Papurau Newydd Cymru
Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru
9 erthygl ar y dudalen hon
THE DISPUTED ROWING MATCH…
THE DISPUTED ROWING MATCH ON THE THAMES. In the Court of Queen's Bench, last week, the some- what singular case of Sadler v. Smith was decided. This case which had been pending a long while, and has been repeatedly before the Court, arose out of an abortive race between Sadler and Kelly. The race proved abortive by reason of a difficulty as to starting. The men were to start themselves and could not agree about it. Kelly rowed back to the referee and said that Sadler would not start. The referee, who, it should be observed, had been too far off to see what had occurred, and was also too far off from Sadler for the latter to hear what passed, said, Then if he won't start, you row over the course." Upon this Kelly turned round, and upon coming near Sadler cried out, I'm going to row over," and accordingly rowed right away, and was declared the winner. Sadler diilsatibfied with this, sued the stakeholder for his stakes. At the tria 1 before the Lord Chief Justice the jury found that Sadler had not heard what passed, and had not a fair opportunity for starting. The Lord Chief Justice upon that directed a verdict for the plaintiff. The question was whether it should stand, the de- fendant, the stakeholder, insisted that it should not, because by the agreement the decision of tile referee was to be final. On the other hand, the referee him- self, who admrited at the trial that he had been rather too hasty, stated that he had never intended that Kelly should row over as he had done without giving Sadler a fair opportunity of starting. After a long and obstinate argument by the counsel for plaintiff and defendant, The Chief Justice in giving his judgment, said the merits of the case were plainly with Sadler, for he had not had any fair opportunity of starting, and according to the referee's own account of the matter his intentions had not been carried out, and Kelly had taken an unfair advantage of his competitor. It was insisted however, that the decision of the referee should be regarded as final But he thought that it was not so in the present instance. No doubt, whenever tne parties had provided that, in a given event, a certain party should judge between them, his decision was final. But this was a very different case, for the event upon which the referee had to decide had never occurred at all, for there had been no start and no race. Moreover there had been no decision. The referee's order was that a start should be made. That order was never, however, complied with. There never was a start as he had directed, and there had been no race. It was contended that he had deter- mined that there had been by awarding the stakes to tne other competitor; but his power to do so depended upon there having been a start and race. The fact, however, Wits tha,i there had been no start afad no race and therefore the authority to award the stakes failed, so Lhat, as the award of the stakes wail with- out authority, the plaintiff was entitled to recover his share of the stakes. He, therefore, was entitled to judgment, Mr. Justice Hannen concurred, and although he observed, he had felt some hesitation in arriving at that conclusion, he said he had at last been enabled to arrive at it without doubt. The referee bad awarded generally that Kelly was entitled to the stakes, but no one could say that would have been binding if there had been no race and no rowing at all. The referee assumed that what he had directed had been done— namely, that Kelly should give Sadler a fair start. The events, therefore, on which the referee's power to award the stakes depended had never arisen. There- fore the award of the stakes had no validity. Mr. Justice Hayes entirely agreed. It was as though one of the parties had started afraid of the other, and the stewards seeing him come past, and assuming that he had started fairly, had hell him to be the winner, whereas there had been no race at all, and no authority to make a decision. Judgment for the plaintiff, Sadler, to recover his stakes.
DISCOVERY OF ANOTHER DIAMOND…
DISCOVERY OF ANOTHER DIAMOND AT THE CAPE.— We are happy in being able to announce that another diamond has reached the Cape Town from the neighbourhood of the Orange River (writes the Cape Argus). It is described as by far the most beautiful of the gems which have yet been found. Although a small one, weighing only four carats, it has been valued at a high figure. Several conflicting reports are in circulation as to the place at which it was found. Our own correspondent at Colesberg, in communicating the fact, says:—"Mr. O'Reilly says he had it from a Kafir, who said t'r at he picked it up on the banks of the Hart River. If this is true, it is important, as pointing towards the spot from which the diamonds that have been found have probably descended." It is to be regrett, d that hitherto no sy^einatic inspection of \¡;¡.tt conntry hy a competent authority has bten undertaken, although the fact of so many valuable stones being found is indisputable. Most of the diamonds which have been discovered up to the present time have been purchased by his Ex- cellency the Governor, and Mr. Wollaston, who goes to England by the present mail steamer, has received his Excellency s permission to exhibit them to in- terested persons. PROFITS OF LONDON CROSSTNG-SWEEPERS.—A writer in the Daily Neics, having, as he thought, been on the safe side in mentioning six shillings as the pro- bable minimum value of a certain crossing-sweeping near the Clubs, a competent authority, Mr. H. Cecil SykeB, of the Committee of the Crossing-Sweepers' Brigade, says that the writer's conception of the sub- ject was lamentably poor and inadequate. He has had to do with dozens of boys who have followed crossing- sweeping as an occupation, and he vouches for the fol- lowing facts ;— One boy who has swept a triangular crossing in the neighbûurhoorl of Camden-town for fifteen years, states that one Christmas morning he earned thirty shillings before dinner. Another, hardly as tall as his broom, earned fifteen shillings in the two hours preceding Divine service. Many suh extraordinary harvests are on record; while all my informants agree that for a boy who sticks to his work, in any neighbourhood, two, three, awl four shillings a day are the average earnings, according to the tact and address of the youngster. The boys in uniform, belonging to the Brigade, bring home no such sums nightly, though it seems impossible to ascertain what they actually receive. They seldom make their appearance with more than the regulation tenpence demanded for their keep. To show the way in which people encourage mendicancy, Mr. Cecil Sykes mentions that some actually give the boys money not to be put into their boxes, as their rule requires, but to spend on themselves, and adds: "what can we do when thwarted by such pig-headed stupidity ? "DANCING MAD." — Communications from Vienna give the following particulars relative to the quarrel amongst some of the soldiers. A number of Polish hulans and Hungarian hussars were together at a dancing-room, when, after a waltz, the former called for a muzurka, their national dance; the others im- mediately demanded the czardasck, which holds the lame estimation amongst the Magyars. Gradually the cries increased, and on the men losing their tem- pers, a collision ensued. The hussars who had their sabres attacked the others who were unarmed, but who speedily sought their swords and piston. and the fight became general. The efforts of the officers who hastened to the spot, were unavailing to calm the effervescence until a body of infantry was brought, who, with bayonets 'fixed, penetrated into the house and, getting between the combatants put an end to the contest. Two hus-ars were found to have been mortally wounded, and eleven of their adversaries more or less seriously injured. A NEW BONNET MATERIAL.—At a meeting of the Reyal Botanical Society on Saturday, the assistant secretary, Mr. Sowerby, exhibited a bonnet which had been received from Jamaica. It was made of a novel material, said to be the skin of the leaf of the Indian dagger plant. Mr. Sowerby had found, by microsco- pical examination, that the substance agreed in struc- ture with the cuticle of the Yucca. The skin has the appearance of glazed tissue paper or very thin wood shavings. As it is exceedingly fragile, it would scarcely be suitable for clothing which is meant to be of any durability. The largest samples are 1 to 2 feet long, and as many inches broad. GOOD NEWS FOR PHONOGRAPHERS.—The New York Tribune says :— The short-hand reporters of this city who use the phono- graphic system, have resolved themselves into a league or guild, the object being to advance the interests of their craft. The demand for first-class phonographers increases each year their services being found of great value in all the law courts, where the preservation of verbatim reports of testimony materially expedites business. The pay of good short hand reporters is from 4,000 dols. to 6,000 dols. a-year, and there IS not a sufficient number of properly qualified memhers of the profession m thl3 city. In view of the needs of the future it is proposd o teach the art of phonographic writing to the advanced pupils of the public schools. A BANK MANAGER CHARGED WITH EMBEZZLE- MENT.—The late manager of the Congleton branch of the Manchester and Liverpool District Bank was examined before the local magistrates on Saturday on a charge of embezzlement. The defendant had dis- counted various bills of exchange, but had returned to the bank a smaller amount of discount than he had actually received, which was the misappropriation complained of. It was alleged, however, that these were personal transactions, for which he, and not the bank, was liable, and in proof of this it was alleged that when any of these bills were dishonoured he paid the amount out of his private means. The magistrates committed the case for trial, but accepted small bail for the defendant. CHANGES !—A leading Vienna journal, m an article highly flattering to the Emperor of the remarks and eulogistic on his Speech from the Throne, remar that- ohaui ?'nce a Liberal movement in Paris was f, Mnr,, !r, nnliHe WOrld- Paris 1vas then the Capital of the fashio p itic3 a3 well as in women's dres3. At pre- i-f- v '1 .i | e former capacity is dead and gone W e have got r hese influences from beyond the Rhine, and we now cut our political liberties atter a fashion of our own. The domestic politics of France have ceased to affect us." Who would have thought twenty-five years ago," exclaims the Journal des Debats, that Prance would one day be bantered in this style by the Austriana ROMAN CATHOLIC PEERS.—It appears from the official record of the Roman Catholic community in this country that the peerage of the three kingdoms includes at present thirty Roman Catholics, against sixteen at the time when the Emancipation Act was passed, forty years ago. It must be observed, how- ever, that several peerages, such as those of Beau- mont, Camoys, Herries, Bellew, and Lovat, have either been called out of abeyance or created since that date. The Earldom of Shrewsbury is .0 longer held by a Roman Catholic, but, on the other hand, Archbishop Manning can boast of such converts as Lord Bute, Lord Denbigh, and Lord Gainsborough. FRENCH ANECDOTES.