now be possible to put in operation the Act which has been but too much neglected—which provides that one-fourth of the surplus of each year shall be devoted to the reduction ef the public debt. The first payment will not be more than £64,000; but in the September quarter we shall hope to pay off j61,592,000, and that payments in a Similar proportion will be continued in future quarters. J. now come to the expenditure of the current year 1870 71, which I compare with the year 1869-70. The interest of the debt for the coming financial year I estimate at £20,650,000, .foeina £ 50.000 less than last year, other charges are esti- mated at £ 1,820,000, being £ 120,000 more than last year. I may in passine that the inerease is owing to the tele- «-<K>hs. The Army Estimate for the coming year &£12,970,000, halnff A reduction of £ 1,256,000 on the total estimate of last S lle Navy I have put down at £ 9,251,000, thus exhi- £ itw a reduction on the grants of last year of £ 746 000. &h?*p?vil I put down at £ 9,990 000, showing ai excess Tha Civil I P" lMt year 0f £ 100,000. I am bound to £ Ivr tha^this presents an unfavourable contrast "If* i^earance of the army and navy. The with the app being a reduction of £ 38,000 on the BB-SSTFTSA ahowing an morea.e of £270,000. The BOUIe will remember that under this head the expense last year ^was^ £ 90-000. Th result of all this is that the net reductions of ttis year below the grants of last year wa« estimated at £ 1,713.^ The total estimated expenditure for this year is £ 67,113.<M' against £ 68,826,000 last year (an hon. I. Turn your face this way"). Unless I should become like "Civil Service," the hon. gentleman con- ♦TrlS—I come to the estimate of revenue for the year 1870- 7i m compared with the year 69-70, we estimated the customs it £ 21650 300> being an increase over the estimate of last year ol £ 121 000. we do on account of the falling off which I before mentioned to the committee on tea and coffee. The excise we estimate at £ 21,640,000, being an increase «B< £ 123,000, apd we do that in consequence of the very laaje increase in spirits, which prudent persons la very *° be followed by a reaction. The right hon. gentiemwi went on to say that the estimate for stSps was £ 8.700, showing a decrease of £ 548,000; income tat £ 7,°00,00(9 decrease, £ 2,444,000; taxes, £ 2 850,000^decrease., ".050,000>; Post Office, £ 4,900,000, in- *rease, £ 280,000; teleg™PH £ «T6,000, as against £ 100,000 for the past .7^* £ 885,000; increase, £ 10,000 miscellaneous, £ 3 060 as against £ 3,205,000, ahowing decr„e.?f!MOoo ttw The tot*l revenue would thus imate t?m ai revenue last year being £ 7M$4,000- The showed a net decrease of £ 3,984,000. Taking theriBvenu(» -ttl.aM.oc0, and the expenditure at £ 67,113,000 »ey Wo^d a aurplug of £ 4,337,000, and he would si^g tiincreasing it. The revenue 'from fi^e e„y to to £ 150,000, •nd this amount was not easy to coUect Everyone knew the lamentable accld nnd in his oDiniohU#ed by ,n" cautious use of firearms, and in ws opiatan a great amount of crime had its origin dnt^ .pr"pOReto the Hon-to institute a new Ex^e liMnce duty «, for ing «r»arms, and on the other hai°d abo!lish the game tioenceauty. The financial effect would be to giVe to the perfiWie £ ^0,000 over and above the^ £ 150 Mo received from game Of course volunteers and.other persons having a rigfct to carry arms would from that duty. The su»0iag would be increased by thig duty to £ 4,487,000. The hon. member for Sunderlarid had proposed fhat any surpl<« wjhJch might be made should be appu^ to the reduction 0' the National Debt, but he would propose Mat stock should be created, and that Government should take ft into their own hands. Having done so, let them Minvtrt it into terminable annuities, and when they fail > W thim ^aVed 10 Purchase of other stockf He it. JifcM^nrVirvMjwI to exercise the power given by the Act thex^PfHTdto take £ 7,OOO,000 Post Office Savtog 29 30 » v uiino annuiti*8 termlnable 1885, at the same Bank Stoc 3 S £ d by the present Prime Minister time as £ 24,Tther Government won d have to provide To carry thlsou. thev had accordingly placed that for jE190,000, and -oHdited Fund to meet this. In amount on the Cont> Q« «ve Exchequer would have 1885, the then Cfaancelloi °* ™ie this £ 190,000, the i .irplus of £ 3 876,000. ^ucting with»e •urplus left would be £ 4,29i, 'iinW the steaming of had to deal. He then proposed to 0f the cattle on barley on a person s premises for the fe^w?hftt there should those premises, it being provided, however, th woUid re- be no kiln in or.^ »«miM>s. By this paper- suit to the revenue. The tax on soap-makers, £ 1>' Anting makers, £ 1,600; and watch case makers, £ 1,500 am°^11. » in all to £ 6,000, which he propo«ed to abolish. Certain duties and taxes 011 Btaropsanddeedg would be reduced or abolished to the extent of £200,000; the duty on foreign and English biDe being equalised, in reference to the matter with which the hon. member for iiverpool waa inti- mately connected wivjj namely, the postage on news- papers, he proposed^tothe impressed stamps, ^togetber, the amount ^5« £ l20,000, hut as this would pot come to effeetuntU October next, the loss on this year wnnld be only £ 60,000. As the reductions of stamp duty, etc., come toto operation till January next, the loss would be on the year only £ 50,000. All newspapers weighing less than six ounces would be reduced to Jd. pos- tage and the whole loss on the Post-Offlce would be £ 250,000. Instead of the five per cent, tax on railway companies carrying passengers, he proposed to levy upon the traffic a duty of one per cent, which would, bring in £ 387,000; as against £ 494,000 now received from the five per cent duty. By this there would be a remission of £ 107,000. He believed the whole secret of taxation was that it should be equalised, and therefore he did not propose to alwbsh entirely the income tax, or the duty on tea, as it would simply render the burden heavier in some other way. The income tax wo lid be reduced to 4d., and large employers of labour would be required to make returns of persons in their service liable to pay income. tax. This reduction would involve a remission K nT' The next ttofr which he should deal with £ 5,700,000, and h^^propo £ 2,350,000. The remission involving th refined su at, would commence at fine sugar it would not come into effect for 1 thrVe weeks in order to allow time ior tne saie 01 m Viorwf ^jflviewinir then, the various items of remission for the vlr thev would be as follows :-Foot hawkers £ 16 000; 1 fm^l licence duties, £ 6,000 hail storm and insurance Snt^s £ 1 000- duties on stamps, £ 5,000; postage on 'nrinted matter, £ 60,0fi0; on newspapers, £ 125.000; rail- S £ ?« £ 1fiS 000' income tax, £ 1.250,030 sugar, £ 2,350,000; Tntal £ 3 966 000 The net surplus being £4,297,000, there would thus be left a balance of £331,000 in hand. Tne right hon gentleman concluded by placing in the hand of the cnairman the resolution for the reduction in sugar, and re- sumed his seat amid Ministerial cheers, having spoken for two hours and a halt. The usual desultory discussion followed the statement, and after a brief reply from the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the resolutions necessary for carrying out the changes reposed in the Budget were agreed to. The Lord Advocate brought in a bill to amend and to assimilate in certain respects the laws of England and Scot- land relating to game. Mr. Gladstone moved for the appointment of a Select Com- mittee to inquire into the State of the law affecting Members of Parliament who have been reported guilty of corrupt practices by an Election Commission, Mr. J. Lowther moved, as an amendment, that the Com- mittee be empowered to inquire into the operation of the Corrupt Practices Acts and also into the complaints made against the conduct of certain Commissioners. The Attorney-General said the Government would not ob- ject to a separate Committee to inquire into the operation of the Corrupt Practices Acts but they could not consent to an inquisition into the conduct of the Commissioners, whose general ability and discretion the Attorney-General earnestly defended. After remarks from other hon. members, Mr. Lowther withdrew his amendment. The Committee was then agreed to, and the house adjourned. In the House of Commons, April 12, Mr. Monk asked the Under. Secretary for the Colonies whether his attention had been called to a telegram dated "Ottawa, April 8," to the effect that the Minister of Finance had stated that the Ca- nadian Government intended to disregard the opinion of the law officers of England as to the appropriation of the Inter- colonial Railway Loan of last year; and whether the Government had received any information confirmatory of that statement. Mr. M onsell stated that his attention had been called to the statement, but no confirmatory information had been re- ceived by the Government, although they had received com- munications on other subjects. Mr. Gladstone having moved that the House at its rising do adjourn till Monday, the 25th April, Sir WUfred Lawson took advantage of the opportunity to call attention to the serious public injury caused by the delay in introducing the Government Licensing Bill, and to the imperative necessity for dealing with the question dur- ing the present session. He reminded the House that last session his bill had been put aside, the Home Secretary having promised that the Government would introduce a measure.. TV. After remarks from Sir H. Selwin Ibbetson and Mr. Bernal Osborne, Mr. Bruce said the measure he had undertaken to intro- duce was a complete one, but he thought it would not be wise to bring it in unless he saw a prospect of carrying it during the session. Until further progress had been made with the Irish Land Bill and the Education Bill it would be impossible to deal with the licensing system, but if the mea- sure could not be brought forward this session it would be introduced very early in the next. Mr. Beresford-Hope urged that the Education Bill should be pushed forward, and expressed his gratification at the assurance to that effect given by the right hon. gentleman. Mr. Gladstone expressed a hope that considerable progress would be made on re-assembling, with the Land Bill and the Education Bm. The report of the Committee on Ways and Means was brought up. and the resolutions agreed to. Mr. Macfie rose to move the appointment of a Select Com- mittee to consider and report on the law relating to letters patent for inventions, when the House was counted, and there being only twenty-six members present, the House ad- journed.

