Monmouthshire Merlin

THE MASONS' STRIKE. At Bow street, on Monday, Mr. Booth, builder, was summoned at the instance of four American masons for illegal detention of tools. M'Intyre's case decided the whole. He said he was engaged at Boston by an agent of Mr. Bird, and on arriving at Gravesend was met by Mr. Henshaw, assistant secretary to the Master Builders' Association, who said Bird had no work, and he was to work for Booth. He de- clined, and had since seen the tools he had sent on on defendant's premises in the Temple. Mr. Flowers, the magistrate, said that being the case, the jurisdiction was clearly with the City autho- rities, and the case must be dismissed. Mr. Besley said he should apply to a City magistrate.

The Queen has appointed the Right Hon. George Sclater-Booth, M.P., to be the Official Verderer of the New Forest. Some idea of the depressed state of the coal trade is afforded by a statement issued by the executive of the Durham Miners' Association. From this it seems there are in the Durham dis- trict over 200 collieries, and of these 16 have been totally stopped, and five partially so, while in the majority of the remainder the men are work- ing only half time. The number of men and boys out of work through this state of business is 5490. A fire broke out at Chatham Dockyard, on Mon- day, on board the unarmoured frigate Worcester, moored in one of the landing basins. Immediately the discovery was made, a large force of police- men and workmen hurritd to the spot with the apparatus for extinguishing fires, and fortunately the flames were extinguished before they had got a good hold; but a hole was burnt through her side. An inquiry will be held as to the cause of the fire. Seveial others were very near to the Worcester at the time of the fire. A foreign gentleman was, on Sunday night, shortly after ten o'clock, found lying upon the metals of the South-Eastern Railway bridge at Charing Cross, both of his legs having been cut off by a passing train. He was removed to Charing Cross Hospital, where he died in a few minutes. It is supposed that whilst passing over the foot bridge he got through the iron barrier which separates it from the railway. The de- ceased gentleman was apparently about 30 years of age, was of dark complexion, and wore a black moustache, but no whiskers. SHOCKS OF EARTHQUAKE IN DORSET.—Mr. O. H. A. Moggs writes to the Times from Bullpits, Bourton, Dorset:—"Hoping it may prove of interest to some of your scientific readers, I beg to inform you that we were visited on the 2nd by what I imagine to be two shocks of an earth- quake. The first occurred at about 8.10 a.m., and was accompanied by a rumbling sound, which lasted about 10 or 12 seconds. The vibration of the ground was very slight, although it could be distinctly felt. The second shock was felt at 11.20 a.m. The vibration of the ground was very violent, causing houses to shake and the windows to rattle. This lasted about six seconds, and was accompanied by a rumble like the former, only heavier, which lasted about eight or ten seconds. Several peasants at work in the fields were much alarmed." ALLEGED GIGANTIC FRAUDS.—A shabby -looking man, named Thomas Irving Tait, who formerly carried on the business of an insurance broker, was, on Saturday, brought before the Lord Mayor, at the Mansion House, London, charged with being concerned, with Mr. Frederick Dimsdale and Mr. Charles Burrell Moore, in obtaining large sums of money from different parties by deposit- ing forged and fictitious leases. The amount of money said to have been obtained by the prisoners by means of this fraud is stated to. be £ 200,000, if not more. Some merely formal evidence was given, and the prisoner was remanded. When he was taken into custody he told the constable that it was no more than he expected, but he had signed the documents quite innocently, and thought Dimsdale was a respectable man. THE FATAL LIGHTHOUSE ACCIDENT.—The sea off Land's End having subsided sufficiently to admit communication by boat with Longships Light- house, official details have been obtained of the recent accident. The weather being fine on the day in question, the three long-pent-up light- keepers went out on the rocks to stretch their legs. Boyle, a young man, being in high spirits, was cautioned by the principal keeper to be care- ful, the seas being so treacherous. A moment after Boyle was overwhelmed by a wave. The two others rushed to the other side of the rock with ropes, and at the imminent risk of their lives, got a rope under Boyle's arms, and dragged him close to the rock. He seemed stunned and helpless, and was floated away by the strong tide. Owing to some confusion in working the new code signals on shore, five days elapsed before the fatality could be communicated. This is the fifth death under similar circumstances that has oc- curred during th8 short, tiraa since the lighthouse was completed.

AN EXTRAORDINARY RAILWAY ACCIDENT. On Sunday a goods train was left standing at Cowdenbeath station, on the North British Rail- way, and the driver, fireman, and guard went away, it is alleged, to get some drink. In their absence, some one got on the engine, reversed the gear, and put on the steam. The train dashed off, and, after running ten miles, crashed into a train at Cardenden station, knocking seventeen waggons to spliniers, and severely injuring the driver and nfcman. The damage amounts to several thousand pounds. The officials in charge of the runaway train have absconded.

