The Aberystwith Observer

LORD RANDOLPH CHURCHILL MOBBED. Lord Randolph Churchill, Mr. Chaplin, and Mr. Gibson left the House of Commons last Friday after- noon together, and had a somewhat adventurous walk to Pall Mall. They were recognised by the crowd outside Palace-yard, many of them following the hon. members as far as the lailings of St. James's Park, cheering, hissing, and groaning. Some of the people shouted, Down with your Tory democracy," and similar uncomplimentary cries, whilst others with equal vehemence called for and gave Three cheers for the future Prime Minister of England." The ex- citement of the contending factions had reached fever heat, and they would not improbably have come to blows but that on arriving at the park gates the police on duty refused to allow the mob to follow the hon. gentlemen into the park. The more respectable portion of the crowd sensibly retired, but a number of rough-looking fellows attempted to force their way through the gate, but were repulsed by the police after a short tussle. They then altered their tactics, and rushing to the gateway lower down made their way into the park, and were soon abreast of the dis- tinguished pedestrians, whom they followed rigbt into Pall Mall, without, however, attempting any overt acts of hostility. It was noticed that Lord Randolph Churchill was the only one of the party who appeared to take the slightest notice of the exuberant attentions which they received during their walk.

CONFERENCE OF HEAD MISTRESSES. Sixty head mistresses of high and intermediate schools, representing upwards of 12,000 pupils, re- assembled at the Grey Coat Hospital, Westminster, on Friday and Saturday last, on cbe occasion of the annual Conference of the Association of Head Mistresses of Endowed and Proprietary Schools. Among the subjects discussed were the proposed scheme for the training of teachers at Cambridge, which met with general approval, and some points specially relating to girls in the scheme which has been issued by the Charity Commissioners for the reor- ganisation of Christ's Hospital. Interesting discus- sions took place on the system of teaching drawing adopted in the schools of the Girls' Public Day School Company, and on the disadvantages of sending girls abroad for the purpose of learning foreign languages before they have finished their English school course, when intended to become teachers. On Saturday afternoon a large number of assistant mistresses attended by invitation, when Miss Day, headmistress of the Grey Ccat Hospital read an interesting account of that old foundation, and Miss Jones, of Notting- hill High School, a paper on The teaching of foreign languages." Miss Hadland, of Milton Mount Col- lege, gave a brief account of the Teachers' Guild." On Friday evening a conversazione was held, which was attended by many ladies and gentlemen dis- tinguished in the educational world. The conference will be held next year at Oxford.

THE REVENUE FRAUDS IN CYPRUS. Correspondence has been issued relating to the recent revenue frauds in Cyprus. The extent of the loss sustained by the revenue was much exaggerated by the first reports, and do not appear to have amounted to more than S2000 altogether. All the officials implicated in the frauds were Greeks. Nine were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment, one was acquitted, and four absconded. The first warning as to the existence of a fraudulent con- spiracy was sent to the Cyprus Government by Mr. Vitalis, a clerk in the Queen's Advocate's Office, and that gentleman, feeling that prompt and efficient action was not being taken by the local Government, telegraphed to a friend in the Colonial Office, London, on the subject. For this breach of discipline Mr. Vitalis was severely censured, but he subsequently re- ceived a gratuity of X25 for his services.

