The Illustrated Usk Observer and Raglan Herald

Dr. Lankester, en Saturday, held an inquest at the Royal Free Hospital, on the body of George Hart, aged 31, in the service of Messrs. Henekey and Co., wine merchants, of Holborn. Deceased was lowering a pipe of wine into the cellar, when it suddenly swerved on one side, and rolling towards him, jammed him against some timber, breaking his leg, and inflicting other injuries, of which he died. Verdict, Accidental death." A Long Swim.- In connection with the destruction of the ship Hindoo by fire, on the beach at Formby, near Liverpool, last week an instance of the strength and endur- ance of a Newfoundland dog has just been made known. On board the Hindoo there was a large dog, but it was believed that he had been washed overboard and lost, until Saturday morning, when he was discovered rambling about the beach at Hoylake. Although the poor brute must have swam from the vicinity of the wreck at Formby to Hoylake, during the fearful gale of Friday, he appeared none the worse for his long Bffim,

THE UNDERGROUND RAILWAY AND ITS STATIONS. From a close inspection on Saturday of the whole length of the Metropolitan Railway there. appears but very little doubt of the eaily opening.of this great under- taking, which, in its various stages of construction, has engrossed the attention of the public so long. Few rail- way works of such short length have ever presented the difficulties encountered in tha formation of this line, and the popular expectation, which had assigned its opening to an earlier period of this season, has been disappointed, partly through the bursting of the Fleet Ditch at Clertcenweli, ana partly from the desire of the authorities to have the works completed throughout before the trains commenced running. At the Farringdon-street station (the City terminus) the works are in a very forward state. Erected principally of wood, covered with slating, and provided with the necessary booking-offices and three commodious platforms, it is as well lighted by day as any of the other London termini, while the globular lanterns which hang from its roof will ba more than sufficient for this purpose at night time. There is also a capacious gasholder erected here for the supply of gas to the trains. The signals are being fast completed, and the workmen are busily engaged on the switches and an immense turntable. In the Clerkenwell cutting there is still a little work to be done, but the permanent way is complete, with its double lines of broad and narrow gauge. Leaving the cutting, which has been we.l bal- lasted with dry gravel, and entering the tunnel (nsar the workhouse) at the mouth of which is a switchman's box, nothing of interest occurs till the line reaches another open cutting just before entering the fine station at King's-cross. Here are the junctions with the Great Northern and Midland railways, and the station itself is considered to be the finest on the line. The booking-offices, supported on light bronzed lattice girders and ornamental pillars, bridge the railway, beneath the lofty curves of the magnificent iron and glass roof. Staircases, with handsome bronzed balustrades, descend to the platforms, lighted, as at Farringdon-street station, with the globular lamps, which are being supplied to all the stations. Little be- yond a few decorative works and the signals remains to be done at the station itself. Passing through the tunnel beneath the New-road (now the Eustonroad), we come to the Gower-street station, which only wants a few finishing strokes to complete it, besides painting and placing of the signals. This station, which is simply a por- tion of the tunnel, reached by staircases from the offices on each side of the Euston-road, derives sufficient day- light from the ingeniously contrived loopholes in the sides of the tunnel; it will be lighted at night time in a similar manner to King's-cross station. Continuing the journey through the tunnel, the next station reached is the Portland-road and Regent's-park. The interior architecture of this is very fanciful, the principal features consisting of two small towers with cupola roofs, the latter supplying a portion of daylight to the station beneath, which is a part of the tunnel. This station is also nearly finished, and from here to the Baker-street station, which is almost a repetition of that at Gower-street, the line still runs through a tunnel. The works at Baker-street are likewise in a very forward state. Another piece of tunnelling intervenes between this latter and the next station at Edgware- road, which has an iron and glass roof like that at King's-cross. A little work has yet to be done here on the permanent way, but the sta'.ion itself is nearly finished. Leaving Edgware-road station, the line again passes through a tunnel, at the other extremity of which is the Paddington station, the most unnnis bed" portion of the line. A great deal of work yet remains to be done here, as the station is incomplete and the roof unfinished. At this spot the workmen are still engaged upon