—The French newspapers are never great in news, but they are prodigiously great in anecdote and we may quote two, though each for a different reason. The first is the report of a conversation between the Empress and the Princess Clotbilde The Empress complainpd of the great fatigue of the re- ceptions at Court, and asked the Pr:ncess whether she did not feel it also. The Princess, who is proud of her ancient lineage, is reported to have replied, with a covert reflection on the Empress, "Oh, no, ) our Majesty; for I have lieen used to it from my infancy." Ther is not much, perhaps, in this hit; but it is worth quoting as indicating the tone of the French press. With all her beauty an 1 grace, the Empress is not too popular in France journlists are not unwilling to be somewhat unconrtly in their referenc0s to her, and they have some liberty to be thus critical. The other anecdote has quite another kind of in- terest. It is interesting chiefly as bearing on the question of national humour, and is reported with much merriment in all the French journals :— The mother lost her little boy, and was il1consoh,ble. Some one came to comfort her, dwelt on the gooduess ot the child, and reminded her that he wa-,thtn happy with the saints in bliss. Oh yes," cried the afflicted mother, "he is in heaven but Tommy always was a shy hoy, as shy can be and he's now among perfect strangers Oh dear oh dear Our French friends are greatly tickled with the sim- plicity of this reply, and go on repeating it on all sides. BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY !—A letter to the Journal do Recife states the following :— Delfina Rodriguez 5eabra, a widow, upwards of 100 years of age, residing on the grazing farm called Cachoeira ùo Roberto, had by her marriage from Roberto Ramos D* Silva, 17 children, and from them count, more than 1110 grandchil- dren, upwards of 300great-grandchildren, a11d some lOO great- fere at-gram: children, some of whieh last have children. With herself, her family is composed of about 600 persons. Delfina still goes to church to kneel at the mass, but cannot, however, walk there herself, amI is therefore carried in a sedan chair. She still possesses her intellectual faculties and has given many proofs of this. DEATH FROM CHLOROFORM.—An inquest has been held in Leeds, on the bodv of James Gregson, aged forty-nine, a mechanic. On Thursday last the man submitted to an operation at the Infirmary, which was performed by Mr. Wheelhouse and Mr. Teale, and at his own request was put under chloroform, which Mr. Bradley, the house surgeon, administered. Two or three minutes after the opera- tion had been concluded, Mr. Bradley felt the patient's pulse suddenly stop; and immediate efforts were made to restore animation, but although these were continued about half an hour they were without avail. The jury returned a verdict finding that death had occurred from the effects of chloroform acting upon the diseased state of the heart, and expressing the opinion that due care had beeo exercised in the administration of the chloroform. HOPING ON !—The birthday of Francis II., ex-King of Naples (18th inst.), was duly commemorated at the Farnese Palace. In the morning the King re- ceived a deputation of Neapolitans and Sicilians, who presented him with addresses from the principal cities of his old kingdom, bearing altogether 200,000 signa- tures. The deputation, after reading the addresses, expressed a hope that the present year would terminate the usurpation whieh separated the King from his faithful subjects, and restore him to the throne of his ancestors. Francis II., in his reply, said that God permitted disasters to occur for the good of man, so the past would be instructive both to his beloved sub- jects and himself, and he should return to them to form ties which the whole world could not break. He added that he shared their hope that the present year would bring about this result, for which he prayed unceasingly to God and he should look for it with more con. fidence after receiving these addresses. THE BALLOT INEV;TABLB.—The London cor- respondent of the Liverpool Albion writes :— It is the opinion oi all well-informed Liberals here that the ballot is inevitable. The proceedings of some of the recent elections have converted some of its most conscientious opponents, Mr. Bruce among the number. In this, as in most other matters of public policy, there is a choice of evils, and what we shall have to do is to choose the side in which there are the fewer. The ballot may and probably wi1l1eaù to an increase of ordinary lying and of hypocrisy, but as against these disadvantages there will be less perjury, and infinitely less bribery, and we shall have people voting for those whom they really wish to see returued: Before the present Parliament expires we shall in all probability have the ballot, and a measure to tlx on counties and boroughs the expenses of the election of their members. As INCIDENT OF LIFE IN LONDON.—A corre- spondent writes :— "Some years ago a respected citizen, died, not making a will; his wife and children stepped in to administer; but another wife and other children also made their claim. It was then lliscovered that this steady man had two homes, and that he spent a quiet domestic life, turn and turn about, at either. In each he had a wife and in each a grown- up family. The second wife knew nothing of the first: the first had never dreamed of the second but each regarded him as a commercial traveller, bound by business to make occasional journeys from home. The anecdote illustrates the more than geographical distance that separates one part of London from another, and the possibilities of concealment. THK SURIO SIGN OF DEATH.—The Marquis d'Ourches, by his will, founded a prize of 20,000 fr. for the discovery of a sure and simple means of recog- nising if death be real or apparent. Dr. Carri8re (says the Courrler de V Eurt) intends to claim the money for a process which he has employed for forty years. This system consists in placing the hand, with the fingET, closed, before the flame of a lamp or candle. In the living person the members are transparent and of a pinkish color, showing the capillary circulation and !ife in full activity whilst in that of a corpse, on the contrary, all is dull ald dark, presenting neither sign of existence nor trace of the blood current. THB ESTATES OF DRUMMOND CASTLE.—A caso of importance was oil Friday disposed of by the Court i of Session, in Edinburgh. The Second Division sent out of court, on a preliminary objection to his title to sue, the Earl of Perth, who has rtcently appeared as a claimant to the extensive estates of Druinmond Castle, in Perthshire, held by the trustee of the late Lady Willoughby d'Eresby. These estates came into the hands of the Crown on the forfeiture in 1746 of Lord John Drummond, brother of the third Duke of Perth, wh,) became apparent heir to the said estates at the death of the duke in May of that year. The estates were granted by the Crown to Lord Perth, father of the late Lady Willoughby, in 1785. The pursuer maintained that the estates had not been af- fected by the Act of Attainder of 1746, and were still in the hcereditas jacens of the third duke; but the Court refused to give effect to this contention. A MURDERER TRACKED BY THE DOG OF HIS VICTIM.—A man named Legrand was tried a few days since at Melun for the murder at Coulommiers of Felicie Bouery, aged 18, daughter of an innkeeper of that neighbourhood. This crime was a cruel act of vengeance the father of the deceased had put an execution into the premises of the accused, a wheel- wright, to obtain payment of £7 for wood supplied to him, and Legrand, in order to be revenged on Bouery, laid wait for the daughter and cut her throat. A woman who had been attracted to the spot by the cries of the deceased, saw the murderer escape into a wood, followed for a few seconds by a dog which belonged to the young woman the animal then returned to pro- tect the body of his mistress, but shortly after, accom- panied by several persons, he was again put on the track, which he followed to a copse, where he com- menced barking on the spot being searched Legrand was discovered in an abandoned marlpit, standing up to his middle In water, in which he had probably entered for the purpose of cleansing the traces of the crime from his clothes. He at once gave himself into custody, and confessed his guilt. He was now con- I demned to hard labour for life. THE MfLD WINTER. -I cannot conceive what is coming to the weather (says a. humorous writer in Land and Water, writing before the welcome frost commenced). I suppose the clerk thereof is indisposed, and cannot attend to bis work. Warm Januaries like the present are by no means desirable. During the present month the temperature has been unusually high. The thermometer marked at Vienna, on the 7th of December, 15.6 centigrade (60 Fahrenheit) above zero. So high a temperature at this period of the year has not been observed in that city since 1775. Warm Januaries have, however, occurred before. \Ve read that the January of 1662 was as warm as the middle of May or June, so that a fast was proclaimed, and prayers read in the churches for more seasonable weather. Apples were growing at the time. My own opinion is that the Gulf Stream has got into a kink (as the sailors say) somewhere. THE MAKING OF GOLD CHAINS.—At a quar- terly meeting of the Birmingham Assay Masters, it has been resolved "that the guardians see no reason for departing from the present practice of the Bir- mingham Assay-office in the assaying and marking of gold chains—namely, to assay only such gold chains as are of such fashion and make as to allow of their being satisfactorily assayed and marked on every link the bars, the swivels, and the links are assayed sepa- rately, and the standard mark is struck upon every link as well as upon the bar and swivel." This deci- sion will be a great security, so far as the public is concerned. BABEL IN ROME.—A letter from Rome, in the Monde, has the following :— In compliance with a usage which dates from a very re- mote period, the pupils of the celebrated College of the Pro- paganda, placed under the direction of Cardinal Barnabo, gave an interesting sitting of the polyglot ac .demy just before the Epiphany, the proceedings, which took place on Sunday, and were repeated on the following day, drew together, as usual, a numerous and distinguished auditory. Amongst the persons present were cardinals, prelates, princes, and personages belonging t o high Roman and foreign society. This intellectual exhibition is assuredly most curious. To hear thirty two different languages, or idioms, spoken by young men belonging to nearly all the nations of Europe, and a great number of those of Asia, Africa, America, and Oceania, is not an ordinary enjoyment. This event occurs only in the Eternal City, and is repeated but once a year—always at the same period of the year. The entire universe, so to speak, by the representatives of so many tongues, comes at the Epipl any, as did formerly the Magi, to adorn the redeemer, and address to him the ho. mage of its vows and science. On t1. e preséut occasioll the display was considered unusually successful. A REMARKABLE MARRIAGE.