RUSSIA AND HER REAL MOTIVES. (From the London Telegraph.) Affairs have now reached a point where statesmanship is compelled to stand aside, watch- ing the brute decisions of physical force, and of that "accidental" element which mingles so largely in human fortunes. But the pause in events gives time to the Cabinet and the country to recollect that we are gazing on no mere military spectacles in the two fields where the Osmanlis stands so gallantly at bay. Plevna and the quadrilateral on this side of the Bosphorus, and Kars with Erzerum on the other side, represent the only visible barriers at present erected in defence of the treaty signed by Lord Granville and of the policy established by our bygone foreign ministers and endorsed by all who have succeeded them. While these barriers stand, the huge and barbarous ambitions represented by the Russian hosts are still confined; and policy may speak from behind these ramparts more easily than will be possible if they shall hereafter yield, and present to us the un- toward sight of Armenia in Russian hands and the Balkans again crossed. Or if the passion of our home Russians for Turkish blood is not yet slaked, it will still be well for them and all to reflect that more than even Constantinople, the Bosphorus, and our overland roads to India, together with our reputation in the East, depend upon Osman and Ahmed Mukhtar. France, struggling for her new-born peace and liberty, is concerned in this campaign; the future of Hungary and Austria are bound up with it; nay, it is watched, perchance, by greedy and pitiless eyes which would turn from the scene where our ancient and natural ally lay pros- trate not to rejoice over a Bulgarian evan- gelised by the baptism" of blood, but to carry out long-cherished plans in the west of Europe, which would bring up many things, near and re- mote, into anxious question, and make the dullest understand what it had cost us to have Russia made paramount in Asia, and England isolated alike in that continent and this. It is only in the great empire most directly concerned next to that of his Majesty the Sultan that people are found so foolish as to imagine that the Russo-Turkish war is a demonstration of moral philosophy with Bulgarian amelioration as its purpose and consequence.

SINGULAR CONFESSION OF MURDER BY A WIFE. At a late hour on Nov. 2nd a young woman, giving the name of Mary Caddeller, went to the Hull Police Station and said she bad murdered her husband by pushing him into a. dock at Grimsby. Her statement, which was reduced to writing, was to the effect that her husband, who was a German, named John Caddeller, left her in London on the 29th ult., and she followed him to Grimsby, where she saw him near the railway station, talking to a woman to whom he had paid his addresses previously to his marriage. She remonstrated with him for having left her and for being in the company of the woman. She said it was not the first time he had been with her, and he replied that it would not be the last. He was drunk at the time, and when the other woman had left he asked his wife to walk along with him. She did so, and he took her to the water-side at the entrance of the Grimsby Docks. He then told her to stop there, and put his hand on her shoulder. It was very lonely, and she thought he meant to drown her, so she pushed him into the water. He afterwards rose to the surface of the water, and she heard him say, You have done it Polly." He then sank, and she saw him no more. She then came to Hull. She afterwards made another similar statement, in which she said she was brought up by Henry Wainwright, who was recently hung for the White- chapel murder. It is thought that she is of un- sound mind, but on her being examined by a me- dical man, he could not say that such was the case. Inquiries are being made respecting her.

RAILWAY COLLISIONS. On Tuesday a goods train from Liverpool to Preston ran into a goods train from Manchester, which was crossing the North-Western line at Euxton Junction. Both trains were crushed, and the line completely blocked. At that moment a passenger train from Carlisle to Liverpool came up, but was turned on to the down line, and the passengers escaped with a severe shaking. The line was blocked for some time. The down express from Waterloo Station, Lon- don, was run into on Tuesday by the We ymouth goods and passenger train. A director of the line, Mr. M. Guest, narrowly escaped, and several pas- sengers, including Mr. Allen, of London, were slightly shaken and bruised. A Weymouth cor. respondent, referring to this collision, says the express was just entering Dorchester station, when the other train, which was on the Wey- mouth loop line, ran into it, smashing the engine and breaking up the passenger carriages. Among the injured, he says, were the Mayor of Dorchester and Mr. Lock, and the borough surveyor of Wey- mouth. J

THE PROPOSED TESTIMONIAL TO MR. ALLPORT. I The Mayor of Derby, writing to the London papers, says:—" I think it will be conceded that, if cheap and rapid locomotion be a boon to the I people, a deep debt of public gratitude is due to Mr. James Allport, the general manager of the Midland Railway. This gentleman has, through- out a long and exceptionally active life (devoted to railway organisation and direction), upheld, unflinchingly and u ngrudgingly, the interests of the poorer sort of travellers. It is owing to him that third-class coaches were attached to all trains, so that the advantages to be attained by fast trains, fct low fares, were placed within the rcach of that considerable section of the community which was too much neglected in the infancy of railway legislation. In making known to you the fact that the nucleus of a committee (entirely unconnected Vith the Midland Railway) is now forming at Derby—the centre of the Midland system-for the purpose of enabling the admirers of Mr. Allport to combine in presenting him with a tes- timonial which, if raised by small individual subscriptions, shall be in every way a general recognition of his public-spirited policy, I venture to ask your invaluable aid. If the Lord Mayor could be prevailed upon to lend his powerful assistance to the fulfilment of this object, his lordship's example would, doubtless, be followed by provincial mayors throughout the kingdom."