THE MONTE CARLO SCANDAL. The Times says: After the fashion of all noxious things, Monte Carlo resists the action of those who, all over the civilised world, wish to see it abolished. I am, however, able to publish documents which give some reason to hope that its end is approaching. The first is the copy of a letter addressed by Mr. H. Thompson, President of the International Associa- tion, against the gaming tables in Monaco, to M. Schoelcher of the French Senate, reporter of the committee on the petition against the tables. It is as follows: "May 18, 1885. M. Schoelcher, Sir,-As the question of public gambling at Monte Carlo will soon be brought by you before the French Senate for discussion by that illus- trious House, allow me to furnish here a brief resumt of the efforts of this Association, in the sincere hope that your hands may be strengthened on becoming acquainted with the exact situation of affairs, and that you may be encouraged to lend your powerful influence in bringing about the abolition of public gaming in Monaco. At the commencement of the campaign the Presi- dent of the Association had an interview with the King of Italy; and a short time ago one of our mem- bers had audiences of his Majesty and of his Holi- ness the Pope. On both occasions the King ex- pressed himself as strongly opposed to public gaming in Monaco; and the Pope stated that it was his desire that the Casino at Monte Carlo should be suppressed, as a source of grave injury to the souls of men. The German Government, through Count Munster, has assured the President of this Association of its sym- pathy with the movement, and of its wish to see the gambling institution in Monaco abolished. In reply to an interrogation recently made in the Italian Par- liament by Signor Berco, his Excellency Signor Man- cini, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, stated that Italy would be prepared to co-operate with any of the Powers taking the initiative. In a communication addressed to the President on the Monte Carlo ques- tion, Signor Mario Minghetti writes, If France will take in hand this great question, I have no doubt that Italy will not fail to support her.' His Excellency the President of the United States writes:— The efforts of the International Association for the suppression of the gaming-tables in Monte Carlo have the President's earnest sympathy and encouragement; and he anticipates that a perusal of the book Monte Carlo and Public Opinion' will deepen the interest that he, feels in the success of these endeavours." The Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone writes to the President of this Association:— I am glad to learn that your efforts for the suppression of gaming-tables at Monte Carlo seem to have met with a favourable reception.' Thus the Governments of Italy, Germany, Great Britain, and the United States, the Sovereigns of Europe, many eminent statesmen, and the unanimous consensus of public opinion are all in favour of this movement, and all eyes are turned to the great French nation to see whether it will not at once put down a source of such untold misery and disaster, defiantly practised on its frontier by a band of un- scrupulous men, sheltering their crimes under the jegis of a petty prince, who prefers a revenue from a public tripot to those legitimate methods which enhance the common weal of individuals and nations. We look to you, sir, as the exponent of a righteous cause, and if you denounce an evil which exists to the detriment of your beloved county, and of the visitors who flock to the Mediterranean health re- sorts, you will earn the admiration and gratitude of multitudes of our fellow creatures.—I have the honour to be, && H. THOMPSON." The following is the reply of M. Schoelcher to Mr, Thompson: I hasten to reply to the very interesting letter of the 18th of May which you have done me the honour to write to me. I participate in your horror of the frightful and homicidal gaming-tables carried on by a crowned Prince in Monaco. The committee intrusted with the petition asking for their suppression will shortly make its report. It is unanimous in thinking thafc the honour of the country, and respect for general morality, compel our Government no longer to tolerate the criminal enterprise which disgraces a fragment of French territory. There is no doubt that the Senate will manifest the same feeling, by sending the petition to our Minister of Foreign Affairs. We have every reason to hope, I am glad to say, that he is about to take the matter in hand.—I am, &c.. V. SCHOELCHER."

DEATH OF THE REV. E. PAXTON HOOD. The death has occurred of the Re?. Edwin Paxton Hood, of Falcon-square Chapel, London, at the age of 65. Mr. Hood was the son of one of Nelson's old sailors, and was born at Westminster in 1820. He was educated privately, and subsequently entered the ministry of the Congregational body. On removing from the country to London he became minister of Offord-road Chapel, Barnsbury, afterwards of Queen- square, Brighton, and subsequently of Cavendish Chapel, Manchester. His political sermons against Jingoism a few years ago gave offence to some in- fluential members of his congregation, and he resigned his pastorate of Cavendish Chapel, and preached for some months at one of the Town-halls in Man- chester. Later he removed to Falcon-square Chapel, in the City of London, where he at- tracted a large congregation. Mr. Hood, not- withstanding an unpleasant peculiarity in his voice, and a somewhat eccentric mannerism, obtained no little popularity as a preacher and lecturer. For some years he edited the defunct Eclectic Review and the Preacher's Lantern. Mr. Hood was a most pro- lific author. One of his oldest friends writes Mr. Hood left London on Monday for his holiday. He reached Paris, where he broke his journey for. a little while. There the summons came, and he has entered upon his well-earned rest." Mr. Hood preached and lectured at Dewsbury a few weeks since. While lecturing on the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, he broke down, after talking for three-quarters of an hour. He returned home the following day, accom- panied by the doctor of the friend with whom he was staying, and sufficiently rallied after a week's rest to preach on the two following Sundays.