—In the chapel of the Tuileries, in Paris, there was solemnised, on Sunday week, a marriage-one of the prettiest mar- riages, so far as the names of the contracting parties go, which it has ever been our lot to record. The Prince de la Moskwa was married to Madame la Comtessee de Labe'doyere. Eh bien the cynic may say, with a shrug and a yawn what then ?" It is a "marriage in high life"—no more. Princes marry countesses every day. Ere now, they have been known to marry chambermaids. Nevertheless, the marriage of Sunday week has a significance, when the names of the bride and bridegroom are remembered, that is at once historic and pathetic (says the Daily Telegraph). Fifty-three years ago, on a dark December morning, armed men bearing lanterns brought forth from his cell, in the palace-prison of the Luxembourg, a stout, simple, bourgeois-looking man in civilian's garb, who had been doomed to death by the Bourbon's Court of Peers. They conducted him to a remote corner of the Luxembourg-gardens, close to the Boulevard de l'Observatoire. Then they set him un-he refused to have his eyes bandaged—and a file of grenadiers shot him to death. The victim's name was Michael Ney, a poor peasant's son of Sarre-Louis, but famous through- out the world as Duke of Elchingen, as Prince of Moscow, as "Bravest of the Brave." He fought at Waterloo. Could the great British Captain who won that fight have saved the life of the heroic Frenchman in December ? It matters little now. Ney had got to die and he died as he had lived. Very shortly after his execution, another sacrifice was made to the offended majesty of Bourbonism. The brave Colonel Labedoyfere, one of the most devoted among Napoleon's adherents, was tried by military commission, found guilty of treason, condemned to death, and shot. Need we say anything more to show the interest, both historic and pathetic, which must cling to that mar- riage in the Tuileries, where, under the auspices of the Third Napoleon, the heir of Marshal Ney was wedded to the widow of Labédoyère's son ? MR. GLAUST./NE AND STSTEMATIC BENEFI- CENCE.—Mr. Gladstone, in a letter to the secretary of the Systematic Beneficence Society, says :— I cordially approve of the principle involved in a combina- tiun, in wliieli each person IJintl3 hirn5elf simply to thl to devote to the purpose of alms, that is, as I understand it, of religion and benevolence, a minimwn proportion of hB income. I do not understand that all need fix the same, nor that we need know what another fixes; and the only guarantee wou d be in the honour ible bond to fulfil a mutual engagement. Further. I conceive that this is a pian which involves no controversial question whatever, and that all who app oveot' the principle may with perfect consistency join in it, whatever their religious orofession. Adhering as I do to this busis, I should view with satisfaction ail measures calcu- lated to facilitate or extend action founded on it. What those measures -hould be I must leave to others more expe- rienced and competent aud less occupied to determine. I remain, faithfully yours, W, E. GLADSTONE. THE CROWN PRINCESS OF PRUSSIA AND MR. BRIGHT.—In responding to a vote of thanks accorded to him for delivering a lecture at Rochdale, on "Cob- b tt," the other evening, Professor Rogers said, he might be permitted to tell them a story, which he heard from the lips of his illustrious friend, their townsman, Mr. John Bright. He told him (the speaker) that when he was introduced into that most honourable position which he now occupied, and when, thereupon, he was brought into the company of his sovereign and her family, he spoke to one of the royal princesses in relation to her eldest sister in this fashion —that he hoped that now she lived in a foreign land she had not lost her sympathy and interest in the country of her birth and that princess answered, "No, indeed. There is one institution in which she takes profound interest, and that, I believe, is your native town—the Equitable Pioneers of Rochdale."— (Cheers). THE QUEEN AND THE LATE SIR RICHARD MA YN E, The following official communication appears in the police orders :— Metropolitan Police Office, January 21. Death of Sir R. 5!a>ne, K.C.B. Message from Her Majesty the Queen. It is with great satisfaction that the acting commissioner has received Her Majesty's gracious permission to make known to the police the terms of sympathy in wUch it ha3 pleased her to express herself in referenCé to thE; lale commissioner of police, as conveyed in a letter from General Grey to the Secretary of State for the Home Department: — The Queen desires me to say how grieved and concerned she is to hear of Sir R. Mayne's death. Notwithstanding the attacks lately made upon him. Her Majesty believes him to have been a most efficient head of the police, and to have discharged the duties of his important situation most ably and satis- factorily in very difficult times."—D. LABALMONDIERE. A NEW ZEALAND MASSACRE.—The Australian and New Zealand papers contain accounts of the late massacre at Poverty Bay. The settlement was, it ap- pears, attacked suddenly at 3 a.m.—an hour before day- break—on the 10th of November. Theie had been no preparation made for defence, and the settlers were all living, with their wives and children, at their scattered homesteads, believing that the rebels were miles away. The Maoris, who are stated to have been the prisoners who escaped from Chatham Island, went from house to house slaughtering all the inhabitants, men, women, and children. The list of killed and wounded, in- cluding twenty friendly Maoris, amounts to fifty-four. Amongst the names mentioned are those of Major and Mrs. Biggs, and child; Lieutenant and Mrs. vV'alsh, and child Mr. Dodd, Mr. Peppard, Mr. Cadle, and Mr. and Mrs. Mann, and chiLI. Detailed lists of the persons massacred are not, however, given. MR. JACOB BRIGHT ON EDUCATION.—In a speech upon education, delivered in Manchester a few nights ago, Mr. Jacob Bright, M.P., spoke of the im- portance of parents seeing that the education which their children obtained at school was supplement, and sustained afterwards by reading at home. Let them, he said, not be afraid of novels vr anything that would attract the young to read. He would have boys and girls attracted by amusing and interesting reading, so that it came to them easily, and they would enjoy what they read. He believed tlat the reason other countries were in advance of us in respect of education was that here the matter had been left to the people themselves, and in those other countries to which he had referred, the educaj ion of the people had been amongst the first work which it had been thought proper that statesmen and Parliaments should accomplish. We required an educated people, and hesiould be greatly disappointed at the recent political change, unless in a few sessions of Parliament we could acomplish a revolution in the matter. TEACHING THE ThMB TO SPEAK.—A very interesting meeting took place on Sunday at the Jews' Deaf and Dumb Hou. £ in London, to witness the examination of the innates of the institution, who number nine girls and four boys, under the man3.ge- ment of Mr. Van Pragw. The children being intro- duced, were put under examination in speaking and lip reading, reading and writing, as well as other branches of education, aid exemplified in a most un- mistakable manner, not only the proficiency which thcy haù attained in articuhtting words, but also as to their meaning, which they wrote down after uttering them. This was the fhst examination, as the home had only been instituted eighteen months. Baroness Meyer de 11 .thsctiild's prize ( value £ 5^ was then pre- sented by the Rev. Pr. Adler to a girl only twelve years of age, who audibly expressed her thanks to the patroness at' tte^ 'Begtrtutiiin. The meeting was ad- dressed by tie C'lief Rabbi and several other gentlemen, and the proceedings icrndnated. LOCAL TAXATION AND A NATIONAL POOR RATE.—The Worcestershire Chamber of Agriculture has held a meeting to discuss the questions of local taxa- tion and a national" poor rate. Lord Lyttelton and Mr. Knight. M.P., were among those present. Mr. Knight, M.P., spoke strongly in favour of a general revision of the systan of ratmg, and said the farmers should vote for the ejection of any Ministry who would not give the subject of taxation their careful consideration, with a view to remedy the many ano- malies and hardships it entailed. The meeting unani- mously resolved that the present system of rating is unjust, and demancs the immediate attention of the Legislature. In some subsequent remarks Lord Lyttelton declined to go as far as Mr. Knight had gone, but he was of opinion that the burden of taxa- tion was not equallydivided. Of late years there had been great changes for the better, but to obtain equal justice in this county took a long time. His lordship hoped for a general revision of taxation, and proposed, "That every effort should be made to give effect to the report of the Committee on Poor Rates in the year 1850, Lori Portman, chairman, That the relief of the poor is a national object, towards which every description of property ought to be called upon to contribute. lie meeting unanimously adopted the resolutions. FATHER IGNA"IUS.—" Orthodox Dissenters will be flattered onlearning that they are patronised by Father Ignatius The "Father" followed up his lecture on the "Evangelicals" with a discourse on the Christianity of Dissenters," and delivered his sentiments on this subject arrayed in the garb of a Benedictine monk. The lecturer, we are told, divided Dissenters into oithodox and heterodox placing in the first class all ho were sound upon the doctrines of the Incarnatior and Atonements, such as Wes- leyans, Baptists, md the like and in the second all who were unsound, such as Socinians and Unitarians. With the former hi allied himself and the better to show his love foi them, he threw overboard as "trumpery" all lis former cherished doctrines of Transubstantiation. Invocation of Saints, &c. The lecture, says the reporter, was a most rambling pro- duction, and was delivered without the speaker's wonted fire and eloquence. A GOOD INVESTMENT.—A tradesman in New- bury had some handbillg printed some time since advertising a particular article of merchandise for which he wished to make his establishment famous, and at the end of the year he found he had sold £200 worth of the artide in question more than usual—not a bad return for the six shillings the handbills-had cost him. THE NE PLUS ULTRA OF ECONOMY.—The fol- lowing conversation is reported to have taken place during the last ball at the Hotel de Ville in Paris, be- tween two ladies who had been at school together, but had not met for many years :— "Are you happy?" "I have a good husband." "How much dues he allow for your toilett« t" Ten thousand francs" ( £ 400). '• It isn't much, Imt when or,e is economi- cal "—" And you, lay dear ? Ah, I have a miser for a hus- band. There he ¡s, with his bunchy red whiskers, looking at me with one eye close,1," "Why does he not look at you wIth both ? "My dear, he is too much of a miser." AN INNOCENT REVKNGE.