the per- manent way at the junction with the Great Western Railway. The Paddingtc-n station abuts upon the bridge over which the Bishop's-road is carried. It will be entered from the latter place and also from the Great Wes- tern terminus. Here are several of the new car- riages, both first and second class, each compart- ment being furnished with two lights supplied from the reservoirs on their roofs. They are broad-gauge carriages, with the initials G. W..ft. the first-class carriages are luxuriously furnished, and the second-class are neatly and comfortably cushioned. The telegraphic communication will soon be perfected, the wires, contained in grooved planks fastened to the sides of the tunnels, being nearly continuous from one end of the line to the other. The whole of the tunnelling and the permanent way are in first-rate condition, the former being extremly dry, with an exception or two (Clerkenwell, for instance), and the latter well laid and ballasted throughout. Pro- bably, therefore, by Christmas the public will be in possession of a short and expeditious route from the oity to Paddington, the distance (about four miles) being ac- complished by express trains in ten minutes, and by the ordinary trains in fifteen minutes, at extremely reasonable fares.. ♦ ;— Some of the Pennsylvanian Quakers and

THE RUSSIAN ARMY IN POLAND. The following remarkable address from the officers of 1 the Russian army in Poland has been sent to the Grand DukeConstantine:— Your Highness,—The Russian amy m Poland is m a strange and insupportable position; it has to choose between being the executioner of the Polish people or refusing obedience to its chiefs. Soldiers and officers are tired of being executioners. This office has, become detestable to the army. To charge unarmed crowds, to persecute people praying in churches, to arrest passers-by in the streets, to keep the Poles in a state of siege because they love Poland-all this becomes daily in the eyes of the army more and more inhuman, and therefore criminal. Penetrated with distrust in its chiefs and disgust with its inhuman function, the army asks itself, In the name of what shall it continue executioner of the Polish people, and what benefit would the Russian people derive from it ? "News from Russia says that there, also, the army is ordered to act as executioner, not of the Polish, but of the Russian people. The army in, Poland well knows how peasants have been shot for not having understood the new regulations,' which are not at all adequate to their wishes and wants. The army in Poland looks with disgust at such feats. The execution of Russian officers and ensigns beloved and esteemed by their comrades filled the army with an indignation not easily to be overcome. Another step of the Government in this direction, and we cannot answer for the tranquillity of the army.. At the same time the continual vexations the Poles are exposed to in the shape of police persecutions, petty, insolent, cruel, and ridiculous the continual insults they have to bear in everything that is dear and holy to them insults which might lead them to reject all reforms undertaken by the Russian Government, even if those reforms were rational, the more so as they are contrived in a manner not to content anybody; the vexations, the insults, the oppressions upon which the Government base all its actions, will excite the Poles to the pitch of insurrection.. Ti "What shaU the army then do with its spirit? It will not only not stop the Poles, it will unite with them, and perhaps no force will be able to stop it. The officers have not the power nor the wish to do so. "The army does not want to be a traitor to the Russian people, but, above all, it does not want to be an executioner, because that is dishonest and sbils the Russian name. Your Highness, your duty is to save the army. There is but one way of accomplishing this task-to desist from vexations and persecutions of the Poles; not to force them to a rising; to suspend a state of siege, and to let Poland organise herself freely according to the wishes and views of the Polish people. You must persuade the Emperor into this change of things, if you will annihilate the otherwise inevitable and imminent danger. We address you through the public press, and not through our chiefs; they would never have Communicated to vou our words—the words of truth. We do not publish our names. The sincerespeech an honest man is considered a mutiny, and if we had made known our names we should have exposed ourselves to undeserved punishment. We do so not out of cow- ardice we fear neither punishment nor executions, but we will not expose ourselves uselessly, as our honest brethren lately did. We will give our names willingly when we shall feel confident that our martyrdom will be the foundation upon which will rise the liberty and wel- fare of the Russian people-of our people, whom we love, and at the same time, of the Polish people, whom we will not oppress. "Your Highness, accept the assurance of our deep sin- cerity. "Warsaw, September, 1862."