THE POPULATION OF LONDON; At a meeting of the Statistical Society, in the theatre of the Royal School of Mines, Dr. Graham Balfour presiding, a paper was read by Mr. R. Price- Williams on the subject of the population of London from 1801 to 1881. Having dealt separately with the various districts of London in connection with the increase of population, Mr. Price-Williams stated that the total area of the twenty-nine registration districts into which the metropolis was new divided was 75,334 acres, inclusive of the water area, and the population within this area in 1801 was 958,863, or a little under thirteen persons an acre. The population considerably more than doubled itself in the next forty years, and very nearly doubled again in the next thirty years. Although the percentage of increase during the last ten years was considerably less than in, the decades 1821 and 1851, the addition to the population in that period, viz., 562,000, was by far the largest yet attained. Assuming the average decre- ment in the rate of increase since 1851 to continue, the population would have increased to 7,000,000 in about twenty seven years from 1881. It seemed improbable that the population of London within its present limits would increase beyond about twice its average density, but there was nothing to indicate that it would not continue to do so as rapidly as heretofore in the outlying suburban districts. The rapid growth of the population of London since 1841 bad been very remarkable, and was unquestionably owing to the introduction of the railway system, and the subsequent construction of the network of suburban lines. It might be safely asserted that without the agency of steam-power the London of to-day would be an impossibility, and, further, that if, owing to sudden invasion or any other unforeseen calamity, the facilities now afforded by steam-power for supplying the daily wants of over 4,000,000 inhabitants were destroyed, London would be reduced to the verge of starvation in a single week. So long as London had the command of the great food markets of the world there would appear to be practically no limit to the increase of its population. It must not, however, be forgotten that if the population was to increase to anything like the vast dimensions which appeared probable, the present railway facilities would have very largely to be in- creased, and special means would have to be provided for relieving the congested state of the street traffic, which even at the present time, during certain periods of the day, was almost unmanageable.

SIR R. CROSS AND THE MINERS. In accordance with the decision of the Miners' Conference at Birmingham, Mr. Samuel Woods, miners' agent for the Ashton district, whbh is in the Newton Division of South-West Lancashire, has for- warded to Sir Richard Cross, who has decided to contest that division, the series of questions adopted by the Conference as the Miners' Parliamentary Pro- gramme at the ensuing election, and asking for Sir, Richard's reply to the same. The following were the questions submitted: I,-Will you vote for Mr. Burt s amendment to make the Employers' Liability Act compulsory ? II.—Will you vote for necessary amendment of Mines Regulation Act, 1872?' viz: (a) That miners may have the power to select a checkweighman from any place they may choose: and not exclusively from the same mine, or firm, as at present, (b) That miners may be able to prosecute without having to get permission of Home Secretary, as at present. III.— Will you vote for thorough reform of the Land Laws of England ? viz.: (a) The abolition of entail and primogeniture. (b) For compulsory powers to cultivate, &c. IV.—Will you vote for Royal Commission to in- ) quire into, Royalty rents paid for working mines, with a view to the reduction of the same ? V.—Will you vote for entire abolition of the London coal dues ? Vr.-Will you vote for free education in Elemen- tary Day Schools ? VII.-Will you vote for payment of members of Parliament out of the taxation of the country ? VIII.—Will you vote for Mr. Sidney Buxton's Bill, viz.: For ratepayers to pay returning officers' fees at Parliamentary elections, under certain specified con- ditions ? IX.-Will you vote for relatives of persons killed in or about mines to appear personally or by deputy in the Coroner's Court, to put questions to the wit- nesses, in order that a proper verdict may be come to ? X.—Will you vote for a; thorough reform of the House of Lords, viz.: (a) The exclusion of all archbishops and bishops? (b) Suspension of all peers for immoral offences, for such the enormity of their crime may justify, and exclusion undercertain conditions ? (c) A specific-limitation of their power to delay or prevent necessary legislation ? Sir Richard Cross has forwarded the following reply: "12; Warwick-square, London, S.W., June 6, 1885. ) "Dear Mr. Woods,—I have only just returned to London after our short Whitsuntide recess, or you should have bad an earlier answer to your letter. The questions which you send may well be classed under the following beads I. Questions affecting those engaged especially in mining.