PROFESSOR HUXLEY ON THE PEDIGREE OF THE HORSE. On Friday night Professor Huxley delivered a lecture at the Royal Institution, London, before a very large audience, upon "The Pedigree of the Horse." Sir Henry Holland, Bart., F.R.S., presided. Professor Huxley began by saying that time now travels faster than it used to do. It was now ten years since he had the honour of addressing a public audience on the origin of species and the theory of evolution due to the genius of Charles Darwin. At that time the theory was passing through the trial, through the struggle for existence, which all youthful organisms in nature have to undergo. On that occa- sion he succeeded eo far in overcoming his natural love for peace and quietness—(laughter)—as to advocate what was then a repressed doctrine. Now all was changed. The doctrine which then was regularly refuted and overthrown once in every six weeks had since grown to such an extent that it was now the leading doctrine of most of the first scientific men in 1 Europe, and he thought it would be well to get up a little constitutional opposition to its tenets, for now it j entered even into the considerations of its adversaries, i The nineteenth century, as far as science was con- i cerned, would be known in history as having given birth to two doctrines—namely, the doctrine of the conservation of force, and the doctrine of evolution as ( set forth by Charles Darwin. The foundations of the first of these theories are as firmly set as the walls of the Royal Institution, but the other is not yet on quite 1 such a stable footing. The doctrine rests upon three J pillars of observation and experiment. The first of j these is the production of living matter from matter I not living; the next is the production of new species by natural selection; the third piller was historical < evidence of living animals succeeding each other in a j way which met the requirements of the doctrine, j When these three lines of ev^ence h 1.r .-sa ¡;nbÔrv:Ei ø J^SrOT9a £ SBtfWfirBt of these we were now in an f unsatisfactory state as regards the second, c In spite of an enormous accumulation of pro- -t babilities, we yet stand without the direct pro. duction of a new species from one common stock r but as regards the third point, which not long since i was the weakest of all, it is now, in a sense, the head c stone of the corner, and may be more satisfactorily I relied upon than either of the other two. j: The rocks reveal to us transitional forms between II animals now existing and those long gone, and yield to I, the philosopher fossils transitional between groups of animals now far apart. At a lecture delivered at the 11 institution two or three yeara ago, he had brought un* der their notice forms transitional between the widely- t separated groups of birds and reptiles; and the reason- t ing he then adduced had been rendered stronger by a subsequent observation, mere especially by the dis- coveries of Professor Cooke, of Philadelphia. What 0 was required to form good historical geological evi- b dence ? Let A, B, and C be three geological strata, g each successive one older than the other; and let X, c Y, Z be groups of animal forms, succeeding each other, c If he could show tnat there was a gradual progression t of A X to B Y, and from B Y to C Z, it was the t highest kind of proof which could be gives. But it is exceedingly hard to find evidence of this kind good r enough to satisfy critical minds, and at present it would be very injurious to bring forward evidence of a I less conclusive nature. c But he had one particular case to bring before them, which he thought would stand any amount of Worrying, and tearing, and "pulling about. The case in question was of particular interest, because it concerned an ( animal of which Englishmen were exceedingly proud, J that is to say—the horse. He was told that some among his listeners were on the look-out for what are J called "tips "in his lecture—(laughter)—but on this I occasion he was going to treat the subject in a thoroughly scientific way, and none other. AH t animals and things which were very accurately ( and delicately balanced were apt to be very beautiful. < On the same principle the beauty of the body of the < horse probably has much to do with its being < one of the best possible pieces of apparatus for 1 running swiftly along the land. In many respects the organisation of the horse departed in an extraordinary way from what may be called the f average quadruped," and the peculiarities to which he ] desired to call special attention were those of the fore I limbs, the hind limbs, and the teeth. What was called titt knee of the horse was in reality the wrist of the snunal. Human beings had two bones in the fore-arm, < and this was also the case with most quadrupeds, but in the horse these two bones were completely fused and < bound together into one. In most horses and asses the I two bones were soldered together, and the shaft of I the ulna nearly disappeared. The horse's hoof an- I swered to the fingers of the human hand, only in the hoof some of the bones and fingers of the hand were < missing, and the horse in reality rests upon the end of the nail of the middle finger. What haa become f of the other fingers? Two of them were taken: away, and two of the other bones were reduced to < little splints, which could be seen from the outside of I the horse's foot. This peculiarity was found only in < these animals. In the hind-legs of the horse the small bone was reduced as in the fore-legs, and the middle toe was there with its nail made into a hoof. 1 The horse had also a peculiar construction of the < grinding teeth of the upper and lower jaw, some por- < tions of these teeth being harder than other portions, so that each tooth wore unequally in different parts, whereby it always had a rough surface for grinding pur- < poses, something like the face of a millstone. The tooth I wascomposedofridgesandpillars, bone and cement, very < curiously arranged with respect to each other, and a I set of such teeth made a very efficient mill for the use of the horse. In a very young horse—that is to say, in ] a horse a foot long, before it was born-there were the remains of the ulna much more complete than in the < grown animal, and in the young horse the rudiments of < the toes were larger in proportion than in the adult ] Sometimes horses were born with extra toes, and there was a specimen of this kind in the museum of the 1 College of Surgeons. At the present time also there ] was a South American pony in the Victoria Docks 1 with an extra toe each hoof, and the toes could be < felt by the finger. If these facts were interpreted by the doctrine of evolution, what did it say? It said that the missing < toss of the horse must have vanished from some animal 1 preceding the horse, which had the normal number of tpes, and that the ancestors of the horse must at one wmehave had the leg and foot bones complete, although these were blotted out before the hone was turned iato a. Perfect running machine. It also said that at one tune the teeth of the horse must have resembled those j of other herbivorous animals. It almr said that the ] young or embryonic form often resembled the commdn form, more than the adult animal did. The extra toe m some cases, was probably but a reversion tothe type remote ancestor—nevertheless, he did not lay "N"n uPon this point himself. did palaeontology say to all this? The T7nron« aiL ^orae were found in profusion ail over t Annrmmn an<* they existed in geological strata °f -X?n^ wiquity; th«y could be Wd back to penodslGDg before any indications of the existence of man had a y t been found, yet the horses and asses of that remote penod resembled in nearly every respect the horses andaeses which now ran wild in many parts of Asia and Africa. On going still further back to the upper xnioeene penod-a time when the world alto- gether differed from its present condition as regarded its geographical features—the horse was still found with all its present peculiarities, and the two differ from each other only in minute details. But side by side with the remains of the horse in this deposit were the remains of another horse-like creature called the "hipparion" or "little horse." As much was known about the hipparion as about the horse. There was no break in the series of time, for both are found in the same deposit. In the fore limb of the hipparion the leg bones were united, but the extra one was traceable, and the leg bones were nearer to the average type; the animal also had two little hoofs or fingers, one on each side of the main hoof, but they appeared to have been of no use whatever. The tooth was still very horsev, but it was changed nearer to the ordinary type. There was, therefore, in the upper miocene an animal which resembles the horse in some narticiilara. and denarts from it in others. Professor Huxley continued Did the horse succeed the hipparion? Was it conceivable that the one animal was struck out of existence altogether, and that the other was then created afresh out of nothing ? Was it thinkable? If so, he might as well give up his theory altogether. Having proceeded thus far, the investigator turns with considerable confidence to his geological remains to look for the hypothetical ancestor of the hipparion. This ancestor was found in the ancbitherium, and its remains were found in the lower miocene, but not in the upper as yet, so that there is a greater gap between the anchitherium and the hipparion than between the latter and the horae. In the anchitherium the leg bones are still more separated it has three toes in the fore limb, the two outside ones being half as big as the middle toe, so that the foot somewhat resembles that of the tapir. This animal, therefore, has the fore foot which theory requires that it should have. In the hind leg the bones are more divided than in the case of the hipparion, the binder feet have three toes, and the teeth have not the plasticity of those (If the horse, but approach more nearly to those of the ordinary type. Thus in these three animals there are proofs of gradual progression in teeth, hind legs, and fore legs, all the rest of the organisation of each being horse-like. He submitted, then, that these animals fulfilled the conditions which he laid down at the beginning of his lecture, and that it was impossible to obtain evidence more complete in kind than this of the pedigree and origin of the horse. If a man says that he can trace his pedigree back to the time of the Conquest—well, there is no harm in that; but if he says that he has descended from King Arthur or Noah, the evidence is not worth much. In like manner the history of the horse had been traced by him in the lecture as far back as the Conquest but he wished to go a little further, md look a little over the edge of certainty, to get some idea of what is lying on the other side. He then pointed out that in the eocene period there are remain )f animals which are probably remote ancestors of the lorse; the plagiolophus minor to wit. This animal nore approaches the rodents in type, but it differs trom the horse only in degree, and not in kind. He concluded by remarking that if Darwin's doctrine 8 made out in this one case of the horse, it is strong mdence that similarmodifications have taken place in til cases.