PRESENTATION OF THE FREEDOM 01 THE CITY OF GLASGOW TO LORD HARTINGTON. On Monday afternoon the freedom of the City 01 Glasgow was conferred upon the Marquis of Hartirg ton in the City Hall. The hall was crowded. The LORD PROVOST opened the proceedings. Ht said: I have the honour, my Lord, to present you with the document by which you are made a free burgest and guild merchant of the city of Glasgow. (Loudchecrs.; The Marquis of HABTINGTOX, on rising, was receiveo with much cheering. He said:—However little I feel disposed to plead guilty to a charge of being actuated by any affectation of false modesty, 1 confess that I now feel somewhat at a loss to know on the ground of what public services rendered to the State the Lord Provost and the Council of this city have done me the honour of conferring this privilege upon me. It is true, as the Lord Provost has reminded you, that I have endeavoured to serve our country in several capacities; but although I am quite willing to believe that the will has not been wanting, I feel I must also confess that the necessary opportunity has not yet been afforded me of connecting my name with any signal service rendered to our country and to the State. I am led, from an observation which fell from the Lord Provost, to seek the reason for conferring this honour upon me from another fact. I believe that your Council rightly estimate very highly the benefits that have been conferred upon our country by parliamentary government, and that they believe that the healthy competition of parties is not a disadvantage inseparably connected with that parliamentary government, but is rather its life blood and its essence. Putting aside all subjects of mere party controversy, I believe that the Council of this city has desired to do honour to one of the great parties in the state, and to acknow- ledge, irrespective of all party feeling, that it has been the means of conferring great benefits and advantages npon the State. Your Council has therefore wished to do honour to one of these great parties in the person of one who, however unworthily, happens at this moment to have been called to fill an important position in regard to it. (Cheers.) It has been ob- served that it is one of the boasts of our country, and one of the fruits of our free constitution, and one of the many securities for its remaining free. that in this country there is no position, however honourable, however exalted, which is not open to any man how- ever humble his birth or origin. (Cheers.) It is not in derogation of this principle, or of this boast, it is rather one of the consequences and results of that which I have stated to you, that we also find that one who owes his position rather to the accident of birth than to any merits of his own is regarded among us without a particle of jealousy or of suspicion. (Cheers.) The truth of this observation is proved in my own case, for I am happy to be able on such an occasion as this to render my humble testi- mony not only to the cordial support which I have received from my friends, but to the generous forbearance and treatment which I have experienced bom my political opponents. (Cheers.) I can assure TOU that I estimate very highly the honour which has been conferred upon me of receiving the Freedom of the second City of the empire. (Cheers.) It is a city distinguished not only by its vast population, by its various industries, and its extended commerce, but it is also distinguished as the seat of an ancient and a learned university. I believe that that combination has been productive of great advantage to both. The number of students attending the university course attests the excellence of the instruction which it fur- nishes and the situation of the city, standing as it does the centre of a district of great mining and industrial capabilities, has no doubt exercised considerable effect apon the course of instruction and the course of study of the university. It has given an impulse, I am told, a strong impulse, to the prosecution in this university of studies connected with engineering science, and I am told that from those studies have reJblted great advantagesto your neighbourhood. (Hear hear.) But while science has done much for the development of your industry and the resources of your community, the energy of your citizens has done more. I believe that there are those—there may be those present among us to-day—who can remember the time when the river on which your city is situated, which is now crowded with shipping, was accessible only to vessels drawing only four or five feet of water, and it is to the wise foresignt of your Corporation and to the exercise of the energy of your citizens that you owe that marvellous development of your trade which has resulted in placing on the banks of your river the shipbuilding works which, as I believe, are unrivalled in the world. (Loud cheers.) And, gentle- men, while the energy of the citizens of Glasgow has been thus brought to bear upon the development of your industrial and commercial resources, you have not omitted to provide for the improvement of the conditions of your citizens in those material and social respects which have so great a bear- ing upon the well being of the community. Your city was among the first to recognise the imperative necessity of providing its inhabitants with a supply, or an adequate supply, of fresh water. The works which have brought the pure water of Loch Katrine amongst you have been the precursor of many similar under- takings in other cities. Again, you have led the way in the work of providing proper accommodation for the artisan and the labourer, who had previously been overcrowded in close and unhealthy quarters. And generally the exertions made by your Town Council, and the money laid out previously by you, have not only resulted in great benefit to your own city, in great improvement to the health of your citizens, but also have served as the example and as the model of legislation that has been adopted in respect of the empire itself. (Cheers.) You have not escaped, any more than other parts of our country, from the effects of the depression of trade, and you have also suffered from the still unsettled relations of capital and labour. Whatever are the causes that have a bearing upon the present depression of trade, there are one or two things which are quite certain. One is that we shall not witness a complete revival of trade until we see the restoration of European peace, (Hear, hear.) Another is that, however baa and gloomy things are at present, they would have been far worse if, instead of being neutral spectators of the war at present being waged, we had been actively parti- cipating in it. I believe that the influence of great industrial and trading communities such as yours has been, and alwavs will be, a powerful restraining influence upon the Government of th is country in making it preserve as long as possible an attitude of strict neutrality, whatever may be the state ot affairs on the continent. There are none who are so able to estimate the wide reaching and the far spreading effects of war, the misery and the devastation caused in homes throughout the whole empire by war, as those who are engaged in such enterprises as yours. There are none who can speak so powerfully as the representatives of such a community as this, of the overpowering in. terests which the communitv has in the maintenance of peace. (Hear, hear.) While I believe that in no part of her Majesty's dominions a more prompt response would be forthcoming were an appeal to be made to defend the honour or the safety or the real interests of this country—I say, while I believe that in no part of her Majesty's dominions would a more prompt response be forthcoming than in these great industrial centres, still I believe that the influence which they exercise and worthily exercise upon the public policy constitutes one of the greatest securi- ties against this country being again drawn into an un- necessary war. (Applause.) The time is long past since the legislature thought it was part of its province to interfere to settle the relations which ought to pre- vail between master and workmen. The time is also past-in fact, it will soon seem equal y distant—the time is now past, I say, for well meaning lectures addressed either to employers or labourers upon subjects which they are perfectly competent to settle for themselves. Gentlemen, perhaps it may not be altogether useless, at all events you will not consider it presumptuous, if your youngest citizen-(applause)-the citizen who now stands before you, ventures to address one or two words of warning to both parties engaged in this controversy. (Hear, hear.) I think it cannot be amiss if I remind you that the world is very wide, and that every fresh diseovery and every fresh application of science tends to widen the bounds of the industrial world. Whatever may be our natural advantages, whatever may be the superiority of the portion which we have attained, it is possible that these advantages and that superiority may be strained too far. And, gentlemen, it cannot be amiss that we should remember that as employers and workmen have it in their power mutually to promote the prosperity of each other, so each has it in its own power to destroy and ruin the prosperity of the other, its own prosperity, ana also the prosperity of the country. I think it cannot be amiss that we should recollect these things, and that if they were recalled somewhat more frequently than they often are we should hear less of these unfortunate disputes of capital and labour in our great industrial and com- mercial cities. (Hear, hear.) And now gentlemen, I think it will not be necessary that I should detain vou any longer. Known to most of you, as I am, solely iu a political capacity, I should have been unwilling to come amongst you, even upon such an occasion as this, without saying some words upon public matters had it not been that I believe I shall be afforded another opportunity before very long of addressing some of you (Applause.) I cannot hope, gentlemen, that I shall upon that occasion meet all whom I have had the pleasure of meeting this afternoon, but no doubt I shall see some of you. I feel that upon such an occasion as this, when party teel ings have been altogether laid aside, I be better that I should avoid touching upon any public questions, even those which do not form the present subject of party controversy. Gentle Llen, I will therefore content myself with thanking yon once more for the distinguished honour which has been conferred upon me in such graceful terms by the Lord Provost, ana by expressing, as I am able to do from the bottom of my neart, my most fervent wish for the con tinned prosperity and greatness of the city of Glasgow and the district of which it is the commercial and in. dustrial centre. (Loud cheering.) Lord ROSEBEBY and Mr. ANDERSON, M.P., in respond ing to ca.lls from the body of the meeting, delivered brief addresses. Lord Hartington subsequently left Glasgow for Dal tneney Park, the seat of the Earl of Rosebery.