—The 1872 Act was the Act of the Liberal Government of the day. The matter, however, was not treated as a political question, and was discussed by both parties with an honest intention to pass a just and equitable measure. I have not been favoured with any representations upon any hardship which has arisen as to the appointment of checkweighers, or as to the refusal of the Secretary of State to prose- cute. Should any case of hardship arise or be brought before me, I should judge of the matter ih the same impartial spirit in which the Act was originally passed. II. As to your question referring to royalty rents, I have always been in favour of individual personal liberty, so that a man may get the best price for whatever he has got to sell, whether it be a house or any other property, real or personal, or whether it be simply his own labour. I do not see how in any of these matters the price could be regulated by statute. ) III. With regard to the Coroner's Court, the ques- tion which you put is one which was much discussed when the Mines Bill was in committee. It was then felt, however, that any such reform could not be con- fined to mining accidents alone, but that the matter, if dealt with at all, must be dealt with as a general question in relation to accidents of every kind. So far as regards miners, however, when I was Secretary of State I always endeavoured to meet the case by appointing a counsel to watch the proceedings on the part of the Home Office, who would always be ready to receive suggestions from the relatives of the injured persons. IV. With regard to the coal dues, they cannot at the present moment be abolished, because great public works have been undertaken on the strength of their having been continued for a definite time, and money for such express purposes has been bor- rowed with the sanction of Parliament upon the security, but whether, after the expiration of that period, they should again be renewed is quite another matter, and one well worthy of consideration. "VII. Questions affecting employers and em- ployed generally.—The Employers' Liability Act was one brought forward by the present Government, and was brought forward as a political question, and when Mr. Burt afterwards brought forward his Amend- ment Bill the present Government expressed them- selves perfectly satisfied with the provisions of their own measure. As at present advised, I would venture to point out that Mr. Burt, in moving his bill, stated that if the Act had been accepted universally m the same spirit in which it had been accepted in the counties of Northumberland and Durham, he should not have attempted to deal with the question again, and there seems to be every reason to expect that employers and employed will follow that example. VIII. Questions affecting land and land laws.— I had much pleasure in passing through the House of Commons, on behalf of Lord Cairns, the Settled Land Act, and in thus assisting in accomplishing the greatest reform in the land laws of this country which has yet taken place. Until we have seen the full effect of that great Act, which I would earnestly commend to your careful attention, I think we shall rest content. I would simply observe that our Liberal friends never take any pains to refer to this statute, but choose wilfully and persistently to ignore it. "IX. Questions which would free everybody from paying anything.—Why should I or anyone else have children educated for nothing at the expense of others who, it may be, can ill afford it, any more than have food for nothing, or clothing for nothing, or house rent-free ? As the law now stands, in cases of poverty education fees not only can be, but are con- stantly remitted. Why, again, should the taxpayer be taxed to support members of Parliament ? Has he not taxes enough already ? Those who cannot stand for or sit in Parliament without pecuniary assistance, if they are worthy of the place, are, as matters now stand, quite sure to be assisted by their personal or political friends without calling upon the public purse. Much, on the other hand, may, however, be said as to the returning officers' fees, if the incident of rates be only properly adjusted. X. You ask lastly, as to the House of Lords. The leaders of that House on both sides are, as I believe, anxious for some improvement in the constitution of that House, so as to admit into their body persons of large experience in mercantile, colonial, and public affairs. Whether that end is to be accomplished by creating a certain number of life Peers from time to time is a matter for serious consideration, but to remove the bishops, who are about the only life Peers at present existing, would be a strange way of begin- ning such a reform, but no second Chamber could exist which had not perfect freedom of action secured to it by law. d ± am sorry to have troubled you at sucn iengtn, and remain, yours truly, RICHARD ASSIIETON CROSS, Mr. Samuel Woods."