—" Revenge," says the proverb, is sweet." Different men have different ways of showing it. My friend Brown's way is harm- less and humorous (says a writer in CasseWs Magazine). Two Joneses live nexc door to each other, and having to call on one of them, Brown of course went tu the wrong house. A crabbed servant answered the bell, and on Brown's asking, "Is this Mr. John Jones's," she replied snappishly, as if she had been bothered with many such inquiries, No, it aint,"and slammed the door in his face. Brown walked on a hundred yards or so, when a bright thought struck him. He returned at once, and rang the same bell again. Again the crabbed servant appeared. "Who "aid it was ? asked Brown triumphantly, and instantly walked away. REMARKABLE FACT. — The inquiry into the circumstances attending the death of the woman named Robertson, who, it will be remembered, was killed by a blow from her husband's fist at Whitehaven, has brought out a rather remarkable fact. The woman had followed her husband, a sailor, into a public-house, and he, in a moment of passion, struck her a violent blow behind the ear, and she died almost instantaneously. Upon a post-mortem examination of the body being made it was found that the woman's skull was unusually thin upon tl 't part on which the blow had been struck. There was almost as much difference in thickness, one of the medical witnesses told the coroner's jury, between the woman's skull in that place and a normal skull as there is between a man's hat and an ordinary table, so that the brain might be considered unprotected there, whereas that part of the skull was usually thick. The man has been committed for trial on the charge of man. slaughter TELEGRAPHIC BLUNDERS.—Mr. Reuter has for- warded a copy of a despatch which was sent out to India :— Dec. 22.-M:inisters re-elected. Gladstone promised large reùuction expenditure, remedy grievances ratepaying clauses, secure free voting repudia>ed analogy Churches Englallll Ireland Bright explained why he declined India Office believed, opinions on Inlian Government elHtneiated In I-58 were so-tad but in advance public sentiment. He could not freely superintend admll1istr,ttioll whose principles he con- demned and unable amend. Moreover nut seemly cun- nect himself with great military departments Indian Government. Allocution Pope deplores eviis Church in Spain. England France Austria declined protect Interests expelled Greeks. WHERE WILL IT END !—It was an old rule that ] a cobbler should stick to his last but the rule, as is i too well known, is not expected to apply to all persons (in the full acceptation of the term), says the Pall Mall Gazette. Governesses, for instance, are expected to do a great many things which seem to be only distantly connected with their proper duties and the following advertisement from The Times shows that the range of a schoolmaster's functions is widening Grammar School, Warminster.Wanted immediately, a Second Assistant Master, to teach thoroughly writing and » arithmetic, also junior English subjects. Must be a good cricketer and round-arm bowler. Character to bear the strictest investigation. Salary £40, increas- ing to &c." A good cricketer and round-arm bowler would probably find it more profitable to embrace cricket as a profession. He would not be so much iiarrassed by the "junior English subjects," he would most likely make more money, and he would not have his character so itrietly investigated. Uf course if a master happens to be a good cricketer, and likes to give his boys the benefit of his abilities in that line, there cannot he the least objection but if cricketing accomplishments are mide a sine qua non, they ought to be paid for as an additional branch of education. SINGULAR DISCOVERY. — Within the past week a number of bodies of French prisoners confined at Chatham during the: Continental war have been brought to view. During the time the prisoners were kept on board the hulks in Chatham Harbour those who died were interred in a portion of the marsh land adjoining the Medway, which is still known as Prisoners' J5ank," the number of bodies being com- puted at abou', 2,000. Owing to the gradual washing away of the banks of the river, and the now constant inun- dation of the adjacent marshes much of "Prisoner8 Bank" has disappeared, while a large number of bodies have been exposed to view. The land has become the pro- perty of the Rochester and Chatham Gas Company, aud on the attention of the Secretary of State being directed to the circumstance, a letter has lately been received from the Home Office, inquiring whether the Gas Company would allow the bodies to be exhumed with a view to their being re-interred elsewhere. To this communication a reply has been forwarded autho- rising the taking of such steps as might be deemed advisable, and preparations are accordingly being made by the authorities for burying the bodies in a more suitable spot in the locality. How THEY MANAGE IN FRANCE.—One of the forms of electoral corruption in France has been illus- trated by some recent disclosures. It would appear that M. Granier de Cassagnac, in consequence of reve- lations concerning his private character, is by no means sure of retaining his seat at the general elections. The Minister of Public Worship has, however, already come to his assistance with 7,000 francs in aid of a steeple, and has given the people of Plaisance to under- stand that they are indebted for this sum to their representative. By order of the maire. the following announcement was placarded through the town— "Eternal gratitude to our honourable deputy, who, by his great influence, has obtained this hand- some subsidy."
THE EMPEROR'S NEXT MOVE. ---
THE EMPEROR'S NEXT MOVE. The Spectator fancies that the Emperor Napoleon sees signs of his decline, wrestles with himself and France to disprove them, will finally, in some supreme effort to be rid of them, shake the world. What direction that effort will take remains a secret probably even to himself. Were he what he was at fifty, it would be Socialist. No effort, say many French observers, would dislodge the man who abolished the mortgages on French peasant properties, a proposal which has three times emerged under one form or another into half light. Were he less bitterly assailed, were parties less irreconcilable, and feuds less savage, it would be the grant of "liberty," that is, of an American constitution, with a free legislature and a free press, but an irremovable President. Napoleon could interpret the wishes of a legislature as readily as those of France, and he is no Andrew Johnson, to defy instead of leading representatives. Being as be is, his probable course is a great foreign enterprise, which shall once more let France feel that she is still first—as she estimates primacy—among the nations of the world. It is to this resolve that all symptoms tend, but this resolve is not taken yet the Emperor still "hopes," firmly hopes, honestly hopes, that if he can but wait, if time will but fight for him, it may never be unavoidable. But does time ever fight for a living man, an existing being, a working organism ? That is the question Napoleon III., like Philip II.— so like and so unlike him, the lemur of the Csesarist family- has now to decide, and one fears he will find that the truth is in Louis Blanc's wisest apophthegm, Edifices have duration, it is only ruins which have eternity.
MORE GOLD-FIELDS IN AUSTRALIA.1…
MORE GOLD-FIELDS IN AUSTRALIA. 1 An important neev gold-field has been recently dis- eovred at Spring Creek, in M'lvor district. There is already a population of over 0,000 on the spot and in the neighbourhood, aAld the number i, rapidly iH- creasing. A township is about to be proclaimed there, and the stJieets are already laid out by the surveyors. The latest repurts inform us that three miles of ground are being worked, and a much larger quantity is being "prospected." Most of the miners are doing well, some of them making from loz. to 30z. to the load of wash dirt, from a sinking of from 5.5ft. to GUt., through cement, 35ft. of gravel, and a lighter sandy drift." TlJÎ3 field is describ as a geod poor man's di¡;gings"-i.e., not requiring the aid of lare catJÏtalists -anù as likely ti) afford remunerative em- ployment to a considerable population fur many years to come. A110ther new rush ha, oc- curred at Berlin, near Inglewood, where some new ground of extraordinary richness has been discovered. The almost daily "finds" of large nugets here has been a leading topic ill the local journals for the Illst month. Several of the larger have varied in weight from lOoz. to 171b., and one lump unearthed at Gil- more's Gully weighed 421b. The imultaneoug occur- rence of these two large rushes is somewhat unfor- tunate for the armers, who are just now harvesting, and. who find great difficulty in getting hands at any reasonable rate of wages. A farmer ill the Lake Cooper district wriles as follows, under date of December 3 :— I shall commQnce cutting wheat on Wednesday nexi, if I can get hauds sufficient for binding. There is great scarcity of labour here at ¡¡resent, all the men having left for the Spring Creek diggings, about 25 miles distant. The civps have ripened during the last week 1lI neh f: ster than they were expected, and every farmer in the district wuuld bll harvesting if he ould get hands. The few men that are left here are asking from 10s to ls. a day and rations. (What would the Rev. Canon Girdlestone's rural friends in the West of England say to this 1: I am confident 200 or 300 men could procure work at Ga. a day and their food.
[No title]
Another writer says :— In the eady days of the whenever the squatting interest was depressed everything was depressed by neces- sry sympathy, becaue everythiu was more or less identi- fied with and dependent on squatting ow, howevtr, we have a laive and rapidly extending agricultural interest, I/o not less important mining interest, 811d we have also nascent manufacturing industries, which already employ many thou- sands of Mnlis. VVe are thus lJecoming year hy year more indepen(lel1t of vicissitudes externa to our own territory. Although the price of wool is down we have the promise of an xcelleut harvest. Wecount our fanners now by thousands. Provlliionl being cheap. up-country storekeepers undllr whose auspices and by wh08tj alisistance many a gold claim is worked into plOductivenllss-are enabled to win much gold which otherwise would never øee the light, and, in short, abundance of the necessaries of life diffuseli itli invi- goratiLg IIffects throughout all the veins and arteriel of the body corporate, whether our luperabunùance command a high price or not in distant ID6rkets. Thus, side b1liie with this depression of the squatting intereit is the curI- ous fact that landed property, whether in town or country, never commanded higher pri8CS than does now. The other day building allotments about four miles oat of lel- bourne were sold at the unprecedented rate of nearly £ S00 an acre. These lands, only a few years tJack, were a dru" in the market, at less than a fourth of the price. °
V'---lllftopotttan Gossip.