THE INFLUENCE OF JOHN STUART MILL. The influence of Mr. Mill is by no means spent; though much oi his abstract philosophy is already obsolete. From his father he imbibed Bentham- ism, and Benthamism—which is, practically, un- mitigated utilitarianism—as a system, even as modified by Mr. Mill, is no longer tenable. But the cardinal maxim of Benthamism in regard to legislation is ever gaining firm hold. Again, Mr. Mill's advocacy of the rights of minorities, his plea. for toleration, his assertion of the utility of eccentricity, his protest against uniformity are all germinating and will bear fruit. It was his distinction that, though a democrat, he was never inclined to flatter demo- cracy, was by no means blind to the dan- gerous tendencies and defects of a democratic society, and was anxious to take precautions against them. Every day's experience goes to show the reality of the dangers he dreaded, and the need that exists for guarding liberty from the majority as well as from privileged minorities. We need but look to the United States for an example. If, indeed, democratic societies as there existing are to be preserved, and to be prevented from stagnating in uniformity, it is manifest that minorities must obtain the means of making themselves heard. Amongst ourtelves a dead level is impossible, though for other reasons the right of minorities may need vindication; but in the United States and the colonies it actually exists, though whether it will long be maintained may be open to question. It is, perhaps, in political economy that we see there also the spirit of Mr. Mill's writings most active. Not very long ago Mr. Lowe declared that political economists have hitherto paid too much attention to the phenomena of production, and have unduly neglected distribution. Now Mr. I.owe is a disciple of the school which regarded production almost as the sole domain of political economy, and in the House of Commons he was generally opposed to Mr. Mill's economical theories. Yet this declaration is in complete harmony with Mr. Mill's writings. He saw the incalculable importance of the pheno- mena of distribution, and in his treatise on the science he directed most attention to them. It matters little whether his special theories were right or wrong. The merit of a philosopher is .not to be measured by the correctness of his con- clusions on particular questions. If it were, Bacon would not hold a foremost place. Much more important are the principles and methods he inculcates, and the direction he gives to inquiry. In this respect the influence of Mr. Mill is still active.-Standard.

PRISONERS AND PRISON OFFICIALS. (From the London Telegraph.) The unblushing admissions of Benson and Kurr as to the facilities which they purchased, or by some means or other enjoyed, during their con- finement in the House of Detention and in New- gate, will doubtless put the authorities of all our prisons thoroughly and entirely on their guard; and among the benefits which may be expected to accrue from Mr. Cross's new Prison Act, may be the institution of a searching investigation into the domestic economy of gaols, to the very minutest details thereof, and the estab- lishment of a system of watchfulness which will render communication between prisoners a matter virtually of impossibility. In the prisons which are already under the control of the State, such irregularities appear to have been reduced to a minimum, and when the whole of our penal establishments have passed under the super- vision of the Government, the evil complained of will, it is to be hoped, all but entirely disappear. We are not so sanguine as to think that it can be eradicated at once, wholly and for ever. Human nature must always be stronger in the long run than the strongest of all prison discipline; nor will reduced diet, extra labour, the dark cell, or even the lash, altogether vanquish the inherent determination 1. of a thinking and sentient being to hold intercourse with his fellow-creatures. The lowest among criminal organisations, the stupidest and most degraded of mankind, will invent some coarsely cunning mode of having converse with those whom they meet twenty times a day, but to whom they are forbidden to speak. Iu the mo- dulated tap of a hammer, the twist of a mop, the manipulation of a scrubbing-brush, they may find a way of asking questions or of giving answers. When, however, the prisoner happens to be a naturally keen and inventive man of the intellectual calibre of a Benson or a Kurr. he may multiply his telegraphic code a hundredfold, and by fresh combinations full of well-nigh consummate adroitness bewilder and baffle the most vigilant and astute of gaol officials. He and his fellows may read sermons in stones and bad in everything. Fortunately, these very supe- rior rascals—these senior wranglers among male- factors—are rare. Society would be in evil case in- deed if Bensons andKurrs were common. The most we can do is to look after them with unremitting sharpness now that, luckily for society, we have got them well in hold. Yet, while subjecting these clever knaves to exceptionally careful super- vision, it behoves the governors and the chief warders of her Majesty's gaols to bear in mind that the mental capacity of even the dullest felons becomes sharpened and quickened by solitude, abstinence, and regular habits. Moreover it is not only those who are in custody, but the officers who are their custodians, that must be most care- fully supervised and inflexibly punished if they tolerate to the slightest degree any kind of com- munication between prisoners whom the law de- crees shall be kept apart in utter silence and isolation.