BARBAROUS CRUELTY TO A PARISH APPRENTICE. John Robins, master of the Gauntlet fishing smack, of Barking, was brought up at the Ilford police-court on Saturday from Grimsby, charged with shockingly ill- treating an apprentice, named Joseph Rodwell, who had since died. A coroner's inauest had been held, and although the immediate cause of death was proved to be disease of the lungs, the evidence which transpired was of that character that a gentleman named Mitchell, who took an interest in the case, applied for a warrant, and obtained it, against the accused. The deceased was apprenticed from Hampstead workhouse, and it was Droved by other apprentices on board the Gauntlet that tlie pi-Minnar was in the habit of beating the poor boy most unmercifully with ropes as thiol* u their three fingers, lashing him to the windlass whilst he did it, afterwards tarring his back, and oh one occasion, after being flogged, his back was covered with bright varnish. He was frequently kept without food for twenty-four hours, and became so weak that he would fall about the deck, and was flogged for that. They deposed that he was even flogged and kept for twenty-four hours with- out food when he was absolutely dying on their last voyage from Grimsby to Barking. The medical man who made the postmortem examination said, although the immediate cause of death was disease of the lungs, he found the body covered with bruises and sores, an abrasion on one of the knees, and the body was shock- ingly emaciated, there being no food in the stomach. The defence set up was that the deceased was dirty in his habits. The magistrates, of whom Mr. Barclay was chairman, having resolved to send the case for trial, it was stated that an important witness was not examined, and ultimately the prisoner was remanded, bail being accepted, himself in £100, and two sureties of 950 each.

AMENITIES OF NEWGATE MARKET. Robert John Hill, a meat salesman in Newgate-mar- ket, and Henry Bell, a porter in the same market, were summoned before Mr. Alderman Hale, at Guildhall, on Thursday, for misbehaviour, by using insulting words in a public thoroughfare, whereby a breach of the peace might have been occasioned. Mr. Beard attended for the defence. This was a peculiar case, arising out of the attempted infraction of an ancient custom which had prevailed in Newgate-market beyond the memory even of the oldest inhabitant. From time immemorial it had been the practice among the butchers' fraternity to consider their word equal to their bond, and in the purchase and sale of cattle and meat a formal receipt in writing was scarcely ever known to have been either given or re- quired, notwithstanding the fact that thousands of pounds sterling have daily, almost hourly, changed hands amongst them without any other recognition of the transactions than the mere form of clasping hands upon the bargains. Any innovation, therefore, upon a custom which legal folks would consider "more honoured in the breach than the observance" was calculated to arouse the susceptibilities of the salesmen and butchers who felt their honour impeached, and accordingly gave vent to the indignation in the following characteristic but undignified manner:— Mr. Pbipps, a butcher, of Lower Belgrave-street, said that for some time past he had been subjected to a system of persecution that was intolerable. He was in the habit of attending Newgate-market for. the purpose of purchasing meat, and whenever he made his appear- arine he was greeted with shouts of derision and laughter, not only from the riff-raff," but also from the salesmen of the market. He thought the excitement would die out. and therefore abstained from going to the market for about ten days, but on re-appearing he, was received with the same amount of annoyance, which continued from day to day until it amounted to absolute perse- cution. On the 16th of October he went to the market, and was greeted with hooting, hissing, and every expression of indignity from a mob of «bout one'hundred and fifty of the market people. They called out "Here comes the informer—Beware." The incumbent of his parish in the country was with him, and, believing him to be a detective officer, the mob exclaimed, "Look out, he 'has brought his nurse with him. Be careful what you say, for he is a deteciive." The defendant Bell was present, and was carrying a placard bearing the following inscription, Caution—Beware of the informer," but he said nothing. On the 24th of the same month he went into the market,, and saw Hill pointing him cut to others, and heard him say, There he goes-Beware." Some one asked what he meant by "Beware," and he replied" Beware-you know." On one occasion they followed him up to the Cattle-market, and when he was trying to buy some bullocks they interpos-ad the placard he had described, and the result of all this annoyance was that he experienced the greatest difficulty in buying either meat or beasts, as nearly all the salesmen had refused to serve him, although he had offered excellent prices for meat. There was a conspiracy amongst the salesmen not to sell meat to him. Mr. Alderman Hale said that would be a subject for indictment, if the complainant could prove it. Mr. Beard said it was not to be wondered at, as the complainant had informed against those who had served him for not giving proper receipts. Cross-examined: Hill said nothing to him. He talked at him, not to him. Bell said nothing. He did not know that he had Tendered himself obnoxious in the market. He declined to answer the question as to what be, had done to excite such a feeling of hostility. He had done nothing illegal or wrong to any man. He was not an informer as the term was generally understood. He had informed against two or three salesmen in the market for. not giving proper receipts. Several other witnesses were called and examined at great length, and their evidence merely confirmed the fact, which was not denied, that a system of annoyance had been adopted towards the complainant in consequence of the informations he had laid against those who had dealt with him. It transpired that some of the salesmen who did not feel disposed to countenance the movement openly and tacitly condemned the complainant's conduct by asking him the exorbitant price of 2s. 6d. per lb. for meat. Mr. Beard, for the defence, submitted that his clients shad not rendered themselves amenable to the law by the conduct imputed to. them, inasmuch as they took no active -part in the annoyance complained of. Bell did not say an offensive word to any one, and the conduct of Hill was clearly not such as would bring him within the statute, as the offensive words w.ere not applied to the complainant, although he choose to take them to himself. The complainant had rendered himself obnoxious to the salesmen of the market, but he (Mr. Beard) thought it would be hard if the sins of the whole community were to be visited upon his clients alone, particularly when they were merely passive; spectators of what was going on. Mr. Alderman Hale said he was inclined to think that the parties would all be liable to an indictment for con- spiracy for combining together to prevent complainant from buying goods, and so carrying on his business. He could see plainly that it was a preconcerted plan to interfere with and annoy the complainant, and as it was proved to his satisfaction that the defendants had taken an active part in such annoyance he should fine them 40s. each, and recommend Mr. Phipps to take other proceedings if the annoyance were con- tinued. The fines were immediately paid, and so anxious were the defendants'friends to save them from being locked up that the fines were paid twice over by different parties to different officials at one and the same time.