A number of large flint stones, with jagged edges, vere shown as specimens of the agencies of pain to )easts of burthen which are in daily use in the South of London. The inscription on the black board in uxtaposition with which they were placed was "In- truments of horse torture employed in the 19th century in the roads of the South of London, within the four- nile radius from Charing-cross. April, 1870." It was irged that by the use of the steam roller all these stones ould be crushed into the earth.

CHE GOVERNMENT EDUCATION BILL. On Friday night a numerously attended public meet. ng of the supporters of the National Education Union md other friends of the religious education of the people vas held in St. James's-ball, London. The Earl of Shaftesbury, K.G., occupied the chair, and was sup- ported by the Duke of Northumberland, the Duke of Norfolk, the Marquis of Salisbury, the Earl of larrowby, Lord Howard of Glossop, Lord Eustace Jecil, M.P., Earl Percy, M.P., Lord Sandon, M.P., klr. W. H. Smith, M.P., Colonel Akroyd, M.P., tfr. Beresford Hope, M.P., Mr. Corrance, M.P., Mr. 3unliffe Brooks, M.P., Mr. Hugh Birley, M.P., iev. Dr. Barry, &c. The Chairman, who was loudly cheered on rising, said that rere met on that important occasion in this 19th century, in his age of progress, in aperlod of civil and religious freedom, fter so many conflicts and disputes on religious grounds, to upport the cause of religion in the national education of the ountry, and to protest against the exclusion or discourage- aent of religious teaching in our schools. They were there o demand impartial justice, and to enforce those great irinclplesof religious liberty for which they had so long and rdently contended. The necessity for a great measure of atienal education being on all sides admitted Her Majesty's fovernment had brought in a bill which has been committed o the care of an able and upright man-M r. Forster; and if he tad been all-powerful to frame the measure there would have een no need for their gathering in that hall. But this was not o, and they were therefore asked to support those great rinciples which the right hon. gentleman had enunciated. t was not for that meeting to consider details. Their busi- ess was with the great principles involved in the questlon- whether the children of this country, under a system of ational education, should or should not receive the Bible nd religious teaching ? ( Sear, hear.) Now, the bill brought )rward by the Government was not by any means all they 'ished or had a right to demand but if it did not do all bey could desire for religious teaching, at least it did not tep over on the other side and exclude it from our national :hools. The bill left the people to decide whether they rould have religious teaching or not, and the responsibility f deciding must rest upon local bodies, and not fall rith its full weight upon the national shoulders. (Hear.) he "religious difficulty" was not, he believed, felt by is great mass of the people. The feeling throughout is country was with them. A hundred amendments ad been proposed, all more or less coming towards is proposition they desired to carry, but all falling lort of the mark. They must now make a very eclded effort to carry their point, and secure the teaching fthe Bible as an essential, and not as an extra. (Hear.) .eligious teaching must be given within school hours. lear.) Let this be done, and they would grant as many mscience Clauses and timetable8 mm their adveiurlM could ions to relegate religious teaching to odds id ends of time would be an outrage upon tile national lelings and a gross violation of religious liberty. If their ?ponents had their way they would be called upon by public ixes and local rates to contribute to the foundation of shools from which the Word of God and all religious teach-.I Ig would be excluded, but to which they were to be com- piled to send their children, where the children would arn that the State had determined religion to be a se- mdary and by no means necessary part of education. The Jble earl concluded an eloquent speech by adjuring those resent, by the honour of the nation and the safety of the !?P'e> to work with heart and soul to secure that the niaren of Great Britain should be nurtured in the faith, ar, and admonition of the Lord. Mr. Cowper-Temple, M.P,, proposed the first reso. ition as follows opl?,t?n of this meeting any system of Na- Education which excludes religious teach- & nnlwk °'discourages it is wholly unsatisfactory »d unworthy of national support." Hughes, M.P.( geCOnded the resolution, which was l7iA^anlmSusl/\ He said that he should be appearing ITimSL fBIK ? colours if he did not state that he v. Education League. He joined that or- Sntov whichC^e tt WM the flrst that 8tarted in this lts banner "National Education rate-supported, and perfectly fair those fonr ^H, ?i°1?llaatious 1,1 the country. He still stood th«vf Principles, and it was because he did so that 'IlW°re, It never was a part of the pro- ^had Wn !°? ty t0 exclude religious teaching. That !«nritv of thaf »ince Us formation by a very small n who advrtP.tB^0iety» composed, no doubt, of very able l^nW wou^d «^Sec"lM- teaching. He believed that the >untry d emphatically declare against secular educa- the hiffh«H *at the pubUo Bchools of this country, °« would find fKntheUnddown t0 the Schools, could K element of religious teaching in all. oth^ "hore mischievous, as Dr. Arnold and °« would find fKntheUnddown to the Ragged Schools, could K element of religious teaching in all. oth^ "hore mischievous, as Dr. Arnold and Son from to t0 8eparate 4116 idea ° £ .Sall8bury, who, on rising to propose the ^'hfl had to iriv^th recelved with long-continued cheeriDg, dd fttions alrJad»^ Practical commentary to the theoretical r0P^««t action .L al<i beIore tlle meeting. Their duty lay > steady determination to show by prac- cal Mi in that which had been enthusiastically ChrifttL^einbly- Mr- HuKhes had wi»ely spoken, Dd Th«rVeellng, Dpon the folly ot ™r sectarian •gerence* inere wag aothing which could fill all followers f th0Ji!hso mnphgon with peeper melancholy than te see iat, witn so mucn experience of the value of that religion, ley were rer agreement. But, in answer to the jproacne g ^gainst themonaccount of their sectarian their combination for the purposes t educate ouid ask them to look at that platform. e itheir nohi admiration to the hearty Protest- atism ot chairman, which always met with a arm ill.fi eloauen? an assembly of Englishmen, and 11110 5 «flected th ?nd buraing words were being uttered e had, there were sitting beside him on iat pla«°"? j^an Catholics who, probably, if they ad spoked wouiu nave retorted on his Protestantism with nti-Protestan as eloquent and as burning; but he had Iso reflectea Protestants and Roman Catholics, having othing in common except their love for one Saviour, had »et together hat platform in furtherance of a common wise. When nerence which seemed attimes world-wide UTink into | hcance it became necessary to ask the »U8e which g them all together. Depend upon it, the •undatioD* o .Common faith were not lightly threat- led when invit.fi 8 80 widely, could meet together in »sponse to °* that association. There was no inference so wme oetween Christians as that which separated hristians a^hu^8e, who proposed that no Christianity lould be ^u^easurfi 0 iS- They did not altogether like the overnment • and if they had to frame an educational olity for j. 'twould not probably be the same as iat of the b before the House of Commons. They >lt, however, a desire such as had never before een expresse ..arisen for a system of national edu- ction, and t y bound to sink every difference which Juld by WVth„„0,>Me be called a minor point, fhen, howev > y had made these concessions there rose a sect ol P ,rs—not the Birmingham League— ho said that t "sciences were injured if any religions sachingatali 8 en to the children in rate-supported Jhools. Id ask these gentlemen of exquisitely elicate consC, th° e?lember that Christians had con- :iences as well as tnemselvea. The vast mass of the work- ig Peoplebene at education without religion was not > be desired f° pkildren. The philosophers to whom e referred proposed; however, to take their children 'hetherthey wo n0 tQ sen(j them to school, to work iem through the hours of the day anj to exclude from the 3ucation of their inas that one subject upon which their ilnds should dwe. it he took his neighbour's horse and ode it for twelv_ urs a <jay, it might be paid that the wner was not prevented from riding it afterwards. This 'as the whole at -ig8ue between the supporters of sligious education ana the Secularists. Religion must either e taught or oere was no neutrality in this matter, ffear, hear ) Rwigiois zeal was by far the most powerful gency In the promotion of education. This might be the ffsprlng of a detestame superstition. He would not contest hat point, but the fact remained that this religious zeal of tie various Christian denominations had covered the land rith churches and schools, and the question for practical olittcians dealing buman motives was whether they [Ould have this vast xorce against them or on their side, 'hat the Union did was to recognize this craving for na- ional education and yearning for religious instruction. It rq incontestible that the active force of the opposition to his movement was hostility to Mitgion, partly the reaction of inner controversies, which had produced a fe6ltng of anti- eligious propagandlsm. The more influential and distln- uished Nohdomformists were on the side of the Union but small section, using their religious organization for olitical ends, had consented to play the part of catspaw in his matter. (Cheers and interruption) The crisis was one f uncommon danger, and one which called upon all Chris- Ians to join together in earnest and long-sustained defence f the great principles now at stake. (Much cheering.) The oble-Marquis concluded by moving :— That the following petition be signed by the chairman, in