The prize of 5000 roubles offered in 1874 by the Russian Government for the best book on the "History of Cavalry" has been awarded to Lieut.-Col. George T. Denison, commanding the Governor-General's Body-Guard in Canada, whose work was recently published by Messrs. Macmillan and Co. The George Moore memorial scheme is, says the Carlisle Patriot, intended to come into operation in February next, if sanctioned by the Charity Commissioners by that time. The memorial scheme consists in the application of the interest of the invested fund in order to help on promising children in the elementary schools of Cumberland and Westmoreland by securing them places in higher schools. This week Mr. Moore's brother, Thomas, has contributed JE500 to the fund, and the Duke of Devonshire JE100. BREACH OF PROMISE CASE.—Application was made to the Judges of Common Pleas, on Satur- day, to set aside a verdict in which the landlady of the Bridge Inn, near Chester, obtained damages against a farmer named Strickland for breach of promise to marry plaintiff. She had had four husbands. For the farmer it was contended that the woman would not have improved her position by marrying, and, as a farmer's wife, she would have had to work hard.—Lord Coleridge: She m ght have become tired of being a landlord's fix- ture. (Laughter.)—Rule refused. A sad case of hydrophobia has just occurred at Gosport. Last week, Jas. Hickey, 18, a bands- man in the 65th Regiment, was playing with his cat, when it scratched him across the back of his hand. He was shortly afterwards taken ill, and was removed to Haslar Hospital. Symptoms ol hydrophobia presented themselves, and he died on the 1st inst. in great agony, sensible of his ap- proaching end to the last. The cat, which was supposed to have been bitten by a mad dog, was killed. Deceased was a young soldier, respect- ably connected, and was much esteemed by his comrades. PARLIAMENT AND THBT OBSTRUCTIVES.— Speaking last week at the annual dinner of the Maidstone Agricultural Association, Viscount Holmsdale, M P., suggested the appointment of a committee of members of the House of Commons empowered to suspend any member on his conduct being re- ported. Sir William Hart Dyke also spoke at the dinner. He said Parliament was exceedingly jealous of the rights of minorities. The Govern- ment had, however, determined not to put up with the obstructions to public business which had distinguished last session in the session shortly to commence, and to take decided steps to put a stop to them. MR. COBBETT AGAM.—Jn the Exchequer Court, on Saturday, Mr. Cowie, for the Treasury, ap- peared to oppose a motion in the case of Cobbett r. Earl of Beaconsfield and Sir 8. Northcote, which was an action brought to recover L2500 in respect of five penalties for maintaining defences to actions connected with the Tichborne case. Mr. Cobbett opposed the setting aside of the action.-The Lord Chief Baron, after frequent warnings to Mr. Cobbett, on account of his inter- ruptions, said the action was frivolous, and must be discharged with costs. He threatened to sommit Mr. Cobbett to prison .if he again inter- rupted the judge while delivering iudgment.

THE GREAT SCULLING MATCH ON THE THAMES. Sadler won the scullers' race over the cham- pionship course on Monday, beating Kelly by two lengths clear.

A MOTHER SHOT DEAD BY HER DAUGHTER. On Monday afternoon, at Orchard, a village mid- way between Shaftesbury and Sturminster, a young woman, said to be somewhat deranged, went indoors, deliberately loaded a gun, returned to her mother in the garden, and shot her dead.

CATTLE FROM CANADA. We, Central News," are informed that the steamer Lake Meganti, which was conveying cattle from Liverpool to Canada, and which it was feared would be prevented from landing her cargo by the Dominion Act regarding importation, pro- ceeded to Montreal from the quarantine ground, after three days' detention, discharged, loaded, and left Quebec for Liverpool on Sunday.

FEARFUL ATTEMPT AT MURDER BY A LUNATIC. At the Stafford Winter Assizes, on Monday, before Mr. Justice Manisty, a man named John Griffith was charged with attempting to murder a publican named Lewis, at Bilston, in July last. The pri- soner, who was a dangerous lunatic, stole into Lewis's room, and by means of a carving knife cut a fearful gash in prosecutor's throat. He was de- tected by Lewis's wife and captured before he had had time to complete his work. Lewis recovered from the injuries. The prisoner was ordered to be detained during her Majesty's pleasure.

THE INDIAN FAMINE. NO FURTHER APPEAL TO BE MADE FOR SUBSCRIPTIONS. At a meeting of the Mansion House Indian Famine Fund Committee held on Monday, the Lord Mayor presiding, it was announced that the fund amounted to £446,000. Two telegrams were read as follows: Madras, via Teheran, Mon- day.—Duke of Buckingham to the Lord Mayor of London.-Your Lordship's exertions have brought such liberal aid from all quarters that under present favourable prospects we gratefully say the collection may cease. Executive Relief Com- mittee concur." The second message was from the Secretary of the Madras Relief Com- mittee, dated Monday:—"Message received with reference to Governor's telegram. Please remember we shall continue active operations with the magnificent funds sup- plied until January or February." After the telegrams had been read, it was stated that the Australian Colonies had contributed £76,000. It was unanimously resolved that the Mansion House will make no further appeal. They will collect all subscriptions from the local committees and other sources with the least possible delay. Upon the motion of Sir Nathaniel Rothschild, a vote of thanks was passed to the Lord Mayor for hif exertions in connection with the fund, and his Lordship having replied, the committee separated.