An old lady, seeing a sign over the door of an umbrella snop, Umbrellas Re-covered," went in and told the shopman that she would like to have him recover the one that was stolen from her the week previous. Some Northern people imagine that the Southern African is as full of personal pride as one of Feni- more Cooper's Indians. Uncle Mose, of Austin, is not one of that kind. "I'se gwinter quit. I has to look up anodder place," he said to his employer, John Ingle, a wealthy merchant. "What's the matter with you, Uncle Mose ? De bizness manager, Mr. White, has not kicked me in de las' two mumfs. Not once has he lifted his foo' ag'in' me." I ordered him not to kick you again. I don't allow anything of that kind in this establishment. I intend nobody shall hurt your feelings, Uncle Mose." Ef I don't get no kicks I'se gwinter quit." Are you crazy ? Do you want to be kicked and cuffed about ? "Yes" sah, I does. Ebery time de bizness manager kicked me or cuffed my ears when he was mad, hr" got ashamed of hisself afterward, and gub me a quarter. I'se done lost enough money already, wid dis he&h foolishness about hurtin' my feelings."

A HORRIBLE FRENCH TRAGEDY. The correspondent of the Daily News writing on Sunday gave the fallowing account of a trial which has caused much excitement in Paris: The Pel trial almost brings us back to the time when Morok, Rodin, la Chouette, and other villains of Eugene Sue's novels were believed in. If the jack of all trades and sciences, the watchmaker, the dabbler in chemistry and electricity, the ex-manager of the Delassements Comiques, &c., who has been several days before the Assize Court of the Seine, is guilty of the murders laid to him, there is no doubt that he not only lacked sens moral, but the perception of what show of it the world required of him. It is also shown that he never told the truth. He did not swindle, but he often attempted to get on through false pretences, wore decorations to which he had no right, gave out that he bad been rewarded by humane and scientific societies with medals and diplomas which they never granted. Was his absence of moral sentiment a part of lunacy ? He was once under treatment for that species of insanity which French doctors term La folie des grandeurs, and which often is the fore- runner of paralysis. Certainly he looked out for a wife, to use the words of a witness, as he might have looked out for a domesticated animal that he wanted to buy. Money was his sole aim in both his mar- riages, which were- negotiated through matrimonial agencies. Yet he was satisfied with dowries that were hardly more than pittances. His want of sociability was oddly combined with levity of speech. His tongue was as lightly glib when he notified his mother's death to an acquaintance as when be spoke of the dis- appearance of a bonne. He worked for nothing but wealth, was intelligent, had business habits, and scientific tastes and acquirements. He was also stingy. Still he failed in all he put his hand to, and £1000 which his father left him was swallowed up in a theatrical venture, A theory of the police which has been only hinted at in the prosecution was that he weakened his victims by arsenic and then finished them by a strongly charged electrical battery. His mother had been ill before she died, as if from arsenical irritation; but he said she killed herself in meddling with his electrical apparatus. The amount of arsenic found in the body of his first wife was not really very great, and he accounts for it by the fre- quent use she made of Fowler's liquid. On the day of her death Pel announced the event jocularly to an. old Savoyard friend, also a watchmaker, and on being asked who watched the corpse said, Nobody—there not being any danger of its escaping through door or window. Pel has the head which Tony Johannot I gave to Morok in his illustrations of Eugene Sue's novels. He has high cheek bones, phenomenally sunken and sharp eyes, which look out above gold- rimmed spectacles at distant objects, a long aquiline and dipping nose, thin moustachios, neatly trimmed and dipping at the ends, and a goatee beard. The lines about the mouth have a sardonic expression, and the chin shows weakness. Catherine de Medici's chin almost ran back into her neck," it was remarked to me when I noticed this last peculiarity of Pol. Monster or no monster, his answers were cool and to the point. He did not shuffle or seem nervous when a fresh witness came up. The pieces de conviction were not of a nature to strike the imagination, they being all in phials. Phial 1 contained soot from Pel's stove, phial 2 soot from another stove in which a carcase was burned, and phial 3 