behalf of the meeting for presentation to Parliament:— "That your petitioners view with great alarm the at- empts now being made to introduce a purely secular system if elementary education, and to exclude the Bible and all leflnite religious teaching from primary schools. That your petitioners are satisfied that exclusively secu- ar teaching is opposed to the desires and convictions of the :reat bulk of the people of this country, who are in favour of christian teaching for a Christian nation. "Your petitioners, therefore, pray that your honourable House will adopt those principles of the Education Bill which provides for liberty of religious instruction in all public schools." Mr. C. Buxton, M.P., in seconding the resolution, said he hoped it would be remembered that they were seeking liberty of religious teaching. They did not want to force re- ligious teaching where the parents of the children were opposed to it. The one thing they sought was that where the parents desired education to be associated with religion the State should not step in to refuse them that boon. He was not himself opposed to some of those restrictions as to the time and manner of religious teaching which might seem necessary as a fair compromise between contending parties. It seemed to him very important that the ministers of reli- gion should not be driven but of the schools, while there could be no doubt that many educational reformers were bent upon expelling them. He was quite able to sympathize with those who felt a dislike to the idea of the education of the people being a work of charity under the patronage of their superiors, and he was glad to find the people more de- sirous than formerly, that the education of their children should be their own business. Mr. Thomas Chambers, M.P., and Mr. Beresford Hope, M.P., supported the resolution, which was carried unanimously.

TERRIFIC STORM AT NEW YORK. There was a heavy equinoctial gale at New York on the 26th ult., which caused great destruction of pro- perty and the sacrifice of numerous lives. The storm had full sweep in the bay and the East River, and the tide influenced by the easterly wind, rose to an unusual height. In the afternoon the large, un- finished five-storey brick building, No. 627, West Forty-sixth street, fell with a terrible crash. The side and rear walls were complete. The front wall was only carried up to the second storey. The side wall on the west side toppled over on a one-storey brick building, occupied by Benjamin Donelly, his wife, and four children, who were buried in the ruins. All, with the exception of a boy named Charles, were found in a gap near the front door. Apparently they had been seated around the stove in the front room, and hearing the crash, had started to escape, but had only reached the front door when they were struck by the falling mass. Charles aged seven, was sitting astride a hobby-horse when the crash came, and when found by the searchers was lying beside it. Both legs were broken, and he was otherwise shockingly bruised and cut. His life was only saved by some beams falling across a portion of the walls of Donelly's residence, and forming a sort of shield. Much damage was done in both the eastern and western districts of Brooklyn. Ellen Creed, age 19, while returning from church to her home, was knocked down by a gust of wind, and her head coming in con- tact with a stoop a fracture of the skull was caused, and she soon died. A three-storey frame house on Bushwick-avenue, near Moore-street, was wrested timber from timber. A three storey brick house, corner of Richards and Partition-streets lost its roof. Trees were uprooted and fences blown down in every part of the city, and a great amount of damage done by the tearing of awnings and breaking of skylights. At Baltimore twenty buildings, some of them in course of erection, were blown down or partially demolished, and several houses were unroofed in different sections of the city.

A JEWISH DEDICATION SERVICE IN LONDON. The Central Synagogue, just erected in Great Port- land-street. London, was consecrated last week (6th Nisan, 5630,) with all the solemnities of a Jewish Dedi- cation Service. An event of so rare an occurrence in London, although probably it will not be so rare in the future, naturally aroused the interest of the thou- sands of Jews who live in the metropolis. The appli- cations for facilities to witness the ceremony were con- sequently twice as numerous as the 1,000 sittings pro- vided in the new place of worship. Large crowds of the Gentile public gathered around the Portland-street and Charlotte-street entrances, and remained there during a service that lasted nearly three hours. The handsome building, designed by Mr. N. S. Joseph, has a frontage of 120 feet, and its Moresqe design, its horse-shoe arch, and interlaced enrichments, single it out from other English churches. Over the east facade there is a lofty tower or campanile, and main porch at the base, skirted by groups of columns with highly enriched capitals. A massive arch, elabo- rately ornamented in relief, crowns the porch; and upon the keystone there is a Hebrew rendering of Solomon's words at the dedication of the first Temple, "Thy people shall pray, and make supplication unto Thee in this house." The Oriental character of the structure is more strikingly exemplified within. En- trance to the synagogue is effected through a cloister 100 feet long, and the size of the building seems greater than it really is, on account of its square and lofty shape. There are tiers of Moresque columns on either side, supporting the gallery, clerestery, and vaulted roof. The cost of the synagogue is about £25,000. The Jews are more particular than their Gentile fellow-countrymen in pointing their synagogues direct to Jerusalem, and the apse of this building accordingly faces the south-east. Separation of the sexes is an un- alterable custom of Jewish worship. The men, out of retipect to the old injunction not to enter the Su- preme presence with uncovered head, wear their hats while worshipping. When the synagogue was filled its manifold beauties and peculiarities .t once struck the stranger. The seats on the ground-floor rising gradually from the centre, so as to afford every person a view of the altar, were filled with men whose dark complexions and black hats imparted to the body of the building a somewhat sombre shade. The galleries were filled with ladies. On the centre of the floor is the Almenar, an enclosed oaken platform em- bellished with elegant gilt stanchions, and occupied by the ministers and choristers. At the south-east) end of the synagogue is the recess symbolical of the Ark. Up to the commencement of the service it was covered by a heavy green velvet curtain, embroidered with scarlet and gold. Over it the "Perpetual light" sheds a golden flood from the roof, and between it and the ever-burning flame, the Ten Commandments are cut on two typical tables of stone-five on each. Another Hebraic inscription over the great arch is the ejacula- tion of the Patriarch Jacob, This is none other but the Houee. of God, and this is the gate of Heaven!" The Ark is approached by a semi-circular flight of marble steps, which were on this occasion adorned I with choice greenhouse flowers. When in this general description are included handsomely stained windows, and that dim religious light" which lends s subdued beauty to even less pretensious architecture and less interesting occasions, the picture of the synagogue on its festal day is complete. A farewell service had been celebrated in the old synagogue earlier in the day, and afterwards the Chief Rabbi, the Rev. Dr. Artom, the Dayanim, the wardens, and other honorary officers of the congregations, brought the Scrolls of the Law to the door of their new abode. The Chief -Rabbi, (Dr. Adler) exclaimed, Open unto me the gates of righteousness, I will enter them and praise the Lord." The doora were opened, and the reader and choristers chaunted while the pro- cession passed up the centre of the synagogue. A rich scarlet and gold canopy was held over the procession. The Scrolls o the Law are covered with velv et, heavily embroidered, and surmounted with an imita- tion, in either gold or silver, of a pomegranate. To these are attached innumerable bells of tiny size and musical sound. The scrolls are borne aloft on golden staves, and at every movement the tinkle of their adornments could be heard above the singing of the choir. When the procession ascended the altar steps, Sir Moses Montefiore, who had been selected as the most honoured of the persuasion, withdrew the curtain, and the doors of the Ark were opened. The procession then marched seven times round the synagogue, while the choir sang special dedication psalms. At the con- cision the Scrolls of the Law were deposited in the Ark, to remain there for ever, and the venerable Sir Moses again drew the curtain. From an elegant little temporary pulpit placed to the front of the altar steps, Dr. Adler preached a sermon. He sketched the history of the Jewish race, their persecutions and their vigour. He claimed that all creeds were but a reflex of Judaism, and that the morals of every civilised country were based upon the Decalogue. In calling upon his hearers to be thankful for their preservation, he said that under the benign reign of the Queen restriction after restriction had been removed, until Jews enjoyed the same privileges as their fellow-citizens. After the sermon came a con- secration prayer, and a prayer for the Royal Family; then an ode, written for the day by Mr. Michael Henry; then ordinary evening prayer; and, lastly, a Hallelujah chorus. The minister of the synagogue, the Rev. A. L. Green, performed the chief part of the service, assisted by the Rev. J. Ascher, with the Rev. S. Lyons as second reader. The Psalms had been specially para- phrased by Mr. Lionel Van Oven, and the music was composed by Mr. J. L. Mombach. Sir Anthony Rothschild and the leading Jews of London were amongst the congregation.