V' lllftopotttan Gossip. BT OUR OWN CORRSSPONDENT. TThe remivks under this head are be regarded as the ex- SSessiOE (E independent opinion, from the pen of a gentleman J: wbom we bave the greatest confidence, but for which we vsvertheieas do not hold ourselves responsible. i It is currently stated, and I have seen no denial of it, that her Majesty will open Parliament in person, and not only that she will do this, but that she will enter the Houses of Parliament by the Victoria Tower (the first time since Prince Albert's death), so that the ceremony will, to some extent, be a state ceremony. The date at which the Queen leaves Osborne-the 13th of February—gives support to the statement, as Par- liament recommences on the lflth. This pleasing rumour causes people to look forward to the reassem- bling of Parliament with greater interest than other- wise they would do. And there are other rumours and facts which tend to make the coming session re- garded as of more than ordinary importance. I allude to the reductions, actual and intended, in almost every department of the public service. For a week or two mast, perhaps scarcely a day has passed without some statement of this kind—either of some retrenchment having been actually effected, or of some reduction being contemplated. The public naturally rejoice at this kind of thing, but there must be some hundreds of people to whom it is no laughing matter. Among the bills to be introduced this session will be a, measure which was massacred, among other .inno- cents, last session. It aims at the amendment of Mr. Scholefield's Adulteration Act of 1860, which has these eight years been almost a dead letter, and it further aims at preventing the adulteration of drugs. The subject is of such vast importance that a reference to its leading provisions may be advisable. It is appli- cable alike to articles of food or drink and to drugs. Adulteration, whether personally or by agency, is punishable, for the first offence, by a fine of JS50 and costs, and a second offence is to be punished by im- prisonment while selling adulterated articles with a guilty knowledge is punishable by a fine up to £20. Public analysts must (not may) be appointed and a system of inspection and detection is provided for; besides which there are many valuable details in the bill This measure ia of far more importance than seems generally to be thought. Why, it will almost produce a revolution in trade, and a very wholesome revolution too. At the present moment it maybe said that almost every article capable of adulteration, and worth adulterating, is adulterated. This is not only grossly unjust to the consumer, but it is very unfair to the tradesman that desires to be honourable and just in all his dealings, but who now finds it almost absolutely necessary to shut his eyes to the adulteration which he fosters by selling adulterated articles that he is bound to sell at a certain price or give up shop. Adulteration is undoubtedly injurious to the health (and in the case of the adulte- ration of drugs very serious results may follow), but it is far more injurious to the pocket; a.nd we ought to look at the matter in a strict commercial way. WheD this bill is introduced it should be carefully watched, for if it be first oarried and then carried out, it will exert an immense influence on society. Some surprise has naturally been expressed that apparently nothing is being done towards carrying out that great scheme to which Parliament last session gave its sanction, the management of the entire tele- graphing system of the country by the Government. There is reason, however, to believe that though nothing is apparently being done, a good deal is really being effected, and that in perhaps another five monthB or so the arrangements will be completed, and that a Telegraph Department, in conjunction with the Post Office, will be established. Mr. Scudamore, it is to be presumed, will be at the head of the new de- partment. Great efforts are being made by the promoters of the South London Industrial Exhibition to get every- thin ready by the 1st of March. To the nation at larg,e this exhibition cannot be regarded as of much importance, but it is worth noting in this respect—that jt will be a genuine working man's exhibition, and women of the working class are, by the way, not ex- cluded. Butit isasine quanon that every exhibitor shall be of that class. Hitherto exhibitions have not been of this character. A firm or a company has exhibited and the actual maker of the article exhibited has re- ceived no credit. But in all other respects this ex- hibition will be like the hundred and one industrial exhibitions that have preceded it. William Roupell, formerly the admired and petted member for Lambeth, has either been actually liberated or iil about to be. As his trial was a cause cilibre the reader will pjoljably remember that he Wis el,r'd to penal servitude fur life fur forgery ami fraud. This was in September 1862, aud he will havo had but little more than six years of I ^oRyict life. The only reason given for his discharge a tk&t the lengthened confinement has dangerously ejected health, and that continued confinement might result in his death. It is worth while to cad to mind that not long ago a member of an aristocratic family, bearing a very well-known name, was liberated with the arrangement that he should go to live in Madeira, although but a small portion of the time of his imprisonment for bigamy had been served. there is one law for the rich and another for the poor is a very common remark, and sometimes, it can- not be denied, facts warrant the assertion, although it would be more correct to say that the same law is differently administered sometimes according to the ttion of the criminal. These two cases would alõo tend to show that there is one punishment for the nristoer,f,tically connected and another for the ord.inary felon. At all events, I cannot call to mind any case a convict from among the lower orders has been pb#r$ted on the ground that further confinement would j--j-ult in his death. But there is something to be said on the other side. Nominally the same punishment is infinitely heavier in some cases than in others. There are many perhaps that think, for instance, that six years of the horrors of penal servitude together with the awful punishment involved in the contrast from a previously luxurious life, is adequate to the crime cf which Roupell was fouiid guilty. i see that at the Liverpool Gymnasium there has bedl formed a velocipede club with presidents, secretary, and instructor, all complete. Why not ? I .cannot any just cause or impediment why velocipedes should not come into use. It is said that fttter a little practice the velocipede rider can with great ease travel ten miles within the hour, and that neither arms nor legs are fatigued beyond the healthy I glow of exercise. If this be so, why should not those who live in the suburbs of a town which they have to visit every day travel by velocipedes. It may come to this before long. Perhaps we shall soon see our bank clerks, our merchants, our tradesmen, Ac., **ji £ iing into town of a morning at velocipedal speed. Their. will be some little difficulty perhaps in finding place for the vehicles. Supposing for example that 100 oi tfceolerks of the London and Westminster Bank were to take it into their heads to come to business in this style, where wwld they "put up?" This difficulty wight however, be easily overcome in individual cases pud that time may come when suburban railways and omnibusses will haTe to contend against the competi- tion of this new mode of locomotion. A- soandal, a nuisanoe, and a disgrace which has for many years been advertised as one of the entertain- *wfeUts of London, will henceforth be so modified that is will cease to exist in its worse aspects. Two sum- monses having been taken out by the police against the proprietor of a well-known house in London, where M ,J udge a.nd Jury" Society, is nightly held, the magistrate has on the second occasion allowed the summons to stand over, on a promise that the objectionable features in the entertainment shall be at once abolished, the police mean- while keeping an eye on the place to see that the promise is fulfilled. The very strong terms in which the magistrate spoke of the horrid indecency of the proceedings is fully borne out by facts, and the only wonder—and it is a disgrace to the police also—is that it has been allowed to exist so long. As a heavy term of imprisonment, however, now hangs over the pro- prietor, we may fairly expect that the Judge and Jury" Society, in the form in which it has so long cor- rupted the murals of all who have visited it, exists no longer, and the public may be congratulated accord ingly. This fact, taken in connection with the con- tinued prosecution of West-end refreshment houses of a, certain character, is very encouraging to those who desire to promote public morality. It may interest even those non-resident in the great metropolis to hear that London is in many ways becoming gradually improved in many respects. The Metropolitan Board of Works recently reported that 117 square miles of what may be called metropolitan territory is included in the great main drainage system, but the herculean labour of drainage still goes on, and, though the process ia slow, still street after street is in process of time included in this splendid improve- ment. This has had already a beneficial influence cn the Thames".but prohibitory measures are still re- quired in reference to continued drainage into the The work of demolishing wretched little alleys and streets also goes on, and here and there a fine street is opened up (the new street from Blackfriars to the Mansion House, for instance, is to be seventy feet broad), the only matter of regret being that the provision for the ousted poor does not keep pace with the pulling down. The work of changing the names of streets where there is more than one of the same name in the same postal district, and of abolishing the innumerable places, terraces, crescents, &c., which were so bewildering, proceeds gradually. The fire-stations and firemen have also been more than doubled. We shall moreover have two grand I improvements in Southwark a.nd Finsbury both, of which will be opened this summer and there is something to rejoice at in the trees which will adorn the Thames Embankment, and the flower garden which will beautify the approaches to the Houses of Parliament. And we are to have, too, another large, handsome, general market. From what I have seen of the designs of the architect, Mr. G. A. Elliott, the Belgrave Market will not only be an ornament to that favoured locality Belgravia, but will be of considerable I importance to the food producers of the country and i the food consumers of London. It is really marvellous [ that we have so long submitted to the wretched j market "accommodation" as it is facetiously called which has hitherto disgraced the metropolis.