arsenic extracted from the body of the first wife. The absence of cocottes and cocodettes from this sensational trial was due to the refusals with which their applica- tions for admission were met by the presiding judge. Even when the Savoyard watchmaker who had been his fellow-apprentice and life-long friend advanced to depose against him, there was no wincing. This witness only gave evidence as to disposition, mendacity, absence of moral sentiment, as shown in levity in the presence of death and, on the day of the first wife's decease, in a chat about a collection which Pel had made of the hair of past mistresses. Pel's mother; Eugénie Meyer, an old maid who, with a little money which she had made as a theatrical dressmaker, who went to stay with him as houskeeper, servant, and possible wife and the first Madame Pel died of colic-for there is nothing proven about the electrical battery. A burly woman of 50, Marie Mahoin, who was also servant-of-all-work and companion, had when taken with a similar illness the happy thought to insist on being sent to the hospital. She was there asked if she bad not been trying to commit suicide by poison, which she stoutly denied. While she was under treatment her box, which she left at Pel's, was opened, and the lock of a coffret in it forced. A certain Eugènie Humbert, who had amassed a snug sum, and had, when young, obtained a rosiere's crown, was invited by Pel to replace his second wife. Madame Pel No. 2, who is still alive, but has not come forward at the trial, is a woman of good family, and is supposed to be in England with her mother, Madame de Murat.. She quitted the conjugal domicile because her husband made her wretched with his cross-grained temper and eccentri- city. He had married her to get hold of a few hun- dred pounds, which he represented would enable him to do a good business as a watchmaker. Eugénie Hum- bert declining his invitation, be asked EJise Boehmer, a Belgian servant, to come and place herself at the head of his forsaken home as his friend," housekeeper, and shop-assistant. She had saved a little money also, and it was proved that Pel negotiated for her a rente debenture for 500f. She lent him various small sums to enable him to move from Nanterre to Montreuii, near Vincennes. At least she said she did. Ap- parently she was a girl of some education. A letter read by the prosecution, which she wrote a few days before the illness that preceded her mysterious dis- appearance, is remarkable for the elegance of its French diction, and has no faults of spelling. It was addressed to a Madame Mariette, who knew about her savings, and thus ran Dear Madam,- I hope to call on you on Monday, July 7. I have, alas! much to tell you about myself, but I cannot tell you all my troubles because they are too many. My position is precarious, and not a good one. I. shall let you know what it is when I call, because you are the only person whom I know to whom I can confide my sorrows, and who will try to speak to me consolingly. I sought for friendship here, but have only received bitter words. Still I try to be resigned to my lot, though it is a sad one. Don't tell anyone my address, and I beg you not to write before I have seen you. I am very much cast 1 down.- ELISE BOEHMER." On the 7th July she did not pay the visit because too ill to go out. No doctor was called but a woman living in the house came to look after her, and on the following Saturday told the neighbours that Elise was on her last legs, and bad hardly a spark of life in her body. When this voluntary nurse went again to at- tend to the sick domestic she was told that she had gone away bag and baggage. As Elise was a good- natured soul, it was thought odd that she did not leave a message of thanks at least with the concierge for the kind neighbour. It was deemed still more strange when the porter and his wife said they had not seen her go. Her personal effects were dis- covered at Pel's after his arrest, and his behaviour subsequent to her disappearance, eoupJed with other circumstances, gave rise to the suspicion that she was murdered and her body consumed by fire. On the Wednesday after the day on which she was last seen, a stench emanated from the watchmaker's lodgings. Pel no longer opened the door when anyone rang at his bell, but looked out from behind a small sliding panel. The stench was succeeded by the sharper one of chloride of lime, in combination with an odour of burning flesh, which went on for a few days and nights. Thick smoke issued from the chimney of the stove. A watch of Elise Boehmer was lastly given by Pel to his apprentice. The donor said to whom it belonged, and added, "It's