THE "PECULIAR PEOPLE" AGAIN. At the last Orsett Petty Sessions, John Baker, a man in respectable circumstances, was charged with having neglected to provide necessary medical aid for his child, Jesse Baker, aged two years and eight months, who, it was presumed, had been allowed to die without any medical assistance. Mr. A. H. Hunt, clerk to the Orsett Board of Guardians, attended for the prosecution, and stated that the summons was taken out by the guardians, who considered it now their duty to take the matter up, owing to several deaths having lately occurred, and prosecute according to the powers given to them by a recent statute, 31st and 32nd Vic., c. 122, sec. 37, which enacts that where parents allow their children to die without medical aid they shall be liable to six months' imprisonment. This was the seeond child the defendant had within the past few weeks allowed to die. Mr A. W. Mercer, surgeon, was next called, and his evi- dence went to show that he was ordered by the Coroner to make a post mortem examination of the body of another child belonging to the defendant, and while performing the operation he saw the second child now alluded to in the present case lying very ill. As the first child bad been allowed to die without medical assistance, he strongly urged the mother and three other women to permit him to give the child some medicine, as it was very dangerously ill; but the mother and the other women positively reiused him per- mission to give the child anything. He then advised them to put a plaster upon it, and give it stimulants, but that they also refused. Ann Cunningham stated that she was one of the three sisters who attended the child. It had every nourishment but had no medicine. Everything that was possible to do for it according to their religion was done. The elders were sent for, and they laid hands on it, and they annointed it with the holy oil. That being the case for the prosecution, The magistrates asked the defendant what he had to say to the charge. The Defendant: What I have to say Is this—The Lord saved me from my sins eleven years ago, and I now go accord- ing to the Scripture, and follow Christ. In the days of Christ, just before he departed, he said, "If I depart I wil send the comforter unto you;" and it was that Spirit which I received eleven years ago that guided me to fulfil his com- mands in this case. The word of God tells me to pray, and that if any are sick, let him send for the elders of the church to annoint the sick with oil, and pray over him. This is what I believe in, and what I have done; and it my child had not been sick unto death, it would have recovered, but as it did not recover it was the lord's will that it thould die. In the last chapter of St. Mark does it not say of them that believe In my name shall they cast out devils. They shall lay hands on the sick. and they shall recover." Here a number of brethren and sisters who were in the court shouted out-" Yes, yes; Blessed be His name;" and other similar ejaculations. The Chairman: But there is nothing in that to tell you not to send for a doctor. The Defendant: There is no passage In the whole book where I am told to send for a doctor. The command is Send for tt>e elders of the church, and let him lay hands on him and annoint him with oil." One of the elders of the church was next called, who stated that he was a whsrfinger, and one of the elders; the child's mother sent for him, and he went and laid hands upon it, prayed over it, and annointed it with oil on several occasions. The Clerk: What name do your denomination give them- selves ? Witness: Just what the Bible says we are—" a chosen and a peculiar people, holy unto the Lord." We are not ashamed of our name. There were other elders sent for besides me. We had a prayer meeting in the room, and there was a lot of us there the night the child died. We held the meeting from seven till nine The Chairman: What would you do yourself If you had a leg broken? You would send for a medical man then, would you not 1 Witness: If I live unte God I shall not have a leg broken If I do not, I might be liable to such a chastisement. God has promised to take care of the rlghteeus, and there have been no broken legs amongst us. After very voluminous evidence, the bench retired for consultation. The Chairman, on returning, said they gave the defendant credit for sincerity, but they were bound to convict. Nevertheless, as it was under a recent Act, not generally known, they would exercise a power given to them to discharge him now on entering into his own recognisances to come up for sentence when called upon. They hoped such a case would not occur again. The Defendant: Well, I mean to go on exactly as I have done; and whether I break the law or not. I mean to follow Christ, and put my trust in Him. I bless God now for having taken my case up. It is He that haa come to my assistance now. Here a number of the brethren and sisters shouted, Yes, yes praise Him and trust in Him. The parties then left the court, evidently under the belief that the defendant was a rescued martyr.

AN INVITING COLONY. As the question of Emigration is now engressing public attention, and as so many are leaving the mother country to seek their fortunes in far-ofl lands, the following brief sketch of the Colony of Victoria, irom the Melbourne Argus, may afford information to intending emigrants, which may be the means of inducing them to select this Colony—a climate seemingly all that could be desired—for their future home:— The colony of Victoria covers an area nearly as large as that of Great Britain, and contains a popula- tion of only 700,000 persons. The climate resembles that of the south of Spain and the south of Italy, the mean temperature being about 58 degrees. Frosts are of rare occurrence, and snow never falls except upon table lands or the mountains. Of the 55,500,000 acres of land comprised within the limits of the colony, nearly 49,000,000 acres remain in the possession of the Crown; and under the Land Act just passed any person can select not exceeding 320 acres of this land in any part of the colony, under extremely favourable conditions—that is to say, by residing upon and im- proving the allotment selected the occupant will be called upon to pay no more than 2s. per acre rental for three years, at the expiration of which time he will be allowed to become the owner of it on payment of 14s. per acre. The products of the soil in this colony are wheat, oats, barley, hops, tobacco, and the usual root crops. All the fruits and vegetables which flourish in Great Britain arrive at great perfection in Victoria, with the addition of oranges, lemons, and loquats. The vine- yards of the colony produce wines resembling in cha- racter those of Germany, France, Spain, Hungary, Italy, and Madeira. In time, when both the vines and the wines shall have attained greater maturity, there is every probability that they will meet with an active demand in England and India. As it is, they are rapidly superseding imported wine, beer, and spirits in general consumption among the population. According to the census of 1861, 25 per cent. of the people were engaged in mining, 10 per cent. in agri- culture, 10 per cent. as artisans and mechanics, 10 per cent. in trade, 3 per cent. as labourers, and 10 per cent. receiving instruction. On education the State annually expends £133,000; there is no township or village of any importance without its school-house. According to the latest returns, there were 834 schools in opera- tion, and 119,645 children had attended them during the year. A trunk line of railway runs from Melbourne to the northern boundary of the colony at Echuca another proceeds vid Geelong to Ballarat, the second town of importance a third is about to be constructed to Beechworth, near the north-eastern boundary of Vic- toria a fourth is being surveyed to Hamilton, the centre of an agricultural district in the west; and a fifth has been projected to Gipps Land, which may be called the garden of the colony, in the south-east. When these lines are completed ready access will be obtained to the most fertile districts of the country, as well as to those which abound in mineral treasures. For skilled labour-as, for example, that of artisans engaged in the building trade—the rates of wages range from 8?. to 10s. per diem, the working day con- sisting of eight hours. Occupations such as those of mechanical engineers, demanding higher qualifications and special aptitude, are still more liberally remune- rated. Working miners are paid 50s. per week, and day labourers receive 6s. a day. Farm labourers earn from 10s. to 40s. per week, besides their board and lodging. Domestic servants obtain from £20 to jE40 per annum. The necessaries of life are cheaper in Victoria than in England. Meat is from l.Jd. to 4d. per pound; bread, 6d. to 7 d. the 41b. loaf butter, ls. Id. to Is. 3d. per pound; cheese, 8d. to 10cL per pound; milk, 6d. per quart; groceries of all kinds as reasonable as in the mother country, and articles of wearing apparel at much the same prices as those current in London. Many working men own the houses they occupy, while the fact that the revenue of the 300 and odd friendly societies in Victoria exceeds j680,000, and that the available assets amount to something like £120,000, is a striking testimony to the prosperity and the prudence of a large section of the population. Pro- digious as is thfe sum total of the gold exported from the colony between the years 1851 and 1870, it would fall far short of the value of the real and chattel pro- perty held by the handful of people constituting the population of Victoria, and created by their industry and skill, co-operating with the bounty of nature. The mere enumeration of the live stock on farms and stations will probably convey to English readers a tolerably vivid idea of the colony's provisional re- sources. They consist of 143.934 horses, 181,854 milch cows, 571,828 other cattle, 9,756.819 sheep, and 137,206 pigs. There are upwards of 1,700 churches or school- rooms used for divine worship in Victoria, and the members of all religious denominations are equal in the eye of the law. At present the State assists them in building churches and maintaining their ministers to the extent of £50,000 per annum, but this subsidy will most likely be commuted or generally withdrawn. The avenues to political power are open to all, and v/f f Secretaries have been men who were the architects of their own fortunes, and made their way to the front by force of character. The principle of self-government is interwoven with the whole frame. work o.f ,Tiety' and political, municipal, social and industrial life is rapidly becoming assimilated to the best aspects of life in Old England.