SltsccIIanttiiis ntdligcntt
SltsccIIanttiiis ntdligcntt POME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL. COMPARATIVE STATU OF VACCINATION IN THE THREE KINGDOMS.- From comparative examination of the records of marks of small-pox and of previous j vaccinati on among recruits on enlistment, in the Aimy Medical Department Report, from 1860 till lSGG, it appears that Scotland supplied during five of the seven years the highest proportion of men bearing marks of small-pox during one year, the lowest; and in the remaining year is equal with England, both being in that year lower than Ireland. England and Ireland give each the lowest proportion thive times, and each only once stands highest in the list. In I marks of previous vaccination Ireland stands highest I in five of the seven years, England in the other two Scotland lowest in five of the seven years, and Eng- Î land lowest in the other two. In "no marks," England stands highest four times, Scotland twice, and Ireland only once. So that, in so far as recruits may be considered to represent the general population j of their respective countries, vaccination appears to J be less generally practised ia Scotland than in England and in England than in Ireland. This, so far as it j goes, is rather a curious point as one might, A priori, j be inclined to expect that attention to vaccination j would extend more readily among the less generally j educated Irish. We remember hearing many years >. ago, from a friend, how he had met vehement and suc- cessful opposition to his proposal to vaccinate the child I' of the precentor of a Scotch kirk, who, himself bli .d ) fróm small-pox, consiùered vaccination to be a fly- ing in the face of Providence." ) WHAT NEXT i-A machine is in use at Mel- bourne for shearing sheep by steam. It is made of brass, something in the shape of a small trowel; the motion is got up by a turbine wheel about three inches in diameter and this is geared into another wheel on which is fixed a cutter in front is a comb, which serves as a guide, and against cutting the skin of the sheep. The steam is conveyed from the boiler by a tube of indiaruhber. This tube or pipe is double, having one J inside the other the inner one is the injection, and the space between the two is the ejection. The machine I is used in the same fashion as the shears, but cuts much quicker and far cleaner, without the least danger of injuring the fleece or the sheep. TRUE FRENCH POLITENESS — An amusing result of the passport system is reported from Paris. A certain mayor had to make out a passport for a certain duchess. The duchess was wealthy the mayor was in her service. The duchess was something of a 1 coquette the mayor was anxious to gratify her humour. But the duchess was one-eyed, and the mayor had a difficulty in making out the passport. How was he to describe her eyes ? He entered them in the schedule as follows :—Eyes—dark, beautiful, soft, full of expreion-one of them being absent." This is surely the triumph of courtesy, and worthy of the nation that plumes itself on its politeness. I LYNCHING A NEGRO.—The American papers report the following :— A negro named Vandberg went to the house of William Smith, an employs of the Mississippi Central Railroad, and after a desperate struggle succeeded in outraging the person of Irs. Kmith, but not before he had strangled her little daughter until she was insensiWe. As soon <18 it was day- light, Mrs. Smith alarmed the neighbours. The marshal of the town started in pursuit of Vandberg and succeeded in capturing him. On arriving in town with the prisoner it was with the greatest difficulty the marshal succeeded in keep- ing the negroes, who had assembled, from burning him. He was finally pI iced ill gaol for safe keeping. That night, how- ever, the Ku-Klug in strong force took him out and hung him. Next morning 5Jr. Smith returned home. He became almost a maniac on heaving of affairs, and taking a rifle went to the place where the oody was still hanging and cut it down. He then gathered some rails and built a fire upon the body. While the fire was burning, Smith danced about it like a madman.
HONOUR SATISFIED!
HONOUR SATISFIED! A duel has been recently fought at Florence, be- tween Deputy MoreHi and Commendatore Paternostro. The cause of the encounter was a political dispute, followed by a threat on the part of one controversialist, and a blow promptly administered by tha other, who put in action what his opponent had only expressed in words. Such an occurrence might fairly have led to an appeal to a magistrate, or to the intervention of friends and an apology on the part of the offender; but in Italy the insult could only be washed out in blood. Accordingly a duel WAS fought, the par- ticulars of which are minutely recorded by four deputies who acted as seconds to the two disputants, and by them given to the world with an amusing air of gravity and importance. The four chroniclers state that on the morning of the 13th inst., Deputy Morelli and Commandatore Paternostro, accompanied by their respective seconds and by two surgeons, met in a rural spot near the Castle of Malman- tile. The principals were left to the cheerful society of the doctors, while the seconds proceeded to select and mark the ground. When these necessary pre- liminaries had been attended to, the adversaries were conducted to the scene of action. The pistols which they used and the stations they occupied were selected by lot, and at a distance of thirty paces they confronted each other, both being armed with the weapon with which their wounded honour was to be appeased. Six times did Commendatore Paternostro and Signor Mo- relli fire at one another, and six times on each side did the shots miss their aim. Yet, as before firing, the two com- batants were allowed to traverse, in equal parts, a dis- tance of ten paces, the actual ground which separated them measured only twenty paces. Once the Com- mendatore's pistol exploded before he could take aim, and once the Deputy missed fire, but the fact still re- mains, that the two men fired altogether ten times, without even singeing a hair or a whisker. This was certainly a remarkable duel, and one quite worthy of a place among the exploits of a certain Spanish knight-errant of gallant memory. The seconds themselves appear to have been lost hi wonder and admiration. So impressed were they with the courageous bearing of the two gentlemen under a fire so protracted in its duration, and happily so fruitless in its results, that they decided against continuing the contest, although the combatants were doubtless ready for another hour's practice. This was a wise determi- nation, although the reasons they give for it may by some be regarded as fantastic, ano by others as imparting to the whole proceeding a broadly comic aspect. After the fiMi discharge," they say, "considering that the two adversaries had exhibited a sang froid superior to all encomium, that the ribk encountered hid been veiy great, for the last shots especially passed very close—Deputy Morelli, for example, was stained with the earth thrown up by one of the projectiles, which fell close at his foot-con- sidering that the intrepidity thus displayed for nearly an hour before an aderse pistol's mouth eharged six times sllccessvely IS a thing renectIng honour npon auy gentle- man; co, sideriJJg tha t the object of going out is tn ele> ate dignity and not at all hazards to perpetrate r.vel,ge- a re- venge which, after such long attempts by the two adTer- saries, would have b come transformed into a deed of in- defen-i de ferocity-in consequence of the autboritative initiative of GelJeral Assanti, seconded by Deputy Fambri, an initiative which ended by overcoming the resistance which from a diversity, not of opinions but of position liS regards the quarrel, was made for some time by the I honourable deputies Botta and Olivieri-the four lieconds undersigned have doclared that honour was fully satisfied and ordered the cessation of tiie fhing, convinced that theÝ had fulfilled a duty which they could not have accorded without placing themselves in the most (lired OIJPosition with their own cOllsdence and liS soldiers. I These re the reasons assigned for the judgment of the secondii that the honour of the parties .was "fully lIatisfied "-the honour of the individual who received the blow as well &11 that of his assailant.