ever so much prettier than its former owner." Eugenie Meyer disappeared from Nanterre under circumstances analagons to those which marked the disappearance of Elise Boehmer from Montreuil. Nobody has seen her since, and she has given no sign. Effects of hers remained with Pel. Elise has been sought for all over France, Germany, Belgium, and Luxemburg. No cabman remembers having taken her from Montreuil. No stockbroker has since negotiated for her any of the debentures which she was known to have possessed. Her name is not registered in any hosDital or the deadhouse of any mayoralty. Nobody has come forward to establish that she was alive after the Sunday of her disappear- ance. The soot of the stove was produced by animal fat. There were blood stains on the floor, but no conclusion can be drawn from that fact, Pel having been subject to bleeding at the nose. The second Madame Pel (nee Boislisle de Murat) only returned to the conjugal domicile after her husband's arrest to sell the furniture that he left there. He had a passion for art-furniture, and paid 2000 francs for an organ, the woodwork of which was admirably carved. The strange being used to play on this instrument for hours at a time. His musical genius was derived probably from the same hereditary source as that of Berlioz, who was his cousin. A scientific library and electrical apparatus were also sold by the wife, who has gone to joffi her family in England. They havtf been victims of terrible fatalities. Madame Boislisle de Murat, the moths?, is fifty, but looks seventy-five. She is intelligent, higHy accomplished, and was rich, beautiful, and the belle of Perigeus when young. M. Boislisle de Murat was 2V Country gentleman near Brives, and lived there in ferstyle. Be was so unfor- tunate as to let himself be drawn into a business which ho did nut understand and got ruined. He quitted France. The wife, whe had four children, made over the greater part of be? own fortune to the creditors, and with her daughter came to Faris to trv and supplement a small annuity with an income derived from work. Madame Pel learned watch- making. Her eldest sister was married before the family disaster, and her husband, M. de Toulzac, went out of his mind on learning of it. The eldest son enlisted. An old friend one day met him, and treated him to champagne. On returning to barracks his captain accused him of drunkenness, and he slapped him in the faco. For this he was shot under a military sentence. Another son got drenched in seeking on a wet day for employment, and died of consumption. The crowning misfortune was the marriage of Angele, the youngest daughter, with Pel. She thought she could with him profitably exercise her handicraft, and is now the mother of a little girl six months old. After midnight on Saturday Pel was found guilty and sentenced to death. He was not indicted for many of his suspected murders, but for that of his first wife. On this account he was acquitted. The medical experts, although arsenic was found in the body, declined to swear positively after the great lapse of time that she was poisoned. lie was found guilty on strong circumstantial evidence, of murdering his servant and intimate companion, Elise Boehemer. He possessed himself of her savings—1500 francs. She was last seen in his house, ill, emaciated, and suffering great pain. He told many contradictory stories about her disappearance, saying to some people that she was dead, and to others that she had gone away. Pressed by the Judge of Instruction, he mentioned some very distant cab station from which he said at her request he fetched a cab for her, but could not explain why he did not get one nearer. The driver cannot be found, and none of the many neighbours saw any carriage approach the house on the day alleged. For three nights after the girl's disappear- ance fierce fires were seen blazing in Pel's stove up to eleven on hot July evenings. Several persons com- plained of the intolerable smells, like burnt putrid meat, emanating from his apartment. The floor was found thickly strewn with chloride of lime, probably used to counteract the stench. Experts found it quite possible entirely to incinerate a dead body in a few hours in a stove the counterpart of that of Pel. Public opinion endorses the verdict. Nevertheless, several journals argue that, although it can scarcely be denied that Pel cremated the girl's body, and con- cealed the ashes, there is no proof that he murdered her. The jury probably were influenced by the great suspicion attaching to him in the other cases, and by the annotations in his chemical books, showing that he had greatly studied the actions of poisons.