DREADFUL ACCIDENT IN 100LEY STREET. On Wednesday the inhabitants of Tooley-street were thrown into a state of the greatest excitement in consequence of a, loud rumbling noise like thunder proceeding from the premises in course of erection on the site of the great fire in June, 1861. In the course of a few minutes many of the inhabitants, with a body of the M division of police, under Mr. Inspector Beckerson, hastened to the spot, and upon entering what is termed Cotton's depot (Scovell's wharf) they found that three of the arches just com- pleted, or nearly so, each 417 feet long, and abut- ting upon the water side, had one after the other given way. Three men, who were at work upon them, were completely buried amidst some tons of bricks and mortar. Mr, Oliver, who was superin- tending the erection of the works, at once summoned all hands to his assistance, and one man was taken out alive, but so much injured that he was removed to Guy's Hospital, but was able to be removed to his residence during the evening. The two other men were found to be completely embedded in the ruins, and a considerable time elapsed before they could be got out, and then both were found to be dead. The appearance of the bodies clearly indicates that death must have been instantaneous. The bodies were at once removed to the dead-house, in Weaver's- lane, Tooley-street. The arches abutted upon Cham- berlain's wharf, which has only just been rebuilt. The cause of the accident is not precisely known, but from the examination made by the district sur- veyor he ascertained that men had been engaged in driving piles into the river during the day, and the inference was that the vibration caused upon the shore of the river had so shaken the foundations of the arches as to make them give way, and in conse- quence he gave orders that no more piles were to be driven. Neither of the men have left families to deplore the sad occurrence. —« The subscriptions received at the Mansion-

house towards the Lancashire Operatives' Relief Fund up to Wednesday evening, amounted to upwards of £100,000, of which more than JE50,000 has been already remitted to the distressed districts for distribution. Indian Customs of British Columbia.- When a body is burned, the widow of the deceased, if he has left one, is placed upon the pile with the corpse, and almost scorched to death and should she attempt to run away, she is pushed back into the flame by the relatives of her husband, and not until her body becomes one mass of blisters is she permitted to remove from the burning pile. After the body has been consumed sho collects the ashes and places them in a small basket, which she never fails to carry about with her. At the same time she becomes for three years the slave or drudge of the relatives of her late husband, who treat her in the most cruel manner, and with every indignity. After the three years have expired, she is summoned to a great feast made by all the kindred, and is then set free, and permitted to marry again.—British Columbia and Van- couver's Island.

MARVELLOUS ESCAPE FROM A RAIL- WAY CATASTROPHE. On Tuesday an excursion train from Merthyr and the hills to London was for a moment placed in the most imminent peril. It appears that between the Crumlin station and the magnificent viaduct that crosses the Western Valleys line from Newport to Ebbw Vale, at a height of nearly 300 feet, an engine was engaged in shunting some trucks on the line, when an excursion train containing about 500 persons was seen advancing at full' speed. A collision, attended with the most fearful consequences, seemed inevitable. To avert what seemed to be an impending death of a whole hecatomb of Jives (for had they been hurled over the structure every soul must have been dashed to atoms) was a reselt almost too gratifying to be hoped for. Happily, however, with a presence of mind equal to the emergency, both engine-drivers, with a united and consentaneous .action, reversed their engines, and although the peril that at one time threatened this mass of human beings could not be wholly escaped, the speed of the contending trains was so diminished that in the collision that followed no lives were lost. Great damage, however, resulted to the engines, and a buffer of that drawing the excursion train was broken short off. The excursionists were generally severely shaken; some received contusions, and, as may be well imagined, all were dreadfully frightened, from which they can scarcely have recovered yet. The screams of the females, and of many of the other sex, at the prospect of the death that appeared to await them, were fearfully heart- rending.* The greatest credit is due to the heroic devotion of the engine-drivers, who, regardless of their own fate, stuck to their breaks, and thus reduced what in the future seemed to promise the catastrophe of the century to a comparatively trifling affair.