EPITOME OF NEWS,
EPITOME OF NEWS, BRITISH AND FOREIGN. It is said that one of the London theatrical managers is abùlit to iive day performances of the drama. The Queen attended divine servicII at Whippingham Church on Sunday last. The Rev. G. Prothero offlc ated. Mr. and lrs. Gladstone have been oa a viciit to her Majesty. The Berlin correspondent of The Times Bays he can "state a positive" that the Duke of Aosta. IS the candidate for the Spanish throne who has found favour ill the eyes of the french Government. Prayers for the recovery of the Bishop of Salisbury were offered on Sunday in many of the metropolitan churches. The civil governor of Burgos was assassinated, on Monday morning, aB he was proceeding, according to the orders of the G ivernment, to make an inventory of the books, jewels, ami objects of art contained in the cathedral, llis secretary, who was with him, escaped. The decipatch does not say how the assassination vas effected. Several persons have lJeen arrested, and the military authorities have imii- tuted an illvestiga tion. The Chicago Post sa.ys-" There i still a few Eastern women left who do not ive public readings, but nut many." The Mayoress of Portsmouth (Mrs. E. Gait) has won the traditional silver cradle, having given birth to a daughter last week. Such an event is unprecedented in the municipal history of Portsmouth. The Omaha Herald says that a pugilistic fight took place in a concert h"1l at liryan City before a great number of spectators, the corps de bal{.,t of thd saloon," who occltpied seats OIl the music stand. "When the fight had finished," says the Omaha Herald, the band struck up the Arkansaw Traveler,' "nd there was a dance. It is said the girls enjoyed the fight hugely." Upon hearing of the death of the Prince Royal of Belgium, the Empcror Xapoleon at ollce sent a letter to the King d the Be1gians, in which he expressed, in hi, own name and that of the Empress, the deepest sympathy with the severe loss the Belgian royal family has sustained. An arrest has been made in connection with the murder of fr. Baker, at Bansha, county Tipperary. The man taken into custody on suspicion is named Patrick Pyne. The statement which has been published in several papers that Mr. William Roupdl had been liberated from prison, ill consequence of the state of his health is authoritatively contradicted. lr. Roupell is sti1l in prison, but is in a very bad state of health, and a memorial on his behalf has been preented to the Home Secretary, which ili now under consideration. The Liberal electors of Drogheda have resolved to ask )11'. Thomas Whitworth to become a candidate fer the seat rendered vacant by the deciition against hi. father, ;\Ir. Benjamin Whitworth, and agree to bear all the e.xpenS8 of his election. Mr. Benjamin Whitworth at the recent contest had a great majorfty of voters, and a local journal, speaking ot a demonstration of iympathv on the day following the conclllsion of the trial. says it showed that, although the law was against him, the voice of the con- stituency was still in his favour. The organ of the Drogheda ConservatIVes volunteers its opinion thai he was more sinned against than siing. It has been suggested that licences should be issued for the privilege ot using armorial bearings, at a unitDrm rate of 5s on whatever article the proprietor may emblazon them, whe her Oil a carriage, a lobby chair, a gold ring, a seal, 01' a Glengary bonnet, and that these sbøuld be obtained at the 8u1Hlistributors' of stamps and post-otfices There are thousands of persons who under the present system evade the law who wo«*l become in this way willing contributors to the revenue--enn nile yeaag ladies who have a fancy for crested paper. The Lcawnworth Commercial says that a white mall, named liays, was recently murdered at Hays CPy, Kansas, by three negro soldiers, belouging to the 38th IlJf¡¡ntry. The murderers were arrested and lodged in gaol, IJreparatory to trial; but during the night they were taken from prison by the Vigilance Committde and hung to the nearest trees. The Philadelphia Public Ledger says American ftrearllJ are in great demand abroad. It is reported that one manufacturing firm has just delivered 40,000 repeating rifles to the Danish Government, and 30,000 to the Swedish, having still a contract on hand to furnish 15,0 0"of the same sort to the Greeks. Another firm has just deliwered 28,000 rifles to the Cuban Government, to be ulied against the insur- rectionists, while still another has contracted to make 30,000 breech-loaders for the Russians." On Monday, in the Birmingham Bank winding-up case, an application was made at ihe Rolls Chambers to re- move all infant shareholder from the list. Â. question arose whether hiB guardian should not bl substituted, and lr. M'Creeght, the official liquidator, was to proceed in the matter. 'Jr. Chilton referred to a decision of the Master of the Rolls in Barned's liuk, were suh a coune was pursued. In this case the creditors have been paid 20s. in the pound. The chief clerk (lr. Church] said a summons could be issued. On Sunday afternoon 1rwo boys, one six years of age, the other three yeari, the children of Mr. 11 argreaves, were playing near a wall in North-street, Leeds, when a number of bricks, which had bee* piled up against the wall, gave way, and fell upon the childrtSl. Th. elder wa mlmedlately killed, and the younger had his arm broken, and receiv¡¡d o1lher injuries. On the evening of January the the floor of a ROlllan Catholic sclioolhouse, i:> which there was a festal gathering of a large number of persons, gave way at Roches- ter, ew York, aull iht were killed alld twenty injured. Biop Ellicott discoursed in Gloucester Cathedral last week, on "dun sermons." The Bishop is inclined to admit that there is a good deal of truth in the frequent allegations as to the feeble and unsatifactory character of modern sermons, and he tries to show wherein the faults of the preachers lie. Sermons, he says, are commonly deficient ill three things-namely, in form and arrangement, ill thought, and in adaptatbn to the present time awl present difficulties. If preaOOers would strive to mend these defects, Ðishop Ellicott bel eves that, by-and-bye, we should hear fewer complaints abemt the declllllDg power of the pulpit. The recent Treasury order relating to the bank- ruptcy .f memberll d the Civil SenICe IS being followed up by the Admiralty. An order has been receIved at Chatham dockyard directing the suspensiun of ODe of the e-t ablilihed clerks 111 the storekeeper's department, who has rectJilliltly be- come insolvent. It is rnmollred that M!. Merry, M.P., ha backed his horse iielladruiu to win £ 50,000 on the approaahing Derby. A Temperance party in Parliament mean to make another move this session. Sir Wilfred Lawson will pro- bably introduce hs Permissive Bill ill March, and it is hoped that the first rea<lmg will not be opposed. It is calculated tpat there are ahout 1:!0 M.P.'s who haTe more or less pledged temselve8 to lIupport the principle of the hill-that the lwmslIJg of drink-shops is a matter fop the dedion of tle ratepayers. It is IIxpected that a much larger number wIll remain neutral, for the question has gained much ground lately, especially now that the Reform Hill has greatly reduced the influence of the p bJicans. The unseat- ing of .Mr. Whitworth, at Drogheda, has deprived the Alliance of one of its most ardent supporters in Parlia- ment. A correspondence hae taken place between Rarl Russell and Dr. Humphrey Sand with, of Kars, in whieh the noble earl defends himself against a charge made hy the latter. Dr. Sand with, in reference to the Greek question, had stated that Earl Russell gave instructioJJ8 to the Brii8h fqn idrou in the Adriatic to sink any Garibaldian sy- pathi-ers who might cross from Italy to the proTmces III revolt against the Turkish rule, and this charge the noble tad emphatically denies. lie quotes otticial documents to show that the imputation is unfounded, and Dr. Saudwiih therewith apologist s, but adheres to his opinion lhat "we," as a Ilat on, have acted in a scandalously partIal manner on behalf of the Turks," To give an idea of the value of the heuses lately built 111 the Avenue Napoleon, in Paris, oppite the Thijatre Krantjaif, Ualignani states that a leaseïîas just been passed hy hich for tile ground noor, entrG301, ami cellars of No.2, a rent of £ 2,0 )0 a-year is to be paid for the first three years, awl £ 2,880 for the six l1cceedillg. The question of opening the Manchester Botanical GardellS on Sunday has h',en discussed at the annual meet- ing of the proprietors. The decision Wt8 against the altera- tion of the rule by which the gardens are now elosed. There wa3 a majority of votes in favour of Sunday opening, but as the assent of two-thirds of the members voting is required for the change of a rule, the regulations will remain as hithi1o. The great prize of £ rt,000, &t the late drawing of the Su Canal bonds, was gaind by Xo. 329,082. It is solemnly announ^d that ladies will wear in their hair this year ilver dust. This fashion has eeii started by the Dlichess of Madrid. A Scottish contemporary startled its readers. t1,e other day, by a paragraph headed "Capture of the Dei The first few lines, however, showed that it was not I e enemy of mankind that had been cught, but a uotorlo-i-j fellow who had earned for himself the title of "the Deii. Singers are right royally treated in Russia. An Imperial carriage was placed at the disposal of Mad; :e Patti, to convey her to St Petersburg; and on her fine ap- pearance she was recalled some foity times. 1\11'. Davidson, a Jewish merchant of Ninsrpo. v;.n presented, on his tlepaTture for Europe, wjth a pair or \1- min-san, or "public umbrellas," as a mark of the res ■ t and esteem in which he was held by the Chine6c. T ¡,: honour is hoth great and unusual, he being the tirst on whom it has been conferred. It is expacted (ays the Court Journal) that 1 t: Queen wl!lIeturn to Winùsor Castle on the l'Jtli or the :2 >• h of February. Afterwarlls her Majesty intends paying SeY, :ti shalt visits to Claremont, and during the London scasou il;e Queen wm reside for a time at Buckingham Palace. Captain XV ilmshnrst, 1 v, N., was, after his honour,,1 b- acquittal, to have proceeded agin to the Island of ASel 11 ¡", by the pocket whi, h was t..leave England 011 Vedneu! v. but the authorities at Lloyd's have communicated wi¡1I Admiralty, and intinutcd Out proceedings in t1,e c: i courts are to 1)(' institute- wüich willublige him tJ rem. in this country sowie time. "A Widower, with young- chil,1ren. income of £> J a year, thirty-two years of age, desires to Correspond vi;i Lady, d suitable age, with a view to .Matrimony. She 1111 st b ■ c ipable uf intense love to advertiser and his children, ;,1..