SUICIDE IN A PRIVATE LUNATIC ASYLUM. An inquest has been held at Peckham, London, respecting the deatn oi Mrs. Catherine Connor, aged ferty-eight years, who committed suicide by throwing herself out of a window at the Peckham House Lunatic Asylum. Zilla Cooper said that she had been nurse attendant at Yif' Lunatic Asylum, Peckham House, for the last two months, and during that time she had known the deceased as a patient. On Sunday after- noon she took the deceased her dinner, and after she badeaten it the witness left the room in order to dine with the other nurses. A few minutes afterwards she heard a noise, as if some heavy body had fallen, and on going into the yard she found the deceased lying on the flagstones, insensible, and bleeding from a wound on the forehead. In answer to questions put by the coroner and the jUry, the witness said that when she left the ward she locked the door. She noticed the window of another room open, and she believed the deceased must have forced it open, as it was secured by means of screws. The height of the window from the ground was about fourteen feet. The witness had no special instructions to look after the deceased, as it was Delieved that øbe was not of a suicidal turn of mind. Mr. Fuller, an assistant medical officer at the asy- lum, said that when he was called to the deceased he found her bleeding from a small scalp wound on the !i v. vera* rihs on the right side were fractured, ou j • j was Buffering from concussion of the brain. She died on Tuesday from the injuries received. ^•.r\Hearn, brother of the deceased, said he did not think it right that his sister should have been left alone in a room. She had before attempted tocommit suicide when a patient at St. Bartholomew's Hospital. He thought the window was not securely fastened. Dr. Fuller said the window swung on a pivot, and would only open a few inches for ventilation. The mania under which the woman laboured would give her sufficient power to force the window open. If it had been known that she was of a suicidal turn of mind she would have been watched night and day. The jury found That the deceased committed sui- cide by throwing herself out of a window while in a state of unsound mind."

SPUTTEBINGS FROM JUDY'S PEN. A FAIR pugilist need not be a striking beauty. THE stage coach of the present day—The stage manager of a theatre where there are plenty of pretty amateurs. CIGARS for ladies—Widows' weeds. IT is said that the spring-time makes the skylark soar— This must be painful to the poor skylark. WHAT is the difference between the duties of your valet and your nurse ?—One brushes your hat and the other hushes your brat. A PERFECT cue-er—COOK, the champion billiard-player. THE best band to accompany a lady vocalist.—A hus- band. A MURDEROUS ruffian lately despatched an anonymous letter—It is a dead letter now, not having reached Its goal. MR. DICKENS appears inclined not to draw upon STONE again for his illustrations. Perhaps he likes a new face. JUDY and nine hundred and ninety-nine out of a thousand of the British public prefer the old PHIZ." ADVICE to a large-sized melancholy man—Strike one of your own sighs. RED as her hose is she—Yes, but then she ought to have paid more money for them, and she would have got fast colours. MODERN builders can hardly be compared to creepers, although they certainly do run up houses just a little. TIME, in the long run, is too many for any leader, how- ever great; but, for a long while some leaders beat time. A CURIOUS FACT.—On the Hammersmith Road, next door to a burial-ground, there is a large dyeing yard. This ought to be looked to. SUPPOSE a chef de cuisine were burnt to death, and you were to call his remains the Hashes of the Grate, would It be funny?—There's no knowing, but JUDY doesn't think so. A CITY gentleman, the other day, put his head on one side when in a thoughtful mood, and has not sinee been able to lay his hand on it. IF a dull joke happened to be the cause of a quarrel, could it not nevertheless, be called a witty-schism f WHY is a novelist an unnatural phenomenon ?—Because his tale comes out of his head. A MOTTO for magistrates dealing with young beginners— "A switch in time saves nine How to bring up a bill-sticker's apprentice.—Teach him application. QUERY.—Who was it put himself in a hole; MARCUS CURTIUS. or a certain comic author?—Ask the Man in the Moon.—JUDY.

Mr. Swinburne's new volume of (poems will be entitled Songs before Sunrise.

CHOOSING A WIFE. They have a singular custom at the Foundling Hospital of the Annunziata, Naples, on the 25th March (Lady Day), or the Festa deli'Annunziata. The building is thrown open to the public, and any young man who wishes can provide him- self with a wife, in case he can prove to the satisfaction of the governors of the institution that he is able to maintain her. The business of the day is, we hear, managed pretty much as follows:— All the girls who have arrived at a marriageable age are drawn up in line in one of the large rooms, where the cavaliers are allowed to enter. A regular inspec- tion then commences from left to right, front and rear. Some prefer dark beauties, of course, and others blondes, and each is allowed to suit his own particular taste or fancy. When smitten the swain drops his pocket-handkerchief in front of the lady of his choice, and if his suit is accepted she picks it up and they walk off arm-in-ann to signify their in- tention to the authorities, and make the neces- sary preliminaries previous to their marriage. The bride receives a small sum of money by way of dowry, and a few necessaries which comprise her trousseau, a few sheets and ablanketor two. These mar- riages, contrary to what would be naturally supposed, generally turn out happily, as a man must have greatly felt the want of woman's soothing influence to enable him to muster up courage to undergo such an ordeal previously to entering the happy state. This is what m'ght be almost called marriage at sight, or marriage a la cotillon.