SMALLPOX IN THE ISLE OF MAN. A minute has been issued by the Lieutenant- Governor of the island on this subject, from which we extract the following particulars:—It appears that the outbreak of the disease has been clearly traced to a visitor who was removed to the hos- pital; and it is supposed that the contagion was conveyed by a woman connected with the hos- pital, who herself caught the smallpox. The first attacked in Douglas were those who had never been vaccinated. This gave the disease a hold which it might otherwise not have obtained, but once esta- blished in the most crowded part of the town, it has spread as below stated. Since the 8th of July there have been altogether in Douglas 102 cases. Of this number 27 had been vaccinated, 62 never vaccinated, one case of innoculation, and 12 vacci- nated after innoculation. Among the unvacci- nated there have been 20 deaths, whilst amongst those attacked, and with whom vaccination had taken, only three died. The number of deaths amongst the unvaccinated persons has been at the rate of 1 in every 21, as against a death-rate of 1 in 13 amongst those who at some period of their life had been vaccinated. The Lieutenant-Go- vernor from these statistics draws the following deductions:—First, that, supported as they are by similar experience in England, they point to the necessity of compulsory vaccination secondly, that the Common Lodging-house Act should be so amended as to bring within its scope those houses that are let out in single rooms or flats, and which are to all intents and purposes common lodging- houses, as in the common lodging-houses as at present defined there has not been a single case of smallpox; thirdly, the necessity of the appoint- ment of a responsibe sanitary officer for the whole island; and fourthly, the compulsory closing, where water can be obtained from the mains, of all wells within towns into which sewage and animal matter are likely to percolate. In con- clusion, the Lieutenant Governor earnestly urges the want of large hospital accommodation.

Mr. Hoyle, commission agent, of Mytholmroyd, who was injured in the railway accident which occurred on Wednesday week at Sowerby Bridge, died on Sunday morning. The Queen has been graciously pleased to sig- nify her Majesty's intention of conferring the honour of knighthood on Mr. James Bain, Lord Provost of Glasgow, and on Mr. Andrew Barclay Walker, Mayor of Liverpool. An endeavour is being made to procure a com- mutation of the sentence of death passed on Henrv March for the murder of his fellow-work- man and his master, at Wymondham. It is said that evidence is forthcoming as to his having suffered from aberration of mind some years ago. A memorial to the Home Secretary is being signed. The anniversary of the gunpowder plot was celebrated in Lewes on Monday with the usual fervour which has rendered the town notorious. From early evening till near midnight a continual series of illuminated processions paraded the town, and effigies of the Pope, Guy Fawkes, &c., were consigned to the flames. There was no serious damage. DEATH OF SIR CHARLES FORBES, BART.—Sir Charles Forbes, of Newe and Edinglassie, county Aberdeen, Bart., died on the 2nd inst., at Broom Wood, Surrey, after a protracted illness. The de- ceased baronet had just entered his 75th year. He was educated at Harrow, and was for some years captain in the 17th Lancers. He is suc- ceeded in his hereditary title and estates by his eldest son. Mr. De Morgan addressed an open air meeting of the agitators in the Plumstead Common ques- tion on Monday at Woolwich. A torchlight procession was formed and marched through the principal thoroughfares; and on the Plumstead Common, where a gallows had been erected, several effigies representing the lords of the manor and others were burnt in chains. There was no disturbance. ROBBERIES IN SOUTH LONDON.—" A Victim" in- forms the Times that at the Queen's Hotel, Upper Norwood, one day last week, while a lady and gentleman were at dinner, between six and seven o'clock, the adjoining bedroom was entered by thieves, who ransacked the drawers, wrenched open a portmanteau, and took away jewellery and property to the amount of between three and four hundred pounds. The robbery was accomplished in little more than 20 minutes, and was discovered by the lady opening the door leading into the bed room from the sitting room, when the clothes which the thieves had not taken were seen scattered on the floor. THE HEAVY FAILURE IN HULL.-At the Lon- don Bankruptcy Court, before Mr. Registrar Hazlitt, sitting as chief judge, on Saturday, the affairs of Thomas Kitchen, a hop and seed mer- chant, of Hull, who recently failed for £ 420,000, were brought before the court in reference to an application which had been made by a creditor for J6397, and who applied to show cause why cer- tain promissory notes which were said to be ac- cepted by the creditors as security for a composi- tion of 2s. 6d, in the pound should not be at once handed over to them. It appears that the credi- tors have passed a resolution under the 28th sec- tion of the Act accepting a composition. Mr. Cooper Willis, as counsel for Mr. Peter Schroeder, applied to the court for a postponement of the hearing, on the ground that as the scheme in ques- tion was confirmed by another registrar of the court, sitting as chief judge, it would be more con- venient that the application should be heard before him. No opposition being raised, it was directed that the hearing of the application should stand over until the 24th inst., when it would come be- fore Mr. Registrar Spring Rice.

MH. BARRY SULLIVAN' IN DUBLIN. Mr. Barry Sullivan, on his arrival in Dublin on Saturday, was met at the WestlaudRow Station by a large crowd, accompauyiog a brass band, and all business was suspended by their having occupied the entire front of the station. The popular ovation given to the actor was en- I thusiastic. He was taken in the Lord Mayor's carriage to his hotel, the Lord Mayor having re- ceived him on the platform. Sir M. H. Beach arrived at the station, on his way to England, and seemed much surprised at the extraordinary scene.