[ if witll mean, so mueh the better. Thi, Í3 ban.I Jvlc, Address," &c.Adveltisclllent in Jtancheöter Examiner. "A letter from Home states on good antlwri'.1 that tlw\rchbishop of Westminster will he male a canll, I hefore his return to England. The Archhishop (of Pari, i, abo to be raised to the same dignity. Week' Regi>t" I' A destructive fire has occurred at Exeter. TJ:, picture gallery of Mr. Hodge, near the Guildhall, wa" fore d to be on fire, through, it is supposed, an explosien of gas. ¡ n a short time alwut a hundred pietuns were destroyeri, including one of Rumens; for 1\ hich iOoO had ben otfei Cd. and also the steel plate of the subscription portraits or tI ■; Earl a d COl111tess of Portsmouth, and ninny pru0Î engrav- ings. The loss will be covered by insurance. Arkansas must be a pleasant placo t) live in. A despatch trom Arkansas town says" the militia aio fortifying the town againt an apprehended attack trom the people outsitie," and" the prominellt citi:ICn3 of the towa are confilied in the gaol." The number of volunteers enrolled is not Ür short of 2.0,000; last year there were 171,000 etfecti ves. Out of 141 newspapers in Scotland only 12 are Con- servative. Bouta \V orkey, said to be the third Ron of the la'e EmpefOr Theodore, is now travelling witll an Engli-h menagerie. A gentleman appeared the other night in the stal's of the Prince of theatre in London, who kad sue a superabundant supply of wig. making material un I s head, that he was immediately sainted from many parts f the house with the cry, The frightful hair the frightfd hair The Emperor Napolaon is about to purchase a pl" t of land at Orleans for the purpose of establishing an asylul1 for convalesctmt workmen. Copying machines are at once to be introduced intn the offices of Chatham dockyard, and the heads of clepa¡ t. ments have been called upon to report whether, as a c >!).-••- quence, the services of any of the clerks and writers can i ,tJ dispensed with. A lady, t'he wife of Captain Kempthorne, in .Terse. disappeared some weeki ago. Every search was made, b i. in vain, until the 16th iniè., "hen hr body was found ill it disused well. "Miss Ml11ton" (" East Lynne ") i, now being per- formed at half the provincial thatres of France. At Mar- seilles and Lyons it is played at the principal theatres; .it Lilie and Versailles two, and at Bordeaux three theatres lire perfonning it at the same time. Queen Olga, of Greece, walkil in the streets of Athena with her baby in her armi, stops and talks with all the mothers she meets, and compares babies wIth them- says an American. The Countess de Sartiges, the wife of the FrenC"1 Ambassador at Rome, who was brought up a Protestant, has, at the suggestion of the Pope, embraced the Papal faith. A publican in one of the Wigan colliery distrj¡;1 has been tined ten pounds, with costs, for committing an i x. traordinary assault upon a policeman. A ÜOllliciliary vi.i at a late hour was resentell by the publican and his broth both of whom struck the officer a number of severe blows, "I the heIL,1 and face. Finally, the hapless policeman \\[." seized aRd carried to the fire, apparently with tile view "f bein roasted alive ? He was actually placed upon the buril- ing coals, hut by a violent effort he managed to extric te himself, and the noise of the struggle soon afterwards brou. he sume of the neighbours to his assistance. A telegram from Madrid denies that any negotia- tions have been iet on foot between the Provisiollal Govern- mint of painantl the United States GoverlJlllnt for the sale to the latter of Cuba. "The Provisional Government," n adùs, as interpreter of the wi6hes of the Spanish nati 11, declares that it will never agree to any proposal of such a character. "E. G. G. (en voyage).-The present at Christmas, as I predicted, has turned out a fool's paradise. Yon v jit find K. i £ Y. at Greenoble that will not turn out a fo" paradis.-E. W." "Mentone — Dear Kate, if yon gli to Mentone, as now proposed, look out for Dr. Puneh. J 11 v will be with him. But avoid.AdvertÍ:>ements ill 'j'i' Times. The active army in France numbered, on the J ,t December, 378,852 men; in Algeria, 04,531 in Italy, 5,3. but, deducting from this number 114,00 m-n on furlough, the real total would be as follows 331,280 in the active aimy, 198,546 in the reserve, and 381,723 in the Nation:.1 Guarl Mubile-making a total of 1,028,980 men. Mr. lleverdy J olmRon, the United States Minister, has accepted an invitation given by the Corporation uf Man- chester to visit Manchester at the EnÜ of next month, mid, t is believed, will spend SONle days there. The death of Sir William John Newton, painter in ordinary to her Majesty, has heen announced, lie wis born in 178s, and having (i "voted himself tu art, soon gaL, <1 a high relmtatiun as a miniature painter. 1] e was knigU ,.d in 1837, on the recommendation of Viscount Melbourne, who was then Prime Minister. A fearful accident has occurred at Tonneins, Franc1. A lare building intended for a café, concert room, < £ c in course of construction, fell to the ground, burying workmen in the ruins, six of whom were taken ont dead, a.id the others seriously injured. A lady of Jililtinction gave a fancy ball in Paris t it long sincQ, and, in order to e distinguished, placed a servant at the door to announce the costumes as t)rev entered. A couple of ladies appeartJd in full ball-room dre s What costume shaH [ announce ?" asked the serva, t. We are 1l0t in costume" they replied. "Two ladies without costume," shouted the servant to the horror of every- body. A conviction has just taken place at HuH under the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1867. It \I: proved that the brigantine T1IJO Ellen5 started from London in February Lost WIthout a proper supply of lime or lemon juice on bo :rd for the. use o the crew, .iie medicine ehe-t was insufficiently provided wIth drugs and instruments, and the vessel returned home in consequence with a scurvy laden crew. The magistrate inflictetl a penalty of £ 15 upon th captain, and gave an opinion to the effect that all m. dice.! stores shoud be systematically in3f)eCltd. The lJlosecu,jo" was conducted by )11'. R. E. Cumberland, at the instance ui the Board of Trade. JOlh Billings wal asked, "How hst does sound travel? And his idea ili ',hat it depends a good deal upon the noise you are talkin ? ahuut. The sound ov a diittiKV horn, for instance, travels half a mile in a second, wlile an invitashun tew git up in the Inornl/Jg i have known to 3- quarters uv an hour goin' 2 pairs of stairs, and then not hv strength enuff left to be h¡¡ard." The Saturday Review thinks that the Mnfnion of in- ternatiollal rivaliits may prouatly prevent a war hut the commencement of hostilities in anv quarter might give the sina for a general conflict, and Turkey, which has nothing to galll, could scarcely filII In the end to be 1\ principal SIll. ferer. Reent experience is not encouraging t,) sanuuine believers in the wisdom or morality of governments and u, nations. On Sunday the Emperor of the French receivell in great state, at the Tu¡)ocie, Ir. Burlinghame aud all tho members of the Chinese Embassy. The Arnbltssatlor IlId a short speech, to which the emperor replied in very graci\Ju3 terms. A curioug custom prevails in Lincoln's-inn. When any membtr of that learned body is made a Sergeant-at law, on taking the coif, he haa to present the Queen and thQ Lord Chancellor with rings bearing the legend AUud nebit agP-7Idum, At the same taue àe ili presented hy the Treasurer "ith a purse contaiuin ten guineas, as a retaining fee ill case the society should require his services 011 any futuI I' occasion. On Friday the explorers of the Oak's Colliery IUC- ceeded in recovering the body of a young mail from the neighbourhoood 0 the pa.shye, which, on being placed in the dead-house, was identified by a woman of tile n; mt- of Slater as that of her lion. A few months ago \Ir,. Slater identified and interred another body, on the supposition that it was that of her loon. She now identified the seeoo body by a red woollen garter which was found 011 one of the leIs of the deceased. Seven women whose names are on the register of electon for }Ianchester, and who recorded their votes at thø genéral election ill favour of the candidates of the united Liberal puty, voted in the test ballot to slect a candidate in case of a vacancy in the represOJntation of the city by the lInseating of Jl r. irley. The grand jury of Washington has refuspd to find r. new indictment against John 11. urratt, on the ground tht the President's late Amnesty Proclamation fully pardons him. Surratt is therefore discharged. The advanced liberals of Halifax have formed an associatiun for advocating the ballot, the placing* of all religious bodies on an equality, tle adoption or a compre- heusive national system of education, and the repeal of the law of primogeniture. Sir Lawrn?e Palk, writing to a Torquav meeting on the Permissive Blll, says I have al way" been strongly in favour of regulating and restricting the sale of FpiritllUU:3 drinks. I am convinced the law is much too lenient to drunkenness, which often leads to grave crimes. 1 think a district or parisli or part pf a town IS interested in the COil- duct of the public-houses in its locality but I could not support in Parliament a hill which woulct deprive tile work- itlg- man anct his family trom obaiuing that refreshmelit to which he is accustomed, and the moderate use uf whieh ili in no way injurious." "We are in a position to state that Sir Colman O'Loghlen inteulls persevering with Ids Lih,J Bdlnext Hess iou. Precluded hitmeU frum introducing it hy reason of his hold- ing office, he has prucured the services IIf au unofficial friend, and the measure, which wiH probably contain 30mB additional amendments, will be vigorously pushed. "-L.1i d.a Scotsman. The F1'cmdnb'att of Vienna states that the Bishop of Trieste, being hurt at a demonstration made againHt hina hy the ultramoutailles of this latter city, hall gone tu Capo. d'lstria, where, the day after his arrival, he ascended th- pulpit, and taking for his text the words, "My lctllgdom i, not of this world," demonstrated that the temporal authority of the Pope was incompatible with spiritual powers. The trial of two election petitions terminated on Monday, those relating to Bewdley and to Limerick. In the former ctSC, the election of Sir R. Glass was declared void, and Mr. Justice Blackburn found that treating hact extcn- sively prevailel, hut that general 1Jribery had not heen proved. Sir R. Glass was not shewn to have been a party to tha illegal proceedings, and the petitioners were ordered to pay costs. At Limerick the petitiJn was dismissed, and the members declare. I duly elected. A curious discovery has been made in the Cathedral close of Lichfleld In clearing the ground for the foundation of some additinnal building to the bishop's palace, the ashlar facing the old palace was laid bare at a few feet below the pre- sen t garden level. Built up against this wall were f011 1l.a the remains of a pipe manufactory. The flue and the floor of the kiln were very apparent, formed of bricks of a huger ize than the present common Flemj8h pattern. Mixed with the surrounding soil were pipes and iragmentl of pipes to the amount of one or tnvo hundred, pordons of the unbaked clay still quite moist, scorirc and lumps of coal, and in one case iIo fully-formed pipe bowl in its unburut state A cireular has bten issued from the Bank of Eng- land calling attentiom to the fact that paper mannfactnred tor various banking nd mercantile tirms contains wa'er marks and olller devices peculiar (0 the p"per wInch If: pre- pared solely for the llse of the Bank. Tiie authorities in Thread need le-, treet, therefore, remind the chief paper manufacturers of the law which prohibits any such paper to be made or usen, believing that this will be sutticient to pre vent the manufacture of the p3per to which they refer, and which they believe tlJ have been the result of iguorance of the bLw bearing 011 the subject.