A DONCASTER RECTOR ON LIBERALISM. "a The following correspondence has been published by the Sheffield Independent: "St. George Gate, Doncaster, June 2, 1885. "Dear Sir,—I am requested to ask whether the Church (or National) schools of yoar pariah will be available for Liberal meetings, and upon what terms ? It is presumed, of course, that the same treatment will be accorded to both the great political parties of the State.-Yours truly, S. SHIRLEY BLACKBURNB." The Rectory, Adwiek-le-street, Doncaster, Ju«e3,1885. Dear Sir,-I have long ceased to oe surprised at any piece of Radical impertinence nevertheless, I should have thought that common sense, if not self- respect, would have prevented you from seeking to obtain the use of Church schools in a campaign in which Mr. Shirley and his satraps have not hesitated to attack and misrepresent the Established Church. You ask whether the Church school in this parish will be available for Liberal meetings ? I do not hesitate to reply certainly not.' It is presumed, of course,' you add, that the same treatment will be aceoided to both the great political parties of the State.' Well, as far as I am concerned, you may once and for ever disabuse your mind of any such absurd presumption. On the grounds that I should enter- tain an honest man where I should refuse admission to a thief, I shall lend my rooms, if required, to the Conservatives, and refuse the use of them to Radicals, as I can only associate the latter with bribery and plunder. Indeed, I should almost as soon think of allowing Bradlaugh to occupy my pulpit as Mr. Shirley to hold a meeting in my schools.—Yours truly, "ASHLEY M. PEEK." St. George Gate, Doncaster, June 6, 1885. "Sir,—I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 3rd inst., and regret that the monopoly which you wish to establish for the Conservative Party, in the use of the national schools of your parish, leaves me no alternative but to appeal to a higher authority. The schools are, I am informed, in receipt of Government grant, or, in other words, are largely supported by the taxation of the people and it is simply intolerable, under these circumstances, that the Liberal Party which comprises the vast majority of the nation, should be denied advantages that are readily granted to their political opponents. With reference to the vulgar epithets which you apply to the majority of your fellow-countrymen, and to their selected candidate in this division, and the language which you seem to think consistent with the profession of a Christian minister, I am content to leave them to the judgment of public opinion, but they would hardly lead one to suppose that your con- gregation would lose much by the substitution (at which you hint) of Mr. Bradlaugh for yourself in the pulpit of Adwick Church.—Yours obediently, S. SHIRLEY BLACKBURKE."

CRUELTY IN NAPLES. Ouida," writes to a contemporary to draw atten- tion to the horrible cruelty to animals practised in Naples. Referring to the frightful fact that all animals whose skins are worth a centime are skinned alive in that city, Ouida" says Old horses, young kids and lambs, all dogs, cats, and rats are all skinned alive, because the skin when removed from the living creature is considered more supple and sells for a somewhat higher price. Dogs are seized by legalised municipal dog-stealers twice a day, are thrust pell- mell into a court, kept two days without food, and then half stunned with a stick, and while living flayed from head to tail. Horses in the knackers' yards there are allowed to drop from hunger as being less trouble than killing them, and when utterly exhausted are nailed on planks and flayed. The Camorra is so strong which protects all these wretches that no one dares move against them, while in the matter of the dogs, the municipal authorities are the first offenders, and wholly without excuse. At a moment when Italy is invited into Africa as a civilising Power,' I think these facts may as well be known. If any one desires verification of them and will write to me privately I will place them in communication with persons who can prove what I have stated above."

INFLATED CONSTABLES. The Neiv York Times informs its readers that prominent chemist has made a suggestion which promises to add greatly to the efSciency of the police force. He proposes to supply the men with india- rubber waistcoats filled with hydrogen gas. A police- man thus equipped would, to a certain extent, triumph over the law of gravity. Lighted of a por- tion of his weight he would be able to run with amazing swiftness, his mode of progressing being a series of bounds many yards in length. No runaway criminal could possibly escape an officer thus equipped, while the work of a policeman on his beat would be so easy that he would not be obliged to take frequent rests against lamp-posts or in the corners of doorways. In case of fire a vigorous leap would take him to a balcony on the first floor, and he could thus enter and alarm the inmates without difficulty; while the aspect of a body of police advancing to the charge of a mob with mighty bounds would be so ter- rible that rven the most desperate would not venture- to face it. It is true that the appearance of a police- man && equipped might at first detract somewhat from the respect with which the officers of the law should impress the population at large, for he would singly resemble a pouter pigeon on a large scale; but this would be got over when the public became accustomed to the novelty, and the adwitages of the invention are so great that this slight drawteck. vnU hardly weigh with the authorities, I