MR. COBDEN ON PUBLIC AFIAIRS. On Wednesday evening Mr. Cobden addressed a large meeting of his constituents at Rochdale, at Mr. Tathom's machine-shop, in the neighbourhood of the railway station. The room, which will hold about 3,000, was crowded. The mayor of Rochdale presided, and the mayors from several of the neighbouring towns, a large proportion of the principal manufacturers, and a mass of operatives were present. The proceedings having been opened by the Chairman, Mr. H. Kelsall moved, and Alderman Livesey secoaded, the following resolution :— "That this meeting views with dismay the enormous public expenditure of this country, which unnecessarily increases the burden of the people, is subveisive of their best intsrests, and perilous to constitutional Government. This meeting is also of opinion that a comprehensive measure of parliamentary reform would secure a more, faithful representation of the people and is absolutely essential; and remembering the pledge with regard to financial and parliamentary reform given by the present Ministry prior to their accession to power, calls upon them to carry out those pledges or to retire from office." Mr. Cobden, upon rising, was greeted with loud cheers, and after alluding in sympathetic terms to the distres at present existing in, Lancashire, and referring to the efforts that were made to mitigate it, applied himself to the subject of America, and in the course of a lengthened speech said:— Do not think I am going to predict what is going to happen in America, or to set myself up as a juige of the Americans. What I wish to say is a few words to throw light on our relations as a nation with the American people. I have no doubt whatever that if I had been an American I should have been true to my peace principles, and that I should have been amongst perhaps a very small number who had voted or raised their protest in some shape or other against this civil war in America. There is, nothinsr in the course of that war which. reconciles me to the brutalities and havoc of such a mode of settling human disputes; but the question we have to -ask ourselves is-What is the position which, as a nation, weoughcto take in regard to the American ia reference to this dispute? It is no use, arguing what was the origin of the war or to advise its dis- continuance. From the moment the first shot is fired, or the first blow is struck, farewell to all reason and argument. You might as well argue with mad dogs as men when they have once begun to spill each ether's blood in mortal combat. I was so convinced of that fact during the Crimean war, which you know I opposed-I was so convinced of the utter uselessness of raising one's voice in opposition to war when it had once com.menced-that I had made up my mind that so long as I was in political life, should a wsr again out tween England and a great Power, I would never open my mouth upon the subject from the time the first gun was fired until peace was made, because it is only by the exhaustion of one of the parties engaged in the war that a termination can be arrived at. Look back to our own history. What did eloquence, however great and masterly, in the persons of Chatham and Burke, do to pre, enc a war with the American colonies, or to stop it after it had commenced? What did the elo- quence of Fox do to avert the war with France which followed the French revolution? There was a man at the commencement of the Crimean war who raised his voice in accents of eloquence, in power of pathos, and of argument fit to compare with anything | that ever fell from the lips.of Chatham or Burke. I -mean your distinguished townsman, my friend, Mr. Bright—(cheere)—and what was his success? Why, they burned him in effigy for his pains. If, then, we were so powerless as politicians to check a war at home, how useless and unavailing it would be in me to presume to affect in the smallest degree the results of the contest in-America. We all regret this dreadtul and sanguinary war, but to attempt to scold the Americans for fight- ing, or to think of reaching them with argu- ments when they are standing in mortal combat, a million of men armed, and fighting to the death, would be the greatest waste of intellect we could commit. But it is said by some that this war will soon be brought to an end, and brought to an end in a ceitain way. Now, I have travelled twice nearly through every free State in America. I know most of the principal persons en- gaged in this contest on both sides. I have kept myself pretty well informed of all that has gone on in that country, and though I think I ought to be as well in- formed as the average of my countrymen, cabinet minis- ters included, yet if you were to ask me how this contest is to end, I confess that I should feel totally at a loss to offer an opinion that would be worth the slightest atten- tion on the part of my hearers; but this I will say, that if I were put to the torture and compelled to offer a guess, I should not make the guess which Mr. Gladstone and Earl Russell have made on the subject (hear, hear). I don't believe, if the war in America is to be soon brought to a termmatioa,. that it will be brought to an end by a separation of the South, from the North. There are great motives at work amongst the large majority of the people in America which seem to me to drive them to this dreadful contest rather than see their country broken into two nations. I don't speak of it as a thing I feel great interest in myself. It may be considered as Utopian, but I have no great sym- pathy with very great nations. I don't myself sympa- tbise largely with those who desire the greatness of a people by a vast extension of empire. What I like to see is the development and elevation of the individual man. We have had great empires in all times. There were the great empires of Assyria, Persia, and the rest. What trace have they left of the individual, man ? It is your little states- Greece, for