THE HEALTH OF THE POPE. Dr. Ceccarelli has permanently taken up his abode at the Vatican, so as to be near the Pontiff, whose condition is such that his secret surgeon" has to visit him three, and occasionally four, times a day. The general health is now so enfeebled that the power of sitting upright in a chair is well- nigh gone. If the Pope, for example, leans back, his body falls towards the right; and, to obviate this, the arm of the chair has been elevated 20 centimetres, and furnished with a kind of crutch, on which he supports his right arm when he wishes to raise his chest. Dr. Ceccarelli does not consider the Pope's health as alarming, but he is anxious to have the issues in both legs re-estab- lished with more salutary effect. Meanwhile the intellect and the spirits maintain their cL;a-ac- teristic lucidity and flow.-Lancet.

AN IRISH MURDER. In the Court of Queen's Bench last week an ap- plication was made to admit one Paul Logan to bail. The prisoner, against whom, with others, a true bill had been found for murder, was ar- rested on the 14th of July last, on board a Trans- atlantic steamer in Liverpool, he being, under a false name, about to leave for America. The alleged murder took place near Limavady, in the county of Derry, under somewhat peculiar cir. cumstances. It is stated that the prisoner and two other accused prisoners, only one of whom is amenable, were with the deceased man, Wm. Kelley, members of a Ribbon lodge. Kelley owed his contributions to the lodge, and a dispute took place about it. Logan and his party went to the residence of KcUy and called him out, and on his appearing he was knocked down, kicked about the head and body, and injured in such a maimer that he died shortly afterwards. Counsel for the prisoner said his client, who belonged to the respectable farming class, was prepared to give bail to the amount of R-500 for his appearance to take his trial at the next assizes. The Crown opposed the motion, which the Court refused, holding that the offence charged was of a most serious character, and that as the accused had already endeavoured to evade justice by leaving the country, it might reasonably be supposed that he would do so again if at large.

A LEADER OF FASHION. In a letter from Paris, a correspondent of Truth reports an interview with Worth. We read that he has a large establishment in the Rue de la Paix, where four hundred young women stitch, stitch, stitch, not at all in poverty, hunger, and rags. His employes number twelve hundred in all, and during the Commune, when nobody ordered dresses, or anything else, Worth provided for seventy of his employes, though he, too, suffered for want of decent food. Wasn't it good of him? And isn't it queer, that this leader of fashion should come from the country that is accused of having DO taste? Worth is English, born fifty-two years ago in Lincolnshire! Once upon a time he was a clerk in Marshall and Snel- grove's, and at 25 years of age he set out for Paris, with a few pounds in his pocket. Brains were his only capital. That the man is a genius in his profession is as evident as the multiplication table. He inherited his ability from his mother, who possessed exquisite taste. He says exactly what he thinks, consequently he is very original and very amusing. What would be extraordinary iu anyone else seems to bo perfectly natural in him. A great dame once went up to Worth to show him the new costume she wore for the first time. Glancing at her, Worth exclaimed, I Yoiir dress is spoiled by your gloves. Take them off.' And off they came."

BRUTAL MURDER AT BRADFORD. Late on Saturday evening a brutal murder was committed at the Spinners' Arms, Clifford street Bradford. On Saturday several men went to tht Spinners' Arms and remained there drinking until a short time before eleven o'clock. L< giving an order for more beer a dyer'a labourer, named Michael Dunn, 28 years of age, complained to Donoghue, the landlord, that the beer he had previously was had. A quarrel ensued, but Donoghue brought some fresh beer, and Dunn was quieted. In giving change for the beer, however, Donoghue pulled out a sovereign, which was snatched from his hand by one of the men present. A disturbance ensued, and a police- officer named Watmough, hearing of it, en- tered the house, but was obliged to go for assistance. As he was doing so he was set upon by some of the men who had been in the house, and was severely hurt. After the disturbance was over Dm.n remained in the house, and Watmough was taken to the Infirmary. Subsequently two constables went a little before two o'clock on Sunday morning to Donoghue's, to ascer- tain the names of the men who had assaulted Watmough, and they found the dead body of Dunn lying in the back passage in a pool of blood. The body was removed to the Town Hall and there examined by a medical man, who found the skull fractured in five places. Other injuries had been inflicted on Dunn, and all apparently had been caused by a weapon resembling a loaded riding whip which belonged to Donoghue, and was used by him in the first row. Donoghue and a lodger of his named Michael Lyons, a sailor, were immediately ap- prehended on a charge of murder, and subse- quently Mrs. Donoghue was arrested as an accessory. Blood has been found in profuse quantities in the house and from the back door to the place where the body of Dunn was found. Blood has also been discovered on Donoghue's clothing. Two other men—Jonathan Conroy and James Whelan—are also in custody for havhf" assaulted the constable, Watmough.