CUTTINGS FROM AMERICAN PAPERS. Boston, Massachusetts, has recently been visited by a snowstorm, which the journals of that city pronounce a success." Two leading newspapers in Portland, Me., are engaged in a protracted quarrel about a misplaced comma. There seems to be no other point to it. Last year 14.000 patients were taken out in America one is absolutely and seriously declared to have been for an apparatus to prevent snoring. A young lady who went to see Hackett in The Merry Wives of Windsor was anxious to know which was Mr. Windsor, as she did not see his name printed 8n the bilL They have a curious style of love-making out West, for a paper there says, The young people who were seen feeding each other, dove fashion, over a gate-post the other evening, had better be a little more cautious in the future." An oratar holding forth in favour of woman, dear, divine woman," concluded thus :—" Oh, my hearers, depend upon it, nothing beats a good wife." I beg your pardon,' replied one of his auditors, a bad husband does." The New York Tribune says :—" Miss Allie H. James on has been appointed a notary public at Marsh all town, Iowa. When she administers oaths and holds out the book to be kissed, we hope no mistake will he made." An editor, describing a steamboat, said, She had twelve berths in the ladies' cabin." "How horrible ex- claimed an old maid, on reading this sentence. What a squalling there must have been A New Albany lover, knowing a savage dog was kept on the premises by his sweetheart, took an equally fero- cious cur with him the other night, and set the two fighting. While the old man was separating the animals, the lovers eloped out of the back door. A specialist physician thus appeals to the aiuicted The time must come when no angel of mercy can bring you relief! In ne case has Dr. —— failed of success." This ac- knowledged superiority of Dr. —— over angels of mercy ought to drive the latter class out of the profession. At a temperance meeting in Buffalo a few nights ago a lady dec.'ared it her firm belief that it was a grave sin for parents to allow their young children to use condiments, and inveighed against the long category of sin and crime which may be traced back to the immoderate use of mustard. At Cheyne, lately, a missionary preached on a dry-goods box, and his choir sat in a buggy. The horse got frightened and ran away with the choir. Could not that horse be brought East ? It would command a large price," for we must observe, as our contemporary forgets, that it ran away with the missionary also. An Illinois upholsterer sent the following entertain- ing note to a sick man:—" Dear Sir,—Having positive proof that you are rapidly approaching death's gate, I have, there- fore, thought it not imprudent to call your attention to the inclosed advertisement of my abundant stock of ready-made coffins." The first chapter of a Western novel has the follow- ing :—" All of a sudden the fair girl oontinued to sit on the sand, gazing upon the briny deep, on whose heaving bosom the tall ships went merrily by, freighted—ah who can tell with how much of joy and sorrow, and pine lumber and emi- grants, and hopes and salt fish ?" Last year the American internal revenue assessors got some funny answers to the questions printed on their blanks. For instance, to the question, Had your wife any income last year?" one person replies, "Yes, one boy." Another, Her husband's love, and as much money from him as she wants, but no other income." Another, Yes, twins —both well; willing to be taxed for them I"

EPITOME OF NEWS, BRITISH AND FOREIGN. Her Majesty the Queen has conferred the honour of knighthood on Mr. Francis Ronalds. Roupell, the ex-M.P.. is now an assistant to the surgecn in the Portland Prison Infirmary. A street crowd in London was recently greatly amused when the carriages of a wedding-party were blocked in a narrow street by two loads of cradles and baby waggons. The New York papers express a hope that the vic- torious Cambridge crew will visit the United States and race against the Harvard Crew. The Irish emigration season has now fairly set in, and large numbers of emigrants are leaving Queenstown for the United States by every steamer. Miss Morgan, an English lady, has proceeded to the degree of M.D. in the Uaiversity of Zurich. Her thesis was read before an audience of over tour hundred people, and was received with loud applause. "Wanted, by a gentleman, a housekeeper, with a view to matrimony, about 25 enclose carte.—Address Ran- dolph, Post Office, Sheffield."—Advertisement in Manchester Examiner. A staff assistant surgeon on board her Majesty's ship Royal Adelaide has been sentenced by a court-martial at Devonport to be dismissed from his ship and to lose two years' seniority for drunkenness while on duty. A French bishop, in a sermon, recently ministered a phillippic to crinoline wearers. Let women beware," said he, while putting on their profuse and expansive attire, how narrow are the gates of Paradise." The county of Cambridge has dismissed all its pro- fessional inspectors, and placed the whole inspection of cattle in the county in the hands of the police. Rear-Admiral Dacres, the chief constable of the county, has been ap- pointed chief cattle inspector. Accounts have been received at Des Moines, Iowa. that twelve men were frozen to death in the north. western portion of the State during the severe snowstorm of the 15th inst. Six others were missing, who were supposed to have also perished. The Scotsman understands that the letter to Mr. Gladstone, urging that the Government should take up, dur- ing the present session, the question of the ballot, has been signed by upwards of two hundred members of the House of Commons. It appears that cattle diseases have greatly de creased in intensity in Norfolk. The official returns made up to Monday show that last week there were only teven cases of pleuro pneumonia, and twenty two cases of foot- and-mouth disease throughout the county. The corporation of Beverley have determined to oppose the bill for the disfranchisement of the borough, and the Parliamentary Committee of the Corporation have been authorized to take the necessary steps for the purpose. A man named Cockell, described as a drysalter, committed suicide on Friday last; in Regent's Park, London, by taking a dose of poison. It was stated at the inquest that deceased had recently suffered from pecuniary difficulties, and a verdict of suicide while labouring under temporary insanity was returned. The Chancellor of the Exchequer refrained till the last moment on Monday evening from telling his hearers that he proposed to absorb the greater part of his surplus, exceeding tour millions, in reducing the Income Tax by a penny in the pound, and in taking 011 half the Sugar Duties." —The Times. A conference of the papermakers of Lancashire, Cheshire, and other counties, was held in Manchester, last week, at which it was resolved to raise the price of all k inds of paper 10 per cent. This step, they say, is rendered neces- sary by the increase which has taken place in the cost of raw material. Prince Christian presided, on Saturday evening, at the dinner on behalf of the Royal Society of Musicians of Great Britain, at the Freemasons' Tavern, London. It was stated that during last season over AS, 000 were expended in carrying out the objects of the society, which has funded property to the amount of £70,000. About a thousand colliers in the Rhondda Valley have struck work. By this step eight pits are temporarily stopped, and the result will prove very disastrous to the locality in which the strike has occurred. The cause of the cessation of work is the refusal of the masters to grant the required advance of 10 per cent before the 1st of May. The assignees of Beniamin Higgs, late clerk in the service of the Great Central Gas Company, and who it will be remembered absconded from London some moutha ago, have succeded in realising upwards of £2,000, and there are hopes that the creditors will ultimately be paid in full. The Gas Company, however, claim to prove against the estate for £71,000, the amount of Higgs's defalcations, and this has not yet been disposed of. Sir Henry Rawlinson was one of the witnesses examined on Monday before the Diplomatic Service Com- mittee. He entered into detail with regard to the necessity of making presents to, and otherwise obtaining influence over despotic rulers in the East, which he remarked was not understood in Downlng-street. In Sir Henry's opinion the service in Persia sheuld be under the control of the Indian office. The Gaviois says that the difference between the ex- Queen of Spain and her husband has been settled, according to the Emperor's suggestion, without recourse to the legal tribunals. Don Francis d'Assizes demanded that the com- mon fortune should be divided; but his demand was not granted by the arbitrators, and he has only obtained a pen- sion of 200,000 francs, which is the amounteettled upon him under the marriage contract. The children's portion Is to be placed beyond reach of every kind of accident." The share of the Prince of the Astnrias appears to amount to 4,00(^000 fraucs. The separation de corps et de biens having been thus decreed, Don Francis has already taken bachelor's apart ments in the Rue des Ecurles d'Artois. A paper written by Major Montgomerie, R. E., was read at the Geographical Society in London, on Monday evening. The essay stated that a Pundit who had been trained to explore the table lands of Thibit had discovered there prolific gold mines, and vast plains of soda and salt. Sir Roderick Murchison, in expressing his praise of the paper, said enough had been said in it to cause the starting of two or three public companies within the week. Mr. Gladstone, he added, had lately remarked that tbe labours of the Geographical Society would shortly come to an end. there were no more worlds to conquer. Major Montgomerie's evidence proved the reverse of that, for it showed that in Central Asia alone there were vast and valuable regions, which for many yeaza yet to come could only be explored by Pundits. Don Enrique de Bourbon, when on his way to the duel which proved fatal to him, turned to one of the atten- dants and related the following storyThere was an old voman te whom he had been in the habit of giving alm8. One day, when ne was passing out of church, this person met him, and falling on her knees begged him to hear her. Touched by the emotion she exhibited, he invited her to speak, never doubting that she had some request to make. She at once rose, and with the air of an inspired prophetess, said: Monseigneur, never fight a duel i If yeu do, you will instantly be killed." "Till this day," added the Prinoe, I had quite forgotten the prediction of the sorceress. I know not what now brings it to my mind." It is to be hoped the old woman derives some satisfaction from the fact tha& her prophecy has been so exactly fulfilled. A serious colliery accident, which has resulted in the death of seven men, occurred on Saturday, near Edin- burgh. The scene of the disaster is in the vicinity of Bath- gate, the centre of a large colliery and oil distillery district; and the cause of the lamentable occurrence is attributed to the wood-work of the lbaft of the pit having caught fire at a time when fifty-six men were at work. By the exertions of those on the surface forty-nine men were with difficulty drawn up through the flames. Owing to the smoke, how- ever, it