instance, or Italy—which in the middle sges had so great an effect on the revival of learning, where you could ride on horseback through two or three States in a day or two. Those were the countries where humanity has nourished and been glori- fied. These, no doubt, are utopian opinions. They are not the opinion of mankind now, and.perhaps they ought not to be the opinion of men in political life, until we see a better guide to morality or international law, which would assure to a small State that it would obtain justice at the hands of a greater one. But leaving the dreams aside, what appears to be in the present day the permanent interchange among the races of man ? Cer- tainly not a desire to separate, but to agglomerate, to bring together in greater concentration different races speaking the same language and professing the same religion. Mr. Cobden, in the course of his speech,. ridiculed the idea that existed of a rupture with France, and, referring to the extravagant expenditure in fortifications that were now proceeding, only excusing it on the ground of the imbecility of an octogenarian minister, concludes thus: You are borrowing the money to make these for- tifications, borrowing it for thirty years-that is the in- sidious process by which you are allowing this grand scheme to be accomplished. If the Government had to come every y ear for money upon estimates of taxes, de- pend upon it the £ 1,200,000 wasted last session would not have been wasted, because it would have been necessary to lay on fresh taxes to defray it. But they borrowed the money, and this expenditure of pretty nearly a million and a half is obtained by a loan. The conse- quence will be, that you will go on building fortifications, when, according to Sir F. Smith, n very high authority, the forts in the neighbourhood of Portsmouth alone will require 30,000 men to man them; and the other forts will require 60,000 or 70,000 more. Once build these forts, and you must have an army to keep them, otherwise you must blow them up again. Nothing can be more unwise than to build forts and leave them unprotected to be taken and occupied by an enemy. Wo are just now getting into a discussion as to the policy of keeping up an army for the defence of our colonies, and by and by we shall probitbly be able to release 20,000 troops. Here, then, is a plan, by which the governing classes, who like to have I an excuse for keeping up our military establishments j can obtain one which will keep every man of these troops at home, because, if you build fortifications you must have an army to keep them. There is no doubt in the world that this is all the work of one man, and that man is the Prime Minister. I don't question his sin- cerity, but he is under the impression—the delusion—I hardly know what to cail it—that be is living in about the year 1808, and as long as he lives you will not rescue him from-that delusion. I can make every allowance for one in his position, but what must we say of his colleagues ? They are altogether silent. The Prime Minister has to start up to defend the plan of fortifications if another Minister gets up to speak upon them, it is in such a languid fashion, with such a total absence of all knowledge upon the subject, that it savours of the bur- lesque. Mr. Gladstone has never said a word upon this subject, and I need not say that such men as Mr. M. Gibson and Mr. Yilliers are entirely silent upon it. There is not a man- in the House of Commons who would not admit that it would be impossible to carry such a scheme if it were not put forward by the Prime Minister. And what shall be said of the House of Commons? I have no doubt that these great ex- crescences will be held up in future generations, and pointed at as "Palmerston's follies." There may be an excuse for a Minister verging on fourscore, who was brought up in the midst of the wars of the French Revolution; but what excuse can there be for the manhood and the intellect of this great country in allowing it to be dragged into wasteful ex- travagancies and follies like this, which make them the laughing stock of nations, simply to gratify the mere whim of a Prime Minister (hear, hear)? As politicians, are we not become an enfeebled genera- tion ? We seem to have entered upon our decline, unless there is some revival or some invigorating effort made. I will tell you how it is that such a state of things exists in Parliament. We. have not an honest state of parties irf,Parliainerit. That is the whole thing in a few words—it is a hard truth, but it is the truth; our parties are not on an honest basis. In Parliament you have got a Prime Minister who is at your head, who pro- fesses to lead the Liberal party, and as I have said of him to his Face in the House of Commons-be is abmt the staunchest Tory we have there (hear, hear). The consequenc is that the Tories, particularly the most antiquated and incorrigible—not the men who intend to be in office-,hey go a great deal further than he doss, but -the Tories wnosit below the gangway on the Oppo- sition sii!e—are supporting the present Prime Minister, and why ? For very good reasons. He spends far more money and obstructs reform far more effectually tt an they could. I venture to give it as my opinion that we are spending £5,000,000 more money than if the Tories were in power. This is a most anomalous position. The Tories, though not in office, are in power, but have no responsibility. The Liberals are responsible for what is being done; and if they protest xgsinst it their leaders call in the aid of the Tories, which enable them to carry their measures in spite of their own party (hear, hear). There cannot be anything so bad for a country in such a state of parties. Yet it is just the position cf the Prime Minister, our leader at present. There is no remedy for such a state of things that I am aware of but in a change—a, change that will make the party which.re&Hy governs us responsible.