Earl Beaconsfield intends to trump Mr. Glad- stone's Irish card by giving next session a charter of incorporation to the Catholic University of Ire- land.—Coining Events. The 6th Dragoon Guards are held in readiness to embark at Portsmouth for India on December 29th. The regiment will embark on board her Majesty's Indian troopship Euphrates. The Bristol Chamber of Commerce have carried a resolution in favour of convel ting the river Avon into a floating dock throughout the seven miles of its course from Bristol to Kingroad. The Prince of Wales is to visit Spain in the ,,I spring, on the personal invitation of the young King, who received much kindness from his Royal Highness when he was a Woolwich cadet. Comirg

At Witham, Essex on Monday, a mob stole fuel to replenish a bonfire. The police interfered, but were stoned and compelled to retreat. One con- stable was severely wounded by a blow on thehead. A labourer, named John Pennington, for unlaw- fully assaulting a young girl at Cut Syke, near Wakefield, was on Monday sent to prison by the Wakefield magistrates for six months' hard labour. The opening meet of her Majesty's staghounds took place at noon on Tuesday at Salt hill, near Slough. Although the weather was miserably I y damp, there was a large field and a considerable attendance of spectators. The numoer of men discharged from the army for bad character in each vear since 1868 is as under:—In 1869, 2470; in" 1870, 1616; in 1871, 1032; in 1872, 1694; in 1873, 2065; in 1874, 1648; in 1875, 1667; and in 1876, 1682. It is announced from Abergeldie that Miss Knollys passed a favourable night on Sunday, and was on Monday in a more hopeful state than on any day since the fever first manifested itself, but she is not yet out of danger. It is now arranged that the Princess of Wales will leave Abergeldie about the middle of next week. Her Majesty drives over daily from Balmoral to inquire after Miss Knollys. MINERS' WAGES IN WALES.—The colliers' sliding scale committee met at Cardiff on Tuesday, and received the report showing the average net sell- ing prices per ton of coal delivered at Cardiff, Newport, and Swansea during the six months ending last June. The committee agreed that these prices applied under the award of 1875, and decided that the minimum standard of wages provided for therein shall prevail from June to Dec. 18th, 1877. The Central Chamber of Agriculture, at its opening sessional meeting in London on Tuesday decided to send a deputation to the Lord President with a memorial asking the Government to carry into effect the recommendation of the Committee on Cattle Diseases, which accorded with the views of the Chamber. The motion of Mr. Clare Reed in favour of representative county boards was unanimously supported. Mr. Justice Manisty, in charging the grand jury at the Staffordshire assizes on Monday, said only two out of the thirty prisoners had any education. If education and improvement of the dwellings of the masses could only go hand-in-hand, crime would be considerably decreased, and the bulk of the people made much happier than at present. The calendar was not a subject for congratula- tion, either as to the number or the quality of the offences. ST. ANDREW'S UNIVERSITY RECTORIAL CONTEST.-— A meeting of students favourable to the election of a non-political candidate for the rectorial chair was held on Monday, when Mr. Robert Browning, the poet, was selected. During the afternoon the leaders of the Conservative party received a. telegram from the Marquis of Salisbury declining to allow himself to be put in nomination, and it is expected that either Mr. Matthew Arnold or Professor Tyndall will be adopted by them. A London correspondent writes: Mr. O'Donnell, M.P., sent an article to the Nineteenth Century in June, and he says the editor accepted it—before, it would appear, the hon. member had made him- self immortal in the House of Commons. The editor came to the conclusion that Mr. O'Donnell's name was not an attractive one, and he. returned the MS. Highly indignant, as usual, the member for Dungarvan wrote to the Times, but this journal refused to insert his letter, regarding it as per- sonal and private." Here are two distinct wrongs for which Ireland must be avenged. SERIOUS ROBBERY. A great robbery was com- mitted at Bury St. Edmunds on Sunday last at the establishment of Messrs. Christie and Keeble, dealers in works of art. On Saturday evening jElOO was bander to the assistant to place in the safe. On Monday he was found to have decamped, taking with him, besides the money, 14 gold watches, 65 silver watches, 15 ladies' chains, 12- gold rings, 36 wedding rings, 30 antique rings, 5 diamond rings, 200 rings of various kinds, 20 gold pins, 200 ancient silver coins, and various other things. The police are in pursuit. A CHRISTIAN BURIAL IN A JEWISH CEMETERY.— The Home Secretary is to be asked to order the exhumation of a body in the Jewish Cemetery at Mile-ehd under peculiar circumstances. An un- known man died from apoplexy at a mission ser- vice. It was supposed he was a Jew, and he was buried in the Jewish Cemetery, but a man named George Davison, of Church street, Minories, has since turned up who, by the portrait and clothes, identifies the body as that of his brother, who, he says, was not a Jew. The Jewish community de- says, was not a Jew. The Jewish community de- sire the removal of the body; but, as objections have been raised, it is said the Home Secretary is to be appealed to. Reports from English farmers in all parts of the- country, says the Chamber of Agriculture Journal, are of a gloomv description; and the accounts1 from the North, and especially from Scotland, are still more distressing—corn unharvested, much uncut, a great proportion cut quite green, oats proving very deficient as well as wheat, which is the worst crop known, and barley of wretched quality. Grazing is a losing business. Store and half-fèd cattle are beipg thrust upon the market for want of roots to feed them on, and the prices have tumbled down; and the disastrous failure of the turnip crops is estimated at millions of pounds loss. THE BISHOP OF CHESTER ON PRIVATE CONFESSION. -In the course of his triennial charge to the clergy of the diocese of Chester, in Chester Cathe- dral, on Monday, Dr. Jacobson alluded to the question of private confession, and said that on any such subject it was obviously of the greatest importance to ascertain what was the teaching of the Church on the subject. The Church did not regard confession as a necessity of Christian life, and it was not, as one of the Church's greatest, divines had said, a divine commandment. The practice was only recommended to us for use in extreme cases. Scripture, rightly understood,, could not be taken to enforce it, nor did the practice of the Church for a thousand years do so. Confession to the Great High Priest was, in the judgment of the Church of England, enough, and nowhere was it suggested in her teaching that private confession should be with any of 111 habitual, frequent, or periodical.