was impossible to tell when the cage containing the rescued men had arrived at the surface, and in one instance one of the colliers was brought up twice in what is described as a red-hot cage. After the fire had been extinguished, the remaining seven men were found dead at the bottom.ofthe P»t» The Bishop of Moray and; Ross has declined^ the offer of translation to the bishopric of Edinburgh. In the notice of a review the following suggestion ia made by a contemporary"the volume contains six articles and would have been improved, we think, if half-a-dozen of them had been struck out." Earl Spencer, if we may credit the Dublin Mail, will resign the Lord-Lieutenancy of Ireland after Easter; and it is not improbable Mr. Chichester Fortescue win succeed, with an English peerage. A number of London compositors are now out on strike, in Aosequeuce of three large firms having ignored the payment by the scale mutually agreed upon in 1866 by a joint committee of masters and workmen. The New York Herald authorised its agent in London to expend no less a sum than £800 in specialcorrespondenoe and special ocean telegrams when sending an account of the Oxford and Cambridge boat race to America on Wednesday last. The Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery-office calculates that in the year ending the 31st of March, 1870, the consumption of pens in the public offices supplied by him amounted to 15,030 gross of steelpena and 553,797 quill pens. Their cost amounted to £3,039. "A young French lady who has be«n by accident vaccinated from the lymph taken from a Zouave, has ever since, to the distress of her family, given herself up to smoking, fencing, absinthe, dancing a la militaire-which is very expressive in action of feet and legs."—Court Journal Mr. Disraeli's new novel Lothair will be published on the 2nd of May. The event has excited considerable interest. It is reported that a proposal was made to the author of £10,000, and another offer of £4,000 for its use in a periodical. The Limerick Farmers' Club have passed a vote of confidence in their chairman, Mr. Bolster, of whom Mr. G. H. Moore, M.P., recently spoke so disrespectfully. Mr. Bolster, in expressing his thanks, called Mr. Moore a "puppy;' but this expression he afterwards said he was willing to with- draw. One of Prince Pierre Bonaparte's witnesses was a butcher named Le Chantre. His evidence was quite at varience with his previous depositions. The presioent de- manded, "How do you explain these divergencies!" "M. le President," returned the respectable Le Chantre, "I am here to swear, and not to give explanations to these gentle- men The announcement (says Herepath) is made that the Dowlals works are about to change hands, Sir Ivor Guest, Bart., M.P., having determined te rid himself of the great responsibility of carrying on such a vast establishment. Dowlais, according to general belief, are the largest iron works in the world, and the purchase money is reported to be about one million. Active steps are being taken by the Roman Catholic clergy and laity of the metropolis to convene an aggregate meeting in the week after Easter, in St. James's Hall, to protest against the inspection of conventual and monastic institutions. At the Sheffield Town Hall, on Saturday, two men were charged with having assaulted a non-unionist collier, named Samuel Thorpe, who resides at Westwood. Evidence was given proving that prosecutor had been most brutally lll-UBed, kicked, &c., the affair arising out of the Thorncliffe dispute. The Bench decided to commit the prisoners for trial at the next assizes, bail being allowed. Mr. Odger is noways cast down. He is prepared 5 to contest the flrst large borough seat that falls vacant, and keep on at the seat till he gets into the House somehow. A fabulously wealthy colonist has not long ago come home, having realised.' He has taken an immense fancy to George,' and has determined that he shall be in Parlia- ment."—Court Journal. A fund is being raised on behalf of the widow and children of the late Mr. Dixon, the well-known writer on agricultural and sporting subjects. Mr. Dixon leaves behind him a family of eight children, for whom, owing to his long- continued illness, no adequate provision has been made. The Duke of Devonshire, president of the Royal Agricultural Society, heads the list of subscribers with a donation of twenty-five guineas. Major Palliser writes that the amount spent by him in hard cash for experiments since the date of the introduction of his chilled projectile has been £8.250 and he has received a return from Government of £7,600. It will thus be seen that he has been a considerable loser by the introduction of his guns. The Archbishop of York, preached on Sunday night last, a sermon under the dome of St. Paul's to an overwhelm, ing congregation. He selected for his text "Art thou a King then1" (St. John, xviii. ch., 37th v.), and gave an able expo- sition of the principles of the Christian faith. At a meeting of the Cambridgeshire Chamber of Agriculture on Saturday a discussion took place on local taxation, when it was resolved that a petition be presented to Parliament praying that the injustice under which the landed interests in this country labour, in being farai for imperial as well as local purposes, in respect of their property, may be remedied. Father Ignatius endeavours to rival the monks of old in their importunity upon their flocks. Acoording to the South London Courier, he told his congregation the other Sunday evening, in the course of his sermon, that "after clearing expenses there was only sixteen shillings left. Ladies with rings up o the first joint of their fingers gave three- penny pieces. If he knew who put the threepenny piece* in the bags he should go round and return them." An agitation Ihas for some time past been going on in the columns of many of the Paris and French provincial journals against the stamp duty imposed upon newapapera, which is objected to as valueless as a source of revenue, while being in many cases 33 per cent, of the selling price, it serlouSly impedes the circulation of the papers which are sub- ject to the impost. One night last week a fatal accident happened to an old woman in her 102nd year, named Sarah Mason, residing in Birmingham. She was in the act of getting into bed, when her night-dress caught fire. Her cries brought asaistanoe, and the fire was extinguished, and deceased was conveyed to the General Hospital. It was found that deceased was severely burnt on the legs and thighs. The usual remedies were applied, notwithstanding which deceased gradually sank, and died early next morning. Another batch of forty-three South London trades men were fined last week for having short weights and measures in their possession. The list comprised twelve chandlers; beer retailers and publicans, and general dealers, six of each; four bakers, three each of greengrocers and cooked meat sellers; two each of cheesemongers, grocers, and butchers; and one each of whitening manufacturers, fishmongers, and provision dealers. The total amount of the fines was jMS 12s. 6d. The Church Review understands that in the event of any fresh ecclesiastical prosecution being instituted against any member of the High Church party, several laymen have resolved that the flagrant breaches of the Rubrics committed by certain of the bishops shall no longer be allowed to pass unnoticed. It is felt that there is no reason why the same measure of justice which is meted to the poor inenmhimt should not be dealt out to the wealthy prelate. An important conference on the Education Bill took place in London, on Saturday, between a number of members of Parliament, members of the league, and representatives of various associations of schoolmasters. It was "understood" by Mr. Dixon that the Government were likely to yield to the wishes of the League so far as to fix religious teaching either at the commencement or close of school hours. The general opinion of the schoolmasters, however, was that the "religious dimculty" was no difficulty" at all off the platform and never appeared within the school walls. It appears that Mr. Justice Blackburn, who parsed sentence upon Robert Hardiment on his conviction for bribery at the last Norwich (Eighth Ward) Municipal Elec- tion, has declined to make an order placing him in the first class of misdemeanants. The prisoner has consequently been relegated to the prison dress, and is treated as aa ordi- nary misdemeanant. As he is a man who has been accus- tomed to the comforts of life, having been a tradesman In a fair way of business, Hardiment has been much mortified by his new position; and his friends propose to obtain, If pos- sible, a mitigation of his sentence. Admiral James Thome, nearly ninety years of age, and one of the oldest admirals on the retlred»iist, Is before the Bankruptcy Court, in London. It appears that he is in receipt of j6456 per annum halt-pay, and the case stood over at a previous meeting in the absence of the bankrupt, and with the view to a portion of his income being appropriated for the benefit of his creditors. It was stated that the Admiralty had sanctioned the payment of £160 for the first year, and £100 per year afterwards to the official 88tenee for the benefit of the creditors, and the further hearing was adjourned sine die. A solicitor made an application to a London magis- trate for a summons against two persons connected with the society formed to secure the proper observation of the Lord's Day. It was alleged that the accused themselves acted as "common informers," and thereby broke the Act which the society undertook to preserve from infringement. The magistrate declined to sanction the summons; but said that the applicant, if he was in earnest in the matter, might obtain one through the action of the Qlleen's Bench. The inquiry into the loss of the Normandy terminated on Monday. In giving judgment, the court found the Nor- mandy solely to blame for the disastrous collision. The ground on which this decision was come to was, that con- trary to the regulation for preventing collisions at sea, the Normandy was not slowed after entering the fog. The court laid no stress on the allegation that the Mary did not show a masthead light, it being equally the duty of the other steamer, whether the Mary were a steamer or a I&Ui.n¡ ahIp to keep out of her way. Captain Stranack's certificate was therefore returned to him. The court were of opiuion that more lives might have been saved but for the irresolute con- duct of the second mate. No valid reason had been given for his returning to his own ship after he had been ordered to proceed to the Normandy. On Saturday afternoon, Mr. Morley, M.P., pre- sided over a conference of Liberal members of Parliament and a body of school teachers belonging to the Nonconfor- mist, Church of England, and WMleyan schools in the metropolis, at which the religions diftlcultr" in the educa- tion question was fully discussed. On two points the ieacben were nearly, if not quite, unanimous, viz —that the present system of Bible teaching in the metropolitan schools had not prevented parents from sending their children to be taught, and that a time table for religious instruction ought not to be adopted. A general belief was expressed that it would be practicable to work a conscience clause in school hours, so that any child might be put to other lessons whilst the religions teaching was in progress, it the parents so desired.