New York Shakers have pleaded exemption from the draft in both States on the ground of their religious scruples against war. The plea has been allowed in both instances.

EXTRACTS FROM" PL^CE" & FUN." --+- Shall We Give Up Gibraltar? Are we going to give up Gibraltar ? Of course, If we mean to dispense with Ollr maritime force. For of what use to us can that distant rock be Whm we ease to maintain a dominion at sea? As Gibraltar is close to the border of Spain, It belongs to the Spaniard—what pikestaff more plain? And the four Channel Islands, you see at a glance, Are not much more remote from the borders of France. Then we must, if of logic we cherish a spark, Give up Jersey as well; Guernsey, Alderney, Sark- Common prudence would also that course recommend' It were best to return what we couldn't defend. .Well-surrender at once, then, to stand in no need Of invasion, the whole of Great Britain indeed, Letting Erin's green Isle be annexed to the land, If there is one, whose rulers will take it on hand. But though forming a part of Iberia's shore, In the first place Gibraltar belonged to tEe Moor; So we don't see our way, in resigning it, plain, To restore it to either Morocco or Spain. In the meantime we own it in fact and by right; And at present intend to keep hold of it tight And what tenants, in all the wide world can you find, Who would hold it so much for the good of mankind ? THE CELTIC WATER CURE.-Captaill Hans Busk, of the Victoria Rifles, writing tp the Times on the subject of suppressing riots, observesAs ssonas a popular tumult assumes a threatening aspect, nothing more is necessary7 in order to quell it than a couple of fire-engines, supported by a detachment of police, who have only then to direct a steady horizontal jet of water full at the head of the mob." A capital suggestion. We will only venture to improve upon it by recommending that the fluid employed to disperse a riotous assemblage of the great unwashed," should he particularly pure, because those creatures have a peculiar antipathy to clean water. A SCIENTLFWINQUIRY INTO A SCIENTIFIC UNION.—. Dr. Sclater, having transferred his attentions from the pythoness to a young English lady, was married last week. A fashionable contemporary, in describing the ceremony, says: The bride was attended by six brides- maids, dressed in white dresses trimmed with blue, with floating veils suspended from wreaths of blue flowers." What on earth (or, rather, in air) are noting veils," as distinguished from other veils? Have they any con- nection with swimming-belts, or do they owe their aeros- tation to the fact that the flowers blew t "THE VOICES OF THE NIGHT."—"I couldn't get a wink of sleep," said a newly-blessed Benedict, on account of a discordeon that kept playing all night. Discordeon! inquired the confidant of his troubles, "What new instrument is that?—"Only the baby," was the yawning reply. A QUESTION FOR MORAL PHILOSOPHERS. — When a ship splits upon a rock," is the circumstance to be looked on as being a "breach of eon&denee ? SQUARING THE CIRCLE.-Given: the supper-ficies of a square in a quiet quarter. Required: the corresponding area of a policeman's head. A BUTLER OUT OF PLACE.-The Federal general in possession of New Orleans is daily adding to the list of atrocities which have already blackened his name. He threatens, if the Confederates attack him, to hand over all the women in the town to the negroes! The most charitable view to take of his ferocity is to consider him insane. At all events, if he is not off his head," he ought to be off his legs. CROOKED UsAGE."—The usage which the Italians are receiving at the hands of the Emperor of the French.

EARL RUSSELL AND THE GARIBALDI CITY MEETING. The honeiary secretaries of thecomrnittee of the late Garibaldi Meeting in the City have received the following letter: Foreign-office, Oct. 30. Gentlemen,—I am directed by Earl Russell to acknow- ledge the receipt of your letter of the 24ch instant, in- cluding resolutions agreed to at a meeting of the citizens of London, presided over by Mr. Western Wood, M.P. for the citv. In the last of these resolutions Lord Russell is requested "to use all means within his power to obtain the with- drawal of the French troops from Rome." Lord Russell directs ma to observe, with regard to this resolution and many others of a similar tenor which have been agreed to at various public meeting- that the only means he can properly use to obtain the withdrawal of the French troops from Rome consist in friendly repre- sentations to the Government of the Emperor of the French. These have not been wanting on the part of her Majesty's Government, as the papers laid before Parlia- ment have shown, and similar representations will be made whenever it may seem necessary or expedient to make them.—I am, Gentlemen, your most obedient, humble servant, E. HAMMOND. John Richardson, Esq., and John Robert Taylor, Esq.

EMIGRATION OF EDUCATED L EM ALES, On Saturday night a meeting was held, under the auspices of the Social Science Association, at their rooms, Waterloo-pi ace, with the immediate object of wishing Miss Maria Rye "God speed" in her undertaking of taking out a large number of females to the Australian colonies, and generally to promote the emigration of educated females. The Hon. Arthur Kinnaird, M.P., occupied the chair. The meeting, which was very fully attended, was honoured by the presence of Lady Frank- lin, Mrs. Maig, Mrs. Crowe, and several other ladies who have interested themselves in promoting the social well-being of their sisterhood. The Chairman having briefly explained the objects of the meeting, Mr. Hastings, on the part of Miss] Rye, drew the attention of the meeting to the importance of emigration as connected with women of the middle classes. For such women, notwithstanding all the philanthropic efforts of those associations which have most actively exerted themselves to open up new sources of industry in which females may be employed, there was, he said, in this country but few and limited employments, and there- fore it became desirable, in order to relieve the pressure of the market, to draft them off to the colonies, where their presence would have the best possible effects, morally and socially, in giving a tone to society there. Hitherto, however, there had been three great difficulties in the way of sending such women, out to our colonies. In the first place, there was the difficulty of ascertaining who were the fit and proper women to send cut; secondly, the moral dangers of the voyage, as there existed no sufficient and reliable organisation on board of the emigrant ships to protect such passengers from insult; and, thirdly, there was the difficulty of providing them with suitable employment when they landed. Miss Rye had undertaken the task of getting rid of those diffi- culties. By the agency of the Society for Promoting the Employment cf Women she was able to fix upon those who were worthy of being assisted to emigrate, and likely to make good colonists when landed. She was herself about to make the voyage in charge of 100 women, of whom eight were governe-ses, thirty factory operatives, and the remaining sixty-two domestic servants. She would thus be enabled to ascertain the organisation necessary to secure female comfort and morality on board of our emigrant ships, and when she landed she would form local committees of ladies, who would receive future emi- grants upon their landing, and keep them until they got provided with employment. She had already, by im- parting trustworthy information from the colonies and by making pecuniary advances, assisted 280 other women to emigrate. The system of advancing ladies' loans to defray the cost of emigration had worked most satisfactorily, and might with safety be very greatly extended. A short discussion followed this exposition of Miss Rye's views and plans, in which the chairman, Mr. Monckton Milnes, Mr. E. Chadwick, and others, took part, and a resolution was adopted approving of all Miss Rye had been doing, and praying for success upon, her enterprise, when the proceedings terminated in the usual manner. Lord Palmerston, accompanied by Captain Patey,

paid a visit to thq Imperial yacht, Jerome Napoleon, at Southampton, on Friday. His lordship afterwards em- barked in the Royal yacht, Elfina, for Osborne, on a visit to her Majesty the Queen. A thanksgiving harvest festival was cele- brated at Christ Church, Union-grove, Clapham, on Tuesday. The church, which was only consecrated in May last, was beautifully decorated, and at the three services, the last of which was full choral, the offertory amounted to £ 40 10s. 4d., which will be handed over to the Lancashire Relief Fund by the incumbent, the Rev. Bradley Abbot.